Final Fantasy XIII[b] is a 2009 role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles and later for Windows (in 2014).

The former soldier Lightning begins her fight against the government in order to save her sister who has been branded as an unwilling servant to a god-like being from Pulse, making her an enemy of Cocoon.

[8] The Final Fantasy XIII Ultimate Hits International version of the game, released in Japan, also contains an "Easy" mode option.

[22] If the l'Cie complete their task in time, they are transformed to crystal and according to legend gain eternal life; otherwise they become mindless monsters called Cie'th /siːθ/.

[26] The Sanctum oversees two military branches: the Guardian Corps, responsible for keeping order on Cocoon, and the Public Security and Intelligence COMmand (PSICOM), the special forces in charge of dealing with any threat related to Pulse.

[28] The six main playable characters of Final Fantasy XIII are Lightning (Ali Hillis/Maaya Sakamoto), the main protagonist of the game, a former soldier and older sister to Serah;[29][30] Snow Villiers (Troy Baker/Daisuke Ono), Serah's fiancé and leader of NORA, a paramilitary group;[31] Oerba Dia Vanille (Georgia van Cuylenburg/Yukari Fukui), the game's narrator and an exile who is later revealed to be a l'Cie from Pulse;[32] Sazh Katzroy (Reno Wilson/Masashi Ebara), a civilian pilot and father to a young boy, Dajh; Hope Estheim (Vincent Martella/Yūki Kaji), a young boy who is struggling within the relationships he shares with his parents;[33] and Oerba Yun Fang (Rachel Robinson/Mabuki Andou), a l'Cie from Pulse who is working with the Sanctum's Cavalry branch.

On the Palamecia, the other members of the party reunite with Vanille and Sazh before they confront Galenth Dysley, the Sanctum's Primarch, who is the Cocoon fal'Cie ruler Barthandelus in disguise.

[42] Barthandelus tells the party that their Focus is to transform into the beast Ragnarok and slay the sleeping fal'Cie Orphan, who keeps Cocoon afloat above Pulse.

[43] Vanille and Fang reveal to the party that they were involved in the War of Transgression centuries earlier, and that their Focus then had been the same: to transform into Ragnarok and attempt to destroy Orphan.

The rest of the party awaken from their crystallization on Pulse and find their l'Cie brands gone; Lightning, Hope, Snow and Sazh reunite with Serah and Dajh.

[49] In March 2006, when the structural part of the narrative started to come together, lead scenario writer Daisuke Watanabe joined the team.

Toriyama gave him a rough outline of the first eight chapters, which included several cornerstone scenes that needed to be kept, like when party members were separated or reunited.

For example, he felt that the party should not have a "reliable and calm leader type" at the beginning of the story, in order to more accurately show the confusion and unease after the protagonists transform into l'Cie.

The system stemmed from a desire to create battles similar to those found in the film Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

Together with the maximum of three characters in a combat situation, the groupings of enemies were designed to force the player to switch Paradigms to keep them engaged in the battles.

[51][66] His guideline to Nomura was to make her "strong and beautiful", and she was intended to be reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII's Cloud Strife.

[68] The graphics capabilities of the PS3 and Xbox 360 compared to previous consoles allowed Nomura to use more complex elements in the character designs than before, such as Lightning's cape and detailed facial features.

[69] Unlike previous games in the series which were more inspired by Asian locations and culture, Final Fantasy XIII was intended by the art team to be reminiscent of the United States.

[71] Art director Isamu Kamikokuryo revealed that many additional scenarios such as Lightning's home, which were functioning in an unreleased build during development, were left out of the final version due to concerns about the game's length and volume.

[86][87] For Life Music published a single of the theme song for the Japanese version of the game, "Kimi ga Iru Kara" (君がいるから, "Because You're Here"), in 2009.

[92] It was re-released again in November 2013, as part of the Lightning Ultimate box, a Japan exclusive edition which includes Final Fantasy XIII and its two sequels.

A limited quantity of themed Xbox faceplates created by Nomura were made available through a select few retailers in Europe, North America, and Australia.

PAL territories received a limited collector's edition of the game for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with the Final Fantasy XIII Original Sound Selection "best of" soundtrack CD, three Eidolon art prints, a Brand of the l'Cie decal and The World of Final Fantasy XIII, a hardback book featuring character artwork, CG-rendered artwork, and environments from across the game production.

[13] While critics generally praised Square Enix's attempt to revitalize the Final Fantasy series formula, many reacted negatively to the linear nature of the game, especially in the first ten chapters on Cocoon,[109][122] an issue which many felt was compounded by the large reduction of towns, free-roaming capabilities, and interaction with non-player characters.

[123] GamePro described the gameplay as "a long hallway toward an orange target symbol on your mini-map that triggers a cutscene, a boss fight, or both",[123] and 1UP.com criticized the linear aspect as the game's "biggest shortcoming", and felt the first section was "superficial".

[111] In contrast, reviewers from GamesRadar and Computer and Video Games appreciated the linear nature; the former opined that "the streamlined, focused structure eliminates potential tedium without dumbing anything down",[12] while the latter felt it was "a clever move",[110] and kept the player from being "[bogged] down with mundane number crunching, [and] finicky and repetitive leveling-up".

[111][121][122] Edge noted that while it did not do enough to make up for the opening chapters, at Gran Pulse the game "hits a sweet spot" as the narrative offers "hunting side-quests and the simple joy of exploring to see what visual marvel is around the next corner".

[127] Square Enix released a Windows port of the game in October 2014, where it was met with a more negative critical reception than the original versions.

The game begins three years after the events of Final Fantasy XIII, and features Serah and newcomer Noel as the main protagonists.

[148] Toriyama said in the Ultimania Omega companion book prior to XIII-2's announcement that he hoped to write a story "where Lightning ends up happy", though at the time Square Enix had no plans to make a sequel.