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Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII |OT| Toriyama's Bizarre Adventure

B

BananasWithGuns

Member
Last Outerworld challenge was a success, new garb for anyone interested.

http://na.square-enix.com/us/blog/outerworld-challenge-4-results-lightning-returns
7fb6dd413e1b370fdde2390996ad87ab.png


And that’s a wrap! With well over 400,000 Outerworld posts in the bag, you've completed our final Outerworld challenge and have unlocked Lightning's Dark Orchid garb - congratulations! As per usual, our trusty and aptly named official NPCs (@LRFF13) are waiting for you to come claim your prize. If you can't seem to find the NPCs, just remember that you can summon them into your game using the Facebook app. So pop on over and let us know what you think of the awesome Dark Orchid garb in the comments section below!

Thus concludes our series of Outerworld Challenges. We'd like to give everyone who participated a huge thank you and really hope that you had as much fun participating in the challenges as we did setting them up! Keep on posting and sharing your in-game loot as we'd love to see what else you can find and come up with!

And for those of your who either love a good adornment, or just like poking the (@LRFF13) NPCs every now and again, you'll be able to get the following goodies from the NPCs over the next few weeks:

Red Silk Hat (April 4 - April 7)
-Message Subject: Recognise garbs good for defence!

Blue Mog’s Ball (April 8 - April 11)
--Message Subject: Positioning in Battle

Pink Casquette (April 12 - April 15)
--Message Subject: The Last Ones

Princess's Crown (April 16 - April 19)
--Message Subject: Upgrading Accessories

Clown's Silk Hat (April 20 - April 23)
--Message Subject: Liberate People's Souls

Silver Chocobo Chick in Nest (April 24 - April 27)
--Message Subject: Stop time with Chronostasis

Justice Tricorn (May 19 – May 23)
--Message Subject: Defend with precision!
Click to expand...
 
F

Falk

that puzzling face
Man, the OCD in me wants to fire up the game every time one of these comes around just to collect stuff I'll never use (already plat, already done what I want to do in hard mode)

I just don't have the time though. :|
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
I was just wondering, if I am starting a new game, how long does it take to get to the NPC that gives you the outfits?

If it doesn't take too long, I might finally open my game to try to get to that point.
 
F

Flarin

Member
I just finished this game this weekend, not having played XIII or XIII-2 mind you. I have to say that the soundtrack and combat system are both great, the rest of the game just seemed so rushed and uninspired.

I was blown away by how many boring fetch quests there were and how poorly some of the levels were designed. I was kind of hoping LR might capture that old Square magic here, but man was I wrong.

Glad I played it though and off to try FF14.
 
H

Holykael1

Banned
Flarin said:
I just finished this game this weekend, not having played XIII or XIII-2 mind you. I have to say that the soundtrack and combat system are both great, the rest of the game just seemed so rushed and uninspired.

I was blown away by how many boring fetch quests there were and how poorly some of the levels were designed. I was kind of hoping LR might capture that old Square magic here, but man was I wrong.

Glad I played it though and off to try FF14.
Click to expand...

Without XIII and XIII-2, characters and story will do absolutely nothing for you, you are judging the game in an unfair position.
 
C

CrimsonCrescendo

Banned
Holykael1 said:
Without XIII and XIII-2, characters and story will do absolutely nothing for you, you are judging the game in an unfair position.
Click to expand...

Toriyama and Kitase keep on insisting that the story is completely open to newcomers. I'm assuming that's part of the reason why the script is full of redundancy and explanations of stuff anyone who payed the least bit attention in the past two games already knew. In my opinion, it didn't work and just annoyed people who were coming into the final installment off the previous games, but according the the director and the producer, he/she should be able to do that and get a lot out of the story. Seems like they just wasted everyone's time.
 
H

Holykael1

Banned
CrimsonCrescendo said:
Toriyama and Kitase keep on insisting that the story is completely open to newcomers. I'm assuming that's part of the reason why the script is full of redundancy and explanations of stuff anyone who payed the least bit attention in the past two games already knew. In my opinion, it didn't work and just annoyed people who were coming into the final installment off the previous games, but according the the director and the producer, he/she should be able to do that and get a lot out of the story. Seems like they just wasted everyone's time.
Click to expand...

They are trying to sell the game, I doubt they truly mean it. Sure you can follow what's going on but you will have no attachment whatesoever to the conflict/characters and the world.
 
F

frequency

Member
Flarin said:
I just finished this game this weekend, not having played XIII or XIII-2 mind you. I have to say that the soundtrack and combat system are both great, the rest of the game just seemed so rushed and uninspired.

