Final Fantasy XIII - Lightning Returns [PS3 Review]

It's been a while since I've done an RPG. I've been meaning to review Tales of Xillia for a long time. But for reasons unbeknownst to even myself I have yet to pen that one. I'd better get it written before Tales of Xillia 2 comes out.

Hope is back yet again...

Anyways. Time to review my first Final Fantasy game here. Not the first Final Fantasy I ever played, that was Final Fantasy (no number) on the NES.

Overall Game Score:

3.5 out of 5 stars

Lightning plays dress up. Some are nice, others not so.

This score might be a touch harsh, but it comes from years of being let down by Final Fantasy games. I keep playing them hoping against hope that they can return to their earlier glory. Maybe I'm just cynical... or jaded. 

Lots of customization.

This is the third game in the XIII trilogy. I actually like it better than either XIII or XIII-2.  XIII was just such mono-linear game. You spent forever being railroaded down the story path. Then at last you got a small limited open world. That sucked. XIII-2 was just confusing. I actually got lost in the game. I played it for a while, went on vacation, and came back unable to remember where or what I was supposed to do next. The time streams were just awful and confusing and irritating.

XIII Lightning Returns is so much nicer than both. (I'm not quite done, just really really close). It is not mono-linear, even though there is really only 1 story. You do not have to complete the main quests in order, you can screw around (even though you have limited game time), and there are tons upon tons of side quests that allow you to explore the world.

I utterly hate this monster type.

Lightning + Cloud = Thunderstorm?

However it does lack somethings. XIII-2 reduced our party down to 2 characters from 3. Yes, you had a monster with you... woo. Lightning Returns reduces your party even lower. For most of the game you play as one character - Lightning. You do spend some time with one of two other characters... one of which is a bird. I miss the old party system. What was wrong with having multiple party members?

It also lacks significant weapons. Yes there are a few... but most of them really really suck. There is almost no reason at all to ever buy a weapon from a shop until the very very end of the game. And if you have the DLC there is even less reason. There are a few weapons dropped from omega enemies (there are lots of those now) that are better than 95% of the stuff in shops. That's just irritating. Make the stupid drops of loot items worth something.

Now to move onto the breakdown of the score. 

She's too cute to be the villain.

Game Play: Controls are relatively simple, fast, and easy to learn. The time restraint is an interesting idea... but there might have been a better way of doing it. The relatively open world is a nice change. Some of the monsters are really a grab bag of rock-paper-scissors. Did you bring a wind spell? If so, then win easy, if not... this battle is going to suck.

4 out of 5 stars

Graphics: Not bad at all for a PS3. They are so good that I thought back to the old Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within movie and think... it is so nice that modern video games look better than movie did. 

4.5 out of 5 stars

Story: Sadly this is where the game falls a touch flat. It's more of a world to explore and less of a story. You have to save souls... yea. It's rather vague. There are main quests, but you spend most of your time doing side quests to save souls. It's kinda grindy that way... even though you never actually level up the normal way. This is where Lightning Returns really falls down. It needed a stronger story.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Music / Sound: It's an FF game. You are either gonna like the music or hate it. It has all the familiar music back, even the annoying chocobo song. The SFX are fine, nothing special. This was neither out of place nor stellar.

3 out of 5 stars