Easily one of the greatest RPGs of our time. Fun battles, intriguing characters, amazing design and fantastic soundtrack
***
INTRO
Yes, it's been slammed by both fanboys, and general gamers of the like since its release in 2010. But don't let that deter you; FINAL FANTASY XIII is easily one of the best RPG games I've ever played, and one of my favorites in the FINAL FANTASY series itself. A word thrown at FFXIII often is "linearity," and while from a western gamer I can kind of see the issue, I prefer a streamlined world that doesn't offer unnecessary time-wasting mini-games and such. But I'll get to that later on.
***
STORY- 8/10 FINAL FANTASY XIII's story could have been so much better than it was if they had delved into the fascinating Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology and lore and explained in depth the conflict called the "War of Transgression" from Fang and Vanille's time. Who was in the war? How did Pulse's citizens lose? Why did Lindzei turn on Pulse? All of these things could have been explained much better than a few entries in the datalog, a huge encyclopedia filled with text, text, text. So if you want to know the back story of someone like, say, Lebreau or Gadot, you'd have to look it up in the datalog. Otherwise, touch luck. Thankfully, almost all of the main characters are explained clearly - what their motives are, and what kind of person they are. One of the finest points about FINAL FANTASY XIII, though, is how your six characters interact with each other.
Even through back story the characters are intertwined, but the greatest moments between characters comes later in the story, when it seems the group might turn on each other. You'll have to play the game for yourself to see what I mean. But I'm getting off-topic here. As for the story, like I said before, it isn't perfect, but it's interesting enough to keep me playing and wanting to know more. The conflict between Cocoon and Pulse's l'Cie was really well done, so points for that. There was always an underlying tension in the group when they were on Cocoon, which stemmed from Cocoon's hatred towards anything Pulsian.
***
GRAPHICS - 9.5/10
Come on. Look at 'em. Easily the best-looking game of 2010. Even today it still holds up quite well, though there's a few framerates issues on big areas like the Archylte Steppe. It's a minor complaint, though. Although there are a lot of cutscenes, it helps to break up the amount of fighting you do, and simply watching them is an experience in itself. The PS3 version is notably clearer than the X360 version, though the latter has better color in some areas with lower resolution. (The X360 ran on 570p while the PS3 was trucking at 720 HD). In-game cutscenes flow seamlessly from battles to traveling, and CGI cutscenes will take your breath away. If you thought the opening cinematic was incredible, wait until you get to later chapters.
***
GAMEPLAY - 8.5/10
Those that had resorted to hating FINAL FANTASY XIII for life usually make the claim that FFXIII's gameplay is "easy," "boring," and "unchallenged." I'm here to contradict that claim right now. Sure, from chapter 1-4, things are pretty easy, but after all, you're still learning the mechanics of battle and how the "Paradigm Shift" work. I was happy to trot along for the first few battles as long as I wasn't thrown head-first into turmoil (Bayonetta could have taken a hint from that). Fast-forward to later chapters, and you'll be lucky if you can survive even on without dying at least ten times. Battles become brutal, and on Gran Pulse, "tough" just got tougher. On Gran Pulse, the dangerous lowerworld of Cocoon, a general fart in your direction from a Behemoth will have you scrambling for Potion or Phoenix Down.
However, the new "ATB system" that serves as the core of FFXIII's battle system is what keeps each battle new, exciting, and fresh. The ATB gauge acts as a gauge to input your attack commands...it's a command queue, basically. From your attack menu you can choose to press "Auto-chain," which builds your command queue with commands the game thinks will work best at the present moment. Choose "Attacks" to build your own queue and really go to town on your enemies. By doing this, your fingers are flying as you try and watch your characters' health, the Stagger/Chain Gauge, and of course, building attacks to execute.
What makes FFXIII's battles so fun, however, is the new "Paradigm Shift" feature; a list of roles that all three of your party members can take on at one time. By pressing LB, you can quickly pull u the Paradigm menu to go through your available Paradigms to find the right one suited to your battle situation. They're also very customizable, as you can assign individual party members different roles in that Paradigm. Relentless Assault, for example, is the name of a Paradigm that uses two Ravagers (your black mages) and one Commando to deal most of the damage.
Now, the purpose for having good Paradigms comes into play when enemies start having a "Stagger Gauge," which is a gauge that must be driven up in order to "Stagger" your opponent in battle. Staggering your enemies in FFXIII is essential to defeat them, but it isn't always easy to do so. Your Ravagers are required to pummel the enemy while the Commando settles the Chain Gauge to make sure it doesn't fall before the Stagger period begins. Sound confusing? Don't worry; it's not. However, one complaint is that if your character dies, the battle is over, everyone's K.O.ed. They fixed this in FFXIII-2, but I would have liked an option to switch my character during a battle if things go awry. Again, small complaint, but it would've saved me a lot of time. The bottom line is that FFXIII's battle system is my favorite of the series to date, not only because of the challenge it brings, but because it builds on FFX-2 and FFXII's battle system to produce a fast, streamlined experience not found in past FFs.
***
CHARACTERS - 8/10
The characters of FINAL FANTASY XIII get their own rating not only because they have always been an important part of FINAL FANTASY history, but because they're especially important in FFXIII. As I said above, the way Lightning, Snow, Hope, Vanille, Fang, and Sazh interact is really fun to watch. They're even pretty trusty AI in battle! FFXIII's six characters are all the archetypes of a FINAL FANTASY game, but with different twists. Many call Lightning the "female Cloud," but I'm happy to report she can actually speak and think for herself. Not only was her independent attitude refreshing for a female lead, but she's a bit of a badass in battle, too. Whenever I had the chance, she was my leader in the party. Other characters aren't so great, but they do have their moments.
The most annoying one is definitely Snow Villiers, the self-proclaimed "hero" of every living soul in the universe. Need a hero? No? You sure?! Don't worry...Snow's YOUR hero!! His irritating random "I'm the hero!" and "Everybody needs a hero!" can be grating to the ears, but you eventually have grudging respect for the giant oaf before the game is over. Others like Vanille and Hope are tolerable, but it was good to see them mature over the course of only a few months in their adventure. Fang is my second favorite character, not only because of her tomboy attitude, but because of motherly side in her. She's great to watch and play as, and an awesome dragoon. Most of the other characters are cannon fodder, but Jihl Nabaat, the only villainess of FFXIII, is really intriguing, and I was disappointed to see her kick the bucket so soon.
***
SOUNDTRACK 9/10
Sure, Nobuo Uetmatsu was good while he lasted, but I was equally impressed by Hamazu's work as the composer for FINAL FANTASY XIII. The soundtrack as a whole is completely different than anything I've ever heard and hold its own unique sound to it. Certain pieces like "Blinded By Light" are bound to be popular FINAL FANTASY battle themes in the future, and stark contrasts like "Dust to Dust" are really what makes this soundtrack so good. Applause!
***
VERDICT: 9.5/10
FINAL FANTASY XIII, while not perfect, makes up for its flaws with a great battle system, intriguing characters that warm your heart, an amazing soundtrack, gorgeous visuals, and plenty of FF staples to keep me happy. If you haven't bought it already, you would probably prefer the PS3 version, though the X360 does still hold it well enough. Either way, this is an incredible journey you don't want to miss. Note: Total hours spent playing-276 hours Platinum Trophy, etc. Yes, I'm a big FFXIII fan, but there's a reason I am...'cause this game is so good!
-Bayonetta2013