Final Fantasy XIII - Playstation 3

A bit of background on me: I fell in love with the first Final Fantasy back in 1990 when it was released on the NES. I was 9 years old, and the game simply blew my mind. I've played through it at least 30 times subsequently in its various incarnations, and I've played through FFIV at least 20 times. VI was wonderful, and I consider VII and VIII both excellent but perhaps not quite as refined as the previous entries. IX was thoroughly charming, but didn't exactly push the series forward. Every Final Fantasy game released in the PS2 era was a relative disappointment. X had cornball characters and some serious storyline issues, not to mention a childishly simple battle system. On the other hand, X-2 boasted greatly improved combat but was brought down by a spastic play structure and motifs that would only appeal to adolescent girls. XII started strong and gave me great hope for a revival of the series, but the story became increasingly hard to follow, especially during periods when cut scenes could be several hours apart. The open ended gameplay of that title was simply not compatible with the linear narrative style that its developers excel at crafting Enter FFXIII. From the experiences I had with recent titles in the series as well as by the reviews I'd been reading, I was not expecting much. I bought the game out of my sheer loyalty to the early roots of the series. Throughout the first few hours of my initial playthrough, I did find the linearity troubling. The combat struck me as rather simplistic and the screen seemed a little cluttered. Upon hitting chapter 3 however, those feelings quickly eroded. Here, the game begins presenting you with customization options which allow the battles to become progressively more strategic as time goes on. I quickly found myself adapting to the gameplay style, which has a much faster pace than previous entries in the series. I heartily disagree with any reviewer who claims that there is no complexity to be found in the game's battle system--in fact, I seriously doubt that these people even made it to the 3rd chapter. Another interesting thing to note is that, unlike nearly every other rpg, the farther you progress in FFXIII, the more challenging it becomes, which in my book is a tremendous achievement in this genre. This is partially due to a progressively increasing experience cap, which largely eliminates the benefit of grinding through repetitive battles. The gameplay here has been streamlined in many ways. The boring and repetitious actions that I have grown accustomed to spending thousands of hours on since the beginning of my rpg days have been largely removed: No more false sense of freedom, which generally does little more than require one to walk back and forth scanning every inch an area; no more ten minutes of backtracking at a fork in the road because you chose the path leading to the next area instead of the treasure chest; no more having to click through 10 screens of sub menus in order to heal after battle; no more having to micromanage the process of exploiting enemy weaknesses and choosing the right buffs and debuffs. Because of the cumbersome and inefficient nature of these tactics, I find it easier in most rpgs to level up a bit and wack everything to death with melee attacks. Here, you play as a general instead of a solider, where the fun lies in pre-battle planning and the issuance of strategic directives throughout each battle. This is a fresh and richly engaging experience for those of us willing to embrace change. The storyline: I'm hearing a lot of criticism about these characters. What I'd suggest is that those with a problem simply go back to playing American games and stop judging what is completely normal to all forms of Japanese media. These characters, although emotional, are very much human, and the story is actually far better developed and executed than any other Final Fantasy game thus far. Yes, it requires you to make an effort to figure out what is going on in early chapters because of its complex setting and alien terminology--so does almost any cult classic sci fi / fantasy movie (Blade Runner) or book (Dune). For one example of the richness of this story, notice all the subtle nuances of Vanille's reactions to situations in the early chapters. If you are paying attention--and not judging her as a Japanese caricature--you might begin putting together who she is and what her role in the story might be. Finally, the visuals. People seem to be in agreement that the graphics are good, but it's not just the quality of the graphics engine that makes this game so impressive. It is the incredible attention to detail of every single facet of the game world. This is visual art design at its very best. Serious creative effort was put in to every instance of plant life, creature design, and exotic architecture in this beautifully developed world. Also be aware that the game is divided into two distinct segments. The first is an interactive story experience, relatively linear in nature yet one of the best of its kind--even rivalling Metal Gear Solid 4's brilliant story. The second segment begins on Gran Pulse where you will be given your much desired freedom and the opportunity to go through a hunt system--far superior to that of FFXII--where your strategic skills will be pushed to their limit. As I spent more than 50 hours going through these missions and mastering their challenges, I never once found myself bored. Even with a fully maxed out party, there are still mighty challenges to be had, requiring you to think your way through every major confrontation. I also adore the fact that the Final Fantasy series has finally figured out how to allow for customizable characters along with each party member having distinctive and unique attributes. Every other game in the series has gone to one extreme or the other. People can be like an angry mob or like sheep in a flock that all go in the same direction. That is why this game, probably the best in the series, has become so maligned. Japanese story games probably have gone out of style, and fashionability is the only crime that this game commits. If it were released in another time, I'm certain it would have been hailed as a masterpiece. I for one am grateful that this game has contributed to us having a richer variety of gameplay experiences, and I'm perfectly happy with Final Fantasy XIII precisely as it is. Let's hope that XIII-2 doesn't make too many concessions to the critics out there.

