Final Fantasy XIII (PlayStation 3) Review

Whilst 2012's sequel caused many to wonder whether or not it helped Square Enix get the 25-year-old Final Fantasy series back on track, it is time to take a look at the first Final Fantasy XIII to see why it was seen as the beginning of the end -- in effect the true 'final' fantasy.

Final Fantasy XII on the PlayStation 2 is highly revered by all quarters to this day, with even Famitsu awarding it a full score of 10s from its four reviewers. Therefore, clearly expectations were astronomically high for the successor and first mainline entry on the - at the time - beleaguered PlayStation 3. After all, other than Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy is the only guaranteed home-grown multimillion selling product that Square Enix can rely on nowadays, and with hardware sales of Sony's latest being stunted in Japan back in 2009 when Final Fantasy XIII finally launched, the game was facing an uphill struggle right from the get-go. The follow-up to the Final Fantasy XII project that led to Yasumi Matsuno-san infamously leaving Square Enix midway through due to stress was going to have to be something truly special to engage the low PlayStation 3 user base and reach the expected 2-3 million sales target in Japan alone. However, upon release it was met with mixed reviews on the whole from critics and a muted response from many fans. Some of the criticism is somewhat unjust, whilst other points of contention are actually surprisingly right on the money, making Final Fantasy XIII one extremely gorgeously presented mixed bag.

Everything starts off with the standard Final Fantasy fare, with players switching between a few different lead characters as the introductory story sequence is pieced together, easing players into the upcoming vast storyline, this time set in a futuristic world called Gran Pulse, with the focus on two subsectors, Cocoon - an artificial sphere floating above the surface - and the actual surface of Pulse. There is a convoluted plot about a government organisation named Sanctum that is holding the populace in a state of fear brought on by Cocoon's citizens being worried about another invasion like the War of Transgression that took place hundreds of years ago. It all gets quite confusing at times, but like any good tale, the story unfolds piece by piece throughout the adventure and all starts to fall into place nicely after a while.

The way the action starts is sublime, with an exhilarating action sequence that introduces players to Lightning, the lead star of what is quite a scintillating cast of weird and wonderful characters, and a former 'Soldier' supposed to help humans. After the chaos seemingly starts to die down, she, and current partner, are thrown into the first user-controlled turn-based battle against a mechanical scorpion beast with spinning razor blade claws; a rather normal foe by Final Fantasy standards, obviously! Active Time Battle returns, with characters able to string together chains of attack and choose to stick with preferential manoeuvres to save time in what can sometimes otherwise become a button-mashing exercise before receiving an end-of-battle score and ranking akin to the Tales of RPG line, rather than traditional 'Experience Points.'

Mere minutes into the journey reveals what is quite surprisingly a trend carried through almost to the end - the game is broken into separate sectors that act almost as tunnels, pushing the player forwards to the next area. From 'Hanging Edge - The Restricted Zone' onwards, the level of exploration so familiar in the series is severely restricted, like playing the game through a narrow passageway, rather than being able to venture into the wider world. There is also a 'Datalog' (or 'Datalogue' as us Europeans would spell it…) where "information deemed pertinent" is stored if wanting to read more details. Instead of stopping at an Inn, futuristic pods are accessed where the game can be saved and shopping done for new weapons, armour, and various other items. Also, interestingly, enemies can now be seen and dodged whilst dashing around, akin to in Final Fantasy XII, which proves to be a blessing for people tired of being bogged down by endless random encounters. There is also the chance to use a stock set of moves in-battle where 'situationally appropriate' commands are used to speed up the fighting process.

Basically, there are many elements that make Final Fantasy XIII almost seem like Square Enix's answer to Final Fantasy Lite, a product aimed at drawing in the more mainstream crowd that shies away from 'heavy' role-playing outings that are too time-consuming for busy folk. There are plenty of moments where automatic jumping and continuous bouts of cut-scenes take the action away from the player to the point where at times it really feels like being part of an interactive movie, rather than becoming drawn further and further into a deep role-playing game.

That is not to say the story is not gripping, as in many ways it is, which is why the subtle changes to the gameplay hamper the overall experience so much. Rather than breaking down the flow of past entries in order to lure in a new crowd, thus alienating the faithful from years gone by, it would have been preferable to see the tale draped over the majesty of Final Fantasy XII's gameplay, for instance. When it all comes together, there are so many heart-wrenching moments, and exhilarating, adrenaline-filled sequences, mixed with plenty of intrigue and twists en-route to the finale that this could have been something truly special instead of just a 'very good' Final Fantasy that will be remembered for some of the wrong reasons.

Rather like Final Fantasy VIII, this time the setting has again been brought more into a science fiction realm rather than the fantastical worlds seen in many other entries. As the first Final Fantasy to appear in glorious high definition, it will come as no surprise to hear that it really does blow not only socks off people, but all sorts of other pieces of clothing as well. Square Enix always has a knack of squeezing amazing visuals out of whatever hardware it works with, and the might of the PlayStation 3 ensured that Final Fantasy XIII was aesthetically pleasing, to say the least. Of course, though, style-over-substance can be a killer, and there were concerns about the adventure on the whole that certainly left an awkward, almost hollow feeling afterwards. Several elements of the story snatched at the heart-strings on many occasions, however, with the dynamic between the various cast members creating real emotion and the setting proving appealing to those with a penchant for futuristic locales and gadgetry. Feeling like control is taken away for too long at times, and then being ushered down passageways that offer nowhere near as much exploration as expected in the Final Fantasy series, sadly hampers things overall, and only ever being able to directly control the lead member of the team during battles can also be frustrating.

People may bemoan the fact that complaints about linearity, specifically in the first half of the game, are narrow-minded and that Final Fantasy really needed to be streamlined to make it more accessible. However, looking at the Dragon Quest series goes to show that sales will remain massively high if the formula is not played around with too much. Final Fantasy has seen a dip in fortunes due to the stance taken on Final Fantasy XIII, it cannot be argued, but all hope is not lost for the developer to turn things around again.