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. LeonStrife
    Jan 28, 2018
    0
    Worst Final Fantasy ever made.

    Simply put , no cities , no exploration , linear as hell. The whole game feels like a huge hallway. Avoid at all costs , play anything else.
  2. Strannik610
    Jan 9, 2018
    10
    Финальная Фантазия 13 - отличная часть франшизы, которая наделена отличным дизайном мира и графикой, для своего времени, хотя и сейчас выглядит не плохо; основные персонажи харизматические и запоминающиеся, особенно главная героиня Молния, также мир наделён собственной мифологией и не плохим сюжетом за которым интересно следить, а боевая система парадигм не такая простая как кажется и еслиФинальная Фантазия 13 - отличная часть франшизы, которая наделена отличным дизайном мира и графикой, для своего времени, хотя и сейчас выглядит не плохо; основные персонажи харизматические и запоминающиеся, особенно главная героиня Молния, также мир наделён собственной мифологией и не плохим сюжетом за которым интересно следить, а боевая система парадигм не такая простая как кажется и если с простыми мобами в общем не будет проблем (что не плохо экономит время, как и возможность самому выбирать с кем драться), то в босс-битвах придётся попотеть. Относительно "коридорности", то она вполне оправданна крайне сюжетно-ориентированностью игры (хотя все финалки линейные, а "открытые мира" в основном пустые и предназначенные для гринда который утомляет) с большим и качественным количеством отличных кат-сцен. Музыка, как всегда отличная и атмосферная.… Expand
  3. Empyrea
    Nov 19, 2017
    8
    I think people underrate this game. Graphics are great. Music is good as well. The battle system is different than in FFX or FFII but like in FFII you get used to it. Characters are ok but I miss other spicies in this game. You only see humans and enemy monsters. Plot is ok, it could be better. About the landscapes it is true that most of them are simply path with an exception of a bigI think people underrate this game. Graphics are great. Music is good as well. The battle system is different than in FFX or FFII but like in FFII you get used to it. Characters are ok but I miss other spicies in this game. You only see humans and enemy monsters. Plot is ok, it could be better. About the landscapes it is true that most of them are simply path with an exception of a big valley. It took me 60 hours. Some bosses may be tricky but if you look for help in the Internet it's easy to beat them. If you fight against all the enemies that you find during the game you won't have any problem to defeat the final boss (in fact was easier than I expected). Tu sum up, if you like RPGs and FF games you must buy it.

    PS: Don't forget to spend the points of the team members that you don't usually use because if you have 999.999.999 and you don't spend them you'll be losing points (It happened to me with one character at the end of this game but it wasn't a problem cause I didn't use him).    … Expand
  4. Xagunto
    Oct 23, 2017
    10
    It's quite a cryptic game plot-wise, with lots of mythology and background stories to discover from the datalog, which is quite important as a measure to tell everything the characters shouldn't know, I do not see it as a complement but more like a must to read. The main issue with this game is you have to read a lot, but the story there is well formed and explains details you didn't evenIt's quite a cryptic game plot-wise, with lots of mythology and background stories to discover from the datalog, which is quite important as a measure to tell everything the characters shouldn't know, I do not see it as a complement but more like a must to read. The main issue with this game is you have to read a lot, but the story there is well formed and explains details you didn't even think about. The final product may not result that desirable for many, but it is made for one specific style, as many Final Fantasies from X onwards. You should consider it a novel-focused game, not a typical heavy action rpg. Visuals and music are stunning, character's interaction and way of talking could be improved, you're going to see that, but it didn't ruin the game for me. The concept is really good and the overall sensation is pleasant and ethereal, I liked that.… Expand
  5. RogueTalon
    Oct 10, 2017
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Now you are probably asking yourselves why I gave a game hated by a lot of people has got a perfect 10/10, keep reading and you will see.

    Final Fantasy XIII's story begins by placing you in the shoes of one of the rare independent female protagonists named Lightning Farron, and introduces you to one of the other six protagonists named Sazh, after both of these characters escape the Purge train (Explained later) you are introduced to your first fighting tutorials. In this paralogue of the game you are able to play as 5/6 main protagonists, the others are called Hope, Snow and Vanille.

    These characters become something known as a L'cie which the game tells us about them. A L'cie is a being who was once a human but was branded by a Fal'cie, a mystical being full of magical power, these are most comonly found on Pulse, a dangerous world below the main world of Cocoon where our characters live. The Fal'cie are mainly used as sources of the people's needs (Food and Power) but when the Cocoon government discovered the L'cie, they purged them which is a train that sends all those who are L'cie and are suspicious of being a L'cie to the dangerous world of Pulse.

    In the beginning of the game (After being turned to a L'cie) gameplay can be slow whilst you are getting used to all the new mechanics such as Paradigm shifting, this is a function which allows you to change a character's roles in mid battle, all characters have access to three main roles then the other three as side roles. I personally enjoy this aspect of the game because unlike other games in this franchise, you can change who does what for instance you can make Lightning you attacker one moment then have her slinging black magic or healing the next so it gives you endless possibilities on what you can do.

    I personally enjoy this game for its fantastic story line but unlike most players of this game I believe that the characters actually make the story better, especially the dynamics between the fragile little boy Hope and the strong independent women like Fang (the final protagonist) and Lightning. This links in to how the summons in this game are introduced, because without the development we have between the many characters can cause their Eidolon (summon) to arrive and help fight them.

    Continuing on the subject of summons, we have returning favourites such as Odin, Shiva and Bahamut as three of the summons, and all of these summons have a new form as vehicles known as gesalt. This form gives your already very strong summons a massive boost in the damage dealing department but they come with a timer so you must be fast when you place them in this mode.

    Overall, I say this game is an exceptional addition to the Final Fantasy franchise, this is because of the character development and the storyline in general, I myself have come back for yet another playthrough playing differently to my original style of playing this game, trust me when I say this, this game is excellent for both veterans and people new to this amazing franchise.    … Expand
  6. Chespinlover308
    Oct 6, 2017
    10
    This is one of the best games I have ever played. The graphics are nice, the characters are likable, and the areas-the hallways-IMHO, are my favorite areas in the entire series.
  7. pelonchascomes
    Sep 20, 2017
    0
    As a big fan of the FF saga, I must say that this game made me feel bad. Horrible. The worst FF game to me. It was disappointing, gameplay is an insult, the combat system is a joke. I've played almost the entire FF saga, and I can say that this is the worst one. Characters look incredible, but the maps? the environment looks dead and horribly made. This is an insult to all the FF fans. AndAs a big fan of the FF saga, I must say that this game made me feel bad. Horrible. The worst FF game to me. It was disappointing, gameplay is an insult, the combat system is a joke. I've played almost the entire FF saga, and I can say that this is the worst one. Characters look incredible, but the maps? the environment looks dead and horribly made. This is an insult to all the FF fans. And the story is so bad and confusing. Exploration is non-existing because you walk through straight paths! Characters are cliches and forgettable, and the main character is the worst main character ever I hate her I cannot stand her. And I mean, I really really tried to play this, I really did but this game made me angry. I regret buying it. Where's the exploration? Where's the customization? This game don't deserve to be called a "Final Fantasy". So disappointing. If you are a fan of FF saga, buy it under your own risk.
    Bad story, bad combat system, boring characters... and a boring experience in general. Soundtrack is good and graphics are ok too. But as a FF this is the worst one I've ever played.    … Expand
  8. Necroatoan
    Jul 10, 2017
    4
    The linear level design, and boring combat made this game very hard to play. The characters were unique, but none of the resonated with me. The graphics were amazing, but that loses its effect once you realize that the environment cannot be explored. This was the only Final Fantasy I ever struggled to finish. Even the Final Fantasy MMO's had better story lines.
  9. Harurei
    May 7, 2017
    9
    Todo mundo critica Final Fantasy 13 por ser linear mas esquecem que o 10 também era e todo mundo ama. Final Fantasy 13 traz uma das melhores protagonistas e uma grande quantia de personagens carismáticos como Vanilla, Sazh, etc. Seu plot político mesmo sendo um pouco confuso traz criticas sociais bem interessantes
  10. Kenjiron
    Apr 21, 2017
    10
    The game starts restricting and becomes more open as you progress. You'll find strong evolution of ATB/Turn-base combat with fast battles that require deep strategy and FAST thinking. Customizing of party characters playable and battle roles. Complex story with many magical moments and superior music. The world is unique and colorful. A complete game.
  11. Laggron1111
    Apr 19, 2017
    0
    Final Fantasy XIII is a very bad Final Fantasy. This game is not interesting. The characters are really boring.
    The scenario is very bad. It's the worst Final Fantasy .
  12. Mogipoki
    Apr 18, 2017
    9
    This was frankly my first FF game and also my first Playstation 3 game. I was blown away by the graphics, story and characters. I've been playing it for years, and recently I just finished it once again. The game truly only as a one flaw for me, the open world map restriction was the problem. Being forced to go to different areas, and not return to previous ones was kind of irritating. ButThis was frankly my first FF game and also my first Playstation 3 game. I was blown away by the graphics, story and characters. I've been playing it for years, and recently I just finished it once again. The game truly only as a one flaw for me, the open world map restriction was the problem. Being forced to go to different areas, and not return to previous ones was kind of irritating. But that problem is only subdued by the end of the game, when you can travel to only 3 different areas freely. Other than that, this game is a classic in my collection and most likely will always bring a nostalgic happiness for years to come.… Expand
  13. Broyax
    Apr 15, 2017
    2
    Je donne tout de même 2 points pour la direction artistique, certes parfois à la limite du mauvais goût mais la plupart du temps, c'est fort dépaysant. On ne voit nulle part ailleurs des trucs pareils, décors, effets... aussi maniérés et précieux et avec autant de couleurs ou des costumes et monstres complètement chtarbés. Et techniquement c'est du beau travail.

    Pour le reste, la    Je donne tout de même 2 points pour la direction artistique, certes parfois à la limite du mauvais goût mais la plupart du temps, c'est fort dépaysant. On ne voit nulle part ailleurs des trucs pareils, décors, effets... aussi maniérés et précieux et avec autant de couleurs ou des costumes et monstres complètement chtarbés. Et techniquement c'est du beau travail.

    Pour le reste, la niaiserie est à vomir, les dialogues d'une bêtise à se tirer une balle et la musique à se pendre. Les combats qui ne sont ni en temps réel ni en tour par tour consistent à appuyer sur X pendant de longues heures pour éventuellement s'intensifier de longues heures plus tard en zappant d'une attaque à l'autre aussi vite que possible comme dans un jeu de merde en stratégie temps réel afin d'éviter que l'un des ados ne reste plus de 0,5 s sans rien faire, ce qui le mènerait à une mort stupide.

