Final Fantasy XIII

[Clickme]

[from wikipedia]

Reception
[hide] Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
GameRankings 85.19% (PS3)[88]
81.68% (360)[89]
Metacritic 83/100 (PS3)[9]
82/100 (360)[10]
Review scores
Publication Score
1UP.com A-[90]
Edge 5/10[91]
Eurogamer 8/10[92]
Famitsu 39/40[93]
Game Informer 9.25/10[9]
GameSpot 8.5/10[94]
GameSpy 4.5/5[95]
GamesRadar 10/10[96]
GameTrailers 8.6/10[97]
GameZone 8.5/10[98]
IGN 8.9/10[99]
Official PlayStation Magazine (UK) 9/10[100]
Play Magazine 7.9/10[101]
PSM3 70%[102]
VideoGamer.com 7/10[103]
X-Play 4/5[104]
Dengeki 120/100[105]
IGN UK 8.3/10[106]

Final Fantasy XIII sold in excess of one million units on its first day of sale in Japan,[107] and had sold 1,698,256 copies in Japan at the end of 2009.[108] Square Enix had anticipated high sales for the game and shipped close to two million units for its launch.[109] The game has sold more than 1 million copies in North America and became the fastest selling title in the UK of 2010. In March 2010, Square Enix stated that Final Fantasy XIII became the fastest selling title in the franchise's history.[110] Famitsu rated the game at 39/40, with three reviewers giving the maximum 10/10 and one reviewer giving 9/10.[93] Worldwide the game has shipped 5 million copies.[111] Dengeki praised especially the battle system, stating that the battles are by far the most exciting in the series, and concluded Final Fantasy XIII deserved a score of 120, and that 100 would not be enough.[105] The game was voted as the second best game of 2009 in Dengeki online's reader poll,[112] and in January 2010, was voted the best game ever in Famitsu's reader poll.[113]

The game's Metacritic aggregates score stands at 83 for the PlayStation 3 and 82 for the Xbox 360, signifying "generally favorable" reviews.[9][10] Universal praise was given to the technical milestone for the series achieved by the game's graphics and presentation. Electronic Theatre remarked that "there are very few moments when the visual and aural superiority fails to astound",[114] and Edge Magazine felt that Cocoon in particular was an "inspired setting [...] blessed with a vibrancy and vivid colour that often leaves you open-mouthed".[91] Art design also added to the positive reception of the graphics, being described as "magnificent".[94] Further praise was given to the CGI cutscenes,[103][115][116] and the almost seamless transition of visual quality between these and the realtime gameplay.[103] Many also appreciated the game's soundtrack,[94][116] with Masashi Hamauzu providing "a score with catchy hooks and blood-pumping battle melodies"[115], though some felt the replacement of one of the game's theme songs with one from Leona Lewis was unfortunate.[116]

The game's new battle system received widespread praise. The increased pace of battles was appreciated, several reviews describing it as "thrilling";[92][116] Edge Magazine's description of the battle system summarised it as "among the genre's finest".[91] The roles provided by the Paradigm Shift feature also added depth to the battle system and contributed to the fast pace,[92] and having the AI automate the other two party members' actions meant battles in the game "may be the most involving the series has ever seen".[90] The story, characters and voice acting were mostly received well. Wired remarked that the story was "a little more human and less esoteric than in previous games".[115] 1UP felt that the story was "hardly world-class writing", but that the writers clearly knew the medium well and had attempted to avoid clich?s.[90] Reviewers felt that the characters worked well together,[94][90] and that the interactions among them as the game progressed made up for shortcomings in the story.[92] Many praised the main character, Lightning, described by GameSpot as "a likeable, strong-willed beauty",[94] while minor criticism was reserved by some reviews for certain characters in particular, with several commenting on Snow's personality.[90]

