Final Fantasy XIII

 PlayStation 3
User Score
7.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 2976 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,797 out of 2976
  2. Mixed: 513 out of 2976
  3. Negative: 666 out of 2976
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  1. aaronnmp96
    Jan 30, 2023
    7
    Very linear, the story is good but certain characters can be tedious, the Gameplay seems fun and strategic
  2. AJCk19
    Nov 18, 2022
    7
    Game is all round beautiful from the score, and graphics during it's time. However, the game doesn't really open up until 50 hours in. Yet I still enjoyed myself because not all JRPGs have to be open/sandbox, a linear story driven experience can have its own benefits.

    But my biggest problem was being forced to be stuck with whiny characters like Hope, there was no new game plus (but to    Game is all round beautiful from the score, and graphics during it's time. However, the game doesn't really open up until 50 hours in. Yet I still enjoyed myself because not all JRPGs have to be open/sandbox, a linear story driven experience can have its own benefits.

    But my biggest problem was being forced to be stuck with whiny characters like Hope, there was no new game plus (but to be fair, if it is with hope, just nvm then), and it was kind or rpg lite.    … Expand
  3. basic123
    Oct 16, 2022
    5
    This Final Fantasy never felt right. With a confusing story, shalow gameplay and boring main characters I didnt really enjoy it overall.
  4. chrisdan23
    Jun 9, 2022
    6
    Final Fantasy war schon immer ein Franchise, das sich von Ableger zu Ableger neu zu erfinden wusste. Dies ist im Laufe seiner Geschichte auch immer wieder durchaus hervorragend gelungen. So waren bereits die PSOne Klassiker, trotz Ähnlichkeiten in ihrem Kampfsystem, vor allem hinsichtlich ihres Settings und des Artdesigns deutlich eigenständig. Der direkte Vorgänger, Final Fantasy XII,Final Fantasy war schon immer ein Franchise, das sich von Ableger zu Ableger neu zu erfinden wusste. Dies ist im Laufe seiner Geschichte auch immer wieder durchaus hervorragend gelungen. So waren bereits die PSOne Klassiker, trotz Ähnlichkeiten in ihrem Kampfsystem, vor allem hinsichtlich ihres Settings und des Artdesigns deutlich eigenständig. Der direkte Vorgänger, Final Fantasy XII, brach dann auch mit den eher rundenbasierten Kämpfen in separierten Arenen und integrierte diese direkt in die Semi-Open World des Spiels. Mit dem Einstieg in die XIIIer Trilogie muss ich allerdings gestehen, dass mich Square, als eigentlichen Fan des Franchisen, nun größtenteils aber abgehängt hat.

    Weiß das Setting des neuen Nova Crystallis Universums durchaus zu faszinieren, und auch das actionreiche, aber trotzdem sehr taktische "Paradigma" Kampfsystem zu überzeugen, sind es vor allem die arg clichehaften Charaktere, aber auch das extrem lineare Gameplay, das einem den Spass an der Freud letztlich deutlich eintrübt. Kann man mit Lightning als Hauptheldin der Spiele vielleicht noch etwas anfangen, brauch ich solch peinliche Figuren wie Snow, oder die unsägliche Serah, nun wirklich nicht. Vor allem aber sind die Areale meist so schlauchig gestaltet, dass man sich eigentlich nur "gerade aus laufend" von Cut Scene zu Cut Scene vorwärts kämpft, was mit der Zeit einfach extrem öde und eintönig wird. Wäre da nicht die hervorragende Präsentation des Titels, ich glaube FFXIII hätte mich kaum bei Laune halten können. Viel zu spät im Spiel finden wir einmal ein größeres Areal vor, in dem wir uns nun frei bewegen, Nebenaufgaben annehmen und uns ein wenig austoben können. Towns und generell NPCs finden sich dort aber auch nicht an, weshalb die plötzliche Freiheit auch eher etwas konstruiert wirkt. Da war SquareEnix mit der konsequent offenen Spielewelt eines Final Fantasy XII bereits völlig wo anders unterwegs.

