FFXIII succeeds in many ways, but the new streamlined approach may ruffle the feathers of its hardcore fanbase.
The Bad: Dialogue can be predictably cheesy at times; slightly underwhelming until it opens up a good way through the game
The Ugly: Vanille; trimmed down, linear experience for most of the game; streamlined battle system comes at the price of a loss of many strategic elements found in previous games; Vanille
Final Fantasy XIII is a game that has been either loved or hated during its time on the market. There's no really no middle ground on the matter. As a producer, this could be considered the first major Final Fantasy production FFX for the Playstation 2: X-2 should never have existed, XI was sub-par, and XII was sadly underplayed because of the dawning of the new console generation. But how does it stand up to us, the gamers? FFXIII in some ways lives up to the expectations that came with the territory of, in addition to the previous point, being the first now-current-gen Final Fantasy. It certainly has the stunning graphics and stirring soundtrack in the bank. But once we delve deeper into the game, its flaws soon become apparent. Final Fantasy XIII is a game that succeeds in many ways, but hardcore fans may be disappointed in the way they are led through the game on such a tight leash.
As I said, the quality of the graphics, and, as usual, particularly the FMVs, is all around awesome. Except for a few strangely low-res textures, players will rarely cease to be amazed by the visual titan that is FFXIII. From the glittering, varying environments and backdrops that are packed tightly into a cohesive and believable setting, to the jaw-dropping cutscenes, this game really draws the audience in to the action in this way. The animations are also for the most part quite exemplary; their movements are very convincing, and thus, you'll often feel like you're watching a real movie with real people as opposed to virtual objects executing a series of commands. Not that there aren't complaints, though. As with many games in the series, there is as much focus on the journey as there is on the destination. And it's the same here in XIII, only there seems to be even less destination and more journey. Because of the way the story pans out (still not really a great excuse), you'll find that you're never really in a place of rest. Thus, most of your "varying environments and backdrops" tend to be beautiful, assuredly, but also foreboding, because there's always that sense of looming danger and that knowledge that you'll never be able to sit back, get to know your locations, and all in all simply enjoy the game world. The scenes are beautiful, but because you're never in one place for long, you'll find yourself oddly distant from the places themselves. If I had to fit the graphics into a nutshell, I would say: "Beautiful, but impersonal."
Of course, the game clarifies why it pans out this way; but this is no excuse. Square should have learned from their own saying: love grows. Sure, the game itself takes a satisfying 50+ hours to beat (not including the time taken for the 50+ monster hunts), but those hours are spent rushing from one scene to the next. In Final Fantasy games, players remember the scenes that mean the most to them; but if we're led on a short leash from one place to the next, without much of a mention for the rest of the game, how are the places we visit to supposed to mean anything more than a way to further the story?
And we won't stop there. This latest installment seems to have taken most aspects of the beloved franchise and trimmed them down in an effort to make it more appealing to more of the mainstream, leaving us hardcore gamers in the dark. One thing I do appreciate is that SE has revived the job system (in a way) from Final Fantasy Tactics. Expectedly, the number of jobs you can take on has been trimmed to six, which covers the basic roles you will occupy: damage-dealer, staggerer (allows you to temporarily cripple foes to allow for multiplied damage), healer, defender, ally buffer, and enemy debuffer. Eventually, all characers will be able to in some way fulfill those six roles themselves, but for most of the game, you'll have three roles that each member of your party can specialize in. The combat and character progression revolves around these roles. You will set up specific combinations in your party of three based on what roles for each character work best in the situation, and you'll be able to switch between a maximum of six configurations during battle. Switching effectively between paradigms (as they're named) is the key to successfully overcoming your foes. You can only control one character directly in FFXIII, but by setting up the functions your team as a whole can have beforehand, you can at least somewhat control how the battle pans out. The AI seems to function like a (once again) hands-off version of FFXII, where players were allowed to assign gambits to their teammates. This time around, the AI controls your two teammates, and you even have the option to allow it to control your character on a turn-by-turn basis. Of course, in a way, this is an understandable decision by the developers, since apparently the goal was to make the combat as smooth and swift as possible. I do like the idea that my battles don't take up nearly as much time (and in a way, it feels like the fighting along the journey could be less of a burden), but to counteract this we now simply have more enemies to fight. This also comes at the price of much tactical planning and execution, if you hadn't already guessed. Battles are more of a rushed experience -- there's less strategy, and more methodology (buff/debuff, stagger, damage). In other words, you get more quick fights crammed into a journey as opposed to less slow fights. Some may enjoy this, but it's all about the tone the game is setting, a tone of emergency and haste. And in this case, I'm a little resistant to the change.
