* AccidentalInnuendo: "One day, the light touched me." from trailers. That it's the character herself saying it doesn't change the fact the main protagonist's nickname is "Light".
* AnnoyingVideoGameHelper: Hope's prompts can get very repetitive very quickly. His warnings that it's almost time to come back to the Ark in particular will grate, as he alerts you every 15 in-game minutes, which amounts to about a minute or two in real time before he chimes in to let you know time is almost up.
* ArcFatigue: The ''XIII'' trilogy as a whole has very mixed fan reception owing to its MindScrew KudzuPlot and pretty much its entire cast being {{Base Breaking Character}}s, and ''XIII-2'' had a DownerEnding to a ShaggyDogStory where [[TheBadGuyWins Caius won]]. Coupled with ''XIII'' and Lightning in particular dominating the ''Final Fantasy'' brand for the five years the trilogy rolled out, and the result is that some fans just didn't care to see the trilogy be completed. As an indicator, ''XIII-2'' had much lower sales than ''XIII'' (around half as many, at best), and this game [[http://www.siliconera.com/2013/11/27/lightning-returns-lowest-opening-sales-final-fantasy-xiii-game barely achieved]] half of ''that'' number.
* BestKnownForTheFanservice: A case of it working against the game. Many of Lightning's more revealing outfits resemble bikinis, and they got a lot of negative attention since she spent the first two games with a rather underplayed sexuality and it now seemed out-of-character for her to wear such things.
* BrokenBase:
** Either the game being called ''Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII'' is a fitting title considering the change in gameplay style from ''XIII'' and ''XIII-2'', or it's [[{{Narm}} narmtastic]] and should've just been called ''Final Fantasy XIII-3''.
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud's costume and Buster Sword]] being DLC. Some appreciate the [[PanderingToTheBase fan service]], whilst others are declaring that it's heresy that Lightning is able to cosplay as Cloud[[note]]Even though "female Cloud" is [[OlderThanTheyThink largely how she was described in the original game]][[/note]].
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Aerith's iconic pink dress]] as DLC. Similar to the above mentioned Cloud DLC, some see it as a very nice nod and reference that they [[Creator/MaayaSakamoto share the same voice actress]], while others think that ''one'' outfit from VII was more than enough and this one could've been left out.
** The changes the English dub made to the dialogue in the game's final boss fight and ending caused no small amount of ire on Website/{{Tumblr}} and folks who watched the Japanese release of the game before it was released in the West, with opinion split on whether it's a {{Woolseyism}} or if too much was LostInTranslation.
** The reduced role of Caius left many bitter and annoyed since he went from the strongest villain in the franchise, to a minor one bit boss [[spoiler:who shows up in the ending to simply "die", even if he does become a guardian god to all the Yeuls]]. Those who disliked him, however, are happy his role was reduced and that he [[KarmaHoudiniWarranty finally received punishment for his actions]] after getting away with everything in the previous game.
* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:In the [[DubPersonalityChange English dub]], the cruel perfectionist [[DemiurgeArchetype Bhunivelze]] lacks any potential redeeming qualities. The GreaterScopeVillain of the ''XIII'' trilogy, [[GodIsEvil Bhunivelze]] takes centre stage in the finale seeking to create a New World for humanity to inhabit as his puppets. To this end, Bhunivelze cut out [[Characters/FinalFantasyXIIILightning Lightning]]'s emotions and tortured and tormented Hope until his mind broke, reverting him to a teenage body to better manipulate Lightning. Using Vanille as a medium to commune with and summon the souls of the dead, Bhunivelze seeks to sacrifice her to initiate the [[CessationOfExistence Soulsong to destroy these souls]], which in turn will erase the memories of the dead from the still living whom he can then mould them as he sees fit. Bhunivelze also plans to force Lightning to become the new Goddess of Death to ensure balance in his new world, and when Lightning manages to defy him, he is so enraged he almost destroys the New World and all of humanity with it.]]
* ContestedSequel: To a higher degree than ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'', given the ArcFatigue, the changes in the battle system (and Lightning being the only playable character) and because you have to beat (most of) the game under a time-limit. On the other side of the base, fans liked the new battle system, the sense of urgency given by the in-game clock, the variety of customization options for Lightning, and the much happier ending compared to the previous game's EverybodyDiesEnding.
* DemonicSpiders:
** The Dryads, who love to split into four and then gleefully spam Aerora at you in unison. The other demon-type enemies count are just as bad.
** The Meonekton, which was once a pitifully weak monster in ''XIII-2'', [[TookALevelInBadass is now an obnoxious pain in the ass]] to fight: It's difficult to successfully stagger, and it loves spamming high-powered "Force Darts" at you.