    In der Quintessenz muss man sagen, dass Final Fantasy XIII aufgrund des spannenden Settings und der überragenden, cineastischen Präsentation ein durchaus ganz gutes Spiel geworden ist, das freilich auch seine starken Momente hat. Als Reboot des hochdekorierten Final Fantasy Franchises hat es viele Fans aber weitgehend enttäuscht. Sicherlich hat SquareEnix mit FFXIII versucht auch jüngere Gamer mit ihrem Langzeitfranchise wieder neu anzusprechen. Doch insgesamt ist Square mit ihrem Einstieg in die XIIIer Trilogie konzeptionell zu schlampig und inkonsistent unterwegs, als dass es gereicht hätte, an die teils wirklich großartigen Vorgängern anzuknüpfen. Schade.    … Expand
  5. Tidu
    May 23, 2022
    7
    If FF12 was "just ok" game for me, XIII doesn't even top that. I don't like the setting that much and the characters are not that likeable(except for a few). Hope was especially annoying for me.
    Game is also too much of a tube run, and even through FFX was it kind of also, this one doesn't work as well.
    Still somehow we got couple sequels which worked a bit better, but it felt like that    If FF12 was "just ok" game for me, XIII doesn't even top that. I don't like the setting that much and the characters are not that likeable(except for a few). Hope was especially annoying for me.
    Game is also too much of a tube run, and even through FFX was it kind of also, this one doesn't work as well.
    Still somehow we got couple sequels which worked a bit better, but it felt like that Final Fantasy magic was lost for me.    … Expand
  6. WhiteEagle
    Apr 27, 2022
    7
    I love some of the characters, namely Vanille and Fang, but the battle system is just too underwhelming. So often I find normal roadside encounters developing into long, tiring and excruciating ones and I've died more times than in any other Final Fantasy game even at normal difficulty. To me the battle system in FF 13 is just unenjoyable at all, in comparison, the polished version of thisI love some of the characters, namely Vanille and Fang, but the battle system is just too underwhelming. So often I find normal roadside encounters developing into long, tiring and excruciating ones and I've died more times than in any other Final Fantasy game even at normal difficulty. To me the battle system in FF 13 is just unenjoyable at all, in comparison, the polished version of this battle system in FF 13-2 proved to be much more entertaining and also reasonable. The battle system aside, the extreme linearity of the first 10 chapters(the game has 13 chapters) is also a big problem.… Expand
  7. Moriquendi
    Feb 21, 2022
    7
    Lo estoy volviendo a jugar después de 12 años sabiendo que es una kk de juego pero sin esperar grandes cosas y la verdad es que me esta sorprendiendo gráficamente y lo estoy disfrutando mas, debido a que posiblemente fuera el primer final fantasy de ps3 esperábamos mucho ya que Sony vendió muchísimo humo nos creímos que volveríamos a ver otro FF7 FF8 FF9 y nos encontramos algo muy distintoLo estoy volviendo a jugar después de 12 años sabiendo que es una kk de juego pero sin esperar grandes cosas y la verdad es que me esta sorprendiendo gráficamente y lo estoy disfrutando mas, debido a que posiblemente fuera el primer final fantasy de ps3 esperábamos mucho ya que Sony vendió muchísimo humo nos creímos que volveríamos a ver otro FF7 FF8 FF9 y nos encontramos algo muy distinto con visión propia.
    Repito si lo juegas sabiendo que no tienes que buscar ninguna referencia a sus títulos anteriores se puede disfumar como un titulo independiente de la saga con algún que otro altibajo.    … Expand
  8. mynameiscalled
    Sep 4, 2021
    6
    First off - I am a HUGE Final Fantasy fan. Been loving this series ever since I played the FF7 back when I was a little kid... so, here goes...

    The game isn't that great. Don't get me wrong - there is a lot to enjoy here, but the previous FF bar is set pretty high and the XIII doesn't deliver. I sank 53 hours into this game, finished it, went back and grinded abit more for the role    First off - I am a HUGE Final Fantasy fan. Been loving this series ever since I played the FF7 back when I was a little kid... so, here goes...

    The game isn't that great. Don't get me wrong - there is a lot to enjoy here, but the previous FF bar is set pretty high and the XIII doesn't deliver.

