Lightning Returns Review Thread

Ironically, the game is sandwiched by two vastly superior Final Fantasy games in Bravely Default and X HD, so that's a good thing.

Throw in Symphonia as the cheese, and while I'm not happy about the XIII series, at least I'll forget about it quickly.
 
This is the first FF game in forever that I will not be buying. I just don't see why I'd buy this. :(
 
meanspartan said:
Those are some remarkably consistent review scores so far.

THe consensus seems to be "It's....fine. I guess. But whatever."
Click to expand...
whatever.jpg
 
This is pretty much what I expected it would get when it was first announced. Around 6-7/10. It definitely shows when you look at it, sub par graphics, recycled enemies, and a story that continues to get worse and worse. The only high point is the battle system and even then it's hit and miss with most people. I still think they should have stopped after XIII. The ending itself was fine. It didn't need a sequel let alone a third game.
 
Airgetlam said:
This is pretty much what I expected it would get when it was first announced. Around 6-7/10. It definitely shows when you look at it, sub par graphics, recycled enemies, and a story that continues to get worse and worse. The only high point is the battle system and even then it's hit and miss with most people. I still think they should have stopped after XIII. The ending itself was fine. It didn't need a sequel let alone a third game.
Click to expand...

You can thank FFXIV and Versus management.
 
meanspartan said:
I really really hope FF15 gets the non-MMO entries back on track.
Click to expand...
I have this fear that 15 cuts a mean trailer, but when you get into it the story and characters are silly and vapid.

That's how XIII was. All the melodrama in the trailer.. You'd assume it must mean something. But in reality the characters were posturing without much legitimate drama to back it up.

But id love to be wrong. And regardless of story it should be a good game...?

butman said:
So what's the real score without the FF name?
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure the FF name skews the score lower these days.

Higher expectations not being met? A popular mandate to rip into XIII-like games?
If names do skew a score, I'd think it would be better received as a new RPG.
 
Y2Kev said:
This is the first FF game in forever that I will not be buying. I just don't see why I'd buy this. :(
Click to expand...

Does this mean you actually bought stuff from FF:ATB? :P
 
While those scores aren't the end of the world, they seem pretty unreal for a series that carries a legacy as strong as Final Fantasy. That being said, I'm confident that they have learned from this experience, and that the series will one day return to its former glory. XV looks very promising, and I have faith that with it, they can recapture everything that made Final Fantasy so special to begin with.
 
HawthorneKitty said:
In other words, it's incredibly good.
Click to expand...

Trago said:
Better than I expected honestly. I read through IGN's review. It looks like the reviewer hates the story, but likes the battle system, which is funny, because that's exactly how I felt about FFX.
Click to expand...

HappehLemons said:
If anything, these low scores have made me more excited for the game.

Final Fantasy XIII Reivews:

IGN 8.9/10
GameSpot: 8.5
Game Informer: 93

Final Fantasy XIII-2 Reviews:

IGN 8/10
Gamespot: 7.5
Game Informer: 80

Lets be honest, the series has only gotten better (At least from a gameplay perspective). Keep the low scores coming! Just means it's a better game as far as I'm concerned.
Click to expand...

LuuKyK said:
Pretty good scores considering it probably came from people who are tired of the XIII games and/or felt forced to finish it. Which inevitably leads to a score completely influenced by their view of the other two games and the series on a whole instead of judging a standalone game for what it is. A good sign for the few of us who enjoy the series! Can't wait to play the game and judge it for myself.
Click to expand...

the spin is real, I see Major Nelson's School of Spin™ is thriving

Y2Kev said:
This is the first FF game in forever that I will not be buying. I just don't see why I'd buy this. :(
Click to expand...

what do you think of Bravely Default :P
 
Reveirg said:
XIII-2 had worse scores than XIII but was a much better game according to pretty much everyone..

The press got burned when they handed out 9s to XIII and it backfired. There was no way this was getting more than 7s.

Not too worried about it though. My tastes never align with those of review outlets (huh?... what? ...)

Kinda looking forward to Kotaku's though, enjoyable reads and I like their score-less review system.
Click to expand...

No, not really...
 
I'm going to go ahead and make a prediction. Thief will perform pretty well. FFXIII-LR will totally flop.

When SE posts lower than forecast financial results, it will be blamed on the Western developer for not selling through an unrealistic target. FFXIII-LR sales will just be described as "a little softer than expected."
 
butman said:
So what's the real score without the FF name?
Click to expand...

Probably an 8, or 8.5.

I honestly think if a Japanese developer out of no where showed up with this game, they would get positive reception albeit less articles/promotion.

People burnt on the whole XIII series.
 
MattKeil said:
Well it does say "Final Fantasy" on the cover, to be fair. It's practically the series' trademark at this point.
Click to expand...
The drama in VI was legitimate. They poisoned your wife and child? The world is destroyed and everyone is feared dead? Legit reasons to sob.

In XIII the characters are screaming at each other because they got a tattoo.
 
Toriyama: Dammit, Yoshi-kun! Those baka gaijins aren't giving our game a higher score! In fact, it's gone down despite all that extra polishing we gave it to be the most polished in the series. The hell do we do?

