Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

The Xbox 360 version of Lightning Returns is a good example of how much the popularity of individual consoles differed between Japan and the West. While the game was released in Japan only for the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360 release was limited to Western markets and arrived only in February 2014, alongside the Western PlayStation 3 version – the Xbox version therefore never got a Japanese release at all, and for many Western players it was in fact the only console on which they could play the game without importing it. This difference mirrored a broader trend of the entire generation, where the Xbox 360 had only a small player base in Japan, while in the West it was one of the most widespread consoles of all.

In terms of content, it was exactly the same game as on the PlayStation 3 – the same world counting down its final days, the same equipment and ability system for the protagonist Lightning, and the same side quests and story endings. The differences lay purely in which console the player launched the game on, and in small details related to the controls and interface, adapted to Microsoft's gamepad; otherwise the two versions were practically indistinguishable.

Since this was the final installment of the trilogy, developed with the approaching end of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 generation already in mind, the graphical gap between the platforms was not significant, and the game looked and ran practically identically on both consoles. Shortly after this release, a PC version also arrived, so players could choose between three essentially equal ways to play through the game, with the exception of Japan, where the PlayStation 3 remained the only console option. The Xbox 360 version thus remained an exclusively Western affair for the entire time the game was officially on sale, and Japanese players never gained access to it even retroactively, since Square Enix never released it there later. So anyone who wanted to play the trilogy from start to finish on the Xbox 360 could only do so outside Japan.

Why play it: With a look and performance practically identical to the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360 version suits Western players who want to finish the trilogy outside Japan, where the PS3 remained the only console option.