Final Fantasy XIII-2 director explains controversial ending

Final Fantasy XIII-2 director Motomu Toriyama explains the reasoning behind the game’s ending, but steers clear of XIII-3 rumors.

February 6, 2012 10:00 AM7

One of the most common complaints for Final Fantasy XIII-2 is its contentious ending. Game director Motomu Toriyama has opened up and shared some details on the reasoning behind it, and what’s next for the game’s story.

Asked about the “to be continued” screen which shows at the game’s end, Toriyama explained to Taipei Game Show attendees that there were two reasons for the ending: first, to encourage players to explore all of the various (non-canon) “Paradox” endings; and second, to extend the story through downloadable content.

According to Impress Watch (via Andriasang), Toriyama says he’s still working on the game, and plans to continue working on it until DLC is no longer being developed. On top of the imminent Lightning DLC that will make the popular character playable, Toriyama says the team is working on a large Lightning-focused story episode. We’ve heard of similar episodes or even novels coming for characters like Snow and Sazh.

Toriyama apparently steered clear of talking about rumors of Final Fantasy XIII-3, so it’s still unknown if Square Enix will tie up the dangling plot threads through their large-scale DLC plans, or publish a full sequel. The company has registered a domain name for the title, but for the moment it’s still saying mum.