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. TobiasG
    Oct 5, 2010
    9
    Final Fantasy is a great game that is both rich in graphics and gameplay. My only flaw is that the game can appear a bit boring for some, but it can be easily avoided if you stay away from long grinding sessions. I would happily recommend this game to anyone.
  2. FD3355
    Jan 23, 2011
    10
    Final Fantasy XIII takes awhile to get the ball rolling but once you get in there's no coming back. The graphics are beautiful but that was almost a granted with this game, the battle system also takes a road somewhere between tradition FFX or FFVII battles and FFXII's complete departure. At first the game may seem simplistic but don't let that full you, I found it (in terms of pureFinal Fantasy XIII takes awhile to get the ball rolling but once you get in there's no coming back. The graphics are beautiful but that was almost a granted with this game, the battle system also takes a road somewhere between tradition FFX or FFVII battles and FFXII's complete departure. At first the game may seem simplistic but don't let that full you, I found it (in terms of pure enemy strength) to be the hardest in the series. However it is the least punishing as well, and deaths won't set you back to your last save point but right before the battle. The game walks you down a linear path in the beginning, but this helps more then it constricts. It lets you focus on becoming a master of the battle system before your thrown to the hellishly difficult open world where you'll die again, and again, and again. The story is certainly not the best in the series but it is still interesting with plenty of twists to keep you interested, also there is a ton of life in the game, enemy life mostly, but the world will always feel alive in some way. Finally I must state that I was disparaged with other reviews that criticize this game from departing from series trademarks like towns and airships. This new focus is more easy, all shopping is done through save points and teleporting around the world of Pulse means you'll never find yourself walking for 15 minutes just to get where you need to go. This is a bold step in the right direction for the series and Square Enix is best to ignore the detractors when making 13-2.… Expand
  3. c0mmander
    Aug 15, 2011
    8
    Yeah this game has it's pitfalls but it doesn't deserve such awful press, ok it's not up to the standard of some other RPG's out there or even the other final fantasy titles. But after playing this on both the xbox 360 and the PS3 I feel this game does more right than it does wrong, the storyline has engaging moments although they do occasionaly fall through due to a bit of cheesy voiceYeah this game has it's pitfalls but it doesn't deserve such awful press, ok it's not up to the standard of some other RPG's out there or even the other final fantasy titles. But after playing this on both the xbox 360 and the PS3 I feel this game does more right than it does wrong, the storyline has engaging moments although they do occasionaly fall through due to a bit of cheesy voice acting or the under development of some characters. The autobattle system takes away some of the thinking on your but the paradigm system more than adds an intruiging twist to the gameplay. The crystarium system is not a highlight of the game although there was some promise there. I agree the game is very linear and this took a point off my score. The game has stunning visuals and open enviroments and has a stellar cast of characters and as before stated the paradigm system adds a layer of depth hopefully issues and more depth will be added with xii-2… Expand
  4. EthanL
    Apr 3, 2010
    2
    This game had many great things going for it and a huge number of wonderful creative ideas and developmental risks that gave it such huge potential. But ultimately it had to be marked down as a huge disaster for one very simple reason. It seems to push the player to want to stop playing. The game takes forever to get anywhere, and the paths in between are littered with massive numbers of This game had many great things going for it and a huge number of wonderful creative ideas and developmental risks that gave it such huge potential. But ultimately it had to be marked down as a huge disaster for one very simple reason. It seems to push the player to want to stop playing. The game takes forever to get anywhere, and the paths in between are littered with massive numbers of pointless battles that serve only to slow down the game even further. And even if you get past all that once you figure out the convoluted systems. Once you get to anything remotely interesting, suddenly the game throws at you horribly impossible fights with no way guide or method to deal with them effectively. These become horrible experiences of torture where there is simply no way to progress without insane bonuses, micromanagement, and ridiculous item use.… Expand
  5. DemonWithin
    Jun 3, 2011
    5
    Ok first off I am a HUGE RPG fan and Final Fantasy is one of my favorite series.But 13 let me down.The story was confusing the battle system is boring in my opinion and I don't really like any of the characters other than Lightning and Fang.The graphics are great but to me that doesn't make up for the game-play.I couldn't even finish this game I was so bored with it but after spending $60Ok first off I am a HUGE RPG fan and Final Fantasy is one of my favorite series.But 13 let me down.The story was confusing the battle system is boring in my opinion and I don't really like any of the characters other than Lightning and Fang.The graphics are great but to me that doesn't make up for the game-play.I couldn't even finish this game I was so bored with it but after spending $60 bucks I felt in titled to review it.It may be for some, I sure as hell wasn't one of them though.It's linear game play,I still can't get over that it's FF after all.I waited for this game since the first trailer and info was out,but it wasn't worth it.… Expand
  6. Yoshinaruto
    Jun 9, 2011
    9
    I don't see how people don't like this. It has excellent characters, excellent game-play, and an excellent plot. The voice acting was wonderful and it is very challenging at some points. Looking for a challenging time killer? This is for you. Oh, and the graphics are also wonderful.
  7. lightning101
    May 14, 2011
    5
    Not a game I would recommend to my friends or for people viewing this comment. They have good looking characters in it, I love Lightning, but the game is just not good enough. The story, character backgrounds, the ending, the sexual gasps being heard from Vanille is just bad. The trailer might be good but those are only the best parts of the game, the rest is just awful. And I am a fan ofNot a game I would recommend to my friends or for people viewing this comment. They have good looking characters in it, I love Lightning, but the game is just not good enough. The story, character backgrounds, the ending, the sexual gasps being heard from Vanille is just bad. The trailer might be good but those are only the best parts of the game, the rest is just awful. And I am a fan of this game, but it's just not good enough.… Expand
  8. DaraReviews
    Nov 3, 2010
    8
    First linear then comes to a beautiful word of over world space. The story is extremely great on this game, it feels like it took them alot of time on the story as well as the voice's. This was my first final fantasy game and i love it. I think a 8.5 describes this game.
  9. ClawsOfSteel89
    Nov 24, 2010
    8
    Shame most people will attack a game for trying something new, and before I go on to say what I like or hate about this game, a little back story.

