| Final Fantasy XIII | 
| From: Square Enix
Category: Video Games
List Price: $59.99
Buy New: $55.95
as of 3/16/2010 10:53 CDT details
You Save: $4.04 (7%)
New (15) Used (7) from $53.95
Seller: the_nps_store
Rating:  107 reviews
Sales Rank: 7
Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
Genre: role_playing_games
ESRB: Teen
Media: Video Game
Discs: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Age: 12 - 20 years
Operating System: PlayStation 3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.6
Memory Card
MPN: 91001
Model: 15783001
UPC: 662248910017
EAN: 0662248910017
ASIN: B000FQ2DTA
Release Date: March 9, 2010 (New: This Week)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Newest installment of Final Fantasy features futuristic civilization illuminated by the Light of the Crystal | | • | Features the latest in cutting-edge technology | | • | Provides tangible, intuitive controls | | • | Delivers seamless transitions between real-time gameplay and stunning in-game cinematics | | • | Developed by Square Enix |
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 107
 Perfect Graphics! Linear storyline, so what? March 15, 2010
Katalin
I waited long enough for this game. But it was well worth it. First of all, most games that I download the demos on the PS Network are just really bad. Why are developers pushing out games that look like half done? I'm sick and tired of floating guns, half legs stepping into walls and all the soldiers have the same face? With these kind of technology why most games on the PS3 look like PS2 anyway? You exactly know what I'm talking about...
FF XIII must be the only game that fully uses the PS3 potential. It is so perfect the characters can easily step off the screen and sit with me on the couch. The clothes I could easily wear, the drinks in the bar I could easily drink.
So graphics-10!
Storyline is very,very linear but again the cut scenes are so beautiful it doesn't matter. There is a lot of cut scenes (according to my husband I was waiting years for a movie). More of a movie than a game right but the battles are very much enjoyable. A lot of tactics, not just mindless slashing. (The first couple of hours it is mindless but still beautiful...)
Overall this is the only game I ever bought new, right after release and I'm happy I did it!
Another spectacular Final Fantasy game. March 15, 2010
J. Ouderkirk (NY)
Final Fantasy is my favorite video game series of all time. I started it back on the PlayStation 1 with Final Fantasy VIII, which happens to be my favorite Final Fantasy as well as my favorite game of all time. I then become a HUGE fan of the series and I now own ever installment whether it be the main series, the spin offs, the spin offs of the spin offs, and the MMOs. I am very glad to say that Final Fantasy XIII is solid experience in the wonderful series that we have all come to know and love.
Story:
The story is pretty good overall. It isn't the best in the series, but it definitely isn't the worst either. The game will offer you a few plot twists that can be quite interesting. The story also has it's ups and downs at certain points like every game. There were a few points in the game where I just had to see what happened next because it had me on the edge of my seat. You will not be disappointed with the story, but please don't go in looking for something revolutionary.
Characters:
Quite possibly the best cast of characters in the entire game. They were all like-able and the voice acting was top-notch. I will admit that at the start of the game I had a slight problem with Vanilles VA. It didn't really bother me but it was odd. But as the game progressed I started to like it. I can see why they picked it and I am glad that they did. The voice sync is also spectacular and is NOTHING like the horrible sync we seen in the dub trailers. Just so you know, Fang/Sazh/Lightning are some of the coolest characters in gaming. Sazh is hilarious, and the baby chick just adds in with the fun he provides.
<3Fang<3 (You still can't top Yuna though, sorry)
Music:
Masashi Hamauzu did an excellent job on the OST. I really enjoyed some of the songs and it is definitely an OST I can remember. The boss theme is one of the best ever created. I want that song on my PSP, my PS3, and what-ever the hell else I may be listening to music on because it is that good. Some songs though could get slightly irritating as they had some really awkward lyrics in them. I'm glad that he provided 2 versions of the chocobo theme because if I had to listen to that girl sing while on Gran Pulse, I would have lost it. But overall, fantastic job.
