Final Fantasy XIII (Xbox 360) Review

Posted by Josh Boykin on 03.21.2010

Some of the risks SquareEnix takes in its new title will make series regulars uncomfortable, but Final Fantasy XIII is a well-rounded, action-packed adventure that will touch your heart and test your mind.


Title: Final Fantasy XIII
Publisher: SquareEnix
Developer: SquareEnix
Genre: RPG
Players: 1
Rated: T

SquareEnix recently released their newest iteration in their long running RPG series, Final Fantasy XIII. Not being a company to fall into patterns of repetition, SquareEnix took many risks in the new game, grasping the reins of the storyline harder than ever to steer the game in what feels like a movie/RPG direction. Some of these risks are intimidating and uncomfortable for Final Fantasy regulars and level-grinders, but Final Fantasy XIII is a well-rounded, action-packed adventure that will touch your heart and test your mind.

The game starts you off in Cocoon, a floating-shell world in the midst of chaos and rebellion. Cocoon has been infiltrated by a Pulse Fal'Cie, a being from the lower-world outside of Cocoon. Residents are taught about Pulse from an early age, told about the living hell that exists outside of Cocoon's shell. Pulse Fal'Cie are the dreaded "enemies of Cocoon," and have the power to transform humans into l'Cie, slaves of the Fal'Cie imbued with a Focus, a goal that they must satisfy within a set amount of time. If that goal isn't satisfied within the time restraint provided, the l'Cie will be transformed into a Cie'th, a horrible monstrosity with no trace of humanity remaining. If a l'Cie successfully completes his/her Focus, then they are "gifted with eternal life" by being turned into crystal. The "damned if you do, damned if you don't" results of l'Cie life reinforces the constant fear Cocoon denizens feel, particularly when a Pulse Fal'Cie is discovered inside Cocoon's walls.

Cocoon is right in the middle of The Purge at the game's onset, a process where the government is exiling all people who could have possibly come into contact with the Pulse Fal'Cie. Entire neighborhoods are stripped from their homes, loaded on to trains, and shipped out of Cocoon. You control Lightning, a pink-haired military woman with a chip on her shoulder and a "don't get in my way, don't ask me questions" attitude similar to Final Fantasy VII's Cloud Strife, the spiky-haired, no-nonsense SOLDIER that's been popular since that game's release in 1997. Also in your party from the game's beginning is Sazh Katzroy, a civilian pilot who runs into Lightning through coincidence, but follows her as she cuts a path through the various army grunts to get to the Pulse Fal'Cie. Through various events the two of them, as well as three others, all arrive at the Pulse Fal'Cie's stronghold simultaneously, and though gameplay starts before this event, the base of the game's story truly begins here.

From the second the first cutscene begins, it's quite evident that the game is a true visual masterpiece. Every location is highly detailed and absolutely gorgeous, even on a standard-def TV (the game suffers from small print on SDTVs, but it's still readable). Final Fantasy titles have pretty much become a benchmark for visual presentations, and XIII is no exception. Both the 360 and PS3 versions of the game can display in full 720p, and it's most definitely worthwhile to do so if you have the capability. The gameplay in the 360 and PS3 versions of the game are the same, though the video compression was increased on the 360 version due to space constraints. I can't say for sure that the PS3 is any better, but the 360 version does noticeably suffer from the occasional lag and some frame-skipping during high-movement scenes and battles with many enemies. My guess is that the PS3 version doesn't have these problems, but I wasn't able to test it to find out.

Still, as SquareEnix attempts to pioneer new ground with its title, there are definitely some growing pains that the player feels as they travel through the game. The audio is just as spot-on as the visuals, but the presence of hardcore electric guitar riffs feel oddly placed in the first few hours of the game. But as you settle into the game and become more familiar with the characters and tone of the story, you start to become more comfortable with the interjections, and actually start to feel energized every time the electric guitar makes its way into a scene. This experience of "I'm not sure about this, but in a few hours I'll like it" seems to describe all the large-scale changes Final Fantasy XIII makes in their formula. Like a video-game Stockholm Syndrome, after time you understand why the game makes the moves and changes that it does, and eventually come to feel comfortable with them, appreciating the way that SquareEnix blurs the edges between video-game and movie to create an immersive, enthralling story.


