Lightning Almost Returns Again

April 1 – Tokyo – Square Portal has discovered a brand new survival horror game in development for PlayStation 4 and PC. As part of the 30th anniversary celebration, “Lightning 4 Dead” takes the Final Fantasy series back to its roots by reviving concepts from the beloved fan favourite “Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus”. The innovative survival horror game follows Lightning – the iconic heroine, fashion model, lifestyle blogger, saviour of the world, goddess of pop, the best Drag King Cloud Strife impersonator – who is now visiting the planet Earth filled with zombies as well as other infectious creatures of the night. Her mission is to guide her new friends to the safe zone, discover the cure for a mysterious infection, and of course, ultimately save the world! Sadly, the game was meant to be released later this year but due to focus testing the company has now decided to cancel the project. We are more than thrilled to be able to offer you the first look at this never before seen project!

“Lightning 4 Dead” was meant to be a truly one of a kind experience with unique gameplay mechanics such as mindless shooting, an engaging up-to-4-player co-op around the globe, unlimited collectables,  hundreds of generic fetch quests to kill your precious time, QTEs offering a more cinematic experience and an empty open world to explore for your own amusement. The players were also able customize Lightning with a large variety of weapons from close combat axes to sniper rifles and cat guns. The soundtrack featured tunes highly influenced by the latest hits and bobs – so get ready to shoot ’em up and shake yo booty! Or not….

Not Your Usual JRPG

As a trademark of the famed Final Fantasy series, Square Enix wanted to create an amazing story for the title. “Lightning 4 Dead” was written by the most talented fan-fiction writers they could possibly find online and it offered everyone a grand adventure filled with drama, tragedy, romance and hilarious moments! We can guarantee that the world of “Lightning 4 Dead” looked like it was going to be absolutely thrilling and welcoming for both fans and newcomers alike. Like in Final Fantasy XV, the world was filled with memorable characters and enemies whose full potential was used throughout the story without taking any cheap shortcuts or leaving plotholes behind! The favorite Tumblr and Twitter bloggers with fancy anime and waifu avatars were assisting the team to create truly trendy and fresh dialogue for the game, such as:

“Stun.” [#emotional quote from the game, please credit]

“Lightning 4 Dead” wasn’t going to be your usual JRPG experience. The developers decided to make it a free-to-play title and it featured special in-game currency which could be acquired by completing objectives. For 5000 golden eggs, you could purchase a gacha ball that had a chance as high as 1 % to contain a highly ranked weapon or one of many beautiful cosmetics that can be used for glamours. Once you collected over 50000 golden eggs, you had a higher change for roll 5-star weapons and ultimata cosmetics. If the player was tired of grinding, one didn’t have any reason to worry as these eggs could be purchased with real world money as well! 5000 eggs can be bought with 20€ and 50000 for 200€. By inviting friends, the player would also receive silver eggs that grand you up-to 3-star cosmetics and weapons!

It’s such a shame that Lightning 4 Dead was cancelled. It would have been quite an extreme release from Square Enix and it still remains as one of the most intriguing pieces of gaming history. As days and years go past, we might be able to uncover even more details about the would-be title in the future! Enjoy the exclusive screenshots and the demo gameplay clip!