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Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII |OT| Toriyama's Bizarre Adventure
- Thread starter Kagari
- Start date
Aaaaand done. Finished it last night. Still think FFXIII had the best ending out of the trilogy. It was the only one that really felt like a complete RPG that culminated with everything getting resolved.
This ending is good. The whole last day was good. It finally felt like a Final Fantasy game for the last day, brief as it was. These characters have sure gone through some hell though that's for sure.
The overall trilogy story is good. Probably didn't need 3 games to tell it though.
Now for the rage. I'll have to play another couple hours finding head accessories again to get the last trophy Expert Craftsman. Thought you would be able to upgrade them at the forge. Didn't know they're only upgradable by finding them again on New Game+. Just gonna cheese it by finding the first 15 on New Game+, go back to the ark and start a New Game++ and find the first 15 again.
This ending is good. The whole last day was good. It finally felt like a Final Fantasy game for the last day, brief as it was. These characters have sure gone through some hell though that's for sure.
And it was good they addressed Lightning's lack of feelings and made her show them finally. Yay Lumina for being that missing piece oh her being! Could have been better if that was seen gradually throughout the main story.
Now for the rage. I'll have to play another couple hours finding head accessories again to get the last trophy Expert Craftsman. Thought you would be able to upgrade them at the forge. Didn't know they're only upgradable by finding them again on New Game+. Just gonna cheese it by finding the first 15 on New Game+, go back to the ark and start a New Game++ and find the first 15 again.
HiddenForbiddenHolyGround
Member
So I beat this last night. There's a lot to be said about this game but I just wanted to bring up one thing that bothered me. 13-2 felt directly connected to 13, it expanded on the world and characters. Maybe it didn't go in a way people liked but it still felt like it was part of the same story.
To me LR feels apart from the series. It feels like the fan fiction someone wrote to wrap up the story because SE decided to never make a real 13-3. And it feels like they bring up old story threads just to tie them off really quick and move on. None of the resolutions were all that satisfying, and most seemed very rushed.
It didn't feel like the proper sequel the other two had lead to. The way the story was handled and other issues like the general sloppiness of the game and some annoying design decisions left me feeling it was a just decent game. In my opinion the other two were great for what they were, bah. Sour note to go out on here.
To me LR feels apart from the series. It feels like the fan fiction someone wrote to wrap up the story because SE decided to never make a real 13-3. And it feels like they bring up old story threads just to tie them off really quick and move on. None of the resolutions were all that satisfying, and most seemed very rushed.
It didn't feel like the proper sequel the other two had lead to. The way the story was handled and other issues like the general sloppiness of the game and some annoying design decisions left me feeling it was a just decent game. In my opinion the other two were great for what they were, bah. Sour note to go out on here.
Is there a specific or optimal order I should be tackling the content in? The enemy HP and damage ramped up significantly (to the point that I'm doing what looks like nothing to them) after I initiated code quest in Luxerion. Usually this is a sign that I'm in the wrong neighbourhood. I figured out the stagger conditions, openings and patterns of some of the enemies but even then the battles take a really long time.
Pierre Levegh
Member
Some of the enemies in Luxerion (especially in the graveyard) can really mess you up. You need to get out of the city. Go to the wildlands and the dead dunes and pick up some easy quests and garbs. It will be tough to try and finish the Luxerion quest without taking a detour out of the city.
Don't worry about the time limit. I started playing the game telling myself that I was not going to finish it on the first try and I would do so on a new game +. So I took a lot of time to finish these quests. But, time was such a non-issue that I beat the game and the ultimate dungeon after screwing around for the first 4-5 days of the game on my first go on normal difficulty.
Don't worry about the time limit. I started playing the game telling myself that I was not going to finish it on the first try and I would do so on a new game +. So I took a lot of time to finish these quests. But, time was such a non-issue that I beat the game and the ultimate dungeon after screwing around for the first 4-5 days of the game on my first go on normal difficulty.
WesternHeretic
Member
The enemies actually scale by days. For example you might run into the same monster on day 1 and day 12 but the one on day 12 will be stronger.
I can check later but just off the top of my head I think it's day 1,5,8,13 where monsters gets a boost.
The luxerion and yusanan boss also scale by days.
They did that so you can do the quest in any order you like.
I can check later but just off the top of my head I think it's day 1,5,8,13 where monsters gets a boost.
The luxerion and yusanan boss also scale by days.
They did that so you can do the quest in any order you like.
Spam Chronostasis, manage encounters as your resource for refilling Chronostasis (e.g. don't run around killing a bunch of Behemoths you don't need since there's a finite number)
Latter probably isn't necessary seeing as most people finish -everything around 4-5 days in if they really, really want to. What this implies, though is that it's definitely possible to 'catch up' if you're running severely behind.
Latter probably isn't necessary seeing as most people finish -everything around 4-5 days in if they really, really want to. What this implies, though is that it's definitely possible to 'catch up' if you're running severely behind.
WesternHeretic
Member
The last beholemoths does drop the flash render which is really strong for the first play.
So I finally finished the game......
Just wanted to post some questions and thoughts....
About the final boss....
The first 5-10 hours, I was actually excited, watching the videos, the combat system looked phenomenal and thought this game might have taken a slightly darker approach. 13-2 with Mog as a personal cheerleader really ruined the vibe of that entire game for me.
But.......
The game forced me to do a lot of uninteresting side quests. For such a large amount of quests and objectives, I really wish they would sometimes allow markers, (maybe I'm too used to the casual state of WoW) but shit I would just run in circles trying to figure out where something was on the map. And then I realize the item or person isn't even available during that time of the day. I really hated this whole clock system. It pissed me off to no end.
The idea to gain stats from doing quests and the stupid bulletin board, I absolutely hated it. At times when at bosses if I felt like I didn't have the necessary stats, it would have been nice to just grind out some levels, like the old RPGs.At times I just felt like I was out of luck and just forced to have 30+ minute fights and 1+ hour of attempts trying to figure out what I was doing wrong.
