REVIEWED – Final Fantasy XIII

Title:  Final Fantasy XIII
Platform:  PlayStation 3
Developer:  Square Enix
Publisher:  Square Enix
Reviewed By:  Ashley Winchester
SCORE:  A-

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If sales promotion were any indication, then Final Fantasy XIII would be the God of War. Square has relentlessly been plugging away at pitching the first installment in its Fabula Nova Crystallis series (read: cash-exploiting monolith), bombarding Japanese people with TV ads, online promotions, tie-ins, trailer-sized billboards (one even right outside Shibuya Station’s Hachiko Exit) and promotional junkets galore. As if the world didn’t already know Final Fantasy 13 was in the future, it sure does now. It does, of course, have huge shoes to fill, as to many of the mainstream gamer, there has never been another fantasy so fantastic as the 7th installment: no one has ever come close to matching the menace of Sephiroth or the clout of Cloud. The most recent installments don’t even compare, with FFX being more of a vacation in Okinawa rather than a cyber-punk adventure, FFXI being a joke (i.e. an online installment that had no business being numbered), and FFXII being an offline MMORPG with sparse narrative despite having the best character in the history of the series (all hail Balthier). Helmed by many of the key staff members responsible for the sacred Seven, Final Fantasy 13 provides so much content and polish that one need not even question why it took ages to complete a game that was first unveiled publicly over 3 years ago.

As the digital “d-day” has now passed, it is thus time to take a look at the “other” RPG titan…

Glitz and Glam to Gore
Without question, Final Fantasy XIII is one of the most graphically breathtaking games ever created. Everything you see, everything you do, everything that exists is painstakingly detailed and full of emotion. It’s particularly interesting as, in many respects, Mistwalker’s “Lost Odyssey” was very much a “Final Fantasy” game in terms of its graphical grandeur and obsession with CG. At the time, I actually remember thinking that it would be difficult for the REAL FF game to surpass it’s visuals. And yet, perhaps as a factor of time, it does. The product actually feels less like a game and more like a movie given how good it looks. Explosions blasting roads as hundreds of helpless humans plummet to their doom, gigantic fields that sprawl as far as the eye can see, even small particles dancing in the air are filled with an inexplicable amount of attention to detail.

Though I will avoid spoiling anything, suffice to say that early on, there is an in-game “re-enactment” of a certain Dead Sea-type event that will delight fans of Chrono Cross. In fact, while playing 13, there are dozens upon dozens of situations wherein you will end up recalling some old-school era game and wishing that Square could remake it today with these kinds of visuals. The battle scenes are equally fantastic; bits of cast magic remain lodged on the field, gigantic summon monsters animate with all the grace and fluidity as any real-life creature might, as do the characters and monsters. You will easily find yourself with bated anticipation to see what comes next and to be sure, the game never disappoints.

Unfortunately what DOES disappoint however, does so on two fronts:

Flash in the Pan
As good as the graphics are, there is something a bit unsettling about them. It seems as if Square went a bit toofar with the detail and design, as for all of the superb sights, you can’t actually make out what is happening in a lot of them. Cut scenes in particular, gorgeous as they are, are often so jam-packed with action and movement that your eyes have trouble taking all of it in. And the camera pans too fast thus creating a situation that, while fluid, leave you with only a general sense of what’s going on. It’s a bit ironic, but the massive scope of detail in this game actually serves as a detraction from the visuals. The environments themselves are equally at fault as their overly complex nature can prevent you from actually taking them in. It’s as if your brain actually turns “off” because there is no way for it to take in the minutia of complexity. Now before anyone attacks this comment, consider that I’ve been playing games for over 15 years now and this is the first time I’ve ever encountered something of this nature.

Sin-ful Scrummaging
Those players who loved Final Fantasy X will instantly feel at home here, as for better or worse, XIII returns to the same “Tunnel-Vision” map system that plagued Yuna’s pilgrimage. It’s so similar to FFX that you might actually consider this Final Fantasy X-3 (especially with the “Dresssphere type gameplay mechanic-more on that later). Square created gorgeous, sprawling locals almost reaching FFXII-calibre expansiveness and brimming with tons of detail and depth, yet lo and behold you are usually prohibited from exploring 80% of it. The game is literally “boxed” as you can’t even explore nooks and crannies that your characters can technically fit in; the game just outright prohibits any exploration outside of the clearly delineated space. This makes for great annoyance as there are hundreds upon hundreds of little alcoves that are screaming out for you to explore them, yet all you can do is look and fancy what it would have been like…

Granted many will argue that Final Fantasy 12’s gigantic DQ8-sized areas were somewhat lacking in the design and detail department, but at the same time their being gigantic ensured that you could do a whole lot of exploring. With FF13, however, the only real exploration you can do is towards the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, there are some exceptions to this rule, but the utter fact that you spend much of the game traveling in a more-or-less linear line is a bit vexing, especially as this comes after the offline MMORPG before it and thus represents a step backwards.