    I sank 53 hours into this game, finished it, went back and grinded abit more for the role trophies and that is it.

    The game consists of tubes that you can run through, up to chapter 11, then it opens up abit, and I mean abit. The game has almost no free-roam-do-whatever-the-hell-you-want aspect in it. It's just running, killing enemies, watching cutscene and repeat. The cutscenes are beautiful tho, the story is kinda classic "final fantasy'ish" story, nothing to say about that. Characters are likeable (Except Hope, I dont like the brat lol)

    The main reason I gave this game a 6 is cause I'm a loyal die hard FF player, so abit biased here. In reality though, I would have hard time recommending this to a person who doesen't know much about FF. I would most definitely not recommend playing this as anyones first FF game. With that being said - I still had fun and am not regretting playing it. It will be a one-time gig though. Not gonna replay this game.    … Expand
  9. Flammie
    Apr 12, 2021
    6
    Final Fantasy XIII is a JRPG in the final fantasy series with new battle mechanics and all. I've really tried to hard to like this game and replayed it three times through, but there are simply not enough positive points to outweigh the negatives. It still is a final fantasy game with kind of captivating story, though it defintely is among the weakest in the franchise. The boredom ofFinal Fantasy XIII is a JRPG in the final fantasy series with new battle mechanics and all. I've really tried to hard to like this game and replayed it three times through, but there are simply not enough positive points to outweigh the negatives. It still is a final fantasy game with kind of captivating story, though it defintely is among the weakest in the franchise. The boredom of tunnelrunning cannot be overstated, there are few more interesting level designs towards the end of the game, but just like with the opening of the side quest system 80 % in the game, it's too little too late. And the new fighting system is kind of innovative but has crucial failures; bad AI and broken tank-class concept make for rather annoying battles. You cannot do much in the battles even though you know by entering specific commands you'd win all battles, the paradigm shift takes too long and battles seem too slow. Music, graphics etc. are great as expected, it really fails in the fun of gameplay section.… Expand
  10. lukidior
    Jul 20, 2020
    5
    The story telling part is not good. The direct unforked road is boring. The HP of the enemies are setting too high which cause taking too much time for each battle.
  11. INU4SH4
    Jul 13, 2020
    6
    I never got to finish this game because the story and gameplay just took forever to develop and most characters are annoying. The gameplay wasn't good, although the graphics were quite ahead of its time. That was the only truly praise-worthy aspect of this game.

