Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Chapter 4: Harvester of Sorrow

Lightning, the savior, has barely escaped death at the hands of the Shadow Hunter. Thankfully, Noel defied the prophecy he saw within the oracle drive, and has let Lightning live on. Lumina appeared once more to Light. She revealed, that the drive and prophecy were created by her, to create mischief. It was not true after all. It was a dangerous game she played, toying with the savior.

Lacking direction for the moment after her battle with the Shadow Hunter, Lightning spent some more time exploring the streets of Luxerion. A young woman, dressed in the uniform of the Order of Salvation, hailed her. The Order was based in the cathedral of Luxerion, they were the soldiers in the fight to bring souls to their lord god, Bhunivelze. Their foes in the battle for salvation were those few who held on to worship of the fallen goddess Etro, and those who paid no service to the gods at all.

The young woman told Lightning that her patron "the saint", was aware of her, and wished to see her. However, she was missing a multi-colored, iridescent stone, and was quite distressed over it. The young girl was surprised that Light was unaware of who the saint was, and also unaware that the saint could not leave the cathedral. "So she's locked up like a criminal or animal?" Light asked.

"Y-You say too much!" said the girl.

Light retrieved the stone, and in return, was given a key that would allow her to enter the cathedral after public hours. The saint was only allowed to wander the cathedral after hours, so as not to cause a stir. Perhaps also, so as not to escape. Lightning found that the saint, was her old friend, Vanille. She been lifted from crystal stasis by God. Beside her, who apparently also appeared at the same time, was... Lumina.

Upon awakening, Vanille found she had gained a new power, one that earned her her new title. She could hear the voices of the dead, she took Lightning into the church's inner sanctum. Within, a shadowy cloud surrounded the saint. Lightning could feel immense pain and sadness, and crushing feelings of regret emanating from the cloud. Vanille believed she had the power to save them, to release them from their pain and suffering. The Order told her it was necessary, or else the new world God was to create would be torn apart by their cries of suffering. If Lightning was to be the savior of the living, Vanille was to be the savior of the dead. Her role would be fulfilled at the final hour of the thirteenth day, the end of the world.

Her heart heavy from her encounter with the restless dead, Lightning was relieved that this world still had some time left, and that she might put the worries of the dead behind her.

There are loads of details, people to meet, and quests to take on in this game. Although it puts a time limit over your head, the game can be completed, for the most part, in whatever order the player chooses.

I found it neat that wandering NPCs stop to use the phone booth.

Speaking of phone booths, one of the quests involves them. Lightning must pick up the phones around Luxerion, following the trail of a little girl who is being chased. In the end, it turns out she had herself kidnapped by the Children of Etro cultists on purpose. She simply wanted to see if anyone decent was left in the world who would come to her rescue. Lightning obliges.

"Disillusioned," is the key here. Disillusionment, cynicism: key themes in the game.

She also encounters, Gem, a talking cat. It turns out the cat has been reanimated by the soul of a young boy. He took a potion to make his beloved cat live again, but it was a bit of a trick. The cat was reanimated with his own soul. The one he bought the potion from? Lumina.

Aw... A talking kitty!

Lightning collects the ingredients for "starlight spice", which when waved under the nose of the boy's body, will return his soul. The boy was in a zombie like state, surrounded by stray cats. The spice seller warned that the spice would send cats into a "murderous rage." Unfortunately, this wasn't quite accurate. I expected to have to fight them, but instead, they ran up to me and stole the spice! A klepto-rage, and they were quite quick as well! I had to make more of the spice twice before I figured out how to avoid them.

Lightning aint about that bullshit.

This is just a small sample of the side quests. They all have interesting characters, and great atmosphere. It's a bit of a departure from previous Final Fantasy games, but the transition is smooth, it doesn't feel forced. 

That's all for tonight, join me again my friends, here at This Bard's Tales!

    

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Chapter 3: Who Lives, and Who Dies?

Lightning found no shortage of people looking for help in the city of Luxerion. A man in a strange hat offered money for "soul seeds". These could be found within the zones of chaos that were sprouting at random in Nova Chrysalia. After a bit of coaxing, the strange man gave up the information that the soul seeds were actually the souls of humans. However, instead of being reincarnated in the natural order of things, they now became monsters. 

Lightning talks with Baird, a collector, about soul seeds. Source.

Lightning soon had a chance to test her mettle in the chaos, against a massive beast. A woman at the end of a deserted alley identified herself as a bounty hunter, one of the best. Her entire team of seven, save her, had fallen to a fierce dragon within the chaos. She had little faith that Light could take on the beast herself, but Lightning was bolstered with her powers as Savior. The beast was huge, with painfully sharp teeth, and a bruising tail. Flame spewed from it's chaos infused breath. Lightning moved like her name-sake. With strategic use of her powers and items of recovery, she prevailed. A collection of soul seeds was hers, as well as a tooth as a trophy of her kill. The bounty hunter was amazed and humbled by the act. Lightning's prowess inspired this woman to greater heights, and thus the Eradia from her soul was obtained.

