Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Lightning Returns' main story missions are fine enough for the mix of exploration, combat and discussion of ennui they represent, but the game overall is a bloated, hedonistic mess of open dress-up mechanics without the regulation to match, presentation that varies in quality and technicality, narrative themes worn so much on the game's sleeve that Lightning monologues more than actually has a human conversation, tones so inconsistent that characters who aren't meant to show emotion will go back and forth on this "curse" as the script demands, and most of all, an absolute mass of boring side-quests. The side part becomes a misnomer; when you finish the five main missions, you are left with only these to literally run out the clock, so much so that the incoming cataclysm becomes a non-issue. The final bonus mission is essentially clearing out all the top dog monsters you didn't up to the final day, which is so hard it shouldn't trigger at all on your first playthrough, but so hollow is the experience that you'll end up doing enough sidequests to gain access to it on default,

Between an anemic pace, complete tonal inconsistencies, a combat system which starts fresh but overstays its welcome, and most of all, a narrative that contradicts itself to suit the mood of any given scene, it is perhaps the only fitting conclusion to the Fabula Nova Crystallis saga.