300°
7.0

Gamereactor: Final Fantasy XIII review

GR writes: "The game is extremely linear, even more linear than Final Fantasy X. Apart from the occasional side quests and the opportunity to go monster hunting towards the end of the game, just like in the tenth installment of the series, Final Fantasy XIII is more or less a single corridor from start to finish. The enemies can be seen while you run around, just like in Final Fantasy XII, but since the environments are often so small it's not like you get the option to dodge them very often. This linearity is hidden by the fact that you get to follow different team configurations throughout the story and the sense of wanting to know what happens next every time you are forced to change characters."

Read Full Story >>
gamereactor.eu
BeaArthur5168d ago

I think it's weird that 13 is getting such mixed reviews and 12 got so many great reviews. In my opinion 12 was by far the worst in the series.

hay5168d ago

It's all a matter of preferences. IMO FFX was the worst game in the series(excluding obvious crap like FFX-2) but loved the FFXII.
XIII is more like X with few FF7-esque storyline elements so any FFX fan should be satisfied.

Shadow Flare5168d ago

Um, serious question: Why have absolutely none of the reviews done a seperate review for the ps3 and 360 version of the game? Every other multi-platform game does.

Honestly can someone please answer that, cos I think I know why but it basically comes down to microsoft not wanting people to see the 360 version is worse

BeaArthur5168d ago

hay...that is true, because I would disagree with you on FFX. It's still mind boggling to me though. FF12 had by far the worst combat system, at least in my opinion.

Shadow Flare5168d ago

Fair enough but i've yet to see seperate reviews from edge, eurogamer and the IGN teams. Just curious as to why

silvacrest5168d ago

totally agree, FFX was my first and favourite final fantasy so i thought FFx-2 would be great since it seemed to pick up where FFX left off (in a way) but i was horrible, graphics were crap combat was worse

i didnt even finish it

if FF thirteen is anything like FFX im still getting it

hihosilver5168d ago

there is nothing wrong with a linear game, i feel like every Reviewer is going to talk about linearity as a negative just to make fans feel like crap, when in reality they are enjoying the game

BeaArthur5168d ago

Arcanine...well whats so stupid about that is that most FF games have been somewhat linear until the later stages and all of those received critical acclaim.

silvacrest...I was actually talking about Final Fantasy 12 not FFX-2. But yeah X-2 wasn't great either.

AKS5168d ago

I absolutely loved FF XII and Dragon Quest VIII last generation. Those JRPGs were highlights of last generation for me. I've never understood why FF XII gets so much hate. It gave you lots of freedom, I loved the characters (especially Fran), on the hunts were great sidequests. XII was honestly probably my second favorite in the series after FF VI (or FF IIII in the US).

Whitefox7895168d ago

FF X had a good story voice acting was kinda hit and miss, loved the battle system between switching characters and summons. FF XII felt like the online game FF XI but included elements like the gambit system which basically if your smart enough the game will play itself. It also introduced a main character who had at most very little to do with the overall plot and is only there for the ride.

BRG90005168d ago

You say "every other game" gets separate reviews, but can you name another recent one other than Bayonetta which was an exceptional case? I can't think of any. Hardly any sites reviewed MW2 separately for the three platforms, for example.

Especially with this game, a site would have to dedicate an additional 60 man hours to review FFXIII twice. Even the largest sites like IGN have a fairly small review staff, and frankly I doubt they see that type of time commitment as reasonable in a season with so many big releases. For lots of sites it probably comes down to "Do we review FFXIII twice, or do we review it once and have time to review GoW3?" Pretty obvious answer to that question.

Greywulf5168d ago (Edited 5168d ago )

Nowgamer is like HHG doing it. Doesn't matter at all.

Its a fact that none of the big sites have done it yet, as they have ALWAYS done PS3/360 multiplats. Its bull. It just highlights the hilarious double standard. Its as if the 360 version is perfectly equal to the ps3 version with its clear problems. The problems big enough for other multiplats haven't been as severe. the game isn't even 1080p. If this was the other way around, oh my god this would cause the internet to explode.

Hell PSN being down 24 hours has more coverage than XBL being down for a month or so, and oh yeah.. hardware failure..

Gaming is pathetic. I get it hating on sony for being boastful, but they were boasting because they had the best product & titles out there. MS/Media support is ridiculous. FF13 is getting flopped because its better on the PS3 by most outlets. Its pathetic considering what they hand out 10's for these days. Not saying its not the best game in the world, but the media has definitely handed out quite a few "wtf" 10's without batting an eye.