I recently purchased and mostly finished the game. As an RPG lover, I found it quite enjoyable. The story was not as strong as some previous FF games, but it was still pretty compelling. The voice acting overall was pretty great. Some of the characters are quite one sided and can get annoying at times. I am still waiting for the next FF7 level story. The gameplay of this one I enjoyed, though it diverged a lot from previous FF's. I'm sure there are more comprehensive and in depth reviews of this online so I will somewhat briefly go over some key points. There are no random encounters, you see all the enemies you can fight. Pre-emptive strikes are no longer random and instead are based on whether you can "sneak up" and engage an enemy from behind. The battle system is totally different. You control one character instead of all 3. The computer automatically controls your other party members. Instead of a character being a fighter, mage, or healer, their behavior and abilities are determined by their role (called Paradigm). If you put a character in a Commando role, they will be a fighter. In the Ravager role, they will be a mage. In a Medic role they will heal. The other 3 roles are Synergist (buffs), Sabateur (debuffs), and Sentinel (tank/damage absorber). As you progress through the game, roles are limited by character. By the end of the game, all characters will have all roles available to them. There are no more magic points or mana, instead each ability uses up a certain amount of the battle bar which charges over time. You can switch roles through your "Paradigm Deck" in battle as often as you like at no cost. You can store up to 6 at any time and customize as you see fit. So one might be a combat role of Commando-Ravager-Ravager, and another might be a healing role of Sentinel-Medic-Medic. Controlling one character seems more simplistic than 3 or 4, but this is in my opinion made up for by the pace of battle being changed. Battles are very fast paced and more exciting. You can die much more easily from a random encounter than in a regular RPG. You heal completely after every battle and lose all negative status effects (including death), so you will take proportionally much more damage during battle. The only way to actually "die" is for the character you are controlling to die. Another difference is the Stagger bar and how roles affect it. The Stagger bar is more or less a way to increase damage done to an enemy. It starts at 100% and goes up the more that enemy is attacked, dropping over time. The Ravager role makes the meter go up very fast, while the Commando role makes the meter drop slower. Once the meter gets maxed out (different % number for every enemy) the enemy will be staggered. Sometimes this confers a status effect on it but it always roughly doubles the damage % and starts the meter proceeding down at a steady rate. You can still increase the damage % number by attacking, but you can no longer push the meter up. Once the meter hits the bottom, it goes back to 100%. This is probably a very confusing explanation but it will make sense when you play the game. Pre-emptive strikes put every enemy one hit away from being staggered. The stagger meter essentially becomes the key to killing opponents quickly and sometimes killing them at all. It also requires you to swap roles. I started out thinking that I could dominate the game by keeping my party role as Commando, Ravager, Medic. Since there are no mana points, this gives unlimited magic to the mage and healer. In normal games this would be godlike. But what happens is that one ravager and commando cannot stagger enemies very easily. So you will probably win the battles but they will take FOREVER. Instead you need Com-Rav-Rav or Rav-Rav-Rav to stagger quickly, switching to medic roles if you get hurt badly. After each battle you are rated on how quickly you killed all your opponents and given a star rating. Higher star ratings help give you better chances of getting rare items from enemies. The target time to kill an opponent is determined by the strength of your party. You do have Tech Points which you lose by using special abilities and gain through various methods. These are used also for summons. The summons in this game are just OK. Nothing awed me like past games did. Each character gets one unique summon. You summon them and they fight automatically for a while, then you can go into "Gestalt" mode and control what they do for a while. Gestalt mode is very gimmicky and annoying in my opinion. The only thing I ever really used summons for was when my party was in real danger of dying but not because they kill anything. Only because once a summon is done and gone, your party is all revived, healed and cured of any debuffs. Outside of combat, the gameplay is pretty linear. There are few side quests apart from the Missions near the end of the game which are just "go here, kill this guy" quests. There aren't a lot of hidden or extra places. Most chests are near impossible to miss. Near the very