Okay, so mayhaps this post is a bit behind schedule, but so is everything that I've done lately. I actually beat the game a while back, and am halfway done with it again, but due to my forgetfulness I didn't make a post about it until now.
So I had been waiting for Final Fantasy 13 since I became a fan of Final Fantasy (This was before even 10 came out). This is because they were obviously going to keep going that far and because 13 is my favorite number. I was so excited for it that nothing was going to bring me down whilst playing it. And unfortunately, there were things that were trying to bring me down. But more on that later.
As I've said in my previous post, I loved the music. This realization was met with mixed feelings. Its good that I like the music, but the music was not done by Nobuo Uematsu who has done almost all Final Fantasy songs to date, so liking music that wasn't made by him made me feel like I was betraying him. I'm weird like that. I'll post one more song for you all. This song is called Dust to Dust and is the song that plays at a pivotal point in the plot.
Final Fantasy has almost always been good at telling a story. This Final Fantasy is no exception. The story starts in a place called Cocoon, a floating paradise that is maintained by beings known as Fal'cie. There is a lowerworld that Cocoon floats over known only as Pulse. Everyone on Cocoon fears Pulse and what they feel is an inevitable invasion from it. Then a Fal'cie from Pulse is discovered and Cocoon panics. They order a purge of all people who might have been connected to that Fal'cie. This purge is where the story starts. Lightning and Sahz are both on a purge train, though neither of them need to be. Lightning stops the train and with the help of Sahz, fights her way to the holding area of the Pulse Fal'cie. Sahz follows her for his own reasons. All of the other characters are also heading in that direction, each for their own reasons.
The only thing potentially worse than a Fal'cie is a L'cie, which is a human that has been forcibly made into a servant of a L'cie. L'cies all have a focus that they must complete for their Fal'cie masters, and everyone on Cocoon fears that they Pulse Fal'cie will make Pulse L'cie. They were right. All of the playable characters are turned into L'cie by the Pulse Fal'cie and thus are marked as enemies of Cocoon and hunted relentlessly.
The characters don't initially know what task they are to complete for the Pulse Fal'cie, but if they don't complete this task, they their punishment is transformation into a terrible monster. Completing it won't save them however, as it will turn them into a crystal for eternity. And then there is the problem that they were given this task by a being from pulse, so most fear that their task would be to destroy Cocoon. Will they accept their terrible fates, or will they defy destiny and attempt to save a world that hates them?
Enough of the plot, how about the game play? Yay game play! The battle system in FF13 is very fun. Each character has predetermined roles that they can fill, such as medic or commando, and during the battle you may switch between those roles as the tides of the battle begin to change. The battles are also incredibly fast paced and a good many of the boss battles require cunning strategy for you to win. I find the battle system to be incredibly fun.
You don't level up as traditionally as you do in other Final Fantasy games. The level up system is similar to Final Fantasy 10. You get points after each battle that you can spend on attributes and abilities within each of the roles your characters can play. I really like the feeling of progress you feel as you level your characters up. Of course, I can say the same about just about every RPG I've ever played, but 13 makes it unique.
The game isn't all good however. There are some complaints that must be noted. The first is the biggest and most obvious. For the first 40 or so hours, you are essentially going in a straight line. There are no deviations in your path that go for more than a few feet. You just follow the path and kill dead anything that gets in your way. This was a major bummer. But not enough to make me stop playing, as I said, I'm already halfway through my second playthrough. The battle system and the story are enough to keep me going until I get past that path. After a certain point, the world opens up and you can explore a huge area, and this is my favorite part of the game. I love exploring, and while the game doesn't let you for a while, when it does, it does it well.
For the first few hours that I was playing this game, it just didn't feel like a Final Fantasy to me. I soon realized why. They left something very important out.
No, not a parrot, the song that it was singing. They have some new fanfare that isn't a fanfare, but a few happy notes that don't make you feel as happy as the usual one does. After the killer battle music, the lack of the fanfare was hard to take. Its made this game seem like a not Final Fantasy game for a long time. That feeling was mended when I came across the Chocobos, and later, the Cactuars.
All in all, I love this game, and that is evidenced by the fact that I am playing it again. This time I am attempting to get 100%. I feel that Final Fantasy 13 is very awesome, and I am happy by the fact that they are making more games set in the world of Final Fantasy 13 (all of which I intend to play somehow.)
Hopefully my next post won't be two months from now, but I'm not making any promises as I am bad at keeping them.
2 years ago
