I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of the Final Fantasy series, I'm more of the average gamer who enjoys a good story and spend considerable hours making the characters of the game stronger and better to my preference. Take Fable III for instance; I'd have the Queen be generally adored by all, but she wouldn't be as 'good' as possible, and I try to match the hair and attire to that of another character from a different game. I live with a mental understanding and image of characters that I imagined and interpret them into the games I play. The SJBMCPRS is an abbreviation of the fictional characters in my life as well as definitions for the type of mood or capacity I'm in at any moment at time.
That's not strange at all and reasonably okay, right...?
The Final Fantasy main series of games are no different, and though my favourites by far are X and X-2, I generally find something enjoyable about another numbered entity (i.e. VIII). Lately it has been harder to find redeeming qualities in the more recent Final Fantasy titles such as XII. I don't want to offend but to me personally I prefer simpler character development schemes like the Sphere Grid in FFX or the Materia in FFVII, and straight up good vs. bad battles that don't involved moving around in the heat of a battle.
With XIII however....(multiple sighs) ...What the Atari 5200 broken nightmare piece of MGS2 Raiden sh** f***ing Hell!!!!???!!!!!!
Okay, I overreacted there, a little ...maybe. Truth is XIII is an okay game, like 6/10, BUT there so many things wrong with it that makes it hateful that it fails to live to the high expectations; and honestly there were high expectations amongst fans. What really makes me go red in the face and want to use Skull Bash on the developers at Square Enix is that instead of fixing what was wrong with XIII, Square Enix decided to make to sequels which created more problems, but I'll get onto XIII-2 and LR in a moment...(sinister laughter in the background).
With XIII it is as obvious as the Sun in the solar system in incinerating hot that it is easier then previous titles; there is an automatic command where the characters will assume the most effective chain of commands for foes and allies, if Hope is against several Flans for instance, the automatic command system will automate commands using Fire element due to the Flan's weakness after at least one (1) previous battle encounter, or use of a Libra command beforehand, when an ally is low on HP; a character using the Medic Paradigm will cast Cure spells via the automated command system. Using the automatic command, the player can essentially press A/X button twice and repeat until the battle in concluded. It is straight forward, and helps when farming CP or battling foes that are easy, but the battle system in this regard removes a sense of strategy and efficient logic required from the player to choose the correct command as quickly as possible; tougher foes in XIII will invite a little bit more difficulty, but otherwise the challenge that comes from battle is depleted. What makes battles even easier and thus deplete the challenge of a battle encounter is the fact that the active party is fully healed for every battle encounter, even after a gruelling struggle where two (2) characters are poisoned, the HP is rejuvenated and poison or any negative status effect is removed for the subsequent battle. Why have Potions, Antidotes and Phoenix Down in the game then if most of the time you won't need them?!
Commands such as Thundara are no longer as costly to use as in previous FF titles due to the fact that commands in XIII series do not have point values which upon use would reduce the amount of MP a character has left. Say for example in Final Fantasy X you are utilising Yuna and want to cast Blizzaga which costs 16MP to cast, once used the depletion of Yuna's MP means that commands like Blizzaga or high costing commands won't be usable if the MP is lower then the commands casting cost. Only the use of an Ether based item or Save Sphere can rejuvenate HP and MP thus allowing the use of higher costing MP commands once more. While this element of a battle system could be annoying in tough situations, it encourages the player to strategize and plan turns accordingly which means the player is more involved. While the XIII series is not the only FF title to do without MP, it is apparent of how easy battles are in comparison to that of FFX. Oh sure commands such as Blizzaga in the XIII series are longer to cast attacks thus cutting the amount of commands in a chain to perform in a turn as a consequence, but with the relaxed and automated battle system in place, the lack of effort needed is as a result makes battles in the XIII series flat. Oh and get this; you only command the leader of the active party, your allies are controlled by the AI, and if the leader falls, its game over, even though the other active party members are still active and could use spells or Phoenix Down to revive the fallen leader! If the leader goes down, its game over, end of story (but you can retry immediately from the start of the battle) . That's a really saggy amount of bulls*** right there!
