300°

13 years later, Final Fantasy 13 still tells one of the series’ most ambitious stories

Final Fantasy 13 launched worldwide 13 years ago, and, since then, it’s developed a bit of a dodgy reputation. Environments that amounted to little more than bland hallways, a convoluted plot with a penchant for proper nouns, yet more changes to the battle system, and a dudebro hero whose heart of gold can’t mask his innate annoyingness came to define this awkward entry in the storied series. However valid some of these criticisms might be, they overshadow one of the more complex and important stories in the series, and perhaps even the genre as a whole.

-Foxtrot412d ago

More like boring, uninteresting or drawn out

Godmars290411d ago (Edited 411d ago )

One game so boring, they made two more trying to flesh it out.

It did not work...

Elda411d ago

I loved FFXIII but I agree it didn't need a part 2 or 3, I thought those 2 games were boring.

FinalFantasyFanatic411d ago

I don't think they actually tried to flesh it out, I think it was more a cost cutting/saving measure on their part. In interviews, the developers stated they had enough leftover assets to make another game or two. All those unused assets and we still didn't end up with any towns, and we had a barren world outside of Cocoon.

And SE did seem to avoid making a new numbered entry in the franchise at the time too (I believe they didn't know where to take the franchise from this point onwards).

lucian229411d ago

Two probably had the best story honestly. Best ending too

gold_drake411d ago

totally agree.
its rly good

FinalFantasyFanatic411d ago (Edited 411d ago )

That, and I'm not reading through all the primers, that stuff should have been in the game as gameplay or as a cut-scenes or something, that and being one of the first FF games to drop so many series staples like towns, mini-games and such... I like the setting, and the story has potential (most of the characters are good, but don't really shine, except for Snow, stuff Snow, too much of a cardboard cut out), but it's such a slog to get through.

Nerdmaster410d ago (Edited 410d ago )

"That, and I'm not reading through all the primers, that stuff should have been in the game as gameplay or as a cut-scenes or something"
To be fair, last year's game of the year was an RPG with no story or lore told through gameplay and cut-scenes, and everything was hidden in item descriptions in menus. And I see so many people defending it like it's the best storytelling method ever. So maybe the game would be more well-received nowadays. (not by me, though, who thinks the old "show, don't tell" golden rule is still the best)

phoenixwing412d ago

The corridors killed it. Honestly they weren't sure how to do hd games and ff 13 was the result.

gold_drake411d ago

no, the narrative and the characters killed it. 10 also has corridors and its great.

masterfox411d ago

nah, too ***** for my taste, no one will know :D

SegaSaturn669411d ago

I didn't hate the story. It was forgettable. But I remember just mashing x button to end the combat in just about every situation.

MrNinosan411d ago

That is every Final Fantasy before it as well thou, or better, holding down the X button.

Nebaku411d ago

Yeah okay, try doing in this in 12 that came right before it, and get back to me on how that works for you.

Adrian_v01411d ago

@nebaku

12 literally you don't have to push any button, you just set up 2-3 gambits and walk around to kill 90% of the enemies

lucian229411d ago

@nebaku

12 was the worst game in the franchise lmao. No one was unique. They were the same character with alt skins. You set up a gambit, walked away as the game played for you..... It's worst than mashing X.

But yeah the entire turn based Era of final fantasy was essentially mash x till they die, unless it was like the secret bosses or something.

Take two steps, random battle, Mash or cast ultima, dead. Next three steps, random battle, do it again. Horrible lol.

thesoftware730411d ago

lies!! lol

I can tell you have not played any FF for more than 30min by that comment lol.

MrNinosan411d ago

@Nebaku
In FFXII I don't need to press any buttons.

MrNinosan411d ago

@thesoftware730
I have Platinum in every single game FF-game that has Trophy-support, and been playing Final Fantasy since late 80s.

shinoff2183410d ago

Lucian

Say what you will but there hasn't been a better ff since 9 and it was turn based. Ff10 was good but not up there with 6 through 9

Magatsuhi410d ago (Edited 410d ago )

Completely incorrect... In ff7 I would press down, up, left, right. That is already 4 more extra buttons than I would press in 13. I would also press circle to return and square(or select?) to see information of something as well as L1+R1 to escape. You've clearly haven't played any FF game besides 13 if you think other turn based games were the same.

lucian229409d ago

@shin

Ff9 sucked. Sorry lol. I preferred 7 and 8. 10 was meh, hated tidus, 10-2, was more enjoyable. 12 had an awful story and characters as well as offline mmo combat. I played all the 13 games and liked the second the best.

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 409d ago
jambola411d ago

Funny thing is, I've seen people criticize modern gf games for being like that
While they read a YouTube chat and play older ff games barely looking at the game

thesoftware730411d ago

No way you could have beaten the game that way, once you got a bit into Grand-pulse the enemies would beat your ass if you did that, also did you do any of the hunts? super challenging, what about the Cactar, did you fight it?

FinalFantasyFanatic411d ago

I honestly remember doing a bit more than that, it actually was challenging in some sections, not that I was keen on it, especially the stagger system.

DOMination-410d ago

As others have said, you either didn't play it or you have a bad memory.

The game limited your ability to level up with each chapter, so you had to rely on the paradigm system from quite early on to get through battles as becoming OP just wasn't really an option (or at least wasn't until near the end).

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 409d ago
Godmars290411d ago (Edited 411d ago )

Blame "Chasing the (Graphics) Dragon" that was all the rage during the 360/PS3 era.

