Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII
PS3 – Xbox 360
Square Enix

For years the Final Fantasy series has outsold every other Japanese Role Playing game globally and for a good reason. Intricate battle systems, fantastical characters, beautiful worlds and epic storylines has kept the FF series top of the pack. FFXIII has gone down a more direct route this time around, but fans of the series and newcomers alike should embrace this new look FF.

In FFXIII players take control of six different characters, all bright eyed and bushy tailed. You will only control one character at a time and in the early chapters these characters are all separated. I don’t want to spoil the story, but the basic premise is that the world is created and watched over by God-like beings called the Fal-Cie, the world is separated in two, Grand Pulse and Cocoon,(the latter is a world created above Pulse and where you will begin your journey). Both worlds are at war with each other and each have their own Fal-cie, from the off your characters become fugitives and on the run from the armed forces of Cocoon. The extremely linear start to the game has come under fire from FF fans, But the way the story is told actually suits the linear nature of the game, in fact when the game does open up in chapter 11 everything seems to slow down and you find yourself yearning for the game to return to its fast paced linear style. One personal irritation of mine is that the game teaches you levelling up, upgrading, changing battle formations etc. in painfully slow baby steps as you progress through each chapter. However those new to RPG games will find this comforting not having a mountain of techniques and information to digest in one go.

Battles are all performed in real-time and can become very deep and involving as the game progresses. Levelling up is slightly different to other RPGs with a system call Crystarium, you obtain CP after each battle and you use these points to upgrade your character, there are six types of character Commando, Ravager, Sabateur, Synergist, Sentinel and medic. At the beginning each character has three of these options to upgrade but as you progress through the game you can level characters up in any skill set you like. Outside of battle you can set up various Paradigms, this is a fancy way of saying you can pick different combinations between your skill sets. During battle you can then flick between Paradigms, this is an invaluable option to have during battle, for example you may go into battle with all characters attacking, you then get a pounding and you will then need to switch to heal your characters. This keeps battles fresh and there are numerous different systems you will use depending on the situation.



The graphics are sublime, every character model looks great and feels a part of the world. Then there’s the environments, every location feels authentic, from the mechanical corridors of Cocoon down to the lush green fields of Pulse. The acting is fantastic even if it is your typical character set, one chirpy hero, one moody hero, one chirpy kid, one moody kid, one comedy character and top it off with an I don’t give a shit rogue. Although the characters are what you would expect, the way each of their stories are told is unique. You actually end up caring about what happens to them as each individual story unfolds. The music is another triumph although they have used Leona Lewis’s warbeling to promote the game.

After having giving such a glowing write up of FFXIII I still don’t think this will go down as one of the classic FF games. Although I didn’t mind the linearity of the first 10 chapters as much as most fans, you are basically walking down corridors, initiating a battle, walk a bit further get a cutscene and repeat. This may be useful to beginners, but when the game does open up in chapter 11,(out of 13), there is then a huge difficulty spike that will then be alien to beginners. If you have the choice you should also pick up the PS3 version over the 360 version, although both are the same fantastic game, the PS3 version runs with a slightly higher resolution and comes on one disc, whereas the 360’s version is on three discs. Overall this is an epic game and you could easily spend +100hrs to play through, the production values are some of the highest you will ever see in a game. All though this may not be a classic, this is still a great game.

9/10