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FF 13 is a great addition to the final fantasy series, It is a very linear game up until you reach chapter 9 or so, The first few hours may annoy you since it does drag on a bit, however it does develop in to an amazing game, the battle system was an annoyance at first but it becomes SO easy to use once you get in to the game, some bosses take forever to beat, and one of the bosses took me 2 days to deal with. I'm nearing the end of the game now and I can honestly say I have enjoyed it.
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You can't Help But Feel sorry for Square-Enix Of late. After Churning out a Slew Of Bland J-RPGs the pressure was even greater to make Final Fantasy XIII a worthy addition to the flagship series. I'll start with the Good. the story is extremely solid and the world is very very vivid. On top Of this The combat is extremely innovative, the best of the series so far in fact.
Right now that's out the way here's what's wrong. The story, although very well told, does it's best to step on the toes of absolutely every other aspect of the game. The six main characters are drawn together when they become l'cie, servants of extremely powerful and feared beings, the fal'cie. This gives them kick-ass magic powers, but they are seen as enemies of the state feared and hunted wherever they go. This completely ruins any aspect of exploration of FFXIII's the several cities as you're too busy running down linear corridors fighting a squads of police every 5 feet for the first 20 HOURS.
Furthermore, plot dictates the characters travel in twos for the first 20 hours as well, not becoming united until right at the end of the second disc. This greatly affects the variety and tactics of the combat. with three fighters in play the pardigms system is deep and challenging to master. With two however, it essentially consists of turning on heal every minute or so, sucking absolutely all fun out of preceedings. The story completely hampers the gameply to the point where it's almost a chore to play.
I really wanted to love this game. but having finished it, all I can say is that I had far more fun with all of Bioware's RPGS and would reccomend them over FFXIII any day.
Finally I would like to bring up character of Snow. Throughout the course of the game, their experiences cause all the characters to develop as people; as they have with all fFinal Fantasy since FFII. It's one of the most enjoyable parts of the series to see the closed off loner or the cocky know-it-all learn to be a better man. Snow apparently missed this memo. In the opening cut scene he's a 2 dimensional moron who refers to himself as 'Hero' twice a sentence and in the final cut scene he still is. The plot gives him several key opportunities to learn and grow but they may as well not happen as they only serve to make him more annoying. I felt very close to the character of Hope As we both wanted to murder him.
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I think this game is brilliant. It's true that it is linear for the first two discs. But I think it works quite well with this game. It really takes at least 7 hours before things get really good, and I know that sounds like a tall order but you have to understand even before the 7 hours you're constantly learning new stuff for the battle system, character skills etc. and it really is understandable.
By the time the game has taught you all it has to offer it gets really intense. And I'm not exaggerating. The battle system becomes so much more complex, but not so much that it makes your brain hurt. More like a satisfying combination of quick thinking, real time and turn-based action. It really is a brilliant blend.
The story made me care about the characters, the music was really good and the graphics were awe-inspiring. There were several times when I just stopped to look at the scenery and go "wow".
It is a long wait but once you get to the 3rd disc, you're rewarded with the open world, free roaming area which is HUGE. And I mean huge. It takes ages to get from one place to another, and there's wild animals/enemies roaming the place, from tiny slimy ones to gargantuan ones; all approachable to battle. This is when you understand why the game kept it linear for so long. Once you go out to fight some of these enemies, several of them will completely tear you apart. You'll have a hard time adjusting and the game won't offer any more help to you, from here on out it's up to you to figure out new strategies, have well timed attacks and the lot. Tonnes of side missions, ultimate versions of weapons, upgraded equipment, there's loads to do here.
You can always go ahead after a point and carry on with the game, or stay there to your heart's content. And trust me, you will want to stay there for a while. You can always come back to it as well, which is a welcome choice.
All in all, impressive game. If you're a FF fan I assume you already certain expectations of this game. It does seem to deviate from the general FF games (my friends have 7 to 12) but even so this game is a powerful piece of media.
If you like RPG's but have never played FF, give this one a go. If you're worried about the anime style then don't worry too much, it's not really that exagerrated like most anime-like games and has truely amazing graphics
that you'll end up appreciating.
The key is not to give up at the start of the game (which will seem slow) but to carry on and reap the rewards as you progress. You won't regret it. I've turned into a bit of a completionist and have completed it 100%, investing 70+ hours into it. (That's right!!) Don't worry if you don't want to spend a decade on it!! I just fell in love with the game, you can finish the game in probably half the time, if you're good that is :).
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Having just spent many hours playing the fantastic Fallout 3 I decided to start on Final Fantasy. What can I say except oh dear.
Firstly the graphics - brilliant, couldn't have wished for more from the opening scenes, but then you get to actually playing the game. This consists of the following:-
Move forwards, see an enemy. Game stops and goes into some sort of attack screen, which consisted of me pressing a button and waiting for the combo bar to become full. Then my character went into action, killing the enemy. This was followed by a screen popping up with a score for my attack and some gold stars. Why oh why couldn't I just run up to the enemy and kill them myself without the annoying attack screen??
This is more of a platform game, your character doesn't even have a jump button. Merely run at a wall and you'll automatically jump up it!! You can't go off and explore and to me it seems more of a movie with a bit of player interaction.
Back to Fallout 3 then until Fallout New Vegas is released. AVOID FINAL FANTASY!!
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I bought this for my husband, he thought it was an excellent game. If you love the Final Fantasy games then you will love this one