Final Fantasy XIII comes out on Tuesday, but Square Enix‘s review embargo must have lifted yesterday, since pretty much ever Web site ever has published their review. Not us, of course. That’s fine. I’ll just buy the game and play it quietly by myself next week. Be that as it may, let’s see what people are saying about it.
First thing’s first: if you have both a PS3 and Xbox 360, you really ought to get the PS3 version. Eurogamer goes into the technical details, but the gist of it is this: the Xbox 360 version runs at a rubbish resolution compared to the PS3. When you consider that Square Enix had to squeeze a filled-to-the-brim Blu-ray disc (50GB) into three Xbox 360s discs (each disc maxes out at 6.8GB), well, mazel tov, Squeenix programmers! It’s a technical achievement, yes, but the PS3 version is clearly the superior game. Go ahead, PS3 fans, hoot and holler till your throat is sore.
With that out of the way, the reviews. With the exception of one really high-profile negative score, all the gaming publications that I care about gave the game good marks. You all already know that I think review score numbers are dumb, but I’ve read most of the big reviews from start to finish (I should get a job at a publishing company!), so I have a basic idea of where they’re coming from. Eurogamer, always a fine site for reviews, did go out of its way to praise the game’s battle system, a modified version of the ATB system we’re all familiar with:
Which brings me to Final Fantasy XIII‘s star attraction, and the one area where its pacing is thrilling and perfect. Its all-new version of the series’ Active Time Battle (ATB) system has been controversial, and initially seems worryingly basic. It takes a few hours to reveal its true colours; in the end it turns out to be radical, ingenious, elegant and exciting to use.
1UP, another site I usually read for my reviews (I’m an old EGM fan, you see), is no less positive:
In practice, however, FFXIII is far from awful. It’s unquestionably a huge departure for the series, but taken on its own merits, it works. If the quality of a game is defined by how well it lays down a series of objectives and proceeds to fulfill them (traditions be damned), FFXIII is an unqualified success. Yes, it abandons a great many RPG traditions, but it does so in the name of creating a highly focused experience. The elements it abandons are features Final Fantasy has rarely done as well as the competition, while the components it retains are the ones Final Fantasy does best.
But enough praise—what’s wrong with the game?
IGN UK sums it up quite well:
But the lack of anything substantial to do beyond fleeing and fighting soon brings the game crashing back to earth, and even when the walls are lifted Final Fantasy XIII’s world can seem strangely lifeless. As a technical feat the game is a triumph, but it seems a slave to its own spectacle, manacling the gameplay to serve its own bombastic vision and ultimately while the excellent combat and stunning visuals are enough to recommend it, they’re not enough to earn it a place amongst the series’ top rank.
Edge magazine, probably the closest thing video games journalism has to a paper of record, um, hated the game, giving it a 5/10.
It’s a significant prop to a story that has moments of poignancy and a few good characters, but ultimately falls flat. This is such a well-realised world that to have it inhabited by Final Fantasy clichés is especially disappointing. Hope (really) is a kid tormented by the death of his mother. Vanille’s an over-sexualised nonentity. Sazh is a convincing argument against Danny Glover and Lionel Richie ever again being combined into a single character. The biggest problem is that there’s simply no one else. Outside of the main party, every single character in this game is either a cackling cipher, a bystander with a few repeated lines, or a deus ex machina who’s there and gone within the space of a cutscene.
Wow, you really don’t want to see any of your characters referred to as a deus ex machina, so that’s not good.
