I just got Final Fantasy XIII last month and I absolutely love it. It puts you right into the action from the jump and doesn't let up. The game takes place on a planet called Cocoon. The story follows six characters as they try to fight their fate and basically defy their gods. Citizens of Cocoon are afraid of the planet underneath them called Pulse. People become cursed because of it and are forced to leave Cocoon. The banished people are sent to Pulse.
Lightning (the would be protagonist) is similar to a female Cloud Strife. She was a soldier that left her rank to save her sister, Serah who became cursed by Pulse. Lightning is easily my favorite character. She just doesn't take anyones shit. Snow is Serah's fiancé and leader of a resistance group called Nora. He helps to fight against Cocoon. I found Snow obnoxious for like half the game. His hero complex is ridiculous. Fortunately he does mature a little later on. Sazh is a former pilot and he joined the latest cursed victims for his own reasons. (small spoiler: his son is cursed.) Sazh is cool. He's like the Eddie Murphy of the group.
He's sensible but comedic too. He's definitely one of the more defined characters in the game. His role as a parent and an older character is done very well. Plus it doesn't hurt that he's not a stereotype like Barrett from FF VII. Hope is the youngest party member. His character was definitely a slow burn for me. Initially I couldn't stand his weak demeanor. It makes sense though. He suffers a tragedy early on and he's just a kid. Thankfully he does become strong and learns to stand up for himself. His character arc was very good.
Vanielle is the plucky magician of the group. Her bubbly personality drove me crazy at first. The game does delve into her character later though. Vanielle has a lot of depth and carries around a deep sorrow that she hides by being so upbeat. Another slow burn for me but she comes around too. Fang is another warrior woman and my second fave. Like Lightning she's very blunt and no nonsense. I love her story and she actually reminds me of Auron from X.
My favorite part of the campaign isn't so much the story, it's the characters. They're some of the most well rounded, flawed and relatable characters in a Final Fantasy game. I do like the story but it's not as strong as X or XII for. There are parts of the game that are very convoluted. I found myself referring to the game notes to make sense of some things. It's not game ruining or anything. It is a solid story. It just has some shortcomings. The gameplay is absolutely amazing. It has hands down the most entertaining and flat out fun battle system.
I love how fast paced it is. You control one character while the rest are controlled by A.I. (which is very good btw.) You queue up your attacks, spells, potions and etc with the time gauge. It's really amazing how every thing works. You can even change classes and also strategies in battles. I swear this game took the this I loved about X, X-2 and XII and mashed them up. What I don't like so much is the lack of variety in side quests. The battle system is amazing but when all you can do is grind after the last boss it gets tedious.
I'm 80 plus hours in know and grinding like crazy. The fact I've made time for my art too still mystifies me.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad (Anubis)
