Official Final Fantasy XIII Member Review Thread!

See I like everything that your stating as wrong. After 12 games of the same feeling atmosphere I like having something new, finally playing a ff game in a more present feeling time is what ive been waiting for. To me 13 goes a. Bit back to ff roots with how different this game was from the rest and the company is finally going in a new direction. Although ffxiii might not be the best prime example of what's to come I think it's a good outline. If ffxiii 2 fixes the small problems xiii had then ff will be great again.
 
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On a general note, please be mindful that this isn't a discussion thread, but a 'member review' thread. :) Thanks.
 
I guess this is an appropriate place to post this, I just finished my Final Fantasy XIII review on my blog, it can be read by clicking "here". Thanks :)
 
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Okay! I like this game a lot.


I'll will begin with the story and characters.

The characters are positively refreshing. Especially Lightning. I've wanted to see a badass female main character for a while now in the series and Lightning fulfilled just about every wish I had. She kicks ass, takes names, and tells people to fuck off when they damn well need to be told and I LOVED IT. The others were equally fresh and interesting. Snow wasn't a hopeless idiot (though he was my least favorite char by far), Vanille played the cutsy upbeat girl without being a total braindead dork, and Fang was also a cross between Lighting and Vanille in a very good combo. Hope was perhaps the most lackluster character, but then I think every game has at least one dud in it, so that is within acceptable parameters.

Characters I like and love and want to see more of? Check.

The story was equally interesting and fresh. I was deeply interested in why things were going on and it shoved me into the action quite well, so that was nice. What was also a HUGE improvement was the Datalog. This little thing is exactly what FF has been needing for a while now. It's essentially a codex, describing and explaining all the shit you need to know for the background, and it also conveniently avoids all the Hour of Exposition that has long been a bane to the FF series. It described for me what was going on, who was doing what, and why things were happening so I could enjoy the action better without having to wonder "WTF IS GOING ON!?" Thank you, SE for finally including this, it truly did help make the story more coherent, which can be a probably with settings that are as jam-packed and detailed as FF has a history of making.

However, it quickly became apparent that the characters have problems. And dear god, do they ever have problems. It really got to be tiring fast at the number of soul searching, heart-felt I WILL OVERCOME speeches. Which only made me like Lightning even more, because she dealt with her shit in a giant battle with Odin and then it was over and done. But it seriously felt that SE was out to make a game about Responsibility with a capital "R". Dear god did it get tiring. The comedic relief characters (Sazh and Snow) started falling into this trap of despairing tedium all too often, and therefore there seemed to be no end to the crushing hopelessness that was getting rather tiresome.

However, once you realize that the entire plot of the game is that the bad guys are trying to make the characters despair, it makes much more sense and seems much more appropriate. The characters are fighting that despair being cast at them by the villain. This IS the battle between good and evil taking place, and the characters are winning by overcoming that despair. Once I realized that, it made much more sense and I was okay with it. But even so, it still gets a bit droll.

Interesting plot and setting I want to explore? Check!


I had no problem with the game being so linear. None. At. All. In fact, I don't see what everyone was complaining about. You want to go running around mindlessly killing marks? Done. It's right there.

Also, not every game can have the same formula (multiple towns) and still make it fresh. I mean, they've been doing that since game one -- I'm supportive enough of a player that I trust SE to give me a good story and will let them lead me where they may for the sake of a fresh and new adventure. If this means the story didn't call for multiple towns, so be it. Running from town to town to town isn't the end all and be all of the series. We as fans keep demanding something new and interesting, yet we also keep demanding more of the same. You can't have both. SE realized this and decided that "new and interesting" trumped "more of the same" and I think they pulled it off excellently.


Also, the Paradigm System was quite brilliant. I enjoyed it very much, and I thought it was a genius combination of the gambit system and the standard battle screen system.

I look at it like this: in 12, people were bitching the game played itself. In 1-10, people were bitching about how tedious and micromanaging the battles were. I for one enjoyed 12's gambit system I thought it took a huge load off me and made the battles more interesting instead of "just tap X". I had to pay attention to make sure the chars did what I wanted and to change around my gambits when necessary. However, that is neither here nor there.

13's Paradigm system requires strategy. It requires knowing your own weakness and strenths and taking advantage of the opportunities the game gives you. You had to chose which paradigms to make, which was often a tough decision to make. What I also liked is the stats -- there are only two. Strength and Magic.


FINALLLY!!!!!!! Stats mean something in a game! No more spirit, no more vitality, no more this and that, it's a straight up, here's your physical power, your magical power and your damage shield power and that was that. It made it much simpler and coherent and I liked it. The Crystarium was also very nice, a good combination of the old, traditional style (each character has specific roles) but also mixing in some of the new style in 12 (each character can be whatever you want them to be).

