The Final Fantasy XIII saga has always been a divisive series, loved by some and reviled by others. Whether you wanted it or not, the third entry is here - Lightning Returns. This game is a significant departure from its predecessors, introducing a completely open adventure structure, adding a time limit, and morphing the battle system into something like a demonically difficult version of Kingdom Hearts. The result is a funky little game, blending some good and not so good aspects into a strange package.
The game's story picks up 500 years after Caius made a mess of things, opening Etro's Gate and unleashing Chaos into the world. The result was Nova Chrysalia, a world where time has no longer flows and people are neither born nor die of old age (though they still die by disease or injury). Problem is, the Chaos is wreaking havoc and it's only 13 days before the end of the world. God wakes Lightning up from her crystal siesta, choosing her as "the savior", whose duty is to save the souls of the remaining population, thereby ushering them into the new world God plans to create when the old one dies. In return, he will revive her sister Serah, who croaked at the end of XIII-2. With Hope (somehow regressed to his younger form) as her wing man, Lightning sets out to save the souls of Nova Chrysalia by relieving them of their sorrows, be it by finding their lost toy or saving their family from death. And did I say 13 days left? I meant 6, but it can be extended to 13 by offering light to a magic flower named Yggdrasil. Also, days are no longer 26 hours, but 24; two hours were lost in a space-time break. And...
Yeah, you get the idea at this point. The story leaves much to be desired, in both the mythology and Lightning's side of things. The XIII universe has always been wrapped up in dense mythos, and those who have not become intimately familiar with them will have no easier time here than before. Many things seem to have been introduced arbitrarily with the excuse that "it's God's plan", such as Vanille's new power to talk to dead people, Hope's sudden youth, and that magic flower being tied to the world's lifespan. Don't expect much from Lightning's personal story, either. It's mostly just a disjointed series of interactions with the main characters of the previous two games in a weak attempt to tell a coherent story. While it is nice to have Fang fight by your side for a while, or duel to the death with Noel Kreiss, any appeal these characters had is lost in the pointlessness of their presence. Lightning is no different, either. She has apparently lost her emotions as a side effect of being God's lackey, and this carries through to her performance in the game. Lightning is so monotone and droll, it's hard to believe she has any interest in her job at all. There is an attempt to tell the tale of Lightning trying to regain her humanity or some jargon, but it is told in the same disconnected manner as the rest of the story. On a positive note, the conclusion does answer some questions that plagued me through the game and ends on an epic note in a beautifully rendered cutscene. However, it's about the journey, not the destination, and the journey just isn't that fun. Luckily, this is by far the worst part of the game and it only gets better from here.
Lightning Returns has dropped the purely story-driven layout of the previous iterations in favor of a completely open quest-based system. To save people’s souls, you must complete tasks for them, and in return you are rewarded with items and stat boosts. (Note: questing is the only way to boost stats in this game aside from weapon and shield mods, so don't bother grinding monsters.) The world is divided into four continents, each containing one or two main story quests and numerous other side quests. These areas can be tackled in any order almost right from the start, giving this game a massive degree of freedom not seen in the previous entries of the series. However, some areas contain more powerful enemies than others, so caution is needed in picking the order of the areas you visit to make sure you aren’t unexpectedly massacred as soon as you set foot into a new continent.
Quests come with a variety of goals, from getting a medicine to save a girl’s father to escorting a herd of fuzzy sheep to their nesting site. Unfortunately, most of them boil down to standard fetch-quests in the end. While some quests are uninteresting, some have interesting and often heartfelt back stories that you’ll enjoy seeing through to the end. They offer insight into what has happened in this world over the last 500 years, and are usually more interesting than the main story itself. This makes these quests feel like more than just a way to fill up the game.
