Final Fantasy XIII

I heard a lot about this game before I played it. I saw very good previews and lots of material promoting its release, but I didn't buy it when it was first released. I always planned to and I was embarrassingly quoted in the Official Playstation Magazine (OPM) declaring my excitement on Facebook... I can't remember the exact phrasing but it included a reference to me wetting myself. Anyway, I didn't buy it, because I was busy and penniless and there were other games etc. This turned out to be a good thing. I heard so many negative comments about the game that I was quickly beginning to lose interest in the game. I knew that I would get around to it eventually, but the horrible things people had told me about it gave me no reason whatsoever to rush.

I had heard that the story was ridiculous and unengaging, the characters were stupid and weird (look at what you're buying people, its Square Enix!), the battle system was a step in the wrong direction and most frequently I was told that the game was linear. Obviously all of these points escaped the mind of the OPM reviewer, but how was I to know who to listen to? Usually I find that the reviews I read are accurate, but the previews are extremely unreliable. I don't think that previews are deliberately misleading, but more naively hopeful in regards to a game's potential. One game springs to mind... AVATAR!!! Amazing ideas, amazing previews, amazing story to work from and what did we end up with?! It was like going downstairs on Christmas day, pulling the ribbon from a gigantic, shiny, colourful gift box, opening the box and.... seeing another box, slightly less pristine, more weathered. Inside this one there's another shabby box... Several smaller, dirtier boxes later you end up with a tiny greasy matchbox in your hand.. you clutch it, knowing that this is the last box and your long awaited gift will finally be revealed. You slide back the outer sleeve of the box to reveal.... a little crusty gerbil turd. Introducing Avatar the Game.

Ok. Back to Final Fantasy XIII. The dilemma I had (very lengthily dramatized above) was that the previews had been very flashy and exciting, which is what geared me up for the release. This was all fine, but as soon as I heard negative things about the game from others, I was immediately doubtful. The ugly, dysfunctional, mentally ill ghost of Avatar hung over me as a reminder that I'd been betrayed once before. Long story short, I never got around to buying the game, but someone else did that for me. Thank you Emily. A good 50+ hours of gameplay later, here I am with my verdict.

'Misfits' is putting it gently

It's true, it's true, the first 6-8 hours of the game are prescriptive and you can't choose your team or your direction. This is obviously what caused people to brand the game as linear. It is. If the last Square Enix (previously Squaresoft) game you played was Final Fantasy VII then you won't find a similar open ended, world map experience. You might get a bit of de ja vu including a blonde soldier, a black gunman and a train, but you won't get a world map. The story line is much the same as always, a group of misfits brought together by fate and forced to go on a journey to save the world. However, the fact that 99% of the dialogue in this game is actually dialogue and not a blue text box means that it is possible to follow the cutscenes and conversations without needing laser eye surgery afterwards. The story is confusing and the twists and turns don't always make much sense, but to me that felt like part of the game- your characters had no idea why they were fighting, but they just went with what felt right. When new information was revealed, a new course of action began, which made the sidebars in the story crucial to the main plot. All in all, the story is enough, I think, to get you through to the end.

Next on the agenda is the way this game looks. This part is going to be very short, because frankly, it is immense. The cutscenes are beautiful and dynamic, the locations are varied and colourful, the characters have finally been successfully lip-synced to English dialogue and the monsters and enemies are visible before you enter battle, looking just as exceptional before as they do during battle. I cannot complain about the visuals in this game. Along with the soundtrack, sound effects and dialogue, the flawlessness of the graphics makes this game unbelievably immersive and actually breathtaking. (I know how cliched that sounds, but play the game, go to Pulse and stand on the edge of a cliff- you will be back here commenting on how much you agree.)

Pulse- This doesn't even do it justice

The gameplay, in terms of battles and clearing different areas can be repetetive, but by the time you've spent an hour or so playing, you'll know how you feel about that. I think that because of the new battle system and the ranking system based on time, the pressure to kill quickly and efficiently means you are always thinking and engaged, rather than leaning a lamp on the X button while you make a cup of tea. The linear nature of the game, while being a shock to the system, does fit perfectly with how the story unfolds. Your character has no idea how long they have left before they fail their quest, so it always feels like a race against time. This understandably means that pratting around with sidequests is not high up in the priority list. The treasure hunting and sidequests do open up after the main portion of the game is finished, so any die hard Final Fantasy perfectionists can still master everything (and will have to if they want all the trophies/achievements.)

I feel as though I've been a bit defensive in this post. I love this game and I would recommend that any Final Fantasy fan or avid gamer at least give it a try. I heard many negative opinions about various aspects of the game, but none of them stuck with me after playing it. The most detestable opinion I encountered was that the Leona Lewis song 'My Hands' didn't fit with the feel of the game and its conclusion. I denounce this opinion to the ends of the earth and hold you nay sayers in utter comtempt... you know who you are! I love almost everything about it and my only regret is that I don't have enough time to finish all of the side quests. There is one feature that irritated me beyond belief however... the death of the player character means Game Over, even if the others survive. Oh and another rubbish feature of the game... Sazh.

DannyDarko

Also if you want to check out some of the negative points I talked about... watch the review by Zero Punctuation: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/1569-Final-Fantasy-XIII