The next problem in FFXIII is the playable cast; there mostly unappealing and forgettable. I hate cocky characters in general which means I hate Snow, I really hate him! As soon as I was introduced to Snow, I wanted to let Snow die both in battles and in the FMVs, I envisioned Resident Evil 4 and its numerous possible ways of killing the protagonists (mainly Leon); that would be so satisfying in FFXIII, I would buy the game all over again just to see the RE4 or SAW inspired death scenes of Snow and the rest of the cast! :)
The rest of the playable cast are tolerable but are sorely lacking,
I wanted to like Lightning because she's cynical and hits Snow, and I admired the surrogate mother like bond between her and Hope; seriously I thought there would be some kind of romance between Lightning and Hope to equal the already established Serah and Snow relationship. Alas Lightning is all but ruined in the sequels and has to borrow on the strength of previous Final Fantasy characters to have any kind of appeal in Lightning Returns. Its a pity considering Lightning is plastered all over the XIII series, Dissidia 012 Duodecim and fantasised to the point of masturbation at Square Enix, they practically love a character who gives nothing back except ruined potential.
Hope is perhaps the most enjoyable character out of the whole series, sure he's whiny at first but he is crucial in battles and his is the character that evolves the most. By the end of FFXIII, Hope is a powerful warlock in the body of a 14 year old who can bring down foes far larger than him. Although not playable in XIII-2 Hope is matured, and stronger character overall. In Lightning Returns however...(sigh) ...just what the f*** were Square Enix thinking?!
As a whole the characters in FFXIII aren't terrible (with the exception of Snow), but meaningless and forgettable. The Eidolons are good opponents but as allies to each playable character, they are entirely forgettable and frankly unnecessary. I wanted to focus on FFXIII and then move on to the sequels later but I will say this that the characters overall were better in XIII-2 then in the other two (2) games in the series. They aren't better by much but better overall (more later on that).
Now for the meat of the pie of what holds FFXIII back so badly; the linear nature of the game. It has been disputed time and time again and its the key reason for XIII-2's existence other than to scrape more money out of the XIII story from us! Putting it bluntly; XIII is a tedious and timid adventure until chapter 11 where finally the gates to pleasure open. Okay its no Garden of Eden or Shangri-La, but it is refreshing to say the least when you are free to explore the vastness of Gran Pulse. Apart from CP farming, riding a Chocobo and trying your luck against the super bosses dotted around Gran Pulse however, there is very little to do and virtually no reason why all 64 missions have to be in Gran Pulse. Essentially the Cie'th Stones could have been distributed along the various different places in the game say from chapter three (3) and onwards. Why does the game wait until we reach chapter 11 to open up and reveal the much sought after break from the dreary and cutscene heavy linear progression? Why just Cie'th Stones? Couldn't missions come from the locals in Palumpolum or Nautilus or from PSICOM members who have yet to establish the characters you control are l'Cie? Why do previous locations like Lake Bresha, Gapra Whitewood and Palumpolum have to be inaccessible for the rest of the game once you finished the chapter featuring the location?
Honestly I didn't welcome the news of XIII-2, a sequel to XIII; it was unnecessary, XIII reaches its conclusion: Lightning and her companions fulfil their Focus, save Cocoon albeit in an altered state, Snow and Lightning are reunited with Serah, Sazh is reunited with his son Dajh, a happy ending. It was terrible but it conclusively ended, why did Square Enix decide to spin the ending in XIII to 'fit' the setting for XIII-2? Why couldn't Square Enix simply revisit XIII and adjust the gameplay so it fulfils the expectations of those who played it? Why is that a bad idea? The Pro Evolution Soccer series does this, Fifa games are just a s guilty, Volkswagen do with their cars such as the Golf. Why the Hell couldn't Square Enix simply redone XIII and retailed it as the remake instead of building a series of bad ideas based on their idiocy when making Final Fantasy XIII??!!!
If you try hard enough, you can make sense of the setting of XIII-2 and if and when you can do that, you'll in for a treat, the game Final Fantasy XIII should've been, minus the bewildering and unnecessary time travel bulls***. In my opinion; XIII-2 is the best of the three (3) XIII games, there is freedom to take part in secondary missions and ride Chocobos once you get passed the opening segment with Lightning. There is less Snow (yay!), the main characters are better and although much is copied from FFXIII such as the battle system, it is more involving then its predecessor due to the ability to import monsters you have crystals for to be the third (3rd) member of the active party in battles. As a whole XIII-2 gives so much more and feels far more alive and worldly.
Serah is one half of the main playable characters (the other being Noel), and is far more interesting then her sister Lightning. Yes Serah is to be married to Snow which completely sucks, on the whole however Serah is more 'human' than Lightning and therefore more appealing (and not just because you can have Serah in Beachwear or alternative attires). Noel is Serah's partner as they travel through time. I don't like Noel so much because his personality isn't a million miles afar from Snows (in other words Noel believes he can save the world), but his association with Caius and his theme on the XIII-2 soundtrack: "Noel's Theme -Last Journey-" make Noel more then tolerable, especially when he realises his error in the ending and costs Serah's and Etro's life. In case I just spoiled things there for you then whoops!
