Note: This is the first time I?ve done a preview of a game so if anything is missing that you want to know about, either quote me here and say what you want to know about or PM and I?ll edit it in a bit later on. Wikipedia and the Final Fantasy Wiki used for some info. Oh, and it will be a wall o? text too. Ye be warned, boyos! Oh, and any TL;DR?s will be beaten to within an inch of their lives. With a spoon. reported.
Genre: JRPG
Platforms: Playstation 3, X-Box 360
Developers: Square-Enix PDD 1
Publisher: Square-Enix
Producer(s): Yoshinori Kitase [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshinori_Kitase]
Designer(s): Yoshinori Kitase, Motomu Toriyama, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motomu_Toriyama] Toshiro Tsuchida [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiro_Tsuchida]
Artists: Tetsuya Nomura, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsuya_Nomura] Nao Ikeda, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nao_Ikeda] Isamu Kamikokuryou
Writers: Motomu Toriyama, Daisuke Watanabe, Yukie Hirano, Harunori Sakemi
Composer(s): Masashi Hamauzu [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masashi_Hamauzu]
Series: Final Fantasy, Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabula_Nova_Crystallis_Final_Fantasy_XIII]
Game Engine: Crystal Tools [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Tools]
Native Resolution: 720p (PS3) 576p (360)
Ratings: CERO: B, ERSB: T, OFLC: M, PEGI: 16+
Release Date: 9th March, May 2010 (Asia)
The story in FF XIII takes place in the world of Pulse and revolves around the story of the fal?Cie, mechanical beings with Godlike powers provided by crystals growing inside of them. People marked by the fal?Cie for a greater cause are called the l?Cie. Each l?Cie has a goal, or Focus, that they are given by the fal?Cie. However, the fal?Cie do not tell them exactly what that goal maybe. The l?Cie have to interpret visions to find out what their Focus is. The l?Cie then gain the ability to summon an Eidolon (much like the summons from previous games). However, this ability comes with a price. Failure to tame their Eidolon, the l?Cie dies in the course of completing their Focus or failing to complete the Focus they are given in a set amount of time, they are turned into a monster known as Cie?th. Success, however, isn?t better. Success of their Focus sees the l?Cie transformed into the crystal that is inside them. This is the reason why being picked as a l?Cie is seen as a curse on Pulse.
Around 1,300 years before, a fal?Cie called Orphan created a Paradise for all of humanity: the city of Cocoon, a shell-like shaped city. Orphan then created life forms and machines for the Cocoon inhabitants to use and humanity flourished. Soon however, a War was started between Cocoon and Pulse, a war which was won by Cocoon. However, fear was still instilled in the hearts of Cocoon citizens, as they were worried about the day another invasion from Pulse would occur.
Cocoon citizens have never seen Pulse with their own eyes but are told that it is a dangerous place whose surface can lead to people having some mysterious effects on them. Anyone that is known to have visited Pulse is immediately subjected to quarantine and exile by the government of Cocoon, known as The Sanctum. The Sanctum enforces this rule and enforces it hard with their military branch, PSICOM.
This is a basic bio of the party of people you can control in the game.
Former Sergeant in the Cocoon Military, Lightning now looks for the fal?Cie Anima, with the hopes of asking it to save her sister Serah. Much to her dismay, Lightning was turned into a l?Cie herself with the mark being in the center of her chest. Her name was originally Éclair Farron but she discarded this name after her parents died and in an attempt to reinforce herself so she could protect Serah, her sister. This only led to tensions between the two becoming strained. Lightning is very determined and is very easy to be annoyed.
Snow on his Eidolon
Before becoming a l?Cie, Snow was the leader of the resistance group Team Nora, who were fighting against the Cocoon government. Snow is a brawler, relying on his fists while the others use weapons. He is however, a little arrogant and full of himself, calling himself a hero at times. His l?Cie mark is on his lower left arm/
Vanille is a young girl who also happens to be very mysterious. Originally from Obera Village located on Gran Pulse, she is among those being exiled to The Sanctum from Cocoon. She has a child like innocence and is shown to be very compassionate but is also at times very stubborn. She also serves as the games narrator. Her l?Cie mark is on her upper left thigh.
