183-647: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix . It is a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII-2 , it concludes the storyline of Final Fantasy XIII , and forms part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries. It was released in 2013 in Japan and 2014 in North America and PAL regions , and was ported to Windows in 2015 and Android and iOS through cloud gaming in 2016 in Japan. Lightning Returns employs
366-587: A US$ 1 billion suit was filed against the company alleging that it permitted Hamas to use it to perform assaults that cost the lives of four people. Facebook released its blueprints of Surround 360 camera on GitHub under an open-source license . In September, it won an Emmy for its animated short "Henry". In October, Facebook announced a fee-based communications tool called Workplace that aims to "connect everyone" at work. Users can create profiles, see updates from co-workers on their news feed, stream live videos and participate in secure group chats. Following
549-446: A "role-playing shooter" due to the heavy RPG elements within the game, such as quest-based gameplay and also its character traits and leveling system. Half-Minute Hero (2009) is an RPG shooter featuring self-referential humour and a 30-second time limit for each level and boss encounter. Other action role-playing games with shooter elements include the 2010 titles Alpha Protocol by Obsidian Entertainment and The 3rd Birthday ,
732-495: A "tourist guide style". Each island was designed to have a definite feel and theme, while their construction was handled by separate small teams, with the content for each area held and quality-controlled by each team. The art team used multiple real world locations as inspiration: Luxerion and Yusnaan were inspired by Paris and Las Vegas , while the Dead Dunes and Wildlands were influenced by Cairo and Costa Rica . The scenery for
915-578: A 1.6% share of Facebook for $ 240 million ($ 353 million in 2023 dollars ), giving Facebook a total implied value of around $ 15 billion ($ 22 billion in 2023 dollars ). Microsoft's purchase included rights to place international advertisements. In May 2007, at the first f8 developers conference, Facebook announced the launch of the Facebook Developer Platform , providing a framework for software developers to create applications that interact with core Facebook features . By
1098-577: A 1991 issue of Computer Gaming World criticized several computer role-playing games for using "arcade" or "Nintendo-style" action combat, including Ys , Sorcerian, Times of Lore, and Prophecy . In 1991, Square released Seiken Densetsu: Final Fantasy Gaiden , also known as Final Fantasy Adventure or Mystic Quest in the West, for the Game Boy . Like Crystalis , the action in Seiken Densetsu bore
1281-688: A German social network that was alleged to be visually and functionally similar to Facebook. In October 2008, Facebook announced that its international headquarters would locate in Dublin , Ireland. A January 2009 Compete.com study ranked Facebook the most used social networking service by worldwide monthly active users . China blocked Facebook in 2009 following the Ürümqi riots . In 2009, Yuri Milner 's DST (which later split into DST Global and Mail.ru Group ), alongside Uzbek Russian metals magnate Alisher Usmanov , invested $ 200 million in Facebook when it
1464-485: A PR firm that had originally been hired to monitor press coverage of the company to address concerns primarily regarding Russian meddling , then mishandling of user data by Cambridge Analytica , hate speech on Facebook, and calls for regulation. Company spokesman Tim Miller stated that a goal for tech firms should be to "have positive content pushed out about your company and negative content that's being pushed out about your competitor". Definers claimed that George Soros
1647-592: A Q&A session at Tsinghua University in Beijing , China , on October 23, where he attempted to converse in Mandarin. Zuckerberg hosted visiting Chinese politician Lu Wei , known as the "Internet czar" for his influence in China's online policy, on December 8. As of 2015 , Facebook's algorithm was revised in an attempt to filter out false or misleading content, such as fake news stories and hoaxes. It relied on users who flag
1830-409: A [trio of Schema] that felt unique and personal". Joe Juba of Game Informer was also pleased with the system which he considered to be an improvement over the previous two XIII games, noting that the switching of Schema created "a fast-paced, high-tension system that makes fights exciting". Eurogamer 's Simon Parkin called it "perhaps the best and certainly most flexible version yet" when compared to
2013-446: A close-combat weapon (sword, spear, etc.), a shield and a cosmetic accessory. The color scheme of each garb can be customized using both pre-set and custom color: there are options to alter both specific portions and all portions of the costume. As with the previous game, enemies appear in the open field and can be avoided or engaged. The number of enemies increases during night-time, and their strength and ability to deal damage increases
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#17330856749442196-523: A comatose state, reside in the Wildlands. The region also becomes the home of Mog , the former moogle companion of Noel and Serah from XIII-2 ; Caius Ballad , Lightning's old adversary and the one responsible for the unleashing of Chaos into the mortal world; and Paddra Nsu-Yeul , a former seeress and pivotal character in the previous game whose cycle of early death and reincarnation was the motivation behind Caius's actions. The game also introduces Lumina ,
2379-484: A dating platform, end-to-end encryption on its platforms, and allowing users on Messenger to communicate directly with WhatsApp and Instagram users. On July 31, 2019, Facebook announced a partnership with University of California, San Francisco to build a non-invasive, wearable device that lets people type by simply imagining themselves talking. On August 13, 2019, it was revealed that Facebook had enlisted hundreds of contractors to create and obtain transcripts of
2562-422: A domain name was registered in the name of Final Fantasy XIII-3 , but it turned out that the domain was registered by the company's western branch without the main company's knowledge. After XIII-2 ' s cliffhanger ending became common knowledge, the game's creators released a statement saying that the ending was meant to prepare fans for coming DLC packets that would expand upon the game's story. However, after
2745-641: A heart monitor to represent the player's Attack Power and Armor Class statistics. Another controversial aspect of the game involved taking drugs (instead of potions) that increase/decrease attributes, but with side effects such as heart-rate increase/decrease or death. Origin Systems , the developer of the Ultima series, also released an action RPG in 1988, titled Times of Lore , which was inspired by various NES titles, particularly The Legend of Zelda . Times of Lore inspired several later titles by Origin Systems, such as
2928-401: A highly revamped version of the gameplay system from the previous two games, with an action-oriented battle system, the ability to customize the player character's outfits, and a time limit the player must extend by completing story missions and side quests . The game's story takes place five hundred years after the previous game's ending. Lightning , the main protagonist of the first game and
3111-466: A key character in the second, awakes from a self-imposed hibernation 13 days before the world's end, and is chosen by the deity Bhunivelze to save the people of the dying world, including former friends and allies who have developed heavy emotional burdens. As she travels, she learns the full truth behind both the world's fate and Bhunivelze's true agenda. Development of the game started in May 2012, shortly after
3294-555: A lot of popularity on the 2010s with titles such as Warframe (2013), Destiny (2014) and Destiny 2 (2017), The Division (2016) and The Division 2 (2019). Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by American technology conglomerate Meta . Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin , Andrew McCollum , Dustin Moskovitz , and Chris Hughes , its name derives from
3477-399: A maximum of thirteen days. The timer stops during cutscenes, conversations and battles. Lightning can also pause time using an ability called Chronostasis. Quests are directly linked to Lightning's growth: as she completes quests , her stats are boosted, with the main story quests yielding the biggest boosts. Many side quests can only be obtained at certain times, since the real-time build of
3660-528: A mission system and role-playing game mechanics, as well as MMORPGs with real-time combat systems. Allgame listed the following games released prior to 1984 as action RPGs: Temple of Apshai (1979) and its sequel Gateway to Apshai (1983), Beneath the Pyramids for the Apple II (1980), Bokosuka Wars (1983), and Sword of Fargoal (1983). Jeremy Parish of USgamer claimed that Adventure (1980)
3843-973: A more dialogue-heavy experience akin to the Baldurs Gate games and even older series like Falcom's Dragon Slayer/Xanadu series had its outing Xanadu Next with similar Diablo influences. The influences also come full circle when the first Diablo game was inspired by rogue-likes Umoria and Angband and in more recent years many games in the rogue-like genre are inspired by more classic dungeon crawler ARPGs that Diablo helped spawn. In this sub genre there are such recent titles as Path of Exile (2013), Grim Dawn (2016), Zenonia S: Rifts In Time (2015), Book of Demons (2018), Shadows: Awakening (2018), Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl Gold (2017), Titan Quest: Anniversary Edition (2016) and its expansions Titan Quest: Ragnarök (2017) and Titan Quest: Atlantis (2019), Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem (2020) and Minecraft Dungeons (2020). The prominence of Diablo 2 in
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#17330856749444026-483: A more traditional RPG-esque system, including experience points and levels with action game elements. Unlike its predecessor, Zelda II more closely fits the definition of an action RPG. Another Metroidvania -style action RPG released that year was System Sacom 's Sharp X1 computer game Euphory , which was possibly the only Metroidvania -style multiplayer action RPG produced, allowing two-player cooperative gameplay. The fifth Dragon Slayer title, Sorcerian ,
