Final Fantasy XIII - A Square Enix Title

Final Fantasy XIII, the latest installment in the long running franchise from Square Enix, was released on both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 amidst enormous expectation. The hope was that Square could pull together the successful elements from their previous releases and finally deliver a game to rival Final Fantasy VII. Question is, was it worth the wait or the hype?

The story centres around 6 characters who, in true Final Fantasy style, are drawn together in spite of their differences to face a common foe. Residing on the moon planet of Cocoon, we're introduced to a hierarchical utopian society ruled by supreme mechanical beings - the fal'Cie. Their rule over the human population, though portrayed as largely benevolent, is absolute. The human subjects live in fear of a sub class between human and gods, the l'Cie, but worse still, being chosen by their rulers to become l'Cie themselves.

Once chosen, l'Cie are allocated a specific task, called a focus, which they must first determine and then carry out within the time limit imposed on them. The rewards or penalties related to these tasks are equally severe. Fail and mutate into a Cie'th - a underworld zombie who can not rest until their focus is complete. Success offers little better, crystallisation with no apparent hope of a return to normal life.

This is where the 6 protagonists come in, Lightning, Sazh, Hope, Snow, Fang & Vanille. Once branded l'Cie, and now enemies of the state, they must determine what they have been tasked to do before carrying out the orders to save themselves from an unthinkable fate. Of course, it's not going to be easy.

Their story is told through the cut scene sequences which knit the game together, giving a very cinematic feel to the early stages of the game in particular. It is in this respect that the game really delivers on what is a key component for the Final Fantasy series. The CGI sequences are probably the most impressive ever seen in a videogame, often quite astounding, with some seamless transitions in and out of gameplay.



The level of visual quality is mirrored in the rest of the game, from the characters themselves, to the lush environments they explore. It's no exaggeration to say there are occasions when you simply stop in awe to admire the world the characters have arrived in. All this is complemented by the detailed and beautifully presented in game menu.

The battle system is another key area to see development. FFXIII combines both the ADB (Active Dimension Battle) from FFXII with the familiar ATB (Active Time Battle) system present in earlier games. Enemies can be seen on the field of play and avoided if need be. When engaged, each character holds between 2-6 ATB slots which contain the user actions - each slot activated once the ATB bar has filled sufficiently to activate it. Once all available slots are active, the character executes each command in order. Commands can be entered manually or selected via the "Auto-Battle" option where the AI selects actions based upon the intel gathered on the enemy being fought.

Another change sees the player only directly controlling a single character at any one time (the party leader). The integration of "Paradigm Shift" partially makes up for this, providing an element of control over the whole party whilst adding another layer of complexity to the battle arena. There are 6 individual battle roles which the characters can assume as they develop through the game. "Commandos" use physical attacks, "Ravagers" combine weaker physical attacks with elemental spells to ramp up the chain gauge. "Saboteurs" weaken the enemy with debilitating spells whilst "Synergists" do the opposite, strengthening the party with support spells. A "Sentinel" can defend the party, absorbing damage whilst the "Medic" heals the team.



6 individual "Paradigms" can be pre-defined to make the most of the characters abilities, providing flexibility to deal with changing situations in battle, also allowing the player to tailor the team to maximise effectiveness against a particular foe. Though this takes some getting used to, tactics can be quickly changed within battle, critical for survival later in the game, and the AI is surprisingly good for the two non controllable characters.

Eidolons (GF's), another mainstay of the series, continue to provide another option on the battlefield complete with a cinematic entrance to proceedings. In "Standard" mode, the Eidolon fights alongside the party leader, healing it's master whilst assisting in dealing damage against the enemy. The player can switch to "Gestalt" mode where Eidolon transforms into something the summoner can ride on, before dealing damage together. The higher the damage inflicted in "Standard" mode, the higher the "Gestalt Gauge", the higher the damage inflicted in "Gestalt" mode.



The outcome is a fast paced, thrilling experience where speed is of the essence and battles do feel as though they are played out in real time. Enemies are to be overpowered, battered to the point where they need to recover from the beating they've received, and if still alive, are more vulnerable to further punishment during this recovery period. The game adds the "Chain Gauge", "Stagger Bar" and "Rating" system with this in mind.

