Final Fantasy XIII Review

[WilsonDean1990]

I think quite a few people might be disappointed with Final Fantasy XIII when it ships to US and EU. I recently just read a review from Gamer|Life and they have played the first 17 hours of the game and describes the game as more of a movie than a game. He also listed some of the changes within the game set up

Here they are:

• You Have a Party of 3 and only control 1 character and you do not chose who you control in your party, it's random
• Apparently there are almost no towns, non-playable characters to chat up, extra side missions, hidden sequences, fancy equipment to save up for.
• He talks about how the game is straight forward and if your not fighting a battle then your watching a cut-scene
  
  Battle Changes
  
• If you die in a battle its not game over you just start from the point before the battle
• if you don't feel the battle is going your way, you can chose to restart the battle
• And you are automatically healed after every battle

(This is not my opinion of the game this information was taken from
Game|Life website.)

If you wish to read the article the website is below

Stripped-Down Final Fantasy XIII Is More Movie Than Game | GameLife | Wired.com

I personally will buy any final fantasy game regardless of the review so I'll just have to wait till the comes out before i make a review

[Dodie16]

I'm still going to get the game and make my own decision about it, too. Most people get disappointed over a game anyway, because they feel like it didn't live up to thier lofty expectations. I'm keeping an open mind about it.

I read the article and there are a few things I am sad about hearing, but it's not enough to detract me from buying it when it gets released:

XIII isn’t a big, open, explorable world; it’s a series of discrete maps that you run through and forget entirely about once you’re the hell out of there.

I love exploring... That's why I love XII so much is because it's such a sprawling world of discovery. I loved chatting it up with NPCs too. You can hear some of the funniest dialogue in the game from them, imo.

Also, there are chapters? Like how they did in Dirge of Cerberus and FFX-2? I guess that's why there's no open world, although in X-2 you still could explore whatever part of Spira you wanted.

[Andromeda]

A player's comments that I read about their experience of the game likened it the game to being a Cinematic RPG a kin to Parasite Eve. And Parasite Eve is a cult classic at this point. So that is not necessarily a bad thing. But hey if it is focusing so heavily on story and characters then people should not be so disappointed this time around. Since so many people were not able to understand the political story of FFXII.

Everything I've read and I've tried to minimize it has only got me more excited to play it.

[Ralz]

No exploring? Oooh, that doesn't sound good... o_O

But... I'll still try it. I can go for a lot of storytelling, so long as its interesting. And actually... this'll probably give a big chance to know the characters, probably more than any others in the series...

[Shibi]

You Have a Party of 3 and only control 1 character and you do not chose who you control in your party, it's random

Yeah I don't think that's that bad. Actually, the main character that you control is random but you kinda control all of them through the Optima system that is somehow for me more practical and dynamic than the gambits in FFXII. The fights are so fast that you barely have time to control one character, having to control 3 would definitely be overwhelming =/

Apparently there are almost no towns, non-playable characters to chat up, extra side missions, hidden sequences, fancy equipment to save up for.

Yep >< No towns in the sense that there are not really places where you can find inns to rest and shops and everything else that Square usually puts to make the game more "alive". Not that much NPCs too since every single one of them has a voice actor and obviously, SE can't afford (yet) to give a voice to a whole village full of people ^^"

He talks about how the game is straight forward and if your not fighting a battle then your watching a cut-scene

That's more because they probably only played the first ~17h of the game. The maps get a lot bigger after like ~20h, not as big as FFXII's Ivalice, but still pretty explorable and less linear x)

Not a disappointment at all for me, I was expecting a FFXII-like with better graphics but I was positively surprised by Final Fantasy 13 and even though it is not an amazing Final Fantasy, it is still an excellent game and I enjoyed every minute of it =)

[Locke4God]

Ehhh, I agree with most of you that I really want to keep an open mind about it. I mean I'm a big fan of most of the games, but I'm not hearing much good out of this one. The Robot Summons are really freaking me out, and No Town? No Armor Upgrades? I'm getting spooked here. Maybe I've just played my limit of them I don't know. It's weird because I played 7 & * first, then was less thrilled with 9, but then really excited over the old school games 4,5, and 6. I finally understood why people were less than thrilled at the sci-fi take on the series, and although I loved 12, I'm starting to pine for a game for a more old school feel to it. Is the series going to jump the shark on us?

