Final Fantasy XIII (2009 Video Game) User Reviews

Well, I liked it a bit better than twelve, but not by much.

[Aaron1375 · 7/10 · 13 February 2014]

This game came out a while after part twelve and I was eagerly anticipating it. Twelve, quite frankly, is my least favorite Final Fantasy game and I was hoping this one would make up for it. Well, it is better, but in the end still a disappointment. It amazes me that Final Fantasy VII, VIII, IX and X all came out in a five year span. Since then we have gotten four original stories, but wait, two of those are online and quite frankly should not be apart of the sequential FF games. They should have been called FF Online or something, so that makes the list of original games down to two...TWO! The two we get are also two of my least favorite of the series. What happened? Before Enix and Square united, both were so much better and produced lots of RPG games. During that five year stretch, the one year we did not get a FF game we got Xenogears which is better than this game and its predecessor! Lot's of things wrong here and the only thing this one has going for it is phenomenal graphics, but it is missing many elements that make an RPG an RPG. The previous game, twelve, would be better had they just tightened the game up and made better characters. One just had to level for too long to finish the game. This one, as I said, is just missing so many components that make a RPG game fun.

The story is pretty good. It establishes a lot and it does get to be a bit much in this game's sequel when they add even more stuff to what is introduced here. The game opens up on multiple fronts as a warrior named Lightening is raising a ruckus on a train that is taking people to something called a 'Purge'. Basically, the people live on this strange manufactured type world while there is a planet that is a bit rough in nature below them called Gran Pulse. A boy named Hope sees his mother die, a rebel leader, literally causes her death and a man fights to save his son. All of these people will soon join together and try to figure out how to not only save themselves, but also that of the world!

The game play is unfortunately a bit too simplistic for a game of this nature. During most of the game, you guide your character from point A to point B while fighting enemies. There are no towns to visit, characters to speak too or any of the things that make an RPG an RPG. I tend to think they are trying to make up for the fact that the towns in twelve were a bit overwhelming, but now it goes from one extreme to another! The combat is very fast paced, and not very complicated; however, it is not a very involved combat either. You spend most of the time simply changing your characters class and occasionally making them throw an item into the mix. Like I said, it makes the game very fast paced, but a lot of the battles are not of the epic variety. The last fight took me less than eight minutes and I apparently took too long to defeat it!

The game has its good points and overall I did enjoy it. I just wish they would make them more like they did in that five year stretch or even during the cartridge days. If they could make a great story and fun game in such short spans of times, why do they seem to be having so much trouble making games when they take forever to make them!?! We get a nice game that has super cutting edge graphics, but is missing a lot of the elements a RPG is supposed to have in it. The game before we had a wonderfully expansive world, but one where you just spent so much time trying to power up your character that you forgot the story. Perhaps, they should simply just try to focus on other aspects rather than graphics? In the end, a nice game, that I probably would not be so hard on had it been titled something else. I just miss the old days which were most certainly the good old days in this case.

Finish it once,then put it away forever...

[anthonyaugustus3333 · 8/10 · 18 April 2012]

Stunning graphics,good plots and strong characters.All of that is still not enough to make this game superior to FF 7;FF 8;FF 9;FF 10 and mainly to FF 12. The lack of optional things to do in this game is its greatest flaw.While in other FFs we have several optional bosses,stories and stuff,this one only has hunts!Why one would waste its time hunting monsters,many of them that can only be defeated after the end of the game,to earn items to make your characters stronger to fight no-one else but these hunted monsters??

We can have good times playing this one.All magic lies on the first time you play it.It is a Final Fantasy,thus it deserves to be played,only once, not twice.We can't spend too much time playing this one.

Time not waisted.

[Heimski_Hannes · 7/10 · 7 January 2011]

I can't really say that I had high expectations for this game after playing XII. I thought after that the Final Fantasy series would just get worse and worse, I was wrong. To be completely honest, this game is the reason I bought a PS3, yes I bought a whole console for one Final Fantasy game, actually I also bought a DS just to play Final Fantasy III, maybe I'm just that much of a Final Fantasy geek.

I'm going to start by praising the game with its story, it was simple and easy to follow once you got the hang of it. It centers around six very different people who get drawn together by fate (Final Fantasy VIII anyone?). It all starts when a fal'cie (which is the thing that controls everything in the world) from Pulse (A netherworld of some sorts) is located in a city on Cocoon (The non-netherworld). The main heroes sister gets turned into a l'cie (a fal'cie slave) and has to find out what her focus is (l'cie always get focus'). So to find out she seeks out the fal'cie but that causes a purge and all citizens must gather around to be killed or something. Here the game starts with Lightning, Snow, Sazh, Hope, Vanille and Fang as they have to face the entire world and then another world down below.

