Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

[Blade]

"Earth Eater was hard"? I don't remember an Earth----

...Oh wait, that's right they were extinct by the time I got to the Final Day!

Earth Eater is about the only monster I'd say abuse Overclock / Army of One on, since they get worse the less HP they have.

If you have Evade equipped it actually helps in a lot of situations against it.

 

[Clement Rage]

Thanks, Splintered and Blade, I'm not sure I could have done it without you. So, the finale: (ENDGAME SPOILERS, naturally)

Spoiler

Oh, come on! Dajh and Serah recover from the conditions keeping them out of the plot and there's a massive floating in midair reunion after Vanille narrowly avoids causing massive death and destruction. Instead, they prevent it, but not without the old world being destroyed, along with the deity-like being that ran it. While the old world is destroyed, a new one nearby exists where humanity can carve out their own fate free from the rule of the being they've defeated using the powers given to them/facilitated by him.

This sounds...oddly familiar, for some reason.

I don't like being snarky about these things, but... really, writers? Seriously?

The gameplay and mechanics were good, and I enjoyed this game and the individual quests. Lumina being Lightning's old personality caught me by surprise, but it worked.

Hope and Lightning must be getting really tired of each other's catchphrases by now. She keeps making (accidental?) puns on his name, while he's prone to stealing her lines from the first game.

So, the verdict: Good, fun gameplay, especially the Snow and Noel bossfights, they both had very distinctive fighting styles that were true to their personalities, and believable goals although I'd rather have had a Fang fight than a random giant monster. I have to give them credit for a difficult final boss, though. Granted, I'm not a very skilled gamer.

 

[Lex]

^I don't care what anyone says,

Spoiler: The Final Boss is Hard

.

Spoiler

That was my very first attempt at it back when the game was released. I've since become a lot better at blocking but I mean that's on normal mode, I did a 100% playthrough so I have all possible upgrades and yeah... that's basically Lightning OP'd as much as I could before I did it. I think I might have died the first time then recorded that. Honestly he's really tricky if it's your first time and you don't know what to expect.

For reference I'm aware that Artemis's Arrows is more effective than Slayer but I prefer to use Slayer anyway

All that said, I really enjoyed that final fight. The music is phenomenal, the fight is hard enough to feel satisfaction when you do manage/ learn it (because it's not about luck). Talking about it is making me want to play through the game again, I've yet to complete my hard playthrough.

EDIT: Everyone knows you can get that weapon right? It's called the Double Deity and it has a really low drop rate (slightly higher on hard). I want to farm it lol

 

[Blade]

Seriously, I abuse Army of One on any major boss fight now.

It's the easiest way to kill anything, plus you get HP back in the process.

Eventually you'll get strong enough to kill Behemoth's in a few hits before they can even transform, so just be patient and do the little quests that make you stronger.

All the more reason to invest in Turbo Ethers, so if you get one, upload it to the Network.

 

[Lex]

The PC version of this released earlier in the week and apparently the extra time they've taken with graphics settings really shows. I've just bought it (it's 10% off right now on Steam) and I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like in 60FPS given that it was a little constrained on the older generation of consoles.

 

[AvecAloes]

Stahp I don't have time to play this game again

 

[Kuja9001]

For anyone that cares, here's a helpful mod.

https://www.reddit.com/r/FinalFantasy/comments/3wd3nt/final_fantasy_xiii3_lightning_returns_reshade_mod/

 

[Lex]

I'm not sure how I feel about that mod tbh. Some scenes look better and some don't.

EDIT: Also installing it requires you to limit framerate to 30.

 

[Splintered]

I remember how rough some of those textures were. I'd be interested, but I pretty much exhausted LR, I beat Bhuni+ and was on my way on getting lower level abilities to max out my efficiency but eventually retired it.

Now I want to play it again, but it's a shame the lack of enemies makes the game feel so bare.

EDIT:

ofc the real question is... is the dog still as awesome as before?

 

[Lex]

Wow I struggled to beat Noel there. I'm shocked XD

 

[Lex]

The game is crashing in the Jagd Woods. I went to make a steam discussion about it but there was one already there. It's not terribad, it's just that it's happened three times in different circumstances in the Jagd Woods within the last two hours. Comparatively, I played for about 6 solid hours yesterday and went everywhere without the game crashing once, so it seems there's something about the woods that makes the game crash.

 

[Lex]

So I just noticed there's a (blatant) FFXIV reference in this game.

In Yusnaan if you talk to the chocobo girls for fireworks over and over (and get the Mi'qote garb), Hope and Lightning have a conversation that goes like this:

Hope: Well, you got your hands on a rare garb. The Miqo'te are a legendary race said to live in another realm.
Lightning: So it's just some fairy tale? It's not my style.
Hope: I think it'd look great on you. If I recall, the land they're said to inhabit in the legend is called Eorzea.
Lightning: Eorzea, huh? Sounds nice enough. Maybe I'll get to see it someday if it exists.

Lightning was obviously in FFXIV during that special FATE event, so this is a really neat easter egg

 

[Blade]

Wow, people are playing this yet?

