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LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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Lightning Returns is the concluding chapter of the Final Fantasy XIII saga and series heroine Lightning's final battle. The grand finale of the trilogy brings a world reborn as well as free character customization and stunning action based battles.
LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII is a rpg, jrpg and female protagonist game
developed and published by Square Enix.
Released on December 10th 2015 is available only on Windows
in 8 languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Korean and Traditional Chinese.
It has received 4,427 reviews of which 3,508 were positive and 919 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.7 out of 10. 😊
The game is currently priced at 15.99€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII into these genres:
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System requirements
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Windows
- OS *: Windows® XP SP2 or later
- Processor: 2GHz Dual Core CPU
- Memory: 1500 MB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA® Geforce® 8800GT / ATI Radeon™ HD 4770 VRAM 512MB or later
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Storage: 22 GB available space
- Sound Card: Sound card compatible with DirectX® 9.0c
- Additional Notes:
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User reviews & Ratings
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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 13 days you get to play with. (If you freeze time a lot, that is) Much like XIII and XIII-2 before it, this game is flawed and confusing at times, but this game's approach with the sole protagonist and a focus on interacting with/helping NPCs gives it a level of worldbuilding and immersion that was lacking in its predecessors. Also you can play dress-up with Lightning which is dope. The music still ♥♥♥♥♥, the story was pretty solid imo, I think 2's is better, as is its antagonist, but with XIII's cast, XIII-2's story and LR's cathartic conclusion to the saga it's honestly harder than you'd think to rank them fairly. All this to say that Lightning is hot and I hope she returns again in 4K when they reveal a remake/ster next month just to spite me for finally playing the trilogy :)
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 really succeed. The story didn’t grab me at all here and honestly it felt kinda boring. It also felt like nothing important really happened. The second arc is much better and easily the best in the game imo. The story is fun and engaging, and it has one of the most iconic scenes in the whole trilogy in my opinion. I loved every second of this part. The third arc isn’t anything special story-wise, but it has a few moments I liked. The strongest part of this arc is definitely the location. It’s probably the biggest and most varied area in the entire trilogy, and I really enjoyed exploring it. The fourth arc is set in the desert. The story is again nothing special, but it has some Tomb Raider vibes. I also really liked the sand sliding mechanic xd. The fifth arc is basically just a fetch quest across all locations. The ending of this arc is good, but the fact that it’s mostly fetch quest stuff really drags it down. The finale is absolute cinema. I loved almost every part of it, except some cheesy moments and THE boss fight. Who the ♥♥♥♥ thought it was a good idea to make a boss fight with four phases that can one-shot you?????? xddd (skill issue I guess idk xd) There is also a new important character in this game, “Lumina”, and I loved every single scene she was in. She is brilliantly voice acted. I was very satisfied with Light’s story arc across the trilogy. Snow’s arc was also well done. But the other characters could have had better made arcs. Overall I really liked the ending of the trilogy and it acutally surprised me, but I can see why some people don’t like it. The story is definitely not perfect and FF13 is still the best one story-wise, but I liked Lightning Returns more than XIII-2. Writing and Voice Acting Writing sometimes feels bloated. Something that could be said in 2 sentences is said in 6. It’s not every dialogue, but it happens often enough to be noticeable. Voice acting is also pretty inconsistent. Sometimes it’s genuinely very good, but other times it sounds like the actors are just reading the script with zero emotion. Also HOPE NEVER SHUTS THE ♥♥♥♥ UPAHDJGOUGB 😭 Gameplay Gameplay in Lightning Returns is pretty different from the previous two games. There are no XP points and stats only increase by completing main quests and MMO-like sidequests. Honestly, kinda stupid decision. What I loved are the Garbs. There’s a bunch of outfits that give different buffs, abilities, and trade-offs. Only issue I had is that some are very slutty/skimpy, like something even Eve from Stellar Blade wouldn’t wear xdd. Imo it doesn’t fit Lightning. Instead of upgrading weapons (XIII) or monsters (XIII-2), you now upgrade your abilities by combining them. For example, you combine Attack lvl1 + Attack lvl1 and you get a stronger Attack lvl1. Once it reaches max XP in lvl1, you can upgrade it to lvl2. I didn’t really like this mechanic, it just didn’t click with me. I really liked the open world exploration, especially in the Wildlands. This game also has a time limit. Basically, you have 13 days to complete the game. I was taking it very slowly and finished all the main quests on day 9, so it’s very forgiving. You don’t have to worry about it at all. It’s a cool mechanic, but it feels too safe. Combat Combat is completely different and I must say I’m not a huge fan. I liked that they tried something new, because by the end of XIII-2 I was getting kinda burned out on the XIII/XIII-2 combat. I wouldn’t say this combat is bad, it just didn’t click with me. One thing that bugged me is stagger. Sometimes it works perfectly, sometimes you stagger an enemy and the effect instantly ends. There are a few things I did like about this combat though. Being able to perfect parry is awesome. Also, your health doesn’t recover after a battle, so potions are actually useful xdd. Graphics Graphically it's still pretty good overall, except for the place you start in. While Luxerion has nice dark and gothic vibes as I said before, the textures there look like they were made for PS2. Other than that, it’s a nice looking game. Maybe only the Wildlands look a bit dated in some places, but it’s nothing horrible xdd. As with the previous game, most of the cutscenes are in-game, which isn’t bad, but I just love the look of XIII’s pre-rendered cutscenes. Soundtrack Soundtrack is made up of reused tracks from previous games, re-arranged/alternate versions of tracks from previous games, and some new tracks. My favourite track from the new ones is probably "Midnight Eternal". I also really liked the alternate version of "Blinded by Light", called "Crimson Blitz". Technical This port is easily the best in the trilogy. You don’t need any patches or anything. I did however run into one place where there’s a chance the game can crash "Yagd Woods" so it’s better to save more often there just in case. Overall Impressions The game is good. Some say it’s the worst of the trilogy, others say it’s the best. I personally liked this game a bit more than XIII-2. I still think XIII is the best one, and I also think that if XIII was standalone it would have been better. But XIII-2 and Lightning Returns are nice additions. I’m really glad I played this trilogy.