    I might get to finish this one day, but I highly doubt it. It's just too slow and uninteresting.
  12. supermalik987
    Jun 26, 2020
    6
    So i decide to give this a chance since 2010 when i was a dumb teenager . And what did think i fought the game was okay . It does have problems and this review is going to based on the pc and Japanese dub . combat isnt the best leveling up takes a long time . reading a lot of story log to understand the game wasn't the best idea . And its something to remember the the six gen game hadSo i decide to give this a chance since 2010 when i was a dumb teenager . And what did think i fought the game was okay . It does have problems and this review is going to based on the pc and Japanese dub . combat isnt the best leveling up takes a long time . reading a lot of story log to understand the game wasn't the best idea . And its something to remember the the six gen game had the struggle to make games and a lot had to be cut out . But i do say give it second chance . Make in the future we could have remake of the game .… Expand
  13. Addposer
    Jun 23, 2020
    5
    Boring, unlike FF it is so linear that it feels like an old sonic game that you can only go foward and thats it.
  14. Sitheral
    Jun 14, 2020
    6
    Incredibly linear game with an interesting battle system, story that does a very bad job of telling itself and so-so characters. It does open up later on, but really, we are talking about like 30+ hours, for many it might be too late and the Grand Pulse isnt that fascinating anyway. This game couldnt even bother to have a trade npcs, you just buy stuff from the menu. None of this really isIncredibly linear game with an interesting battle system, story that does a very bad job of telling itself and so-so characters. It does open up later on, but really, we are talking about like 30+ hours, for many it might be too late and the Grand Pulse isnt that fascinating anyway. This game couldnt even bother to have a trade npcs, you just buy stuff from the menu. None of this really is that terrible on its own, but when you combine it all, FF13 offers a world you just can't believe in.… Expand
  15. Kai82
    Mar 14, 2020
    5
    It is a visual and stylish impressive game with lacks in storytelling and variety. The graphics are still impressive and the soundtrack is also good but I miss the Final Fantasy and Winning theme. The main story is a different thing. The plot holes are impressive. It looks like the story was rewritten a lot by different people because former parts of the story, lore and facts were ignoredIt is a visual and stylish impressive game with lacks in storytelling and variety. The graphics are still impressive and the soundtrack is also good but I miss the Final Fantasy and Winning theme. The main story is a different thing. The plot holes are impressive. It looks like the story was rewritten a lot by different people because former parts of the story, lore and facts were ignored or were a later addition / afterthought. Because of this some character development and decisions are strange up to idiotic. I will point out that I like the characters and their struggles. Especially Lightning, Hope, Serah and Sazh. Also the themes or reasons of their struggles are praiseworthy and could be a highlight. My first main critique is that there are no side activities in the game and the world opens up only after 20-25 hours. There is the statement that the game gets good after 20 hours. I disagree (it got a bit better). There is no exploration. At most each branch from the main path is at max 3-5 minutes long without battles. There is no side activity except more battles / monster hunting. You have even a Chocobo theme park with no races or anything else. The older games had much more. My other main critique is the battle system. While I found it interesting it is also unrewarding. Many said that it feels like you get an automated system and with a few tweaks you can avoid manual input at all. While this is wrong or lets say hyperbolism the point itself is valid. I must also mention the level up system. This game blocks you from leveling up until you reach certain points. I find this to be a friction pad. Also for some bosses you must defeat them in a certain way or you get instant death. This is not like in previous games were you enjoyed puzzling this out (Yunalesca from FF10 for example). More in the way: Oh you are winning this battle and we cant prevent you, lets just add an instant death timer. I like challenges but not in a way that the boss is no treat or even a challenge. Maybe I sound to negative. I enjoyed the game but it got boring after a while. I am not sure if I could finish it when it would be 5 hours longer. Overall it is a misstep but not a terrible game. They were too long in the development phase without actually developing the game.… Expand
  16. Th3StartButton
    Jun 4, 2019
    7
    I honestly enjoyed Maybe its cause I was pretty new to Final Fantasy it was fine man just try it
  17. sakubo
    Jan 28, 2019
    5
    I just could not relate to the story and it's characters. Battles and music were good though.
  18. Vexyy
    Nov 27, 2018
    7
    Yes it's good.
    But if you do not have the patience to play RPG in turn, DO NOT PLAY THAT GAME.
    He is slow, with a very realistic gameplay, but he has a problem, which in another point of view, can be considered ART.
    Its complexity.
    It is very complex, with paradigms, crystarium, among others.
    But it is still another game of the consecrated Final Fantasy franchise
  19. Leontorres7
    Nov 15, 2018
    7
    The game could have been better and its lacking a lot of elements but still it is entertaining.
  20. BlitZeR_95
    Apr 29, 2018
    7
    I'm a HUGE Final Fantasy fan! I love this new combat style and the cutscenes are amazing just what you expect from a Final Fantasy game but that's about it for the good part of this game.
    The characters are weak, none of them you can relate to as they're very unrealistic. Story is very confusing unless you play it multiple time but not many people have time to play a Final Fantasy game    I'm a HUGE Final Fantasy fan! I love this new combat style and the cutscenes are amazing just what you expect from a Final Fantasy game but that's about it for the good part of this game.
    The characters are weak, none of them you can relate to as they're very unrealistic. Story is very confusing unless you play it multiple time but not many people have time to play a Final Fantasy game multiple of times. Very disappointing    … Expand
  21. OraNGEMiST
    Feb 7, 2018
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Final Fantasy XIII is a fun experience when your characters are under-levelled. I say this because grinding on this game makes it ridiculously passive and boring, the auto-battle feature is good when you're just trying to get through the game to see the story, but i don't believe that the story is worth it, the majority of the characters are awful and the conflict between them is often meaningless. The story itself is well thought out up until a certain part, but like most of the Final Fantasy games, they begin to turn into confusing, hard to follow nightmares. The characters are labelled as terrorists because of their mark from a Gran Pulse fal'Cie, they become l'Cie and must fulfil their purpose based on glimmers, they gather from their glimmers that they have been assigned the same task all the while being hunted by PSICOM, in spite of this, the characters decide to split up based on their interpretations of the purpose they are to carry out. After a short while, two of the characters end up being captured, the rest of the party are to rescue them, when their plan fails, the captured characters escape from their holding cell, the full party meets up to confront the game's main antagonist who turns out to be a fal'Cie. I'm not going to go through any further than that but i already know you're thinking what the f-. However, this does not mean that Final Fantasy XIII is a bad game, the strength of Final Fantasy games is generally in the music and this game lives up to the musical expectations everyone had for it. The combat in this game is very interesting and fantastic but was not utilised as well as it could have been, the paradigm system (basically a job system) and the staggering mechanic were excellent, but underutilised in my opinion and at a certain point in the game, all characters have access to all paradigms, essentially sacrificing the individuality of each of the characters, who in the beginning were clearly assigned a certain role (e.g. Lightning - Ravager, Snow - Sentinel, etc.), of course these characters were stronger at their assigned roles and had perks based on them but this made the game less enjoyable as a tactical game (deciding which characters to use in a boss fight, etc.).
    Overall, the game had great potential and was clearly well thought out, however, nearing the end, it was clear that this game was definitely not what it had players expecting, i enjoyed this game when i played it under-levelled and i noticed that the only major challenges i had with it were the end game activities, however these were repetitive and attempting to achieve the platinum trophy would be an impossible task for me because of how boring it becomes end-game. Because of the points I've listed and my personal experience with the game, i have decided to give Final Fantasy XIII a 6/10.    … Expand
  22. dr9188
    Jan 11, 2017
    5
    The most beautiful game of the seventh generation of game consoles. Not only the most beautiful, but the most beautiful game that consistently pushed graphics quality as far as it would go on each console- a testament to their development teams and their game engine at a time when the PS3 was notoriously difficult to program for.

