Too often disdained too rarely taken seriously.

Too often disdained too rarely taken seriously.

Final Fantasy XIII (video game)

Customer Review

What I had not heard in advance everything about this game! Far too linear it should be, too neumodisch and no longer Final Fantasy. And without making me deeper thought about it, I was doing exactly what does, in my view, most of the critics community today: namely, close our eyes to reality and make the popular abusive criticism for their own, without themselves an opinion on form.
But ultimately I still overcome me and still given this game a try. Fortunately.

I am for many years big fan of the Final Fantasy series and have played by IX all main parts of the series, which gives me many wonderful hours (My favorite parts are still FFX and FFVIII). And correspondingly simple it was therefore for me, to join the retro fan base, which dismisses all the recent offshoot of the series (X-2, XII, XIII, etc.) too quickly as to neumodisch and degenerate, the combat system on the story up the soundtrack. However, a few weeks ago, I stumbled by chance on the internet about the campaign issue of Final Fantasy XIII Blinded by Light. After a few runs, I was so impressed by the atmosphere of this piece, that at some point the decision was formed in me this much criticized game at last to play again themselves and to form my own opinion.
I have now played the game for about 15 hours and put in the middle of the engaging story and will therefore now allow me my personal opinion about the feel dispense.

Graphics:
I think about the aesthetic qualities of this game there are not many words to lose. The whole is a single eye candy, from the beautiful scenery on the sci-fi backgrounds to the character designs. The game graphics approaches always more to have always praised rendered cutscenes and is on a high-definition television with minor flaws an absolute delight! As always, the best work, Square!

Sound:
I make the soundtrack of this game responsible for ensuring that I have ever given the whole package a chance and I am very happy in retrospect! The soundtrack is from front to back varied, exciting, memorable, atmospheric and beautiful. Although Grandmaster Uematsu no longer big his hands in the game here, his successor Hamauzu performs its work in the best manner continues and ensures memorable melodies, which one still give even after playing feel in the middle of the world of Cocoon and its turmoil stuck. This musical all possible infected there, the like of orchestral arrangements and bombastic choruses over gentle strings up to typical sci-fi, electronic sounds and J-Pop song. Specifically highlight of my pieces like Blinded by Light, Fighting Fate or The Sunleth Waterscape.

Characters, World:
Now we come to the heart of every J-RPGs: its history, world and characters!
FF XIII provides in this regard, everything you could want as a fan of the series:
A set of 6 main characters, each of which embodies a different archetypes, its own reasons and goals for his actions has and what work alongside for countless exciting, sad and heroic moments.
Since we have the enigmatic protagonist Lightning, which enables the FF fan immediately in the 90 back and evokes strong memories of Cloud Strife and Squall Leonhart.
And how these two lives through a constant change in their personality zunächt inaccessible while they have to deal with different situations and this is often put to the test. For this, the mysterious and somewhat rough-catching with the delightful accent of self-proclaimed hero and daredevil Snow, the young Hope, which is actually drawn only by pure fate into the vortex of chaos and persecution, the casual Pistol shooters Sazh come with the sad past, and finally the often disturbingly cheerful vanilla. I'm almost glad I do not have to endure in their original Japanese voice ...

The world Cocoon, where the scenario plays largely, this is a beautifully designed kind of sci-fi / cyberpunk / fantasy world, dominate in the fear of any external influences of the so-called World Pulse civilians and their entire existence to the strange, powerful beings called Fal`Cie based, which are the same as Holy dreaded devil, after all where they come: From Cocoon or Pulse. Such Pulse Fal`Cie is also the center and the beginning of the story, as this group of heroes for some unknown Grünedn to his agent, the L`Cie appoints and makes them outcasts and enemies Cocoons.
I know so far only a small part of the background and the biggest revelations are to me before, but the story has already the breeding ground for a variety of philosophical and religious approaches and the way in which the character development is presented step by step lets players slowly but certainly look more and more behind the curtain of what happened and slowly the big picture of history is composed.
Compared with other FF-parts I like the story here much better, as the example of FFVIII, FFIV or even FFVI. However, the bar has the FFVII then set, it comes up now and do not zoom)