4209-543: A mysterious near-doppelganger of Serah who both aids and taunts Lightning during her quest; and Bhunivelze , the main deity of the Final Fantasy XIII universe who chooses Lightning as the Savior. Lightning is awoken from crystal stasis by the god Bhunivelze. As the world is set to end in thirteen days, Bhunivelze makes Lightning the Savior, a figure who will free the souls of humanity from emotional burdens and guide them to
4392-412: A new Cocoon, since the old one is destined to collapse. The protagonists unwittingly end up instigating the death of Etro, which allows Chaos to spill into the mortal world and bring an end to time itself. Serah also dies, causing Lightning to nearly lose hope. Reassured by her sister's spirit, Lightning chooses to enter crystal stasis to preserve her sister's memory and keep hope alive. Lightning Returns
4575-486: A new world that Bhunivelze will create. Lightning agrees to commit this task, on the condition that Bhunivelze ensure the rebirth of Serah's spirit. Hope acts as her guide from the Ark, which houses the rescued souls of humanity, having been reverted to his younger self to act as Bhunivelze's servant. As she journeys and performs her task, she encounters her former allies and adversaries, many of whom carry heavy emotional burdens. She
4758-435: A party-based battle system prevented it from being used in that game. It reemerged when some of the development team wanted Lightning to change her appearance during battle, and reducing to one playable character opened up the memory space necessary for such a system to be implemented. In making the system revolving around one character, the developers ended up removing any opportunity for story scenes between party members, which
4941-474: A portion of her Energy Point gauge. In Normal and Hard modes, if Lightning flees from or dies in battle, one in-game hour is lost. Unlike the last two games, the player character does not automatically recover HP after battles, instead needing to use remedies bought from merchants and shops, and there is no auto-battle mode, with Lightning needing to be controlled manually at all times. In Easy Mode, Lightning regenerates health if she stands idle. Lightning Returns
5124-408: A radical Islamist imam believed to be the mastermind behind the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings , preached on a pro- ISIL Facebook account, known as "Al-Ghuraba" media. On May 2, 2019, at F8, the company announced its new vision with the tagline "the future is private". A redesign of the website and mobile app was introduced, dubbed as "FB5". The event also featured plans for improving groups,
5307-534: A recurring theme in the XIII games, as a leitmotif. Unlike the previous XIII games, a theme song was not created, with the composers instead creating a purely orchestral piece for the finale. The main soundtrack album, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack , was released on four compact discs on November 21, 2013. A bonus album, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Soundtrack Plus , featuring unreleased tracks and rearrangements of classic themes used in
5490-436: A share price of US$ 38 ($ 50.00 in 2023 dollars ). The company was valued at $ 104 billion ($ 138 billion in 2023 dollars ), the largest valuation to that date. The IPO raised $ 16 billion ($ 21.2 billion in 2023 dollars ), the third-largest in U.S. history, after Visa Inc. in 2008 and AT&T Wireless in 2000. Based on its 2012 income of $ 5 billion ($ 6.64 billion in 2023 dollars ), Facebook joined
5673-405: A six-month cycle, Facebook committed to work with ten to 15 data-driven startups there. On April 18, Facebook announced the beta launch of Facebook Spaces at its annual F8 developer conference. Facebook Spaces is a virtual reality version of Facebook for Oculus VR goggles. In a virtual and shared space, users can access a curated selection of 360-degree photos and videos using their avatar, with
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - Misplaced Pages Continue
5856-521: A story accordingly. Facebook maintained that satirical content should not be intercepted. The algorithm was accused of maintaining a " filter bubble ", where material the user disagrees with and posts with few likes would be deprioritized. In November, Facebook extended paternity leave from 4 weeks to 4 months. On April 12, 2016, Zuckerberg outlined his 10-year vision, which rested on three main pillars: artificial intelligence , increased global connectivity, and virtual and augmented reality . In July,
6039-580: A strong resemblance to that of Legend of Zelda , but added more RPG elements. It was one of the first action RPGs to allow players to kill townspeople, though later Mana games removed this feature. Arcus Odyssey by Wolf Team (now Namco Tales Studio ) was an action RPG that featured an isometric perspective and co-operative multiplayer gameplay. In 1993, the second Seiken Densetsu game, Secret of Mana , received considerable acclaim, for its innovative pausable real-time action battle system , and its innovative cooperative multiplayer gameplay, where
6222-826: A subsidiary named Lianshu Science & Technology in Hangzhou City , China, with $ 30 million ($ 36.4 million in 2023 dollars ) of capital. All its shares are held by Facebook Hong. Approval of the registration of the subsidiary was then withdrawn, due to a disagreement between officials in Zhejiang province and the Cyberspace Administration of China . On July 26, Facebook became the first company to lose over $ 100 billion ($ 121 billion in 2023 dollars ) worth of market capitalization in one day, dropping from nearly $ 630 billion to $ 510 billion after disappointing sales reports. On July 31, Facebook said that
6405-473: A way I had anticipated that there would be mixed opinions, so this is more or less what we had anticipated". Shinji Hashimoto revealed in October 2016 that Lightning Returns met sales expectations and that Square Enix is satisfied with it. Action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG ) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both
6588-586: A website he shared with his classmates. A " face book " is a student directory featuring photos and personal information. In 2003, Harvard had only a paper version along with private online directories. Zuckerberg told The Harvard Crimson , "Everyone's been talking a lot about a universal face book within Harvard. ... I think it's kind of silly that it would take the University a couple of years to get around to it. I can do it better than they can, and I can do it in
6771-511: A week." In January 2004, Zuckerberg coded a new website, known as "TheFacebook", inspired by a Crimson editorial about Facemash, stating, "It is clear that the technology needed to create a centralized Website is readily available ... the benefits are many." Zuckerberg met with Harvard student Eduardo Saverin , and each of them agreed to invest $ 1,000 ($ 1,613 in 2023 dollars ) in the site. On February 4, 2004, Zuckerberg launched "TheFacebook", originally located at thefacebook.com. Six days after
6954-531: A wounded white chocobo called the "Angel of Valhalla" and nurses it back to health. The chocobo is revealed to be Odin, an Eidolon who acted as her ally. She encounters Sazh, whose son Dajh has fallen into a coma and become unwilling to wake because of his father's current state. Lightning retrieves the fragments of Dajh's soul, lifting Sazh's emotional burden and waking his son. Traveling to the ruins of Valhalla, Lightning encounters Caius and multiple versions of Yeul. After fighting with Caius, Lightning learns that he
7137-453: Is also followed about by Lumina, who both gives her advice and taunts her at regular intervals. In Luxerion, Lightning investigates serial killings of women matching the description of the Savior; the culprits are the Children of Etro. During her journey, she is followed by Noel, who has become obsessed with a prophecy that he must kill Lightning to reunite with Yeul. The two briefly ally to rout
7320-505: Is bound to life by the Yeuls and cannot be saved. She also learns that it was Yeul's perpetual rebirth that caused the Chaos to seep into the mortal world, triggering the events of XIII-2 . Encountering Mog as the leader of a moogle village, she helps him fend off attacking monsters. In Yusnaan, Lightning infiltrates Snow's palace and finds him preparing to enter a concentration of Chaos contained inside
7503-597: Is completed. After Hope disappears, Lightning is transported to Luxerion and enters the cathedral, where Noel, Snow and Fang help her fight the Order to save Vanille. Lightning manages to convince her to free the souls of the dead. This act allows Lightning to find Serah's soul, kept safe inside Lumina, but Bhunivelze arrives using Hope as his host and captures everyone but Lightning. Transported to an otherworldly realm, Lightning meets Bhunivelze in person, and learns that he has been conditioning Lightning to replace Etro. After wounding
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - Misplaced Pages Continue
7686-544: Is considered the first example of an immersive sim , a genre that combines elements from other genres to create a game with strong player agency and emergent gameplay, and has influenced many games since its release. The engine was re-used and enhanced for Ultima Underworld ' s 1993 sequel, Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds . Looking Glass Studios planned to create a third Ultima Underworld , but Origin rejected their pitches. After Electronic Arts (EA) rejected Arkane Studios ' pitch for Ultima Underworld III ,
7869-476: Is drained and she must switch to another assigned garb: the depleted garb's meter recharges while not being used. Lightning utilizes her many swords for short-range melee attacks and magic for long-range attacks. She can block enemy attacks using her shield and has the option to evade an attack, which can be assigned to any garb. Each enemy has a stagger meter, represented by a line behind their health bar. As Lightning lands certain kinds of magical or physical blows on
8052-550: Is rendered to scale with the character, who navigates the world on foot. In one of the areas, the player can use chocobos , a recurring animal in the Final Fantasy series. The player is able to freely navigate the game's open world layout, explore towns and country areas, and accept quests from various non-playable characters (NPCs). Lightning is also able to sprint for limited periods, climb up ladders and jump freely. The game features three difficulty levels: Easy, Normal and Hard,
