Customer Reviews

 Much more enjoyable than I expected after reading reviews. - Aug 29, 2010

I have never written a review before, but since I almost did not purchase the game due to all the negative reviews I thought I should share a more objective perspective from someone who has played a LOT of JRPGs and discuss a few points raised in the negative reviews that almost turned me off from trying out the game.

Linearity: After reading several reviews I got the impression that much of the game would be spent running down a subway tunnel, divided into missions like FFX-2, with no option to turn back to grind a few levels. This is NOT the case. Level design IS overly simplified and streamlined, BUT not much more than Final Fantasy X. This makes me wonder if the negative reviewers have EVER played a JRPG with a minimap before. Minimaps always reveal the very limited pathways that MOST JRPGS have. What makes the game SEEM more linear than other Final Fantasy Games is the lack of Towns, World Map, and minigames/sidequests. But this is NOT game breaking. It is, however, somewhat disappointing. The characters are fugitives so it makes sense that they would not be roaming through the towns, but this has never stopped other Final Fantasy games from having towns and mini games. I have seen other reviewers describe this game as mission based with no chance to return to other areas, this is very misleading. The game is NOT "mission" based, it plays out just like FFX the story line takes you from one area to another, and just like several other FF games I have played areas become inaccessible after certain story events. (There is little point to revisit though, since there are no towns or mini games.) You can, however, turn back and fight creatures you have already defeated (enemies re-spawn after re-loading the game) to farm items (some enemy loot, particularly shrouds, is very handy).

Leveling: Leveling in this game is much like it was in FFX. However, instead of having all abilities on a SINGLE grid with blocks keeping characters from learning each others abilities until endgame, each character has their own grids (and a grid for each ROLE). I have read some reviews criticizing the game for level caps, but the level caps are much like the "blocks" on the FFX sphere grid, except instead of requiring Keys which can only be obtained at certain points in the story line, in XIII the level caps are automatically released once the right points in the storyline are reached. It FEELS like they are restricting you more than they did in FFX, but not by much.

Battle: I have read several reviews complaining about battle: that battle consists of press X, rinse and repeat, that you can only control the leader of the party, that the game is over once the party leader is dead, and every battle gives you the option to retry if lost. Well let me address these complaints one by one. There is an Auto-Battle option where one would expect to find ATTACK. This was disappointing, at first, but battle is so fast paced that the Auto-battle option is usually best. (There is an option to slow down battle for those who wish to input individual commands.) You do NOT get the sense of disconnect between yourself and the character like you did in FFXII, here you press a button and the character attacks. For the harder battles, you focus on managing ROLES through Paradigm Shifts to adjust which abilities are available to each character. Like several more recent JRPGs you only control ONE character at a time (the other party members Auto-Battle without you telling them too) but the AI is OKAY. Once enemy intel is recorded the AI attacks enemies based on their weaknesses. Supporting ROLES focus on status boosts most helpful to the Party's current Roles and enemies weaknesses. The game is "over" when the leader is dead (an aspect I always loathe in any game), but you get the option to retry (which I feel counterbalances the whole game over if one character dies thing). MY main gripe is that early game you do not get to select the Party Leader or even Party Members, the reason for this is connected to the plot structure which I will discuss next.

Cut-scenes: I have seen several complaints about the cut-scenes being too plentiful, but COME ON this is FINAL FANTASY. Every FF since VII has cut-scenes in abundance. The cut-scenes aren't much more plentiful than in FFX. But here is the difference: In XIII cut-scenes not only show up for the ongoing storyline, but also pop up in the form of flashbacks. If you have ever read books with multiple perspectives or have seen a full season of Lost then you will be having a familiar experience. FFXIII is constantly switching perspective characters (who also serves as party leader), and showing flashbacks for that character every time the perspective changes. (You are going to get really sick of seeing that fireworks show, that ALL of the characters seem to have been at before meeting.) I always have a love/hate relationship with multi-perspective stories, just when things start to get interesting the perspective changes perhaps going back to an earlier point in the story. (Worse yet perhaps switching to a character you find annoying.) But muli-perspective does allow for much more character development.

Annoying Characters: VANILLE is very annoying. Apparently the character dives deeply into denial and puts on a "happy" persona to deal with the darkness around her. However this is executed quite poorly. Instead of having a complex character who keeps her true feelings bottled up, you have a perky cheerleader that urges EVERYONE to PRETEND to be happy despite being surrounded by death and destruction all the while making inappropriate groans and moans and speaking with the most inconsistent accent I have every heard. (At times it seems as though the voice actor had one accent, and was trying to fake another.)Then the character cries in her sleep (I suppose to reveal that she has some depth, but I am not convinced.) The other characters and voice actors are pretty solid. HOPE starts out annoying, but once the perspective switches to him (I actually rolled my eyes at this point) the character gets a little stronger (both in story line and battle).

