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[RPGCrazied]

Looks like its a love or hate type game. I haven't played it yet, but I liked the demo. The story can't be any worse than XIII-2, which was just average at best. I'll probably end up giving it a 7/7.5 myself. I guess we shall see when I start playing whenever UPS decides to deliver my game.

 

[Zhao_Yun]

RPGFan 79/100

 

[Vincent Alexander]

 

just one last trip around the world with a pink-haired heroine

Pink-haired? Am I color blind or is Joystiq?

Okay. I'm color blind.

 

[sonicmj1]

Gamespot's 5/10 review is up.

 

[TheBaronOfNA]

 
Pink-haired? Am I color blind or is Joystiq?

Is pink, dude.

 

[ToastyFrog]

 
Pink-haired? Am I color blind or is Joystiq?

Something like half the plot revolves around Lightning having pink hair.

 

[Glass Rebel]

Gamespot's 5/10 review is up.

"The great warriors of legend have no need to cover their thighs. Or torsos. Or collarbones. Or cleavage."

dead

 

[Mr. RHC]

gamona.de 84% with a pretty lengthy article:
http://www.gamona.de/games/lightnin...xiii,test-ps3:article,2405377,page-fazit.html

 

[ZeroX03]

Gamespot's 5/10 review is up.

You explore and reexplore the game's four zones as Lightning, who usually travels alone, with Hope chattering in your ear via transponder so frequently, you wish he'd just shut up.

Dear God that sounds atrocious. Granted he improved in XIII-2 but basically the only thing worse than that would be Vanille as the battle announcer.

 

[Kagari]

Gamer Escape - 6/10 http://gamerescape.com/game-review/review-lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii/

 

[De-mon]

Vandal Online (spanish), 7.8/10

 

[Caffeine]

Perfo vindicated?

I hope so lol

 

[wormania]

 
Pink-haired? Am I color blind or is Joystiq?

Gonna go with you being color blind here.
I mean you could be really picky and call it peach or something, but the general colour is pink.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Wow, at least 75% to 80% of these reviews tear the story a new one. Guess I wasn't just going crazy.

 

[LiK]

Joystiq - 4 stars

http://m.joystiq.com/2014/02/11/lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii-review-dress-to-impress/

 

[Kagari]

GameInformer - 7/10 http://www.gameinformer.com/games/l...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

 

[raven777]

EGM - 4.5/10

 

[brandonh83]

EGM - 4.5/10

Someone take Perfo's sock away.

 

[nssdigitalchumps]

Well, you have to understand how videogame scores work for most people and videogame journalism. A big-name that doesn't get a 9? May as well be throw it to the wolves.

We've always considered '7' to be good. It hasn't changed for us since 1999.

There are some really good games that are 7's out there. Audience perception usually sees '7' and thinks the worse. In hindsight, '5' should be the middle ground.

 

[BlazingDarkness]

Wow, at least 75% to 80% of these reviews tear the story a new one. Guess I wasn't just going crazy.

The story and writing are going to be absolute dreck, but there is fun to be had as a game.

 

[Manu]

 
Pink-haired? Am I color blind or is Joystiq?

It's pink.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

When linearity was a key issue they acknowledged they messed up.and attempted to address it.

With this it seems to be the story/writing/characters going by many of these reviews. Lets see how they handle this criticism and what action they take.

 

[Screaming Meat]

Yeeeeah. I cancelled my pre order. I'll get this cheap, methinks, especially with DS2 and GZ around the corner. I haven't even finished the first two.

 

[Kagari]

Game Trailers - 6/10 http://www.gametrailers.com/reviews/l06w3t/lightning-returns--final-fantasy-xiii-review

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

 
Pink-haired? Am I color blind or is Joystiq?

Okay. I'm color blind.

It's pink.

 

[Quentyn]

Gamesradar - 2.5/5

 

[VeryGooster]

I hope there's a Giant Bomb Quick Look for this.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

GameInformer - 7/10 http://www.gameinformer.com/games/l...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 trained me to look past a bad plot and appreciate good gameplay, but the positives are more buried and harder to see in Lightning Returns. It makes the same mistakes with its narrative, and swaps out systems that worked (like monster collection and the crystarium) for half-baked concepts that don’t hit the same high notes. The conclusion of a trilogy presents the opportunity for an emotional farewell to a beloved cast and world, but Lightning Returns only left me relieved to see this adventure end.

Damn. This is harsh.

 

[Mr. RHC]

Gametrailers 6/10 is one crushing review:
http://www.gametrailers.com/reviews/l06w3t/lightning-returns--final-fantasy-xiii-review

*Gameplay belongs into a better game
*story is horrible
*Lightning's boring voice ruins every scene
*You just run around and do boring ass quests
*Hard to get into for newcomers
*Not satisfying for the fans

 

[ZeroX03]

So to the people who've played the game, I'm completely justified in skipping all cutscenes with this one? Reviews seem to indicate so.

