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Square Enix did a very brave thing

Final Fantasy XIII

A suspiciously evil-looking cloud

Not so much a coup de maître for Microsoft after all then. After 50 + hours of my life lost to Square Enix and a rethink of my initial reservations I really liked this game, I know a lot of FF fans who didn't because it's different from previous instalments, but I think Square Enix did a very brave thing. Too many game developers these days spend their time making sequels which only differ from the original by a smattering of new features - all in the hope of the most profit for the least effort.

Square Enix could've easily made a game exactly the same as FF7 and people would still buy it, but they did something a lot of companies don't have the guts to do: take a really popular, long running, fan loved series and re-invent it.

It worked very well and I think that's something they should be commended for. It feels like a labour of love not a cash cow and that’s one of the reasons I love this game.

Now If only they had made the beginning a bit more exciting...

Final Fantasy XIII

Radioactive exposure causes fluorescent sneezing

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80%
Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII on PS3

Final Fantasy XIII takes its time to ramp up, but once it does it becomes one of the most absorbing titles in the franchise to date. JRPG fans should find plenty to love about the game not least the stunning visuals, but it is a shame many first time players will stall at the initial grind.
Price: £40 RRP
75%
Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII on Xbox 360

Microsoft obviously pulled some expensive strings to get this release cross platform but the clumsy encoding will disappoint those willing to make a detailed comparison. The other 99% of 360 owners who won’t notice or care should buy this game for a glimpse into a previously exclusive and dazzling franchise.
Price: £40 RRP
Latest 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...

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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.

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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.

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