Yun Fang comes from the same village as Dia Vanille but whether they know each other is a mystery. She dresses in a traditional Indian Sari outfit with tribal accessories. At the start of the game, she is a l?Cie hunter but why she changes her allegiance later on is unknown. Her l?Cie mark is on her right shoulder.
Hope is a fourteen year old boy whose mother died helping Snow and Team Nora in a battle against PSICOM forces. Due to this, he hates Snow as he is linked to his mothers death. It is unknown by me if he has a l?Cie mark.
Sazh is a former Airship pilot in the Cocoon Military whose reasons for leaving the Military are unknown. His main motivation is fact his 6 year old son, Dajh, became a l?Cie inadvertently and was then taken to The Sanctum and Sazh wants to save him. He is easily moved to tears, which may be due to his gentle personality. Sazh?s l?Cie mark is on his base of his neck. He also has a baby Chocobo living in his afro.
A basic, brief overview of the bad guys in the game.
Jihl Nabaat is a cruel but intelligent Lieutenant of the PSICOM forces, who see?s the l?Cie as unhuman and is hell bent on wiping them out. Why she thinks this is unknown till a later date.
Yang Rosch is Nabaat?s right hand man in the PSICOM forces and Lightning?s former superior officer. However, at some point during the game, he begins to question his loyalties and helps out Lightning and her party.
Cid is a Brigadier General from The Sanctum who pilots the airship Lindblum. Like Rosch, he has a crisis and begins to question his loyalties before being used as a trail for Lightning and her group.
Galenth Dysley is FF XIII?s main antagonist and leader of the Sanctum in Cocoon. Not much is known of him apart from this.
The Orphan is a wheel like, sun God who is the source of power in Cocoon. He/her/it is also the creator of Cocoon.
*Note that due to the nature of spoilers, little information has been given as I don?t want to spoil anything.
A brief description of the Eidolons, the monsters that the l?Cie can summon in battle and who they are aligned to.
Odin before transformationOdin is Lightnings Eidolon. He resides in a crystal around Lightning?s neck, making her the only person that can summon him. A sword wielding monster, he can transform into a sword wielding horse in his Gestalt Mode which Lightning can ride in battle.
The Sisters artwork
The Shiva Sisters are Snow?s Eidolon. They are called Stiria, who is the darker skinned, older one and and Nix, the lighter skinned younger one. They can combine together to from a motorbike in their Gestalt Mode which Snow can use in battle.
Alexander before
Alexander is Hope?s Eidolon. He takes on a far more human like appearance when compared to older games, which is noticeable by the addition of hands. Alexander can transform into a castle that fires lasers for his Gestalt Mode which let?s Hope sit atop him, commanding him. No picture for his Gestalt Mode.
Bahamut before
Bahamut is Yun Fang?s Eidolon and is summoned from a large crystal shard. He has a far more demon like form in this when compared to his older forms. He also has a slight more mechanical look to him. He transforms into a dragon esqe creature for his Gestalt Mode which Fang can ride.
Brynhildr before
Brynhildr is Sazh?s Eidolon and is a giant Knight like being. She turns into a super car like machine in her Gestalt Mode and can be used in battle by Sazh.
Hecatoncheir before
Hecatoncheir is Dia Vanilles Eidolon and is a creature that has multiply arms it can use as weapons. For it?s Gestalt Mode, it turns into a giant machine of war that Vanille can ride in battle.
A few things about the Eidolons.
*Each Eidolon must be fought before they will join your party and the characters they are aligned to.
*Some of the Eidolon?s is elemental based like before. Odin is aligned to Wind and Lightning, Shiva Sisters are aligned to Ice, Alexander is aligned to Earth, Brynhildr is aligned to Fire and Hecatoncheir is aligned to Earth. Bahamut has no known alignment to an element like the previous games.
*Each Eidolon has a powerful finishing move that it can use in battle.
*Reappearing but not as summons are the monsters Ifrit, Carbuncle and Siren.
