Final Fantasy XIII Review
I have not completed the game, but the majority of the aspects I will be discussing aren't dependent on what actually happens with the story; I'm going to be talking about more technical/logistical aspects to it.
Final Fantasy XIII is the latest game to Square Enix's long-running series. This time it features a female protagonist who goes by Lightning and is claimed to be their first female protagonist and is set in the world of Cocoon, floating above a larger planet called Pulse.
Plot/Storyline:
There are a lot of complicated elements to FF13 (tired of using Roman numerals gtfo it), and I don't want to reveal them all for anyone who is interested in playing, but if you want to know some more details, just message me and I'll be happy to give you some more details. However, the basic set up is that Cocoon (and Pulse for that matter) are controlled by these great god-like machines called fal'Cie. When in fear for their lives, or seeking to preserve their world/themselves, fal'Cie will brand humans, which then become l'Cie. l'Cie must complete a Focus, or mission given to the l'Cie by the fal'Cie or they will turn into monsters called Cie'th. All is well in Cocoon until one day the Sanctum (government of Cocoon) discovers a Pulse fal'Cie outside a city; in fear of the Pulse fal'Cie, Sanctum issues the Purge, which plans to deport all of those living in that city to Pulse.
The story begins with Lightning on a train being sent to be Purged from Cocoon, and suddenly breaks free and hijacks the train, causing a chain reaction of events and ultimately leading a group of people - Lightning, Sazh, Hope, Snow and Vanille - to become Pulse l'Cie. Unfortunately, Focuses are not very clear, and only revealed to l'Cie through flashes, and with an entire world against them, the group must find a way to complete their Focus.
My main problem with the way the plot/story is explained is how half of it is delivered in a manual called the Datalog. It offers information on gameplay basics, like functions of save points, upgrading weapons, etc., but then there's an entire section that tells the story. I want to play the story; if I wanted to read a story, I would read a book. Also, while Square Enix is parading around saying that Lightning is their first female protagonist, I'm not really sure who the story is about, to be honest (I'm also unsure as to why Yuna doesn't count). I don't believe there's a clear-defined protagonist in this game, just a group of main characters. That's not necessarily a bad thing depending on what kind of game you're into, but I don't think it makes sense to say that Lightning is the protagonist when she's really more of a protagonist.
Which leads us to...
Characters:
I'm not exactly sure what Square Enix has been doing these past few years, but I've never seen a sloppier ensemble of characters. Lightning generally had the best characterization in the game, mostly because she was believable. I also enjoyed Fang as a character. The rest of the cast was generally a mess. Tied for most obnoxious were Vanille and Hope; Hope's mother passes away in the beginning of the game, which leads him on a tailspin of anger and frustration, but the way it was characterized was unbelievable for a 14 year old kid. Vanille was a rehash of Rikku from FFX but in a shittier way. I'm all for the cute and lighthearted character, especially in such a serious/intense game, but she was ridiculous at times and her lines were kind of fucktarded ("It smells all naturey,"). Sazh and Snow were tied as well, though Sazh was moderately less annoying, however I can't help but feel he was just a token character like Square was saying, "We love black people! :D" Snow wasn't too bad except for his obsession with the word "hero" (vaguely reminiscent of FFX-2 Paine's obsession with "hurt").
All of these characters had pasts that led them to their point in time when Lightning's assault on the Sanctum train, but instead of letting us sort of play through them, or even just give a general background at the start of the game we were forced to watch these ridiculous scenes and then because you were so mind-numbed by its boring nature, you'd have to read about them in the infamous Datalog to understand what the actual fuck was going on.
Gameplay:
The gameplay wasn't too bad, but the beginning (more like first half) was basically run from point A to point B, watch cutscene. Run from point A to point B, fight boss, watch scene. Switch to a different group. Oh, yes? Did I mention your party is split into 3 group of 2 up until about halfway in the game? :)
Some other aspects to the game are the Crystogenesis, which is your leveling up system. I think this system is a bit more reminiscent of FFX's sphere grid, but it is based off different roles your characters can play in battle, which I will explain those roles later. You will basically use your CP to move your character along the grid; it's pretty straightforward, but once you get to about level 3 in each role, it requires about 293048192389109238102 points to move like 2 places, which is obnoxious.