Proves to me that Final Fantasy does not NEED Nobuo to have good themes. Though Nobuo will always be a fantastic composer and I would like to see him score more of FF. As he is with FF XIV and it is FANTASTIC!
Graphics:
Down right GORGEOUS! This game will offer you some of the best visuals you can find in video gaming ever. But it will show you the best CGI cutscenes that you will ever see. Square-Enix shows that they are still on the top with their CGI.
Gameplay:
It is really fun, and I enjoyed this alot. People will make you believe that the game is linear to hell and that your just going to run down a straight path for the entire game. Well disregard them as they are dumb and obviously don't understand what straight is. The linear aspect is just about on par with Final Fantasy X. Now there were some sections where I felt that the map needed to be bigger, or longer. But they did an exceptionally well job. The battle system is quite fun and enjoyable. The paradigm shifts allow you to make some pretty crazy choices in battle and offer many different playing strategies.
Technical Issues:
This game gave me only 1 issue through out my entire 50 hour campaign to finish the title. I had a brief 2 second slow down in 1 battle. and that was IT. No frame-rate studders, no pop-in, no freezing, NOTHING ELSE.
They did a FANTASTIC job at this. I really wish other developers would follow their example. Some developers are coming to the point where they just do not care about the technical issues, and it is definitely showing in their games. I want to say it here and now. Thank you Square-Enix for taking the time and effort for making a proper game the way it SHOULD be.
Others:
Some people mentioned that the lack of towns is a step back for the series. I disagree. Technically, yes their are towns in the game. But they aren't used in the same way that all JRPGs them. In a typical JRPGs, a town is a safe haven where nothing can go wrong and you just have this unlimited amount of time to do anything you want. Well XIII doesn't work like that.
Final Fantasy XIII is an exceptionally awesome game in the series. It isn't the best one, but it is now in my top 3 ranking behind Final Fantasy VIII & X. Pushing FF VII down to fourth, XII to fifth and kicking IX out of my top 5.
I assure you that you can't go wrong with FF XIII. It is a wonderful JRPG experience.
Also in my opinion, XIII is not the hardest in the series for bosses. But some regular monsters can go to hell for all I care. Lol.
Pros:
- Awesome Characters
- Fantastic Voice Overs
- Phenomenal OST
- Graphics are just too damn pretty
- Lots to do to make the game a solid 100 hours
- Tough monsters
Cons:
- Equipment system could have been slightly better
- Antagonist needed to show up earlier
- It's over, and now I must wait for XIV and XV! Damn you SE!
Final score 9.7/10
Fantasy game may simple yet takes time to master March 15, 2010
I. Law
They really do away from having user to control, setup and select what party does like the old turn base system. For a lazy people like myself, it's pretty fun and painless. But for players that wants to actually act on each choices during battle, this maybe disappointing and feel too much of a one button smashing. SE should have offer both manual and auto battle system to the players. Don't get me wrong, although two other A.I. acts on their own that doesn't mean this game is fully automatic. The battle system requires you to select the right role and pick the right monster to kill in order to successfully win the battle. I will say this, if you really want to manual control that one character. Then I strongly suggest you set your battle time on *slower. After 25-30hrs into the game learning the story, character and battle system. This is where the fun begins. As you starting building your own team/weapon/armory, it is much easier and wiser to do side quests and grind for gill to get upgrades. Of coz you can always skip those if you want to enjoy linear and uninterrupted story. Overall, this is a great game. But for people who look forward something like demon's soul type of game-play. I don't think you can find it here. It would be nice for them to add co-op for this game for doing some side quests. I guess the reply value is mostly trophy/achievement hunting.
FFXIII - A Study in Trimming the Fat Off of the JRPG. March 15, 2010
Leesooim (NY)
This is actually a halfway review, since I have not yet completed the game, but I am on chapter 11 out of 13 with more than 30 hours of play time. Also bear in mind this review is coming from a long-time veteran of the series (started with the US release on the NES).