This game's about the story, and SquareEnix makes sure you know that.

Every change that Final Fantasy XIII makes to the RPG formula is in the name of the story. XIII's largest complaint by far deals with its excessive linearity. This is a valid complaint; even through the first 10-15 hours, the restrictions the game places on world exploration and character development make you feel like you're going through the world's longest tutorial. Over half of the game is spent in the RPG equivalent of a tunnel; even though there are many different, detailed locales the story travels to and from, the map itself that you're walking on has roughly two directions: forwards and backwards. Battles are no longer randomly encountered; enemies have a definite place on the world map. You can try to run past some enemies, but if you're drawn into battle, you can't flee. This creates a loop of battle/map/cutscene/battle/map/cutscene that really turns off a gamer who is accustomed to being able to explore a large world from the game's onset, or those who like to grind their characters in the beginning to high levels and then smash through the bosses. Still, it seems that SquareEnix prevented both of those possibilities on purpose in order to create a deeper emotional attachment to the game.

Like a movie, the game jumps from location to location at its own will, showing the actions of part of your party in one section of the world, then jumping to another portion of the world and showing another part of your party there. The linearity allows the game to maintain control of what elements of the story are exposed at what times. In contrast to modern "Choose Your Own Adventure" style RPGs like Fallout 3 and Fable II, Final Fantasy XIII tightens its hold on the gamer's knowledge and capabilities within the realm of the game. Similarly, character experience is capped through implementation of the "crystarium," a system reminiscent of Final Fantasy X's sphere grid. Character's no longer gain EXP (experience points) from battle, but instead gain CP (crystarium points), which can be spent to increase various character attributes, or to teach them new spells and abilities. Each character has access to various "roles" (classes) during the game, ranging from the damage-heavy "Commando" and buff-friendly "Synergist" to the damage absorbing "Sentinel" and magic-wielding "Ravager."



You'll only be given access to a limited portion of each character's crystarium at most periods of the game, so doing any sort of level-grinding after a certain point does you no good. In the meantime, you can level your weapons and accessories by customizing them using a reasonably mystifying item upgrade system. Upgrade components can be obtained through battle or finding them on the map, and adding them to weapons gives the weapon EXP. Natural components like animal skins are worth low experience but increase the item's EXP multiplier, increasing the worth of future items applied. Technological components, like batteries and cabling, are worth more EXP, but lower the item's multiplier. There's no telling what a item's maximum level is, or if much benefit will be gained from leveling, so it's up to you to decide whether upgrading a particular item is worth the risk.

On one hand, taking away the player's freedom to customize their characters as they see fit from the beginning feels restrictive when you start play, but the game's design makes sure that your characters are always ready for the upcoming battle, so grinding is never necessary. This makes the game flow much more smoothly than many other games, though this definitely doesn't make the game easy. Most abilities accessed via the crystarium can only be used when the character is using that specific role in battle, so a character that has learned "Cure" as a Medic can't use that skill when they're being used as a Saboteur. This component comes into play during the revamped battle system.

Battles play out much differently in XIII than in previous titles. Roles are managed in team-specific sets on the menu screen. Each set is called a "paradigm," and you can create up to six sets in your "paradigm deck." Battles allow you to control one party member, the party leader, while the other one or two members are AI-controlled. Actions consist of commanding your one characters specific actions, and alternating through your various paradigms to finish the fight as quickly as possible. XIII returns to the popular ATB (active-time battle) system, so the longer you wait to execute a command, the more your party suffers as you're pummeled by opponents. The faster you conclude the battle, the more "points" you get, and the more likely you'll receive rare items. HP is restored at the beginning of every fight, and the entire party is revived at the end of each battle, so in some cases it's better to just plow through battles and let your characters take damage than to make sure everyone's safe. However, if your party leader is downed at any time, the battle instantly ends, and it's game over.


Could we maybe...reschedule?

