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User Score
9.7

Presentation - 10
Gameplay - 9.5
Value - 10

Final Fantasy is my favorite video game series of all time. I started it back on the PlayStation 1 with Final Fantasy VIII, which happens to be my favorite Final Fantasy as well as my favorite game of all time. I then become a HUGE fan of the series and I now own every installment whether it be the main series, the spin offs, the spin offs of the spin offs, and the MMOs. I am very glad to say that Final Fantasy XIII is solid experience in the wonderful series that we have all come to know and love.

Story:

The story is pretty good overall. It isn't the best in the series, but it definitely isn't the worst either. The game will offer you a few plot twists that can be quite interesting. The story also has it's ups and downs at certain points like every game. There were a few points in the game where I just had to see what happened next because it had me on the edge of my seat. You will not be disappointed with the story, but please don't go in looking for something revolutionary.

Characters:

Quite possibly the best cast of characters in the entire series. They were all likeable and the voice acting was top-notch. I will admit that at the start of the game I had a slight problem with Vanilles VA. It didn't really bother me but it was odd. But as the game progressed I started to like it. I can see why they picked it and I am glad that they did. The voice sync is also spectacular and is NOTHING like the horrible sync we seen in the dub trailers. Just so you know, Fang/Sazh/Lightning are some of the coolest characters in gaming. Sazh is hilarious, and the baby chick just adds in with the fun he provides.

<3Fang<3 (You still can't top Yuna though, sorry)

Music:

Masashi Hamauzu did an excellent job on the OST. I really enjoyed some of the songs and it is definitely an OST I can remember. The boss theme is one of the best ever created. I want that song on my PSP, my PS3, and what-ever the hell else I may be listening to music on because it is that good. Some songs though could get slightly irritating as they had some really akward lyrics in them. I'm glad that he provided 2 versions of the chocobo theme because if I had to listen to that girl sing while on Gran Pulse, I would have lost it. But overall, fantastic job.

Proves to me that Final Fantasy does not NEED Nobuo to have good themes. Though Nobuo will always be a fantastic composer and I would like to see him score more of FF. As he is with FF XIV and it is FANTASTIC!

Graphics:

Down right GORGEOUS! This game will offer you some of the best visuals you can find in video gaming ever. But it will show you the best CGI cutscenes that you will ever see. Square-Enix shows that they are still on the top with their CGI.

Gameplay:

It is really fun, and I enjoyed this alot. People will make you believe that the game is linear to hell and that your just going to run down a straight path for the entire game. Well disregard them as they are dumb and obviously don't understand what straight is. The linear aspect is just about on par with Final Fantasy X. Now there were some sections where I felt that the map needed to be bigger, or longer. But they did an exceptionally well job. The battle system is quite fun and enjoyable. The paradigm shifts allow you to make some pretty crazy choices in battle and offer many different playing strategies.

Technical Issues:

This game gave me only 1 issue through out my entire 50 hour campaign to finish the title. I had a brief 2 second slow down in 1 battle. and that was IT. No frame-rate studders, no pop-in, no freezing, NOTHING ELSE.

They did a FANTASTIC job at this. I really wish other developers would follow their example. Some developers are coming to the point where they just do not care about the technical issues, and it is definitely showing in their games. I want to say it here and now. Thank you Square-Enix for taking the time and effort for making a proper game the way it SHOULD be.

Others:

Some people mentioned that the lack of towns is a step back for the series. I disagree. Technically, yes there are towns in the game. But they aren't used in the same way that all JRPGs use them. In a typical JRPGs, a town is a safe haven where nothing can go wrong and you just have this unlimited amount of time to do anything you want. Well XIII doesn't work like that.

Final Fantasy XIII is an exceptionally awesome game in the series. It isn't the best one, but it is now in my top 3 ranking behind Final Fantasy VIII & X. Pushing FF VII down to fourth, XII to fifth and kicking IX out of my top 5.

I assure you that you can't go wrong with FF XIII. It is a wonderful JRPG experience.

Also in my opinion, XIII is not the hardest in the series for bosses. But some regular monsters can go to hell for all I care. Lol.

Pros:

- Awesome Characters

- Fantastic Voice Overs

- Phenominal OST

- Graphics are just too damn pretty

- Lots to do to make the game a solid 100 hours

- Tough monsters

Cons:

- Equipment system could have been slightly better

- Antagonist needed to show up earlier

- It's over, and now I must wait for XIV and XV! Damn you SE!