Lightning Returns Blends Final Fantasy With Dark Souls

[Scars Unseen]

On the one hand, this sounds like something I could enjoy playing.

On the other hand, so did Dirge of Cerberus before it actually got released...

 

[Riobux]

Count me in as interested with the Action combat. I have not enjoyed the turn based combat in FF games since FFX and it is good they are changing it up a bit, but if we still have to go into a new 'battle zone' or whatever you call it whenever you fight something, then no thanks.

Same to the letter. This has actually got me curious despite not liking the series at all since FF10 (well, FF10-2 if you include the combat mechanics that I actually really liked). However, I love Dark Souls so I'm incredibly interested in this.

 

[fwiffo]

Dear Square Enix:

I'm pretty sure the reason people played Final Fantasy was for the story and interesting characters, and not for the gameplay. I mean, really, who cares about how combat if it can be easily broken and doesn't scale with your progression - People just want a fantastic story and deep, interesting characters to come first, dammit!

Agreed. SquareEnix should make anime instead of games.

I'm sick of innovation with this franchise. I'd be happy if they were still doing 2D dropdown RPGmaker-style games & focusing more on telling a story with compelling characters & less of fighting mechanics.

It must be sad for SquareEnix when fans of your "games" want you to get rid of the "game" part.

 

[BaronIveagh]

I'll just point out that the limited inventory thing has been done well in the past, by Square no less, in Parasite Eve 1.


(now there's a game I wish would get a remake...)

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

This is the first time I've been genuinely interested in a Final Fantasy game. Their pretty hallway simulators were never that interesting to me. I like JRPGs, but FF is a bad representative of the genre. Suikoden, SMT, and the Xeno- games are all superior. Also, I couldn't help but laugh at the "impressive lifespan by keeping things fresh." Wait, what? XD

 

[AwesomeDave]

The game's story must be completed in seven in-game days, so time management is critical - but, with successful completion of missions, that timer can be pushed to thirteen days.

I absolutely HATE time limits in games... I want to be able to explore, check every corner, pick up every gil off the ground... Atelier Rorona ruined that series for me with its restrictive deadlines... I would hate to see the same thing happen with FF.


Captcha: smashed potato. What's taters, precious? What's taters?!?

 

[Something Amyss]

So Lightning is gonna die over and over and over and over again.

Sounds good to me!

Beat me to it. Actually, most FF games would be improved by the deaths of their main characters.

 

[Matthi205]

This looks like a decent game for once. I loathe the combination of turn-, menu-based combat and real time combat all of the newer FF games had until now. Let's also hope they don't decide to turn the grind up like they did in FFXII, or continue using instanced combat.

Plot of XIII-2 can be summed up as 'Time machines'.

Slightly more seriously, the heroes lost.

Spoiler

Caius managed to destroy the timeline, erasing all of existence in the process. Serah dies immediately afterward because her ability to see into the future slowly killed her, and then Noel is left alone in a void of nothingness. Meanwhile, Lightning faced off against Caius in the ruins of Valhalla, stuck in an endless battle for an eternity.

Lightning Returns, from what I understand, has all of time collapsed into itself to create the End of Time, which is the town that the game takes place in. Time has stopped completely in this town, because the concept no longer exists. How they have have a time limit of 7-13 days in a place where time explicitly does not exist is a mystery, however.

Thanks for the plot summary. I was getting worried about the time limit, because it was probable that you couldn't go a slower and more methodical way, as opposed to a speedrun. But seeing as time has stopped existing... 7 days are a lot of time...

Then there's the biggest plot hole yet: How the hell can anything happen if the concept of time has stopped existing? My understanding is that if we lose the 4th dimension, we won't be able to know it until it returns and something has been changed, simply because human thoughts and actions always also move forward in time, in addition to what is happening on XYZ.

Also, for both FFXIII-3 and FFXV: I want to be able to choose which character I play as in combat (if possible, in general, too). I don't want to be stuck playing emo prick number n+1... or a female character with an incredibly stupid voice (wait, this is Square we're talking about... that's not going to happen, is it?).

 

[JetFury]

This is terrible. They have managed to completely kill final fantasy for me. Ugh....

 

[GAunderrated]

Ya know, I'm totally okay with them doing that.

With a franchise that's been going on for this long I would think they would want to do new things with it so it's not too boring or easy. I have no idea how this is all gonna work, but I'm hoping the end results are awesome.

That's the thing that bothers me is they arn't doing "new things" but rather just copy-pasting ideas from other developers have been known to work.

All this does is prove that the developers for Final Fantasy have completely run out of original or new ideas (with the possible exception of FFXV) and are now just going to paste FF characters with other game's formulas.

It is sad to see a series I loved lose their identity.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

This game just looks better and better the more I hear about it. I'm especially interested to see how the time limit plays out in practice.

I don't know why people are complaining about the loss of turn-based combat now, when Final Fantasy hasn't really had it since IV and the previous two FF XIII games didn't even pretend to be turn-based.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

What is wrong with the proposed combat? It was fine with a somewhat similar style in Kingdom Hearts and the last few FFs have had horrible combat and levelling systems in place. Even if it is a bit "harder" I guarantee you that you can grind to make it easier like pretty much every RPG(bar some WRPGs). The ATB has never been a great turn based combat system anyway. Also can we stop throwing around buzz words like emo and brooding when only one FF protagonist I can think of even comes close to it and he is more just a self absorbed ass hole than anything else.

The series has needed some major overhauls for a long time at which points varies from person to person and if you ask 10 people at which point in the series you'll get 11 opinions.

 

[WeepingAngels]

I'll just point out that the limited inventory thing has been done well in the past, by Square no less, in Parasite Eve 1.


(now there's a game I wish would get a remake...)

