Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13
Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix

About This Game:

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (ライトニング リターンズ ファイナルファンタジーXIII Raitoningu Ritānzu: Fainaru Fantajī Sātīn?) is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was released in November 2013 for Japan and February 2014 for North America, Australia and Europe. A port to Microsoft Windows through Steam was released in December 2015 followed by iOS and Android in Japan on February 17, 2016. The game is a direct sequel to Final Fantasy XIII-2, concludes the storyline of Final Fantasy XIII, and forms part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries. Lightning Returns employs a highly revamped version of the gameplay system from the previous two games, with an action-oriented battle system, the ability to customize the player character's outfits, and a time limit the player must extend by completing story missions and side quests.

The game's story takes place five hundred years after the previous game's ending. Lightning, the main protagonist of the first game and a key character in the second, awakes from a self-imposed hibernation 13 days before the world's end, and is chosen by the deity Bhunivelze to save the people of the dying world, including former friends and allies who have developed heavy emotional burdens. As she travels, she learns the full truth behind both the world's fate and Bhunivelze's true agenda.

Development of the game started in May 2012, shortly after the release of XIII-2's final piece of DLC, and was unveiled at a special 25th Anniversary Event for the Final Fantasy series in September that year. Most of the previous games' key creative minds and developers returned, and it was developed by Square Enix's First Production Department, with developer tri-Ace helping with the graphics. The development team wanted the game to bring a conclusive end to the story of both Lightning and the XIII universe, and to address criticisms leveled against the last two games. During its first week on sale in Japan, it sold 277,000 units, and by the end of 2013 become the 17th best-selling game of the year selling over 400,000 copies. It has sold 800,000 copies as of May 2014. In September 2014, Square Enix announced the Final Fantasy XIII series has been widely successful and has shipped over 11 million copies worldwide. The Windows PC version has sold over 200,000 copies according to SteamSpy. It has received mixed reviews: while the main praise went to the game's battle system, opinions were more mixed for the graphics, time limit and other aspects of gameplay, while the story and characters were criticized for being weak or poorly developed. Shinji Hashimoto revealed in October 2016 that Lightning Returns met sales expectations and that Square Enix is satisfied with it.

Gameplay:

The player directly controls the character Lightning through a third-person perspective to interact with people, objects, and enemies throughout the game. The player can also turn the camera around the character, which allows for a 360° view of the surroundings. The world of Lightning Returns, as with Final Fantasy XIII and its sequel XIII-2, is rendered to scale with the character, who navigates the world on foot. In one of the areas, the player can use chocobos, a recurring animal in the Final Fantasy series. The player is able to freely navigate the game's open world layout, explore towns and country areas, and accept quests from various non-playable characters (NPCs). Lightning is also able to sprint for limited periods, climb up ladders and jump freely.[10] The game features three difficulty levels: Easy, Normal and Hard, the latter of which is unlocked after first completing the game. There is also a New Game+ option, whereby players can start a new game while carrying over their equipment and stats from a previous playthrough The in-game clock runs continuously during normal navigation, with one in-game day equating to two to three hours in real time on Easy mode and one hour on Normal and Hard modes. The timer starts out at seven in-game days, but can be extended to a maximum of thirteen days.The timer stops during cutscenes, conversations and battles. Lightning can also pause time using an ability called Chronostasis.

Quests are directly linked to Lightning's growth: as she completes quests, her stats are boosted, with the main story quests yielding the biggest boosts.Many side quests can only be obtained at certain times, since the real-time build of the world means NPCs are in constant movement, and only appear in certain places at a given time.[9] Lightning can also accept quests from the Canvas of Prayers, a post board found in all the main locations.Upon completing NPC quests, Lightning is rewarded with a portion of Eradia, spiritual energy retrieved when a person's burden is lifted. Every day at 6 AM game-time, Lightning is drawn back into the Ark, a location where the in-game clock does not progress. Once there, Lightning gives her gathered Eradia to a tree called Yggdrasil: if she has gathered enough, the in-game clock is extended by a day. She can also restock on supplies and collect new equipment.Another feature in the game was Outerworld Services, a feature where players could take photos and share them, along with their personal stats and battle scores, on Facebook and Twitter The Facebook features were disabled in April 2015. All Outerworld services were terminated in April the following year.

Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows XP
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.0 Ghz / AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Memory: 1 Gb
Hard Drive: 60 Gb free
Video Memory: 256 Mb
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8600 / ATI Radeon HD 2600
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 9.0c
Keyboard
Mouse
DVD Rom Drive

Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows Vista/7/8
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad @ 2.66 GHz / AMD Phenom II X4 @ 2.8 GHz
Memory: 4 Gb
Hard Drive: 60 Gb free
Video Memory: 1 Gb
Video Card: nVidia GeForce GTX 460 / AMD Radeon HD 4870
Sound Card: DirectX Compatible
DirectX: 11
Keyboard
Mouse
DVD Rom Drive