    I anticipated this game since the release of Final Fantasy XII (A title in the series I place above VII and ranked with VI as a definite must own), after the release date was pushed back for the umpteenth time, I was ready to give up on the    Shame most people will attack a game for trying something new, and before I go on to say what I like or hate about this game, a little back story.

    I anticipated this game since the release of Final Fantasy XII (A title in the series I place above VII and ranked with VI as a definite must own), after the release date was pushed back for the umpteenth time, I was ready to give up on the game. And then, the date was set, Final Fantasy XIII was finally slated to come out, and I couldn't wait to find out how great it would be. Well, after getting about 95% through the game and putting it on hold (a nasty habit I will admit to) I will say in confidence that I was mostly pleased with the final product.

    The first thing anyone should notice is the obvious production value, the game is quite possibly one of the best looking games ever made. Everything is alive and gorgeous, and there are few instances of clipping (Except for Sazh's hair). The music, while not as emotionally impacting as the previous titles, nor as appropriate or fitting, was clearly of high quality, and some of it was enjoyable to listen to. The story was about as confusing as any other RPG: hard to follow at first, but easier to understand as you went along. The game play, which is exemplified by the battle system, was surprisingly solid, and requires more strategy the further along you get into it, although I will admit it was initially simple and held your hand, but what game doesn't do this these days? (I mean, besides Demon's Souls)

    Thank god for what few side quests this game has, I don't need stupid, unpolished side quests like the ones in 7-12 to distract me and artificially inject hours into the experience. And when they finally do give you the side quests, you are well past the half-way point, thank god they're all battle related (unless you really want to count chocobos) and actually enjoyable (not ungodly cryptic searches like 12 had.

