I am replaying Final Fantasy XIII:Lightning Returns

SantaC

Member
I played it back in 2013 and thought it was pretty forgetful.

Playing it on PC now and somehow I find it better than I remembered it to be. It is Final Fantasy in majoras mask style, and it atleast tries changing up the formula.

The garb system is pretty fun as you can customize your magic and attack abilities to your liking and save them in different slots. Story is garbage, but it's not worse then the rest of the 13 series.
 
I played it back in 2013 and thought it was pretty forgetful.

Playing it on PC now and somehow I find it better than I remembered it to be. It is Final Fantasy in majoras mask style, and it atleast tries changing up the formula.

The garb system is pretty fun as you can customize your magic and attack abilities to your liking and save them in different slots. Story is garbage, but it's not worse then the rest of the 13 series.
Better post and create as many threads as you can today. Or you'll have to start over again tomorrow with the same thread and posts.
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I liked this game. I usually hate timed mechanics, but it wasn't really an issue with the time stop thingy.

Only reason I am not replaying it, is because I already have all the trophies and PS4 and PC. I need an intervention.....
 
I played it back in 2013 and thought it was pretty forgetful.

Playing it on PC now and somehow I find it better than I remembered it to be. It is Final Fantasy in majoras mask style, and it atleast tries changing up the formula.

The garb system is pretty fun as you can customize your magic and attack abilities to your liking and save them in different slots. Story is garbage, but it's not worse then the rest of the 13 series.
I LOVE this game! I thought the battle/quest/leveling systems were incredibly fun and not at all stressful after understanding them, the dress system, music and challenging boss fights and previous games character stories added to my enjoyment a lot.
Easily a 8.5-9/10 game for me and i'm planning on a FFXIII Trilogy replay before FF7R comes out, just need to finish my The Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky Trilogy replay first.
 
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I agree! It's a great game, got the plat on ps3 and finished once on pc.

Good battle system, lot's of customization, nice "stages" and good music... Specially compared to XII-2, listen to this:



Now the story.... Well... Still bad.

But overall I think that is the best single player Final Fantasy on the Ps3.
 
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it's the only game in the FFXIII series that I am kinda interested in playing.
I played the demo way back when, and liked it.

Might give it a go sometime.
 
Agreed with the Majoras Mask comparison, places are open/closed depending on the time as well as an NPCs whereabouts.

Game offers secret dungeons, optional bosses, unique monster extinction feature.

Realistically the game is like 20 hours, but has so much replay value (probably due to tri-ace involvement),
I personally spent probably 100 hours (5 Playthroughs) on a file trying to collect everything because costumes DO change the gameplay.

Variety in environments is pretty good, music as well is also very diverse and top notch.

The gameplay, probably one of the best in the franchise as a whole, lot of builds/customization. The action combat/ATB hybrid is very clean and responsive.

Story may be lacking (the whole thing is basically a climax to this universe). If you can't stand XIII characters it's probably not for you.

But as a game I'd easily give it an 8.75 one of the better jrpgs/hidden gems of the past decade.
 
Best battle system in any Final Fantasy game in my opinion, and even my favorite battle system in any game that is menu based and not "action".
I always prefer real time action over turn based / ATB, but lightning returns combats were really cool.
The FF XIII trilogy are the only turn based-ish / ATB games where I wasn't always thinking "ugh, I wish this was an action game instead", which is what I usually think when I play other FF / Jrpgs. And Lightning returns is clearly the best of the 3 for the combats.
 
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I really wish FFXIII had done right by Lightning (whose name is cringeworthy, but she's otherwise a pretty good character). Everything else surrounding her in the XIII saga is just awful (minus the l'cie and Fal'cie premise, which is cool TBH).
 
That game is awesome and extremely underrated.

It (sadly) is the best Final Fantasy game since X (arguably maybe XII if you are a die hard XII fanatic and go on rants about how great XII yeah we get it).

Like Dark Souls X Final Fantasy in a cool setting. I loved it and it was a pleasant surprise when I motivated myself to play it.

Obviously it is no masterpiece, because in some areas it doesn't feel like a FULL AAA game, but it is still awesome.
 
It was my least favorite of the trilogy. It had some good things but overall it felt kinda soulless to me. The time thing wasn't a huge issue, but even with that I still wish it wasn't in there. It felt very gimmicky and just thrown in there to be different. Would have been better without it.

