Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII - the Complete Official Guide - Collector's Edition Hardcover – 14 Feb. 2014

First of all, if you are planning on playing Lightning Returns, then get this guide. Trust me, with the odd time progression system in the game, this will be very helpful. The great thing about this guide is that it has excellent detail, and has been organised very well, making it perfect for those looking to complete a large part of the game on the first playthrough.There are some minor problems with the guide though, in terms of layout. Due to the time element in the game, they have taken a well organised approach to compiling the guide, but it isn't exactly user friendly. On a typical playthrough, you'll be using the walkthrough, side quest and main quest pages. The walkthrough isn't long, but covers what you should be doing on each day in decent detail. If you are doing specific side quests then the walkthrough will then reference other parts of the guide (such as pages in the Side Quest or Main Quest sections, or the main quest number), so that you can view a more detailed guide about what it is you need to do. Luckily, the 2 ribbon bookmarks are very handy here when you have to do some referencing on multiple pages in the guide. Another issue is that the maps for each main location isn't printed in the book. Instead, they have been printed on a massive double-sided poster, which can be really frustrating at times.The guide also contains a massive amount of information about the game mechanics, which may be useful for those who don't quite understand the time mechanics in the game, a short 100% (Ultima) walkthrough, and extra section which shows some of the games art, and the free DLC. You'll actually get two DLC codes, one for PSN and one for Xbox Live, so you could actually give the other code away if you wanted.Overall, the guide is excellent, and it will really come in handy when playing such a complex looking game, even if the layout is a little odd...

Another to my collection, really well written and has beautiful art work in it.I really enjoy these companion books as they are very insightful and help with any issues you have in the game. Especially when this particular game requires you to do alot of things in a very short amount of time.

Really a great guide!Great presentation, material, writing and everything else. All you can think of for the game it's there! Altough I find the game mechanics to be a bit strange and that forced the writters to adapt to a diferente kind of Walktrough than the ones from previous tittles.Totally a must buy if you enjoy saving the wolrd with Light! Just don't balme the guide like I did if you find yourself running in the game to achieve the time targets they set for you in the walktrough. I started hating the writer for that, but in the end it only made me try harder and see the game trought the end. Getting to all the places I needed to be, and most importantly IN TIME! :)

I have the collectors edition guides for all three of the XIII games, and this one is good but not as good as the previous two. The main issue I had with this guide was the maps. The maps in the book did not detail the treasure chests, so for exploration you have to pull out this seperate massive poster with all the regions and treasures located on it. It was very large (A3-A2 size?) and awkward to have laid out in front of you while playing the game, so I ended up using the maps online.I'm personally a multi-tasking gamer where I do the main story while completing as many side quests as possible along the way. Unfortunately, this guide caters poorly for that as the main walkthrough of just the main quests is in one chapter, and then all the sub quests are in a different chapter so one has to keep flicking pages back and forth. It might not be an issue for those who just want to do the story, but if you are after an efficient and thorough first playthrough, it might be a bit of a hassle. The guide does make up for this with a number of ribbon bookmarks to keep track.However, the guide is good for other purposes such as hints, tips, a full bestiary, item list and strategies for both first time play through as well as subsequent power playthroughs. I found the bestiary section to be excellent and very detailed, coupled with strategies on how to defeat every enemy with both recommended garb set up and strategies. Also, there is a very succinct table detailing an efficient speed playthrough for after you complete the game at least once, whereby it aims to clear all the main and sub events in half the time. However, this chart assumes that you already know the locations of every quest and how to complete them. The Canvas of Prayers quests are all included in a separate chapter with details on how to complete each of them. In terms of trophy information, I found this guide to be lacking somewhat. However, the game is very easy to get all the trophies/ achievements in about 50-60 hours, so I did not see it as a huge demerit.Overall, this guide is very organised with everything separated into chapters. From a visual perspective, it's all well and good but for multi tasking and being efficient, not so good. The quality of the guide is excellent, the collectors edition also includes a few extra tidbits on the story like the previous games. It's also very good at easing in first timers, especially with the mechanics and gameplay being very different from it's prequels or any other FF.Quality: 5/5Strategies: 5/5Efficiency: 3/5Maps: 2/5Data (quests, items, monsters etc.): 5/5Worth the purchase: For collectors, yes. For trophy hunters and those who just want to complete the game, online guides will suffice.

i am giving this guide a 5/5 because it is very detailed and also very helpful in a tough and tricky situation. I would recommend this guide to anyone who has brought and/or is playing Lightning Returns Final Fantasy 13. The key features in the guide which i found very helpful is the way it is presented and the layout of the guide is remarkable it's easy to find what you need and warns you off any spoilers which you may or may not face. Overall this is one of the best guides around.

Another good entry from square, loved it.

I had played this game for about 20+ hours when I first got it and failed miserably, by the end of the 7th day I hadn't completed enough tasks or beaten the 3 compulsory story lines to advance further in the game and received a 'game over'. Buying this guide made my second play through SO MUCH EASIER. I would definitely recommend getting this guide because it helps you use your time very well which is one of the most important things to do in completing this game!