Lightning Returns XIII-3

**Exoduso** · 2014-01-22 16:28

Ok this was fun as hell, but I expected more than 5 battles and a boss fight out of a "demo"...
Also, the customization seems confusing as hell... hopefully it's easier to manage and put stuff together once you get going.

**SephYuyX** · 2014-01-22 19:08

Font so small on big TV far away.. I'll have to play around with the magnification.

**Gokulo** · 2014-01-23 01:09

Minor annoyance, but certain UI elements, like minimap, seems so low-res :/

**Kirin** · 2014-01-23 01:13

I think they messed up not keeping the same stagger concept as in the previous 2 titles, though I don't know how they would change it for just one character. To me it almost seems like a forced decision because they decided on only one character.

Which is another thing I'm having a problem with. The lack of a 2nd or 3rd player in battle is very glaring. The system does play a lot like X-2, but again almost intentionally shoehorned into a story element because Lightning is alone. I would almost be better off with 2 monsters joining her, or something like FFIV where she just constantly cycles through companions as the story progresses. Snow -> Lumina -> whoever -> etc. This might not be the case as you obtain more jobs (i refuse to call them schema when Dragoon and Red Mage are present) and have greater customization over them.

The system itself seems tight, and I almost wish it was in place of the crystarium system from the get-go for XIII.

I'm hoping the closing the story here is the saving grace, though from what I've read its average at best. I'll consider everything "better than expected" if the story is just "ok" and Square has this little "cut half of the original game out and turn it into 2 more" fit out of their system.

I do give credit to SE for releasing a playable demo though. They have not done that in forever to my knowledge. Not since the days of Playstation Monthly and the very short FFX demo.

**Gokulo** · 2014-01-23 01:18

Didn't XIII-2 have a demo too?

**Kirin** · 2014-01-23 01:40

Originally Posted by Gokulo

Didn't XIII-2 have a demo too?

Seems so, I completely ignored XIII-2 upon launch until late last year when I saw it for like 12 bucks.

**Alkar** · 2014-01-23 01:44

XIII also had a demo (although it wasn't available for everyone).

**Spira** · 2014-01-23 07:02

i played the JP demo but this one seems a bit more fun in English somehow. more immersion maybe. I'm fine with the battle system but have this feeling that it could have been better if they tuned the stagger down a bit and made it easier to stagger individual enemies. Or maybe its just because its the start of the game and you don't get much for schema/battle options. It just seems way more tedious than XIII-2's incarnation, which i felt was well tuned compared to XIIIs (which was also tedious).

I also dislike how the stagger wave isn't as clear in terms of showing how close an enemy is to staggering as the bar format.. but i suppose thats a design decision.

The trailer upon completing the demo is pretty cool too

**Natallon** · 2014-01-23 07:24

Originally Posted by Exoduso

Ok this was fun as hell, but I expected more than 5 battles and a boss fight out of a "demo"...
Also, the customization seems confusing as hell... hopefully it's easier to manage and put stuff together once you get going.

I agree! Just as I was getting accustomed to things, it ended!

**Alkar** · 2014-01-23 09:07

Not sure why they added a time limit, there was none in the JP demo.

**Spira** · 2014-01-23 10:24

not the trailer in the demo.. but still a new one.

i'd call it mildly spoilerific if you pay close attention.. but i guess it isn't very much in their book

**SephYuyX** · 2014-01-23 11:19

I like short demos. Bravely Default was on the long side, but this one was on the short side. You can beat the demo in 5 minutes, but tbh.. I suppose that's all it really needs to be.

The story was displayed in a way to be intriguing, and there were enough battles to get a hang of it. Just enough of both to want to play more, hence making people buy the game.

My question though, for people who have played the JP version of the full game, is the demo a rip from the actual game, or is it's own thing like BD's? I do like the cinematic that is displayed, so just wondering if i'll be able to see it again in the actual game, or if i'll have to go back to the demo to see it. If it is part of the actual game, is it basically the first scenes in there?

**Exoduso** · 2014-01-23 13:07

Originally Posted by SephYuyX

I like short demos. Bravely Default was on the long side, but this one was on the short side. You can beat the demo in 5 minutes, but tbh.. I suppose that's all it really needs to be.

The story was displayed in a way to be intriguing, and there were enough battles to get a hang of it. Just enough of both to want to play more, hence making people buy the game.

My question though, for people who have played the JP version of the full game, is the demo a rip from the actual game, or is it's own thing like BD's? I do like the cinematic that is displayed, so just wondering if i'll be able to see it again in the actual game, or if i'll have to go back to the demo to see it. If it is part of the actual game, is it basically the first scenes in there?

Opening is identical... and yeah, the game starts off just like that. Down to the cutscenes and everything involved up to the final boss of the demo.

**Tyrath** · 2014-01-23 13:33

If that's the opening how come it started on 6 days?

**Ratatapa** · 2014-01-23 14:03

Originally Posted by Tyrath

If that's the opening how come it started on 6 days?

You have 7 days at start

When you do missions and quest you can unlock up to 13-14 days

**AoE** · 2014-01-23 15:37

Battle systems imo make an RPG followed by story. I see a lot of potential in this system and with the amount of customization that's alleged via the schema, I have a feeling I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this game even if the story isn't the greatest (kinda given up on Japanese story telling anyway).

Feel like some of ya'll is jumping the gun on a bit with first impressions because the tutorial portion of a game is never really that fun and Square's demos never really moved me to want to buy their games due to me already being committed to getting it anyway.

I hope Lightning is able to move faster because I can already see how important range might be and/or forcing enemies to attack so you can counterattack for big damage.

**Tyrath** · 2014-01-23 15:41

On the opposite side, I was feeling very meh about this game until I tried out the demo. The schemata system has potential to be a LOT of fun. That alone has made me hype for this.

**AoE** · 2014-01-23 16:02

Figured out the battle system as far as what's available on the second run through. I just need to get better at staggering.

**Tyrath** · 2014-01-23 16:40

Pshaw, I got 100k 2:28. Git gud!

**AoE** · 2014-01-23 16:43

Haha yeah I need to stagger faster. When you do, he melts.

Thread: Lightning Returns XIII-3

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