GIL and Equipment: GIL is SCARCE early game, and items/equipment are expensive. Early game you ONLY get GIL by FINDING it in Treasure Chests or selling loot, but you need the loot to upgrade your equipment. I assume the reason to restrict Gil was to prevent people from buying items to upgrade equipment. This could have been handled much better. Much of the loot has no use but to upgrade equipment, and by upgrade I don't mean certain items can be added to equipment to change its qualities. Loot is converted into EXP to level up the weapons. Organic loot gives little EXP but creates an EXP bonus and Inorganic loot gives lots of EXP but reduces the EXP bonus gained from organic loot. Once you can upgrade weapons, you gain access to a shop where you can buy both kinds of loot, and for that reason you will not be finding much Gil until endgame. It would have been better to gain EXP for the weapons directly from battle, but then people might grind and FFXIII does NOT want you to GRIND.

Overall, the game has its flaws, but if you enjoyed FFX and can handle no towns or mini-games you will like FFXIII. If you need towns and mini-games I suggest trying out Rune Factory Frontier for the WII you will be so sick of doing things BESIDES fighting that you will welcome the streamlined nature of FFXIII.

 What I Thought About The Game - Aug 29, 2010

i just beat the game today after buying it about 2 weeks ago and took me about 55 hours completing all mark missions. I thought it was a very good game despite what other's may say. the battle system r way different from any other final fantasy but they r better than what some of the other reviews said. it has some draw backs but u get what u need most times from the charters u don't control. main thing i did not like was the fact they are no side quest. they have some mark missions but those r just finding the marks on the map no challenge at. now the story was okay and makes you feel like ur at the end of the game somewhere around disk 2 but u know that they're 3 disk so that part was cool but didn't live up 2 ffvii r ffx. also about 20 of my 55 hours of game play was watching cuts scenes n the game. feels more like a movie sometimes than a game.

 Awesome presentation, but still lacking... - Aug 27, 2010

The first thing you'll notice about this game is it's amazing presentation; the graphics are incredible (at least on the PS3 version), the in-game movies are awesome, the menus are really stunning, the battle system is quick and intuitive, etc. I've been a big fan of this franchise since FFVII was released and have played all of the FF games since then. Overall, this game is by far the best when it comes to presentation, but that's to be expected on this generation of consoles. The worlds are massive and look great. I like the battle system in this game; it is a bit different from other FF games, but it's nothing you can't pick up pretty quickly. The weapons and upgrading system is quite complex and I'm pretty sure that after 80 hours of gameplay I've only uncovered about 30% of all the available upgrades.

On a macro-level, however, this game is lacking in the biggest area for me: the story. I'm sure you've read all about how linear this game is, and it's true. This is the most linear of any FF game I've played, and that is really a downer because I think a lot of people really love being able to explore the openness of these games whenever they want to in the story, and that isn't possible until you are pretty far into the game. I just wasn't drawn into the story at all. Other disappointments for me are the eidolon/summons, the lack of mini-games (there are some, just nowhere near as fun as previous FF games), lack of depth in attacks/magic.

All in all, this game is still a lot of fun. The amazing graphics and fun battle system make up for the lack of story and character depth, at least for one play-through. I enjoyed the 90 hours I put into the game, but I doubt I'll be playing it again. If you're a fan of FF games, I highly recommend this game. If you love RPG's, be warned that this is more of an "adventure" game, not an RPG in its truest sense. Still a fun game that will keep you entertained though.

 Best Final Fantasy Yet - Aug 26, 2010

I bought my PS3 in anticipation of this game 2 years before it actually came out. I have been a Final Fantasy fan since 2000 and this FF has exceeded my expectations. It is harder than the others which gives me a challenge, the story is awesome, and the characters have depth. Even the grinding to build up your crystarium is fun. The graphics are absolutely amazing (I lose myself in the scenery at times). The dialogue editors did an awesome job at matching the English dub to the lip movements. I can hardly wait for FF Versus XIII to come out.

 Very Disapointing - Aug 25, 2010

This game reminds me of the grinding done in World of Warcraft, just even more pointless. I mean every last thing is a grind in this game. The story line is just tired. The dialogue scenes drag on and on for ever. The fighting system is just plain stupid. It's like they banked on their name w/o thinking about the quality.

 Mind numbing - Aug 20, 2010

I have played every final fantasy game since VI . . . I have loved and beaten every single one, multiple times. This game was awful. Yes it looks great but it's so boring.

Unlike most games where the regular battles are quick and can wear you down to the point of dying at times if you arn't leveled enough. This game makes every fight into a boss fight. If you grind, which I have in other games, be prepared to spend upwards of 6-10 min in some fights on normal enemies with little results. I am not a 16 year old who doesn't understand the system, I am a grown up with a graduate degree, there is nothing hard about this game it's just boring.

Honestly I got to the last part of the game, right before the last boss and I didn't even beat it. Had the game since release, months and months ago and I have no desire to beat it. I have much more of a desire to spend 10 to download FF8, 7, 9, replay 10 or even x-2!

