Final Fantasy XIII-2 Ultimania Omega scenario details from Motomu Toriyama and Daisuke Watanabe

Previous Ultimania Omega information provided us with a little insight into the future of the Final Fantasy XIII saga.

Now, even more information has surfaces on XIII-2’s scenario and some of the details behind the decisions made during development. Thanks to user Alyassus over at GameFAQs, some of the lingering story questions have been answered. As such there are MASSIVE spoilers in here so if you haven’t completed the game I suggest you turn back now.

In the beginning, Toriyama didn’t want to make XIII-2 be a direct sequel to the original game. Instead it was meant to take place some 900 years afterward. However, during the creation of all the back story for the 900 years in between the two titles, it was decided to turn the sequel into a time travel game. The theme of the game is to push forward and keep hope alive, even if the future is uncertain and dangerous.

The battle between Lightning and Caius in Valhalla is meant to take place in an endless loop. Neither one of them seems to be aware of it though – only when Lightning turns into a crystal does it truly end. Valhalla is a place between the Unseen World and the real world, where the flow of time has stopped and where people pass by on their way to the beyond. Originally it was meant to be the place in 999 AF that was also mentioned in Final Fantasy Type-0 which would have tied both games together, but ultimately that idea was scrapped.

The Caius seen in 700 AF went to Valhalla to end the world using the power of Chaos. From there he had the ability to send messages to Caius’s in different timelines. This helps explain why the Caius in 200 AF seems to know Noel, even though they shouldn’t have met yet. Caius doesn’t exactly have the ability to time travel, but the Caius you fight in 500AF can conceivably be 700AF’s Caius that travelled back in time from Valhalla.

Doesn’t Caius purposely shorten Yeul’s lifespan by changing the future? Caius is aware of this and that is why he sets out to destroy the world. When Serah and Noel solve paradoxes, the possibilities for the future broaden. That’s why Caius tries to reduce the number of possible futures to the point where there is only the one inevitable future, where the world is destroyed. He silently allows Serah and Noel to solve the paradoxes as the world is still heading for its destruction.

Caius’s motivation comes from the fact that he’s seen Yeul die so many times and that he knows the world will end anyway in 700 AF. He wants to shorten her suffering by ending the world sooner. Caius actually probably died at the hands of Noel near the end of the game, but may live on through Chaos.

The game didn’t feature any love story between Noel and Serah since both characters had their own loved ones in Yeul and Snow respectively. Although this game hasn’t brought the “happy ending” for Lightning that Toriyama promised before, he hopes to tell more stories using the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythologies.

Some other bits and pieces from the Ultimania include scrapped DLC plans. Originally Snow’s episode was to include a motorcycle minigame through the Archylte Steppe where he would fight monsters along the way. The goal would be to defeat 30 monsters, and Snow’s abilities would include things like jumping, spinning, drifting, and a water spell. The racing system was eventually used as the base for the chocobo mini game in Xanadu.

There were also plans to make a Hope-centric DLC as an adventure type game using Live Triggers in Augusta Tower. The goal would be to stop Alyssia from killing Hope and you would do so by using terminals, where you would have to make some decision that would let you continue onward or end directly in game-over.


About the Author

Erren Van Duine As a self-professed Final Fantasy fan, Erren created Nova Crystallis in 2009 as a place to collect the latest information on her favorite series. As owner and Editor-in-Chief, she also spends her time as a freelance illustrator.

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