Review: Final Fantasy XIII

In anticipation of Final Fantasy XIII-2's U.S. release at the end of January, I just finished replaying Final Fantasy XIII. First, I wanted to get the Treasure Hunter and Ultimate Hero trophies (because online achievements matter!).

Proof.

But I also wanted to re-familiarize myself with both the story and the battle system. After doing so, it seemed like the perfect time to offer up a review. Actually, not the perfect time, considering it was first released over two years ago, but I digress.

The first time I played through the game, I remember not really liking the story in general. Right off the bat, Square Enix and XIII director Motomu Toriyama break the "Robert Jordan Rule," which is of course if you make up more than three words at the beginning of a story, you're going to lose a lot of people, and the story had better be pretty damn good. The first few cutscenes were throwing fal'Cie, l'Cie, and Cie'th around quite a bit, and frankly becoming a l'Cie doesn't sound so bad. Not to nitpick, but the most crucial part of any game's story is communicating where you are, what you're doing, and why you're doing it. And given the gameplay restrictions inherent in the early chapters, going to the well of "saving the world," and rescuing some girl the audience knows nothing about from becoming encased in carbonite crystal isn't exactly a great or original motivation. As the story progresses, and our protagonists are off to stop the evil gods and/or organizations, there is still an uncertainty about why, or how the group will accomplish their halfhearted goals. During the mid stages of the game, most of the main characters grow and become more dynamic, but some of them continue to play one note throughout, and the supporting characters offer little distraction. By the time we definitely know what were doing (only because we're told so in James Bond, villain-reveals-all-and-splits fashion) and we're ready to do it, there are only two chapters left and it's basically LIGHTNING AND FANG SMASH to the last boss.

"This is only the first time we've met. I'll tell you my exact plan next time."

More after the jump...

I suppose this is a good time to point out that XIII is just one title in the greater Fabula Nova Crystallis story, which includes three other games (one yet to be released) as well as novelizations of events before and after XIII takes place. And while that's all well and good, it doesn't offer any help to the vast majority of people who just bought a game because it seemed cool, or SquareSoft sunk their meat hooks into them as children and we can't resist their siren's call. (Final Fantasy's a hell of a drug.) If I plunk down $60 or so for a game of this magnitude, it should tell a rich story without need for context. That means you need good performances from your protagonists, antagonists, and many more people you meet along the journey. Unfortunately, supporting characters are given very little screen time. Still, a couple of them manage to seem interesting. However, they are introduced, used as devices to move the plot forward, and discarded without much thought for growth. The poster child for these missed opportunities at secondary character development has to be Jihl Nabaat. She's arrogant, she works for the bad guys, and she's good at it. She detains a six-year-old boy for military testing, and torments his father afterward. And she's sexy.

"I was capturing l'Cie before it was cool."

And therein lies the problem. We get a handful of scenes in the middle of the game with Jihl. And that's it. She's in, she's out, bing bang boom. You never even get to fight her. I certainly could have used fewer scenes where Snow declares himself the hero and/or that he's going to save Serah and/or Cocoon no matter what. And if that screen time was given to Jihl, it would have turned her into a genuine force in the story. As it stands, the only side characters of consequence are Cid Raines and Yaag Rosch, who play varying degrees of "we're bad guys for good reasons," and the people biologically related to the main characters, whom you are trying to save, protect, or avenge. Your main antagonist, Pope Primarch Galenth Dysley, is cool enough, I guess. He has some deep dialogue out of nowhere, but it seems natural from him, and his voice actor S. Scott Bullock does a fine job with the delivery.

For a story almost entirely devoid of compelling supporting characters, you really need to get the player behind the main characters. Luckily, as the protagonist, Lightning carries the story with aplomb.

"Yes, I have pink hair, big whoop, wanna fight about it?"