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 one and my favourite of the trilogy. Despite the rocky opening and the overall plot I actually found the writing to be surprisingly grounded, neatly merging the world state of cursed immortality with existential considerations. Actual conversations with normal people in the various environments paint a very vivid image of a dying world and a population that is increasingly welcoming it, if only because what it means to be human has decayed in-kind. I was surprised the game even alluded to this at parts, but it is fully bought in to the idea. Side quests, which functionally make up the majority of the game, frequently deal with this philosophy, from someone wondering if anyone has any empathy left to what it means to be stuck as a child forever. Though the world isn't exactly reactive, there is some satisfaction to knowing that doing something might change a person's outlook for the better. Knowing that not doing a quest would lead to that not happening helps reflect some pathos back to you. Arguably where the game really shines though is its mechanical systems. In combat you control only the one character, Lightning, but can switch between three different load-outs at will. To be most effective you'll need to master switching between these. With smart builds and sound strategy, fights can be over very quickly and do not out-stay their welcome. Unfortunately combat can also get repetitive due to the fact most encounters are one-versus-one. The few times you do get group encounters the battle system's flaws show up for what they are; character movement is sluggish and it's very difficult to keep track of every enemy using an ability. Battles can be avoided a lot of the time though, but this plays into the central mechanic of the game. The story takes place over a stark countdown. Though you can delay this countdown, you cannot extend it. To delay it you can use a special ability to hold it in place, but this resource can only be obtained from defeating enemies and the same resource is also used for other useful abilities, such as a full heal or a teleport. Enemies in this game are actually finite meaning the availability of this resource is also nearly finite. As the timer ticks on, enemies get stronger, but so too their rewards. What this all amounts to is an intriguing push-and-pull of multiple systems engaging at once. Do you clear out enemies as soon as possible to give yourself as much time, or try and stagger things out so that you can get greater rewards to reduce challenge? It's a complex system very well implemented. One of these rewards can be abilities. Abilities can be freely slot in your loadouts based on preference, but by merging same abilities together you can empower them. Perhaps they do more damage, can be used more frequently or provide large passive stats. This system actually works similarly to the materia fusion system from Crisis Core, albeit not to the same depth. Succeeding the greatest challenges requires you to master this system. It's an elegant way of keeping the upgrade system included in the rest of the trilogy in a way that fits far more organically. My biggest criticism though comes in the form of the treatment of the star, Lightning. The loadouts you switch between are determined by the outfits Lightning wears. Optionally you can equip accessories, of which there are many to choose from from subdued to outlandish, but fundamentally you must use a specific outfit as a base. A lot of these outfits try to play up sex appeal and it's wholly unnecessary, unlikeable and really goes against the tone of the rest of the game. Grudgingly using an outfit despite how it looks because of how useful it is mechanically is not something I want in any game, but here where the only playable character is a woman and her looks are commented upon frequently by NPC barks is incredibly disappointing. I'm not even saying that some of the less-covered outfits are necessarily bad, they can rock a style pretty well, but if she's wearing full armour why is her bottom exposed? Why can I see that underwear? It feels pervy. There's no way that a male character would be subject to similar clothing. Though that is a consistent issue I simply couldn't ignore throughout, the rest of the game as I said at the top is enjoyable. It's a little rough in places, but its heart is generally in the right place and its systems make it surprisingly engaging. On its own I don't think LR really makes sense as a lot of the emotion underpinning the overall story relies on awareness of characters from the previous two games, however if you're already bought into the world of FF13, I think LR makes a strong capstone.
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Frequently Asked Questions
LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII is currently priced at 15.99€ on Steam.
No, LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 15.99€ on Steam.
Yes, LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII received 3,508 positive votes out of a total of 4,427 achieving a rating of 7.69.
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LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII was developed and published by Square Enix.
Yes, LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII is playable and fully supported on Windows.
No, LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII is not playable on MacOS.
No, LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII is not playable on Linux.
LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII is a single-player game.
Yes, there are 2 DLCs available for LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII. Explore additional content available for LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII on Steam.
No, LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
No, LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII does not support Steam Remote Play.
Yes, LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII.
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Last Updates| Steam data | 25 July 2026 12:23 UTC |
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| SteamSpy data | 22 July 2026 13:45 UTC |
| Steam price | 28 July 2026 18:45 UTC |
| Steam reviews | 26 July 2026 01:59 UTC |
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Game modes
Features
Online players
47
Developer
Square Enix
Publisher
Square Enix
Release
10 Dec 2015
Platforms