Here is a picture of Lightning with the dragon. These windows can be pulled up, then a stock message, an optional message from the player, and even an item may be sent. Other players may then see these in their own games, and have the option of purchasing the item.

Confident that she had both rid the city of a major threat, and inspired the passions of a fellow warrior woman, our hero returned to her quest. She now had the four numbers of the code to enter the graveyard. At midnight, she spoke the words, and the gate opened. The graveyard was not empty, being swarmed with creatures of the chaos. Over it all, the cacophony of the chanting cultists could be heard, calling out to their dead goddess, Etro.

Posted messages may be used for humor. I had a good giggle at this one.

Surrounding a massive altar in the center of the graveyard, the cultists were preparing to sacrifice yet another young woman. Lightning put a stop to the sacrifice, they recognized her as the true savior. They were acting in the place of the "Shadow Hunter". However, none other than the Shadow Hunter himself intervened to help Light. "You think I'm with these blood-thirsty heretics who kill innocents?" he said to Lightning. The Hunter, was Noel Kreiss, Serah's recent companion. "They did it for you Noel!" Light retorted.

Etro's altar in the graveyard of Luxerion.

  

After the Etro cultists had been driven off, Noel explained the situation. The cultists had found an "oracle drive", the device which records the prophecies of the farseers. In it, Lightning is shown destroying what is left of the world, and Noel kills her to stop it. The cultists were a bit impatient, trying to help the process along by killing innocents. Noel was not with them, however, he still vowed to kill Lightning, at the appointed time and place. That place was The Warrens, the part of Luxerion where the poor and down on their luck huddle together to scrape by a meager living. Here, Lightning would meet whatever fate was in store for her at the hands of the Shadow Hunter.

On her way to the Warren, Lightning stops by the cathedral, and sees this mysterious figure.

Finding her way to Noel's hideout was no simple task, as the gates to the Warren were only open during the night, when most of the city was sleeping. Noel had secluded himself in a particularly dangerous part of the Warren, guarded by Etro cultists. Lightning had little trouble cutting these adversaries, and their massive blades, down, though. A "Symbol of Etro" she had taken from a cultist's body was enough to secure her entry onto the rooftops where Noel had chosen to hide. She soon found him, sitting cross-legged, meditating in front of the oracle drive.

The oracle drive discharges its secrets.

Lightning witnessed the prophecy as it unfolded before her. As most prophecies are, it was open to interpretation. However, it indeed depicted Noel and her fighting, a fact which he seemed determined to make good on. 

Noel, as depicted within the smokey projection of the oracle drive.

Light tried to deter him, but Noel was having none of it. They danced the dance of blades for what seemed like hours, neither able to gain ground over the other. In the end, Lightning was victorious, but she did not deliver a killing blow. In her hesitation, she left herself open, Noel jumped high in the air to deliver her to her doom. His blade, however, flew by her with a gust like that of a hurricane, planting itself deep into the oracle drive. Noel had made his choice, Lightning would live, and the prophecy would die.

Noel does his best Kain impression.

Noel laid bare the guilt that had been on his shoulders, the guilt that had caused him to ping on Hope's radar. Although it had been Caius's hand that had guided it, it was Noel's dagger that had plunged through the Heart of Chaos, thus sealing the word's fate. Noel felt responsible for releasing the Chaos, and dooming the world. After confessing his sin, a vision of Yeul rose from the oracle drive. Yeul, his companion who Noel had been waiting centuries to see again, was finally before him. She urged him that he had made the right choice, and that now, they would soon meet again. The dark cloud lifted from him, Noel's soul was saved, and he vowed to live in the light. He would no longer be the "Shadow Hunter".

It was a battle that took everything Lightning had, as both a soldier, and as the mighty Savior. Her mercy almost got her killed, but thankfully, Noel still had his kind heart, even after living in centuries of darkness. In the end, the first leg of her quest was fulfilled, as she had saved this man's soul from the coming oblivion.

Join me again soon friend, for the continuing saga of Lightning, Savior of the great Bhunivelze, here... at This Bard's Tales! 

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Chapter 2: Can't Catch 'Em All

"Every soul you leave behind will be lost for all eternity," Hope said. However, there are only thirteen possible days left in the world, not enough to save everyone. Lightning must save as many souls as possibly, but she must be careful. If she spends too much time trying to fulfill an elaborate request, others will suffer because of it. She must prioritize who is saved and who is not, no enviable task. There was a transportation device in this ark, which appeared to be the remains of the new cocoon that humanity built to be its home. Stepping into the device, Lightning was surrounded again by crimson lightning bolts, and appeared on a train to another city. This one, Luxerion, the city of light.