And a lot of the special unique equipped abilities had terrible descriptions to them, and I had no real idea what they actually ever did.
I thought the combat was very mediocre. The option to move/reposition was at an extremely slow pace seemed pointless most of the time. Guard seemed almost mandatory for boss fights to not get decimated on big attacks. It felt like it should have been simply a combat feature to automatically implemented and not give up an actual combat slot.
The staggering component of this game really pissed me off. I almost never got to stagger. Bosses would be red for two seconds and then go back to blue. Like huh?
I never understood the whole synthesizing process because I had a lot of random magic and attack spells, but anytime I wanted to upgrade they were always at their max or couldn't upgrade for stats or damage. I eventually played with level 1 and 2 spells/attacks, unless garbs gave me higher.
I had to find out through a random video on youtube showing weapons, that you can upgrade weapon stats and get level 3+ spells. Like WTF?
I did all the challenges in 13 and 13-2 and plat'd both games. I don't think I'm the best gamer, but when playing this game, I felt uninterested just wanted to finish, don't care to do hard mode or do any of the optional stuff.
Simply, I felt like the biggest idiot playing this, I didn't feel like I had any sense of direction, and a lot of yawning while playing the game.
Just wanted to post some questions and thoughts....
About the final boss....
Do I just suck or was the final boss just stupidly ridiculously difficult?
I think it was 4 phases, and the last phase required you to stagger him to do any damage.
What happened at the end exactly? Did everyone actually just die to be reborn and have all their same memories?
I didn't really understand Lumina being fake Serah or lightning's weakness exactly. Can someone explain that?
I think it was 4 phases, and the last phase required you to stagger him to do any damage.
What happened at the end exactly? Did everyone actually just die to be reborn and have all their same memories?
I didn't really understand Lumina being fake Serah or lightning's weakness exactly. Can someone explain that?
The first 5-10 hours, I was actually excited, watching the videos, the combat system looked phenomenal and thought this game might have taken a slightly darker approach. 13-2 with Mog as a personal cheerleader really ruined the vibe of that entire game for me.
But.......
The game forced me to do a lot of uninteresting side quests. For such a large amount of quests and objectives, I really wish they would sometimes allow markers, (maybe I'm too used to the casual state of WoW) but shit I would just run in circles trying to figure out where something was on the map. And then I realize the item or person isn't even available during that time of the day. I really hated this whole clock system. It pissed me off to no end.
The idea to gain stats from doing quests and the stupid bulletin board, I absolutely hated it. At times when at bosses if I felt like I didn't have the necessary stats, it would have been nice to just grind out some levels, like the old RPGs.At times I just felt like I was out of luck and just forced to have 30+ minute fights and 1+ hour of attempts trying to figure out what I was doing wrong.
And a lot of the special unique equipped abilities had terrible descriptions to them, and I had no real idea what they actually ever did.
I thought the combat was very mediocre. The option to move/reposition was at an extremely slow pace seemed pointless most of the time. Guard seemed almost mandatory for boss fights to not get decimated on big attacks. It felt like it should have been simply a combat feature to automatically implemented and not give up an actual combat slot.
The staggering component of this game really pissed me off. I almost never got to stagger. Bosses would be red for two seconds and then go back to blue. Like huh?
I never understood the whole synthesizing process because I had a lot of random magic and attack spells, but anytime I wanted to upgrade they were always at their max or couldn't upgrade for stats or damage. I eventually played with level 1 and 2 spells/attacks, unless garbs gave me higher.
I had to find out through a random video on youtube showing weapons, that you can upgrade weapon stats and get level 3+ spells. Like WTF?
I did all the challenges in 13 and 13-2 and plat'd both games. I don't think I'm the best gamer, but when playing this game, I felt uninterested just wanted to finish, don't care to do hard mode or do any of the optional stuff.
The biggest difficulties of the game for me was that omega dungeon on the last day. I used all my recovery items and EP on the first two bosses and never got pass that. Caius and Bhenvelize were the biggest pain in the asses I have ever fought just going through storyline. I thought the spikes in difficulty came out of nowhere and I just got stomped a lot. I think both fights I spent 3+ hours trying to figure out what to do.
Simply, I felt like the biggest idiot playing this, I didn't feel like I had any sense of direction, and a lot of yawning while playing the game.
Staggering has 2 characteristics. You have attacks that stabilize the staggering and attacks that increase the staggering. After a big increase you need to stabilize it with something like attack or light slash or that increase will go away. You knew about this by seeing the attack's descriptions and their ranks from D-A on Stagger Power and Stagger Time, I think that's what they are called.
And yap guard is a big deal, you are supposed to guard everything and eventually perfect guard with precise timing. It's not very hard with a few hours of practice to get the timing down, by the end of the game guarding should be 2nd nature.
As far as the ending goes:
And yap guard is a big deal, you are supposed to guard everything and eventually perfect guard with precise timing. It's not very hard with a few hours of practice to get the timing down, by the end of the game guarding should be 2nd nature.
As far as the ending goes:
They are reborn in the new world but they don't keep their memories of each other, they just live normal lives and maybe "destiny" will make them meet again. Lumina is a part of Lightning's psyche that she was shutting down, it was her emotions and and Light perceives those emotions as "weaknesses", in the end she embraces that part of her as fundamental and blabla, I suggest rewatching the ending on youtube or looking up a more indepth explanation on the interwebz if you are still confused
CrimsonCrescendo
Banned
To the bolded in the spoilers: Where exactly was this mentioned? I have never seen anyone else say this, and after forcing myself to rewatch the CGI ending, it's never mentioned (in fact, the whole "All I know is that we'll be together soon")
It was not said anywhere outright but that's the impression I got after playing the game. I guess it's partially open for interpretation. Also, you need to watch the last scenes before that CGI thing, that's where I got the hints.