The biggest issue with the trilogy was they kept trying to patch over mistakes from previous entries instead of rebuilding and salvaging the series from the ground up and they all felt unfulfilling because of it.
 
Need to get back to finish both 2 and LR, as I only just finished XIII about an hour ago. Well, technically. I got annoyed in the last chapter and gave myself unlimited crystal points and fully upgraded the weapons/accs I was wearing, but even with 'maxed out' characters the damage I was taking was just silly.

Ultimately I wanted to play with my favourites of the cast (Lightning, Vanille, Fang) which restricted my paradigms and likely made everything harder (no enhancer), but damn I'm glad that's over. I think I would've enjoyed the system more if it didn't place restrictions on character roles, but oh well. First time I've cheated in a game in over 15 years.

I'll move on to 2 now (was about halfway through anyway) and finally get to LR, which I know I'll enjoy a bit more.
 
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I really wish FFXIII had done right by Lightning (whose name is cringeworthy, but she's otherwise a pretty good character). Everything else surrounding her in the XIII saga is just awful (minus the l'cie and Fal'cie premise, which is cool TBH).
Call her by her real name then, Claire.
 
Call her by her real name then, Claire.
Vast improvement, but canonically Lightning is how she is referenced (see: Dissidia).

If only it were more of a split like Garnet/Dagger. Half the time she is one, half the time she is the other, but Claire is - to my knowledge - referenced only or twice in the original FFXIII.
 
Need to get back to finish both 2 and LR, as I only just finished XIII about an hour ago. Well, technically. I got annoyed in the last chapter and gave myself unlimited crystal points and fully upgraded the weapons/accs I was wearing, but even with 'maxed out' characters the damage I was taking was just silly.

Considering neither Crystarium nor Weapons have any influence on defense, that's not really a surprise.

If you spend some time learning all the roles and using them effectivly (happens automatically if you focus on getting higher star ratings) the last chapter is actually super easy. And I mean super easy. Now, Long Gui, Vercigtronix and Neochu,Now, That's another level.

Regarding the thread:

As for me loved every single XIII entry including Narrative. XIII-2 was my favourite FF since IX as well. But that's just me.
 
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The Final Fantasy XIII trilogy really sucks. And I say it as a fan of the saga.
It's a continual worsening from FF XIII to Lightning Returns from the plot point of view. While the gameplay is a continuous experiment.

Final Fantasy XV is infinitely better than that shitty Lightning trilogy shit.

Final Fantasy XV >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>FF XIII Trilogy

Obviously they are always personal tastes.
 
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I LOVE this game! I thought the battle/quest/leveling systems were incredibly fun and not at all stressful after understanding them, the dress system, music and challenging boss fights and previous games character stories added to my enjoyment a lot.
Easily a 8.5-9/10 game for me and i'm planning on a FFXIII Trilogy replay before FF7R comes out, just need to finish my The Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky Trilogy replay first.

Wow, The Trails in the Sky trilogy replay must be around 200 hours.
 
I'm really looking forward to playing this. Loved FF13, thought FF13-2 was ok, and this is one of the last games from last gen that's still on my to-play list.
 
The Final Fantasy XIII trilogy really sucks. And I say it as a fan of the saga.
It's a continual worsening from FF XIII to Lightning Returns from the plot point of view. While the gameplay is a continuous experiment.

Final Fantasy XV is infinitely better than that shitty Lightning trilogy shit.

Final Fantasy XV >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> FF XIII Trilogy

Obviously they are always personal tastes.
I'm not surprised you're complimenting Final Fantasy XV in yet another Final Fantasy thread but the way you talk shit about other games in the series is so blatantly fanboyish and lacks self-awareness that I just can't take your opinion seriously.
 
As a trilogy it's my favorite in the whole series. Each game is likeable for different reasons. I've replayed them all multiple times. There are flaws, but I genuinely enjoy it all. XIII-2 is possibly my favorite because of Serah and Noel. I actually like how the story gets progressively crazier.
 
As a trilogy it's my favorite in the whole series. Each game is likeable for different reasons. I've replayed them all multiple times. There are flaws, but I genuinely enjoy it all. XIII-2 is possibly my favorite because of Serah and Noel. I actually like how the story gets progressively crazier.
Yeah, I really didn't like FF13 at first, but FF13-2 made the game a lot more fun, and the story got a more crazy in a way I liked. I agree that 13-2 is probably my favorite as well, but Lightning Returns provided some closure, and it ends with just a totally insane outcome that I still kinda appreciate.