Upgrading your weapons is also an option; you can collect random items through your travels, and use them to upgrade your weapons, which will boost your magic or strength. You can also disassemble weapons to gain scrap parts to use and upgrade weapons.
One thing I did have a complaint with was the lack of items I actually needed. Upgrading items is great and all, but the majority of chests were filled with these items, and not things like gil, Phoenix Downs or Potions. Something about Square Enix thinking the games in the past were too busy. And in case you were wondering, you will not be collecting those items from fiends you fight either. I'm literally in the last fourth of the game and I have maybe, 2000 gil to my name? I've only bought Potions maybe once. |: I'm not saying I have to open a chest and get 23948209348912 gil or 29038492038 potions, but it would be nice not to have 1 potion and like 3 gil to my name when I'm at the halfway point.
I think the game also had a problem with jumping; since your party is broken up into 3 groups for an amount of time, you interchange to another group/party every once in a while. But every time you change, you're randomly somewhere new. Sazh and Vanille go from some wasteland to some forest, to some city. There's no flow.
Battle System:
As with almost every Final Fantasy, there is a new battle system. Vaguely reminiscent of FF12's set up (though with some tweaks as that system was heaping pile of horse shit), FF13's battle system has some pros and cons. For those of you who are familiar with X-2, your characters can take on different roles (like dresspheres). Those roles are Commando (an attacker), Ravager (attack/black mage), Medic (white mage), Saboteur (inflicts status ailments to enemies), Sentinel (takes on damages from enemies), and Synergist (casts protective magic on your party). Up until the halfway point, all of your characters are able to alternate between three jobs. However, unlike X-2, you are not on a grid that allows you to change your job. You have what are called paradigms, pre-programmed set ups, which you can change during battle through a paradigm shift. You are able to change/create up to 6 paradigms outside battle in the main menu. So, for example, you could have a party of Lightning, Snow and Vanille, and you could have paradigm set ups of Com/Sen/Med, Rav/Sen/Rav, and Med/Sen/Sab.
However, you only control the leader of the party. Your other two characters in battle are controlled by AI, and will act accordingly to what role you have them under. It's important during battles to use Libra (scan) to determine what weaknesses your enemy/ies have in order to make sure your AI will use the proper magic (and not heal it) or cast certain types of magic that will hinder the enemy. Another feature to the game is Auto Attack; based on what your character knows from Libra (or having previously fought that particular enemy), your party leader will formulate some abilities that the game (I'm assuming) considers the best strategy for combat. The battle system is also an ATB gauge type game, meaning you have to wait for your ATB gauge to charge. Your characters will start with 3 ATB slots, meaning they will perform up to 3 attacks (sometimes less depending on how many ATB slots something requires). As the game progresses you can either gain one after boss battles, or earn one on your Crystogenesis grid. If you'd rather only perform a partial amount of attacks, you can press a button to interrupt the ATB charging and just select an incomplete amount of attacks.
Your characters also come with Eidolons. You have to fight the Eidolon first, but instead of killing it, you're trying to charge a bar that will make the Eidolon yield to you. However, the Eidolon will first cast Doom on you, which starts a countdown until your character dies. You have until then to make the Eidolon yield, which you should cast Libra on (or read a walkthrough) to find out what makes it yield. The Eidolon then becomes like your summon.
