Video Game Review: Gorgeous World Created in ‘Final Fantasy XIII’

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Video Game Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Very few games have been as divisive as “Final Fantasy XIII”. The highly anticipated game hit stores recently and message boards have been flooded with nearly equal parts praise and disgust. Rarely have you been able to find such a diversity of opinion on one game but “Final Fantasy” fans have always been a passionate group. Perhaps it is because I’m only a casual one that I can see both the incredible virtues and significant flaws of this complex game.

Your opinion of “Final Fantasy XIII” is likely to depend on two things: Your allegiance to the gameplay style of the franchise to date and the value you place on a game’s aesthetics. The former is true because Square Enix has drastically altered what a lot of fans raised on “Final Fantasy” games know and love about the series and the latter is true because this game looks and sounds simply incredible.

The gameplay in “Final Fantasy XIII” is alternately frustrating and brilliant; an attempt to reinvent a franchise for a new generation that often works but just as often stumbles. The fact is that “Final Fantasy XIII” does enough well to more than recommend a look, especially for RPG afficionados or fans of the franchise, but it does enough wrong to keep it from the heights of recent alternate choices like the highly acclaimed “God of War III,” “Battlefield: Bad Company 2,” and “Heavy Rain”. Even though those are drastically different games, many players must still make a choice. Competition has been stiff even in this young year and “Final Fantasy XIII” will satisfy hardcore gamers, but casual ones can find better titles.

Final Fantasy XIII
Photo credit: Square Enix

“Final Fantasy XIII” follows several intertwining narratives with different combinations of six characters ostensibly led by the tough Lightning, although it’s an interesting aspect of the game that the “leader” keeps alternating and that each member of the cast becomes a necessary ally at one point or another.

The very lengthy story takes place in two worlds - Cocoon and Pulse - and, for a lot of the game, is told in a linear fashion that has turned off many fans of the franchise. It takes a lot of time before you’re not moving in essentially one direction down a road and the straightforward narrative has turned off a few players who were drawn to the series because of its freeform storytelling.

Final Fantasy XIII Photo credit: Square Enix

Honestly, the story of “Final Fantasy XIII” never grabbed me, playing out more melodramatically than it needed to and coming off bloated as often as it was interesting. Having said that, it’s a beautifully TOLD story with excellent voice work, a lovely score, and striking visuals. Whatever can be said about the story, “Final Fantasy XIII” is never a boring game to experience in that’s a striking one to see and hear.

What’s most unique about “Final Fantasy XIII” is the battle system - the driving force of the gameplay that features elements familiar to fans of the franchise and RPG genre but injects them with interesting new life. Battles are structured around a fast-paced turn-by-turn system that is built around paradigms. You primarily control the leader of your group but you also control the paradigm under which the whole group fights. For example, when you first enter a fight, it would make sense to operate under the “Relentless Assault” or “Slash and Burn” paradigm but then to switch to one in which one of your party members is a Medic after taking damage or a more spell-based one to allow for distance from your enemy. You may be only controlling one character, but by dictating the general actions of the other ones it feels like a more comprehensive experience.

Each character primarily plays a distinct role (Ravager, Commando, Medic, etc.), although they can learn all of them, that can be upgraded through battle experience and use of something called a Crystarium and, of course, you’ll find new weapons and abilities as you progress through the game.

The core of the fighting is based on something called an ATB - Active Time Battle. It’s an attack queue system that’s based on abilities you can either enter or have the AI choose for you based on your paradigm. I know that it’s tempting to enter your own commands, but, like me, you’ll probably revert to the auto-choices quickly. There are still enough decisions to make - paradigm, item usage, etc. - that Auto-Battle doesn’t feel like a cop out.

Final Fantasy XIII Photo credit: Square Enix

Performing well in a battle sequence doesn’t merely progress the game or keep you alive, it impacts the spoils you will receive and the points earned to upgrade your characters. Consequently, battles don’t feel merely like grinding to earn points, as the strategy employed impacts progression not just whether you live or die. The battle system is the title’s most impressive element.

As for my biggest problem with “Final Fantasy XIII,” it is that, despite the beauty of its graphics, I always struggle with titles where most of the intense action and nearly all of the storytelling is contained in the cut scenes; of which there are HOURS. You have to be prepared for brief moments of user-controlled gameplay followed by unbelievably long cut scenes to move the plot forward. “Final Fantasy XIII” is a game that’s watched as much as it is played and even though both add up to dozens of hours — meaning that it’s not exactly like the player gets ripped off on gameplay time — you have to be pretty in love with the story to survive the amount of time that you’ll spend with an unnecessary controller in your hands.

Having said that, “Final Fantasy XIII” may be a hard game to love but it is equally as hard of a game to stop playing (which I suppose is a must for one of the longest titles ever made, reportedly at 100 hours if you explore to its fullest and never skip a cut scene…in the pursuit of critical honesty, I must admit to not having yet finished the title despite playing it for many, many hours but not 100). The variety of characters, paradigms, enemies, and general battle techniques make for a game that’s constantly refreshing itself enough to stay interesting and is never anything less than beautiful to look at. Coming from someone who would never call himself a fan of either RPGs or this franchise in general, the fact that “Final Fantasy XIII” drew me in to the point that it did means it will likely satisfy hardcore genre junkies even more. Don’t view it as a game-changer of GOTY candidate, but clear your calendars for “Final Fantasy XIII”.

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com