After the summons disappear, a flashback starts playing of their adventures throughout the trilogy while sad music plays, I believe that is hinting that in the new world they may not necessarily cross paths. And then "Humankind will be born afresh", besides if they were all really together with their memories intact in the new world I doubt they wouldn't show them all together happy or whatever. Furthermore before they finally go into the new world they are all kinda "sad" and reluctant to go for that very reason I believe.
CrimsonCrescendo
Banned
I rewatched an entire hour before the CGI, not one line of dialogue hints at it that I can see. What is said is this:
Lightning: "Then you'll do it all over: Rebuild the world, the sky, even the people. But with no memories or feelings... and no past."
Bhunivelze: "The perfect people for my perfect world. Free. Knowing only joy. Unfettered by grief and grudges."
Lightning: "What you're describing isn't human. They'll be puppets that look like people"
And since Lightning wins, this seems diametric to what you're saying. The entire reason Lightning has to kill Bhunivelze is because he is trying to take away memories and emotions. And again, since Lightning wins, we can't say either way what really happened to them.
It's fine to believe this, but to state it as fact to someone who is asking questions isn't okay when it is admittedly simply an interpretation.
Lightning: "Then you'll do it all over: Rebuild the world, the sky, even the people. But with no memories or feelings... and no past."
Bhunivelze: "The perfect people for my perfect world. Free. Knowing only joy. Unfettered by grief and grudges."
Lightning: "What you're describing isn't human. They'll be puppets that look like people"
And since Lightning wins, this seems diametric to what you're saying. The entire reason Lightning has to kill Bhunivelze is because he is trying to take away memories and emotions. And again, since Lightning wins, we can't say either way what really happened to them.
It's fine to believe this, but to state it as fact to someone who is asking questions isn't okay when it is admittedly simply an interpretation.
Sorry...It's an assumption and I should have made that clear.
I don't think I did it enough times for it to be "annoying" but whatever. In any case I believe I have an acceptable case for my assumption(case I failed to provide in the original post) but I recognize it's just that, an assumption and will make sure to highlight that the next time I make one. I was simply answering the question to the best of my ability and part of my explanation was my own interpretation and I failed to present it as such, it was not a malicious attempt at passing off my own beliefs as facts but a simple oversight.
I don't think I did it enough times for it to be "annoying" but whatever. In any case I believe I have an acceptable case for my assumption(case I failed to provide in the original post) but I recognize it's just that, an assumption and will make sure to highlight that the next time I make one. I was simply answering the question to the best of my ability and part of my explanation was my own interpretation and I failed to present it as such, it was not a malicious attempt at passing off my own beliefs as facts but a simple oversight.
I believe when she refers to "with no memories or feelings.. and no past" she is referring to how the future would be for the existing souls in the old world, they would be stripped of the right to have memories and feelings like they did in the old world(I don't think it directly implies that they will migrate to the new world with everything they knew about the old world, my biggest evidence being that the "Age crystal" is referred to as just a legend and that probably means people only have faint recollections of it and therefore don't remember all the bonds and friendships they had in the old world), the last scene before they go onto the new world also has a "Goodbyeish" vibe to it and that's why I assumed what I did. At the same time, I think it's weird that the last scene only has Lightning and doesn't refer to the other characters or her connection with them
CrimsonCrescendo
Banned
There are translations of the Ultimania online which state that the original ending was for the entire crew to be together and the only reason they didn't do that was because of some stupid idea that "It began with Lightning so it had to end with Lightning".
As per the other stuff, I just don't see it.
As per the other stuff, I just don't see it.
Ah, I'm wrong then. Meh, I'll take either side anyway, won't change my opinion of the game.
CrimsonCrescendo
Banned
I'm still a little salty over the ending we got.
If nothing else (there was little I liked about the ending), after all we went through with the characters, the least they could have done was let us see all of them happy together. But no, "Began with Lightning, has to end with Lightning" (NO IT DIDN'T)
Yeah I too was a little disappointed that we didn't get to see that.
However I really liked the ideas and implications of the ending in the game world and because of that it still ended up being a positive ending for me.
CrimsonCrescendo
Banned
Sorry if I came off as a little overbearing.
Yeah I tried to follow the concept of 2 ravagers, 1 commando from the previous games to get stagger. But it felt at times, I wasn't even close to get the opportunity to stabilize the stagger meter. I don't know, I guess I sort of enjoyed watching a number bar fill up, and see how close or far I am to staggering.
When I did stagger, I would overclock and go to the FF7 outfit to get slayer and do tons of damage. Sometimes The stagger ended like 1/4 of the overclock and I had no real indication of when the stagger was going to end.
To me at least it felt extremely random. Maybe I was just a huge noob to the combat overhaul. Personally I loved it at first, but realized I enjoyed the other two systems more.
And not having any party members at all, felt almost this game was like a huge side story and not an actual sequel.
In reply to the spoilers:
Okay, I understood that Lumina was lightning's weak side, but at the end she kept saying she was a fake. She was created and yet she was Serah. (She even took on the image of Serah multiple times.)
So from the way the dialogue played out, I thought Lumina was saying, Serah isn't even a real person and Lumina was her the whole time (the whole series). Serah was the embodiment of Lightning's feelings she discarded. From what I was taking away, when Serah died, Lightning's old self went back to her goddess as memories and feelings in the crystal. (the dlc of 13-2) And when Lightning was resurrected, Bhun made a new body for those old feelings that Lightning had then accepted, which was Lumina.
I guess I got really confused when I actually saw Serah come greet her at the end.
I must be a complete idiot cause I didn't understand shit that was happening then.....
And the "secret" ending made it seem like Lightning remembers everything. She says "the journey is over. But we'll all see each other someday" or something like that.
