It’s with no small sense of irony that I call Final Fantasy XIII the most eagerly anticipated game of the year: for a game that was first shown off at E3 2006, it’s been a long time coming. So long, in fact, that some fans of the series doubted that the most recent instalment would ever arrive.
With the Final Fantasy series spanning numerous consoles (and generations), it’s easily one of the biggest RPG series, certainly in an international market. Later iterations of the game have become known for their epic storylines and amazing cut-scenes and Final Fantasy XIII is no different: it might even be the best game that the series has to offer yet.
As with all Final Fantasy games, FFXIII is set in a different world from its predecessors, but there are still common elements. This time around, the game takes place in a dual world, the floating moon-like Cocoon hovering over the wilderness of Pulse. The two worlds have warred in the distant past, and now exist in a state of mutual fear, a situation encouraged by the Sanctum, the leaders of Cocoon. But both worlds also have a shared history, with powerful beings known as fal’Cie treated as gods and leaders, and choosing humans to act according to their will, turning them into powerful magic users known as l’Cie.
When a fal’Cie from Pulse is found on Cocoon, the Sanctum sets out to remove the threat: they claim to be relocating the locals (in danger of becoming Pulse l’Cie) to the world below, but the truth is a lot more devious. Players are put in control of six characters who go against the Sanctum’s wishes: soldier Lightning; militia-leader Snow; pilot Sazh; a young boy named Hope whose mother has fallen victim to the Sanctum’s plan, and the mysterious Vanille and Fang. As they become hunted, our heroes realise that their fates are intertwined with that of Cocoon and each other.
Of course, the storyline of Final Fantasy XIII is a lot more complicated than that, and encompasses many themes common to the series: each character has their own personal story to deal with, often involving a family member or a romance, but there are also deeper themes which weave in and out of the primary plot, including religion, politics, military power, race and the small matter of destiny itself.
Gameplay divides the characters into teams, and for much of the earlier part of the game, characters work in pairs advancing their own storylines, and uncovering larger aspects of the main storyline. Even when there are several characters available, the game mostly functions in teams of no greater than three, with the player controlling only one character at a time, both for exploring and for battle (while other characters will trail behind or scout ahead.)
When exploring, the game plays as a standard over-the-shoulder “action” game (although there’s little action) leading your characters through the streets and pathways of Cocoon and Pulse. Most paths are linear: on the rare occasions when paths diverge, they will merge again a few moments later, usually just providing access to some treasure, or an easy way of avoiding a battle.
Enemies stalk the pathways, and one of several things can happen when the player encounters: the enemies may be alerted to your presence and will attack, triggering battle mode; if players avoid enemies, then they can trigger the battle, allowing them a pre-emptive strike on the enemy; or, if you’re really careful (or by the use of “shroud” items) you may be able to avoid combat completely.
The battle system is where Final Fantasy XIII comes into its own, based on a combination of turn-based and real-time play thanks to the presence of the ATB gauge. This refills automatically during battle, and allows several actions (both standard and magical attacks) to be queued that will then be triggered when the gauge is full. Time doesn’t slow down for actions to be entered, however, so the battle sequences remain fast-paced and unrelenting. Items are used separate from the ATB, while summons and other certain abilities rely on a different system of technical points. (Summons in this game take the form of demi-god-like characters called Eidolons that become available after a certain stage and who fight alongside the summoner on the battlefield, or else become a vehicle or large weapon for the summoner to use.)
Throughout battles, players can only control one character (the party leader) but while this proves frustrating early on in the game, helps to keep the battles fast by allowing the leader to issue role commands to the rest of the party. For example, a command can be issued that a character act as a medic, and they will then operate in a support capacity, healing the rest of the squad (although unable to attack enemies while in this role.) Similar roles include magic-heavy attackers and roles for both buffing other team-members and debuffing enemies, all of which have their strengths and weaknesses.
Most battles will require the player to switch roles various times, but this becomes more intensive as the game progresses and the team come against more difficult enemies: switching roles (or Paradigms, as the game refers to the team’s mix) can be done at any stage during battle, and timing it right will refill an ATB gauge, allowing for instant attacks. It also proves the block around which all other combat is built, as switching Paradigms at the right time is often what can make, or break, a battle.
While this keeps battles fast-paced and interesting, there are still times where the game becomes…well, something of a chore. Inventory items are a little more difficult to manage than really needed, with different menus for viewing and equipping items, making it awkward to pick just the right boost for each character all in one place. Certain characters are also better in a supporting role than others, and when put in control of those characters, battle becomes far less interesting. Battles against easier enemies (once you’ve gotten to higher levels) have little point behind them, sometimes only serving to increase character levels or place an enemy beside an important switch, and may prove to be the waste of a “shroud” boost used a few minutes too soon.
Graphically, there is no other word to describe Final Fantasy XIII than amazing. The game cuts seamlessly from cut scene to gameplay, both rendered so closely together that oftentimes the only way to tell that you are now “in control” is a change of camera angle or the reappearance of the mini-map. Of course, who’d expect anything less from a Final Fantasy game, but this really shows up what both the PS3 and Xbox 360 are capable of, and more importantly, what other games try and fail to do with both consoles.
In some ways, Final Fantasy XIII is a disappointment, but a very tiny one: as a game, there are times where it plays itself too much, where things are a bit too linear, and the learning curve jumps quite dramatically when it then forces players in at the deep end. On the other hand, this isn’t always a bad thing, and FFXIII is a crowning achievement for interactive media where you don’t always have to be playing to be a part of the game.
Its linear storyline (in comparison with other RPGs) will definitely win over some newcomers to the franchise, but even that success could easily come with a price: some old fans of Final Fantasy games might be put off by what is (at first) an over-simplification of the series. Of course, those fans who like the series have…well, let’s be fair, you’ve probably already bought it and are anxiously reading this waiting to get back to playing, aren’t you?
Zombie Rating: A-
Final Fantasy XIII is out now for Sony PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
I’ve loved the Final Fantasy games ever since FF3 on SNES. Thanks for the great entry as always.
Thanks for the excellent post. Final Fantasy always did RPGs right.