end of the game it opens up but there still isn't a ton of area to explore and interact with. No real puzzles to speak of either, which made me sad. The weapon and item system is really just OK and can be a bit tedious. You level up your items by using parts on them. You will collect various "parts" either organic or metallic. The organic parts give a little experience to your items but give them an experience multiplier. The metallic parts give a large amount of exp but lower the multiplier. So you will be balancing the items you level up with in order to get the most bang for your buck. Lower level items (+50HP bracer) can be upgraded enough to be max level (+1000hp bracer). The weapons upgrade similarly. There are no "ultimate weapons" in this game. The level up system is a dumbed down version of the FFX sphere leveling system. Essentially you use exp from battles to proceed through the Crystarium. Each role has its own branch in the Crystarium. Each new crystal gives you a new ability or stat boost. Stat boosts apply to your character through all roles, while abilities are only available for the role you are using. I say dumbed down because there is no way to modify the crystarium like you could the sphere grid, and the crystarium is extremely linear. There are a few side branches to travel (or skip) but for the most part the stats are laid out on a line. Side notes: Chocobos are back. 9999HP limit is gone. 9999 Damage limit is replaced by 99,999 limit, which can be bypassed with an item giving you a 999,999 limit. There were also a few times early on where the limited party roles made progressing very slow and boring. No danger of death, but no solid way of staggering an opponent. A lot of people I know complained of the linear aspect of this game. This didn't bother me very much initially. I appreciated going through the beginning of the game without feeling like I might be missing a ton of stuff because I didn't walk behind some random wall that would no doubt be blocked off forever after I left the area. However, the endgame was pretty stale. Not a lot of side quests and side games. Not a lot of extra exploration. If they could combine the linear early game with a wide open and expansive late game next time, they'll have a solid formula. The change in the battle system was a positive one in my opinion.

So I have read a lot of negativity around this game. I have been a FF gamer since FF7 and have since played all of the major titles. I certainly understand some of the criticism given to this particular installment and it is definitely without it's flaws. But for me, what I try to do with each FF game is to take it for what it is. For me, here's some things I've noticed: Linearity: Okay, as a game series that's typically notorious for it's ability to roam freely and explore, this certainly is not the case with this installment. Now, I could moan and groan and say that I don't get to explore, which at times I missed, but, however, I have found the linearity a breath of fresh air. Simply put, I don't have the time these days to explore, grind, do every side quest and monster hunt. I would have liked a good monster hunt sidequest or two, but I certainly don't feel cheated. Don't get me wrong, I like to explore in RPGs when I have the time but it was kind of nice to see a little more focus on the story (which I will get to in a minute). Gameplay: At first, I thought it was senseless button mashing for about the first ten hours of the game, but things started getting real tricky without the right paradigm. It really made me concentrate on the roles that each player needs to be strong at. The battle system is fun and works well and requires a little bit of strategy without having to micromanage. I like the quickness of battles and like all the little unique changes that this installment has. It'll seem weird at first, but it makes sense as you go and assume more roles and aquire summons. Story: Definitely, for me, the shining part of the game in conjunction with the beautiful artwork/graphics. It' is very story driven. It was confusing at first, but things seem to fall into place as you go. I would have to disagree with the bandwagon thought that the story is weak and could have been written by a five year old. It has its flaws I admit, and I would have liked maybe a little more depth to the characters, but keep in mind the story is more about the group as a whole and not necessarily focused on each character. I would agree that it follows some typical RPG story patterns and is somewhat predictable. However, however, it's a fresh new take that I found engaging. It certainly good. Maybe not the best, but certainly not the worst. All in all. It's kind of like the iPad. If you know what you're getting and acknowledge the flaws, then it is quite remarkable for what it is. It' doesn't follow the traditional path of most RPGs and in a lot of ways differs, but if you give it a chance go into this understanding this, then you will enjoy the game as much as I did.