Particularly in boss battles, the new mechanics sometimes make fights feel more like puzzles as you customize your paradigm deck and tactics to try to fit specific situations. This can get to be really frustrating if you've inappropriately customized your paradigm deck and certain combinations aren't available, as you can't create new paradigms in the middle of battle. If you need to combine a Ravager with a Saboteur and you didn't think about that before battle, then you're out of luck until you die and can re-customize your deck. Even when you've come up with paradigms that work, there's no way to tell what your score on a battle is going to be until it's over, so you won't know if spending 10 minutes on a battle will get you great items or no items at all until the conclusion. If you're unhappy with your score during a fight, the game offers you the ability to retry and get higher scores, but in 10+ minute boss battles, you'll often just want to move on regardless.

Still, the advantage of the new battle system/crystarium-limit combo is that fights that are supposed to offer challenge always do. Boss fights always feel as epic as they look, and it's a test of both your strategic mind and attention to detail to come out of those battles on top. Particularly interesting are the fights with the Eidolons, summoned monsters that must be tamed before they come into your control. These battles are restricted by a doom counter; go past the amount of time allowed on the counter, and your party leader instantly dies. Eidolon battles can never be won by solely attacking; you must also do some sort of other task in battle, like heal your allies, or defend against attacks. This secondary goal changes based on which character is attempting to master their Eidolon, and reinforces the puzzle-like feeling from other fights.


The battle to obtain the Odin Eidolon is one of the most frustrating in the game.

The streamlined, movie-like experience comes at the cost of many side events that were previously staples in Final Fantasy games. Side quests don't appear until ridiculously late in the game, adding to the claustrophobic feeling many may have when playing the game. The suspiciously "Gold Saucer"-like Nautilus features some roaming Chocobos (and there's one that lives in Sazh's hair), but there are NO MINIGAMES to be found in Nautilus, or elsewhere throughout the game. These light-hearted asides often provide a pleasant distraction from the game's main objective, and though the choice to exclude them makes sense when you consider SquareEnix's focus in this title, it's also a bit of a heartbreaker. Changes like these can really affect the opinions of Final Fantasy devotees, but the overall game still shines.

If you're looking for a strict action experience, or you're yearning for the days of some other classic Final Fantasy title, this isn't the game for you. The pacing will likely frustrate you, and some of the boss battles will drive you nuts because you can't pump up your characters and blow through challenges. Classic FF-style gameplay comes around Chapter 11 out of 13, and though there's a lot to do, some players may be tired of the game by that point. What attaches you to Final Fantasy XIII is the story, hands-down. Though it's not wholly original or monumental, the development of the characters and their individual stories will rope you in and pull you through the changes made to the RPG formula. A particular scene in Chapter 8 almost brought me to tears, quite literally, because of the intensity. SquareEnix made a conscious effort to avoid clichés, and ended up writing a story that becomes a rather strong religious/governmental allegory. Most unfortunately, a Theatre Mode isn't included in the game, so there's no way to go back and enjoy the story without replaying the whole game.

By the time the game starts to open up and involve you in more battles, feeling more like your standard-issue Final Fantasy-fare, you're both relieved and a little disappointed because you want the plot to move with the same speed that it did before. The game isn't without it faults, for sure, but the overall experience the product brings to the table with its gorgeous graphics, tightly-controlled gameplay, stellar audio, and strongly developed characters and plot make Final Fantasy XIII a worthwhile purchase for any RPG fan.

Graphics	10.0	Spellbindingly gorgeous graphics, great locales and vehicle design, and the character models almost seem real at times.
Gameplay	8.0	The new, puzzle-esque battle system and story/map progression linearity may frustrate RPG regulars, but the frantic pacing of battles and the movie-style story development makes up for the frustration. The game DOES open up late in the story, but some may
Sound	9.0	The electric guitar's presence is odd at times, and some themes feel overused, but the overall composition is top-notch and memorable. Voice acting and sound effects are also superb.
Lasting Appeal	9.0	Side quests and exploration don't occur until late in the game, but the story and action is defintely worth a second play-through.
Fun Factor	9.0	There are no mini-games, but the deep plot and action-packed battle system definitely make every moment enjoyable enough to not need them.
Overall	9.0   [  Amazing ]

Screenshots
All 21 Final Fantasy XIII Screenshots