FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH
FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH
Game
Game2015
LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII
Developer Square Enix
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is a 2013 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. A sequel to Final Fantasy XIII-2, it concludes the storyline of Final Fantasy XIII and forms part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries. It was released in 2013 in Japan and 2014 in North America and the PAL regions. It was ported to Windows in 2015 and Android and iOS via cloud gaming in 2016 in Japan. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
180 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 6, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
74
Fresh
131 positive · 46 negative
95% range 67–80%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 131 | 46 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
3 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
3,821 of 4,850 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 180 · most liked first2026 this is the last part of the trilogy FF13 and by far the biggest disappointment ever. -Don't get me wrong the story is great but the gameplay is a dizaster. -U have only 13 in game days to complete the story or it's game over and u have to do a NEW GAME FROM BEGINING. -Because of the timer all the time, u have to plan all steps in advance what is impossible without a GUIDE. -U rush all the time and cant even explore the game or enjoy it, sadly. -The battle system is also a mess…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Final Fantasy 13-3 Lightning Returns feels like a game that knows how to impress you… and then immediately tests how much patience you have. TLDR - A stylish, great sounding game with bold ideas and an excellent finale, dragged down by filler quests, forced time pressure, and the sense that it only occasionally lives up to its own potential. What it absolutely nails. The presentation is gorgeous in that Square Enix way: stylish menus, bold color palettes, and a world that looks like it’s…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The world is literally ending in 13 days, so God wakes up Lightning and turns her into the ultimate cosmic savior. Naturally, your first order of business as the savior of humanity is to sprint across the desert to find a chocobo, play dress-up in 80 different highly-detailed outfits, and aggressively hunt down a stray cat because a local child asked you to
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Final Fantasy 13 is a notoriously divisive game, 13-2 fixes most of its glaring issues and aside from the PC port being literally unplayable without fan mods is a fantastic game. 13-3 Lightning Returns takes almost everything great from 13-2. tosses it out a window and replaces them with an annoying, completely unnecessary game over countdown that should just have been a toggle and what are essentially the worst kind of low level MMO fetch quests, which you HAVE to complete as they're the only…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best combat systems in Final Fantasy and JRPGs in general. They actually regressed with newer FF games somehow. This ♥♥♥♥ was amazing.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Quite mixed feelings about 13-3, overall it still is afflicted by inferior gameplay compared to the rest of FF especially since you expect better combat after so many entries. The one thing that genuinely shines in this game is the world, it is brimming with love and ambience. Even at that, the game does everything to try and divert you from experiencing it at your leisure by implementing a time limit, which contradicts all the effort that has been put (at least if you just want to have one…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Closing out one of the weirdest trilogies I can think of with the weirdest entry in it; Lightning Returns switches up the combat system for its most confusing-to-learn and difficult-to-master version yet, moves even further away from the infamous "hallway simulator" of the first game with what feels like the most open maps in the series, and tries its hand at a Dead Rising style clock system, which is daunting at first until you realise you can do 90% of the main story within the first 3 of the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lightning Returns is a nice but flawed ending to the XIII trilogy. Story Story-wise it starts pretty weak. During the first 5 hours I was actually thinking I might drop the game, but I endured and I’m glad I did. The story is segmented into 5 main arcs across different locations and focuses on characters from the previous games. I’ll briefly summarize each arc without spoilers. The first arc has pretty dark and gothic vibes, which I liked. It also tries to be a detective story, but it doesn’t…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII is a strange but fascinating finale: part action-RPG, part dress-up buildcraft, part time-management adventure. It’s not the most welcoming entry point, but if you’re willing to meet it on its own terms, it delivers a distinctive tone and a surprisingly addictive gameplay loop. The combat is the highlight. Lightning feels fast and responsive, and the “Schemata” system (swapping roles/outfits mid-fight) creates a satisfying rhythm of setting up stagger…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It´s just the one of the best Final Fantasy. 1. But you will need the guide to understand some quests. 2. This game have Game+ mode, there you play the second run of the game with all equipment from the first game. 3. You need to play all previous games of XIII game of this game. 4. You need time to understand how the world works. 5. Do not play this game if You are not familiar of the mechanics from the first XIII, do not harm your brains. :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →11 years since the game first came out 🥲 make it playable on ps5 already LR steelbook and soundtracks 🩷 #finalfantasy #finalfantasyxiii #finalfantasy13 #ffxiii #ff13 #lightningreturns
