A Disappointing end to the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy
What's it about
Lightning, the heroine of FF XIII and the goddess Etro's hand-picked chosen warrior of FF XIII-2 faces a crisis. She's failed to protect her sister, Serah twice and Etro has died, causing the world to fall into chaos. However, she is given one final chance to carry out a mission by the God Bhunivelze; In seven days, the world will end and she must save as many souls as she can. If she can do enough, she can meet her Serah. With the aid of Hope Estheim, Lightning sets off with renewed determination.
The Review
And so, we come to the end of Square Enix's attempt at a Final Fantasy trilogy (having done a duology with Final Fantasy X and X-2) and It ends not with a bang but with a “sigh.”
And its call because of the damn time limit imposed on you. You see you only (initially) have seven days to complete your mission. You have 24 hours to do as much as you can in each day. Sounds fine right? Well a) the time goes pretty fast to the point it can be a shock to the system b) Some quests force you to grind for items c) you will struggle if you don't get use to time management quickly.
The time limit pressures you to be as fast as you can, not being able to go at your own pace, miss out on the sites and dialogue of the world and make you feel you're not part of the world but speedrunning a game and the trial and error compound the issue. Yes you can skip almost all cutscenes, but having to see the same locations again and again because you have to restart the game is maddening.
The battle system feels less fun and more of an exercise on brain training and muscle memory and until you become one with the game, most battles feel tedious, especially boss battles afterthought. Many of the Outfits (via the Schemata system) will be unused due to a few being more than enough to get to end-game (which is a shame, because many have great designs. It would have been excellent if you could choose who the Schemata looks based on what you've collected.)
The story of the game is okay. There are some nice moments but it tends to be very eye-rolling, with a ton of quests ending in the same tired-way, Aesops aplenty to the point it can feel like a lecture from a spiritual guru and it's quite hammy. Still the familiar faces are nice to see and hear and Lumina is a very strong character.
Same goes for music, with a few catchy tunes but many of it falling flat or being unmemorable.
Despite the huge criticisms though, there are some neat ideas in Lightning Returns and credit have to be given to Square Enix to try something ambitious and different. Lightning Returns does run smoothly and there are lots of variation in terms of NPC design (compared to Final Fantasy XV, a graphically superior game) and replayability is heavily promoted, with one achievement not available until you've done so.
But it doesn't pay off. Again the replayability is a bit forced, some features aren't even available until you've completed the game (Want to upgrade your weapons and armour? Better finish the game!) and the tedium increases.
Is this the worst Final Fantasy game? Well that's always debatable and there is a strong argument. But it's not the worst JRPG. It's a huge let down but there is fun to be had, and for those who love to be challenged and pressured into finding the best way to finish a JRPG, this maybe for you. But for those who just like to do so at their own pace with gameplay that isn't mediocre, you're better off looking elsewhere.
Rating: 5/10
What's it about
Lightning, the heroine of FF XIII and the goddess Etro's hand-picked chosen warrior of FF XIII-2 faces a crisis. She's failed to protect her sister, Serah twice and Etro has died, causing the world to fall into chaos. However, she is given one final chance to carry out a mission by the God Bhunivelze; In seven days, the world will end and she must save as many souls as she can. If she can do enough, she can meet her Serah. With the aid of Hope Estheim, Lightning sets off with renewed determination.
The Review
And so, we come to the end of Square Enix's attempt at a Final Fantasy trilogy (having done a duology with Final Fantasy X and X-2) and It ends not with a bang but with a “sigh.”
And its call because of the damn time limit imposed on you. You see you only (initially) have seven days to complete your mission. You have 24 hours to do as much as you can in each day. Sounds fine right? Well a) the time goes pretty fast to the point it can be a shock to the system b) Some quests force you to grind for items c) you will struggle if you don't get use to time management quickly.
The time limit pressures you to be as fast as you can, not being able to go at your own pace, miss out on the sites and dialogue of the world and make you feel you're not part of the world but speedrunning a game and the trial and error compound the issue. Yes you can skip almost all cutscenes, but having to see the same locations again and again because you have to restart the game is maddening.
The battle system feels less fun and more of an exercise on brain training and muscle memory and until you become one with the game, most battles feel tedious, especially boss battles afterthought. Many of the Outfits (via the Schemata system) will be unused due to a few being more than enough to get to end-game (which is a shame, because many have great designs. It would have been excellent if you could choose who the Schemata looks based on what you've collected.)
The story of the game is okay. There are some nice moments but it tends to be very eye-rolling, with a ton of quests ending in the same tired-way, Aesops aplenty to the point it can feel like a lecture from a spiritual guru and it's quite hammy. Still the familiar faces are nice to see and hear and Lumina is a very strong character.
Same goes for music, with a few catchy tunes but many of it falling flat or being unmemorable.
Despite the huge criticisms though, there are some neat ideas in Lightning Returns and credit have to be given to Square Enix to try something ambitious and different. Lightning Returns does run smoothly and there are lots of variation in terms of NPC design (compared to Final Fantasy XV, a graphically superior game) and replayability is heavily promoted, with one achievement not available until you've done so.
But it doesn't pay off. Again the replayability is a bit forced, some features aren't even available until you've completed the game (Want to upgrade your weapons and armour? Better finish the game!) and the tedium increases.
Is this the worst Final Fantasy game? Well that's always debatable and there is a strong argument. But it's not the worst JRPG. It's a huge let down but there is fun to be had, and for those who love to be challenged and pressured into finding the best way to finish a JRPG, this maybe for you. But for those who just like to do so at their own pace with gameplay that isn't mediocre, you're better off looking elsewhere.
Rating: 5/10