Frantically Fun Fighting
Forget everything you know about the FF-series staple battles, because they are now rendered obsolete. As with the previous installment, all monsters are visible on the playing field. Final Fantasy 13 introduces a brand new ATB system: all actions, be they attacking, casting a spell, or using techniques, cost “time”; as a result there is no more MP. The game operates on a system such that as the full ATB bar fills up, you can split its content into different actions (the bar is thus broken up into set pieces). Thus, every action taken in battle costs “points”; standard attacks require only one charge bar however more advanced tactics require 2 or more. While waiting for the ATB bar to fill, you are thus tasked with selecting the desired actions and the subsequent monster to target, after which (when the bar fills), the assault will automatically commence. While the game starts with only 2 “Charges” per character, as you progress their bar will increase to 3, 4, and so on.

To provide a basic illustration, say you want to use the “Attack” command with say, the magic Fira. Attack costs 1 bar and Fira 2. So to use both of these in a single ATB “phase”, you must wait for the bar to fill all three units. But what if you are impatient or change your mind and don’t want to wait for the entire bar to charge before attacking? No problem; push the Triangle Button at any time and the charge time will cancel prematurely and whichever attacks you have enough stock to use with initiate. Thus, if you decide to attack with only 2.5 of the bars filled, your character will commence the “Attack” command and the Fira magic will be cancelled. However, as you had 2.5/3 bars filled, that remaining 1.5 of ATB time will carry over to the next phase and thus you will start with 1.5 bars filled. Do note that when I say phase, I just mean the cycle of the bar filling and then emptying; fighting has no pauses whatsoever and no turns, thus if you sit and do nothing your PC will get slaughtered. (Yes, that’s right, you are only in control of whomever is the main character at the time; the game will take control of the other 2. And yes, if your player character dies, it’s Game Over even if the other 2 computer controlled characters are still living).

While it takes a few minutes to get use to initially, the system is polished to perfection and ensures that fighting is once again fresh, fun, and…fast! Those of you who dislike fast-paced battles are in for a sharp wake-up call: Final Fantasy XIII’s fights are on par with FFX-2, if not even faster: trust me, that’s a good thing given how frequently you will be fighting. You must remain constantly on your proverbial toes as even a few seconds of pause can result in life-or-death. Newcomers will be pleased to know that the ATB system can be toggled in the Configuration screen to allow more time for their decisions and command input.

Another aspect of battle is that, similar to Final Fantasy XII, it’s truly in real time. Despite the characters automatically carrying out their selected commands, their actual ability to do so is largely dependant on what is going on on the battlefield. For example, if you input the Fight command, your character will do just that. However should the target move too far away, or should you get attacked in the process, the command is carried out (or cancelled) and the target remains unscathed. Properly timing your attacks is pivotal for success, as it plays a large part of what follows:

Tearing a page out of the Xenosaga playbook, FF13 introduces the “Break” system. All opponents have a life bar and a break bar. While the former is self explanatory, the latter may be quite new for those unaccustomed to Zarathustra and KOS-MOS. The Break Bar serves as a type of stress meter; each attack you launch on an enemy causes the bar to fill; after it reaches maximum capacity, the opponent will “break” and thus remain docile (save for the more difficult monsters) and let their guard down thus allowing for major damage opportunities. Different attacks and different attack combinations cause the break bar to fill at varying speeds. The key, therefore, is learning which attack/combination is most effective on each monster as many of them are almost invincible should you not break them. Note that the bar will begin to empty immediately after the attack connects, though it has a “holder” such that, if you execute another attack before the bar empties completely, the subsequent damage will continue filling the Break bar where the last blow ended. But as mentioned in the previous paragraph, you must time the attacks accordingly less the bar empty entirely while waiting for the ATB sequence to charge up. It’s also worth mentioning that, if you score a Preemptive Strike, your main character will not only attack all the enemies before battle begins, but also have full ATB stock AND, most importantly, all of the monsters will be near break status.

