Mr. Revolution
The One and Only
Before I get to the heart of my views on FFXIII, I would like to take a moment to first make note of the dissemination of information found within the XIII "trilogy" (my use of quotations will be explained later). Before the initial release of FFXIII, Square Enix released Episode Zero--a collection of short stories that detailed the game's prologue and established the characterization of all major players. This prologue was absent from the game's release in all countries but Japan, yet it contains crucial information regarding the histories and relationships that are necessary to understand before jumping into the main story. The decision to omit this prologue from the physical game--let alone from the consumers outside of Japan--is one of the key reasons why FFXIII, along with its sequels, rests on a shaky foundation. This same action was taken regarding the prologue to FFXIII-2, and I can only hypothesize that the pattern will repeat come time for XIII-3's release.
Having said that, I wish now to detail my views on the physical game. I will base my conclusions on two key points: plot progression and gameplay mechanics. Plot progression concerns characterization and the storyline, while gameplay mechanics encompasses the battle system and world exploration.
The plot of FFXIII is convoluted. This statement is given credence by the fact that the prologue was omitted from the physical game. As a gamer outside of Japan and removed from fan translations on the internet, you will never be privy to crucial knowledge that gives you insight into the pysches of the characters you are journeying with. From the very start of the game, there is a barrier between you and your party that will never be removed no matter how hard you analyze the in-game information.
Here is an example to illustrate my point:
Lightning Farron. Why does she hate Snow?
Serah Farron. Why does she love Snow?
Take a moment now to see if you can answer these questions thoroughly before you read my in-depth analysis.
....
As a first-time gamer outside the reach of the true Prologue, you will automatically assume that Lightning abhors Snow because he's come to take away her baby sister--because he's going to marry her and split up the Farron family. You'd be partially right--only partially. Your understanding of Lightning and Snow ends there with no hope of ever knowing the truth and therefore no hope of ever truly appreciating the person Lightning is.
Lightning Farron lost both her parents before she turned 16. She went from being mommy and daddy's spoiled little girl to being a hardened police officer all before she turned 20. Lightning grew up too fast; she had to for Serah's sake. When Lightning was a little girl, she was very close to her father. She loved him dearly and spent as much time with him as possible. But something terrible happened, something that would shake her faith in many people. Lightning's father was foolhardy, a big talker, and had a knack for heroics (sound like anyone you know?), and one day, under circumstances never fully explored by Square, Mr. Farron died. It is insinuated that he was trying to do something heroic when his plans backfired, killing him.
Lightning would never get over the trauma of losing her most beloved parent. I know people love to compare her to Cloud, but in this respect, Lightning is very similar to Squall and Ellone's disappearance. She took all her pain, fears, worries, doubts and locked them away deep within her hardening heart. Lightning felt betrayed and abandoned by her father, and it is only in FFXIII that she's finally able to make peace with his death.
If you haven't figured it out yet, Snow is the spitting image of Lightning's father. Lightning first met Snow while doing a routine perimeter patrol on the coast. She was fighting off against some monsters when Snow and Team NORA showed up to steal the show. Snow's bravado and daredevil-esque behavior immediately forced all of Lightning's suppressed memories of her father to resurface, and it was right then and there that Lightning grew to abhor Snow. Note that this is well before she learned about the man's relationship to her sister.
This same resemblance between Snow and Mr. Farron now changes the relationship between Serah and Snow. Now it is possible for you to infer why Serah is attracted to Snow. It is akin to the Electra complex, whereby a girl is attracted to men who remind her of her father. If you ever wondered why Serah and Snow hook up, it all dials back to Mr. Farron and the impression he left upon his youngest daughter. This is also why Serah explores the ruins that eventually lead to her getting the brand: because her father used to take her exploring similar ruins!
Mr. Farron is never reference in the core game. You never learn what happened to him or to his wife, who died just a few years later from a terminal disease.
Lightning, Snow, and Serah--all tied together because of a man you never learn about in the physical game. This is just one example of why the FFXIII story is poorly explored.