This all seems straightforward enough, but there’s a catch. You’re fighting against the doomsday clock, and you’ll only have a maximum of 13 in-game days to complete your task. This number begins at 6 days, but can be easily be extended to 13 by saving up Eradia points (Eradia is a type of energy used for things like healing, stopping the clock, and teleporting, and can be replenished by beating monsters). As you travel through Nova Chrysalia, the clock will be constantly running as you go (stopping for the pause menu, dialogue, and battle), requiring you to return to your home base at 6 AM each morning. Many world elements are tied to the clock, such as certain NPCs only appearing in the morning, or areas of the map being locked until the night. As a result, you’ll need to plan your questing carefully to make sure you can maximize the time you have until the end of the world.
The time-limited quest system that drives Lightning Returns results in mixed feelings. I, for one, found it to be quite entertaining. I found an odd joy in planning out each day, determining exactly where I was going to be at what time, and what would be the most efficient way to do it. On the downside, I was also unable to explore the world to the degree I wanted to, and I would have liked to visit all the nooks and crannies of these worlds to find every last little detail I could. There’s plenty of time to get things done, but don’t expect to be able to take things at your leisure. On a side note, it is possible to abuse the Chronostasis ability to freeze the clock if you are able to restore the Eradia used through monster battles quickly. However, you’ll eventually run out of monsters, so this system won’t work forever.
Of course, the meat of the game is combat, and this is truly where Lightning Returns shines. The ATB party combat has been hybridized with a one-person real-time system into something reminiscent of a strategic version of Kingdom Hearts. Lightning’s roles are replaced with up to three Schemata, which are essentially individual combat setups consisting of a costume, weapon, shield, accessories, and up to four commands (which may have bonuses attached) that are mapped to the face buttons. In battle, each of these Schema runs on its own ATB bar that recharges over time, and can be switched on the fly with the click of a shoulder button. Lightning also now must actively guard against incoming attacks and can move around on the battlefield.
The result is an elegant and fluid combat system that feels far more dynamic and interactive than anything the XIII series has offered to date. Schema are deeply customizable, allowing you to create something completely your own from the costume down to which version of a command has the ability you want. It doesn't take too long to get the hang of, and once you do, it becomes extremely instinctual and intuitive.
Trust me, you’ll need to get the hang of it too, because this is an extremely difficult game. From Day 1, you’ll be thrust into battle against even small enemies that can easily take you out if you don’t know how they tick. Your HP doesn't get restored after each battle, so you can no longer get away with winning by the skin of you teeth. Guarding is a critical aspect to keep yourself alive, and the timing required to minimize damage is brutally precise. Additionally, figuring out how to stagger an enemy is important, since it is no longer as simple as spamming magic attacks, and stagger conditions vary for each enemy. Practice makes perfect, and in the late game it is possible to make nearly invincible schemata with certain combinations of items. Still, expect a stiff challenge no matter what.
Presentation has always been the highlight of the XIII series, but sadly, Lightning Returns feels like a step down in some ways. Much of the game looks great, with highly detailed main character and enemy models, incredible attack animations, and a wonderfully designed world. The soundtrack is also as strong as ever, containing many great newer tunes with some of the better songs from previous games. However, some NPC models looks atrocious (keep an eye out for box cats) and many environmental textures look like they’re from the PS2 era. Additionally, some of Lightning’s costumes look garish and out of place, certainly not something you’d expect the savior of the world to be wearing (expect lots of skin to be shown). It’s obvious that certain parts were rushed, and it’s shameful to see this kind of laziness from Square Enix. They have made the two previous XIII iterations look incredible, so there is no justification as to why these problems are present. Textures and costume weirdness aside, the game looks and sounds good as a whole.
Lightning returns is a very strange beast of a game, and it’s really hard to say who will enjoy it. If you despise the XIII series, this game will do nothing to change your mind, and if you’re a huge fan, you’re bound to love it, save for some possible story disappointment. For those who are neutral in the whole XIII debate, this game is certainly worth a try. If you can get past a nearly incomprehensible plot and some graphical quibbles, there’s some real fun to be had. Those looking for a different breed of RPG could do much worse than Lightning Returns.