Curiously, your HP is restored at the end of each fight, thus restorative items and spells may only be used during battle. I am ultimately not sure what the outcome of such a huge change is: on the one hand it allows the game to flow much smoother between exploration and battle, yet at the same time it eliminates much of the challenge as who among us can not recall a plethora of situations wherein we were nearing 0MP and low on healing items, and plugging away at the given game praying for a heal spot or Level Up; that kind of tension is sadly absent from the game. Equally curious is the obscene nature in which you can procure Potions; the game practically hands them out like candy (some fights can yield an excess of SIX as victory spoils). Equally questionable is the issue that potions, when used, heal everyone instead of just one character.

Those who played the FF13 demo will be interested to note that the final version allows for command overrides. This is to say that, in the demo, if you selected commands that exceeded your bars, the battle engine prevented the input. In the final version, the most recent command input will override the previous prior to selecting the target. (To use the prior example, if you selected Attack and Fira, that would use 3 bars. But if you then selected Firaga that might use 3 bars, it would cancel the input of Attack and Fira and replace it with Firaga).

Also “lifted” from the Nietzschean world of Xenosaga is the “Strategic Engagement” element. As you explore the game’s environments you will come across a variety of items that, when used on the map, allow the use of a smoke screen to guarantee preemptive strikes, or other items that can boost certain magics or whatnot.

Crystal Spheres and Optimum Options
Each character takes on a set role in battle, and that role is determined by you. The “Optima” system is much like the Dress Sphere system employed in X-2. Each character has a set of battle “styles”, such as “Attacker” or “Healer”. Each of these styles, or Optimas, has its own set of unique abilities, be it use of Healing magic, use of battle skills, use of defensive abilities, etc. In turn, each of these styles has its own unique crystal board where you can develop your skills. Each style starts out with a single learned function, but as you battle and earn CP (Crystal Points), the points can be spent to learn a new ability, with each subsequent one requiring more CP.

The catch is that you must select the proper Optima to match the given battle situation, as you are basically “equipping” the style and all abilities contained therein. This is similar to the gameplay mechanic found in Star Ocean 4 wherein you level up a “Class” however said class bonus features only apply when you are using it. Thus, if you’re up against a tough monster with thousands of HP, it’s necessary to switch one (or two) characters to the role of Healer so that they can repair damage. Likewise, if you’re pitted against a lot of cannon fodder, its best to change everyone to Attacker and make quit work of them. Fortunately, initiating an Optima Change is as simple as hitting the L1 Button and selecting the desired configuration. Similar to the Gambit System in FFXII, you can mix-and match your own Optima Change configurations to create a variety of party combinations, and then save them for pre-set use in battle. If you want the short version, think evolving Dress Spheres.

To put it differently, think back to Final Fantasy 8 and the Guardian Force system. Recall that each GF had different abilities and that you had to manually “equip” commands such as “Attack” or “Magic”. FFXIII is the same way in that the Defender Optima, for example, doesn’t have the Attack ability. Thus if you leave a character in that role, they will constantly use defense related content from their learned abilities. It is thus essential to change the character roles constantly so that you have access to Healing magic, or to weapon-based attacks.

The best way to describe this game’s character development system is to imagine a combination of Final Fantasy X and X-2 with a touch of 12’s License Board system. The Crystalium Board works much like the Sphere Grids, with each Optima “Class” having its own board to develop. The boards, then, have a clear starting point consisting of the first ability and you then expend CP to move to the next node. As one might expect, the content of the individual nodes is strictly dependent on which of the Optima classes you are evolving; while the Attacker boards will deal with damage, the Healer will deal with restorative magics.

As FF13 does away with Experience Points and therefore Experience Levels entirely, the only way to increase your character stats is to make use of the Crystium System as, in addition to the aforementioned magics and techniques, the boards also contain a variety of stat bonuses. These bonuses are permanent, mind you, and thus you will retain the stat boosts even when you switch Optimas.

The only down side is that, at least in the early parts of the game, you wind up with a huge surplus of CP even after you have maxed out the available boards. It’s frustrating because the game thus impedes your ability to develop your characters until specific points wherein the “limiter” is removed.