Overall, 13 mixed the old with the new in some of the best ways. It made the most of including elements from the old nostalgic games while still taking the series in a new direction and giving us players what we've come to expect -- character, plot and adventure, each in sizable quantities. The game play was certainly not tedious and the characters were interesting and well-designed. The summons are perhaps my favorite part of the game and I really want to see Hectacon in future games. FF13 is the ultimate among compromises in regards to mixing the new and the old, but these compromises in no way compromise the integrity and enjoyment to be gained from the game. The ending was excellent and I certainly wanted to see more. That tells me this was a good game.



There are only 3 problems I had.

1) It was very hard understanding the whole upgrading of the weapons and accessories. I wish they had made it simpler or just been more exhaustive in the tutorial from the get go.

2) Having a leader in the game. I would definitely have enjoyed switching between characters in battle as I could in 12. Combining Lighting's Army of One, Fang's Highwind, and Sazh's Cold-Blooded would've killed many a foe, but alas I was unable to do so. I like the option of micromanaging at times. Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

3) Gil. Dear god are you hurting for gil after a while. If you get a chance to farm it DO IT. Because upgrading takes lots and lots of mulah. And none of the enemies drop it. If they had just included a small gil drop with ever enemy encounter, it wouldn't be so bad. But I found myself selling everything I had to make a buck and it got to be a problem before I got some winfall late in the game.


Other than that, this was a very enjoyable game, with excellent music, characters, story, and graphics and should be played all the way through by every fan of Final Fantasy.


--Dragon Mage
 
Just finished this today, like an hour ago.

Someone told me the game was very linear. People keep throwing that word around and I'd like to emphasise how accurate it is. Not only are you unable to roam anywhere except the Archylte Steppe (which is just a patch of grass, anyway), but the paths you walk are LITERALLY just a line. There's the occasional branch but 9/10 you can see on your mini-map that the branch has an end, and 9/10 those branches would contain a treasure chest. I never got lost once in this game and that's part of the charm of a Final Fantasy - not knowing where the fuck you are.

There was something missing from the characters. They've all been brought together under the same destructive circumstances, they're all wrought with torment and all experience some kind of devastating experience ... but I never felt attached to them once. Not like when Aerith died and I cried (I was 7...), or the way you can't bear to say goodbye to Tidus, or how you can't stand the thought of Vivi "stopping". The story had all the right ingredients but my poor heart just couldn't grab on to them as much as I'd have liked.

I enjoyed the paradigms in the early game, when you're wondering what the fuck was going on. Once you get the choice to change your characters and figure out your best combinations (hello Lightning, Hope & Fang), the element of discovery disappears and you're stuck button mashing.

The story feels like the entire thing could be written down on a sheet of A4, maybe two - the hours in between are battles literally just delaying you from the end of your (literal) line. On the subject of the story, it was a bit too close to XII for my liking (God-like beings that control the world, those who seek to destroy the world kind-of-thing. Think about anything to do with Venat and Cid and you'll get what I mean).

Good points? Obviously, the graphics. I liked the weapon upgrades - never was a fan of having to buy new weapons everytime a stronger one appeared in the next town (p.s., I don't miss towns that much tbh - besides, who would serve a l'Cie?). I like that all 6 of your characters have a PURPOSE in the story (fuck you Vaan, Penelo, Yuffie, Quina, Amarant, Kimahri and anyone else who's just around for the hell of it). They all tied together quite well and it felt very team-like, something missing recently.

Overall, I enjoyed the game and the ending was satisfying. Would have liked more side-quests but it was worth the money. Looking forward to XIII-2.
 
Ok I haven't played many FF but of the ones I have FFXIII was definitely the best, it was certainly one of the best games I have ever played. The characters were all great and the storyline although a bit patchy in some places was on a whole pretty amazing, I liked the new Battle system but would have preferred to be able to control more than just one character in battle. Another thing about it was that for the paradigms to be effective you have to be strategic which is something you dont see in RPGs very often these days. Through the first few chapters the game seems quite Complex however once you get the deeper into the story it sort of seems to pan itselff out, and that's when the game is at it's best. It would've been nice to have towns like in previous FF but the other features of the game kinda made up for that. I like the way they nvolved the Cieth stone missions, so that when you finsh the main story your not just sitting abouth thinking "what game can I play now" It gives you something extra to do. One of my favourite things about this game though has to be the scenery altough in some places it doesn't seem quite finished on a whole this game has some of the most beautiful scenery in gaming history I mean when you first enter Gran Pulse your like "Holy ****" it's just that Beautiful. I look forward to completing XIII-2 and hope it is as fulfilling as XIII was. A truly wonderful game.

P.S The way square enix displayed emotions towards the end of the game is one of the best features of a geme I have ever seen, It is the only game I have ever shed a tear to, and will probably be the only one. The last few cutscenes after the team destroy Orphan and Vanille & Fang give the people of Cocoon a new home, well them scenes really do tug on your heart, especially With Sazh & Dajh, that was what did it for me a father having waiting so long with no hope of ever seeing him again finally reunited with his son.

-Laquaza
 
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