How to cut down game size to 29GB

This guide demonstrates how to halve the game's size by removing unnecessary English/Japanese files (depending on your preference), along with DirectX binaries and the such.

Intro

Yo guys, I noticed earlier that there were duplicate (except for sound and lip syncing, of course) video files for the Japanese/English audio versions of the game. When I went back, I noticed that there seemed to be duplicates for maps and system filelists and the such.

In this guide, I will attempt to show you how to drastically reduce the size of the game, from around 59GB to around 29GB, without impacting normal gameplay by removing one of the two versions of the game.

To begin this process, direct yourself to the C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\FINAL FANTASY XIII\white_data directory. Keep in mind that the filepath may be slightly different on your computer depending on the drive your operating system is installed to, and your operating system.

Some notes:

• While this seems to work 100% for movie files, I haven't tested removing the other files extensively. Let me know if you experience any issues, and keep a temporary backup to prevent an extremely large download. USE THIS GUIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK!
  
  
• _All_ movie files can be removed, if you are so inclined. This will result in a lack of audio and video when a pre-rendered cutscene plays, but the game will remain stable and the cutscene can be skipped. Removing all movie files cuts down the game size about 40GB alone, 50GB if the other language files are also removed.
  
  
• Keep in mind that if there is an update or you have to verify the game cache, the game will attempt to redownload any missing files. You can disable automatic updates through the update tab of FFXIII's properties widget to prevent huge downloads.
  
  
• After removing system/zone files for Japanese (vice versa with English), attempting to start the game in Japanese seems to start the game in English mode.

movie

From the C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\FINAL FANTASY XIII\white_data directory, open the movie folder.

If you play the Japanese version of the game, remove/backup all .wmp files that contain the string "_us" (for example, z000_1_us.win32.wmp).

If you play the English version of the game, remove/backup all .wmp that DO NOT contain the string "_us" (for example, z000_1.win32.wmp).

This will free up about 20GB of space and is confirmed safe.

sys

From the C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\FINAL FANTASY XIII\white_data directory, open the sys folder.

For those playing the Japanese version of the game, remove/backup all files that end with "u" (for example, filelist_scru.win32).

For those playing the English version of the game, remove/backup all files that end with "c" (for example, filelist_scrc.win32).

This will result in about 2.8GB of data being removed.

zone

From the C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\FINAL FANTASY XIII\white_data directory, open the zone folder.

For those playing the Japanese version, remove/backup all files that contain the letter "u" after a few numbers (for example, white_z000u_img.win32). Some of these files do not appear to be duplicates of other files, so those playing the Japanese version would want to delete "u" files that contain a corresponding "c" file.

A list of "u" files to keep for the Japanese version:
white_z001u_img.win32.bin
white_z005u_img.win32.bin
white_z007u_img.win32.bin
white_z009u_img.win32.bin
white_z025u_img.win32.bin
white_z028u_img.win32.bin

For those playing the English version, remove/backup all files that contain the letter "c" after a few numbers (for example, white_z000c_img.win32).

This will free up about 6GB worth of space.

Optional - _CommonRedist

From the C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\FINAL FANTASY XIII\white_data directory, head up one directory to the FINAL FANTASY XIII folder.

From here, you can delete the _CommonRedist folder, which contains DirectX/DotNet binaries.

This frees up about 400MB worth of space.

Conclusion

I hope this helps you guys out that have smaller HDDs or SSDs.

However, keep in mind that removing zone or sys files might crash the game. Please let me know if it does.

[ShakeLeader]

Don't think I would ever do this, but thank you for providing the information to those that might want to.

[Succubus Nirriti]

Thanks a whole lot! <3

[Fuku]

About LR, It's "a" for English and "v" for Japanese.

[EnforcerRidley]

I found that this can be applied to Final Fantasy XIII-2 but not exactly Lightning Returns as Lightning Returns doesn't have "c" for Japanese and "u" for English but "a" and "v". Which between "a" and "v" is the Japanese and the English, I do not know.

[Crashed]

The _CommonRedist directory no longer holds redistributables since the big redist merge on Steam.

[RåvêñM姆êr]

i did all of this and now my game just gets a black screen

[jamesboi8]

I made a mistake by removing all of the "_us" files in the movie folder as I thought they contained the Japanese version.

How do I restore them now as most are permanently deleted and I can't get them back???

[Supremacy]

I was wondering why the hell this 10 year old game was 60GB. Plus since the cutscenes are suppose to be 720p, like there's no way.

[MidnightPlusOne]

hint: you can also replace whatever files you want with 0 byte files with the same name and extension. it may take a bit longer than deleting them, though.

[BulletSong]

Awesome guide, incredibly helpful.