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. PersonAHAHAH
    Nov 5, 2022
    10
    Great game I really loved it.
    the +
    - battle system
    - script
    - lifetime
    - we want to play the other opuses of the saga
  2. DanH.
    Mar 12, 2010
    4
    I'm as big a Final Fantasy fan as they come. So, you can imagine my excitement when this game finally came out. One of the two reasons I originally bought the Playstation 3. And... the game fell flat on it's face. I may be a huge fan of the series, but I will not blindly accept this garbage they sold us. There is no exploration in this game. Here is the formula: fight mobs > I'm as big a Final Fantasy fan as they come. So, you can imagine my excitement when this game finally came out. One of the two reasons I originally bought the Playstation 3. And... the game fell flat on it's face. I may be a huge fan of the series, but I will not blindly accept this garbage they sold us. There is no exploration in this game. Here is the formula: fight mobs > fight boss > LOST cutscene (flashback). On top of that the story is incredibly boring and elementary with characters who are strongly influenced by Japanese Anime stereotypes... I had to hold back the vomit while playing this game. I want to know what pill these other reviewers took before playing. The only redeeming part was the experimental battle system which could still use some work.… Expand
  3. RichardT.
    Mar 12, 2010
    5
    Quite possibly the most beautiful looking console game out there, but very, very dull. Run down corridors, engage in pre-arranged (no random encounters or grinding here) quasi-turn based fights that involve figuring out the correct tactic for the particular enemy and spamming it endlessly. No town, no XP, no gambit system and very little control - your party fight under AI control similar Quite possibly the most beautiful looking console game out there, but very, very dull. Run down corridors, engage in pre-arranged (no random encounters or grinding here) quasi-turn based fights that involve figuring out the correct tactic for the particular enemy and spamming it endlessly. No town, no XP, no gambit system and very little control - your party fight under AI control similar to Mass Effect (although in Mass Effect you can at least control your party's use of powers). Very weak and generic story as well. Apparently it all gets a bit better after about 25 hours, but who has the time to play a boring game for that long? The Edge and Wired reviews nail it pretty much perfectly I think.… Expand
  4. SeanG
    Mar 16, 2010
    3
    The accessory & weapon upgrade system in this game is completely broken and they did a terrible job implementing it. Thats the main reason I stopped playing. Because at chapter 11, I was stuck. I had put experience in accessories that were quickly trumped by better random drops. No refund for experience spent. And my weapon, I upgraded it to the second level, but then found much better The accessory & weapon upgrade system in this game is completely broken and they did a terrible job implementing it. Thats the main reason I stopped playing. Because at chapter 11, I was stuck. I had put experience in accessories that were quickly trumped by better random drops. No refund for experience spent. And my weapon, I upgraded it to the second level, but then found much better weapons later I wish I could've upgraded instead, but with the vast lack of upgrade materials and lack of incoming GIL, you get terribly stuck. Plus, I found out there are ways to combine accessories to make better ones, but I found that out online in a forum, not in the game , so there I am retrying Bahamut and Carbuncle 7x each , when I could've upgraded my weapons and gear earlier in the game had they properly informed me. For all the hand holding early in the game, the complete silence on upgrading is a slap in the face. And furthermore the catalyst upgrade system is horrible. Why cap it? Why prevent me from moving on? If you just kept the CP tiered up, the rewards are diminishing for the amt of CP you are getting in the earlier chapters. Overall, I give the game a 5 for the graphics and battle system, but a 1 for the horrible story, horrible characters, horrible upgrade system and linear "on rails" progression system.… Expand
  5. James
    Mar 9, 2010
    2
    Wow, this is by far the worst Final Fantasy game I have ever played and I've played every game from and including FF7, how it is scoring so high is beyond me. The only good thing I can say about it is that it looks incredible, and it does. It;s probably the best looking console game I've ever seen, but that is where the praise ends. Everything that was great about the franchise Wow, this is by far the worst Final Fantasy game I have ever played and I've played every game from and including FF7, how it is scoring so high is beyond me. The only good thing I can say about it is that it looks incredible, and it does. It;s probably the best looking console game I've ever seen, but that is where the praise ends. Everything that was great about the franchise has been stripped out and replaced with either nothing at all or a bit pile of dumbed down blandness. The combat system is boring and shallow grind, meh is the perfect word to describe it. The world is a joke, it's just a series of corridors that you just have to keep grinding through. And when the world does open up (after 20 painfuly dull hours) it's just so underwhelming and WAY too little too late. Then theres the so called class levelling system, I say so called because in comparison to the FF games that came before it, not to mention every other RPG that you can buy today, it's beyond a joke. No real tactical choice can be made, just which of the available classes you want to spend your points in first. Even the camera controls suck ass, the crapness of this game go's all the way to the smallest detail, it's just that bad. If the developers were going fo a bland, grinding, boring JRPG with all of the awesomeness of the previous games removed and the memory of all that awesomeness completely shat on then the score of 8.3 is well deserved. The fact that this steaming pile of s**t is the first Final Fantasy game for this generation of consoles is just sad.… Expand
  6. BrettJ.
    Mar 12, 2010
    1
    I really dislike this game. For the comments related to this having some of the best graphics, you really need to go outside and play another game in your life, this must be your first one. Metal Gear Solid 4 which came out 2 years ago has better graphics, Killzone 2 last year has better. Crysis for PC came out 3 years ago has better... the list goes on and on. An extremely average I really dislike this game. For the comments related to this having some of the best graphics, you really need to go outside and play another game in your life, this must be your first one. Metal Gear Solid 4 which came out 2 years ago has better graphics, Killzone 2 last year has better. Crysis for PC came out 3 years ago has better... the list goes on and on. An extremely average graphics engine, nothing is going on in the environment, other than character models which look ok, everything looks generic and bland. A pathetically linear game for a jrpg. I have nothing against a linear game if its done well, but this is ridiculous for a game put into this genre. This is not a FF game. If it didn't have the name slapped on it, all these high scores would be no more than a 4. Blind love for the series is getting ridiculous. The battle system is ok, but it gets old. Unless your a 5 year old girl, you wont like the characters or plot (which is the same garbage we've seen 500 times before). Pass on this. It was only made for money, nothing more. I'm done with SquareEnix for good... there simply crap. Bioware can have my money now.… Expand
  7. JohnJ
    Mar 12, 2010
    3
    FF 13 does a great job of playing itself. The developers leave absolutely no room for the gamer to take ownership of the beautiful world they created. Graphics are the only positive. Story is average. Gameplay is absolutely terrible. As a long-time FF fan, I do not expect it to possess the open ended Fallout 3 or Mass Effect style. But the groupthink developers completely dropped the ball FF 13 does a great job of playing itself. The developers leave absolutely no room for the gamer to take ownership of the beautiful world they created. Graphics are the only positive. Story is average. Gameplay is absolutely terrible. As a long-time FF fan, I do not expect it to possess the open ended Fallout 3 or Mass Effect style. But the groupthink developers completely dropped the ball this time around. They must have been supremely confident in their vision of the game, because they leave no room for anyone else to jump into the fun.… Expand
  8. JimmyC
    Mar 15, 2010
    3
    Most of the reviewers have already narrowed it down but I needed to vent my frustrations for the game to more than just my wife who could care less about my video games so here it goes. The exploration is a joke. You run down corridors fighting packs of monsters trying to get in a pre-emptive strike over and over again. Battles consist of figuring out the right tactic for the right Most of the reviewers have already narrowed it down but I needed to vent my frustrations for the game to more than just my wife who could care less about my video games so here it goes. The exploration is a joke. You run down corridors fighting packs of monsters trying to get in a pre-emptive strike over and over again. Battles consist of figuring out the right tactic for the right monster and switching up your healer when your health is low. Eidolons are outrageously hideous but they are fun to use and fight with. The characters in the game are so insanely over-the-top anime cliche that I couldn't play the game after Vanille joined my party. I only played a few hours but I have never been so disappointed in my life at a video game besides possibly Fable 2. Anyway, trading it in today on God of War 3. The whole game was awful.… Expand
  9. HerrS
    Mar 17, 2010
    3
    Just a turd dressed in a very expensive and fancy dress, visually stunning, FMV's are mind blowing, but thats about it. No character development, or too much(Whine whine its hopeless). Characters are based of Anime sterotypes (The annoying 'I cant be bothered to watch this' kind.), No proper towns or sidequests till late in the game is a glaring oversight for any RPG that Just a turd dressed in a very expensive and fancy dress, visually stunning, FMV's are mind blowing, but thats about it. No character development, or too much(Whine whine its hopeless). Characters are based of Anime sterotypes (The annoying 'I cant be bothered to watch this' kind.), No proper towns or sidequests till late in the game is a glaring oversight for any RPG that wants to actually invite the player in and encompass them into the game world. They should of just re-made FF7 to be brutally honest.… Expand
  10. SeanR
    Mar 29, 2010
    6
    I can't understand how so many people give this game such high scores. A 6, at best, is what it deserves. JRPG's aren't exactly known for their steps in innovation, but they are at least consistent. The previous FF's added onto the previous one, or at least did something better. For XIII, Square Enix just chopped off whole elements and replaced it with cliches.
  11. Trevor
    Apr 7, 2010
    6
    I tried and tried through out the entire 60 hours to care about this games story and characters, but no matter how much I tried, I simply could not. The battle system is, for the most part, fun. However, the story is just horrible, I expected WAY more from the company who brought us FFVII and X. I tried to over look the lack of side quests and cities, but could not do so. This just feels I tried and tried through out the entire 60 hours to care about this games story and characters, but no matter how much I tried, I simply could not. The battle system is, for the most part, fun. However, the story is just horrible, I expected WAY more from the company who brought us FFVII and X. I tried to over look the lack of side quests and cities, but could not do so. This just feels like a mediocre game wrapped with the occasional FF reference. A definite rent, but be buy at your own risk. If you love FF VII and X's stories, prepare to be disappointed.… Expand
  12. 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
  13. RyanK
    Mar 16, 2010
    3
    One of the worst RPGs I've ever played. Boring, poorly written, and terribly paced. The only grace is pretty graphics, but if you want pretty graphics only, then look out your window for free! The gaming press is easily fooled into thinking that nice graphics mean a quality game. As usual only Wired, Edge and Destructoid look at a game through an adults critical perspective. The One of the worst RPGs I've ever played. Boring, poorly written, and terribly paced. The only grace is pretty graphics, but if you want pretty graphics only, then look out your window for free! The gaming press is easily fooled into thinking that nice graphics mean a quality game. As usual only Wired, Edge and Destructoid look at a game through an adults critical perspective. The others may as well have been written by children dazzled by colorful lights.… Expand
  14. AnthonyP.
    Mar 12, 2010
    6
    Epic let down! First off id like to say this game is a fairly solid dungeon crawler/interactive movie. You jump from dungeon to dungeon, cutscene to cutscene. Minimal character interaction outside cutscenes, the best you will get is idle chatter while you explore the linear paths (Mostly stuff like "Hey this place is neat" or "Look at that") If you thought FF12's characters needed Epic let down! First off id like to say this game is a fairly solid dungeon crawler/interactive movie. You jump from dungeon to dungeon, cutscene to cutscene. Minimal character interaction outside cutscenes, the best you will get is idle chatter while you explore the linear paths (Mostly stuff like "Hey this place is neat" or "Look at that") If you thought FF12's characters needed more depth then you have not met Lightning the ex soldier without a personality...sounds like Cloud actually, but without the actual good plot twists that make him remotely interesting. The battles are either impossible or too easy, meaning if you know what to do they are simple but if you dont know the exact way 100% to fight a boss you cant win period. Why must I fight a boss EXACTLY one specific way ...that is boring. Moving on...Area's dont get interesting till chapter 10 (Out of 13), Summons are extremely cheesy...two blue sisters interlocking thier thighs making themselves into a motercycle is NOT my ideal Shiva. No towns, no shops, boring late-late game sidequests, boring item grinding, truly a dungeon crawler with cutscenes every 5 minutes. The game drops you in the middle of its storyline, it actually needs 10,000 flashbacks to explain itself, it feels almost like a cheap FF6 story, only without the ground breaking gameplay to make up for it. On a plus its graphics are great but not jaw dropping. The sound is amazing, voice acting is decent. On a side note character development is a pretty version of the sphere grid, only you cant really customize a character the way you want. Its monitered and capped in a way that basically everybody will end up with the same characters near endgame. I give this game a 7/10, but since its the most epic letdown of the past 10 years, it gets a 6/10 out of spite.… Expand
  15. Pat
    Mar 17, 2010
    6
    This game makes you appreciate final fantasy 12 so much. FF13 is Final Fantasy for dumb people. Go from point A to point B. Fight a few enemies. Fill up the predetermined skill path. Be annoyed by two characters, one that doesn't stop whining and one that just doesn't stop squealing giddily. "My feet hurt, this is too hard, its all your fault!," "Don't worry!, you have to This game makes you appreciate final fantasy 12 so much. FF13 is Final Fantasy for dumb people. Go from point A to point B. Fight a few enemies. Fill up the predetermined skill path. Be annoyed by two characters, one that doesn't stop whining and one that just doesn't stop squealing giddily. "My feet hurt, this is too hard, its all your fault!," "Don't worry!, you have to have hope, we can't give up!, everything will work out in the end!, HE HE!" After the first few hours of gameplay you figure out that you really only need to kill a few enemies every chapter to fill up the skill grid. They cap the grid so once you hit the cap, you just stop fighting until they raise it again. So then it becomes a game of how fast can you run to the next cutscene without punishment for being weak when you get to the next boss fight. Boss fights tend to be much easier than the normal fights oddly enough. Randomly their are very hard enemies. Advice to developers, if you are going to have a game where you lose when the party leader dies, do not put enemies that one shot you, it is annoying. Graphics wise, I am typically a PC gamer so this isn't all that great looking. CG cutscenes are still beautiful, characters other than the two I mentions are a bit better. But yeah, final fantasy 12 was the like the pinnacle of customization. Sure it was a bit overwhelming at first but once you get everything set up the way you like it was great. 13 is like hey, you are this, you get to use this move, spam it. I also do not get how people think the fight system is good. I just sit there tapping x and occasionally pressing L1 to change "paradigms." And it is not that I don't enjoy a big produced cinematic game. I loved 10. But it needs to be done right, 10 made you feel like part of the game. You were there with the characters, you cared about them, you wanted everything to work out. Thirteen does not do this, I don't care about anyone, they seem to blabber on about random crap that does not relate to anyone. Everyone's parents died when they were a child in the game. Like seriously, every time someone starts explaining their past in the game, its starts off with "I am an orphan, I never got to know my family much" Game is way too easy + some retarded annoying piss you off type hard parts. It doesn't just hold your hand it holds them both, and your feet, while giving you a back massage. I am hugely disappointed. I give it a 6 because the cutscenes are pretty.… Expand
  16. Grrsawn
    May 23, 2011
    8
    People giving this a score of below 5 are **** you--this game deserves a 5 at least for the sheer beauty of it. The gameplay is fun and addicting, but the story and dialogue can be awful. It's your typical save the world game spun into a miserable melodrama. My biggest gripe is that such a vast an beautiful world cannot really be explored at all, and myself being a huge fan of XII, feelPeople giving this a score of below 5 are **** you--this game deserves a 5 at least for the sheer beauty of it. The gameplay is fun and addicting, but the story and dialogue can be awful. It's your typical save the world game spun into a miserable melodrama. My biggest gripe is that such a vast an beautiful world cannot really be explored at all, and myself being a huge fan of XII, feel this especially hard. A decent but oh so pretty and fun game.… Expand
  17. RazgrizKnight
    Nov 4, 2011
    10
    Final Fantasy XIII is an interesting game to say the least. As an old time Final Fantasy fan since PSX Final Fantasy games, I was eagerly anticipating FFXIII. Before I bought it I heard a lot of controversial opinions about this game. In fact, my own opinion about it wasn't clear until about 2/3 of my own playthrough of FF13. The thing is, FF13 is different from its predecessors in manyFinal Fantasy XIII is an interesting game to say the least. As an old time Final Fantasy fan since PSX Final Fantasy games, I was eagerly anticipating FFXIII. Before I bought it I heard a lot of controversial opinions about this game. In fact, my own opinion about it wasn't clear until about 2/3 of my own playthrough of FF13. The thing is, FF13 is different from its predecessors in many ways, but there is one thing that is the same. The quality, my friends. This game was meant to be exactly what it is and the execution is pretty much perfect. And here comes the major problem. A lot of people are expecting traditional Final Fantasy elements to be in every new numbered Final Fantasy games, and they will see the lack of aforementioned elements as a major flaw. In short, don't buy this game if you're looking to see many traditional Final Fantasy elements, you will be severely disappointed. However, if you're looking for a good JRPG with high-production values, plot that focuses on main characters (personally, I haven't seen that in the main series since FF10, 10 years ago), fun and fast battle system, stunning design and graphics and an outstanding soundtrack from one of the FF10's composers then Final Fantasy XIII is definitely worth checking out.… Expand
  18. pg-shadowrunner
    Oct 8, 2011
    8
    There's no denying that Final Fantasy XIII is a devisive game, but I still believe it is a good one. I understand why some people don't like it, I really do- it's different. But it's still an enjoyable entry in a great series of games. The story is interesting. I've always been impressed in the lore behind each new FF game, and XIII doesn't dissapoint. Interesting themes concerning a warThere's no denying that Final Fantasy XIII is a devisive game, but I still believe it is a good one. I understand why some people don't like it, I really do- it's different. But it's still an enjoyable entry in a great series of games. The story is interesting. I've always been impressed in the lore behind each new FF game, and XIII doesn't dissapoint. Interesting themes concerning a war between utopias, great voice acting (for the most part) and complex characters add to a very epic storyline. The only flaw I feel is present is that the datalog sometimes becomes overbearing, carrying details about the plot that should have been weaved into the narrative. Still, not a dealbreaker.
    It's worth mentioning that the game is absolutely gorgeous. Square Enix put an incredible amount of detail into this game, and everything from the characters to the locations screams polish. Once you reach the beautiful Gran Pulse area, all bets are off, and you're free to explore a vast wilderness and undertake side quests. The music is fantastic as well, with many stirring tracks, including one of the best orchestral boss battle themes I've ever heard.
    Now, the gameplay, easily the most divisive part of XIII. The fact that the game is linear doesn't really bother me. After all, Final Fantasy X was linear, and I loved FFX. I honestly believe the linearity was a conscious decision on the developers part to carry the story, and I'm fine with that. The real meat of the game is in the combat. Now, I've heard the criticism that the game simply plays itself, and all the player needs to do is press X. This is a load of crap. XIII's combat does indeed feature an auto-battle option- which can be switched off- but even if you use it, you'll still be swept up in fast-paced combat, where quick reflexes mean just as much as your strategy. Using loadouts known as Paradigms, you give orders to your party, who follow your commands quite well using excellent AI. Having the right Paradigm loadouts is imperative, and being quick enough to pick the right abilities is important if you want to survive. XIII's combat is fast-paced and intense. As far as character growth goes, the Crystarium features a path of stat upgrades and new abilities (sort of like, I don't know, LEVELING UP), but allows each character to master new classes and learn abilities in each of the six roles available, and when upgrades start to get expensive, you'll have many touch choices concerning your character's builds.
    All in all, Final Fantasy XIII is a flawed, but still highly entertaining gem in this fantastic series. I loved it, and will continue to look forward to the future games in the series. FFXIII isn't perfect, but it's still good.    … Expand
  19. Schmooblidon
    Nov 15, 2011
    8
    First off, I absolutely loved this game. But my score may confuse you? Well even though i clocked around 150 hours in total into this game, i can still see a lot of flaws. The storyline is great but it has the classic "WTF" square enix feel, and can become confusing. on my second playthrough i understood a lot better however. the graphics, well they are absolutely stunning and theres noFirst off, I absolutely loved this game. But my score may confuse you? Well even though i clocked around 150 hours in total into this game, i can still see a lot of flaws. The storyline is great but it has the classic "WTF" square enix feel, and can become confusing. on my second playthrough i understood a lot better however. the graphics, well they are absolutely stunning and theres no question to that, the different areas are all very well designed and unique, unfortunately though my xbox copy lost framerate in the open world area. not sure what went wrong there, ive seen bigger worlds play better in other games. the sound is absolutely amazing and possibly my favourite part of the game. the soundtrack is possibly my favourite ff to date! but whilst still on sound, the voice for vanille became annoying fast. finally the gameplay, well there is a lot of debate on this. some people absolutely despise this game because of its linearity. but through my eyes i can hardly tell the difference between any other jrpg. all jrpgs are linear, they are all story driven. i guess too many people have been playing open world rpgs, that they forgot the structure of a jrpg. sure ffx had the airship, near the end of the game. xiii has the portal near the end of the game, no difference. as for combat, a lot of people are giving this grief aswell. they say its basic and dumbed down. i admit it starts slow but it has to, or it will confuse all of the new audience, which it did gain btw. id didnt annoy the first time around as i was locked into the story. anyway the battle system becomes very enjoyable as the game progresses and becomes quite hectic in boss battles. i for one think it was a brave move by square and i personally really enjoyed it. so my final score is around 8.3 as of course it could of been better, but gave it a good shot. lets see if they improve with xiii-2.… Expand
  20. Merr
    Dec 28, 2012
    10
    One of the best games of this generation of consoles. Beautiful graphics, interesting story, great world, deep characters, nice battle system.

