• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII DEMO - OUT NOW* -

I'll download it today, I like the look if the Siegfried costume. I also pre-ordered this on Amazon last night without knowing about the Yuna garb, so that's a cool surprise too.
 
I guess I'll download/play it if not just for the Siegfried costume. I also kind of want to see how the battles are shaping up - the battle system is what has gotten a decent amount of praise, so I want to see if it's as good as everyone says. If it is, it's a shame SE tends to put their best battle systems in such bleh games (FFX-2 and LR in particular).

Anyways, according to last year's Nintendo Direct, "X" is supposed to be out this year, but who knows, eh? Nintendo has a weird marketing method where they sometimes don't even reveal a game until 6 months prior to launch and then amp up quite a bit from there (ie: Super Mario 3D World). I do hope we get a real title and some more trailers soon, though. D; And Perfo, I wouldn't worry too much that the game is multiplayer focused. This is a Takahashi game (director of Xenogears/Xenosaga/Xenoblade), so... yeah, he always does pretty story intensive games. :)
 

TechOne

Member
91NJNH2K3XL._SL1500_.jpg
Definitely buying the Collector's Guide.

Now if they can make it were the pages don't fall out over time that would be great.
 

Caayn

Member
Oohh nice, just downloaded it. And I immediately started asking questions like:
Why is Serah now called Lumina?
Why are Snow and Lightning fighting?
Why is Hope still alive?

I do however have faith that these questions will be answered in the full game.

As for the combat. I really like it, it's a better mix between turn-based and action RPGs than FXIII and FXIII-2. While also being faster/easier to use than those games. I don't really like the costume change that come with the roles changes, hope that this can be costumized in the full game. So that I can select one outfit for every role.
 

Aru

Member
According to Kagari, lol no, this is actually the worst one.

Dem opinions.
The guy who reviewed the 3 games on Gamekult.com really enjoyed it.
I'm gonna enjoy this game too. Probably not on day 1 because of shipping time, but definitely week 2 or 3.
 

Toth

Member
According to Kagari, lol no, this is actually the worst one.

Yeah, she considers it an average experience. Other sites find it the most fun of the FFXIII trilogy though. The game is going have quite some wide opinions, just like its predecessors.
 

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
Yeah, she considers it an average experience. Other sites find it the most fun of the FFXIII trilogy though. The game is going have quite some wide opinions, just like its predecessors.

I will be interested to see what the bigger outlets say about it next month. Holding the embargo until release day never bodes well though.
 

Lumination

'enry 'ollins
Kagari, how difficult would you say the game was compared to the first two? I actually quite enjoyed XIII's level cap and battle system (especially the endgame hunts), but XIII-2's was a bit simplified and too easy for me to enjoy it.
 

Christhor

Member
I will be interested to see what the bigger outlets say about it next month. Holding the embargo until release day never bodes well though.

The big outlets would probably give it bad scores either way, since the majority of people seem to dislike the XIII games in general. Gotta get those hate clicks.
 

Caayn

Member
Ok, so the demo is limited to 6 minutes in the overworld after that it will simply end. You won't need that though. I've completed it while only spending 2.5~3 minutes in the overworld. It's fairly short, the intro cinematic feels longer than the actual time you can play. But it does give a nice peak into the new combat system.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Got the collector's edition guide in pre-order along with the steelbook, don't know about you guys but its a tradition to get the guide with every FF game.
 

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
Kagari, how difficult would you say the game was compared to the first two? I actually quite enjoyed XIII's level cap and battle system (especially the endgame hunts), but XIII-2's was a bit simplified and too easy for me to enjoy it.

It's more difficult than XIII on Normal mode.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
It's more difficult than XIII on Normal mode.
Is more open worldly seamless like the old FF's or is it section/mission based like FFX-2/FFXIII-2
I want a return to the old style progression.
 

Lumination

'enry 'ollins
It's more difficult than XIII on Normal mode.
Oh, that's great. Thanks.

