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!

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End

I debated calling this game Final Fantasy XIII-3 on my blog, since that is what it is essentially. Squenix, however, never one to shy away from confusing name conventions, decided to call it Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, so I'll stick with that.

For those who need a recap of the events of the previous two games, one can't do better than the Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Retro-spective Trailer. Honestly, that almost looks like more fun than the two actual games were.

Source.

It was the end of the world. It had been 500 years since the chaos had been unleashed from Valhalla. Black storm clouds rolled and roiled over the shining lights of the city below. At the top of a clock tower, crimson bolts of lightning struck. Our heroine appeared at their apex. Her name, Lightning, having woken from a long crystal slumber. She had been awoken by the sleeping god, Bhunivelze. Or as the people now called him... simply God. She was now God's savior, who would lead souls to salvation. She was here, in the city called Yusnaan, to save a particular soul... of the one called Snow.

I was really surprised how this game immediately pulls no punches, naming Lightning's patron "God" with a capital "G". Later on, he, Bhunivelze, is separated more from the Christian notion of God, but it's very interesting, even jarring at first. I'm really surprised the translation had the balls to go all-out with this, but hey, maybe I'm just used to 90's era Nintendo super censorship.

The intro level to the game has Lightning breaking into a palace where Snow is now ruler, or the "Patron" as he is called. I guess it's worth noting that he's still alive after 500 years because the chaos has a created a world with no aging. People may still die from disease and accident, but there is no new life, and no one dies of old age. So Snow has 500 years of moping and guilt on his shoulders from the death of Serah. Lightning surmises he may have changed... and as it turns out, he is none too pleased to see her.

Snow and Lightning locked in combat. Source.

There is a quick fight between the two that plays out in a cut-scene. Then the room is infused with chaos, creating monsters that Lightning must fight. Lightning is the player's sole character, and she moves about dynamically from a third-person camera perspective. The battle system is new, but reflects some of the mechanics of the previous Final Fantasy XIII games. Lightning has three "schema" at a time, which are based off outfits, but are analogous with the "jobs" of early Final Fantasy games. Much like Final Fantasy 10-2, the player can switch modes in the middle of battle. Staggering again plays a part, but it works differently than the previous games. Each creature has certain conditions that will cause them to stagger, than this causes various effects. These usually cause the enemy to take more damage, and may also cause their weaknesses to change, and possibly stun them.

This is what combat looks like in LR. Source.

Back to the story... Snow runs off, leaving Lightning to fight off some monsters. She has to follow him, while the player is introduced to the game mechanics. It turns out he has barricaded himself in a room that is filled with dense chaos. For some reason the chaos looks like a sphere with a checkerboard pattern, it's not explained why, but it is a cool effect. 

Snow uses his ice powers to save the folks hanging out under this falling chandelier, so he hasn't completely changed.

It appears to be too dangerous to enter the chaos... so Lightning is stuck for the moment. She is also confronted by a mysterious girl, who bears a striking resemblance to a young Serah. She is all at once witty, dark, hurtful and helpful.

This b*... Source.

Lumina is very mysterious, she summons a monster that Lightning must battle, but you also get the sense she is not necessarily a villain. She drops too many hints, dripping with sarcasm, for her to not be interested in Lightning's success on some level.

After her encounter, Lightning is returned to the ark, by her compatriot, Hope, who has already been introduced in the game. Hope sits at the control center, guiding Lightning along. He is the command center, and Lightning is the field agent, working together to do God's work.

Hope plays Charlie to Lightning's angel.

There is a lot to absorb early on in the game. The abnormal setting is laid out: it is 500 years since the events of XIII-2 unfolded, the world merged with Valhalla just as Caius wished. There is no new life and no aging, because the Goddess Etro is dead. Chaos has destroyed most of the new world, leaving an island that will be absorbed in 13 days. These 13 days also mark when God, Bhunivelze, will reawaken, and create a new world, to start anew.

The new world will be populated by souls that are saved by having their burdens relieved. The one who will do this is the Savior, the role that has been placed upon Lightning. In return for her service, God has promised that Lightning will be reunited with her dead sister, Serah.

"Every soul you leave behind will be lost for all eternity." -Hope. Source.

