SINGAPORE — This is a tale that is more than four years in the making, and now it is finally coming to an end: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (LR:FFXIII) will be the final chapter for lead character Lightning, and also the conclusion of the Final Fantasy XIII storyline.

To mark the release of this new game, Mr Motomu Toriyama, director and scenario writer of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII and Mr Shinji Hashimoto, brand manager of the Final Fantasy series, was in town on Wednesday (Feb 12) to launch the game and meet Singaporean fans.

“This is really the finale,” said Mr Toriyama. But for fans of Lightning, Mr Toriyama says that there is no need to be sad.

“We know Lightning is really popular, so there is a possibility that she will return as a character (in another game) but not as a main character.”

Previously launched in Japan on Nov 21, fans of the FFXIII series would have known that the new game features some gameplay changes, such as an open world and a time limit. With these changes came new challenges for the LR:FFXIII development team.

“With the open environment in Lightning Returns, the world has become bigger and players have more freedom,” said Mr Toriyama. “So it is hard to tell the story in the order we wanted, and we tried to create a way of storytelling by trial and error to deliver what we wanted to tell.”

“Only one and a half or two years have passed since Final Fantasy XIII-2 so the (development) time was very short,” adds Mr Toriyama. “In LR:FFXIII we were challenged to build a new gameplay system and introduce time management and increase the level of freedom. I’m proud of what we have achieved, but some gamers do feel that the time management is pretty difficult.”

This time limit has led some reviewers to criticise the game, but Mr Toriyama is confident that it just takes some getting used to.

“Because of the time concept people think that the level of freedom is reduced,” said Mr Toriyama. “But the time management is dependent on the gamer, because you can increase the time (you have left) when you play positively. And in Japan, after the game was released the reviews have improved — so if you play more you can understand more (about the game).”

The launch event also marked the reveal of the local release dates for the HD remaster of Final Fantasy X (FFX) and Final Fantasy X-2 (FFX-2). The Asia version of the games will be released Feb 27 at S$52.90 for the PS3 version, and S$39.90 for the PS Vita version. The English version will launch March 18 at S$52.90 and S$32.90 for the PS3 and PS Vita versions respectively.

While FFX and FFX-2 are not a new games, making a HD remaster was not exactly smooth sailing, with Mr Hashimoto calling it a “complete redoing of the material”.

“The HD version was a huge upgrade in resolution, and we lacked much of the material to carry on with the resolution upgrade,” said Mr Hashimoto. “The titles were from 10 years ago, and the materials were not complete, so there was much effort to recreate the whole game.”

“There are many scenes that are improved, and the facial details are much better and the event scenes are more realistic,” adds Mr Hashimoto. “My favourite scenes are those with Tidus.”

While the HD remaster of these well-loved games is expected to be popular, Mr Hashimoto says that there are no plans to remaster other Final Fantasy games, such as the well-loved Final Fantasy VII.

“As the English version (of FFX and FFX-2) is going to be released soon, so at this moment we do not have any room to consider Final Fantasy VII yet,” says Mr Hashimoto, who also acknowledges that if there is enough fan requests, Final Fantasy VII, and other games, such as Final Fantasy XII, might be put under consideration to be remastered.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is now available on the PS3 for S$69.90 for a physical copy and S$59.90 for a digital download. It is also available on the Xbox 360 for S$69.90.