You know, looking at the broad spectrum of the story, it actually was very interesting to me. I mean 500 years of never aging, but still afraid to die. People have gone through some weird things, lost loved ones, trying to figure out how to live their lives. It was sort of refreshing take of a unique storyline. Also Lightning battling god himself, as he's given her divine strength to become the goddess of death and can actually match him in power. There is just too much randomness going on. It didn't even feel like it was a story at all.
So from the way the dialogue played out, I thought Lumina was saying, Serah isn't even a real person and Lumina was her the whole time (the whole series). Serah was the embodiment of Lightning's feelings she discarded. From what I was taking away, when Serah died, Lightning's old self went back to her goddess as memories and feelings in the crystal. (the dlc of 13-2) And when Lightning was resurrected, Bhun made a new body for those old feelings that Lightning had then accepted, which was Lumina.
I guess I got really confused when I actually saw Serah come greet her at the end.
I must be a complete idiot cause I didn't understand shit that was happening then.....
And the "secret" ending made it seem like Lightning remembers everything. She says "the journey is over. But we'll all see each other someday" or something like that.
You know, looking at the broad spectrum of the story, it actually was very interesting to me. I mean 500 years of never aging, but still afraid to die. People have gone through some weird things, lost loved ones, trying to figure out how to live their lives. It was sort of refreshing take of a unique storyline. Also Lightning battling god himself, as he's given her divine strength to become the goddess of death and can actually match him in power. There is just too much randomness going on. It didn't even feel like it was a story at all.
From my understanding:
First of all, take in mind that the Soul and the Heart are two different things that are entirely lost in localization.
No, Lumina and Fake Serah are different people. Fake Serah is created by Bhunivelze to trick Lightning. She was never real but she could understand how Lightning could feel or act. Lightning figured out that the Serah was a fake and said that "You were never real.", the Fake Serah wasn't a fake. The real Serah's soul was out in the chaos, which was picked up by Sazh later.
Lumina is Claire Farron, her weakness when she cast Claire out and became Lightning when her mother died when she was 15. When Chaos poured into the world, it fused with that 'emotions' that Lightning cast out and took a form known as Lumina.
At XIII-2's ending, Serah's heart(?) was crystallized within Lightning which Bhunivelze cast out into the chaos without a care for where it was, but Lumina found Serah's heart when it was cast out and kept it safe, thus Lumina is kind of Claire Farron BUT with Serah's heart.
Bhunivelze can't see the heart, the chaos spirit. It's not souls, unlike the EN/other localized versions suggest.
What's happening at the ending is that Lightning struggles with accepting her weaknesses of wanting to be saved and helped, in short. Which, she does, and Hope saves her. The Serah that greeted her at the ending was the fake Serah - even if she was not real, she could understand how the real Serah would feel.
The English localization destroyed that Hope became Bhunivelze's weakness when he absorbed Hope's heart, not soul and thus could feel emotion. She could never defeat god alone. It's the power of working together, souls, love, heart, whatever.
In the secret ending she exactly says "This journey is over now. I wonder when the next will begin. I only know that soon, we'll be together." This implies that she has retained memories of the events of the crystal age - "The crystal age is just a legend from before the world was born, and it ended before you were born." was said before 'Rebirth', but it's iffy how they're exactly reborn. They couldn't just be reborn like babies - that would mean Sazh and Dajh would be the same age, or if they were reborn back to their respective ages, then Sazh would have to find the same wife. Besides, the Ultimania did state whatever Bhunivelze did to Hope's body was temporary when Bhunivelze's power faded when he was defeated, and he did (most likely) retain his adult form in the New World. So IMO they probably just magically appeared somewhere on Pseudo-Earth.
The above about Hope contradicts Hope's young appearance in the final battle/cosmogenesis area after Bhunivelze was defeated, but it's actually because Hope doesn't actually have a body at that point - it's the form his soul takes, which is actually kind of Lightning's fault because that's how she sees him or something.
The Ultimania also states that the original planned ending would contain Sazh on the train with her, just like the start of XIII and she would be communicating with her other friends via video call on a smartphone, or that they would be waiting for her at the train station. Something like that. I'm not too sure about the details, but this supports that they had retained their memories.
First of all, take in mind that the Soul and the Heart are two different things that are entirely lost in localization.
No, Lumina and Fake Serah are different people. Fake Serah is created by Bhunivelze to trick Lightning. She was never real but she could understand how Lightning could feel or act. Lightning figured out that the Serah was a fake and said that "You were never real.", the Fake Serah wasn't a fake. The real Serah's soul was out in the chaos, which was picked up by Sazh later.
Lumina is Claire Farron, her weakness when she cast Claire out and became Lightning when her mother died when she was 15. When Chaos poured into the world, it fused with that 'emotions' that Lightning cast out and took a form known as Lumina.
At XIII-2's ending, Serah's heart(?) was crystallized within Lightning which Bhunivelze cast out into the chaos without a care for where it was, but Lumina found Serah's heart when it was cast out and kept it safe, thus Lumina is kind of Claire Farron BUT with Serah's heart.
Bhunivelze can't see the heart, the chaos spirit. It's not souls, unlike the EN/other localized versions suggest.
What's happening at the ending is that Lightning struggles with accepting her weaknesses of wanting to be saved and helped, in short. Which, she does, and Hope saves her. The Serah that greeted her at the ending was the fake Serah - even if she was not real, she could understand how the real Serah would feel.
The English localization destroyed that Hope became Bhunivelze's weakness when he absorbed Hope's heart, not soul and thus could feel emotion. She could never defeat god alone. It's the power of working together, souls, love, heart, whatever.