8235-484: Is revealed that Etro's interference allowed Chaos, an energy trapped in the Unseen Realm, to escape and distort the timeline as written after the fall of Cocoon. Lightning was drawn to Valhalla, Etro's citadel, and decided to stay and act as her protector. Three years after Cocoon's fall, Lightning's sister Serah sets out to correct the timeline distortions and reunite with Lightning, while the people of Gran Pulse construct
8418-523: Is satisfied with it. Lightning Returns has received mixed to positive reviews from critics. The game scored 37/40 in Famitsu magazine, with the reviewers giving scores of 10, 10, 9 and 8 out of 10 for each console version of the game. Famitsu later gave the game an "Excellence" award during the 2013 Famitsu Awards. Review aggregator website Metacritic gave the Xbox 360 version 69/100 based on 21 reviews, and
8601-455: Is set after the events of Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2 . In XIII , Lightning is one of six people who are turned by a fal'Cie—one of a race created by the gods—into l'Cie, servants of the fal'Cie gifted with magical powers and a 'Focus'—an assigned task to be completed within a time limit; those that succeed in their Focus go into crystal stasis, while those that fail turn into monsters called Cie'th. The six were intended to cause
8784-441: Is set five hundred years after the ending of XIII-2 , during the final thirteen days of the world's existence. Because of the unleashing of Chaos, the world of Gran Pulse has been consumed, leaving only a set of islands called Nova Chrysalia. The new Cocoon, called "Bhunivelze" after the key deity of the XIII universe, acts as the world's moon. The Chaos has halted human aging and no new children are born due to Etro's death, causing
8967-465: Is the game's main protagonist, sole playable character, and narrator. The other main characters from the previous games also make appearances: Hope Estheim aids Lightning using a wireless communicator; Snow Villiers , devastated by the death of Serah Farron —his fiancée and Lightning's sister—becomes the leader of Yusnaan and the world's last l'Cie; Oerba Dia Vanille and Oerba Yun Fang , released from crystal stasis, go separate ways, with Fang becoming
9150-837: The Princess Crown series, including Odin Sphere and Muramasa: The Demon Blade . Princess Crown had a more cartoon-like visual appeal. It still had quality visuals due to the George Kamitani style. LandStalker's 1997 spiritual successor Alundra is considered "one of the finest examples of action/RPG gaming", combining platforming elements and challenging puzzles with an innovative storyline revolving around entering people's dreams and dealing with mature themes. Ultima Underworld ' s influence has been found in BioShock (2007), and that game's designer, Ken Levine , has stated that "all
9333-457: The 2016 U.S. presidential election , Facebook announced that it would combat fake news by using fact checkers from sites like FactCheck.org and Associated Press (AP), making reporting hoaxes easier through crowdsourcing, and disrupting financial incentives for abusers. On January 17, 2017, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg planned to open Station F, a startup incubator campus in Paris , France . On
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#17330856749449516-601: The Dragon's Crown Artworks foreword: "The motif within Dragon's Crown is all the fantasy works that has affected me until now: the PC RPG Wizardry that I first came into contact with as a student; Ian Livingstone 's gamebooks; games like Tower of Druaga , Golden Axe and The King of Dragons ." He also cites his early 20s work on Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom as "truly something that I had aspired for". Dragon's Crown
9699-475: The Final Fantasy series as a whole. One example of the breakaway from series norms is the game's logo, which was not designed by regular series logo artist Yoshitaka Amano , and which was one of several created during the early stages of development. The concept of the story's progression was termed as "world-driven", a concept whereby the world the player interacted with moved independently of their actions: i.e. NPCs would appear in different locations depending on
9882-864: The Fortune 500 list for the first time in May 2013, ranked 462. The shares set a first-day record for trading volume of an IPO (460 million shares). The IPO was controversial given the immediate price declines that followed, and was the subject of lawsuits, while SEC and FINRA both launched investigations. Zuckerberg announced at the start of October 2012 that Facebook had one billion monthly active users, including 600 million mobile users, 219 billion photo uploads and 140 billion friend connections. On October 1, 2012, Zuckerberg visited Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow to stimulate social media innovation in Russia and to boost Facebook's position in
10065-584: The Huffington Post reported that Facebook's PR agency had paid someone to tweak Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg 's Misplaced Pages page, as well as adding a page for the global head of PR, Caryn Marooney. In March 2019, the perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand used Facebook to stream live footage of the attack as it unfolded. Facebook took 29 minutes to detect the livestreamed video, which
10248-776: The MMO vehicular combat game Auto Assault (2006) by NetDevil and NCsoft . Other action RPGs featured both hack and slash and shooting elements, with the use of both guns (or in some cases, bow and arrow or aerial combat ) and melee weapons, including Cavia 's flight-based Drakengard series (2003 to 2005), and Level-5 's Rogue Galaxy (2005). Other RPS games include the Mass Effect series (2007 onwards), Fallout 3 and subsequent Fallout titles (2008 onwards), White Gold: War in Paradise (2008), and Borderlands (2009). Borderlands developer Gearbox Software has dubbed it as
10431-498: The action game and role-playing genre. Action role-playing games emphasize real-time combat where the player has direct control over the characters as opposed to turn or menu -based combat while still having a focus on character's stats in order to determine relative strength and abilities. These games often use action game combat systems similar to hack and slash or shooter games . The term "action role-playing game" may also describe action-adventure games , which include
10614-458: The face book directories often given to American university students. Membership was initially limited to Harvard students, gradually expanding to other North American universities. Since 2006, Facebook allows everyone to register from 13 years old, except in the case of a handful of nations, where the age limit is 14 years. As of December 2022 , Facebook claimed almost 3 billion monthly active users. As of October 2023, Facebook ranked as
10797-498: The first installment of its Ys series in 1987. While not very popular in the West, the long-running Ys series has performed strongly in the Japanese market, with many sequels, remakes and ports in the decades that followed its release. Besides Falcom's own Dragon Slayer series, Ys was also influenced by Hydlide , from which it borrowed certain mechanics such as health-regeneration. The Faery Tale Adventure offered one of
10980-419: The hardcore-gaming elements were eventually trimmed out in order to make the game accessible to newcomers. In terms of assets, the team reused very little from the previous two games, choosing to build a large proportion of the game from the ground up, especially when it came to the overworld design and NPC behaviors. The Crystal Tools engine, used in the last two XIII games, required a major overhaul as it
11163-480: The second annual f8 developers conference on July 23, 2008, the number of applications on the platform had grown to 33,000, and the number of registered developers had exceeded 400,000. The website won awards such as placement into the "Top 100 Classic Websites" by PC Magazine in 2007, and winning the "People's Voice Award" from the Webby Awards in 2008. In early 2008, Facebook became EBITDA profitable, but
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#173308567494411346-737: The third-most-visited website in the world , with 22.56% of its traffic coming from the United States. It was the most downloaded mobile app of the 2010s. Facebook can be accessed from devices with Internet connectivity, such as personal computers , tablets and smartphones . After registering, users can create a profile revealing personal information about themselves. They can post text, photos and multimedia which are shared with any other users who have agreed to be their friend or, with different privacy settings , publicly. Users can also communicate directly with each other with Messenger , join common-interest groups, and receive notifications on
11529-414: The 1990 games Bad Blood (another action RPG based on the same engine) and Ultima VI: The False Prophet , based on the same interface. Also in 1989, the enhanced remake Ys I & II was one of the first video games to use CD-ROM , which was utilized to provide enhanced graphics, animated cut scenes, a Red Book CD soundtrack, and voice acting. Its English localization was also one of
11712-468: The Aerith-themed one, and removes the ability to name chocobos, map markers or schemata. A release on iOS and Android devices followed on February 17, 2016, in Japan. As part of the game's promotion in Japan, Square Enix teamed up with Japanese confectionery company Ezaki Glico to market a range of Pocky snacks in packaging promoting the game. A Play Arts Kai figurine of Lightning as she appears in
11895-598: The Ark, a location where the in-game clock does not progress. Once there, Lightning gives her gathered Eradia to a tree called Yggdrasil: if she has gathered enough, the in-game clock is extended by a day. She can also restock on supplies and collect new equipment. Another feature in the game was Outerworld Services where the players could take photos and share them, along with their personal stats and battle scores, on Facebook and Twitter . The Facebook features were disabled in April 2015. All Outerworld services were terminated in April
12078-444: The Children of Etro, then later do battle. Lightning uses Noel's rage to make him realize and accept his mistakes, lifting his burden. Lightning also meets Vanille in the Order's cathedral. Vanille shows Lightning a place within the cathedral where the souls of the dead have gathered. Vanille is being prepared for a ritual to take place on the final day that will apparently purify the souls, hoping to atone for past actions by doing so. In