Much has been made of the changes to the battle system, along with the game's linearity. In truth, the change to the battle system is ultimately a comfortable one, particularly for anyone playing Final Fantasy for the first time. I can't help but wonder though how the game might have played if the option had been there to control all three characters. Too frantic? Possibly. However, as someone familiar with the series, and reasonably skilled, I'd like to at least been given the opportunity to try.

Like the battle system, the linearity of the game has been much discussed and is unfortunately where FFXIII starts to run into problems. I use the word "run" intentionally, it's not inaccurate to summarise the experience of the game as "Run, Fight, Run, Fight, Cutscene, Fight, Run, Fight, Run, Cutscene". This linearity pervades almost all aspects of the game, from the pace in which you're given licence to fully control each character, to the preset path for character development via the "Crystarium". Even when the game "opens up" around the 20 hour mark, it does so in such a limited fashion that it never truly opens up at all. The only sidequest of note involves more of the same, running across the plains, hunting some monster or other before dispatching it and moving onto the next. This taste of "relative" freedom only serves to underline what was wrong in what went before.



Sadly, the overwhelming feeling is that as good as the story is, or as thrilling as the battles are, the combination is simply not strong enough to carry the burden of the rest of the game. If you can understand some of the clunky dialogue, the relentless pace means you never really get to know the characters, let alone care what happens to them. The lack of context certainly doesn't help. You understand there is a transparently evil theocracy in place but are never given an opportunity to understand what life is like for the average citizen. Why do they feel as they do? Similarly, the main characters are presented with the bare minimum of back story and everything that follows can only be understood based on series of assumptions as to who they are.



The response from the developers to western reviews has been interesting. Motomu Toriyama, the game director, has suggested reviewers have approached the game with a western point of view, perhaps suggesting western audiences don't fully understand or appreciate the first part of the game in particular. Yoshinore Kitase indicated without the linearity, it proves difficult to tell a compelling story and have the audience engage with the characters before they are finally let loose. Though it's difficult to judge from comments taken out of context, both responses seem a little defensive and neither suggestion seems particularly accurate to me. Why produce a game for an international market that there is a chance people won't understand? Furthermore, the characters or players are never really "let loose" and frankly there have been far more engaging storylines in previous Final Fantasy releases.

Ultimately, FFXIII feels like a failed experiment. Many of the traditional elements of the series stripped away in the pursuit of a more dynamic style that might prove attractive to a market where FPS games are hugely popular. Yet to my mind, the final product is a horrible hybrid, neither one thing or another - it's lost the very best of either genre, succeeding only as a demonstration on what the 360 or PS3 technology is capable of.

I purposely took my time in writing this review to ensure I was able to fully play FFXIII through to the end, accumulating the whole 1000G in the process. It's completely underwhelming and after 150 hours, this is by far the most damning indictment. The sense of achievement was as key a component to the Final Fantasy series as the storylines, battle systems or character development. I happily admit to being a Final Fantasy fan and therefore may expect more than a first time player. The problem is I didn't have high expectations before release, and though I enjoyed the game on the whole, I didn't expect the game to fail to meet my original estimate. I don't need Chocobos to be fulfilled by the game, particularly if their role is relatively pointless, but I do need the fundamentals that make Final Fantasy the game it has been.



The slightly open ended finale provides an opportunity to continue the story in some form or other. Ignoring the cheek in being asked to pay again, some DLC (with towns/NPC's etc) could really offer something to reward the gamer here. It doesn't seem as though it will be forthcoming though.

Please don't get me wrong, it's good that Square are trying to be innovative, trying to keep the series fresh. It's also certainly easier to criticise than pick out the successes here. However, as it stands, fans of the series have to hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

FFXIII is a very good game, and worth a play for the CGI sequences alone, but equally it will almost certainly prove a disappointment for some.

In the words of Roy Walker - "It's good, but it's not right".

Now thats a great review

(and its saved me 35 quid)

top stuff fella

Great review, really interesting and I'm not even that fussed about Final Fantasy.