Can only wonder what the game would have been like as an isometric. That if by going smaller they could have gone larger.

FinalFantasyFanatic411d ago

As you say 13 could have benefited from "going smaller to go larger", then again, SE probably wanted to maintain the franchise's crown of having good graphics for each release.

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70°

The 7 Best Final Fantasy Characters: Unveiling the Legends

While FFVII ranks highly, there's more to the series than one game. Here's Chit Hot's picks for the seven best Final Fantasy characters.

220°

The older it gets, the more I respect Final Fantasy XIII

Alex Donaldson: "Hindsight is a hell of a thing, however, and in the years since Final Fantasy XIII, my respect for the decisions its developers made has skyrocketed. In the two Final Fantasy titles since we see both the brilliance and the folly in alternative approaches - and in Final Fantasy VII Remake, we get a more nuanced understanding of what FF13 was trying to accomplish from many of the same development leads."

Einhander1972127d ago

FFXIII is actually one of the best Final Fantasy games.

I also sort of was disappointed at the time, never as much as the bandwagon. But really all the fantastic 3D rendered cutscenes and I actually liked the characters and the story though convoluted was actually fantastic and the ending was extremely emotional. So much budget and time were put into that game Square had such big plans, I actually have always felt kind of bad for how things played out.

I have been thinking for years how great it would be to get all three games on one disk for PS4 or 5.

Nyxus127d ago

I always liked this game, and I agree, a rerelease for current gen would be nice.

Shane Kim125d ago (Edited 125d ago )

Gotta take off the nostalgia glasses. It's the worst FF. Shiva as a bike, I mean come on.

Elda125d ago

Shiva as a bike is strange but saying FFXIII is the worst FF is not at all a fact, that's simply your opinion.

Terry_B125d ago

*One of the 3 equally bad FF's

DivineHand125125d ago (Edited 125d ago )

When I got my series X a year ago, I bought FF13 for nostalgia reasons but ended up being disappointed. When I first played it around the time it launched, I didn't have a lot of experience with final fantasy games, so I enjoyed it. Fast forward to when I played it again, I found that the game had many unnecessary filler moments instead of just giving us meaningful content.

The game is also very linear and a quote on the article said it best. "It is like a sewage pipe that leads to the ocean until it opens up on Grand Pulse."

The story didn't make much sense either and I believe it is my mistake as I played the FF7 remake on PS5 prior which is a night and day difference in terms of pacing, storytelling and likeable characters even though cloud is aloof.

FinalFantasyFanatic125d ago (Edited 125d ago )

Probably was a mistake to play any of the golden era FFs first (e.g. FF6 through FF10), it makes it harder to enjoy some of the FFs that aren't as good. I think FF12 was where major issues with the series started becoming apparent, and it just got worse from there.

FinalFantasyFanatic125d ago (Edited 125d ago )

I didn't really care for it that much, the only saving grace was that it had a better story than 15 (overall it was better than 15) and possibly 12, and even then, you had to read some of it through primers, like reading a book. Plus the battle system was reasonably fun for what it was, even if it was more the spectacle that was exciting for me (e.g. summoning). And to be fair, the 13 trilogy got better with every games, I still don't like Snow though.

Gamingsince1981125d ago

Ff13 is only good if you haven't played a ff before, or any other games that are decent for that matter.

-Foxtrot125d ago

It is in fact no way the best Final Fantasy game, it's one of the worst

Linear corridors, Cutscene, Fight, Cutscene...rinse and repeat

Dialogue and characters are pretty bad, especially Lightning as the main FF hero, they literally said they tried to make a "Female Cloud" and they failed.

Story was pretty awful

I could go on

I think the only alright thing that came from the game was the music.

Elda124d ago

That's not a fact that's your personal opinion. The game sold 11 million copies between its 2009 release up until 2014 including critically reviewed as an 8 out of 10 or an 80 out of 100. The game does have some issues but it's not at all a fact as one of the worst FF games.

-Foxtrot124d ago

Elda

Not just mine mate

A large majority

So….

Traecy124d ago

N4G commenters such as yourself aren't the majority. The game was well received.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 124d ago
+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 124d ago
gold_drake127d ago (Edited 127d ago )

i liked the game alot but i didnt like how they handled the terminology.

i dont mind reading data logs but it had soo many.

but i always loved the music and how it looked. the battle system wasnt too bad either.

but i like 13-2 more :)

i still dont understand why we never got a remaster of the trilogy

Eonjay125d ago

Xbox kinda did. Besides the video files of course which are still best on PS3 due to bluray.

Snookies12127d ago

XIII is a pretty solid game, but XIII-2 is WAY better. XIII-2 was one of the few games I decided to go for a Platinum trophy in, early on. Had so much fun the entire way through getting it too!

Eonjay125d ago

Totally agree. FF 13 was okay but 13-2 is my favorite FF game ever.

shinoff2183127d ago (Edited 127d ago )

I hated this to when it released. I haven't much liked a ff game since ff10 as much , aside from ff7remake. I decided to give it another shot on my series x since it's not on a current ps and was liking it quite a bit(just takes me some time to get over things ) until star ocean 2 remake came out I was all over that.

Square should definitely remaster it or something for ps4 ps5

KillerB125d ago

my favorite jrpg trilogy ever

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70°

Interview: Making music with Masashi Hamauzu

Square Enix Blog: "How do you compose iconic songs that help define a legacy? We speak to legendary composer Masashi Hamauzu about his work on Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XIII, and Final Fantasy VII Remake, and how to make unforgettable music."

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