The Very Big Final Fantasy XIII Thread

Bob The Mercenary · 03-09-2010, 09:05 AM

Had the opportunity to try Final Fantasy XIII a few days early, but only got about two hours in before the game had to be returned.

The short - it's absolutely gorgeous. The cut scenes and character animations are as expected from seeing the trailers. The environments (at least in the opening scenes) are filled with activity going on around you as you progress through the level. As in you'll be running down a corridor as you look up and see a battle taking place above you, as ships crash land around you. At one point you are walking on a lake that was frozen into crystal. Your character's image reflects off of every wave and gets distorted according to the angle.

But, as other reviews have already pointed out, so far this game is a straight line. The first hours I talked about are really a two hour long tutorial filled with running into battles and mashing the X button until it ends (or oh noes you have to use a potion). And there are plenty of potions. In one boss battle I used five of them and still had 25 left in my inventory. I haven't quite made it to the overworld map yet, I'm wondering when exactly that will be.

I'm willing to let the baby step opening battles go if for nothing other than the plot has been engaging (I am now convinced Lightning is the female version of Steven Seagal). The characters are each funny in their own way, but clearly have a deeper story yet to be revealed. Oh, and you effectively have a five character party about an hour in.

The dialogue is clearly anime. The only two people who aren't melodramatic about it are Snow and the guy with the chocobo in his fro. And Hope is scared of absolutely everything. Let's see where this goes. I'm picking my copy up Wednesday, should give me enough time to find out who the Origami Killer is.

03-09-2010, 09:05 AM	#10
Bob The Mercenary Bob Dole Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Bob Dole Posts: 5,606	Eff eff ex aye aye aye Had the opportunity to try Final Fantasy XIII a few days early, but only got about two hours in before the game had to be returned. The short - it's absolutely gorgeous. The cut scenes and character animations are as expected from seeing the trailers. The environments (at least in the opening scenes) are filled with activity going on around you as you progress through the level. As in you'll be running down a corridor as you look up and see a battle taking place above you, as ships crash land around you. At one point you are walking on a lake that was frozen into crystal. Your character's image reflects off of every wave and gets distorted according to the angle. But, as other reviews have already pointed out, so far this game is a straight line. The first hours I talked about are really a two hour long tutorial filled with running into battles and mashing the X button until it ends (or oh noes you have to use a potion). And there are plenty of potions. In one boss battle I used five of them and still had 25 left in my inventory. I haven't quite made it to the overworld map yet, I'm wondering when exactly that will be. I'm willing to let the baby step opening battles go if for nothing other than the plot has been engaging (I am now convinced Lightning is the female version of Steven Seagal). The characters are each funny in their own way, but clearly have a deeper story yet to be revealed. Oh, and you effectively have a five character party about an hour in. The dialogue is clearly anime. The only two people who aren't melodramatic about it are Snow and the guy with the chocobo in his fro. And Hope is scared of absolutely everything. Let's see where this goes. I'm picking my copy up Wednesday, should give me enough time to find out who the Origami Killer is. __________________ Bob Dole