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Squareenix France has revealed 3 Final Fantasy 13-2′s composer:

“Today we are announcing at Japan Expo (last month) composers of Final Fantasy XIII-2. Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki return to compose the sequel from Final Fantasy XIII, and Naoshi Mizuta, who’s known for Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, joins them as a new addition.”

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Kitase and Toriyama have revealed in an interview on Folkgames that Hamauzu FF13′s composer is working on FF13-2′s soundtrack and more other will be announce later.

Translated by Bakvrom

Director Motomu Toriyama and producer Yoshinori Kitase interview about Final Fantasy XIII-2

Is lighter than the story in Final Fantasy XIII?

The story of XIII was pretty serious. Which side are also in the future, but while we have dark and mysterious elements added to the story.

In the demo I noticed that the player make choices on the world map. What other changes have been made ​​to make the game less linear?

Final Fantasy XIII was driven by the story, why it was so linear. Final Fantasy XIII-2 focuses on the player, the action and decision you take in the game and how you choose your team all have consequences, making the game less linear.

Are therefore different endings by it have?

For the first time, there are different endings in Final Fantasy. We can not say much about it, wait until the Tokyo Game Show.

Have you looked at western RPGs?

We have not knowingly taken inspiration from western RPGs. Final Fantasy XIII was a tad too linear and too focused on the story. Western gamers prefer open worlds in which they are free to make choices. We wanted Final Fantasy XIII-2 not open. So there is still a story, but you get choices have consequences.

Why we decided to focus on Serah your portfolio?

Final Fantasy XIII, she played an important role in the story as the sister of Lightning. She changed into a crystal and Lightning are looking for a way to save her sister. Final Fantasy XIII-2 Serah looking for her older sister, so the world upside down. We wanted to bring out family ties back in the game.

Why Noël? Why has chosen a new character instead of an old friend?

About him I can not tell much, but Noel is from another world. He has never been on Cocoon. We introduce it because we want the game interesting for everyone, whether you have played Final Fantasy XIII or not. But as you can see he is a strong man.

Who will compose the music?

Masashi Hamauzu, the composer of Final Fantasy XIII certainly do it. More composers will be announced later.

In the demo are QuickTime events. Are there other changes in the battle-system that you can tell?

The basis of the battle system is still the Paradigm Shift, there were many positive and wanted us again. We have some additions so now you can recruit monsters. You can record them in your team and they let you fight. In addition, there monster character progression and improvement, which you the monsters in your team stronger.

Does the Crystarium return?

When it comes to the progress of the characters, not the monsters, then the system Crystarium almost the same. There are some changes that we can not discuss. The progression of the samples goes through a different system. Samples have parameters such as strength and defense and you can provide samples of accessories that improve the parameters.

Is it safe system changed?

Yes, now you can save anywhere you want one, as in western games. So even simpler than in Final Fantasy XIII.

Are there cities and shops to explore?

A negative aspect of Final Fantasy XIII was the fact that there were few towns to explore. Final Fantasy XIII-2, there are cities to explore, here you can meet people, shopping, and conversing with the residents. So this time it is there to do.

How many hours of cinematic is in the game and how many hours of game play?

We do not own many hours of cinematic in the game gets stuck, but the story is by playing a big forty hours to complete. Of course there is much more to do and you can play it again playing for a different ending.

Is there a new game +?

No, but we have something better we can say nothing about.

More news about XIII-2

• Noel appears to have a more prominent role than FFXIII main character Lightning. Toriyama says that instead of having two heroes, in
  terms of time spent under your control, you advance through the story mostly with Noel and Serah. Lightning was the draw of the previous
  title. XIII-2 features Noel, a cool male main character.
• Noel knows little about Cocoon and Gran Pulse. The reason for this is because Toriyama wanted to have Noel to have a similar position
  to someone who has never played FFXIII in that someone who doesn’t know about the world and story.
• During battle… Think of Noel as fighting in the front and Serah supporting from behind. Noel’s job is basically a hunter, who
  hunts monsters on Gran Pulse.
• Masashi Hamauzu was FFXIII’s composer. They’re doing an experiment where Hamauzu will retain the same feel of XIII’s music while
  a different composer(s?) will work delivering a new world view.
• Snow will appear in XIII-2 and Toriyama says that he’s is not the type to be worried about the relationship between Noel and Serah.
• The Mog Clock Encounter System and the new Cinematic Action System help to make battles shorter.
• The game will have multiple endings and will have an interactive conversation system called “Live Trigger.” Each time you play, the possible selections during dialogue will change. This system is in place for more enjoying conversation rather than for the branching story.
• Game will have towns and that town residents will have individual AI.
• Game will have monster raising components. During battle, you can have one monster join your party. There are defender, attacker monsters and so on.
• The party can consist of three party members, including monsters. Sometimes, you will also have one guest character come in.
• Party members will move around town and get into conversations.
• People in town will gather under covered areas as it rains.
• Search/Exploration elements involving Moogles.
• The save system is now auto save.