So I don’t know what to say. I do have the feeling that Final Fantasy XIII is a game that would have been bought sight-unseen by many, many gamers. I’m one of those gamers: even if every single publication under the sun absolutely hated the game, I’d still buy it and probably love. I’m a Square Enix apologist, and I don’t care what anybody thinks about that fact. You do get the sense that Square Enix was trying to appease people who’d have no interest in the series to begin with, and that makes no sense at all. Some people, myself included, do like an old school JRPG every now and then, so Square Enix would have done better to play to its true fans than trying to rope in the Modern Warfare 2 crowd, so to speak. There’s nothing wrong with a linear story—do we hate novels because they’re linear?—and I don’t mind level grinding every now and then. I never finished Dragon Quest VIII for the PS2, but I’d have no problem putting that up against Western classics like Mass Effect or Fallout 3 (with apologies to fans of the orignial Fallout games—No Mutants Allowed and all that!)
But, like I said, I could sit here and write 30,000 words on the game, and it wouldn’t convince people one way or another about the game’s value. Final Fantasy is just one of those things.
i have been a fan of ff games since i was a kid.. but i belive the time for me to say farewell has come with FFXIII Enix has been stubborn for far too many years thinking they know best about what we like. well i belive its time they learn a valuable lesson. i for one will not buy the game i hate being restricted we have enough restrictions irl as is to want em in a game.
and without trying to provoke any hardcore l337 Xbox fans. i will simple say this, FF belongs inside a PS. and no i am not saying one is better than the other. i’m just saying you cant take a sweet water fish after nearly 20years and put it in salty waters and expect it to go on living.because that’s when you get a halfass done FF. RIP FF and hopefully i live long enough to be able to say RIP SE.
I tire of the fanbase, and people who are coming into the series, heavily criticizing this title for the sake of being ‘linear’. Why is a linear RPG with a dynamic combat system such a bad thing (Come to think of it, why on earth are people expecting Baldur’s Gate multiplicity with an RPG series like Final Fantasy anyhow…)?
After playing just about every single Final Fantasy title, I believe fans claiming true to this series should understand that no Final Fantasy title is ever the same, nor are they continuous (unless it’s a sequal).
All elements are differently unique in some way; Therefore, it is useless to compare one to another because they’re all bringing something different to the table through storytelling and character development. I’ve found many people who make these statements are basically newgen gamers who were introduced to the series on the 7th, 8th, 9th, or 10th installment, which feature angsty androgenous male hero against evil creepy pretty boy villain.
So what if it doesn’t feel or look like a J-RPG? What if it doesn’t have the Multiplicity of a W-RPG? Square took a step out with a fresh idea and is being extremely creative with the series and its ideas; seems some fans who need their RPG-esque qualities of ‘towns’ and ‘npc interactions’ don’t appreciate it.
My only problem is that they didn’t change it enough. It’s same old FF to me. The day they start adding action to the battle system is the day I say FF has made a milestone. After playing from FF to FF8, I’m just tired of turn-based battles. I’m glad that in 12 they allow you to walk around enemies, but that’s hardly original (Chrono Trigger). Tales of Vesperia shows you can combine both aspects of turn-based and action, so why didn’t they do it?
And the last problem I have is that I’m tired of tragic-heroes. They had too many ways to spice up the storyline, but worse, they took the route of rescue character X (which is almost always a female). This time they added two of them. Tragic heroes normally work better when one of them die.
Ervis you’re a dumb ass.
FF belongs inside a PS. < Why?
It started life in a NES, has featured on Game Boy(s and other Nintendo hand helds), SNES, (oh now…) PS, PCs even Mobile phones….
"i’m just saying you cant take a sweet water fish after nearly 20years and put it in salty waters and expect it to go on living."
So I have all the FF games, and have only used a PS to play 2 of them, I used a PC to emulate IX ha ha so what does that say? A console is just a machine… a game is as good or crap as it's programmed.
"because that’s when you get a halfass done FF. RIP FF and hopefully i live long enough to be able to say RIP SE."