    Only - is closed-corridors levels.
  21. GameEngineer94
    Aug 8, 2012
    10
    Look I KNOW this is not your typical FF game but that doesn't mean it is bad or that it abandoned its roots and all that BS, ALL the bad reviews for this game be it users or critics center around just one point: that it is not your typical FF game and by that most of the people mean FF 7 and FF 10, I am a gamer for more than 15 years and you know what: this game is AWESOME and then someLook I KNOW this is not your typical FF game but that doesn't mean it is bad or that it abandoned its roots and all that BS, ALL the bad reviews for this game be it users or critics center around just one point: that it is not your typical FF game and by that most of the people mean FF 7 and FF 10, I am a gamer for more than 15 years and you know what: this game is AWESOME and then some and the only thing that will bug you a bit is the weird ending (sad) but it has a sequel.
    I am a guy who respects other people's opinions but with all due respect to the negative review guys; if gaming did not develop past its "roots" then you will be bored and your negative reviews will be about how repetitive the game is.
    TO SUMMARISE: this is a great game with great graphics, story, gameplay and above all else deep and engaging characters that you are going to love if you can see past auron, tidus, yuna, cloud and tifa.    … Expand
  22. CloudTheValkyre
    Mar 10, 2013
    10
    Almost as good as X and VII. Very well, made, as well as being a beautiful looking and sounding game. Like the previous installments, It has a wonderful story, and well developed characters. Some people, on the other hand, say it is to linear. I say that if you don't like it, go play another game.
  23. MattiasP
    Mar 14, 2010
    3
    I really, really wanted to like this game. But after 13 hours of play I finally gave up and threw away my controller in disgust. FFXIII is the worst title in the series and possibly the worst game I've played in ages, and that's saying something considering I've played most of the previous Final Fantasy titles and enjoyed them immensely . No amount of pretty graphics can I really, really wanted to like this game. But after 13 hours of play I finally gave up and threw away my controller in disgust. FFXIII is the worst title in the series and possibly the worst game I've played in ages, and that's saying something considering I've played most of the previous Final Fantasy titles and enjoyed them immensely . No amount of pretty graphics can hide the fact that FFXIII is a tedious, shallow and linear game that flounders in its own horrible game design. While the Final Fantasy games have always been linear by nature, FFXIII takes this to an entire new level. 90% of the time you just run along a single corridor or path, moving from point A to B, fighting monsters along the way. At point B either fight a boss or see a cutscene/cinematic. If that wasn't bad enough the new combat system is downright horrible. While there are a new interesting ideas (such as Paradigms and Staggering), they are sadly so badly implemented that the final thing makes you want to cry. For the majority of the fights you'll only use two or three of the available Paradigm roles, making the majority of them extremely underused. In addition, the game automatically controls your companions and most attacks can be automated through auto-chaining. The game does such a good job at this that for the most time you can win simply pressing the X button at all times. The combat ends up as a tedious, dumbed down affair that feels more like some kind of Tekken game. Heck, even your summons (Eidelons) are controlled by different controller combinations, like special moves. I get the feeling that Square Enix wanted to create a more action paced system suited for a new generation of idiot gamers used to 1st person shooters. Tactics and brains are not required. If that wasn't bad enough, the story moves at a snails pace. Even after 13 hours nothing of interest has happened except for some boring flashbacks. No interesting plot twists, villains or events. It's more fun to watch paint dry. The characters are also for the most pretty uninspiring. Lightning feels like a female copy of Cloud or Squall from the previous titles. Vanille is so damn annoying that I wanted to bash her brains in and toss her cold, dead body from a cliff. Suffering hours of her silly giggling and overly cutesy voice made me grind my teeth. The only character I did like was Sazh, perhaps because he doesn't come across as so convoluted. However, the major problem with FFXIII is not what's there. It's what's missing. Square threw away everything that makes a good roleplaying game. In fact, I can't even call FFXIII a roleplaying game. It's more like a cinematic fighting game, and a bad one at that. There are no towns to explore. No buildings to poke around in. No silly or interesting NPCs to talk to. No mini-games. No really well-hidden secrets. Nothing. The game feels shallow, empty, void. So barren and desolate that the pretty graphics are more like window dressing rather than something that could immerse you into an interesting world. Since I can't really interact with the world in any real sense it ultimately also means that I don't care for it. What made the previous titles so engaging compared to FFXIII is that they immersed you into the world, the protagonists and the plot in such a grand way that you felt part of it. FFXIII makes me feel disengaged from the world of Cocoon, like I'm some kind of voyeur. The world is abstracted into tiny details that end up being explained in the games Datalog. FFXIII may look pretty, sound great and it will dazzle you with its cinematics. But in the end it's like eating cotton candy. All sugar, but no filling.… Expand
  24. ChristopherC.
    Mar 14, 2010
    4
    How oh how in the world could any self-respecting Final Fantasy Fan call this hyperactive/repetitive action mess a true Final Fantasy game? This game has nothing of the deep heart-felt aspects that have always defined the Final Fantasy series, slowly bringing you into the world and story and characters so that you never want to ever leave. I'm afraid this is the death-knell for the How oh how in the world could any self-respecting Final Fantasy Fan call this hyperactive/repetitive action mess a true Final Fantasy game? This game has nothing of the deep heart-felt aspects that have always defined the Final Fantasy series, slowly bringing you into the world and story and characters so that you never want to ever leave. I'm afraid this is the death-knell for the series, and the trend of most video games in general. It is as if the developers now think that just throwing more hyper-kinetic activity at the player will hold the gamer's attention (especially if the little young gamer's Ritalin is wearing off. Heaven forbid they should have a moment to look around and absorb the nuances of the game, we might lose their MTV attention span.) Or, let's give them better graphics and that will make up for the lack of any real substance. I'm convinced that if there is a smart developer out there who's listening, try putting out an old-school graphic game but with a story and world that Square-Enix has now lost their way to create. You will make bank now that Final Fantasy is giving up the mold that first put them on the map and gave them their repected reputation (mostly Square). Hell, I can go back and play not only old-school FF but Grandia or Zelda and have WAY more fun than what passes for a fantasy RPG on the new generation consoles. Somebody please capatilize on Square-Enix's folly! Final Fantasy is about wanting to spend more time in the Final Fantasy world, but there is NOTHING about this game that will make you truly care about the characters or stories. Besides the major mistake of trying to build drama through flashbacks; which any writer will tell you is not the most effective way to build character sympathy, through exposition and the characters having to explain themselves and their motives; but the folklore of the world itself is BORING despite what other reviewers are claiming. Taken objectively, after every cutscene/character interaction, the upshot of the whole drama was dully repeated with the phrase, "We are enemies of Cocoon." Boring, and nothing epic here, unless you want to geek out debating the difference between a Fal'cie and and L'cie (I don't even care about the spelling!) However and above all, the worst offense this game puts on the true Final Fantasy Fan is the inability for the player to feel a true part of the experience. You cannot explore, interact (unless you call standing in front of a NPC and listening to them rattle on as interactive), cannot shop and customize to a "feel-able" degree, and CANNOT EXPERIENCE THAT YOU ARE TRULY POWERFUL AS YOU GAIN NEW SKILLS/MAGIC/STRENGTH. In a true Final Fantasy game you level up and then get to go try out your new power and revel in all your awesomeness. In this waste slapped with a number 13, the action takes precedence and is so fast you cannot tell if your leveling up really made any difference at all and definitely does not contribute to any real strategy. I just gained the skill to do such and such, why can't I sit back and SEE IT! (Yes, I know you get to see Launch, one of the few, but it grows beyond tiresome after the thousand's time.) The music, which to me is intergral to the Final Fantasy experience, and I own every soundtrack available, is as throw-away as a meal at a fast food restaurant, enjoyable for a moment and then entirely forgettable. For those of you who felt FF had lost it's beating heart with 12, and the wooden, expressionless, character-less Vaan, just standing there like a dork, this lack of heart applies to the Brittany Spears pop soundtrack of 13. I remember creating multiple save points on my old systems to go back and re-watch/enjoy the cut-scenes and music, not this time. I know I was ruined for future FF games, for despite all it's flaws, FF 10 was the first RPG I had experienced. Bear with me those of you who hated on 10, you cannot deny that it had heart. It is one of less than a handful number of games that has actually brought tears to player's eyes because the game knew how to hook the player emotionally. Final Fantasy without the emotion is not Final Fantasy. Period. If this game had come out from a different developer and under a different name, I would maybe rate it a 6 for technical achievements such as the graphics and lip-synching to English audiences, that is objectively impressive. But, those of us who have played all of the previous games and supported the Final Fantasy series for years, we may be witnessing the destruction of what made the games so unique, powerful, and worth waiting years for them to release in the West. Now there is talk from the developers about the interest in a FF13-2 which is probably all we have to look forward to as well as more multiplayer online stuff. Do any of the true fans remember not being able to wait to get home and fire up the console to go back to that FF world that was so incredible you stayed up all night and went to work the next day without sleeping? That has been lost somewhere along the way in trying to out develop other developers with graphics, gore, bust-lines that bounce realistically, and anything else they think will appeal to the kids that have to use Mom or Dad's credit card to pre-order their games. Last thing I wish to say, if you are a true Final Fantasy Fan, be careful about supporting this game with such high rankings because you are voting with Square-Enix to give up what made Final Fantasy so special. Hell, even Advent Children was emotionally touching. Please don't support the execs deciding what we want to see in future FF games. Think about it. I encourage all who agree to also write and vote in the hopes that maybe somebody who can make a difference, either within Square-Enix or another rogue developer who wants to grab for the carrot of a true fantasy RPG that we have not so far seen on the next generation consoles, will see it and make a difference. Peace.… Expand
  25. IsaacS
    Mar 14, 2010
    3
    Bad points: Chaotic combat system halfway between action and turns, totally linear, absolutely no sidequests except some "hunting" missions, no relevant NPCs, no cities, no exploration, cliched characters, hours and hours of cutscenes. Good points: Good graphics, sorta good story. This is not my Final Fantasy, this game is just the peak of current generation problems: Nice graphics, bad Bad points: Chaotic combat system halfway between action and turns, totally linear, absolutely no sidequests except some "hunting" missions, no relevant NPCs, no cities, no exploration, cliched characters, hours and hours of cutscenes. Good points: Good graphics, sorta good story. This is not my Final Fantasy, this game is just the peak of current generation problems: Nice graphics, bad everithing else. Totally not recommended unless you like 60 hour movies.… Expand
  26. IanA
    Mar 9, 2010
    0
    Worst first hour of gameplay ever. The dissapointment of realizing that shops were relegated to save points and that until I finish all the achievements and sell this thing back to some other unlucky sod I'd be going through endless, tedious dungeon crawling through an overly-detalied superficial coating of glitter and polish on a long, dark tunnel of shite. The battle system has Worst first hour of gameplay ever. The dissapointment of realizing that shops were relegated to save points and that until I finish all the achievements and sell this thing back to some other unlucky sod I'd be going through endless, tedious dungeon crawling through an overly-detalied superficial coating of glitter and polish on a long, dark tunnel of shite. The battle system has been completely dumbed down in favor of "simplifying and streamlining" combat which critics praise as "thrilling" and I call boring. I'm sure in the next game not only will party members be AI, but so will the lead character, towns will continue to be absent and all dungeon exploration will be automatically enabled so that all the player has to do is push the power button and just watch the computer play itself. The developers seemed to have realized how terribly pointless the battles have become, what with the lack of levelling and re-hash of X's sphere grid as done by a control freak with Down Syndrom, and so enable the player to completely sneak by a great deal of enemies and offer rewards by way of the new rank system for getting the fight over with as quickly as possible. The voice acting has a strong mix of barely competent and terribly irritating, the game over screen is a lie becuase it just re-starts you right at the beginning of the last initiated battle, and the terribly unrelateable characters all have silly names that, while totally acceptable to a Japanese culture, suffer something terrible in translation to a western audience. As much as I kept waiting for an orgasmic "O WAIT, THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!" moment I'm sad to say that it never came (hurr hurr) and that I won't be darkening my shelf with this game much longer. If you're a fan of JRPG's in the style of Druaga you might find some appeal here, but for fans of the series as a whole or the wider array of JRPGs just give it a miss and dig out your old copy of Suikoden and tell yourself that game developers will get it right again, some day. Until then, Avatar syndrom will keep its hold on everything; as long as its pretty enough or have a long-standing franchise (LOOKING AT YOU, SQUARE-ENIX) you can have a boring a plot and as stupid a cast of characters as you like and people will buy it.… Expand
  27. AdabrianA
    Mar 13, 2010
    0
    This game would be a 5/10 actually but the lack of soul, the terrible character designs, the ridiculous adolescent plot, the linear and boring gameplay, and everything else on a game with the Final Fantasy pedigree deserves a zero. XII with all its faults, was way better than this. Stay away if you are mentally older than a insecure 16 year teenager or you will despise this game.
  28. You-Know-Who
    Feb 4, 2012
    10
    Despite being a polarized Final Fantasy, especially for letting many elements of previous titles aside, there is much to enjoy in Final Fantasy XIII. With a fast and functional battle system, flawless artistic direction, great narrative and a high quality soundtrack, Square-Enix proves that traditions are not necessary to forge an excellent game in the series.
  29. Arthemesia
    Feb 18, 2012
    10
    Yet again another amazing story line, i was disappointed in how linear it was, but the story so made up for it, FF XIII - 2 had an amazing gameplay but even so still a good story, but not quite as good as ff XIII, IX still has the best story of em all, then VIII is second, id say XIII is third and VII being fourth
  30. Carlitoxic
    Mar 5, 2012
    9
    A FINAL FANTASY at a height of the saga. It is possible that it is linear in excess but in the rest of other aspects it dazzles. Very nice the history of lu´cie and the fal´cie, Cocoon, Pulse, Lighning and Serah. The beautiful recreation, your powerful sonorous band, the intelligent system of combat or the emotion of your prominent figures, complete an excellentA FINAL FANTASY at a height of the saga. It is possible that it is linear in excess but in the rest of other aspects it dazzles. Very nice the history of lu´cie and the fal´cie, Cocoon, Pulse, Lighning and Serah. The beautiful recreation, your powerful sonorous band, the intelligent system of combat or the emotion of your prominent figures, complete an excellent game. It is not FFVII, not X, but it is Final Fantasy undoubtedly.… Expand
  31. 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
  32. wmurphy011
    Sep 27, 2022
    10
    Possibly, the most underrated video game of all time. While I wouldn't say it's the best Final Fantasy ever made, I wholeheartedly put it in the Top 5. And since this franchise has around 30 titles, that's saying something. A truly great game.
  33. Bradan
    Jun 26, 2013
    4
    I'm a bit biased because I'm a FF fanboy but I dont think it's as bad as people make it out to be, but it's still pretty bad. But before I start a review a bit of a warning: DONT TOUCH THIS GAME IF YOU PLAN ON PLAYING IT ON XBOX. It takes the tiny bit of enjoyability out of the game. The reason? It's not in HD. The box claims it is but thats a lie. Here's a link to an explanation:I'm a bit biased because I'm a FF fanboy but I dont think it's as bad as people make it out to be, but it's still pretty bad. But before I start a review a bit of a warning: DONT TOUCH THIS GAME IF YOU PLAN ON PLAYING IT ON XBOX. It takes the tiny bit of enjoyability out of the game. The reason? It's not in HD. The box claims it is but thats a lie. Here's a link to an explanation: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-final-fantasy-xiii-face-off

