My Thoughts on Latest Epic RPG

Alright, so, the graphics are amazing and the characters are pretty good (though at times obnoxious). Story? Well, the story is very confusing in the beginning because you are thrust right into this unfamiliar world. You start off on this world called Cocoon, which is powered by these god-like creatures called fal'Cie. After a fal'Cie from the lower world called Pulse is discovered, Cocoon's government, the Sanctum, orders everyone who came in contact with it to be "Purged". The game starts off on a Purge train headed for Pulse, the hellish world below.

Of course, much of this isn't really explained, and many gamers felt alienated by this approach to storytelling. Personally, though, I didn't ind it. These characters have no reason to sit down and explain everything to us, and as the game progresses you learn through context. Many films and novels do this: they start off in the midst of an unusual place and the audience learns about this new world through the actions and speech of its characters. For those gamers who really don't want to think that hard, the game gives you a handy feature called the Datalog, which essentially will explain everything you need to know about Cocoon, Pulse, and fal'Cie to make your way through everything.

Gameplay-wise, I found this Final Fantasy to be wonderfully fast-paced. Many fans of the old games weren't too keen on the new battle system, which puts you in control of just one character rather than three, and the only way to control your other two party members is through the Paradigm system. The Paradigms assign each party member to one of six roles: Commando (physical melee attacks), Ravager (black mage, uses offensive elemental magic like Fire, Water, etc.), Synergist (uses defensive magic like Faith, Haste, Shell, etc.), Saboteur (hinders enemies with spells that weaken their defense or magic), Sentinel (sits back and takes damage from the enemy to protect other party members), and Medic (white mage, heals your party). It's very different from the more traditional turn-based systems we've seen in the past, but I find it to be a refreshing change. Battles move much more quickly this way, making the game feel faster than it actually is.

Speaking of game length, if you hadn't already guessed by the fact that it comes on three DVDs for the Xbox 360, it's very long. You can probably finish it in 45 hours if you skip the side quests later in the game. I finished it in just under 60, and I only did about a third of the later optional quests. One thing that's bothered me about a number of reviews from critics I normally respect is that they simply didn't give the game a chance. They should have known going into it that it would be long, and to give up and call the game awful after only 12 hours isn't fair. Yes, the beginning of the game does feel a bit like running down a hallway, but after about 15 hours it gets much, MUCH better.

So, to come to some sort of conclusion after rambling for so long, I can safely say that Final Fantasy XIII is an excellent game. Is it the best of the series? No, not quite (I still like FFX the best, though I will admit I haven't played VII!), but it's still another excellent game by Square Enix. Its story is strange at first, though as it progresses it keeps getting better. The gameplay is very different and somewhat confusing in the beginning, and the lack of freedom early on is a little frustrating. The characters are mostly very good, though there are a few I could have lived without (Snow and Hope, to be precise, and Vanille at the beginning). Still, overall I enjoyed the experience, and let me reiterate that it is an experience! These are honestly the most stunning graphics I've seen from a video game, so much so that you really do feel like a part of these colorful worlds (though again, it's really best on an HDTV with the PS3). If you like Final Fantasy, or Japanese-style RPGs in general, this is certainly a must-buy. The beginning is a little slow gameplay-wise, but the fast-paced story makes up for it.