Lex, if you have a day to spare (and you will eventually while waiting for certain bosses to turn in to + or ++ bosses), spend ALL your EP at Hope's shop in the Ark.

I swear Crusader Potions are awesome.

Also, I now have Level 2 Chill, Flare, Tornado, and Surge spells... still working on Heroic Guard, Elementaga, Disaster, and a few others.

ATB Revenge Syphon is supposed to be really good as a sub-ability, but I have no idea how in the heck I'd be able to Synthesize it.

What are the statistical odds of even "synthesizing" one ability, let alone the SAME ability for more than one spell, LET alone developing the RARE synthesis!?

Oh yes, and here's a brain twister for you: I managed to get the ability Element Chaser attached to the spell "Elementa" (which is all 4 spell elements at once).

So, assuming I use Element Chaser... exactly what element am I using when I do that? lol

Almost forgot: 100% Chance times of Rare Forge Outfitter guy (I recommend waiting till after Day 9 to catch him).

09:00 (9 am)
13:00 (1 pm)
17:00 (5 pm)
21:00 (9 pm)
01:00 (1 am)
05:00 (5 am)

 

[Lex]

The game is just immense fun to play. People's opinions on XIII as a whole aside, it's a fun game.

My only complaints about the gameplay are the following:

- I hate the look of most of the outfits. The "best" garbs are all hideous.
- While going with a double edged sword approach for the accessories is neat, it makes most of them useless.

This is my third or so playthrough technically (because I did normal then hard on PS3) and I'm dreading

Spoiler

Bhuni

again. I've done every quest possible and I'm on Day 7. It's possible to do (almost) every quest in the first three days so that'll be my goal on my proper Hard playthrough this time, I'll probably stream it. Farming the hell out of Noel, Snow and Caius, running around and grabbing all the secondary and tertiary accessories and abusing the "reset" feature on hard before I do another proper playthrough though. The OP-ness is unreal.

I know the strat for Bhuni but the problem is that the hardest moments in this game are just playing through the game on Normal. I've done all the "hard" (+) versions of the bosses on PS3 on Hard mode and I had no problems whatsoever. Beating

Spoiler

Aeronite, Bhuni and Caius

on a first playthrough (on Normal) can be a real challenge though. Aeronite in particular is an utter joke on a Hard playthrough. It's something I actually really like about this game, it feels rewarding in so many ways.

The thing that's actually "hard" in a hard playthrough is EP management. My major frustration when I went to look up strats if I had boss problems on my first run on the PS3 was that everybody everywhere was playing on Easy. People were like "oh yeah just spam overclock here and there, you get 10EP for that battle" and I was like... no you don't. Honestly for this lone selfish reason I wish they hadn't included easy mode. Every strat/ guide I've glanced over for a read is entirely based on easy mode. I like it for the people who want an easier time in the game, but you shouldn't be writing guides and making strat videos on Easy, because people who play on Easy shouldn't have these problems and you can derive down from a strat, but you can't do the opposite.

 

[Lex]

The PC modding community is working on replacing Schemata with characters. I.e. that thing I talked about on a couple of podcasts. I can't wait to try it out.

There's already a mod out to replace the button prompts with Playstation ones, which I've just installed. And for some reason renaming your Schemata was removed in the PC version, someone's already modded that back in. Hard workers these mod people

EDIT: What was supposed to be a casual enjoyable playthrough has turned into me extincting every monster on day 9 again because I've got nothing left to do XD. After being so conservative and thinking things out re: time it bugs me that I should really just be sleeping these days away at an inn lol.

 

[AvecAloes]

Spoiler

oh my gosh that Bhuni fight took me sooo many tries. Super rewarding when j finally got it, though! I believe I played the game on normal...? I think? But yeah. Definitely a challenge.

 

[Strangelove]

- I hate the look of most of the outfits. The "best" garbs are all hideous.

they are so awful, i used the default and the special character ones (cloud, yuna, etc.) just because i could stand looking at those. why did you do this, who designed these nightmare monstrosities. fire them right now

i want to play this game again now, it is fun to play even if the story is a bit meh

except that side quest with the robot in the desert? that one killed me with sad feelings

 

[ultima espio]

I always used the Aerith one as my defense garb, shame they removed it.

 

[Lex]

It is really odd that PC players get every single garb aside from that one. Modders are putting it back in though, fret not

Also yeah Hito the Bakhti quest. Definitely gets me in the feels every single time. It did kind of annoy me that Lightning and Fang show absolutely no recognition of him though.

I made the Cloud garb the original shade of purple today. It looks fab:

 

[Blade]

Here's some more tips from my adventures, Lex:

1. Use Dragoons on Desdemona (Yusnaan, Industrial District) and Gertrude (Luxerion, The Warren) drones to stagger them faster. Gertrude is harder to stagger, so wait till it goes for the "energy blast" move. Null-All Guard and Beat Down are great for Sentinel and Dragoon builds, especially once you synth Standby ATB Recovery and Committal on Level 5 versions of the spells.