This is by far the worst Final fantasy game, no the worst RPG, I have ever played. Three stars just cause it looks pretty.

 To much grinding and not enough freedom... - Aug 19, 2010

I am pretty well disappointed. Have to grind for hours for the upgrades, which are ridiculously complex to figure out. And the game only pretends to be open-world, and doesn't pretend very well. I rarely forgot I was just "playing" a game... no immersion, no loss of myself in the story... just another game.
I am looking for a first-person, role-playing, open-world experience where I can become someone else for a while... and this game could not deliver.
It is a good game otherwise... and I am sure there are many people who love this style of game. It is beautiful and exciting... just unable to convince me.
I won't be buying anymore Final Fantasy titles.

 boring game, overhyped - Aug 19, 2010

Played this game for some 40+ hours and just got sick of it toward the very end. The story just got tiring and there was little to no freedom in this game. Here is how the game plays - watch a video sequence, follow the path, fight a battle, watch a video sequence - rinse repeat for 50 hours. Not really fun unless you like watching movies with not that great of a story line. This game was very overhyped and just isn't worth a purchase. Rent this and prepare for a couple days of boredom.

 Complex system with a failed attempt to make it idiot friendly - Aug 18, 2010

To me it has aways been interesting to see how new final fantasy games would change up their battle system, in Final Fantasy 13 I was dissapointed by this. It involved bosses with attacks that deal damage to specific areas while the game offers no method of moving your characters. As a boss was charging an attack with the full potential to oneshot any of my party directly in front of it, all I could do was look in horror as my Medic kept inching towards it. As if to say you don't have anything better to do while you press auto battle, there is no way to control the rest of your party! This gets especially annoying when you fight the summon cretures. Example; Vannile: using attacks from a sabotuer worked best. however when I used a double sabotuer set up the computer controlled one decided it didn't want to attack anymore and I couldn't do anything about it. Don't buy if repeatedly getting ravanged by enemies because of a lack of control will make you throw your $50 wireless controller against the wall.

 Years of waiting for this? - Aug 17, 2010

Ill keep this short for all you folks wanting a straight to the point review.

Pros:
*New battle system is decent
*Great graphics, truly beautiful to look at.

Cons:
*Most annoying characters of any FF that I played (6 and up)
*Story line is complete garbage
*Too many cut scenes, it starts to get really annoying.
*More linear that other FF games.

All in all this game is a true pleasure to look at, but it gets really boring after a while. I found myself wanting to game to end less than half the way through; I never wanted the previous FF's to end. The first half of the game is complete junk and its just not what Ive come to expect from such a great series.

 Great! - Aug 17, 2010

As a hardcore Final Fantasy fan, I am really enjoying this game. It has a totally new fighting system, which took a little getting used to. It has fantastic graphics; There are 3 sets of graphics: the regular gameplay graphics (pretty good), minor cutscene graphics (very good), and major cutscene graphics (extraordinary). The major cutscene graphics look just slightly better than Advent Children: Complete (which was touched up from the original release).

Glorious. I haven't finished the game yet, but it's on it's way to surpassing FFIV as the best FF game in the series.

 Fun Gameplay, Lacking in Story - Aug 16, 2010

This game is fantastically fun and story driven. Going through the game I was very amazed at the graphics and the music is also great. However, this game lacks in the in-depth story that previous games such as Final Fantasy 7 and 10 had. Those are the only Final Fantasy games that I have played, but they were great, which led me to the purchase of this game. Many people will complain how the game gives you full control only after you have completed half of the game, but I think it proved to be rather interesting gameplay. The battle system is pretty in depth, but you do not have to spend too much time to understand it, and game takes you through it step by step. Overall, I think the game is flirting on the border of good and great, but I am giving Square Enix the benefit of the doubt and scoring it 4/5.

 Am I geting older or is this getting less fun? - Aug 16, 2010

Let start with what you wanted, anyway: a bulleted list.

Pros:
- Gorgeous game. Especially in the boss fights, I'm loving what I'm seeing.
- Fixed the atrocious gameplay slowdown that occurred whenever you cast a high-level spell in XII. Animations are buttery smooth this time around now.
- As the final credits rolled and I watched the flashback montage, I certainly felt like I'd embarked on a memorable journey. It was like the warm satisfaction of finishing a book you love and leafing back through the pages.

