I recently saw your revelation of your next Final Fantasy game, and I would be lying if I said I was surprised.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is the next game you are planning on releasing in 2013, and while I'm very sure you're putting a lot of effort into it, I am very confused in multiple ways.
First of all, this is the third game associated with Final Fantasy XIII. I understand if you're wanting to take the game in a new sort of direction, as you've now made a trilogy out of the thirteenth installment of your critically acclaimed series, and I'm even fine if it breaks the long standing tradition of a new world with new characters in every game (even if my nostalgic sense feels otherwise). Why though, must we keep enduring these characters from XIII that were just carbon copies of character tropes in the first game? Why did you choose to start making a trilogy out of the installment that everyone and their mom hated? I don't understand at all why you keep battering us with sequels to this game series that I and possibly the rest of your fans don't want anything more to do with.
Secondly, your description of this game is a little strange to me, or I suppose if I were to be more accurate, it sounds hit-or-miss. You mention that Lightning will be customizable and that everyone will have their own version, both aesthetics and playstyle-wise. While I like this in theory (since it was practically absent in XIII; I'm not sure about XIII-2 since I haven't played it), you also mention character control being more dynamic, such as being able to "hang off ledges", "jump", and "pull yourself up". I'm sorry, but even though this is technically uncommon in a Final Fantasy game, I don't like that part of your pitch are features that have been part of other games for decades. That just bothers me personally, and while I guess I can say it's cool you're finally adding more control, there should be more to this game than that. Unfortunately, there might not be, because again, this is the third game about a character that I and many of your fans are having difficulty caring about.
Third, and lastly, I can appreciate you're trying new things such as a Majora's Mask type of "doomsday clock" and a real-time day/night cycle (combined, I wonder if that means the player has 13 actual, real days to beat the game. Uh...wow.), but without a new world and new characters to explore as well as two past games with mediocre to horrible reviews overall, I'm finding it hard to care about them with the aforementioned hanging in my conscience. I'm sure that they are cool in their own right, but right now, with your initial explanation of some supposedly major features, which includes customization of Lightning, the timer, the time cycle, controls, a bunch of possible location screenshots, and heavy emphasis on this being "the end of Lightning's trilogy", I'm nowhere close to being sold. I guess I could wait a ton of months for you to reveal more information, but in my opinion, this wasn't much of a reveal, and as far as gamers go, I'd think first impressions are pretty important.
Look, your graphics look impressive, and you guys seem to have a general grasp on how to make a video game (Note: You can know how to make a game but that game isn't automatically good), but you guys can do better! I'll admit that I'm anxious to find out more about this game, and I really want to like it, but your methods are confusing your fans, including me, and we're in the dark over here as to what is going on. For the love of chocobos, you've had Final Fantasy Versus XIII in development for six years, and yet you're showing us this new game just now that's being released next year when you refuse to tell us anything about Versus!
Please, Square Enix, be a little more informative with your fans. Tell us what is going on, or at least that you're having some problems. Telling us nothing is only making you look worse, and I'm sure that many of your former fans want to enjoy your games just like they used to, including me.
Sincerely,
A Frustrated and Confused Fan
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