Good morning, here is your latest installment featuring translations for Key Staff Q&A 1 and 2 from the Lightning Returns FFXIII Ultimania (P046-047), requested by /u/PreparationShot9818.

Scans can be found in the Google Drive referenced in the XIII Trilogy Ultimania Masterlist thread.

Disclaimer: Sans proofread.

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P046-047

Key Staff Q&A 1

Lead Scenario Writer
Daisuke Watanabe
Notable Works: FFX, FFX-2, FFXII, FFXIII, FFXIII-2, 
Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, Dewprism

[Q] Was it difficult to take the shocking ending of the previous game and make the story develop into a complete, happy ending?

[A] From the start of the production, it was already decided that we would do a happy ending, so we thought about what would go into that ending first, and then created a story that would lead up to that point. For a game that prioritizes freedom of choice such as this one, the way it unfolds changes depending on the player, and it was difficult to adjust things so that the story made sense no matter what order it was completed in. This situation gave birth to the supporting character, Lumina. We made her a sort of trickster who could appear at any place, but with her continued appearances, she became a character that would showcase Lightning’s human nature.

[Q] What part of the game do you want people to pay attention to?

[A] Lightning’s human side. Up until the previous game, she was always in the midst of conflict, and she rarely had any interaction with regular citizens, but in this game she builds a deep connection with regular folk. As we were writing the scenario, we thought about such things as “How would she respond to the worries of a child?” and “How would she show consideration for the sorrows of a total stranger”. We looked at each of these situations she’d never encountered up until now, and chose responses that were fitting for Lightning. Up until the previous game she had been depicted as this stoic person, but this time we left more leeway for her lines, making her have a broader capacity for being soft versus hard, lenient versus severe, so as to give her personality more depth.

[Q] Please share an unforgettable memory from working on this production.

[A] Including pre-production (prep prior to kicking off a project) on PS2, this project has been going for nearly 10 years, so when production ended it was such a load off of my shoulders that I fell asleep.

Something only I know about this game:

The first image that popped into my head when we started working on the story was Lightning holding a knife and going “The last person I’m saving---” as she faced off against God, which was the ending. We started with that scene and that line and worked out the story from there.

(TL: In the English ver it’s “This is the last soul I’ll save.” Video: https://youtu.be/RlV1Qq7SylM?t=120)

Battle Design Director
Nobuyuki Matsuoka
Notable works: FFXI, FFXIII, FFXIII-2, Kingdom Hearts II

[Q] What concepts were used for this combat system?

[A] “Judgement and Response”. Up until the previous game we had players analyze and respond to situations. Now we’ve built on that and made it so the response (its result) would be directly communicated. With “what the player wants to do” in mind, we put quite a lot of effort into the response part to ensure Lightning would behave as intended in turn.

[Q] Please tell us how Paradigms from the previous games came to become Schemas in this one.

[A] Since Lightning is fighting solo we wanted to change up her appearance and give players the freedom to make their own ‘Roles’. It was from these ideas that the Schema system was born. As for putting together Schemas, we wanted it to be enjoyable for both fans of RPG systems and action game systems, so we were careful to adjust things so we didn’t lean more heavily in either direction.

[Q] Why did you choose to get rid of recovery-based command ability and HP recovery after battles?

[A] We wanted to revive the concept of “resource management” that was common in older RPG games, so that was one of the themes we set out for the combat system. Instead of planning for one battle at a time, players would plan, prepare and tackle things one dungeon at a time, and ultimately this would tie into the time management part of the game.

[Q] Please share an unforgettable memory from working on this production.

[A] The sight of Lightning dressed like a high school girl wielding a bat and chasing NPCs around has burned itself into my memory (lol).

Something only I know about this game:

A perfectly timed “Punt” has a higher damage bonus than other abilities. I would be delighted if someone beat the entire game with just “Punt” (lol).

Key Staff Q&A 2

Planner (TL: Game Designer)
Daisuke Inoue
Notable Works: Dirge of Cerberus -FFVII-, FFXIII, 
FF Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates, FF Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time

[Q] What concepts were used for this combat system?

[A] We had decided to assign unique concepts for monsters to each area: “plain enemies + speed” in Luxerion, “power focused” in Yusnaan, “elementals” in the Wildlands, “status ailments” in Dead Dunes. Folks who are unaccustomed to action games will have an easier time with the combat by customizing their equipment and abilities with those concepts in mind.

[Q] The creation of Schemas brings about a greater degree of freedom, but what difficulties did you encounter while making adjustments to the system?

[A] Generally, we tried to make it so that a decently powered-up Lightning would be able to win, but when we realized there were abilities that could easily seal away the specialties of monsters, it took a lot of effort to rebalance that. However, discovering these advantageous ability combinations is all part of the fun of customizing, so there were some that we ended up leaving in the game.

[Q] Were there some parts that were made with special intentions in mind?

[A] While monsters do appear in the city, Gremlins and Goblots are essentially like wild dogs, so NPCs would just be on guard instead of trying to get away. We wanted to give the sense that people had already resigned to their fate of coexisting with monsters.

[Q] Please share an unforgettable memory from working on this production.

[A] When we were making Caius there was a bug that caused him to spam spells so quickly that the screen would become obscured. But the people who playtested for us were like “That’s our Caius!” and reacted positively, so Caius’s behavior ended up being the way it is now.

Something only I know about this game:

Grendel from Dead Dunes is a boss that used undead themed attacks, but there were plans to have it be based on the Anavatapta Warmech that appeared in “FFXIII”. The fact that it erects barriers is all that remains of that.

Lead Animator

Hiroyuki Yamaji
Notable Works: 
FFXIII, FFXIII-2, Dissidia Duodecim FF, Kingdom Hearts II, 
Romancing Saga -Minstrel Song-

[Q] What was something you were mindful of for this game?

[A] Improving response and reactions. In comparison with the previous games, movement initiation and speed have been refined, and the number of types of motions have been greatly increased. The way the monsters respond to being damaged have changed too; not only do they respond to heavy hits like staggers, but they also react to small amounts of damage.

[Q] Even when using the same ability, the movement changes depending on the weapon you’re using. Was it difficult to come up with all those variations?

[A] For each of the movements, we were careful not to introduce perceived differences in terms of ease of striking and efficiency. Also, until part way through development we still had “vertical cut”, “horizontal, cut” and “thrust” categories, so we were mindful of the angle of the weapon swings as we increased the variety of movements.

[Q] What part of your work were you most particular about?

[A] The victory poses. We made them match up with the garb variations. There are 22 varieties in all, so I think you get to see Lightning being quite expressive.

[Q] Please share an unforgettable memory from working on this production.

[A] At the start of production, we made simple weapons and shields for Lightning to equip so we could look into weapon variety. Of those there was one that looked like one belonging to a certain mobile suit (TL: Gundam probably). But anyway, both the character team and sound team contributed to the creation of data for the study, and it ended up being a pretty high-quality piece (lol).

[Q] What part of the game do you want people to pay attention to?

[A] When monsters are close to death their postures change, but they’re quite varied and we would love for people to pay attention to them. The posture of the Flan type monsters in particular, you won’t want to miss. (TL: His blobbiness, Mr. Ectopudding to demonstrate: https://youtu.be/lw9bStaX4S0?t=52)

Something only I know about this game:

Lightning’s movement speed during battle used to be faster at the start of development, like 1.3 times that of what it is now. However, at that pace she could simply walk out of range of attacks by monsters with short reach, so her speed was made the way it is now.

Minor edit: Wording for clarificaiton regarding which FF13 series game is being referred to in the comments.