Lightning Returns XIII-3

[Alkar]

I really liked the story part in the Wildlands, this game keeps getting better the more I play.

[fussel]

Peeked at a gamefaqs FAQ, New Game+ basically lets you do stuff you've missed in your first playthrough.

[Carth]

Finally beat the game.

Spoiler: show

I wanna say Lightning is pretty much the strongest FF protagonist up to date? Ending was cheesy and predictable but they could've done much worse, thus I'm not upset about it.

Spoiler: show

It's cheesy as hell but I think the heroes of FF13 deserve it after being through so much bullshit

[Burningthought]

I just beat the wildsland boss in the most ghetto way possible. Didn't even stagger.

[Hellfury]

Well I beat the game and got the secret ending. Gotta say I'm satisfied with this one. A lot of thought was put into the battle system, and it was a real challenge.

Gonna take a break before I'm ready to dive right into Hard Mode, but this game's a keeper.

um, secret ending?

Spoiler: show

There are more endings than just beating the game, and beating the game with more enough quests to hit the dungeon etc.?

also, at ending:

Spoiler: show

Lighting goes to White Castle was hilarious!)

[Tsutsumiko]

I just beat the wildsland boss in the most ghetto way possible. Didn't even stagger.

Guarantee mine was more ghetto.

No stagger.

No stars.

1 Point.

20+ Minutes.

[Alkar]

I could only stagger that boss in one of the possible ways. Still won but needed a better setup.

[Tyrath]

Getting back in this after my mini vaca. I missed the Free Will quest that gives blue mage. No way to get it done again once I failed it?

[lilbubbles]

Getting back in this after my mini vaca. I missed the Free Will quest that gives blue mage. No way to get it done again once I failed it?

The beauty of the game is that on your next play through you can do it right away, sleeping at the inn as much as you need, and then start another play through again without having to beat the game again.

Picking up items you missed is really easy.

[Tyrath]

Well the downside is the garb is probably most useful if I get it before beating the game. Oh well.

[Spira]

in new game + you also carry over stats no?
i haven't done it yet.. am spending a lot more time on my easy game than i expected, in a good way..

my main quest bosses so far mostly resemble Stagger -> Overclock -> spamming Slayer -> Overclock -> repeat lol. They always give back all the EP i need anyway

[barber2006]

Even as a huge fanboy I was pretty underwhelmed by this one. No new good music, an incredibly small bestiary, forced cameos, fairly big plot holes, a final boss you knew you would be fighting 3 minutes into the game, a single way to beat any mob (stagger/overclock), the corniest of endings, and the constant limitation the clock puts on you that flys in the face of the history of final fantasy which is "explore and obtain everything". I liked XIII and XIII-2 a lot. Heck I grew up on the FF series. I was playing FF1 when my best friend was losing his virginity in the next room at a party. I was playing defensive tackle for a D-1A college when Locke Cole told Celes, "I will NOT let go" and after all he had been through I cried right there in the athletic dormitory common room. I camped out for VII. Played VIII after everyone else was asleep at my bachelor party. Ran my normal 5k jogging path at 3am after reading the words "Bring my beloved Dagger to me!" Played blitzball for what seemed a lifetime. Maxed multiple emps and relics. All of those friggen games were winners. It was only a matter of being good or great. And despite the linear gameplay of thirteen and the 'fingernails on chalk board' sounds of Vanille and Mog's voice in XIII-2 I still considered them good.

But this one is the first FF I've played that I just can't measure in terms of good.

I guess if I had to pick a couple of things that were great about the game it would be the tour guide playing "Clash on the Big Bridge" as a one man band and the voice actor who voices the boss in the wildlands. I would let a blind butcher cut off my pinky toes with a meat cleaver to be able to talk like that.

[lilbubbles]

You might be looking back with rose tinted glasses on XIII.

It arguably wasn't even a game.

[Bregor]

Even as a huge fanboy I was pretty underwhelmed by this one. No new good music, an incredibly small bestiary, forced cameos, fairly big plot holes, a final boss you knew you would be fighting 3 minutes into the game, a single way to beat any mob (stagger/overclock), the corniest of endings, and the constant limitation the clock puts on you that flys in the face of the history of final fantasy which is "explore and obtain everything". I liked XIII and XIII-2 a lot. Heck I grew up on the FF series. I was playing FF1 when my best friend was losing his virginity in the next room at a party. I was playing defensive tackle for a D-1A college when Locke Cole told Celes, "I will NOT let go" and after all he had been through I cried right there in the athletic dormitory common room. I camped out for VII. Played VIII after everyone else was asleep at my bachelor party. Ran my normal 5k jogging path at 3am after reading the words "Bring my beloved Dagger to me!" Played blitzball for what seemed a lifetime. Maxed multiple emps and relics. All of those friggen games were winners. It was only a matter of being good or great. And despite the linear gameplay of thirteen and the 'fingernails on chalk board' sounds of Vanille and Mog's voice in XIII-2 I still considered them good.

But this one is the first FF I've played that I just can't measure in terms of good.