While critics generally praised Square Enix's attempt to revitalise the Final Fantasy series formula, many reacted negatively to the linear nature of the game, compounded by the removal of towns and non-player characters.[117] Some reviewers criticised the first eleven chapters in Cocoon lasting around fifteen to twenty-five hours.[118][90] Play Magazine remarked that the environment, "while greatly detailed, feels flat and lifeless [...] little more than wallpaper thrown over a tunnel that players walk through."[101] GamePro described gameplay as "a long hallway toward an orange target symbol on your mini-map that triggers a cutscene, a boss fight, or both."[117] 1UP criticised the linear aspect as the game's "biggest shortcoming", rendering the first section "superficial."[90] EuroGamer felt the lack of any distraction or exploration makes the game "the RPG equivalent of a corridor shooter" but also remarked, among other reviewers, that every entry in the Final Fantasy series is linear to an extent, and suggested the series' games only offer the "illusion of choice and exploration."[92] Eurogamer indicated the removal of this illusion means the game "[loses] a measure of excitement and romance."[92] Nevertheless, reviewers at Edge Magazine and elsewhere, who awarded the game lower scores as a result of these aspects, also remarked positively that, after the lengthy opening chapters, the game "hits a sweet spot," and, in addition to the singular narrative, the game offers "hunting side-quests and the simple joy of exploring to see what visual marvel is around the next corner."[91]

By contrast, reviews such as those by GamesRadar and CVG greatly appreciated its linear nature, the former stating that "the streamlined, focused structure eliminates potential tedium without dumbing anything down",[96] while the latter felt it "a clever move",[116] the player not being "[bogged] down with mundane number crunching, finicky and repetitive levelling-up" and game-controlled party members keeping the game "fresh".[116] Many also noted the gradual unfurling of the player's abilities over this first part of the game, from battle gameplay to selecting the party leader;[92][90] combined with its linear nature, some reviews went as far as to describe these chapters as "boring" until the world of Gran Pulse was revealed.[91][115][118] Reviewers such as VideoGamer felt that this was due to the production team's stated influence by Western games, such as the FPS genre,[103] while others felt this was an attempt to appeal to a wider audience than the traditional RPG.[117]

[JBird]

You could have just posted the link to the Wiki page. Would have been a lot easier.

[Jaran]

Originally Posted by JBird

(The following rage is based solely on my second play-through, which was the result of making a few bad leveling decisions the first time. During my second play, I've hit a brick wall, called Odin. This is caused by even more bad leveling decisions.)

F*ck Final Fantasy XIII. It's story is flippin' stupid, being based around a ridiculous xenophobia plot; the linear progression of leveling characters is asinine, and the Paradigm system and arbitrary rules required for defeating certain boss encounters is just unnecessary strategic padding. The majority of the characters are either uninteresting or straight up pointless and are just there because the plot says so.

One sad thing to take away from this is Square-Enix most likely made a boatload of cash, based solely on the franchise name alone. When's Final Fantasy IX going to be coming out, so I can actually enjoy Final Fantasy game.

I happen to like the game, so you're about to get slightly nit-picked.

If you don't like the story, that's fine, I can't fault you on an opinion.

As for the linear leveling progression: How is it any different than leveling up and getting new abilities every few levels? It's just the same system with different numbers, and you get to pick what you want first, I don't really see a problem here.

I will agree that the Eidolon fights are extremely frustrating, Odin isn't even close to the hardest. Vanille's is almost impossible. I enjoy the paradigm system, but I would also agree that besides paradigm switches, you can auto-battle your way through things. I haven't tried it on slow battle, but on normal, there's no time to make any meaningful decisions, the ATB fills way too quickly. Just auto-battle and go for it.

I also hate the healing AI's. They won't cast raise until everyone is in the green, even if the downed person is a healer who could fix us up instantly.

On pointless characters: I would agree to a point. The other members of NORA didn't get nearly enough involvement. I really wish they HAD involved more characters though, because it's so LONELY late game. No shop-keepers, no towns, just you, monsters, and save points.

Now that I'm most of the way through my rant, I realize I've said more bad than good. >_>

Well, most of your gripes are legit. I still like the game anyway though.

Also, difficult =/= bad.