The 13 day time limit isn't just a set piece, it is represented by a real game clock. An hour of play time equals 24 hours of in-game time. That's right, Squenix took some hints from Western RPG success stories and made an open-world game. Then... slapped a time-limit on it. Yes, this does seem counter-intuitive. It once again, sure is BALLSY though! Don't worry, I'll analyze the good and the bad of this time-limit plenty as I play.

Quite a lot to absorb right? The game doesn't pull-punches. However, if the player is lost a bit in the all details, the game does contain the helpful Datalog, like its predecessors.

Play Time: 1 hour

Final Fantasy XIII-2: Summary and Rankings

Yeul looks mysterious and cool in this picture, but thanks to her awkward walk, in the game she seems more like a cripple. Source.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
2012

Developer: Square Enix and tri-Ace
Publisher: Square Enix
Director: Motomu Toriyama
Producer: Yoshinori Kitase
Designer: Yoshiki Kashitani
Artist: Isamu Kamikokuryo
Writers: Daisuke Watanabe, Kazuhiko Yajima and Nanako Saitoh
Composers: Masashi Hamauzu, Naoshi Mizuta and Mitsuto Suzuki

"Development of Final Fantasy XIII-2 began around March and April 2010 and lasted about one and a half years. The game was unveiled at the Square Enix 1st Production Department Premier in January 2011. Many of the key designers remained in their roles from the previous game, and developer tri-Ace was hired to help with the game's design, art, and programming. The development team wanted to exceed Final Fantasy XIII in every aspect while making the story's tone mysterious and darker than the previous game. The game builds upon the Paradigm Shift battle system used in Final Fantasy XIII and includes a less linear overall design." Wikipedia. I had some issues formatting this text since it's cut-n-paste, sosueme.

The team behind Final Fantasy 13-2 is pretty much the same as Final Fantasy 13, and it's a good thing they recognized they needed to make some changes for this next installment. The notable changes are that they contracted tri-Ace to help with programming, design, and art assets. Also, although Hamauzu did a wonderful job composing 13's soundtrack, two assistants were brought in to add some more variety in style musically to 13-2.

13-2 was better received than 13, especially by westerners, who praised the non-linearity of the game. I agree it is overall a much better game than 13, however, I still see too many warts in the combat against powerful foes. Many people thought it's story was a bit of a mess. I tend to agree, but that didn't take away much from my enjoyment of the game.

Mechanics - 13-2 definitely improves on the system set up in its predecessor. The worst parts are gone: wait time between switching paradigms, not being able to directly control more than one character, and the auto-death if your leader is knocked out. However, the prolonged battles against more powerful opponents still get frustrating and repetitive.

1. Final Fantasy 10

2. Final Fantasy 10-2

3. Final Fantasy 13-2

4. Final Fantasy 13

Here's another glorious battle summary from my first win in Lightning's DLC. 28 minutes... 28 minutes man! Some games I could have beaten in that time. Long battles aren't in themselves bad, but in this system you generally rinse repeat a number of actions, and hope you can do them fast enough each time to win. Not very interesting.

Storyline - I want to give the story credit for being original, after all, whose ever heard "If you change the future, you change the past?" In the end though, verisimilitude is ruined by too much being left unexplained, and how the characters seem to know the set up of everywhere and time they go, for no reason.

1. Final Fantasy 10

2. Final Fantasy 10-2

3. Final Fantasy 13

4. Final Fantasy 13-2

Atmosphere - Not a lot is explained well in this game, but it's overall feel does put it above the undeniably silly 10-2. 

1. Final Fantasy 10

2. Final Fantasy 13

3. Final Fantasy 13-2

4. Final Fantasy 10-2

The details of different weather effects, like the snow accumulating here, and the rain drops on the camera lens, do a lot to create atmosphere. Why is Serah wearing a swimsuit in the snow? You'd have to ask her.

End Game - 13-2 sits below 10 because the final dungeons in that game were a lot cooler. 13-2 is above 13, because that game's series of final battles was just a hellish slog-fest.

1. Final Fantasy 10-2

2. Final Fantasy 10

3. Final Fantasy 13-2

4. Final Fantasy 13

Rain drops keep falling on my... colossal robot. Serah has a pose where she puts her hands out to feel the rain, I couldn't get it though.

Difficulty - The extra content of 13-2 is very difficult, but the main quest isn't that bad, so it sits third.

