Lightning
Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, the third and final(?)
chapter of the Final Fantasy XIII
saga, came out in Japan last November, and what do you know, it’s pretty good.
At least Smash Bros. creator Masahiro
Sakurai thinks so.
I think at this point, saying Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is
the best installment of the Final Fantasy
XIII saga is like saying Revenge of
the Sith was the best one of the prequels. Not that FFXIII-2 or even FFXIII are
“bad” games – but after the hype and excitement of seeing the first Final Fantasy on the PS3 and having it
not measure up, I think the collective disappointment was such that the
subsequent games felt more like damage control than their own competent
installments of the franchise.
That said, Lightning Returns is genuinely fun, and as Sakurai notes in his
semi-weekly column in Weekly Famitsu, he was able to “see the culmination of the Active Time Battle system.”
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The ATB system has been an integral part of the
Final Fantasy series since 1991’s Final Fantasy IV (Older western gamers
will remember it as Final Fantasy II). However, as Sakurai notes, over
the past 20 years Square Enix has been experimenting and refining the system
with each game in the series. “I was amazed at how, even under the
limitations of there being only one party member [in Lightning Returns], [the ATB system] has evolved.”
While the original ATB system may not have
been “perfect,” it was still a well-designed system and while its
latest incarnation in Lightning Returns
is quite refined, that doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement. Sakurai
noted that, as a developer, Lightning
Returns made him reacknowledge the importance of never being satisfied.
“It’s easy to pick up an already released game and simply enjoy it, but in
order to generate entertainment, you need to keep your eyes peeled.”
Sakurai writes. “I was reminded that if you take what seems natural for
granted, nothing will evolve or change for the better.”
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