Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, the trilogy's final entry, was released in Japan in November 2013 and abroad in early 2014, as the main release for PlayStation 3. As with the previous two entries, this was the platform Square Enix primarily developed the game on, and where the first demos and review copies came from as well, so the Sony console remained the reference choice for the entire trilogy from its very beginning. The game also wrapped up the story that began in 2009 with the first Final Fantasy XIII, and many players picked it up directly on the platform on which they had also completed both previous entries.

In Japan, the game was released exclusively for PlayStation 3 – only a negligible number of players there had an Xbox 360 at the time, so Square Enix decided to limit the Japanese release to the Sony console only. The PlayStation 3 version was thus available worldwide without exception, while the Xbox 360 release arrived later and only in western territories. Content-wise, this was the complete game with a system for redistributing abilities between different parts of the day and an entirely new combat system based on gear and skill planning, which differed significantly from previous entries and placed much greater emphasis on time management.

Technically, the PlayStation 3 version performed comparably to the competing platform; the game ran on the same engine as the previous two entries in the trilogy and used the Blu-ray medium without needing to split content across multiple discs. A PC version arrived several months later, but otherwise PlayStation 3 remained the only platform on which players in Japan could play the game, for the entire time it was officially on sale. Since this was the final entry in the whole trilogy, this version was, for the vast majority of Japanese players, also the only one on which they could see the entire Final Fantasy XIII story through to the end. The collection and reuse of elements from the previous two entries, from music to references to specific characters, also made the most sense for those who had played both previous entries on the same console.

Why play: For Japanese players, this was for a long time the only available platform, and also the version on which the vast majority of them could bring the Final Fantasy XIII story to its conclusion.