The core gameplay looks pretty decent from the few videos I've seen. Don't really care about whatever roundabout story is left in this series. So, if the difficulty is there and I enjoy the demo, I guess I'll pick this up.
 

Goli

Member
Is more open worldly seamless like the old FF's or is it section/mission based like FFX-2/FFXIII-2
I want a return to the old style progression.
After you complete the prologue and make a small bit of the main quest of Luxerion's main quest you are free to go anywhere in the world using the train system. It's completely open. After you open the highways that connect each area you can also travel between them seamlessly.

Can you please detail more of this? I asked the other day but haven't got many clear answers. What makes it difficult?
It's harder because unlike in XIII and XIII-2 you can only heal via items and Curaga which costs GP/EP (and mediguard/regen guard), thus unless you're really good at guarding or dodging you'll probably get beat up often till you learn the patterns and cues of each enemy.
Also you get less EP/GP in normal mode.
 

RPGCrazied

Member
Looks like every preorder gets the cloud costume. Also, how easy is it to platinum this game? XIII-2 was really easy and it was my very first platinum I received.
 

Goli

Member
Looks like every preorder gets the cloud costume. Also, how easy is it to platinum this game? XIII-2 was really easy and it was my very first platinum I received.

Not that hard, I platinumed it on Sunday and it took me about 90 hours, but I probably could have done it in less time if I had restarted on easy mode earlier.
My first play through on normal took me 60 hours.
 

RPGCrazied

Member
I'm really warming up to the game, but can someone sell me on the time system? I really don't like the feeling of being rushed, or get a game over cause I want to take my time. Please tell me either the time moves very slowly or you get more time by doing simple things?

I really need a jrpg right now, regardless if its average.
 
Ok, so the demo is limited to 6 minutes in the overworld after that it will simply end. You won't need that though. I've completed it while only spending 2.5~3 minutes in the overworld. It's fairly short, the intro cinematic feels longer than the actual time you can play. But it does give a nice peak into the new combat system.

1,16 GB for only 6 minutes experience eh? I want the bonus grab, but i'm a bit reluctant to download now ._.
 

Dark_castle

Junior Member
pretty sure it will have the lowest meta score of the XIII trilogy, by far.

Which is quite frankly unfortunate if that happens. Despite me hating Toriyama's story direction, writing and Lightning and her wardrobe, LR nailed the gameplay aspect for the most part, including the exploration element. It could certainly use more polish and what not, but for a rushed product, I think it isn't too bad.

On the other hand, as long as this means the end of Lightning trilogy, that is all that matters.
 

Goli

Member
I'm really warming up to the game, but can someone sell me on the time system? I really don't like the feeling of being rushed, or get a game over cause I want to take my time. Please tell me either the time moves very slowly or you get more time by doing simple things?

I really need a jrpg right now, regardless if its average.

You get more time by doing quests, so spending time doing quests gives you more time to do more. In LR the only way for Lightning to get her stats higher is by completing quests, so quests not only give you more time, they also make her stronger. If you feel like you need more time you can also freeze time using Chronostasis, one of Lightning's special abilities that requires EP/GP, which you get by doing battles. In easy mode you get more EP/GP than in normal mode, so it should be easier to abuse Chronostasis to do everything, but in my experience with normal mode you can still abuse that if you fight against every single enemy you encounter, which is what I did.
 

Aureon

Please do not let me serve on a jury. I am actually a crazy person.
PSN is.. tomorrow, right?
Let's hope those textures are not THAT atrocious.
I wholly enjoyed XIII-2, dumb plot or not. I kind of hope for a better growth system \ weapon system this round, though. We haven't had a good weapon\growth system since FFX, dammit.

We already have one - FF14.

Even Kagari is on board, woot!
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
It's harder because unlike in XIII and XIII-2 you can only heal via items and Curaga which costs GP/EP (and mediguard/regen guard), thus unless you're really good at guarding or dodging you'll probably get beat up often till you learn the patterns and cues of each enemy.
Also you get less EP/GP in normal mode.