    Also, the "Fabula Nova" mythos is a beautiful and tragic    The most beautiful game of the seventh generation of game consoles. Not only the most beautiful, but the most beautiful game that consistently pushed graphics quality as far as it would go on each console- a testament to their development teams and their game engine at a time when the PS3 was notoriously difficult to program for.

    Also, the "Fabula Nova" mythos is a beautiful and tragic story of wars between Gods and their slaves. The saddest thing about it is it ended up being wasted on the XIII saga, with other previously linked games (Agito, Versus) very quickly cutting ties with the XIII branding and being renamed (to Type-0 and XV respectively).

    Now I have got the positive out of the way... I don't think I could say a lot that hasn't been said before. It feels like a glorious 3D recreation of the tongue-in-cheek ProgressQuest. There is some depth with the Paradigm System, but largely you feel out of control even of your primary character. It is almost literally a stroll from A to B, with a reward of an uninteresting cut scene among characters you have little sympathy for... Not because they're bad or evil... But just because you don't care about them.

    Although Snow is probably the worst character I've seen the talented Troy Baker play, he does actually show a huge amount of depth and darkness in Lightning Returns... 4 years too late.

    If you are new to the series and considering XIII, I'd recommend you skip it and go to XV.    … Expand
  23. HTGamer
    Nov 23, 2016
    5
    Final Fantasy XIII is a pivotal moment in the Final Fantasy series' history. It's a game that has polarised people and, along with the initial FF XIV failure, it almost ended the series.

    FF XIII is a more casual and linear game than FF fans would expect. You mainly walk along a narrow path and battle enemies. You beat them, you proceed, and then battle more enemies. And the cycle goes    Final Fantasy XIII is a pivotal moment in the Final Fantasy series' history. It's a game that has polarised people and, along with the initial FF XIV failure, it almost ended the series.