Kitase: Oh, Motomu. You protest too much. The answer's pretty simple. Nomura-san doesn't look like he'll get FFXV done by the end of this millennium, so...

Toriyama: You're right. Let's try again and this time we will DEFINITELY nail the extreme polish. I'm putting everyone in bikinis.

Kitase: ...actually I was thinking of FFX-3.

Toriyama: Lightning AND Yuna in bikinis?! Beautiful idea. I'll phone Daisuke tomorrow and see if he can put together a first (and final) draft of the script by Friday.
 
BocoDragon said:
The drama in VI was legitimate. They poisoned your wife and child? The world is destroyed and everyone is feared dead? Legit reasons to sob.

In XIII the characters are screaming at each other because they got a tattoo.
Click to expand...

To be fair, I thought that Sazh had legitimate reasons for behaving the way he did. He did what he did for the welfare of his son.

He was also the only character that I genuinely emphatised with in the entire game. It helped that he had a good voice actor to go along with it too.

Bloody hell, why am I defending the game?
 
BocoDragon said:
The drama in VI was legitimate. They poisoned your wife and child? The world is destroyed and everyone is feared dead? Legit reasons to sob.

In XIII the characters are screaming at each other because they got a tattoo.
Click to expand...

To be fair, I'd probably be screaming if I got a tattoo where
the outcome was either turning into a monster until someone kills me or turning into crystal forever.
:P
 
Arzehn said:
Probably an 8, or 8.5.

I honestly think if a Japanese developer out of no where showed up with this game, they would get positive reception albeit less articles/promotion.

People burnt on the whole XIII series.
Click to expand...

Yup. SE didn't quite learn from FF7 but a FF game should have at most one sequel to it. You can't keep drawing from a well that people have been so divisive about. FFX was wise to end with X-2....oh rather, WAS. :(
 
Kade said:
IGN Review:

PROS:
Gameplay stuff

CONS:
Not gameplay stuff

Hmm, sounds like my kind of game.
Click to expand...


perfect, I'm in!

If it's more stuff like the demo, bring it on.

also, Lightning is pure kitsch at this point. Even the VA seems kinda self-aware. The writers were obv dead serious, as they tend to be at Square, but she will provide many laughs.
 
Gibbo said:
do we know for a fact that this is the last lightning game?
Click to expand...

Hopefully it isn't. Considering Toriyama is now part of the Quality Committee at Square I really hope he finds a way to add her as a staple to the series just like Cid currently is. That would be extremely awesome
and funny
in so many ways.
 
It shouldn't even have one sequel if they decided to close the story in the games ending. As bad as the XIII ending was, it closed the story, and yet they felt the need to retcon the ending and add the timeline craziness.
 
BocoDragon said:
The drama in VI was legitimate. They poisoned your wife and child? The world is destroyed and everyone is feared dead? Legit reasons to sob.

In XIII the characters are screaming at each other because they got a tattoo.
Click to expand...
Come on Boco. I love FFVI as much as anyone but you have to admit its story is as forced and trite as any other FF.
 
Arzehn said:
Probably an 8, or 8.5.

I honestly think if a Japanese developer out of no where showed up with this game, they would get positive reception albeit less articles/promotion.

People burnt on the whole XIII series.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Open world, unbelievable OST, one of the best battle systems ever in the genre, 20 minutes of gorgeous CG cutscenes, tons of side quests/equipment and outfit customization.

People are so down on it only because of the name on the box. If it was from any other niche RPG maker, people would be calling it a cult classic.

Most of the people reveling in this game's lower scores have such transparent agendas that it doesn't need to be even be pointed out honestly.
 
LuuKyK said:
Hopefully it isn't. Considering Toriyama is now part of the Quality Committee at Square I really hope he finds a way to add her as a staple to the series just like Cid currently is. That would be extremely awesome
and funny
in so many ways.
Click to expand...

You monster.

In fact, I sort of want to see that happen too. There's something about uproar that gets me giddy with delight even if I am totally indifferent to the character.
 
Gaz_RB said:
I imagine this will be a similar situation to RE6. If I would have listened to reviews on that one I would have missed out big time on one of my GOTYs.
Click to expand...



And like that, if this game has amazing gameplay, the internet will never know it, instead clinging to day 1 impressions.
 
Shinta said:
Absolutely. Open world, unbelievable OST, one of the best battle systems ever in the genre, 20 minutes of gorgeous CG cutscenes, tons of side quests/equipment and outfit customization.

People are so down on it only because of the name on the box. If it was from any other niche RPG maker, people would be calling it a cult classic.
Click to expand...

This is obvious. I mean, people did that for far worse games that only had a decent OST going on for them. Like Nier.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Hades 2 | Review Thread
Review  2 3 4
178
1K
HYDE replied
Reach (nDreams) Review Thread
Review VR 
1
111
Romulus replied
Little Nightmares III | Review Thread
Opinion Review 
34
675
drotahorror replied
Ghost of Yotei | Review Thread
Analysis Review  12 13 14 15 16
776
2K
Dr.Morris79 replied
Lost Soul Aside | Review Thread
Review 
49
1K
Gamer_By_Proxy replied
Top Bottom