    Quant à l'histoire, entre de nombreuses cinématiques à piquer un roupillon et des combats abrutissants, on se demande quand elle commence. On se demande même parfois s'il y a une galette dans le lecteur et ce qu'on est en train de faire, à perdre son temps devant une telle, une abominable japoniaiserie.    … Expand
  14. II_Smaug_II
    Mar 20, 2017
    10
    Very nice game. Nice heroes and story. Eclair Farron very beatyful.
    Story - 9.5
    Heroes - 10
    Gameplay - 9
    War System - 0
    Level Design - 10
    Game Design - 10
  15. FFFiend
    Jan 28, 2017
    10
    EXPAND for big points below - For JRPG fans this is a Great game especially the battle I enjoy the most, which tests your skill and speed.
    Some people were hating on the game because of some changes they made like only controlling one character, but thats every new jrpg nowadays look at ff15. Some will say its linear but like lol really dude? its an rpg have you not played FF10? that    EXPAND for big points below - For JRPG fans this is a Great game especially the battle I enjoy the most, which tests your skill and speed.
    Some people were hating on the game because of some changes they made like only controlling one character, but thats every new jrpg nowadays look at ff15. Some will say its linear but like lol really dude? its an rpg have you not played FF10? that whole game is super linear.

    Anyways it's a FF game and it's great.
    1. Has lots magic
    2. Has lots of summons
    3. Has lots of characters
    4. Has lots of hidden/side bosses
    5. Has a great fast pace battle system
    6. Has a great leveling system, unlock Tank/DD/Mage/Buff-Debuff abilities on all characters
    6.5 also prevents Cheaters from Lv grinding and super overpowering story bosses - Future FF games now have a easy mode because this game was too hard for the weak

    That's it, typical FF greatness.
    I can't say the same for FF15 tho, idk what happened there... guess no one cares for story, magic, summons, battle anymore.
    Just hope they make more games like FF13... can't believe FF15 turned out so bad :(    … Expand
  16. Akuma75
    Jan 28, 2017
    10
    This game is good and not as bad as ppl say. Those ppl obviously never went pass the beginning linear part, which in my opinion is way better than FF15's approach dropping u in the open world with almost zero back story. Anyways battle system is super fast and tactical especially on bosses. Actual back story for each of the characters unlike FF15. This game has alot of content like manyThis game is good and not as bad as ppl say. Those ppl obviously never went pass the beginning linear part, which in my opinion is way better than FF15's approach dropping u in the open world with almost zero back story. Anyways battle system is super fast and tactical especially on bosses. Actual back story for each of the characters unlike FF15. This game has alot of content like many spells and summons and side bosses as you progress through the story.
    Dont listen to those who have passed the beginning linear part which is less than 7hrs of gameplay.

    Quick facts:
    Magical spells - (FF13 - 20+)(FF15 - 3)
    Teammembers - (FF13 - 6)(FF15 - 4, 0-females)
    Useable summons - (FF13 - 6)(FF15 - 4)
    Story length - (FF13 - 61+ hrs)(FF15 - 20hrs or less)

    Support the game that gives you more content or else they will continue sell us half ass'd games like ff15.    … Expand
  17. BarrySven
    Jan 25, 2017
    10
    The game is highly enjoyable, this is coming from a Final Fantasy 7 fanboy. It's not like previous FF, but that's been the case since every FF after X. Despite that it has many traditional details which is unlike other recent FF15 and arguably FF12. The characters are diverse, the battles is a unique fast take on Turn-based ATB, and the music is amazing, and put together with epic cgiThe game is highly enjoyable, this is coming from a Final Fantasy 7 fanboy. It's not like previous FF, but that's been the case since every FF after X. Despite that it has many traditional details which is unlike other recent FF15 and arguably FF12. The characters are diverse, the battles is a unique fast take on Turn-based ATB, and the music is amazing, and put together with epic cgi scenes and a complex yet unique story! I say give it try!… Expand
  18. dmasz91
    Jan 23, 2017
    3
    There are so many more negative things than positive about this game. I've been a long time FF fan and I lost interest in the game within the first day of playing it. It's so linear, and the story plot is so boring and doesn't make any sense at all, making it just horrendous compared to the previous FF games in the past. The only thing that makes it bearable is the flashy graphics, butThere are so many more negative things than positive about this game. I've been a long time FF fan and I lost interest in the game within the first day of playing it. It's so linear, and the story plot is so boring and doesn't make any sense at all, making it just horrendous compared to the previous FF games in the past. The only thing that makes it bearable is the flashy graphics, but still there are way too many long cut-scenes. The characters don't seem to have a goal that makes sense. I kept asking myself, 'what is their goal'? It's cool to get to summon eidolons, but there was no real tutorial on how to use their moves in gesalt mode with regards to the arrow pointer. the crystarium thing is also very linear. You're not truly getting control over their special abilities because by the time you can level up their abilities, you've pretty much filled out all the slots anyway. Another big negative factor is that there's no more free-roaming like an RPG, no world map to travel and explore. There aren't even good treasure finds along the path. It's just as bland as it gets, maybe made for an even younger audience to play. The only thing that was positive about the game is that you can see your enemies in the path rather than having invisible enemies pop up every so often, which was always annoying, but it's such a disappointment and not worth buying. I don't know if they've improved the FF games since this one, but i would definitely recommend skipping over this game. I agree with what other negative reviews are saying, it was annoying to not be able to level yourself up more if you have trouble beating a boss.… Expand
  19. Nidave
    Jan 12, 2017
    3
    Worst game in the series.

    I remember how hype I was for this game when it released only to get disappointed 5 chapters in. It also didn't help that this game was a straight line from chapter 1-11.
  20. 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
  21. flamesofexigo
    Dec 28, 2016
    8
    I have played most of the FF games and have beaten most as well. FF 13s main campaign is amazing. The game has the best combat system of any FF game, and the visuals and musical score are incredible. The story is terrible though, and the mission structure (Gran Pulse) and grinding are extremely tedious and poorly thought out. I would suggest you skip the cut-scenes and spend 30-40 hoursI have played most of the FF games and have beaten most as well. FF 13s main campaign is amazing. The game has the best combat system of any FF game, and the visuals and musical score are incredible. The story is terrible though, and the mission structure (Gran Pulse) and grinding are extremely tedious and poorly thought out. I would suggest you skip the cut-scenes and spend 30-40 hours playing the main campaign to get a 8.5 experience. If you try to plat the game though, then the score drops to about a 6. I think its ridiculous that you have to spend 15 minutes on foot to get to a monster that you can defeat in under a minute. Rinse and repeat for 64 missions, and you can see how tedious the game can get.

    Pros: Visuals, music, combat system.
    Cons: Mission setup/structure, plot, grinding.
    Caveats: The game is mostly linear. There are also no towns to explore or NPCs to interact with. Many fans seem to hate these issues, but I personally prefer linear games, and hate micromanagement and side/fetch quests so I liked that the game was linear.    … Expand
  22. msg78
    Dec 6, 2016
    0
    I have absolutley nothing positive to say, this game is complete and utter garbage. All you do is walk in a linear line from one stupendously long cut-scene to the next. You can't even over-level yoursself if you're struggling to beat a boss, it's the most linear and restrictive RPG I've ever played. I hate it.
  23. estebambuco
    Nov 25, 2016
    1
    Una mierda no lo compres:
    -Mala historia
    -Mala traducción
    -Repetitivo y aburrido
    -Mucho cine poco juego
    -No hay exploración es una línea recta
    -Personajes nada interesantes
  24. 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
  25. 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
  26. 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
  27. Tyrus
    Sep 7, 2016
    2
    I'm replaying this game again after initially buying it, playing all the way through, and then not remembering ever having hated a game so much.
    I thought I'd give it another shot. It's not any better.
    A hyper linear game, you spend most of your time for the first half merely walking forward and pressing X. Eventually, you have a little bit of strategy involved. Very little. By the    I'm replaying this game again after initially buying it, playing all the way through, and then not remembering ever having hated a game so much.
    I thought I'd give it another shot. It's not any better.
    A hyper linear game, you spend most of your time for the first half merely walking forward and pressing X. Eventually, you have a little bit of strategy involved. Very little. By the second half of the game, every fight become long, tedious, and unavoidable. The entire combat system is really based on micro managing, since you don't actually select moves for more than one character, and the game will auto-pick those for you, too, since there are few anyway, and there isn't a whole lot of tact required.
    And as those fights get longer and longer, there's extremely little you can do to speed things up. You can't really grind like in other games, because your stats quickly max out for the moment you're in. I get WHY they do that, forcing you to actually play the battles rather than get overpowered for them, but then you end up on boss fights, where all you're doing is saying, "Fight... heal... fight... heal..."
    The monotony it's intended to break up isn't broken up.
    I can't fathom anyone liking this game. I've never met anyone personally who did. I get that there are positive reviews, but this game is the crown jewel of the new class of Square Enix games that just want to be pretty, and not have any guts or substance. 12 bordered on that, but managed to get enough moving around, enough thought by the player to manage to be a good game. 10 was TOO much character switching, but it was passable. This is just an awful, linear, boring game. The story is as convoluted as a political conspiracy theory. It's an awful game, and I'll give it the 2 that I did because it was made by a professional company, it DOES have good graphics, and honestly, because it's in the Final Fantasy franchise, which I've been playing for just about 30 years now.
    But this game is simply awful. I again find myself only getting through it to say that I did, again. And that's not a good reason. I should really stop myself.    … Expand
  28. GamecubeLover
    Aug 4, 2016
    8
    Sure not as good as other final fantasy games but I still like it. The game is a bit repetitive and bland but besides that this game is pretty good to be honest.
  29. Coreyhardie
    Jul 30, 2016
    8
    The hate this game gets makes little to no sense, yes it's linear as hell for most of the game, but the other criticisms make no sense to me, I like this story for the first half but the second half it made no sense, the Gameplay is great though the fact that when your leader dies it's game over, that's kind of retarded, the soundtrack and graphics are amazing, if your problem with theThe hate this game gets makes little to no sense, yes it's linear as hell for most of the game, but the other criticisms make no sense to me, I like this story for the first half but the second half it made no sense, the Gameplay is great though the fact that when your leader dies it's game over, that's kind of retarded, the soundtrack and graphics are amazing, if your problem with the gameplay is the auto battle mechanic then TURN IT OFF you **** idiots!… Expand
  30. SCCMAESTRO
    Jul 8, 2016
    1
    This is the worst game I have ever played, partially because I can see how it could have been great. The visuals and music are beautiful, some of the best in the entire series. But everything else about the game is an unfinished, incoherent mess. The story is so poorly formed that half of it isn't explained at all and the other half is stuck in the in-game Wikipedia, the Datalog. TheThis is the worst game I have ever played, partially because I can see how it could have been great. The visuals and music are beautiful, some of the best in the entire series. But everything else about the game is an unfinished, incoherent mess. The story is so poorly formed that half of it isn't explained at all and the other half is stuck in the in-game Wikipedia, the Datalog. The writing is as repetitious and padded as the gameplay is. The gameplay itself is linear corridors of far too many battles where the strategy is the game literally playing itself. You can change the parameters for how the game plays itself, but it fundamentally is still beyond the player's control. It is an unfinished pile of waste and one of the worst pieces of media I have ever experienced. I played 20 hours and I am somber thinking of that time I will never, ever get back. A full day wasted on untalented, confused hacks.… Expand
  31. alfok
    Jun 30, 2016
    2
    Boring, Repetitive, Lineal
    Is the worst title of the saga, Dunno why have that score...
    basically the only thing u need to do is pressing 3 buttons and go forward, damn even the worst game I remember have more entertaining than this... The only "good" thing us the graphics, but even that dont matter a little when you have this dumb storyline and linear gameplay.
  32. Dargorrof
    Jun 16, 2016
    8
    The graphics are fine even to this day I guess. However, exploration is very very limited and for the most part you'll be running in a straight line fighting battles until you get bored and start avoiding them all together. There are no hidden treasure boxes since all you have to do is just take a look at the map and realize there's an area outside the straight line you're supposed to goThe graphics are fine even to this day I guess. However, exploration is very very limited and for the most part you'll be running in a straight line fighting battles until you get bored and start avoiding them all together. There are no hidden treasure boxes since all you have to do is just take a look at the map and realize there's an area outside the straight line you're supposed to go to. The story is sort of nice, but considering the sequels and all it kinda doesn't make much sense sometimes, but then again, this happens a lot in final fantasy. Now about the battle system, it's nice but could be way better. You only get to control the party leader and until you reach chapter 11 (where the game stops being so damn linear) there are barely any interesting battles. Even boss fights are quite easy since all you have to do it buff up, use libra and spam auto-battle. I think it would be much more fun if there was no auto-battle, perhaps no libra and more importantly if we had control of the whole battle team -although the battles would have to run at a slower pace-. All in all it is a decent game, but quite different from previous titles. If you expect a classic then this game is not for you.… Expand
  33. 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
  34. sorastrife2890
    Apr 21, 2016
    0
    i am a very final fantasy fan. but this game is just **** **** i dont know why the people like this game. is just a rect line, a very bad story, very bad characters and a very bad game sistem. dont buy this game please
  35. bulletchan
    Apr 11, 2016
    8
    Quite possible the worst final fantasy in the entire series. It shouldn't even be considered a true final fantasy. Nothing about this game is good, I returned it. Something that took 2 years to make, was delayed for ps3 for another 2 years and downgraded so they could put it onto 360. Pathetic. Besides that, graphics still are bad with ps2 style environments.
  36. GuideVault
    Mar 22, 2016
    9
    This is a topper to say the least. I have been playing FF since the NES was released and rarely if ever does Square fail to release a god FF title, this being one of the good ones.

