New features for a new generation of Final Fantasy releases. While new isn't always good, Final Fantasy XIII plays well.
But the game falls short of perfection due to its two oddities: changes and length. New to the series is the absence of traditional turn-based combat. Now, in battle, the player controls only one of the three characters allowed to participate in combat. Each character in the party is assigned a role - known as a paradigm - by the player before the battle, a role which dictates the sort of actions they make (healing, defense, offense, etc.). The player transitions between these paradigms mid-battle to form a flowing form of fighting. While some may appreciate this drastic change, others may be put off by the loss of the traditional turn-based aesthetic. Secondly, the length of this game is simply MASSIVE. Furthermore, with an emphasis on en medias res, the main plot points of the game aren't delivered until around 15 hours of gameplay as fast; the time spent leading up to this seems a little aimless at times, as if you're traveling forward (down the many linear corridors that the game puts you on) with little purpose or objective, except for maybe discovering what lies at the end of said corridors.
But despite these somewhat majors issues with the game, Final Fantasy XIII is a respectable addition to the series. The story told is extremely engrossing once you've allowed yourself to be swayed by the fantastical world you're given to explore, and the characters - while sometimes a bit stiff - are all varied and interesting. The many homages the game serves toward Final Fantasy VII - an inspiration for this title in the series - are also quite noticable, and serve for a sense of nostalgia players of the classic will appreciate. And when you boil down to it, once you get a hang of the paradigm feature, the battles are extremely fun and offer a fast-paced version of the traditional turn-based model, allowing for a blend of action and strategy. While Final Fantasy XIII may not be perfect, it is worth the time for fans of the series.