Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII – Quite possibly the most visually stunning game I’ve ever played.

And yes, if you were wondering, it’s  epic-ness puts it right up there with FFVII – In fact, I’d say it rivals FFVII.  Though, it has by no means produced a character as awesome as Tifa Lockhart. (Sorry!)

I haven’t finished FFXIII yet, (hey, cut me some slack, I just got my hands on it recently) so I can’t say it’s better than 7. Not yet. But it’s had some really strong moments. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how things turned out.

Now, I’ll be honest here – Just as I never played Cait Sith in FFVII – there are characters in FFXIII that I don’t exactly care for.

In fact, I am down right annoyed by them. Or… him. I guess really it’s just the one.

Hope. I’m waiting. I’m hoping he’ll grow on me or improve as a character. But frankly, right now, he is the biggest pussy you’ll ever find in a video game. This kid whines, cries, complains, wusses out, blah, blah, blah… I can’t stand it when he’s in my group – except for the fact that he’s one of the best medics I’ve got.

But without Hope, I think they’ve really got a great cast.

Now, if you’re curious about the battle system – It’s totally awesome. I was told it was really difficult and that battles were gonna get really hard. Well, it’s not so much a difficulty issue as it is an attention/focusing issue.

In FFXIII, there are these things called Paradigms – basically, when you change paradigms you’re switching each member’s class. You’re changing from a  Ravager/Sentinel/Medic combo  to maybe a Commando/Ravager/ Ravager combo in order to deal more damage.

It’s all about timing and choosing the right paradigm. I guess that can be a bit difficult, but it’s not any worse than trying to control four characters at once. At least now they work off AI – whatever class they are, they behave accordingly.

It requires more attention and maybe a little tact, but I wouldn’t say it’s more difficult than any other Final Fantasy game out there. In fact, I’d say that this change in battle systems has made the game more enjoyable.

SquareEnix has stepped it up for this game. The graphics are mind-blowing, the story line is captivating, the characters are (mostly all) engaging and likable, and the action is exciting. There’s not a lot that this game is lacking (so far…)

If you’ve got the chance to give it a try, I’d suggest you pick it up and play it. If you’re not used to FF games, it may seem complicated or odd at first, but the controls are very intuitive and easy to pick up.  It’s a great story to play. With the way FFXIII turned out, I can’t wait to see how the next FF MMORG is going to play.

FFXIII – Highly Recommended, guys. Highly.