12261-515: The Dead Dunes, Lightning encounters Fang and goes with her on a journey through the region's dungeons in search of a relic called the Holy Clavis. When they find it, Fang reveals that it is key to the ritual in Luxerion as it has the power to draw in the souls of the dead, and that the ritual will kill Vanille. Fang attempts to destroy the Holy Clavis, but the Order arrive and take it. On the eleventh day,
12444-702: The Digital Forensic Research Lab Facebook partners with the Atlantic Council , a NATO -affiliated think tank. In November, Facebook launched smart displays branded Portal and Portal Plus (Portal+). They support Amazon 's Alexa (intelligent personal assistant service). The devices include video chat function with Facebook Messenger. In August 2018, a lawsuit was filed in Oakland, California claiming that Facebook created fake accounts in order to inflate its user data and appeal to advertisers in
12627-493: The Order. The pleasure capital of Yusnaan is a city of revelry where people live in a constant state of celebration. The Dead Dunes is a desert area dominated by ruins. The Wildlands is an untamed area where the human city of Academia used to stand; it also houses the remains of Valhalla, the capital of Etro. Within the New Cocoon is the Ark, a zone where time is frozen. Lightning , a central character from both XIII and XIII-2 ,
12810-590: The PC-8801 computer in September 1984, it abandoned the command-based battles of earlier role-playing games in favor of real-time hack-and-slash combat that required direct input from the player, alongside puzzle-solving elements. In contrast to earlier turn-based roguelikes , Dragon Slayer was a dungeon-crawl role-playing game using real-time, action-oriented combat, combined with traditional role-playing mechanics. Dragon Slayer's overhead action role-playing formula
12993-487: The PlayStation 3 version 66/100 based on 62 reviews. The battle system gained the highest amount of praise. Matt Elliot of Official PlayStation Magazine said the battle system was fun and "[felt] like Final Fantasy : an energetic, modern approximation of combat that was previously turn-based". IGN 's Marty Sliva greatly enjoyed the battle system, saying that " Lightning Returns did a great job of empowering me to create
13176-517: The Russian market. On January 15, 2013, Facebook announced Facebook Graph Search , which provides users with a "precise answer", rather than a link to an answer by leveraging data present on its site. Facebook emphasized that the feature would be "privacy-aware", returning results only from content already shared with the user. On April 3, 2013, Facebook unveiled Facebook Home , a user-interface layer for Android devices offering greater integration with
13359-591: The Top 20 in software sales in its first week, selling just over 277,000 units and beating Nintendo 's Super Mario 3D World . In the same period, the Xbox 360 version sold 4,000 units, under half of the initial sales of XIII-2 for that platform. By the end of 2013, the PS3 version was 17th among the 100 best-selling titles of the year, selling over 400,000 copies. In the United Kingdom, Lightning Returns debuted at third place in
13542-460: The United States and Canada . In mid-2004, Napster co-founder and entrepreneur Sean Parker —an informal advisor to Zuckerberg—became company president. In June 2004, the company moved to Palo Alto, California . Sean Parker called Reid Hoffman to fund Facebook. However, Reid Hoffman was too busy launching LinkedIn so he set Facebook up with PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel , who gave Facebook its first investment later that month. In 2005,
13725-537: The acquisition of FB.com one of the ten highest domain sales in history. In February 2011, Facebook announced plans to move its headquarters to the former Sun Microsystems campus in Menlo Park, California. In March 2011, it was reported that Facebook was removing about 20,000 profiles daily for violations such as spam , graphic content and underage use, as part of its efforts to boost cyber security . Statistics showed that Facebook reached one trillion page views in
13908-678: The activities of their Facebook friends and the pages they follow. The subject of numerous controversies , Facebook has often been criticized over issues such as user privacy (as with the Cambridge Analytica data scandal ), political manipulation (as with the 2016 U.S. elections ) and mass surveillance. Facebook has also been subject to criticism over psychological effects such as addiction and low self-esteem , and various controversies over content such as fake news , conspiracy theories , copyright infringement , and hate speech . Commentators have accused Facebook of willingly facilitating
14091-414: The audio messages of users. This was especially common of Facebook Messenger, where the contractors frequently listened to and transcribed voice messages of users. After this was first reported on by Bloomberg News , Facebook released a statement confirming the report to be true, but also stated that the monitoring program was now suspended. On September 5, 2019, Facebook launched Facebook Dating in
14274-531: The camera to some degree. As such, these are often grouped with other "isometric RPGs". The popularity of the Diablo series spawned such franchises like Divinity , Torchlight , Dungeon Siege and Sacred . Commonly, these games used a fixed-camera isometric view of the game world, a necessity of the limitations of 2D graphics of early computers; The Diablo series spawned many terms like being referred to as "dungeon crawler" "slasher RPG" "hack and slasher",
14457-451: The characters, setting the standard for first-person computer RPGs for several years. It inspired many other developers to make real-time dungeon crawlers, such as Eye of the Beholder and Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos . Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss , released in 1992, has been cited as the first RPG to feature first-person action in a 3D environment. Ultima Underworld
14640-484: The clothing, weapon and equipment of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy VII , available with the game's limited edition Pre-Order Bonus Pack, while another featured a collection of Samurai -inspired outfits. In addition to this, as part of a cross-game promotional campaign, Square Enix of Japan also made Yuna's costume from Final Fantasy X a playable garb for those who had purchased the Japanese HD Remaster of
14823-416: The company dropped "the" from its name after purchasing the domain name Facebook.com for US$ 200,000 ($ 312,012 in 2023 dollars ). The domain had belonged to AboutFace Corporation. In May 2005, Accel Partners invested $ 12.7 million ($ 19.8 million in 2023 dollars ) in Facebook, and Jim Breyer added $ 1 million ($ 1.56 million in 2023 dollars ) of his own money. A high-school version of
15006-527: The company had deleted 17 accounts related to the 2018 U.S. midterm elections . On September 19, Facebook announced that, for news distribution outside the United States, it would work with U.S. funded democracy promotion organizations, International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute , which are loosely affiliated with the Republican and Democratic parties. Through
15189-653: The controller's face buttons, meaning that the usual menu-style ATB battle system is no longer needed: this enables Lightning to be moved around the battle field to a limited degree. The majority of the garbs and their accessories are either purchasable in the in-game shops or received upon completing quests. Stronger garbs, items, shields and weapons are unlocked in Hard Mode, along with access to more challenging areas and boss battles. Lightning can equip three Schemata directly, while having additional slots for backup costumes which can be equipped outside battle. She can be equipped with
15372-430: The developing world. The company celebrated its 10th anniversary during the week of February 3, 2014. In January 2014, over one billion users connected via a mobile device. As of June, mobile accounted for 62% of advertising revenue, an increase of 21% from the previous year. By September Facebook's market capitalization had exceeded $ 200 billion ($ 257 billion in 2023 dollars ). Zuckerberg participated in
15555-517: The edge of the box. Following a campaign by 100 advocacy groups, Facebook agreed to update its policy on hate speech. The campaign highlighted content promoting domestic violence and sexual violence against women and led 15 advertisers to withdraw, including Nissan UK, House of Burlesque, and Nationwide UK. The company initially stated, "while it may be vulgar and offensive, distasteful content on its own does not violate our policies". It took action on May 29. On June 12, Facebook announced that it
15738-431: The enemy, their meter oscillates more. Eventually, the enemy is staggered, rendering them vulnerable to damaging attacks. Lightning can also spend Energy Points to perform special moves or activate abilities, such as Overclock (which slows time for Lightning's opponents and enables her to land more hits); and Army of One, Lightning's signature move. By winning battles, Lightning earns gil, the in-game currency, and replenishes
15921-471: The event, with Toriyama, Kamikokuryo, Abe and Kitase detailing the core concepts of the game. Because character dialogue varied due to the time of day in-game, the western release of the game was delayed by over two months after the local release, as there was far more translation, dubbing work and lip-synching than in previous titles. For the promotion and marketing of the game, the development team rethought their strategy. They worked closely with Yohei Murakami,
16104-469: The final FMV was based on southern Europe. The music of Lightning Returns was composed by Masashi Hamauzu , who composed the music for XIII , Naoshi Mizuta and Mitsuto Suzuki, who co-composed the music for XIII-2 with Hamauzu. Others involved in recording the soundtrack were Japanese band Language and the Video Game Orchestra , founded by Shota Nakama. Multiple tracks used "Blinded by Light",
16287-530: The first to use voice dubbing . The game received the Game of the Year award from OMNI Magazine in 1990, as well as other prizes. Another 1989 release, Activision 's Prophecy: The Fall of Trinadon , attempted to introduce "Nintendo-style" action combat to North American computer role-playing games. Action RPGs were far more common on consoles than computers, due to gamepads being better suited to real-time action than