In the secret ending she exactly says "This journey is over now. I wonder when the next will begin. I only know that soon, we'll be together." This implies that she has retained memories of the events of the crystal age - "The crystal age is just a legend from before the world was born, and it ended before you were born." was said before 'Rebirth', but it's iffy how they're exactly reborn. They couldn't just be reborn like babies - that would mean Sazh and Dajh would be the same age, or if they were reborn back to their respective ages, then Sazh would have to find the same wife. Besides, the Ultimania did state whatever Bhunivelze did to Hope's body was temporary when Bhunivelze's power faded when he was defeated, and he did (most likely) retain his adult form in the New World. So IMO they probably just magically appeared somewhere on Pseudo-Earth.
The above about Hope contradicts Hope's young appearance in the final battle/cosmogenesis area after Bhunivelze was defeated, but it's actually because Hope doesn't actually have a body at that point - it's the form his soul takes, which is actually kind of Lightning's fault because that's how she sees him or something.
The Ultimania also states that the original planned ending would contain Sazh on the train with her, just like the start of XIII and she would be communicating with her other friends via video call on a smartphone, or that they would be waiting for her at the train station. Something like that. I'm not too sure about the details, but this supports that they had retained their memories.
Wow okay. Well that clears up a lot of things.
I really think them completely reuniting was the ending everyone expected. And it seems like there was no real sacrifice in a sense. After 3 games, no one major stayed dead, everyone came back to life and had a super sappy happy ending.
Zoe
Member
Oh for pete's sake.
:O
Unsure if this is sarcasm.
I just want this storyline to be done with. I enjoyed 13 and it's story. 13-2 was just sort of interesting, but that's it. Nothing impressive. I thought Lightning Returns was the worst out of all three. I just couldn't get into the setting and feel for the characters while doing the quests or anything.
If you did actually enjoy LR's storyline. What was the appealing point really? Just asking out of general curiosity. Literally running around collecting stuff, felt like I was doing stupid errands and then I "saved" their soul. I didn't feel any sort of connection to any side quest.
I think everyone is ready for something new.
I preferred 13 to both 13-2 and LR, but I prefer LR over 13-2.
I didn't think the plot of LR was very good tbh, a lot of the characters didn't react in ways they were supposed to, and it was generally very poorly paced and the story felt tacked on together because they were trying too hard to give player the freedom of choice in which quest they want to do first.
But anyway, I'm sort of a fan and I honestly felt the most insulting part of the story was that
the ending didn't offer good closure to the characters. After 3 games.. We're not going to see Snow&Serah get married? What's going to happen to the other characters? What are they doing now that it's all over, etc. At least I'll have some answers now. I was b****ing about this since the Japanese release last November...
CrimsonCrescendo
Banned
Novels that will never come out of Japan, I'm guessing.
Probably not.
A lot of people give 13-2 shit. But man, I found it fun. I actually liked the random paradox endings, what if scenarios. I think my favorite was when
Noel and Searh are fighting the giants and the ending assumes they fought til their death.
Also the battle system was significantly improved on the fact of how you can actually switch control between both Noel and Serah. If 13's combat system was like this and you switched between all three characters, I think that would have been amazing.
Monster customization. It was alright. I rather always play with characters than monsters and customizing their own abilities. What I did like about it though, was that limit break for monsters. I thought that was actually pretty neat. I wish they sort of took that concept and stuck with it for all the characters, cause noel and Serah had their own special abilities. Bringing back the whole limit break system I think is always a cool idea.
As far as the ending of LR. The ending everyone wanted already existed at the end of 13. Everyone literally all came back together had happy lives and was going to start their own life. Serah and Snow are together, Dahj and Sazh, Lightning was happy that she saved her sister.
Again I just want to be done with this series. The resources spent on this series was way to much.
I enjoyed 13, it was different and I enjoyed it for it was. But it just kept going downhill. Nothing to me actually kept me excited.
Ganon Dragmire
Member
The new novels that will continue the series is called:
Final Fantasy XIII Reminiscence: Tracer of Memories
a blurry pic of the cover of vol.1 is out there.
New pics of
are on the cover.
They all look like they are in
.
Final Fantasy XIII Reminiscence: Tracer of Memories
a blurry pic of the cover of vol.1 is out there.
New pics of
Serah, Sazh, Adult Hope, and even Team NORA
They all look like they are in
The Arc
http://kaiho-sha.tumblr.com/post/89270362552/final-fantasy-xiii-reminiscence-tracer-of-memories
I'll just leave my tumblr here...
Remember to click on "Read More" for the first portion!
Credits to their respective sources.
I'll just leave my tumblr here...
/selfpromotes
Credits to their respective sources.
CrimsonCrescendo
Banned
.
PowderedToast
Junior Member
late, but thank you!
AwakenedCloud
Member
Guys, I need help if I'm going to finish this game. I'm about 3 hours in, and I feel like I've done nothing but get my butt handed to me by fodder enemies. What makes it infuriating though is that I honestly don't know what I'm doing wrong. I block, stagger, and use libra religiously yet anything aside from the penguin and hairball monsters is effectively a guaranteed waste of an hour. Stagger seems so ambiguous in this game compared to the others, some of these guys I stagger yet it still feels like I'm poking them with a stick.
I've played plenty of RPGs and action games, so I don't think it's a genre thing. I really don't want to drop down to easy mode, but everything is taking my lunch at the moment.
What am I doing wrong?
I've played plenty of RPGs and action games, so I don't think it's a genre thing. I really don't want to drop down to easy mode, but everything is taking my lunch at the moment.
What am I doing wrong?
WesternHeretic
Member
Just do the Luxerion quest, then Yusanann (SP?), then Wildlands, Dead Dunes.
That's the standard order for first play through. You'll be fine.
itzknickknac
Member
I need to get back to playing this. I may have to go to easy mode, bc taking time away from me is the worst. I get nothing done.
StoppedInTracks
Member
I finally started playing this after wrapping up Dragon's Dogma. Started on Normal difficulty mode.