If FF13 was a MS exclusive, do u think it would be scoring so low (80 for FF?)

Edit: BRG

Its always done when the ports are severely different. The fact that bayonetta was done, qualifies it to be the exact same for FF13. You have no point.

Bioshock, Dantes Inferno, Orange Box, Unreal Tournament, Fear2, there were even more the earlier days of the PS3 as well. Like Madden/COD4..

BRG90005168d ago

"Severely different" is subjective, and from what I've seen from every source that's not posted in an ALL CAPS COMMENT ON N4G, the differences are really not that severe. I think it's clear that this is not "the exact same thing" as Bayonetta.

Though like I said, the length of this game also plays into it. For lots of these sites it is not reasonable devote another 60 hours reviewing the same game with slightly worse graphics and multiple discs.

+ Show (10) more repliesLast reply 5168d ago
MaximusPrime5168d ago (Edited 5168d ago )

people below. whatever..

i got FF8 and am still playing it on PSP go.

i played FF7, (PS1) FF8, (PS1 and PSP Go) FF10, (PS2) FF12 (PS2)

I have no interests in FF13...

RadientFlux5168d ago

but your interested enough to spam?

BeaArthur5168d ago

haha, good one. Clearly he is a clown. To no longer be interested in a game because it went multiplatform is just stupid. I mean come on, the PS3 version was still the lead platform. What, you think the game would be drastically different if hadn't gone multiplatform?

Midgard2285168d ago (Edited 5168d ago )

u obviously was never a final fantasy fan from ur wierd comment.

i dnt give a crap honestly what people say, a FF game comes out once or twice a gen, im playin it and ur crazy if u actually r an ff fan and wont play it.

ff goin to 360 pisses me off too but its still a game, im sure nintendo fanboys were upset when ff7 went to sony and stood their for most of the other games.

o well ur loss.

and honestly i hated ff12, every character was the same. if u gave them all the same weapon wat was the difference? just skin model. thats it. main character was a side character and it was ff11 offline. boring story, boring gameplay that rewarded u for not playing (gambit system) aaand just un-iconic characters really.

Midgard2285168d ago (Edited 5168d ago )

i think the fact that the 360 version has 3 disc and is compressed like crazy and has no towns is reason to believe the 360 hindered it a bit. imagine if their was towns = 10 disc.

i mean ff versus 13 which is ps3 exclusive looks graphically alot better and has towns, world map, flying over mountains and oceans again, soooo i wud think something happened if the exlusive one has all the good stuff lol

ps can people explain why they disagree? blind disagrees just means u were like "O crap hes right lemme put down disagree!"

back ur crap up people (not directed toward u athur)

*edit at arthur*

if square said that they wud be screwed lol.

and square said they cut half the content out of the game, so what does that mean??? ofcourse ps3 was the lead, but they had 360 port inmind and had limitations. ofcourse towns werent removed just cuz of 360, they also rushed to get the product out since everyone was crying for it taking to long and now cry they rushed it.....o and arthur tell me why does ffV13 have better graphics towns and world map then??? so it has nothhin to do with it being ps3 exclusive?

BeaArthur5168d ago

Midgard228...I don't recall Square-Enix ever saying that they removed towns because of the 360 version. Besides what is 4 or 5 discs when you are already going to have 3? I think the core content was always going to be the same and I doubt with the PS3 being the lead platform that the 360 really gimped it all that much. The fanboys would like to believe that MS ruined this game but it was going to be mostly the same with or without the 360 version.

AKS5168d ago

Of course they wouldn't say that whether it's true or not, BeaArthur. That would be a PR disaster. They aren't going to pick sides between consoles when they want all of them to buy their game.

I wouldn't say I'm 100% certain that the multiplatform development is what made FF XIII so linear, but at the very least the more linear it is, the easier it is to bring it to the 360. Disc swapping isn't that big of a deal in most situations, but non-linear, open world happens to be a situation in which it does matter quite a bit.

harrisk9545168d ago (Edited 5168d ago )

I absolutely agree that the game was changed to accommodate the 360. They had to figure out a way to make it more palatable if it was going to be on multiple disks... Think about it logically -- the game is LINEAR until the final 3rd of the game (from what I've read b/c obviously I haven't played it yet). It is only toward the last part of the game that it becomes a more open world experience. Also, you can't go back to places you already visited earlier in the game... Digital Foundry already confirmed this and said that the game play is not too affected on the 360 version because there is hardly any disk switching.