Cons:
- Horrible, contrived characters and motives. I felt like I was in some dreadful parallel reality where nobody matured beyond preadolescence. There are two types of characters in your party: brooding, vengeance-driven introverts who learn to accept the past and forgive; and bubbly, carefree extroverts who we find out (secretly) harbor inner demons. Collectively, your party is trying to throw off the yoke of the gods/destiny and make their own choices - certainly a popular moral in video games these days...
- The stagger system works great in boss fights, but less well in random encounters. It's frustrating being forced to make 30 attacks that don't count so you can get to the 20 that do, especially when you know you're going to win the fight anyway.
- The plot is better explained in the summaries given in your datalog and loading screens than through the actual dialogue. Yikes. Perhaps the writers could have spent fewer words on the characters' emotional turmoil and more words on the nature of the world and the central conflict. I'm a bit dense, I admit, but I was still in the dark most of the way.
- Critics loved the "focus on high-level strategy" but I disagree. I'm sure we all used the same few parties: maximum damage, maximum healing, status buffs/ailments, and damage sponge. Yes there are minor tweaks, but I felt like I was rotating between through the same four choices all game. Spending 35 hours using the same four moves is not a recipe for fun.
- That friggin' mechanical owl/gunship - so sweet. But what the heck was it? Will we ever know? A subpoint of my third critique, I admit, but I really wanted to know! A metaphor for my disappointment.

As you can see, this wasn't my favorite Final Fantasy - but I can't tell whose fault that is, exactly. I grew up with the original, II, and III (IV and VI). I loved them. And to top them all, the climax for me was FF VII. My absolute favorite in terms of gameplay, characters and story.

Looking back, however, I now recognize that I first played VII when I, myself, was a moody adolescent and the enormous breasts of female characters didn't bother me so much. After that point I (slowly) began to grow up. VIII and IX were disappointments, although X was a nice revival. I tried to like XII - spending upwards of 100 hours with it - but the love was never there. Now, with XIII, I wonder if the feeling is gone forever.

In place of the love, I'm left with questions. Were the characters less silly back when my affection was strongest, or was I just more silly? Were the random encounters quicker and more enjoyable, or was I more accepting of repetition? And have the setting, conflict, and ideas that drive the narrative truly devolved, or was I too naive to know the difference? I've replayed the old games many time, but it's hard to perceive honest answers when nostalgia clouds my vision.

Certainly I'm getting older - that's not debatable. But are the games themselves getting less enjoyable? I can't say for sure, but I do know that I'm having less fun.

 Boring and too easy to play - Aug 14, 2010

The last time I played Final Fantasy was when it was on Nintendo, which was like 20 years ago. I consider that old version (FF III) more fun to play than this. I haven't played FF since then. I'm only 4 chapters deep into this game and I accomplish that in less than 3 hours of playing. Its basically one straight path of killing stuff to end the story for that chapter. Along the way, there's like dozens of save points. At each save point, you can buy stuff or upgrade your weapons(and there's not much stuff to buy). Again, I only finish 4 chapters in this game and I'm not impress. Fighting is too simple since you will be selecting auto battle most of the time (at least that's what I've been doing). If your main character dies, the game is over. You may retry the battle or reload from last saved point. What's the point of having potions that can resurrect fallen player then? I mean, there's one or two other characters that is helping you fight. Why can't I go to them to heal my fallen character (maybe I can switch characters later in the game, but that would be stupid. They should of had that option straight from the beginning). Another thing I hate is that you can only equip your guys with one weapon and one bracelet. One weapon I understand, but people can wear more than one bracelet on them.

The only thing great about this game is graphics. Other than that, it is literally boring and stupid. The acting or voices is really annoying. I rather put the TV on mute than to listen to these characters talk.

Bottom line: This game makes no sense at all! No free world to explore. No towns or shops to buy stuff (come on, buy stuff at save point? that's so boring and too easy). Too much cut scenes. Will this game be more fun if I keep playing or would it be the same throughout? I'm guessing its going to be the same throughout, which is "one straight path to victory." Dull and boring!

 Machine Gods and Chrystals! - Aug 11, 2010

For many RPG fans this game was longed for from the time we first heard it was in production, it was a reason to get a Playstation 3 when it was said it would only be out for that machine. However with all that anticipation the actual game was a kind of a letdown. I think that Final Fantasy 13 actually suffers from being so anticipated. It is an average to good turned based JRPG, but being a Final Fantasy game I think many pepole had expected more. I know I sure did.

Final Fantasy 13 had a rather ok story. It is set in a sort of futuristic world where the huge city of Cocoon is being protected and ruled by machine Gods known as fal'Cie. Now these creatures sometimes choose to bestow magickal abilities on human beings, making them into l'Cie, servants of sort that the machine Gods give a mission to, called a focus. Now a l'Cie never know exactly what his or her focus is, and there is a time limit, if the focus is not completed by then the unfortunate l'Cie will turn into a ravaging monster, if they manage to complete their focus then they are turned to crystal, so it is kind of a loose/loose situation. In addition pepole generally fear l'Cie, especially those from Pulse, the land below the floating and protected city of Cocoon. In fact pepole fear Pulse so much that when a Pulse fal'Cie is discovered in Cocoon in the start of the game the corrupt and totalitarian government decides to banish all the pepole living in those areas of the city, effectively killing them. It is this event, battling to stop pepole from being banished, or just to stay alive in the start of the game that bring the main characters together.

