Final Fantasy XIII Postmortem

What entry in the Final Fantasy series has been maligned as much as the thirteenth (two doesn't count)?

When the game came out, I couldn't help but read and hear everywhere about how much the game was terrible and linear and stupid and hard and it plays itself and a bunch of other things that would be impossible to actually describe a single game. One thing was certain: the game was controversial.

What little we know about the troubled development history of Final Fantasy XIII is very interesting. We know the game started development for the Playstation 2 in 2004 after the team had finished working on Final Fantasy X-2 International for Japan's market. It was moved to the Playstation 3 later on, and the teams involved all began churning out a bunch of characters and areas to be stitched together. The team was having trouble coming up with a collective look and feel for the game, and the higher ups wanted to ship a demo with the Japanese version of Advent Children, the Final Fantasy VII straight to home video movie. They ultimately did create the demo, then buckle down and finish the game, although they cut - according to Isamu Kamikokuryou, the game's art director - so much content, there was enough left over to create another game.

All of which is very forthcoming from a Japanese developer. But anyway, I just find it incredibly interesting that this game took as long as it did and came out like it did. I recommend 1UP's Active Time Babble podcast from January 14th, 2010 about Final Fantasy XIII for an interesting discussion of the above and in-depth discussion about the battle system and structure of the game. Frankly, I think they do a great job of discussing it without spoiling the story.

Here's my take, though. I think the game is one of the most beautiful games I have ever played. The first few hours don't really do it much justice; you're stuck in cramped hallways that are too abstract to really be appreciated. Once you get outside and explore the outdoors of Cocoon (and later the vast, stunningly gorgeous Pulse), I guarantee you will stop and just look around for a while.

I know people say that every five years or so about whatever game just came out, but this game really is gorgeous. It really showcases Square-Enix's art talent.

Speaking of art talent, I actually like most of the character designs! Sure, Vanille and Serah look really jailbaity, and yes, Lightning's sheath bounces off the back of her legs for the entire game (wouldn't there be chafing or something?), but there are barely any zippers to be found! These characters actually look like people, and their clothes aren't TOO ridiculous (as women in JRPGs do, most of them are dressed pretty skimpily). A lot of people think Snow looks like a dudebro douchebag, but that's what he's supposed to look like, because he kind of is a dudebro douchebag. Other than the aforementioned sheath, I really like Lightning's character design. She actually seems like an adult and isn't a pile of zippers, like some female Final Fantasy characters that shall not be named.

I like most of the character arcs, too. Without spoiling anything, I really like Lightning's evolution throughout the game, along with (*gasp!*) Snow's. Near the end, their arcs get a little messed up, but overall they pull it off. I enjoyed the voice acting besides Vanille's, and rather enjoyed most of the story. Some of the individual scenes are poorly written and embarrassing, but they're sadly endemic to the genre ("We can do it! Let's pull off a miracle, guys!" followed by "We decide our own fate. Right guys?!" etc etc).

That battle system, though. Picking apart every battle to find the thread that will not only let you win, but absolutely trounce the enemies is a blast. The Paradigm system, while very strange and counter intuitive at first, becomes second nature fairly quickly (yes, before the 15 hour tutorial ends) and never really becomes uninteresting throughout the game. What's nice is that there is some room for most fights to be approached in multiple ways with different characters and classes. For example, I didn't use the Sentinel much, despite hearing all over the place how absolutely essential it was. Sure, one of the characters I used sometimes was a Sentinel, but I feel like Saboteur and Synergist were way more interesting and important (especially in the endgame). To each their own.

I've never looked forward to boss battles as much as I do in Final Fantasy XIII, though. Intricate puzzles designed to be perfectly balanced for whatever point in the game you're at (with the exception of the final two chapters, anyway), they never disappointed. Some were a bit cheap, but if you rearranged your Paradigms and changed your strategy, you would suss out a win. For example, I got absolutely murdered three times by the final boss. The last time, once I realized a certain strategy, I went in and kicked the crap out of him. It was cathartic and very enjoyable.

I'm not sure if I'll go back and do some of the side mission stuff, though. You see, I actually enjoyed the linear nature of the game, and while I didn't dislike when Chapter 11 opened up and let me do basically whatever I wanted, I felt a little disconnect. The game had been so rigidly linear up to that point that I felt a little paralyzed by choice. I certainly don't look at it as a negative, though! Whoever wants to mess around in that playground can certainly do so, and if you don't want to, you can just grind a little and move on with the story. It sure would be interesting to take down some of those giant monsters, though...

All in all, a very good game. I know next to nothing about Final Fantasy XIII-2, despite owning it. Perhaps I will give that a try soon...

Oh! The music is very good, too.