Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Has Styles, New Monster Mechanics

The development team at Square Enix working on Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is offering more information on the battle mechanics of the game and its new approach to time in order to get both long-term fans and newcomers interested in the final chapter of the story.

Time is so crucial to Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII that players will have to search for the various NPCs as they move locations and even hide as the story progresses and there are also essential pieces of the story that can only be obtained in a limited interval.

The focus of the new Final Fantasy game will be squarely on Lightning, but the team tells Famitsu, as translated by AllGamesBeta, that the game is not a true action role-playing game because of the new Styles concept.

It allows players to take weapons, shields, accessories and abilities and group them together in order to switch them around during battle.

As gamers use more Styles to take out enemies, they will be able to collect points and then unlock even more equipment to enhance Lightning’s abilities.

The Square Enix team is talking about the new combat options under the name of “amazing ATB” and will allow gamers to set up various commands and link them to the controller’s buttons for quick access.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII also has a new monster mechanic which will see a black haze move around the world map and set up areas where new enemies will appear for a while.

Square Enix also has no plans to launch story-based downloadable content for Lightning Returns.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII will be first launch in Japan, probably in the first few months of 2013, and Square Enix plans to deliver it on the PlayStation 3 from Sony and the Xbox 369 from Microsoft.