A new battle system called Command Synergy Battle in game has been described by the creators of FF XIII to be ?More tactical than Final Fantasy X, faster than X-2, and almost as seamless as XII.? The main changes to this system are that the enemies are now visable in the field, unlike the previous FF?s[footnote]Note I?ve only played FF VII to FF X-2 so this is to be confirmed by the more seasoned FF fans.[/footnote] and you engage them by running into them. Upon doing so, the screen lights up and changes itself into a blank but vast battlefield, signalling the start of a battle. While in battle, you can only control one character at a time but can change between them at certain points. The maximum party size is three.
Making a return, albeit with a few tweaks to it, is the ATB (Active Time Battle) bar. It is now divided into three or five sections. Each command available to the party has a number next to it which indicates how many segments of that bar it is going to take up. This system allows the player to ?stack up? commands to be carried out one after the other. However, the more commands you input, the slower the next turn comes up, which forces you to think tactically about your attacks. The commands vary from character to character of course but staples to the series such as Attack, Fire, Summon, Blizzard and Cure are there still, along with some newer ones like Ruin, a new non-elemental spell and Radial Strike, an AOE (Area of Effect) attack.
The battle system in use.
Due to the ATB cost, Square removed Magic Points or MP from the game. Seeing as, due to this change, magic can?t be used outside battle, the party is fully healed after every battle. It was revealed that Limit Breaks will not be making an appearance due to the fact that the unique summoning powers, referring to the Gestalt Mode, and also the fact that once in a fight, there is no way to escape. Items can be used, however, to avoid these battles if you so wish and each enemy is marked with a symbol showing you how hard it is to help you in these decisions. If you die in battle, you are either given the choice of returning to your last save or retrying the battle.
In another change, experience points (XP) do not feature in this instalment of Final Fantasy, instead being replaced by Crystarium Points (CP) and the ?Crystarium System? which is similar to the Sphere Grid in FF X? This system allows you to boost certain stats, spells and also allows you to open up other paths for them to learn. For example, learning Fire opens up a new path that allows you to learn Firaga and so on and so forth.
Yet another new addition to the battle system is the Break bar. It is specific to each enemy and depletes after perform combo attacks marked by a percentage. If you amase enough combos in a row, ?Break Mode? is entered. In this mode, enemies can be launched in the air and then ?juggled? for extra damage. When a battle is won, a screen shows you a rating tells you how well you did, ranging from one star to 5 star, as well as the number of chains and break attacks, as well as how long the battle took. This information is linked into the Trophies/Achievement list on the PS3 and 360 respectively.
A little side note about the save points, you can now access them and use them as a shop, buying and selling items.
In the battle system, you can only control one character at a time. However, you can use The Paradigm Shift system to help you pick the other party members roles in battle. Paradigms are described as ?Classes? or ?Roles? that the party takes temporarily during battle. There are more strict then job classes, however. A Medic can only heal others and not attack while an attacker can only attack with magic and psychical attacks, making picking the right combination a must.
These can change at any time to suit the current situation. However, they cannot change individually and must be changed as a whole, thus making a Paradigm a combination of three roles. There are a reported 56 variations of Paradigms and those named and confirmed are Aggression, All for One, Dualcasting, Overwhelm, Peacemaker, Relentless Assault, Slash & Burn, The Ettin, Decimation, Smart Bomb, Delta Attack, Super Soldier, Tri-disaster, Tireless Charge and Vanguard.
The Paradigm Shift System in use
There are 6 roles within a Paradigm and these are Commando, Ravager, Sentinel, Synergist, Medic and Saboteur. Commandos can build up chain attacks easier with enhanced strength, Ravagers can charge the enemies chain gauge with concentrated attacks, Sentinels shield their allies from attack with enhanced defence, Synergists support allies with magical spells, Medics heal their allies and remove status ailments and Saboteurs can enfeeble enemies while charging their chain gauges. Nice and simple.
