Genre: RPG
Year: 2010
Developed by: Square Enix 1st Production Department
Published by: Square Enix
Platforms: PS3, XBOX 360, PC
#36
Feeling Like: Defending myself
If I was in a courtroom as a defendant, no doubt the Southernly Gentleman Lawyer (or LAWYA) would say something like “Now I’m just a common video game player from Louisiana, but it seems to me that Final Fantasy 13 is one of, if not the MOST divisive of all the Final Fantasies! Fans hate Vanille’s squeaky voice, the combat system that plays itself, how much of the lore has to be read in a tucked-away menu, how there are NO villages or towns to speak of (the crowd gasps at this, the judge has to bang his gavel a few times to calm them down) and the item system is beyond ludicrous. Now, y’honor, knowing all this, how can Mr. Skey justify putting Final Fantasy 13 at spot number 36 on his 500 blog? Higher than lauded titles like Final Fantasy 9 or Final Fantasy 5?”
I better hope I have a good lawyer on my side, otherwise I’m going to lose this trial pretty darned quickly.
Thankfully, I don’t need to. I’m the judge, jury and executioner on the 500. The Southernly Gentleman Lawyer…is me!
Look, I know I’m never going to be able to change people’s minds about Final Fantasy 13. You either love it or hate it. It is VERY strange, a complete deviation from the classic Final Fantasy formula – though, now, I would argue Final Fantasy 16 strays even further from that path. There are no villages to visit and the entire experience, until you hit the planet of Pulse, is extremely linear. Fans dubbed it a “hallway simulator”. There weren’t any merchants, you bizarrely just bought your next set of items at a floating digital shop. Much of the charm was seemingly lost, as there is no replacement for finding a new town and soaking in the atmosphere. Taking a rest in the Inn. Listening to the calming music. That’s not here. Harumph.
Despite the unique takes, I found myself drawn into the story and characters immediately. I can’t tell you why Lightning or Snow are well written characters; I don’t know if they are. They don’t seem to be particularly compelling, but I did buy their motivations and they’re visually appealing. Everybody in your group has a different hairstyle and costume and while that sounds like the most bare minimum requirement for an RPG party, I’ll direct you to Final Fantasy 12. I’ve never seen a more stagnant look among my party, and my enjoyment of that game suffered as a result.
The effort to create an original, unique mythos was appreciated by me. I liked the idea of Gods (Fal’cie) branding certain individuals to doom (L’Cie) and the fated individuals banding together to try and defy their fate. Rote stuff for a JRPG, sure, but I certainly have never played a game and went “boy, this is just like Final Fantasy 13!” Hasn’t happened yet.
Instead of lamenting what wasn’t, I focused on what was. The little touches were great – I loved the main menu. Going to each character screen shows a 1 second clip of the character, almost like a sitcom title card. I’ve never heard anybody else mention it, but I couldn’t get enough. It added just a little bit of flavor and I would often just cycle through each character’s equipment just to see the micro-clips run again.
The graphics are terrific too, very sleek. They can’t hold up entirely against modern standards, but the game is now 13 years old (hey, that’s neat!) and still looks great. Monster designs are detailed, spell effects are suitably blasty and animations are smooth as butter. When the game switches to the planet Pulse, the landscape is a feast for the eyeballs. When I hear complaints about Final Fantasy 13, graphics are usually not one of them.
Combat is an acquired taste…or not, depending on your style. One of the more controversial options was to add an “Auto” battle option. This meant the game would, quite literally, play for you and since you only control one character(another controversial decision), it seemed like Square was taking agency away from the player. I couldn’t tell you – I only used the Auto battle function more than a few times. I liked mashing a single command myself, or switching it up depending on what the situation called for. You’re never going to beat the harder enemies using “Auto” anyway, so I didn’t see the issue.
And then their take on the jobs system. I agree that it does take an eternity to open up fully, but when it does, it’s so satisfying. Being able to assign one of six roles to each character means that their spells and fighting style will be altered. You’re allowed a few pre-set formations, called a Paradigm, so you may start out with two of the party members as Sentinels, being able to withstand immense damage without budging, while the third acts as a Saboteur, disabling them with debilitating status effects in preparation for switching all three to become fire-spewing mages. Or for emergencies, two of your characters could be medics. It works. I don’t know if it should, I don’t think it’s for everybody, but seeing the chaos of spells flying and healing only to switch things up with a single press of a button to turn the tide of battle…oof, that got me. It really got me.
I’ll bite that it’s not everybody’s cup of tea. For many, this is where they got off the Final Fantasy bus. It was clear Square was moving away from the turn based combat that had made previous iterations successful with the hardcore crowd. What I refuse to back down on is the soundtrack. It is as good as any selections of songs you’ll find in an RPG.
As long as you don’t mind JPOP lyrics, “Sunleth Waterscape” always peps me up.
If you’d like a similar motif without the lyrics, “Archylte Steppe” will do the trick.
“Blinded by the Light” has to be one of the all-time great battle themes.
“Saber’s Edge” just keeps building and building. And it already starts out great!
And, my favorite, the theme that hits when you trot through Oerba, “Dust to Dust“
Final Fantasy 13 is very weeby, even for a Final Fantasy. If wacky hairstyles, overly complicated systems, lack of freedom to explore and exposition dumps aren’t your thing, you should stay very far away. Listen to the crowd. If the idea of going through straight maps while occasionally seeing cut-scenes and fighting enemies sounds like a slog, I can’t exactly say “no no, you should still play it!” What I can tell you is I Game Over’d a boss fight that lasted about fifteen minutes and wasn’t disheartened in the least. Preparing different combinations of classes and then testing them out in a fight was tremendously exciting. Hitting L1 JUST at the right time (usually as we staggered something) to switch to full on attack mode is thrilling. I liked all the characters, even Hope! Fang & Vanille had a Xena/Gabrielle thing going on, and I’m a huge sucker for that show. The bittersweet ending was beautiful (well, until the second and third game sort of trod on it). It had everything I wanted in a Final Fantasy, and more.
I still remember lining up at the EB Games at the Bay Centre downtown. Everybody in front, and behind me, were excited. We were talking about the trailers with each other, commenting on the review scores. Exchanging theories. Jumping for joy when it was our turn to pick up our pre-order. It’s so rare that I get that kind of joint excitement about a game, and it’s getting less frequent as I get older.
Guilty, your honor. I’m guilty of thinking Final Fantasy 13 is one of the best in a franchise that I’m committed to, regardless of what shape or form it takes.
The 500 