The combat system is easy and it doesn't take very long to get the hang of it and this game also features a new way of leveling up characters called "The Crystarium system" this is a lot simpler that X's sphere grid and you'll know what I mean when you play the game or if you have played the game.

The music was another thing that I didn't have very high expectations of because Nobuo Uematsu didn't compose a single track. But I was wrong here as well. The music composed by Masashi Hamauzu, which had previously worked on "Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon and "Dirge of Cerberus" as well as having been involved with Final Fantasy X along with Uematsu and Junya Nakano, did an excellent job with composing the music.

To sum up, it was a pretty good game, but if you're more into old-school RPG's than I wouldn't really recommend this one.

Overall rating: 7/10

This May Have Topped VII

[dgkresge · 10/10 · 7 July 2011]

Alright, for starters this game is one of the greatest RPG's I've played. Unlike XII, this one actually is worthy of having the name "Final Fantasy" in the title. The story may be confusing at first, but you begin to understand it later on in the game or if you decide to spend the countless hours reading the Datalog, it will be clear from the start, but the story is a great story nonetheless.

The characters are greatly dynamic throughout the game. They all have their problems but they never give up "hope".

Claire "Lightning" Farron, is like a female version of Cloud Strife from FFVII. She's tough and relentless,but still has a heart in the end.

Snow is like the average "cool-guy".The self-proclaimed "Hero" always finds a way to give everyone the will they need to go on.

Oerba Dia Vanille is that "Happy Go Lucky" kind of girl that's cheerful most of the time.

Sazh pretty much is there for the ride. His story is sad and simple.

Hope... Hope just plain sucks. He is by far the worst character ever. He's annoying, weak, and all around crap.

Oerba Yun Fang is strong hearted and only wants whats best for her and her friend Vanille and is willing to do anything to protect each other.

The battle system keeps you busy. It takes some getting used to, but once you do it's great. Though you only control the leader during the battle, you still can shift the "Paradigims" to whatever battle situation may occur, granting you control of the battle from both sides of the field.

Graphics are orgasmic. The most beautiful graphics I've ever seen. Works best on a 1080p HDTV, but still looks great on 720p or SD. All in all the best graphics ever made in a video game.

Plot - 10/10

Gameplay - 10/10

Replay Ability - 8/10

Graphics -10/10

Characters - 9/10

Sound - 10/10

Incomplete Final Fantasy,.. The worst of them all... but it is still OK.

[SamJ_3000 · 6/10 · 14 April 2010]

!!SPOILERS!! Take Final Fantasy, and simplify it, automate it, make it linear. The linear part of the game would not be as bad if you actually could play the fights completely. But you control only one character, and you can let him decide his action by himself, leaving you with only choice to choose the enemies he will attack. There is no world map on which to move, no way to go back on the previous environment, no town and people to talk to... Everything is linear as hell. The story isn't so good, it is a bit too kitsch for me, but at least some concept and design are very interesting. It started so well, and was so promising, but it just seems that when everything is about to really start and go forward to its full potential, it is time to end the game. At the beginning you just want to go forward to reach this part of the game where you gain the full game potential, like in every other FF. But it never comes… At the end you reach a part where you can fight some very strong monster. This is the semi non-linear part. But you need to play another 50 hours only to kill monsters to be strong enough only to have a chance to kill them… which is enough time to go through 2 or 3 different better games than FF13.

This is the most deceiving Final Fantasy I ever played. I don't understand how people can tell it is the best one(game reviews after only 6 hours of playing the game are a bit early and not really useful…). Yes at least the visual is better than the other FF, but it is the only one on the PS3... we all expect the visual to be better... And the game-play complexity is like 25% of what FF12 was… But still… it is Final Fantasy. Those are always "good" games. Fans will like it. But still the 13th was a big deception to me… I think people should stop and realize how much this game is incomplete. That is the best description for it… incomplete.

Deserves More Credit Than It's Given

[tomdude0 · 10/10 · 14 December 2010]

I honestly loved this game. It's beautiful in almost every aspect--the visuals are probably the best visuals in a video game to date, the narrative is amazing, the voice acting is flawless, and the combat system is nothing short of brilliant. The major criticism this game is receiving is its linearity--which I agree, was a bit irking.

The game is very linear, with beautiful landscapes but paths so narrow you almost feel claustrophobic. However, if you think about it this was probably a tactical move by Square Enix in order to draw in new players without overwhelming them. The game is designed to be friendly to the new FF player, and hopefully after the disappointment that was XIV, Versus XIII will keep the new players hooked on the series, along with XV if Square decides to continue the series (and I hope they will).

The combat system is one of the most challenging you will find today. It starts out very simple--choose an attack and wait for the gauge to fill up, then repeat till the enemy is dead. However, soon you are introduced to roles, magic, and Paradigms--combinations of different roles to combine different attacks and moves. After all this, the challenge is choosing the right Paradigms, because that is the difference between victory and defeat in this game. It keeps you hooked and never bores you, and prevents players from just going through the motions.

