Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Overall this game really did a great job wrapping up the story. It is kind of sad to see this series end. I know it got a lot of flack for some of the choices Squeenix went with this series but overall I thought it was a great one. Lightning Returns is probably the best of the series. It's close but I feel comfortable saying that. As always my reviews are split into 3 sections: story, gameplay, and characters with story getting the most weight. Story: 9.5/10 So I have to say that overall the story of this game was potentially the best one of the 3. The first of the series had a great story as well but really this one really does do a great job. You play as lightning again, brought back by God to save the souls of the living 13 days before the end of the world. During those 13 days, you make your rounds around the world and lead your old friends to salvation. Now, I will talk about this more in the character section but they really did an outstanding job with the stories around the characters in this....well that is with the exception of Sazh. Like I said, the story does a nice job of having it's own main story to tell and wrapping up all the side stories of your characters. I do have to take a little off though because the story seemed so choppy. And that's probably because each area in the game has it's own "main story" and they don't really tie together that much until the very end. So the presentation can come off a little choppy and abrasive at times. And really..the sazh story...c'mon. Gameplay: 8.5/10 Man the gameplay is just a mixed bag all the way around. Don't get me wrong it's still a great gameplay but the gameplay in XIII-2 was soo great that this one had a tough act to follow. First the good. I really enjoyed the way they brough the dress sphere/jobs system back. You play as your only party character for most of the game and have complete control over Lightning. She's a one man wrecking crew. The world is extremely well done. The wildlands specifically were just a thrill to explore. Once again they do a great job with the sidequests. Some were really fun and exciting and worth the time investment. Plus I really liked how they changed the entire experience/leveling up thing they normally do and now you get stat increases for the quests you complete. No grinding which is great. Now the bad: Let's start with the worst thing. THE FRIGGIN GAME CLOCK. Yes the game gives you ample time to complete everything but it doesn't matter because you have a clock over your head telling you you have to hurry all the time. It really was awful and took away from the overall greatness of the game. Some other minor things...the graphics took a noticeable step back in this game. Characters: 9.25/10 This game really does have the best rendition of all the characters out of all 3 games. I absolutely hated Snow in both of the other 2 games. He was really a great character in this. I thought noel was pretty pointless in 2. Great side character in 3. The character development for all of the characters was just outstanding. The writers really did a great service to the characters in this game...EXCEPT for Sazh. He was relegated to a cranky old man that couldn't get past himself. After all of the great work the first game did making him an interesting character, the following games relegated him to mere fodder. They barely put him in the last scenes of the game. It really was a pity seeing him reduced to what he was. Alas Overall 9.25/10 I rated XIII-2 the same exact overall score but I would give this one the nod simply because the story and characters were so much better. It's really hard for me to pick a favorite out of the 3 because each game had it's clear strengths and unfortunately it's clear faults. XIII's fault was it's gameplay, XIII-2's was the characters, and LR's was the gameplay. But in the end, LR had less glaring problems and higher positives I think. It's close. It's like picking a favorite bacon. They are all pretty darn good. Like I said I'm so sad to see this series go. It really was a well written story. But i am blown away with how well LR ended it. Just a wonderfully written ending.

Very different from Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 -- and a worthy closer to a great trilogy. It also plays perfectly fine as a stand-alone title. Certainly, there are some story elements that might be hard to grasp if you haven't played the first two -- however, the back story is not pertinent to enjoying the game. One could likely watch a YouTube video to get the gist of the first two games' plots. Only issue I had was that I felt that there should have been more than just a nod to Falcie. The first game was a story about humans vs. Falcie. The second game did not even mention them - which was a bit odd. This one sort of mentions that they exist but you never see them and they don't play into the story. If you consider the plot and end game story -- the inclusion of a singular Eidolon but the exclusion of the rest doesn't really balance. REGARDLESS -- this game has massive depth to it, an extremely interesting world and -- the running clock was fine! It took a little bit to get used to, but all of the positive comments from patient gamers are true -- as long as you are progressing, you can freeze the clock. It keeps a sense of urgency and it's fine. Perhaps SQUENIX could have had an option to automatically enable this feature - however, it does play into resource management. I had no problem with the clock and finished the game with pretty much 100% objectives done. Didn't beat the super boss in the desert -- but from what I've understood, that's really just something for people to tackle in a New Game+ mode. Haven't played New Game+ but I think that SQUENIX made a great choice to allow additional customization possibilities available. That's enough to make New Game+ a worthy experience. Absolutely loved this game.