    By the time I had "finished" this game, I had gotten what I could out of it. To start, yes, the game is linear, but I hate open worlds because, as a perfectionist, they discourage me from following a linear focus and instead, attempt to goad me into wasting untold hours collecting crap I only want because I want everything (i.e. Fallout 3). If you look at it closely, the earlier FF titles forced a sense of linearity by placing monsters too hard to defeat in certain areas of the game, or making side quests impossible, so the accusation of this game's linearity is really moot. The battle system is actually based around the timing of role changes, so the whole press X to win argument becomes completely invalid in the latter half of the game (although, I will admit to giving the game it's score of 8 for the very fact that I felt babied through the first half, but at least I had the awesome characters to enjoy). The music was not as epic or grandiose as XII's, considering that they were both composed without any hands-on contribution from Uematsu. I would question the inclusion of Leona Lewis' music for the main theme, if it weren't for the fact that, for what I've heard, it is about as identical to the Japanese version in theme and quality. By the way, the voice acting doesn't really suck in any way, shape, or form, I knew exactly what they were going for, and they hit their mark pretty well. I will say that the regional dialectal choices made for the voices in XII were superior in that they created a more varied and interesting world.

    At the end of the day, this game succeeds on presentation and game play, which are really the only two things you need for a game to be good. I wish it had more challenge to its early portions, but end result is, this game has meat on its bones after all, and I hope to see the result of Versus XIII (hopefully they will give me more story on the world of Cocoon than even the original did).    … Expand
  10. ArkonBlade
    Jul 12, 2011
    4
    i heard such mixed reviews from my friends and other on this game that i waited awhile to buy it and since sqaure's track record hasnt been very good lately on RPG's. the first thing ill say is wow the graphics are fantastic it looks amazing . then you start playing and you are like huh? what the hell is going on? and after 7 hours i was still asking myself that . the combat system justi heard such mixed reviews from my friends and other on this game that i waited awhile to buy it and since sqaure's track record hasnt been very good lately on RPG's. the first thing ill say is wow the graphics are fantastic it looks amazing . then you start playing and you are like huh? what the hell is going on? and after 7 hours i was still asking myself that . the combat system just sucked and sucked so hard . honetsly this makes FF8's combat system look kinda good . the ability to control only 1 charicter just burned me . when i play a RPG i want 100% control on what my party is doing . not i control the leader which by the way swiches up every 30 minuites and annoyed the living hell out of me and have my other 2 party members doing what they want. so what they have instead is this switch tactics mode which feels so very very very very very off and HORRABLE! i mean usaully i can get through a crappy combat system if the story is solid like FF8 i mean that combat system in that game sucked but the charicters and story are very well done and i could get past that . but after 7 hours of going WTF IS GOING ON!? i couldnt do it any more . i mean the charicters seemed like they might get intresting and they wernt badly voice acted at all but after 7 hours i just couldnt care any more .… Expand
  11. PlutoniumTiger
    Oct 23, 2010
    3
    You know I can understand why some people would see the Environmental linearity as a plus; it keeps the action rollicking along at a fair pace. Okay. Sure, I can accept that. But what I most certainly do not understand is how anyone could not take issue with (perhaps their Zombies?) the phased linearity of the character progression. No sane person would enjoy constantly using the same 3You know I can understand why some people would see the Environmental linearity as a plus; it keeps the action rollicking along at a fair pace. Okay. Sure, I can accept that. But what I most certainly do not understand is how anyone could not take issue with (perhaps their Zombies?) the phased linearity of the character progression. No sane person would enjoy constantly using the same 3 skills for hours.… Expand
  12. Valipex
    Aug 30, 2010
    5
    Well I wouldn't say that the game was THAT BAD but it could have been SO MUCH BETTER. VERY disappointing as a FF game.

    I mean, I haven't bought the game but I've watched the entire thing on Youtube and from what I've seen, there wasn't really much to do other than walking around and fighting monsters...Not much room for exploration at all dude. I DID enjoy the characters. All of them in    Well I wouldn't say that the game was THAT BAD but it could have been SO MUCH BETTER. VERY disappointing as a FF game.

    I mean, I haven't bought the game but I've watched the entire thing on Youtube and from what I've seen, there wasn't really much to do other than walking around and fighting monsters...Not much room for exploration at all dude. I DID enjoy the characters. All of them in fact, but some of them could have used some more time to develop ( i.e. Serah, Snow and Vanille ). And many aspects of the story still don't make sense to me ( AND I've read the novels )

    The graphics were pretty tight though and unlike many people I really like that SE tried to go all futuristic with the series! Nothing wrong with trying new things! But you gotta succeed in doing so....    … Expand
  13. Hikaru
    Sep 13, 2010
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Well... all I can say for FF13 is WOW.
    Good and bad, i found no in between here. All the good was amazing, the bad was... horrible.
    The story-line and most of the fighting styles were great, and put a new edge to the Final Fantasy series. Unfortunately, while the story and graphics were amazing, the fighting was great, I simply could not get my head around some of the changes from the old final fantasy elements.
    Turning summons into (for lack of a better word) mounts was ridiculous, and many boss fights were just pointless. Unless you were a longtime FF fan and knew how to defeat certain types of enemies, the only way to defeat some enemies was grinding levels and hoping for the best.
    While i HAD to play it because of it being part of the FF series, I would not suggest this game to anyone looking for a reminder of past Final Fantasies.    … Expand
  14. UUSKA
    Dec 25, 2012
    1
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I tried hard to like this game but no, FF13 is meant for people who like movies where they can interact a little, if you like to play an j-rpg where you actually are holding the controls this isn't for you, this game was meant for people who decide oh golly what is on the television while hitting the x-button on the controller.
    Even though you can choose paradigm's later on it still has so little impact, there is no reason to do anything else than choose a good paradigm then auto-attack to win since it takes a lot longer to stack different attacks, and since the AA chooses the best ones automatically there is no need for that.

    Characters.... you hate almost everyone one of them since most of them are irritating and annoying, Hope is this whiny brat who is such a huge mama's boy, vanille is this girl who accidentally smashed his happy pills with depressants and hogged everything in. Snow is just a normal brute who got brain of an oyster. Now this is only 3 of the very boring.
    in conclusion they did character design wrong, i'm supposed to remember, but instead you gave me these champs that you want me to like but tried too hard.
    And the early part where hope see's his mom dropping to her death is not sad it is fu**** irritating first you see she is dropping hope is like NEJ! then after snow drops no biggie. in later of the game you can see hope blaming snow for killing his mom...... mind-blown... genius story telling.

    Story:
    They say you can forgive a lot of a game if it has a good story. I call bs on this one. I like a good story in a video game. I can forgive some story if the game-play is good and vice versa. but the problem is story is told so boringly. if they would throw me constantly with a flowing story i would appreciate it. Here it is part of a story followed by a loooooong and i mean LOOOOOOOOOOOONG corridor with nothing in it, you get baddies, some random lines, but there is no main plot inserted here. The only reason why there are long a** corridors is.... there is none. it feels like busy work. but on with that in a sec.
    so in the end. the story would maybe been good. but i just could not play long enough to enjoy it.

    Game-play:
    Simply.... there is none. As for roaming there is nothing. Only hallways, long hallways.
    Battle system? there is no challenge, all you do is hit x. but sometimes on boss battles you get a hard blow on your squad so what you do? if i remember right.. R1 up X X X X X R1 down X X X X... Repeat that for like 40 or 50 times and bam you win the boss battle. As i said there is no challenge, and boss battles don't differ in any way... Or maybe in one way. they are 100 times longer.

