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6.0

Koku Gamer - Final Fantasy XIII Review

Koku writes: "Final Fantasy, this long lasting series is arguably the most popular franchise in gaming history. Even with a dip here and there, every title in the main series has had something to offer, bringing millions RPG entertainment of the highest quality. Now Square-Enix releases the unlucky number thirteen. Ending up on both high definition consoles, Final Fantasy XIII has been on show since the PS3's birth. While every game in the series receives years of production time, after playing the latest installment, you have to wonder what they were up to."

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aedwards895154d ago

Finally a honest non-fanboy review of FF XIII, unlike previous titles this one is the poorest when it comes to story and character connection the game play could have been a lot better knowing they got 3 plus years of development time.

Ziriux5154d ago

Agreed, I think Square is a great example of a publisher rushing development to put it out in time, degrading the quality of the game.

BeaArthur5154d ago

Ziriux...you think they rushed this game? How long was it in development?

Optical_Matrix5154d ago

They rushed development? This game has been in development since 2005. Not to mention they had to create a brand new engine during the development and progressively make the game as the engine was made. So I don't know what you're on about rushing the game

Ziriux5154d ago

Alright guys so you may have a point, but don't you think they could have done a better job with characters and giving you a more epic story experience that was in FF VII, FF X and FF XII?

Reibooi5154d ago (Edited 5154d ago )

Anyone who complains about story or characters in FFXIII being lacking is a retard(sorry for being blunt on that).

FFXIII is THE MOST character driven FF game in the series easily. That's why there are no big story revelations for the first 20 or so hours. It's character driven. A perfect example of this is Hope. Hope is a COMPLETELY different character after the game gets under way. He grows and becomes more mature. The same exact thing can be said for just about every character in the game.

This is why the game splits the parties up for quite a bit and goes back and forth. Because it's focusing on the characters and not the story line. Once things get underway the characters pasts and what they are looking to find get caught up in the main story(Sazh for example just wants to see his son again and that ends up being part of the main story and is the reason he continues his Fight as a L'Cie)

These are just a few examples of how the game is incredibly character driven for the first 3rd or so of the game. There are plenty more and anyone who actually played the game would know this. It's easy to just say a game sucks without looking deeper and it's even easier to write a review for nothing but hits and call it honest. There are plenty of outlets trashing the game for no reason and that doesn't make them honest. Regardless of if the person reviewing the game really thought it only deserved a 6 or not I can't say but I don't see in anyway how a low score equals honest in any way shape or form.

Baka-akaB5154d ago (Edited 5154d ago )

Thanks you for finally a smart opinion among those first post Reibooi .
It's one thing to not like or be attracted by the story and its characters but it is sheer stupidity to deny its actually very character driven and delve deeply into its story .

How could it be the worst , when it's one of the rare few games of the serie , a character actually show emotional growth and change of character in a FF ?

hay5154d ago (Edited 5154d ago )

I agree with the reviewer. It's great looking but badly designed and written game.
6/10.

Yeah, it is character driven. It follows their development also. But it's dull. Badly written, badly executed.

Marojado5154d ago

I'm inclined to agree with Baka-akaB and Reibooi. Once I got past the first couple of hours and Snow no longer seemed like a one dimensional douche, I really enjoyed the story and character development.

As for saying its the poorest for story or character connection, I'd have to raise the XII defence. I mean look at it; The story was barely even noticeable, let alone developed. And as for character connection, were there even distinguishable characters in XII? They were all carbon copy brown messes with little to no input, apart from Balthier.

I think the fact that you can distinguish each character, their motivations, and their concerns shows that XIII is firmly rooted in story and character development, more so than a few of the preceeding games.

Baka-akaB5154d ago

@hay

A good or bad opinion of it is not the issue .
But there are clear fact and stuff about the writing one cannot twist for or against the game .

Once cannot pretend the character arent developped or connecting , when it's clearly the one game going the furthest in that area .

OwnedKid5154d ago (Edited 5154d ago )

This game has terrific character development and character interaction, probably the best in Final Fantasies seen before.

The story is quite good, not the best but its solid.

The graphics are breathtaking, especially Gran Pulse. How they pulled that off is beyond me. A gigantic open world absolutely teeming with wildlife everywhere. Its stunning just to walk through that place and admire the beauty of it all.

The music is not the best of final fantasy but its ok.

The gameplay is rock solid. Square Enix has advanced to the next step when it comes to turn based battles.

Overall, I must say I am quite impressed with FF13. It is currently satisfying my RPG thirst and after playing Valkyria Chronicles and Demons Souls, FF13 is right up there if not higher.

The characters are an absolute blast to play with. Lightning is hardcore and Fang is just badass. Although I suspect that she is a lesbian.