I've actually liked each of the FFXIII entries, but in their own unique way. Most of you will probably discredit me on that statement alone, but that's ok because that's your opinion. I will say, each entry has had its share of flaws, but every FF game (really any game for that manner) has had its flaws too. Where this game really shines is the battle system. It pretty much takes every good element of all the varying ATB systems in past FF games and gives it more of an action feel without taking away that classic battle feel. Hard to explain until you've tried it. I like how the senseless 'X' mashing in battle is completely gone, which progressively got better with each FFXIII entry which felt a little too mindless button mashing for my taste. The customization of battle strategies are all up to you, nothing pre canned really, which makes for a lot of freedom. The ATB system in actual battle is executed perfectly forcing you to switch garbs and roles. If this is where the battle system is headed for FFXV then I am on board. The time clock is confusing at first and it's tricky to figure out how to manage your time and quests, especially if your feeling lost on where to go. I understand you can't hit every quest, though it would be nice on first pass through (this will frustrate some), but given the context of lightnings mission it makes more sense as you go. Really, it has to be taken in context and makes for an intriguing gameplay. The whole gaining time and gathering eradia is confusing at times, but ultimately it works. Again, hard to describe unless you play first. I'll add more on the story when I get further into it. Overall first impressions are really good.

I can't think any other game that has had such a huge divide in opinion when it comes to the Final Fantasy XIII and its subsequent sequels. Mario Sunshine and Resident Evil 5 don't seem to even come close. One gamer saying its a underrated gem and another saying its the equivalent to dog droppings. Just to share those who are reading this an insight into my thoughts on the games and if this review is worth your time. I loved XIII. i consider it a throwback to VII and X which both had very linear, story-driven beginnings that later opened up into a big map in the game, focused on a small group of characters, and was centered on fighting against destiny and authority figures. I loved the inventive ATB battle system and got attached to most of the characters and their epic journey, 10/10 to me and one of my favorite RPGs of last gen. XIII-2 felt like a knee-jerk reaction from the decisive reaction it got from fans and critics and made the game open-ended at the beginning with being able to select different worlds in a Super Mario World-ish map and introduced a monster collecting mechanic but amiss the interesting new mechanics and additions, I felt the story got way too convoluted when XIII had a much more focused story, 7.5/10 to me. Here's my breakdown of Lightning Returns and my 45 hour session with it. Story 7/10 I personally think XIII was perfectly fine as a standalone title and XIII-2 was an awkward attempt to prolong the story so I was very worried how Lightning Returns was going to make any sort of competent story with now majorly convoluted story. The good news it LR mostly wipes the slate clean and gives you a simple set up, if you don't try to over think it: The world has been thrown off balance by the events of the last game and is so bad that God (with a unnecessarily hard to spell name) has decided to start anew and has chosen Lightning as his savior to save the souls of as many people as she can, including her old friend, to bring into the new world he's making and she only has 13 days to complete the task. No knowledge of L'Cie, Time travel. Eidolons or Etro is needed to play the game and the game sticks to its clean slate approach, for the most part. Lightning, as the entire XIII trilogy, is a divisive character for many with some seeing her as a monotone, boring character and the idea of her as the only character you control and will be going through the game would be torture to them. Personally, I think Ali Hallis does a astounding job of inserting humanity and personality into a strong, stoic character that other less talented VAs would end up as what Light's detractors say. She does a great job narrating this often confusing story and makes many lines that ought to be dry as funny, sarcastic quips from Lightning. Ali has shown this wonderful job of adding those small details into a stoic charter like she did with Dr. Liara T'Soni from the Mass Effect triliogy, another character who first comes off as too reserved and stoic but grows on you. The story dips up and down in quality from the different main stories, each of which is centered on a main character from the past games, I'd say spoiler but all these characters have been prominently shown in the trailers so up to you if you want to go in blind or not. Some doing a good job of book ending some charters problems in the past games like Snow and Noel while others felt rushed and not much thought put into it, with Yeul/Caius, doing their best to make the story incomprehensible, and most saddening Sazh, a character that has been the universal beacon for the XIII games that everyone has loved and enjoyed, getting such a lame plotline, I thought it was a joke at first and unfortunately WAS a unfunny one. I'm happy once the main missions where finished and things kicked into the climax, the story improved and really showed some shining moments for Liightning's character