This year the awaited Final Fantasy XIII, the 13th installment from the popular Square
Enix series, was released after what felt like an eternity of waiting.
I was also one of the crazed FF fans that had been anticipating this release for years. I had high hopes for something that took ages to develop. I expected a clean cut RPG game with kick-ass graphics and an amazing storyline. I got both I desired but it seemed as though it had been chopped into an almost complete different genre from the typical Final Fantasy tradition we all know and love. Is it a bad thing or a good thing? I'll cover both topics here.
Things I didn't like about FF13
If your here your probably torn between whether or not to buy this game. The reviews and opinions after the release date were atrocious. After seeing them I was wary of whether or not to spend $60 on a brand new final fantasy game that was said to be horrible. 13 did something no other final fantasy games did, it strayed from tradition. There are many aspects in the game that aren't alike any other in the series. Which could be considered bad or good for different people.
1. No Towns
In the beginning, 13 has no towns. You begin in a dark gloomy atmosphere with little lee-way off the course that is set for you. This was a turn off for me when I began playing. The gaming became kind of boring for me when I had no where to really explore or do.
2. No real main characters til later
I was also one of the crazed FF fans that had been anticipating this release for years. I had high hopes for something that took ages to develop. I expected a clean cut RPG game with kick-ass graphics and an amazing storyline. I got both I desired but it seemed as though it had been chopped into an almost complete different genre from the typical Final Fantasy tradition we all know and love. Is it a bad thing or a good thing? I'll cover both topics here.
Things I didn't like about FF13
If your here your probably torn between whether or not to buy this game. The reviews and opinions after the release date were atrocious. After seeing them I was wary of whether or not to spend $60 on a brand new final fantasy game that was said to be horrible. 13 did something no other final fantasy games did, it strayed from tradition. There are many aspects in the game that aren't alike any other in the series. Which could be considered bad or good for different people.
1. No Towns
In the beginning, 13 has no towns. You begin in a dark gloomy atmosphere with little lee-way off the course that is set for you. This was a turn off for me when I began playing. The gaming became kind of boring for me when I had no where to really explore or do.
2. No real main characters til later
Like typical final fantasy games you have a big party that travels with you and you can fight with up to 3 from your party. In FF13 you for the most part of the game, are switched from a small party and forced to play 1-2 people separated. You don't meet up with your full party until later in the game and cannot choose your party leaders.
3. If the leader dies, it's game over!
As I said in 2, you cannot choose your leaders til later in the game. There are two characters in your party that are weak-based in the beginning. They do not learn jobs like commando and are deemed quite useless. They have low HP and are the main healers when you were the stronger leaders on the party. So when you flip flop characters you find it is extremely hard to heal yourself and your other characters during fight when you didn't have to before. So basically, it's a pretty big nuisance in the game.
4. No big money making
13 is not a game where you earn gil (money) by offing big enemies. You also don't start out with a certain big amount of cash in your pocket. The save spots contain the 'shop' function where you can buy armor, items, parts, etc. This makes it hard to get a fast heal from 'potions' because you can't afford them! Pheonix downs are 1,000 gil. Which you have no money for for basically half of the game. So if someone in your party dies (which in the beginning is about 2 people) you can't revive them and risk your leader's life in the process. The only income you get is if your lucky to come across a floating chest that'll contain a small amount of gil to spend. Usually no larger than 4,000 gil.
5. A confusing & large landscape
When you actually reach some sort of land it reaches out even farther then your platform can see. Which could be bad or good depending on the kind of gamer you claim to be. For me, it's bad. Don't get me wrong, the scenes are beautiful and are very interactive to where you roam about. But, BUT, you'll find that your map can also not compute the whole structure of where you are. When you map can't even put the whole place onto one screen, you know it's bad. If you thought Final Fantasy 12's confusing areas were hard, (especially on hunts) wait till you play 13. I have literally gotten lost around 20 times while playing this game. It's WAY to big to even process in your own brains. There is one area where it stretches so far and has the highest level of monsters out there. Luckily, you are stuck in between a winding course and murderous beasts. Basically, you get pretty damn lost and angry is what. The game forces you to not finish side-quests and say "screw it, I've been here for 10 hours trying to complete all of this, getting killed multiple times, and becoming completely lost." and continue on to the next area.
6. You cannot switch leaders in battle
Now, we FF freaks are used to the ginormous party in which we have to level up frequently. The bad part is, once the battle actually starts you can't change leaders. In 13 instead of 'aeons' or 'guardians' you have Eidolons (which are basically the same thing. You summon them, they come help, and all that jazz.) This means that you can only use one eidolon per battle because only the character it is assigned to can summon it. And summoning takes up TP which is not easily replenished. Meaning, you basically get to use an eidolon once per battle and have no way to really get it back. Which, as you may see, can be quite frustrating at times.
Now that my roasting of the game is done let's get to the good parts of it.