I held off buying this game because of the criticisms I heard on review sites. I finally bought this game on a lightning deal on Amazon for a great price, and I have to say after playing this game I'd easily pay $59.99 for it. In the past I've played Final Fantasy games, and although I enjoyed most of them, there were some annoying parts. I feel that FF13 removes those annoying moments and streamlines the experience to make what is in my opinion the best in the series. Although the story lulls a bit early on, it is quite good, and because of the fast pace of the game, it kept me engaged. My first complaint about other FF games was getting lost/stuck. Sometimes you'd find yourself trying to find someone or something to continue on and having no clue where to find that person or thing. FF13 has a clear map showing you where to go and how to get there. Some people complained that FF13 was too linear. Throughout the whole game I never once got lost or stuck. To me, that is a plus. Previous FF games were stingy on the save points. FF13 has an abundance of them. This means less backtracking if you found you had to suddenly turn off the game. Another plus. Other FF games had random enemy encounters that would initiate every five steps and eventually became annoying. FF13 lets you see your enemies as you approach them and gives you to option to avoid them, attack them, or even try to sneak up on them! No more annoying random battles. Plus plus! Most FF games had slow battle systems that could take anywhere from 2 to 30 minutes per battle. The slow nature of battles made them feel tedious and chore-like, especially given the frequency of random battles. FF13 is fast and most battles will take less than a minute. The game rates you based on how fast you defeat enemies. This encourages you to try to end the battles quickly. Battles are quick and exciting and throughout the entire game I never dreaded a battle. Instead I looked forward to them. A big improvement. Previous FF games forced you to stock up on tents and potions and waste your precious money on items you'd need for the grueling battles ahead. FF13 is a fairly forgiving game. If you should lose in battle, you just restart moments before you entered the battle, giving you the option run forward and fight again or head back and try a different strategy. No more restarting from your last save point (which, given the infrequency of save points in previous FF games could mean going back an hour or more). Also, if you should win a battle, all HP lost is immediately restored and all status ailments healed. This keeps the focus on the battle at hand and not on spending all of your Gil on potions. This feature went a long way to making the game fun instead of tedious. Other FF games required you to level grind just to complete the game. This is not necessary (however it is still possible for those of you who just have to max out your character) in FF13. You level up using a Crystarium that you fill with Crystal Points that your earn from battle. As long as you keep leveling up the Paradigms that your characters start with and don't avoid too many battles, you'll never be too under powered to continue with the game. This eliminates another reason players would get stuck in previous FF games. As for the presentation, which is the main reason why I play a FF game, FF13 is the best so far. I won't argue that the story is the best, but it isn't as bad as some have claimed. The cinematics and cut-scenes are gorgeous and truly a sight to behold. The graphics and animations are top-tier stuff, and the lip sync was even re-animated for the English dub. Speaking of, the dub is great. The voice work is what you would expect from modern day video games and anime. Is it Academy Award level? No, but for a Japanese game it works well. The entire game, from start to finish, is fully voiced, so no need to read subtitles (unless you like that). The music is also very good, with some memorable tunes that will get stuck in your head. The game is full of cut-scenes, so if you don't like cut-scenes, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU PLAYING A FINAL FANTASY GAME? Overall this is an incredible package. The game is long (60-80 hours), gorgeous, and most of all fun. It is slightly easier than previous FF games, which I think is a plus. The price has come down considerably, so if you haven't picked this one up yet, now is the time. If you have a choice between the PS3 or Xbox 360 version, pick up the PS3 version. The FMV runs in full 1080p and looks better than the low-rez video compression on the Xbox. Besides that, the games are identical.

Edit: In retrospect, I upgraded the game to 4-stars. Once you can get past the unmercifully slow pacing of the first 30 hours (eg, once you get to Gran Pulse) the game starts to get fun. The review comments stand, and I still give it 3.5 stars, but would rather round up than down in this case. Original Post:After 75 hours, I finally finished FFXIII. In short: stunning graphics, great voice acting, but pacing killed the story and gameplay. A good way to think about this game is to think of it like Lord of the Rings: very slow in some areas, but very rewarding when it finally begins to explain what's going on. The biggest flaw in this game had to do with the pacing. It was a complex story with a lot of threads from the start. That isn't a problem, in fact it's a good thing, but the character development happens so slowly that you really don't get a chance to WANT to start caring about the characters. I didn't care about the characters until I was already almost 35 hours into the game. This is due to the fact that character development happens exclusively in cut scenes as opposed to conversations you initiate, which is the case with other FF games. Also, the fact that you don't really get to explore until Chapter 11 (which is about 35 hours into the game) means that the vast majority of the game is comprised of a long hallway with an orange spot at the end of it indicating either an enemy or a cut scene, thereby giving rise to the nickname "Passages and Cut Scenes: The Game." Still, if you're a fan of FF games it's worth a try, if for no other reason than to enjoy the beautiful graphics. The fact that you can play the vast majority of the game with one finger (just keep pressing X, you'll be fine) is debatable as a weakness. Personally, I rather enjoyed being able to watch shows on my computer while "playing" the game, especially in parts where I was mostly farming for money or points. Anyway, here's my breakdown: * Story: 1 out of 10. 