FFXIII is hardly half ass, it's visually stunning and the music is pretty good too. The story and characters are totally whatever though, and the whole thing feels derivative. I do like the combat system over previous versions. However the online shops are hopeless and I don't like how the weapons are upgraded…. oh and there's no exploration… I can't believe it's so linear… there's no exploration!! Which I love; it's like back to the mario bros days…. left to right, done! X_X;
I do agree that Square Enix is no Squaresoft… I would like to see more Akira Toriyama or another Chrono game…
J
PS. If they wanna do new things or change stuff up a lot, know what they should do?? MAKE A NEW GAME not a new FF.
I pre-ordered YAKUZA 3 instead of FFXIII. I learned that I cannot explore town or cities, but very few,close to nothing. Traditional RPG is all about exploring town, talking to locals,learning some of their history or issues etc. Thank god I played WKC and SO4, these games are real traditional jrpgs. Too bad, Square Enix is a deaf donkey for not remaking Final Fantasy VII. I’ll buy FFXIII once there is a price drop.
I began RPG’s for the story. Nothing else really. Then found an epic battle system shows the best of the game. I disagree with the reasons people are criticizing FFXIII. I am getting hungry for an RPG, so I would buy a FF game regardless. However, if i might persuade you Ervis to not give up hope just yet and wait and see how FFXIII Versus turns out. I have a good feeling about it. (Probably will be even better than XIII’s mother-ship title with Nomura directing)
anatanooreo i am not saying i will give up hope. god no i love ff games infact i am addicted to them. at some point i will buy it for my collection,i just wish they would listen to us for once. and by us i dont mean me and afew other rambling fools i mean the fans in general fine make a new system and whatnot.
but dont take out the fun just read up here everyone agrees that not being able to interact with the townfolks up until like what chapter 11-12? is just plain dumb. they rushed the game guys that is all i can come up with, they cut a lot of content out. and theres talk of DLC i doubt it will be anything major tho. and i will have high hopes for Versus… maybe they get it done right.
Well, this is a little off topic, but i’ve been wondering why they can’t give you options. I’m not talking about a non-linear game, but with regard to the battle system. It seems that people all have their favorites, and it seems to me like the obvious choice would be to let people use systems from previous games. It really wouldn’t be terribly difficult. I know animations might be a little hard, but with the amount of time they spend, they could easily recreate these systems. Another option would be to allow the “learning” mode to be toggled. One of the main concerns is that the battle system only gets good once it’s all there. Couldn’t there be an option. I can see this really being a problem when replaying the game. These simple fixes would definitely boost the games scores. And imo, I think it’s retarded that the linearness is being targeted. Has not every Final Fantasy game (excluding twelve which many fans didn’t even like) been linear? Why does it become such a big issue? Yes, Square Enix is trying to appeal to too many people. Why are they thinking that JRPGs are dead? Is Tales not doing great? They haven’t changed anything, but the games are still among the best (IMO).
I have bought every single-player FF that has been available in the US. The funny thing is, I couldn’t stand a lot of them. All the numbered titles between 7 and 12 (not counting Tactics, which I absolutely loved), I really hated quite a lot. The odd thing is 7 and 12 were so wonderful, that it really kind of made all the crap ones worth it. I’m picking up 13 at launch, and will probably play it all the way through, but I don’t actually expect it to be any good. It is just too much to hope for that they would follow up 12 with another good one.
Oh, and less there is any confusion, I love JRPGs, I just think that the FF series looses its way more than it finds it.
As a side note, what is with this constant, and oddly nationalist, desire reviewers have to paint JRPGs and WRPGs as opposing camps that in which one must choose a side?
There are great WRPGs, like pretty much the entire Fallout series, and their are awful WRPGs like Fable. There are great JRPGs, like Grandia 2, and there are awful JRPGs, like FF8. I don’t understand this need to always try to paint any bad JRPG as proof that Asians just aren’t any good at making RPGs, and any good WRPG as proof that people of European descent are somehow innately superior at creating RPGs.
I agree with Lee-Lo
but… I LOVE FF8 and didn’t get very far in to Grandia 2 as I found it painfully obvious and not stimulating.
I do love Fallout though, very interesting.