and we get some of the best moments of the character that she is much more then the stoic warrioress she lets on to be. The ending becomes a nice nod to Persona, and runs back with the theme that was introduced in XIII, rejecting authority , the most powerful one at that, and emphasizing on the necessity for humanity to fight and live for themselves, needing only friendship, not gods. Its a wee bit anti-religious but that's nothing new to those who have played Final Fantasy games or many other JRPGs series like Persona and that's either a plus or minus to you from your personal tastes. It's overall a bit sketchy, and outright stumbling at times, but overall it could have been much worse and ends up being a competent story, which is too bad for a Final Fantasy game which are known for 10/10 stories but thankfully this game has a lot of leverage to lean on for its serviceable plot. Graphics 8/10 Animation is varied in most scenes and rarely uses repeated animations outside of NPC conversations. It's inconsistent though, oddly for Square who are known for very polished graphics. Some areas like the Wildlands and Luxerion are beautifully detailed and has wonderful art direction that stands out from typical JRPG fare. The quality dips though during NPC moments where it seems it was rushed and some character designs look lazy and almost PS2 era of detail. Very stark when looking at the wonderfully, detailed and animated Lightning. Animation in battles are sublime though and everything looks wonderful from the hit detection, spell effects and attacking motions and the CGI cutscenes are what you'd expect from SE, top of the line along with Halo and Mass Effect. Music/Sound 10/10 Along with Sazh, the next most respected aspect of the XIII trilogy has been its amazing music and LR doesn't deviate from the amazing streak Masashi Hamauzu has been on, along with Mitsuto Suzuki and Noashi Mizuta adding in modern, electronic flavor to the soundtrack. Hamauzu brings his stelar bag of tricks, with lush, sweeping orchestral pieces that oozes with emotion and flair with Humanity's Tale, Song of the Savior ~Grand Finale~, and Luxerion showcasing his utter mastery of orchestral compositionm with some of the best symphonic pieces I've heard since Joe Hisaishi's goosbump inducing work on Ni No Kuni. What really stands out though is how much Suzuki and Mitzuta have grown as composers and take on so much of the grunt work on the soundtrack and are comparable to Hamauzu's work, something I didn't think when they where brought in on XIII-2. The Wildlands, The Savior, Yusnaan Palace and Dead Dunes really cements Mitzuta as the thinking man's composer, deftly combining symphonic and electronic elements together and really makes this soundtrack his own next to the other two. As much as I've loved the battle systems and art design, the music throughout the XIII trilogy has ended up being my favorite part of the games and will go down as some of the best work music last gen next to Ni No Kuni, Halo series and Journey imo. Gameplay 10/10 And now the meat of the game and I'm glad to report this is the best its been in the series. I thin the developers must have been playing some Dark Souls after XIII-2 because the difficulty has spiked up considerably and there is almost hand holding this time, The game flings you out and expects you to manage your health, money, and time off the bat and most the quests will expect you to do some research and speaking to NPCs to complete it. This is a wonderful response to the linear nature of the series and I appreciate Square put out such a hardcore game for a mainstream series like this, trusting Western gamers to handle, though it definitely has caused some whining, especially in the time management. I've seen 1 and 2 star reviews based solely on how hard the time management is and quite honestly, that's complete garbage. I've been a life long gamer so I might not be speaking for everyone but I kick my butt handed to me from Dark Souls and Super Meat Boy so definitely no the best and I was able to complete all the main missions and complete 50 side quests and STILL HAD 6 DAYS LEFT!! It simply takes the most basic of time management, fighting monsters for EP (basically tech points), using chronostasis (stopping time) and completing main mission s and you'll be perfectly fine with time to spare. With that cleared up, you'll also be happy to know this is one of the most fluent, elegant, fun experimentation of the ATB battle system I've ever played. Mixing X-2, Chrono Cross, Kingdom Hearts and even Paper Mario, you'll have a set-up of 3 schemata (jobs) to switch in battle where you'll have a ATB bar to use up with each attack or magic spell will take a amount of points of your bar until its near zero and you switch to another to use while the other will slowly regain ATB points while its on standby. It practically becomes an action game with how much hinges on your timing to use spells, block attacks and switch to new jobs on the fly. Its a wonderful take on ATB system that focuses a lot of action game reflexes but still have the strategy and management from a classic RPG. Overall: While the story leaves much to be desired, there's a challenging RPG here to sink your teeth into with a masterfully crafted battle system with beautifully polished open worlds to explore. It'll push you and demand good strategy in your fighting and customizing your classes while being lenient enough for you to explore the 4 big worlds even with a time clock to keep some pressure on you. 8.5/10

Good game! I like it.

I have not fully completed the game as of yet, but I am 50 hours in at this point. Some of you may be thinking if this game is worth playing? Well if you have played the previous 2 games in the series then yes you should play this. Even if your new to the Final Fantasy series, this is a great game to start off on in the aspect that it will be a warm up for what Final Fantasy 15 will bring to the table. This is not a traditional turn based RPG. This game leans more toward being an Action RPG. Pros: Battle System- Button mashing may get you by in some of the early fights, but the deeper you get into the game, the less effective that will become. The battle system really does revolve around Lightning. Your reflexes and timing must be fast and accurate if your going to overcome certain enemies in the game. Killing enemies in later days will provide better rewards. Exploration: Yep you won't be exploring just for the sake of it. You need to kill enemies for better abilities and complete quests in order to obtain new gear and stat points. Flexible Storyline: What I mean by this is that one player will have a different experience with the game in comparison to another player all based on when they do each portion of the storyline. As the days progress in the game, enemies will become harder. EX:So player A did a portion of a storyline early on, it may turn out very easy. While if player B was to do the same portion toward the end of the storyline, their experience may turn out to be very difficult. Hard Mode: Only in hard mode can you fully experience the game. Cerain items are only available in this mode. Neutral: Time clock: For me this wasn't an issue. I had to start over after hitting about the 33-35 hour mark in the game. Time management is very important in this game. Unless your using a strategy guide of some sort, you will more then likely fail in your first play through. What is nice is the New Game+ option which pretty much allows you to start over with all your gear and items from the previous play through. Only Key items and quests have to be obtained/completed again. Also on the maps you can use "markers" to highlight key locations rather that be tied in with an item or npc to cut down on search time on following play throughs. There is an EP ability that you gain in the storyline that will allow you to stop time for a certain duration of time. This should be used frequently but also wisely. I am putting this as a neutral since this will be a turn off to certain players. Story: Some people will like the storyline while others won't. I personally like the storyline since I am getting to see how Lighting handles certain topics/situations and even given some back story to this character at times. Cons: Lip Syncing- I don't know if anybody else had this issue, but I did. For a 2014 game this shouldn't be acceptable, even if it occured just a few times. Environments- Although the game is the most open of the triology, the environments just aren't as breath taking as the ones in the original Final Fantasy 13 game. The graphics on the environments is a step down. Adornments and some garbs- The adornments are just for pure look. I wish they wasn't incorporated into the game and focus went elsewhere. Some garbs are just pure "slutty". I understand the DEVS wanted to give the player the option to dress Claire as they want, but certain garbs just make me sick, even if they are functional.

This is a initial review/first impressions of the game. This is review/first impressions is coming from some one who enjoyed and loved FF13 and FF13-2. I won't talk to much about the story other than what has been told during trailers and game exposes. This is just my own personal opinion, I always say try the game out for yourself and don;t listen to others. So I suggest trying out the demo on PSN or Xbox Live. Lets just put it out there, if you didn't like the first two Final Fantasy 13 games, you probably won't like Lightning Returns(Storywise and one game mechanic). Story so far is similar to the story telling in the previous two entries. I was really skeptic of the Game Clock Count Down, but it does create a sense of urgency to the story. At first I was like "I gotta hurry, I gotta hurry", but I still had the freedom to roam around even if there was that sense of urgency of the clock. Now the only problem I have with the game clock is that if I take to much time messing around, I missed time sensitive access points. It is like real life, if you don't make it in time to a certain area, tough luck its closed. With that game clock mechanic, I can see why it makes people angry, but I like it. The combat in Lightning Returns is fun and unforgiving depending on what mode your playing easy or Normal (Hard mode is not available until you defeat Normal mode, then you can New Game+ into hard mode). If you play on easy mode, your health restores to full HP after each battle and if you flee from battle there is no time penalty( the catch in easy mode is that less rare items drop) . On Normal mode, your health does NOT restore after every battle/encounter with a monster, and if you flee the battle there is a one hour penalty added to the Ultimate Count Down Clock to the end of days. The Demo of Lightning Returns show cases the game play combat. I'll be honest, at first I was worried about all the costumes/garbs and DLC costumes/garbs, since most of the DLC pre-order bonus costumes are from games that I loved and how Lightning's personality doesn't really fit the costumes. Though after playing with Cloud outfit, Yuna outfit, and art of war garb in combat, they tailored the animations/moves/skills and stat bonuses to fit the Lightning and have a nostalgic feel. When I switch to Cloud Schemata, I did massive physical damage, and when I changed to Yuna Schemata, all the monsters that are weak against magic were vaporized. Story wise, I can't say much, since I am only 3-4 hours into the game, but I was slightly lost on how all the FF13 characters are still alive. Especially since Lightning Returns is set 500 years after the conclusion of FF13-2. But they do explain it in the the first hour or two. I really don't want to talk about the story much just because I don;t wanted to anger the Spoiler Police people. All in all, I am enjoying Lightning Returns so far, once I complete Lightning returns my opinion can change.