7 out of 10 if we ignore the pacing. As for the story itself, unless you pay close attention to the clues in the story the ending will have you thinking "What the heck just happened?" Yes, the pacing is THAT bad, and it causes problems through the entire game. I lay it squarely (no pun intended) on the shoulders of character development happening exclusively in cut scenes rather than in player-initiated conversations. The pacing was so bad that 30 hours into it I almost dropped the game. After finishing it, I'm very glad I didn't. * Gameplay: 6 out of 10, and it's mostly due to pacing inconsistencies. The fighting system itself is pretty good, and you can choose how involved you want it to be: do you want to choose every move or do you want to let the computer decide the best course of action? But pacing... oh, pacing. The vast majority of the game is pretty comfortable to get through: not too easy, but not too hard. Then at the end, *WHAM* it becomes SUPER hard, even for a super powered character (and I farmed for experience points for hours, plus did major upgrades on my weapons, so it wasn't a "me" issue.) Ironically it isn't the boss fights which are hard, it's the regular enemies. I don't mind hard fights, but inconsistencies are annoying. * Graphics: 11 out of 10. Yes, they were that stunning. Make that a 12 out of 10 since this was the only thing at times that kept me playing. The game is GORGEOUS. (The extra 2 points are for keeping me playing.) * Music: 8 out of 10. Not memorable, but certainly not bad. It fulfilled the most important role of theatrical scores: ambiance without getting in the way. During fights, I rarely noticed the music. This is a good thing. I only really noticed it when it was fitting within the story. This, again, is a good thing. * Value: 9 out of 10. One cool feature for those of us who get all obsessive about completing every single thing and getting the absolute most out of the game is that you can go back to the game after you finish it and complete all the side quests you may have missed. (You get a chance to save your progress after the credits.) That's a nice little bit of extra value, and just about the only real exploration you get to do in the game. The keyword here is "value". I wish more RPG's did this. Heck, I wish I got to do this with FFX. I really liked Blitzball! The 9 out of 10 is taking into consideration the after-game playability, which can go on for as long as you'd like. In fact, the game took me about 75hrs to finish, and I can see myself playing for at least another 30 if I decided to undertake all the sidequests and the upgrade paths. The only knock is that you have to trudge through the game for too long before you finally get to the fun part. So taking all these scores into consideration: 5 categories for 50 points total. The game gets 36 points (1+6+12+8+9). That's a solid 71% or 7 out of 10. (3.5 stars out of 5 is more Amazonian.) Would I recommend it? To certain people, but certainly not to everyone.

I had known about this game since the summer, and i could not stop reading about it. and the day i finally got it, i was blown over by how much fun this game is. The combat system is alot of fun, the graphics are breathtaking, the characters are intriguing and interesting, (except Hope). I am not trying to rush thru this game, im trying to soak in all the fun from it i can get. in the start, your on this train with Lightning and Sazh, and some serious shiz goes down. All thru the level of the Hanging edge, your thinking "what is everybodys purpose to be here? what are they doing?" and it makes you want to keep playing to find out. and from then on, the game just keeps on building. throughout the first level, things are slow and repetitive, but after that, when the powers of a l'cie are yours to command, the game gets heated up and everything becomes explained over time. The way the combat works is you have a guage (ATB) and you need to wait for it to charge, and while its charging, you can either choose auto battle or make your own chain. some specific moves that may have a different effect may take up more than one segment of the guage. once the game proceeds, you get more atb guage segments and learn new moves with the Crystarium. This game has many aspects, and i could list them all and go on for hours on end. but ill say the best. For exploration, the first half of the game is quite linear, but dont let that ruin your enjoyment. I found it still very fun. there are sometimes little snippits of places you can go to get an extra fight or 2 or a treasure chest. But then with the arrival of Gran pulse, you just feel as if all the time in the world isnt enough to fully experience everything, like the Yascham Massif, Archilyte Steppe, and much much more. And with Gran Pulse, thats when its actually easy to skip fights if you need to. i try to never, because i need to train my guys up. For Equipment and training, i think its overall easy and un frustrating. But once you are allowed to upgrade your weapons, you feel as if you never want to change that certain weapon. Thats how i feel, and getting Gil in this game is not as easy as the rest. but once u learn raise for a medic, you dont really need pheonix downs or potions. For training, the Crystarium expands every time you beat a Major Boss. there are six roles for you to learn, Ravager, Commando, Synergist, Saboteur, Medic, and Sentinel. about 20 hours into the game, all 6 of these classes become available to all 6 characters. and every fight, you get crystogen points which is used to navigate thru the Crystarium. For story, there is not much to say. ITS AMAZING, HEART WRENCHING, EMOTIONAL, BEUATIFUL, ENGAGING, AND INTERESTING. you will want to find out the end every second you play it. its that awesome. i dont want to ruin it for you, because the only way to truly enjoy it is to experience it urself. Graphics, same with story. Beuatiful and amazing, engaging, and interesting. you feel as if the normal gameplay is just as amazing as the cgi cutscenes, which are also breathtaking As much as i hate to admit it there are some cons in this game, but if you think past them and fully embrace the scope and beauty of the game, you will not even notice them. 1. Character Hope is annoying, sometimes whiny, and more or less weak. i never really use him. i stick with Fang, Lightning, and Snow, and use the rest if i feel fun. 2. Sometimes, the game can b very difficult, and some frustration pops up. 3. 2 or 3 pieces of the music dont seem as enjoyable as the rest of the sagas, but there are still alot of amazing compositions. 4. during the un important cutscenes, the character is talking and doing a minor motion, but then stops doing it and is standing rigid while still talking and that may b a bit of a bummer in some cases. BUT DONT LET THESE CONS FOOL YOU. THE GAME IS WORTH EVERY PENNY, AND (...) IS CHEAP IN MY OPINION FOR THIS MASTERPIECE!!! get it.