Obviously the reasons for JRPGs and WRPGs are initially geographical going by the publishers origin, and then by the general feel and similarity of the two regions games. There isn’t a better or worse kind, just each player’s general preference… I love Chrono Trigger & Cross + FF VII & VIII the best so you could say I like JRPGs…. But I also Love Fallout 3 and hate (ok I’m being pretty harsh it is so beautiful and has nice music) FFXIII
Good games are good games people! Love them for that not for where!
I was hyped about FFXIII. I even imported the Advent Children movie just to play the Japanese demo, and that’s where the hype ended.
I love a good rpg. I love a good, traditional rpg. From what I’ve heard FFXIII was never intended to be a ‘true’ rpg. SE admitted they made the game with a fps in mind.
If SE thinks just because this game has Final Fantasy in it’s name FF fans should buy then I’m more than willing to prove them wrong.
Stick with the formula that made SquareSoft a successful company SquareEnix.
anyhow as you all well know,once you are hooked on FF’s theres no escape and with that being said i will be camping Best Buy coming tuesday morning. that says it all i belive. i wasn’t being negative about the game guys understand my point. i was saying Enix simply fkd it up by trying to go for everyone. they have sold about what 90mil ff’s in the last 20years? i say with this release they might hit 100mil mark but if they had sticked with what made em what they are today… meaning the goodness of town explorations and the tons of sidequests that take your mind off the Story if you chose 2. and the grind i like the grind theres nothing wrong with some fun grind (FFXII) they would have probably sold another 20-25mil copies. whatever i guess i was just angry at SE so i trash talked about FF and for that i appologise to everyone that knows FF is not a game for the Bin. buy it and you will see theres still FF goodness in it. plus you know you would buy it anyhow you are just as addicted as i am.
I thought IX sucked I couldn’t get into it. X was great. I have yet to finish the last one. I think it was XII not the online BS the other one. The other day I downloaded VII for my PSP/PS3. Why these idiots wouldn’t do a remake is unbelievable. Do they not like money? A remake of FF VII would sell like hot cakes. They don’t have to change the game mechanics or alter the story. Just update the graphics. No. No. They would rather reinvent the wheel and piss us all off. When the last game came out I debated getting it or not. It’s a good game my life just took a turn with less time for it. This game may be the one I skip. Then again the changes made to it may actually work for me. SE may have given me what I really wanted but didn’t know? I will probably hold off for a while but in the end I will own this. Weather or not I finish it. Who knows?
haters gonna hate
I love FF series its always been fun and a great story. I just cant find the time to play these kind of games anymore. With work and family all I have time for now a days are games like heavy rain or MW2 frag em and bag em. I do play a lot of L4D, and L4D2.
I thought will 13 square did the same thing they did with X-2. The game seems in ways made more for marketing. In x-2 I thought it was geared to getting females interested in the series. With 13 it seem like its geared to get everyone interested. But by doing that I feel as a true hardcore final fantasy fan thats has played all the titles that many aspects of the series I enjoy (town exploration, side quests) have been removed as well as a new battle system that you do not have as much control of as usual and is more like a turn based action game hybrid are changed so gamers that do not usually play final fantasy will be interested and buy. Sounds smart until you think of the fan base that has kept this series going turning away because square is more concerned about selling to the non ff players then they are about putting a game out that the loyal fan base wants.
What? Are you serious. FF VIII was the best one next to VII. Look, it would appear to each their own would it not?
I have to admit I am annoyed by FFXIII that it is linear, but at the same time relieved, because I have so many damn games to finish. I can breeze through this one. Well as long as I don’t let the temptation of going back and forth through each level catch hold. The enemies just respawn exactly where they were before letting you really get mega Crystal points racked up.
Psycho Ambience I agree completely!
final fantasy 7-8-9-10-11- is good games but final fantasy 13 is shit and not good at all the way of fighting-playing the game is shit what happened to final fantasy ??????????