    In the end. you don't control the game, you just watch it from a distance ask if you can do anything you pat the game 3 times in the head and sit back.

    Overall:
    It delivers nothing, if you can see i typed something wrong on the details THAT is just because that is the impact this game has left me... absolutely nothing.
    In games i respect quality over quantity. I hate when there is little quality and so much useless content. Wonder where the 1 singer star comes from?
    There is nothing good in this game. characters are forgettable, story is told slowly, graphs were nothing extraordinary (dunno why people praise this game for graphs). music is horrible AND forgettable. Leveling up system is busy work, the interaction of merchants and shopkeeper's have been deleted. EVERYTHING i love bout j-rpg's is gone in this game. This is no j-rpg, this is an slightly interactive document, a boring one that is
    and the challenge is all gone, POOF TO THE GULAG, boss appears, you die. you did not save? no worries since there was a checkpoint 10 ft away and you can keep all your stuff and exp.....
    There is no penalty
    Wonder where the 1 point comes from?
    the 1 point comes from the battle themes violin part, i actually liked that. But i'm a sucker for violin played themes.

    So who can i recommend this movie? People who don't have anything ANYTHING at all to do.
    Retards
    Casual gamer's, those kinds of casual players who think solitaire is hardcore.    … Expand
  15. rave_rd
    Feb 15, 2011
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game was very much a mixed bag for me (thus the five)....most of the other reviews here have covered anything, but I'm going to add mine because maybe it'll help me feel a little bit better about the 50+ hours I just sunk in to this game. Did I enjoy the story? Yes (I can handle some melodrama, that's fine...and sure I can swallow some of the awkward writing). No surprise about the game being beautiful (and it really, really is, especially in HD). Then there's the gameplay: linear, linear, linear. Walk cutscene, fight, walk, fight, cutscene. Ok, this mean the story needs to keep me interested (and it did, I kept going).

    SPOILERS

    Then Orphan shows up. Death To All? Really? So if I don't have the right accessory then I have to rely on luck to not instantly die? REALLY? 50+ hours later and I'm screwed--I don't have the gil to buy things, and my saves are at the ending...so I guess I lose. Thanks FFXII.
    All I can say is make sure you read a walkthrough/guide, or expect to be really frustrated at the end.    … Expand
  16. 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
  17. GoogooG.
    Mar 25, 2010
    4
    Bought my PS2 and PS3 systems to play FF games.. just finished the game am am left with a decidable dirty taste in my mouth as if the Square team have just shoved a large phallic salami down my through and told me to swallow because this is good. im all for experimentation but this is just cud, yes spat out, reworked, Spat out and reworked one more time before final packaging. I remember Bought my PS2 and PS3 systems to play FF games.. just finished the game am am left with a decidable dirty taste in my mouth as if the Square team have just shoved a large phallic salami down my through and told me to swallow because this is good. im all for experimentation but this is just cud, yes spat out, reworked, Spat out and reworked one more time before final packaging. I remember seeing my first final fantasy game and being blown away, how it pushed the envelope it was jaw dropping , now i wouldnt drop my pants to piss on it . Yawn you lazy poor excuse for a FF development team. Battle system was interesting though .good job on that. next time maby we can interact with the world before being mindlessly thrown into battles or mindless running in straigth lines. Dear sqaure please rent some games that were made in the last 3 years and play them see if you can learn something called immersion either that or give me my money back.… Expand
  18. VeryCutePanda
    Aug 29, 2010
    9
    Fans will continue to debate but I think the 13th installment of Final Fantasy is a delightful experience. As long as Square Enix are willing to try something new, I will give them a fair chance. Sure, the linear gameplay, uninspiring plot and the lack of interaction between the characters and the environment doesn't provide a fulfilling gaming experience, one cannot deny that it's easilyFans will continue to debate but I think the 13th installment of Final Fantasy is a delightful experience. As long as Square Enix are willing to try something new, I will give them a fair chance. Sure, the linear gameplay, uninspiring plot and the lack of interaction between the characters and the environment doesn't provide a fulfilling gaming experience, one cannot deny that it's easily the best gameplay in the series. The breathtaking graphics that vows me make forget the lack depth design interaction wise and some characters are memorable (sort of), the score provided is also an improvement from the previous installment. In some ways this game can easily be criticized for not following its roots, but as long as try and make it a fresh experience, it's a risk worth taking, hopefully they can improve themselves after this.… Expand
  19. Caestus
    Mar 4, 2013
    3
    Unbelievable that SE released something like this. Its just going straight running from one cutscene to another and auto battling enemies. The story is not worth to mention, characters are annoying as hell and the soundtrack is the worst, that I ever heard in a Final Fantasy game. The graphics are not that bad though.
  20. 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
  21. Foutiner
    Dec 27, 2012
    9
    This game was alright. the story was kinda lack luster at first but it got a lil better. The game has beautiful cutscenes and the ATB works really well. I cant see why anyone hates this game I mean its not called Open world 13 or something like that Its called Final Fantasy 13. And some of the characters i want to kill but you have that with all games. There was a lack of Npcs but theThis game was alright. the story was kinda lack luster at first but it got a lil better. The game has beautiful cutscenes and the ATB works really well. I cant see why anyone hates this game I mean its not called Open world 13 or something like that Its called Final Fantasy 13. And some of the characters i want to kill but you have that with all games. There was a lack of Npcs but the amount of customization in your team was amazing.… Expand
  22. Kendojosh
    Apr 18, 2013
    1
    Firstly, I am a Final Fantasy fanboy. Happy to hold up my hand to admit it. FFVII best game in the history of games.
    Secondly, before giving this a 1/10 I tried really hard to think of a reason to bump it to a 2 or 3, because I tend to see scores like this as being born of ill-considered hostility, rarely accurately reflecting the true quality of the game.
    In all of my 25 years of    Firstly, I am a Final Fantasy fanboy. Happy to hold up my hand to admit it. FFVII best game in the history of games.
    Secondly, before giving this a 1/10 I tried really hard to think of a reason to bump it to a 2 or 3, because I tend to see scores like this as being born of ill-considered hostility, rarely accurately reflecting the true quality of the game.
    In all of my 25 years of gaming I have never been so upset about a game in my life. I've been disappointed plenty of times. Aliens CM was disappointing. But FFXIII was damn upsetting. Probably because I'm such a series fanboy. I felt -angry- at Square for insulting the Final Fantasy brand with this piece of garbage.

    So, rant done, what is actually wrong with it? The problem with FFXIII is that it is the OPPOSITE of everything that was great about the rest of the series. The score I give it is applied with respect to how it stands among the great FFs that it SHAMES by taking their name.

    Great characters? Nope. We get vapid, shell-like stereotypes. These FF characters are PARODIES of those that have come before in the least humorous way possible.

    Great story-line? Nope. What story-line? The flimsy excuse for a narrative that this 'game' exposed me to for the 30 or so hours that I suffered through, hoping, excruciatingly, in vain that it would improve at some point never seemed to evolve or progress into anything more than a series of inane dialogues and sigh-inducing intermissions between running forwards and 'fighting' clutches of useless enemies (such is my love for the rest of the series that I sat, simmering with growing contempt, through 30 hours of what I can only describe as being like watching a seemingly never-ending scene of someone defecating on your childhood).

    Great battle system? The FF battle systems have been revolutionary. What does FFXIII give us? BUTTON MASHING. You will spend the first several hours running up to an enemy and mashing the A button. You'll win, you'll run a bit further, you'll mash that button some more. Rinse and repeat and repeat and repeat, and you keep hoping that as you gain more abilities, you'll be able to do more stuff, but somehow, someway, the button mashing never seems to end!!

