Final Fantasy the king of the JRPG scene revolutionizes the genre with each installment. The series always strives to offer graphics, music, gameplay and presentation at a higher standard and succeeds to give an unforgettable experience every time. Final Fantasy XIII is the first of the series to come out on the current gen consoles and just as expected it is a fantastic game but not without its flaws.
XIII takes place in the protected society of Cocoon which lies above the world of Pulse. Cocoon is the highly civilized world while Pulse is filled with the so called “Savages” and dangerous monsters. The citizens of Cocoon are always under threat from an invasion from Pulse so they rely entirely on the Fal’Cie, god like creatures that provide cocoon with food, weather and even light. Cocoon’s Fal’Cie are considered as protectors while Pulse’s Fal’Cie the enemy. In Final Fantasy XIII players take the role of 6 Cocoon residents who in unexpected events are turned into Pulse l’Cie enemy of Cocoon. Now our Heroes, servants of the Pulse Fal’Cie must fulfill the tasks or suffer a fate far worse that death.
The first half of the game is pretty dull and confusing. A lot of the story is thrown at you without any context or explanation. Also in the first few hours you get a stripped down battle system with easy encounters. The player doesn’t even need to concentrate, just press the Auto-Battle button a couple of times and you’re done. Apart from that the game stays so frigging linear in the first 3 hours that it gets almost boring.
Later when the Paradigm and Crystarium systems become available the game really gets started. Characters win Crystarium Points in battles and then use it for stat boosts, skills, magic etc. Learning new skills opens paths to stronger ones for instance learning Thunder opens paths to learn Thundara.The available commands/moves in battles vary from character to character, but old favorites like Attack, Summon, Defend and series staples like Fire, Lighting, Blizzard are available. Magic cannot be used outside of battle so HP is fully restored after every battle, also players cannot escape from battles although there are items that help avoiding battles. If a player loses the battle they have either the option to try again or return to the last save point.
A new element in the game never implemented in the previous Final Fantasy games is the Padagrim shift system. They are basically classes or stances the characters temporarily take on during battles. They are a bit different from the job system as the in the Padagrim shift system attacking classes can only attack while healers can only heal. There are a total of 6 classes first limited to some characters but later available to all of them. The commando is the main attacker of the party, they deal high non elemental damage, the Ravagers are the Black Mages, they deal elemental damage and chaining combos is easier with them. The other four are Sentinels, they protect other party members and take less damage, Medic the healers, Synergists buff up the party while the Saboteurs inflict status aliments.
Summons my personal favorite element of the final fantasy series make a return as Eidolons, which can only be used by the L’Cie. All the summons have been given a futuristic overhaul and the power to change shapes (called Gestalt mode). Summons use Summon Points instead of Health points to indicate their health, after the Summons points are reduced to zero the Eidolons would disappear.
Moving along to the graphics sections now. The PS3 version runs at native 720p at around 25-30fps while the Xbox360 version runs at 576p at constant 30fps. The differences are very minimal otherwise, I just felt that the Xbox360 controller was more comfortable to use for the game and the Xbox360 version was available bit earlier so I got that. The lighting effects and shadows are brilliant on both versions. Graphically the game is a visual masterpiece just as expected from the franchise. A lot of effort has also been put in the character models as each and everyone of them look unique and extraordinary.
I really liked the music score, one of the best sound tracks of the year. The music blends perfectly with the mood of the story. I really loved Snow’s theme which features a beautiful upbeat melody.
Final Fantasy XIII is a game which some people will like while others will hate. The developers have tried something fresh leaving behind all the other JRPG copycats. In my opinion the game’s craftsmanship cannot be denied, so get the game I’m sure you will enjoy it.
Score: 8.5/10