They did time travel well in the past too, in Chrono Trigger but managed to screw it up in XIII-2.

The game's story must be completed in seven in-game days, so time management is critical - but, with successful completion of missions, that timer can be pushed to thirteen days.

I absolutely HATE time limits in games... I want to be able to explore, check every corner, pick up every gil off the ground... Atelier Rorona ruined that series for me with its restrictive deadlines... I would hate to see the same thing happen with FF.


Captcha: smashed potato. What's taters, precious? What's taters?!?

With inventory limits, exploration would still be punished even without the time limit.

 

[WeepingAngels]

This game just looks better and better the more I hear about it. I'm especially interested to see how the time limit plays out in practice.

I don't know why people are complaining about the loss of turn-based combat now, when Final Fantasy hasn't really had it since IV and the previous two FF XIII games didn't even pretend to be turn-based.

ATB was a turn based battle system. Both 12 and 13 had turn based systems behind the scenes. If it's strictly turn based that you are talking about, you forgot about 10 and 10-2.

 

[Gormech]

Hm ... the games know almost entirely for their cutscenes and turn based combat want to turn into the next big adventure game with semi-hack/slash combat. Something seems really wrong here and it's not looking like another Dragon's Dogma take. They should stick with making movies. The games are linear enough as is.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Ya know, I'm totally okay with them doing that.

With a franchise that's been going on for this long I would think they would want to do new things with it so it's not too boring or easy. I have no idea how this is all gonna work, but I'm hoping the end results are awesome.

That's the thing that bothers me is they arn't doing "new things" but rather just copy-pasting ideas from other developers have been known to work.

All this does is prove that the developers for Final Fantasy have completely run out of original or new ideas (with the possible exception of FFXV) and are now just going to paste FF characters with other game's formulas.

It is sad to see a series I loved lose their identity.

Personally, I think it's a little early to be saying that since the game isn't out in the wild yet, but I totally get the concern since it's traditionally a turn-based game.

That said, I would rather them try out things from other games with their own twist rather than keep doing the same thing over and over again, and have it feel stale. Maybe they want to do something different with this one game that fits the game's story, but I'm just guessing.

 

[JagermanXcell]

Well if your gonna take ideas from something good take it from Dark Souls, I guess.

But just the fact that FF13-3 is even a thing, I am not holding my breath for this game. Also wasn't the story, characters, and writing horrible? I doubt it'll be any better with Lightning as the silent Chosen Undead Fem-Warrior discovering Lordran's past by reading item descriptions.

 

[FootloosePhoenix]

I'm probably one of the few people who's actually interested in this game, but when comments like this come from Square Enix, I take it with a massive load of salt. They tend to say a lot of lofty bullshit to try to impress people, even more so than other developers/publishers. Sure it may sound all well and good, but it's just not going to reflect the reality of the game. I still think Lightning Returns' gameplay is intriguing, as well as the general premise of the game despite the fact that I had the instinct to loathe it as soon as it was announced, though between this and Final Fantasy XV (which I'm super excited for, don't get me wrong), I'm afraid that Square Enix is going to abandon turn-based combat altogether. That's sad for me, because I LOVE turn-based combat, especially in Final Fantasy, but so many other people hate it. But as long as they finally pull their shit together and start making quality games again, it's a sacrifice I'm more than willing to live with.

Not that I'm expecting Lightning Returns to be anything special. Fun and worth a buy once the price comes down, perhaps, but nothing major. I am expecting Final Fantasy XV to redeem the series, though.

 

[GAunderrated]

Ya know, I'm totally okay with them doing that.

With a franchise that's been going on for this long I would think they would want to do new things with it so it's not too boring or easy. I have no idea how this is all gonna work, but I'm hoping the end results are awesome.

That's the thing that bothers me is they arn't doing "new things" but rather just copy-pasting ideas from other developers have been known to work.

All this does is prove that the developers for Final Fantasy have completely run out of original or new ideas (with the possible exception of FFXV) and are now just going to paste FF characters with other game's formulas.

It is sad to see a series I loved lose their identity.

Personally, I think it's a little early to be saying that since the game isn't out in the wild yet, but I totally get the concern since it's traditionally a turn-based game.

That said, I would rather them try out things from other games with their own twist rather than keep doing the same thing over and over again, and have it feel stale. Maybe they want to do something different with this one game that fits the game's story, but I'm just guessing.

It may be a bit too early to call but when all the news and trailers I see make me want the game less as a FF fan, It is hard not to assume it will be crap.

See that's the thing, FF I-X for me each had something new and interesting in them. They were able to create interesting new battle mechanics and characters every single game. None of the gameplay feels stale when I play them. They all have something unique about them but still retain that "final fantasy feel" if you can understand what I am talking about.

Yet in FFXII, XIII, and XIII-2 it all feels like we are playing a game that is just trying to take other game ideas that have worked out and then try and jam FF into it and expect it to work. Neither of those 3 games I listed have any sort of FF feel to it. Many of the characters just come out flat and boring.

For all its flaws FFXII actually had some things I liked about it just not enough to redeem it. While FFXIII's universe is just one big pile of poo that SE refuses to flush.

 

[shrekfan246]

To all the people complaining about the switch from turn-based combat: If Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 are any indication, it's not exactly as though SquareEnix wants to keep doing the 'classic' turn-based combat anyway. Personally, what I hope is that if they're going to continue with this Action-RPG stance past Final Fantasy XV, they at least take the cues from Kingdom Hearts and have full parties. There are enough solo-ARPGs around as it is.

As for this game in particular... I don't know. I hate Final Fantasy XIII and I haven't played enough of XIII-2 to formulate an opinion of it, but if that's any example I'll probably buy this one anyway and then never even put it in my PS3.