The highest compliment I can pay to final fantasy 13 (and maybe certain videogames in general) is when as a gamer I spend nearly every second playing and thinking to myself  “wow I would give anything to live in that world”.

For me FF13 truly was escapism at its finest and isn’t that why we game in the first place ? I am sure we can all think of those few games that truly sucked us into their worlds. When I was a kid it was the pokemon worlds…I wanted to wander freely through the forests of kanto in search of my OWN pikachu ( or squirtle for that matter). Millions of gamers out there wish they could probably actually live IN the world of warcraft as opposed to their daily lives to some degree. Living for the honor of your race…exploring the beautiful lands of Azeroth…..looking out into the sky from their zephyr reflecting on their recent quests. Videogames allow us as gamers that (escapism to some degree) and that is probably my single favorite characteristic of the medium.

Above all else though for me the Final Fantasy series has been at the forefront of this escapism. Ask most who have grown up with the series, wouldn’t you love to stand side by side with your favorite character?  How cool would it be to Leap on a chocobo and ride across the plans of your favorite ff world, or wander across a massive breathtaking city? As I was playing final fantasy 13 I realized that to me that was what made the entire game work on the highest of levels. I can’t remember the last time I was truly this enchanted by the world of any videogame. I loved the vibe of deadly premonitions world…..monster hunter tri had a cool tropical village setting….hell mass effect 2 was probably the closest. Living in that world would be incredible. Mass effect 2 sported an awesome hyper futuristic style throughout the buildings and the cities… fascinating characters and battle weaponry…so much to get lost in. In some ways though the world in mass effects is more fun to live through vicariously with our gaming avatars because it’s so incredibly dark and gloomy. In contrast to the eye popping visual splendor that is Final Fantasy 13, I can literaly feel the neurons in my head releasing  wonderful amounts of dopamine every time my eyes make contact with my TV screen. Lets be fair though…graphics aren’t everything right??  A fantasy game should look incredible ( if at least stylistically) and final fantasy does both to an off the scale measurement. One of the main reasons I had so much trouble getting wrapped up in Dragon Age wasn’t that it was so ugly( wich it was) but that it had ZERO style. The depth of the combat and story feel oddly faint when the world your spending time in is so dull.

Is there a world more beautiful than final fantasy 13’s? If there is I haven’t seen it. Yea sure there are times in the game when you are not in the brightest of set pieces…but over the course of your 60 hour journey you will encounter some of the most gorgeous towns, mountains, rivers, oceans, skys, vistas that ANY game available can offer. The visual orgasmica is part of what makes it all pop off the screen in what can only be described as an orgy of pleasure for the senses. Everything in the game drips with the most imaginative minds in the business. Hell even the fucking menus look incredible….the fucking menus!

The combat system may seem to divide some people but if nothing else it’s an incredible fresh take on final fantasy style battles and the series needed that. The characters and story are typical Final Fantasy. Characters so ridiculously stylistic and over the top it would be awesome to have a conversation with them. Hell it would be awesome to just hang back in their group and observe them! Take snow for example. Brash and overtly optimistic on the surface im sure we would learn that deep down those traits of his character are surface defense mechanisms. Traits that mask the obligation he feels under the surface to be the strong willed soul that others can latch onto in times of distress. Snow is the cornerstone of hope when everything seems to be crumbling down around you.

As confusing as the storyline can be at first it’s like untangling a beautiful mystery from the very core. Piece by piece until we as the player realize that every character, conversations, town, enemy, cinematic, is so PERFECTLY placed that once the final puzzle piece is in place we realize just how incredible what we have experienced truly is. As a player I enjoyed every minute of FF13. Squares deliberate pacing was the vessel for my experience yes, but every time I booted up the game, and stepped foot into one of the most breathtaking worlds ever imagined, I simply never wanted to leave.

Weird.

Yes the graphics was nice and the datalog was brilliant.

Wow, I hated everything about the game except the graphics, which were nice, but not great in the open world portion.  The sparse environment didnt help any.  Combat was ok.  Those are the two good things I can say about the game.  That game really pisses me off.....Story, plot, chars are just horrible. 

I agree that the world was a pretty interesting place.  I wish we'd gotten to interact with it a little more, maybe see and hear more about it ourselves instead of via the datalog section.