As a single game, FF13 would be a disappointment, but as a trilogy, 13 is one of my favorites as well.
 
It (sadly) is the best Final Fantasy game since X (arguably maybe XII if you are a die hard XII fanatic and go on rants about how great XII yeah we get it).

FF XIV is pretty better than this trilogy. Even I would say its better than the most classic FF.
 
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Loved the game. Played it BC on Xbox One X, game looked like it was current gen. I also played FF XIII and still have FF XIII-2 to complete. Great additions to the Xbox One library.
 
I really did not like it, just didn't get the Final fantasy series in general, but it does have an interesting premise.
But really, it's not a good game at all and the quality is all over the place.
 
Final Fantasy XV >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>FF XIII Trilogy

Obviously they are always personal tastes.

An empty open world with unrewarding quests, terrible RPG and combat mechanics, bland artstyle/environments, bad enemy battle design, and a plot so terrible it needed DLC but got canned along with a director who was rumored to be fired, so that Nomura could reboot it.

Makes you wonder...
 
The backgrounds here shit all over the new Fire Emblem game's graphics holy shit.

It's not just the backgrounds. Aside from the shitty dog the visuals in any of the FFXIII games are miles ahead Fire Emblem.

Fire Emblem is one of those games like Pokemon where Nintendo just goes with Ps2 production values because they know fans will buy them anyway
 
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It's not just the backgrounds. Aside from the shitty dog the visuals in any of the FFXIII games are miles ahead Fire Emblem.

Fire Emblem is one of those games like Pokemon were Nintendo just goes with Ps2 production values because they know fans will buy them anyway
In FE's defense at least their characters are likeable or outright so retarded you hate em. Can't say the same about the last 5 or so FF games.
 
It's not just the backgrounds. Aside from the shitty dog the visuals in any of the FFXIII games are miles ahead Fire Emblem.

Fire Emblem is one of those games like Pokemon were Nintendo just goes with Ps2 production values because they know fans will buy them anyway

It's less conspiracy than Intelligent Systems and GameFreak seriously being behind the curve, on just about any modern system. 3DS Fire Emblem didn't even have feet, for a reminder.

It's weird to me that the success of two of Nintendo's hotter properties (obviously very much so for Pokemon) hasn't motivated these developers to train up, or hire better staff. At least Pokemon is slowly getting there — FE really does look borderline PS2.
 
It's less conspiracy than Intelligent Systems and GameFreak seriously being behind the curve, on just about any modern system. 3DS Fire Emblem didn't even have feet, for a reminder.

It's weird to me that the success of two of Nintendo's hotter properties (obviously very much so for Pokemon) hasn't motivated these developers to train up, or hire better staff. At least Pokemon is slowly getting there — FE really does look borderline PS2.

To be quite honest, as far as Fire Emblem goes I don't really care about the visuals. I understand it's still a rather niche IP, so it makes sense to keep the production values low to ensure the franchise is profitable and they can keep making sequels (hopefully they change the character designer for the next game though).

For Pokemon it's 100% intentional and logical. With a franchise that sell 15 million + with every entry and is part of the largest media franchise in the world, GameFreak should be unable to be "behind the curve" because whatever they need to do to be "ahead of it"....they can afford it. Double the dev team? They can afford it. Triple the dev team? can afford it, outsource a ton of the busywork? they can afford it, hire top tier talent or spending a lot training their current workforce? They can afford it.
But when you can sell 15 million + copies at full price with indie tier production value why bother? Pokemon doesn't just sell insane numbers, it must be way more profitable than most other $60 games too because the development costs must be a fraction of that of most other big franchises.
 
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Toriyama ruined an entire console generation of Final Fantasy with this shit saga. As a standalone game with no ties into the FF universe, LR would be bad/niche. As a Final Fantasy official title, it's just incredibly disappointing and frankly should be rated lower than any other game in the franchise, including the usual bottom rated stuff like 2/3/XIII.

My opinion, anyway.
 
I liked it enough to try and 100% it, but my god the game has aome stupid elements, and the ending is a bit lackluster for the trilogy.

I missed one achievement, and that was to complete the bestiary. All I was missing was an optional boss in the desert (the hardest one). But since I missed a weapon (Caiuses?) I literally can't beat him, because no other weapon or leveling in the game can get me to stagger him quick enough, as it's timed. I'm not starting a new save. For that reason alone I am a bit sour on it.
 
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