Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Critic Reviews

It's a pity that a lot of players have been so fixated on the perceived gameplay weaknesses of each of the games in this trilogy, because in doing so they've really missed the broader philosophical richness of the story of Lightning and her ragtag crew of allies and antagonists. Ironically, those people will also find Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII the weakest game in the series, when thematically speaking, it's actually the most powerful.

Lighting Returns takes to the end of the world with vivacity and conviction, reshaping the way that RPGs can and should be in many great ways. Even if the game engine is well past its prime and the voice acting is weak at times, the overall package is an entanglement of nostalgia and intrigue for fans of Final Fantasy XIII and the RPG genre.

It’s the third game in the thirteenth of a series dating back to 1987, yet it’s also one of the most successfully inventive games I’ve ever played. It puts you in control of everything, which is a total inverse of Final Fantasy’s traditional position.

The incredibly fun combat system and the sheer amount of customization options make this final entry in the trilogy well worth seeking out. If you’re coming into this with the hopes of seeing the story turn itself around then you’re going to leave disappointed. But if you enjoyed the refinements made in Final Fantasy XIII-2, then I think you’ll find a lot to love about Lightning Returns.

Even with its mediocre plot and heavily emphasized fan service aspects, I really enjoyed Lightning Returns. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve followed the series since the beginning, or because I’m a sucker for the characters and their relationships between one another, but this game made me experience a range of emotions that I haven’t experienced from a game in a long time.

Surprising, but not for the reasons you might think. With only thirteen days to go before the end of the world, Lightning has her hands full. This final chapter tries a lot of new ideas, many of which work. Unfortunately, the game is a little messy and tonally all over the place. Fans of the series will be satisfied with the emotional finale.

Square seems to have taken critiques of the first two games to heart and corrected them. Gone are the oppressively limited environments and the convoluted stories. In their place are a large world, clear story, and the latest refinement of what was already among the most radically inventive combat systems to hit JRPGs in years.

For all its weirdness it actually is a pretty compelling adventure. Excellent combat mechanics and the pairing of an open world with a harsh time limit help the game overcome its technical shortcomings and impenetrable story.

It's quite a new adventure, or at least it's the first Final Fantasy that changes the old-school scheme the franchise has used for many years. Doesn't look like Final Fantasy anymore, but at least it's worth the try... and the money.

As a game for XIII’s downtrodden fans, Lightning Returns is excellent. It fleshes out the interesting world, gives each of the cast a little more screen time without singling any out as more or less important (well, except Lightning) and brings an extremely stupid story to an extremely stupid conclusion in style. And the haters? They’re gonna hate, clearly. That’s kind of their thing. But this isn’t a game for them. No, it’s a reward for those bold enough to be of the apparently controversial opinion that Final Fantasy XIII wasn’t awful. And a fine reward it is too, so long as you don’t go into it expecting a traditional Final Fantasy experience.

Lightning Returns is a fun game filled with myriad things to do. The combat system is excellent, and the many options with with you can customize Lightning brings are impressive. It's a fitting end to the series and bodes well for the future of Final Fantasy.

It does not have the soul of a Final Fantasy game, but still we had lots of fun playing it. If you take it as a spin-off, then you'll find a very enjoyable game, especially for Lightning fans.

The game has several technical flaws but on top of this it tries to emulate the western RPGs suffering with NPC you’ll forget easily and gameplay that fans of the series may not fully enjoy.

There's plenty of fun to be had in Lightning Returns if you're open to it, and are willing to overlook some of the messiness.

Lightning Returns is not the closure we hoped for and represent a slight step back for the series Nevertheless is a good game, graced by an amazing combat system that that probably deserved a better context. If you are a fan you certainly enjoy the game, but its magic seems to be lost somewhere else.

Unsurprisingly, Lightning Returns : Final Fantasy XIII is like the trilogy it ends: full of appeal but ruined by flaws you can't help to notice. We're speaking about the technical aspect that the ip has stacked since its arrival on PS3 and Xbox 360, which still harms the game and our eyes. We're even more disappointed to see that it ruins the good artistic direction of the game. We also have to mention the difficulty, set on extremely hard in a hope to increase the life of the game. But Lightning returns also has some great features, the 13 days left to Lightning to achieve its mission, and the quests to be achieved give a good rhythm to the title, while the costume system give a true strategic dimention to the fights. Don't miss it and hang on tight.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is the last installment of a trilogy that has had its ups and downs. This third installment can't escape from it, with a dynamic battle system, but with a defective story unfolding because of the lack of time you have to explore each chapter of the game.

Its fresh combat system is a great success, and the well-designed world provides more than enough reason to play through the end of Lightning's journey. At the same time, the incredibly inconsistent tone and underwhelming plot caused any story-based satisfaction to completely elude me.

What sets Lightning Returns apart is how effectively it surrenders its core criteria for the explicit purpose of inflicting a sense of impending doom into every moving part of its system. Clever additions and smart retractions are meant to coalesce, but in practice the game is total chaos - albeit the kind that's fun to play around in.

The conclusion of a trilogy presents the opportunity for an emotional farewell to a beloved cast and world, but Lightning Returns only left me relieved to see this adventure end.