Final Fantasy holds a special place in my heart. Over this past generation, I’ve been trying to decide whether it still affects me in the same way or if it’s just nostalgia… whether Final Fantasy XIII was actually bad or if I was the one doing something wrong… whether I want the series to evolve and give me something entirely new or if I just want them to go back to what worked before. I’m not alone in these questions. There are fans around the world, new and old, asking similar things. If it’s to be believed that Square-Enix has heard us and is indeed listening, then the next question we as fans should ask is… “Is Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII-3 the answer we’ve been looking for?”
The demo starts off with a cutscene that attempts to introduce players to the conflict that’s already spanned two titles. While I didn’t quite follow everything that was going on, and didn’t expect to, I did get the gist of the story and thoroughly enjoy the visuals that the Final Fantasy series has been known to deliver. The graphics are crisp and showcase what the developers are capable of doing now that they know the hardware inside and out. It’s enough to make you forget that there are better looking games on the horizon. I was particularly impressed with the amount of colors they’ve fit into this game. It may sound like a trite point to make, but it’s an achievement to create a world that can believably house a palette like the one the developers have drawn from. That, paired with the character design, by series mainstay Tetsuya Nomura, will have you commenting about the functionality of the world while at the same time questioning if it really matters when it’s this beautiful. All in all, the Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII-3 Demo is simply stunning whether in cutscene or real-time gameplay.
I was annoyed that the demo launches from the Playstation XrossMediaBar, or alternatively the Xbox Dashboard, straight into the same cutscene mentioned above minus the dialogue. It’s a small thing that’s probably unique to the demo, but experiencing it once in all its glory would have been a much more poignant intro and a better use of my time.
One of the things in the demo that can at one minute go unnoticed but at the next take the narrative by the reigns is the music. It’s not only epic when it needs to be, but it’s also magical at all times. It goes on to reassure the player that this is a cohesive thought out world. Just like previous entries in the series, the music could stand alone. It’s no wonder the series has given birth to orchestral tours featuring tracks from the games.
A new feature that I encountered during the LR:FFXIII-3 Demo is the Outerworld system. This system allows you to take pictures at any time and share them over the internet via Facebook and Twitter. It also allows you to make comments, cheer on other people’s snapshots, and purchase items people are selling. All you have to do to access this Outerworld feature is pause the game when you’d like to take a screenshot and upload. After that, your screenshot and profile is displayed by a random avatar in other people’s games who are playing online. Sadly, the Outerworld system never revealed itself to be more than a free publicity gimmick during the demo. I couldn’t figure out what I would gain by sharing pictures with everyone who follows me on my social networking sites. I couldn’t figure out how these spectral avatars bearing screenshots somehow fit into the narrative LR:FFXIII-3 is trying to tell.
You can argue whether the last decade has produced Final Fantasy games worthy of the series’ pedigree, but one thing you can’t argue is that they’ve all been divisive. Ever since Final Fantasy X, Square-Enix has been making changes to the formula. In the LR:FFXIII-3 Demo, we finally get to see what they’ve come up with next, and this time the battle system has received the most notable iteration.
In LR:FFXIII-3, Lightning, the title bearing main character, has the ability to change costumes at any time during battle. Changing costumes instantly grants Lightning new stats and four new attacks that each have their own strategic value. These attacks also cost ATB points to use. ATB, short for Active Time Battle, is the battle system anyone who’s played XIII or XIII-2 should be familiar with. Basically, in the ATB system, the battles play out in real time, without pause for action, forcing the player to think quickly. One thing that stands out between the previous games and the LR:FFXIII-3 Demo is that you only play as one character that switches roles instead of playing three characters that each have different roles.
The battles also play out more like an action game now. Players used to have to select attacks until they filled up their action bar before the avatar would attack, but now as soon as you press the button, you attack. This encourages fast gameplay and is rewarded after the battle in the form of battle score, which can be uploaded using the Outerworld system. LR:FFXIII-3 has also done away with the battle menu system altogether, in favor of assigning those same options to face buttons.
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The Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII-3 PS3 Demo receives an 7.5/10. It was long enough to fit in all the new and exciting additions to the game, but too short to tell if they’re going to be improvements.
So… “Is Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII-3 the answer we’ve been looking for?” I can’t tell you. This is just a review of the demo. What I can tell you is that Square-Enix’s Final Fantasy series is trying to find that answer. It’s not sitting idle. It’s not just trying to cash in. It’s experimenting. And though this may not be the answer we’ve been looking for, this is a step in the right direction and proves that they still have plenty of magic that’s worth your time.
I would love to pre-order this game so that I could get the exclusive Final Fantasy VII Cloud Strife DLC, but alas I haven’t even played through FFXIII-2. And since I’ve already pre-ordered the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster, which comes out a month after LR:FFXIII-3, I can’t realistically see myself purchasing this until June. I will say that there is a big part of me that just wants to go ahead and dive into LR:FFXIII-3.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII-3 releases in the US on February 11, 2014 for Xbox 360 and PS3 at 59.99 for the Standard Edition and 89.99 for the Collector’s Edition.
+ Evolved battle system
+/- Pre-order exclusive costumes (Cloud Strife, Yuna, etc.)
+/- PS3 exclusive costumes (Utsusemi Samurai Garb just for downloading)
+/- Demo exclusive costumes (Siegfried Garb if you post your battle score after defeating Zaltys)
- Free Xbox Live Silver members can’t download until Jan. 28th (Did not take this into account when assigning a review score since it’s probably more of an Xbox thing than a LR:FFXIII-3 thing)
- Timed demo
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