The actual core story (the one in the game) is convoluted because it is contradictory. Dysley is a confusing antagonist who wants to train you, but simultaneously wants to kill you. Ignoring the fact that the character pool is slim (there aren't nearly as many minor characters and incidental characters as in other FFs), the fact that Dysley is with you every step of the way always begs the question: why is this man trying to train you to kill Orphan when he tries so hard in the end to defend Orphan? The fact that the whole socio-political structure of Cocoon isn't well explored or explained leaves much to be asked and speculated about the relationship between your party, Dysley, Orphan, and all the other fal'Cie. Indeed, we have some sort of quasi-modernized capitalistic society that subscribes to worshiping these god-like entities, but aside from how our party feels about that arrangement, we get very little direct feedback from the world. Whether this is an intentional side-effect of a dystopia or a huge oversight is uncertain.
In sum, due to the omission of so many crucial details regarding history, society, and characterization, FFXIII's plot is very weak compared to its predecessor's.
When taken in conjunction with FFXIII-2, the plot suffers even more. Lightning's character does a complete 180. The woman who used to say: "I control my fate!" and was willing to topple an entire fal'Cie-run regime now devotes her life to serving one of those same fal'Cie. That plot in itself requires in-depth analysis, but considering we are only focusing on XIII in this thread, I'll stop short. Suffice to say this is no true trilogy as the characterization is retconned in mid-stream with no ample explanation (not that this "trilogy" finds giving explanations to be an important practice in the first place). Subsequent XIII games are reinterpretations at best, and sad attempts by SE to stave off releasing another core FF on the current generation consoles at worst. Considering how long it took to produce XIII and the fact that most of the renders, music, and stories are already completed for SE, it's easier and cheaper for them to squeeze XIII to the fullest for now and turn to XV later for the next gen.
I wish to compare XIII's plot to the plot of another Final Fantasy, namely X. In FFX, you're never hurting for information. By the time you finish the game, all of your questions have been sufficiently answered, and provided you've talked to many people and have completed side quests, you'll have learned the full backgrounds of all the main characters as well as many minor characters (even the ones you have never met). There was no supplementation that served as a crucial databank of biographical data that was released separately and limited to only one group of people. You don't need the Ultimania book in order to be satisfied with the characterization of the FFX characters or to fully grasp the situation in Spira. In FFXIII, you're in dire need of supplements that your datalogs don't even begin to scratch the surface of.
Now let me shift focus onto the actual gameplay mechanics. The most common criticism of FFXIII is its linearity. It is no secret that Final Fantasies tend to be on the linear side. However, a good game can well mask its linearity when handled correctly. Case in point: FFX. There is little to no open-world exploration in FFX. The best you can do is backtrack before you get the airship in order to meet people and have conversations that you'll miss later on as the plot progresses. The Calm Lands, though large, aren't nearly sufficient enough for the avid adventurer's exploration. And yet, FFX has something FFXIII severely lacks: people.
There are people in Spira; a lot of them. The people give the world depth. You can talk to all sorts of people: locals, monks, warriors, guado, ronso, Al Bhed, athletes, priests, children, the elderly--the list goes on. And not only can you talk to them, but you can see where and how they live; you can experience it for yourself. Traversing FFX isn't much different from walking the straight lines of FFXIII, but the former varies drastically from the latter in that it creates depth by depending on its setting and characters. You have few NPCs in FFXIII, and the ones that you can speak to offer very little information as to who they are and how they feel about their world outside of generic dialog. Where are the O'akas, Shelindas, and Belgamines of FFXIII? How about the Card Queens, Zones, and Xus? Or the Johnnys, Dios, and Chocobo Hermits? In FFXIII, you can't help but feel detached from the gameplay because the story isn't charging in to fill the void. You always feel isolated, alone, and lost.
Aside from the linearity, the actual battle mechanics are okay, but can be better. The largest complaint I have personally is that when the party leader dies, it should not doom the rest of the party to failure. Obviously if Snow's down for the count but Lightning still has 98% of her HP left, there's no way in any realistic scenario that Lightning would hold up a white flag. This was fixed in FFXIII-2, but it doesn't change the fact that it is a nuisance in XIII. Aside from that, I find the Paradigm system to be a nice departure from the traditional ATB. It inspires quick thinking and strategy that is reliant on each individual opponent.
The money and equipment systems are seriously flawed. Money is too sparse and equipment is too overpriced. It's a grueling process to level up equipment and the system discourages trial & error because of the sheer difficulty of accumulating the means by which to afford such risky ventures.
