 Prepare for Linearity |
| Review Date: March 9, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Travis Harris, Sacramento, CA USA |
I am now a little over 12 hours into Final Fantasy XIII. Here are my first reactions:
-As many preliminary reviewers have stated, this iteration of the Final Fantasy series is quite noticably linear in nature. Compared to the previous FF installments, which allow you to explore a vast open world from the outset and take on various optional side-quests, FFXIII gives you neither (at least for the first considerable chunk of the game). There is also little opportunity to "level grind" (although the term doesn't explicitly apply here, more on that later). You are given a proverbial "ceiling", a temporary limit to which your party members can be strengthened and developed, and for better or worse, you have to make the most of what's available to you to overcome the next challenging boss battle. Also, NPC interaction is highly limited, almost to the point of non-existence. It's like one big, long, winding corridor full of hurtles to jump. But damned if it isn't the most visually appealing corridor I've ever seen.
-Which brings us to the graphics. Square Enix has historically made painstaking efforts to keep its Final Fantasy games on the very cutting edge of the graphics scene, and FFXIII is no exception. The characters--even token NPCs--are all meticulously rendered and animated, each doing justice to the art of the series' premiere character artist, Tetsuya Nomura. Their facial subtext is unprecedented in the seires, making for very convincing performances. The way they move in battle is consistently a treat to watch, particularly in Lightning's case, as she vaults and flips about, slashing up baddies and tossing fireballs around the arena. Despite participating in chaotic battles with as many as 10 enemies on-screen, I've noticed absolutely no slowdown in the framerate. The environments are positively SPECTACULAR in both their scope, lighting, and design. It's enough to make you cry, knowing that you're chained to a single path and unable to freely explore these awe-inspiring vistas. The prerendered cutscenes are even more beautiful, in my opinion surpassing the taut action and visual appeal of even the FFVII: Advent Children feature film. They occur fairly often, and they're an absolute joy to watch.
-About battles: the new battle system is a great departure from what FF vets might be used to. There are up to three party members fighting on your side, and you directly control the actions of the leader only. The other two members provide AI support based on their role in your party's currently active Paradigm (a battle plan that assigns specific roles to each party member, and can be changed on-the-fly at any time). Gone are the days when you'd have to manage your party's HP and MP between battles; HP is automatically refilled for all party members (even KO'd ones) after every battle, and MP is non-existent. Magic spells take the form of elemental techniques that are seamlessly integrated with physical attacks and other special techniques, in long hitstrings that cost only ATB Meter stocks. The focus is not only to survive and win battles, but to finish them quickly and decisively. Judiciously switching Paradigms in mid-battle is indespensible to victory, and necessary to receive a 5-star rank at the end of the battle, and ultimately more valuable spoils.
-Character levels as you know them are gone as well. Your party members' stats are boosted through the expenditure of Crystogen Points (CP) in the Chrystarium Development system (very similar to the Sphere Grid system of FFX). As you advance through the Chrystarium, you gain new techniques and spells, and increase the levels of each character's available Roles. What does level up are your weapons and accessories. Spoils you earn in victory can be spent to allocate Experience Points to your equipped gear, raising their stat bonuses and special attributes, and even transforming them into other, more powerful items.
-Okay, so it's linear. It hasn't bugged me one iota thus far, and I'm having a blast playing FFXIII. The story is deep, mysterious and compelling, and the characters each have very interesting, multi-dimensional personalities. |
The Review of Final Fantasy XIII
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| Review Date: March 9, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Dao Her, |
First I want to give my opinion about the game.I bought the game when it came out
i though i was going to be a OK game but after a few minutes of playing FF13 it was the best.
The Good thing that came out of the game was the gameplay,graphic,sound and the character.
Highly recommend to Final Fantasy Fans. The over all is below
Pro-
-gameplay
-graphic
-storyline
-sound
Con-
-Camera movement around the Char.
-Need more Character
That pretty much it.
And I highly recommend you play in High Definition the Picture and sound are great.
-Infamous-ReX |
Definitely an amazing experience!
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| Review Date: March 9, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Mary Navarro, Glendale, AZ |
| Final Fantasy XIII is an outstanding game, not receiving the praise it truly deserves. Most people talking down to the game are just delusional, upset that it wasn't a PS3 exclusive making it impure and awful in their minds. This game has everything a Final Fantasy really needs: Intense gameplay, a developed story and characters, and a fleeting score. Don't believe naysayers. |
The most amazing game since FF VII, talking of RPGs.
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| Review Date: March 9, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Octavio Arredondo Perez, Cancun,Mexico |
| I have the demo of the game since the lauch of FF AQdvent Children complete Japan version and i never stoped to play it all days by night!, now today im gonna pick up the game for ps3 of course im rpgjapan fan so... I hope this rpg bringme back to old days of final fantasy 2 historya and ff 7 fighting styles, by the way guys any body knows if square enix gonna sell the especial edition of the guide? |
My First Impression Of FF13
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| Review Date: March 10, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Patrick_91, Canada |
So far I'm only 4 hours into FF13 and its been great! After the major disappointment (IMO) that was FF12, FF13 is a godsend. Imagine a dash of FF7 and a hint of FF10 and you get the basic mechanics of FF13. You don't get to control all your characters, you tell them what type of actions you want them to do and the AI chooses the best actions for them, be it medic,attacker, or defender. You only get to control one character that the game assigns you, usually Lighting or Snow. Unfortunately the game also gives you your party members automatically with no way to change them around. The level system has also gone back to FF10 style where you use a more refined sphere grid to gain HP,strength,MP etc...
The graphics of FF13 are some of the best I've seen on my PS3 to date,the character models are fantastically done,possibly THE best so far. The cut scenes are also fantastic and are only marginally better than the in game graphics. The menu system also has some pretty cool animations. Definitely unique. The story is also very intriguing and I could barely pull myself away from the game to write this review or even to eat!
FF13 is linear, but I like it linear. I hated the open free roaming world of FF12 that doesn't tell you were to go or lets you go to an area your not ready for and lets you get mopped around by the monsters. Apparently the game opens up at chapter 10 (out of 13). A lot of people complained about the linearity of FF13,but then way more people complained about FF12's open ended world...cant make everyone happy.
Overall this game is the best FF since FF10. And I recommend you buy it as soon as you can. I also recommend you get the strategy guide as a couple of places in the game are fairly hard without a hint. If you pre ordered it at EB games you got a free mini guide and poster. But the mini guide only covers the first 3 chapters/4 hours of the game. |
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