Ok guys this one is a very rare case for me. I have played many games before. Many I?ve loved and many I?ve hated. This is the first case of me playing a game and being completely unsure whether I like it or not.
Let me start from the beginning.
This game is set in the fictional world of Cocoon. When we begin we meet up with our main characters as they are being transported by train to another location along with dozens of refugees. We soon discover that Cocoon is in the middle of something called ?the purge? and these people are being moved for fear of their being something called ?l?cie?. As they travel they manage to break free and start rebelling against the government which seeks to kill them. We meet the majority of the main cast in the first few minutes and get to know pretty much everything you need to know about them in as much time. As the story progresses we find out more and more about this world and the people in it, as well as a massive conspiracy led by the people in charge to gain greater power for themselves.
I would reveal more but that would be spoiling things.
Ok. Let me start with the bad points of this game. I have said many times that I appreciate good story and characters in a game and this game unfortunately does not have them. The story presented to us is little more than the group wandering around, stopping to explain the situation or saying what we already know, regroup, spit up again, lather rinse repeat. What little about this world or it?s characters we find out in the game itself is basically just exposition, people standing around saying ?this is where we are and this is what it is for?. There is a story and background to these places and characters but it?s all text. As the game progresses your given access to information about the world via a sub menu to view pages of text regarding characters or historical events. This is not a good way to show a story in a video game.
Onto the characters now and I?m afraid the game strikes out here too. Most of them are largely cardboard cut-outs of the various character types we?ve seen over the years. The serious badass leader, the overconfident jackass, the overly-cheery teenage girl. All of them have been done a dozen time before and a dozen times better elsewhere. This extends to the villains too. These guys are some of the most one-dimensional characters you?d ever see in a game.
Now for the good things.
Firstly the music. Famed Final Fantasy music maker Nobou Uematsu was for some reason absent in the production of this game?s music, and it shows. The themes heard in the game lack the memorable quality or impact that many of his other works had. Almost none of them stand out in the mind of the gamer after they turn the game off. However, the exception to this was the recurring theme called ?Serah?s theme? heard throughout the game in one form or another and is, in my view, one of the best pieces of Final Fantasy music made yet. However the other pieces were still suitable for the setting and were fairly atmospheric in the right places.
The battle system now and again we have a winner. Many of the features of earlier battle systems are present here, such as the ability to change character classes. The battles play out really well and theirs is plenty of room for the development of your character?s abilities in various classes, though you only exceed various levels at certain stages of the game.
Onto the visuals now and this is where the game truly shines. Final Fantasy XIII is without a doubt the most gorgeous looking video game I have ever played. The details of the character designs, the colours, the clouds, shadows, reflection in the water. All of them are brilliant. The design team really pulled out all the stops with this one. The mass of colour in the game is also a plus, especially given how many games seem adamant in keeping their colour pallet to a minimum these days. True story: the first time I turned this game on and watched the opening scene, I did not blink once because it was so beautiful to look at.
Well, that?s everything I wanted to say about it.
As I said before, it?s very difficult for me to say whether or no I like this game or not. One the one hand, the things I like in games like good character and story are largely absent from this. On the other, the game is so well put together and beautiful to look at that it?s difficult for me to stay away from it for too long.
In many way?s it?s like the video game equivalent of the movie Avatar. It?s beautiful, colourful and nice to watch and listen too. But the story and characters are all things we?ve seen before.
Well, I?m going to have to make a verdict and here it is.
Final Fantasy XIII gets 5/10. It?s half a good game, but at least that?s more than what most games achieve.
Let me start from the beginning.
This game is set in the fictional world of Cocoon. When we begin we meet up with our main characters as they are being transported by train to another location along with dozens of refugees. We soon discover that Cocoon is in the middle of something called ?the purge? and these people are being moved for fear of their being something called ?l?cie?. As they travel they manage to break free and start rebelling against the government which seeks to kill them. We meet the majority of the main cast in the first few minutes and get to know pretty much everything you need to know about them in as much time. As the story progresses we find out more and more about this world and the people in it, as well as a massive conspiracy led by the people in charge to gain greater power for themselves.
I would reveal more but that would be spoiling things.
Ok. Let me start with the bad points of this game. I have said many times that I appreciate good story and characters in a game and this game unfortunately does not have them. The story presented to us is little more than the group wandering around, stopping to explain the situation or saying what we already know, regroup, spit up again, lather rinse repeat. What little about this world or it?s characters we find out in the game itself is basically just exposition, people standing around saying ?this is where we are and this is what it is for?. There is a story and background to these places and characters but it?s all text. As the game progresses your given access to information about the world via a sub menu to view pages of text regarding characters or historical events. This is not a good way to show a story in a video game.
Onto the characters now and I?m afraid the game strikes out here too. Most of them are largely cardboard cut-outs of the various character types we?ve seen over the years. The serious badass leader, the overconfident jackass, the overly-cheery teenage girl. All of them have been done a dozen time before and a dozen times better elsewhere. This extends to the villains too. These guys are some of the most one-dimensional characters you?d ever see in a game.
Now for the good things.
Firstly the music. Famed Final Fantasy music maker Nobou Uematsu was for some reason absent in the production of this game?s music, and it shows. The themes heard in the game lack the memorable quality or impact that many of his other works had. Almost none of them stand out in the mind of the gamer after they turn the game off. However, the exception to this was the recurring theme called ?Serah?s theme? heard throughout the game in one form or another and is, in my view, one of the best pieces of Final Fantasy music made yet. However the other pieces were still suitable for the setting and were fairly atmospheric in the right places.
The battle system now and again we have a winner. Many of the features of earlier battle systems are present here, such as the ability to change character classes. The battles play out really well and theirs is plenty of room for the development of your character?s abilities in various classes, though you only exceed various levels at certain stages of the game.
Onto the visuals now and this is where the game truly shines. Final Fantasy XIII is without a doubt the most gorgeous looking video game I have ever played. The details of the character designs, the colours, the clouds, shadows, reflection in the water. All of them are brilliant. The design team really pulled out all the stops with this one. The mass of colour in the game is also a plus, especially given how many games seem adamant in keeping their colour pallet to a minimum these days. True story: the first time I turned this game on and watched the opening scene, I did not blink once because it was so beautiful to look at.
Well, that?s everything I wanted to say about it.
As I said before, it?s very difficult for me to say whether or no I like this game or not. One the one hand, the things I like in games like good character and story are largely absent from this. On the other, the game is so well put together and beautiful to look at that it?s difficult for me to stay away from it for too long.
In many way?s it?s like the video game equivalent of the movie Avatar. It?s beautiful, colourful and nice to watch and listen too. But the story and characters are all things we?ve seen before.
Well, I?m going to have to make a verdict and here it is.
Final Fantasy XIII gets 5/10. It?s half a good game, but at least that?s more than what most games achieve.
