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Community reviews spotlight: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, BioShock Infinite, War of the Vikings, and more

Lightning Returns: Final-Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII series hero, Lightning.

Image Credit: Square Enix

We love highlighting the work our community does over in GamesBeat Unfiltered, the section of our site where readers can submit their own stories. We see a lot of interesting stuff, but it’s clear that few articles are more popular than the good, old-fashioned review.

This time, we take a look at some of the interesting critiques you have offered, such as a philosophical shooter (BioShock Infinite) and a creativity-inspiring playground (Minecraft Pocket Edition).

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Enjoy the reviews, and please keep them coming! If you don’t know how to write for us, just head over to our “About” page. It tells you how to make your own account and get you submitting your own stories to GamesBeat Unfiltered. We edit your best work and put them on the front page. You may also see them in spotlights like this.


A girl named Luka …
By Justin Davis

“Few games manage to enthrall me as completely as Lightning Returns did; I couldn’t stop playing until I had consumed all the content it contained. While I greatly enjoyed just about everything about the game, what really impressed me about Lightning Returns was its world.”


War of the Vikings: Historical, challenging combat
By Benton Frisse

“The game’s unique gameplay mechanics and customization options can allow the player to play with what weapons and style feel most comfortable to them. The game offers a challenging player-vs.-player environment that can hook the player for hours of endless fun.”


Above: The beautiful world of Columbia from BioShock Infinite.

Image Credit: Irrational Games

Goodnight, Irene: How a second playthrough changed my opinion of Bioshock Infinite
By Rocky Linderman

My opinion of Infinite would change dramatically after playing through it a second time. The major difference was that this time, I knew what to expect. This wasn’t going to be an exact sequel to BioShock — this would be a different experience all together.”


A young father’s Minecraft Pocket Edition confessions
By John Svennson

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It’s almost mind-boggling to see my younger self (my son) being glued for hours to the iPad playing the same game I’ve previously turned down. I felt more or less forced to at least give the little man a try and let him make me understand what the hive is all about.”