    The ps3 version easily contains the greatest cutscene graphics I've ever seen in a video game. As for everything else....its pretty bad. I enjoyed the story and managed to suck up the awful battle system to continue with the story but it really is the only redeeming quality other than the cutscenes. But therein lies the problem, you must first suffer through the battle system to experience the story. Actually, calling it a battle system is unfair. It's not a battle system it's an interactive cutscene where you just mash the X button. Square added an "auto battle" button which essentially ruins the point of playing a video game. You're not really playing the game, the game is playing itself.    … Expand
  34. GaryW
    Apr 4, 2010
    6
    So fast-forward to now, and here is Final Fantasy XIII; a game I thought would bring me back to the old days and loving the series again. In fact, I think everyone was thinking the same; as the game's director was the same one that worked on Final Fantasy VII. And here I introduce the big problem of this game: not only was I trying my hardest to enjoy it, but this game was obviously So fast-forward to now, and here is Final Fantasy XIII; a game I thought would bring me back to the old days and loving the series again. In fact, I think everyone was thinking the same; as the game's director was the same one that worked on Final Fantasy VII. And here I introduce the big problem of this game: not only was I trying my hardest to enjoy it, but this game was obviously trying its hardest to be enjoyed. From a character heralded as the female version of FFVII's main character Cloud (hell, even her name was fairly similar, being Lightning and all...) to stupidly detailed cut-scenes (that really give away how bad most of the graphics actually are in the game), this is a game that wants to be loved so badly. OK, I lie; it's a game that wants to make Square Enix money. The in-game graphics really are quite horrible for at least the first half of the game, where they look no better then the previous FFXII's environments. It's not just the graphics are bad, but the environments seem carelessly designed. For example, in one part Sazh (one of the few decent characters I will come back to later on) and Vanille (a horribly "australian" voiced character who, thankfully, I will not come back to again) are travelling through a forest. This forest just looks like any bog-standard, generic one you would see in any other game. But it looks boring, too. It's not until you get in the last third of gameplay that we begin to see some of the wow-factor and huge environments a Final Fantasy game should be. And I don't want to sound like a graphics whore, but when compared to in-game graphics of a game like Uncharted, you begin to feel the frustration that Square could have actually created something arguably just as good as in the already mentioned amazing cut-scenes. Well, amazing definitely described the look of the cut-scenes. Their editing and direction leaves much to be desired. Maybe I'm coming at it as I have done video-editing, but you get the feeling they let a child or something mess about with the footage before the game was released. Horrible, sweeping camera angles I'd associate with lesser games unfamiliar with cinematography are used to death. Scenes and lines cut-short, along with music that rarely properly reflects the atmosphere or what's happening on screen. The voice acting is terrible. But the worst thing is the writing. Whoever wrote the English script should find a whole to crawl into before I find them, as it was extremely disappointing. Forget decent characterisation or trying to tie and emotional bond with the gamer. No, it's just full of bad cliches and a horrible narrative. Which leads to the biggest problem. I really don't care what happens to just about all the characters. Rather than take a primary character who we see develop, with well developed supportive roles, we see a narrative that tries to make all the characters have a more or less equal role. Which simply doesn't work; by the time we start to develop some sort of feeling for the characters, it swaps to the other half of the team for a few hours. There is one exception to the rule: Sazh. In my opinion, he has the best character, voice actor, and role in the game. He's an older guy who has been thrown into this mess because he wants to save his toddler son. He is also really likeable, compared to the rest of the gang of freaks. But I think the ageism in the game says it all: in his mid-thirties, he's an "old man". All the other characters are younger, (apparently) sexier, and just as fake and one-dimensional as the probable target audience of the product. He ends up taking a back-seater by the middle of the story, being used from then on as someone to give the odd annoying one-liner. The annoying thing is this is meant to be a role-playing game. But the dialogue is so awful you can't ever fit into a role. There is also no exploration whatsoever, at least until the final chapters in a section full of side-quests which seems more like it has been bolted on to please hardcore fans. And this is one of the few parts that looks amazing; it is so huge. There is no "world-map" you can explore, and most of the game you are getting from a-to-b. Not even any "exploration" exists, as your map in the top-right corner makes it pretty obvious that the very rare off-shoot of the path probably hides some treasure. There's no sense of "home" throughout, and no more towns you can explore or find useful things out from the townsfolk. In the few sections you can converse with people, they repeat the same thing over and over. Finally (and arguably the flagship of any RPG) is the battle system. And in all fairness, at the beginning you think it is really well done. You control one character by selecting their attacks/defence in battle, and can select the "stance" (or paradigm, as this game decides to call them) the other two people in your team have. i.e. whether you want them to keep healing, keep using magic attacks or physical attacks etc.It all starts off well, but very quickly you see it's limitations. It all feels too on-rails, like the rest of the game. They've even provided an "auto-battle" mode so you don't even have to control your main man/woman!! And more usually than not the other two party members act in a way you never would if you were actually controlling them. Indeed, I doubt any sane man would act that way either. They made one massive, massive mistake with the battle system though: if the party leader gets knocked out, it's game over. Why the hell did they decide that? Do your other party members, who are quite happy to use revive magic to any one else on the team, suddenly forget how to heal you? There isn't even any logic for this decision in terms of the battle system as a whole. It seems just a lazy decision on Square's part to make the game a bit harder. So overall, I was very unimpressed with the game. It is trying too hard to make money and look all glitzy and great, but you can't base the soul of a good game or storyline on making money. You don't feel the passion they put into their games anymore... it seemed to all disappear after the 10th instalment of the series (which compared to this really wasn't that bad). If they wanted a guaranteed cash-cow that I would buy and actually enjoy, they should have re-made Final Fantasy VII like everyone begged them to. Interestingly, the related game/tie-in/sequal Final Fantasy Versus 13 really doesn't look that bad. In fact it looks a lot darker, like in FFVII. And it has a world map to explore. Seeing as they seemed to lose their way after getting rid of a world you travel around, maybe it's a sign they'll go back to their roots. Maybe.… Expand
  35. logicsense
    Aug 30, 2012
    9
    Linear some people say, but most of them had probably not finished the marks off. I think the game is well up there with most of the FF games with epic scenery´s, very good environment art work and a good story. However, I´m not fully satisfied with the characters personality wise even though the game overall did not let me down. I recommend this game, one of the best RPGs forLinear some people say, but most of them had probably not finished the marks off. I think the game is well up there with most of the FF games with epic scenery´s, very good environment art work and a good story. However, I´m not fully satisfied with the characters personality wise even though the game overall did not let me down. I recommend this game, one of the best RPGs for sure for PS3.… Expand
  36. 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
  37. BillG.
    Mar 16, 2010
    0
    Just beat this game, and I want my money back. I have played almost all Final fantasy games, and this by far is the worst. It's a Linear tunnel crawler, with cut scenes. I Never got that "Involved Feeling" with this Final Fantasy. By the end of the game I just wanted to finish it, and get it over with. It kind of makes me sad that Square Enix would do this to us.
  38. NickT
    Mar 14, 2010
    9
    I'm a bit disappointed by the bad reviews that this game has been given. It seems to me that they either didn't play the game long enough to get to the real meat and potatoes or they don't understand that each Final Fantasy game is unique in it's own right. Sure, I'd love to see the series go back to the battle and leveling systems of FFVII or FFVIII but I am also I'm a bit disappointed by the bad reviews that this game has been given. It seems to me that they either didn't play the game long enough to get to the real meat and potatoes or they don't understand that each Final Fantasy game is unique in it's own right. Sure, I'd love to see the series go back to the battle and leveling systems of FFVII or FFVIII but I am also willing to try new things. Those of you who don't like this game really need to actually play from start to finish while keeping in mind that each game is its own experience. Anyways, back to my review of Final Fantasy XIII. Graphics: Final Fantasy XIII is the most visually impressive game on the PS3 to date. The game uses nearly 100 percent of the systems processing power and to great effect I might add. Character models are richly detailed, so much so that I found myself wide-eyed when I noticed things like realistic hair that moved naturally, individual strands of threading coming loose from clothing (Snows jacket for example) and facial hair to name a few things. The environments are lush, vibrant and incredibly detailed. Again, I found myself gawking at the impressive scenery that was paraded in front of my eyes. Enemy designs are varied and range from silly to incredible, especially the gigantic enemies found on Gran Pulse. All in all, it's safe to say this game is a technical milestone for the PS3 hardware. Story: To me, the characters were engaging and believable and the voice acting was some of the best I've seen in any game. Not wanting to give any spoilers for potential players I'll keep it short and simple. The plot is nothing compared to FFVII or FFVIII but great in it's own right. It can be confusing and sometimes contradictory but soon rights itself thanks to flashbacks and further explanations by both the characters and the Datalog that can be accessed from the menu. Gameplay: The reason I gave this game a 9 instead of a 10 rests in this area of the game (though I would have rather given it a 9.5 but didn't have that option). I like that I am able to see what I'm about to fight before engaging and enemies are easily respawned for your farming pleasure. The Active Time Battle (ATB) system gives the game a feeling of turn based combat with a dynamic and visually action-packed feel. However, the lack of party control and auto-pilot mode forced me to give this otherwise stellar game a slightly reduced score. For those who are still unfamiliar with Final Fantasy XIII's battle system I will explain it in a bit more detail. You control only one character at any given time and until Chapter 10 (out of 13 chapters) you have no control who that person will be. The other two characters are issued commands through the intuitive and rather ingenious Paradigm Shift system. There are six roles that can be assigned which each behave differently. Those roles are; Ravager, Commando, Sentinel, Saboteur, Synergist and Medic. Medics do exactly what their name implies, Synergists apply special status enhancements to your party like Haste and Protect, Saboteurs cast status ailments on your enemies, Sentinels are tanks who take the brunt of damage from enemies, Ravagers cast devastating magical spells and Commandos deal massive amounts of physical damage. While the AI is smart in that it knows what to do in these roles, it gives you little control over your party. I miss being able to control exactly what my party does. The Auto-Battle function leaves me with the feeling of not truly being in control of my party leader. Don't get me wrong, you are more than welcome to manually select your leaders attacks and spells but there are battles in the game where doing so could spell disaster. It's not that they are overly hard (though there are some tough battles) but the game is extremely fast paced and the enemies do not kindly pause while you select your attacks like in previous iterations. I'm also extremely disappointed in the fact that if your party leader dies it's game over, even if the other members are alive. You're actually the only one who can use the items in battle, the other members use whatever spells or abilities the situation calls for. The system works for the game but is a slight disappointment. For those that complain the game is too linear, that is true for the first half of the game. Once you are able to explore the beautiful regions and fight the towering enemies on Gran Pulse any feeling of linearity quickly fades. The first half of the game helps to immerse you in the rich storyline and character developements. Fans of FFX will loved the Crystarium. An improved version of the Sphere Grid it gives you control over what bonuses and spells you give to each characters roles instead of creating super characters who can do everything at once. I for one like having characters who excel in one thing at a time. Aside from the lack of party control and auto-pilot mode this game does everything superbly. And for those who complain that some bosses are too hard unless you know how to beat them you obviously haven't played other games in the genre. I like that this game makes you think and take advantage of strengths and weaknesses. Sound: As stated previously the voice acting is quite possibly the best in a game to date. I truly felt like the characters were real people with realistically portrayed emotions when the situation called for it. The game music was also incredible aside from 'My Hands' by Leona Lewis. I wish they had picked a different theme song but it at least worked and I found it struck an emotional chord when it played (though you didn't hear me say that!). Final Fantasy XIII is an amazing game that is a definite must buy for any fan of the Final Fantasy series or fan of RPGs in general. It does nearly everything right with exception to the battle system which could have been better but works with the fast paced battles in the game. This game gets my seal of approval and the game in my opinion is worthy of a Final Fantasy title no matter what those low rating blasphemers say. Enjoy my review and enjoy the game!… Expand
  39. Bunny
    May 14, 2011
    9
    This is the best Final Fantasy game I have played in years, since FFVIII in fact. I love the old FF games. I've played FFIV and FF VI over and over again and was hesitant to get into this 'new fangled' game, but I ended up loving it. I know there has been a lot of criticism of the linear format of the game, but I actually liked it, I thought it worked. Besides, there is plenty of roomThis is the best Final Fantasy game I have played in years, since FFVIII in fact. I love the old FF games. I've played FFIV and FF VI over and over again and was hesitant to get into this 'new fangled' game, but I ended up loving it. I know there has been a lot of criticism of the linear format of the game, but I actually liked it, I thought it worked. Besides, there is plenty of room for free, independent quests while completing the missions in Chapter 11.