My thoughts from 2 days ago:
7 hours in, ummm... shit is tough. It has the most complex yet powerful Abilities/ Jobs/ Dresses/ Items/ Accessories system in a FF game since Final Fantasy 8. Every single thing has some attributes even Abilities like Fire LVL1 can have their *own* attributes like Raises Magic Damage by 10%. You assign everything to everything... shit is convoluted as hell. And you can synthesize Abilities! This shit goes really deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep and it makes FF8 "problems" with magic drawing and assigning child's play.
Moreover the time is constantly ticking away... just like in Majora's Mask. 3 real-time seconds = 1 minute of in-game time and believe me... it fucking FLIES when you try to move from one side of the map to the other. This creates a very stressing effect on your play style - you do everything as fast as possible not paying much attention to the details, you do not look at the scenery at all, at the horizon etc. You are constantly on the run.
1) Time Management is a chore in this game, sadly. There are timed quests, timed gates, timed doors, timed shops, timed NPCs, timed monsters popping up at different hours etc. every single thing is or can be timed in the game. Moreover, time is the most expensive value.
2) You do not level up. There is no Experience at all. Every stat growth you can obtain is a quest reward/ Armor Attribute/ Sword Attribute/ Shield Attribute/ Ability Attribute/ Accessory Attribute. Ballsy move, Square. You are always LVL1 in this game.
3) What you need the most is EP. EP are the most important currency in the game. You can:
- stop the time flow with EP (for about 2 minutes of real-time)
- open chests with powerful gear with EP
- raise with EP
- teleport with EP
- cure with EP
- do Limit Breaks with EP
- buy X-Potions, Phoenix Downs etc. with EP
- etc.
The only(?) way to gain EP is by defeating monsters but they drop miniscule amounts like 0.04 or 0.20 EP. The biggest ammount I had dropped on me was 3 EP from a dragon boss (Zoltan) and 2 EP from that Hedgehog type of enemy that is immune to everything as long as it has his shield up. So in theory you can farm EP! Stop the time for 1EP --> kill 3 Hedgehogs in 2 minutes --> you get 6 EP back! But get this...
4) each single enemy has a set number of "lives". When you farm it long enough it will be fucking gone. FOREVER.
5) that means farming EP, items, gil etc. gets a lot of harder and strategic. The more days pass in the game - the closer you are to game over - the more powerful the enemies become and the higher loot they drop. So do you wait for them to become powerful before killing them? Or do you farm them earlier for that much needed EP... dilemmas, dilemmas.
6) You "lose" a lot of real-time hours by playing in advance. So I save my game and play the scenario for 3-4 hours (real-time) taking notes of what lies where, what are the queued up quests, how much time (in-game) will I waste doing them etc. Then I reload that 4 hour old save and do this shit again only with pinponit precision. IT IS A CHORE.
7) Battles are awesome. This basically plays like DMC + Final Fantasy XIII (how awesome? so awesome!). Blocking will be your best friend as it can pretty much nullify any kind of damage you would normaly receive in the battle both Magical and Physical. With high enough Guard Defense Shield you can even block Reavers (Behemots) attacks! And get 0 DAMAGE!
You have a total freedom when deciding on the battle setup. Want to have 3 "COM" roles? or 3 "SEN" roles? Go ahead. I usually start with that role that inflicts debilitations (Deprotect, Deshell) then instantly switch to magic attacker (Thundara, Aero) to Stagger then go heavy COM on their asses with my final Dress with the highest Strength rating. You can mix everything with everything, though. Every single thing be it Weapon, Armor, Ability is separate and it is up to you how to connect them. I am guessing there are some very OP combinations that make all the battles piss easy but I want to find them myself. So far using Dragon's Armor(?) with the Heavy Slash LV3 works wonders against Staggered enemies. Noel Kreiss still kicks my ass, tho...
9) The world is very small. You have 2 cities and 2 "open areas" like Gran Pulse. I guess there will be a 5th Location opened up in the end. Still this is very, very low. Disappointing.
10) There is a very limited variation in enemies. I would say - after seeing 3 zones - that the total amount of different enemy types in this game is 1/3 of FF13's. Disappointing.
If you are a FF fan like me (beaten FF1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10-2,12,13,13-2) then this game is a no brainer. It gives you total freedom in the Equipment and Battle systems and moves the game very close to a pure DMC type of game. Graphics are awesome, music is wonderful (new tracks + lots of remixes from FF13 and FF13-2) and everything (except jumping) feels very tight.
That Time Management, though... it makes this game an experience in frustration.
My thoughts from 2 hours ago:
I had a crazy streak: past 3:00 AM running through Snow's palace using Chronostasis all the way up to him and then beating him @ 4:11 AM. Then I teleported to Luxerion and ran for that 4th code digit that I was missing in The Warren, then ran to the Graveyard (already 5:00 AM) and THEN ran to The Warren again to face Noel. I met him @ 5:45 AM with 0 EP points left. I beat him... and then I used the remaining 15 minutes and EPs to do the quest for the Cathedral lady and see Vanille. I talked with Vanille @ 5:55 AM. Phew.
This game is crazy good. The time management is *finally* manageable now that I have 7 EPs and are strong enough to face every random enemy the game throws at me. 7 EPs mean I can teleport twice, stop the time, farm EPs on Behemots and then teleport twice again.
I have saved in The Ark for now here are my stats:
- 3rd Day, 6:00 AM
- 7 Days left
- STR 1100 (COM). By changing Dresses and equipping Demon's Gloves(?) I can push it up to 1400(!). Insane power for being that early in the game.
