Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII does not cater to those that are trying to jump into the story now. It expects its players have ended Fal'cie rule of Cocoon and restored the timeline to its rightful place prior to stepping into Lightning's shoes. It expects that its players know the loss she feels, the sense of duty that drives her and the stubborness that makes her perfect for the role of Savior. In no way is Lightning Returns a game for those that haven't lived through the trials and tribulations of the past. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is, in every way, a finalé.
|--story
Lightning Returns doesn't begin at the beginning. If you've been following the series than you would already know the beginning and since Lightning is operating on a timeline, reminding you of the old days would be a waste of hours she doesn't have. Instead, the game begins mid-story. 6 days are all that separates Nova Chrysalia from the apocalypse. The world has already been mostly consumed by a Chaos unleashed by Bhunivelze, God, and the end isn't nigh, it's here. Bhunivelze has chosen Lightning to wake from a 500 year slumber to act as Savior and gather the souls that will be birthed into the new world after the old one is gone. However, the Chaos is moving faster than Bhunivelze anticipated and if it consumes the entirety of existence before Lightning can save it there will be nothing on the other side of Armageddon.
The first thing you do in the game is go after Snow. Now, that's not "go to see" or "go to visit." You are literally storming Snow's castle in an attempt to forcibly remove his soul from his body, and he is not unprepared for your arrival. However, the Chaos is also pouring into Snows little party and it turns into full scale war. Luckily, you don't have to actually fight him this early in the game but the cutscene battle that takes place is a joy to watch. Lightning demonstrates a few of her godly abilities and Snow matches her with desperation of the gift of the old Fal'cie. We also meet a new character, Lumina, who bears a striking resemblance to not only Serah but Lightning herself.
Snow decides to dip out in the most dramatic way possible and walks straight into the Chaos. A place Lightning presumable can't follow. All the while Hope is chatting away in her ear through a comm device. He seems to be playing the role of overseer. Monitoring Lightnings progress and informing her of relevant information and new developments. After Lightning loses Snow, Hope summons her back to the Ark.
The Ark is a floating planet in the skies over Nova Chrysalia. According to Hope it was built as a bastion for the coming end a long time ago but people forgot and now they think it's just a moon. He informs Lightning that the souls she collects on behalf of Bhunivelze will return to the Ark and when the end of days is over they will all be rebirthed on the new planet that the Ark will birth. Oh, also, Hope is a child again. It's the same Hope from Final Fantasy XIII as opposed to his grown-up self as seen in XIII-2. According to him, one day he was doing his job as Director and the next it had been 120-some-odd-years and he was in a kids body again. All part of Gods divine plan.
Another resident of the Ark is Yggdrasil, the World Tree. You feed it Eradia, an energy source gathered when the denizens of Nova Chrysalia have their desires and wishes granted. Basically, you answer their prayers to God and Yggdrasil feeds off their praise. Feed it enough and it can extend the life of the dying world a little bit longer. But only to a maximum of 13 days total. Time is always moving.
So begins Lightning's quest to save as many souls as she can, buy as much time as she can and prepare the citizens of Nova Chrysalia for the end. Nova Chrysalia is broken into 4 distinct continents all connected by a monorail. You begin in Yusnaan, the "city of revelry" that's ruled over by Snow. He doesn't really rule it like a king more as he just oversees the festivities from night to night. The people of Yusnaan have decided that the world will end no matter what they do so they're gonna party till the fireworks go off. You're only their for the tutorial stage. Afterwards, I believe it becomes the 2nd continent you're supposed to clear. Luxerion, the "divine city of light" is where you get to spend your first free hour of the game at. I say "free hour" because prior to that you're on a track through Yusnaan chasing after Snow. When you descend into Luxerion from the Ark the game lets go of you and simply puts a constantly moving clock in the corner of the screen. The rest is entirely up to you. The Dead Dunes and the Wildlands are the other 2 regions of the world. Supposedly, the Chaos is running rampant and unrestrained in the Wildlands so I'm fairly certain that's the last continent you attempt to redeem.
|--gameplay
Lightning Returns is an open world game. The areas are finite in their scope due to the state of the world but they are sufficiently large. Not only that, the game is free roam. Which means Hope will drop a hint or two as to what the main task for the area you're in is but he won't tell you what to do or how to do it. The only stone set fact is that you are running out of time.
I didn't realize that Luxerion was supposed to be my starting zone and spent a good few hours just wandering the streets before I found the monorail and headed back to Yusnaan. The enemies will appear on streets right alongside the people living their so there aren't any real safe zones. At anytime a monster could just burst from the Chaos and you'll have to deal with it.
Side quests aren't this grand tasks of great importance. The people of Nova Chrysalia have been trapped in time for 500 years so they don't much care anymore. One quest you get is from a little girl that lost her doll and wants you to help her find it. Another one is from an old man that was indirectly responsible for getting a kids dad killed and wants you to deliver his fathers last words to the kid since he won't listen to the old man. It's all little things that would be important only to the people involved. However, that's what Yggdrasil feeds on and what Bhunivelze needs. The prayers of the world below. The faith that's offered when something so small in the eyes of humanity is seen through completion by the powers that be. If the Savior helps a child, that child believes in the god that sent her.