The visuals are amazing, after the opening scene I was amazed that it was all CGI. The cinematics are beautiful on the PS3, so I urge you to get the PS3 version. Many environments are breathtakingly beautiful, such as a crystal lake, a house of moving stairs, and many more.

The narrative is brilliant and fits with the very likable cast of characters. You meet Lightning, a young woman who is portrayed as very cold, but slowly opens her heart up while keeping her ice cold determination; Sazh, a man who is drawn into Lightning's plans through curiosity and ends up getting more than he bargained for; Snow, a headstrong, confident young man who is engaged to Lightning's younger sister; Hope, a teenager who, despite his name, has no hope, but matures and gains confidence and courage; Fang, a strange woman with a past she can't recall; and, unfortunately, Vanille-- an upbeat redhead with a very annoying voice who will probably drive you crazy, but is hiding something dark within.

All these characters are citizens of Cocoon--a city-world in constant fear of invasion from Pulse, the world below. The government is corrupt and is run by godly beings known as fal'Cie, who carry out the Purge, in which people who live too close to Pulse fal'Cie and/or are or might become its slaves, Pulse l'Cie, are transported from Cocoon to Pulse against their will.

All in all, the game is beautiful and the storyline is touching and better than most Hollywood films. The linearity is bothersome but nothing too bad. I definitely think this game could be made into a movie, and end up as one of the greatest animated films of all time. I would recommend this to anyone.

FF13 A game of it's own.

[Nekrofoxx · 9/10 · 2 February 2014]

Final Fantasy makes another remarkable game but...the story is so complex that after beating it 3 times I still haven't a clue what's happening. But the game stands on it's own and into Final Fantasy history even without the complex story. It's the characters and how they develop that makes the game worthwhile.

You start off with Claire (or lightning most would say) who acts exactly like Cloud Strife (Attitude, both some kind of soldier, goal to save someone) Then there's Snow who is exactly like Tidus off of FFX the opposite of Claire (Light). You put the 2 together and of course there's some kind of drama. Then you put in Vanille, the happy go girl which I find very funny and Fang, the brute, plus the 2 others and instantly you have a story without having a story.

The game doesn't feel like a game at all. It feels like your playing in a movie with all the emotions of the amazingly well developed characters along with it. This game truly is a game of it's own.

Great animation, great music for Final Fantasy but a very long tedious game to play through

[crosswalkx · 5/10 · 29 December 2018]

As you know I'm a big fan of Final Fantasy games. When I played this game, I was blown away by the CGI motion capture animation with it being realistically detailed. I also liked the Chocobo ostrich bird like creatures.

Now anyways, You start off in the game as the female main character Lightning which I use alot who is a fugitive from the Psicom army on the run. The other characters are a little boy named Hope who I don't like using much, a young teenage girl Vanille with her instant Death spell, Sazh an African American man with puffy hairdo which is useful. A man named Snow who's a biker gang I like using alot and a young woman Fang who I also like using.

The story is Lightning and her 5 companion are on the constant run from Cocoons army who is trying to capture them. They run in a straight path for 10 chapters straight without rest. When they finally arrive in Chapter 11, they can do sidequest missions before continuing on with Chapter 12 and 13.

Now the good things I liked.

The CGI motion Capture Animation which I think was the best Square Enix has ever filmed for their Playstation 3, Xbox 360 game. The music was amazing with Jazz music playing and yoga type music playing and Pop songs were the best songs I've heard in this game. I also liked the Jaw Harp playing in the Tower dungeon level in Chapter 11. I liked Vanille only for her instant Death spell though it has a small percent chance of killing the enemy especially the giant elephant like creature. I also liked using high strength and HP characters including Lightning, Snow, Fang and Sazh. You can upgrade your weapons and accessory. I also like the CP growth egg which made level grinding a little easier. I liked that you can ride a chocobo in chapter 11 in the open world field and dig for treasure. You can skip cutscenes that you've already seen and get to the boss fights, thank god for that. I liked the online shopping that's featured in every save point, kind of reminds me of Final Fantasy 8 online shopping feature.

The bad stuff I didn't like.