What stands out the most positively in XIII-2, is newcomer Caius Ballad; the main antagonist. While his story makes as much sense as the overall story and events in the XIII series; Caius is the best Final Fantasy antagonist seen in a long time. While Sephiroth is considered the best antagonist of the entire Final Fantasy series and among the best of all gaming antagonists and for good reason, Caius is worthy of being a runner up to Sephiroth. Morally Caius isn't a bad guy though his means while understandable are considered that of evil. While Noel is self-doubting, misguided and wholesomely depressed over the loss of life, Caius is calm, cool, confident in his belief, and accepting somewhat of fate even in the face of "death". Liam O'Brien's portrayal as the voice of Caius for the English versions of XIII-2 is spot on, and there are multiple battles with Caius throughout the game which are very enjoyable.
The soundtrack for XIII-2 is unprecedented amongst the library of soundtracks of Final Fantasy games due to its use of vocal songs. While vocal songs are present particularly in the later end of the series and serves as ending background for the credits, XIII-2 uses more vocally sung tracks then any other Final Fantasy soundtrack to date. While it isn't bad, it does take some time getting used to, fortunately for me I could play music from the console's hard drive to compensate at the time because I had the Xbox 360 version of XIII-2 (stick that up on your pipe and smoke it PS3!). Additionally XIII-2 reuses tracks from XIII, which is alright and not a big deal, though it suggests laziness on part of Square Enix when you consider the soundtrack for Final Fantasy X-2 was completely original and not using tracks from X.
Alas what harms the game's reputation is two (2) really, really, really bad choices that cause an otherwise superb RPG to stink. Firstly the setting and plot; making the game take place in multiple leaps in time via time travelling through the Historia Crux is simply baffling, it takes me feel mentally nauseous in the same way Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles gameplay makes me physically nauseous. Its completely and utterly unnecessary, it would've been fair less complicated and XIII-2 would've been far better if XIII-2 occurred in only one timeline; you don't need the Historia Crux to travel to different locations in the game!
Putting it simply; Valhalla could simply be Hell beneath Gran Pulse, Lightning could've been pulled into Valhalla by the Goddess Etro who wrongfully entered Valhalla and requires Lightning to take Etro's soul in her place as Etro is hunted down and killed by Caius so that he can save Yeul. Thus Lightning becomes the guardian of Etro's soul, and Caius next target. While battling Caius, Lightning comes to the realisation that she cannot defeat Caius or stop the growth of Valhalla on her own, but she can't leave Valhalla and risk greater risk of Valhalla's possession upon Gran Pulse and Cocoon. After numerous battles, Lighting is weakened and therefore hides to evade Caius. There in the depths of Valhalla, Lightning spots Noel who is wrongfully imprisoned in Valhalla and frees him using her newly gained power, Lightning asks Noel to return with help from Serah and Hope and so on so that Caius can be defeated for good and Valhalla's ascend towards Gran Pulse and Cocoon stopped. Even with her newly gained power from Etro's soul, Lightning is only able to hold off Caius and survive from the possession of Valhalla. Noel finds Serah but must travel to parts of Gran Pulse and Cocoon to free Snow, Sazh, Hope, Vanille and Fang from imprisonment and possession of Valhalla in order to gain enough power to defeat Caius and stop the possession of Valhalla. The decisions and time though taken could effect how much of Lighting's remaining power and Etro's soul is left for the final battle, as well as how much Valhalla has possessed Gran Pulse and Cocoon, thus making the final battle harder. Depending on the outcome, the good or bad ending will occur and that brings an end to Final Fantasy XIII-2 with no need for an extension or yet another sequel.
Holy s***! Did I just write down a plot which would've been far better for XIII-2 and would've stopped the terrible Lightning Returns game from existing?! I think I did, but then it just goes to show that anyone could have made a more comprehensible setting for XIII-2 and proves just how asinine and baffling the story Square Enix made truly is. Alas anything said about XIII-2 is now with hindsight and cannot change the fate of the XIII series. Damnit!