16470-684: The following year. The battle system, called the Style-Change Active Time Battle system, uses elements from the Active Time Battle (ATB)-based Paradigm system from the first and second XIII games and bears similarities to the dressphere system featured in Final Fantasy X-2 . Lightning has access to several customizable outfits (garb) with different power sets (plural: Schemata ; singular: Schema ). Each garb has its own separate ATB gauge, and actions for them are mapped onto
16653-605: The game and a book of artwork. A limited edition of the PlayStation 3 version containing a specially-themed DualShock 3 controller was also released in Asia. A Collector's Edition exclusive to North America was released through Square Enix's online store. It contained a copy of the game, an artwork book, a pocket watch embossed with the game's logo and codes for costume DLC. The game was also ported to Windows platforms via Steam for release in December 2015. It features all DLC outfits apart from
16836-448: The game is played from a third-person perspective. Players can customize their player character , which learns to cast spells, brew potions, and master combat abilities, eventually developing their own special combat style. In late 1987, FTL Games released Dungeon Master , a dungeon crawler that had a real-time game world and some real-time combat elements (akin to Active Time Battle ), requiring players to quickly issue orders to
17019-470: The game on either PS3 or Vita. The garb was later made available as a pre-order exclusive from Amazon.com . After the game's release, an additional set of DLC costumes was released, among them a moogle outfit. In the Western release of the game scheduled for February 2014, a free DLC pack was released that enabled players to play the localized version of the game with Japanese voice acting and lip-synching. The DLC
17202-420: The game was also created by Square Enix. After the game's release, an Ultimania guide to the game was also released, containing concept and character artwork, interviews with staff members, and guides to the game's enemies, continent layouts and times for events. A book set between XIII-2 and Lightning Returns , Chronicle of Chaotic Era , was originally scheduled to be released alongside the game in Japan, but
17385-406: The game were not considered. Developer tri-Ace , who had previously worked with the team on XIII-2 , returned to help with the graphics. One of the key story concepts behind the game was the "rebirth" of Lightning as a character: this was cited as the main reason why the game was called Lightning Returns and not XIII-3 , alongside the team's desire to attract new players to the series. Lightning
17568-462: The game's fighting arena, the reaction to these was mixed. The costumes were liked by fans, despite some complaints of them being purely cosmetic, but the presence of story DLC caused many to criticize the original game as incomplete. In reaction to this, the developers decided to package the game's entire story with the retail edition, but they did create pre-order DLC for the game in the form of outfits Lightning could use in battle. One of these featured
17751-409: The game's mouse-based combat were mixed. In 1997 Blizzard's Diablo was released and became massively successful. It was an action RPG that used a mouse oriented point-and-click interface and offered gamers a free online service to play with others that maintained the same rules and gameplay. Diablo ' s effect on the market was significant, inspiring many imitators. Its impact was such that
17934-575: The game's theme of a dying world to create Nova Chrysalia, as well as incorporating cultural and architectural influences from the Middle East , Asia , and London during the Industrial Revolution . Nova Chrysalia was originally conceived as a single island, but as the game's development advanced, the world grew into its final, four-island configuration. The world's open design was inspired by MMORPGs such as Final Fantasy XI , described by Abe as
18117-518: The game, was released on March 26, 2014. A promotional album, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Pre Soundtrack , was released in July 2013. The game featured multiple musical Easter eggs, including tunes from previous entries in the franchise. The commercial albums respectively reached #29 and #211 on the Oricon charts. Rumors about a second sequel's existence started even before XIII-2 ' s release, when
18300-577: The gaming market and its influence on the MMORPG genre later popularized the strongly used mouse-oriented point and click combat. While in the Diablo series this type of combat does not have a lock-on key, World of Warcraft and most MMO games uses some kind of key to target an enemy, usually TAB, to lock into it, usually referred to as "tab-target". In tab-target combat the player's character automatic do attack animations with some kind of regular attack, while
18483-502: The god in battle, she frees Hope and prepares to become the new Goddess and protect the new world by trapping herself and Bhunivelze in the Unseen Realm. An illusion of Serah then confronts Lightning, revealing Lumina as the physical manifestation of Lightning's suppressed vulnerabilities. Accepting Lumina as a part of herself, Lightning calls for aid. Hope, Snow, Noel, Vanille, Fang and the Eidolons answer her call, severing Bhunivelze's hold on
18666-490: The graphics, time limit, and other aspects of gameplay, while the story and characters were criticized for being weak or poorly developed. The player directly controls the character Lightning through a third-person perspective to interact with people, objects, and enemies throughout the game. The player can also turn the camera around the character, allowing a 360° view of the surroundings. The world of Lightning Returns , as with Final Fantasy XIII and its sequel XIII-2 ,
18849-494: The human population to stagnate and shrink. Over the intervening centuries, two opposing religions have formed and dominate the life of Nova Chrysalia's people: the Order of Salvation, that worships Bhunivelze, and the Children of Etro, a rebel cult who worship the Goddess. The world itself is divided into four regions, each dominated by a specific mood and environment. The city of Luxerion is a capital of worship whose people are loyal to
19032-513: The keyboard and mouse. Though there were attempts at creating action-oriented computer RPGs during the late 1980s and early 1990s, very few saw any success. Times of Lore was one of the more successful attempts in the American computer market, where there was a generally negative attitude towards combining genres in this way and more of an emphasis on preserving the purity of the RPG genre. For example,
19215-403: The lack of hints concerning quests, new players might take a bit of time getting used to it. It also generally called the game "quite nice". The game's story received mixed reviews. Sliva said the narrative was "drenched in uninteresting pathos that failed to give me a reason to care about these characters that I've spent well over 100 hours with". Juba called the story "a joke", saying that there
19398-473: The large, floating sphere named Cocoon to fall onto the world of Gran Pulse below, killing all the humans of Cocoon. At the finale of the game, two of the l'Cie transformed into a crystal pillar to support Cocoon, preventing the catastrophe. The remaining l'Cie were made human again by the Goddess Etro, the deity responsible for maintaining the balance between the mortal world and the Unseen Realm. In XIII-2 , it
19581-448: The largest worlds at the time, with over 17,000 computer screens without loading times. In 1988, Telenet Japan 's Exile series debuted, and was controversial due to its plot, which revolves around a time-traveling Crusades-era Syrian assassin who assassinates various religious/historical figures as well as 20th-century political leaders, The gameplay of Exile included both overhead exploration and side-scrolling combat, and featured
19764-456: The latter of which is unlocked after first completing the game. There is also a New Game+ option, whereby players can start a new game while carrying over their equipment and stats from a previous playthrough. The in-game clock runs continuously during normal navigation, with one in-game day equating to two to three hours in real time on Easy mode and one hour on Normal and Hard modes. The timer starts out at seven in-game days, but can be extended to
19947-472: The lead art designer, and Toshiyuki Itahana, a designer who had worked on Final Fantasy IX and the Crystal Chronicles series. The three drew inspiration from character designs done by Amano and the atmospheres of game locations. Matsuda and Itahana also respectively did the character designs for Bhunivelze and Lumina. Tetsuya Nomura returned to design Lightning and Snow's new looks. Kamikokuryo used
20130-402: The leader of Monoculus, a bandit gang in the Dead Dunes, and Vanille gaining the power to hear the voices of the dead, thus being deemed a saint and falling under the constant protection of the Order in Luxerion. Noel Kreiss , feeling guilty over his role in the deaths of Etro and Serah and the world's current state, becomes a vigilante in Luxerion. Sazh Katzroy and his son Dajh , who fell into
20313-452: The main characters of the XIII series. The game was added to Xbox One backward compatibility along with its predecessors in November 2018. It is also Xbox One X Enhanced, allowing it to display in 4K Ultra HD. In November 2021, support for FPS Boost on Xbox Series X/S was added allowing it to run at 60 frames per second. In Japan, the PS3 version of Lightning Returns reached the top of
20496-471: The month of June 2011, making it the most visited website tracked by DoubleClick . According to a Nielsen study, Facebook had in 2011 become the second-most accessed website in the U.S. behind Google . In March 2012, Facebook announced App Center, a store selling applications that operate via the website. The store was to be available on iPhones , Android devices, and for mobile web users. Facebook's initial public offering came on May 17, 2012, at
20679-458: The more days pass in-game. By killing all the standard versions of an enemy, a final version appears as a boss. Defeating it will yield a high reward and make the enemy type extinct in an area of the game. When Lightning attacks an enemy, or they attack her, the battle starts. If Lightning strikes a monster, they lose a small portion of health, while if the enemy strikes Lightning first, she will lose health. As Lightning performs attacks, her ATB meter