To start off, it needs to be said I have played EVERY Final Fantasy game since their release. I was around 10 when I started FF1 I and have been a stalwart fan of the series. I haven't liked all FF's (i.e. 8 and 12) so I feel I do weigh my perspective with some thought. The best thing I can say about Final Fantasy XIII is that I feel it is a bold step to try to evolve the series with some new elements. Like with any change or evolution of something, you are going to get those that resist change (which you will see in earlier reviews) and others that are for it. As a result, I think FF13 ends up being a love it/hate it game. Where you will end up ultimately depends on how you approach this game. If you come into FF13 with an open mind and a willingness to try something different with no preconceived notions, you could end up being in the love it category. 13 brings with it a great story with a lot of heart and characters you care for. The battle system is refreshing and unique. At first I was slightly hesitant not being able to micromanage my characters, but it ended up being exhilarating. You do have a lot of control over the battle, but control different elements of the battle that many people are not accustomed to. The "Paradigm shift" feature of the game is like a job class for your team of characters rather than individual roles characters play. I enjoy shifting paradigms and trying different strategies in taking down enemies. Outside of the gameplay you are given an amazing setting with graphics that are amazing on the PS3. The lush visuals and details that were put into this game are outstanding. The facial expressions on your characters are impressive and the overall environment is immersive. The voice acting of a couple of the characters can be annoying at times, but overall, I found the game to create a world that I wanted to explore. I mentioned it earlier, but the storyline is also intriguing with a lot of themes that run beneath the surface. Overall, this is an engaging experience that will keep you captivated. Now if you come into FF13 with preconceived notions about JRPGs and a desire to play a more traditional RPG where you dictate the detail of what each and every character does, then this game is not for you and you will fall into the 'hate it' category (most likely). I loved that this game approached the battles differently and had you focus your energies on team dynamics and not specific actions, but that is NOT for everybody. If you are a person who needs to dictate the action of everyone, you may struggle enjoying this game. The other issue that you read about is how linear it is. It is true that FF for the most part is a linear experience giving you freedom only within the battles and the customization of your characters abilities/weapons. You explore a world, but it plays out more like chapters than an open world. In today's games with endlessly open worlds, this may create a problem for some people. At the end of the day, Final Fantasy is an engaging and enthralling experience depending how you come into the game and if you can accept evolution/change. The elements of Final Fantasy are still there for longtime gamers, but are explored in different ways. Newcomers to the series will also enjoy a fresh take to a classic JRPG style. It's not for everyone, but if you open yourself to a fresh experience and approach it as such, you may leave highly satisfied.