Now off course the main characters rather quickly become l'Cie and the game is mostly about them trying to survive while at the same time finding a way to control their own destiny instead of having various forces decide for them. The story is rather interesting, and I will not give to much of it away here, however the problem is that there is to little story compared to to much grinding, fighting and general game play. The story is so important in a computer RPG but I feel that in FF 13 it get pushed to the side for combat, something which really do not work to well since the combat system is horrible.

Ah yes, the combat system. This game is one of those semi real time things. Now this point in my review is just personal preference but for me semi real time do not really do it for me, I want either to have the time to think up strategy of a turned based game, or the more realistic action of a real time combat game, however I have seen good semi real time combat systems, this is not one of them, basically the game bases itself on having various paradigms or attack patterns if you will and game play is mostly about changing these around for best effect. For example you might start a battle with a paradigm where the characters cast spells to add bonuses to your character or weaken the enemy, and then shift to all out attack, and then over to a healing paradigm when the party is getting low on health. Now there are some problems with this, one is that the system is hard to get into, but one you get it there is so little involvement from the player, it is just press button shift paradigm, press button shift paradigm constantly, it get very monotonous after a while. Another problem is that in the start of the game the party constantly split up meaning that the paradigms you usually use do not work and you have to grind allot to build up the characters enough to get usable paradigms so you can make it past a section where you might just have two characters to work with. The system is boring, needlessly complicated and unsuited to large parts of the game.

Now for the graphics. The character graphics are breathtaking, they are so realistically made, the facial expressions are just perfect. The character design is beautiful, to bad the rest of the game is not as good. Now the animation and level design is always theatrically good, the problem is that in large parts of the game the areas are so bland. You can program a gray wall masterfully but it is still a gray wall. There is also very little variety when it comes to the enemies and in a game where there is so much grinding this becomes a problem. The bosses to usually is not that impressive, they are perfectly animated, but they are boring to look at or is something one have seen a million times before. Technically I would give the game's graphics 10 out of 10 but it often fails in the art department to say it like that.

Now many have complained that this game is to linear. I honestly have no problem with a linear game. I do not need there to be multiple endings and all that to enjoy myself, but this game at times is not just linear with the story, in the first part of the game you literary just walk in corridors. This gets better halfway through the game, but before then you can not even wander of to explore different rooms, you just walk along the path, grind, walk and grind and walk some more, then it do not help that the game's environment is created technically good.

You have six characters in this game. Lighting is the chick on the front cover, she is an ex soldier and is your typical though girl, then you have Snow, and idealistic freedom fighter, Vanille, the required cute girl, Fang, another though girl but a bit more feminine this time, Hope, a young boy, there always have to be a child in JRPG's it seams, and then there is Sazh a pessimistic father looking for his son that have a baby chocobo living in his afro. The characters are interesting and well developed, but hell do they whine. In most Final Fantasy games the characters experiences bad things, often they are put in emotionally difficult situations or seam to have no hope of survival and there is often deep emotions and that is fine, it is part of what makes Final Fantasy good, one starts to care about the characters. However in this game there is hardly a cut scene without one or more of the characters on their knees on the ground crying their despair to the sky and mourning their cruel fate. Now I understand that it is not particularly funny to have the future prospect of either becoming a monster or a crystal, but seriously Auron from Final Fantasy 10 is dead and Tidus don't really exist but somehow they manage to not behave like a emo on speed.

The voice acting for this game, at least the English that we had on while playing through it is fine. In fact every technical aspect of this game is great, that is why I give it 3 stars, the story is good and the technical qualities of the game is better than in any other JRPG I have ever played. I am sure fans of JRPG and fantasy games in general will enjoy this. However the game is not up to part with other Final Fantasy games. I was disappointed in it. It is a middle of the three to good game, but that is not what I expect from a FF game, it is clearly one of the weaker games in the franchise. Now I really hate one to five stars, it is so hard to give an correct opinion with only five, but if this was one to then I would give the game about seven. It is good, you will enjoy it, but it is not good enough for Final Fantasy.

 this doesnt feel like playing a game, more like watching really bad anime. - Aug 10, 2010

this game was hyped to the point where you feel almost obligated to buy the game. it is good that they spent so much money hyping up and marketing this game because if they tried selling it on substance alone it would fall flat. square enix and the final fantasy franchise in particular, are now just getting by on their past accomplishments. for those who have yet to play the game i will try to give you an idea on what this game is like. for the first 20 or so hours of the game there is no exploration whatsoever. you will spend your time watching cutscene after cutscene detailing a story that i personally felt to be melodramatic garbage. until you advance pretty far in the game your abilities are few and far between and most fights you will just let the ai control your characters. the "dungeons" are basically long hallways where you walk straight ahead constantly with a battle every few steps and a cutscene almost as often. there arent any shops. you purchase everything at terminals and the items just appear in your inventory. and did i mention that your eidolins are basically rip offs from transformers? i tried very hard to enjoy this game and i just couldnt do it. bad story and annoying characters you dont care about do not make a good rpg, no matter how pretty the graphics are.

i had quite a bit bad to say about this game so i wanted to get that done first and now well talk about the good. the graphics are stunning. in fact, there are so many cutscenes that look out of this world that it almost merits playing the game just to see the beauty of them. ever since final fantasy 7 ive really enjoyed the cutscenes in these games and in that department this game doesnt disappoint. after playing the game for a while, at least 10-115 hours i did begin to enjoy the combat since at that point, it did require a bit of strategy to succeed.