Oh where to begin, first of all I do not like using the little boy Hope, he's very weak in strength and has low HPs. I only use him only if I have to quickly heal my party's HPs. Vanille is okay but her strength and HPs are weak. I don't like that I'm forced to hike in Chapters 1-10 non-stop which is very long and tedious. Can we just skip to Chapter 11 please? The battle system is automatic but why can I only control one character and not the other 2. Also some of the boss fights is extremely hard to beat and I get bashed to death very easily. You have to setup your 3 combo boxes whether it's fighting, spell casting, defending, healing, status attack, status boost. Better setup the combo you like because you can't change it during battle. Speaking of which you can't run away from battle unless you win or lose which I don't like. You can't earn gil money at all unless you collect items for money, Dude seriously, what the heck is Square Enix thinking, in past Final Fantasy games you could always earn money after every battle, even in Final Fantasy 8 when you can still collect money as you travel. Some boss battles your party gets the count down doom sentence which makes some boss battles harder to beat. There's still level grinding but in Crystal Sphere points. With thousands upon thousands of CP points to grind. Uggh. This level grinding in Final Fantasy is more ridiculous than ever and it's painful and boring to watch on grinding. The final battle was a pain in the butt to win with the first 2 phases against Orphan but the 3rd fight wasn't so bad.

My best Characters I used in the game

Lightning- I like using Lightning because she's very strong and has high HPs and high strength which I like very much about her and you can use magic spells and some limited healing spells. If I have to deal with tough boss fights, I can always count on Lightning to deal serious damage to the boss.

Snow- I also like using Snow because of his high HPs, and high strength, he can use guard very well to protect my party. I also use him in hard boss fights. I don't know why people complain about Snow but he's a very useful fighter in battle.

Fang- She is one of my favorite characters to use because of her high HPs, strength. However she doesn't have good cure spells and you have to level grind the sphere grid system to get good cure spells. I also use her in hard boss fights in the game.

Sazh- He has good Strength combined with long range attacks, he has average HPs, he has good status boost spells, good healing spells and good magic spells. I use him in most battles. I also like the little chocobo chick in his hair.

My worst Characters I don't like using in the game

Vanille- While she's a weak fighter, I did like using her cure spells, magic spells, I did like that her death spell can take down a gigantic elephant type creature with massive HPs, but it has a small percentage chance of working, otherwise I mostly leave her out of battle.

Hope- I hate using the little boy character in this game, his HPs are low, his strength is very low. The only reason I would ever use him is to heal my party quickly or get status boosts, otherwise I leave him out of battle.

Overall I have very mixed feelings for this action RPG game. If there was one thing I would change, it would be to have the option to skip directly over to Chapter 11 so I wouldn't have to do the hiking traveling for a long time. That would've made this game better. This game is at a low price but be warned, this game takes a very long time to beat probably 50 hours, even longer than Final Fantasy 6, 7, 8, 9 so it will take a long time to win which I'm not happy about. Also be aware there's some profanity used in the game including the usual Damn, Hell, Ass, Snow uses the Son of a B word only once. It could've been the greatest RPG game had it not been so tedious to play through.

Amazing game

[seanthezon · 10/10 · 21 May 2020]

One of the very few videogames to ever have fully capture me.. Super immersive and captivating, I found myself completely engulfed and taken over by this game ever since I started to play. It is super rare for me to get fully immersed with a game to the point where I can't get it off my mind, as I am normally pretty tough to please with my standards for games. It has one of the most likeable cast IMO next to FFX and FFVII, the soundtrack is so beautiful and epic, the graphics are the best, and the battle system is perfect and flashy. I'm intrigued by the story as well, it is one of the best Final Fantasy stories and a top contender in terms of personal appeal for me. As for the linearity everyone complains about, that's exactly why I love this game. I am not a big fan of non-linear games, and so FF13 along with FFX, and FF7 remake, are my top three favorite Final Fantasy games. I feel like this game is vital to the franchise because it is only the third modern FF turn based game (not including the sequels to FF13) before the switch to action rpg style. And so as much as I love FFX, which is my all time favorite, it's nice to get to see an upgraded and more advanced Final Fantasy turn based game as well in terms of graphics and gameplay.

Words cannot describe my hatred for this game, yet the fixes are amazingly (almost insultingly) easy.

[davidjgdoylevoices · 1/10 · 7 August 2017]

I just do not get it. HOW did this game get made? Sure I heard the stories (they had to upgrade and invent game engines... Even though they could have used UNREAL 3 easily) and the excuses for it are near insulting! Just read what Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama said. Look, I get that's hard to tell a compelling story with good characters, plot and in the case of a video game, fun and compelling gameplay. But it's NOT HARD to tell if the story is bad or not! Okay, first thing is first: The writing... WOW this writing makes "The Room" look like "Inception"! The characters rarely talk about their motivations... or themselves really, it's all over the top emotion and constantly repeating themselves and even going as far to pretty much say that the next part of the game is just to grind and level up... And then we have to read in game data logs as to why thing are happening... Tell me that doesn't sound insultingly stupid.

The story and plot, though I'll give a bit of detail, I can sum up in one word: Pathetic! Constantly crashing in on itself, there are practically no rules in this world, the Fal'ie, L'cie focus thing is never consistent, it's just an over all mess. One great example is the "Checkov's Gun" rule. Introduce a gun in the first act, it needs to be used in the second or third act. In this case: Lightning, the lead character uses an item called a "gravcon". It makes her jump through the air at high speeds, survive long falls... and it breaks in the first hour of the game and it's never used again (and it wasn't even mentioned)... WHY would you NOT put that into the story!?