Eidolons, which are listed above, are the summons in this game. They are both used as game-play and plot points in FF XIII. Each character has only one Eidolon and that replaces the party except the person that summoned it in battle. They are summoned by using Tactical Points (TP) which are won after battles. Instead of HP, summoned Eidolons uses Summon Points (SP) which as well as going down when attacked, decreases slowly over the course of battle. Once the SP has gone, the Eidolon leaves and the party returns to the fight.
Also, each Eidolon can transform into another form that combines them with their summoner. This is caused by use of the Gestalt Mode, in which combat becomes more action oriented, allowing the player to use various special attacks using various button combinations. Each Gestalt version of the Eidolon have powerful finishing moves that will end the summoning after it is used. Again, TP depicts how long this attack and how often it can be used for.
Lightning riding Odin in his Gestalt Mode
Just a little paragraph detailing these. While in Pulse, you will notice large crystals which can be activated to give you missions. While not part of the main story, they do show the Focuses of other l?Cie. These l?Cie are the ones who have failed their Focus, thus meaning their targets are still alive. It is up to the player whether or not to kill the target. Killing the target gives you items that you can use to upgrade the parties equipment however so the risk is worth the reward it seems.
In the Japanese version of FF XIII, the main theme was Kimi ga Iru Kara [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Kimi_ga_Iru_Kara] which is performed by J-Pop artist Sayuri Sugawara. [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Sayuri_Sugawara] However, in the Western versions to be released, this was changed to My Hands [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/My_Hands]. Performed by X-Factor Winner Leona Lewis. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leona_Lewis] Yoshinori Kitase explained that this change was needed as it was too hard to translate Kimi ga Iru Kara into English and thus made My Hands the theme tune to FF XIII as the lyrics fit in with the mood of the game.
And that is the end of the Final Fantasy preview done by me, Sassafrass. Hope this has helped you learn more about the game and if not, well I hoped you enjoyed reading it. I leave you now with the official trailer to help you get excited for the games release on March 9th.
Genre: JRPG
Platforms: Playstation 3, X-Box 360
Developers: Square-Enix PDD 1
Publisher: Square-Enix
Producer(s): Yoshinori Kitase [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshinori_Kitase]
Designer(s): Yoshinori Kitase, Motomu Toriyama, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motomu_Toriyama] Toshiro Tsuchida [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiro_Tsuchida]
Artists: Tetsuya Nomura, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsuya_Nomura] Nao Ikeda, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nao_Ikeda] Isamu Kamikokuryou
Writers: Motomu Toriyama, Daisuke Watanabe, Yukie Hirano, Harunori Sakemi
Composer(s): Masashi Hamauzu [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masashi_Hamauzu]
Series: Final Fantasy, Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIII [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabula_Nova_Crystallis_Final_Fantasy_XIII]
Game Engine: Crystal Tools [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Tools]
Native Resolution: 720p (PS3) 576p (360)
Ratings: CERO: B, ERSB: T, OFLC: M, PEGI: 16+
Release Date: 9th March, May 2010 (Asia)
[HEADING=3]The Story: A basic overview and backstory[/HEADING]
The story in FF XIII takes place in the world of Pulse and revolves around the story of the fal?Cie, mechanical beings with Godlike powers provided by crystals growing inside of them. People marked by the fal?Cie for a greater cause are called the l?Cie. Each l?Cie has a goal, or Focus, that they are given by the fal?Cie. However, the fal?Cie do not tell them exactly what that goal maybe. The l?Cie have to interpret visions to find out what their Focus is. The l?Cie then gain the ability to summon an Eidolon (much like the summons from previous games). However, this ability comes with a price. Failure to tame their Eidolon, the l?Cie dies in the course of completing their Focus or failing to complete the Focus they are given in a set amount of time, they are turned into a monster known as Cie?th. Success, however, isn?t better. Success of their Focus sees the l?Cie transformed into the crystal that is inside them. This is the reason why being picked as a l?Cie is seen as a curse on Pulse.
Around 1,300 years before, a fal?Cie called Orphan created a Paradise for all of humanity: the city of Cocoon, a shell-like shaped city. Orphan then created life forms and machines for the Cocoon inhabitants to use and humanity flourished. Soon however, a War was started between Cocoon and Pulse, a war which was won by Cocoon. However, fear was still instilled in the hearts of Cocoon citizens, as they were worried about the day another invasion from Pulse would occur.
