Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Original title	ラ イ ト ニ ン グ リ タ ー ン ズ フ ァ イ ナ ル フ ァ ン タ ジ ー XIII
transcription	Raitoningu Ritānzu: Fainaru Fantajī Sātīn
Studio	Square Enix
Publisher	Square Enix
Erstveröffent- lichung	PS3, Xbox 360: November 21, 2013 February 11, 2014 February 14, 2014 Windows: December 10, 2015 iOS, Android: February 17, 2016
platform	PlayStation 3 , Xbox 360 , Windows , Xbox One
genre	role playing game
Game mode	Single player
control	Game controller
medium	Blu-ray , DVD-9 , download
language	Japanese , English with German subtitles
Age rating	USK PEGI
PEGI content rating

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII ( Japanese ラ イ ト ニ ン グ リ タ ー ン ズ フ ァ イ ナ ル フ ァ ン タ ジ ー XIII , Raitoningu Ritānzu: Fainaru Fantajī Sātīn ) is an RPG in the Final Fantasy series and was published in Europe in February 2014 and was developed by Square Enix . It is part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis saga and follows on from the events of Final Fantasy XIII-2 , with the plot that began with Final Fantasy XIII being brought to a close. A special feature of the game is that the entire game world is constantly changing, triggered by events that occur at certain times of the day in different places, regardless of whether the player is currently witnessing what is happening at that location or not . Game Directory Motomu Toriyama , referring to the long history of Final Fantasy , said that Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII would be "the most perfect and glamorous part of the Final Fantasy franchise".

In contrast to Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2 , this time Lightning , who strives to save the world from complete destruction, is the only playable character. The player has the option of changing Lightning's clothing, for which over 20 robes are available.

Gameplay

The combat system in Lightning Returns corresponds in principle to the ATB-based system known from XIII and XIII-2 . However, since Lightning will now be the only playable character, it has been modified to give the player more control over what is happening. Lightning can now move around freely in fights, although the fights are still not fought directly in the vicinity of the game world, but on separate battlefields. Instead of selecting commands one after the other from a menu, Lightning's capabilities can now also be addressed via the buttons on the controller.

Over the thirteen day period of the game, Lightning will influence the passage of time through her actions. Rescuing one particular person could turn the clock back a few hours while rescuing another person moves the hands forward. With Lightning only remaining 13 days to save the world, time is the basic motif of Lightning Returns . The individual days are divided into morning, afternoon, evening and night, while events happen at certain times in different places. According to Motomu Toriyama , the game will be played on different paths, so it will not be possible to see all of these events in a single playthrough; thus several runs are necessary to be aware of all events in the game world.

On January 21, 2014, Square Enix released a trial version in the Xbox Store. A free demo version has been available for download on PlayStation Network since January 22, 2014.

action

prolog

500 years after the end of Final Fantasy XIII-2 , Lightning awakens from her crystal slumber. The world is about to end and the god Bhunivelze has chosen Lightning to be his "Redeemer" and to save the souls of as many people as possible who are to populate the new world he is creating. Lightning is supposed to do this job until the world is engulfed in chaos in 13 days. To accomplish this task, Bhunivelze gives Lightning new powers and gives her new equipment. As a reward for completing the task, Bhunivelzel promises that he will bring Lightning's sister Serah back to life.

Lightning first tries to redeem her old companion Snow, who rules the amusement city ​​of Yusnaan as the patron saint. This leads to a fight with Snow, who is still reproaching himself for Serah's death and has absorbed chaos over the past 500 years. The fight is interrupted by Lumina, who breaks Lightning's sword. Snow retreats inside the palace while Lightning pursues him. She has to stop the pursuit because she cannot get past a security door. Thereupon she is brought back to the ark by Hope (who has become a child again). In the Ark, Hope Lightning explains the current situation in the world. With the death of Etro, the visible world and Wallhalla merged into the world of Nova Chrysalia , which consists of the four areas Luxerion, Wildlands, Yusnaan and Wailing Dunes . People no longer age and no new children are born. But people can still die from illness, accidents, etc. This condition has made people lethargic for the past 500 years. Chaos devours the world more every day, which is why it will end before Bhunivelze awakens on the 13th day. To prevent this from happening, Lightning has to solve five people's problems to give the world enough time. Hope then sends Lightning to Luxerion.