    The characters are cool, the battle system is fun and interesting and as a whole the game is challenging. I really like that the lead character is female, Lightning is great, the best lead I've seen in a long time, my favourite FF female since Celes in FF VI!

    Looks wise this game is gorgeous and Masashi Hamauzu's fantastic soundtrack is haunting and memorable, I often found that the game's music was stuck in my head even when I wasn't playing the game.

    I wasn't crazy about the fact that there were no towns and I had to get used to the upgrading system and how hard it is to get gil, I sort of wished that your levelling up didn't completely stop with the crystarium, but those are small flaws. I liked the freedom of not having to cure after every battle like in some of the previous FF games that had the player so dependent on buying items.

    This game has restored my love for Final Fantasy and I can't wait for FF XIII-2    … Expand
  40. KingdomFantasy7
    Jun 19, 2012
    8
    I thought this was a decent entry. Not the best, but not the worst. I've played much worse FF series than this. Anybody remember the rusty FF1, the terrible FF2 or the mediocre FF3? How about the boring FF11, the bland and slow FF12, or the disastrous FF14? And dare I say that we should not be reminded of titles like FFX-2, Dirge of Cerberus, or Revenant Wings? Again, I have played muchI thought this was a decent entry. Not the best, but not the worst. I've played much worse FF series than this. Anybody remember the rusty FF1, the terrible FF2 or the mediocre FF3? How about the boring FF11, the bland and slow FF12, or the disastrous FF14? And dare I say that we should not be reminded of titles like FFX-2, Dirge of Cerberus, or Revenant Wings? Again, I have played much worse than this title.

    Story was average, but could have used some tweaking. It looks like there was something that had been well developed, but it was not tightened enough. It seemed like SE wanted to go complex, but don't seem to understand that a complex storyline does not always mean a good storyline. I think what got people was the very big bombastic confusing beginning (remind you of Inception in that regards readers? Confusing as hell beginning but then flattened out?) They should have used characters like Hope and Vanille as exposition like Tidus was in FF10. Tidus may have been whiney, but he was good to get exposition provided.

    Gamplay was decent, I was interested in the Paradigm shift because it gave a different kind of control towards the players. I was able to get to my medic, spell-caster and attack class at much more easily. It even made me use the status ailments more often, which is something I thought was a bother in the past installments. Now rebuffs and buffs have a much bigger and better purpose. But the only thing that this system could have done without was the auto attack button. Maybe then this battle system could have worked. Much better than the slow tedious gameplay of FF12. Still, I think the turn based combat was not broken, so SE I have to asks why they felt the need to fix it?

    Linearity did not get to me, but I do believe that that could have been broken up with some openness. I did enjoy Lightning, Sazh and Fang (I'm on the fence with Snow), but Hope and Vanille were pretty bad characters. It seems like these two were the product of cranking the "Tidus and Yuffie" personality to 11 and this is the result of what happens. It's not like these personalities have not shown up before in the FF, but they do plague the series. Hopefully Square can get rid of these kinds of characters in future installments. I did have more connection to these 3 characters I liked than any of the bland characters in FF12. Thankfully Lightning did not turn out to be nothing more than a ruse of a main character like a certain character I know *coughcough-Vann-coughcough*. Sazh was one cool dude and Fang

    All and all, I'm giving this an 8 out of 10. That seems like the the most fair sense I did not give into any of the hype of FF13. In fact, I did not buy this title until 6 months after the game came out because FF12 had given me such a bad taste of boring and bland. I was satisfied with my purchase and love to see Versus 13 and how that story will handle the Etro mythology. Good luck to you Tetsuya Nomura!    … Expand
  41. trescharmant
    Mar 5, 2012
    8
    It was good, but nothing special. A far cry from Final Fantasies of year's past. The cast was pretty much, blah. Lightning was a good protagonist though. This game just lacks the old nostalgic feel of previous final fantasies, like the WORLD MAP. It is still an enjoyable game but if you're playing this expecting to have that old FF nostalgic feeling, then you're setting yourself up forIt was good, but nothing special. A far cry from Final Fantasies of year's past. The cast was pretty much, blah. Lightning was a good protagonist though. This game just lacks the old nostalgic feel of previous final fantasies, like the WORLD MAP. It is still an enjoyable game but if you're playing this expecting to have that old FF nostalgic feeling, then you're setting yourself up for disappointment.… Expand
  42. crazydangerous
    Jan 12, 2012
    8
    This game looks really really really good, I don't enjoy how linear it is and the combat can be frustrating but I can't blame SE for taking things in a different direct as it feels like a fair effort was put forward on it, It's not blatantly lazy and with a crap story like Dragon age 2 that's for sure. Be ready to commit 35 hours though this game takes time.
  43. gaminkid05
    Nov 8, 2011
    8
    This was fun game all the way through. It was the right difficulty level, the battles were interesting, and the graphics, great. The cut scenes were fun, although occasionally the story lost me, and the characters were a bit unbelievable. My only real complaint with the game is the linearity, which I found to be a touch annoying because I thought having multiple roads to follow would haveThis was fun game all the way through. It was the right difficulty level, the battles were interesting, and the graphics, great. The cut scenes were fun, although occasionally the story lost me, and the characters were a bit unbelievable. My only real complaint with the game is the linearity, which I found to be a touch annoying because I thought having multiple roads to follow would have been cool. However, by and by, this a great game, a must play for any JRPG fan.… Expand
  44. Kirisoul
    Jun 30, 2013
    9
    As a relatively new FF fan who just finished VI and VII, I definitely approached XIII with a grain of salt. Many have said it's not like FF at all, or its so linear as to ruin the experience. I can safely say that everyone's opinion was correct... to a certain degree.

