Final Fantasy XIII

Fans of previous Final Fantasy games will no doubt find plenty of things to praise and dislike in the newest entry into Square Enix's flagship franchise.  As a long time fan of the genre and the series I have mixed feelings about this game. It is responsible for both tears of joy and tears of agony. At around the fifth or sixth hour this game will really begin to test your patience, but I guess the developer's mindset is that if you bought the game then you are investing and pre-committing to their pacing and storytelling methods. The pacing is the slowest I have ever seen and it takes nearly a half dozen hours introducing you to the game mechanics. The worst part is that the mechanics aren't even complex; in my opinion it is the simplest fighting system I have ever played. I literally could hit the A button over and over again for half the battles and still get a S rank. As for the story, it was decent but not great, and grows on you as you get deeper in. The only time I felt any strong emotion at all for any of the characters was at the very end of the game, about 80 hour in. That's this games problem. It can eventually become a decent investment if you yourself are willing to invest deeply into it, but I have seen games 1/4 as long pull more emotion and enjoyment in the opening credits than this game evokes in its entirety. The game looks and feels great and plays even better, and I did not encounter a single bug or game-play issue in the 124 hours I spent completing the game. Like all Final Fantasy games you can expect at least a solid 45 hours of game-play (about 120 if you want to "100%" it), but unlike other games sharing the same name, this games feels more repetitive and time consuming than its predecessors. WARNING: THIS GAME IS LINEAR. Your general game-play experience will probably be the exact same as every other person who plays because there is no opportunity for deviation from the script, but at least the script is decent. The linear game-play really lends itself nicely to the overall production value of this game which is to say, second to none. The set pieces, character models, and enemies are incredibly detailed and gorgeous, but I feel like attention to detail should have been abandoned for a more open game. I don't feel impressed by much in this game and other than the graphics and shine put onto the environment and characters, little about this game feels "next gen". The bottom line is that Final Fantasy 13 isn't terrible, but it isn't great either, it definitely doesn't live up to the standards of the series and there is NO part of this game that hasn't already been done better in another Final Fantasy game. All in all, this game is just your average JRPG underneath the hood, with some very fancy paint and chrome slapped on the exterior. FINAL GRADE 3/5