From EGMR, "Recently, I had the chance to review Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII and was filled with a sense of disappointment at what has happened to the once mighty series. It was an overwhelming feeling that the charm was no longer there and that Final Fantasy, once the golden standard of JRPGs, was in a bit of a crisis".
Final Fantasy 13 was first introduced to us back in 2009, almost four years after Final Fantasy 12 was released, and fans had been eagerly anticipating the next installment. But when it finally arrived, there were mixed reactions, including complaints about its linearity, the lack of towns and NPCs, and the limited control over the characters. At the time, Square Enix kept its game production behind closed doors and didn't take in a lot of feedback — especially from Western fans.
The game has been revisited by many different Final Fantasy fans since then, and some, like myself, have come to love it again. Almost all staple entries in the series have found their way to modern consoles, so it's about time that the FF13 trilogy gets a remaster
I've been thinking about this. I agree. While I really disliked it at first I never played it again. After hating ff15 so damn much I just think it can't be worse then 15 and if I'm not mistaken atleast it's turn based. I need more of that in my life.
Recently replayed them and I agree a remaster would be great. The complaints about linearity are fair, but they only really apply to the first half of the first game and while I agree that it would've been nice to have proper towns, minigames and subquests, it didn't detract from the intriguing story, interesting characters, tactical gameplay and amazing soundtrack in my opinion.
XIII-2 fixes a lot of the issues of XIII and expands on the story in interesting ways. The combat and progression builds on top of the systems of XIII and the nonlinearity and discoverability of secrets is a big inprovement over the original game. It's easily the best game of the trilogy.
Lightning Returns was probably a bit too experimental for it's own good. It tried to reinvent the wheel for no reason. The solo party for most of the game and the outfit based combat felt like a downgrade over XIII-2 combat system. It does have a unique vibe, but the plot kinda goes off the rails and many of the story beats didn't land as much for me as they did in the first two games. The race against time aspect was an interesting idea, but it never felt like it mattered, because it wasn't much of a challenge to manage the remaining time even while doing all the subquests.
As we celebrate Final Fantasy’s 35th anniversary, let’s look back at the underrated soundtracks of the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy.
It's alright but I mean with so many other FF games it's not even in the top 10 for me
You just can't beat IX, VII, X and my personal favourite VIII when it comes to music
Even the theme song sucks, instead of just having an English version of the Japanese theme they got X Factors Leona Lewis to do the song which didn't sound like FF theme song.
I agree, regardless of the general consensus of the game itself, FF rarely lets down when it comes to the music at least.
After about five years since the last patch was released for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Steam version on PC, Square Enix released a new patch today.
i find it sich a waste that they didnt release them on the ps4.
i know alot of ppl dont like 13, but 13-2 is amazing ha.
- Final Fantasy X-2
- Final Fantasy XIII
- Final Fantasy XIII-2
- Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Now what do these games have in common?
1. the general consensus of Final Fantasy fans collectively agree that these are the weakest installments in the main Final Fantasy Series.
2. They are all directed by the same person, Motomu Toriyama.
It's pretty apparent to me that Motomu Toriyama is the problem, he just can't make a high quality Final Fantasy game.
I liked XIII and enjoyed it.
Definitely, the only notable sequel to a number from the masses was Crisis Core, btw i love 10x2, i want a FFviii(8) Crisis Core please.
With XV having Nomura at the helm I have high hopes indeed...Nomura has not let me down yet.
I know it looks far different from the Final Fantasies of old...but I just want my gripping narratives back. I think XV will provide this.
I blame the games industry itself and the pressure the SE execs are probably putting on its creative teams to follow the capitalist, corporate model. It's not like XIII is the only bad game (I don't even think it's bad), pretty much every triple-A game is complete garbage. At least the Lightning saga took some genuine risks.
The more corporate the games industry becomes, the more the japanese industry will suffer as they try to compete with the rampant, cynical, artless capitalism of the west. Think about how many Japanese developers have sort of lost the plot. The bigger and more money-centric they become, the more the content is diluted.
To be honest, half the stuff that comes out in the west is tripe, the advertising is just aggressive enough to make people think otherwise. The quality of the Lightning saga, whilst dodgy in places, still trumps most western games in multiple departments. The music, the art direction, the visual design, the riskiness and innovative approaches to game design. Any of its bad elements I blame on the need to be stagnant and static and packaged to function in a capitalist, corporate environment - you can tell there's a great game trying to shine through it all. I think laying into SE without looking at broader contexts is a bit unfair, and I also think it's unfair to lay into Motomu Toriyama as if he's solely to blame. We already know how much the "industry" interfered with XIII, and we know that because of that, the subsequent two games had to made in desperation. All that considered, I think they did a great job.
People give out about Toriyama, but X-2 was really good. I don't doubt that he has a bit to learn, but I feel like you can't pin the blame on him alone. X-2 just had such a kind of "page-turner" story (the videogame equivalent), and the mystery of Vegnagun and Shuyin and Lenne was unfurled expertly. Seeing the sphere of Shuyin and Vegnagun for the first time is certainly one of my favourite videogame moments ever. Then there's the journey into the dark depths of Bevelle, and the gaping chasm where Vegnagun has burrowed into the earth and into the farplane. Just such an epic game with so many great moments. Well voiced too (I think Tara Strong got an award), and the music is just superb (though perhaps something of an acquired taste if you're not into jazz and classical etc.) It was great to return to spira and its mythos, as well as to delve deeper into the world. The battle system was a blast too, and the dresssphere system was really well executed - kind of like a streamlined, jazzed-up job system. The tonal levity is only an occasional thing and was perfectly welcome to me, there were plenty of serious moments to counterbalance it. I get the feeling that those who hate it are just grumpy, wannabe macho-men who secretly hate women and think this kind of camp stuff is beneath them - pathetic I say.