    Yes, FF XIII is exceedingly linear to a fault, and I can see how this would ruin the game for many traditional FF fans.    As a relatively new FF fan who just finished VI and VII, I definitely approached XIII with a grain of salt. Many have said it's not like FF at all, or its so linear as to ruin the experience. I can safely say that everyone's opinion was correct... to a certain degree.

    Yes, FF XIII is exceedingly linear to a fault, and I can see how this would ruin the game for many traditional FF fans. Nevertheless, I don't see why this one low point overshadows the rest of the game's magnificent strengths. In terms of design, the artistic sense and music are excellent, definitely on par if not exceeding the FF standard. The story, while convoluted at times is actually pretty sophisticated, and one who is willing to sift through the copious amounts of information in the datalog will find a nuanced and fascinating tale. Even if some didn't like characters such as Hope or Vanille, the cast as a whole is very strong, playing extremely well off each other and having great voice acting.

    Even the linearity has its benefits. It adds to the overall streamlined feel of the game. It's really hard to explain it to someone who hasn't played through the game, but there's a sense of slickness to everything in the game. The menus are clean and efficient, the crystarium system is easy to use, and the combat is fast, strategic, and yet understandable. Even though you only control one character at a time, combat in XIII is really a joy. True, the system doesn't show all its features until around chapter 3 out of 13, but once it does it shines for the rest of the game, especially once you have access to all roles and characters. I'm not really sure where the concept that you can just auto battle the whole game came from. Obviously these people never made it to mid-game bosses such as Barthandelus. This is a 40 hour long game, and the combat really doesn't ever get dry, save for grinding (which the main story is perfectly possible without.)

    Overall, its not a perfect game, but its definitely worthy of its FF title for its overall excellent production qualities, tight gameplay, and excellent story. While the linearity is a turn off for some, its just a different style for others, and one that is perfectly enjoyable if one can appreciate its strengths. I can safely say I was impressed and pleasantly surprised by XIII, although I still like VI the best.    … Expand
  45. Volney
    Feb 13, 2012
    9
    game play and plot that is emotionally driven and to the point without the abundance of side quests that are common in the series, personally i would not change a single minute of the experience
  46. Arigatobro
    Mar 2, 2012
    10
    This game is just amazing.If you give it a chance and play it for more than 5 hours you won't regret it.Graphics is one of the best as of today.Music made by Masashi Hamauzu is great and in my opinion,only FFX's soundtrack is better.All the characters are really charismatic and you will see how each of them will develop trough the story.CG scenes are absolutely magnificent.The battleThis game is just amazing.If you give it a chance and play it for more than 5 hours you won't regret it.Graphics is one of the best as of today.Music made by Masashi Hamauzu is great and in my opinion,only FFX's soundtrack is better.All the characters are really charismatic and you will see how each of them will develop trough the story.CG scenes are absolutely magnificent.The battle system looks too easy in the beginning,but after you progress through the story a little bit,you will see how deep and enjoyable it can be.
    Don't listen to people that give this game 0 and consider it the worst in the series.I completed all of the FF's from 1 to 13(excluding the online ones) and FF13(alongside FF10) is my favorite game of all time.    … Expand
  47. GaaraDDragon
    Jun 19, 2020
    8
    I give FF XIII a solid ten because it is the most bold game to come out of Japan in years. People go on about how bad of an rpg it is, when this game is not really an rpg, neither was it designed as one. It's a brilliant combination of action, rpg and strategy.

    It's a bold game because it completely ignored gaming trends and presented something unique. In terms of battle it was not    I give FF XIII a solid ten because it is the most bold game to come out of Japan in years. People go on about how bad of an rpg it is, when this game is not really an rpg, neither was it designed as one. It's a brilliant combination of action, rpg and strategy.

    It's a bold game because it completely ignored gaming trends and presented something unique. In terms of battle it was not about simple grinding and leveling but about thinking, planing ahead and acting fast. But at the same time it was an evolution of previous battle systems as well. In terms of story it broke from the classic protagonist versus antagonist duel theme into a drama that was centered around the team itself and the in-between the members friction. It is a pretty linear game since for one it is heavily action influenced but mainly because it was designed as a huge story driven ride, more than any FF before. While controversial, it played the factor of story delivery to the best possible degree.

    FF XIII is a game that has been heavily criticized for all the things it was not. I rather focused on all the things it was.

    It features one of the greatest protagonists in any FF game. An environment that is not only based on graphics but unmatched aesthetics as well. The scenario is probably the most complicated and hard to follow, compared to any other FF game to date. Holding its own rather well into 2012.

    Majestic sites, some very hard and rewarding battles, fast paced action, dazzling pre-rendered CGI movie in blu ray quality and an epic story to unveil.    … Expand
  48. MDG397
    Feb 28, 2013
    9
    At first, I gave this game a 3. After I played it more, I know how good it really is. First off I'd just like to state the obvious, this game has some of the best graphics in a video game, and easily the best on console. It also has one of the best soundtracks that I've ever heard for a video game. As for the combat system, it is obviously different than all other Final Fantasies, butAt first, I gave this game a 3. After I played it more, I know how good it really is. First off I'd just like to state the obvious, this game has some of the best graphics in a video game, and easily the best on console. It also has one of the best soundtracks that I've ever heard for a video game. As for the combat system, it is obviously different than all other Final Fantasies, but that's not a bad thing. The battle system is very rewarding and fun. It does have a big flaw though, the story really isn't as great as you would expect with Final Fantasy, but you should still try the game either way.… Expand
  49. boshi
    Jan 28, 2014
    9
    this game has amazing graphics. while some of the characters are dull and can be really annoying the overall story is nice. the combat system is nice, with the exception of switching paradigms. when you switch paradigms in the game it takes several seconds in real time, which gets frustrating. another thing that bothers me is that you don't receive gil (currency) in battle, which isthis game has amazing graphics. while some of the characters are dull and can be really annoying the overall story is nice. the combat system is nice, with the exception of switching paradigms. when you switch paradigms in the game it takes several seconds in real time, which gets frustrating. another thing that bothers me is that you don't receive gil (currency) in battle, which is annoying as well. however, the music, especially the battle music, is amazing.… Expand
  50. Goldheart
    Jan 8, 2011
    10
    When I bought my Playstation 3, just a few weeks ago, I knew right away that my first game would be Final Fantasy XIII, in spite of all the criticisim from critics and fans. For the first 5 hours, the game, if not for the beautiful cutscenes and story, was for me quite boring and tedious. However, once I started to be given more Paradigms, which is the basis of the ATB battle system,When I bought my Playstation 3, just a few weeks ago, I knew right away that my first game would be Final Fantasy XIII, in spite of all the criticisim from critics and fans. For the first 5 hours, the game, if not for the beautiful cutscenes and story, was for me quite boring and tedious. However, once I started to be given more Paradigms, which is the basis of the ATB battle system, battles became more fun and less tedious. After the 10 or 15 hour mark, I was thoroughly enjoying each battle, as each battle was different from the last. I rarely had, early in the game, to do any grinding to continue through the game, but in Chapter 10, the game suddenly became excruciantingly difficult, and I had to do hours of tedious grinding to handle a the chapter's second Boss Battle. After that, the game went back to its usual fun and engaging self. Putting that aside, the story in Final Fantasy XIII is great. It is wonderfully crafted and was almost (but not quite) in the level of the Metal Gear Series in terms os storytelling. I found all the Playable Characters great and engaging. I know that most people complain about Vanille's personality and voice, but I actually found her to be the most likable character in the game, and from the very moment she began to talk she made me smile. Lightning, Snow, Hope and Sazh were great characters, and their voice actors were excellent. Fang herself is also perhaps the second most charismatic character of the cast. As for the Secondary Characters, I was very dissappointed for the lack of development they were given, especially Cid Rains and Galenth Dysley. In graphics, I think its the best game yet. The enviroments, cutscenes and especially the character models, are beautiful and detailed. The characters themselves look extremelly realistic, even in cutscenes with the in-game engine. The only moment in which I found the graphics a little bland was in the Vile Peaks, where I saw many low resolution enviroments and objects. The rest of the areas were amazing, especially the "Lake Bresha", "Palamecia", "Eden" and "Nautilus". The soundtrack is great, but not the best in the series. I think it should have been more orchestral and less eletronic, and a few of the tracks became too repetitive for my taste. The best songs for mewere "Fighting Fate", "Born Anew" and "Fang's Theme". The voice acting was excellent all around, although on a few, small ocasions, the lips movements were not according to the words said. The battle system is most of the time fun, and it's both fast paced and strategic. The game is, until Chapter 11, very linear, but I didn't find it as extremelly linear as some critics said, and I think that the linearity can be excused thanks to the fun that the battle system gives. Also, about the lack of towns, well, I wasn't so annoyed at this after I realised that there were towns, just without NPCs and Shops, and that they were fun to see and explore. In conclusion, Final Fantasy XIII is a great, fun, beautiful game, with just a few small flaws that, thankfully, don't ruin the experience. I don't think it's the best of the series, in fact, I think that Final Fantasy XII was a lot better, but it is still excellent andnot nearly as bad as some critics said.… Expand
  51. risky
    May 15, 2012
    2
    Final Fantasy 13 is a real disappointment. The characters are despicable and flat. Actually, if you would take a typical JRPG character, peel away all the game-specific personalization, cast some cheesy american voice actors and put on some typical japanese RPG clothes, you would end up with the characters of FF13.

    The story linearity is so frustrating you're ending up hitting X    Final Fantasy 13 is a real disappointment. The characters are despicable and flat. Actually, if you would take a typical JRPG character, peel away all the game-specific personalization, cast some cheesy american voice actors and put on some typical japanese RPG clothes, you would end up with the characters of FF13.

    The story linearity is so frustrating you're ending up hitting X frenetically to get by the battles just to see if there's something else at the end of the tunnel. But there isn't. The voice acting is depressing and unrealistic, the satiric FF humor is completely gone and there's no sign of trivia nor exciting hidden quests nor interesting plots besides the main one. Sure, the graphics are stunning at first and the battle sequences really look gorgeous, but it's all emptied out during the first gaming hour and you end up on some kind rave from the 90s where absolutely everything glows, twinkles and sparks, leaving absolutely no surprises visually.

    The only positive thing with Final Fantasy XIII is that the next installment (besides FF13-2) will be better. Really, this is feels like something put together just to show off what the crystal tools for PS3 are capable of.    … Expand
  52. JoeDowntown
    Feb 19, 2011
    10
    Most in depth battle system Ive ever seen in an RPG maybe any game. A game clearly driven by its narrative the 1up review the best Ive seen. Is it linear? Yes, but I believe it served a purpose the second best RPG behind Valkyria Chronicles for me.
  53. BasilZero
    Jan 16, 2012
    9
    For the typical Final Fantasy fan, you will love this game, but to those who are hardcore FF fans might find this game a bit displeasing due to the changes made into the overall game compared to other games in the series. Regardless, Final Fantasy XIII brings in a breath of Fresh air when it comes to Character Design, Battle System, Music and overall story telling. You will enjoy this gameFor the typical Final Fantasy fan, you will love this game, but to those who are hardcore FF fans might find this game a bit displeasing due to the changes made into the overall game compared to other games in the series. Regardless, Final Fantasy XIII brings in a breath of Fresh air when it comes to Character Design, Battle System, Music and overall story telling. You will enjoy this game and it is worth every penny!… Expand
  54. CloudStrifeVII
    Jan 22, 2012
    10
    This game is a masterpiece. The best RPG of this generaion (but XIII-2 looks even better).
    Everybody should buy and enjoy this masterpiece.
    A true Final Fantasy, and one of the best games of all the story (or maybe the best).
  55. HD3
    Dec 16, 2011
    9
    Good story, interesting and flashy combat, excellent soundtrack, lush enviroments. Very linear though to the point you may find it annoying if you prefer to just wander. Never the less, quite an enjoyable game.
  56. TJ_Kragt
    Apr 21, 2020
    8
    Before I write the review I just have to say FFXIII trolls give this game way too much crap. This game is a great game, the linearity was not a huge issue. It's just westerners have gotten used to these WRPGs where you have a wide open world that you can easily get lost in (literally), not to mention the story is usually lacking. So the bad reviews is just westerners complaining that theBefore I write the review I just have to say FFXIII trolls give this game way too much crap. This game is a great game, the linearity was not a huge issue. It's just westerners have gotten used to these WRPGs where you have a wide open world that you can easily get lost in (literally), not to mention the story is usually lacking. So the bad reviews is just westerners complaining that the JRPG is a different type of RPG. Also, the FF fanbase is very split and conflicted. If Square does one thing then half are going to be pleased and half not pleased. Honestly, I think you can't ever please more than 60% of the fanbase at one time anymore because we all want different things. Now on to the review.......Final Fantasy XIII is another great addition to the franchise. The story is a compelling tale and the characters play well off of eachother. The only short coming is Vanille's high pitched voice, but thats the voice coach's fault for wanting it that way. The characters are well developed and you see the main protagonist mature through the course of the game. The combat is fantastic, very flashy and fun, as well as fast-paced. It offers a refreshing change up for the series. The music is good also, but not quite up to what Nobuo Uematsu has offered for previous installments. That doesn't stop the soundtrack from being good, though. There are also over 60 sidequests to indulge in when you get the chance which offer plenty of post-story play. Final Fantasy XIII's more streamlined nature pays off in this epic tale of heroism.… Expand
  57. gyigyo2
    Aug 24, 2013
    10
    Pro:Lightning,Snow,Fang,Sazh,Story,Places,Music,CP,Barthandelus,Ending
    Cons:Vanille,Linear,Graphics