These are the criticisms that I have regarding FFXIII. To summarize: the characterization is severely lacking in-game because of Square's foolish decision to create separate and exclusive supplementation for its prologue. The game is linear like most other FFs, but unlike its predecessors, it does a poor job disguising its linearity because its story and world are too shallow. The gameplay is okay, but accumulating funds and equipment is a terrible chore and burden. In all, I deem FFXIII a poor addition to the Final Fantasy family.
Having said that, I wish now to detail my views on the physical game. I will base my conclusions on two key points: plot progression and gameplay mechanics. Plot progression concerns characterization and the storyline, while gameplay mechanics encompasses the battle system and world exploration.
The plot of FFXIII is convoluted. This statement is given credence by the fact that the prologue was omitted from the physical game. As a gamer outside of Japan and removed from fan translations on the internet, you will never be privy to crucial knowledge that gives you insight into the pysches of the characters you are journeying with. From the very start of the game, there is a barrier between you and your party that will never be removed no matter how hard you analyze the in-game information.
Here is an example to illustrate my point:
Lightning Farron. Why does she hate Snow?
Serah Farron. Why does she love Snow?
Take a moment now to see if you can answer these questions thoroughly before you read my in-depth analysis.
....
As a first-time gamer outside the reach of the true Prologue, you will automatically assume that Lightning abhors Snow because he's come to take away her baby sister--because he's going to marry her and split up the Farron family. You'd be partially right--only partially. Your understanding of Lightning and Snow ends there with no hope of ever knowing the truth and therefore no hope of ever truly appreciating the person Lightning is.
Lightning Farron lost both her parents before she turned 16. She went from being mommy and daddy's spoiled little girl to being a hardened police officer all before she turned 20. Lightning grew up too fast; she had to for Serah's sake. When Lightning was a little girl, she was very close to her father. She loved him dearly and spent as much time with him as possible. But something terrible happened, something that would shake her faith in many people. Lightning's father was foolhardy, a big talker, and had a knack for heroics (sound like anyone you know?), and one day, under circumstances never fully explored by Square, Mr. Farron died. It is insinuated that he was trying to do something heroic when his plans backfired, killing him.
Lightning would never get over the trauma of losing her most beloved parent. I know people love to compare her to Cloud, but in this respect, Lightning is very similar to Squall and Ellone's disappearance. She took all her pain, fears, worries, doubts and locked them away deep within her hardening heart. Lightning felt betrayed and abandoned by her father, and it is only in FFXIII that she's finally able to make peace with his death.
If you haven't figured it out yet, Snow is the spitting image of Lightning's father. Lightning first met Snow while doing a routine perimeter patrol on the coast. She was fighting off against some monsters when Snow and Team NORA showed up to steal the show. Snow's bravado and daredevil-esque behavior immediately forced all of Lightning's suppressed memories of her father to resurface, and it was right then and there that Lightning grew to abhor Snow. Note that this is well before she learned about the man's relationship to her sister.
This same resemblance between Snow and Mr. Farron now changes the relationship between Serah and Snow. Now it is possible for you to infer why Serah is attracted to Snow. It is akin to the Electra complex, whereby a girl is attracted to men who remind her of her father. If you ever wondered why Serah and Snow hook up, it all dials back to Mr. Farron and the impression he left upon his youngest daughter. This is also why Serah explores the ruins that eventually lead to her getting the brand: because her father used to take her exploring similar ruins!
Mr. Farron is never reference in the core game. You never learn what happened to him or to his wife, who died just a few years later from a terminal disease.
Lightning, Snow, and Serah--all tied together because of a man you never learn about in the physical game. This is just one example of why the FFXIII story is poorly explored.
The actual core story (the one in the game) is convoluted because it is contradictory. Dysley is a confusing antagonist who wants to train you, but simultaneously wants to kill you. Ignoring the fact that the character pool is slim (there aren't nearly as many minor characters and incidental characters as in other FFs), the fact that Dysley is with you every step of the way always begs the question: why is this man trying to train you to kill Orphan when he tries so hard in the end to defend Orphan? The fact that the whole socio-political structure of Cocoon isn't well explored or explained leaves much to be asked and speculated about the relationship between your party, Dysley, Orphan, and all the other fal'Cie. Indeed, we have some sort of quasi-modernized capitalistic society that subscribes to worshiping these god-like entities, but aside from how our party feels about that arrangement, we get very little direct feedback from the world. Whether this is an intentional side-effect of a dystopia or a huge oversight is uncertain.
