‘Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13’ Trailer Shows Freeform Traversal, Arena Battles

After a week of teasing Lightning Returns in Japanese magazines, Square Enix has finally released the first ever English trailer for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13.

In Square Enix tradition, the trailer is rendered partly in CGI and features the game's protagonist, Lightning, who narrates a portion of the story. Not unlike the movie about the Cuban Missile Crsis, it's 13 days until the end of the world and it's up to Lightning, who's just woken up, to stop that from happening.

Notable in the trailer is the addition of freeform traversal to the game, which allows Lightning to run around the city, climb various platforms, and slide down poles. It's not unlike Assassin's Creed or Sleeping Dogs in that regard—but battles take place in arenas.

Unlike the previous games in FF13, Lightning Returns puts players in control of only a single character, Lightning, sans party. Battles take place within arenas, in which you'll have much more control over Lightning's actions during the active turn-based battles.

Having only a single character to control, you'll have a much wider range of customizability for Lightning, right down to the skills she uses.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 is planned for release early next year on the Xbox 360 and PS3.