I'm particularly unimpressed/not a fan of this battle system. While it's an upgrade from gambits, it's not much of one considering I only have control of one of my characters and I barely have time to strategize. FFX has been my favorite battle system thus far simply because I was able to think and create a strategy, and also take turns. I didn't have to sit there in anxiety going GEE I HOPE THE GAUGE FOR CURE CHARGES BEFORE HE UNLEASHES SUPER MEGA ATTACK AND KILLS MY ASS. I would get my turn. I also got to see how the turns were distributed. But I think the ATB is a matter of preference. I still don't like that Square Enix thinks I only deserve control of my party leader (which you can change at any point in time after getting the entire party together along with your battle party). But just a suggestion, Lightning/Hope/Fang is the best party if you decide to play this game. :)
The last thing is that this game also doesn't have random encounters like FF12. However, the difference is you would approach an enemy/group of enemies, and you'll be taken to a battle scene/set up. I'm not really sure why they don't want random encounters, but w/e. I actually don't mind them and usually by the point you don't want to deal with them, you get some sort of accessory that gets the enemies off your dick (or out of your vagina).
Misc:
I really enjoyed the graphics of the game, though I think that Square Enix spent more time on them then formulating the game tbh. They are some very beautiful landscapes/scenes, but I was disappointed at how I didn't really get to explore Cocoon or Pulse to a full-extent. I just kind of appeared there, and ran considering how the entire game you're basically being chased. The CG scenes are incredible, too, and the general cutscenes are very well done too, not like some of that sloppiness you found in FFX. The music was semi-tolerable, I only really hated Serah's theme song or w/e, but the battle music I actually enjoyed. :)
My only real complaint is basically the only sidequest in FF13, which is grinding Cie'th missions on Pulse. Basically after you get there, your characters aren't high-leveled enough to do jack shit, so you have to dick around forever killing random fiends (where the mission stone is all the way in the South end of your area and your target is all the way in the North end) and basically just leveling up for hours. It's annoying, frustrating and a lot of other -ing words. I thought it was sloppy and really a tragic flaw for this game considering it already takes 15-20 hours to actually get in the game. I'm right at 60 hours and I can't proceed because I'm still grinding Cie'th so my characters don't suck balls when I go to progress.
Overall:
The game isn't the worst game I've played, but it's just not that great in my opinion. I'm going to finish it so I can play FF13-2 when it comes out because I wonder where Square Enix will take the story, and also I've already put 60 hours into this game so like hell I'm quitting now. I wouldn't really recommend or not recommend this game, it's just all going to be based on what you like. I don't think this is SE's best game by any means, however.
Final Fantasy XIII is the latest game to Square Enix's long-running series. This time it features a female protagonist who goes by Lightning and is claimed to be their first female protagonist and is set in the world of Cocoon, floating above a larger planet called Pulse.
Plot/Storyline:
There are a lot of complicated elements to FF13 (tired of using Roman numerals gtfo it), and I don't want to reveal them all for anyone who is interested in playing, but if you want to know some more details, just message me and I'll be happy to give you some more details. However, the basic set up is that Cocoon (and Pulse for that matter) are controlled by these great god-like machines called fal'Cie. When in fear for their lives, or seeking to preserve their world/themselves, fal'Cie will brand humans, which then become l'Cie. l'Cie must complete a Focus, or mission given to the l'Cie by the fal'Cie or they will turn into monsters called Cie'th. All is well in Cocoon until one day the Sanctum (government of Cocoon) discovers a Pulse fal'Cie outside a city; in fear of the Pulse fal'Cie, Sanctum issues the Purge, which plans to deport all of those living in that city to Pulse.
The story begins with Lightning on a train being sent to be Purged from Cocoon, and suddenly breaks free and hijacks the train, causing a chain reaction of events and ultimately leading a group of people - Lightning, Sazh, Hope, Snow and Vanille - to become Pulse l'Cie. Unfortunately, Focuses are not very clear, and only revealed to l'Cie through flashes, and with an entire world against them, the group must find a way to complete their Focus.
My main problem with the way the plot/story is explained is how half of it is delivered in a manual called the Datalog. It offers information on gameplay basics, like functions of save points, upgrading weapons, etc., but then there's an entire section that tells the story. I want to play the story; if I wanted to read a story, I would read a book. Also, while Square Enix is parading around saying that Lightning is their first female protagonist, I'm not really sure who the story is about, to be honest (I'm also unsure as to why Yuna doesn't count). I don't believe there's a clear-defined protagonist in this game, just a group of main characters. That's not necessarily a bad thing depending on what kind of game you're into, but I don't think it makes sense to say that Lightning is the protagonist when she's really more of a protagonist.