    The focus of this game is the fantastic story telling which has been missing in most RPGs. The story focuses on the traditional Crystals. The game I will say is quite linear as there is zero side-questing    This is a topper to say the least. I have been playing FF since the NES was released and rarely if ever does Square fail to release a god FF title, this being one of the good ones.

    The focus of this game is the fantastic story telling which has been missing in most RPGs. The story focuses on the traditional Crystals.

    The game I will say is quite linear as there is zero side-questing available until your virtually at endgame which was a huge turnoff I will admit. But once you do reach the side-quests they really do keep you busy as a great deal of them require a lot of grinding to raise your crystarium to the proper levels. So you should not be disappointed with the side questing as it will be time-consuming.

    Again, the story is fantastic. Sticking to the legends of the crystals quite tightly they managed to make it like a storybook. If though you do find it boring (which I did at times) then power through it because that ending let me just say.. is one of the best FF endings I have ever witnessed bringing even me to near tears as most likely you will too.

    As with most FF the game will either focus on leveling to become powerful or item grinding to become powerful. Leveling is prominent in FF7, item grinding in FF9. Unfortunately FF13 focuses on item grinding with leveling replaced completely by the crystarium system. Now that isn't to say its all bad, but it was a real change from traditional FF games. It most likely threw many off as it did take time to learn & do it properly. One thing I will say which really is horrible is that because leveling crystarium doesn't include which type your character is, if you raise the wrong type you screw up your character forbidding you from gaining their ultimate attack until endgame. This is most likely where people will get angry.

    My overall opinion: Linearity aside, this game doesn't deserve huge amounts of negativity because it follows exactly what FF has been doing. Promoting powerful stories, defining character traits/personalities, memorable battles & amazing endings. Unless you began with FF10+ you will see this game as exactly what it was meant to be. A Masterpiece.    … Expand
  37. Rikku_X-2
    Mar 14, 2016
    9
    I love this game. The graphics are gorgeus (even able to make a crappy xbox look like its worth anything) The music is amazing, the story and cast are both amazing and the battle and paradigm systems are flawless. Linear at points, but not as bad as X. It spawned 2 sequels, but they're not as good. The ending is so amazing and i have completed this game through and watched the ending 8I love this game. The graphics are gorgeus (even able to make a crappy xbox look like its worth anything) The music is amazing, the story and cast are both amazing and the battle and paradigm systems are flawless. Linear at points, but not as bad as X. It spawned 2 sequels, but they're not as good. The ending is so amazing and i have completed this game through and watched the ending 8 times since it's release. It was my first final fantasy game since I played it at the young age of 10 but I still love it 5 years down the line.… Expand
  38. 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
  39. neuro-punk
    Feb 25, 2016
    0
    Final Fantasy XIII is one of the very worst games ever made and nothing like a Final Fantasy game. This game is a plague/curse to the franchise and i would not wish this crap on even my worst enemies. Can't even change party members with ATB turn based combat, no world map, no airship/vehicles, no exploration, no mini-games, no fun, it's lacking almost everything that makes Final Fantasy,Final Fantasy XIII is one of the very worst games ever made and nothing like a Final Fantasy game. This game is a plague/curse to the franchise and i would not wish this crap on even my worst enemies. Can't even change party members with ATB turn based combat, no world map, no airship/vehicles, no exploration, no mini-games, no fun, it's lacking almost everything that makes Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy.

    Whoever likes FFXIII has horrendous taste and should stop playing video games if they like this crap.    … Expand
  40. ZeroTrunks
    Feb 8, 2016
    3
    Linear game play, poor camera controls, undigestible story, and a script so bad I wanted to skip through all cut-scenes to reduce the feeling of a drill being forced through my head. The game basicly plays itself and is so unbalanced that if you die, you simply respawn as if the fight didn't occur. Some of the characters are just reprints of Squares older work Lightning = Cloud, Snow =Linear game play, poor camera controls, undigestible story, and a script so bad I wanted to skip through all cut-scenes to reduce the feeling of a drill being forced through my head. The game basicly plays itself and is so unbalanced that if you die, you simply respawn as if the fight didn't occur. Some of the characters are just reprints of Squares older work Lightning = Cloud, Snow = Zell, Sazh? I don't know what they were doing there...

    It is obvious that this game was handled poorly by the director who had a difficult time getting reigning in all the departments under the same banner. This game is rushed, and is starting a trend that SquareEnix does not know what they are doing in the gaming world anymore. This game deeply saddens me, and makes me nauseous thinking about what has become of my childhood.

    The only redeeming thing about this game are it's beautiful graphics and some of the new monster concepts and models.

    Overall a very difficult game to endure D-    … Expand
  41. extremeprey
    Feb 3, 2016
    9
    To be honest the hate for this franchise is outstanding. Listen I know this game has flaws but they're tiny compared to the overall appeal of this game for me. This game for me held my attention from beginning to end and whilst the story did have moments where it was all over the place I was still intrigued. The gameplay, whilst toned down, was still as fun as entries like X.
    The    To be honest the hate for this franchise is outstanding. Listen I know this game has flaws but they're tiny compared to the overall appeal of this game for me. This game for me held my attention from beginning to end and whilst the story did have moments where it was all over the place I was still intrigued. The gameplay, whilst toned down, was still as fun as entries like X.
    The characters could be dull at times but to me they're realistic. "Hope is sad and moody all of the time"... dude did you play the first hour of the game! "Lightning has no emotion" which they address in a really cool way. "Snow is a hot head"... that's the point. All of the flaws with each character are addressed in a really cool and real way that it was the reason I kept playing. Saying that each character is generic would be like looking at a page but not the writing on it. For a FF game it's quite dark and deals with real problems in a real manor instead of pretty much every other entry in the franchise where a character's death equates to the main cast as much as a spec of dust on their arm. Don't get me wrong I love the other FF games it's just that they all shine in different ways and this one is no exception. I'm glad I played this and happy I still own it!    … Expand
  42. var_stark
    Feb 2, 2016
    2
    I simply can't believe what i'm reading in the possitive comments.... First of all this game is linear as hell, it destroyed everything that made FF franchise make history, the RPG component, this is not an RPG this is an action game like Metal Gear Rising, more like a hit and run. It's Ok but it's not what final fantasy used to mean. "Oh but in final fantasy X you almost didn't have anyI simply can't believe what i'm reading in the possitive comments.... First of all this game is linear as hell, it destroyed everything that made FF franchise make history, the RPG component, this is not an RPG this is an action game like Metal Gear Rising, more like a hit and run. It's Ok but it's not what final fantasy used to mean. "Oh but in final fantasy X you almost didn't have any NPC or exploring" Excuse me? That's simply not true, X was one of the last properly made FFs even XII had a very clear exploration, crafting and leveling compound while the only thing that changed was the combat, this game changes the way you playd final fantasy almost completely. You don't even have the feeling of discovery anymore, even combats are rearanged, when you enter a new chapter you could even look up a guide and know exactly wich enemies are waiting for you and in what order.... please. What about the live your own adventure, what about discovering the world for your own, the whole game has no point in calling himself final fantasy, it could as well be called some Japanese medern pop action title instead "LIGHTING ULTRA ROBOT ADVENTURE ELECTRIC SONATA" yeah, that would be appropriate.

    To the point, it lacks all kind of exploration, the game is a path you must follow, items and enemies will appear suddenly, they are just there, waiting for you one by one... yeah you have some shortcuts you can take if you don't want to battle. So no NPCs, the shops appear just in the savepoints...