    ts one of the best final fantasy i really liked the story,characters,music,development Crystogen points...
    This game would be better if they maked for only PS3...The Ending was something fantastic the best ending in FF titles....
  58. CoreyB
    Mar 24, 2010
    1
    I have played and loved all the Final Fantasy games since FF7 (with the exception of FF11). The series has long been the gold-standard in the JRPG genre; it's one of the few series where I am willing to buy the game the day it comes out without checking any reviews. All this is to say I'm biased towards liking any Final Fantasy and being forgiving towards the series flaws. Yet, I have played and loved all the Final Fantasy games since FF7 (with the exception of FF11). The series has long been the gold-standard in the JRPG genre; it's one of the few series where I am willing to buy the game the day it comes out without checking any reviews. All this is to say I'm biased towards liking any Final Fantasy and being forgiving towards the series flaws. Yet, despite this, all I can say is that FF13 is an incredible disappointment. While all the Final Fantasy games have been somewhat linear, FF13's linearity is oppressive. The battle system is awful; it involves no strategy, you don't even choose the specific attacks 95% of the time. The story is melodramatic, cliched, and completely unengaging. The characters are static and impossible to like. The only thing going for this game is the gorgeous graphics. All in all, this is an abomination that does not deserve the title of Final Fantasy. Absolutely awful.… Expand
  59. Engineergirl80
    Feb 4, 2012
    10
    I love this game. So beautiful and action packed with a story line that is entrancing as it is involved. I will continue to love this game for all time and it will go down as the most beautiful console game to date. The grinding will get on your nerves a little after the game is complete, but that should only worry the Platinum hunters. Oh yeah, that treasure hunter trophy is aI love this game. So beautiful and action packed with a story line that is entrancing as it is involved. I will continue to love this game for all time and it will go down as the most beautiful console game to date. The grinding will get on your nerves a little after the game is complete, but that should only worry the Platinum hunters. Oh yeah, that treasure hunter trophy is a nightmare and is definitely missable. I will support this franchise from here on.… Expand
  60. pedromont32
    Jan 16, 2012
    9
    Amazing visuals, amazing gameplay. This is my first final fantasy and since the start of the game i've been dragged into the plotline, its not the perfect game but it has a thrilling battling system that will keep you constantly involved in the combat and not just the usual turn for turn rpg. Yes it has his flaws like the slow develop of the gameplay but once you are in the 4th chapter ofAmazing visuals, amazing gameplay. This is my first final fantasy and since the start of the game i've been dragged into the plotline, its not the perfect game but it has a thrilling battling system that will keep you constantly involved in the combat and not just the usual turn for turn rpg. Yes it has his flaws like the slow develop of the gameplay but once you are in the 4th chapter of the game the battle system will begin to build itslef and will become extremly fun. Easly controled and no tedious waiting for attack turns since when you are not attacking you can use objects or watch the other npc's attack the enemies, despite the fact the other 2 members of your party ar ai controlled you'll have a truly "final fantasy" experience. I highly recommend this game to those who are beautiful graphics and strong story lovers.… Expand
  61. NyberX
    Feb 1, 2012
    10
    This game was my first final fantasy and I enjoyed it. Battle system was great. The characters are great, The story is OK. This deserves a well earned 10
  62. MarcusB.
    Apr 16, 2010
    3
    Notice that in Gaming Ages's Review they gave it 100, but none of it was about the gameplay Ok the graphics were great, and the normal battle theme was awesome. That's it, that's where i my praise ends for this game. They tried their best to cover up cliche character choices. I'm gonna compare it to the Tales of Series, partly because Tales of is good and also because Notice that in Gaming Ages's Review they gave it 100, but none of it was about the gameplay Ok the graphics were great, and the normal battle theme was awesome. That's it, that's where i my praise ends for this game. They tried their best to cover up cliche character choices. I'm gonna compare it to the Tales of Series, partly because Tales of is good and also because it is nearly diametrically opposed to every FF has. In Tales of they use many character cliches that FF has, but they do interesting things with the cliches, not cover them up. Pre-emptive Strick completely broke the battle system in most cases. This game got as close to being the Real time battle system as possible without being the same. When i heard about Final Fantasy having a real time battle system i was genuinely hyped, it ment i could start enjoying those graphics as i "controlled" the character instead of just issuing orders. But it turned out it was just the ATB system with a real time element. i.e ATB but you run over to hit them... I lost all hope in this game, ATB system ment i had to wait even more to attack and why the f*ck can't i start queuing my next attacks while i'm doing my current attack. The menu also decides to wait a menacing second each time i open something to fade it in or move it over to the middle. Tales of's menus left me mastering them so much i could fully change all the skills my characters were using and completely change are strategy we used in 20 seconds. Why can't i change the abilities my teammates use, i really hated it when my npc's would use magic phys attacks with magic attacks when the enemy has phys resist... STOP FOCUSING ON GRAPHICS PLEASE. PLEASE. I BEG OF YOU.… Expand
  63. JoshB
    Apr 26, 2010
    3
    Do you want to see what Final Fantasy would be if it was one of the most frustrating, boring, and underachieving games of all time. Look no further than Final Fantasy XIII. Sure the graphics are fantastic but that does not mean squat if you change everything else about the franchise that is great and make it all inferior. Thank you for ruining Final Fantasy and making me waste my money on Do you want to see what Final Fantasy would be if it was one of the most frustrating, boring, and underachieving games of all time. Look no further than Final Fantasy XIII. Sure the graphics are fantastic but that does not mean squat if you change everything else about the franchise that is great and make it all inferior. Thank you for ruining Final Fantasy and making me waste my money on what I thought was going to be a quality product. Opening up the exploration at Chapter 11 is pathetic and I am just glad I could sell this back before I waste any more time getting to that point.… Expand
  64. Jonttutan
    May 23, 2011
    10
    Purely Epicness! Gameplay is great, story is interesting, characters are memorable and graphics are AWESOME! So far best game what I have ever played. Yes I'm FF13 fanboy.
  65. CincyJosh
    Jan 6, 2012
    10
    Great story, great battle system, and an amazingly beautiful game. Sure there are no towns and the game play is linear but when the story is about these characters fleeing from the purge, is it realistic that they have time to poke around towns with NPC's being friendly, or to wander on meaningless side quests as if they had all the time in the world? Sure these things could have beenGreat story, great battle system, and an amazingly beautiful game. Sure there are no towns and the game play is linear but when the story is about these characters fleeing from the purge, is it realistic that they have time to poke around towns with NPC's being friendly, or to wander on meaningless side quests as if they had all the time in the world? Sure these things could have been written into the story, but it wasn't and I respect that decision. The game was worth the $60 I paid at its release and it is surely worth the $20 it costs now, especially with its sequel XIII-2 coming out on 1/31/12, which will have towns and side quests etc. I highly recommend this game.… Expand
  66. Breck
    Mar 11, 2010
    0
    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. Annoying characters, and 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. Annoying characters, and the same damn plot you've heard 100 times. Unless your a 6 year old girl, avoid at all costs.… Expand
  67. hero43xx
    Dec 30, 2010
    10
    Perfect. The graphics were completely amazing, the battle system was just the way it was like before, storyline shocked me significantly through many changes, and it should be in part of Game of the Year. Not only that, I think the linear nature of the gameplay is still fine because although it wasn't challenge, it did make the gameplay more easier in my opinion and allows players toPerfect. The graphics were completely amazing, the battle system was just the way it was like before, storyline shocked me significantly through many changes, and it should be in part of Game of the Year. Not only that, I think the linear nature of the gameplay is still fine because although it wasn't challenge, it did make the gameplay more easier in my opinion and allows players to concentrate their battles on bosses more than the dungeon itself. That way, people can fight along the way than to just ignore them and get beaten… Expand
  68. Camille
    Jun 30, 2013
    1
    It just isn't very fun I'm afraid. Very linear and rather dull. The world is lovely but I cannot explore. The story is interesting but it's hidden in the datalog while the game focuses obsessively on a bunch of characters shouting about the same things over and over again. The gameplay looks great but all I am doing is watching it. It's like the game doesn't want me as a player. Give thisIt just isn't very fun I'm afraid. Very linear and rather dull. The world is lovely but I cannot explore. The story is interesting but it's hidden in the datalog while the game focuses obsessively on a bunch of characters shouting about the same things over and over again. The gameplay looks great but all I am doing is watching it. It's like the game doesn't want me as a player. Give this once great series a break and just go and make films SE.… Expand
  69. Cid_Highwind
    May 26, 2013
    0
    It doesn't matter who are you FF fan or not, this game sux anyway. Press X to win gameplay, boring storyline, uninteresting characters, terrible soundtrack... Yeah, CG amazing but i play games, not CG.
  70. ChadS
    Mar 13, 2010
    0
    "..." is what comes to mind. I have played every FF game since nirmal nintendo. I think I wactehd the trailer for this game a zillion times and read everything leading up to its release which i had on pre-order of course and bought the collectors edtion game guide. that being saif, i could not of been more disapointed in my life. The intro seemd promising with you fighting a seemingly "..." is what comes to mind. I have played every FF game since nirmal nintendo. I think I wactehd the trailer for this game a zillion times and read everything leading up to its release which i had on pre-order of course and bought the collectors edtion game guide. that being saif, i could not of been more disapointed in my life. The intro seemd promising with you fighting a seemingly cool epic kinda boss, although of course super easy to win it gave me a pleasure shiver juting thinking of what was to come next. well what came next was 25+ hours of the most boring story ever with the most annoying characters ever. lighting is the only char worth caring about. The other 5 just wine and complain and do stupid annoying things common to anime. this game might of well been a 2d side scoller cause that is what it is a linear p.o.s. suureeeee it looks good but so does any game for a next gen console if it isnt made by r-tards. now the battle system. what battle system? you mean the one click system, one char system??? and witht he paradimes every char basicially becomes the same. only some are a lil bit better in a role than others they all have the same moves and can be substitued with anyone else whcih u can't until chapter 10 of 13 WTFFFFFFFFF. OH yeah and the worst thing about this money sucking succubus of a game is that 90% of it is played with only TWO CHARACTERS!! wow i mean at least let the game be 2 player if your going to screw me out of a party system which is a conrer stone of any FF game. PLEASE STOP RATING THIS GAME 8+ JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE IN BED WITH THE COMPANY (like most of the online review sites) OR A BLIND FAN BOY!!!!! dont even rent this game cause it will just waste your weekend b4 u get to the good parts and have to take the game back. Id pay around 4$ for this crap.… Expand
  71. Regal4point1
    Jul 31, 2012
    6
    FF13 is definitely one of my guilty pleasures, and this makes the game hard to recommend. It has its highlights, but the restriction required to get there isn't often worth it. The battle system is fast and fun, but easily exploitable. The plot is good but horribly executed. The characters are multi-dimensional but deliver rotten dialogue. The game's world is beautiful but restrictive.FF13 is definitely one of my guilty pleasures, and this makes the game hard to recommend. It has its highlights, but the restriction required to get there isn't often worth it. The battle system is fast and fun, but easily exploitable. The plot is good but horribly executed. The characters are multi-dimensional but deliver rotten dialogue. The game's world is beautiful but restrictive. Every aspect of the game has at least one issue holding it back. Did I enjoy my time with it though? Oddly enough I did. You might be one of the few like me to get something out of it though.… Expand
  72. snowmann
    Sep 13, 2010
    10
    I got this the same day i got god of war 3 and i kid you not after playing the two, it took me 2 weeks to go back and play the GOW3. it is that good. A lot of people say the game is "linear" all because they are too used to running around like headless chickens for hours in free roaming games. honestly i think this game was brilliantly made so that if your the type of person thats in aI got this the same day i got god of war 3 and i kid you not after playing the two, it took me 2 weeks to go back and play the GOW3. it is that good. A lot of people say the game is "linear" all because they are too used to running around like headless chickens for hours in free roaming games. honestly i think this game was brilliantly made so that if your the type of person thats in a hurry you can play through the the in 25 hours flat and move to something else. Then if you want to do all the sides missions all you have to do is turn around and take care of it. its that simple.
    if you ask me.. I'd say whats the point going into areas where the bad guys will kill with one swipe at the start of the game? its not the regular cliche of boy meets girl, love and unicorns no. Its deeper than that.
    And the battle system keeps you on your toes every second. If you thought Final fantasy X-2 was fast your in for a huge surprise.this game moves at a blistering pace. when i see games like fallout 3 rated at 90 and this beauty of a game given a measly 83 i'm crushed. Where have the real gamers gone..    … Expand
  73. Deiradinn
    Feb 20, 2011
    9
    Okay, this isn't want everyone expected but several things you have to understand. It's not 1998 anymore, it's a completely new battle system. And if you were able to control all the players it wouldn't be the paradigm system at all. The linear storyline is to help newer fans know where to go, but the game isn't easy at all. You have to actually learn how to play and learn the system. IfOkay, this isn't want everyone expected but several things you have to understand. It's not 1998 anymore, it's a completely new battle system. And if you were able to control all the players it wouldn't be the paradigm system at all. The linear storyline is to help newer fans know where to go, but the game isn't easy at all. You have to actually learn how to play and learn the system. If you go through the game in a good pace, it plays out well. This game is linear yes, but all RPGs are just their sandboxed most of the time. In my initial playthrough, I raced through it, and I started resenting the game because how hard it got during gran pulse, the doom clocks, and if the main character dies it's game over. But you can start right back where you left off, don't have to reload a save and waste hours. Many long time RPG fans have to realize that games like FFVII, Chrono Trigger, and other classics are considered dated game dynamics now. Even the reviews for the remake of DQVI pointed that out. We RPGers have to evolve, and this game is nowhere near as bad as crazy RPG fans think it should always stay the same. I love turned based, controlling all characters too, and free exploring and more eastern elements but you can't just rip on a game because it's not just like your dear favorites. As a hard core expert RPGer for 15 years I can say this game is a well worth edition. Just learn how to stagger and save your party, and then the game will be much more enjoyable.… Expand
  74. Abstractpurpose
    Oct 30, 2012
    3