Aside from the side quests, which are littered through the world and often time locked. ((since the world is constantly moving different people will be in different places depending on the time of day and therefore will need you to have your scheduler ready to organize these meetings)) The main story for every continent is hidden in the actions of its residents. For instance, there is a Shadow Hunter in Luxerion that wants the Savior dead. Not knowing exactly what she'll look like, those that follow the Shadow Hunter are murdering a different girl with rose colored hair every night figuring that, eventually, it'll be the Savior. So the main task of that city ((as far as I can see now)) is putting an end to the senseless murders. ((Obviously, the less people there are alive the less souls you can save for the new world))
Stopping the murders and tracking down the Shadow Hunter isn't simply a matter of going to the hideout and kicking the door in. In order to penetrate the order that's risen against the Savior, the Children of Etro, you have to learn how they act. Tail them, learn their secrets and codes, their hideouts and motives. Become one of them so you can infiltrate and learn what you need. I imagine the rest of the story will be similar. Lightning will have to understand the people before she can effectively rescue them.
|--battle system
In all honesty, XIII was clunky and slow and while XIII-2 fixed a lot of it, it still had major flaws with the whole restrictions on what Serah and Noel could learn and what had to be bred through Monsters. Lightning Returns aims to fix that by eliminating the need for a party altogether. ((and if you've been following the story from the beginning, you'd know that a party tends to get in Lightnings way more than it helps her)) Lightning is now a one woman army. She can switch Schema, this games "paradigm", instantly. Literally instantly. As in, she can start a swing in one schema and finish it in a different one.
Schema are 3 part builds that you can fully customize. Part 1 is the Garb. The garb is what clothing Lightning will wear when in that Schema. Each garb has unique attributes so if you're building a Physical Attack schema it would make sense you use a garb that boosts Strength. Same goes for magic. The 2nd part is a Weapon. Lightning's not going into battle empty handed so picking a weapon that compliments the schema and the skills equipped is a must. Finally, there's the Shield. Some shields directly effect your ability to guard, some don't. Really it's just the final piece that completes the stat build you're going for. Put all 3 of those things together and you have yourself a schema. All that remains after that is to equip the schema with abilities like Attack, Guard, Lightning, Blizzara, etc. I'm not sure if you can buy skills from vendors but I've found plenty from beating enemies up. Skills are single equip though. Which means putting Aero on one schema means you can't put it on another one, unless of course you have 2 Aeros in which case go ahead.
My current set up is "Uematsu" one of the "Art of War" DLC garbs mixed with magic raising sword and shield for casting, "Night Bouncer", a garb bought in Yusnaan that increases Strength and Defense as my primary physical damage dealer. I have the XIII-2 Save File weapon equipped on that, the one she carries when she's working for Etro. And finally I have the the full "Legacy" schema which is Cloud's outfit from Final Fantasy VII. I have it as a stagger burst schema cause the main skill "Heavy Swing Lv.2" becomes "Slayer" when an enemy is staggered and that does a tremendous amount of damage. So Uematsu and Night Bouncer take turns building the stagger bar and then Legacy sweeps in for the clean up.
Each Schema has its own ATB gauge so it seems best to burn one out and then switch to the next one. Or at least that' been working for me so far. I'm a caster type of player so I even have Uematsu equipped with some stuff that makes ATB restore faster so I can kinda A-B-A-C-A my schemas.
|--leveling system
Fighting battles gets you gil, vendor trash, quest items and abilities. It does not get you experience points. Why not? Don't know. It seems like Lightning isn't in the business of leveling up like the characters from other games. She is fully prepared to kick people in their face and that's all there is to it. The majority of her stats ((I'm talking like 96%)) come solely from her schema. Garb + Weapon + Shield = Lightning's Stats. When you complete side quests you get a tiny boost like +5 Magic or +3 Strength. Just a tiny boost to Lightnings base stats which, in turn, boosts the final result of her stats after the schema does its magic.
I think that's cool cause it means I don't have to worry about being proper level for a given task. It kinda sucks cause it means I have to worry about having the proper equipment for the upcoming battle. Which, I guess, makes sense.
|--extra content
I'm not sure what the extra content is in the game as of yet. I don't think I've gotten far enough to see the "just for funsies" attractions yet. Then again, considering this game runs on an ever dwindling supply of hours, maybe there just isn't time for Lightning to do anything that isn't directly related to her work as Savior. I'd be okay with that. The side quests are bountiful enough where I don't feel trapped chasing the main story. I do occasionally get confused as to whether what I'm doing is for the main story or for Eradia and prayers.
|--finally
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII definitely feels like it's a culmination. A grand climax to the events of the prior games using the strongest character from the pair as its center point. I'm excited to see just how far I can get and how many people will actually get saved when it's all over and done.
I do feel bad for Lightning though. I'll probably be more of a hindrance than a help on her endeavor.
See you at the first 20~
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