In playing through the dying world of Lightning Returns, you are constantly reminded that the population is on the fast train to doom town. Guards in one of the cities are always telling you how many people have been killed on any particular day, and most of the dialog serves to remind you that A: no new life has been born for half a millennium, and B: you're not going to save everybody, because you ain't got that kind of time. It's like a peak inside Sean Penn's soul; everything is coming from a dark, tortured place of pain and inner torment. The twist? It's also happening to the monsters.
And this is awesome.
In just about every RPG that's RPGed enough to RPG, there is an unlimited supply of bad guys for you to kill. Generally, this happens at random moments when you're not in one of the handful of safe locations of any given game. Sometimes you can turn this mechanic off, as in the still-superb-so-far Bravely Default. Most of the time, though, it's one random battle after the next in a death march from one boss battle to another (and I say that because I care).
Lightning Returns, though, is in a world where death is a real thing, and it's gonna happen soon. How can there be an infinite amount of floating evil flowers when nothing is being born? Answer, there isn't. Creatures can go extinct if you kill enough of them, ending with a climactic battle with a super powered neon pink omega beast that will make you remember its kin upon shedding that mortal coil. Of course it's all very video game-y in that it can all be tied to a late game quest and that killing these last-of-their-name foes yields high rewards, but man, what a cool concept. It's not only a nice touch that ties in this cockeyed world a little better, but it's one of the most elegantly unique game features I've seen in a game like this in a long, long time.
If only the rest of the game was so thoughtful. We'll come back to that, though. For now, I have to endanger some cyclops.
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