    FF XIII is a more casual and linear game than FF fans would expect. You mainly walk along a narrow path and battle enemies. You beat them, you proceed, and then battle more enemies. And the cycle goes on. No freedom of exploration, no towns, no NPCs, no side-quests, no dialogue choices, you can't even go back to previous areas (unless you backtrack, but there is no reason to do it). Only towards the end does the game offer you a huge map to freely explore on the world of Gran Pulse where you accept missions to hunt monsters for a reward, but it can only last so long, and the linearity returns until the end credits roll.

    The story is a totally unoriginal mess that is summarised as "a bunch of mostly unrelated guys are united by chance and have to save the world from ancient deities", the characters are a joke (maybe aside main protagonist Lightning, who was made a mascot of the series), dialogue is most of the times atrocious.

    On a more positive note, graphics and art are beautiful (as always in the FF games), the monsters and characters are colourful, the cut-scenes (especially the action scenes) are awesome, the soundtrack has many great and catchy songs. But the voice overs are underwhelming.

    The heart of the game is its combat system, the Active Time Battle (no turn based combat). It's both great and bad at the same time. The good news is you can customise the roles of every party member on the fly. It's pretty awesome to watch the attacks and aerial manoeuvres during battles. The bad news is that because the ATB meter charges pretty fast you don't have time to properly select your moves and stand still until you hit the attack button, so it makes more sense to just hit the "Auto" button and let the AI do the job of executing the best attacks. All you have to do is attack, change roles for healing/buffing mates, change again to debuff enemies, change again to damage dealers, and change again relative to the situation until the enemies are defeated. Basically, you just sit there watching passively and just intervene to change the party members' roles and the AI does the rest.

    Announced as part of Square Enix's multi-game Fabula Nova Crystallis, Final Fantasy XIII hyped people but failed to deliver. After the complaints of gamers Square Enix would attempt to correct the series' route by releasing 2 FF XIII sequels and 1 spin-off, but it would prove to not be enough. The whole Fabula Nova Crystallis plan has been abandoned, and now we wait to see if FF XV (formerly FF Versus XIII, also an original part of Fabula Nova Crystallis, but not any more) can restore the series to its former glory.    … Expand
  24. StrayMan
    Nov 20, 2016
    6
    I was very excited for this game; I made the upgrade from Wii to PS3 just so I could play it. My roommates were also excited, and came in to watch the first bit of it. Not long after, they left, apparently underwhelmed. Can't blame 'em.

    From the start, this game is a hot mess. It throws you in, and you don't really know what's going on. There's a pretty action sequence, and then a    I was very excited for this game; I made the upgrade from Wii to PS3 just so I could play it. My roommates were also excited, and came in to watch the first bit of it. Not long after, they left, apparently underwhelmed. Can't blame 'em.

    From the start, this game is a hot mess. It throws you in, and you don't really know what's going on. There's a pretty action sequence, and then a tutorial boss. People running around in panic, etc. Felt very style over substance.

    Then, you start to get to know your main character... she's kinda a **** They were going for "strong, no-nonsense" female, but they came up with "cold, unfeeling and uncaring" female, who's perfectly fine with letting a kid die because he's slowing her down. She also has a habit of punching instead of using words. Halfway through the game, she starts to become halfway decent... and then that's it. She's halfway decent. Halfway likable. She goes from being a **** to a stoic, bland character instead. None of the 5 other party members are that much better. They range from irritating to passable to alright. Sazh is the most likable character. He's also the least usable character in battles by the end, unless you obtain his absolute best weapons. NPCs, furthermore, are nearly nonexistent, and when they do show up, they're paper thin, and/or die off quickly.

    The long corridor. Oh, the long corridor. It wasn't the worst part of the game. In fact, if other facets of the game were better, it might've been easy to overlook. Still, a lack of exploration until the end of the game for a final fantasy is pretty lame. Couple that with a lack of npc's and a lack of towns, and you've largely got an rpg that leans on its gameplay to be enjoyable...

    It took me months to beat this game, because getting through areas and battles began to feel like a chore for me. I remember a time where I had been playing for a couple of hours, and I needed to go somewhere. I needed to get to a save point for any of my play time to be worth anything, so I was desperately trying to get to one... and then I ran into an enemy I knew would take forever to beat. I got about 10 minutes in to what would probably be a half hour fight, said "screw it," and just took my loss and turned the game off. It was infuriating.

