Final Fantasy XIII: Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts

I love movies so much more than games. I do, however, love Final Fantasy games more than all of the movies in the world. Why? Because to me, getting to know and love a cast of characters for 40+ hours is so much more impactful than after 2 hours. Yeah, a multi-entry saga like The Lord of the Rings can have a serious impact after its total 10+ hours of film, but it still can't come close to emulating the emotional satisfaction I feel when I complete a Final Fantasy game. It's been nearly a decade since I've experienced this. Final Fantasy X was the last entry in the series that I consider to be a "real" FF (Final Fantasy). FFX is also what first inspired me to pursue storytelling and animation as a career. It's definitely one of the greatest stories ever told, and without a doubt, my personal favorite story. Ever. Imagine my anticipation for the coming of what appeared to be the first "real" entry to the series in nine years! Finally, another FFX! By the way, all FF games are completely self contained and featured unique worlds, characters and stories. Only a few elements carry over to each, giving it a familiar, yet entirely original feel. So, did it meet my expectations? Well, I'm pretty sure that would be impossible. It is, however, a great game. Unfortunately it's not one of the stronger entries. Luckily, Final Fantasy XIII is far greater than the sum of its parts.

The futuristic city world of Cocoon floats above the abandoned wilderness of Pulse.Hovering above the wilderness of the world called Pulse is Cocoon, a self contained human paradise. It was created by the god-like beings known as fal'Cie (pronounced fal-see) to protect humans from the dangers of Pulse. The fal'Cie would occasionally deem a human their servant, which would be known as a l'Cie (pronounced luh-see). If the l'Cie falied his (or her) "focus" or took too long to complete it, he would turn into a cie'Th (pronounced seeth). If success was achieved, he would turn into crystal and gain "eternal life." To humans, either fate was worse than death itself. In Cocoon, there was no need for l'Cie, in fact nobody had been turned into a l'Cie in hundreds of years. They were deemed myth, and everything of Pulse origin was feared and loathed. When six Cocoon citizens are turned into l'Cie by a Pulse fal'Cie, they are labeled enemies of their home, Cocoon. Can they defy their fate?

Final Fantasy games are story-centric. They always follow a similar formula, too. A group of unlikely heroes must band together to topple some form of corrupt government, which usually leads to the reveal and pursuit of a much higher, world-threatening power. Nearly every entry in the series has done a great job of keeping that concept completely original and fresh. The members of the creative team at Square-Enix are expert storytellers. They've proven it time and again. It's a little unfortunate that the first time it comes across slightly stale (at least when compared to their enormously positive track record) is with the first game whose level of production matches that of CG movies (thanks to the PS3). It really does have an INCREDIBLE story at it's core, but the way in which it's told certainly isn't as masterfully crafted as its predecessors. The world is deep and vast, and once I finally got a grasp on what had been going on behind the scenes, all of the seemingly aimless segments of the game's plot fell in to place. Still, some plot aspects seemed awkwardly forced, as if the great cast of characters were constantly being thrown into situations that the writers deemed "had to happen." It's not always like this, as there are a few multi-hour segments that feature some of the best storytelling in the series. Outside of the cutscene-featured plot I also had to read many entries of the "datalog" to really appreciate the world and story. This is something I really loved. Similar to the appendices at the end of The Lord of the Rings, the datalog provides a vast amount of information about the deep workings of the huge world Square-Enix created. Unfortunately, a lot of this game's players simply aren't going to take the time to read it, and will therefore miss out on a LOT of the game's inner plot. Although it's a great addition to the game, I really wish a bit more of it had been worked into the cutscenes to make the plot flow a bit better. A few slow areas and forced events aside, FFXIII really does have a great story. It's really the characters that make it work. They are some of the best characters in the series. They're endearing, relatable, and by the time I reached the end they had become an active part of my life. Yeah, they start out as jerks and have some seriously messed up motivation, but the realization of their own flaws just makes them that much more relatable. I became incredibly involved in their struggle to defy their fate. On many occasions I found myself yelling at the bosses I was fighting because I was so furious at what they were putting my dear friends through! And now it's all over. I miss them already!