- MAG 1000 (COM)
- 46% Physical Defense w/o Guarding (SEN)
- 99% Physical Defense when Guarding (SEN)
I also have finally enough money buy either the best shield I've seen with 220 Guard Defense or the best sword I've seen with 680 STR. The Shard Blade I am using on my COM has only 500 STR so it would be a nice upgrade.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This game is really good but as with FF13-2 they improve some things and take a few steps back in other areas. The time management aspect is clearly an innovation in FF history. I hated it at first but now I am beginning to see its pros and impact on the whole game structure. Designing this game had to be a nightmare, tho.
My thoughts from 2 days ago:
7 hours in, ummm... shit is tough. It has the most complex yet powerful Abilities/ Jobs/ Dresses/ Items/ Accessories system in a FF game since Final Fantasy 8. Every single thing has some attributes even Abilities like Fire LVL1 can have their *own* attributes like Raises Magic Damage by 10%. You assign everything to everything... shit is convoluted as hell. And you can synthesize Abilities! This shit goes really deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep and it makes FF8 "problems" with magic drawing and assigning child's play.
Moreover the time is constantly ticking away... just like in Majora's Mask. 3 real-time seconds = 1 minute of in-game time and believe me... it fucking FLIES when you try to move from one side of the map to the other. This creates a very stressing effect on your play style - you do everything as fast as possible not paying much attention to the details, you do not look at the scenery at all, at the horizon etc. You are constantly on the run.
1) Time Management is a chore in this game, sadly. There are timed quests, timed gates, timed doors, timed shops, timed NPCs, timed monsters popping up at different hours etc. every single thing is or can be timed in the game. Moreover, time is the most expensive value.
2) You do not level up. There is no Experience at all. Every stat growth you can obtain is a quest reward/ Armor Attribute/ Sword Attribute/ Shield Attribute/ Ability Attribute/ Accessory Attribute. Ballsy move, Square. You are always LVL1 in this game.
3) What you need the most is EP. EP are the most important currency in the game. You can:
- stop the time flow with EP (for about 2 minutes of real-time)
- open chests with powerful gear with EP
- raise with EP
- teleport with EP
- cure with EP
- do Limit Breaks with EP
- buy X-Potions, Phoenix Downs etc. with EP
- etc.
The only(?) way to gain EP is by defeating monsters but they drop miniscule amounts like 0.04 or 0.20 EP. The biggest ammount I had dropped on me was 3 EP from a dragon boss (Zoltan) and 2 EP from that Hedgehog type of enemy that is immune to everything as long as it has his shield up. So in theory you can farm EP! Stop the time for 1EP --> kill 3 Hedgehogs in 2 minutes --> you get 6 EP back! But get this...
4) each single enemy has a set number of "lives". When you farm it long enough it will be fucking gone. FOREVER.
5) that means farming EP, items, gil etc. gets a lot of harder and strategic. The more days pass in the game - the closer you are to game over - the more powerful the enemies become and the higher loot they drop. So do you wait for them to become powerful before killing them? Or do you farm them earlier for that much needed EP... dilemmas, dilemmas.
6) You "lose" a lot of real-time hours by playing in advance. So I save my game and play the scenario for 3-4 hours (real-time) taking notes of what lies where, what are the queued up quests, how much time (in-game) will I waste doing them etc. Then I reload that 4 hour old save and do this shit again only with pinponit precision. IT IS A CHORE.
7) Battles are awesome. This basically plays like DMC + Final Fantasy XIII (how awesome? so awesome!). Blocking will be your best friend as it can pretty much nullify any kind of damage you would normaly receive in the battle both Magical and Physical. With high enough Guard Defense Shield you can even block Reavers (Behemots) attacks! And get 0 DAMAGE!
You have a total freedom when deciding on the battle setup. Want to have 3 "COM" roles? or 3 "SEN" roles? Go ahead. I usually start with that role that inflicts debilitations (Deprotect, Deshell) then instantly switch to magic attacker (Thundara, Aero) to Stagger then go heavy COM on their asses with my final Dress with the highest Strength rating. You can mix everything with everything, though. Every single thing be it Weapon, Armor, Ability is separate and it is up to you how to connect them. I am guessing there are some very OP combinations that make all the battles piss easy but I want to find them myself. So far using Dragon's Armor(?) with the Heavy Slash LV3 works wonders against Staggered enemies. Noel Kreiss still kicks my ass, tho...
9) The world is very small. You have 2 cities and 2 "open areas" like Gran Pulse. I guess there will be a 5th Location opened up in the end. Still this is very, very low. Disappointing.
10) There is a very limited variation in enemies. I would say - after seeing 3 zones - that the total amount of different enemy types in this game is 1/3 of FF13's. Disappointing.
If you are a FF fan like me (beaten FF1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10-2,12,13,13-2) then this game is a no brainer. It gives you total freedom in the Equipment and Battle systems and moves the game very close to a pure DMC type of game. Graphics are awesome, music is wonderful (new tracks + lots of remixes from FF13 and FF13-2) and everything (except jumping) feels very tight.
That Time Management, though... it makes this game an experience in frustration.
My thoughts from 2 hours ago:
I had a crazy streak: past 3:00 AM running through Snow's palace using Chronostasis all the way up to him and then beating him @ 4:11 AM. Then I teleported to Luxerion and ran for that 4th code digit that I was missing in The Warren, then ran to the Graveyard (already 5:00 AM) and THEN ran to The Warren again to face Noel. I met him @ 5:45 AM with 0 EP points left. I beat him... and then I used the remaining 15 minutes and EPs to do the quest for the Cathedral lady and see Vanille. I talked with Vanille @ 5:55 AM. Phew.
This game is crazy good. The time management is *finally* manageable now that I have 7 EPs and are strong enough to face every random enemy the game throws at me. 7 EPs mean I can teleport twice, stop the time, farm EPs on Behemots and then teleport twice again.
I have saved in The Ark for now here are my stats:
- 3rd Day, 6:00 AM
- 7 Days left
- STR 1100 (COM). By changing Dresses and equipping Demon's Gloves(?) I can push it up to 1400(!). Insane power for being that early in the game.