What is worse then the befuddling plot and setting in XIII-2 however is the use of downloadable content. Content like bonus weapons, outfits/attires, super boss battles or casino games seen in the episode: "Sazh's Story Heads Or Tails?" would have been fine, though unnecessary to completing the game. But when you have to pay for an extension to the XIII-2 ending called "Another Beginning Lighting's Story: Requiem of the Goddess", that's when you know Square Enix f***ed up again! Take from me who was stupid enough to download this extra ending which connects XIII-2 to Lightning Returns loosely; this is totally appalling and just shows how greedy Square Enix and the game developers are. Honestly your better off watching this extra episode on YouTube, and even though you might feel cheated by Square Enix for writing another ending that's on the XIII-2 game itself, you can be relieved that you didn't pay yet more money for this s***! The inclusion of DLC used to obtain the 'true' ending of XIII-2 ought to condemn XIII-2 and Square Enix to Hell! But it doesn't because overall XIII-2 is a decent game, the game FFXIII should have been and ultimately Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is the game that deserves in Hell.
Following the disappointments of XIII and XIII-2, I didn't purchase Lightning Returns, I rented it instead because I knew of s***strom that awaited. I'll admit I was prepared to forgo my gut instincts because it was later revealed that the Summoner's garment that Yuna wears in FFX would be available through the purchase of Final Fantasy X/X-2 Remaster and later further garments will be included such as the Gunner Dressphere for Yuna in FFX-2. I brought Final Fantasy X/X-2 Remaster on the PS3 because its only available on Sony consoles and I do not own a Vita yet, but I got this collaboration because FFX and FFX-2 are truly fantastic games and I love them to bits. Lightning Returns can return to the Hell it came from, next door to the Atari 2600 E.T. game. Okay, Lightning Returns isn't so bad that its comparable to the likes of E.T. or Superman 64, but its one of the worst, if not THE worst Final Fantasy title I've come across.
Visually LR:FFXIII is fine but it isn't as pretty compared to XIII-2 or the world of Spira in FFX and FFX-2 made ten (10) years prior and recently remastered. The soundtrack is LR's best redeeming quality, particularly the piano ballads, that said every main Final Fantasy I've come across has piano ballads. The three (3) things that really make LR terrible and makes me want to Skull Bash Square Enix developers are as following:
The plot: Seriously, how can you make a story and setting more baffling, unnecessary and ridiculous as XIII-2's? By having the equally pointless and unrewarding plot in LR, that's how! This time around you control Lightning, just Lightning; no monsters you can turn loyal, or even AI controlled characters as in FFXIII... If you've played Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII, you'll get the idea of how a singular character functions and battles in a Final Fantasy title. Except its worse than Crisis Core, its involves Lightning which by now has been plastered and mentioned by Square Enix so much over the years so much that now she's as bland as toilet paper, oh wait Lightning was as bland as toilet paper in XIII-2 and continued on LR. We know from playing FFXIII why Lightning is the way she is, and XIII-2 and LR continue with the soldier like approach, except now in LR we see Lightning's "humour" and "true"feelings hidden away, come to life. I'm sorry but the plot behind this game makes as much sense as seeing Lightning tell a joke or shed tears or expose her flesh in absurd Garbs; it simply doesn't work. Your supposed to perform various missions before the time runs out and life in the world of LR comes to an end, only to turn on your handler and beat the supposed God of Gods. The ending belongs in a Disney film aimed for children, not a game which is trying to make you think about how you would live your life knowing that Armageddon is a few days away. The last scene is anticlimactic to say the least, frankly watching and trying to understand the game as it all unfolds to its conclusion is a migraine waiting to happen.
The gameplay: As mentioned with the reference to Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII; LR utilises one (1) playable character: Lightning who has access to the doomed world as the final days count down to Armageddon. It attempts to be linear and allow freedom for the player, what kind of freedom however is it when there's a freakin' countdown going on? In terms of offering a world for the player to explore at his/her leisure, there are better games that do that without reminding you of the plot, FFX-2 and XIII-2 are Final Fantasy games that do a better job and they are older Final Fantasy titles. As far as battles are concerned the now familiar system as seen in XIII and XIII-2 returns for the one (1) character preference. It works fine but why the hell does the commands and character information need to look like cat vomit and take that much screen space? The on-screen button prompts are back and as annoying as ever, supposedly everything is done to give more vibrancy and control to the player; but if I want lively and colourfulness gameplay, I'll play FFX-2 which does a lot what LR is trying to accomplice but way better, and then I'll watch the over the top FMVs in Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes. The biggest problem I have in terms of gameplay is the now redundant battling and CP farming; unlike it predecessors where your characters earn CP through battle completion; LR rewards the necessary points for levelling up Lightning through the completion of missions. This means battles are a waste of time and the secondary missions that no one wants to do are essentially mandatory if you want a good chance of completing the game. Serious bulls*** right there!!
