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: 9.5/10So 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: 8.5/10Man 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: 9.25/10This 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. AlasOverall 9.25/10I 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.

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.