Playarts Kai: Lightning Dissidia NT/FFXIII

The female Cloud? Is she real? Or Just our Fantasy?

Here is the next #Playarts_Kai in my collection for this year: Dissidia NT's Lightning Playarts Kai! I've been off and on about buying this wonderful piece, but in the end, I caved in. So is she as grand as her in-game counterpart has made herself to be? Let's get to my review.

Much like the previous Playarts Kai/Final Fantasy figure(Noctis) I reviewed, Claire Farron is a 30th anniversary homage of the franchise as shown by the box. Pretty much the same idea with the nice picture of the figure and a tribute to the game this figure is based on. Since this is a Dissida product, it features said title and not FFXIII. But it does show some love for Lightning's original game at one side of the box.

More nice images of the figure on the back of the box. A lot of these promotional images I have seen before and I like how they replicate some of Lightning's famous wallpapers from FFXIII's introduction. These pics also requires stands that... well, you now, Playarts Kai doesn't have. I also had a terrible time getting the window box to show since the 'cover' of the box is far more unforgiving than Noctis'.

When it comes to accessories, once again Playarts Kai has a hard time selling me on the idea that this is enough. We get her gun blade in different forms: as the blade itself, as the gun, and then we get a part for the weapon so it can be sheathed. She gets two pair of hands and one right hand for a trigger hand. Again, nothing spectacular in terms of numbers, but at least it's not that horrible. Alternate faces and special effect would do well for Playarts Kai.

Right off the get go, we are once again graced with Playarts Kai's amazing aesthetics when it comes to Final Fantasy designs that are unique, busy, convoluted, and sometimes (more times than some, actually) a bit impractical. Lightning is not the worst offender in those areas, but she has her own set of complications; on that topic, this is most definitely my favorite costume for Lightning.

There is a lot of sculpting and molding done just to replicate all the things that go with Claire's costume. Pouches, straps, arm bands, etc., are all carefully sculpted, which could have all easily been given the shortcut treatment, but we are talking about a higher-end figure, so for all the sculpted details not to be there would be a disservice. There are several differences in material; harder plastic to softer are everywhere, and I'm really happy that they made her "cape" the way it is.

Her outfit is also not a symmetrical one, so I'm glad that it translated well into Playarts form. Also, I love her hair. It's sculpted to accurately portray how she looked during her FFXIII and Dissidia appearances. The sone shoulder pads, the gloves, the wrinkles on her attire, it's impressive, that much is certain.

Beyond Lightning’s already complicated design, Play Arts Kai still delivered some impressive paintwork on her. Everything is accurate, sharp, and very clean. The clothing and accessories are painted well enough to show the right textures — leather looks like leather, metal looks like metal, and so on.

Her hair isn’t as shiny as in the game, but it still works. The skin tone is the weakest part for me — it has that doll-like shade — but it isn’t bad. At least there’s some decent shadowing on her bare skin.

As usual with Play Arts Kai, accessories are pretty limited. At least the ones Claire comes with are very faithful to her in-game look. You get the sheathed weapon (as shown), plus both the gun and blade versions. Squall, eat your heart out. Funny enough, I don’t think she actually uses the gun mode in Dissidia NT, but I could be wrong since I don’t play her much.

As long as she has alternate hands and an accurate weapon, I can’t complain too much. Still, alternate faces or expressions would make a big difference. And a proper stand would help too.

As for articulation, it’s pretty much the same as my other Play Arts Kai figures. Due to the joint engineering and clothing design, posing Lightning can look pretty awkward. She’s poseable, but her aesthetics suffer quite a bit when you move her around.

My main gripe is still the ankle joints — they’re really frustrating, same issue I had with Noctis. I really hope Terra doesn’t have the same problem (Espers, heed my call!). The foot swivel is a nice touch, though, and her cape has a joint that lets it move up and down. Unfortunately, the soft material doesn’t always follow the poses well.

Other than that, it’s the usual Play Arts Kai experience with all the bends and swivels.

Believe it or not, I was a huge fan of Lightning at one point. I own THREE Playarts Kai of Lightning. The first Playarts Kai of hers I bought was, I believe, the first batches of Kai, and I kept that inside the box (for some reason) and never opened it. But here's my new Lightning next to her older, Knight of Etro version. And yes, there is a significant difference in height. Both are very detailed, but both have the same articulation issues. The Dissidia NT version's face is more accurate to her in-game appearance and sharper, but the Knight of Etro one isn't that bad either.

At the end of the day, I’m happy with my purchase. I still stand by the fact that Play Arts Kai has a lot of room for improvement. If they keep having these glaring issues, they should consider lowering the price point just a bit. A few extra bucks off could make a big difference for collectors who are hesitant to buy their figures.

Other than that, Lightning is beautiful, her accessories pay good tribute to her in-game look, and she looks great on my shelf. I can recommend her to anyone willing to look past the issues and the high price tag.

Until Next Time!