Main storyline

Luxerion

In Luxerion, Lightning witnesses a doll that resembles her being thrown from the tower at the train station and leaflets with the message “The Redeemer will die at the hand of the shadowhunter” are flying around. She learns that recently heretics, who call themselves the "Children of Etros" , have committed ritual murders of women with pink hair, because they know that the Redeemer has such hair. The children of Etro believe that only death brings salvation and reject the teachings of the Order of Salvation , which Bhunivelze worship. On her search for a way to follow the heretics to their ritual place, an oracle, Lightning finds Lumina again. In the oracle she sees how she destroys the world, but is stopped by Noel Kreiss. Noel confronts Lightning and reveals himself to her as a shadow hunter before he disappears. Lightning succeeds in confronting the heretics with their ritual and defeating them with the help of Noel. Noel tells her this is not the right place and leads Lightning to his lair, where there is another oracle. This oracle shows that Noel and Jul will be reunited if he kills Lightning. Lightning defeats Noel in the following fight, whereupon he attacks Lightning again. Instead of killing Lightning, he destroys the oracle because he can't stand losing another human for unleashing the chaos after killing his mentor and friend Caius Ballad 500 years ago, resulting in the destruction of the world would have. Jul's soul appears and tells Noel that his decision was correct and that they will be reunited. Noel can put his doubts and burdens aside and Lightning can redeem his soul.

In the cathedral, Lightning meets her companion Vanille, who is venerated as a saint by the Order of Redemption . Since she woke up from crystal sleep 13 years ago, she can hear the voice of dead souls trapped in chaos. Every cry of the soul is like a stab in the heart for them. She tells her that she wants to call all souls together to set them free and to set them free.

Yusnaan

In Yusnaan, Lightning is wanted by the city guard because her attempt to redeem Snow is seen as an assassination attempt. Lightning tries to sneak into the evening celebration in front of the palace, but is disturbed by Lumina. She comes into possession of an ID and can sneak into the festival. At the festival she has to take the lead role in "The Song of the Redeemer" . She brings the stage to collapse and enters the palace. In the palace she finds Snow, who is holed up behind a thick wall of ice. With Serah's engagement chain, Lightning can destroy the wall and get to Snow. Snow asks Lightning to kill him because he can no longer bear anything, only reproaches himself for Serah, has absorbed chaos for the last 500 years and can no longer stop his transformation into a Cie'th. Lightning defeats Snow, who has become half a Cie'th, and is able to save him by reminding him of his past and the fact that he can't just die if he wants to see Serah again. After he's human again, Lightning redeems his soul.

Wildlands

In the Wildlands, Lightning hears a voice she does not recognize, which tells her about the angel of Wallhalla . When Lightning asked around, he turned out to be a legendary white chocobo that had never been ridden by anyone. The Angel of Wallhalla is revered by the inhabitants of the Wildlands as he signifies the end and brings his chosen master to the source of chaos. Lightning finds the chocobo, which is badly injured. With the help of the doctor Dr. Gizar can save her the chocobo. With the angel of Wallhalla , Light arrives at Etros Temple, where she meets the believed to be dead Caius Ballad, who plants chaos in her chest, which gradually eats up her life. On the way to Caius, Lightning meets various incarnations of Jul, who share their contradictions regarding Caius. Lightning fights against Caius and can defeat him. Caius kills himself but is revived by the chaos. He explains to Lightning that he cannot be redeemed because the great chaos in the temple consists of the souls of all Juls and their conflicting desires for emotions shape the chaos. Some want Caius' salvation, others want him to live. Lightning leaves the temple and meets last Jul. She reveals to her that it was she who has been speaking the words for centuries that Lightning hears when she arrives and shows her why no one can ride the angel of Wallhalla : This one is in reality Lightning's Esper Odin, who turned into a chocobo when chaos flooded the world. She also tells her that she is the only Jul whose heart does not belong to Caius.

In the Wildlands, Lightning meets her companion Sazh, who has turned from a happy man to a grumpy man, as his son Dajh has been in a death-like sleep for 500 years and his soul is no longer there, but shattered. For 500 years he has been looking for the fragments in order to put them together with the soul box that he has from Lumina. Lightning finds the fragments and gives them Sazh. Sazh can't wake Dajh and Lightning tells him to stop looking dark. Sazh remembered his happy time with Dajh and becomes happy again, whereupon Dajh's soul returns to his body and this awakens.