    The combat is not bad, in fact that's all the game is about, combat and trying all the different classes and combinations, is good for me, it kinda looks like turn based combat just with a lot of camera movement ( you cannot move the character though) and real time turn based fight, i mean, you have your cooldown and you can just give him like 3 commands at once, instead of stop, think what would each character do wait for the enemy attack.... yeah, it's not bad, i would have like to control and customize my team but.... i just fear what will be next. Changing your formations plays an important roll in the fights but its a piece of cake, since the attacks are almost automatic you just have to wait for the right time to change between the aggresive formation, healing formation, condition formation.... it's a game moew about waiting than planning, as the previous, yes, they were turn base but at least you were taking risks each time your turn arrived and so you have to plan how to deal maximum damage and survive at the same time, and i think you really got fond of the characters even if their plots weren't really interesting, but here linking a character or not just depends on the story itself, i don't even like vanille, it's so annoying but if at least i could controll her properly well maybe i would appreciate her as a healer, but like this is just like, well yeah, this girl that just.... heals me automatically... and talks with a high pitched voice.

    The story its ok, intense and memorable, but in general this game seems to have the urge to excite continuosly, not even one single shot is steady and peacefull, even the most dramatic scenes the camera is like," wow wow wow, so exciting, look, its so exciting, i can't stop moving, look a bird!!!! oh my god, so exciting, everything is so epic.!!!! " STOP, god, let me enjoy the plot, sometimes you just don't care about what they're saying because everything wants to be so fast paced...

    Anyways, for me is just another action game, but not a final fantasy game. Seriously change the name of the saga, so you can avoid being constantly compared to the old games.    … Expand
  43. and94
    Dec 31, 2015
    10
    There's a reason there were 3 games in the final fantasy 13 series. The asians love it, and being an asian myself despite being born in canada, i loved this game. Giant monsters, damage numbers stacking up on the screen, and a great progression system are what attracted me to this game. But it was the story that kept me hooked. No spoilers, but what a rollercoaster of emotions as if itThere's a reason there were 3 games in the final fantasy 13 series. The asians love it, and being an asian myself despite being born in canada, i loved this game. Giant monsters, damage numbers stacking up on the screen, and a great progression system are what attracted me to this game. But it was the story that kept me hooked. No spoilers, but what a rollercoaster of emotions as if it were a hong kong soap opera. And yes, I read the whiny neckbeard reviews on it, calling it a 'hallway simulator,' but 10-15 hours in is when it really starts to get good. I find it such a shame western media is so enamoured with open world games, a well-designed and directed game like this one deserves more love.… Expand
  44. todesmilch
    Dec 29, 2015
    1
    My very first experience with RPG games was with Final Fantasy VII. I have been in love with RPGs, and the FF series, ever since. I have loved and been invested in FF for a long time. I know I am late on reviewing this, but this game is the worst FF (in series/non-spinoff) game I have ever played. It literally ruined the series for me. I want to know what game these people played whoMy very first experience with RPG games was with Final Fantasy VII. I have been in love with RPGs, and the FF series, ever since. I have loved and been invested in FF for a long time. I know I am late on reviewing this, but this game is the worst FF (in series/non-spinoff) game I have ever played. It literally ruined the series for me. I want to know what game these people played who say that the story is rich and the characters are compelling. The story is VERY vapid, and the characters reflect this exponentially. All of the characters have trite personalities, and by the end of the game I had no emotions invested in a SINGLE one of them. It took me over two years to finally beat this game, 'cause I had to finish it. (some of you know what I mean) If I wasn't compelled to beat it as a gamer, I never would have. I will give credit to the combat, I enjoyed it a little. Seriously nothing else about the game was fun. I am a fanboy, yes. My favorite FF is IX, that game had such a rich world that you could feel there was a history to it. It is unimaginable, to me, that anyone would enjoy this game having played the other Final Fantasy titles in the series. I really wish Square would abandon the **** Tokyo-fashion style of their characters, they all look like some weak attempt was made to make them fashionable and trendy. To my mind, X was the last truly good FF, and XII was last remotely good title in the main series. If you agree with me, then you are better off avoiding this colossal disappointment.… Expand
  45. DirtyBird07
    Dec 29, 2015
    1
    This game is so bad. like I am not kidding.
    It's so bad. I think it got 1500 positive reviews because SquareEnix paid people to give it good reviews.

    Do not buy this pile of garbage. You will regret it. I promise.

    Has an overly convoluted story. Characters are cheesy and the Voice Acting is bad.
    Graphics are beautiful, but game play quickly destroys it.
    Not enjoyable in the slightest.
  46. 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.
  47. vintagegamer16
    Dec 5, 2015
    10
    I understand a lot of people were dissapointed wtih Final Fantasy XIII. Though a lot of the hate shouldn't have been there since it was more of a meme by this point to hate on it. Final Fantasy XIII for me though is easily one of the greatest RPGs, heck one of the greatest games i've played. Not gonna praise it because I could be here all day, but simply put its one of my favoriute games
  48. FogCityRoller
    Nov 26, 2015
    0
    Basically a joke of a Final Fantasy game. It should have been released as an expansion to a Mary Kate & Ashley adventure series. xxxxxxxxxxooooooooooooo
  49. Xiperoploa
    Nov 26, 2015
    9
    The only negative points in this game are:
    1- The equipment upgrade system requiring too much grinding
    2- The lack of more diverse side-quest besides the ciet'h missions 3- The lack of more open world exploration (traveling around cocoon again would have been nice) The positives are: 1- Great battle system and character development system 2- Good story (if you pay attention and    The only negative points in this game are:
    1- The equipment upgrade system requiring too much grinding
    2- The lack of more diverse side-quest besides the ciet'h missions
    3- The lack of more open world exploration (traveling around cocoon again would have been nice)

    The positives are:
    1- Great battle system and character development system
    2- Good story (if you pay attention and take some time to read)
    3- Great music score
    4- Great graphics    … Expand
  50. bigboss1964
    Nov 21, 2015
    4
    Final Fantasy XIII

    Game-Play:The game-play is turn based but not traditional I usually like that kind of game-play but the way they made it is very frustrating and i got bored quickly but I kept playing it because I am a huge final fantasy fan but in the end there was nothing special in the game-play. Story:The plot is boring with a ton of uninteresting characters and it was one of    Final Fantasy XIII

    Game-Play:The game-play is turn based but not traditional I usually like that kind of game-play but the way they made it is very frustrating and i got bored quickly but I kept playing it because I am a huge final fantasy fan but in the end there was nothing special in the game-play.

    Story:The plot is boring with a ton of uninteresting characters and it was one of the few times that I complain about a game be to long this game is 50 hour long only for the story.

    Graphics:This is the part that the game is amazing .

    Notes:The FF-XIII is just an eye candy nothing more nothing less if you are a huge Final Fantasy Fan buy it at a big price drop like 70 or 80 % to everyone else rent it if you want play it .This game is just below average.    … Expand
  51. Jerome2812
    Oct 18, 2015
    10
    Okay, first of all: I know it's ''probably'' not a 10, and yes I know a lot of people dislike the game.. But for me, it's just an awesome game. The first Final Fantasy I picked up, and enjoyed.. a lot! Back in 2010, the graphics were extremely good and for me it was a movie like experience. It does take a while to understand what is going on, and the gameplay itself is a bit odd. But it'sOkay, first of all: I know it's ''probably'' not a 10, and yes I know a lot of people dislike the game.. But for me, it's just an awesome game. The first Final Fantasy I picked up, and enjoyed.. a lot! Back in 2010, the graphics were extremely good and for me it was a movie like experience. It does take a while to understand what is going on, and the gameplay itself is a bit odd. But it's the whole package that's really enjoyable, a beautiful world, great characters ( yes I actually think so ) and a lovely art style :)

    Maybe it's like Zelda, the first one you played is the one you remember as the best one..    … Expand
  52. 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".
  53. Garc79
    Sep 1, 2015
    8
    Lo jugué a su salida y no me gusto, lo he retomado hace unos meses y he de decir que una vez que sales de toda la toxicidad de los haters, los lovers y todo tipo de opiniones y análisis, el juego es bastante entretenido y con una historia que aunque no es de las mejores de la saga, invita a seguirla sin llegar a ser monótona o aburrida. Sistema de batallas distinto pero no por ello malo.
  54. Aelvir
    Aug 19, 2015
    4
    It is straight-on insulting to be considered an RPG. The battle system is nothing more than a dummed-down pseudo real-time battle system. In the sense that its just turnbased while they move around on their own. And the worst of all is they restrict you to only one person to control. You can only control the party leader but guess what? You can choose who the party leader is. ..near theIt is straight-on insulting to be considered an RPG. The battle system is nothing more than a dummed-down pseudo real-time battle system. In the sense that its just turnbased while they move around on their own. And the worst of all is they restrict you to only one person to control. You can only control the party leader but guess what? You can choose who the party leader is. ..near the end of the game. Whoop-de-freakin' do. And Masashi Hamauzu does god-awful music in this. Blinded By Light is the only thing remotely close to decent song in the game. We couldn't have Takeharu Ishimoto do the music again? No, no, we had to put this random guy no one knows of. The game layout is nothing more than a straight hallway. It's even more insulting that SQUARE thought this would sell and not Saga 3 DS, saying Saga 3 wouldn't sell very well That's a pure insult .Play FFXII or Saga 3. They are far better.… Expand
  55. TheObjectivist
    Aug 13, 2015
    10
    To say this is the greatest entry in the series is an offense to the series. But to say it is the worst in the series is a far greater offense.

    The game combines stellar graphical quality, composed and quick-paced strategic battle, a rather excellent unique story for the series (which XIII-2 does no justic to), vibrance that the previous entry did not deliver, engrossing characters with    To say this is the greatest entry in the series is an offense to the series. But to say it is the worst in the series is a far greater offense.

    The game combines stellar graphical quality, composed and quick-paced strategic battle, a rather excellent unique story for the series (which XIII-2 does no justic to), vibrance that the previous entry did not deliver, engrossing characters with complex Bradburian development, and laser-focused direction with polish not seen in many years in the series. This is perhaps the most hated gem of the series, derided by Westerners cemented in the notion of meaningless expanses and plenty of boring sidequests.

    If you are searching for a game that offers an expansive world, pointless sidequests and minigames, non-linearity, and broken design, feel free to pick up Final Fantasy XII. But if you are looking for story, action, vibrance, gameplay, fast pace, and bewildering presentation, pick up Final Fantasy XIII, the first true fantasy world since Final Fantasy X.    … Expand
  56. AriseAndBe
    Aug 5, 2015
    8
    While the story does sort of collapse at the end, for the most part I think the story is great. The characters are generally fine, with lightning and Fang definitely being my favourites (Snow really needs to shut up about being a hero). Everyone needs to stop hating on how whiny Hope is though, his mother literally died right in front of him and the guy who he thinks is responsible isWhile the story does sort of collapse at the end, for the most part I think the story is great. The characters are generally fine, with lightning and Fang definitely being my favourites (Snow really needs to shut up about being a hero). Everyone needs to stop hating on how whiny Hope is though, his mother literally died right in front of him and the guy who he thinks is responsible is constantly grinning like an idiot. I think I'd be a little unhappy too to say the least.

    The best parts of this game are definitely the presentation which is mesmerizing, and the battle system which is one of the best I've seen in any game.    … Expand
  57. NecroWtf319
    Jul 18, 2015
    8
    First of all I would give this game a 7 or a 7.5 out of 10 but I give in 8 just to balance things up with all the angry reviews.So the game is fun with a combat system that is more focused on timing and wants you to be quick rather than thinking .Enemies like every other Final Fantasy game have their weaknesses but in XIII you need to exploit them more like in X.The story is a mess,yeahFirst of all I would give this game a 7 or a 7.5 out of 10 but I give in 8 just to balance things up with all the angry reviews.So the game is fun with a combat system that is more focused on timing and wants you to be quick rather than thinking .Enemies like every other Final Fantasy game have their weaknesses but in XIII you need to exploit them more like in X.The story is a mess,yeah but if you give it some time and actually pay attention you may actually like it,but it's still not very strong.The characters are a give or take,you either like them or not,nothing more to say here(I personally like them all,except Hope).But the game IS linear for the first 20 hours or so (not something I hate though) and then it opens up. So having played VII,X,XII,XIII trilogy I have to admit that this game is one of the weaker entries on the series,BUT i do not believe it is a bad game and I am sure as hell it doesn't deserve all the 0 here.If you really want to see what a bad game is go play Ride to Hell Retribution.Also the game can be damn Hard sometimes,something I found that other entries on the series lacked.… Expand
  58. LaiusBunansa
    Jul 11, 2015
    2
    I have played every single FF main installment and I daresay that this could provide an alienating feeling to new comers. I barely finished this game due to boredom. This is blasphemy to the great FF legacy and another proof that Graphics cannot lift the game wholly. I cannot even freakin imagine why did this had its own saga.
  59. 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.
  60. tsakiym
    May 21, 2015
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I do not have to say anything. But i need to write one hundred and fifty characters. i think my score can describe it.................................… Expand
  61. Lion7
    May 7, 2015
    2
    This game lacks depth or engagement. Even the earlier Final Fantasy games--where you are generic heroes gathering crystals--have more to them than this week long movie. You don't even get the pleasure of hearing Nobuo Uematsu's work.

    I played this game as a part of the Playstation Now service, and I still feel like I was ripped off for playing a "free" game. I would not pay for this    This game lacks depth or engagement. Even the earlier Final Fantasy games--where you are generic heroes gathering crystals--have more to them than this week long movie. You don't even get the pleasure of hearing Nobuo Uematsu's work.

    I played this game as a part of the Playstation Now service, and I still feel like I was ripped off for playing a "free" game. I would not pay for this game.

    STORY: That's all there is, and it's not even very good at that. Hours of watching the characters interact through various rendered cutscenes and FMVs. They don't even do a good job with that. Out of your six main characters, only one really has an interesting personal story. The rest waver between deciding if they want to fight back against their overlords, or buckling from the pressure of being mankind's hated enemy by doing it. Their personalities are about as generic as their names (Snow, Hope, Lightning...) and the buildup to fighting one of the major antagonists... I honestly forgot who he was and why we were fighting him at that point.

    GAMEPLAY: What little there is, is rather boring. The formula for the first half of the game boils down to this: Cutscene, maneuver down a small hallway-like map, reach a save point, enter a "boss battle". To switch it up, your party is broken down into 2-3 sub-parties who repeat the formula. 10 hours into the game (I still hadn't unlocked the ability to make your own party yet) I was actively trying to avoid fights, because they weren't entertaining at all.

    There was a joke that this game should be called Final Hallway 13. I definitely agree. 20 hours into the game I gave up. I couldn't remember any of the areas I had been through, and they're one-path treks through a generic forest, junkyard, or ice land. Even the cities set you down one track and your characters can't interact with them at all.

    BATTLE: The battle system is a neat interpretation of the ATB System, but the problem is, aside from a handful of tough battle here and there requiring a MED character, you can get through the game with little trouble using just COM/RAV/RAV and a small stack of Potions. Because of the role-shifting nature of the class, the lack of control over your party members, and that everyone can do just about anything, the genericness of the characters is further compounded. Everyone can be a warrior, a black mage, and a subset of a white mage.

    MUSIC: One of the few Final Fantasy games not composed by Nobou Uematsu. The battle theme is catchy, and variations of the main theme are done nice. There are some annoying pieces throughout the game, but overall... it's alright. Blinded by Light (Lightning's theme, main battle theme) is the earworm of the game, and after hours of hearing it, I still like it.    … Expand
  62. Lordjyscal
    Apr 13, 2015
    9
    FF13 is subject to load of unnecessary hatred but upset fans for silly reasons. People don't like the fact that this game is so linear but that is not a drawback at all. This game is a story driven RPG it is not a open world do whatever the hell you want. The player follows the path the games makes for them because that is how the story is being told, this isn't the Elder Scrolls. TheFF13 is subject to load of unnecessary hatred but upset fans for silly reasons. People don't like the fact that this game is so linear but that is not a drawback at all. This game is a story driven RPG it is not a open world do whatever the hell you want. The player follows the path the games makes for them because that is how the story is being told, this isn't the Elder Scrolls. The gameplay itself might sound repetitive, just clicking attack, or magic commands over and over but so it has been in every final fantasy main series. The battles are intriguing and sometimes very challenging. The graphics are beautiful. The characters will feel like you've know them for years and have experience their highs and lows with them, even whiny Vanille. The story itself is awesome and so is this game… Expand
  63. Imaobob
    Mar 28, 2015
    6
    This game defines the word "polarizing". On the one hand, the combat system, while incredibly different from anything a Final Fantasy game has ever seen before, is very exciting and exhilarating, although it can become repetitive(what rpg isn't though?) On the other hand, the story is such a mess that by the time you get to the cutscenes, you legitimately cannot care. In previous FinalThis game defines the word "polarizing". On the one hand, the combat system, while incredibly different from anything a Final Fantasy game has ever seen before, is very exciting and exhilarating, although it can become repetitive(what rpg isn't though?) On the other hand, the story is such a mess that by the time you get to the cutscenes, you legitimately cannot care. In previous Final Fantasy games, the cutscenes were a "reward". In this one, you find your self hoping characters just shut up already, because everything they say just seems uninteresting or even annoying.

    On a personal note- I prefer less linear rpgs, and this one is EXTREMELY disappointing in that regard. By the time you can "mess around", its almost over. And I think this game would have done itself a huge favor by using terms for its alien crystal magicky plot that were easier to follow. The fact that you NEED the glossary to get what everyone is talking about, even 30+ hours in, is a mistake.

    That said, the gameplay kept me going, and I was always having fun PLAYING it, especially when I was able to get to the "endgame" options. But aggravating characters, and annoying/confusing story elements drags this down.    … Expand
  64. Signas501
    Mar 22, 2015
    3
    Final fantasy XIII introduces the newcomer lightning, as she and several other characters attempt to raid the city of cocoon. After destroying the cities core, (and several flashbacks and future insights) you are able to freely roam the world, meeting new members to the group along the way.
  65. Octavio87
    Feb 16, 2015
    0
    Worst game I have ever played and I started playing on my Gameboy about 20 years ago.

    Annoying characters (especially that emo-crybaby and that wannabe- Paris Hilton- Barbie), horrible and hectical fighting system (why the **** the game ends, when Lightning is defeated, even though there are other characters who could easily revive her?), mega linear maps (basically just one direction-    Worst game I have ever played and I started playing on my Gameboy about 20 years ago.

    Annoying characters (especially that emo-crybaby and that wannabe- Paris Hilton- Barbie), horrible and hectical fighting system (why the **** the game ends, when Lightning is defeated, even though there are other characters who could easily revive her?), mega linear maps (basically just one direction- alleyways), annoying music, that repeats itself and repeats itself until your brain goes numb. Besides that the actual game gets interupted with cutscenes every 10 minutes or so, so there is no fluent gameplay at all.

    I even enjoyed playing Ride to Hell: Retribution more than this, that game made you laugh at least, while FFXIII just makes me angry as hell. So **** this game, **** it to oblivion.    … Expand
  66. Dionysus777
    Feb 6, 2015
    5
    1 of my biggest disapointments in gaming history. What is this the spam sketch from monty python? Spam and eggs, Spam x spam attack spam x spam and look at ur map Spam x spam attack spam and spam bacon and Spam . I will never buy another ff w/o aprehension and any other in this Spam shoot Lightning Spam series.
  67. Unhyper
    Feb 6, 2015
    7
    The battle system is great, but the world is lifeless. My first FF was FFVII, and I keep going back to it because you have so much freedom in it. You can travel almost anywhere whenever you like, you can enter houses and talk to NPCs, and many of them not only have interesting things to say but their dialogue also changes depending on where you are in the game's story.

    From FFX onward,    The battle system is great, but the world is lifeless. My first FF was FFVII, and I keep going back to it because you have so much freedom in it. You can travel almost anywhere whenever you like, you can enter houses and talk to NPCs, and many of them not only have interesting things to say but their dialogue also changes depending on where you are in the game's story.

    From FFX onward, not only have the worlds become increasingly less accessible beyond the scripted track, but Square has increased the recycling of assets: less different NPC designs, and just copy and paste the same ones everywhere. Both of these factors, in my opinion, do more injury to immersion than an incoherent story.    … Expand
  68. HopelessVoice
    Feb 1, 2015
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. FFXIII has no gameplay elements to serve a place in the series, or as a RPG game at all. Although taste is subjective, there are several facts that just show how thin the game is. If one likes the game for being a limited storydriven CGI movie, then there's no arguing. But here's some facts:

    - Character customization & building? = Nope, just mash the X button on Crystarium. The stat growth in the tree should be automatic, as there are no choices anyway. The paradigm system is a joke compared to the likes of FFV job system, FFVII materia system and even FFVIII junction system (at least you could build your characters freely on that one)
    - Exploration & item hunting? = Nope, just run the hallway and loot the flying boxes. The game opens up a bit much later on but by that time its too late and too minor to have any impact. There's nothing even close to the sidequests of 1-12. No open world to explore, no hidden caverns beneath the ocean to reveal hidden weapons, no hidden islands behind the map that you only reach with a golden chocobo. There's only the endless hallway. Remember the optional mansion in VII where you needed to unlock the hidden door to reveal a hidden playable character? Well there's no optional places so there can't be optional characters to play with either. Remember the optional battle arenas that when conquered gave you endgame skills and items? There's nothing even close to that.
    - Special attacks, skills, limit breaks or any other form of unique combat? = Nope, there's a "stagger" bar that goes up when you mash the X button long enough, which only makes the characters do more damage, and then you mash X some more. No epic Omnislash, Lionheart or Blitz Ace to save for a difficult boss battle.
    - Unique weapon models? = Nope, they all share the same skin on one charachter. No Masamune, Excalibur, Ultima Weapon and so forth here.
    - Optional bosses that require various strategy to defeat = Not really, although there are optional bosses. However, as they only require you to max grind your characters and then mash the X button there's really no purpose. No Ruby where you have to figure out to have two characthers dead when entering the battle, No Emerald where you need to figure out how to surivive his final attack, No Penance where you need just the correct characters to even have a chance, No dark aeons, No Omega Weapon etc.