Edit: i would like to add that the game does get better when you reach gran pulse, around 20 hours in. the battles do become more complex as you play and near the end, the game is much better than it was in the beginning. however, after dragging myself through over 20 hours i just dont have it in me to pick this game back up and finish it.

 Too much cutscene, but terrific Gran Pulse - Aug 10, 2010

This is the first final fantasy game that I've played. Like all people say, the story is a little weak and the characters are maybe a little annoying at times.. I didn't like this game at all when I first started playing. but after a few hours getting used to the new battle system, I began to appreciate how delicate and different the gameplay was from all other games in current market.

Let me put my biggest complaint here first: there are just too many cut scenes and you feel you are watching a final fantasy movie and maybe that's why everybody saying it's too linear because there is no multi-ending or free roam in a movie (well actually when you reach chapter 11, it becomes a free roam game). The techniques behind all the cut scenes must have been really good, I know that/ Considering how much work they have done for the game. I just wished the story turned out much better and if the characters, the dialogues, the story could suck me in, then the cut scenes wouldn't seem so redundant.

The Gran Pulse (where the real reflection of an wild ancient earth planet) is AWESOME. It's exactly what I have been picturing for a world that I would like to live in. I even felt this was done better than Avatar the movie (allow me to exaggerate but I can not control the Navis in the movie, can I?). I love everything I see on this land and I really enjoy doing the missions in chapter 11 (when the story is taken place in the Gran Pulse)

The battle system is fun and I like it a lot. It's much better than traditional turn based strategy games. I think this is the one of the best/most fun battle system there out of all games in the market.

The game could have been much better. Many things could have been done 'right' , like the story and the characters. However, this is a game for players who enjoy sitting there, relaxing with a fun game (there are hundred hours for you to kill). And especially, if you are into JRPG, you will probably like (or say won't dislike even a bit) this piece of hard work created by Square Enix.

 Ignore the Naysayers; This is the Real Deal - Aug 10, 2010

I've been a life long Final Fantasy fan, starting with Final Fantasy VI (III in the US). This has got to be the most controversial Final Fantasy release I have ever seen. The reviews are split between people who love it and hate it, and I was a little bit apprehensive about buying the game (I waited at least until the price dropped). There also seemed to be a general lack of buzz about it among my gamer friends, which made me think the game was going to be a flop.

After actually sitting down and playing it, I couldn't disagree more with the negative reviews. I can't even see what is so controversial about it. First of all, this game stays true to the series. I see many, many pure Final Fantasy elements, from the characters to the story, settings, overall design, and yes, even the gameplay. Let's not also forget that the series has evolved over time, so I'm taking into account the recent titles as well, such as XII and X.

Perhaps people are getting tired of Final Fantasy, but when I get a Final Fantasy game, I'm expecting a Final Fantasy game. That's why I got with this game. The best thing about the game is the aesthetic experience it provides: the beautiful, other-worldly environments, the fantasy settings, the compelling story, the love, the romance, etc. I have plenty of games with more complex gameplay, but what's the point of that if the game can't intrigue me and capture my imagination. These days I have a very hard time finding games that can do that, and so far this is the only PS3 game I own that can pull that off.

True, it doesn't seem that difficult. That doesn't bother me. Final Fantasy (the main series) games were never very hard, and I also believe that it's acceptable to have varying levels of difficulty within a series. If anything, this game makes an excellent introduction to the series for new fans to the series and inexperienced in the genre. If I wanted to cut my teeth on hard gameplay, I'll play something from the Tactics spinoff.

Also, it's pointed out that the game is linear. I also think it is fine for there to be a variety in linearity and openness in the series. Final Fantasy XII seemed incredibly open to me. Final Fantasy X was one of the most linear games I have EVER played. In the end, I loved them both. Plus, make no mistake that this game takes full advantage of all the perks that linearity has to offer--it's not merely a sacrifice of openness without any gains. This game can do some things that more open titles cannot. If I want a more open, rich RPG experience, I'll just pop in Oblivion and play that. If I want to play a game with an amazing story, I'll eject Oblivion and put in Final Fantasy XIII. It's pretty simple.