unlabelledView post →Lightning Returns has always been considered the black sheep within the Lightning saga. It's a very bizarre and ambitious title and some would even argue that the ambition was never fully realized. I am not one of those people. I can see the arguments for it being a lesser-than title from its predecessors, but in my opinion it is the 2nd best game in the trilogy. Right behind Final Fantasy XIII, and honestly overall, one of my favorite Final Fantasy games in general. The new battle/traversal…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In my opinion, this is the best entry in the trilogy — especially the ending, which is exactly the kind of ending I'd want to write for my own game. The combat system sees a great evolution here, and I'd strongly recommend playing it as part of the full trilogy alongside the previous two entries. Fantastic story, great side quests, and a genuinely well-built open world — the best I've seen in a game (yes, even better than The Witcher or Baldur's Gate, in my opinion). The devs clearly evolved a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Much like its immediate predecessor, the beginning to Lightning Returns threw me for a loop. Given where the previous game in the FF13 trilogy finished, the start of LR is very jarring. It eventually makes sense, but the game does a poor job of inviting you in. Nevertheless by the end of the story I was compelled to go through and get all the achievements. As it turns out my bewildered initial opinion was replaced by one of enjoyment. I don't think LR is a great game, but I do think it's a good…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As part of a complete Final Fantasy marathon, Lightning Returns became the first game in the series that I simply could not continue playing. My biggest issue is the combat. Final Fantasy XIII's Paradigm system rewarded planning, party composition, and strategic decision-making. Lightning Returns abandons that entirely in favor of managing three outfit loadouts with separate ATB bars, swapping constantly as bars recharge, and relying on real-time dodges, guards, and attack timing. For players…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lightning Farron elevates into something greater than l'Cie... yes into literal Goddess to defeat the Almighty Bhunivelze! 13/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is hot garbage. There is not a single thing this game does right or even remotely well. Every single aspect of this game is either extremely mediocre or offensively bad. There are no redeeming qualities. Every good thing about the previous two games was thrown away and replaced with something so astronomically worse, it's genuinely baffling this game was even allowed to release. It is fundamentally flawed at its core in every conceivable way. - The music is barely noticeable and when…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just played through the trilogy. I'm not new to the first two, but this one I skipped back in the day because it looked awful. I finally gave it a shot. I couldn't have possibly been more surprised. I am a BIG fan of 1. I love its story, characters, and most importantly its combat. A 9/10 for me. I love 2, but it has worse story, characters, and combat, albeit better exploration. A 6/10 for me. Lightning Returns is a 9.7/10 for me, simply because it has the best game-play. Period.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Surprisingly, My Favorite of the Trilogy Returning to Final Fantasy 13, after never beating it on release, one thing I have heard is that FF13-2 is the best and FF13-3 is a mixed bag. To my surprise, Lightning Returns ended up being my favorite for various reasons. It is my favorite in the trilogy, but also goes above many other Final Fantasies for me, too. From what I thought was FF13 fatigue while I was playing through FF13-2, this game has the charm and gameplay I was waiting for.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lightning Returns is a strange game, and an extremely strange Final Fantasy game. With the benefit of hindsight we might call it a Soulslike, even though it released just 2 years after DS1 and one year before DS2. What I mean is that this game is straight up an action game. Juggling stamina (ATB), perfectly chaining your attacks, and reacting to enemy attacks to perfect block them is the name of the game. Instead of a party, you control just Lightning, but to compensate you can freely switch…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There are 2 main aspects I want to review: How decent of a port it was, and how decent of a game it was How decent of a port is this game: This is an unbelievably bad port. I am truly - I swear on effin everything - not even exaggerating in the TINIEST amount when I say that within ANY given stretch of 30 seconds of playtime, be it just running around or watching cutscenes or in battle, I experienced massive FPS rubberbanding. In any given 30 second stretch of gameplay I'm GUARANTEED to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is very fun and if you're a fan of Majoras Mask, you'll dig this. We're used to weird party systems in modern FF now so it being (mostly) Lightning shouldn't be an issue. The time mechanic seems daunting (hell I put this game off for a decade because of it) but they give you more than enough time to finish most things. There's a couple mods that make teleports free too so maybe look into that. This games battle system/garb rotation system is super fun. Once you get perfect guards…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Rating: 