In sum, due to the omission of so many crucial details regarding history, society, and characterization, FFXIII's plot is very weak compared to its predecessor's.
When taken in conjunction with FFXIII-2, the plot suffers even more. Lightning's character does a complete 180. The woman who used to say: "I control my fate!" and was willing to topple an entire fal'Cie-run regime now devotes her life to serving one of those same fal'Cie. That plot in itself requires in-depth analysis, but considering we are only focusing on XIII in this thread, I'll stop short. Suffice to say this is no true trilogy as the characterization is retconned in mid-stream with no ample explanation (not that this "trilogy" finds giving explanations to be an important practice in the first place). Subsequent XIII games are reinterpretations at best, and sad attempts by SE to stave off releasing another core FF on the current generation consoles at worst. Considering how long it took to produce XIII and the fact that most of the renders, music, and stories are already completed for SE, it's easier and cheaper for them to squeeze XIII to the fullest for now and turn to XV later for the next gen.
I wish to compare XIII's plot to the plot of another Final Fantasy, namely X. In FFX, you're never hurting for information. By the time you finish the game, all of your questions have been sufficiently answered, and provided you've talked to many people and have completed side quests, you'll have learned the full backgrounds of all the main characters as well as many minor characters (even the ones you have never met). There was no supplementation that served as a crucial databank of biographical data that was released separately and limited to only one group of people. You don't need the Ultimania book in order to be satisfied with the characterization of the FFX characters or to fully grasp the situation in Spira. In FFXIII, you're in dire need of supplements that your datalogs don't even begin to scratch the surface of.
Now let me shift focus onto the actual gameplay mechanics. The most common criticism of FFXIII is its linearity. It is no secret that Final Fantasies tend to be on the linear side. However, a good game can well mask its linearity when handled correctly. Case in point: FFX. There is little to no open-world exploration in FFX. The best you can do is backtrack before you get the airship in order to meet people and have conversations that you'll miss later on as the plot progresses. The Calm Lands, though large, aren't nearly sufficient enough for the avid adventurer's exploration. And yet, FFX has something FFXIII severely lacks: people.
There are people in Spira; a lot of them. The people give the world depth. You can talk to all sorts of people: locals, monks, warriors, guado, ronso, Al Bhed, athletes, priests, children, the elderly--the list goes on. And not only can you talk to them, but you can see where and how they live; you can experience it for yourself. Traversing FFX isn't much different from walking the straight lines of FFXIII, but the former varies drastically from the latter in that it creates depth by depending on its setting and characters. You have few NPCs in FFXIII, and the ones that you can speak to offer very little information as to who they are and how they feel about their world outside of generic dialog. Where are the O'akas, Shelindas, and Belgamines of FFXIII? How about the Card Queens, Zones, and Xus? Or the Johnnys, Dios, and Chocobo Hermits? In FFXIII, you can't help but feel detached from the gameplay because the story isn't charging in to fill the void. You always feel isolated, alone, and lost.
Aside from the linearity, the actual battle mechanics are okay, but can be better. The largest complaint I have personally is that when the party leader dies, it should not doom the rest of the party to failure. Obviously if Snow's down for the count but Lightning still has 98% of her HP left, there's no way in any realistic scenario that Lightning would hold up a white flag. This was fixed in FFXIII-2, but it doesn't change the fact that it is a nuisance in XIII. Aside from that, I find the Paradigm system to be a nice departure from the traditional ATB. It inspires quick thinking and strategy that is reliant on each individual opponent.
The money and equipment systems are seriously flawed. Money is too sparse and equipment is too overpriced. It's a grueling process to level up equipment and the system discourages trial & error because of the sheer difficulty of accumulating the means by which to afford such risky ventures.
These are the criticisms that I have regarding FFXIII. To summarize: the characterization is severely lacking in-game because of Square's foolish decision to create separate and exclusive supplementation for its prologue. The game is linear like most other FFs, but unlike its predecessors, it does a poor job disguising its linearity because its story and world are too shallow. The gameplay is okay, but accumulating funds and equipment is a terrible chore and burden. In all, I deem FFXIII a poor addition to the Final Fantasy family.
. now that being said, go play FFX and 9. i guarantee 13-2 will no longer be your favorite 
. 13-2 is in my top 5 as well, but FFX and 9 r in front of it 
