Final Fantasy XIII upheld the series’ high standards in the graphical department, but there was little in the way of player choice outside of battle. There were no sprawling, non-player character-filled towns to explore and few side-quests to complete. In short, the game was a linear, lifeless affair to many long-time Final Fantasy fans.

The bigwigs behind FFXIII are hoping to right these wrongs in the upcoming sequel for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. In a video interview conducted during E3 2011 by GameTrailers, director Motomu Toriyama and veteran producer Yoshinori Kitase talk about the multiple changes they have wrought upon the sequel.

These include the reintroduction of towns; multiple endings; “player-driven” story progression; and no less than 150 different recruitable monsters to aid you in battle.

The harsh reaction to FFXIII has clearly been taken to heart by the development team, and Mr. Kitase states as much. Despite its problems FFXIII sold very well (more than 5 million copies thus far) due to an aggressive marketing campaign and the peerless strength of the Final Fantasy brand.

Square Enix needs something potent to entice its fanbase back to the franchise, and it’s going about it by including all the features fans so sorely missed in the last title. Only time will tell if Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be able to stand on its own two feet as a noteworthy entry in this time-worn series, or if it will merely be brushed off as a lame attempt to pander to the disenchanted portion of the Final Fantasy fold.

Here’s the full video interview with Yoshinori Kitase:

Final Fantasy XIII-2 - Player Driven Interview