Post: Final Fantasy XIII Review
Options
03-08-2010, 04:32 PM
#1
eXoSkeleton
PSN: IceCold138
You must login or register to view this content.
The much anticipated and much delayed Final Fantasy XIII finally will arrive in North America this Tuesday, March 9, 2010. This game has been drooled over by fanboys for the past (what must have seemed to them) billion years. Yes there were high expectation, and yes, the game meets those.
Now, I have been fortunate to get a copy two whole days before it came out and I thought I would share some insight to those who are on the fence.
As with any other Final Fantasy game, it starts off with a cinematic masterpiece. This game has arguably the best graphics I have ever seen. I think it even beats Pong. The cut-scene that we are thrusted into wastes no time showing off the beautiful graphics, the flawless motions and it sets the tone for two characters right off the get go: Lightning and Sazh.
A little further in, after the first big boss is defeated, we witness quite possibly the most realistic 5 minutes of computer animation on video game history. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but it is a pure jaw-dropping scene.
As expected, the visuals were amazing. But what about the game play? Many people questioned whether it would deliver. “Will the battle system be fun?”, “Will the story be fairly reasonable to follow?”, and “Will it be interesting to play?” were just some of the few questions that have been asked by many fans (and the odd new-comer) before its release.
Well, let me start with the battle system. As somebody who has only ever played 3 previous Final Fantasy games before XIII, I was relatively surprised at how not-boring this battle system is. Within the first couple hours of gameplay, various tutorials are given (with the option of skipping) to guide the player through various sequences. It isn’t perfect however. Because you only have control over one character, if the character you are controlling dies, it is “Game Over” and you must repeat this battle. It isn’t THAT much of an inconvenience but, over the span of a 30-40 hour game, I would imagine it could add up.
For this game, Final Fantasy has introduced a new “Paradigm Systsem” for battles. This new system allows for each member in your party to play a different role during a battle. This system is a little bit confusing when you first obtain it, even with a tutorial. However, after a few battles of using it, the player will start to get the hang of it. This use of this new “Paradigm System” can drastically change the battle depending on which roles you use.
The controls outside the battles are fairly decent. There’s nothing outside battles that would make it amazing. You run to-and-fro looking for your next destination. There is the odd sphere that you find which may give you gil, weapons, potions or another item. Another great thing about this game compared to X and X-2, is that the creatures and enemies are already on the map waiting for you to trigger them. You can, however, avoid them. Some enemies are more difficult. This is because each enemy has a field of view and a “Warning” guage that indicates how much it senses you. There are also certain items you can use to make yourself invisible to the enemies. This allows you to run past enemies without having to battle them. This saves a lot of time but at the cost of items, money, experience and other battle items.
Overall, this game has been well worth the wait. It isn’t perfect, but let’s be honest, no game is. The fanboys will be drooling over this game for years to come as it shows promise that it could take a very long time to beat 100%. And for the new-comers to the series, it is amazing. The visuals, game play and story are stunning. I have been addicted to first-person shooters ever since I got my PS3 and this is the first game that has every taken me away from Call of Duty for more than 2 hours at a time. I strongly recommend you check this game out. As always, I advise you to rent before you buy.
The much anticipated and much delayed Final Fantasy XIII finally will arrive in North America this Tuesday, March 9, 2010. This game has been drooled over by fanboys for the past (what must have seemed to them) billion years. Yes there were high expectation, and yes, the game meets those.
Now, I have been fortunate to get a copy two whole days before it came out and I thought I would share some insight to those who are on the fence.
As with any other Final Fantasy game, it starts off with a cinematic masterpiece. This game has arguably the best graphics I have ever seen. I think it even beats Pong. The cut-scene that we are thrusted into wastes no time showing off the beautiful graphics, the flawless motions and it sets the tone for two characters right off the get go: Lightning and Sazh.
A little further in, after the first big boss is defeated, we witness quite possibly the most realistic 5 minutes of computer animation on video game history. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but it is a pure jaw-dropping scene.
As expected, the visuals were amazing. But what about the game play? Many people questioned whether it would deliver. “Will the battle system be fun?”, “Will the story be fairly reasonable to follow?”, and “Will it be interesting to play?” were just some of the few questions that have been asked by many fans (and the odd new-comer) before its release.
Well, let me start with the battle system. As somebody who has only ever played 3 previous Final Fantasy games before XIII, I was relatively surprised at how not-boring this battle system is. Within the first couple hours of gameplay, various tutorials are given (with the option of skipping) to guide the player through various sequences. It isn’t perfect however. Because you only have control over one character, if the character you are controlling dies, it is “Game Over” and you must repeat this battle. It isn’t THAT much of an inconvenience but, over the span of a 30-40 hour game, I would imagine it could add up.
For this game, Final Fantasy has introduced a new “Paradigm Systsem” for battles. This new system allows for each member in your party to play a different role during a battle. This system is a little bit confusing when you first obtain it, even with a tutorial. However, after a few battles of using it, the player will start to get the hang of it. This use of this new “Paradigm System” can drastically change the battle depending on which roles you use.
The controls outside the battles are fairly decent. There’s nothing outside battles that would make it amazing. You run to-and-fro looking for your next destination. There is the odd sphere that you find which may give you gil, weapons, potions or another item. Another great thing about this game compared to X and X-2, is that the creatures and enemies are already on the map waiting for you to trigger them. You can, however, avoid them. Some enemies are more difficult. This is because each enemy has a field of view and a “Warning” guage that indicates how much it senses you. There are also certain items you can use to make yourself invisible to the enemies. This allows you to run past enemies without having to battle them. This saves a lot of time but at the cost of items, money, experience and other battle items.
Overall, this game has been well worth the wait. It isn’t perfect, but let’s be honest, no game is. The fanboys will be drooling over this game for years to come as it shows promise that it could take a very long time to beat 100%. And for the new-comers to the series, it is amazing. The visuals, game play and story are stunning. I have been addicted to first-person shooters ever since I got my PS3 and this is the first game that has every taken me away from Call of Duty for more than 2 hours at a time. I strongly recommend you check this game out. As always, I advise you to rent before you buy.
Final verdict:
4/5 Stars
Pros:
-GREAT Cinimatics and Visuals
-New battle system is quite fun compared to previous Final Fantasy games
-Character development is good.
-Great Story
Cons:
-Story is hard to follow at points
-Some very cheesy lines
-New “Paradigm System” can be confusing.
Thanks for reading this review!
-eXoSkeleton
Edit: Here is gameplay. With the new "Paradigm System"
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZjQTR0trGY"]YouTube- Final Fantasy XIII Gameplay[/ame]
The following 5 users say thank you to eXoSkeleton for this useful post:
03-09-2010, 09:33 PM
#15
PrayForPlagues
The Black Key
03-10-2010, 12:43 AM
#16
eXoSkeleton
PSN: IceCold138
Copyright © 2026, NextGenUpdate.
All Rights Reserved.
