Final Fantasy XIII-2

Final Fantasy XIII-2 arrived on PC via Steam only in December 2014, roughly three years after the console versions, and without much of a marketing campaign - Square Enix was at the time quietly porting the entire Final Fantasy XIII trilogy to computers in a similar fashion, one installment after another, with a gap of several months between each release. It was one of the first numbered entries in the series to reach PC with such a delay - earlier numbered installments either never made it to computers at all, or were much older titles from a different era.

The main advantage of the computer version was an unlocked resolution and frame rate, so players on more powerful hardware could run the game much more smoothly and sharply than PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 allowed. The port also included all additionally released content from the start, which owners of the console versions had to purchase gradually after release - costumes, alternate scenes and other add-ons were part of the base offering for a single price. On the other hand, it was more of a direct port of the console game than a deeply reworked one: the graphics settings remained fairly bare-bones, and the game retained control schemes and an interface designed primarily for a gamepad, something a number of contemporary reviews noted as well.

For this reason, too, the PC version was mostly seen among players as a more comfortable and technically smoother way to enjoy the same content they already knew from consoles, rather than as a markedly different experience. The essence of the game, its story and combat system remained untouched and matched what players already knew from PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 three years earlier. Thanks to digital distribution via Steam, players could also pick up the game during later sales, while the console versions were by then more of a matter for collectors of physical copies. Cloud save syncing via Steam also allowed continuing a playthrough after switching to a different computer, something the console releases of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 generation generally did not offer.

Why play it: For a more comfortable and technically smoother way to experience the same story and combat system as on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, plus cloud save syncing and the option to wait for a Steam sale.