[sodacat]

Fastest selling doesn't mean best selling, it just means that the game had a lot of hype, and FFXIII had a LOT of hype. It was originally announced around the same time as the system itself, so it's been on the minds of fans of the franchise for years. Plus the game is really god damned pretty, so that works to its advantage in screenshots and trailers. When it comes down to the actual brass tacks of playing the game, however, something most people only get the opportunity to experience after having bought it, a lot of people are going to find that they just are not as enamored with the concept as they thought they would be.

How is it any different than leveling up and getting new abilities every few levels? It's just the same system with different numbers, and you get to pick what you want first, I don't really see a problem here.

Maybe because the last FF game with a linear leveling system was FFIV?

[Jaran]

Originally Posted by sodacat

Fastest selling doesn't mean best selling, it just means that the game had a lot of hype, and FFXIII had a LOT of hype. It was originally announced around the same time as the system itself, so it's been on the minds of fans of the franchise for years. Plus the game is really god damned pretty, so that works to its advantage in screenshots and trailers. When it comes down to the actual brass tacks of playing the game, however, something most people only get the opportunity to experience after having bought it, a lot of people are going to find that they just are not as enamored with the concept as they thought they would be.



Maybe because the last FF game with a linear leveling system was FFIV?

I'll claim ignorance on this one, since I haven't played the earlier games. >_< No excuse, but the system doesn't really bother me.

[JBird]

Originally Posted by Jaran

As for the linear leveling progression: How is it any different than leveling up and getting new abilities every few levels? It's just the same system with different numbers, and you get to pick what you want first, I don't really see a problem here.

How can I pick what I want if I'm forced to go through a long, expensive path? I spend more time trying to grind points, just to dump them all into one class type just for the sake of being effective. In previous games (pre-FF7), you'd gain experience points that automatically level your characters and then you automatically game abilities along the way. I know how similar it is to what is in FF13, but it's presented in a completely unnecessary mechanic.

Originally Posted by Jaran

I will agree that the Eidolon fights are extremely frustrating, Odin isn't even close to the hardest. Vanille's is almost impossible. I enjoy the paradigm system, but I would also agree that besides paradigm switches, you can auto-battle your way through things. I haven't tried it on slow battle, but on normal, there's no time to make any meaningful decisions, the ATB fills way too quickly. Just auto-battle and go for it.

Auto-battle is not the issue here. I never go out and pick individual abilities, because of how much the auto-battle holds your hand to the point that it hinders the game. Neither is changing the battle speed, which I left on normal throughout my time playing the game.

What is the issue is that (for the Odin battle) while Lightning is trying to frantically heal Hope, and in turn he can buff up the party, Odin's attacks constantly interrupt any action both characters make. And because of this, I end up using a ton of Phoenix Downs on Hope so he can finish his job before switching Paradigms. And during all this, precious time is wasted while Doom ticks away happily.

Now, as to following the arbitrary, fight-lengthening rules for most encounters, I do that. But they. Take. Forever. Especially Eidolons. I swear, no matter what I do, that gestalt bar fills up one pixel at a time.

[JBird]

/sigh

So, I finally managed to get past Odin. All with the help of a Fortisol, so I didn't have to waste time with Hope buffing the party. And now, I've pretty much maxed out nearly everyone's classes with the kiloton of CP I've gathered from grinding. And things have been running a bit smoother from there.

And while I'm in a much calmer mood, I would like to add that while I said some characters were annoying, the only one I find is a guilty pleasure is Vanille (and not in the perverted sense). I enjoy her quirky behavior. She reminds me of Maxine Hunkel.

[Jaran]

Vanille is the only character I DON'T like. She's downright annoying, and way too damn distracting to have in a battle. She sounds like she's pleasuring herself whenever she casts. >_>

[Clickme]

Yeah, same here on Vanille. But I think she IS pretty epic. After all, her Eidolon is a thousand armed Vibrator of Doom!

[JBird]

Originally Posted by Clickme

Yeah, same here on Vanille. But I think she IS pretty epic. After all, her Eidolon is a thousand armed Vibrator of Doom!

[arctic eagle]

... thank you for that charming image