" I agree with you, Final Fantasy 13 is the best looking game I have ever seen. Never before have I been so wooed by a games beauty. "

Indeed FFXIII had some breathtaking areas and was a very nice looking game. I found myself looking at places and wishing I could just step outside of the game and explore the areas they put so much effort into, the cities especially... Actually I would have prefered a tech demo of the final city over the actual game, to be honest, as the combat became so tedious towards the end but the setting was gorgeous.

May have been beautiful, but I don't really consider tapping X three times every 5-10 seconds a compelling experience...

this game is sort of the star wars prequel of final fantasy games

" May have been beautiful, but I don't really consider tapping X three times every 5-10 seconds a compelling experience... "

I like the level design. I'm actually still playing that game suprisingly for my second playthrough and the levels are fantastic.

Yeah every part of this game is awesome.

Meh...

I just started last night and played for about an hour.  I had a great time and can't wait to get back to it, it really is impressive.

I agree
 
Though, I wish there were more areas like the Oerba village in the game. That area reminds me of Fragile

S-ranked this game. 
 
Meh.

Beautiful, sure. As an exercise in world-building, however, it's surprisingly sparse and the game suffers for it. Just played FFX again, which does such a thorough job of defining Spira and the social and metaphysical forces working within it, and was promptly reminded why I cared not at all what happened to Cocoon.
 
But yeah, it's beautiful.

Most beautiful FF universe created? One of them. 
Most beautiful world ever created? Depends on what you mean.  Graphically? Yes. 
In most other categories? Not in my opinion, but I've always loved the universe from The Edge chronicles ever since I first read "Beyond the Deepwoods" (a miserable place, but are we talking about a Utopia here?).
 

@Sieferx2

I can literaly feel the neurons in my head releasing  wonderful amounts of dopamine every time my eyes make contact with my TV screen. 

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter active in parts of the brain that control movement. You're thinking of serotonin, which is active in parts of the brain that control emotion (it's what's sometimes released when taking ecstasy :P). Either that, or you're twitching a lot whilst you're playing it. "

Yeah the graphics are definitely the best part. The story was so confusing though and I don't have the time to play through crappy games just to get to something that is mediocre after a while.

"Cocaine's euphoric effects are largely due to its interaction with dopamine pathways."

Kinda anti-Dragon Age there, huh?
I think Dragon Age looks pretty cool.

Sure it they may be less beautiful worlds, but I was more drawn into the worlds of Red Dead and Fallout 3 just because it was so open to your exploration. In a guided experience, I just get the feeling that everything around me is two-dimensional.

@twolines
 Im actually not anti dragon age per say...i really enjoyed it. However the visual style and bland world kept me from immersing myself into the truly impressive depths i know lurk within the game...
 
@GlenTennis
I hear what you are saying...i loved both those worlds you mentioned. From an exploration standpoint Red Dead was absolutley amazing. However those worlds were only shades of a few colors( and im not sure if beautiful is the exact word i would use to describe them) but i can see your point. I personally just felt that FF13 was the most beautiful world ever created EVEN if i couldnt explore the damn thing to my hearts content.
 
have a great one 
mo

Yeah, was gorgeous.

I wish this was a poll so I could make multiple accounts and vote that I agree with you many times over.

FF13: The most linear world ever created.

I loved Final Fantasy XIII's art style. I've been waiting for the series to go back to a sci-fi setting since VIII and if there was one thing I deeply enjoyed about this game, it sure as hell was the style. It's not that it's "just sci-fi", we see sci-fi settings in games all the time, but rarely does one exhibit the sleek colorful style that XIII exhibits, making the whole world incredibly refreshing. Hat's-off to the art-director. 
 
Which for me was why a good portion of the game was a bit disappointing. Great characters, a great world, but not utilized to their full potentiality at all with weak level deign and not enough places to explore all the ornate details Square took the time to make. Running around PalomPorum and seeing these phenomenally detailed vista's of the city-scape, that seemed built with real geometry no-less (Unless they were the greatest sky-boxes EVER.) yet not being able explore those area's. I agree with Symph, we need like a tech-demo to check that shit out. 
 
So yeah, I can actually agree with your opinion, that when it comes to pure style and graphic fidelity Final Fantasy XIII doesn't have many equals right now. Even though, regrettably, I still think it's one of the weakest entry's in the series next to the original Final Fantasy II. :/