Planned FFXIII improvements listed

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The Japanese Final Fantasy XIII demo that launched earlier this month seemed to please fans, but director Motomu Toriyama has been touting a number of improvements planned for the final game.

A list of said improvements, which Toriyama has revealed to various Japanese publications, has been compiled by a Japanese fansite (via 1Up) for your convenience.

Here's the full list of changes, which we think you'll be rather pleased about:

• Battle difficulty will be greatly increased. In fact, Toriyama expects XIII to be "the most difficult FF ever".
  
• In the demo, party members are CPU controlled. In the final, you'll be able to issue them directives.
  
• Continuing your "Chain" in the demo isn't very important in the demo, but will vital in the final.
  
• The classic FF victory fanfare isn't present in the demo, but will be in the final.
  
• Victory poses may be incorporated into the final; the matter is currently under consideration.
  
• If the first hit of a chain kills an enemy in the demo, your character continues attacking air for the duration of the combo. This will be remedied in the final.
  
• Snow is barehanded in the demo, but will have weapons available to him in the final.
  
• Encounters occur solely from the front in the demo, but various encounter styles will be present in the final.
  
• The final will have a level system.
  
• The demo only allows you to control one character, but the final will have a new system for managing other party members in battle.
  
• The final will have command shortcuts.
  
• Selecting your target in the demo can be a bit of a chore; the final will have a more streamlined targeting mechanism.
  
• The final will have an "item" command in battle.
  
• NPC dialogue will be subtitled in the final. In the demo, there is only voice.
  
• Sazh's rather bizarre battle animation will be altered to be less strange, and more "jolly".
  
• The Time Gauge maxes out at 3 in the demo, but you'll be able to add more segments in the final through a new character growth system.
  
• Summons will be present in the final. The mysterious "TP Bonus" that appears after battles in the demo relates to them.
  
• Finally, the occasional frame rate drops in the demo will be fixed, according to Toriyama.

Mike Jackson