The characters: I HATE THEM SO MUCH!!! Lightning is supposed to be based on the idea of a female version of Cloud Strife (lead character from the masterpiece Final Fantasy VII) and I don't know what happened here but she was just so unlikable! Temperamental to the point of physically abusive, genocidal tendencies and whenever she does do something good, it almost seems like it's out of spite... I just don't get it at all. Sazh is okay I guess but even then, there's nothing really special about him. Hope is annoying, Snow is stupid, Vanille is also annoying and Fang is just BLAND! The side characters are bland, nonsensical and overall forgettable and the villain is one of the worst villains I have ever seen in a game, his plan is so stupid that it's so hard to comprehend how someone wrote it.

The gameplay... Boring. No, there's nothing else to say, it's boring.

I just don't get how people like this game, even reviews from the big critics like Game Informer were more scathing the game more than praising it... yet they STILL gave it a "Gold Rating" while later on, giving a Silver rating on the much better made Final Fantasy XV and it was heavily praised every which way and its flaws were minor... I just don't understand it.

The ONLY thing this game has going for it is the graphics. Good GOD this game is gorgeous! So much work went into every bit of detail and it does shine... Which actually makes me more angry when I think about it.

I suppose I can say the English voice acting is great too. Jack Fletcher is one of the best voice directors in the business and the cast is stellar... But it's wasted on idiotic dialogue and it breaks me heart.

Yet the worst part of it all is this: All it needs is three or four tweaks and it EASILY could have been in the top 5 Final Fantasy games. That's it...

Despite the characters pathetic dialogue, they all have brilliant backstories. Just take out some of the datalogue stuff and put it in the actual dialogue and go from there, it does write itself. The gameplay, just follow Either Kingdom Hearts example or tweak Final Fantasy XII's gameplay. There, done. Keep Lightning's Gravcon thing unbroken and give the others a Gravcon and there, now you know how they can be so strong. The story does need a bit of an overall re-write but even then it's relatively flexible.

But that's just it. Final Fantasy XIII is just AWFUL! I recommend it to nobody unless you're studying graphics.

Greatest Final Fantasy Ever

[Johnny_086 · 10/10 · 16 March 2010]

I finally got my version for the Xbox 360 of this amazing game, after all those words about being too lineal or too boring, here's my review of 6 hours of game (if it gets different, I will update this review) I won't talk about the story, don't want to spoil anything, except saying something about the people who says this is the worst "Final"...well I have played all Final fantasies and the first one was the VI, all I wanna say is that this is by far the greatest in characters, story, graphics, fights, everything.

Story: 10/10...the best story I've ever heard from a game, it captures you, it makes you feel their pain, their feelings.

Graphics: 9.8/10...The best graphics I've seen, even from the Xbox 360 version, they both look amazing (put a 10/10 for the PS3 version)

Sound: 9.8/10...The only game I ever liked the music was Final Fantasy VII, but this game is too much, I love the battle theme! The voices are great (Vanille is maybe too loud, but you get used to it)

Duration: 9.7/10...50 to 60 hours the principal story...more than 100 hours to get all done, is it enough for you?

Gameplay: 9/10...yes, it is lineal and straight at the start, just fighting and hearing the amazing story from these great characters (specially Lightning OMG I love her!) but it doesn't look boring for me.

RATING: 9.8/10 : It is the highest note I haver ever putted on a game

I know all the bad reviews but I just LOVED the game, story, characters (I repeat, Lightning is too much!!)...everything! It's lineal at the start, yes...but a lot of games are too (counting Final Fantasy X, Devil May Cry, Call of Duty, etc)

Final Fantasy XIII makes its grand entrance on the next-gen platforms

[oscarxp25 · 9/10 · 8 April 2010]

This has been an event four years in the making. With the power of PS3 and Xbox360 behind it, Final Fantasy XIII is something special to behold.

From the first cut scene, to the unforgettable race track scene near the end of the game, the graphics are something that we have not seen before. There were moments in this game that took my breath away and made me think how far we have come since Final Fantasy VII.

The major criticism of this game is how linear it is. I do agree that the game is very straightforward, but that is the only real major problem I had with it. Even that, it didn't really bother me as much as my fellow gamers.

I think the best feature of the game is the battle system. It kind of reminded me of FF X-2, where you can change battle styles in the middle of battle. This makes for not only exciting battles, but battles that must be thought through with careful detail. It also prevents from you using the same characters the whole game, at least for me. I had the same team throughout most of the game, until the end.

The story is pretty interesting and the characters are well rounded. If you love video games or Final Fantasy...pick up this game...It is damn fun.