From the outset, Lightning comes across as a deep, thoughtful, and strong character. Everything she does, she does with purpose. Square Enix's visual artists, along with her English voice actress Ali Hillis, capture the motivation, attitude, and conflict within Lightning perfectly. Before the party of six comes together for the remainder of the game, the most compelling chapters are those led by her. Her love/hate relationship with Snow is immediately palpable, and it is through her that Hope begins to grow, and we form our own opinions of Serah and Snow. Ah yes, Snow...

"DERP"

If you're going to have one of your six main characters be pretty much two-dimensional, you should make him or her endearing. And Snow is anything but endearing. To sum up my impression of him; he's a future frat boy, complete with a band of lackeys at his beckon call, everything seems to work out for him, you can't tell him no, and he thinks he's a lot more impressive than he actually is. Yes, sign me up for 100 hours of gameplay with this guy! It's been said many times before, but Snow makes for a great tank, because everyone and everything wants to bash in his stupid face.

Now that we've covered the best and worst of the main characters, I'll give everyone else a combined paragraph to sum up. Vanille, lampooned as a ditz in a lot of reviews, I thought was a complex character with a lot of weight on her shoulders. As the narrator of select cutscenes, it's hard to determine why we're hearing her voice during the first playthrough, but it makes sense in the end. She forms strong bonds with Hope and Sazh, and obviously shares a special relationship with Fang. (Take that for what you will.) Hope is another one viewed as an annoyance by many, but I thought he underwent the greatest growth as a character. He learns to handle his mommy and daddy issues, which are completely separate and difficult to say the least, and holds his own among the group of adults. He stays upbeat and motivates his friends to continue on, but not in the overly chipper way Vanille does, or the headstrong gung-ho way Snow does. He has balance and depth, and I really liked him by the later stages of the game. Sazh goes through a significant change as well, although I really wouldn't call it growth. Basically he switches from "comic relief" to "melancholy absentee father" and that's about it. Fang is just as two-dimensional as Snow, but it works for her. She has no real loyalties to anyone but Vanille, but she can still empathize with and help the rest of the crew. Also she kicks fucking ass.

I'm guessing that's Japanese for, "Hurry up! I have 500 years of ab crunches to catch up on!"

Okay, enough about boring old story and character development, time to get to the gameplay. Two of the hallmarks of the Final Fantasy series are exploration and side quests. In a game with 13 chapters, you don't get to do either until Chapter 11. Yeah. Before that, there is no world map. You do visit towns, but they aren't really unique in any conventional RPG manner (no shops, you can't revisit them, no important NPCs, etc.). While the story seems directionless at times, the first ten chapters of gameplay are incredibly linear, and moving about the maps toward a boss or the next zone is rather simple. The good news is, all the zones are presented beautifully, and the soundtrack is overall pretty good, with one or two especially memorable tracks for zones. Once you do reach that magical Chapter 11, however, the world seems incredibly vast and enjoyable. All of Chapter 11 could be a game on its own, with the amount of zones and enemies, and a big bad boss at the end. The Cie'th Stone missions present the first true challenges in battle, and some require weapon and accessory upgrades, specific strategies, and even a little grinding to beat. Luckily they are repeatable, and also give the player a great opportunity to farm. In fact, the content that opens up in Chapter 11 is so great in magnitude that most players won't be able to complete it by the time they beat the game. After defeating the final boss, you are given the chance to save your game, after which your characters can continue to grow their stats and you can return to Gran Pulse and clean up the rest of those turtles and missions. A satisfying endgame is a welcome addition to the Final Fantasy series, and it adds some replay value without literally replaying the entire game, or beginning a "New Game +" as with past Square Enix releases.

"Uh... Snow, you go first."

