Reviews [Spoilers]

[Ernest]

So what do people actually think of the game? It's been out 9 days now.

IGN: $category$Reader Review$username$

That's a review I wrote for the game on IGN. It's pretty long, so I'll just let everyone know that I gave the game a score of 8.8/10.

I believe the series to have an average of 9.3/10 accross its title, so I do see XIII as a slight step down, but still a really good game.

So I'd love for everyone to give a score above, and a review also if they like. I'm trying to work out how this game was received by fans, even though we already know crtically it hasnt been received as well as it could be.

When choosing a score, think hard.

Thanks guys.

[Che]

I just beat the game 15 minutes ago, and I am giving it a 9.0/10.

10/10 to me means perfection, there's no possible way it could have been any better unless I was on ecstasy and receiving oral the entire 45 hours I played through the game.

There were a couple things I'd change. I do miss "towns", being able to choose whether to continue the story or just go wherever you want was always a good option to have, even if I never chose it. I liked the feeling of that. The save points being shops every 10 minutes of the game pretty much made up for that as far as utility and being able to pick up and continue the story and then put it back down when I needed to go do something else, but I enjoy having actual towns to run around in. Just personal preference, and nothing huge.

I also would change some of the AI, or have the ability to choose your priorities (especially for medics). The ability to choose priority on Raise, Esuna, Cures, and Curas would have been nice. Sometimes I'd get mad at my medic AI while playing.

These are very minor things, and this is my new favorite game in the entire series.

[Yang's bald head]

Thought it was a great game. I did not like XII at all, 10 I thought was ok but this was definatley the best post PS1 FF. It took me 43 hours to complete and I didn't spend that much time doing the hunts.

I would rate it a 9.0 as I thoughtt he story and battle system was fantastic. The problems I had was that it was too intence and it tired me out. I would loved to have just taken a break and explored a few of the towns, messed around in a gold saucer style nautilus and spoke to npc's about the lore of the world. Bearing in mind it took 4 years? to make the game, 43 hours to complete then it probably was just not practical so can understand the reasoning behind a lot of this.

As people have already mentioned, the Leona Lewis theme at the end fitted in perfect and after all the criticism too. I thought the rest of the soundtrack was ok but nothing special.

Either way I loved the game and can't wait for vsXII.

[Ralz]

9/10

This game was fantastic, and certainly exceeded my expectations, which were quite low, actually. I never go into an FF expecting much, but this game sure delivered. The strong points are split among the main character development, excluding the villains, the gameplay, and to an extent, the music.

As for storyline, I haven't felt this connected to my characters since FFVI, and that's hard to do. Everyone in the game looks and feels believable, having realistic characteristics, and sometimes the expressions are perfect. However, it does suffer from rather weak villains. The game tries to establish this awful government who wants to calm the people down by doing the most ruthless of actions, killing the people causing the panic. And why? Its not their fault, but that's what happens. At the head of this tyrannical rule is an Emperor Mateus-type old guy. Typical, but kinda different. There was plenty going for him to be a cool villain even without being a fal'Cie. In fact, I think he would've made a better l'Cie. Why? Because, he can prove humans chosen by the fal'Cie can be just as powerful, if not more so, than their choosers. I would've perferred at least ONE battle against his human form, but oh well. He also doesn't appear enough times in the game to be an effective villain. We know why, and that's the whole problem. Another failed attempt at a villain was Jihl Nabaat. I felt slightly bad for this girl. Why? Because she never even got a boss fight! They develop her as if she's going to be really hard to take down, and just seeing her get knocked down by Barthandelus is less than satisfying. ONLY I GET TO KILL THE CRAZY MILITARY LEADERS, DAMN IT! D8< Not to mention, she seemed like a type who would eventually see the error of her ways late-game and stop serving the Sanctum. Cliche, I know, but I liked her, for as little development as she had. She had a lot of potential, but alas... Jihl Nabaat, I'll always remember you as the villain who could have been... Also, this game pulls the same crap as FFIII, IV, IX, and X in that the real badguy of the game isn't revealed until near the end. Although, Orphan was mentioned more towards the middle, but I consider Chapter Nine closer to the end, so... And Orphan only had one line. (I don't include his first form because that's Barthandelus talking for the most part.) Still, the story is pretty good, actually. I like the similarities it has to FFX's storyline, but still maintaining a little originality.