    Here is a game riding in on all the fame and glory of the final fantasy series. A legedary rpg franchise with core elements weve come to expect. Towns with npcs stores with weapons and gear not to mention the large story and history filled worlds.....all of which are absent from this entry. Only having controll of 1 character is the first of my dissapointments followed immediately by theHere is a game riding in on all the fame and glory of the final fantasy series. A legedary rpg franchise with core elements weve come to expect. Towns with npcs stores with weapons and gear not to mention the large story and history filled worlds.....all of which are absent from this entry. Only having controll of 1 character is the first of my dissapointments followed immediately by the healing after every battle factor. In past games youd stock up on phoenix downs potio.s and ether before setting out giving it the true feeling of a journy to come. This game simply heals you entirely after winning the fight which is a serious downgrade to the nature of the game. Next is the summons being transformers.... And of course the fact that the game is 1 set path with no towns or npcs. All stores are on the save cubes making it feel more like shopping at amazon than an ff game. These are just basic rpg elements to emmerse you in the world but dont exist at all here. I wonder how many people noticed that various soundtracks from every ff game ever made were absent as well. The story was ok but several enemies that looked to be interesting only showed up once removing the feeling of having that non final boss arch enemy. Another dumb down factor us paradigm shift. In previous games the class system provided you with the meens to build or use prebuilt classes so you coukd structure the most efficient team. However with paradigm shift everyone can be every class all at the flick of a button mid fight. The combat system LITTERALLY plays itself. Set everyone to ravager and stagger the enemy then switch to assult and kill them. This meens boss fights can be won without looking at the screen when rotating between the 2 with a full medic paradigm in between. Auto attack lets your character do the most effective attacks without you ever even having to think. The game has lost all the rpg elements created a combat system that requires no thought a healing system removing the need to stock items and the lack of a mana bar to pay attention too. Its the perfect final fantasy for any 2nd grader with downsyndrom… Expand
  75. NoneNone
    Apr 9, 2010
    4
    More of an action game than an RPG. No exploration. Very guided character building. Extremely linear "hallway" maps. Poor storytelling and writing. You'll need to read the volumes of text in the in-game database to have even a basic understanding of the story. The battle system is the only the developers seemed to have spent time on gameplay-wise. You'll be fighting battle More of an action game than an RPG. No exploration. Very guided character building. Extremely linear "hallway" maps. Poor storytelling and writing. You'll need to read the volumes of text in the in-game database to have even a basic understanding of the story. The battle system is the only the developers seemed to have spent time on gameplay-wise. You'll be fighting battle incessantly from beginning to end. Overall, a poor outing. Would have worked better as a 9-hour action game than a 40-hour epic since the game's only strength is the battle-system.… Expand
  76. Wang
    Apr 7, 2010
    10
    The one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable. As the most well known RPG series on the market, the last thing FF needs now is another look-alike game that will add nothing to the series' future. FFXIII is a step to the right direction. Not only will it not be a total break from the good traditions of the series, it will mark the new beginning of FF by The one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable. As the most well known RPG series on the market, the last thing FF needs now is another look-alike game that will add nothing to the series' future. FFXIII is a step to the right direction. Not only will it not be a total break from the good traditions of the series, it will mark the new beginning of FF by opening FF up to new possibilities while still keeping its most memorable traditions. FF isn't Pokemon, fans will complain even more if they made another FFVII or FFX. FF shouldn't be limited by what it was, it should be defined by what it will be. As a fan of FF series, I feel obligated to write this because we are fortunate to have a developing team that understands this. As for the game itself, FFXIII is a master piece. While it was potentially limited by the multiplatform design (Blue-ray, where are you?), the game is nearly perfect in every way. Sure, it is not the God of All Games, it has flaws, but it is still a memorable experience unparalleled by another game. Many complained about how horribly linear the game is. But, what they think a JRPG is? The story is the dominate factor in the making of the game. It is the soul, the backbone of all FF games. If Square screwed up the story, then FF will truly be doomed. And to those who cry about how empty and broken the plot is, either you never played this game or you simply glanced at the story and declared it incompetent. Did you ever tried to dive under the seemingly linear plot to explore the personality and motivation of the characters by simply reading a handy tool called the Data Log? Probably not. Yet I must confess that Square could of done better with character development and dialogue writing. Never the less, this game has one of the absolute best graphics on the market and a brilliant and innovative combat system that is not found in any other game. Some argued that FFXIII should learn BIoware, I agree that FF can take good lessons from them. But the point is, FFXIII is FFXIII, nothing else. It is not Mass Effect XIII or Dragon Age XIII, it IS FFXIII. It is different and it should be. It is different from others before it, for example, there aren't any towns or inns, who said there must be town to explore? Dictated by its plot, many of FF's traditions didn't appear or appeared in the different forms. But what the heck, so what they changed. World didn't end, we are still alive. As long as we change for the better, what is wrong with it? Let us not kill a true mater piece with of our prejudice.… Expand
  77. jaga420
    Dec 4, 2010
    5
    I absolutely loved the graphics and the gameplay.
    The story was detestable at best. It has a good base but it has way too many cheesy moments and doesn't make much sense unless you read all the data logs. It only had one cutscene that wasn't cheesy and had meaning (with Sazh and Vanille just before he gets his summon)
    The music was great and went well with the battles and environment, but    I absolutely loved the graphics and the gameplay.
    The story was detestable at best. It has a good base but it has way too many cheesy moments and doesn't make much sense unless you read all the data logs. It only had one cutscene that wasn't cheesy and had meaning (with Sazh and Vanille just before he gets his summon)
    The music was great and went well with the battles and environment, but I miss Uematsu's work
    The game was linear, but so was God of War.
    The voices are the worst part. Vanille's is the worst of the worst, with many of her sound effects sounding more like orgasms than pain. I would have liked an option of changing the voices to the japanese versions and having english subtitles.
    Overall, a huge disappointment but still worth a rent.    … Expand
  78. RyanM
    Mar 30, 2010
    4
    I've played the game to completion over 60 hours. What an irritating mess. The characters are all terrible and horribly translated from Japanese (unless they sucked this bad in the JP version too). Why does every character have to either grunt, sigh, or moan while onscreen? Why can my group of 3 take down a 20 ft tall turtle monster, but in the following cutscene they walk ten steps I've played the game to completion over 60 hours. What an irritating mess. The characters are all terrible and horribly translated from Japanese (unless they sucked this bad in the JP version too). Why does every character have to either grunt, sigh, or moan while onscreen? Why can my group of 3 take down a 20 ft tall turtle monster, but in the following cutscene they walk ten steps and are all out of breath. This game sounds like a porno if you're just listening to the characters voice tracks. The writing is horrid, I never want to hear the words L'Cie, Fal'Cie, Pulse, Cocoon, or Focus, ever again. On top of all that, the sound effect they use for the characters footsteps is way too loud and is the identical sound for all characters and the same for all surfaces. It sounds like a minor gripe I guess, but you'll be listening to the same sound on repeat for 60 hours (well maybe 40 hours if you subtract all the non-interactive scenes). You do nothing but press the X button for the first ten hours. After that a reasonably designed combat system is slowly introduced to you like you're some kind of retard who's never played a game before. Seriously, there have been 12 other FF games, half the fun is figuring out the battle system. I'd give the actual gameplay elements a 7 or 8 because of the beautiful presentation, but the "Movie" part of the game drags it down to a 4. This is a terrible, poorly translated, nonsensical, anime with very pretty graphics. I've played every FF game since FF2 on the SNES and I've never been so generally annoyed by FF characters. There is no point in the story where you're given any reason to care about any of them. You never give a shit about the Cocoon they're trying to save, it seems like a crappy place full of d-bags. I'd blow it up and go live on Pulse, at least I'd get to wander around and hunt monsters there. In summary, this game is a beautiful mess. It's an ok linear J-RPG stuck to a conceptually interesting story with the worst characters and voice acting since Resident Evil 1 (Ok, maybe not that bad, but...). A lot of the action you'll be watching is completely out of your control and is extraneous to the story and the characters. It's like they had a rough outline of a story, then the art department made a bunch of cool cutscenes, monsters, and character models, then they tried to fill in the gaps with a hackneyed script and linear stitched together dungeons. Easily the worst FF I've ever played.… Expand
  79. ChrisJ
    Mar 28, 2010
    3
    Yes Square, I understand your intentions for making the game linear. I just don't understand why'd you have to make it so crappy. Graphics are great (the UI especially), music is OK (far from the best). The overall story seems good, but the characters are trite and all dumbasses. I don't care about the world because I'm not exploring it. Hitting X over and over and Yes Square, I understand your intentions for making the game linear. I just don't understand why'd you have to make it so crappy. Graphics are great (the UI especially), music is OK (far from the best). The overall story seems good, but the characters are trite and all dumbasses. I don't care about the world because I'm not exploring it. Hitting X over and over and maybe the left bumper once and a while is hardly groundbreaking. and I wouldn't mind grinding if I had other stuff in the game to do! This is a disaster of a Final Fantasy! Like another poster stated, BioWare is doing things right.… Expand
  80. G1
    Apr 13, 2010
    1
    It's sad to see how far the genre has fallen. To think that over 10 years ago, in FF7, you had romance minigames and a worldmap, and now I have a single corridor to run down and grind through monsters.The entire game is an on-rails collection of fights followed by cutscenes where one character is feeling emo/depressed, and the other (usually younger) gives them a pep talk. Character It's sad to see how far the genre has fallen. To think that over 10 years ago, in FF7, you had romance minigames and a worldmap, and now I have a single corridor to run down and grind through monsters.The entire game is an on-rails collection of fights followed by cutscenes where one character is feeling emo/depressed, and the other (usually younger) gives them a pep talk. Character gets depressed/angry, then broods throughout most of the level, and finally a pep talk at the end of the level.The story, dialogue, and characters are like a bad anime.… Expand
  81. VengeanceUK
    Sep 21, 2010
    9
    Its a beautiful game, but it fails in the aspect that it is too linear and it still does not beat FFVII for story and variety. The battle system, while no doubt some will love it and some will hate it, i was disappointed by it. These flaws are i can only give it a 9
  82. Kadeemluvmusic
    Aug 25, 2011
    10
    I've never seen a Final Fantasy game that is so big, even Cloud Strife ever had a sword. Final Fantasy XIII is without a shadow of a doubt, the best game of 2010. Call it like you mean it, but with a phenomenal set of battle systems, impact challenges, and even new characters like the always talented Lightning, the fans keep spreading the word after almost 25 years of JRPG awesomeness.I've never seen a Final Fantasy game that is so big, even Cloud Strife ever had a sword. Final Fantasy XIII is without a shadow of a doubt, the best game of 2010. Call it like you mean it, but with a phenomenal set of battle systems, impact challenges, and even new characters like the always talented Lightning, the fans keep spreading the word after almost 25 years of JRPG awesomeness. I'm am so dying for a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII because it's coming out next January. Until then, maybe I'll spend time playing hour after hour until I may die tryin'. But Final Fantasy XIII is the best game since Final Fantasy X.… Expand
  83. GoldenDragon
    Apr 20, 2011
    8
    Not the greatest Final Fantasy by any means, but it is still great. The story is okay, not the best, but it fits the game world. The characters are good, but can be annoying at times. The gameplay is fast, fun, and addicting, and has extreme depth later on in the game. It is linear until you get to a certain point in the game (Then it opens up). The sound/music is good, but a bitNot the greatest Final Fantasy by any means, but it is still great. The story is okay, not the best, but it fits the game world. The characters are good, but can be annoying at times. The gameplay is fast, fun, and addicting, and has extreme depth later on in the game. It is linear until you get to a certain point in the game (Then it opens up). The sound/music is good, but a bit disappointing. The original Final Fantasy theme is not in the game, at all, which may throw some people off. Overall, the game is really good, but not the best Final Fantasy out there.… Expand
  84. 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
  85. DanielP
    Mar 11, 2010
    7
    Who in Square Enix said: "Hey you know what we should do? Make this new installment of Final Fantasy as linear as a freaking two dimensional Sonic game!" "yeah man! That's a GREAT idea!" All I wanted to do through the entire first half of the game was go find an optional boss, go into an optional zone, or engage in a sidequest. For those of you who played FF7, let me put it this way, Who in Square Enix said: "Hey you know what we should do? Make this new installment of Final Fantasy as linear as a freaking two dimensional Sonic game!" "yeah man! That's a GREAT idea!" All I wanted to do through the entire first half of the game was go find an optional boss, go into an optional zone, or engage in a sidequest. For those of you who played FF7, let me put it this way, you don't get out of Midgar till the game is more than halfway over!… Expand
  86. Dezuuu
    May 11, 2012
    8
    A great JRPG, a terrible Final Fantasy game. Very linear, poor and confusing story, easy combat. Soundtrack and graphics are good. It's the worst Final Fantasy I've played to date, but... it's still a good game with high production values.
  87. Ardalan1
    Jan 26, 2023
    10
    Very beautiful game, with characters and music. the story was very complex for me at first but then I got it 100% thanks to a lot of dialogue the game has. the battle system is very fun. You have to change strategy based on who you are fighting which is sth I have never seen before I payed this game.
  88. Leontorres7
    Nov 15, 2018
    7
    The game could have been better and its lacking a lot of elements but still it is entertaining.
  89. Gamepro3093
    Nov 27, 2020
    0
    A massive disappointment back when it released and still one to this day. There’s practically nothing to like here. The characters are annoying and badly written, the world design is bland and boring, the battle system is badly designed and so on. To date, this is the only Final Fantasy game I ever returned after buying it new. It was unfortunately a casualty of the early end of the 7thA massive disappointment back when it released and still one to this day. There’s practically nothing to like here. The characters are annoying and badly written, the world design is bland and boring, the battle system is badly designed and so on. To date, this is the only Final Fantasy game I ever returned after buying it new. It was unfortunately a casualty of the early end of the 7th generation of consoles, along with other disappointments like Metal Gear Solid 4 and Grand Theft Auto 4 due to the unnecessarily steep learning curve that came with the PS3 hardware and the way it made games more difficult to make and longer to make meaning that titles that would’ve probably been vastly superior were severely hampered and ended up being frankly **** Fortunately Final Fantasy 15 made up for this disaster.… Expand
  90. hauwhian
    Jul 7, 2020
    10
    Love this game, I know this game is very LINEAR and the story is not very good. But graphic is awesome and battle music are very good. The BATTLE SYSTEM is very good in my opinion, my only complain is why GAME OVER if party leader is defeated?

