Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 is the final installment in the FF13 trilogy. A demo for the game was released first last week made available to Gold Members of Xbox Live and Playstation Network only then to be free for Silver/Free members yesterday (happy birthday to me?). The demo itself is mainly cutscenes but it at least shows you the basics of how the game will be played which is exactly what I needed since I've been hesitant on this ever since the game was announced.
After the intro which plays before the title screen (which you can skip, it's repeated as the opening to the demo), the game opens with Lightning in a new town dubbed the "savior" as she finds Snow who now rules the town. The end of days is near and Chaos is throughout the land, with Lightning being the only person who can stop it. Snow having lost Serah at some previous point is reluctant to be freed from Lightning and have you chase him. In the field, you can move around, jump and interact with people and objects such as ladders to climb up.
When battling enemies you have the option to strike them first in order to gain an advantage with the enemy having less health. The battle system here is an evolved version of the ATB system seen in the previous 2 entries known as Schemata. You have at your disposal 3 schemas/outfits each with it's own look, stats and move-sets. Switching them is seamless and you can do so at any time, the element of changing outfits is very reminiscent to the Dress Spheres in FFX-2. Every move takes up a certain amount of the ATB gauge and you have several along the bottom left of the screen. Each time you switch, a new gauge takes over to represent that Schema.
 |
| A look at the Schemata System |
During battle you can stagger enemies by exploiting their weaknesses, once staggered, you deal more damage and the enemy is vulnerable. There is also an Overclock system that takes up something called EP. What this does is slows down time allowing Lightning to deal more attacks. The customization goes as far as you assigning each outfit a move set, accessories and even the color palette which I enjoyed. What is disappointing is the restricted movement that Lightning has. I read somewhere when this was being developed that moving in battle would be similar to how you control Sora in Kingdom Hearts (another Square-Enix title), that is definitely not the case as you can move in every direction but very slowly. There is a Guard option to lessen damage so there's that I guess? Oh and your health doesn't replenish after each battle like the previous games did. You can also connect to the Outerworld which is sort of like MiiVerse on the Wii U in that you can share progress with other players.
 |
| The customization options are very in-depth |
With this battle system and even how the story is more confusing than the 13-2, I think I myself will pass this title.
Should you Give this a Try?
It depends, whether or not you want to buy the full version is your call. If you're a die-hard fan of the franchise and want to see closure for Lightning and the gang then by all means pick this up, otherwise you're better off not playing this. The demo is half cutscenes and half gameplay so not that much to go on.
