The first game took up three discs on Xbox 360. According to director Motomu Toriyama, disc space was saved in the sequel due to the increased use of real-time event scenes, whereas the first game had heavy CGI usage.
Hope has aged quite a bit. Where he was 14 years-old in Final Fantasy XIII, he is 24 years-old in Final Fantasy XIII-2. He’s the current head of a scientific investigation group.
Caius is the game’s primary antagonist — the purple-haired fellow we’ve seen Lightning battle in past trailers. He’s a threat to both Valhalla and Serah’s world. In the Tokyo Game Show ‘Promise’ trailer, released last night, the black smoke we see emitted from Lightning is called “Chaos.” Classy. Also mentioned: the silver-haired girl he’s seen traveling with in the trailer is named Yeul.
Square promises intense scenes in Final Fantasy XIII-2, though not necessarily on the same level as Type-0‘s scenes.
Quick-time-events, or ‘hit the buttons that appear on screen,’ are a big part of Final Fantasy XIII-2‘s battle system, but failing them isn’t a big deal. Succeeding, however, will reward you with extra goodies.
Another new battle feature is real-time party switching. While in battle, you can switch out party members on the fly. Want to take on that enemy with a Chocobo and slime monster by your side? Tell Serah or Noel to take a seat and watch how it’s done. This feature also means that party leader deaths no longer result in game overs.
Additional tidbits include: no Crystarium level cap; changeable costumes, visible in event scenes; an Easy mode; and the reason Noel’s memories are so vague is because of a time paradox, likely due to his time traveling.
Thanks, News@Vault, Nova Crystallis.