Another thing is that I see more parallels between this game and some of the older titles (Final Fantasy VI especially) than I have in more recent Final Fantasy games. For example, the story starts out with our heroine--a mysterious, cold, isolated, outcast girl, ex-army, mysteriously can use magic, and so on. She fits Terra/Tina almost to a T (no pun intended). Then we bring in the immature male hero, the one who was once madly and riskily in love, who lost his fiance to suspended animation, who is desperately overcompensating for it by trying to be the hero all the time, and so on. Basically we have some of the same timeless characters and plotlines, and I definitely appreciate their resurgence in the series--they were powerful then, and they're powerful now too.

Don't forget that Final Fantasy XIV is coming out soon. That's pretty much going to be the opposite of this game--more open, less story based, less linear, much more focus on gameplay mechanics and difficulty.

 One man's thoughts - Aug 09, 2010

This review has no spoilers.

STORYLINE:
-- For those who dilute the plot, FFXIII is essentially about a bunch of wanted criminals bent on toppling a corrupt government. Each of the six characters has an underlying motive, only half of which actually makes the player empathize with their plight. The underlying messages to the player are generic and overused: don't run away from your problems, do whatever it takes to accomplish your goal, help each other out, etc.
-- Also, unlike FF10 or FF8, there is no strong romance that drives the story. Sure, there's Snow and Serah, but that's no Tidus/Yuna or Squall/Rinoa. I think this is probably the biggest flaw in the storyline. Don't expect any tears.


BATTLE:
-- FFXIII differs most from other final fantasies in its battle system. Each character is, for most of the game, restricted to 3 out of 6 classes. Unlike other final fantasies with class systems, there aren't certain ones that are clearly better than the others; the game relies on the player choosing a combination of classes that would best survive or win a battle. In battle, characters can change classes as desired. This is where the strategy and planning come in.
-- Although you can only control one character at a time, by mid-game, you would have too many strategies to implement that controlling any more would be overwhelming. If your lead character dies, you lose (the only con about the battle system), but there's a nifty restart battle system where you respawn right before the enemy--a very useful tool given the difficulty of the game.
-- Also, a couple minor changes were implemented: characters fully recover hp after battle, no post-battle poisoning or status changes, and no MP (sounds like blasphemy, but they make it work). Characters instead have attack bars that fill up quickly over time. Attacks and magics use up these bars, with stronger commands requiring more bars. This isn't the classical FF approach, but it's well-balanced and effective if you're open-minded enough to accept it.
-- Battles occur in real-time and are super fast: short waiting periods between attacks, quick startup/endings, and no 30-second delays because you cast a strong spell or use a summon. Battles are also much harder (and avoidable if undesired). I have beaten most final fantasies with just a few deaths (0 in FF8 and FF6), but this game can slaughtered my characters. This is a great change of pace if you're looking for a more challenging RPG (yes, I am calling it an RPG).

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:
-- Characters can equip a weapon and up to 4 accessories. Equipments have bonuses if they fall in the same category. It's not as simple as equipping the "strongest weapon" and shield with the best stats. Things are more complicated and require you to learn-as-you-go, but you got more control over the benefits of what you equip.
Weapons are upgradable with battle spoils and purchasable materials (the only real reason for money in the game). You'll never have enough money--that's the most realistic quality about this game :)
-- Characters earn CP points after battle. With enough CP points, you can advance your character's stats or learn new abilities. The system operates like the sphere grid in FF10, but doesn't have the same steep learning curve or require items to upgrade a stat.
-- You'll have to try it for yourself to truly appreciate it, but FF13's character development is the best in the series so far.

GRAPHICS:
-- FF13 will be the benchmark for not just future final fantasy games, but for most new-generation RPGS in general. The graphics are drop-dead gorgeous. Just google for screenshots.

MUSIC:
-- FF13 has a few good songs, but nothing as memorable as old school (10-2 and earlier). The music accompanies the game pretty well, but not well enough that you'd want to download some songs and put it on your ipod.

GAMEPLAY:
-- People criticize the linearity of this game tremendously. By linearity, people refer to the tunnel-nature of this game: narrow pathways with few forks or diversions. Although this is true, it is not any less linear than FF10. Remember all those long, annoying trails between towns? Same thing in FF13, but most battles can be avoided.
-- Another common criticism is the lack of freedom to explore old parts of the game. Most games granted you access to an airship. FF13, for good or for bad, didn't create the need to. Why go back to old levels where you'd just dominate the enemies and get missed treasures that are far inferior to what you have now? Instead, they chose the mission approach, which opens up a lot of new levels, enemies, and bosses. Did missions lack an emotional appeal or fortify the story? Sure! Were some too easy or required long distances of walking? You bet! Were they all crammed in the post-game without much purpose? Yes! Were some challenging and pushed your characters and gameplay abilities? Definitely.
-- No minigames, puzzles, or convoluted ways of acquiring secret items. No chocobo training (FF7); no stupid blitzball, temple puzzles, or monster collection (FF10), and most importantly, no girly dancing crap (FF10-2). A huge improvement in the franchise, in my opinion.
-- The game is almost like a movie: 10 minutes of running around and fighting, 5 minutes of story-based cutscenes. Fifferent from traditional FFs, but not a bad change.
-- The first (and only) time I played it took me 42 hours to complete the main storyline, and another 28 to complete post-game missions, all without the use of walkthroughs or online assistance. Players hell-bent on maxing out characters, fully upgrading weapons, and acquiring all trophies would need around 60 hours in the post-game.
Replay value for the game is not that great, except to see the gorgeous cutscenes. There is no way to replay cutscenes within the game, so make a new save before each one to solve this problem.