20862-436: The most widely shared political content on Facebook. In May 2018 at F8 , the company announced it would offer its own dating service. Shares in competitor Match Group fell by 22%. Facebook Dating includes privacy features and friends are unable to view their friends' dating profile. In July, Facebook was charged £500,000 by UK watchdogs for failing to respond to data erasure requests. On July 18, Facebook established
21045-408: The negativity stemmed from the time limit, and that "opinions on the game become more positive after some time since Lightning Returns ' initial release after players get used to the nuances". Speaking with Joystiq , Kitase said that he "wasn't really shocked. There are negative reviews and positive reviews, it's a real mixture. When I started making this game I took on very new challenges, so in
21228-473: The next-highest county, New York County (better known as Manhattan ), at roughly $ 110,000 a year ($ 145,986 in 2023 dollars ). Facebook joined Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) in October, as it launched. The A4AI is a coalition of public and private organizations that includes Google , Intel and Microsoft. Led by Sir Tim Berners-Lee , the A4AI seeks to make Internet access more affordable to ease access in
21411-421: The normal procedure doing their performances first and those being used to create the game characters' facial expressions, recorded their lines for the characters well after the various cutscenes had been created. The concept of Lightning Returns ' battle system originated while ideas were being discussed for the battle system in Final Fantasy XIII , but technical limitations and problems implementing it in
21594-509: The other XIII games, while GameSpot 's Kevin VanOrd stated that if it were not for a few flaws such as the blocking, "it may have even found a place among Final Fantasy ' s better battle systems". Famitsu generally cited the battle system as "excellent", noting it as fast-paced and fun, but also noting that some enemies were tricky even on Easy mode. It also praised the level of "uniqueness" available in garb customization. The quest gameplay
21777-453: The overall look and design of the main cast and environment, but critiqued the environment textures and NPCs. Elliot praised the CG cutscenes, but said that "the tired, boxy side streets feel unfinished". However, he further said that the expansive nature of environments balanced this issue out. The environments were praised by Famitsu , who wrote that due to the expansive nature of the environments and
21960-403: The palace. He plans to absorb the Chaos, transform into a Cie'th, and have Lightning kill him. Though he performs the act and they fight, Lightning manages to renew his hope of seeing Serah again, reverse his transformation and lift his burden. On Nova Chrysalia's final day, Hope reveals to Lightning that Bhunivelze used him to watch Lightning and that the deity will dispose of him now that his task
22143-741: The player can focus on activating other skills and items by pressing other keys. Usually this type of combat is not heavily based on aiming or hit boxes thus the player can hit enemies from different distances and even from a far. Some tab-target MMOs have other targeting options such as an "Action mode". Shooter-based action RPGs include Strife (1996), System Shock 2 (1999), the Deus Ex series (2000 onwards) by Ion Storm , Bungie 's Destiny (2014), Irem 's Steambot Chronicles (2005), Square Enix's third-person shooter RPG Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII (2006), which introduced an over-the-shoulder perspective similar to Resident Evil 4 , and
22326-426: The player's stats, or as a currency to purchase items, and penalizing player deaths without imposing an outright failure state. It also incorporated online features allowing players to leave messages in the overworld that can be read by other players, to temporarily join other players' sessions to assist them cooperatively, or "invade" another player's session to engage in player versus player combat. Especially after
22509-462: The process. In January 2019, the 10-year challenge was started asking users to post a photograph of themselves from 10 years ago (2009) and a more recent photo. Criticized for its role in vaccine hesitancy , Facebook announced in March 2019 that it would provide users with "authoritative information" on the topic of vaccines. A study published in the journal Vaccine of advertisements posted in
22692-497: The publicity and marketing agent for many Square Enix games. Lightning Returns was heavily promoted at gaming events throughout 2013. As part of the promotion campaign, Lightning and monsters from the XIII series featured in a series of player events in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn . While the previous game had a large amount of downloadable content in the form of character costumes, extra story episodes and battles in
22875-499: The reasons to play the game, terming it a "typically bonkers narrative". The Final Fantasy XIII series won a Sound Division: Award of Excellence at the CEDEC AWARDS 2014 for the sound development team. Lightning Returns won a Famitsu Excellence Award in April 2014. Both Toriyama and Kitase have responded to the mixed review scores the game received. Speaking to Siliconera about the Japanese reviews, Toriyama said that most of
23058-416: The release of XIII-2 ' s final piece of DLC, and was unveiled at a special 25th Anniversary Event for the Final Fantasy series in September that year. Most of the previous games' key creative minds and developers returned, and it was developed by Square Enix's First Production Department, with developer tri-Ace helping with the graphics. The development team wanted the game to bring a conclusive end to
23241-514: The release of its spiritual successor Dark Souls (2011) and its sequels, other action RPGs emerged in the 2010s that incorporated mechanics influenced by those of Demon's Souls , which have been popularly referred to as " Soulslike " games. In 2013, Vanillaware released the fantasy beat 'em up ARPG Dragon's Crown , a spiritual successor to Princess Crown and a "deeply moving product" of Vanillaware director George Kamitani. Kamitani cites many classic RPGs as his inspiration, stating in
23424-409: The release of the last piece of DLC, company officials stated that they would be releasing future content related to XIII . By August 2012, during the run-up to a special 25th Anniversary commemoration event for the Final Fantasy series, a teaser site titled "A Storm Gathers" was released, promising new developments for the XIII series and its main protagonist. The game itself was finally unveiled at
23607-558: The same year. Jeremy Parish of 1UP.com argues that Japanese developers created a new brand of action role-playing game; these new Japanese games combined the role-playing genre with arcade-style action and action-adventure elements. Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade also traces the genre's roots to Japan, noting that the "Western game industry of the time had a tendency to treat action games and RPGs as separate things for separate demographics". Jeremy Parish argues that action RPGs were popularized in Japan by The Tower of Druaga . It
23790-473: The scenery, and that the character's underwear remained concealed during active battles even for her more revealing outfits. Because the team was mostly using new assets to create the game, the various continents took longer to create than the environments in XIII-2 , and story scenes sometimes needed to be redone as the game's overall plot had yet to be finalized when development began. The voice actors, in contrast to
23973-440: The script was slow, causing difficulties for the rest of the team. In response to this, Watanabe worked extra hard to create an appropriate finale for the characters and story. He also wrote the script as more hard-edged than those for the previous XIII games. The game was designed as the final entry in the XIII storyline (generally dubbed the "Lightning Saga" by the production team), but was also intended to stand independent of
24156-459: The second or third players could drop in and out of the game at any time, rather than players having to join the game at the same time. The game has remained influential through to the present day, with its ring menu system still used in modern games and its cooperative multiplayer mentioned as an influence on games such as Dungeon Siege III (2011). Most other such games, however, used a side-scrolling perspective typical of beat 'em ups, such as
24339-411: The series was also heavily criticized by players and media for not being a proper RPG due to it being focused more on fighting enemies and creating character builds than following a proper narrative and dialogue-heavy journey. After its success many other games tried to mix its influences with different structures and narratives, there are multiple games like Divine Divinity that were an attempt to have
24522-565: The site launched in September 2005. Eligibility expanded to include employees of several companies, including Apple Inc. and Microsoft . In May 2006, Facebook hired its first intern, Julie Zhuo . After a month, Zhuo was hired as a full-time engineer. On September 26, 2006, Facebook opened to everyone at least 13 years old with a valid email address . By late 2007, Facebook had 100,000 pages on which companies promoted themselves. Organization pages began rolling out in May 2009. On October 24, 2007, Microsoft announced that it had purchased
24705-630: The site launched, Harvard seniors Cameron Winklevoss , Tyler Winklevoss , and Divya Narendra accused Zuckerberg of intentionally misleading them into believing that he would help them build a social network called HarvardConnection.com . They claimed that he was instead using their ideas to build a competing product. The three complained to the Crimson and the newspaper began an investigation. They later sued Zuckerberg, settling in 2008 for 1.2 million shares (worth $ 300 million at Facebook's IPO , or $ 398 million in 2023 dollars ). Membership
24888-480: The site. HTC announced HTC First , a phone with Home pre-loaded. On April 15, 2013, Facebook announced an alliance across 19 states with the National Association of Attorneys General, to provide teenagers and parents with information on tools to manage social networking profiles. On April 19 Facebook modified its logo to remove the faint blue line at the bottom of the "F" icon. The letter F moved closer to
25071-401: The souls of humanity travel to a new world. In a post-credits scene , Lightning is seen going to reunite with one of her friends. The concept of Lightning Returns originated during development of XIII-2 , while the development team was brainstorming ideas for possible continuations of the story and universe of the games, though there was no solid decision to make a second sequel to XIII at
