Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII takes the kitchen-sink approach in its attempt to cap off Square’s trilogy on a strong note. It wisely throws away the battle system and locations of the previous games in favor of fresh and more interesting mechanics and settings. It also presents a slew of new ideas to the series that call back to everything from classic JRPGs to Skyrim and Majora’s Mask, and even Assassin’s Creed. But in its attempt to kick things up for the final act, Lightning Returns stumbles in its storytelling. Instead of going out with a bang, it sadly ends the trilogy with an muddled and tonally inconsistent whimper.

The best thing about my 30-hour odyssey with Lightning is its refreshing new take on the battle system. Any fears I had that having only one party member and a newfound emphasis on action would diminish the experience were completely gone in the first 30 minutes. Though Lightning stands alone front and center in most fights, Square wisely captures the spirit of classic RPGs by allowing you to equip and customize a trio of Schemata, which each act like a different party member. Each form has its own unique look, attacks, and ATB meter, all of which are incredibly customizable.

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Every hour or so I’d find myself sifting through my new loot, creating new Schemata, and experimenting with all sorts of different combinations of roles. As someone who loves tweaking minutia and comparing stats, Lightning Returns did a great job of empowering me to create a battle trio that felt unique and personal.

But despite great battles, they're arguably less important than they've ever been in the series. You don't earn XP and level up through combat, only by completing quests. These range from story-based encounters with classic characters, to countless boring fetch-quests that make me feel like I was stuck in the opening hours of an MMO. If a quest's goal wasn’t combat-related, I found myself avoiding combat, the thing I enjoyed most about Lightning Returns, in favor of making a beeline for the goal that would level me up faster.

The monotony of many of these objectives is counteracted partially by just how visually interesting and varied everything is. Lightning Returns almost immediately lets you off the leash and lets you visit pretty much any of the great-looking and varied locations in the entire world. There are sprawling deserts filled with monsters that will squash low-level characters; Lush greenlands rife for exploration on Chocobo-back; and massive cities brimming with life in the midst of an End of the World party. The world cycles through day and night, and the environments genuinely feel different at different times of the day. Streets are filled with shopkeepers during the day, stronger enemies appear at night, and certain quests can only be discovered close to dawn. There's a sense of urgency in the world of Lightning Returns that I really enjoy.

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Sadly, the urgency of the world doesn't quite transfer over to the characters themselves. Lightning has always been a rather stoic cypher, but this time around she’s downright unlikable. Her religious crusade has caused her to lose touch with humanity, which is evident through her interactions with other characters on both a narrative and technical level. The writing for main story quests is drenched in uninteresting pathos that failed to give me a reason to care about these characters that I’ve spent well over 100 hours with. Lightning’s trip around the world tries to provide closure to every single one of her prior relationships, but fails to do any of it in an interesting or rewarding manner.

It generally follows this pattern: you meet an old friend who’s become evil for some reason or another, either fight them or complete a fetch quest in their honor, and then kiss and make up. Any life or levity that once existed in characters like Snow or Sazh is nowhere to be found. Lightning Returns seems to have forgotten why we ever liked these characters in the first place. What’s even worse is that most of the many hours of dialogue are technically flawed in their staging and editing. Characters are often seen facing away from the person they’re talking to, back and forths feel disjointed, and every NPC feels like they got dressed in the dark.

The levity here is found in ample side quests such as this. Sadly, most of Lightning Returns’ attempts at humor or anything light-spirited fall flat and just come off as weird. There’s also a really strange disconnect between the randomness of the side quests and the emotional desolation of the main story that makes the act of playing feel sort of jarring. I guess it makes sense when you factor in how different each part of the trilogy feels compared to the others, but I was never able to quite grasp what tone Lightning Returns was going for.