** The Chocobo Eater and its big cousin, the Earth Eater. They have a ton of HP, can inflict debilitating statuses on you, have no elemental weaknesses to pick on, and can deal massive damage with their attacks, enough to kill a high-level Lightning if not Guarded against.
* DifficultySpike: Saved for the very end. If you're playing on Easy, you can beat all of the main quest bosses and some very tough monsters by debuffing and bashing them. You can beat the first three stages of the final boss the same way. However, this strategy has no effect on the final stage of the final boss, and to beat it you need to be good at Staggering... which you may not be, if debuffing and bashing have been doing the job for so long.
* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: Or more accurately, "Enjoy the Quests, Skip the Battles." Lightning's stats increase by doing quests, not by winning battles. Fighting enemies does not actually improve your character, and thus battles can seem a distraction when you're running around doing quests and keep getting hounded by random encounters. This is also another game with MoneyForNothing eventually comes up, thus your reasons for fighting enemies usually end up abstracting down to "you need to farm drop items required for a quest" or "you need to recover EP to use Chronostasis so you have more time to do quests." This is exacerbated by the Last Ones mechanic, which lets you permanently exterminate an enemy type so they stop appearing, thus you get to the point where enemies stop showing up anyway.
* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ff13_glove.jpg Clove]], a dog Lighning has to find on one sidequest, is a rather (in)famous because of the [[SpecialEffectFailure lack of polygons in her character model]].
** Hope's handkerchief got a lot of attention for being a new detail on his outfit.
* EvilIsCool: For a given value of "evil", anyway -- most who play the game agree that Lumina is a very amusing and interesting antagonist. [[spoiler:The interpretation that she's Lightning's childhood character traits that she cast away also endears her to many.]]
* FanNickname: ''Final Fantasy XIII-3'' (which was trademarked by Square Enix before the game's actual name was announced).
* GameBreaker: [[GameBreaker/FinalFantasyXIIITrilogy Here]].
* GeniusBonus: Lumina's name very clearly foreshadows her true nature to people familiar with the root languages involved. Lumina is the plural form of lumen, the Latin word for light. [[spoiler:It's easy to forget since it's only mentioned twice over three games, but Lightning's real name is Claire, which is French for light. So Lumina's name literally means "multiple lights", and she's an aspect of Lightning given form.]]
* GoddamnedBoss: The FinalBoss' last phase is more annoying than hard, because he can only be properly damaged when staggered. His stagger meter not only requires a great amount of damage to fill, but also resets very fast if you don't keep up the pace. Also, if you didn't bring the right garbs and abilities, expect to retry the entire fight multiple times.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** Lightning is now a god-like being, guiding people's souls to a new world. And her nickname just happens to be [[Manga/DeathNote Light]].
** A sidequest detailed that, amongst many of the exploits that the Shadow Hunter, aka Noel, had done, one included him sneaking into the headquarters of the local mega Church, and left a note on their pillow while they slept. This was one of the many things attributed to the legendary real life [[UsefulNotes/TheHashshashin Assassins]]. An [[http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-18/art/ff13-2-noel-ezio.jpg Assassin Noel Kreiss]]. [[note]]Source: FFXIII-2 DLC[[/note]]
* LesYay: Fang and Vanille may have even more subtext than they did in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''. For example, the Datalog describes them as having "bonds beyond those of family."
* MagnificentBitch: [[spoiler:Lumina is a mischievous young girl who uses her powers to cause trouble in the dying world, usually by [[ItAmusedMe pranking people for her own amusement]]. Over repeated encounters with Lightning, Lumina will [[WildCard variably help her or sabotage her]] as it suits her, and talks her into realizing that Bhunivelze cannot be trusted and is lying to her. It gradually becomes apparent that Lumina is manipulating Lightning and her friends to help her save their souls, and to turn Lightning against Bhunivelze and figure out his true goals. In the end, Lumina achieves everything she wanted--Lightning and her friends are saved, Bhunivelze's plans are thwarted, and Lumina herself is revealed to be [[EnemyWithout the inner weakness that Lightning has been suppressing]], and Lightning accepts her back into herself with as the two embrace.]]
* MemeticMutation:
** While some people dislike Hope's new design, they love his handkerchief.
** Blasted fuckball! [[note]]From the [=GamesCom=] trailer, when Sazh actually says "blasted fluffball!" when Chocolina flies around in his face.[[/note]]
** Meow meow choco-chow. [[note]]A sidequest involves Lightning speaking this phrase to several chocobo-costumed women. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments She gets more and more annoyed and embarrassed each time she says it.]][[/note]]
** The game's title is sometimes reinterpreted to mean that [[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Lightning]] [[IncrediblyLamePun returns]] a copy of ''Final Fantasy XIII''.