Final Fantasy XIII (FFXIII) is the long-awaited next chapter in the Final Fantasy franchise. This game took over five years to make and actually started its life on the old PlayStation 2 platform, before going to the PlayStation 3 and then being ported over to the Xbox 360. This game has not only diverged from many Final Fantasy traditions, but created a whole new gaming engine and pushed the limits of what modern consoles can do. Story: The Final Fantasy franchise is known for stories that draw in the gamer and make them feel empathy or otherwise emotionally invested in an outcome. FFXIII does just that. It is not on the same scale as FFVII with Aeris or FFX with Tidus and Yuna, but there are some moments where you cannot help but feel something for what the characters are going through. Without spoiling too much, the basic story centers around a group of characters, Lightning, Snow, Vanille, Sazh, Fang, and Hope. In their efforts to save people they love, or exact revenge, they are drawn together and are given a mission to carry out. Their fates, from this moment forward, are forever altered and bleak. They either complete their mission and turn to crystal, or they refuse and turn into mindless monsters. FFXIII's story revolves around this and is split into thirteen chapters. Completing every chapter and finishing the game will take about 60 hours. This story is very linear and cannot be altered by the player, you either go forward with the narrative or you stop and not finish the game. This is like many of the previous Final Fantasies only they used various techniques to make the gamer believe they had much more control over the story than they actually did. For instance, in previous Final Fantasies, you had the option to explore the world map. Although you had this freedom, going to any town or village not immediately connected to the main story or side quest was pointless since they were static and rarely changed. You were being gently pushed towards a location on the world map. FFXIII is unabashedly linear. In fact, most of the maps for the game are lines with minor areas open for treasure hunting. There is no world map or towns to explore. The developers have created two main areas of the game, Cocoon (An area you will spend the majority of the game in, story-wise.) and Pulse (A sprawling open-ended area with plenty to see and do where you will spend most of the time hunting in.) These two areas were designed to be polar-opposites of each other, Cocoon has advanced technology and is closed in, Pulse is wilderness and open. The story takes a while to ramp up and become exciting. The initial portions of the game introduce you to the characters by having you view their lives before the group came together. This allows you to better understand what is going on. Once you complete the game, you are encouraged to continue playing as many areas, and enemies, of the game can only be tackled by an advanced party. Battle System: Before going too much into this, I will explain the level-up mechanic. In FFXIII, you do not obtain levels in the traditional sense. Instead, you earn Crystarium points (CP) to spend in the Crystarium. Tougher enemies yield higher CP. The Crystarium functions very much like the sphere grid from FFX with new areas unlocking after major game events. The Crystarium is split into several levels and they are dotted with skills, techniques, and stat enhancements. CP are used to move between the points with higher-level skills requiring more CP to unlock. Each character has a class, or specialization, that you can level up. For the majority of the game, there are only three primary specializations that you can use and level up. As the game progresses, you will have access to three more secondary specializations, though you shouldn't bother with them until after the end game since the CP to unlock the secondary skills is very high. The classes you play as are: Commando (Physical attacker who can slow the chain gauge), ravager (A magical attacker who can drastically increase the chain gauge), saboteur (Causes status ailments to the enemy and can slow the chain gauge), sentinel (Acts as a beacon to draw enemy attacks and has high physical damage resistance but does not attack directly), synergist (Does not attack but applies status enhancements to the party), and medic (Does not attack either, but focuses on healing.) A character can only perform actions of a given class and cannot use others unless you paradigm shift. During battle, you can switch classes with the paradigm shift. For instance, if you have an enemy with loads of hit points (HP) you can attack with a commando to slow down the chain gauge then shift to a ravager to drive it up quickly. These work like a streamlined version of the gambit system from FFXII and are user defined. When you shift paradigms, you shift them for the entire battle party and you are limited to a set number of paradigms you can create, though, you can shift as many times as you need during a battle and alter them outside of battle at any time. This means you have to plan ahead and choose paradigms that will fit situations you think you may face. You also have tactical points (TP) that regenerate slowly following battle. These TP are used to perform various techniques like summon a creature or performing an emergency revival of characters. The battle system for FFXIII is very different from previous installments, it draws on the ATB (Active Time Battle) system from previous Final Fantasies but it makes several significant alterations. Only one character is under direct user-control and if they are taken out, it is game over. All of the other characters are AI controlled and can easily be revived. The AI is usually good, but there are times where they fumble. For instance, normally your characters will perform actions against an enemy they know will work, such as using fire to attack someone who is vulnerable to it. Unfortunately, the game lacks a move button and the AI has a tendency to keep all characters close together. This can be a problem at later levels where almost all enemies cause area-of-effect damage and everyone gets hit. When you make contact with enemies battle begins. Instead of an ATB that, when