    Overall I recommend this game, although there are lots of critics from other users. I played FF XIII until finish more than 3 times and satisfied.
  91. hector_bcn98
    Nov 9, 2022
    8
    Gran videojuego, mal Final Fantasy. Gráficamente espectácular, con un buen sistema de combate aunque demasiado automático y linealidad de exploración absoluta. Una oportunidad perdida para hacer historia en las primeras consolas de alta definición.
  92. TriforceGem
    Mar 29, 2021
    3
    I have been a Final Fantasy fan for a long time. I pointedly ignored the FF13 franchise when it was being touted as the "Fabula Nova Crystallis." It was obvious they were trying to find the same success as the FF7 franchise and all the games and media around that story.

    I decided, after returning to FF12 and completing it, to give FF13 a try. I gave it a good long try, 29 hours, and I    I have been a Final Fantasy fan for a long time. I pointedly ignored the FF13 franchise when it was being touted as the "Fabula Nova Crystallis." It was obvious they were trying to find the same success as the FF7 franchise and all the games and media around that story.

    I decided, after returning to FF12 and completing it, to give FF13 a try. I gave it a good long try, 29 hours, and I finally realized what this game is: a multi-million dollar auto-battler. Hallway fights. Cool upgrades/leveling, but extremely grindy to get anywhere decent (especially with the items, holy crap). Story, unimportant and boring. I want to like this game, but I found myself, eyes glazing over, thinking "no one cares" while story dialog happened. I will not finish it. It is just so boring and the story is just monotonous exposition and data logs.

    What a terrible game.    … Expand
  93. cloudvalentine7
    May 25, 2021
    0
    Final Fantasy honestly quit being Final Fantasy after the 9th edition! The stories are all now hard to follow, the characters all have boring personalities, you no longer get to interact with non playable characters, you don't get to explore the creative fantasy worlds using airplanes or even submarines, you don't get to farm and upgrade the Chocobos and search for the greatest weapons inFinal Fantasy honestly quit being Final Fantasy after the 9th edition! The stories are all now hard to follow, the characters all have boring personalities, you no longer get to interact with non playable characters, you don't get to explore the creative fantasy worlds using airplanes or even submarines, you don't get to farm and upgrade the Chocobos and search for the greatest weapons in the fantasy worlds. The Final Fantasy Games have been demolished into a playable, horrible, boring, movie. We used to have interesting Characters with unique and sometimes distant personalities. In some cases, you could even recruit optional characters such as Yuffie from the FFVII edition! And Cloud's actions could land him on a date with various characters which was humorous and made for interesting gameplay. Final Fantasy, you simply ended after the 9th edition! I'm not spending another buck on you!… Expand
  94. 39BAKA
    Jun 22, 2022
    8
    A game that has been unfairly judged during its release from the public, but at large its a great game with a solid and unique combat system while the story is not the best it is still enjoyable. The story follows 6 characters with the majority of them you'll meet in the beginning of the game. The gameplay features a "Paradigms" system in which you basically change job class mid combat toA game that has been unfairly judged during its release from the public, but at large its a great game with a solid and unique combat system while the story is not the best it is still enjoyable. The story follows 6 characters with the majority of them you'll meet in the beginning of the game. The gameplay features a "Paradigms" system in which you basically change job class mid combat to effectively deal with the enemy front of you. The gameplay is much more fast pace as you'll be mostly switching Paradigms instead of selecting attacks as there is an auto select pick which does it for you, while it may seems to dumb done the game, it doesn't. Your main focus in combat is to switch between Paradigms to change between the pattern of the enemy and disassemble them. The OST is quite amazing as you'll be acquitted with an amazing set of musical soundtrack mostly being the main component of a piano. Overall the game is great that has a few and perhaps jarring flaws but not as jarring as you might think, the combat is fun and fast paces while still needing you to think and the OST which is the strongest part of the game in my opinion. You'll surly enjoy it now compare to those who act to quickly when first playing it.… Expand
  95. Snakespeere
    Oct 10, 2022
    10
    There are many controversial talks about FF XIII in part of fandom, but as long-time Final Fantasy fan who played every main entry in the series, except XI and XIV which are MMORPGs, I can say sincerely and with full responsibility that this is one of the best games in the series. Final Fantasy XIII was made by practically the same team who brought us Final Fantasy X, which is arguably theThere are many controversial talks about FF XIII in part of fandom, but as long-time Final Fantasy fan who played every main entry in the series, except XI and XIV which are MMORPGs, I can say sincerely and with full responsibility that this is one of the best games in the series. Final Fantasy XIII was made by practically the same team who brought us Final Fantasy X, which is arguably the best in the legendary franchise. Lead developers from this team also worked on titles beloved by many, such as FF VI, FF VII, Chrono Trigger and FF XII which too was coldly received on release but regained some praise with time. With this knowledge, every gamer who doubts in FF XIII just needs to think: how could these veterans fall so low with this sequel? And they didn't.
    Final Fantasy XIII holds great in nearly all aspects except one that appears in game’s discussions most often — big linearity and lack of towns and NPCs. But FF X was very linear game too. The hint is that it hides this in more delicate and clever way, and there are much more NPCs interactions for sure, so FF XIII defintely lacks in this regard. However, this game has many of its own highlights.
    First of these are, of course, fantastic visuals and overall aesthetics. Technology, art and music of this game are superb. The Crystal Tools engine was capable to show in 2009 such beautiful and detailed locations, characters, scenes and effects that FF XIII still looks great. And every element and effect, even in game menus, purely from artistic side is carefully crafted and placed. But what I appreciate even more in Final Fantasy XIII it's music. Soundtrack composed by Masashi Hamauzu who also greatly contributed to music of FF X is simply magical. It's four hours of rich, sophisticated and unbelieavably gorgeous music that evokes full scale of various feelings and emotions. One of the best soundtracks ever. This music shows that Hamauzu is worthy to stand on its own in one league with legendary Nobuo Uematsu.
    Another strong side of FF XIII is highly underrated battle system that combines qualities of classic turn-based ATB and fast-paced action to some degree. It feels just like classic FF game but with added dynamic and even more involving of strategic thinking than before. It doesn't show in early part of the game, but with your progress battles will become more difficult and variative. There are many fans who try to put down FF XIII for option of "Auto-Battle". They claim that game could be finished with using of only this command, but that's pure and shameful lie. It's useless to rely on this option because of two things. Main one is that basis of combat in FF XIII holds on paradigm system. Paradigms are unique take of FF XIII on classic job system from previous games of the series. To put it simply, you can, or even more correctly, you need to thoughtfully change roles of the warrior, mage, healer or other support class during battle for success. Paradigms cannot be formed and changed automatically. There are many paradigm patterns for the party that will be more or less effective in various situations, and this factor adds a lot more of strategic value in battle system of FF XIII in comparison with most games of the series. Other thing that makes "Auto-Battle" more like useful option for casuals and novice gamers than anything else is rating system's addition. Your efficiency in combat will be rated in 5-star range after each battle, and following rewards depend from it. Of course, only manual control in combat will give you the most effective results. Gils and items are very valuable in FF XIII because of advanced craft system of eqipment. Crafting was rarely included in series before. Only FF IX and X added such systems, and, as I think, FF XIII offers the best example of crafting mechanic in the series for now, at least in its single-player library.
    And last but not least of highlights is surely story and form of its narrative. Lead scenario writer of FF XIII is Daisuke Watanabe who also was co-author of story of FF X and main writer of FF XII after game director Yasumi Matsuno left project's leading. FF XII was stuck in development for years and it affected the execution of game's storyline but, at the same time, it was beautifully written and contained some interesting ideas. FF XIII shares similar traits and adds above. It's not the best story in the series but most ambitious and detailed. There are more than 7 hours of beautifully staged cutscenes and the most complex arcs of main characters. FF XIII concentrates on story of every protagonist in a manner similar to FF VI but manages it even better. The world of FF XIII is also very complex, and, just like in FF XII, it has its own text codex in form of "datalog". It contains all lore info and also serves as some kind of libretto to main events for those who could skip some valuable details of storyline.
    I would give FF XIII solid 9/10 but for balance the game just needs 10/10 (: .    … Expand
  96. YoCHIDAHHH
    Nov 12, 2022
    10
    This game has an amazing plot, likeable characters with developed personalities, and a memorable art style. The ending will stick with you for a very long time. I cannot give a 9.9 so a 10 shall suffice.
    Thank you for reading my review.
  97. LastResource
    Jan 14, 2023
    10
    worth it and glad to play this game again. so much memories and nostalgia within this thirteenth game in the series.
  98. Iqbal
    Aug 24, 2010
    6
    Shocked. The wait was not worth it. As someone who plays Final Fantasy for only the story telling aspect i was shocked to see such an unnecessarily complicated plot that it took away all meaning from the game. As an old school Final Fantasy player i was bitterly disapointed to find out the lead is not a blond haired male. Infact there were no traditional character roles at all. NoShocked. The wait was not worth it. As someone who plays Final Fantasy for only the story telling aspect i was shocked to see such an unnecessarily complicated plot that it took away all meaning from the game. As an old school Final Fantasy player i was bitterly disapointed to find out the lead is not a blond haired male. Infact there were no traditional character roles at all. No summoner, no black magic specialist etc. What a disapointment.… Expand
  99. Avsky
    Apr 11, 2010
    2
    Not since "Two Worlds" has a game left me feeling like my money would have been spent contracting herpes. This game is merely a battle mechanic wrapped around a horribly pathetic and flat story, filled with ridiculously flat characters I have no desire to identify with, not that the developer gives you a reason to do so in the first place. There is no depth to either the characters OR the Not since "Two Worlds" has a game left me feeling like my money would have been spent contracting herpes. This game is merely a battle mechanic wrapped around a horribly pathetic and flat story, filled with ridiculously flat characters I have no desire to identify with, not that the developer gives you a reason to do so in the first place. There is no depth to either the characters OR the story. The game is a linear as can be, removing pretty much any hint of player choice and customisation including the ability to choose your battle teams. The music is bland, the characters are bland... the only thing this game does right is offer a visual feast - but that alone can't carry a game.… Expand
  100. billc
    Mar 15, 2010
    0
    Right !! can anyone tell me where the heart is in this game? im yet to see it. now i may be on my own BUT isnt the point of a game to relax and have fun, be a "FUN pastime?" So far all this game has to offer is bad game play, The music is shocking! a battle system thats terrible... if your a old school gamer dont bother, if your a new age gamer that only cares about graphics and couldnt Right !! can anyone tell me where the heart is in this game? im yet to see it. now i may be on my own BUT isnt the point of a game to relax and have fun, be a "FUN pastime?" So far all this game has to offer is bad game play, The music is shocking! a battle system thats terrible... if your a old school gamer dont bother, if your a new age gamer that only cares about graphics and couldnt care if its a pile of crap, and you know no better, Then this games for you.… 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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