Ranking Reality
At the end of each battle, you will receive a detailed screen informing you of various battle aspects, including the elapsed time, your “score”, the amount of awarded CP, and your TP bonus (TP is akin to a special tactical abilities such as Libra that have their own usage gauge). And…a star ranking. The game ranks each fight out of a possible 5 star maximum that is determined by your performance. Unfortunately this system is horribly broken, as the game awards a perfect ranking way too easily. It’s so bad that you actually find yourself annoyed that when you do pull off some great combination or finish the battle in record time with no damage, the score is no different than when you played half as good. IMHO a system more similar to Namco’s Tales of’s “Grade” score would have worked much better here, wherein the game would award your skill with a number as opposed to a set delineation. Nonetheless, it’s a nice change of pace from the typical “Earned EXP/Gold/AP” fare that was so common in the FF series.

Music to Make
Ask any Final Fantasy fan about their favorite aspects of the series and chances are likely the word “music” will be somewhere in the answer. The series is known for its memorable themes, catchy battle tracks, and even the occasional waltz or two. Though staple-series composer Nobou Uematsu has long since parted ways with the FF universe, one should rest assured knowing that FF13 continues in the same tradition of upstanding, memorable pieces. Scoring the music this time around is veteran Square musician Masashi Hamauzu who contributed to the Final Fantasy X OST, as well as Brave Fencer Musashi 2, Unlimited Saga, Dirge of Cerberus, and Sigma Harmonics, to name but few of his works. What he accomplished with FF13 is nothing short of brilliant, especially in creating what might possibly be the best battle music in the entire series. SO good is the music, in fact, that it’s actually incorporated into several other tracks and serves as a quasi-theme to the game itself.

As with every modern FF game, each area has its own theme, each character has their own theme, and many battles have their own theme. Suffice to say that the game’s score will take up 4 discs when the OST releases in January, one of which is the game’s theme song, and the subject of a minor controversy as, for the first time ever, Square has opted to totally replace the theme song between the Japanese version and the English/foreign language versions. “Because You’re Here” is the soft ballad sung by Sayuri Sugawara (the game also features another song by her, “Eternal Love”). The foreign version will feature the song “My Hands” by British singer Leona Lewis though from the get-go the reaction to such a change has been teeming with venom among the die-hard fans.

The voice acting (for the Japanese version, obviously) is excellent as par the course with Japanese voice actors, and the sound effects are also fitting and at times, fantastic.

Creating Crappy Characters
For all the things Final Fantasy XIII has going for it; for all the time and effort it took to make such a brilliant game; I can’t for the life of me, understand why in the world the developers settled on what might be the worst set of characters in an RPG ever. Allow me to approach this from a dual-angled approach:

I. Character Design
Testuya Nomura, whom I use to love for his once-lively and fresh designs back in the PSOne days, continues in his relentless attempt to rehash each and every tired cliched character from the past. We’ve seen much of this before: Snow (i.e. Zell Dincht), Lightning (whom Nomura was actually told to design as a “female Cloud”), Vanilla (i.e. Selphie Tilmitt) and Oerba (Paine dressed as Kimahri). What we haven’t seen we really had no need for thanks to the terrible character designs: Hope and Sazh, the former a dead ringer for Bernard Sumner and the latter of whom annoyed me in particular; why must the series’ second character of African decent be so horribly stereotyped, even down to the idea of something stuck in his “must have” huge afro (in this case a baby Chocobo). Japan really needs to wizen up to the fact that people of African decent are of a diverse composite and thus stop the stereotypical cliches that are so frequently depicted with respect to said race in Japanese pop-culture.

On a side note I will say that the CG models look worlds better than their in-game counterparts. Square had once claimed it would eliminate the gap between the two yet this game proves that there is still a LONG way to go.

II. Characterization
Trite garbage. To say that this game reeks of cliched melodrama is an understatement. Whereas Final Fantasy X had its fair share of “acting” peppered throughout the sad story, save for Tidus it never managed to lower itself to the banal existence that Final Fantasy 13 achieves. This lies, in no small part, in the fault of the characters themselves, namely:

Zell…I mean Snow, is hands down the worst character in Final Fantasy history. Like an overgrown 7-year old, you will constantly hear about how he is “going to protect everyone” or “protect the world” or “protect what is important” or “protect [his] friends”. It’s difficult remembering a single cut-scene that transpired wherein he did not use the word “protect” or “hero”. It’s cliched, it’s annoying, and it’s down right pathetic. It’s also amusing how Lightning (the main character) even makes fun of him at one point. Where the writers got the idea that ANYONE would like this kind of looser is beyond me, though perhaps for the majority of anti-social otaku who worship this game series, to be such a “dynamic” character is their life’s dream. Then again considering that the programmers were so in-love with Snow as to specify his shoe size (33cm for those not in-the-know) it might be their charismatic lust as well.

