Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Square Enix brings time travel to Final Fantasy with the Historia Crux

By

Those of you wary of the Final Fantasy series due to the boring, linear despair that was XIII may be wondering how Square Enix plans to make it up to you in XIII-2. The answer: time travel. Yes, Square Enix has responded to fan’s complaints about the last incarnation of the series and introduced more freedom to the mission structure of the Final Fantasy universe with a time travel system called the Historia Crux.

Players will be able to travel backwards and forwards in time with the Historia Crux, which will function as the initial point of world navigation. To reach new space and time locations, you’ll have to find hidden “Artefacts” and reunite them with the corresponding portals. Once unlocked, you can return to any of these time-space locations from the Historia Crux which game director Motomu Toriyama likened to clicking links on a website.

Along with the novel time traveling, Final Fantasy XIII-2 plans on offering the strong mini game presence that fans are accustomed to. You won’t have to wait until half the story is over for sidequests as was the case in Gran Pulse, the Historia Crux will allow you to play sidequests right at the start of the game.

Related

The freedom to come and go means the story detours and branches off into multiple routes. If you like your structure rigid, you can choose to follow the main story. Those looking for challenge can look forward to a wealth of secrets and even different endings to the game. The multiple overlapping time-space layers mean actions in the rear-end of time will affect locations in the future.

Those of you looking for E3 clarification of Noel, he’s got a back story similar to DBZ’s Trunks, or the Terminator series. Noel is from the future where he’s the last man alive and has traveled back in time stop the catastrophe that destroys the human race. XIII-2’s timeline is connected to the Fall of Cocoon, which happens at the tail end of the last game. The AF you see in the screenshots means After the Fall. If you liked the characters from the last incarnation, good news, they’ll be sure to make their appearances as you traverse through time-space of the this game.

Time travel and an area with unlocked portals to different periods—this all must sound familiar to you SNES RPG players. Could this be a rip of the 1995, Akira Toriyama drawn classic Chrono Trigger?

“We really have received a lot of feedback about the game, but among the voices there are those who say it reminds them of the classic RPG, CHRONO TRIGGER,” said game director Motomu Toriyama. “For FINAL FANTASY XIII-2, we are aiming to make time travel a major thematic direction, and be able to express this on high-end game machines.”

Via Square Enix

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Jeff Hughes
Jeff Hughes
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I'm a SF Bay Area-based writer/ninja that loves anything geek, tech, comic, social media or gaming-related.
In defense of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s polarizing ending
Aerith prays in FInal Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

This article contains spoilers for Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Midway through 1997’s Final Fantasy VII, Cloud Strife walks up a small staircase and finds his companion, Aerith, kneeling on a small platform. She’s locked in prayer as holy-looking light streaks in through the windows around her. That serene moment gives way to a shocking tragedy. Aerith looks at Cloud and calmly smiles before the camera pans above her head. A black shadow bursts out of the light above her; it’s the villainous Sephiroth, massive sword in tow. Before Cloud can process what’s happening, Sephiroth plunges his sword through Aerith’s back, killing her.

Read more
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth: all piano sheet music locations and rewards
Cloud playing the piano in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.

While there's no shortage of ways to distract yourself while playing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, one of the most unexpected minigames is the surprisingly deep piano system. In most of the major hub towns you encounter across the expansive world, Cloud can find a piano to sit down at and tickle the keys. You're free to play any song you want in free play, but you can turn this system into a full-on rhythm game, almost like Guitar Hero, by collecting sheet music of some of the game's most iconic tracks. There's even an NPC near each piano who will reward you if you get a high enough rank on each song. Cloud may not be the most expressive in his words, but he can sure play the piano with heart. Here is where you can find all the sheet music and what rewards await if you can master them.
Where to find all sheet music

Sheet music, thankfully, isn't hidden away in chests or has to be purchased for crazy amounts of Gil, but a few do have some hidden requirements. Each new composition is found on a piano in the world and is free to snag once you sit down. Even if you don't feel like playing right then and there, make sure you always at least grab the music to add to your collection so you don't have to backtrack later and get it. There are eight in total to find, and some will only come later in the story, but none are missable once you open up fast travel back to previous areas. This is the natural order you can collect them.
On Our Way
Our first piece of music can be picked up once you hit Chapter 4. During this section, go to the Crow's Nest town in the Junon region, which you can only enter by doing the "When Words Won't Do" side quest. Once you complete this quest and can freely enter the town, hit up the bar and grab this tune.
Tifa's Theme
After a rather exciting cruise to Costa del Sol in Chapter 6, you can add this piece to your collection by making a quick stop at the fancy Royal Crown Hotel.
Barret's Theme
Not much further into the game in Chapter 7 you will visit Barret's old hometown of Corel. The Rock Bottom Bar is waiting with his song.
Cinco de Chocobo
Chapter 9 takes you through the town of Gongaga. Even a town way out in the forest has a piano, which means yet another song to snag.
Two Legs? Nothin' to it
One chapter later, in Chapter 10, you need to do a little exploring in Cosmo Canyon to find your way to the piano, but the icon on your map won't lead you astray.
Aerith's Theme
Perhaps the most iconic song in the entire game, if not the franchise, is hidden behind a completely optional side quest. Once you reach Chapter 11, return to Nibelheim and do the "White-Haired Angel" side quest. It may seem totally irrelevant, but the quest ends with you playing and collecting this song.
Let the Battles Begin!
Once you prove your skills and get an A rank or better on all prior songs, you will get this new one as a reward from the NPC Dorian next to all pianos.
One-Winged Angel
We're not sure if fighting Sephiroth or getting this song is harder. If you want to play this terrifying arrangement, you need to donate all 88 Treasure Trove items to Johnny. This more or less requires you to 100% the entire game
All song rewards
For every song you A rank, Dorian will give you a prize when you talk to him. Here's everything you can get:

Read more
Like the best RPGs, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth gets sidequests right
The mayor of Under Junon in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Among its many highlights, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth makes simple sidequests a lot more engaging than I had expected. Take an early-game sidequest called When Words Won’t Do. On a surface level, it’s a simple escort mission where players must get a dog from Under Junon to Crow’s Nest unscathed. I did not initially have high hopes for this sidequest due to the poor reputation of escort missions; thankfully, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth defied that fate. To make this optional content more worthwhile, Square Enix gave it a strong narrative backbone.

When Words Won’t Do is actually a story about parents struggling to let go of their kids. Under Junon’s mayor sends players on this quest to help her son and unborn grandchild, and Barrett wonders if he’ll ever be able to let Marlene go during the mission. That’s thematically fitting for an escort mission where you can’t keep something out of your sight.

Read more