Final Fantasy XIII

Story

Final Fantasy XIII begins in Cocoon thirteen days after a series of events instigated by l'Cie and a fal'Cie from Gran Pulse lead to the Purge, a mass-murder by PSICOM disguised as large-scale deportation of Pulsian threats. Lightning participates in derailing a Purge train to save Serah, her younger sister, from the fal'Cie Anima, with support by Sazh Kathroy. In the subsequent battle, Snow Villiers leads his resistance group, NORA, to save the Purge exiles; Nora Estheim is killed, and Snow heads to Anima to save Serah. Hope Estheim, Nora's son, and Oerba Dia Vanille bear witness to these events and follow Snow to Anima. The groups stumble upon Serah, who urges them to save Cocoon before turning to crystal. They defeat Anima as it brands them with the mark of the l'Cie - ones who are doomed to a fate of completing their Focus, the task appointed by the fal'Cie, or becoming Cie'th, mindless monsters. The party has the same vision of a monster called Ragnarok. The party argues over the ambiguous nature of the vision and Serah's last words, eventually ending with Snow's decision to remain with Serah as the others leave. Snow is captured by the Sanctum's Calvary branch, headed by Cid Raines, and detained on board the airship Lindblum. During his captivity, he meets Oerba Yun Fang.
Meanwhile, the party escapes from PSICOM before crashing in the Vile Peaks. They soon split up: Hope and Lightning, seeking revenge on the Sanctum for initiating the Purge, make their way to Palumpolum through the Gapra Whitewood as Vanille and Sazh go the opposite direction toward Nautilus, hoping to escape from their troubles. Lightning learns of Hope's mother and unintentionally supports his attempt to assassinate Snow by giving him the knife Serah gave her for her birthday. However, once at Palumpolum, Lightning realizes her mistake and instead tries to convince Hope not to carry out his attempt on Snow. There, they find Snow and Fang, but promptly separate to throw off their PSICOM attackers. Fang reveals that she and Vanille are the l'Cie from Gran Pulse who had awakened from their crystal slumber thirteen days before the Purge and thus were indirectly responsible for the chain of events that lead to the current situation. Meanwhile, Hope's attempt on Snow is stopped cold by an airstrike. Snow saves his life and apologizes for his involvement in Nora's death. Soon after meeting up and taking refuge in the house of Hope's father, Bartholomew, the l'Cie are forced to leave the city with the Calvary's aid to ensure everyone's safety. Meanwhile, Sazh tells Vanille how a Cocoon fal'Cie branded his son, Dajh, in self-defense, and how he was consequently taken by PSICOM to find out his Focus. When the l'Cie arrive in Nautilus, they are caught in a PSICOM trap by Jihl Nabaat, who used Dajh's focus and ability to find Cocoon l'Cie against his father. Nabaat also reveals that Vanille and Fang are the Pulse l'Cie that caused Dajh's transformation into a l'Cie. Dajh, his focus complete, is turned to crystal while his father and Vanille are captured and detained on the Palamecia, pending their immediate execution.
Infiltrating the Palamecia, the party reunites with Vanille and Sazh; they confront the Sanctum's primarch, Galenth Dysley, who is in truth the human incarnation of the fal'Cie Barthandelus. Dysley reveals their Focus is the destruction of the fal'Cie Orphan, which would cause Cocoon to crash into the surface of Gran Pulse. Vanille and Fang were, in fact, the same l'Cie who had attempted the feat centuries ago, with their actions resulting in Cocoon's shell being cracked and Gran Pulse being devoid of human life. After they learn about the fal'Cie's intentions to bring back the Maker by sacrificing Cocoon from Cid, who is revealed to be a Sanctum l'Cie, the party escapes to Gran Pulse to find clues about removing their l'Cie marks. However, they reach a dead end at Vanille and Fang's hometown, Oerba. The group confronts Dysley once again, who reveals a back up plan: by manipulating Cid to become the new primarch and bringing Pulse monsters to Eden, he will force the Calvary into action, killing Cid and Orphan in a coup d'état during the chaos.
The party infiltrates Eden after returning to Cocoon, only to find that the Cavalry have been turned into Cie'th. The group confronts Yaag Rosch, the leader of PSICOM; they defeat him, but Rosch sacrifices himself to cover the party's advance into Orphan's Cradle. The party encounters Dysley; they defeat him, but Orphan absorbs Dysley and turns the party into Cie'th as Fang attempts to become Ragnarok to destroy Orphan. However, she is tortured in the process. The party reveals Orphan's true form and regain a new Focus for a peaceful world; Vanille and Fang ally with the party to destroy Orphan. After Orphan's defeat, the party escapes Cocoon, now out of power after the final battle. Vanille and Fang remain in Cocoon, transforming into Ragnarok to prevent a collision between Cocoon and Pulse. The others awaken on Gran Pulse and find that their l'Cie brands have vanished. The game ends with the former l'Cie reuniting with Serah and Dajh as Vanille and Fang, once again turned to crystal, oversee a new beginning for Cocoon's people.

Release and post-release

During Sony's media briefing at the 2008 E3, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy XIII would have downloadable content available for North America, Europe, and Japan. A playable demo of Final Fantasy XIII is included in Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete (released on April 16 in Japan and June 2 for North America) on Blu-ray Disc for PlayStation 3, along with new trailers of Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII. The demo, however, was only released in Japan and is not reflective of the actual game as it was created using an old build of the game.

 Watch the Game Trailer :