The Savior has come back, Lightning Returns…and she’s trying to save all the souls in the world.

That is the story line that Square Enix wants you to believe in the new Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.

Being a big fan of Final Fantasy games and of Final Fantasy 13, it’s been a long wait for the return of the hero of the series, Lightning Farron.  You got to play her a little in Final Fantasy XIII-2 as a DLC and as intro to the game, but other than that, she was only in the game for story line purposes.

But Lightning has returned. She also has a bunch of different outfits for you to view.

This game has a lot of multiple games of Final Fantasy concepts in it.  I noticed right away the concept of different outfits was taken from Final Fantasy X-2 which even has outfits from the Final Fantasy X series. The open world concept of walking around reminds more of Final Fantasy 13 and 12, meaning that you have to interact with characters around the worlds to set things back to the way they need to be. The story line is great and finally ties the end of these characters we been playing for the last few years.

The game has also involved a Doomsday clock which is part of the main story line of the game.  You have 13 days to save the souls of the world with Lightning being the “Savior”.  This clock is always in the corner, letting you know that you must hurry to complete not only your main story line but also your side missions. This can be quite annoying if you are someone who does not like to be rushed in a game series.

The visuals are amazing in this game. I honestly thought at times I was playing on my PS4 instead of my PS3, so the developers and game engine designers did their best to push every once of the graphic ability on the PS3.  Some of the maps are some of the biggest maps I ever seen in a game period such as the Dead Dunes.

My issues with it again are similar to a lot of people online, with the timer, this game reminds me a lot of Legend of Zelda – Majora’s Mask and not in a good way.  I always feel rushed playing the game and find myself pausing the game to figure what what to do next compared to actually playing the game and enjoying it.  The whole time I felt like I have to hurry or the world is going to end, and I’m going to have to restart the game.  (I have yet to actually had the timer run out of me, but from what i’m hearing from others, Square Enix seems aware of this, and lets you start a New Game Plus even if your first play through was a failure.

 Overall, my review of this game falls flat, although I do love the game series, it has come at least apparent in my thoughts that it’s time to move on from 13.  I love the story of Lightning but it seems like it’s dragged out now and although this game attempts to close those chapters, I feel that the timer concept has turned me off to enjoying the game the way I should as a gamer and Final Fantasy fan.  No one likes having a Doom spell placed on them in a battle, let alone a whole game.  I would give this game due to this a 7 out of 10.  A fun game to play but not something I recommend someone to purchase.