It’s no secret that a not-inconsiderable part of the appeal of a Final Fantasy game is the inclusion of luscious pre-rendered cut-scenes, usually filled with incredible sights and jaw-dropping action.

Square Enix recently gave us all another taste of what we can expect (as far as CG cinematics go) in Final Fantasy XIII-2 as protagonist Lightning and the seemingly evil Caius cross swords and magicks in the midst of an erupting battlefield.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 - Battle In Valhalla Trailer

While we’ve got you here, we can also tell you that in a recent interview with Destructoid, Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase has let it be known that the team developing Final Fantasy XIII-2 has been hard at work ensuring that the “quite conspicuous” differences between the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Final Fantasy XIII will be lessened in this latest game, while explaining why there were there in the first place:

“When we made XIII, there were lots of movie scenes, so there were some issues transferring them from Blu-ray to an Xbox 360 disc. The difference was quite conspicuous,” said Kitase.

“But since then, we have moved on and now have more advanced optimization technology, which means many of the scenes that would be expressed through movies can now be expressed as real-time event scenes.

“We have a less serious issue of memory between the two difference consoles,” Kitase continued, “so I think the difference between the two consoles will be a lot smaller now.”

In addition, and in an interview with Game Informer, Final Fantasy XIII-2 director Motomu Toriyama has also explained that the developers aim to get players into the game as soon as possible and keep up the pace of the action as much as possible to ensure interest remains high, unlike Final Fantasy XIII:

“When we started working on Final Fantasy XIII-2, we kept in mind that we didn’t want a long, drawn-out movie sequence. We wanted it to be more hands-on so people could get into the game at a faster pace. That’s why the opening battle sequence of FF XIII-2 showcases the new direction of a more integrated battle system.

“The tutorial also kicks in earlier, which is now playable. We just wanted people to get into the game faster than with Final Fantasy XIII.”

Be sure to read the full text of both of those interviews for tons of excellent Final Fantasy XIII-2 information!

Final Fantasy XIII-2 releases in Japan on December 15th, North America on January 31st 2012 and Europe and the UK on February 3rd, across Xbox 360 and PS3.

You can look over El33tonline’s past coverage of Final Fantasy XIII-2 for more screens, details and trailers.