TSA's Verdict: Final Fantasy XIII Forum

Poll:
My answer is A

A: I have Final Fantasy XIII, and I would recommend the game to others.

I am a long term Final Fantasy fan and have been looking forward to this one for years. I have played about 40 hours so far and just taking my time in Chapter 11, now that the exploring and side-quests have opened up a little. I agree with a lot of the pros and cons that you have posted so far and my lists are as follows:

Pros:

- Brilliant Graphics, both in-game and during cutscenes. The Eidolons are particularly noteworthy.

- Fast paced, exciting battle system that looks slick but has more depth than initially appears.

- Good Soundtrack, with most tracks complimenting the setting and mood perfectly.

- Character development and levelling system is interesting and accessible.

- Nice touch on being able to unlock XMB themes by completing certain tasks in the game.

Cons:

- No towns or cities to explore, along with the absence of physical shops.

- Some areas/places in the game look amazing but linearity and lack of exploration, due namely to story focus and pacing, means that some areas are wasted. (In other words, it would have been awesome to explore some of the settings further.)

- Building on the point above, it would have benefitted from more freedom in exploration of a larger scale. I.e. No airship and world map combo for the player to control (or none that I have found as of yet).

- Side quest are only available late in the game.

Heh, no one likes Hope do they? A bit off topic but have you got the Limit Breaker trophy? I did a Level 3 Mega Flare with Bahamut last night on a Flan thing, doing about 300-400k damage in that one attack but it didn't register so I'm assuming I misread the trophy requirements.

Roynaldo said:

EDIT: Just had a thought, maybe that flan thing doesnt have 100000 HP so thats why it didnt work. Try it on something bigger or just wait to do it by chance like me.

Maybe you're right about the flan thing. I think I will wait till later in the game and will probably try to do it with a normal attack once I've got the Genji Glove. Had enough of playing around with Eidolons last night. Thanks for your input

I'm loving FFXIII – it is a little to linnear – but when you get 20-30 hours in to the game, it opens up and gets even more brilliant. I have completed the story, and the ending was really cool! Still playing it, got like 60 hours or something on it now – prob hit over a 100 before I give it up for a while.

I liked it so much I'm doing a text on it for a school project. :)

I recommend it!

Squalje said:

Pingu said:

I liked it so much I'm doing a text on it for a school project. :)

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Kids nowadays get the coolest projects to do at school. What happened to the old days when each project was on The Battle of Hastings or the Ozone Layer?

 

Well, mainly the project is in norwegian, and you're supposed to read a couple of books and make your own assignement out of it. I on the other side, don't really like reading – I have read books, and I still do, but rarely in norwegian. I wasn't allowed to take a book in english, so I decided (since it has been done before) to choose a TV-series (was thinking of doing Dexter) since it has norwegian subs it was okay. After a couple of days I though: "Hell, there's more of a story in Final Fantasy than in any freakin' book!" – so I asked, and the teacher checked it out – the next day I got the message that it was fine! Everyone else in the class are reading books – I play FFVII on my PSP and tell the teacher it's for the assignment! :)

Sorry for going OT =/

Well here's my verdict for Final Fantasy XIII:

My answer:  A

Though I seriously considered giving this a B. I think how you look at this game depends on whether you've played other Final Fantasies before. I for one was really disappointed in the linearity of the game. There is a chapter which gives you a huge area to explore and this is great but in other Final Fantasies there would be at least a dozen more areas like this. The rest of the game however is brilliant. It has a fast and stream-lined fighting system which is steadily introduced and has an amazing story, breathtaking graphics and a very good soundtrack.

Pros:

• The battle system is fast and stream-lined while still making you feel in control due to the Paradigm system
• The graphics absolutely beautiful
• The soundtrack is solid and the voice-work is very well done
• The story is well-told and very deep
• The game is challenging whilst still giving the player a fair chance
• Even after you've completed the story there's still plenty to do, especially if you're going for trophies

Cons:

• The game is far too linear (this will be especially bothersome for people who've played other FF games)
• Certain characters can start to get on your nerves
• The game only truly opens up at about chapter 11, which is much too late
• Side-quests are practically confined to hunts
• No cities with shops. All your shopping will be done at a save station

moshi said:

Roynaldo- Can i pick your wise wisdom . Is grinding away for cp worth it to level up your stats when you get the chance or do you aquire enough as you go along the main story line..Ive just started Chapter 11  and im on at least 8000 for each cp upgrade ..Im aiming do complete the story then go back for all the side mission and marks

It can be quite irritating to grind for hours on one set of enemies, only to run into another in the next chapter who give twice the CP. Use your time as economically as possible.