Final Fantasy XIII
360 vs PS3
Review Final Fantasy XIII is one of the most anticipated releases of the past two or three years. As it dropped through the post box I steeled myself for at least a week lost in a world of futuristic Noh theatre. This feeling was enhanced by the circulating rumours about the epic length of game play, made bearable only by a stunning variety of scenery and enemies.
You talkin' to me?
I played this game on my PS3 but I am also going to take a look at how the game behaves on a recently abducted Xbox360. That Microsoft managed to get a release of this long standing PS3 franchise suggests a coup for Bill Gates but if graphics and game play are inferior, this is a revolution with no teeth.
Final Fantasy XIII takes place on Cocoon, a floating landmass that hovers above Gran Pulse. On Cocoon the populace is sheltered from the feared Pulse brainwashed into believing it is some kind of hell. Every so often parts of the population are purged down to Pulse as some kind of punishment. This is where the game starts as a purge is taking place.
The story follows fairly standard JRPG (Japanese role-playing game) conventions. You control Snow, Lightning, Sazh, Hope, Fang, and Vanille. You follow your alter egos’ stories through lengthy cut scenes and 50-plus hours of fights. FF XIII takes these conventions and puts them through an HD kaleidoscope. Even comparing this to God of War III, the graphics are impressive.
From the early cut scenes that pull you in, mesmerizing you with glowing fluorescent blues to the paradise of Grand Pulse, these visuals pack a punch.
Sparks were flying
Next page: The first few hours...
COMMENTS
FF Novice
I haven't played any of the other FF series much to my eternal shame so i purchased this game perhaps with too high expectations given the hype of FF over the years, sadly I was very disappointed.
I haven't played it through to the end but I did keep playing for a while expecting it to get better and whilst I am sure that I am still very much in the beginning sections of the game (well not the beginning but obviously not where it starts to get fun) but I can't bring myself to plough through more tedious hours of linear rubbish.
Sorry but this game has been consigned to my "play when I am retired" section especially as I now have Red Dead in my hands...
final fantasy because...
Final Fantasy I was made by SquareSoft, a company on it's last legs and about to go into administration. this was to be their last game and they decided on a fantasy style role playing game.
final game.
fantasy style rpg.
1+1=?
i have recently played through it on my xbox and not knowing how it looks on the PS3, i was actually quite impressed by the visuals (coming from FF XII on the PS2). the first part of the game is indeed very tedious, i even skipped most of the movies the first 10-15 hours of playthrough (being a seasoned veteran when it comes to FF, i pretty much knew what was coming). after the first 30 hours, i was wondering if this installment could even come close to it's predecessors, i didn't enjoy it all that much, but i have to admit that it turns out to be a fantastic game. Rumors are that FF XIV is going to be PS3 only again, so i may end up getting a PS3 afterall.
You shouldn't be surprised
FFXIII has an enormous amount of full screen video. The PS3 has a lot more storage capacity on a Blu Ray disc than the 360 does on a DVD. It was inevitable that the video would suffer, but people are surprised how much it suffered. At least the style of game made it suitable for splitting over multiple discs. If the game wasn't so horribly linear it would have been a much tougher task to accomplish.
completely crappy game
I have spent more than 90 hours on it. The weapon upgrade system is trash, the linearity makes you wanna punch through the TV and the retarded paradigm shift system will have you using just X and L1 in fights. Forget about strategy and controlling your characters. You cannot even control their level up path. You cannot control all 3 of them in a battle. You only control the lead character and his summon and even then you will use autobattle 99% of the time so the AI does all the work for you and all you do is mash X until your thumb bleeds. I have played almost all the game in the series. This one is horrible not only by FF standards but by any RPG standards. Avoid!
Very poor game
Sorry to say that this game is just aweful. 7, 8, 9 and 12 are so much better.