25254-486: The souls of humanity, including Sazh, Dajh, Mog, and Serah. The souls then unite and defeat Bhunivelze. In the aftermath, Caius and the multiple versions of Yeul remain in the Unseen Realm to protect the balance between worlds in Etro's stead. The final incarnation of Yeul, who wishes to live with Noel, is allowed to accompany Lightning and her friends. After the Eidolons and Mog depart for the Unseen Realm, Lightning, her allies, and
25437-416: The souls of the dead speak to Lightning through the visage of Cid Raines , a man Lightning encountered during XIII . He tells her that the Order has deceived Vanille into destroying the dead, so the living will forget their existence before their rebirth in the new world. Lightning decides to stop the ritual, though Cid warns her that she will be defying Bhunivelze's will. In the Wildlands, Lightning rescues
25620-486: The spread of such content, as well as exaggerating its number of users to appeal to advertisers. Zuckerberg built a website called "Facemash" in 2003 while attending Harvard University . The site was comparable to Hot or Not and used "photos compiled from the online face books of nine Houses, placing two next to each other at a time and asking users to choose the 'hotter' person". Facemash attracted 450 visitors and 22,000 photo-views in its first four hours. The site
25803-434: The story of both Lightning and the XIII universe, and to address criticisms leveled against the last two games. During its first week on sale in Japan, it sold 277,000 units, and by the end of 2013 became the 17th best-selling game of the year selling over 400,000 copies. It has sold 800,000 copies as of May 2014. It has received mixed reviews: while the main praise went to the game's battle system, opinions were more mixed for
25986-499: The studio instead created a spiritual successor : Arx Fatalis . Toby Gard stated that, when designing Tomb Raider , he "was a big fan of ... Ultima Underworld and I wanted to mix that type of game with the sort of polygon characters that were just being showcased in Virtua Fighter ". Ultima Underworld was also the basis for Looking Glass Technologies' later System Shock . The 1988 Origin Systems title Times of Lore
26169-444: The support of the controller. Users can access their own photos and videos, along with media shared on their newsfeed. In September, Facebook announced it would spend up to US$ 1 billion on original shows for its Facebook Watch platform. On October 16, it acquired the anonymous compliment app tbh , announcing its intention to leave the app independent. In October 2017, Facebook expanded its work with Definers Public Affairs ,
26352-431: The systems. Elliot said the limit overly pressured him, and became unpleasant when coupled with the time penalty for fleeing battle. The Famitsu reviewers said that the time limit was not an overly stressful factor. The graphics received mixed reviews. Sliva referred to the locations as "visually interesting and varied", while VanOrd said the player "can't help but gawk at the beautiful spectacle before [them]". Juba liked
26535-425: The team made adjustments so that players were given a more comfortable amount of time. Along with sharing design elements with the previous two XIII games, the system also bears similarities to the battle system of Final Fantasy XV , although the developers said that they were not directly inspired by it. Lightning's multiple outfits were designed by Isamu Kamikokuryo , the game's art director, Toshitaka Matsuda,
26718-620: The template for many future action RPGs, even though it does not strictly fit the definition of later action RPGs. In contrast to previous action RPGs, such as Dragon Slayer and Hydlide, which required the player to bump into enemies in order to attack them, The Legend of Zelda featured an attack button that animates a sword swing or projectile attack on the screen. It was also an early example of open-world, nonlinear gameplay , and introduced new features such as battery backup saving. These elements have been used in many action RPGs since. In 1987, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link implemented
26901-427: The temples to refuse to level him up. Xanadu Scenario II , released in 1986, was an expansion pack , created to expand the content of Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu . Hydlide II: Shine of Darkness (1985) also featured a morality system. Eurogamer cites Fairlight (1985) as an early action RPG. An important influence on the action RPG genre was the 1986 action-adventure The Legend of Zelda , which served as
27084-468: The term "action RPG" has come to be more commonly used for Diablo -style games, with The Legend of Zelda itself slowly recategorized as an action-adventure. Very commonly, these games used a fixed-camera isometric view of the game world, a necessity of the limitations of 2D graphics of early computers; even with 3D graphic engines, such point-and-click games are still presented from a similar isometric view, though providing options to rotate, pan, and zoom
27267-713: The things that I wanted to do and all the games that I ended up working on came out of the inspiration I took from [ Ultima Underworld ]". Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski also cited it as an early influence, stating that it had "far more impact on me than Doom ". Other games influenced by Ultima Underworld include The Elder Scrolls: Arena , Deus Ex , Deus Ex: Invisible War , Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines , and Half-Life 2 . FromSoftware 's Demon's Souls (2009) emphasized unforgiving enemies and environments, combined with risk-and-reward mechanics such as limited checkpoints, collecting "souls" that can be consumed as experience points to increase
27450-547: The third game in the Parasite Eve series, features a unique blend of action RPG, real-time tactical RPG, survival horror and third-person tactical shooter elements. Shooter-based RPGs include Imageepoch 's post-apocalyptic Black Rock Shooter (2011) , which employs both first-person and third-person shooter elements, and Square Enix's Final Fantasy XV (2016) , which features both hack and slash and third-person shooter elements. The online live service version gained
27633-462: The third year in a row. The company announced 500 million users in July 2010. Half of the site's membership used Facebook daily, for an average of 34 minutes, while 150 million users accessed the site from mobile devices. A company representative called the milestone a "quiet revolution". In October 2010 groups were introduced. In November 2010, based on SecondMarket Inc. (an exchange for privately held companies' shares), Facebook's value
27816-466: The three months prior to that found that 54% of the anti-vaccine advertisements on Facebook were placed by just two organisations funded by well-known anti-vaccination activists. The Children's Health Defense / World Mercury Project chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Stop Mandatory Vaccination , run by campaigner Larry Cook, posted 54% of the advertisements. The ads often linked to commercial products, such as natural remedies and books. On March 14,
27999-486: The time limit made the quests "a waste of the precious time left". The time limit itself received mixed reviews. Sliva said the time limit gave the game "a sense of urgency ... that I really enjoy", while VanOrd said the limit worked against the player and "collides with almost every other aspect of the game". Juba enjoyed planning out his days, but on the other felt that the time limit prevented exploration, and that it severely limited player's ability to fully dive into some of
28182-503: The time of day. That concept partially gave rise to the game's time limit, which was suggested by game design director Yuji Abe after having read of the Doomsday Clock . Another inspiration behind the story pacing and time limit was the 2011 film In Time . The open world aspect of the game was heavily influenced by The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim , and some of the hard-edged gameplay ideas were borrowed from Dark Souls . The majority of
28365-470: The time. Development of Lightning Returns started in May 2012, soon after the release of Requiem of the Goddess , the final story-based DLC episode for XIII-2 . According to Motomu Toriyama , he had wanted to tell more stories about Lightning, and the DLC had not provided a satisfactory ending for her. The game was designed in a shorter time than the other games in the series; Yoshinori Kitase explained that this
28548-598: The top ten debut video games. The game was 8th in the top ten best-selling video games of February. By May 2014, the game had sold approximately 800,000 copies worldwide. According to Steam Spy , a further 376,000 copies of the Windows PC version were sold by April 2018. As of September 2014, Final Fantasy XIII series was widely successful and has shipped over 11 million copies worldwide. Final Fantasy series brand manager Shinji Hashimoto revealed in October 2016 that Lightning Returns met sales expectations and that Square Enix
28731-448: The world means NPCs are in constant movement, and only appear in certain places at a given time. Lightning can also accept quests from the Canvas of Prayers, a post board found in all the main locations. Upon completing NPC quests, Lightning is rewarded with a portion of Eradia, spiritual energy retrieved when a person's burden is lifted. Every day at 6 AM game-time, Lightning is drawn back into
28914-600: Was $ 41 billion ($ 57.3 billion in 2023 dollars ). The company had slightly surpassed eBay to become the third largest American web company after Google and Amazon.com . On November 15, 2010, Facebook announced it had acquired the domain name fb.com from the American Farm Bureau Federation for an undisclosed amount. On January 11, 2011, the Farm Bureau disclosed $ 8.5 million ($ 11.5 million in 2023 dollars ) in "domain sales income", making
29097-437: Was also made into a darker and more vulnerable character, partly because Kitase felt that her previous stoic depictions might have alienated earlier players. The main scenario and script was written by Daisuke Watanabe , the main writer for the previous XIII games. During the concept process, Watanabe, Toriyama and other members of staff brainstormed ideas for important scenes and events leading up to them. The process of writing