Leveling up, you guessed it, has had a makeover as well. You will develop your character in each of his three (and then six) roles available to him. Some might argue that this is the same nonlinear progression we've seen in past games, but I'd didn't feel it. The only non-linearity present is in the professions each character follows, and in the beginning, you really only have half the options, with the immediate goal being to maximize each role, regardless of its benefits. This is because only the abilities gained from that specific role are unique to that profession. HP, Magic, Accessory slots, and ATB (action) slots all carry over to your character across all jobs. When you unlock a sphere in that job, your character gains it forever; but each set of abilities unlocked is only available when functioning in that role. It is consequently to your benefit to maximize each profession at the time it is available to you.
The storyline of Final Fantasy games has always been a big draw for me and many other gamers like me. And we like-minded players can breath a sigh of relief -- the plot of this newest installment is no less complex and convoluted than any of its predecessors. The universe as a whole is engaging, and the conflict is generally believable. In the past, the focus has often been on the characters and their struggles along the way. Sadly (some would say), there's not nearly as much intra-party conflict; the focus has been shifted to a much more... globally affecting struggle. In fact, one of the only major issues between party members is solved half way through the game and forgotten for the remainder of it. The only persistently lingering conflict between your party is really between your party in only a few select cases. The majority of the time it will be simply caused by sheer confusion as to your objective. Nevertheless, you will get to know characters well, and it is very satisfying to learn more about them and their understandably driving motives as the game progresses. A small mention must be added that this Final Fantasy would be somewhat difficult to follow in the way of storytelling, but for the helpful chapter summaries unlocked in your Datalog whenever something major happens. The game provides a fitting and satisfying conclusion at the end of your length journey. Sadly, the final boss battle(s) don't provide much in the way of major, cliffhanger plot twists, but it is definitely exciting to see everything pan out.
The sound quality is as solid as the graphics. Intensity flares up during raging battles to heighten tension, but it is also deft enough to be forebodingly silent at the calm before the storm. The music can be a little distracting when it doesn't completely fit (whether it be in volume or content) with the specific moment at the cutscene, but I will certainly cut them a little slack. There isn't much in the way of noticeable sound effects throughout the course of the journey. Most of the ones that do exist come from your characters with their cheesy little clips, which get old quickly but can be useful to hear in the thick of battle (signalling someone has been healed, for example). You won't hear much from the many enemies you'll face, except for the occasional boss battle. The voice acting is solid as well, except for that god-awful Vanille. Every time she opens her overly-delightful Australian anime accent we cringe. Believe it -- she is that bad.
Graphics: 9/10
Gameplay: 8.5/10
Story: 8.5/10
Sound: 8.5/10
Presentation: 8/10
Value: 9/10
Tilt: 8.5/10
Overall Impression: 8.6/10
Overall, though the game has great value, and is well worth your money in an age of six hour campaign experiences. Of course, even in a time when franchises that run on for too long and guzzle gamers for money with yearly releases are much more popular than new IPs, it is definitely refreshing to see that this is not one of those. Final Fantasy XIII proves to be another satisfying installment in the series, even if it is quite a linear experience. It holds your hand almost the whole way through, but it also takes some good steps, and in the end gamers will enjoy its well-paced storyline and sharp graphical presentation.