    There's so little RPG-elements in this game to even call it RPG. It is an interactive (debatable) movie, and whether one likes the story or not is a matter of taste. The graphics and CGI of the game is high quality, but so is the quality of the CGI in the Hobbit movies. No-one is calling those movies RPG-games though.

    I'll give the 1 point for the game having no apparent or gamebreaking bugs.    … Expand
  69. MrRPG
    Jan 5, 2015
    8
    Although i feel it was a step back from final fantasy 12 (Due to gameplay mechanic changes), Final fantasy 13 still has the magic of the previous games in terms of atmosphere, story and character development.
    Although the gameplay has become slightly more repetitive with less opportunity for customization as some of the previous final fantasies, but is still solid in it's own right.
  70. Noin007
    Jan 4, 2015
    4
    The CGI was absolutely amazing.
    The musical score was straight up beautiful.
    There's nothing else good I have to say about Final Fantasy XIII. The characters' personalities are bland as can be. The character designs are bland and yet completely over-produced at the same time that just scream that they're trying so hard to look like they're not trying too hard. The story is told quite    The CGI was absolutely amazing.
    The musical score was straight up beautiful.
    There's nothing else good I have to say about Final Fantasy XIII.
    The characters' personalities are bland as can be.
    The character designs are bland and yet completely over-produced at the same time that just scream that they're trying so hard to look like they're not trying too hard.
    The story is told quite possibly worse than any I've ever seen in a video game, and the story itself isn't even good. Basic story telling elements are completely left out and you're given an in-menu encyclopedia to read if you want to know what things are.
    I recommend this game to only the hardest of hardcore fans.    … Expand
  71. spi280
    Dec 31, 2014
    3
    bland characters, a crap story that requires you to read through tons of flavour text to even understand it and of course you probably already know that every level is very linear. the only positive thing this game has going for it are its great music and how the cutscenes are very well animated.
  72. SinonSinoff
    Dec 29, 2014
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A solid game, the views are always nice to gaze at when you see them, the character designs are great, and I like the fact that it tried to experiment with different things in the series because no one wants the same game over and over again, especially the battle system. Although the battle system could be polished up a bit, the pace of the matches par with the character's name, "Lightning".… Expand
  73. FantasyCritic71
    Nov 17, 2014
    8
    Is this game worth your time? Well yes and no.

    Alot of people will find the gameplay repetitive and probably boring those who don't usually play JRPG's or aren't fans of the FF Series might not like this game. Gameplay - I admit the gameplay does get a bit repetitive but its still a fun game to play why? Because of the Boss Battles they are exciting and fun and also the Summonings    Is this game worth your time? Well yes and no.

    Alot of people will find the gameplay repetitive and probably boring those who don't usually play JRPG's or aren't fans of the FF Series might not like this game.

    Gameplay - I admit the gameplay does get a bit repetitive but its still a fun game to play why? Because of the Boss Battles they are exciting and fun and also the Summonings are awesome + the Gameplay gets better as you continue to play.

    Graphics - This game has some of the best Graphics on the PS3 it rivals almost every game on the system Arkham City & Origins are probably the only games I can think of with this level of graphics. The Areas in this game look amazing you can just look at some of the areas in the game and just be in awe like wow who drew this ****

    Characters - Some people might be like Vanille Snow & Hope are all lame well newsflash they actually are lame. But they all get character development and very good character development. I'll add coolness points to Snow for having some good scenes and to Hope for becoming a man. Lightning is badass Sazh is just being who he is and I like him for that. Fang is another badass. Cid Raines is badass too.

    Story - Do I even need to say it? This games story is amazing **** amazing the story kept me playing from start to finish. When you want to figure out why FFXIII is so popular? The reason is because of the story.

    Soundtrack - The 2nd best thing in this game is the soundtrack its just as good as the story. The Soundtrack is amazing.

    Overall - Everything but the gameplay is amazing. The Gameplay brought something new to the table but its presentation could have been done better, there should have been more abilities for characters and we should have been able to revisit the places we explored already for extra missions and stuff. Other than that I would change nothing about this game its awesome.    … Expand
  74. qu4nt0
    Nov 14, 2014
    0
    This is the worst video-game I have ever played in my life. First of all there is no challenge, 90% of the game is just about walking narrow paths and have boring fights with enemies.
    Second the fights are more boring than in previous Final Fantasy games, because the system is doing everything for you. You basically just have to choose a class and the Game is doing the rest of the fight.    This is the worst video-game I have ever played in my life. First of all there is no challenge, 90% of the game is just about walking narrow paths and have boring fights with enemies.
    Second the fights are more boring than in previous Final Fantasy games, because the system is doing everything for you. You basically just have to choose a class and the Game is doing the rest of the fight.
    Please don't buy this video-game.    … Expand
  75. Wildkry
    Nov 11, 2014
    9
    FF13 has quickly become one of my favorites in the series. The game is actually challenging and if you don't level your characters up correctly and efficiently, the ending of the game will be near impossible. The combat is very interesting with the Paradigms and having to switch them constantly to survive in battles. Your setup is crucial in boss fights. However, more often than not,FF13 has quickly become one of my favorites in the series. The game is actually challenging and if you don't level your characters up correctly and efficiently, the ending of the game will be near impossible. The combat is very interesting with the Paradigms and having to switch them constantly to survive in battles. Your setup is crucial in boss fights. However, more often than not, you're either hitting auto-attack or switching paradigms and that's all you really do in combat, which is both a pro and a con. I feel as though the combat could have been a bit too challenging had they didn't have you using auto-attack, but also it feels a bit simple regarding that particular aspect of combat. I fell in love with the story of this game and the characters that you encounter. Lighting is one of my all time favorite FF characters as a result of this game and I'm sure that the next 2 games in the lineage will strengthen that. The other characters are extremely interesting as well. The only complaint I have with the actual story is that the start of the game leaves you very confused and you don't begin to completely understand what is going on until a few hours into it, but once you do it is something that is quite spectacular. The world and creatures that inhabit it are beautiful and Square-Enix did an awesome job on everything this game has to offer.… Expand
  76. sanluis20
    Nov 10, 2014
    8
    Definitely the best in the series, as the story is decent and the fighting is fresh and goes well with the game. The characters for the most part are likeable and the game has an excellent system. Again, you may not like this game as it is extremely linear, but I didn't mind it much. The game is fun and while the game can stall at times, it is still worth playing. On the other hand,Definitely the best in the series, as the story is decent and the fighting is fresh and goes well with the game. The characters for the most part are likeable and the game has an excellent system. Again, you may not like this game as it is extremely linear, but I didn't mind it much. The game is fun and while the game can stall at times, it is still worth playing. On the other hand, the entire FFXIII series falls well short of the previous games in Final Fantasy, which are epic and are must haves. Check them out on the PS store, as they aren't too pricey and are fun, that is if you don't care about graphics and care about great story telling.… Expand
  77. cwinters710
    Nov 8, 2014
    10
    WOW! what a game! as soon as you begin your adventure into this action packed game you'll find yourself in the middle of a civil war and make your way through it, getting to know the characters and ultimately joining them all into a large party. The game has a leveling up system called the Chrystarium, and it works much like Final Fantasy's X, but you don't need items to actually level upWOW! what a game! as soon as you begin your adventure into this action packed game you'll find yourself in the middle of a civil war and make your way through it, getting to know the characters and ultimately joining them all into a large party. The game has a leveling up system called the Chrystarium, and it works much like Final Fantasy's X, but you don't need items to actually level up the character. The combat system is very different and action packed since you'll constantly be on guard to change your role or paradigm. In the beginning of the game each character has 2 or 3 paradigms but you will eventually be able to master them all with every character although not all character have the same abilities and some get some abilities before others making you think on your feet as you change your party constantly.

    You can also level up your weapons and there are a plethora of weapons with all sorts of abilities. The story is a bit confusing in the beginning but it all makes since as the story progresses. The graphics are gorgeous you can expect no less from Square Enix, and the music is very pretty although I found myself not enjoying the game's main theme as much. The game has over 120 hours of game play if you so choose to complete the trophies or Achievements. I recommend it to experienced RPG fans since nebs will find themselves confused with certain aspects of the game.    … Expand
  78. AndyClimax
    Nov 6, 2014
    6
    When it takes a good dozen hours of gameplay for a game to "get good" then you know you've got a problem. The graphics are excellent, and score is typically good, but the irritating characters and insane plot dumbfound you for most of the playthrough.
  79. Cleanshooter
    Oct 17, 2014
    2
    This is one of the worst games in the series. If you enjoy running through endless tunnels (this game coined the phrase "ultra-linear"), a combat system that requires next to no user interaction, characters with little depth and a story line you won't care about because you just want the entire affair to end... and STUNNING VISUALS then get the game.

    Otherwise don't waste your time or    This is one of the worst games in the series. If you enjoy running through endless tunnels (this game coined the phrase "ultra-linear"), a combat system that requires next to no user interaction, characters with little depth and a story line you won't care about because you just want the entire affair to end... and STUNNING VISUALS then get the game.