    I have friends who say "You can't call a game horrible for just one thing." Well... I mentioned multiple things here, I think. While I don't think it's totally horrible, I also don't think it's particularly good, either. I have fairly middling feelings about it. It had some highs, but not enough to make me ever want to play it again.    … Expand
  25. Wifflum
    Oct 7, 2016
    6
    I simultaneously hate and love this game. I just finished it yesterday, and I absolutely loved the combat in this game. Probably equally important is the character development and story in this game.

    The extent of the character development, I mean some things happen, like a near suicide, but generally this game's character development is "the mean girl smiles at the end". That's about    I simultaneously hate and love this game. I just finished it yesterday, and I absolutely loved the combat in this game. Probably equally important is the character development and story in this game.

    The extent of the character development, I mean some things happen, like a near suicide, but generally this game's character development is "the mean girl smiles at the end". That's about it. Everyone is one-note, cliched, and most interactions feel very "cheesy".

    As much as I loved the action in the game, I absolutely despise the characters in it, and their lame interactions.

    I don't know what to think of the story quite yet, but if you've ever played The Witcher 3, and compare these 2 games on story, dialogue, and characters, FF13 is gonna be about a 0.3, and the Witcher 3 is a 10.    … Expand
  26. Markkykung17
    May 8, 2016
    7
    Great Game-play But Worse Story. The worse thing in this game is Leader death. The Most Annoying character in final fantasy games in in XIII. The paradigm was so great. just like when you change job on other FF
  27. ThecriticGoD
    Mar 7, 2016
    5
    Final Fantasy XII was already a big mistake from Square Enix but this is the living proof that they are never gonna go back to making the great games Squaresoft once did. Poor characters (most of them), boring combat and character developing system, extremely linear, and most importantly, very poor story (making good stories was what always characterized Final Fantasy. The only good thingsFinal Fantasy XII was already a big mistake from Square Enix but this is the living proof that they are never gonna go back to making the great games Squaresoft once did. Poor characters (most of them), boring combat and character developing system, extremely linear, and most importantly, very poor story (making good stories was what always characterized Final Fantasy. The only good things I can think of are the music, the graphics and Lightning, which is a good protagonist, everything else is just very very distant from what to expect from a Final Fantasy game.… Expand
  28. SicSeph
    Dec 15, 2015
    5
    Decent, but way below the expectations. Characters are not appealing, story has is moments.. sometimes.. i guess..! Summons... Well they just killed 3 big classics of the FF series, Bahamut Odin and Shiva are total crap, Alexander is the only one worth saving.
    No exploration but it got at least challenging at some point, which is a miracle lately.
    Still, not at all a FF level game.
  29. SnowDay
    Oct 11, 2015
    7
    What can I say about Final Fantasy XIII that hasn't already been said? Yes, the game is very linear, there is no world map, and the story is deep, yet empty. However, the battle system is quite intriguing and the graphics are incredible. Final Fantasy XIII's tag line should be: "Well, it's still better than XII".
  30. walzero
    May 25, 2015
    6
    Its a good game, nice grafics and all but it is more a linear movie then a role playing game, very linear gameplay. Battle scenes are back(some people like it, i dont, i rather the ffxii system of open maps with enemies) but other than it, its a good game.
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Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Best PS3 Game of 2010
2
#2 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2010
3
#3 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 83 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 73 out of 83
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 83
  3. Negative: 1 out of 83
  1. RPG Fan
    81
    As an RPG, it is an excellent experience that provides a beautifully crafted world and engaging battle system. However, as a Final Fantasy game, it falls short of expectations somewhat.
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  2. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    90
    Ten hours in you might have doubts, but stay with it and you'll be smitten right through to the frankly unbelievable end. [Apr 2010, p.104]
  3. Everyeye.it
    85
    An unexpected Final Fantasy. The 13th chapter has a great story and some of the most incisive characters of the whole series, and even the battle system works very well, being deep and complex (even if you control only a single character). But on the other side the overwhelming linearity of the plot, the absence of cities to explore, and the small amount of side quest will disappoint fans' expectations.
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