This game is without a doubt, my favourite in the XIII trilogy.

This game made me fall in love with the XIII trilogy after a difficult and rocky first playthrough of the first game.

The gameplay for me is solid - they significantly improve the battle system of XIII, as well as adding the Historia Crux - making the game a little less linear and making it more "chapter based" for lack of a better term.

Noel, Caius and Yeul are all very welcome additions to the cast and I honestly adore them. Caius in particular is a fantastic villain in my opinion, and Liam O Brien does a perfect voice for him. I recognise the story for this game isn't exactly "well written", but I personally couldn't care less, for me it was not only entertaining, but emotional, and really made me care for Serah in particular. The box art for this game is of course misleading - this game is Serah's story, and while Lightning does play a part in it, she is absent for the majority of the game.

The ending is truly crushing but delicious, and gets you super hyped for Lightning Returns.