Concept art for Luxerion. Dig it. Source.

The cool night air played across Lightning's skin as she stepped off the train. Even at night, the city square was still quite active. Not the least of which was because there was a crime scene being investigated. A woman had been murdered... a woman who had pinkish colored hair, not unlike Lightning herself. Hope chimed in on his radio connection, telling Lightning she should approach the inquisitor who was in charge of investigating the murder. Soon after, shouts of surprise rang out in the square. Another body was slung from a nearby clock tower! She hung swaying, taking her last breaths. However, Lightning quickly realized this body, thankfully, was simply a dummy. Eerie glowing letters appeared, "The evil Savior will die at the hands of the Shadow Hunter."

Lightning examines the dummy.

Lightning's first task is to help gather evidence to help the inquisitor solve the murder case. By talking with people and finding a few things scattered about the square, it quickly becomes apparent that this murder was perpetrated by a group of fanatics called the Children of Etro. This is interesting, because Lightning was the champion of the now dead goddess Etro in 13-2. She now serves Bhunivelze, and some worshipers of her previous patron are now her enemies.

This is what the screen looks like when the player has a quest explained to them. I really enjoyed the matter-of-fact first sentence here.

Since the numbers don't appear until 6AM, I had some time to explore. As a side note, Japan uses 24 hour clocks, as does much of the world, as far as I know. The game clock in the corner of the screen is 24 hours, but the in game explanations use AM and PM for us westerners. This necessitates converting in your head. I really wish they would have just stuck with using the 24 hour clock for everything. This is a case of what the translators probably thought was simplifying things, but they ended up making it more difficult.

To kill time, I took a quick train ride to another area called The Wildlands. Here the folk try to keep some connection to their roots, tending the land, and holding to worship of Etro. As Lightning stepped off the train, she was contacted by a mysterious voice, which sounded like Yeul. It said that Light would meet the "Angel of Valhalla" at the end of the world. The Angel, it turns out, is a legendary... chocobo? I didn't stick around long here, as 6AM came up. At this time, the day ends, and Lightning returns to the Ark.

Each day there will be a new item or two waiting in the Ark. The first day brings the Red Mage garb. As my avatar will tell you, I do love me some Red Mages.

On this first trip back to the Ark, Hope also explains something called the Tree of Life, which shows how many days are remaining for the world. By saving souls, Lightning collects "Eradia" which will power the Tree, and thus give the world more time. Hope also mentions that there are five people in what is left of the world (called "Nova Chrysalia") that have especially large burdens. These people will yield more Eradia, and thus should be a priority. Hope reveals that one of these people is Snow, who Lightning has already seen in the palace of Luxerion. This all seems like a lot of information and gameplay mechanics to absorb only within a couple hours of starting. We've got a completely new battle system, a time limit, and open world, all to understand in a couple hours time. 

Quite frankly, I was overwhelmed, mostly because the time limit puts such a pressure on the player. Once you play for ten hours or so (or maybe 20... or 30), I'd say you get the hang of things, and realize the time limit doesn't mean you need to freak out to complete the game. From experience and what I've read online, I highly recommend playing on "Easy" your first time. Your options are "Easy" and "Normal." It may seem lame to play on Easy, but I think that's the best way to do it. Playing on Normal without being comfortable with the game mechanics quickly became a drag. I was always worried about healing with the limited amount of items available, and running out of points to use special abilities.

Once Etro died, and the Chaos overwhelmed Gran Pulse, the cycle of life and death was stopped. There are no births, and all of the people are frozen in age. The elderly have been elderly, and children have remained children for 500 years. The boy above sums up a lot of what this game is about. These people are still doing their day to day grind, and living their lives, over and over. Yet, as their lives have extended beyond their normal length, they struggle to find meaning. Some people, like the boy above and Snow, try to find entertaining ways to spice this life up. The boy offers to race any takers. Snow provides massive banquets, shows, and fireworks to help people forget the impending doom of the world. However, Snow's efforts are simply a distraction, as we see later, it does not quiet the aching of his soul.

At it's heart, this game is asking, "What is the meaning of life?" It's a portrait of a world having an existential crisis. I don't know if it's everyone's cup of tea, but I found the philosophical questions brought up by it's dialogue and quests to be very intriguing.

I probably don't need to go through the "This blog isn't dead" speech again. I think you know by now my posts may sometimes be unpredictable. August is always my busiest time of year. Now that it's over, I'm hoping to get back on a more regular posting schedule.

Thank's for stopping by, come back again soon for more, at This Bard's Tales!