In the Jakht forests, Lightning finds a moogle village and her old friend Moggel, who once accompanied Serah. He flees from Lightning because he thinks he doesn't have the right to see her because he couldn't protect Serah. Lightning tells him it's not his fault and so can redeem him.

Wailing dunes

In the Wailing Dunes, Lightning meets desert robbers, whose leader is Oerba Yun Fang, who once turned vanilla into a crystal pillar that Cocoon supported. She asks Lightning to help her to rescue the clavis in the ruins, since only the Redeemer can open the ruins. You can salvage the clavis, but this is stolen by the Order of Redemption as the clavis attracts souls. Fang reveals to Lightning that the Clavis can destroy all dead souls, but that this costs Vanille's life. Fang leaves the dunes to prepare for the final day and save Vanilla.

The 13 days

During Lightning's travels between Nova Chrysalia and the Ark, she repeatedly ends up in her inner world, in which Bhunivelze cannot hear. There she meets Lumina, who tells her that Bhunivelze is playing a double game and implies that he is not omnipotent, since the soul and the chaos are things that he cannot see. Shortly before the last day, the dead souls ask for redemption in the form of Cid Raines Lightning. Lightning learns that vanilla has the power to redeem the dead while it redeems the living.

The last day

On the last day the whole world is destroyed except for the Cathedral of Luxerion. Lightning wants to stop the order, because with the annihilation of the dead souls, all memories of them would also disappear and it would be as if they had never existed. Lumina wants to stop her briefly because she doesn't want to be left alone in the chaos. Lightning fights against the order. Noel supports her and prevents the Order soldiers from following her while she is on the way to the altar. Lightning gets support from Fang on the way to vanilla and together they reach vanilla. The high priestess of the order urges Vanilla to perform the ritual. Lightning says that vanilla should listen carefully to souls because it has the power to redeem souls. Vanilla realizes that souls want salvation and not annihilation. Fang and Lightning defeat the order soldiers and Snow can destroy the clavis with a heroic appearance. Fang and vanilla redeem the dead souls and Lightning can redeem both. Lumina appears and reveals that she is actually the soul of Serah and Lightning's suppressed emotional side that has been split off from Bhunivelze. She was taking care of the real Serah all along.

Bhunivelze makes everyone disappear and Lightning confronts him, realizing his true intentions and Hope's true identity. Hope was Bhunivelze's vessel the whole time and he wanted to be worshiped in his new world, the Serah he promised her was only a fake and she should take Etro's place as the goddess of the dead. Angered by Lightning's betrayal, Bhunivelze wants to make the new people transcendent and soulless. Lightning fights against Bhunivelze and can defeat him. She plunges into chaos with him and redeems Hope there, but remains behind herself. When she realizes that she doesn't want to be alone and she rediscovers her feelings, she reunites with Lumina. With the help of the wrong Serah and Hope, Lightning manages to escape from the chaos. Together with her companions, she can fend off Bhunivelze and all souls enter the new world. Lightning meets Serah again and together with everyone else, Lightning can defeat Bhunivelze and throw him into chaos. Bhunivelze crystallizes in the chaos and Lightning says that the living no longer need a god. Caius Ballad appears and tells everyone that the dead need a god to maintain the cycle of rebirth, and that he and the souls of the Juls will do this. Noel attacks Caius because he wants Jul back. Caius fights him off with ease, telling him to protect her too, and pushes him out of the chaos. Noel holds the last Jul in arms, who loves him and not Caius. After Bhunivelze is defeated, everyone enters the new world.

At the end you see Lightning taking a train to the country with a bag and light clothes to meet her sister and finally to be reunited with her.

criticism

The GBase.ch magazine gave Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII a rating of 8.0. The test report praised the open game world and the cinematic cutscenes. In return, the step system and the somewhat blurred appearance were criticized.

Web links

• Official homepage (multilingual)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 announced
2. ↑ Final Fantasy anniversary interview: Toriyama speaks
3. ↑ Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - Real-time world explained
4. ↑ Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - Demo available worldwide
5. ↑ Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - Demo online ( Memento of the original from July 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - Test report on GBase.ch