The game is not perfect. And one of the disappointments are the Eidolon fights and designs, the linearity and the lack of towns to visit.

Overall, any score below 8 is a joke. And merely shows one of two things:

- lack of taste
- only played for 30min - 2 hours and called it quits.

I just love Gran Pulse. That place is gigantic, they werent kidding when they said the place was huge. Holy shiat. I find myself constantly comparing Gran Pulse with Fallout3s open world and Mass effects planets. Open but truly empty and boring. They cant compare to FF13 at all.

If you are an RPG lover and youre not playing this game, then you are truly missing out. No joke.

http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3...

http://media.photobucket.co...

http://i.neoseeker.com/mgv/...

Pika-pie5154d ago

I dont get why some reviewers are ragging on the story. I love it, its epic, totally hooked.

Yeah it does use alot of terminoligy. The datalog is the saving grace, just like in Mass Effect if you want to learn the ins and outs of everything the codex is where you go.

Iv been a big FF fan since VIII and im not one bit disappointed with FFXIII. Sank 40hours in so far and just reached chapter 11 which almost feels like a 2nd act, its like a game changer when you reach this point and makes you reflect back of the events you have just been through on Cocoon.

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Ziriux5154d ago (Edited 5154d ago )

Reason why I posted this review on here is because honest review that doesn't score the game high because of a franchise that's produced nothing but epic titles. FF XIII could have been much better story wise since that's one of my favorite things. The connection with you and the character is just not there. They didn't capture the audience like the previous games did.

BeaArthur5154d ago (Edited 5154d ago )

Reviews are opinions that are exclusive to the reviewer. While this person didn't like the game, there have been plenty of other reviewers that enjoyed it. Calling it an "honest review" is totally ridiculous. Just because you agree with it doesn't make it more or less honest.

Feel free to correct me if I'm way off but I'm going to call BS on you. Out of curiosity I decided to check out your Live profile and you have no achievement points for FF13. Now one might be led to believe that you played the PS3 version but you don't have a PSN account listed which would imply that you don't have a PS3. So have you even played this game?

Ziriux5154d ago

Well, I do not play the game, I always have watched the Final Fantasy series for it's story, usually my friends play it. Going back to my comment above a few, where I say the story isn't as epic. I'm strictly story when it comes to FF games, cause I never liked turn based RPG's.

militant075154d ago

that what i was tying to say :S

over that
it soo stupid to not have towns i mean you just through battles non stop :(

i love running around the worlds in JRPG, i dont even know how it look in JRPG, it doesnt show much side of people life, towns and world.

it is my most dissapoing game of all time

McErono5154d ago

big words of yours for not playing the game rofl.

you have no idea what you are talking about "but the connection is not there" "could have done a better job"

hilarious!

militant075154d ago

Im in chapter 11 near the end of it, and what he said is 100% true

BeaArthur5154d ago (Edited 5154d ago )

Ziriux...so you haven't even played the game and yet you know how bad it is? I don't suppose I need to point out the irony of your "honest review" argument. You talk about honesty and then here you sit there talking crap about a game you haven't even touched.

OwnedKid5154d ago

Militant: "Im in chapter 11 near the end of it, and what he said is 100% true"

If youre at chapter 11, then youre at Gran Pulse, which contradicts everything you say. Gran Pulse happen to be a gigantic open area with wild life teeming everywhere from flying wyverns, roaming behemoths hunting prey, wolves, gnomes, tigers and gigantic 'dinosaurs' roaming the planes in herders (turtles).

So you are downright lying when you say that he speaks the truth.

Pika-pie5153d ago

Ziriux - what the effer man! You dont play Final Fantasy games, you watch someone else play them because you dont like turnbased JRPGs.

I cant even begin to wrap my head round that!

And to everyone else, if you want open world JRPG action- Play to chapter 11 in FFXIII or buy Lost Odyssey or White Knight Chronicles.

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Cinotix5154d ago

If FF XIII was like this, I wonder how VS. will be. At least knowing it's only a MMO it'll help knowing that the story wont be there and there is nothing bad to come out of it.

Ziriux5154d ago

Well you only own a Wii, so you can't experience the goods and the bad of FF XIII.

bartkuz5154d ago

Not fair review. This game deserves at least 8. As Final Fantasy, this game is maybe a little poor, as a game overall it is still very good.

knifefight5154d ago

Apprently this guy is entitled to a different opinion, though.
I didn't think so either at first but I looked up the rules of the internet and yeah, turns out he's allowed only give it an average-range score if he wants to. If he loves it, there's a rule saying he can even give it like a 9 or 10. It's the darndest thing.

I'll post more revelations as I come across them.

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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."

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.

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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

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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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