** Built for sex [[note]]A sarcastic comment used to criticize Lighting's complete lack of curves and a rear end (and Toriyama for liking it), despite certain outfits exposing a great deal of her body.[[/note]]
** [[ShapedLikeItself Destiny is destiny]].[[note]]One of Lightning's win quotes that become a meme in the WebVideo/TwoBestFriendsPlay community.[[/note]]
** Using "Lightning" as a derogatory FanNickname for characters in other series perceived to be a CreatorsPet or get [[AdoredByTheNetwork unnecessary]] [[CharacterShilling favoritism]], especially if they're subject to fanservice tropes or a romance option for the AuthorAvatar.
* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
** That glass-shattering sound effect whenever an [[GameBreaker Artemis' Arrow]] attack connects.
** Similarly, the basic stagger 'shock' where most enemies reel back, and Lightning gets to go to town on them.
* {{Narm}}:
** From the Japan Expo trailer: "One day, the light touched me."
** The {{Samurai}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlTz2npAK8k pre-order armor costume]] certainly [[RuleOfCool looks awesome]] on Lightning. Problem is, the fancy way she sheathes her weapon when wearing this suit ends up looking absolutely ridiculous because ''there is no scabbard.'' So she's basically sheathing her blade into thin air.
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPAUoCH1A90 Game Over caused by the end of the world]] would be actually good if it weren't so anticlimatic. It lasts less than twenty seconds and it is followed by "And so the world ends." Contrast this with the [[https://youtu.be/bentKmuV9Vg?t=305 comparable scene from]] ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', which was made over a decade previously on a much more primitive console, and yet does a far better job of depicting an apocalypse.
** The ending of the "Get The Girl" sidequest could have been a real {{Tearjerker}} except that [[spoiler:Lackley's voice actor (at least in English) ''hilariously'' [[ChewingTheScenery overacts his anguished reaction]] to hearing of Philiana's death, complete with a truly cringeworthy BigNo that gives Darth Vader a run for his money.]]
*** He sounded just shy of falling-down-drunk, though, and especially if you have any personal experience with alcoholic loved ones, then his obvious impairment lends the whole situation an uncomfortable and pitiable, even tragic, light.
** Did you pick your default garb by "Will this be good for starting a fight?" instead of "Will this look dignified in cutscenes about the fate of souls?" Did your tactical preferences come in a {{Stripperiffic}} wrapper? Then this trope.
** A lot of the sidequests' conclusions fall into this. The first time the shocking twist in the end is that the person some PlotCoupon belonged to is long dead, it's sad. The fortieth time it happens, it's plain hilarious. Considering that out of over 60 quests, [[OverlyLongGag over 50 end this way...]]
** The message on the last loading screen in the game loses some dramatic impact by containing a typo:
--> ... his new world will be populated only '''be''' the ideal humans.
** The Last One enemies are bright fuchsia. Not "they have a fuchsia aura," not "they're tinted fuchsia." The entire enemy [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/3/3b/LRFFXIII_Skeleton_Last_One.png/revision/latest?cb=20131029124510 is recolored bright pink]]. Depending on your tastes, an epic moment - facing down the last enemy of its genus to exterminate them from the world - is either still epic regardless, the color choice is 'interesting' but the enemy's dead anyway, or is ruined by how absurd they look. All weapons dropped by them share their color scheme as well, equally capable of fulfilling either of the above.
** Some of the weapons can get rather... odd during cutscenes. Since Lightning wears whatever main garb and weapon you have equipped at that point, it can hurt the intended mood of awesomeness with Lighting menacingly brandishing and then slashing people down with say, Yuna's staff.
** A number of trophy descriptions are excessively wordy and typically feel like a teenager wrote them thinking that they're cool. Odds are most people past such years will find them the opposite.
* NoYay: In the Japanese version of [[spoiler:the final boss fight]], some of his dialogue with Lightning is [[StalkerWithACrush rather suggestive]]. [[spoiler:He's also saying all this in Hope's voice.]] These lines were mostly excised from the English dub.
* ObviousJudas: [[spoiler:Bhunivelze is the BigBad. The fact he's a villain should be very obvious to anyone who has read the lore in past games about what he and his children have done, and also, ''Final Fantasy'' very rarely depicts divine beings as benevolent and almost always reveals them to be evil. This makes the reveal quite predictable.]]