- MAG 1000 (COM)
- 46% Physical Defense w/o Guarding (SEN)
- 99% Physical Defense when Guarding (SEN)
I also have finally enough money buy either the best shield I've seen with 220 Guard Defense or the best sword I've seen with 680 STR. The Shard Blade I am using on my COM has only 500 STR so it would be a nice upgrade.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This game is really good but as with FF13-2 they improve some things and take a few steps back in other areas. The time management aspect is clearly an innovation in FF history. I hated it at first but now I am beginning to see its pros and impact on the whole game structure. Designing this game had to be a nightmare, tho.
StoppedInTracks
Member
I'd say Yusnan is the easiest - do it first. You don't even have to stagger the Yusnan's boss to win the fight - he is manageable with normal Guarding + Heavy Slash. Also Yusnan is a very small area with all Main Quests being close together and "triggerable" on a set time. That means you can safely spend the whole day in Yusnan doing everything (side quests) + the Main Quest at the end.
Luxerion is also very easy but its boss can wreck you. It also another "small" area with a linear flow.
Wild Lands seem so huge and I am wasting so much time there doing shit.
Same goes for Dead Dunes. And don't get me started on the main dungeon of Dead Dunes... very frustrating.
Anyway, it is up to you which areas you will tackle first. This reminds me of Demon's Souls and the Archstones - you can play the worlds in any order you wish 5-1, 2-1, 1-3 etc. Same is true for FF13-3.
BlazeBreak
Member
As far as time management in your playthrough goes, don't sweat it too much. Especially with use of Chronostasis, you're gonna find yourself on Day 6 or 7 with pretty much everything done and 6+ days to breeze through a few remaining quests.
Don't worry much about "running out" of things. You'll always be able to scrounge together enough gil/etc. And there's always New Game+. Also, if you (or anyone else reading early in the game) don't have them yet, I recommend grabbing the Electronica and Wooldland Walker garbs from the outfitters outside the Dead Dunes Station and Canopus Farms. They're the best Ravager options for a lot of the earlier portions of a first playthrough (depending on where you are/what enemy weaknesses you're facing).
Anyway, as far as "taking a step back" on things go, do remember that Lightning Returns was made on a shoestring budget (even compared to XIII-2). So some of its flaws (particularly visually) are to be forgiven.
I honestly don't think designing the game was much of a nightmare. Its quest mechanisms certainly aren't as complicated as something like Majora's Mask. And, as I said you'll find out, there's plenty of cushion in the time limit. The game's far less harsh than Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter was with its strict limit on time (and how much you could whip out your strongest abilities).
StoppedInTracks
Member
Yes, the time limit was very annoying but only on the first day when I really did not understand the game's time mechanics and everything around was killing me.
Now I am on the 4th Day, 15:04 with Snow, Noel, Caius and Dead Dunes boss all dead. In 4 days! When I will return to the Ark at 6:00 AM I will have the 5th Day with 7 Days left (!!!) and basically only side quests to do. I want to spend exactly 1 Day in each location finishing all those sidequests then I will finish up Sazh main quest.
In the end I loved Dead Dunes. One of the best locations out of the FF13 Trilogy. When you stand on a high dune and see The Giant's Hand and the Lighthouse and the ocean in the distance... beatiful.
Now I am on the 4th Day, 15:04 with Snow, Noel, Caius and Dead Dunes boss all dead. In 4 days! When I will return to the Ark at 6:00 AM I will have the 5th Day with 7 Days left (!!!) and basically only side quests to do. I want to spend exactly 1 Day in each location finishing all those sidequests then I will finish up Sazh main quest.
In the end I loved Dead Dunes. One of the best locations out of the FF13 Trilogy. When you stand on a high dune and see The Giant's Hand and the Lighthouse and the ocean in the distance... beatiful.
BlazeBreak
Member
Check the job boards each day; in addition to new ones appearing based on completing other quests, there are several that don't become available until later days. A couple new garbs also become available for purchase on either day 7 or 8 from several outfitters (a couple of which are also locked until you complete the various roadworks quests that pop up on day 9). Though fyi the endgame doesn't begin until time runs out and you reach the final day. So you can finish the Sazh quest earlier if you want without triggering anything. But there's no rush - it's basically a semi-main quest. Nowhere near as big of a reward boost as the other main quests.
Spoilering this next part to be safe, but it's relative to a minor spoiler in terms of time management and later-game stuff.
I really enjoyed the Dead Dunes as well (I'd say I'm a fan of desert locations in general). Lightning Returns' art direction really shines when you start looking into the construction of all these areas and how they managed to do quite a lot with what's really very little.
Spoilering this next part to be safe, but it's relative to a minor spoiler in terms of time management and later-game stuff.
If you're not aware, if you complete 40+ sidequests (your quest menu has a counter for how many you've done), you get a bonus day before the endgame (the game itself doesn't tell you until it comes) where an optional dungeon becomes available. The dungeon itself is a gauntlet of Omega/Last Ones (ones you've already made extinct are absent). You're able to leave and return to it to stock back up on items, but you can't use chronostasis in the dungeon and time's constantly ticking, including when you're in a battle. The final opponent is one of the game's two superbosses.
I really enjoyed the Dead Dunes as well (I'd say I'm a fan of desert locations in general). Lightning Returns' art direction really shines when you start looking into the construction of all these areas and how they managed to do quite a lot with what's really very little.
WesternHeretic
Member
Regarding the spoiler stuff.
It actually a point (star) system. There are 1star quest, 2star quest, and 3 star quest.
1star = .02
2star = .04
3star = .08
If all your quest add up to "1" or higher you unlock that extra day.
1star = .02
2star = .04
3star = .08
If all your quest add up to "1" or higher you unlock that extra day.