    FFXIII gets the 1 point I can bring myself to award it because it is pretty. Well done, Square, you created the prettiest piece of trash capable of enraging me like this since my ex-wife.

    SO if you like platform games where you can't do anything but run at an enemy and jam that 'Action' button, and you like RPGs that don't let you go anywhere but forward, and you like story-lines that only make sense if you smoke a little sumtin-sumtin, and characters that make you care about them as much as the that live under your sink, then FFXIII is for you.    … Expand
  23. Vanbir
    Jan 16, 2011
    0
    Seriously one of the worst games I have ever played. Why would anyone want to play a game that involves pushing 1 button. On top of that the story line is very weak. Don't waste your money.
  24. bjsteel
    Dec 13, 2010
    8
    As you'd expect, FFXIII offers a significant amount of tactical depth as well as being stunningly beautiful. The linear game play however, limits the enjoyment the gamer can have. As fans of the series know, some of the best parts of these game are seeking out side-quests and EXP grinding off the beaten track. This is strictly limited until the later parts of the game. If this was not a FFAs you'd expect, FFXIII offers a significant amount of tactical depth as well as being stunningly beautiful. The linear game play however, limits the enjoyment the gamer can have. As fans of the series know, some of the best parts of these game are seeking out side-quests and EXP grinding off the beaten track. This is strictly limited until the later parts of the game. If this was not a FF game i would probably rate it higher, but as it is, I have very high expectations which were not met.… Expand
  25. SalarymanDaishi
    Jan 22, 2011
    5
    A grand journey like any Final Fantasy should be, sadly trimmed down to just bare essentials: flashy cutscenes and combat. As fine as both of them are, quite a bit of what makes an enthralling JRPG has been culled as well and the result is a linear and vapid ordeal of preciously little else than running and fighting for 50 hours. Sure, the story and the characters weren't bad at all butA grand journey like any Final Fantasy should be, sadly trimmed down to just bare essentials: flashy cutscenes and combat. As fine as both of them are, quite a bit of what makes an enthralling JRPG has been culled as well and the result is a linear and vapid ordeal of preciously little else than running and fighting for 50 hours. Sure, the story and the characters weren't bad at all but overall, the game is worthy of just one gigantic, heartfelt meh. Not because it wasn't what some of us stubborn FF purists wanted it to be but because it's not even a particularly memorable representative of its genre. Not exactly bad or good. Just... Meh.… Expand
  26. Albyproulx
    Jan 9, 2011
    7
    By far the worst Final Fantasy game. It was still decent, but anything with the name Final Fantasy attached has built up certain expectations. I feel that the franchise is losing its luster with each release. This game was so linear it's ridiculous. As a player I felt like I was just running from battle to battle, cut scene to cut scene. The story was interesting, but the game playBy far the worst Final Fantasy game. It was still decent, but anything with the name Final Fantasy attached has built up certain expectations. I feel that the franchise is losing its luster with each release. This game was so linear it's ridiculous. As a player I felt like I was just running from battle to battle, cut scene to cut scene. The story was interesting, but the game play has no depth. The visuals are very nice, but there is not much beyond that.… Expand
  27. Marc19
    Jun 4, 2011
    9
    This certainly isn't the best Final Fantasy, but it's not the worst either. I thought the game play was a tad oversimplified as others have mentioned (spam Auto-battle for pretty much 95% of the battles), but the graphics were very impressive and I personally thought the story was very good. The linearity didn't put me off very much because I tend to play Final Fantasies very linearlyThis certainly isn't the best Final Fantasy, but it's not the worst either. I thought the game play was a tad oversimplified as others have mentioned (spam Auto-battle for pretty much 95% of the battles), but the graphics were very impressive and I personally thought the story was very good. The linearity didn't put me off very much because I tend to play Final Fantasies very linearly during the first few hours anyway. Those who are giving the game anything less than a 5, if you played up to Chapter 11 I guarantee you that your opinion of the game would change. The last 3 Chapters really felt like a more nostalgic FF experience.… Expand
  28. Galbias
    Jun 20, 2011
    5
