Playstation 3 Final Fantasy XIII Reviews Roll In

Final Fantasy XIII has been released and the reviews are pouring in. 

The New York Times stated:

“But the real star of Final Fantasy XIII is its visual design and animation team, which has created some of the most impressive, compelling digital animation on the planet.

I’ll just put it this way: I recently invited several friends to compare the visual spectacle of the opening sequence of Final Fantasy XIII with the opening sequence of “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” a frantic spaceship battle and chase that has been one of my personal animation benchmarks. Sorry, George Lucas, but it was a unanimous wipeout among my jury. For the moment the only animation that compares with Final Fantasy XIII is in “Avatar.” (And Final Fantasy XIII has better writing and voice acting than that film, though that’s not saying much.)

This game’s rendering is so advanced and eye popping that it exposes the limitations of the Xbox 360. The PlayStation 3 version, which comes on one Blu-Ray disc, appears noticeably superior to the 360 version, which must be spread across three discs because the 360 is based on the increasingly antiquated DVD format. (Microsoft, are you listening?)

Yet all of the game’s visual splendor served only to fuel my frustration and gnawing angst that such brilliant work had been tied to such a soul crushingly linear design. My retinas and irises were enjoying themselves, but by the end of the game the rest of me was just trying to get it over with. No matter what country they come from, players deserve more.”

1up stated:

“Final Fantasy XIII is a game at a crossroads. It’s stranded at the intersection between the desires of an existing fanbase, the fading popularity of a genre, a legacy of cutting-edge visuals, and the rising cost of game development. It’s a creation that displays the compromises of its development process at every turn, yet to its credit, it doesn’t feel compromised. It’s defined by creative tradeoffs, yet it embraces those potential shortcomings and transforms them into integral components of its design.”

Japanese RPGs, on the whole, have significantly lost their shine over the last few years. For all its flaws, Final Fantasy XIII has a certain level of polish that makes it more engaging than its peers, even if they hew closer to the old formula.

The fact that Final Fantasy designers are so willing to experiment is a good thing, because it’ll keep the genre from dying off. But Final Fantasy XIII should be considered a failed experiment. We can only hope it’s a stumble on the path to a brighter RPG future.

WIRED Beautiful graphics and music, lavish movie sequences, unique battle system.

TIRED Takes way too long to ramp up, boring level design, monotonous pacing.”

Game Trailers did their video review:

I personally like the Kotaku game review system of Loved/Hated.  Here is their take.  If you want to read it in detail jump to this link.  Two of our writers (in jaded & casual form) will eventually be reviewing this game.

Loved
A Beautiful Dream: By now you’ve seen the screenshots and videos, so I don’t have to tell you that Final Fantasy XIII is a beautiful game.

A Tale As Old As Time:Viewing it broadly, Final Fantasy XIII’s story is about a group of heroes trying to save the world from destruction, which is nothing new, especially to fans of the series. It’s the strong themes woven into this tale of heroism than make the story special this time around.

Role Call: The cast of Final Fantasy XIII started off as an assemblage of typical RPG character templates, but as the story progresses each member of my party underwent a change in character, be it subtle of profound, that won me over to their side.

A New Battle Paradigm: After being terribly disappointed by Final Fantasy XII’s battle system for taking the control of the characters away from me, I fully expected to be similarly disappointed in XIII, which once again sees the player issuing orders through one of the three active party members. Consider me pleasantly surprised. It’s like playing an MMO with two other people who know exactly what you need at any given time. I found it immensely satisfying.

Summoning Your Inner Strength:It wouldn’t be a Final Fantasy game without summoning spells, and XIII’s are more impressive than ever. I say this as a Transformers fan, so take that how you will. Each character eventually winds up with their own powerful Eidolon, which can be summoned to fight beside you in battle and then triggered to change into a vehicle, unleashing devastating attacks on your foes.

The Music Of The Crystals:I really want to hug Masashi Hamauzu. The composer behind the soundtrack of Final Fantasy X and Dirge of Cerberus outdid himself this time, creating one of the most eclectic yet satisfying video game soundtracks I’ve had the pleasure loudly curse over.

Hated
Equipment And Economy: Primitive as it may be, I miss the old RPG convention of visiting a new town, buying upgraded equipment, and then moving on.

The Sudden Grind: You may have heard complaints about the linear nature of Final Fantasy XIII, but after the first few chapters it starts to grow on you. It grew on me so much, that towards the latter part of the game, when Square Enix dumps you out on a giant, rolling expanse and tells you to go have fun doing quests randomly scattered about, I felt lost.

I Miss Towns: It’s a personal preference, and not really a fault of the game, but I miss stopping at a new town between long stretches of fighting, talking with the locals, hanging out at the inn for a bit, checking out the shops, and generally resting up at a safe haven where you don’t have to worry about a battle around every corner.

FINAL WORD:

I wouldn’t say that Final Fantasy XIII has completely renewed my faith in the series, but it has shown me that Square Enix’s experimentation with the classic role-playing conventions I had come to expect from the Final Fantasy can produce something fresh, new, and highly enjoyable. The company may have made a few missteps in terms of pacing, and they continue to try out new equipment systems that are far more complicated than they need to be (see The Last Remnant), but as a whole, Final Fantasy XIII is step in the right direction for the fabled franchise.

Final Fantasy XIII was developed and published by Square Enix and released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on March 9th. Retails for $59.99 USD. A copy of the Playstation 3 game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played the game to completion. Final playing time: 51 hours, 33 minutes

Lots of opinions. Time will tell, as will sales figures. I will be playing the game over the next couple weeks before my review.

Kotaku has posted it’s “Frankenreview“.  Take a look.