Cocoon citizens have never seen Pulse with their own eyes but are told that it is a dangerous place whose surface can lead to people having some mysterious effects on them. Anyone that is known to have visited Pulse is immediately subjected to quarantine and exile by the government of Cocoon, known as The Sanctum. The Sanctum enforces this rule and enforces it hard with their military branch, PSICOM.
As a resistance group, led by a playable character who will not be mentioned by me, in the attempt to stop the purging of these civilians in The Sanctum, Lightning, the lead protagonist, appears and fights her way through the heavily armed PSICOM forces, to find a Pulse fal?Cie named Anima, who turned her sister, Serah, into a l?Cie. Through a turn of events, these three, Lightning, Anima and the unnamed character are turned into l?Cie and become enemies of humanity after being given the Focus of bringing down Cocoon and Pulse.
[HEADING=3]The main protagonists[/HEADING]
This is a basic bio of the party of people you can control in the game.
Former Sergeant in the Cocoon Military, Lightning now looks for the fal?Cie Anima, with the hopes of asking it to save her sister Serah. Much to her dismay, Lightning was turned into a l?Cie herself with the mark being in the center of her chest. Her name was originally Éclair Farron but she discarded this name after her parents died and in an attempt to reinforce herself so she could protect Serah, her sister. This only led to tensions between the two becoming strained. Lightning is very determined and is very easy to be annoyed.
Snow on his Eidolon
Before becoming a l?Cie, Snow was the leader of the resistance group Team Nora, who were fighting against the Cocoon government. Snow is a brawler, relying on his fists while the others use weapons. He is however, a little arrogant and full of himself, calling himself a hero at times. His l?Cie mark is on his lower left arm/
Vanille is a young girl who also happens to be very mysterious. Originally from Obera Village located on Gran Pulse, she is among those being exiled to The Sanctum from Cocoon. She has a child like innocence and is shown to be very compassionate but is also at times very stubborn. She also serves as the games narrator. Her l?Cie mark is on her upper left thigh.
Yun Fang comes from the same village as Dia Vanille but whether they know each other is a mystery. She dresses in a traditional Indian Sari outfit with tribal accessories. At the start of the game, she is a l?Cie hunter but why she changes her allegiance later on is unknown. Her l?Cie mark is on her right shoulder.
Hope is a fourteen year old boy whose mother died helping Snow and Team Nora in a battle against PSICOM forces. Due to this, he hates Snow as he is linked to his mothers death. It is unknown by me if he has a l?Cie mark.
Sazh is a former Airship pilot in the Cocoon Military whose reasons for leaving the Military are unknown. His main motivation is fact his 6 year old son, Dajh, became a l?Cie inadvertently and was then taken to The Sanctum and Sazh wants to save him. He is easily moved to tears, which may be due to his gentle personality. Sazh?s l?Cie mark is on his base of his neck. He also has a baby Chocobo living in his afro.
[HEADING=3]The Villains[/HEADING]
A basic, brief overview of the bad guys in the game.
Jihl Nabaat is a cruel but intelligent Lieutenant of the PSICOM forces, who see?s the l?Cie as unhuman and is hell bent on wiping them out. Why she thinks this is unknown till a later date.
Yang Rosch is Nabaat?s right hand man in the PSICOM forces and Lightning?s former superior officer. However, at some point during the game, he begins to question his loyalties and helps out Lightning and her party.
Cid is a Brigadier General from The Sanctum who pilots the airship Lindblum. Like Rosch, he has a crisis and begins to question his loyalties before being used as a trail for Lightning and her group.
Galenth Dysley is FF XIII?s main antagonist and leader of the Sanctum in Cocoon. Not much is known of him apart from this.
No image available, it seems?
The Orphan is a wheel like, sun God who is the source of power in Cocoon. He/her/it is also the creator of Cocoon.
*Note that due to the nature of spoilers, little information has been given as I don?t want to spoil anything.