    Otherwise don't waste your time or money... the only reason I played it is because I'm a fan of the franchise.    … Expand
  80. semperfi1503
    Oct 14, 2014
    6
    I'm a newcomer to Final Fantasy and generally speaking, I'm caught with mixed emotions towards this entry "XIII". Beautiful graphics and environment, polished character models, and... that's all I could say to the pros of this game. Rather than that, the linear environment is almost unbearable to me, and it gets worse after I find out that some previous installments of the series didI'm a newcomer to Final Fantasy and generally speaking, I'm caught with mixed emotions towards this entry "XIII". Beautiful graphics and environment, polished character models, and... that's all I could say to the pros of this game. Rather than that, the linear environment is almost unbearable to me, and it gets worse after I find out that some previous installments of the series did indeed feature open-world environment. And the first few moments of the story feel like a drag, I couldn't figure out whatever it is going on in the game world, only after spending some time on the datalog did I understand some parts of the events going on in the game. The combat, even if your characters acquire new skills, would get repetitive over time, which combines with the usual pace of running around in confined spaces, engaging some groups of enemies, with no sidequests available would render the total experience repetitive. The only thing that keeps me going is to finish the story, and perhaps to maintain the hope that the game would get better overtime. It has a lot of potential, but could've been executed way better than this.… Expand
  81. AlienSpaceBats
    Oct 7, 2014
    6
    A JRPG aimed at casual players that skips any pretence. FFXIII does not begin well, my first 6 or 7 hours were an internal struggle where I debated putting the game down - I later learned that the first 20 hours would be an increasingly tedious tutorial - all but three of the characters (Fang, Vanille and Sazh) are annoying, angsty, self-absorbed cretins. I suspect this is due to the VAs;A JRPG aimed at casual players that skips any pretence. FFXIII does not begin well, my first 6 or 7 hours were an internal struggle where I debated putting the game down - I later learned that the first 20 hours would be an increasingly tedious tutorial - all but three of the characters (Fang, Vanille and Sazh) are annoying, angsty, self-absorbed cretins. I suspect this is due to the VAs; talented as they are, I did not care for their characterization - watching the Japanese version in action confirmed this. It's fair to say that the game is linear, and like most JRPGs you need to grind the heck out of your characters, FFXIII isn't coy about that though, it throws corridors at you populated with groups of enemies and asks you to slay them all. Sure enough, by the time you've done that you'll have maxed out your Crystarium and can move on to the next stage.If there was one thing I liked, it was the absence of random encounters, and the fact that there's no need to heal or use Phoenix Downs after battles - the game does that for you (yay?) The battle system is decent most of the time, but is obviously aimed at casual players and has taken control out of the hands of the player. Both party members are AI controlled and there is no way to tell them what you want them to do, there is no way to direct an ATB stack in more than one direction (ie: I've stacked 2 Curas, I can't send one to character A and one to character B), if I've got Vanille or Hope in a Medic role, there's no way to use Esuna instead of Cure, this applies to all Paradigms. If a Synergist is in the party, I want Protect, not Haste, but the AI goes out of its way giving you the buffs it thinks it should have. Later battles with three or more challenging enemies are problematic, you can not direct them to attack a single enemy and instead they waste time trading blows with un-staggered units. Everything is done on auto, chances are if your party knows the enemies weaknesses they will act accordingly but a lot of the time the lack of control was frustrating. I don't think I started actually properly enjoying myself until Taejin's Tower (25+ hours in), because there's things to actually do there, and getting through requires input from the player (as opposed to a long corridor). Overall a decent experience, but it feels linear, stripped out and dull a lot of the time. The characters aren't the best, the story is obtuse, the world feels empty, but it looks amazing, even for a four year old 7th gen title. Some of the music is absolutely stunning (does that go without saying with FF games now?)… Expand
  82. gabzjmm23
    Sep 22, 2014
    8
    i get what why most fans doesn't like this game, due to it is more linear and no towns, NPCs. still love the new battle system. they could have handled the NPCs better and with towns but the director might have thought where to add those towns, NPC from the story. hence it was done like this. they really borrowed from the previous FF games in terms of character but i think Lightning isi get what why most fans doesn't like this game, due to it is more linear and no towns, NPCs. still love the new battle system. they could have handled the NPCs better and with towns but the director might have thought where to add those towns, NPC from the story. hence it was done like this. they really borrowed from the previous FF games in terms of character but i think Lightning is still a great protagonist.… Expand
  83. Genelegasse
    Sep 21, 2014
    6
    Loseing their touch. They could have been alot better... Feels like a twilight video game... perhaps good for girls? Lost their classic feel and the free-roam came much later and just didnt make up a good final fantasy in the end.
  84. chris_1_s
    Sep 19, 2014
    4
    I can honestly say this is the worst Final Fantasy game I've ever played.
    - The story was completely broken and made little sense.
    - I personally found the characters to be dull, uninspired and had very little back story.
    - Pacing in the game wasn't very good.
    - You had to go searching the datalogs for any kind of exposition.
    - Visuals were nice though.
  85. Blackluster
    Sep 16, 2014
    10
    I'm writing this out of pure shock from the FF fanbase. When I first picked up FFXIII, it was because I needed to try a new series. I had recently been playing Skyrim a lot, and I saw this on E-Bay for a cheap price. I'd decided to do some research on it first, and found out it was an JRPG. It had a 8.6 metacritic score. It seemed pretty good. Then I came across the countless forum postsI'm writing this out of pure shock from the FF fanbase. When I first picked up FFXIII, it was because I needed to try a new series. I had recently been playing Skyrim a lot, and I saw this on E-Bay for a cheap price. I'd decided to do some research on it first, and found out it was an JRPG. It had a 8.6 metacritic score. It seemed pretty good. Then I came across the countless forum posts directed at the game, and wow, what a bunch of whiny, spoilt brats complaining about the game. This totally put me off buying it because people wouldn't stop **** about it's linearity and nonsencical story. After a couple of months, I'd completely forgot about it, then I saw it in-shop a couple of months later. And I said **** it' because it was really cheap and I was going to buy it someday anyway. I went home. I played it. I literally played it for 2 days straight because I fell in love with it. I'll admit it, I have a relationship with this game because it's so good. It's so good that I recently found myself watching the 'movie' version on Youtube. It was 9 hours. It'd been 2 years since I last played it, and I'm so glad I refreshed myself of it.
    I just need to list a few reasons why this is a fantastic game:
    1. The story. It's different, that's what I love about it. The main charachter isn't your usual JRPG whiny teenager (even though thats a charachter in the story), it's a hardass, which I will admit is risky, but it worked. Maybe directing the central charachter at someone else wouldn't off because they weren't as emotionless. EMOTIONLESS, you say? Why, why oh why would you want an emotionless charachter? So you can build on it. There are loads of questions to be asked, opposed to someone who explained their life story in the first 1 minute. All you see in the first 1 minute of this game is Lightning fighting her way through a train, and into this gorgrous city. That's all you need to know so far; she's a badass. That's enough to get you hooked (unless you don't like that kind of stuff, in that case, stop reading).
    Now, the story. The main focus is it's cast. And, boy, do I love the cast. Now, I do have complaints. Hope. It's a pretentious name, I admit, but I expected him to have an interesting backstory. Instead he just complains about everything. Not that interesting. But on the other side, the rest of the cast is interesting and in some places relatable. You have Vanille, a perky 20-something? 13? 20? Who knows. Anyway, her accent is a little confusing sometimes (Italian, American)? But her backstory makes up for it. She has relations with a charachter you meet later on in the story, which makes her very important. She was born on Pulse, unlike everyone else, and she was a l'Cie, until she got turned to crystal. You see, this makes up for her flaws. And she's a love/hate person, so don't go in thinking you'll love her. Personally, she's my favorite out of all of them.
    Then you have Sazh, who you meet at the start. He is relatable because he's always questioning everything. And if I were in that situation, that's what I would be doing. Other than that, he is a fantastic charachter. He is again related to Vanille in some way, and another peroson we meet later on who has a major connection to Vanille and her friend; bringing those two together (why they have a section together).
    Then, Snow. Your hero. You need these in every story so someone has something to complain about (Hope). "Oh, you're the hero, everybody look at me!" Hope says, realizing that that's what Snow is exactly doing. He knows he's the hero. That's what makes him the non-typical hero. His mission is to save his fiance, Serah, a l'Cie who to turned to crystal. His story is interesting and so is his bold personality.
    Then, Fang. She comes in later into the story, and has connections with Vanille. You could say she's a bit of a hero, but I like to think of her as just brave, as she doesn't really have a mission of sorts, opposse to Snow. She's okay.
    Then the story, to accomadate the cast. All of these people, exclding fang, get turned to l'Cie. Then, they must fight against the government, as l'Cie are evry feared. This is a good contrast to real world; how people with unknown power should be feared, when they can just be normal. Then, they go up against Barthandelus, a corrupt leader who is a l'Cie himself. You fight him 3 times in the game. From there, you must journey through populated cities, to Gran Pulse, a greenland.

    2. The Gameplay. Yes, people say it's just push one button and go, but see how that works out if you do it the entire game. There is stratergy involved. Pshh.

    I loved it.    … Expand
  86. sacredbear
    Sep 10, 2014
    7
    Final Fantasy XIII commits some sins for sure. The game has large stretches of extremely linear level design, and does not attempt much to hide the fact. The cast is likely the most uninteresting, unlikeable cast I have seen in a Final Fantasy game. Those facts (at the very least, well informed opinions) out of the way, this is still an enjoyable game with many qualities to like. TheFinal Fantasy XIII commits some sins for sure. The game has large stretches of extremely linear level design, and does not attempt much to hide the fact. The cast is likely the most uninteresting, unlikeable cast I have seen in a Final Fantasy game. Those facts (at the very least, well informed opinions) out of the way, this is still an enjoyable game with many qualities to like. The visuals and the music are easily the most polished in the series (again, well informed opinions...). With a few tweaks (no auto battle, less obvious linearity) this could be up there with the best of the Final Fantasy games. Is it the worst Final Fantasy? Probably. Is it still a good game, worth playing? Yes, definitely. Ignore the overblown criticism and try it out.… Expand
  87. TornadoCreator
    Jul 16, 2014
    2
    This games gets a 2 for being technically functional, that's the best I can say about it. Final Fantasy XIII Is an insult to the franchises heritage and an obvious lazy cash-in by Square Enix who've clearly given up long ago.

    Gameplay wise, there really isn't any. The game isn't just linear, it's a straight f*cking line. You walk down a corridor for about 80 hours, that's it. There are    This games gets a 2 for being technically functional, that's the best I can say about it. Final Fantasy XIII Is an insult to the franchises heritage and an obvious lazy cash-in by Square Enix who've clearly given up long ago.

    Gameplay wise, there really isn't any. The game isn't just linear, it's a straight f*cking line. You walk down a corridor for about 80 hours, that's it. There are no towns, no NPCs, no side quests, no exploration, no collectibles, no intrigue... nothing. Crash Bandicoot is less linear than this game. Add in that character customisation is a joke, and combat is so convoluted that you can win everything without even paying attention and you have the most boring game ever. The first 40 hours is a tutorial explaining how the game plays itself, which you can ignore as you can win all the combat by just mashing the X button for the most part. Some people claim the combat opens up in the late game but that's simply not true, it's still just as broken then and once Lightning learns the move 'Army Of One' you can pretty much kill anything through a combination of poisoning and using that one move. There's more tactical decision-making in tic-tac-toe.

