Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Reviews

Lightning Returns follows the trend of it’s predecessors and doesn’t have your typical leveling system; matter of fact, there is no leveling at all. Stat improvements come in the form of quest rewards. Of course, you also improve with better gear, with the aforementioned Schemas, but for the most part though, they are only available via vendors or story progression. Grinding is pretty optional in Lightning Returns. The only annoying thing I really discovered while roaming around the world of Lightning Returns, is that sometimes the game asked for some precise platforming, which it isn’t really built for, luckily these moments are few and far between.

A complex and enjoyable JRPG, if not a brilliant one.

“While it’s got some good ideas, a weak story and lack of design cohesion are the biggest sins committed by Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.”

A very poor place to start.

Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns doesn’t make it easy to enjoy. The narrative ventures towards the incomprehensible at times, side missions have been turned into a dull grind, and the changes to the traditional RPG formula don’t really work — that is except for the new battle system, which is fun, challenging and refreshing. Die hard fans of the XIII saga will no doubt enjoy the definitive conclusion on offer here, but if the previous two entries failed to impress you then Lightning Returns certainly won’t.

I came into Lightning Returns expecting a wonderful story teeming with glorious characters and a interesting protagonist. Instead it was fresh combat system, challenging fights, and varied customizable options that was the primary reason I enjoyed Lightning’s adventure. It’s a shame that the plot is underwhelming and Lightning herself given an uneventful final hurrah. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 is a great action-adventure title with a sizable amount of options for personalizing Lightning, but falls short of what made past Final Fantasy games memorable.

The short version of this Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII review is this: If you haven’t played FFXIII or FFXIII-2 then don’t bother with this. Frankly the storyline is likely to be a perplexing quagmire even for those who are au fait with the series, so newcomers would be best to steer clear. With that in mind you can also expect brief spoilers here for the aforementioned games. It’s kind of unavoidable, such is the nature of the beast. With all that being said we can now welcome...

If you don’t like Final Fantasy XIII’s characters or storyline, Lightning Returns isn’t going to do much to change your mind, but if you can get past its graphical issues and occasionally problematic plot, there’s a lot to like here. If you’re already a fan of the Final Fantasy XIII series, or just like excellent gameplay and well-realized open worlds, you should definitely check it out.

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Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is a strange end to Square's trilogy. Its fresh combat system is a great success, and the well-designed world provides more than enough reason to play through the end of Lightning's journey. At the same time, the incredibly inconsistent tone and underwhelming plot caused any story-based satisfaction to completely elude me. Lightning Returns is a good game, but one that forgets that a big part of what make the Final Fantasy games so memorable is how they created characters we could care about.

Lighting Returns takes to the end of the world with vivacity and conviction, reshaping the way that RPGs can and should be in many great ways. Even if the game engine is well past its prime and the voice acting is weak at times, the overall package is an entanglement of nostalgia and intrigue for fans of Final Fantasy XIII and the RPG genre.

Here we are on the third and final installment to the Final Fantasy XIII series. While I’ve played FFXIII myself, I watched my sister play FFXIII-2 instead. With that said, if you’ve played both games, or know the gist of the story, it’s evident that one of the main elements in the game is the bond between the sisters Lightning and Serah.  In FFXIII you play mainly as Lightning to save Serah, then in the FFXIII-2 you play as Serah to save Lighting. For my sister and me, we chose to approach the FFXIII universe by playing the respective games we did, one for each, making our experience that much more memorable. I know cheesy right? Coming back around full circle it’s once again my turn to play as Lightning tackling whatever comes my way. With the first two games resulting in quite a bit of loose ends and criticism, I yearned for this final installment to bring the FFXIII series to a commendable close.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII starts out as a game full of promise, however things go down hill the further you get into it. The combat system is solid and the Schemata customization is easy to get lost in. The art direction and soundtrack are beautiful in and of themselves, however the areas of the world suffer from the limitations of the game’s engine and lack of consistency in quality control.