PS3—Final Fantasy XIII Review
First of all, Final Fantasy XIII is absolutely beautiful. The
care that went into developing the graphics in this game is simply
overwhelming. You might want to just sit there and watch the
graphics without actually picking up the controller.
But, let’s face it – the best way to determine whether or not a
game is worth buying is finding out how much fun it is to play.
Hm…
Well, there are a few issues that you might take note of. This
particular Final Fantasy game is very, very linear. There’s
not a whole lot of sideways movement in terms of gameplay. You might
be pleasantly surprised to discover that because of the flawless
creation of the tutorial sequence, you might not mind having to
follow the path laid out for you.
When you consider that Final Fantasy XIII has been in
development for four years, you've got to admit that they did a
really good job overall. The characters are quite well-developed,
although there's a black character named Sazh who borders on
stereotypical – but not in an overly offensive way.
What about combat?
The game is based on Active Time Battle. This means that you have
a gauge that fills up as time passes. Various actions can be queued
and slotted, as well as put together in a chain effect. This
actually is linked to the amount of time that has passed in the
battle.
You will be able to control one character at a time. The other
two characters in your party are going to be under the AI direction.
The cool element here is that you can direct the AI controlling your
other party members to engage in a "paradigm." So, you can have a
Defense Paradigm or a Healing Paradigm or an Attack Paradigm. It's a
simple but very effective system and you will find yourself able to
pick it up in hardly any time at all.
For some of the more hardcore gamers, there are aspects of
Final Fantasy XIII that they may not like. For example, one of
the things that you can do in battle is activate the "auto battle"
option, and sit back and watch what happens. Now, if you are a true
gamer, you are definitely not going that way, but then again, you
might just set the auto battle option and then go and grab yourself
a quick sandwich, returning in time to find yourself victorious.
Also, there is very few elements of tension in this game. If your
entire party is killed in battle, you can simply "Retry" the battle.
Some players like having to actually sweat a little when a battle
isn't going their way, but on the whole, most gamers won't mind the
way that Final Fantasy XIII has been set up.
At the end of the day, you will likely find that Final Fantasy
XIII presents a solid gaming experience. It might not have
anything groundbreaking to be discovered, but if you are looking for
core value for your money, you could do a lot worse than spending it
on Final Fantasy XIII.
Our Rating:
A
more information:
For more information, user reviews, or to buy:
Final Fantasy XIII
for the PlayStation 3.
 
Reviewed: March 2010
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