    So what about the story? What story?! What passes for a narrative is only explained through hidden away data longs that you're not prompted to read, and even with this mountain of poorly written exposition, the story is still an incomprehensible mess with plot holes you could drive a plane through, inconsistencies as standard, character motivations that make no sense, and a world setting that's not explained or explored in any way; mainly because you never actually go there because you never leave the damn corridor.

    This is a painfully bad game, don't waste your time on it.    … Expand
  88. SunRider
    Jun 12, 2014
    9
    Although the game seemed boring from time to time, with pointless overacting dialogs, it's a great game overall, like each FF.
    Graphics are beautiful, as well as the soundtrack, story could be somewhat more interesting but what the hell.
    What I liked a lot was the new battle system, even if it seems stolen from the Grandia serial. I see that people argue about its linearity...I didn't    Although the game seemed boring from time to time, with pointless overacting dialogs, it's a great game overall, like each FF.
    Graphics are beautiful, as well as the soundtrack, story could be somewhat more interesting but what the hell.
    What I liked a lot was the new battle system, even if it seems stolen from the Grandia serial.
    I see that people argue about its linearity...I didn't mind it, as long as the rest is nicely done.
    Anyway, for all of you planning to play it, if you liked FFX, you'll like this one as well.    … Expand
  89. Nioji
    Jun 2, 2014
    2
    I think FFXIII is the worst RPG I ever played. Why ? Well, the story-telling is AWFUL. Not a single character explains anything about the universe, and the reason why the Big Bad want to destroy the world (no spoilers, it's a JRPG) is only explained in a sub-entry inside the game's Codex. The Paradigm Shift system destroys all the preparation of a job-based RPG, since you can change jobsI think FFXIII is the worst RPG I ever played. Why ? Well, the story-telling is AWFUL. Not a single character explains anything about the universe, and the reason why the Big Bad want to destroy the world (no spoilers, it's a JRPG) is only explained in a sub-entry inside the game's Codex. The Paradigm Shift system destroys all the preparation of a job-based RPG, since you can change jobs during a fight. The characters are all annoying. don't buy this game. Seriously.… Expand
  90. Reaperplot
    May 30, 2014
    2
    Final Fantasy XIII can summed up with two words; pretentious and lack-luster.

    Graphics were technically good, but mechanical, failing to produce an atmosphere. The game play was incredibly linear, driven along by a story which acted more like a train headed to Auschwitz, than an adventure. The combat in the game was the most disappoint aspect of this game for me, there was no skill    Final Fantasy XIII can summed up with two words; pretentious and lack-luster.

    Graphics were technically good, but mechanical, failing to produce an atmosphere. The game play was incredibly linear, driven along by a story which acted more like a train headed to Auschwitz, than an adventure.

    The combat in the game was the most disappoint aspect of this game for me, there was no skill involved, it was as though the developer thought their audience had lost all ability to play video games, and that they were starting with a group wholly unfamiliar with the concept of gaming.

    I hope that this game goes down in history as one of the worst games ever made.    … Expand
  91. PandaWhisperer
    May 5, 2014
    2
    Final Fantasy XIII felt like a punch to the face for some old school Final Fantasy fans like myself. Final Fantasy characters, although fantasy, used to be relatable. Sorry to get sidetracked; in FF7, Cloud never achieved his dream and coped with this throughout the game. He stole someone else's identity, he broke down, and eventually accepted this and recovered. Cloud was a complexFinal Fantasy XIII felt like a punch to the face for some old school Final Fantasy fans like myself. Final Fantasy characters, although fantasy, used to be relatable. Sorry to get sidetracked; in FF7, Cloud never achieved his dream and coped with this throughout the game. He stole someone else's identity, he broke down, and eventually accepted this and recovered. Cloud was a complex character with flaws; I believe that is a huge reason FF7 was so successful and critically acclaimed. The majority of characters in XIII were shallow and one note. Everyone seemed like they had one singular reason to carry on with the story. This story became bland very fast. There is very little exploration, meaning that the story was critical to pull off; sadly this was not the case. The main reason I am writing the negative review is that this was the first Final Fantasy game that was released that just didn't seem very much like a Final Fantasy game to me at all. Sure, FF12 was a huge departure from where the series started, at least I could understand these changes (although, I felt like FF12 was a way to shift the console fan-base to their MMO's for more profit). Many of the decisions in XIII simply confuse me. There was very little redeeming value here. Lost Odyssey felt more like a Final Fantasy game than this one.… Expand
  92. A7ibaba
    Apr 23, 2014
    8
    I can not say bad words for Final Fantasy XIII,because of really good story. Graphic is amazing,and combat is great,not perfect,but great. Ok,lets be honest and say,you have linear path and you are limited in exploration,but this is Final Fantasy,not some open world MMO.If you want exploration play Final Fantasy XIV Realm Reborn. I have 100+ hours and i must say that i really enjoyedI can not say bad words for Final Fantasy XIII,because of really good story. Graphic is amazing,and combat is great,not perfect,but great. Ok,lets be honest and say,you have linear path and you are limited in exploration,but this is Final Fantasy,not some open world MMO.If you want exploration play Final Fantasy XIV Realm Reborn. I have 100+ hours and i must say that i really enjoyed playing this game. This title definitely worth the money and you can't go wrong with FF XIII. On the end you will feel sad because you finished the game and you could play it atleast 50 more hours. But you know what they say.Everything that is good,last short.… Expand
  93. Darkleliel
    Apr 12, 2014
    1
    This game was absolutely horrible. It took me a year to get through because the first time I played it, I had to put it down for MONTHS on end because it was so bad. The dialogue is predictable and boring, the story, while it HAD potential, feels like it's nothing more than something a sixth-grader might come up with in their creative writing class. By the end of the game, the entire thingThis game was absolutely horrible. It took me a year to get through because the first time I played it, I had to put it down for MONTHS on end because it was so bad. The dialogue is predictable and boring, the story, while it HAD potential, feels like it's nothing more than something a sixth-grader might come up with in their creative writing class. By the end of the game, the entire thing devolves into one big cliche, each character boiling down to nothing more than the few idioms they seem to know. It's also very tunnel-visioned; there's no room to roam around, the game just feels like one long corridor where you go from one cinematic to the next, with little to nothing in between. The battles are endless, and while it is definitely a pretty game, that seems to be all that it has going for it.… Expand
  94. LeGeNd7
    Apr 2, 2014
    8
    Story was a little hard to understand at first, over time you start to understand it(maybe if you try really hard). The story is decent, but I wasn't quite all the way captivated like in some previous final fantasies. Beautiful graphics and the battle system is as well(basically they took the classic way of battling and made it more realistic, and added a little of 10 and 12 into it too.),Story was a little hard to understand at first, over time you start to understand it(maybe if you try really hard). The story is decent, but I wasn't quite all the way captivated like in some previous final fantasies. Beautiful graphics and the battle system is as well(basically they took the classic way of battling and made it more realistic, and added a little of 10 and 12 into it too.), though you can't control your teammates all the way in battle. Most things they do on their own. Allies are limited sometimes because of this, and limits(special moves) of characters are not as useful to me as they had been in the past. Cloud, Squall, and Tidus'specials took out a ton more damage in comparison. Challenging battles though, mainly toward the middle going to end. Summoning battle system is very nice(it's new but pretty cool.). Side quests are challenging and they are many. But that is IF you only like hunting marks. There isn't anything thing else to the sidequests. It's better than okay yet it lacks that enjoyable feeling you get from adventuring(meeting different people in different towns etc.) in previous final fantasies.… Expand
  95. Dyscordia
    Mar 25, 2014
    5
    Completely linear, with no choice character in the group, some charismatic characters, lightning is the only one who is saved, but I think a cheap clone cloud, engaging story but then bored.
    only positive is the system combat.
  96. ArchShadow
    Mar 20, 2014
    9
    Sure enough the game isn't for everyone but why not try and enjoy it. Some people say that everything is bad about it but the visuals and soundtrack is great. the story-line is gripping. Sure the fighting moments are kind of bad but look past that. Look at every positive thing about it. my opinion is to get the game, i think it is good.
  97. DemonKnight94
    Mar 20, 2014
    7
    FFXIII is a very repetitive game. At very few times i found it fun for the sake of gameplay. And that is the combats fault. It´s to repetitive and for the first half of the game u basicaly mash one button in manny battles lasts forever aswell as its undramatic. Fighting, running around enviroments and watch cutscenes is what u do in this game, Usualy that is not a problem for me but iFFXIII is a very repetitive game. At very few times i found it fun for the sake of gameplay. And that is the combats fault. It´s to repetitive and for the first half of the game u basicaly mash one button in manny battles lasts forever aswell as its undramatic. Fighting, running around enviroments and watch cutscenes is what u do in this game, Usualy that is not a problem for me but i found running around the enviroments thte creative and beautiful, at times spectacular inviroments and watch cutscenes more interesting.

    Aswell as that FFXIII has a soundtrack that u hear when running around the world and during cutsceenes that is great but not to often, all you hear is Combat Theme trough every fight. Great estetics, poor gameplay    … Expand
  98. shadowdemon96
    Mar 19, 2014
    8
    this game is good but it has some down fulls one is the characters are a bit of a let down to the newly found series. it has very nice grapics on the ps3 that ive currently got and so far the game has never really cut out on me.
  99. Supersaiyan9000
    Mar 13, 2014
    9
    The extreme linearity and sloppy plot did indeed bother me, but I am the kind of gamer who can patiently sit through linearity as long as it opens up at some point. When I got to the open world I really started to enjoy the game, especially with the monster hunt missions. The combat can feel disengaging because of the Auto-Battle, but I just changed the settings to make the cursor alwaysThe extreme linearity and sloppy plot did indeed bother me, but I am the kind of gamer who can patiently sit through linearity as long as it opens up at some point. When I got to the open world I really started to enjoy the game, especially with the monster hunt missions. The combat can feel disengaging because of the Auto-Battle, but I just changed the settings to make the cursor always appear on Abilities and it actually made the game feel much more strategic. Square Enix made a really good choice with designing the characters, especially Lightning who in my opinion has the best looking outfit in Final Fantasy history. Lastly, the graphics, visuals, and background art were outstanding. I sometimes found myself stopping in the middle of a level just to pan the camera around and enjoy the view. Haters, say to me what you want, but Final Fantasy 13 to me was definitely worth my money.… Expand
  100. orsonriven
    Mar 3, 2014
    1
    its crap, this is not a true final fantasy, its a movie that make believes its a game, if you are looking for a great game go and pull up the PS network and grab some on the older games in the series.
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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.
    Read full review
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