filled, allows you to perform a single action, you have a bar that is split into segments. A standard attack will take only one segment whereas a special skill will take more. Segments are added to the bar either from the Crystarium or from major game events. The bar fills at a set rate, unless you have haste or slow cast upon you, and you can either let the bar fill completely and perform all actions queued up at once, or you can interrupt filling the bar and take action based on the number of segments filled, you can also cancel your actions entirely. This allows you to adapt to changing conditions. As the user-controlled character, you can select what you want to do manually, or you let the game choose for you in an auto-battle system. The battles can flow very quickly and it is usually a good idea just to let the game make the decisions. Normally, attacks don't cause too much damage. Your best option is to drive up the chain gauge. As you attack, the gauge goes higher, if you don't attack, it lowers. The whole point of the gauge is drive it up to the point of staggering the enemy. Every enemy has a breaking point where they are staggered. While staggered, your enemy will be vulnerable to certain kinds of damage, may not attack at all, and the damage you cause can be multiplied up to nine-times the amount of damage you would normally inflict. When the enemy is in a staggered state, the chain gauge slowly lowers and then resets. This means you have to cause as much damage as possible during the window in which your opponent is staggered. At the end of battle, you are rated zero to five stars, though, the star system is a little pointless. The battle ranking does not determine how much CP you get but does influence your chances at obtaining spoils and increasing your TP. People who are playing for trophies will want to pay close attention to the rankings they get during hunts. It all works well and reminds me of the battle system from the Grandia series. Audio: The music in FFXIII reminds me of a mix between FFX and FFXII and is very well done. Uematsu is not involved with the soundtrack to this game. His involvement has been waning over the years with FFIX being the last he was fully involved in, with FFX he only did half the songs, and with FFXII he did a single piece. Because of this, many staples of the Final Fantasy franchise are gone, such as the battle music, victory fanfare, the Final Fantasy theme, and the harps that usually play at the beginning of most Final Fantasy games. You can still hear vestiges of those themes, but for the most part, they are gone though the game still retains the leitmotif music the series is known for. It won't take the gamer long to realize what the theme of the game is. There are a number of standout tracks that are some of the best in the franchise, such as "Ragnarok", "Determination", "Born Anew", "Fabula Nova Crystalis", and "Miracles." Like many fans of the franchise, I was a little confused at the choice of using Leona Lewis' "My Hands," but after finishing the game and seeing when the song played, it made sense in context. As for the voiceovers, most are well done, with Lightning and Fang being personal favorites, though Vanille's voice can be grating at times. I do wish anime and video game makers would hire children to perform voices for children in the game instead of having high-pitched adults perform those characters. This is just a personal preference. Graphics: This is the first Final Fantasy to be released on a high definition console, and it arrived with a bang. FFXIII is absolutely stunning to look at in either 720p or 1080p. There are many moments where content rendered in-game on-the-fly looks as good as pre-rendered CGI. The developers knew how to use the system and work within its limitations. For example, close-ups of characters cause the frame rate to drop, I assume this is for texture rendering and lighting, as such, those scenes are slow paced and you cannot tell that there is a drop. Square Enix have used every last gigabyte they have on the Blu-Ray disc. With all that space, they have crammed as much graphical information as they possibly can to make it look amazing. Anyone with a high definition screen, large or small, should play it on that to get the full experience. Misc.: I was conflicted about Final Fantasy XIII, I loved FFVII and FFX so I wasn't entirely sure if I would like it. Since Final Fantasy X is my personal favorite in the franchise, this game ranks third in my list just between Final Fantasy VII and VIII. It is not as tactical as FFX nor does it draw me in as much as that title, but the battle system is much more enjoyable than that in VII and ranks as my favorite in the entire franchise. The story is compelling, though a tad melodramatic, but it doesn't have the luster of FFX or VII. Frankly, as the game drew on, I had only a vague idea of the overall story and it took me hours just to figure out who, exactly the fal'Cie are and what a l'Cie actually is. I had my "This is Final Fantasy" moment in the last cinematic. It was there that everything clicked into place and I understood just what the characters were doing and their motivations, I even, finally, understood what the game's logo was supposed to be since it is obvious at the end. Fans of the franchise may not like this incarnation very much, as it is, in many ways, vastly different than previous installments. Players who lack patience may become bored very quickly as the story is doled out in bite-sized pieces and the battle system takes well into the middle of the game to fully unlock. In fact, the first eight chapters are, very much, tutorials with the eleventh chapter opening up game immensely. The beginning portions of the game are quite easy, but in the last few chapters, the point where the training wheels come off, the difficulty ramps up. Instead of a difficulty curve, FFXIII has a difficulty wall where every battle, unless you know exactly what you're doing and how to win, could be a grueling fight. Overall, I enjoyed FFXIII and recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different in the RPG genre. For the PlayStation 3, this is my second favorite game just behind Assassin's Creed 2 and ahead of inFamous.