So, why is this interesting? It is interesting b/c the "open world" portion of the game most likely does not appear until you have disk 3 of the 360 version running! Had the game been all one one disk (i.e., blu-ray), there wouldn't have been this limitation. Then people really would have been complaining about the 360 version and constantly having to switch disks to play.

Therefore, it would SEEM that the PS3 version was gimped to accommodate the 360 port.

At least is seems that way IMO.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 5168d ago
Ryuha1234h5168d ago

Square Enix hasn't made one good game this generation.

silvacrest5168d ago

tales of vesperia is the exception

Midgard2285168d ago

that was namco bandai lol.

and square only made one game and that was ff13.

they published thhe rest.

saga frontier team did last remnant, tri-ace did infinite undiscovery and star ocean, which star ocean was good so wtf r people talking about.

that was it for jrpgs this gen published by square.

handheld had a ton of good stuff, valkyrie profile, star ocean 1/2 (psp) crisis core etc etc. so wtf is this square sux thing just cuz last remnant and infinite werent that good???? square didnt even make them

Disccordia5168d ago

The Saga Frontier team may have developed The Last Remnant, but it's still Square-Enix. You're right on the others though.

The real killer5168d ago (Edited 5168d ago )

Can you read?

He said that Microsoft is the blame is the poor reviews, yes this is the blame from Microsoft because Microsoft paid reviewers for this.

But also All multiplatform is far behind in game development in QUALITY if we compare with the PS3 exclusive first party studio's, also this is the blame for Microsoft because if those developers make his game far superior for the PS3, than had Microsoft has big problems and that's why Microsoft paid them to look almost the same.

RadientFlux5168d ago

I can and I don't agree with his/your logic that the game going multiplatform ruined it. Also I don't agree that multiplatform < PS3 exclusives.

tudors5168d ago

if multiplats always both looked like crap then I would agree with you, but clearly the devs have had to get to grips with the complex setup of the PS3, 360 multiplats generally looked better so I doubt this was ever anything other than the devs figuring out the PS3, Alan Wake will probably look much better than Final Fantasy XIII because the devs have spent time with the 360, Final Fantasy XIII was built for PS3, the fact that we 360 owners have a version is just a bonus, but if it looks better on the PS3 how can you say they have gimped it for the 360? if it looks better then obviously they are catering to the PS3's strengths.

The real killer5168d ago (Edited 5168d ago )

You talking about logic, you know what logic is.
There is no single multiplatform from Third party developers games that looks like first party developers games from Sony or PC exclusive that's logic, and what not logic is that you deny it.

Even the PC games are gimped to look like the same as the 360 version, this has to do with money from Microsoft example Mass Effect 2 gimped PC version to look the same like 360 version, upcoming games like Gothic 4 will also gimped for the PC and PS3, yes this has to do with money and also this is logic.

Multiplatform game destroy the GAME DEVELOPMENT but not the game itself but the development you know NEXT GENERATION upcoming games because the strongest hardware PS3/PC will not support.
Even some Third party developers see that and will eventually develop PS3 and PC only to compete with next generation PS3/PC games with full of new type of visual/graphics/physics/lighti ng and gameplay.
----------------------------- ------------------------------ - ----------

tudors

The problem is that Third party developers do not use he full PS3/PC hardware to make it possible, if those developers get the maximum from PS3 or PC, Microsoft will be in deep troubles.

it's the third party developers that keep Microsoft 360 platform alive to downgrade any game that also come on the 360.

FF13 do not take full potential of the PS3 hardware we all know that, omly Blu-ray drive is the take advance of the technolochy from the PS3, but the Cell architecture no!! otherwise the game (FF13) looks way better than that cartiiny look alike.

hydrog5168d ago

I'm 20 hours in and thoroughly enjoying it... eff these reviewers, their not gamers... they don't delve. I'm sidequesting my face off.

Dikc Farmers.. all of them.

Show all comments (45)
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."

Einhander1972128d 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.

Nyxus128d ago

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

Shane Kim126d ago (Edited 126d ago )

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

Elda126d 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_B126d ago

*One of the 3 equally bad FF's

DivineHand125126d ago (Edited 126d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic126d ago (Edited 126d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic126d ago (Edited 126d 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.

Gamingsince1981126d ago

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

-Foxtrot126d 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.

Elda125d 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.

-Foxtrot125d ago

Elda

Not just mine mate

A large majority

So….

Traecy125d ago

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

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 125d ago
+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 125d ago
gold_drake128d ago (Edited 128d 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

Eonjay126d 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!

Eonjay126d 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

KillerB126d ago

my favorite jrpg trilogy ever

Show all comments (44)
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."

Read Full Story >>
square-enix-games.com