Lightning Returns Getting Final Fantasy VII Pre-Order Bonuses

[StewShearerOld]

Lightning Returns Getting Final Fantasy VII Pre-Order Bonuses


Players can pre-order Lightning Returns to land an in-game outfit based off of Final Fantasy VII's Cloud.

Set for release in North America in <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124674-Lightning-Returns-Final-Fantasy-Has-New-Trailer-Release-Date>February of 2014, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will close out the XIII trilogy that began when Square Enix released the original game in 2010. While many are understandably curious about the game's story, its relation to the first two games, and the interesting <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/119461-Lightning-Returns-in-a-Shorter-More-Action-Oriented-Final-Fantasy>time mechanics at the center of its gameplay, Square Enix may have just unveiled what, for some, will be the most enticing element of the game: stuff from Final Fantasy VII.

Perhaps hoping to tap into the arguable apex of the franchise's popularity, Square Enix has unveiled new pre-order incentives that include Final Fantasy VII-themed clothes for the game's protagonist, the titular Lightning. The bonus clothes will include clothing based off of the gear worn by VII's protagonist Cloud Strife as well as the character's Soldier's Band and iconic Buster Sword. "Cloud's famous victory pose and fanfare have also been faithfully recreated," said Square Enix. Cloud's equipment will also carry unique special abilities that the publisher intends to detail at a later date.

While it would be easy to spell this off as Square Enix pandering to that portion of its audience possessed with an undying love for Final Fantasy VII, it's kind of hard not to hope for more content like this. Think how much fun it could be to have Lightning around in Squall's weird, furry, "not quite reaching my waist" jacket. Maybe Square Enix could release a Zidane version of Lighting with a monkey tail! With the <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125391-Final-Fantasy-X-X-2-HD-Remaster-May-Get-Limited-Edition>Final Fantasy X HD Remasters down the road, it would could be great marketing to release Tidus' clothes as DLC, even if they don't make a lick of sense. Considering the various and often hilarious outfits Final Fantasy characters have worn over the years, the sky is the limit with this kind of thing.





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[Miyenne]

Is it me or are her boobs getting bigger? I thought she was built lithe and slim like an athlete. In the first one she didn't have boobs like that.

Aside from that, I don't know how I feel about Cloud's outfit on her. I know she was meant to be a female version of Cloud, but it still seems a bit out of place.

 

[Alfador_VII]

SO they have now literally turned Lightning into Cloud with boobs and pink hair? She was at least partly based on Cloud in the first place.

That is hilarious. Although, I'd rather just go play FF VII again

 

[DTWolfwood]

Further proving just how androgynous Cloud is, you can hardly tell its not him. (Big breasts not withstanding) hehe

Yes keep dangling that carrot Square...

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

Things have finally gone full circle. Yoshinori Kitase made both VII and XIII. He is quoted as originally designing Lightning as a "female Cloud." Screenshots were released of Lightning and they were identical to Cloud from Advent Children. He's finally given up all pretense that they were ever different people. XIII-3 has the world ending in several days, now I'm going to take a guess and say it's because a meteor named mother is going to crash into Gran Pulse. Oh wait, that was about the plot of XIII-1.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Things have finally gone full circle. Yoshinori Kitase made both VII and XIII. He is quoted as originally designing Lightning as a "female Cloud." Screenshots were released of Lightning and they were identical to Cloud from Advent Children. He's finally given up all pretense that they were ever different people. XIII-3 has the world ending in several days, now I'm going to take a guess and say it's because a meteor named mother is going to crash into Gran Pulse. Oh wait, that was about the plot of XIII-1.

No kidding. The sad thing is that she ISN'T like Cloud (nor anywhere near as interesting), she's more like Squall (or just the manifold crappy, fanfiction-esque versions of Cloud like in Advent Children) in that she's really just a boring jackass with no real redeeming qualities other than a token younger sister relationship. Kitase obviously has NO clue what made Cloud or FFVII interesting because he seems to have gone for the superficial qualities over its more meaningful elements

 

[iniudan]

Is it me or are her boobs getting bigger? I thought she was built lithe and slim like an athlete. In the first one she didn't have boobs like that.

It just the outfit that give the illusion of that, has they took quite a few liberty, wearing belt that basically an underbust corset, wearing a shirt with virtual line with suspender button giving the image of nipple. Basically that like saying Elizabeth's, from Bioshock Infinite, boobs got bigger once she wear her mother's outfit, which it mostly due to that type of outfit been designed to give illusion of a larger bust.

 

[sirjeffofshort]

Think how much fun it could be to have Lightning around in Squall's weird, furry, "not quite reaching my waste" jacket.

I'm generally not much of a grammar freak, but I think it should be 'reaching my waist' rather than 'waste'.

ON topic, I'm actually pretty excited about this. I was probably going to grab it anyways to finish out the story (I actually liked the first two, and played the first one twice... I know, I have a problem, at least i'm admitting it.) so this just gives me an extra little incentive.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

There was a plot for FF13 1? XD

I actually liked XIII. The biggest flaw wasn't convoluted story (made perfect sense to me) or linear hallways (X had them and is called one of the best FFs ever) but the training wheels. We don't get player choice, or even finish tutorials, until the end of Disc 2 (of 3). If they had simply allowed team swapping and opened access to all 6 crystarium from the beginning (and made the costs equal) it could have almost been on par with the sphere grid. Customization is key in any RPG.