Complementing the story is a fantastic battle system. A heavily evolved version of the classic turn-based combat the series founded two decades ago really takes the gameplay in a great new direction. Rather than inputting the commands of each party member and waiting for your next turn while enemies wallop you, the player controls only the party leader in a seemingly real-time experience. You enter manual commands (multiple chained abilities per-turn) while also actively switching sets of "roles" for your party to fit the current situation. The system really puts you in control of the tactical flow of the battle, rather than having you input every single command. It takes a LOT of strategy, especially since the battles are moving incredibly fast. The handy "auto-battle" command sounds like a cheap way to let the game play itself, but it's honestly a life saver. The complex battle system can be excruciatingly punishing at times, but that just makes it all the more rewarding. Leveling through the Crystarium (a simplified version of FFX's sphere-grid leveling system) is also a welcome change to simply gaining level-ups after a battle. It allows some freedom to choose which roles you develop for each character. There's also a fancy weapon/accessory customization feature.

As far as level design goes...Yeah, it's linear. Linearity doesn't really bother me as long as there's a great story driving me. I mean do many gamers seriously enjoy getting lost? Not me! During some of the plot's slower chapters I did start to notice just how claustrophobic and narrow some areas could be, but it did little to detract from how beautiful the scenery is. The narrow corridors do have one huge benefit. When you finally make it down to Pulse, the reveal of the open landscapes and natural environments rank among my absolute favorite moments in gaming history. It's just so liberating!

The game looks and sounds great. No need to elaborate much here. It may not be as visually impressive as Uncharted 2, but it's got a level of polish that generally isn't seen in a game. There are tons of changes in scenery, each containing equal attention to detail. The character models, however, are hands down the best seen in a game. Ever. Best facial animation, best motion capture, best hair...You name it, FFXIII wins. Prerendered FMV's (full motion videos) are also the best ever seen. and run in full 1080p on the PS3. The music is also fantastic and memorable, despite a few tracks that seriously don't fit the mood well (harmonica solo...). Oh, and the voice acting is top-notch. It adds yet another layer of believability to these incredibly human characters.

It may seem like I'm tearing the game apart, but it's really just nitpicking. Though I wasn't entirely thrilled with the experience while I was playing, it now all blends into a single fantastic memory. If I had never played a Final Fantasy game and then dove straight into FFXIII, I would probably call it the greatest game ever made. The team at Square-Enix has made so many absolute masterpieces that even a game like FFXIII, which I consider to be one of the greatest games of the current console generation, will come across a tad disappointing when compared to FFVII, FFIX and FFX. It really is a masterpiece. It's just that I've come to expect nothing short of perfection from Square. FFXIII makes a number of missteps; some large and some small, but for each of the game's downsides, there are many upsides that blow all games in recent memory out of the water. In the end, the game comes to such a satisfying climax that my mixed reactions of the past 45+ hours all instantly melded into a single, complete memory of fondness and love. Go in with an open mind and I assure you that an incredibly satisfying fantasy epic awaits you.

Overview:

Pros:
+Has a great story at is core.
+Endearing, relatable characters.
+Fantastic character backstory, development and drama.
+Top-notch voice acting.
+English lip-sync!
+Cutscenes are beautiful and are at the same production level as a CG movie.
+Emotionally investing and rewarding.
+Satisfying ending.
+Some great and memorable music.
+Epic.
+Enthralling action scenes.
+Pretty scenery.
+Nice art direction.
+Exploring Pulse is fun.
+Deep and involving battle system.
+Incredibly addicting. It makes the hours pass like minutes. Literally. I played for 22 hours straight at one point and it felt like 5.
+Challenging difficulty once it gets going.
+Incredible final bosses.
+Generally impressive AI.
+Tons of deep coverage on the worlds of Pulse and Cocoon in the datalog.
+Snow getting punched in the face.

Cons:
-A few long stretches of seemingly unmotivated plot developments.
-Some claustrophobic level design.
-Paradigms (sets of battle roles) reset whenever characters are swapped. There seriously needed to be a "save paradigm set" feature.
-AI-controlled party members don't always target the leader's target.
-The great story isn't told as well as it could have been.
-Lots of essential plot will be lost to players who refuse to read the datalog.
-Menu animations are too slow. I wanted to click faster than it would let me.
-Gameplay could use more variety. Towns to explore, sidequests other than monster hunts, more mini-games, etc.
-Some music has awkward placement.
-The final location in the game is really ugly.

Consensus:
Far greater than the sum of its parts, Final Fantasy XIII overcomes its would-be glaring flaws with great characters, a fantastically addicting battle system and a deep, complex world. There's also a great story hidden away at its core, but it might require a little extra effort to uncover it than simply watching the cutscenes. Go in with an open mind and I assure you that an incredibly satisfying fantasy epic awaits you.  9/10.