As for gameplay, its great. Battles are fun and engaging, and there's no way you'll be able to just breeze through battles. I like how the game prevents you from leveling up past a certain point, it adds the challenge the series needed, and forces players to seriously think things through, which not a lot of games do. As for exploration, its hard to get lost, really. As the reviews said, the game is mostly linear. Few times do split paths ever lead to anywhere but a dead end and treasure. This game does reward you for going out of your way to do things, though. When you see a split path that ends on the map, you can almost be assured a treasure will be down that path. I like how the save points serve as all your necessary functions, very convenient. I would've liked to explore more towns and talk to NPCs more, but when you play the game, you know why we're unable to stick around. Still, there could've been a few places on Pulse besides Oerba. The gameplay is still fun, and there are plenty of things you can do in this game, including Cie'th missions which are similar to Mark Hunts from FFXII, but not as tedious. Chocobos also return, along with other series' familiars, you just need to look around.

As for the music, I loved the soundtrack. Each theme fit everything perfectly, with the exception of the victory fanfares. I miss the old one... When I listen to My Hands on the ending, I can see why a lot of people like it, but I can also see why some hate it, too. Not that I hate it, I think its fine. I think it would've been more effective if at first in the song, there were no vocals, just the sounds. This would be until the credits finally showed up, and then Leona started sining. Just what I thought... Anyway, I loved most of the themes, as I said, including the main battle theme and even the boss theme. They're both fantastic pieces, and I hope we hear more from the guy behind it. "Blinded by Light" even helped me get pumped up for a Cie'th mission and win! Its that awesome. Sadly however, there aren't a large amount of themes all that memorable... but that doesn't stop it from being great. 85 tracks in length, damn. o_O

So, that's my reasoning for the score. Gameplay's behind most of its success, and the disappointing villain development is what keeps this game from getting a better score. Squeenix needs to focus on the villains again. Barthandelus was almost an effective Seymour rip-off, but so close...

EDIT: I might be able to say this game tops even FFX for me, its just better in so many ways...

[Nhan-Fiction]

Here is a review I did for a class assignment in my virtual journalism class:

SPOILER!!:

‘Final Fantasy XIII’ combines style with substance Vibe

With more than a dozen titles in the series, each “Final Fantasy” installment has high expectations to meet.

With stunning graphics, a strong soundtrack and great voice acting, the latest “Final Fantasy XIII” title appears to be more of a high-budget Hollywood flick than a role-playing game. Fortunately, beneath the shiny surface lies some genuine quality within the gameplay.

The heart of any RPG game is its story, and “Final Fantasy XIII” has an overall decent tale to tell. Basically, the protagonists led by someone codenamed Lightning are branded with a cursed mark, becoming something called a l’Cie. In the story’s world called Cocoon, l’Cie invoke fear in the general public so they are persecuted like criminals. The l’Cie will eventually transform into monsters unless a task called a Focus is completed. Of course, this objective has further complications for Lightning and her party to deal with as the plot unfolds.

It is a solid story for the game, but previous “Final Fantasy” titles have done better. Nevertheless, the obviously high production values do elevate the storyline to another level.

Though graphics and sounds do not necessarily make a game enjoyable by themselves, developer Square Enix certainly spared no expense in the title’s presentation department. “Final Fantasy XIII” is easily one of the best looking games of its generation. Whether one is gazing at breathtaking environments or even at an emblem on a character’s jacket, Square Enix devoted an amazing attention to detail down to the last bar of steel.

The music and sound effects are also magnificently done. Catchy music scores create an engrossing atmosphere as one traverses the detailed landscapes. Sound effects like sword slashes, the clanking of metal and the shattering of ice fit perfectly as well.

As for voice acting, the days where an RPG player needs to scroll through text boxes of dialogue to advance the story are almost a thing of the past, and “Final Fantasy XIII” raises the bar in this respect. Nearly everything in this game is fully voiced. Players do not even need to press a button for most dialogue sequences, and even talking to non-playable characters is automatic.

Thankfully, the game does deliver solid vocal performances across the board with only a few minor gripes. The voice acting for characters like Lightning, Snow and Sazh are especially noteworthy for establishing personality. On the other hand, the voices of characters like Vanile are just annoying, even to the point of being a chore for the ears to endure. Vanile has an Australian-like accent and occasionally “forgets” about it when reciting her lines. It does not help that her voice is the one narrating the story.

However, the superb vocal performances do lose some punch from the often-choppy writing. Some conversations in the game come off as awkward and a bit unnatural. The writing particularly gets carried away with the in-game jargon, which leads to many dialogue sequences becoming needlessly confusing to comprehend. The game does remedy some of the exposition woes with detailed information found within the game’s menu option called the Datalog. Besides having notes on the gameplay mechanics, the Datalog contains explanations on all of the game’s terminology.

But aesthetics aside, the battle system within “Final Fantasy XIII” entails fast-paced thinking and a good amount of strategy. The series’ staple, the Active Time Battle system, makes its return with a dynamic overhaul.

Simply put, every participant within a battle has a bar divided into segments that fills up. As this bar is filling up, an action may be “stocked” to be carried out eventually. The more powerful moves require more bar segments to execute. Furthermore, all actions can occur simultaneously, so the sense of a real-time fight is really apparent.