No kidding. The sad thing is that she ISN'T like Cloud (nor anywhere near as interesting), she's more like Squall (or just the manifold crappy, fanfiction-esque versions of Cloud like in Advent Children) in that she's really just a boring jackass with no real redeeming qualities other than a token younger sister relationship. Kitase obviously has NO clue what made Cloud or FFVII interesting because he seems to have gone for the superficial qualities over its more meaningful elements

It's funny because I found Squall infinitely more characterized than Cloud, but that's just me and my friends I guess. I definitely agree that with each FF characters are getting less nuanced. The best characters in FFXIII are actually the Fal'Cie themselves (all are plotting, have personalities, and are structured uniquely to maintain their domain), except for Sazh, everyone loves him.

 

[AgentLampshade]

Looks far better than her regular costume. Who wears a jacket at their arse!?

 

[Innegativeion]

SO they have now literally turned Lightning into Cloud with boobs and pink hair? She was at least partly based on Cloud in the first place.

That is hilarious. Although, I'd rather just go play FF VII again

If I recall the artists and designers were always pretty open about her just being a female Cloud. Her name even proceeds from his.

I guess things have finally come full-circle.

 

[Foolery]

It's funny because I found Squall infinitely more characterized than Cloud, but that's just me and my friends I guess. I definitely agree that with each FF characters are getting less nuanced. The best characters in FFXIII are actually the Fal'Cie themselves (all are plotting, have personalities, and are structured uniquely to maintain their domain), except for Sazh, everyone loves him.

I think the translation work made Squall appear more characterized than Cloud. Some of VII's dialogue is pretty clunky compared to VIII.

Is it me or are her boobs getting bigger? I thought she was built lithe and slim like an athlete. In the first one she didn't have boobs like that.

Aside from that, I don't know how I feel about Cloud's outfit on her. I know she was meant to be a female version of Cloud, but it still seems a bit out of place.

Eh, pretty much. Here. Straight from the Final Fantasy wiki. Not sure about her boobs being bigger though.

"Early in development, Lightning was meant to be a flirtatious character with more sex appeal. To make Lightning a more serious heroine in the veins of previous heroes, Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart, Fang's character - which was originally a man - was rewritten as a woman, and some of Lightning's traits were transferred to her."

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Lightning_(Final_Fantasy_XIII)

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

Eh, pretty much. Here. Straight from the Final Fantasy wiki.

"Early in development, Lightning was meant to be a flirtatious character with more sex appeal. To make Lightning a more serious heroine in the veins of previous heroes, Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart, Fang's character - which was originally a man - was rewritten as a woman, and some of Lightning's traits were transferred to her."

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Lightning_(Final_Fantasy_XIII)

I'm really glad they did that, because they made Fang/Vanille a lot more interesting than Lightning would have been even if they'd left it. Had lots of fun discussions with my wife over Fang's sexuality. Fang was going to be the 'manly love interest' for Vanille (hint: they're totes lesbians).

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

If I recall the artists and designers were always pretty open about her just being a female Cloud. Her name even proceeds from his.

Doesn't make the attempts any less forced and pathetic though. Again, it seems like all Kitase and the XIII team did was focus on Cloud superficial qualities, forgetting that he was actually really funny, had a caring nature that wasn't token like Lightning's, and had more emotional range than a piece of wood with a smiley drawn on it.

 

[IshimaruHayato]

I want this game now. But I feel wrong for wanting it

 

[Vyress]

Eh, pretty much. Here. Straight from the Final Fantasy wiki.

"Early in development, Lightning was meant to be a flirtatious character with more sex appeal. To make Lightning a more serious heroine in the veins of previous heroes, Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart, Fang's character - which was originally a man - was rewritten as a woman, and some of Lightning's traits were transferred to her."

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Lightning_(Final_Fantasy_XIII)

I'm really glad they did that, because they made Fang/Vanille a lot more interesting than Lightning would have been even if they'd left it. Had lots of fun discussions with my wife over Fang's sexuality. Fang was going to be the 'manly love interest' for Vanille (hint: they're totes lesbians).

I gotta say this first: the characters in FF13 are the strongest point of the game to me. There hasn't been any character interaction between the different party members - other than traditionally the party leader - like this in any other FF before.

To relate this to your post: I thought every single character in FF13 was interesting, EXCEPT for Fang. I didn't find the relationship between Vanille and Fang interesting at all. The scenes Vanille shared with Hope and Sahz were much more memorable and interesting to me than anything that Fang has done in the game as a whole - her being a lesbian is about the only thing that really stands out. She just seemed so random to me that she could have been cut out of the game and nothing would be missed. Kinda like Xell in FF8.

In contrast, all the other characters have all their issues being sorted out through the course of the game. They have character development and simply have the scenes in the game that make them relevant. The whole Snow/Hope thing for example (dont wanna spoil anything for ppl who haven't played yet) is something that Fang simply doesn't have. The only reason I don't wanna miss Fang is that they didn't give Snow any strong weapons to keep up with her in the damage department.

Really surprised to read about Fang being interesting. I mean I get the hate on Lightning having no character and whatnot since that seems to be what's cool these days in spite of the scenes she has with Sahz, Snow and Hope among other stuff. Fang however has nothing to show here besides her being lesbian. Well, I suppose that's more than the stuff Xell had to offer.