Things I loved about FF13
1.The graphics
FF13 had been announced in 2006 which means it had years and years of development. I expected the graphics to be so realistic my eyes fell out. It was. I was so excited on how realistic the world was. No longer would my characters walk or bump into things and look like they were hanging off the edge of the world. FF13 is not just people walking around and little things in the background moving to keep it real. 13 has breeze, multiple things moving around in different patterns, and more things that will blow your heads off.
2. The music
FF has been known for it's beautiful instrumental tracks and background music. FF13 blew me away with many beautiful piano pieces, electric battle themes, and it actually featured vocal area music for once. I actually got into the OST before I got farther into the game and fell in love with it. The game also features a song sung by Leona Lewis.
3. Character Designs
Remember zooming in on past characters and either seeing blank, pixelated stares, or female butts in your face? Me too. FF13 brings a new team of characters that are realistic looking and covered enough where you can't see butt every time you turn on your platform. If you actually zoom into lightning (one of the main characters) face you will see blue eyes that look back into yours and she'll blink, and change eye direction. The time put into the character's and their clothes is extremely detailed and amazing.
4. The crystalium system
Forget the old ways of leveling your characters because 13 introduces a new, and easy way to upgrade. Similar to FFX-2's role system, you may choose different roles to suit battles and character's stats. 13 offers 6 job roles - Commando, Ravager, Sentinel, Medic, Saboteur, and Synergist that you can teach your characters. It is also kind of similar to FFX's way of moving to different nodes except you don't need spheres to obtain nodes, you just used EXP.
5. The paradigm system
Remember when I said that the roles are like FFx-2's? Well if you played the sequel to FFX you remember you had dress spheres and had to sit through the transformation between jobs. (Although I liked it) 13 introduces the Paradigm system. With the quick touch of a button you can scroll through the set paradigms (or roles) you have ordered and quickly change without a transformation scene. This is a neat and fast way to change roles in the heat of battle from commando to medic before the foe finished the final blow and you have to battle again.
6. The story
At first, I didn't quite understand the story behind FF13. It was confusing and strange and something of course, new to me. A friend of mine who also purchased 13 said you need to read the datalogs (journals, diaries, of the events that happened) to understand it. FF13 introduces a world called Cocoon which is run by mini-gods called Fal'cie. Once in a while there are humans appointed L'cie to destroy cocoon by pulse. Which is where all the bad is (pulse). Basically you become L'cie and your focus (the task you must complete) is to destroy cocoon and become Ragnarok and destroy the Fal'cie Orphan, destroying Cocoon. Eventually you find corruption between the Fal'cie/L'cie system and end up turning the tides and becoming the ones that have to save the world of Cocoon from the people that hate your guts as L'cie. The story sucks you in and you find it a competition to get to the end of the game. The story scenes progress and secrets spill.
7. The Scenes
Every Final Fantasy that was made in the past 10 years or so has had kick-ass realistic looking FMV (full motion videos). FF13 takes it over the top and amazed me at how beautiful a world they had created. It's actually like watching the movie 'Avatar' again when playing 13. The graphics are just that good.
My Stars for this game
***** (5)
My honest review
I personally loved and love Final Fantasy 13. It exceeding all of my expectations with the storyline, music, and scenary that took my breath away. I have never played a game so in depth. I didn't quite understand how this game could conjure up such horrible reviews. Either the players of the game didn't continue long enough to actually get into it, or they just hated the new walls it broke through... I just don't know. The only annoying parts of the game that frustrated me was the on going confusing courses and the lack of money earned for all that hard work you do. When I first purchased the game it took a while for me to actually get into it, but when I did I couldn't climb out. FF13 grasped a hold of me and didn't let go. I really recommend it but push that you actually give it enough chance and play through the part of no towns and boring game-play.
3. If the leader dies, it's game over!
As I said in 2, you cannot choose your leaders til later in the game. There are two characters in your party that are weak-based in the beginning. They do not learn jobs like commando and are deemed quite useless. They have low HP and are the main healers when you were the stronger leaders on the party. So when you flip flop characters you find it is extremely hard to heal yourself and your other characters during fight when you didn't have to before. So basically, it's a pretty big nuisance in the game.
4. No big money making
13 is not a game where you earn gil (money) by offing big enemies. You also don't start out with a certain big amount of cash in your pocket. The save spots contain the 'shop' function where you can buy armor, items, parts, etc. This makes it hard to get a fast heal from 'potions' because you can't afford them! Pheonix downs are 1,000 gil. Which you have no money for for basically half of the game. So if someone in your party dies (which in the beginning is about 2 people) you can't revive them and risk your leader's life in the process. The only income you get is if your lucky to come across a floating chest that'll contain a small amount of gil to spend. Usually no larger than 4,000 gil.