OVERALL:
--Will you have fun? Most likely.
--Is it the best final fantasy? Storyline-no. Battle-yes. Graphics-yes. Music-no. Difficulty-yes. Gameplay-hard to say, but its up there.
--Is it worth spending money on? Yes.

 My fiance loves it! - Aug 09, 2010

My fiance loves loves loves the game! He's been playing it for days. He was excited that it has 3 disks, so it's a long game. I'm not a gamer, but he is, so I'm guessing that's a plus. LOL

 Greatly lacking - Aug 05, 2010

Barring a couple of the earliest Final Fantasy games I've played every game in the series. I've found something to enjoy in just about every one, and have come back to almost all of them at some point. That said, this is the first FF game I've actually been disappointed in. Visually, the game is astounding. It's one of the best looking games I've ever played; certainly the best looking FF game yet. However, visuals aren't everything. The linear nature of the story is definitely a let down. The fact that you can't complete most of the side quests until after you've beaten the game feels very backwards. Even worse is that the side quests are almost entirely "Hunts", monster-specific quests, most of which are so tough that you can't hope to complete them until after you've beaten the final boss of the game, at which point you are finally able to level up your characters to their fullest potential.

Which is another problem with the game. While, yes, having a character leveled to its post-boss max before you fight the boss would make that boss absurdly easy, that doesn't mean some middle ground could not have been found. I can't remember another game where you actually get to finish leveling up after the end of the game.

The post-boss game activities simply aren't interesting enough to encourage the hours and hours of game play necessary to level up your characters and complete all the hunts. Adding insult to injury is the difficulty in acquiring gil (FF's version of money) within the game, making it extremely tough to level up your weapons and accessories until, again, after you've beat the final boss.

Pouring salt on the wound is the confusing story. I've heard that it's easier to understand if you read the datalog and let it fill in the gaps for you. I'm sure this is true. However, when I want to read, I pick up a book. I don't usually turn on a video game so that I can read. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I prefer to get my story from the cutscenes, not the help screen. It's a PS3, not a Kindle.

As for the PS3 problems others have commented on, I played on an original 60G PS3, which is one of the models that is said to have the most problems with freezing. Mine never did. I tried never to play for more than a couple hours at a time, found a save point and turned off my machine when it sounded like it was running hot, made sure I kept the machine on its side, and only used one save file for the entire game. No idea if doing those made any difference, but I made it through the game without it ever freezing or damaging my PS3.

I wanted to love this game. I had high hopes. This is SE's signature line, and FF games are almost always enjoyable for me. But this game was a huge let down for me. I just can't recommend it.

 Final Fantasy 13 - Aug 05, 2010

Very fun game. Only downside is that it is very linear. But still challenging fun and an enticing story. If you want a very critical review look at the review from zero punctuation. I agree with him about the walking noise but I am a JRPG/Final Fantasy fan so I am dismissive of some of his other comments. The new battle system is pretty fun but you will find that you will find your self using 2 buttons the whole game, paradime shift and auto-battle.

P.S The last boss is very fun and might destroy your party a few times.

 just boring - Aug 04, 2010

The game is ok but the way they tell the story is so boring , the whole time i wanted to skip all the dialog and cutscenes , i didnt but i really wanted to. Graphics were ok too but nothing special. The audio was horrendous with crappy dialog and even crappier music and sound FX.

GFX 3/5
Audio 2/5
Gameplay 3/5
Replay 1/5

 Really enjoyed the gameplay and the story line together. - Aug 04, 2010

This game really is a great piece for Final Fantasy. It's got great gameplay and I love how you can set your teams and level them up to what you want them to be. IE: Healer, mage, fighter. I think the story is a little more love oriented than it could have been. Final Fantasy X is sort of that way too but I liked that game as well. This game is a definite must for gamers. It's fun and has great graphics. You may not LOVE it, but you will most definitely enjoy it and won't regret playing.

 Once again, Square delivers a great JRPG. - Aug 04, 2010

I've been a fan of the FF series since the SNES days. I can tell you FFXIII is loads of fun. Many people criticize it because of it's linearity. They probably haven't played pas titles in the series, since they are VERY linear. JRPGs themselves tend to be linear. If you're new to the series, you should try this title, you'll have loads of fun. Dont get fooled by the first few hours tho, they're slow at first, but the game gets way better later on. Trust me.