Final Fantasy XIII Review

[Toastfarmer]

Final Fantasy XIII Review by Toastfarmer

PALGN Review: Lucky thirteen?

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[sobriquet835]

I pretty much agree with everything in this review. I'm saddened by the lack of exploration and sidequests.

[benspyda]

Honestly, I don't play ff games for side quests so I wasn't disappointed. Final Fantasy side quests are normally pretty boring and tacked on anyway. You buy mass effect 2 if you want to indulge in side quests. Or like me by both and get two very different rpg experiences.

I enjoyed the battle system but I agree with the review it was annoying how you were always left with only two people. It just made the battles too simple. But overall an enjoyable game.
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[Ramblerun]

That 10 looks funny.
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Most Anticipated: Deponia - Kaptain Brawe

[Chrono Blue]

I am enjoying it more that X and XII - so am happy from that perspective. I am only 10 hours in at this stage so hoping there is plenty more gameplay to come.

I like the fact that there are no puzzles, so you never have that 'what the hell do I do next' problem.

There's not a lot of depth, but then you can always play Dragon Age if you want that.
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[ashlar]

I'm happy with the lack of exploration. I'm in chapter 11 and all this vast open space just seems annoying.
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MY SIGNATURE IS WRONG!

[fupoisme]

I was expecting to be slightly disappointed with this one once I finally played it, with some of the negative buzz floating around the Internet for the last few months. I'm happy to say that I'm absolutely loving this one though, the battle system is fantastic and consistently exciting, and the game's linearity isn't bothering me, as FFX was highly linear as well, and was one of my favourites of the series.
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PSWii60

[THEMAN]

6.5/10 to max 7/10 from me. The first 17 hours or so are garbage. I'm not done but it's not going to exceed 7/10. A
Lot of flaws. (IMO of couse)
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[Gamesta]

[fatpizza]

8.5 sounds about right for me.
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[Dutch Rootsman]

@ Ashlar - Ditto. I've only been playing for about 4 hours but I love not having that feeling that I've missed something very important.

I'm playing through FFVIII as well and I missed Doom Train in my first play through. Call me a coward, but I love being safe in the knowledge that no stone has been left unturned.

[Ryvenor]

I actually dont miss the exploration as much as i thought i did. Towns and all that served no purpose rather then a filler between story moments, and exploration was something which died long before FFXIII.

IMO FFXIII is to the FF series what Resident Evil 4/5 were to the RE series, nothing like the previous entries in the series but a great game overall.

[Agent 042]

[fatpizza]

[Ryvenor]

[THEMAN]

[Scrav]

It certainly isn't a game that will appeal to everyone. The exploration comments are interesting as in many rpgs, it doesn't even add much anyway. Towns also don't add a lot in many cases and are rarely exploited to their full potential.

My biggest gripe about FFXIII is the whole weapon upgrade system, not a fan of it at all.

[stick_theory]

Question for Pincott, is it frustrating to have to finish the game so expediently and quickly?

When I play these games I like to stretch the experience out for as long as possible, kind of savour it.

BTW 16 hours in and the game is A+, battles are so much fun and strategically trying and the story/direction is fantastically developed and paced =]
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[Marka]

I see a lot of people talking about lack of exploration. JRPG's have never been big on exploration. Most of them are relatively linear with piss poor attempts to disguise it.

[el_rezzo]

I thought I would be disappointed about the lack of towns but the new setup makes me realise how linear X was and I didn't even realise it. Like others when you get your world opened up in Chapter 11 I found it jarring to now have these expanses. In any case the battle system is fantastic, the best part of the game by far. Western RPG's has made it a very cringe worthy playthrough though, and Vanille's voice and characterisation is atrocious.
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[Gamesta]

[Quin]

The linearity doesn't surprise me that much, the Final Fantasy series (With a couple of exceptions) have usually been pretty linear, but this linearity is disguised somewhat by the typical world map interface and the chances for sidetracking.

Looking at FFVII, aside from a some instances, the first half of the game could be seen as railroading, with some optional locations (Fort Condor during Disk One, for example) and chances to explore when a new vehicle is obtained. The world doesn't really open up until the Highwind is obtained during Disk Two, and even then, you don't have access to the full party until after Mideel sinks.

Yes, the player who explores and sidetracks (Even backtracks) is the one who will find the better equipment, but this is not every player's cup of tea. Unfortunatly, everyone has wildly varying expectations on what they want from Square Enix. I personally had a lot of enjoyment from FFXI (For example), and I feel FFXIII is a welcome breath of fresh air after FFXII.
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[stick_theory]

^It's all true. The FFXIII experience is more passive, which is where it really shines. I'm happy to pay $85 for a 60 hour SQUARE ENIX movie. Seriously, if I could afford it, I'd fund SE's production for movies, they're light years ahead of Pixar/Dreamworks/etc.

Edit: Was actually a response to Gamesta, Qin commented while I was typing XD
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[Gamesta]

[crangle]

The game is good just that its not that good for the first 10 to 15 hours (its 60 hours long). i found the story beginning to turn extremely good at about 15 hours later and the battle getting mindblowing at about 10 hours later.