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OXCGN's Final Fantasy XIII Review: A Fantasy Worth Having?

OXCGN:

"Final Fantasy XIII is a loooooooooong game that is best experienced in large chunks of play. Before you purchase it-and you will not be able to complete it during a rental period-be sure to speak with your loved ones and pre-explain your social disengagement for a couple of weeks. "

gaminoz5122d ago

Everyone I know got this on PS3...even Xbox 360 owners! I'm not into JRPGs but I've heard it has a slow start...

-MD-5122d ago (Edited 5122d ago )

I got it on 360 for the achievements. 35 hours in and loving it. People saying it's slow either haven't played it or aren't fans of Final Fantasy as the game never "picks up" you get to explore an open world at about the 25 hour mark but quickly get placed back on a linear path an hour or two later.

35 hours later nothing has changed so don't expect it to. The game was layed out to tell a story. I tend to play it in 2-3 hour sessions.

I only buy a handful of games every year and I'm glad this was one of my picks.

WildArmed5122d ago

AFter all the hate FF13 got, I'm glad some people are enjoying this.
I'm holding out for my friend to finish with his copy, then I will be platting this baby!

360 or PS3, it looks like a must have experience.

I personally give in to all the hate of FF13, but reading comments like above.. makes me forget all about it. I just wanna play another FInal Fantasy. I've never hated any of em (other than FF12).. so I'm going to give it a try. My friend just needs to come over and visit chicago sooner. why the hell did she have to goto college in cali -.-

BAH! >.> well the semesters nearly over nayways!

XboxOZ3605122d ago

Well I'll get to see what the fuss is about California and LA is all about soon, as 3 of us are paying our own way to go to E3 this year to report live for OXCGN.

We have almost 100k ppl logged on last year for the official MS Keynote, and this year it goes over 2 days, so I'll be spending about 2-3 wkks there to look around, and hopefully bump into some gamers while I'm there, and will be dropping into some dev studios . .

I can see the ppl that love this franchise wanting it to be the best it can be, and I can also see the different generations that never grew up with it being frustrated with it as well.

So in the end, it comes down to a persons experience of a game, and one should never base ones thoughts and choices based on someone elses 'experiences.

You need to make them for yourself. . . .

WildArmed5122d ago (Edited 5122d ago )

Ah man have fun!
I used to live in cali, it doesn't live up to the hype,like many games ;)

And congratz on your achievement.

Oh, it's not realistically possible to establish an opinion of every game that comes out, atleast not financially realistic to me. I mean I'd LOVE to go out and buy all the games and try to find time to play them. But I cant, so i rely on professional reviews (which are hardly professionl anymore)..
but there are still sites around i trust.
Including the reviews from this site lol
No matter how different and bad the game may be, i can HARDLY believe an objective review of the games gives it a 5/10.

cobraagent5122d ago

I never thought that i would agree with you but this time you deserve it. By the way platting it will require around 120 hours(took me 140 hours in the japanese version-couldn't wait 3 months- because i didn't understand a damn word)

NegativeCreepWA5122d ago (Edited 5122d ago )

I'm about 30 hours into it and i'm really enjoying it. The graphics are amazing.

A lot of the hate just seems to come from fanboys that are butthurt about the 360 release.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 5122d ago
XboxOZ3605122d ago

SLOW is the understatement mate, one of the reviewers for a major print media house here in Aust said he was into double figure before the game began to take off, and only for the fact he 'had' to do the review, he would have dropped it long ago, he did it on both the PS3 and the 360 ..

WildArmed5122d ago

well you can't have all the games end in 4 hours *cough* MW2 *cough*

I heard the 'extended tutorial' went for about 20 hours. As long as I enjoy it (and most RPGs I do enjoy it alot) I dont mind.

The thing about reviewing games is, something the game ends up in the wrong reviewer's hands. People have preferences, and those do effect the way he looks at games.. (ie he may not like long jrpgs)

Godem5122d ago

its not slow, in fact it starts out incredibly fast paced... Its just that you don't know what the hell is going on..

I like the game, but I find its just one endless dungeon crawl.

Figboy5122d ago

how the story is paced.

so many JRPGs you can accurately pinpoint the "whos, whats, wheres, hows, and whys," but FFXIII is very much like a mystery, in that you are dropped en medias res, and have no frigging idea what is going on, who the characters are, or what their motivations are.

the use of flashbacks, and character revelations are extremely well done.

i love that me and my wife just couldn't piece everything together from minute one.

i'm at the 30 hour mark, and some really cool revelations have given the story a new light, and i'm enjoying it even more now.

the game has some genuinely well done twists, just not jarringly forced on you, or for the sake of being a twist.

FFXIII is telling a story. a fresh, unique story, in a surprisingly original and unique world.

Square has done a lot of BS this generation, but they've ALWAYS respected the Final Fantasy series and it's fans. to think that FFXIII is somehow a "slap in the face" to Final Fantasy fans is simply ridiculous.

considering that Final Fantasy has been using the same formula for 9 games (X, XI, XII, and XIII deviate a LOT from the traditional FF mold), it's great to see them push it in a different direction in the past 4 outtings.

at least they are willing to take chances with the FF worlds, battle systems, and narratives with these new games.

the past 4 Final Fantasies could have been named totally different names, and they'd probably have received more praise than they got. but fanboys seem to feel as if they have some ownership of their favorite franchises, and if you DARE change one hair on that franchises head, there will be a "reckoning" (which generally amounts to nothing but a bunch of whining on the internet...).

as a long time Final Fantasy fan, i LOVE the changes with each game. the refining of game play elements and battles systems. i already wrote a gigantic post on why i think FFXIII is great in a previous article, so i won't repeat myself here, but i don't think the game deserves the hate it's getting.

Belgavion5122d ago

A reviewer on a podcast described the battle system as 'sublime'. I really can't think of a better word. It's one of the best RPG battle systems I've ever come across.

BeaArthur5122d ago

Agreed, I love the way it keeps you on your toes at all time.

RedPawn5122d ago (Edited 5122d ago )

I personally love the game, it deserves the FF name every bit of the way.

Did I have my gripes yeah, but hell of course every single one I had my gripes about.

Is the best one i've played, nope, but I saw where the creators wanted to go w/it finished or not.

The battle system is fun and does jump you in with the heightened mood of the music, and switching paradigms.

The item shop is really clever put into the little orbs. I would of at least liked to go out of my way to explore some cities of Cocoon, wether it be for exploration or just a plot junction point.

I really give the game an 8.5 in my opinion. I hope SE really tries to put some of that great lore back into the game the we are so used to enjoying.

If you liked it cool, if not cool, maybe it wasn't your cup of tea.

Show all comments (24)
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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.

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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."

Einhander1972123d 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.

Nyxus123d ago

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

Shane Kim122d ago (Edited 122d ago )

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

Elda122d 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.

Elda121d 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.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 121d ago
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gold_drake123d ago (Edited 123d 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.

Snookies12123d 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.

shinoff2183123d ago (Edited 123d 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

KillerB122d ago

my favorite jrpg trilogy ever

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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