The battle system is a modified version of Active Time Battle (ATB) used in many Final Fantasy installments, but this time you only control one character. Your actions are governed by selecting one of six roles for everyone in the party, and each character has their own unique set of abilities for each role. Each static set of roles for your party members is called a Paradigm, and you may change roles by utilizing a Paradigm Shift mid-battle. In this way, the player can create their ideal team for each challenge. And while most normal encounters require very little strategy (trash mobs are still trash, after all) some higher level monsters as well as mission mobs and bosses cannot be defeated with simple button-mashing. If the player feels overwhelmed by any particular battle, each character eventually gains access to a unique summoned Eidolon, which often amounts to an "I Win" button if used correctly. The result is a fast-paced, strategic battle system that will have every player tailoring their team to fit their needs. It's fun, it's innovative, and it's certainly a welcome addition to the series. The battle system alone is cause enough to replay the game.

Shit's about to get real.

Character progression in XIII is a double-edged sword in my opinion. On the one hand, the game restricts stat growth at regular intervals in the story, as well as the ability to level up equipment using specific catalysts, so you can't just out-muscle monsters and bosses. This presents some decent challenges throughout the early and middle stages of the game. By the time every character has access to decent abilities for all six roles, however, you end up pretty much just using the same guys over and over. Stat growth is static, linear, and unbalanced. Fang has by far the most strength throughout the game, Hope and Vanille excel at magic, and Lightning offers the most balance. Snow has the most HP for those rare times you need a dedicated tank. Sazh lags behind and is only situationally useful.

It may look pretty and circular, but it's all basically laid out for you.

I feel silly talking about graphics and sound in a Final Fantasy game in a critical review. Both elements are consistently excellent for every game in the series, relative to the system and era in which they are released. XIII is no exception. The characters are rendered with exceptional detail and clarity, the areas are vibrant and imaginative, and the transitions between pre-rendered cinematic cutscenes and the normal Crystal Tools game engine are near seamless. The sound effects are of high quality and never feel out of place, and the score by Masashi Hamauzu is wonderful. While there are only a handful of signature songs throughout the game, they stick with you, and two especially memorable themes are utilized in multiple tracks. The first, called "The Promise," is present throughout the game. An especially good arrangement appears in "The Sunleth Waterscape" (if only we could lose the vocals...). The second theme is also the main battle music, "Blinded By Light." With the amount of battles involved in your typical RPG, the last thing you want to hear is an irksome, repetitive track for battle music. Hamauzu hits all the right notes here; it's powerful and fast-paced, while still being melodic. Elements of the song are used again in "Lightning's Theme" and "Fang's Theme," which are excellent. Continuing on the topic of battle music, special battles also have great tracks, such as the music for the Cie'th Stone missions and select bosses, "Desperate Struggle." For the main boss fights, in what is my favorite stand-alone track of the OST, is "Fighting Fate." It carries all the weight of a classic boss battle with it, and even if your party wipes in one of those fights, you'll be secretly glad you get to hear this song again. The bare track doesn't even do it justice, as the mid-battle voice acting and sound effects really make it a special event in the game. Finally, as a change of pace, some of the quieter moments in the story are punctuated with a beautiful piece called "Atonement."

Overall, Final Fantasy XIII is an enjoyable game to play. Sure, there are ways it lags behind its predecessors and its competitors. But innovations like the action-RPG feel to battle, along with strong main characters, exceptional voice acting, graphics, and score help to enhance a moderately thin story. Expectations are always high for any Final Fantasy title, and most hardcore fans want a redux from the SNES or PlayStation eras. XIII falls short in that regard, but it may mark the first steps toward a new era for RPGs. Its greatest weakness may be that it just begins to head into uncharted territory in terms of gameplay, while forgetting to bring along a rich cast of characters or expansive world to explore. Here's hoping Square Enix figures out the problem (and the solution) for themselves.

Or we could just go back to sprites, walkable world maps, and random encounters. Either way, really.

The Basics		The Rest
Gameplay	9/10	Linear/Exploration Ratio	2/10
Characters	7/10	Snow/Jihl Ratio	1/10
Story	5/10	Made-up Words	5/10
Sound	9/10	Paradigm Shifting	10/10
Graphics	10/10	Sequel Pre-ordering	10/10
Score	40/50	Score	28/50
Final Score: 68/100