Final Fantasy XIII Review
Game Review | March 22, 2010 4:47 pm
Final Fantasy XIII International Trailer
Note: Dont let this stop you from writing your own review for the game , theres many mixed feelings about so ill just share my summed up opinions of whats worth mentioning
Final Fantasy XIII is the first Final Fantasy to the next gen consoles (I dont count that crap known as FFXI as a Final Fantasy game) and has been in development for many years now by the one and only Square-Enix
Story:
The story starts off with Lightning, a bad-er ass female looking version of Cloud from FFVII and Sazh, the first black man in to play a main role in a Final Fantasy game (i think) on board of a train disguised under cloaks, The trains desination is Pulse, what is known as hell to the citizens of Cocoon, anyone who was believe to have come in contact with anything from Pulse is sent there though this operation called the Purge . However Lightning and Sazh appear to be rebels against this plan and attack from inside of the train with there own motives as to why their doing this. Meanwhile Snow, the idiot of the game with no real logic to his words or actions, leds his group called NORA rebelling against this plan as well. From there i would be spoiling the game for you and we cant have that
However i can say that the game focuses more on character development throughout the game to learn the back story as to why their all apart of this rebellion, there motives and the resolve they have for it. The game keeps little focus on the problem at hand until the last few chapters of the game which is pretty disappointing compared to previous Final Fantasy Games
Battle System:
The ATB battle system has its ups and downs. It brings for real time combat however your limtied to the control of one character so you have no say in what you A.I does. With that one character you have what is known as an ATB guage which determinds how many attacks you can do on your turn and what attacks you can perform as some attacks take up more slots on your ATB gauge. You can buttom mash this battle system and still get pretty far through the first part of the game however youll have to choose your actions much wiser later on. What disappoints me is that theres no more MP which is the requirement for using Spells, so it really takes away from a strategic aspect of the game.
The Paradigm Shift determines the movesets and actions your characters perform and this Shift can be switched throughout battle , Your shifts can also be altered in your menu to fit your needs , for example a team of offsensive roles or a mix of offensive and support and so much more. A majority of idiots (like one of my friends sadly) would choose all offensive shifts however once you get toward the later portions of the game youll see that its essential to make full use of each shift. The combination of the ATB battle system and Paradigm shift is really what makes the game.
Items are practically non exiestent in this game , which is sad cause that is what gives most RPG's its strategic aspect to it and now theres only like ... 6 or so items that are in the game
Leveling System:
The leveling system for Final Fantasy XIII is known as The Crystarium which has simliarities to the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X however it is not as complex. With the Cystarium you can upgrade each characters roles that they can use for the Paradigm Shifts and the upgrades determine any new moves they can use in those roles as well as upgrade the general statistics like Strength , Magic and HP, but in the Sphere Grid you can link yourself with other characters Spheres Grids creating a large chain of links between you and your party which is much better in comparison. The Cystarium is like a step by step leveling system to me with a couple extra branchs for extra upgrades , good or bad, that are aside from your main goal in the cystarium. Each character starts off with 3 main roles and then later in the game recieve the 3 other roles however they cannot use those roles as effectively as the characters who main those roles. The leveing system is nice but compared to the Sphere Grid of Final Fantasy X ... it lacks
The downside is that for the first hour or 2 of the game any enemies you fight is basically a waste of time since you dont get your Crystarium , or even earn CP to upgrade your Cystarium.
Music:
The games music is composed by Masashi Hamauzu and he has done an amazing job with the soundtrack which influenced me to consider buying it ... and i probably would have if it wasnt for the fact im tight on money at the moment, but enough about me. The BGM of any game gives a majority of fights and cutscenes its emotional effect wheather it be amazing fight music that you can destroy your enemies to or if it be a sad smooth BGM to add to tear jerking cutscenes, all of that would be nothing without that music. The Soundtrack to Final Fantasy XIII is definately one to remember and one to consider importing if you can folk out the extra bucks for it
Achievements:
You wont be racking any real points until around the endgame where you start grinding out hours and hours to your max out your roles and then undergo your quest to get 5 stars on all your Cieth Stone missions. Though this is an JRPG, a majority of people believe it takes only time and no skill to complete , there are battles that take ALOT of skill to bypass, something a casual gamer probably wouldnt understand from my point of view as a RPG fanatic
Overall i loved the game, the Battle System was a great experience and the story kept me hooked and is a exception start to those who are new to the Final Fantasy series. However i will say i did not like how EASY the game was, it was too forgiving, letting you retry whenever you lose, having full health back at the end of every fight, it made it too easy to accept a defeat in the game. I also dont like how the main story basically directs you where to go, theres no frustration of navigation like in regular RPG's. There have been many complaints about the fact theres no towns in the game however i understand why they havent had them added ... and i would love to explain if it wasnt for the fact it would be a spoiler .. ah forget it
Spoiler: Click here to toggle spoiler
Lightning , Snow and everyone become branded with a Pulse mark, making them L'cie, l'cie are feared because if they dont fulfill there focus , basically there purpose in life, they become a a cieth which is feared on Cocoon and in any town , so i dont see how people would be able to accept them if they were in those towns
And thats basically the end of my review, i give Final Fantasy XIII a 8.5 , i expected more from the many years of development
Reviewed: FINAL FANTASY XIII
Keywords: None