[HEADING=3]The Eidolons[/HEADING]
A brief description of the Eidolons, the monsters that the l?Cie can summon in battle and who they are aligned to.
Odin before transformation
The Sisters artwork
The Shiva Sisters are Snow?s Eidolon. They are called Stiria, who is the darker skinned, older one and and Nix, the lighter skinned younger one. They can combine together to from a motorbike in their Gestalt Mode which Snow can use in battle.
Alexander before
Alexander is Hope?s Eidolon. He takes on a far more human like appearance when compared to older games, which is noticeable by the addition of hands. Alexander can transform into a castle that fires lasers for his Gestalt Mode which let?s Hope sit atop him, commanding him. No picture for his Gestalt Mode.
Bahamut before
Bahamut is Yun Fang?s Eidolon and is summoned from a large crystal shard. He has a far more demon like form in this when compared to his older forms. He also has a slight more mechanical look to him. He transforms into a dragon esqe creature for his Gestalt Mode which Fang can ride.
Brynhildr before
Brynhildr is Sazh?s Eidolon and is a giant Knight like being. She turns into a super car like machine in her Gestalt Mode and can be used in battle by Sazh.
Hecatoncheir before
Hecatoncheir is Dia Vanilles Eidolon and is a creature that has multiply arms it can use as weapons. For it?s Gestalt Mode, it turns into a giant machine of war that Vanille can ride in battle.
A few things about the Eidolons.
*Each Eidolon must be fought before they will join your party and the characters they are aligned to.
*Some of the Eidolon?s is elemental based like before. Odin is aligned to Wind and Lightning, Shiva Sisters are aligned to Ice, Alexander is aligned to Earth, Brynhildr is aligned to Fire and Hecatoncheir is aligned to Earth. Bahamut has no known alignment to an element like the previous games.
*Each Eidolon has a powerful finishing move that it can use in battle.
*Reappearing but not as summons are the monsters Ifrit, Carbuncle and Siren.
[HEADING=3]The Game-Play[/HEADING]
A new battle system called Command Synergy Battle in game has been described by the creators of FF XIII to be ?More tactical than Final Fantasy X, faster than X-2, and almost as seamless as XII.? The main changes to this system are that the enemies are now visable in the field, unlike the previous FF?s[footnote]Note I?ve only played FF VII to FF X-2 so this is to be confirmed by the more seasoned FF fans.[/footnote] and you engage them by running into them. Upon doing so, the screen lights up and changes itself into a blank but vast battlefield, signalling the start of a battle. While in battle, you can only control one character at a time but can change between them at certain points. The maximum party size is three.
Making a return, albeit with a few tweaks to it, is the ATB (Active Time Battle) bar. It is now divided into three or five sections. Each command available to the party has a number next to it which indicates how many segments of that bar it is going to take up. This system allows the player to ?stack up? commands to be carried out one after the other. However, the more commands you input, the slower the next turn comes up, which forces you to think tactically about your attacks. The commands vary from character to character of course but staples to the series such as Attack, Fire, Summon, Blizzard and Cure are there still, along with some newer ones like Ruin, a new non-elemental spell and Radial Strike, an AOE (Area of Effect) attack.
The battle system in use.
Due to the ATB cost, Square removed Magic Points or MP from the game. Seeing as, due to this change, magic can?t be used outside battle, the party is fully healed after every battle. It was revealed that Limit Breaks will not be making an appearance due to the fact that the unique summoning powers, referring to the Gestalt Mode, and also the fact that once in a fight, there is no way to escape. Items can be used, however, to avoid these battles if you so wish and each enemy is marked with a symbol showing you how hard it is to help you in these decisions. If you die in battle, you are either given the choice of returning to your last save or retrying the battle.
In another change, experience points (XP) do not feature in this instalment of Final Fantasy, instead being replaced by Crystarium Points (CP) and the ?Crystarium System? which is similar to the Sphere Grid in FF X? This system allows you to boost certain stats, spells and also allows you to open up other paths for them to learn. For example, learning Fire opens up a new path that allows you to learn Firaga and so on and so forth.
