Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

The computer version of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII arrived on Steam only in 2015, with a noticeable gap after the console releases from the turn of 2013 and 2014. Square Enix thereby closed out the process during which it gradually brought all three installments of the trilogy to computers - the first Final Fantasy XIII, and XIII-2 right after it, had already come to Steam by the end of 2014, but the final installment took a bit longer to arrive.

The main advantage was again the ability to run the game at a higher resolution and frame rate than the consoles of that generation allowed, which made weapon combat and the fast switching between abilities feel smoother. The port included the game's supplementary content from the start, so PC players didn't need to purchase anything separately. Once again, though, it was more of a straightforward port of the console version than a deeply reworked one - the range of graphics settings remained limited, and the game retained an interface designed primarily for a controller, including button icons that by default referenced a console gamepad. Playing with mouse and keyboard was possible, but the combat system, built around quickly switching abilities in real time, played more comfortably with a connected gamepad, similar to both console versions.

Because Lightning Returns was the final installment of the trilogy, the PC version also represented the last piece of the puzzle for players who wanted to finish the entire Final Fantasy XIII story on their computer from beginning to end, in the same form in which it was released on consoles, using either a regular keyboard and mouse or a connected gamepad according to their own preference. Thanks to both previous installments already being available on Steam, players could for the first time go through the entire trilogy on a single platform from start to finish without having to switch between computer and console, and with better graphical smoothness than the console generation on which Lightning's story began years earlier.

Why play it: For finishing the whole Final Fantasy XIII trilogy on a single platform without switching between computer and console - Steam also offered both previous installments, plus smoother graphics than on the console generation of the time.