The final dress rehearsal
You’ve got 13 days until the world ends and it’s your job to save everybody, what do you do? Raid the weapons cupboard with your friends? Take shelter underground? Pray? Well, if you’re a pink-haired heroine called Lightning then you simply open up your wardrobe, pick the right outfit and hit
the town.
Clothes matter in Lightning Returns and picking the right duds will make or break battles for you. Much like the paradigm system in Lightning Returns :Final Fantasy XIII that saw each character quickly shift classes during a fight, here you switch between outfits (or Schemata).
You can fully customise each Schema with various moves and items, setting each one up as different classes, such as white or black mage. From Dragoon-like full-body armour to flowing ball gowns there are over 80 outfits available and each one has different strengths.
Final Fight
The Active Time Battle (ATB) gauge also returns with each Schema having its own gauge that depletes every time you issue a command. To keep battle flowing you can cycle between up to three Schemata to make use of each one’s ATB gauge.
The battles themselves are more action-based, with every Schema having up to four customisable commands, each mapped to a different face button. You have to plan your moves carefully to exploit enemy weaknesses and learning to guard is crucial. Button mashing won’t get you anywhere. A limit to the number of restorative items you can carry with you also adds another layer of strategy to proceedings.
Dressed to impress
Gameplay revolves around a doomsday clock with every action you take affecting how much time you have left, a bit like in Majora’s Mask. Helping the world’s citizens might give you a few more hours to get things done, but if you have to flee too many battles you’ll find that time quickly slips through your fingers. Certain events and people will also only appear at particular times of day so it’s imperative to keep your eye on the clock.
The world of Nova Chrysalia is big, beautiful and feels as though it’s actually living unlike in previous entries in the XIII saga, but the sense of exploration from XII isn’t quite there. It feels like a meticulously planned guided tour rather than the off-road backpacking experience that Skyrim gives you. It’s still gorgeous with lots to see, but it lacks true personality.
This doesn’t feel anything like a true Lightning Returns :Final Fantasy XIII game, but it’s a fun, solid action game in a pretty Square Enix frock and that’s no bad thing.
