Mystery artwork prompts Final Fantasy XIII sequel speculation

Is a Final Fantasy XIII-2 on the way? That's the latest scuttlebutt after a cryptic piece of artwork is being sent out to loyal Square Enix fans in Japan.

The publisher is giving away exclusive pictures of FFXIII protagonist Lightning to Japanese gamers who have achieved "ultimate" status on their Square Enix online accounts. They're hand-signed by character designer Tetsuya Nomura, who also added another little note on each piece. "She must not be forgotten."

Given that Square Enix is always so mysterious in its hype and messages, combined with the fact that the gaming community likes to over-analyze everything under the sun, somedie-hard fansare wondering if there's a hidden meaning behind that five-word etching.

If Lightning must not be forgotten, surely she will live on in a future Square Enix game. That's the emerging logic, at least. It has been confirmed she will not be in the spinoff game Final Fantasy Versus XIII, though she will make an appearance in the upcoming PSP fighting gameDissidia 012[duodecim] Final Fantasy.

Of course, we can look back at all the great Final Fantasy characters of the past. We never forgot them, but that doesn't mean they ever got to star in their own sequel. Square Enix has also said that Final Fantasy XIII will be the last "traditional" Final Fantasy RPG, so maybe the message is a tribute to that.

In the end, who knows? It's Square Enix. We stopped trying to make sense out of what comes out of that company a long time ago.

[Source:PC World]

Dec 16, 2010