Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII sees the ending of a trilogy that has received its fair share of both negative and positive feedback.
As the title suggests, the heroine from the first game is back to take on the lead role, but is this enough to warrant playing through to the conclusion of a story fuelled with critical defiance?
Unlike its predecessors, Lightning Returns seems eager to quickly introduce players to the main goal. A cut-scene plays right after starting the demo which explains how the world born from the ending of XIII-2 is coming to an end in thirteen(nice touch) days.
It’s up to Lightning – who, by now, is known as saviour – to try and save as many souls as possible so they can go to the new world.
The game favours a darker style instead of the colourful environments found in previous entries. Perhaps a fitting choice given the doomed fate awaiting this world.
Combat has been given a drastic revamp to further reinforce the idea that this is more than just a sequel. There is now the ability to switch between three roles which gives greater control over what the character does – rather than hoping two other AI characters make the right decisions.
It can be quite tricky to use attacks, given the addition of a limited bar for each role. Fortunately, this bar automatically recharges when powers assigned to this role are not being used – which gives players an incentive for using different roles.
What feels odd is that Lightning is only given access to a small number of items at a time. Hopefully this small number is enough when facing some of the tougher battles found in the full game.
It’s safe to say that it Lightning Returns feels quite linear so far, given the narrow nature of the enclosed area in the demonstration, but videos have shown off much bigger areas which the character can navigate freely.
The ability to catch up with returning characters, like the stubborn hero Snow, is great. As is witnessing how their personalities have changed after the 500 years since the events of XIII-2.
It’s the very concept that people haven’t been able to die a natural death for 500 years that seems most intriguing so far. Even more so if it’s possible to see how this affects the world they live in and how people will react differently to this unnatural situation.
New characters like the mysterious Lumina – who bears a striking resemblance to both Lightning and her sister Serah – are welcome additions. Even more so given the way she treats returning characters throughout the demo. Her fondness for hanging around in dense fields of Chaos – the story’s main concern – also makes her somewhat suspicious.
The idea of putting together costumes to create new roles or modify current roles is also interesting. Even more so given how easy it is for Square Enix to create various extra costumes as downloadable content. What’s good about this is that they have a functional use and it’s not the case that players will possibly pay for extra costumes just for the sake of making Lightning wear new clothes.
It’s also possible to attach different powers to each of the roles. Effectively making it easier than ever to have roles tailored for different battle types. In the demonstration, a giant monster summoned by Lumina is weak to certain elements. This makes it possible for Lightning to then adapt and use powers linked to these elements to attack it. Doing so will eventually result in the monster being staggered. It’s more of an active take on the stagger mechanics from previous Final Fantasy XIII games and works out rather well. But this will result in greater player thinking, working out what attacks will work best with each monster, since staggering it will result in dealing larger amounts of damage.
Lightning also has a special power called Overdrive, which slows down time and enables her to effectively deal more damage for a small amount of time. It’s helpful as it means attacking without the constraints of the limited bar assigned to each role.
The demonstration itself isn’t too long and so makes it difficult to get a proper feel for the new features. However, it is clear that the revamped fighting mechanics are working rather well. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII certainly doesn’t feel like a revolutionary new step in the long running franchise. However, it’s still a pleasant return for the heroine and should hopefully gives fans of XIII a fitting conclusion to this tale of defiance when faced with a cruel fate.
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