To be honest something is missing

[the_sorceror · 8/10 · 12 March 2010]

I have finished FFXIII, although a good game here are some points I think are missing.

1)Exploration: All RPG although strictly linear (since you can't do certain things before others) give some kind of "false freedom" near midgame or endgame such as side events, or sidequests to get items, weapons ... FFXIII does not and sticks in a literal hallway and it's only race towards a yellow mark that triggers a scene,a boss or both.

2)Combat System: I agree you have to get used to it, and once you do the game only difficulty is to choose the paradygms right. But there are two things that screw you up badly, first if the party leader dies it's game over, secondly the IA is very very dumb, one example you have one chr with 1000 hp another with 200 hp, what does the healer IA does? It heals the one with 1000 hp FIRST. (There are worst rants about the system in the forums and a lot give very valid points)

3)History: As in all RPG tradition, you feel sympathy for all the characters and their goal, but in FF13 it's very hard to find sympathy for the characters, except maybe for Fang and Sazh, I'm not buying Lightning, Snow or Hope reasons if you ask me their original choices are very selfish.

I know SE fanboys will rate this as negative review for criticize it, but I beg you to analyze the game in a serious way, and you'll see I'm not mistaken.

One of the worst Final Fantasy games and one of the worst RPG games ever made.

[nickkulstadis · 3/10 · 10 March 2022]

Terrible Final Fantasy game. Repetitive combat, flat characters, bland environments, mediocre music, incomprehensible plot with bad storytelling and too many enemies that can easily cause a game over. The enemy designs were lame and I didn't like the implementation of Eidolons at all with how they're like Transformers. Playing this trainwreck again makes me appreciate 15 far more and how it got the series away from the catastrophic direction the 13 trilogy was taking things. Thankfully, I'm almost done with it. I just want to get it off my bucket list. I never want to play it again after finishing at least the storyline.

One of the most underrated Final Fantasies

[khess1015 · 10/10 · 7 August 2012]

As a proud Final Fantasy fan, I must admit that this is easily one of my favorite final fantasies; tied with VIII and IX. I thoroughly enjoyed XIII because of what exactly it brought to the table: stunning graphics, beautiful and compelling storytelling, challenging (but doable) boss battles, an intricate new battle system, great music (in my opinion) and characters with emotional depth (i.e. we see the tough solider, Lightning, transform into a more vulnerable, caring young adult who only wants to protect her sister and those she cares about). Although this game was linear, I must say that there have been MANY other final fantasy games that have been very linear as well. Final Fantasy X, for example, was just moving from place to place until you inevitably got the airship. In Final Fantasy VIII, once you moved onto the 4th disc, you pretty much had no more access to any side quests...and so on. And I'm sure if XIII was open to too much exploration, players would complain that it was too confusing--sadly you cannot please everybody. As someone who has played through every final fantasy game since VI, this is definitely on the top of my list as one of my favorite final fantasies and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone else.

Amazing role paying game in 7th generation's console

[MiladAbolghasemi · 9/10 · 22 February 2015]

In role playing genre I love Final Fantasy franchise. While still playing this game, I can assure you that Square-enix took one step in the right direction. In Final Fantasy XIII you will find everything a RPG game should have, For instance Great story, Well-developed and compelling characters, Stunning environments, One of the best musical scores of the series, Entertaining battle system, and difficulty. Every role is vital, and strategies are key for some battles. For those who like to compare FFXIII to other FFS just remember how great were FFVIII & FFVII and also FFX, But how easy they were as well. I found that FFXIII is the oppossite of FFXII. Whereas FFXII gave you the freedom you need, tons of quests, it offered, IMO, the weakest story and character development of the series. In contrast, FFXIII is brilliantly developed, as characters and story is concerned. I gave this game 9 out of 10.

Addicting Combat Mechanic and Party building

[filmfreak-ochoa23 · 9/10 · 27 July 2011]

Final Fantasy XIII - 2010 The true example of how the real game starts when you give the game a chance and how the story is not the centerpiece but the gameplay excels. The combat system is the one that truly shines in this game with the active combat system and its paradigm shift system. The combinations that are available are very customizable depending on the player, you could put 2 people ready to stagger or stun your opponent while 1 heals your 2 people or just go nuts for a while and have all of them attack the opponent with Commando if your opponent is staggered! Choose your leader with 2 companions out of 6 characters with specific armor and upgraded weapons that you can transform when you level it up to the max or just keep your current weapon on the max if you prefer that weapon. The characters themselves are Anime stereotypes, always overacting, and a cheesy love story between one of the main characters is annoyingly corny and bad. Lighting, the main character, is a complete bad-ass, the only likable character, Sahz has an interesting backstory with his son, but is completely wasted since the game makes him a clown, Hope has potential of being an interesting character with a revenge scheme against Snow, one of the characters in his own party but then completely wimps and chickens out. The most annoying characters are Vanille and Snow, the very definition of annoying and a self appointed hero-douche stating lines like "Heroes don't need plans" and calling himself hero every 5 minutes, in case you forgot. Fang is the poor, she comes from the underworld of Gran Pulse, complaining about the rich people of Cocoon, but all is forgiven with her because she is an excellent Saboteur and Sentinel. Remember that combat mechanic which was praised? That happens 20 hours into the game, until then is almost all cutscenes and really basic combat getting you into the game, and the team building a tad bit longer. The high score is given because the combat mechanic is really worth the time invested and team building along with the game being visually amazing.

