Some of the alternate tracks have more substantial changes, mostly taken from cutscenes in the game. “Death Game (Synthesizer Ver.)” is a bit better, trading the harder rock elements of the original for synthesizers, but the structure and overall atmosphere of the track is identical to the original, so it’s not really a big deal. Tracks like “High Voltage (Game Ver.)” and “Dead Dunes (Live Edit Ver.)” feel very redundant, having such minute changes that they just come off as repeats. The use of the Overclock sound is a nice dramatic touch, and although it doesn’t come close to surpassing the original, its at least not as pointless as the later “Lightning Returns (Aggressive Mix)”, which only features that opening percussion for its duration. Once it launches into the melody, it’s a bit of a reduced variation on it, and before the track really gets to go anywhere, it finishes with a new outro. This track mainly features an extended introduction focusing on percussion. Opening the album is a trailer version of “Lightning Returns”. The album includes a number of alternate versions of tracks from the original soundtrack.
FINAL FANTASY XIII OST PLUS DOWNLOAD SERIES
It doesn’t help that the Lightning Returns soundtrack was one of the weaker entries in the series to begin with, making for a supplementary album that is largely lacklustre. These PLUS releases have drawn criticism for not presenting enough worthwhile material, and that criticism applies to this album as well.
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Original Soundtrack PLUS is a supplement to the original soundtrack for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, containing some alternate versions of songs amongst other tracks that didn’t make it into the original soundtrack release.
Final Fantasy XIII -Lightning Returns- Original Soundtrack PLUS