* PolishedPort:
** The PC version of ''Lightning Returns'' runs very well, and has a host of options for revamped lighting and shading. Originally, the entire XIII trilogy was supposed to come out on PC around the same time. The reactions to the [[PortingDisaster first two games]] likely lead to this one being delayed by about a year and being outsourced to [[Creator/TriAce a company that knew what they were doing]], and subsequently being handled much better.
** Like the 2 preceding games in the trilogy, the game got a 4K enhancement patch on Xbox One X and a 60 FPS boost patch on Series X/S, leading it to run at a higher base resolution and frame rate than it did on 360 or [=PS3=].
* ScrappyMechanic: [[ScrappyMechanic/FinalFantasy Here.]]
* SequelDifficultyDrop: Perfect use of Guard abilities allows one to nullify many damaging attacks (though not all of them, and it takes practice), many enemies can just be avoided if the player isn't up to fighting them, preemptive strikes start the enemy off with a 25% or 10% HP loss right off the bat, and most battles are only against one or two enemies making them easy to manage. The right garb and equipment combinations also allow you to rapidly deal large amounts of damage while being almost immune to damage yourself.
* SequelDifficultySpike: On the other hand, battles in this game are more reliant on fast reactions and precise timing than in the previous two games. If you can't consistently perform the Perfect Guards mentioned above, then Easy Mode may be for you.
* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: Ali Hillis had been a well-received voice actress for years, but this game solidified her acting abilities as being one of the best in the industry. In between many roles where she was openly emotive and charismatic, there was Lightning who was always known for her reserved voice. In this game, she shows off how she can make the reserved voice of Lightning come off with just as much impactful emotion as her more openly emotional roles.
* SpiritualSuccessor: This game has a lot in common with the ''Videogame/ValkyrieProfile'' series. In addition to an overall time limit that can be depleted by taking various actions, Lightning has a decidedly Valkyrie motif, and uses the four face buttons for different attacks during battle.
* ThatOneAchievement: Expert Craftsman is a pain, since it requires you to upgrade 30 head accessories. To do that, you have to reacquire said head accessories on another playthrough, and quite a few are dropped by Last Ones. This can take two full playthroughs to get.
* ThatOneBoss:
** May Bhunivelze have mercy on you if you take too long to fight [[spoiler:Noel and Snow. After the 7th day, [[ThatOneBoss Noel]] will have his stats increased, represented by a "+" next to his name; the same with Snow after the 5th day, but he takes the cake by having a "++" after the 10th day. Though he does [[MrFanservice tear off his shirt]] for this form...]]
** While [[spoiler:Caius doesn't get a boost if you wait to fight him, he's just as annoying as ever, retaining almost his entire arsenal from the previous game ''in addition to powerful physical element attacks''.]] Luckily he doesn't get Re-Raise this time.
* ThatOneLevel: The Temple of Chaos can be very annoying. Lightning suffers a constant HP loss on every difficulty above Easy, and it is full of platforming jumps, some of which allow you to fall to the bottom of the room, and some of which allow you to fall ''all the way to the bottom of the level.'' The falls won't hurt her, but when the entire game is a TimedMission, every lost second hurts.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: What really caused ire was the fact that in this game, fighting random battles does not give you any experience points. The only way to increase your stats is to do tons and tons of {{Side Quest}}s which devolve into {{Fetch Quest}}s and hunting for TwentyBearAsses over and over again. One let's player noted that this system combined with the time system demands that the player somehow grind while avoiding grinding. Compounding this, as Yahtzee pointed out, is that with the worlds so big and massive and the fetch quests having almost no way to find them out aside from talking to EVERY single person to find out, that precious time gets wasted to do a quest that Lightning may not be strong enough to complete. The only reason to get into fights is to either find a RareRandomDrop, grind gil, or replenish EP. However, it should be noted that if you want better skills, you need to do a lot of skill-fusion, which require you to hunt a lot of monsters since most of them drop skills upon death.
* UnexpectedCharacter: Was ''anyone'' expecting [[spoiler:''Cid Raines'' to make a surprise appearance as the representative of the dead souls in Chaos?]]
* UnintentionallySympathetic: ''Yeul''. While she's certainly responsible for [[spoiler:messing up Caius with the heart of Chaos]], it's also AllThereInTheManual that her various reincarnations have faced incredible amounts of loneliness and AbusiveParents, from a hateful mother who resented Yeul after she was born of a one-night stand to another reincarnation's entire family refusing to even so much as ''speak'' to her - all of it meaning Caius is often the only person she has who loves her. With that in mind, it's hard to wholly blame her for the situations that come about.
* VindicatedByHistory: While the game was met with a polarizing to negative reception on launch, it has interestingly gained a more positive legacy as time passed. Many fans acknowledge the gameplay as a whole to be highly engaging and distinct for this franchise.
----