Disclaimer: As the title says, this is a completely biased review of a long term Final Fantasy fan who has played and enjoyed every single FF main game. It is written for people who feel like me and are able to see past a few minor faults, not seeing it as yet another game but a Final Fantasy game. This will not(and probably should not) change anyone's mind about the trilogy who hasn't enjoyed FFXIII to begin with.
So I just finished Lightning Returns and I'm really happy right now. Not because it is over but how it ended.
You might remember me being all doom and gloom before the release of the game. Everything just screamed failure to me. That notion went with me even several hours into the game. But then everything changed. Slowly and steadily I grew more invested in the story and gameplay as it opened up before me. Everything started to become meaningful and pure enjoyment settled in.
The simple and demanding combat system opened up and became deeper without getting more complex. Even though it focuses more on Skill(timing mostly) than any other FF game that wasn't really an issue barring a handful of tough optional battles. For everything else good preparation, a sound strategy and practice is all you need to breeze through the game(on normal).
The customization is deeply integrated into the gameplay and not just for cosmetics. In fact the cosmetic aspect becomes irrelevant really fast. The garbs look just great and each has its own flair. Since there are always multiple strategies to defeat any enemy in the game the player is given unprecedented freedom in choosing and experimenting with the build that fits his playstyle best. It's finally again a FF game where you could spend a good amount of time in the menues if you like to experiment and tweak your strategy.
The biggest drawback was the time aspect. Limited time never sounds good for a game basically consisting of questing and grinding. I tried to cope with it by frantically watching the clock and stopping the time whenever I could to just not waste any precious seconds. I planned far ahead for my quests(some of which had to be completed on specific times or days) and always felt the sting of the ticking clock. Looking back this was probably the wrong approach and is to be blamed on my OCD. I was at the end of day 7 when I realized that I pretty much finished almost all of the quests. That left me with another 7 days i had to spend but there just wasn't anything to do other than hunting for the very few remaining monsters I hadn't already exterminated. That should be an encouragement for players who hesitated to try the game because of that. There really is enough time for everything. If you don't waste time purposely you don't even have to rush.
Speaking of monsters. The new gameplay mechanic to completely hunt a monster race to extinction finally gives some other incentive to grinding than just for the stat boost. During your travels you will really get to know every single monster up close with every attack it has, how much damage it does and in which time intervals. The more you fight the same monster the more refined your strategy for that particular foe becomes. Having a monster type hunted to extinction will bring forth the last specimen of their race. This "Last One" is significantly stronger but employs basically the exact same strategy than its predecessors. This will put your honed strategy to the test and beating it comes with a great sense of accomplishment(and unique equipment). But this does not only serve as a good gameplay mechanic, it also brings actual life and meaning to the story and the world. Showing that this is a world that is at its end and slaying monsters is final as they are ended together with the world.
The story while contrived and muddled does have a silver lining. Its straight forward premise seems to be contained in this game but actually it weighs so much more. The main and side quests are full of references to the past games and give meaning to them. It's not Shakespeare but it has a certain warmth and sincerity to it. If you do get invested in the world and its characters it will leave you deeply satisfied. The ending was as campy as one would expect from FF but it did have an interesting twist. It wasn't particularly pointed at by the game but pretty obvious to the audience. I would have never expected anything like this from a FF game and it left me stunned and with a sense of wonder. It was an end, worthy for the trilogy and for Final Fantasy.
All 3 games have been scrutinized by critics for various (probably valid) reasons. Part one was to linear, part two too detached, part 3 too small. In the grand scheme of things however this doesn't matter. Square Enix tried to create something big. Releasing 3 gameplay and story wise completely different games, each changing the formular of the previous one even though they are deeply connected to each other. Taking all of them together and seeing them as a whole finally makes sense. It was a grand project with grand ambitions, grand experiments and grand overarching story and message. Together it was.... Final Fantasy. As great as I've come to know it over the last two decades.
And now if you'll excuse me, I'm trying to think of more reasons why FFXV will finally be the worst FF ever.
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