5/10 – Mediocre Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, the big finale to the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, is a game that I found to be much more enjoyable than I anticipated. Unlike the ports of Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2 this game actually functions out of the box without the need to download fixes. That doesn’t mean that this game’s technical state is perfect. The performance, overall, was quite Bad at times, but the game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lightning changing outfits and looking good is probably the only part I like about this game. The schemata fighting system is definitely something new, but it's a bit confusing for my taste... The time management stresses me out a bit, and this causes me to sometimes not know which quests to prioritize. Everything feels like a chore. It's a quest-fetching game, and the fact that you level up by doing quests and not by fighting (like the previous 2 FFXIII titles) is a bit disappointing. The…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →square enix i know no one likes this game but as one of the 13 fans worldwide im gonna need 10 more years of lightning & co
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really liked the other two games in the thirteen series, especially XIII-2, but this game was a huge let down. The gameplay it's self feels a bit clunky and I am not a fan of the whole "time" that this game is based around. Experimented and this game was meh. I'll happily play the previous titles multiple times ( like I have) but this one wasn't really worth the time I have put into it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →English Version (french below) Where do I even begin with this game.... First of all, the main draw for me was the end of the FF XIII story, but I was kind of disappointed ? I know the series has always been a bit particular, but the story just went out of the window. It's a shame because the premise wasn't that bad, but the weird repetitive gameplay (even if I don't think it's as bad as people make it out to be), the atrocious graphics despite what the previous two games were known…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Play on Easy Mode because Normal mode is not optimized for beginners and will make the game feel tedious even if you know what your doing its a timed game but you can manipulate time and give yourself infinite time. Be sure to buy the right garbs and weapons at the start and enable DLC and do not be afraid to use DLC garbs and equipment it is borderline necessary on normal
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The best game to conclude an amazing story. It has everything I wanted as an FF13 fan. Fun battle system, appearances of characters who I dearly love and I care about, and of course, Hope Estheim. English mistranslation can be fixed with a mod, no problem. It's one of those games that I would replay in the future for sure.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →With this, I finally finished the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, which took me 8 years to complete. What a trilogy, and what a journey it was for me. However, Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns was disappointing in many ways. The only real positive is that it gives the story a final conclusion, and that is the main reason I would recommend this game. Starting with the story: for me, it already felt stretched in FFXIII-2, and here it reaches a new level. A 500-year time skip feels ridiculous,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Was not expecting to get as into this as much as I did. Given how abysmal I thought XIII-2 was, and the general reception to Lightning Returns, I thought I was in for a slog but it turns out to be a pretty engaging experience. It's far, far, far from perfect. But the game here gets a lot out of very little. It's a solid 3/5. For starters, the combat is actually super enjoyable. It's active, fast and encourages parrying, which I'm always a big fan of. It has a very customisable list of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The story continues where Lightning is now a savior, sent from God. The world ends in 13 days, and it's Lightning's job to deliver the people to salvation and bring them to a new world through a large amount of side quests. The problem here is the game's content heavily rely on side quests, which really would not be a problem if there was direction on where to go, and if you weren't timed at all. The clock system in my opinion, is a terrible idea. The atmosphere of the game is also very boring,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While this is the weakest game of the trilogy, it is still pretty good. The new combat system is different than the previous two entries, but just as enjoyable. The locations are not as interesting as the two previous games, and the story is thin for much of the game. I had no issues with the time system since chronostasis was available to slow it down when needed, but I didn't use it much. The final boss fight was fantastic and a good challenge, and the ending was a great send off for these…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the worst Final Fantasy game ever. A buddy of mine gifted it to me as a joke so I had to 100% this ♥♥♥♥♥. You all are fools thumbing up this game and dreoouling and simping over a female Cloud. Even after all this the game also got the special Square Enix PC port touch sprinkled on top like its glitter. Square Enix dont give a ♥♥♥♥ about their PC ports.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →WHY THE ♥♥♥♥ IS THIS GAME REGION LOCKED? FF13-1 has English FF13-2 has English And suddenly they decided to lock this game to Japanese if you bought it in Japan? What kind of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ is that?
