Brand new information regarding Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII was revealed in an interview with Famitsu, the key points are below (courtesy of Andriasang)

  • The game is currently 30% complete
  • This will be Lightning’s last game and will end with a happy ending. The game has just one ending.
  • The first FFXIII was story driven, meaning that the story pulled the player along. FFXIII-2 was player driven, meaning players selected the story. Lightning Returns is World Driven, meaning players have to consider how they interact with the changing world.
  • The game’s in-game time works out to one day being the equivalent of one to two hours of real time. There will be increases and decreases in time.
  • The game is meant to be played and cleared multiple times. The volume is not such that it will take many tens of hours to clear once.
  • People from XIII-2 haven’t died. Because of the effects of the chaos (I’m not sure if this is the proper English word), people have stopped aging and don’t get old.
  • The Novus world has four continents, two natural and two city-type.
  • Depending on your actions, the remaining life of the world could decrease, and the game could end before the 13 day limit.
  • There are some times when helping someone will decrease the life of the world.
  • Defeating some enemies and clearing some quests will increase the life of the world.
  • Lightning is all by herself in battle, allowing you to concentrate more than when you had to control a party.
  • Lightning has become a considerably more refined person.
  • You can freely move around during battle. Some elements of the battle system are timing-based.
  • The battle system is close to action. There’s an ATB gauge.
  • During battle, you don’t select menu commands. Instead, you select abilities which have been assigned to buttons.
  • Hope will give guidance to Lightning via wireless com.
  • The city has clocks everywhere showing the constant progression of time.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is set to hit stores sometime next year for the PS3 and Xbox 360.