In addition, a significant difference with the “Final Fantasy XIII” battle system is how the player can only control the leader of their party. Allies are computer controlled and behave according to their given role as part of the Paradigm system. There are six different roles, and each have their own characteristics to keep in mind. For instance, the Commando role focuses on fighting enemies, while the Medic role cannot attack but focuses on healing the party.

By setting different Paradigm combinations beforehand, a player can instantly shift the character roles in battle on the fly. This becomes a necessity as many battles require quick thinking rather than brute force to be successful. In fact, it is not uncommon for the player to switch between strategies constantly during battles, especially for the challenging boss encounters. A real plus is how the computer-controlled allies are usually intelligent with their actions.

The game also offers plenty of character customization options such as its leveling system called the Crystarium, but this is nothing that worthwhile for the “Final Fantasy” franchise.

In terms of flaws for the game, nothing particularly significant stands out. A minor issue would be the game’s linearity. The game uses this particular formula quite a bit: move down an often-straightforward path with the occasional detour to collect treasure or fight some battles, see a cutscene and then move on to another simple pathway. Rinse and repeat. There is a portion in the game where things become more open-ended, but the same linear pattern occurs again for the game’s last chapters.

The game also coddles the player to the point of it being insulting. At the expense of convenience, the sense of challenge is toned down considerably. For instance, players do not need to worry about healing after battles as every encounter begins with a full set of hit points for the party. This eliminates the sense of a gauntlet. In addition, players can also “restart” battles, sending the player to right before a battle took place to prepare and then give the battle another go. And then there is the generous amount of save points, which probably totals more than 100 throughout such a linear game.

Regardless, “Final Fantasy XIII” is a welcomed edition for the famed franchise. The game’s cosmetic touches reflect a milestone for not only the RPG genre, but video games in this generation. Often times, games of this nature usually have more style than substance, but “Final Fantasy XIII” certainly brings its own good flavor to the mix beyond the visuals and sounds.

Is it the best “Final Fantasy title I have played? No, it is not, but the game is definitely worth a look. Just take the time to look past the glossy shell to find the actual RPG goodness.

Nhan-Fiction Score: 4.5/5

Overall, I enjoyed my experience with XIII. It definitely was not the best game in the series for me, but it definitely brings some good things to the table. I only detracted a bit from my final score of the game because of a few minor gripes, like the story being a bit on the average side, the fact that character development through the Crystarium was so restricted in the sense that deviating from obvious roles wasn't practical and Vanile's voice acting was just awful. Games like these usually compensate poor gameplay with amazing presentations, but this game thankfully had some actual substance.

[Jonathanx221]

I really wanted towns, I don't know why, I just love towns in final fantasy, the feeling of reaching somewhere safe finally to take a break and chill for a sec, then moving on out again. =] In that game though battle after battle. But I gave it a 9.5 because it was amazing, the only problem I had was... No towns, and it's a straight forward walk until you get to gran pulse (then it still tells you where to go XD)

[Furore]

I gave it a nine.

Is it perfect? No.
Is it a total ****ing joy to play? Hell Yes.

[Ether]

I give it a 5 and no more.
The story is interesting if it had played out differently. Instead of "Flashbacks" It would have been nice if they let the gamer "battle" threw the events and play it out. It would have also thrown in some form of feeling of connection between charecter and player wich I found to be non existant.
To me the game is pretty yes but unmemorable.
The way the battle system works is more for someone whos never touched a game console in their life. Press same button over and endlessly and mabey switch if HP gets low...verry uninteresting battle wise to say the leaste for anyone whos ever played a game befor.
The upgrade of weapons is pointless unless you plan to spend hours and days chocobo hunting to get enough sellable items to buy enough components to get every item upgrade-wich I normaly find fun but here its just irksome.
I am also a power leveler I normally max out my charecters befor im halfway threw the game so needless to say I dont like at all not being able to level as I please.
The game is not a game its an interactive movie and should have been labeled as such....and if it had been I wouldnt be as dissapointed as I am with it...I probably would have raved about it!
Im not 3 years old pressing ONE button endlessly is irksome and most unfun I understand pulling in more consumers but really i want to play the game not the game play itself

[Jonathanx221]

You have to switch paradigms quite often, especially if you're fighting a boss. How far did you even get in the game? I had a blast with it once I reached Gran Pulse. I had endless things to do when I got there, explore, do missions, progress through the story, find items, fight for cp. And even if you max out the crystarium before finishing a chapter, raise it to 9,999,999. Then beat the game. You can then almost max out everything. Then work for it again. I had no problems with that. The games fun, I'll play it again, and getting the ultimate weapons REALLY pays off.