The game is not good at all, I’ve played all of the FF games and I have to say that this is the worst (From FF7 up, other than FF10x2 which was a complete disaster!)
The graphics are amazing and the storyline is great but the players options while fighting and everything else…what the hell? Seriously, I paid £40 for it and on the same day, I want my money back.
They should really stick to creating the games like they used to (before FF10x2) Final Fantasy games in general, in my opinion are going down hill.
It does seem that way… :(
Ive been playing final fantasy games since VII came out. (I loved the franchise so much i downloaded emulators and played the other 6 and loved them aswell) So it went without saying, that eventhough the reviews werent that good i still wanted to see it for myself. I have to say that I will no longer blindly buy another final fantasy game again. I found the story to be so flat, the characters boring, they totally changed the dynamic of its predecessors by not having free roaming, which is what made those series so good as you could feel you are part of the world. Here its like there is no population, they keep talking about saving cocoon, but u get the feeling cocoon is made up of 500 civilians and a whole lot of monsters. Ill admit the fighting system is great although a little slow to get moving. Dont understand why they tried to change a system which has worked so well over 12 titles. Its actually more like an Action game than an RPG and the only game from the final fantasy series which made me fall asleep while i was playing.
i thought the game was great the characters were emerse and heart felt i still carnt get the story out of my head there were alot of downers like the freeroam aspect taken out and how i love waiting to see the next village i entered and what great wepons it had but the story was emotive the characters were great the voice acting was amazing i just hope square enix take the critismz into account and make a sequal pleeeeease make a sequal i really want to know wats gonna happen next to hope and lightning great game sad they took some great aspects out of it stop advancing the graphics focuse more on the story and makeing a great free roaming world and you on for making a masterpeice keep up the good work and remember sequal sequal sequal now lolz
lets be honest here… 9 out of 10 people are simply awestruck by the games presentation. which i have to say was outstanding, the graphics, sound, and overall presentation of the game dragged me straight in. The characters weren’t bad either (though personally I couldn’t really bring myself to care about any of them. thats just me though) The main plot was great to, but I wouldn’t say it was so good that it should have been the only focus of the game. The main issues with XIII is it has next to nothing for additional content… no mini games, no shops, no world, just one straight line from beginning to end. I’ll admit the chain of events wasn’t entirely predictable, but the characters were just so stupid to me that I really didn’t care what happened next… (aside from my strong hope that they would all die and the real characters would emerge as the culprits.) The battle system holds great potential, but certain aspects ruined it… one of them being that you could only perform multiple skills on a single target without cancelling and redoing the string of commands, no character movement, another is the fully automated AI; it would’ve been nice to have the choice of using gambits, or controlling all 3 of them myself. There is also the auto-command button which was just totally meh… you could almost get through every battle in the game by mashing the x button. Last, the equipment upgrade system was just too much of a grind… VII, IX, and other titles had they’re grinds to; but you travelled throughout the world to gather items, equipment, or even materials for an upgrade of sorts… in xiii you just sit in front of the save point or move down the line or loop. I was also upset about the lack of ‘real’ dungeon crawling… puzzles man, wheres the puzzles. excluding the tower, there weren’t any. ultimately i feel that XIII took advantage of my loyalty to the FF series, underestimated my abilities, and insulted my intelligence…. =/ thats just how it felt, not that I seriously believe it was SEs intention. It seems to me they’ve been simplifying they’re games more and more til it came down to push up to walk, and spam X to fight; watch the CS. Rinse repeat. I have to agree, they tried to sell this game to everyone. its pretty obvious really. I won’t say that XIII is garbage, it was a good, but I really didn’t like it much. First time in the entire series (excluding X-2) they’ve released a title I just couldn’t enjoy. maybe I’ve just developed unreasonable expectations for SE over the many years I’ve been a fan.. Either way, I think if they release another game like this… I’m willing to move on and let other titles fill my RPG plate.