What about the Doomsday Clock? Is that going to be a problem in normal mode? Is it possible to complete most of the game like in easy mode in one playtrhough?
 

RPGCrazied

Member
You get more time by doing quests, so spending time doing quests gives you more time to do more. In LR the only way for Lightning to get her stats higher is by completing quests, so quests not only give you more time, they also make her stronger. If you feel like you need more time you can also freeze time using Chronostasis, one of Lightning's special abilities that requires EP/GP, which you get by doing battles. In easy mode you get more EP/GP than in normal mode, so it should be easier to abuse Chronostasis to do everything, but in my experience with normal mode you can still abuse that if you fight against every single enemy you encounter, which is what I did.

How fast does time move?

Then what is the point in fighting monsters if they don't offer up EXP? How long is the game basically?
 
The big outlets would probably give it bad scores either way, since the majority of people seem to dislike the XIII games in general. Gotta get those hate clicks.

The staff over at Kotaku had great faith in it, I wouldn't write it off just yet.
I really didn't enjoy combat in XIII, but LR:XIII Combat looks amazing to me, I'll reserve judgement for once I've played the demo later.
 

Goli

Member
PSN is.. tomorrow, right?
Let's hope those textures are not THAT atrocious.
I wholly enjoyed XIII-2, dumb plot or not. I kind of hope for a better growth system \ weapon system this round, though. We haven't had a good weapon\growth system since FFX, dammit.



Even Kagari is on board, woot!

The game has some really nice textures in some places but some really really bad ones in others, it's a bit of a mixed bag visually. At times it looks gorgeous, at others, horrible.

The weapon upgrade system is very straightforward, basically each piece of equipment increases certain stats, and you can upgrade them by using materials you get in ng+, however each weapon has a limit to how many times you can upgrade it, and I don't think any weapons allow you to fully max out all of the things they boost, so you have to choose whether you want to focus on a particular stat the piece of equipment offers or upgrade all stats evenly.
 

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
Can you please detail more of this? I asked the other day but haven't got many clear answers. What makes it difficult?

You can only level through quest completion, which means if you get stuck you can't exactly grind out levels or anything. I think in general the battle difficulty is also increased compared to the previous games. Probably because there is only one player character, but yeah.
 

Goli

Member
How fast does time move?

Then what is the point in fighting monsters if they don't offer up EXP? How long is the game basically?
IIRC each in game day was an hour IRL, but the game doesn't last 14 hours, it's a lot longer.
Battles are still important since they're the only way to get EP/GP (save for a few scarce EP/GP healing items) and also an important means of getting gil. Lightning Returns also has a command/ability upgrade system, and you get new commands and abilities from enemies. You upgrade commands by fusing abilities of the same kind to make them stronger, for example, if you have two Blizzard level 1 commands you can fuse them and have a Blizzard level 1 command that deals more damage than a normal one does. After upgrading it to a certain point you'll need a special item (which varies between abilities, but most are monster drops) to upgrade them to level 2, which makes the spell, ability, or whatever it is stronger and it also decreases their ATB cost.
What about the Doomsday Clock? Is that going to be a problem in normal mode? Is it possible to complete most of the game like in easy mode in one playtrhough?
It's only a problem if you don't do quests.
I played on normal mode and didn't have problems, but like I said I did most quests I came across and abused Chronostasis, I abused it too much, probably, since I had time to spare at the end.
Normal enemies on normal mode don't give out much EP/GP but the bigger ones like the Zaltys enemies you find in some spots give at least 1 EP/GP each, so killing those are a really good way to get more EP/GP, assuming you can defeat them anyway, since those are really tough at first.
 

Kagari

Crystal Bearer
PSN is.. tomorrow, right?
Let's hope those textures are not THAT atrocious.
I wholly enjoyed XIII-2, dumb plot or not. I kind of hope for a better growth system \ weapon system this round, though. We haven't had a good weapon\growth system since FFX, dammit.



Even Kagari is on board, woot!

I've always been on board for FF14.
 
Top Bottom