This game is easily the best in the trilogy and serves as a great way to end the story. The biggest and perhaps most imposing change comes in the form of the clock. Although this new feature introduces a sense of urgency, it does not diminish or hinder the quality of the game by any means. You will have more than enough time to finish 99% of the side quests and the main story. The timer is always present, but it is definitely not the pain other reviews make it out to be. This entry resolves many of the lingering questions/confusion primarily introduced by XIII-2. Snow's character returns to his tough yet loveable self. Fang and Vanille receive their own arcs. Hope and Sahz play their respective roles. Noel and other characters make their mark as well. The dialogue is spot on and reminiscent of the earlier/better final fantasy games. This game focuses primarily on story missions and outfitting lightning with the proper attack styles and garments. The learning curve is easy to overcome and the game itself is a beauty to look at. As a person who wasnt too fond of FFXIII and absolutely hated the ending of XIII-2, I found this game to serve as a perfect way to end the series and end on the highest note possible. The replay value is high and the amount of effort put into the game really shows. Definitely recommend

Product shipped fast, decent price.

Good game, nothing wrong with the game itself but the box was broken right across the back, luckily the disk wasn't broken.

20年ぶりに真面目にゲームをしました。 ・ゾンビものでない ・キャラクターが魅力的 ・ストーリー性が高い ・英語であること を条件にPS3本体を含めて、購入しました。 ボタンが多いゲーム機を初めてしましたが、すぐに慣れました。 北米版は、lightningのビジュアルで日本語はおかしいという人には合うかもしれません。 私としては、XIII-1英語版をyoutubeでみて、すっかりAli Hillisの声に慣れてしまい、坂本真綾だとむしろ違和感があります。 北米版は、日本版を翻訳したというより、英語文化に合わせて、セリフを再編成したとも感じられます。 その影響かhopeのキャラ設定が、日本版の礼儀正しいお坊ちゃんではなく、少しやんちゃさんっぽいです。 あと、英語独特の言い回しが頻繁にでてきます。 たとえば、What the hell ! など。 受験英語でそれほど重点が置かれない使役が頻繁にでてきて、実用英語と受験英語とのズレを感じられるはずです。 仮定法なんかは、今作ではほとんど出てきませんでしたけど。 発話スピード、語彙は一般的なSci-fi映画と変わらないと思います。 初めはよくわからなかった語彙や言い回しも、字幕ありで、「強くてニューゲーム」で繰り返し見聞きしていると、段々あたりがついてきます。 どうしてもわからないときは、youtube等で日本版実況動画で確認もできます。 XIII-1のOrphanでもそうだったのですが、Bhunivelzeのような高貴な存在が話す言葉はさっぱりわかりませんでした。 そういえば、Bhunivelzeはどう聞いても"ブーニベルゼ"に聞こえません。。 アイテム名は、あまりに難しすぎて、訳さずにそれはそれと読み飛ばしました。 アクセサリー系までを含んだやりこみは、相当の語彙力がないと難しいです。 日本語名をそのまま訳しているのではないので、攻略サイト(日本語)を見ても、どれが何に値するのかさえもわかりませんでした。 lightningが魅力的なキャラクターなので、自然とその語ることに耳を傾けていきます。 FFの世界に身を委ねることで、英語のリスニング力も同時に良くなるのではないでしょうか。 慣れるとlightningの英語が一番聞き取りやすく、理解しやすくなります。 hopeの英語は、発音が砕け気味なので難しい。字幕も小さめですし。 XIII-3をやるだけで、格段アップはできないでしょうが、英語フレーズ集やクリーシェ集をやった上で、ゲームするとそれらが意外に出てくるので、定着にはいいと思います。 ちなみに、XIII-3で採用されたバトルシステム、 ・格闘ゲームに近いスピード感 ・lightningを3パターン使い分ける ・擬似的、瞬間的なターン制御 は今後も多用して欲しい秀逸なデザインですね。

muito bom

Excelente historia y gráficos! Modo de batalla único! La música y todo súper además un súper precio llego en menos de lo esperado