Final Fantasy 13: ...

This post may contain spoilers for some story elements though I have tried to keep it as spoiler free as possible.

Full disclosure, I played Final Fantasy 13 without a guide book. I consulted Gamefaqs.com twice during my play for two particularly tough bosses and did not find help. If you use the guide book or some other form of help, you experience may be more fun than mine.

I cannot believe I am writing this but I really do not love Final Fantasy 13. I have played every Final Fantasy game that has come my way since Final Fantasy 7 made me the geek gamer that I am today. I have been emotionally invested in the characters portrayed in the series and truly enjoyed the game play in every iteration. I bought Final Fantasy 13, without giving a thought to reviews, solely based on my love of this wonderful series. My faith in Square Enix was somewhat misplaced.

FFXIII is not a Final Fantasy game at its core. It attempted a grand story with likable characters worlds changing events yet at its conclusion I still do not know what makes the game world tick. The game tried to be the next incarnation of the Japanese RPG yet seems to have lost what made JRPG's fun to begin with. I loved maxing out my materia in FF7 yet loath upgrading weapons in FFXIII. I really enjoyed unlocking new abilities in FFX but feel cheated with the way the Crystarium slowly and painfully expands in Final Fantasy 13. I think I have spent as much time tweaking my Paradigms as I have running around Grand Pulse or Cocoon.

Speaking of Paradigms, they were a problem for me. Maybe I needed to pay closer attention to the tutorials, but I did not get the hang of using paradigms until two thirds of the way through the game. I was therefore getting my butt handed to me by enemies with alarming regularity. Never before have I died so often playing a Final Fantasy game. Even battles I won were hard fought and took a surprising amount of time and energy. I have speculated the difficulty of this game was cranked up due to the fact that characters are healed after every battle so your party goes into each new fight completely fresh.

While on the subject of frustrating aspects of this game, I need to focus on the story. The writer(s) of this saga never adequately explained the worlds of FFXIII. There are god-like beings that feed, shelter, and protect of the people of Cocoon. These beings can also turn humans into demigods. If you are a demigod of Pulse the people of Cocoon hate and fear you but you also have a mission which you must complete so you can turn into crystal. If you do not complete your mission in a timely fashion you will be transformed into a hideous monster. It took me almost 60 hours to understand that much and that part of the story was explained early on in the game.

Periphery characters show up, say a few lines, and disappear without explanation or clear motivation. One of the younger heroes in your party hates his dad, yet when you met his dad the man seems to be a paragon of fatherhood. The sons bitterness is simply glossed over.

Focusing on the good for a minute I will say that, for the most part, I enjoy the heroes of FFXIII. I found them equal parts pleasant, fun, and sufficiently cool. The visuals in this game are spectacular. The characters look amazing (rarely falling into the the uncanny valley where a game like Mass Effect 2 lives), they move, act, and emote with impressive realism. More stunning though are the two worlds created for Final Fantasy 13. Cocoon and Gran Pulse are astonishing. While most of the story takes place on Cocoon the players time on Pulse is where one truly gets a feel for the artistry involved in making this particular video game. Gran Pulse is teeming with life and truly is a thing of beauty.

My biggest problem with Final Fantasy 13 is the lack of towns. In previous Final Fantasy games a player could spend hours to explore all the nooks and crannies of a town, talk to citizens, and find ways to relax from the otherwise constant barrage of battle. Instead of talking to shop owners all items are bought and sold at save points eviscerating a good deal of personality that otherwise accompanies this series. Sadly, even Gran Pulse which is full of wild life feels empty and barren at points due to the lack of people that inhabit it.

Please do not infer that I hated this game, I spent well over 60 hours with it but I did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would. Personally though I am now anticipating FFXIV and hoping for a return to form.