Near-Perfect Entry in the Final Fantasy Franchise

[lmathc · 9/10 · 3 October 2020]

I write this review as a relative-newcomer to the Final Fantasy games, having played 7 Remake, 7 Original, and 8 (in that order) only months before this one. After 52 hours of gameplay, I can confidently say that 13 is fantastic. It's a beautiful, intense, and satisfying experience.

Firstly, the visuals are absolutely phenomenal. This game is over a decade old, but it's still probably one of the most visually impressive games I've ever played. I stopped playing at least a dozen times just to get a screenshot of the gorgeous landscapes.

The gameplay itself is also great. The combat system takes some getting used to, but is very fast-paced and rewarding when understood and utilized.

The story and a couple characters take a while to really get traction (specifically Hope and Lightning) but it all comes together about halfway-through. The voice acting was top-notch for the most part.

Overall, this game is an amazing ride both aesthetically and mechanically, and any FF fan who hasn't played it yet should do so ASAP.

Loved it, First final fantasy game.

[Spartan_1_1_7 · 9/10 · 16 May 2012]

This is my first final fantasy game, and for those who haven't played any previous parts, you will like this game if you like JRPG's. I see a lot of hate towards this game but most of those players have played previous parts. I never played a Final fantasy game before this one. My First impression of this game is that its really pretty, if you have a HDTV, be ready for a treat. The game is very linear, you fight bad guys usually in a straight path and then there is a cut scene, then same thing again, but once you accept it, you will love the game. Fully open area appears pretty far in the game. Graphically speaking, this is a really polished game especially on the PS3, there were Hardly any graphical glitches during my play through and every thing seems really polished. The game's story is pretty interesting, the world shown is beautiful and the myths and stuff are pretty good especially if you like super Fantasy games. Now characters are a mixed bag, some of them I really liked from the start, while others were lame but don't worry they progress and develop into great characters as the story continues. Gameplay is really great, the battle system "Paradigms" is awesome, its simple at first but when it gets into full gear, it becomes great. The enemies get way harder later on and will test your skills a lot. Overall I loved this game, so if you don't mind linearity then give this game try.

Visually one of the most beautiful games ever made,but other than that a bit underwhelming

[chrichtonsworld · 8/10 · 30 April 2010]

It is clear that FF13 tries to innovate the franchise in order to compete with other next gen titles. And while I also think that some changes have to be made it shouldn't lose it's charm of the old JPRG genre we learned to love. Visually FF13 is the most beautiful game of the PS3 at the moment (Although I assume it will be just as beautiful on the xbox 360). Game play wise it is still Final Fantasy,only much more linear (until Chapter 11) with side quests and secret areas to explore. However I must say that the sudden rise in difficulty is a bit shocking. Because clearing the first 10 chapters didn't require much grinding,in Chapter 11 is a must since even the tiniest monsters can beat you in a whim. The new battle system takes time getting used to. And when yo do you will experience one of the most fun and intense battle system created in the genre. But it can be off putting in the beginning since it seems almost too easy in the beginning. In Chapter 11 you will find out however that it is pretty deep and that the first 10 chapters have served as some sort of training levels. (I must add that in the beginning I really missed the old turn based strategy system,but the fights wouldn't have been as intense at it is now.) So visually and game play wise there is nothing wrong. Story wise however this part just falls short. Yes the cut scenes were brilliant and yes there were some solid moments where you learn to care for the characters. Only in my opinion not enough. Not everything is explained in the cut scenes. Most of the background story is explained in the datalog. But even then it is hard to make sense what the purpose of your characters are to defeat the villains. The villains in FF13 aren't as evil as they were in the earlier parts of the franchise. The story wasn't as engaging as it could have been. And to me that is just as important as the visuals and the game play. I'm still playing this game even after finishing the main story for the side quest monsters who are brutally more difficult than the end boss. Overall Final Fantasy 13 is still one of the best games on the next gen consoles. Only people who expect a story as engaging as the for example FF10 will be disappointed.

Good but the battle system brings it down a notch.

[Logic404 · 9/10 · 11 May 2010]

I'll start by saying that I used a guide for most of this game.

Using a guide you would think that you could breeze through most of the game. For the most part that's true but the stupid inconsistency in the battle system doesn't help matters. When some of the "normal" battles take longer than boss battles you're in for frustration and possibly boredom. I don't remember being bored in any Final Fantasy before this.

The main problem is even if you know exactly what to do and how to do it in a battle it still takes much to long to end said battle. There is quite the trial and error to the battle system. Not my cup.

Now the good: The story is a little above OK and a little cheesy. The graphics are some of the better ones on any system. The music is quite good but not as great as some of its predecessor's. The sound effects and voice work are passable.

Two reasons why I really gave this game an 8: The ending is ALMOST perfect (a little cheese). The 2nd reason is once you finish the game (the main story) there is a lot of optional but fun stuff to do. Good replay value.

Overall I was disappointed by the battle system but it wasn't a game killer.

Excellent Game, but . . .

[silversurfer1288 · 8/10 · 28 April 2010]

The Game opens with a bang – a bang that lasts for 20-25 hours. The characters are some of the most believable, likable, fun, and personally identifiable to date. At this point in the game, I thought for sure that this was going to dethrone Final Fantasy X as my favorite Final Fantasy ever. Unfortunately, the game sort of became lost in itself and failed to hold its high standard to the end.

The Positives: True to form, Final Fantasy XIII boasts fantastic graphics, cinematics, and cutscenses. In fact, they are likely the best visuals to date for any video game period. In addition, FFXIII comes with some wonderful orchestral pieces and all around excellent soundtrack. The six protagonists are for the most part lovable, real people and Final Fantasy XIII makes you feel their joy, pain, and anger. This is only increased by the high quality of voice acting.

The Negatives: There is little that I would classify as purely negative, however, there are a number of facets to the game which leave something to be desired. I will refer to these as the In-Betweens. (The only true negative that I found highly frustrating was that player control of the camera was frustratingly slow and uncontrollable while running.)

The In-Betweens: The story starts out really strong. Unfortunately, the plot becomes highly convoluted later on to the point where I wasn't even sure what was happening. The game does include a play-by-play journal that documents plot events. This helps when confused, but a person shouldn't have to keep reading these entries to find out what just happened. Probably the largest controversial aspect of this game is the super linear adventure. There are almost no areas to explore, no side-quests, and no way to even go the wrong way, because this game is more linear than any game of this scale by far. On one hand, this keeps the plot moving along at a nice clip, and I found that it made the first 20 hours or so a lot of fun and full of action, cutscenes, and awesome battles. However, at the same time, the lack of freedom feels unnecessarily constraining and strays from the Final Fantasy norm. The battle system is certainly different and interesting. It is fun, especially when first learning its intricacies and then learning to master it. Items are few and far-between. Unlike all of the previous final fantasy entries, there are only a very limited number of items. MP is gone. There is no cost for using magic. This sort of makes sense in the scope of the game, but it feels strange playing a Final Fantasy game without MP, ethers, and the like. The leveling system is similar to the sphere grid of Final Fantasy X, although this grid is artificially limited by plot events, which puts a reasonable cap on leveling ahead of where you are in the game.

Conclusion: Unmatched visuals, lovable characters, a reasonable difficulty level, and a challenging battle system give the game a good feel and plenty to really enjoy. Unfortunately, a few aspects prevent this very good game from being legendary.

An under-rated gem

[cjwsmarty · 8/10 · 28 February 2022]

Final Fantasy XIII (and its sequels) is very different than the rest of the FF series. Especially its extremely linear pathing and story that you wont fully understand unless you read the datalogs. It (thankfully) got rid of Random Encounters for this game, and instead you can see your enemies, pick and choose your fights, and (hopefully) win. The music is not composed by Nobuo Uematsu for this installment, however this does not cut down on the quality of the soundtrack, as a lot of the songs are wonderful and memorable earworms. The story is genuinely good (in my opinion) and i like the themes that are covered by the game (taking charge of our destinies, not giving on to despair even when things get difficult, etc). The game is good, even if long and a little tedious. Get it when its on sale if you can. Dont buy it on PC though PC Port is not very good (not bad enough to take away from the game as a whole, but definitely not the best port i have played)

Positively interesting and amazing (Do not listen to bad reviews) Be your own critic.

[usasuke-19108 · 10/10 · 10 March 2022]

I have read so many reviews regarding Final fantasy xiii. I have decided to play it, I fell in love with the story. From my perspective, the story is well written. I do not want to talk about the story in depth because I do not want to spoil it. I will also review the continuous two games of final fantasy xiii. Find my review on these two games. The combat engine is okay. Although, I like the freedom to experience combat like most games such as destiny, black ops, and dragon age. The graphic design is excellent. I absolutely recommend it. Do not do my own mistake by following negative reviews. Analyze the game yourself and see, if you like it.