Hope is equally infuriating with his tired-and-true “tween-meets-emo” appeal. Are we suppose to feel sorry for him amidst all his whining and running away and moping around? Give me a break. At least Squall Leonhart managed to be edgy with his angst; this louse seems to have no other purpose than to have dramatic outbursts. Listen up Square: no one wants to play a 40 hour game with an annoying Shinji Ikari in-tow, especially when you obviously designed him to look like chaos and we all know how chaos was really something special. News flash: no one wants kids in their videogames, especially when they are annoying and especially when you make a point of showing their cliched maturation from “child” to “adult”.  AFAIC the only game that successfully pulled off having brats in the mix was Lost Odyssey, in part because their roles were somewhat limited and because they weren’t nearly as annoying.

Honestly speaking the only character I actually found myself liking was Lightning, perhaps in no small part because she is so different from the other party members. She is angry, violent, and unpredictable. She alone saved this game from being a total write-off in terms of the characters and content.

Now I’m sure that many people will love the cast of characters and adore the banal Japanese “ningen drama” that reeks of anime like nothing else. Thus for those of you who will disagree with me on this aspect, the game is that much more enjoyable for you. It’s just my opinion, but I’d much prefer more mature characters whom I could care about rather than this band of bothers.

Odds and Ends
As towns are quite sparse (if you can call them “towns” in the traditional sense), the game has a new way to shop. You first wake up to this sobering reality a scant one minute after you start controlling Lightning as no sooner do you reach the save point than you notice a new option. Yes, that’s right: you save and shop at the same place. It came as a huge surprise to me; were this Biohazard then I could overlook this issue, but for an RPG to have shops stationed at every save point (which, I might add, is like every screen) it’s really unusual. I do like the manner in which you collect new “links” to shops thus expanding the list as the game progresses and allowing you to buy more and more items.

Also worth mentioning is the somewhat tiresome nature of the game; the best way to describe the balance of FFXIII is to think of FFX, and then add in all the hours and hours of cut-scenes from Metal Gear Solid 4. There are so many times when you literally do nothing but watch a cut-scene, walk a few steps, and then watch another. Add this to the aforementioned drought of towns to sparse up the adventure and you might question whether this is an RPG or an action game with turn based battles. Yes story is good (though IMHO not when it has these characters) but TOO much of a good thing isn’t now, is it…

Additionally, the game has an “Auto Clip” system that is best described as a combination of FFXII’s logbook system and Xenosaga’s encyclopedia. This menu option is where you can find tutorial information as well as tons of content about the game’s story and characters…all things that IMHO would have been better suited in the game as opposed to reading about it. Suffice to say, however, that Square went to town when it came to fully realizing the world.

Let’s see…what else. The game is actually told in Chapters, there are a variety of trophies to acquire for use with the PlayStation Network, the game has oodles of different save file icon variations, you will be jumping around the environments like Yuna in FFX-2, Gil isn’t really useful, you can only equip a weapon and an accessory (no armor). Lightning carries her sword like Fate Linegod, each character has a 2 second FMV that plays when you access their Status or Equipment screens…ah there are such a myriad of details it’s impossible to list them all.

And yes, I am deliberately leaving out some elements of the game, such as the plot, the “summons” and whatnot as it would be a shame to lift the veil on every aspect of 13. You must discover some of the magic for yourselves!

Final Focus
In the end, the real question is not whether you will buy FFXIII, but if you will enjoy it as much as the next person; the game has so many strong points, but also some very prominent shortcomings. In addition to the opinions expressed above, there is the fundamental issue of whether you (the reader/consumer/FF fan) will feel the same way. Perhaps some of you will loathe the battle system, for example. For better or worse, Square has continued its merging Final Fantasy with the mainstream gaming market and along with it, the benefits and the detractions. It’s actually worth pondering what Final Fantasy XV will amount to as without a doubt, the feedback from this game (as well as the in-house related discussions) will strongly affect the next installment. Also worth wondering, what will come out of the other two planned projects; Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy Agito XIII; how will these two products fit into the universe? Will there be any overlap? Will we see cameo appearances (that is all but assured given the level of fan-service this company stoops to)? Final Fantasy 13 is truly the opening to a brand new universe: just make sure that once you step through, you don’t forget your way back to the rabbit hole.