I guess if I had to pick a couple of things that were great about the game it would be the tour guide playing "Clash on the Big Bridge" as a one man band and the voice actor who voices the boss in the wildlands. I would let a blind butcher cut off my pinky toes with a meat cleaver to be able to talk like that.

Awesome write-up. After being lukewarm-to-positive about XIII, and pretty much disliking XIII-2, I'm actually dreading playing this game. Maybe I'll go back and play XIII-2 again just to set the bar as low as possible.

[Tyrath]

If you for some reason thought XIII was better than XIII-2 then I would not recommend LR to you.

[Spira]

indeed, some seriously rose tinted glasses
how anyone can complain "a single way to beat any mob (stagger/overclock)" and then say "I liked FFXIII" is beyond me.
the stagger mechanics in LR:XIII are way more complex and dynamic than in XIII - hardly the one dimensional creature that XIIIs stagger system was. The small bestiary plays into this system, as you're basically encouraged to learn the behaviors of your enemies in greater detail, to actually know the game. gameplay-wise LR:XIII is far superior to XIII, even if you consider the fact that they're actually of a different genre anyway. The level of customization is immense and quite frankly limitless, even from very early on in the game, and they don't punish you for it at all.

the limitation of time is a mechanic that keeps players on their toes and can be annoying, but skilled use of Chronostasis effectively extends your time indefinitely. And if that isn't enough, theres also new game + options which encourage trial and error. This flies in the face of the history of FF far less than "heres a linear map, go to the next marker", which is exactly what X and XIII were anyway, and there was nothing to explore in all but 1 chapter of XIII.

as for the the story, it went to crap a long time ago when they brought in XIII-2 (if you didn't consider it crap in the first place (but it really was)).

[Burningthought]

indeed, some seriously rose tinted glasses
how anyone can complain "a single way to beat any mob (stagger/overclock)" and then say "I liked FFXIII" is beyond me.
the stagger mechanics in LR:XIII are way more complex and dynamic than in XIII - hardly the one dimensional creature that XIIIs stagger system was. The small bestiary plays into this system, as you're basically encouraged to learn the behaviors of your enemies in greater detail, to actually know the game. gameplay-wise LR:XIII is far superior to XIII, even if you consider the fact that they're actually of a different genre anyway. The level of customization is immense and quite frankly limitless, even from very early on in the game, and they don't punish you for it at all.

the limitation of time is a mechanic that keeps players on their toes and can be annoying, but skilled use of Chronostasis effectively extends your time indefinitely. And if that isn't enough, theres also new game + options which encourage trial and error. This flies in the face of the history of FF far less than "heres a linear map, go to the next marker", which is exactly what X and XIII were anyway, and there was nothing to explore in all but 1 chapter of XIII.

as for the the story, it went to crap a long time ago when they brought in XIII-2 (if you didn't consider it crap in the first place (but it really was)).

This. I would argue the even the time complaint is invalid just because after an hour or two in a zone you should already know where the sub-bosses are to farm EP. You can literally farm infinite EP for Chronostasis.

[lilbubbles]

Awesome write-up. After being lukewarm-to-positive about XIII, and pretty much disliking XIII-2, I'm actually dreading playing this game. Maybe I'll go back and play XIII-2 again just to set the bar as low as possible.

Just start on easy and don't worry about time or completing everything.

It is a huge game with a lot of stuff to do in it. Focus on the 5 main quests and you may find yourself having a bit of fun, I guarantee you'll have time left to explore and do other things. Use normal to pick up the quests you missed out the first time, then go to hard when you're ready to start upgrading your spells and equipment.

What's funny is, if you're the type to like to complete 100% like I am, the time limit in LR is less restrictive than the time limit was in ff 9. You actually couldn't get a 100% perfect save in ff 9 due to the time constraint, you had to sacrifice something.

[Bregor]

If you for some reason thought XIII was better than XIII-2 then I would not recommend LR to you.

as for the the story

Story in XIII was meh. Story in XIII-2 was pants-on-head retarded. No amount of Paradigm Pack fun could erase that. I've only skimmed this thread since the release but nothing I've read so far is encouraging story-wise.

[barber2006]

The reason I would rank XIII above XIII-3 is twofold: 1) There was some awesome music that came out of it. So good they used it for -2 and -3. All of the good tracks in -3 were from the previous two. 2) There were some decent mobs to fight once the game opened up. Those huge adamantoise mobs were just awesome to fight. I think the most intimidating mob -3 had was a damn earth eater. So no, not a huge amount of rose colored glasses for XIII. It wasn't the gameplay that made me think it was an ok game, it was the music and the fact it was a new story. One game of Snow whining about not saving Serah was enough and manageable but 4 years later that has.....run its course.

As far as "just farm EP so you don't have to worry about time" mentality goes.....that is the most ridiculous and indefensible statement trying to justify a bad system in any game I have ever heard.....ever.

Different strokes for different folks I guess, but finding a redeeming quality from this game is really tough and I suspect most people that try to justify it in any way are just pot committed.

I'll wait for XV to bring the magic back. Or maybe I'm just finally an old man and unable to be inspired anymore.