Gameplay:
So, we come to the really important part, namely where all the criticisms sit, I intend to refute.
First of all, the much-vaunted linearity of the gameplay, which is called by many as the greatest of all problems.
I must say, yes it's true, FF XIII has his biggest problems in the performance of the gameplay first place. From linearity I will not speak here, however.
The problem lies in the fact that the players something to little variety is given by the dungeons and fighting as we know it from other J-RPGs for example through the towns, which often had a place of rest. Such a thing does not exist here, but one moves from one area to another and is constantly on the run from the Cocoon troops and not really get a moment to rest. While this is perfectly on the history and making Also in fun, but it can just miss that feeling of freedom and variety, which offer the most J-RPGs. What I am doing is only wonder why linear areas and not freely accessible world map until 2010 for such a sacrilege be explained while selbiges has no one disturbed the vaunted FFX ...
However, linearity is a lot to be schlachtetes and simply wrong word in this context. EVERY namely really each J-RPG I've played so far, what linear and that's why I love them! There are now times no open world or faction system ala Skyrim or other western RPGs. Rather, it introduces the story and its presentation that now times only moves in one direction and does not allow its own decisions. Anyone who prefers to make its game world itself, which is in Mass Effect or The Elder Scrolls, but stay but please leave the hands of the J-RPGs!
Is also worth mentioning that the gameplay from area to area quite varied, though not significantly! Since there is even the possibility to change the weather and so to influence the enemy hordes, then there are movable platforms or traps or even a short ride in a junkyard-Mech! The areas are also highly varied and the usual Treasure Chest Detours are also nothing new and loosen so for 20 years, the RPG Dungeons on! I have a feeling that all the critics either have no idea how this style RPGs are structured after all, or have simply not played the game and just reproduce what they have heard once! Anyone who really wants to form an opinion, which has already spend the time to really play the game well and experience all the facets of the gameplay live!

Combat system:
An important part of the gameplay is the combat system.
And this is in my opinion another great strength of the game! That may now be really personal taste, but rarely the fighting was so action packed and exciting in FF-parts! For viewers, it is absolute chaos, but as a player you are fully in the matter in any fight and waiting for his ATB bar to hammer to commands, diligently changed the paradigms to adapt its strategy to the enemy and then enjoy again for a few seconds the acrobatic fighting deposits of the protagonist! This is really fun, once you get the hang of it and is especially not so easy! The degree of difficulty of opponents, especially the boss is here, in my view quite high, much higher than any rate in all the FFs before FFX! Everyone who has played here a few hours and even as the Aster Proto Florian, Odin or Barthandelus faced, who knows what I'm talking! The fights you will ever take up to 10 minutes, until you get the right strategy and paradigms rhythms and so slow can force the vast amounts of life points, having the bosses here in the knee! And also of smaller battles, there is no escape in the form of the genre-typical "escape" command more.
The criticism of Schwirigkeitsgrad would be too easy is nonsense. While it is true that you start each fight with full health, but first, I was personally quite right, because you so not around must be angry with potions and MP, which nevertheless is ultimately then could not care less, and secondly: Does anyone remember at Chrono Cross? ;)
But what is really a bad joke, is the "Auto Battle" command which simply decreases an all decisions and the same, pretending for the situation best commands. Which bulb at Square was because for Responsible? Fortunately, you can turn off the but at least as a default command and so just ignore.
The use he paradigms and rolls (something like the classes from FFV) has also plenty of variety and the character development is not as linear as it is often called. This is more of a stripped down version of Sphärobretts from FFX and repays more beautiful and less linear than for example the systems of FFIX or FFVI (of IV I say nothing). Ultimately, the character development is indeed to a certain point and there is little freedom, but the player himself decides how fast he wants what the available roles evolve.

And also all the typical FF gameplay elements are back! The magic as we know and love (Feura, Vigra, haste, etc. etc ...), the Eidolon (including of course Bahamut, Shiva, Odin and Alexader!) And even the Chocobos make an appearance!
This game is perhaps in some respects quite different from its predecessor and comes as one or the other over the head, but I myself was glad of a little new, fast-paced gameplay in wind, finally, eh anything like equal more to the perfection of FFVI- X come on;)

So, so I certainly have written enough about my impressions and will again prefer to sum up:
Here the player and J-RPG friend in the sum is a game commanded, which might not live by varied gameplay, but shines in all other respects!
A wonderful world with multi-faceted characters, a bombastic soundtrack to unwerfender optics and a fast-paced battle system work together for a brilliant experience and who want to see this even confirmed that you want to read any more reviews, but really even play the game itself and a serious , form your own opinion!
At least for me it worked :)

Best shoe polish Rank: 5/5
January 29
Users from the outset Rank: 5/5
October 3
A completely sufficient Rank: 5/5
March 8
Excellent !! 105 Rank: 4/5
September 16
Preserves cold Rank: 5/5
January 1
it is still limited Rank: 3/5
December 8

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