I was blown away by how many boring fetch quests there were and how poorly some of the levels were designed. I was kind of hoping LR might capture that old Square magic here, but man was I wrong.

Glad I played it though and off to try FF14.
Click to expand...

If you don't like boring fetch quests...
 
W

WesternHeretic

Member
Yep stupid rewards in this game.

I can't beat 2.1 million battle score against hard mode Aeronite. Even with a damn near perfect match where I took 700 damage in total (350HP from two hell flare). No items, no overclocks no anything!

Saw a video of some dude beating every boss in 1:30 seconds and less.... Now that's some dedication.
 
G

Ganon Dragmire

Member
WesternHeretic said:
Yep stupid rewards in this game.

I can't beat 2.1 million battle score against hard mode Aeronite. Even with a damn near perfect match where I took 700 damage in total (350HP from two hell flare). No items, no overclocks no anything!

Saw a video of some dude beating every boss in 1:30 seconds and less.... Now that's some dedication.
Click to expand...
Heh . I had to use everything I had. I manged to beat it as it was getting ready to leave. Haha
 
F

Flarin

Member
Holykael1 said:
Without XIII and XIII-2, characters and story will do absolutely nothing for you, you are judging the game in an unfair position.
Click to expand...

I didn't really have a problem with the story. I've read synopses for both games and this seems loosely connected at best.
God/ Bhunivelze
<---*Spoiler* wasn't even in the previous two games from what I gather.

frequency said:
If you don't like boring fetch quests...
Click to expand...

LR gives you ZERO direction as to where to find whatever it is your looking for most of the time. I had to use a guide 80-90% of the time. At least in 14 it gives you general areas and marks things on your map.
 
H

Holykael1

Banned
Flarin said:
I didn't really have a problem with the story. I've read synopses for both games and this seems loosely connected at best.
God/ Bhunivelze
<---*Spoiler* wasn't even in the previous two games from what I gather.



LR gives you ZERO direction as to where to find whatever it is your looking for most of the time. I had to use a guide 80-90% of the time. At least in 14 it gives you general areas and marks things on your map.
Click to expand...

He is mentioned in previous games but nothing too serious(XIII datalog, XIII-2 story sequence).
Also the game is made in a way that if you explore without worrying about where do I go where do I go all the time you can basically do 90% of the sidequests, I never felt like any of them were far too cryptic to be doable under regular circumstances except for your odd one here and there, the thing is you don't even need to do them all so..
If you spent more time trying to enjoy the game instead of constantly being worried about "omg where do I go, omg I have to do this sidequest" you would have done most of them naturally and organically like I did. The time limit becomes a non issue after the 4th-5th day because you have plenty of EP to abuse chronostasis. Hell I slept through an entire week because I had nothing to do and even unlocked the last day which I didnt even bother doing either.
 
T

Toth

Member
Ah, here is the thread!

I was thinking of the ending when this thought came to me. I wonder if Bhunivelze ever saw the attack that killed him. That sword was made of the souls of humanity and since it was established that Bhunivelve could not see souls, he would not have seen that final attack. It makes sense now why he didn't guard against Lightning in his mad rush.
 
W

WesternHeretic

Member
Dragmire666 said:
Heh . I had to use everything I had. I manged to beat it as it was getting ready to leave. Haha
Click to expand...

Try Aeronite hard mode within the chaos infusion (you have to lure him in).


Holy moly.... 57million hp with regen.

I've seen two people on youtube who have been able to 5-stars it (neither of them use the 100% magic resist build either because there's just not enough damage with that method, because of the perm regen he has within the chaos) , but man I can't crack 1 star (I got 5 bronze stars).
 
W

WesternHeretic

Member
Dragmire666 said:
Maybe in (LR Ending spoiler)
the New World
. Seriously, beating it on hard was enough.
Click to expand...

Welp just 5-star Chaos Aeronite. Offically done with this game.. nothing more to do.

The key was...
Locket Necklace on Punt (Martial Monk) to get the triple ender if you can time it right you can get 999,999 x3
 
G

Ganon Dragmire

Member
SoraanTribal said:
Her XIII outfit was definitely the best one. I felt like they got progressively worse as the series went on.
Click to expand...

Of course. Out of the 3, that is the one she picked.(sort of, since it's a uniform variation) .
She has better tastes than the Gods.

It's possible to do everything in the game without wearing anything too tasteless. There are several garbs I liked,but yes the original will always be the best.
 
W

WesternHeretic

Member
The two from previous save files Knight of Etro and Guardian Corps are probably the two best just because they are the only ones to have 4 ability slots (we talking new game +++ etc though).

