I know, I'm shocked too. Let me explain why.
Previously I've ranted all over the internet about how much I hated Final Fantasy X and thought that the series has been in more or less a downward spiral since the success of FF7. Hell I feel like its in a downward spiral BECAUSE of the success of 7. For the same reasons that many other fans have stated - an over-focus on cutscenes, bad writing, million dollar visual effects, and overly catering to j-pop trash instead of the classic Final Fantasy Gameplay that made the first 7 or so games so fantastic to begin with.
As such I didn't even pick up Final Fantasy 13 when it released. The reviews, I felt, said all I needed to know. "A series of corridors?!? Using a Datalog to deliver exposition!?! No towns?!? Another plot that focuses on a weakling child as a character!?! A one-button automated combat system?!? A 20 hour long tutorial!?! You're DEAD to me, Final Fantasy!"
I knew I would eventually try it for myself, but I decided to wait until the price was significantly low or I had some form of disposable income that I could justify its purchase with. Well last week I received a gift certificate to Gamestop and picked up a stack of games, one of which was Final Fantasy 13. And honestly so far, it's the best entry into the series since Final Fantasy 7.
Okay yes, it does start slow and confusing. Datalogs should be supplemental to storytelling, never primary. However the game poses enough interesting story questions that I kept pushing forward to get answers, and by hour 4 or so I was only using the datalog as a supplement. The voice acting is fantastic and Vanille is nowhere near as annoying as previous 'zany' pre-teen female sidekicks. Hope needs to choke on a boomerang, sure - but I'll take weakling coward over arrogant prick (Tidus, Vaan) any day.
Games should offer the player some kind of control, and for the first two or three hours of FF13 you can more or less just push a single button to advance the game. There is no choice, there is no exploration. They made a real mistake drawing out the 'tutorial' this long. But yet again a few hours in I was past this complaint. Once they introduce classes, paradigms, and upgradeable equipment my 'customization' itch was getting adequately scratched. The game still has slightly less exploration than FFX (which started this whole 'corridor' trend in FF), but I can get past that.
Right now I'm about 7 hours into the game and I have to say it is a far better game than I was led to believe. The story is unique and bizarre without being laughably ridiculous, and I'm interested to see what comes next. The characters are the best the series has seen in many iterations, I feel like Lightning is exactly the kind of heroine Final Fantasy needed. The combat, once all of its aspects are 'revealed' is unique and engaging.
Oh and also, the game is absolutely breath-taking. The art design is fucking fantastic, and the j-trash costume design that's plagued the series since FF8 was relegated mostly to side-characters and pushed to the background.
Is it a great game so far? No, aside from the visual design nothing in the game leads me to believe that it will be a lasting classic. But it is far from the boring, series-worst, genre-killing abomination that has been described to me. Like I said, so far its my favorite game in the series since 7 - mostly because nothing has happened yet that has filled me with pure nerd rage, and none of the characters push my buttons like those in FF8-FF12.
Previously I've ranted all over the internet about how much I hated Final Fantasy X and thought that the series has been in more or less a downward spiral since the success of FF7. Hell I feel like its in a downward spiral BECAUSE of the success of 7. For the same reasons that many other fans have stated - an over-focus on cutscenes, bad writing, million dollar visual effects, and overly catering to j-pop trash instead of the classic Final Fantasy Gameplay that made the first 7 or so games so fantastic to begin with.
As such I didn't even pick up Final Fantasy 13 when it released. The reviews, I felt, said all I needed to know. "A series of corridors?!? Using a Datalog to deliver exposition!?! No towns?!? Another plot that focuses on a weakling child as a character!?! A one-button automated combat system?!? A 20 hour long tutorial!?! You're DEAD to me, Final Fantasy!"
I knew I would eventually try it for myself, but I decided to wait until the price was significantly low or I had some form of disposable income that I could justify its purchase with. Well last week I received a gift certificate to Gamestop and picked up a stack of games, one of which was Final Fantasy 13. And honestly so far, it's the best entry into the series since Final Fantasy 7.
Okay yes, it does start slow and confusing. Datalogs should be supplemental to storytelling, never primary. However the game poses enough interesting story questions that I kept pushing forward to get answers, and by hour 4 or so I was only using the datalog as a supplement. The voice acting is fantastic and Vanille is nowhere near as annoying as previous 'zany' pre-teen female sidekicks. Hope needs to choke on a boomerang, sure - but I'll take weakling coward over arrogant prick (Tidus, Vaan) any day.
Games should offer the player some kind of control, and for the first two or three hours of FF13 you can more or less just push a single button to advance the game. There is no choice, there is no exploration. They made a real mistake drawing out the 'tutorial' this long. But yet again a few hours in I was past this complaint. Once they introduce classes, paradigms, and upgradeable equipment my 'customization' itch was getting adequately scratched. The game still has slightly less exploration than FFX (which started this whole 'corridor' trend in FF), but I can get past that.
Right now I'm about 7 hours into the game and I have to say it is a far better game than I was led to believe. The story is unique and bizarre without being laughably ridiculous, and I'm interested to see what comes next. The characters are the best the series has seen in many iterations, I feel like Lightning is exactly the kind of heroine Final Fantasy needed. The combat, once all of its aspects are 'revealed' is unique and engaging.
Oh and also, the game is absolutely breath-taking. The art design is fucking fantastic, and the j-trash costume design that's plagued the series since FF8 was relegated mostly to side-characters and pushed to the background.
Is it a great game so far? No, aside from the visual design nothing in the game leads me to believe that it will be a lasting classic. But it is far from the boring, series-worst, genre-killing abomination that has been described to me. Like I said, so far its my favorite game in the series since 7 - mostly because nothing has happened yet that has filled me with pure nerd rage, and none of the characters push my buttons like those in FF8-FF12.