5. A confusing & large landscape
When you actually reach some sort of land it reaches out even farther then your platform can see. Which could be bad or good depending on the kind of gamer you claim to be. For me, it's bad. Don't get me wrong, the scenes are beautiful and are very interactive to where you roam about. But, BUT, you'll find that your map can also not compute the whole structure of where you are. When you map can't even put the whole place onto one screen, you know it's bad. If you thought Final Fantasy 12's confusing areas were hard, (especially on hunts) wait till you play 13. I have literally gotten lost around 20 times while playing this game. It's WAY to big to even process in your own brains. There is one area where it stretches so far and has the highest level of monsters out there. Luckily, you are stuck in between a winding course and murderous beasts. Basically, you get pretty damn lost and angry is what. The game forces you to not finish side-quests and say "screw it, I've been here for 10 hours trying to complete all of this, getting killed multiple times, and becoming completely lost." and continue on to the next area.
6. You cannot switch leaders in battle
Now, we FF freaks are used to the ginormous party in which we have to level up frequently. The bad part is, once the battle actually starts you can't change leaders. In 13 instead of 'aeons' or 'guardians' you have Eidolons (which are basically the same thing. You summon them, they come help, and all that jazz.) This means that you can only use one eidolon per battle because only the character it is assigned to can summon it. And summoning takes up TP which is not easily replenished. Meaning, you basically get to use an eidolon once per battle and have no way to really get it back. Which, as you may see, can be quite frustrating at times.
Now that my roasting of the game is done let's get to the good parts of it.
Things I loved about FF13
1.The graphics
FF13 had been announced in 2006 which means it had years and years of development. I expected the graphics to be so realistic my eyes fell out. It was. I was so excited on how realistic the world was. No longer would my characters walk or bump into things and look like they were hanging off the edge of the world. FF13 is not just people walking around and little things in the background moving to keep it real. 13 has breeze, multiple things moving around in different patterns, and more things that will blow your heads off.
2. The music
FF has been known for it's beautiful instrumental tracks and background music. FF13 blew me away with many beautiful piano pieces, electric battle themes, and it actually featured vocal area music for once. I actually got into the OST before I got farther into the game and fell in love with it. The game also features a song sung by Leona Lewis.
3. Character Designs
Remember zooming in on past characters and either seeing blank, pixelated stares, or female butts in your face? Me too. FF13 brings a new team of characters that are realistic looking and covered enough where you can't see butt every time you turn on your platform. If you actually zoom into lightning (one of the main characters) face you will see blue eyes that look back into yours and she'll blink, and change eye direction. The time put into the character's and their clothes is extremely detailed and amazing.
4. The crystalium system
Forget the old ways of leveling your characters because 13 introduces a new, and easy way to upgrade. Similar to FFX-2's role system, you may choose different roles to suit battles and character's stats. 13 offers 6 job roles - Commando, Ravager, Sentinel, Medic, Saboteur, and Synergist that you can teach your characters. It is also kind of similar to FFX's way of moving to different nodes except you don't need spheres to obtain nodes, you just used EXP.
5. The paradigm system
Remember when I said that the roles are like FFx-2's? Well if you played the sequel to FFX you remember you had dress spheres and had to sit through the transformation between jobs. (Although I liked it) 13 introduces the Paradigm system. With the quick touch of a button you can scroll through the set paradigms (or roles) you have ordered and quickly change without a transformation scene. This is a neat and fast way to change roles in the heat of battle from commando to medic before the foe finished the final blow and you have to battle again.
6. The story
At first, I didn't quite understand the story behind FF13. It was confusing and strange and something of course, new to me. A friend of mine who also purchased 13 said you need to read the datalogs (journals, diaries, of the events that happened) to understand it. FF13 introduces a world called Cocoon which is run by mini-gods called Fal'cie. Once in a while there are humans appointed L'cie to destroy cocoon by pulse. Which is where all the bad is (pulse). Basically you become L'cie and your focus (the task you must complete) is to destroy cocoon and become Ragnarok and destroy the Fal'cie Orphan, destroying Cocoon. Eventually you find corruption between the Fal'cie/L'cie system and end up turning the tides and becoming the ones that have to save the world of Cocoon from the people that hate your guts as L'cie. The story sucks you in and you find it a competition to get to the end of the game. The story scenes progress and secrets spill.
7. The Scenes
Every Final Fantasy that was made in the past 10 years or so has had kick-ass realistic looking FMV (full motion videos). FF13 takes it over the top and amazed me at how beautiful a world they had created. It's actually like watching the movie 'Avatar' again when playing 13. The graphics are just that good.
My Stars for this game
***** (5)
My honest review
I personally loved and love Final Fantasy 13. It exceeding all of my expectations with the storyline, music, and scenary that took my breath away. I have never played a game so in depth. I didn't quite understand how this game could conjure up such horrible reviews. Either the players of the game didn't continue long enough to actually get into it, or they just hated the new walls it broke through... I just don't know. The only annoying parts of the game that frustrated me was the on going confusing courses and the lack of money earned for all that hard work you do. When I first purchased the game it took a while for me to actually get into it, but when I did I couldn't climb out. FF13 grasped a hold of me and didn't let go. I really recommend it but push that you actually give it enough chance and play through the part of no towns and boring game-play.
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