The journey through Final Fantasy XIII's trilogy of games has been a dizzying one, with each game hopping between gameplay styles, lead characters and narrative arcs, seemingly on a whim. Lightning Returns manages to bring the entire messy saga to a satisfying conclusion, breaking off in a totally new direction, chucking a lot of the series' extraneous pontification and getting down to the core simplicities. Whether or not it's a "real" Final Fantasy game is up for debate, but it's a consistently entertaining, beautiful adventure that places as much importance on the mundane as it does the ostentatious: a fitting farewell for the final chapter of XIII's saga.

Lightning Returns picks up 500 years after the events of XIII-2, with the end of the world - the literal end of everything - a mere 13 days away. Lightning has been sent by the God of Light, Bhunivelze, to save as many souls as possible so that they can be reborn when he creates a brand new world on day 14. You only have a handful of days to work with when the game begins, but collect enough Etria - the energy of souls - and God will do you a solid and give you another day. A soul is saved by providing its owner with what they need most - hope, closure, a last grasp at happiness, whatever. There are five souls in particular that Lightning needs to bring to salvation, and she'll run into plenty of familiar faces as she strives to complete her mission from God.