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Completed from start to finish on linux without any problems once the program starts. It likes revalidating the files sometimes and sometimes gets stuck on compiling vulkan shaders but once it starts it runs perfectly - use the game's own controller input not steam input. I see other reviews suggesting you play on easy but I did a blind playthrough on normal and finished nearly everything with about 4 or 5 days to spare, it is probably the easiest game of the trilogy in my opinion. I agree…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I gave up playing this. It gives me too much of the same vibe as FF13-2, where most of the game was just fillers to justify inserting the story into a game. It's basically a generic "MMO" like/solo J-RPG where you go around helping random generic NPC by accomplishing quests to acquire rewards, mixed in with a "dress up" game where you unlock outfits for Lightning (from what I could see on the wiki, there are hundreds of them). The only incentive to play this is because it's Final Fantasy 13…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lightning deserved for her conclusion to be a ps4 era game tbh. Great way to end an underrated trilogy.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I feel like the game pressures you to rush because of that stupid clock system instead of exploring the world. Sure you can temporary stop the timer, but just knowing it’s there really takes the fun out of me. I like the new battle mechanics, though. It's like the dress spheres from FFX-2. I'll just watch a gameplay from YT to know the story.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall Ranking: B Plot quality: B Character development: A Core mechanics: B Difficulty: Easy Replayability: B Should you play it?: Yes Should you complete it?: Yes Summary: Rounding off the FF13 trilogy lies Lightning Returns. The setting is far far in the future of the FF13 universe. Time has been at a standstill for a long time and you have been tasked with saving as many souls as you can in the last 7 days left of the universe. Heavy stuff. Kicking this game off, you will…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A sequel no one wanted. Even if you liked the 2 previous games, it's not recommended as it basically renders their stories useless. Gameplay is not very good either
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →- The main way to level up is by doing MMO style fetch quests which are incredibly boring. - Hope literally never shuts up.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →my favorite final fantasy trilogy childhood memories 🐰😊
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →es el mas dificil de la trilogia
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →finished it nearly a decade after first picking up. solid movie w/ a great ending- I think it would've been better if they had traditional progression & no time gating mechanics
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For me, this is easily the best game in the entire trilogy. It does something different focusing on the main character Lightning but gives a satisfying, emotional conclusion to everyone's story. The sheer number of customization options is insane! I’m not just talking about changing the stats of the Schemata (the battle styles you switch between), but the Garbs (Outfits). You can customize colors, accessories, and create unique looks. If you love customization and creating powerful,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Played this on the Xbox originally to 100% completion. It is highly underrated, largely due to FFXIII being less popular than some other Final Fantasy titles. Lightning Returns offers some bold and creative game design choices, that maybe seem out of place for a Final Fantasy game on paper, but in practice, the gameplay is very fun. I see this game as something the most serious Final Fantasy fans will likely enjoy, although it may not be the best entry title for new players. It most…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I´m mixed on this one. The best thing about it is that the PC port actually works. The combat is better then the first two games cuz it´s fast and you get the ability to customize lighning way more. The tweaked dressphere system they added was cool and I really like the last ones gimmick. The music is good since they used a lot of music from the last two games. I like dying worlds in games but this is on the weaker side. The only way to level up is through side quests, main quest and the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →peak doesn't even do it justice...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The missions are just horrendous beyond boring, the time design its awful, the only good thing about this game its the combat if they would make the campaing like they did with FF xiii original it would be good, almost no new music just a few tracks, i did 45 side missions, had good weapons and spells and the final boss is just way too hard its almost like the game wants you to play the campaign 2 times, the idea is kind of good but when the campaing its awful you just dont want to play it 2…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I absolutely love this game and it has only gotten better with mods. Install the mod "Savior's Patch" and you won't regret it. The graphics of 13-3 become very comparable to the first two with it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →majora's mask meets final fantasy meets dostoevsky
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The ending made it worth it. Like the other two games in this trilogy, my opinion kept going up and down. I wasn't going to recommend this until I got to the very ending. It was truly satisfying, and emotionally speaking, it got to me. Look, I'm going to be honest: this piece of work is half-baked. A vast number of design choices here are questionable. The graphics just barely look ok. Character models are UGLY. Audio mixing is ♥♥♥♥ at times. Difficulty scaling is atrocious.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't know what they think, drink or eat when making this game. You don't level up by killing enemies, you get spells and abilites. You get levels or stats up by doing quests, so if you are someone that does not enjoy doing side quest. You will have a bad experience in progressing when encountering tough enemies. As for me, I try to do all the side quests and did not have problem in fighting bosses but there are some monsters i find difficult to fight. However, this game got a time system…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The criminally overlooked third entry to the XIII series. The story continues in a very different direction thanks to the wacky doodle time travel shenanigans from the second game, but they managed to craft a beautiful narrative out of it with some of the most powerful monologues in the trilogy. I have some minor gripes with it, mainly that it feels slightly undercooked, but I'm still happy with what we've got. The combat system is amazing. You essentially get to customize and switch between…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →34 hours of my life im not getting back
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game, as many others have confessed, is very difficult to talk about. I always knew I was going to play this game, as a big overall Final Fantasy fan, and have made reviews regarding my experiences with the previous two 13 games. Basically, I really didn't like them, for many reasons, but not the repeated arguments you find online in old reviews when they came out (too linear, etc.) My reason for playing this, besides the simple curiosity of finishing this series, was to develop my own…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Final Fantasy 13: Lightning Returns is part 3 of the Final Fantasy 13 trilogy, and also very different than the previous two in terms of both pc port quality and gameplay. Pros: + Brilliant art direction, color palette, character, and overall design by legendary Tetsuya Nomura + Main characters are hit and miss. There are some beloved, iconic characters, such as Lightning + Combat and gameplay allow for more player agency and involvement over previous recent titles + Decent soundtrack + Menus…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Did enjoy parts of this, but mostly I wish this game wouldn't exist. - It does not matter how godly you make her, I just think that Lightning is not a good MC - The whole abstract jumps in the story that all FF13 games make are just wild, illogical and bizarre - Lore is explained well and makes sense - The game is timed, which makes sense in its context. There's enough time if you play with a guide. I can't tell if its enough if you play it without - Due to tthe fact that you can do any quest…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i really want to love this game for a lot of the same reasons i really like 13-2 but it feels so much more like an expansion scope wise and it struggles a lot because of it. Its still very very creative and has great music and is a very unique idea for a sequel but i think it isnt worth it with this game. I could go into it but i dont think the time mechanics are all too well done. Its very obvious they werent here from the ground up and were an idea added in post, from an interview ive seen…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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