First Thoughts on "Lightning Returns"
I wanted to let my emotions and thoughts kinda settle before I posted anything here. It's been a few days after the big announcement, and since then, more important announcements have popped up too. I'm think I'm ready to talk now.
I will admit, when I first read about Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, I was fuming with rage. If I had posted my thoughts at that point, the text would've been a total meltdown of anger and frustration. Things that ticked me off to no end: Lightning is the ONLY playable character, she wakes up hundreds of years later in a completely different world, absolutely no information was shared concerning the fate of the other characters like Hope and Snow, the game has a time-limit of 13 days, and there's some random monorail connecting the Chaos-surrounded island!? WTF!?
I was really, really mad. My wish to play older!Hope - totally shot down! Would Hope even be alive!? And what about the other characters I came to know and love!? The new plot took such a sudden and unexpected twist that I was left behind in the dust wondering what the hell had happened. I couldn't even sleep that night. I was up for hours trying to sort what little, but utterly confusing information they gave us. I watched the presentation in bed, shaking my head in frustration and sadness at every concept that strayed from my expectations. The only thing that kept me interested in the new game was the idea that Lightning would have 20+ outfits to choose from. I've always wanted to play dress-up with her, so that kept my sanity intact. XD
But I calmed down. As I studied the presentation further, I saw hope in the game. Using story and business logic, I had faith that Hope and the other characters were okay. Toriyama may be crazy, be he isn't stupid enough to throw out every character except Lightning. The story would be hard to tell, and worst of all, the fans would be furious. I held my breath for two days, waiting for more new information to be released on the 4th. Well, I don't think it ever did. XD There they go again, breaking promises like "Versus" all over again. But we did get A LOT of important and world-saving (in my case) announcements in the recent interview by Famitsu.
First off, SE confirmed again that Lightning would have a "happy ending". What kind of happy ending? I'm still scared. (0_0) Second, everyone from XIII-2 is NOT dead!! Due to the Chaos, time has become faulty in the world and people no longer age. I was right on! Even if Lightning spent hundreds of years sleeping as a crystal, the other characters would still be alive because time has been screwed. More than I was proud of myself for getting that one, I was happy that Toriyama had his plot concepts somewhat down. XD And last but not least.... *drumroll*
HOPE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED TO RETURN!!!!
My smexy baby-face is comin' back and apparently he's going to help Lightning throughout the game via a wireless communicator. Gosh, I almost started crying for joy. And it made me so happy that SE confirmed Hope's return and role in the story before any other sub-character. It just shows how popular and important he is. X3 But when I heard about his new role, I immediately thought about Otacon and Snake from "Metal Gear Solid". I wonder if Lightning gets to hide in a box? And if she dies, will Hope be like, "Lightning? Light!? LIIII-GHT!!!"
LOL I'm really having too much fun thinking about their potential interactions. It would be so cute if they did some reminiscing about their past journey together. Even better, Hope could be using the communicator to stalk Lightning. If she gets near another sort-of attractive man, his panicked voice might burst into her ear. XD Probably won't happen, but a girl can fantasize, right? Who knows? Maybe Hope is the one creating all of Lightning's new clothes? And if there was a sexy swimsuit in that package... Oh Hope, you naughty man with literally hundreds of years of hormone buildup~♥.
Back to serious stuff. Yes, Hope is gonna return, but what the heck was he doing all those years while Lightning was a crystal? What was everyone doing? One, they could've been too busy suppressing the Chaos and creating a stable living ground for the survivors. Two, maybe they thought Lightning was dead so they never thought to look for her. During the final battle with Caius, the purple man did lie to Noel and Serah about killing Lightning. Even though Noel called his bluff that time, if Lightning never did show up after the Chaos infected the world, Noel could have later believed that she had indeed been killed. Or three, the Chaos was holding them hostage in some way or form. If that were the case, Lightning would need to go around and save every one of them.
Another main concern of mine is Vanille. If you are a HopeXLightning fan, you must be aware that the main obstacle in the way of your OTP is that energetic, peach-haired girl. Don't get me wrong, I love Vanille. However, I will not tolerate her interference in Hope and Lightning's relationship. If Vanille and Fang are still in their crystal stasis, then I have nothing to worry about. But if they had awoken, that means Hope and Vanille had hundreds of years to start a relationship... No, no, no, no!! That would be my biggest turn-off in the game! I am slightly confident that nothing has blossomed between Hope and Vanille. First of all, the fanbase compared to the behemoth called "ホプライ" is barely a threat. HopeXLight fans outnumber HopeXVanille fans, bar none. I just hope Toriyama is aware of that. Also, older!Hope is just out of the league for Vanille. She's still her young self and now he's much too old for her. She's childish and hyper; he is extremely mature - almost too mature for his age. Yes, they are complete opposites and opposites tend to attract, but they don't mesh right. I don't think Hope would ever feel truly comfortable and natural around Vanille. And Vanille already has Fang. There is a huge fanbase for that couple, which I also support.
I can write, and am planning to write, a super-long post about how Hope and Lightning should be together, so I won't go too deep in here. But if Vanille takes Hope, then that leaves Lightning with no one - absolutely no one, unless a new character appears and sweeps her off her feet. But like I said before, I don't want that; I don't want any more new characters. Lightning needs to be loved, and at the same time, she needs someone whom she can love. Hope is perfect for her. He used to be a helpless and whiny brat, but look at him now - the ever confident, brilliant, patient, mature, polite, and dangerously attractive leader of The Academy! The writers have polished Hope so much to be worthy enough for Lightning. If given the chance, they could become the ultimate couple of any Final Fantasy series!