    While it still has the production values one would expect from an AAA game, Final Fantasy XIII ultimately fails in the "game" part. It nearly plays itself; much of the game is spent running down repetitive corridors with no element of choice involved, and the combat and customization are similarly one-dimensional. As per usual for the FF series the graphics are fantastic and soundtrackWhile it still has the production values one would expect from an AAA game, Final Fantasy XIII ultimately fails in the "game" part. It nearly plays itself; much of the game is spent running down repetitive corridors with no element of choice involved, and the combat and customization are similarly one-dimensional. As per usual for the FF series the graphics are fantastic and soundtrack is good, but they can't save a game that isn't any fun to play.… Expand
  29. Jho88
    Jul 14, 2011
    3
    This is definitely my least favorite final fantasy game, and I've played them all. I had previously felt that FF12 was a real let down, and playing this made me sincerely miss 12. It was that bad. None of the characters were interesting at all, Vanille was annoying as hell to listen to, the plot was not particularly interesting, nor was it told very well, and the music was not at allThis is definitely my least favorite final fantasy game, and I've played them all. I had previously felt that FF12 was a real let down, and playing this made me sincerely miss 12. It was that bad. None of the characters were interesting at all, Vanille was annoying as hell to listen to, the plot was not particularly interesting, nor was it told very well, and the music was not at all memorable (which to me is perhaps the biggest let-down since the music of the previous games was arguably the best part). There were no towns to explore, shops to visit, NPCs to interact with, side quests to perform, or other basic RPG elements. The leveling system was really dumb: the tried to give the illusion of choice by having a pathway with branches so you could either pick like HP+200 or Str+50 for example, but each branch was only 1-2 elements long, so it's not like you could choose different ways to specialize your characters. The battle system was horrible because you really couldn't tell what was going on. Often I would upgrade a weapon or learn a new spell and try to use it in battle to see how much damage it did, but there are so many numbers flying all over the place it was really hard to tell who was doing how much damage with what. It basically devolves into mashing 'X' and switching to a more defensive paradigm if you're getting hurt too much. For all final fantasy games until this one, when the game was over I felt sad for a little while, like I wished it would continue because I missed the characters and places. When this game ended, I was glad I would never have to touch it again. I felt like I had finished a homework assignment. "That's done, now I can go do something fun." Please don't waste your money on this crap, and don't let square enix think it's okay to butcher their series like this.… Expand
  30. ArcticZombie
    Nov 18, 2011
    3
    Industry leading graphics, really good music (minus that disgusting fruity-pie song that was "popular" for a bit), and some really great menus and options. But why the failing score? For starters; the cast is completely forgettable. The story is predictable and poorly dialogued. And the game is very much on rails most of the time. The inventory system overall feels overly-simplified.Industry leading graphics, really good music (minus that disgusting fruity-pie song that was "popular" for a bit), and some really great menus and options. But why the failing score? For starters; the cast is completely forgettable. The story is predictable and poorly dialogued. And the game is very much on rails most of the time. The inventory system overall feels overly-simplified. Actually, the main problem here is: everything essential about this game seems too streamlined and simplified. I've been hoping since FF8 that the series would grow in complexity and challenge, and offer me an even bigger open-world to explore. But what's happened is that SE is only interested in making things "more accessible" to gamers. In this case it shows. And it shows way too much. No open-worlds to explore, just graphics, graphics, graphics. A boring, cheesy, lame-charactered snore-fest that should have never been included in the Numbered Series of FF. Not where games (especially RPGs) should be headed. It's an interactive movie with battles tacked on, with a weak character building system and world. This game broke my faith in the franchise. The final nail in the coffin for me.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 83 Critic Reviews

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