Another major theme to be explored in XIII-2: The fates of Vanille and Fang. "The fact that the party was saved by their sacrifice is a scar on all of their hearts," Toriyama told Famitsu. We'll cover how all of their friends are handling it, not just Lightning, and there'll be a large number of new characters as well. I think we'll see more dark and mysterious situations than in FFXIII."
Certainly, the Lightning of FFXIII-2 is different from before -- she may've lost her l'Cie powers at the end of the previous game, but now she's back and dressed skimpier than ever. "I can't go into details, but she might become something even greater than l'Cie [in XIII-2]," Toriyama said. "Her outfit is certainly more revealing, but she still cherishes her usual refined, noble manner. The clothing in general is more fantasy-influenced in this game, and the new weapons will match with that style."
The "feather" motif of the preview trailer (screenshot shown above) served to make Lightning look a bit angelic, especially compared to the far darker appearance of the new character shown in the film. In the interview, however, Toriyama warned against jumping to conclusions. "Who can say which is the angel and which is the devil?" he laughed. "Lightning has a new mission in this game, and [the new character] is going to be in her way as she tries to accomplish it. He's a strong character, capable of fighting on even terms with the heroine who saved the world."
How will it all turn out? Japanese folks will find out pretty soon, as the game's set for a 2011 release in the region. "We made people wait a long time for FFXIII, so we're trying our best to get this game out as quickly as we can," Toriyama said. "Outside of that, we are trying to implement as many of the suggestions given by players, and new ideas we've come up with, into the game as we can. The travelling system is completely different, too -- we're making a truly living world, with lots of people living all the way to the far corners of the game. I think it's a new style of RPG we'll be able to show people here."