It’s important to note that I’ve played every one of the principal “numbered” Final Fantasy games from I to the XIII edition (as some of the spin-off games, like Final Fantasy Tactics). I’m a committed Japanese Role Playing Game (J-RPG’s) enthusiast and always have been. Also, I play western RPGs (W-RPGs) like Oblivion, Fallout 3, Dragon Age, to name several of the latest ones. I’m a huge RPG fan when it comes to it. I say this because when I review Final Fantasy 13, many reviewers be aware of the type of RPG the reviewer prefers to play.
The game I was playing FF13 from beginning to end, and I believe it is the most ‘numbered’ Final Fantasy to exist. It is an actual fact that it took four years to make and that most of that time was spent creating the game’s engine. However, that’s no excuse for poor gameplay, the poor storyline as well as some of the most irritating voices I’ve ever seen.
Game Play
The soul and heart that all video games lie in their gameplay. The game FF13 has no soul or heart. The debut of a quality video game will immediately draw the attention of the player as well as make them feel that they’re not able to shut the game down. I had high expectations when I first played this game, but what I got shown to me was just a single button-mashing experience which will never cause me to want to play up the game once more. The first two minutes that play FF13 is a sloppy mixture of gorgeous images and cut scenes that are mingled with mind-numbingly boring stories and battle scenes. The gameplay doesn’t change much as you progress through the game, which is a shame. In numerous reviews, the whole game is a massive instruction from chapters 1 to 10, with a total of thirteen chapters. You’ll spend the majority of the game “unlocking” the main features but not in a way that makes you feel like you’ve achieved something. However, I really enjoyed the way the game requires you to switch between characters. It kept things interesting.
The most enlightening comment I’ve heard from Ben “Yahtzee’ Croshaw (video gaming reviewer for Zero Punctuation, a delightful game) who stated that FF13 was akin to “corridor simulator 2000”. I don’t like the fact that you’re presented with an outline of the map (something that’s been happening in FF10), and you can know where you’re supposed to be on every screen. If the map is not visible, you’re going straight through (like the corridor) most of the time, even while you may take a second route to find the treasure. In the event that you owned an automatic controller that you could set to hit “x” and move forward, I’m sure you’ll get all the way to the end.
RPG game gameplay is all about fighting. FF13 has something different in combat as compared to the previous games. It’s faster, active, and fast-paced. It is a lot of fast thinking and rapid menu choices. It’s a new way to approach the standard J-RPG fight that is based on menu choices. I’m not going to go into all the particular components in this article; however, once you figure out how to set up your characters in the correct way using “Paradigms,” you can cruise through the game without much difficulty. It then becomes repetitive. If you even get killed, which is likely to happen often, you have the option of trying again in every single fight. The body is also restored after every combat. There’s so little consequence in failing to try for a victory that you don’t bother. I enjoy the fast-paced and action-oriented game; however, there isn’t any deepness to it. The most annoying aspect I dislike about combat is the automatic control of the two other group members. The AI performs really well, but you control only one character at any one moment throughout the game.
I am able to say with certainty that the gameplay is so awful that I’ll never play this. It is a first for Final Fantasy and I.
Story
Final Fantasy used to be about amazing stories. Characters with fascinating backgrounds which you are able to follow the story. It’s all about the story of the characters and the journey they take. It is important to be compelled to learn more about their stories. I didn’t feel any of these in this game. I did not like the icy cold protagonist; the absurd hard-core guy that constantly talks about being a “hero”; the crybaby fragile and insecure character who you’d like to hit every when he speaks or laughs; the comic relief that isn’t funny and that New Zealand women warrior with incredibly long legs, and, perhaps most notably the loud, orgasmic little girl who forced me to lower the volume on my TV since I was ashamed if someone could hear her voice. It was not enough to force you to be awed by the characters in question, and it’s evident that they were trying to force the story into your mouths with cut-scene after cut-scene. In the end, all day, it was a very dull sequence of events, and I was not a fan of the characters in it.
Graphics
The only thing that FF13 offers is that it comes with the most stunning images and cut scenes that be seen on a console. Familiar scenes in which you control your character appear like the look of a CGI film that you see in other games. This is an area in which Square Enix never fails.
Music/Audio
Oh my God, What have they done to Nobuo Uematsu? Where are the theme of battle, the theme of victory, and the principal Final Fantasy theme gone? What’s happening? You must get off my lawn, your filthy children!
There is not a single track within the video game that stands out. It’s a clear indication of how dull the soundtrack can be for the game. There are many odd moments in which the music doesn’t match the events in the game. An emotional moment is usually paired with a bouncy tune. Oh, well. I’m not a musician, but that just doesn’t sound right, is it?
Summary
RPGs are about creating a compelling story that draws players in by engaging exploration and exciting battles, which make you feel as if you’ve achieved something. Final Fantasy 13 is the first game in the series that is not successful in all ways. Good graphics do make a good game.
The worst part is that it’s not enjoyable.