1. Final Fantasy 13

2. Final Fantasy 10-2

3. Final Fantasy 13-2

4. Final Fantasy 10

Balance - Once again, not as bad as 13, but it still has the tendency to go from super easy to crazy hard in a flash.

1. Final Fantasy 10

2. Final Fantasy 10-2

3. Final Fantasy 13-2

4. Final Fantasy 13

Soundtrack - I'm changing the "music" category to "soundtrack", because I compare them by listening to the soundtrack and deciding which I like better, not necessarily how the pieces are used in the game. Also 13-2 has some arranged tracks that I'm not sure are in the game, and I like 'em, so it gets credit for those. This soundtrack was music to my ears (ouch... straight to the pun-itentiary), such a great variety of tunes, from orchestral, to rap, even metal. I really dug it, I could put this on in my car. In fact, I think I will. My favorite tune is probably Eclipse.

1. Final Fantasy 13-2

2. Final Fantasy 13

3. Final Fantasy 10-2

4. Final Fantasy 10

Art - As can be expected from its shorter development time from the main series titles, this one lags a little behind 13 and 10. It still looks very good, but a lot of the new levels end up being pretty boxy looking. Also, there is pretty much only one male and female face for NPCs, which is then combined with different hair colors, hair styles and clothing. I found that distracting.

1. Final Fantasy 13

2. Final Fantasy 10

3. Final Fantasy 13-2

4. Final Fantasy 10-2

You may have noticed I'm trying to use up my extra screenshots. Running Serah around in skimpy swimwear made me feel awkward, but... I can certainly think of worse things.

Best Villain - He only shows up momentarily in DLC content. But, I love me some Gilgamesh, he's by far my favorite Final Fantasy character. Even in his few seconds of dialogue, he still made a bigger impression on me than Caius. He starts out by breaking the fourth wall, "I was starting to worry that you'd never download this part of the game, and I'd be stuck in digital limbo!" Quite in line with his character, I appreciated it. He also starts out with six arms full of firearms, until he realizes guns aren't his jam, and he draws his signature blades. Then, he proceeded to hand me my scarred and bleeding ass time after time, after time. As much as I love him, he sits below Yunalesca and Bart, because those characters are more developed within their respective games.

1. Yunalesca (FF10)

2. Barthandelus (FF13)

3. Gilgamesh (FF13-2)

4. Shuyin (FF10-2)

Hehehe... you go Gil. Source.

Worst Villain - This one easily goes to Alyssa Zaidelle, Hope's right hand woman. First off, even when you think she's your ally she's a common trope, a bubbly, squeaky, annoying, wunderkind. Then she gives a speech about how we all just need to get along... then betrays you. F* her. As annoying as Leblanc is, I have a much deeper hate for Alyssa.

1. Yu Yevon (FF10)

2. Alyssa Zaidelle (FF13-2)

3. Leblanc (FF10-2)

4. Jihl Nabaat (FF13)

Yup. Source.

Best Ally - Mog the moogle. Who doesn't love moogles? He's cute, he's funny, and very knowledgeable, kupo! He also (somewhat begrudgingly) let's you Moogle Throw(TM) him to find hidden items, nice! He's pretty awesome, I'm putting him at the top of the list.

1. Mog (FF13-2)

2. Auron (FF10)

3. Sazh Katzroy (FF13)

4. Rikku (FF10-2)

"Whose the moogle?" That's right Mog, you the moogle. Keep on kupo-en on brother. Source.

Worst Ally - Chocolina. 1/10 Amusing, 4/5 groan inducing, 1/10... vomit inducing. She's still not as annoying as FF13-era Hope. I'm surprised at myself, but I'm going to put her below Dona and Beclam because they are assholes. Chocolina is at least nice and helpful.

1. Hope Estheim (FF13)

2. Dona (FF10)

3. Beclam (FF10-2)

4. Chocolina (FF13-2)

Best Enemy - Honestly, non of the enemies in this game really lit my fire all that much. The ones I find memorable are so because they were such a pain in the ass to beat. It's not a strong pick, but I'll go with Jihl Nabaat from the DLC, because Squaenix was kind enough to add a battle with her after the snub in FF13.