[Squig_herder]

Square Enix, have of late been taking a more alternative/mordern take on game making, and this may be a good thing or it may be a bad, its hard to tell right now.

All I know is that im waiting till I play the game to make up my mind on it. Its easy to sit back and go "like that, why did that put that in? and i love this" but you cant really tell till you play the thing yourself.

Already pre-ordered mine, now its just a wait

[Cobaltblu]

This doesn't surprise me at all.

With the increasing popularity of online MMOs and online modes for games I think game manufacturers feel they need to dumb down games and provide more eye candy to attract "gamers".

FF XIII (from what I read in this review) is taking the high points and emphasizing them and removing much of the low points (leveling and wandering around).

Square probably figures if people in today's gaming world want to explore vast worlds and have unparalleled freedom of choice they are more likely to buy a World of Warcraft account.

It used to be the case that if you wanted to explore a large world you had to buy a japanese RPG or play a MUD; that isn't the case anymore. This is why I think square has said that future FF games will have even more changes from the traditional type of game.

So square is making a big flashy movie-game that will catch the attention of the largest amount of "gamers".

Honestly I have been playing online MUDs (multi-user dugeons) since 1996 anyway so go there for my world exploring. I would never play Wow. So I will buy FF XIII for the amazing visuals and storyline and get a much longer "movie" than I could ever buy by spending the same amount of money on tickets at the theater.

[Josh_R]

Regardless of what is said about this game I will still buy it, in fact I plan to reserve my copy of it at Gamestop. Some stuff will suck, such hardly any towns, or people to chat up. Oh well I will play it with an open mind, and hope for the absolute best...

[Rydia Lover]

yea, im very excited about this game, particularly in the story and characters.

one review i read described this game as the next final fantasy VI, as there isnt just one main character but a whole cast of equally important characters.

i also heard it was much darker than the other stories which intregues me only more! =)

and on the note of the town issue:

Spoiler: because they are all l'Cie these characters are fugatives to both sides of the game, meaning, wear could they go? maybe thats why there are no towns in the game.

[homiegesus]

I actually ordered the game from Play-Asia and received it at the beginning of January, but I haven't had much time to play it (I actually plan on playing it some more in a moment) I wish I could speak from first hand experience but from what I've read the game is as described in this forum that it is linear and very cinematic BUT that is only for the first 20 or so hours of the game. Once you've learned more about each character from different perspectives between the chapters you end up at the second half of the game which is the exploring, side-quest, ultimate weapons, leveling up characters part for the next 20 or so hours. I don't see why so many different reviews feel the need to post a review about a game half way through. It seems to me the only reason to do such a thing is to lower the hype that people are feeling.

I also feel that EVERY Final Fantasy has played out the way that this one does. They all progress through the story as you level up along the way and once you have accomplished the bulk of the story you are free to roam and have freedom with your characters to develop them. I know FFXII sort of broke the mold a bit because you end up doing other things as you progress through the game but even with XII there was still the programmers urge for you to progress through the story first.

[chrono]

Funny, all the reviews i have read have given this game high praise.

[Arch]

Idc i just cant wait

[The Dark Crystal]

Man those game sites/magazines are always giving good games a bad review. its a matter of opinion, and most of them come back to praise it once it comes out!

I with Dodie on this one, you just have to keep a open mind! For the Sci-fi look i think it looks amazing and a very good twist! Their is still 14 coming out that still carries on some good old school traits, which i also cannot wait for! Man my bank account is going to be hurtin

[Block]

I recently just read a review from Gamer|Life and they have played the first 17 hours of the game and describes the game as more of a movie than a game.

The question is:
Is it a good movie?

[loaf]

Wtf is Gamer|Life, never heard of it, therefore their review is pointless.

Also if nobody saw this whole "It's a movie thing" coming then that's shame on you. Because it was obvious that they were aiming towards that. Also the battle system was made to make it flow like an epic scene. I'm surprised people would be surprised at that since well, they obviously again were hinting it to everyone during trailers and preview. I think.

[Blackbird VIII]

I am agreed to keep an open mind, but I am not happy with what I'm hearing.
I would hate to randomly control a character in battle (to me, that just seems stupid).

Since I am a hardcore FF nut, I have to play it. I will probably love it just because it bears "the great title". However, I am happy to see that the story still matters to Square. Hopefully the battle system will be as cool as I am expecting.