One thing I don't know why they made tier 4 spells base off Lightning's HP. They are practically useless unless you're on the verge of dying. Astral Lord is such a useless garb. No reason to farm chill, flare, surge, tornado or if anyone is crazy enough Elemntaga (only dropped by final boss, so essentially you have to beat the game 30 times to max, and probably at least 32 if you want to hopefully get the rare ability on it).
 
Terra_Ex

Terra_Ex

Member
Just finished this last night, clocked in at 50~ hours.
Bhuni
gave me some trouble but I got him eventually. I know GAF has likely moved on but I thought I'd post my thoughts:

I enjoyed the game overall, much more than I thought I was going to, I honestly thought LR was going to be a new low for the series but there was enough good stuff here to prove me wrong, thankfully. The battles were enjoyable for the whole game, with some challenging enemies throughout, the last ones and species extinction mechanics were nice touches and I wasn't expecting to find little details like that. Hearing all the old tunes from the previous games sprinkled throughout the game was a nice touch.

I was enjoying the ending
(despite it throwing the usual jrpg "with the power of my friends" DBZ spirit bomb nonsense at me) until the post credits scene. I found the switchover to real world imagery to be especially jarring and it soured me somewhat on the final moments with the game. I'd have preferred an ending focused on the characters and one that was grounded in the aesthetic of their own world. I didn't really like where they went with that, seemingly linking it to Earth so I think I'll just pretend that it ended with the credits, I find that to be more satisfying and conclusive personally.

I don't know what else to say really, the entire trilogy overall was disappointing to me, certainly not up there with with my favourites in the franchise, but there were some enjoyable moments scattered throughout the three games and there are some good ideas employed (though not always well-executed). I felt that 13-2 and LR were both struggling to layer in the promising FFXIII mythology into their respective games after largely going unused and unseen in the main game. All that being said, I would play this game again over the other two, it was the most interesting and enjoyable to play of the trilogy.

Edit: more spoiler tags, apologies Sanpunkan.
 
S

Sanpunkan

Member
Terra_Ex - Your second sentence is talking about a final boss, no? Spoiled :(. But let's be honest I saw that coming a mile away.

Having earned a platinum in FFXIII and completing the story in FFXIII-2, I am struggling with this game. I am only a couple days into it and the story seems kind of pointless so far. But that's okay. I made it through FFXIII-2's story. I think the only thing that keeps me playing the Lightning saga is that I must feel I owe it to myself after all those years being hyped for FFXIII.

I'm playing on normal difficulty and I am having a terrible time. My HP is normally halved after every battle, I have no idea how to customize schemata effectively (I've been using Nocturne, Electronica, and Something Rouge for forever), and my abilities are all still mostly level 1. There doesn't seem to be a clear progression path other than trial and error. Or maybe I'm missing something?
 
W

WesternHeretic

Member
Sanpunkan said:
Terra_Ex - Your second sentence is talking about a final boss, no? Spoiled :(. But let's be honest I saw that coming a mile away.

Having earned a platinum in FFXIII and completing the story in FFXIII-2, I am struggling with this game. I am only a couple days into it and the story seems kind of pointless so far. But that's okay. I made it through FFXIII-2's story. I think the only thing that keeps me playing the Lightning saga is that I must feel I owe it to myself after all those years being hyped for FFXIII.

I'm playing on normal difficulty and I am having a terrible time. My HP is normally halved after every battle, I have no idea how to customize schemata effectively (I've been using Nocturne, Electronica, and Something Rouge for forever), and my abilities are all still mostly level 1. There doesn't seem to be a clear progression path other than trial and error. Or maybe I'm missing something?
Click to expand...

Have you done any quest or canvas of prayers? Those are where your stats come from.

Once you beat either Yusannan or Dead Dunes boss you can pretty much cheese the entire game (with the item they drop).

If you haven't beat them you might want to start with something standard like a aliment schema (basically SAB from XIII), Com , and a Rav, and that should be good enough.

You really don't need to customize unless for like 3 boss total in the game.
 
J

Jimrpg

Member
Aussies and Europeans - Lightning Returns is part of the Easter Sale on PSN. Its $29.95 Australian. Don't remember seeing it at the start of the sale.

Combo me if old.
 
Exentryk

Exentryk

Member
It's done. The trilogy platinumed.

Pros:
- Battle system
I enjoyed the battle system, even though I missed not having party members permanently. The perfect attacks are quite satisfying and customisation/strategising is fairly fun. Battle scores and rankings add to the game's hours if you're into that sort of thing. Even managed to find a bug in the game that can be exploited for massive damage.

