40°

Joystiq: Final Fantasy XIII review

Griffin McElroy from Joystiq writes:

"If you've got the endurance required to suffer the game's radically unbalanced pacing, there are 30 or so truly wonderful hours of game to be played. It's unfortunate that the Final Fantasy XIII's plodding introduction requires so much from the player -- 15 hours and 30 minutes is, after all, enough time to play most other games to completion.

Still, after viewing XIII's satisfying, Leona Lewis-infused conclusion, I'm of the firm position that the end easily justifies the means."

Shadow Flare5164d ago

Again, where's the seperate ps3/360 reviews? They do it for every other multi platform game, why not this one?

ClownBelt5164d ago

Cause the PS3 is the better one.

Go check Metacritic. You'll be surprise to see that the 360 side got 87 while the PS3 got 81 score. lol

Hell, Meta didn't even include Edge on the 360 side. Hilarious.

Agent Smith5164d ago

Yeah, right now, the PS3 version has 21 reviews while the 360 version only has 8.

Shadow Flare5164d ago

Anyone that thinks the media isn't biased, just read the above comments. The media is pathetic

Cold 20005164d ago

"Yeah, right now, the PS3 version has 21 reviews while the 360 version only has 8"

There you go, now simply wait for the 360 reviews to roll in before throwing a tantrum.

sikbeta5164d ago (Edited 5164d ago )

The "gaming media" is not only giving a free pass on this game, They're LYING in the Face of the people that are interested, this is WORSE than I thought

Unbelievable

Glad to know FF Veterans and interested nøøbs Go for The PS3 Version, after all it's a TRADITION....

Gaming FTW!!!

Pennywise5164d ago

I thought for sure the media was going to do the right thing here. Its amazing they will make a separate score for the PS3 if there are any longer load times, but when the 360 version of a game is crap they lump the reviews together.

I am so sick of the media and the constant Sony hate.

Did I miss where Sony murdered all the journalist and bloggers mothers? Did Sony partner with someone only to steal their ideas and stab their partner in the back? Does sony release marginally better, if not worse upgrades of their products every year and charge full price? Does Sony build horrible hardware prone to break more than it works? I DON'T GET IT.

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ablecain5164d ago

"The game gets exceptional after this one moment- but, regrettably, this moment came for me after suffering 15 hours and 30 minutes of pure, unalduterated tedium."

I'm not sure what that moment is, but it must be unbelievably awesome if it can somehow make up for 15 boring hours. I really disliked FFXII because it seemed like the dungeons went on forever, and the battle system wasn't engaging, so needless to say I'm a bit worried about XIII having no towns and being more or less one long dungeon.

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."

Einhander1972124d 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.

Nyxus124d ago

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

Shane Kim123d ago (Edited 123d ago )

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

Elda123d 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_B122d ago

*One of the 3 equally bad FF's

DivineHand125122d ago (Edited 122d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic122d ago (Edited 122d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic122d ago (Edited 122d 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.

Gamingsince1981122d ago

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

-Foxtrot122d 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.

Elda122d 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.

-Foxtrot121d ago

Elda

Not just mine mate

A large majority

So….

Traecy121d ago

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

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gold_drake124d ago (Edited 124d 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

Eonjay122d ago

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

Snookies12124d 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!

Eonjay122d ago

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

shinoff2183124d ago (Edited 124d 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

KillerB123d 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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square-enix-games.com