How do you conclude an ever extending series of convoluted stories that crisscross all of time and space and ever increasing intensity of consequences?
It's simple, you see. You take the winning formula of several different games, sprinkle in some fan service, and try your hardest to come up with an even more unique premise for a video game, and hope for the best.
Set 500 years after the conclusion of Final Fantasy XIII-2, Lightning Returns is, quite literally, the story of Lightning's return from crystal stasis. This time however, she's armed with a mission from god: save as many souls as possible before the world ends in 13 days time. Why is the world ending? Who knows! It just is and Lightning's gotta roll with it if she stands any chance at finally reuniting with all of her friends AND her sister Serah in a new world all their own.
Armed with a big sword and a sick shield, Lightning returns to the world she once left behind only to find that most of the world has been consumed by destructive chaos, and that what's left of humanity stopped aging at the conclusion of XIII-2. Using her wits and strengths, she must save the last of humanity's souls from their endless, meaningless lives, and bring peace to the restless lives of Lightning's former friends from the cast of Final Fantasy XIII. As you march onwards through the last 13 days of life on this planet, you must complete 5 main quests, and dozens of side quests and bounty board missions in order to build Lightning's strength and prepare the survivors of this horrible existence for the coming of God's salvation. It sounds like a LOT, but really its more like Shenmue in that the world operates on rigid timers and set routines, and each days is much longer than it seems on paper; there is a timer, but in my normal mode playthrough I felt it wasn't much of an issue.
Beyond quests, you spend much of your time killing the monsters left in this realm, as well as fighting boss fights to allow for progression; combat retains the stagger mechanics of previous XIII titles, but ditches the ATB combat in favor of something more akin to a beautiful mixture of active time battle and Valkyire Profile style interface. You can bring 3 sets of 4 abilities each into battle and use them to attack enemies, cast spells, buff/debuff enemies, and guard against enemy attacks. This new twist on the XIII formula of using magic to stagger is perhaps the best iteration of combat in the trilogy. You can mix things up with a variety of outfits, swords, shield, and accessories as per usual JRPG fare, but this time simple stats cannot save you from defeat. Gone is the auto battle of previous XIII titles; this time around you are firmly in the driver's seat and must have a firm grasp on the game's intricate mechanics to find success. Time your guard's just right, build out your sets of abilities and use them wisely to find success. There is no brute forcing your way through this entry, which makes it the most rewarding by far.
It feels like a distillation of everything that worked in XIII and XIII-2 with a fresh coat of paint over everything that didn't. There were story beats that filled me with truly genuine emotion, and tense combat that had me feeling like a genuine master as I progressed to the end of the story. If I had to offer any real criticism, I'd say that the main quests, of which there are five, end really quicky; I found that the last 5-6 days of my 13 were mostly just doing side quests, bounty board tasks, and hunting down enemies for materials and items. It was dry, but not dry enough to dissuade me from loving the entire experience.
Overall, I found it to be a wonderful conclusion to a series of sprawling JRPGs; I was nervous that it would sprawl outwards into the chaos. I'm glad that it wasn't.
It's simple, you see. You take the winning formula of several different games, sprinkle in some fan service, and try your hardest to come up with an even more unique premise for a video game, and hope for the best.
Set 500 years after the conclusion of Final Fantasy XIII-2, Lightning Returns is, quite literally, the story of Lightning's return from crystal stasis. This time however, she's armed with a mission from god: save as many souls as possible before the world ends in 13 days time. Why is the world ending? Who knows! It just is and Lightning's gotta roll with it if she stands any chance at finally reuniting with all of her friends AND her sister Serah in a new world all their own.
Armed with a big sword and a sick shield, Lightning returns to the world she once left behind only to find that most of the world has been consumed by destructive chaos, and that what's left of humanity stopped aging at the conclusion of XIII-2. Using her wits and strengths, she must save the last of humanity's souls from their endless, meaningless lives, and bring peace to the restless lives of Lightning's former friends from the cast of Final Fantasy XIII. As you march onwards through the last 13 days of life on this planet, you must complete 5 main quests, and dozens of side quests and bounty board missions in order to build Lightning's strength and prepare the survivors of this horrible existence for the coming of God's salvation. It sounds like a LOT, but really its more like Shenmue in that the world operates on rigid timers and set routines, and each days is much longer than it seems on paper; there is a timer, but in my normal mode playthrough I felt it wasn't much of an issue.
Beyond quests, you spend much of your time killing the monsters left in this realm, as well as fighting boss fights to allow for progression; combat retains the stagger mechanics of previous XIII titles, but ditches the ATB combat in favor of something more akin to a beautiful mixture of active time battle and Valkyire Profile style interface. You can bring 3 sets of 4 abilities each into battle and use them to attack enemies, cast spells, buff/debuff enemies, and guard against enemy attacks. This new twist on the XIII formula of using magic to stagger is perhaps the best iteration of combat in the trilogy. You can mix things up with a variety of outfits, swords, shield, and accessories as per usual JRPG fare, but this time simple stats cannot save you from defeat. Gone is the auto battle of previous XIII titles; this time around you are firmly in the driver's seat and must have a firm grasp on the game's intricate mechanics to find success. Time your guard's just right, build out your sets of abilities and use them wisely to find success. There is no brute forcing your way through this entry, which makes it the most rewarding by far.
It feels like a distillation of everything that worked in XIII and XIII-2 with a fresh coat of paint over everything that didn't. There were story beats that filled me with truly genuine emotion, and tense combat that had me feeling like a genuine master as I progressed to the end of the story. If I had to offer any real criticism, I'd say that the main quests, of which there are five, end really quicky; I found that the last 5-6 days of my 13 were mostly just doing side quests, bounty board tasks, and hunting down enemies for materials and items. It was dry, but not dry enough to dissuade me from loving the entire experience.
Overall, I found it to be a wonderful conclusion to a series of sprawling JRPGs; I was nervous that it would sprawl outwards into the chaos. I'm glad that it wasn't.