Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

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 a console action role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Released on November 2013 in Japan and set for release on February 2014 in Europe and North America, 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 sidequests. The 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 thirteen days before the world's end, and is given the task of saving the people of the dying world, including former friends and allies.

Development of the game started in early 2012, shortly after the release of XIII-2, 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. The development team wanted the game to bring a conclusive end to the story of both Lightning and the XIII universe, and also wanted to address criticisms leveled against the last two games. Lightning Returns built upon the gameplay basics of the previous games, while adding new content such as a more action-based combat system, an open world that players could freely navigate, and a mechanic wherein the game's events took place within a certain period of time.


As Lightning, it is your mission to save souls so they may be brought to a new world. However, with only thirteen days remaining, not everyone can be saved. Armed with all-new weapons, player customization and battle abilities, you are in a race against time to fully understand your destiny. It all ends here.