Ever since E3 2006, RPG fan across the world have been waiting with baited breath for the latest edition in the Final Fantasy series, though there have been growing concerns since the game was released in Japan about the game being too cut down compared to the most loved editions of the series. Will the game live up to the hype and the many hours of work, or will it be another example of a well loved franchise failing to find its feet on in this generation of consoles. Guess you’ll have to read this complete review to find out!
The first thing you will notice when you start the game is how utterly stunning it all looks. The opening cutscene is gorgeous and looks even better than the CGI Final Fantasy film released a few years back. A lot of care and attention has went into these sequences, and the in-game graphics are very good too – though there is a lack of detail in places, most notably in characters fingers, elbows and buttons on clothing – but these are minor gripes. The characters are well designed, and many of the locations are magnificent to look at. You may find yourself twiddling the right analogue stick to look around the area you are in. The downside however is that you spend quite a lot of time in the same location and it can get quite samey with repetitive layouts, but when you first enter a new area it is a spectacular sight.
One of the most significant changes in the game is that you only control one member of a party in battle. Instead of having direct control of other members in your group, you can select their battle type as part of the Paradigm system. This system allows you to set different combinations of fighting types to use in battle. For example, one character may be able to perform melee attacks (this is a Commando) and cast magic (Ravager), the other can heal (Medic) and protect party members (Sentinel). You can then set up different combinations for use in battle, and change on the fly with the L1 button. For example you may start off a battle with Commando and Ravager abilities selected, then switch to Medic when the going gets tough. The early hours of the game let you experiment with these different abilities and what are the best combinations for certain enemies. If you do not have a grip on the system by the 5 hour point do not expect to progress much further in the game – you really need your wits about you and the system becomes very exciting and tactical. Luckily, while the going gets tough the AI of your partners is excellent – they use the most damaging magic on enemies and heal those who are most in need.
Enemies also have a Stagger bar alongside their life bar. In order to drain the life bar you have to fill the stagger bar by constantly attacking – and the bar goes down when you are busy healing or protecting party members which makes battles rather tense as you switch from attack to defend in the quickest time possible. When the bar fills unleash hell as the enemy is now at their weakest point. It is a bit like destroying armour or shields in other games, only they can regenerate.
Other big changes to the battle system are the fact that your life bar is automatically refilled at the end of a battle and you no longer earn XP. Now many RPG fans have probably just had a heart attack. In this game you earn ‘Crystal Points’ which can be used to improve Paradigm System abilities. This is done manually by the player who can select which field of ability they want to upgrade for each character – you may want one to specialise as being a Medic, the other as a Commando. You can improve weapons and accessories by using items that you can buy in a store or after a battle. Stores are very different in this game – you don’t visit them in villages or towns – instead they are built into the save points. That’s another heart attack for the hardcore.
The big problem this game faces is that even though the battles do become very exciting and tactical, it takes several hours for this to happen – you don’t even encounter the Paradigm and Crystal systems for around 3 hours into the game. Stick with it and you will be rewarded with some very intense battles and fantastic combat maneuvers – especially when the Eidolons (the series trademark Summons) come into play. Many games these days can be done and dusted within six hours – at this point in Final Fantasy XIII you are barely scratching the surface of the game, and it will take over 20 hours to even gain overworld map and go on missions outside of the main storyline.
Luckily the storyline is rather compelling, however yet again it takes a couple of hours to get going. Also, you need to do some digging around in menus to fully understand what is going on. You are thrown into the deep end with no explanation to what is happening in the world. The cut scenes are full of action, but don’t really tell you a lot about what is happening. This keeps the cut scenes short and snappy – but to get a deeper understanding into what is going on you need to delve into the menus and check out the datalog. This gives you the full backstory to the game, and keeps you up to date with what is happening in the storyline, it is a great resource and allows you to follow what is happening at your own pace and if you just want to have big battles you have no need to get bogged down in the storyline details. The main story is quite tragic in places, but does feature lots of giant heads to help lessen the blow when sad moments strike. In the lead up to writing this review I was ready to have a rant about one of the lead characters that I found very annoying, but over time – a common theme – I began to really like the character. In fact, I really enjoyed the company of all the playable characters in the game, which is very rare for me when playing a Final Fantasy game. There are a lot of characters in the story, but you spend adequate time with them all, switching between them at different points in the game, experiencing their side of the story, their pasts and their abilities.