Thus far, as many reviews have noted, yes, the game is INCREDIBLY linear. You really don't even need a guide for this game since truly, there just aren't that many secrets to be found thus far. If you explore thouroughly enough and avoid going to the way points that are very handily marked on the in-game map, you'll find just about everything there is to find. The guides are more useful for providing tips on character role development, weapon/accessory synthesis and boss strategies.
The story thus far certainly is very interesting, with a decent amount of character development. The mythology Square-Enix has developed for this entry into the series is typical JRPG style, but it's well done and convincing enough to make you sympathize with the characters. It is necessary to keep up with the in-game Datalog however (which is conveniently automatically updated after every cutscene and new enemy fight) to fill in certain details about people and locale you encounter throughout the storyline that are not explicitly stated just following along with the dialogue.
The dungeons are generally one big straight line, with a few deviations that are clearly marked on the in-game map and usually contain a bunch of monsters guarding a treasure chest. The environments are varied and highly detailed, so you definitely don't get bored with the scenary. My only complaint is, since the game thus far is primarily driven by it's incredibly tight storyline and combat system, this far in it's starting to feel like a dungeon crawler to me, which is a type of RPG I personally do not enjoy. The combat system is definitely innovative with the need for the Paradigm Shift lending a feeling of variety and a sense of urgency when you're party is in the red, but in the end I just get tired of grinding.
The voice acting overall is excellent. My only complaint is Vanille, whose voice I find to be extremely grating and too high-pitched. She also serves as the game's narrator, and is much better in those sequences, but otherwise I'd love to tape her mouth shut. As clear from screenshots, the visuals put every other Final Fantasy title to shame, as well as most titles out on the market right now. Square Enix has never spared anything when it comes to their visual presentation with the advent of the PSOne days, and FFXIII is no different when it comes to production values. The music varies from instrumental pieces to techno-pop (the Cocoon chocobo theme comes to mind) with a nice placement of vocals in places you might not expect. Thus far though, the soundtrack, while pleasant, is largely forgettable.
As of chapter 11, the game has opened up a little bit. The area I'm currently in has the option to do some free-roaming exploration. As noted by others, there ARE towns in this game, but you can't freely walk around and rob NPC houses or visit any shops. It's a real shame they left this out, as one city was specifically built around the shopping experience and another as a giant amusement park (think similar to the idea of the Gold Saucer in FFVII). Also, I have looked ahead in my guide because I do not mind spoilers, and I know for fact that the only form of side questing offered is hunting marks, and while you can dig for treasure while riding on a chocobo, it seems like that was thrown in just for the heck of it.
CLOSING COMMENTS
This game thus far feels more like an interactive movie littered with combat rather than a typical RPG. While the story is interesting with good character development, and the combat system can be a frenzied sort of fun, especially during tough boss fights, it feels like those two things are what primarily carry this game from start to finish, and I'm not sure I care for it overall. I'm already getting the strong sense that there isn't much replay value -- you can keep playing after you defeat the final boss, but there's no real reason to start from the beginning unless you want to see the entire story again. Long-time JRPG fans in general might also be put off by not necessarily the linearity, but rather the lack of free-roaming, varied side quests and mini games. As a veteran of the series, it's hard not to compare this entry to previous ones, especially since one of my all-time favorite games happens to be FFVI (released originally on the SNES). Given my previous experience with older titles, I am sure my take on this game is very biased, so in short: if you're looking for a twist on the JRPG with high production values, then FFXIII is definitely just that.
Great except for the annoying voice acting! March 15, 2010
Kennith W. Kuechler (Colorado)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The game is great, It is similar to most of the other FF titles. However, the voices acting is annoying. For some reason the developers felt that in every cut scene someone should be making a noise at all times. They must have recorded hours of grunts, moans, whines, and various other unnecessary utterances. Especially annoying is the Vanille character. Does she really have to always be making those annoying noises!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 107
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