Which leads us to...
Characters:
I'm not exactly sure what Square Enix has been doing these past few years, but I've never seen a sloppier ensemble of characters. Lightning generally had the best characterization in the game, mostly because she was believable. I also enjoyed Fang as a character. The rest of the cast was generally a mess. Tied for most obnoxious were Vanille and Hope; Hope's mother passes away in the beginning of the game, which leads him on a tailspin of anger and frustration, but the way it was characterized was unbelievable for a 14 year old kid. Vanille was a rehash of Rikku from FFX but in a shittier way. I'm all for the cute and lighthearted character, especially in such a serious/intense game, but she was ridiculous at times and her lines were kind of fucktarded ("It smells all naturey,"). Sazh and Snow were tied as well, though Sazh was moderately less annoying, however I can't help but feel he was just a token character like Square was saying, "We love black people! :D" Snow wasn't too bad except for his obsession with the word "hero" (vaguely reminiscent of FFX-2 Paine's obsession with "hurt").
All of these characters had pasts that led them to their point in time when Lightning's assault on the Sanctum train, but instead of letting us sort of play through them, or even just give a general background at the start of the game we were forced to watch these ridiculous scenes and then because you were so mind-numbed by its boring nature, you'd have to read about them in the infamous Datalog to understand what the actual fuck was going on.
Gameplay:
The gameplay wasn't too bad, but the beginning (more like first half) was basically run from point A to point B, watch cutscene. Run from point A to point B, fight boss, watch scene. Switch to a different group. Oh, yes? Did I mention your party is split into 3 group of 2 up until about halfway in the game? :)
Some other aspects to the game are the Crystogenesis, which is your leveling up system. I think this system is a bit more reminiscent of FFX's sphere grid, but it is based off different roles your characters can play in battle, which I will explain those roles later. You will basically use your CP to move your character along the grid; it's pretty straightforward, but once you get to about level 3 in each role, it requires about 293048192389109238102 points to move like 2 places, which is obnoxious.
Upgrading your weapons is also an option; you can collect random items through your travels, and use them to upgrade your weapons, which will boost your magic or strength. You can also disassemble weapons to gain scrap parts to use and upgrade weapons.
One thing I did have a complaint with was the lack of items I actually needed. Upgrading items is great and all, but the majority of chests were filled with these items, and not things like gil, Phoenix Downs or Potions. Something about Square Enix thinking the games in the past were too busy. And in case you were wondering, you will not be collecting those items from fiends you fight either. I'm literally in the last fourth of the game and I have maybe, 2000 gil to my name? I've only bought Potions maybe once. |: I'm not saying I have to open a chest and get 23948209348912 gil or 29038492038 potions, but it would be nice not to have 1 potion and like 3 gil to my name when I'm at the halfway point.
I think the game also had a problem with jumping; since your party is broken up into 3 groups for an amount of time, you interchange to another group/party every once in a while. But every time you change, you're randomly somewhere new. Sazh and Vanille go from some wasteland to some forest, to some city. There's no flow.
Battle System:
As with almost every Final Fantasy, there is a new battle system. Vaguely reminiscent of FF12's set up (though with some tweaks as that system was heaping pile of horse shit), FF13's battle system has some pros and cons. For those of you who are familiar with X-2, your characters can take on different roles (like dresspheres). Those roles are Commando (an attacker), Ravager (attack/black mage), Medic (white mage), Saboteur (inflicts status ailments to enemies), Sentinel (takes on damages from enemies), and Synergist (casts protective magic on your party). Up until the halfway point, all of your characters are able to alternate between three jobs. However, unlike X-2, you are not on a grid that allows you to change your job. You have what are called paradigms, pre-programmed set ups, which you can change during battle through a paradigm shift. You are able to change/create up to 6 paradigms outside battle in the main menu. So, for example, you could have a party of Lightning, Snow and Vanille, and you could have paradigm set ups of Com/Sen/Med, Rav/Sen/Rav, and Med/Sen/Sab.