2. I don't think it's a good idea to fight Bhuni+ on your "first run" of Hard Mode, you'll need to max out Ghostly Crown and Preta Crown (alternately pick up Warrior's Plume on the Last Day), as he alternates between ultimate magic and ultimate attacks, so you'll need Cyber Suit and Quiet Guardian working in tandem (same as with Aeronite). Also, Bhuni+ has "two phases" instead of the usual "three".

3. The sooner you play Hard Mode, the sooner you'll be able to upgrade weapons and use Limit Break to max your damage output. Making weapons upgrade isn't too hard, as you get materials from most monsters so long as you have Beggar's Beads (you can sell whatever spells you don't need, but I suggest synthing them all in to your best spells to reduce their ATB cost regardless). Equipping Victor's Rush will give you plenty of EP for Chronostasis in Hard Mode to farm.

4. Related to the above, the best places to farm items/EP/Gil are in Chaos Infusions, so try to only fight monsters in the middle of one... yeah it's harder on Hard Mode to do this, but most monsters aren't too bad once you get used to nuking them and staggering. Chaos' Revange "Quickstagger" will take care of most of the weak enemies really quick.

5. Later on, once you're done upgrading whatever shields and weapons you've made that you regularly use, you can sell the components for a hefty sum of Gil, useful for buying those other weapons and Garbs you've always wanted. Don't forget to fight Meonektons in Chaos Infusions (without Beggar's Beads equipped), as they drop a ton of Gil as well, as good as Cactuars on Day 13.

6. Archangeli have the best spells in the game (Elementa) but it's a pain in the neck to get the item to drop, so save your game just before entering the Cathedral if you aren't happy with your drops and want to maximize your synth odds. At one point I only had 4 Elementa spells and had to convert 2 spells in to an ability, and 2 more spells in to the SAME ability to get a Rare Synth.... the odds are staggering, and you have no idea how many times I reloaded my game save to do this...

 

[Wolf_]

You're all making my want to turn my ps3 on and have another run through at it. I never found the final boss that hard (First go). It was xiii-2's boss that i could never do.

 

[Lex]

Blade I appreciate the tips but you might have missed the part where I mentioned that I've done all of this before on PS3 XD.

I remember doing two quick "accessory runs" and farming Noel and Caius/ upgrading weapons before going through with my "actual" first Hard run. I'm probably going to do that again this time for fun.

One thing I swore I wouldn't do again was exterminate every monster (because I did it three times previously for all the upgraded accessories), but lo and behold that's exactly what I've done.

As someone who has killed everything on hard I will repeat: the hardest thing in this game is Aeronite on Normal Difficulty. It sounds stupid but on Hard you just have access to do so much more in terms of damage/ staggering, the limitation of Normal mode is so rewarding in this respect. I struggled with Aeronite and I had a pretty perfect setup for it, took me a few tries to get it down again.

Ereshkigal on the other hand I managed to destroy quite easily. It was by no means a perfect run but it was a first attempt after almost two years of not playing the game:

If deprotect hadn't fallen off my time would be somewhere between 0:55 and 1:10. I was going to record it but I was worried I'd fail and have to edit the video, and then I thought about reloading it to do it again. I ended up just leaving a save from before the fight so that I can go back and do it again if I feel like it.

 

[Kuja9001]

The whole Snow Arc resolution still bothers me to this day. It has no lore reason as to how it happened I gotta headcanon a reason.

 

[Splintered]

I thought Bhuni was harder than anything the game through at me. I even beat Bhuni+ on my first Hardmode playthrough, though I probably shouldn't because I burned my elixer, I doubt I'll ever get too a chaos Aeronite fight. But fighting Bhuni in both normal and hard mode was rewarding.

Actually, I thought all the boss fights were really rewarding to beat except the Caius fight. The Caius fight is so cluttered, I'm still not sure how I beat him everytime I beat him.

Aeronite is easy as long as you have the dps requirements, it's way too easy to cheese the fight and get out without getting hurt sans that one bullshit move when he flies.

The whole Snow Arc resolution still bothers me to this day. It has no lore reason as to how it happened I gotta headcanon a reason.

Which part, I thought Snow's arc got off pretty well. At least, considering how little they worked on Sazh.

 

[Blade]

The only reason I even still play LR anymore is for max stats and ultimate spells, I try to beat enemies in the same way Lightning did when fighting Caius in the DLC part of FFXIII-2.

Speaking of that though:

[Shaman]/[Mage]
Aerostrike/Aeroblitz/Electrostrike/Electroblitz [Element Chaser/Committal]
Aeroga/Thundaga [Grand Wizard]
Aerora/Thundara [Finale]

[Paladin/Knight]
Ruin/Ruinga [Grand Wizard]
Heroic Guard [Standby ATB Recovery]
Blitz [Committal]
Beat Down/Attack/Light Attack/Fatal Sweep/Charge Strike/Heavy Slash

[Sorcerer]/[Conjurer]
Disaster [ATB Revenge Syphon]
Elementaga [ATB Revenge Syphon]
Ultima
ATB Charge [Standby ATB Recovery]