1. Yojimbo (FF10)

2. Dahaka (FF13)

3. Angra Mainyu (FF10-2)

4. Jihl Nabaat (FF13-2)

Worst Enemy - This may be the only time this happens, the worst battle in this game shares the best villain, Gilgamesh. He is a "super-boss" available in the DLC. I wish it hinted that he is well-nigh impossible to beat. I had battles with him that took an hour before I was killed... an hour. I'm not the only one, I saw a message online where someone was fighting him for around two hours. WT absolute F* is that? Is that poor play testing? Do they expect you to realize you're doomed if the battle takes that long? My feeling is when I hit 15 minutes I'm not about to give up, because I've already spent so much time on it. The aggravating part is he changes approaches when he gets low on hit points, by adding an attack that is almost an instant kill. So you've wittled him down for an hour, feeling okay with yourself, then he powers up and kills you in seconds. That sort of game play drives me crazy, and I can't be the only one. He tops the list, because I think I sank 5 hours into beating him. Which is oh... I dunno, only about 8 tries. I beat him finally by lowering the difficulty, but haven't succeeded on Normal.

1. Gilgamesh (FF13-2)

2. Cid Raines (FF13)

3. Guado (FF10)

4. Claret Dragon (FF10-2)

Gilgamesh ver. 13-2: Great villain, tuuurrible battle.

Best Mini-Game - Once again hoping to make up for its predecessor, there are a number of mini-games in 13-2. Some relatively innocuous ones include the path finding games to resolve paradoxes. Then there is chocobo racing, and a math game involving clock hands. Sazh's DLC adds two card games, one of which is good ol' Texas Hold 'Em. I love me some Hold 'Em, however, the NPC AI isn't all that great, so it's only good for a few hours entertainment. It beats the hell out of the slot machine as a way to make casino coins, though.

1. Blitzball (FF10)

2. Cavern of the Stolen Fayth (FF10-2)

3. Hold 'Em (FF13-2)

4. Bakti (FF13)

"You trapped me! All night, you check, you check, you check..."

Worst Mini-Game - This one is the worst, because I'm not even sure it qualifies as a game. It's a slot machine, with all the thrill and excitement of a real slot machine! Without the only reason to actually play a slot machine! That is, making real money. I said I'm not sure it's really a game, because as far as I could tell, the timing when you hit the button to stop the reals doesn't make a difference, it's random. The reward for hours of effort at the machine is just a fragment. Were the designers trying to make a point here, don't gamble? The only reasonable justification I can find for this is that casinos, as they appear quite commonly in the US, are illegal in Japan. So apparently there might be some demand for a slot simulator in Japan. It's still lame though, inexcusably lame. I really expected Lightning Dodging to hold on to the top spot for a long time. Way to go Squaenix, you really outdid yourselves.

1. Slot Machine (FF13-2)

2. Lightning Dodging (FF10)

3. Spherebreak (FF10-2)

4. Hide-n-Seek (FF13)

I will not dignify this abomination with a screenshot.

Side Quests - There are a lot of side quests in 13-2, and much like 10-2 they are a mixed bag as far as how worth your time they are. 13-2 slots in second because 10-2's I consider a little more interesting overall.

1. Final Fantasy 10-2

2. Final Fantasy 13-2

3. Final Fantasy 10

4. Final Fantasy 13

Overall - 13-2 I consider neck and neck with 10-2. I broke the tie by popping in 10-2 to re-acquaint myself with it a bit. 10-2 wins by virtue of it having much more variety in both character development and items available.

1. Final Fantasy 10

2. Final Fantasy 10-2

3. Final Fantasy 13-2

4. Final Fantasy 13

Average Ranking - This time, I'm reversing the scores for the "Worst" categories, so that each game is adequately punished for such depravity! It's still close to in line with my overall, however, I think having a number of the most-worsts pushed 13-2 to the bottom of the pile!

1. Final Fantasy 10 (2.06)

2. Final Fantasy 10-2 (2.39)

3. Final Fantasy 13 (2.72)

4. Final Fantasy 13-2 (2.83) 

Overall, 13-2 is a good game, I'd recommend it. It still doesn't live up to the standard set by its forebears, but it is a much better game than FF13. The end game and DLC content I would only recommend for the most determined gamers, as the super-boss battles get frustrating fast.

Play Time: 93.25 hours

Write Time: 3.5 hours