But I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high for this game. With a flick of Toriyama's fancy, all my new dreams and expectations could drop dead. It's still very possible. So I'll keep my fingers crossed until I actually see the ending of this game. Until then, I'll let my fantasies run wild.
I will admit, when I first read about Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, I was fuming with rage. If I had posted my thoughts at that point, the text would've been a total meltdown of anger and frustration. Things that ticked me off to no end: Lightning is the ONLY playable character, she wakes up hundreds of years later in a completely different world, absolutely no information was shared concerning the fate of the other characters like Hope and Snow, the game has a time-limit of 13 days, and there's some random monorail connecting the Chaos-surrounded island!? WTF!?
I was really, really mad. My wish to play older!Hope - totally shot down! Would Hope even be alive!? And what about the other characters I came to know and love!? The new plot took such a sudden and unexpected twist that I was left behind in the dust wondering what the hell had happened. I couldn't even sleep that night. I was up for hours trying to sort what little, but utterly confusing information they gave us. I watched the presentation in bed, shaking my head in frustration and sadness at every concept that strayed from my expectations. The only thing that kept me interested in the new game was the idea that Lightning would have 20+ outfits to choose from. I've always wanted to play dress-up with her, so that kept my sanity intact. XD
But I calmed down. As I studied the presentation further, I saw hope in the game. Using story and business logic, I had faith that Hope and the other characters were okay. Toriyama may be crazy, be he isn't stupid enough to throw out every character except Lightning. The story would be hard to tell, and worst of all, the fans would be furious. I held my breath for two days, waiting for more new information to be released on the 4th. Well, I don't think it ever did. XD There they go again, breaking promises like "Versus" all over again. But we did get A LOT of important and world-saving (in my case) announcements in the recent interview by Famitsu.
First off, SE confirmed again that Lightning would have a "happy ending". What kind of happy ending? I'm still scared. (0_0) Second, everyone from XIII-2 is NOT dead!! Due to the Chaos, time has become faulty in the world and people no longer age. I was right on! Even if Lightning spent hundreds of years sleeping as a crystal, the other characters would still be alive because time has been screwed. More than I was proud of myself for getting that one, I was happy that Toriyama had his plot concepts somewhat down. XD And last but not least.... *drumroll*
HOPE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED TO RETURN!!!!
My smexy baby-face is comin' back and apparently he's going to help Lightning throughout the game via a wireless communicator. Gosh, I almost started crying for joy. And it made me so happy that SE confirmed Hope's return and role in the story before any other sub-character. It just shows how popular and important he is. X3 But when I heard about his new role, I immediately thought about Otacon and Snake from "Metal Gear Solid". I wonder if Lightning gets to hide in a box? And if she dies, will Hope be like, "Lightning? Light!? LIIII-GHT!!!"
LOL I'm really having too much fun thinking about their potential interactions. It would be so cute if they did some reminiscing about their past journey together. Even better, Hope could be using the communicator to stalk Lightning. If she gets near another sort-of attractive man, his panicked voice might burst into her ear. XD Probably won't happen, but a girl can fantasize, right? Who knows? Maybe Hope is the one creating all of Lightning's new clothes? And if there was a sexy swimsuit in that package... Oh Hope, you naughty man with literally hundreds of years of hormone buildup~♥.
Back to serious stuff. Yes, Hope is gonna return, but what the heck was he doing all those years while Lightning was a crystal? What was everyone doing? One, they could've been too busy suppressing the Chaos and creating a stable living ground for the survivors. Two, maybe they thought Lightning was dead so they never thought to look for her. During the final battle with Caius, the purple man did lie to Noel and Serah about killing Lightning. Even though Noel called his bluff that time, if Lightning never did show up after the Chaos infected the world, Noel could have later believed that she had indeed been killed. Or three, the Chaos was holding them hostage in some way or form. If that were the case, Lightning would need to go around and save every one of them.
Another main concern of mine is Vanille. If you are a HopeXLightning fan, you must be aware that the main obstacle in the way of your OTP is that energetic, peach-haired girl. Don't get me wrong, I love Vanille. However, I will not tolerate her interference in Hope and Lightning's relationship. If Vanille and Fang are still in their crystal stasis, then I have nothing to worry about. But if they had awoken, that means Hope and Vanille had hundreds of years to start a relationship... No, no, no, no!! That would be my biggest turn-off in the game! I am slightly confident that nothing has blossomed between Hope and Vanille. First of all, the fanbase compared to the behemoth called "ホプライ" is barely a threat. HopeXLight fans outnumber HopeXVanille fans, bar none. I just hope Toriyama is aware of that. Also, older!Hope is just out of the league for Vanille. She's still her young self and now he's much too old for her. She's childish and hyper; he is extremely mature - almost too mature for his age. Yes, they are complete opposites and opposites tend to attract, but they don't mesh right. I don't think Hope would ever feel truly comfortable and natural around Vanille. And Vanille already has Fang. There is a huge fanbase for that couple, which I also support.
I can write, and am planning to write, a super-long post about how Hope and Lightning should be together, so I won't go too deep in here. But if Vanille takes Hope, then that leaves Lightning with no one - absolutely no one, unless a new character appears and sweeps her off her feet. But like I said before, I don't want that; I don't want any more new characters. Lightning needs to be loved, and at the same time, she needs someone whom she can love. Hope is perfect for her. He used to be a helpless and whiny brat, but look at him now - the ever confident, brilliant, patient, mature, polite, and dangerously attractive leader of The Academy! The writers have polished Hope so much to be worthy enough for Lightning. If given the chance, they could become the ultimate couple of any Final Fantasy series!
But I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high for this game. With a flick of Toriyama's fancy, all my new dreams and expectations could drop dead. It's still very possible. So I'll keep my fingers crossed until I actually see the ending of this game. Until then, I'll let my fantasies run wild.