29280-478: Was also one of the earliest action RPGs. Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu , released in 1985 (billed as a "new type of real-time role-playing game"), was an action role-playing game including many character stats and a large quest. It also incorporated a side-scrolling view during exploration and an overhead view during battle, and an early "Karma" morality system where the character's Karma meter will rise if he commits sin (killing "good" enemies), which in turn causes
29463-508: Was also released that year. It was a party-based action RPG, with the player controlling a party of four characters at the same time in a side-scrolling view. The game also featured character creation, highly customizable characters, class-based puzzles, and a new scenario system, allowing players to choose from 15 scenarios, or quests , to play through in the order of their choice. It was also an episodic video game , with expansion disks later released offering more scenarios. Falcom also released
29646-433: Was an action RPG with an icon-based point-and-click interface. Bad Blood , another Origin Systems game from 1990, would use the same interface. The designers were inspired by console titles, particularly The Legend of Zelda , to make their interface more accessible. The 1994 title Ultima VIII used mouse controls and attempted to add precision jumping sequences reminiscent of a Mario platform game, though reactions to
29829-603: Was an action RPG. Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton claimed that the Intellivision games Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1982) and Treasure of Tarmin (1983) were action RPGs. Shaun Musgrave of TouchArcade notes that Adventure lacked RPG mechanics such as experience points and permanent character growth, and argues that Gateway to Apshai is "the earliest game I'd feel comfortable calling an action-RPG" but notes that "it doesn't fit neatly into our modern genre classifications", though came closer than Bokosuka Wars released
30012-476: Was an ongoing rivalry developing between the Dragon Slayer and Hydlide series over the years. The Tower of Druaga , Dragon Slayer and Hydlide were influential in Japan, where they influenced later action RPGs such as Ys , as well as The Legend of Zelda . Falcom's Dragon Slayer , created by Yoshio Kiya, is "the very first action-RPG ever made" according to GameSetWatch. Originally released for
30195-411: Was because the team did not want players to forget the story of the previous games, and the team needed to work especially hard as a result. Another reason was that the team wished to bring the XIII series to a close before the release of the next generation of gaming hardware. The title was also chosen to be the last original Final Fantasy game on seventh generation consoles , and next-gen versions of
30378-412: Was cited by Abe as its main weakness. The time limit sprang from the story concept of a world with a set time to live. When the feature was first announced, there were some who felt it was too new for the game, as a time limit was seen as a taboo in role-playing video games. The mechanic originally received negative feedback from test players who were unable to complete the game in time. In response to this,
30561-454: Was eight minutes longer than it took police to arrest the gunman. About 1.3m copies of the video were blocked from Facebook but 300,000 copies were published and shared. Facebook has promised changes to its platform; spokesman Simon Dilner told Radio New Zealand that it could have done a better job. Several companies, including the ANZ and ASB banks, have stopped advertising on Facebook after the company
30744-411: Was eventually cancelled due to the author falling ill. After the game's release, a three-part novella set after Lightning Returns ' ending was released through Famitsu Weekly magazine, titled Final Fantasy XIII Reminiscence: tracer of memories . Written by Watanabe based on and incorporating the material written for Chronicle of Chaotic Era , the book takes the form of a series of interviews with
30927-457: Was free for the first two weeks, and then became paid DLC. Lightning Returns was released on November 21, 2013, in Japan and in February 2014 for other markets. Alongside the standard release, a special box set titled "Lightning Ultimate box" was released. It included Final Fantasy XIII , XIII-2 and Lightning Returns , a figurine of Lightning, selected music from the games, a special stand from
31110-444: Was initially restricted to students of Harvard College . Within a month, more than half the undergraduates had registered. Dustin Moskovitz , Andrew McCollum , and Chris Hughes joined Zuckerberg to help manage the growth of the website. In March 2004, Facebook expanded to Columbia , Stanford and Yale . It then became available to all Ivy League colleges, Boston University , NYU , MIT , and successively most universities in
31293-446: Was introducing clickable hashtags to help users follow trending discussions, or search what others are talking about on a topic. San Mateo County , California, became the top wage-earning county in the country after the fourth quarter of 2012 because of Facebook. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the average salary was 107% higher than the previous year, at $ 168,000 a year ($ 222,961 in 2023 dollars ), more than 50% higher than
31476-406: Was less-well received, with Sliva saying it made him "feel like [he] was stuck in the opening hours of an MMO", while Juba called the tasks "dull". Parkin said that the quests "can seem trivial under the eye of the apocalyptic clock". VanOrd commented that while many quests were "absorbing on their own", he admired their ability to get the player out into the world. Destructoid 's Dale North felt that
31659-443: Was little development for Lightning as a character, and that the narrative "killed whatever lingering investment [he] had in the universe". VanOrd found the large amount of character dialogue a distracting and jarring feature, while Parkin said that the game's narrative could not fix the issues present in the previous two XIII games, although the side-quests and dialogue helped lighten Lightning's character. Elliot spoke of it as one of
31842-407: Was not cash flow positive yet. On July 20, 2008, Facebook introduced "Facebook Beta", a significant redesign of its user interface on selected networks. The Mini-Feed and Wall were consolidated, profiles were separated into tabbed sections, and an effort was made to create a cleaner look. Facebook began migrating users to the new version in September 2008. In July 2008, Facebook sued StudiVZ ,
32025-423: Was not designed for open-world games. In contrast to the previous games, a lot of the game's cutscenes were created while the game was still in development, meaning many placeholder objects and models had to be used until the final assets could be put in place. The team also had to thoroughly check Lightning's various outfits and weapons, to ensure that there were no mistakes in cutscenes with the weapons going through
32208-562: Was re-released with a PS4 "Pro" edition in 2018. Assassin's Creed , a long-running Ubisoft franchise, also shifted towards the action RPG formula, inspired by the successes of The Witcher 3 and the Dark Souls series, with its titles Origins (2017), Odyssey (2018) and Valhalla (2020). Avalanche Software released Hogwarts Legacy in 2023. Set in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and its surrounding areas,
32391-450: Was released for arcades in June 1984, and was intended as a "fantasy version of Pac-Man , with puzzles to solve, monsters to battle, and hidden treasure to find". Its success in Japan inspired the development of Dragon Slayer (1984) and Hydlide (1984). Dragon Slayer , Hydlide and Courageous Perseus (1984) "vie for position as genre precedent" according to John Szczepaniak, and there
32574-490: Was reportedly unaware at the time. In May 2009, Zuckerberg said of the $ 200 million Russian investment, "This investment is purely buffer for us. It is not something we needed to get to cash flow positive." In September 2009, Facebook became cash flow positive ahead of schedule after closing a roughly $ 200 million gap in operating profitability. In 2010, Facebook won the Crunchie "Best Overall Startup Or Product" award for
32757-421: Was sent to several campus group listservs , but was shut down a few days later by Harvard administration. Zuckerberg faced expulsion and was charged with breaching security, violating copyrights and violating individual privacy. Ultimately, the charges were dropped. Zuckerberg expanded on this project that semester by creating a social study tool. He uploaded art images, each accompanied by a comments section, to
32940-453: Was the force behind what appeared to be a broad anti-Facebook movement, and created other negative media, along with America Rising , that was picked up by larger media organisations like Breitbart News . Facebook cut ties with the agency in late 2018, following public outcry over their association. Posts originating from the Facebook page of Breitbart News , a media organization previously affiliated with Cambridge Analytica, were among
33123-511: Was used in many later games. T&E Soft 's Hydlide , released in December 1984, was created by Tokihiro Naito, who was influenced by The Tower of Druaga . It was the first action RPG with an overworld . The game was immensely popular in Japan, selling 2 million copies across all platforms. According to John Szczepaniak, it "cannot be overstated how influential Hydlide was on the ARPGs which followed it". The same year, Courageous Perseus
33306-632: Was valued at $ 10 billion. A separate stake was also acquired by Usmanov's USM Holdings on another occasion. According to the New York Times in 2013, "Mr. Usmanov and other Russian investors at one point owned nearly 10 percent of Facebook, though precise details of their ownership stakes are difficult to assess." It was later revealed in 2017 by the Paradise Papers that lending by Russian state-backed VTB Bank and Gazprom 's investment vehicle partially financed these 2009 investments, although Milner
33489-618: Was widely condemned by the public. Following the attack, Facebook began blocking white nationalist , white supremacist , and white separatist content, saying that they could not be meaningfully separated. Previously, Facebook had only blocked overtly supremacist content. The older policy had been condemned by civil rights groups, who described these movements as functionally indistinct. Further bans were made in mid-April 2019, banning several British far-right organizations and associated individuals from Facebook, and also banning praise or support for them. NTJ 's member Moulavi Zahran Hashim,
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