It’s not uncommon for a demo to be released for an upcoming game; after all, what better way to convince people to buy it than to give them a little taste of what they’re getting? However, the upcoming demo for Final Fantasy XIII, which will be packaged with the Blu-ray release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete next March, seems like it will be a lot meatier than your average demo. In addition to being longer than the actual movie it is packaged with, according to FFXIII director Motomu Toriyama.

As if that’s not exciting enough, Toriyama also promised that “players will be able to take control of more than just Lightening” in an interview with IGN. Apparently, there is no main protagonist in the game, and the demo is going to allow the player to take the roles of several characters. The ability to experience the storyline from several different points of view is one of the biggest new features in Final Fantasy XIII, and one that I personally find very intriguing. Toriyama also added that the battle system in FFXIII will be party-based, with the player switching off between characters in battle.

It goes without saying that I’m very excited about FFXIII, but I’m not a blind fangirl oblivious to all of the ways Squenix could mess up this franchise. That being said, I think things are looking promising so far. The way the battle system was described makes it sound similar to the system in Final Fantasy X, which I absolutely loved. I did enjoy the combat system in FFXII, but it took a lot of getting used to first, and nothing would make me happier than to see Final Fantasy go back to its turn-based combat roots. Do I think that will actually happen? No, unfortunately, but maybe FFXIII will be able to blend the old and new combat systems in a way that pleases everyone. I guess we will see more when the demo hits next March. 

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