However, you only control the leader of the party. Your other two characters in battle are controlled by AI, and will act accordingly to what role you have them under. It's important during battles to use Libra (scan) to determine what weaknesses your enemy/ies have in order to make sure your AI will use the proper magic (and not heal it) or cast certain types of magic that will hinder the enemy. Another feature to the game is Auto Attack; based on what your character knows from Libra (or having previously fought that particular enemy), your party leader will formulate some abilities that the game (I'm assuming) considers the best strategy for combat. The battle system is also an ATB gauge type game, meaning you have to wait for your ATB gauge to charge. Your characters will start with 3 ATB slots, meaning they will perform up to 3 attacks (sometimes less depending on how many ATB slots something requires). As the game progresses you can either gain one after boss battles, or earn one on your Crystogenesis grid. If you'd rather only perform a partial amount of attacks, you can press a button to interrupt the ATB charging and just select an incomplete amount of attacks.
Your characters also come with Eidolons. You have to fight the Eidolon first, but instead of killing it, you're trying to charge a bar that will make the Eidolon yield to you. However, the Eidolon will first cast Doom on you, which starts a countdown until your character dies. You have until then to make the Eidolon yield, which you should cast Libra on (or read a walkthrough) to find out what makes it yield. The Eidolon then becomes like your summon.
I'm particularly unimpressed/not a fan of this battle system. While it's an upgrade from gambits, it's not much of one considering I only have control of one of my characters and I barely have time to strategize. FFX has been my favorite battle system thus far simply because I was able to think and create a strategy, and also take turns. I didn't have to sit there in anxiety going GEE I HOPE THE GAUGE FOR CURE CHARGES BEFORE HE UNLEASHES SUPER MEGA ATTACK AND KILLS MY ASS. I would get my turn. I also got to see how the turns were distributed. But I think the ATB is a matter of preference. I still don't like that Square Enix thinks I only deserve control of my party leader (which you can change at any point in time after getting the entire party together along with your battle party). But just a suggestion, Lightning/Hope/Fang is the best party if you decide to play this game. :)
The last thing is that this game also doesn't have random encounters like FF12. However, the difference is you would approach an enemy/group of enemies, and you'll be taken to a battle scene/set up. I'm not really sure why they don't want random encounters, but w/e. I actually don't mind them and usually by the point you don't want to deal with them, you get some sort of accessory that gets the enemies off your dick (or out of your vagina).
Misc:
I really enjoyed the graphics of the game, though I think that Square Enix spent more time on them then formulating the game tbh. They are some very beautiful landscapes/scenes, but I was disappointed at how I didn't really get to explore Cocoon or Pulse to a full-extent. I just kind of appeared there, and ran considering how the entire game you're basically being chased. The CG scenes are incredible, too, and the general cutscenes are very well done too, not like some of that sloppiness you found in FFX. The music was semi-tolerable, I only really hated Serah's theme song or w/e, but the battle music I actually enjoyed. :)
My only real complaint is basically the only sidequest in FF13, which is grinding Cie'th missions on Pulse. Basically after you get there, your characters aren't high-leveled enough to do jack shit, so you have to dick around forever killing random fiends (where the mission stone is all the way in the South end of your area and your target is all the way in the North end) and basically just leveling up for hours. It's annoying, frustrating and a lot of other -ing words. I thought it was sloppy and really a tragic flaw for this game considering it already takes 15-20 hours to actually get in the game. I'm right at 60 hours and I can't proceed because I'm still grinding Cie'th so my characters don't suck balls when I go to progress.
Overall:
The game isn't the worst game I've played, but it's just not that great in my opinion. I'm going to finish it so I can play FF13-2 when it comes out because I wonder where Square Enix will take the story, and also I've already put 60 hours into this game so like hell I'm quitting now. I wouldn't really recommend or not recommend this game, it's just all going to be based on what you like. I don't think this is SE's best game by any means, however.