Cons:
- Timer
- Story
- Quests
- Game Setup - What I mean by this is the sandboxing of content. One has to replay the game multiple times to get everything (accessories, weapons, garbs etc). Maxing out your character takes way too long, and not many people will bother with it. This means less people attempting highscores, and taking them seriously. This also means that strategies by maxed out players aren't really useful to an average gamer.

Anyhow! Enjoy this artwork as a final goodbye.

yD44wiX.jpg

3000 x 4000
 
F

Falk

that puzzling face
Essentially casting one ability and swapping to another schema that boosts the shit out of it.

Works for Heavy Slash -> Artemis Arrows for example.
 
M

Minions

Member
Is the outerworld down for anyone else? I know 360 is having issues; but it seems to be down for me on PS3. I tried the entire guide to get it working (and summon NPC's) and it says they are summoning to my game, but I have yet to see a single one spawn in the past 4 hours or so. (I've been checking back every 30 minutes or so); I go to the locations listed in the summon page; nada. Earlier I was getting errors that the service could not connect to the outerworld stuff. However I re-enabled the option a hour or so later and still nothing.
 
M

Minions

Member
Dragmire666 said:
^^i had to make a Facebook account and link it. The NPCs I summoned where at the Luxerion station.
Click to expand...

It tells me I summoned them. If I try again it says they were already summoned. I never got it to work.... I just relogged in areas I knew NPC's would be until one appeared and hoped it was the right item. Linked my FB to PS3; Linked my PS3 to FB; Linked the APP to my FB... made a post with screenshot from the game....

What a PITA to be honest. Before it "works right" it tells you to goto the website when you try to summon.... I finally got that to go away and it still doesn't work... Reminds me of DS and trying to get friends in your games... almost never worked.
 
G

Gaaraz

Member
Just played the demo of this, I am (or at least was) a big fan of JRPGs but from the demos I've played of this generations FF games none have really done it for me at all... this one was okay, the story was intruiging even if it was incredibly over dramatic at times, and the combat system seems okay, though I did actually get a little bored of it before the demo even finished.

Still somewhat tempted to get it, am I right in thinking this is probably the best recent FF game?
 
H

Holykael1

Banned
Gaaraz said:
Just played the demo of this, I am (or at least was) a big fan of JRPGs but from the demos I've played of this generations FF games none have really done it for me at all... this one was okay, the story was intruiging even if it was incredibly over dramatic at times, and the combat system seems okay, though I did actually get a little bored of it before the demo even finished.

Still somewhat tempted to get it, am I right in thinking this is probably the best recent FF game?
Click to expand...

If you enjoy the gameplay, it might be. If you didn't like XIII and XIII-2.. Nope, don't even bother.
 
S

Steroyd

Member
I'm only an hour into this and I have question WHY!?

Why does this game exist, this does not even feel like a cash in, it feels like a creation served only for the creator himself, why am I thinking Assassin's Creed in one of the early missions, why is there a timer that effectively rushes me to do shit, and why is the combat some half hearted mutant between real time and... Whatever the fuck FFXIII battle system was.

Okay the last point isn't something I should bring up because I played the demo but all this saviour, self righteous bullshit is making me think things and it's a shocking difference between this and South Park SoT. I'm in lala land where I'm enjoying a western developed Japaneese inspired RPG over an actual Japaneese RPG.

Fuck.
 
P

Pro

Member
Was a little scared to come into this thread since I am just about to beat LR in the next sitting or two. On the last day. Beat Aeronite and Ereshkigal. In prime position to get Platinum which would make Platinum on the trilogy for myself as well.

Really enjoyed XIII and XIII-2. This game just feels like a cheap money maker thrown together though. The main story is so short and the bulk of the game is side quests. Also the graphics look really good at times (character models and such), but then there are close-ups of grass blades or flowers in a cinematic that literally look like 8-bit textures. Nevermind that dog from the Wildlands! Plus why no FMV besides the opening? C'mon Square we paid good money for this and no way you filled up all the space on a blu ray disc with those grass textures.

The scope of the game is pretty small with only the four locations to explore.

The battle system and schemata customization is the high point. The fact that you actually have to use multiple schemata makes it much better than say Barely (Bravely) Default where you could basically power up any job class and sail through the game on auto. Really liked how they force you to actually play Defense in this RPG. So the enemies and bosses were unique and challenging in that regard.

Still overall it seems like it could have been DLC easily enough with the lack of story content. Square-Enix these days seems to get a few things really right while other aspects really suffer. Why can't they just put together a complete game with all the really right aspects? Here's hoping FXV delivers.

Still enjoyed LR and definitely got my monies worth out of it. Going over 60 hours of gameplay. And still excited to see the ending. Hoping it will tie everything up nicely.
 
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