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LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII
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.
In short, Steam reviewers most often praise “fast, strategic, satisfying combat system” (34 of 86 reviews) and “satisfying conclusion to trilogy” (29); the most common complaint is “confusing or repetitive action combat” (19). What reviewers agree on ↓
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-27 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
34 of the 86 reviews raise this.
“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…”
“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…”
29 of the 86 reviews raise this.
“Lightning Farron elevates into something greater than l'Cie... yes into literal Goddess to defeat the Almighty Bhunivelze! 13/10”
“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…”
“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…”
12 of the 86 reviews raise this.
“Lightning was frozen in time for 500 years yet suffering through this game felt longer. Pros: -Good combat -Theorycrafting and unlocking gear is enjoyable -Lightning is cool enough -One truly emotional moment.. With a…”
“Completing the Lightning saga was a test of true patience and reaching the finale makes the journey feel entirely worth it. A controller is mandatory for smoother experience because it does not have mouse support. If…”
9 of the 86 reviews raise this.
“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…”
“One of the most beautiful pieces of art I ever interacted with.”
“I am a big fan of the 13 series and got so pumped for the pc port. Lightning is best baddie. If you buy this please know it isn't remastered in any way. The port for it is better than the one they did for 13 and 13-2 at…”
8 of the 86 reviews raise this.
“Challenging, there's an actual learning curve and at times you do have to play around with your build to kill some specific monsters. Too bad there's (spoiler hidden) so there's build variety but not THAT much. Story is…”
“I think the first game is my favorite of the series, but I will say that playing LR through to the end was superior. Even if between the ending of the first all the way to the finale was making me have second thoughts,…”
19 of the 86 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“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…”
“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”
18 of the 86 reviews raise this · 13 of them still recommend the game.
“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…”
“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…”
“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…”
15 of the 86 reviews raise this · 10 of them still recommend the game.
“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…”
“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…”
“Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is an experimental finale for the franchise’s most ambitious subseries. It introduces what is, for me, close to the best combat system across the entire franchise and confidently…”
13 of the 86 reviews raise this · 4 of them still recommend the game.
“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…”
“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”
“talking about gameplay, it's not bad, but changing the battle mechanics just for this game was certainly a choice. story wise there's just so much missing. like a whole 500 years pass with no one aging but no one really…”
9 of the 86 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“TRASH GAME TRASH PC PORT”
“Challenging, there's an actual learning curve and at times you do have to play around with your build to kill some specific monsters. Too bad there's (spoiler hidden) so there's build variety but not THAT much. Story is…”
“This game is a strange combination of Final Fantasy XIII and Majora's Mask as you must carefully manage your time before the end of all of existence. Much like the previous two entries the gameplay is stellar as well as…”
Counted across 86 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 78.8% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“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…”
— a player, Steam review · 31 hrs played“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…”
— a player, Steam review · 40 hrs played“2026 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.…”
— a player, Steam review · 150 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-10-22.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-10-22). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Introducing FINAL FANTASY VII REVELATION, launching Spring 2027.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4354570/ Cloud Strife and his loyal companions face a world that teeters on the brink of annihilation. Grieving a beloved ally, and with their nemesis Sephiroth near
"LIGHTNING RETURNS:FINAL FANTASY XIII ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK" Now on Sale!
Introducing several original soundtracks from LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII! 『LIGHTNING RETURNS:FINAL FANTASY XIII ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK』 『LIGHTNING RETURNS:FINAL FANTASY XIII Original Soundtrac
12/7/2021 Update
Thank you for your continued support of LIGHTNING RETURNS: FINAL FANTASY XIII. An update of the game has been implemented as of 12th July 2021. Update Content: Fixed an issue of Lightning’s voice not
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | RPG |
| Player tags | RPG · JRPG · Female Protagonist · Fantasy · Open World · Great Soundtrack · Singleplayer · Story Rich · Adventure · Anime · Action · Action RPG (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Steam Trading Cards · Adjustable Text Size · Adjustable Difficulty · Keyboard Only Option · Playable without Timed Input · Save Anytime |
| Languages | English * , French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese * , Korean, Traditional Chinese * |
| Achievements | 42 |
| Official site | http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/FF13_Portal/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: 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: