Final Fantasy XIII sequel announced
Just as this issue of Game Console was going to print, Square Enix made a few special announcements at a press event in Japan. One, in particular, we thought you might be interested in. That’s right, the company announced a sequel to the Marmite action-RPG - you either loved it or hated it - Final Fantasy XIII. Now this is where it gets a little confusing for the more casual Final Fantasy fans among us. The sequel isn’t going to be Final Fantasy XIV as that would be too straightforward and Square doesn’t do straightforward. Final Fantasy XIV is actually already out and it’s a massively multiplayer online RPG. The sequel then, will be called Final Fantasy XIII 2 and as the game suggests, will be a continuation / spin-off from the six-million selling multiplatform game that launched last year. Using the official PlayStation Blog as its mouthpiece, Square explained, "We at Square Enix are delighted to let you know that the sequel to Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2, is coming next winter. We have a new story in store that stems from the previous title, a battle system that is evolved from XIII. We’re looking forward to sharing more details with you about this exciting new sequel in the future – in the meantime please check out the game logo and first screenshot.” You can see those assets on this very page.A short, teaser trailer was shown at the Tokyo event which gave us no clues at all as to what direction the sequel might take. It showed lead character Lightning, who returns from the XIII, wearing flash armour and having a bit of a sword fight with a purple-haired male character. Yep, that’s all we’ve got. Little else is known about the game at time of writing, though Square Enix Europe is reported to have said that the sequel "exceeds Final Fantasy XIII in every aspect". Whether or not that’s just PR guff remains to be seen. In 2003 Square followed up the release of Final Fantasy X with Final Fantasy X 2, making it the first Final Fantasy game in the series to spawn a direct game sequel. Final Fantasy XIII 2 will be the second.