Very quickly it drives me up the wall when they can't make up their minds with the cover of the game. Its completely silly to rage this argument but it is one of those things that I really get irritated by. Now up to my knowledge; all major Final Fantasy entries have a white background and the logo at the centre of the cover. Now I live in the UK so that's the design I've seen in all previous Final Fantasy games and accepted, even older FF titles that didn't have this cover style later incorporated the same design (just look on Google Play and look up the available Final Fantasy main series titles to see what I mean). So why the 20,000 volt electric chair f*** is FFXIII different?! Sure it uses the logo and a white background as in the previous titles' covers, but with FFXIII it includes Lightning. It baffles me when this isn't duplicated for XIII-2 which uses the standard cover art design as in previous entities (I know there is a paper sleeve available with the same style as in FFXIII's standard cover but underneath the sleeve its vintage Final Fantasy style). So when it comes to Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XII; the cover is completely different. WHY THE F*** Would the do that!!?!
Because of the title "Lightning Returns" it creates a headache for me trying to maintain an order of my games; I have my X360 games in alphabetical and age order with Forza Motorsport 4 first because its got the lowest age rating and the letter 'F' comes before 'M' as in Monopoly on the X360. FFXIII and XIII-2 sit side by side because the age rating is the same and '2' follows the first (1st) Final Fantasy XIII. But because LR is part of the XIII series do I sit it the right of XIII-2 and break the order I've maintained for years, or do I list it behind Halo 4 and Halo Reach because 'L' comes after 'H' and LR is rated 16+ like Halo 4 and Reach? I guess I'm glad I only rented the game instead of buying it and having to have this problem. Its as ridiculous as the cover art problem I know but that's how I am.
True story: I had £40 credit on my Game card and therefore could have LR without losing any money in my bank account on the day LR came out in store. I knew however how bad it was so I rented it instead just to see for myself how bad and disappointing it is which only cost me a five pound note for a week. After the first (1st) day I knew first hand it was poor and knew I wouldn't get the game to own. Come March 7th I spend that £40 credit on South Park The Stick Of Truth for the X360 and its surprisingly good and far better then LR. Obsidian Entertainment; a development company that I never heard of made a better RPG then Square Enix's developers...
The last of the three (3) major complaints I have with LR is with its existence. This game is the best and worst example that I can find that defines the term "unnecessary evil". Seriously FFXIII didn't need a sequel so why have yet another sequel of a game that wasn't necessary? Money £$$£ That's why LR exists. If LR was at least as okay as FFXIII was then I could forgive Square Enix for the bringing another XIII game into fruition; but LR is not an "okay" game, it truly is deplorable! 4.5/10 is the kindest score I'd give it if I were reviewing LR on IGN or any other games outlet, but I'm not. I'm just simply unloading all my bull*** I have about the XIII series.
While its not the worst game in the world, its definitely an insult to us gamers and the gaming world; we as people have come far from the stories of how man first made fire and Stonehenge, we can communicate to the world with Tweets and other means, and explore gaming possibilities through headsets and motion control. Games like GTA V, Call Of Duty and so on redefine what is possible with each new instalment and do so almost flawlessly; so why therefore can a game that belongs to the legendary Final Fantasy series, made with brilliant minds, passion and technology...be so shamefully bad???!!
But at least now you'll be thinking "its finally over", but I don't buy that for a second! Like it or not Square Enix will milk the XIII series as much as they can in order to get gamers and fans to cough up the money, and then in 2020 rumours will circulate about a Final Fantasy XIII 10th Anniversary and as a result comes a remastered edition. Final Fantasy X has a remastered edition along with X-2, and now there's going to be a remastered Halo 2 by the end of this year. Now these games are fantastic and deserve the remastered treatment, but realising this you grind your teeth angrily knowing the XIII won't go away and unless the FFXIII Remastered fixes everything that was wrong in the first place, its going to be yet another bitch-slap to those who just want A FFVII remake.
Because of the XIII series, I have doubts for FFXV, a game that was being developed at the same time as XIII-2 and LR:FFXIII. Owning X & X-2 Remaster, a game based on previous FF titles only makes my doubts stronger. FFX-2 showed that a direct sequel can be made and it wouldn't stink up its predecessor or be a 'cash-in opportunity' and its inclusion in the remastering just goes to show the significance of the Final Fantasy X series. I like to think that the XIII will be remembered not just for the bad mistakes made and serve as reminders for the future Final Fantasy games to come. Then again, I am a pessimist so I won't be filling my lungs with anticipation until I try FFXV for myself.
Until next time, see ya!
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