 

[Kagari]

So to the people who've played the game, I'm completely justified in skipping all cutscenes with this one? Reviews seem to indicate so.

Yes, the story is horrendous.

 

[raven777]

I expected the average score to be somewhere in the 60s and I think it will stay that way.

 

[Celegus]

We've always considered '7' to be good. It hasn't changed for us since 1999.

There are some really good games that are 7's out there. Audience perception usually sees '7' and thinks the worse. In hindsight, '5' should be the middle ground.

A 10 point scale just resembles a school grade too much, where a 7 is barely passing. A 5 would be a disaster, but just incrementally larger going further down. I think a 5 point system works a lot better, where a 3 is actually seen as "average" despite it being equal to a 6 on a 10 point scale.

 

[PrivateRyan]

NowGamer 6.5/10
Play 80%
X-ONE 8/10
gamesTM 7/10

 

[Celegus]

Yes, the story is horrendous.

That's really unfortunate. I really didn't care for the gameplay in the demo at all, but was hoping the story could redeem it since I loved the story in XIII-2. Looks like I'll pass on this, sadly.

 

[JetBlackPanda]

Man those are some harsh reviews.. I have lost all hope for Final Fantasy.

I hope something can right the ship.

 

[koutoru]

Hard to think that famitsu gave this a 37/40.

 

[ambientmystic]

So many 8s, definitely a lot more than I expected. Especially from Eurogamer.

I mean if you just took the top half of the scores, it's mainly 7s and 8s, which is definitely a heck of a lot more than one can expect from this middling production:-

USGamer - 4/5
Eurogamer - 8/10
Joystiq - 4/5
Dualshockers - 8/10
X-One - 8/10
Play UK - 8/10

 

[Mr. RHC]

EGM - 4.5/10

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII sends the franchise’s very first trilogy out on a fizzle. As a game—that is, a collection of loosely connected systems—it’s all very average, something that works but is wholly forgettable. Combat is more often than not a chore, the world is depressingly dull to look at, and the story feels like the last ingredient Square Enix threw in the pot, and at the very last moment no less.

The Good Final Fantasy XIII is finally over.
The Bad Combat that had the potential to be interesting, but just feels clumsy and awkward.
The Ugly Every line of dialogue and every single story beat.

Over, over, over! This trilogy is finally over, wow.

 

[May16]

Game Revolution
http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii

The story is a painfully bad tale that feels like it was written by a sandwich and produced by MTV executives. Motomu Toriyama is almost as bad of a director as Motomu Toriyama. Yeah, there is no analogy here that could make him sound worse at his job than he is.

2/5

Hard to think that famitsu gave this a 37/40.

I wouldn't say it's surprising that a magazine famous for its high scores gave something a high score.

 

[LiK]

LR continues the trend where everything is good except for the story which is to be expected from the FFXIII franchise

 

[Glass Rebel]

Hard to think that famitsu gave this a 37/40.

Famitsu in 2013? Are you serious?

Gametrailers 6/10 is one crushing review:
http://www.gametrailers.com/reviews/l06w3t/lightning-returns--final-fantasy-xiii-review

*Gameplay belongs into a better game
*story is horrible
*Lightning's boring voice ruins every scene
*You just run around and do boring ass quests
*Hard to get into for newcomers
*Not satisfying for the fans

That's what I've been saying for a while.

 

[Z3M0G]

Still getting it... Even if it is not a satisfying conclusion, I want to see how it ends.

Too bad they failed to satisfy with the returning characters...

 

[RS4-]

Gametrailers 6/10 is one crushing review:
http://www.gametrailers.com/reviews/l06w3t/lightning-returns--final-fantasy-xiii-review

*Gameplay belongs into a better game
*story is horrible
*Lightning's boring voice ruins every scene
*You just run around and do boring ass quests
*Hard to get into for newcomers
*Not satisfying for the fans

They could remove the FF name and it'd score the same (or less). Didn't watch the review yet but what you summed up from it is right.

So to the people who've played the game, I'm completely justified in skipping all cutscenes with this one? Reviews seem to indicate so.

Skip. Then you can watch them on YouTube.

 

[Corronchilejano]

My review (spanish), 7.8/10

You really should check the Gaming Forum guidelines. Self promotion (specially were revenue is involved) is forbidden.

 

[Yoshichan]

These reviews... lol

 

[Kagari]

Wow that GT review is brutal.

 

[silver.tongue]

Yes, the story is horrendous.

Dammit Square... don't do this to Final Fantasy.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Looks like you lost the bet, Perfo.

 

[Nohar]

Hard to think that famitsu gave this a 37/40.

I don't really view Famitsu in high regards. They overhype games in general, and give very high notes to games that don't deserve them. It's all a question of money, and I heard that they are quite rotten.