Yet another new addition to the battle system is the Break bar. It is specific to each enemy and depletes after perform combo attacks marked by a percentage. If you amase enough combos in a row, ?Break Mode? is entered. In this mode, enemies can be launched in the air and then ?juggled? for extra damage. When a battle is won, a screen shows you a rating tells you how well you did, ranging from one star to 5 star, as well as the number of chains and break attacks, as well as how long the battle took. This information is linked into the Trophies/Achievement list on the PS3 and 360 respectively.
A little side note about the save points, you can now access them and use them as a shop, buying and selling items.
[HEADING=3]The Paradigm Shift System[/HEADING]
In the battle system, you can only control one character at a time. However, you can use The Paradigm Shift system to help you pick the other party members roles in battle. Paradigms are described as ?Classes? or ?Roles? that the party takes temporarily during battle. There are more strict then job classes, however. A Medic can only heal others and not attack while an attacker can only attack with magic and psychical attacks, making picking the right combination a must.
These can change at any time to suit the current situation. However, they cannot change individually and must be changed as a whole, thus making a Paradigm a combination of three roles. There are a reported 56 variations of Paradigms and those named and confirmed are Aggression, All for One, Dualcasting, Overwhelm, Peacemaker, Relentless Assault, Slash & Burn, The Ettin, Decimation, Smart Bomb, Delta Attack, Super Soldier, Tri-disaster, Tireless Charge and Vanguard.
The Paradigm Shift System in use
There are 6 roles within a Paradigm and these are Commando, Ravager, Sentinel, Synergist, Medic and Saboteur. Commandos can build up chain attacks easier with enhanced strength, Ravagers can charge the enemies chain gauge with concentrated attacks, Sentinels shield their allies from attack with enhanced defence, Synergists support allies with magical spells, Medics heal their allies and remove status ailments and Saboteurs can enfeeble enemies while charging their chain gauges. Nice and simple.
[HEADING=3]Summoning Eidolons[/HEADING]
Eidolons, which are listed above, are the summons in this game. They are both used as game-play and plot points in FF XIII. Each character has only one Eidolon and that replaces the party except the person that summoned it in battle. They are summoned by using Tactical Points (TP) which are won after battles. Instead of HP, summoned Eidolons uses Summon Points (SP) which as well as going down when attacked, decreases slowly over the course of battle. Once the SP has gone, the Eidolon leaves and the party returns to the fight.
Also, each Eidolon can transform into another form that combines them with their summoner. This is caused by use of the Gestalt Mode, in which combat becomes more action oriented, allowing the player to use various special attacks using various button combinations. Each Gestalt version of the Eidolon have powerful finishing moves that will end the summoning after it is used. Again, TP depicts how long this attack and how often it can be used for.
Lightning riding Odin in his Gestalt Mode
[HEADING=3]Missions[/HEADING]
Just a little paragraph detailing these. While in Pulse, you will notice large crystals which can be activated to give you missions. While not part of the main story, they do show the Focuses of other l?Cie. These l?Cie are the ones who have failed their Focus, thus meaning their targets are still alive. It is up to the player whether or not to kill the target. Killing the target gives you items that you can use to upgrade the parties equipment however so the risk is worth the reward it seems.
[HEADING=3]Music or the theme music[/HEADING]
In the Japanese version of FF XIII, the main theme was Kimi ga Iru Kara [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Kimi_ga_Iru_Kara] which is performed by J-Pop artist Sayuri Sugawara. [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Sayuri_Sugawara] However, in the Western versions to be released, this was changed to My Hands [http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/My_Hands]. Performed by X-Factor Winner Leona Lewis. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leona_Lewis] Yoshinori Kitase explained that this change was needed as it was too hard to translate Kimi ga Iru Kara into English and thus made My Hands the theme tune to FF XIII as the lyrics fit in with the mood of the game.
And that is the end of the Final Fantasy preview done by me, Sassafrass. Hope this has helped you learn more about the game and if not, well I hoped you enjoyed reading it. I leave you now with the official trailer to help you get excited for the games release on March 9th.
