Two things
First i just want to say, im trying my best not to rant here...and there are no spoilers in this post.

Ok so if you have been living under a rock, ff13 is out and is a game, and im not gonna say anything more then it's a jrpg, and just jump into all my thoughts on the game, Ill remain spoiler free, so feel safe in reading if your interested in my thoughts, which, why wouldn't you be, im just that awesome.

After playing till chapter 12, where i am now, i have had to stop recently, i just can't keep playing. The game is flawed, i just can't get around some agrevious errors that they have in the most basic systems they put in place for the player. That's not to say it's game ending, but it's rpg destroying, and, since this is a rpg, thats kinda actually a big deal maybe. All well be discussed, im not blowing fanboy smoke, although that would be much easier, and way more fun.


Ok, so to start off, the game gets to a hot start, whether it's the hype machine rolling, or just plain excitement of getting a new game, the first 2 hours of the game are excellent. The mythos that square creates is fantastic, and the introduction to it all is executed very well. The combat system(which plays itself, ill explain later) is slowly opened up to you, and your never overwhelmed with the sheer amount of stuff like in similar rpg titles, yet you never feel like you need more, and that the game isn't giving you enough. The characters themselves are pretty cool, albeit cliche, however the relationships that the characters have between each other flesh out some pretty interesting dialogue.(however, contrary to this point, most dialogue is, as expected to a ff fan, cheesy and melodramatic) Im getting lost in my own thoughts, but basically, the game gets off to a awesome start, the story is interesting, the characters are cool enough, the relationships they have between each other can be interesting at time, however the dialogue is melodramatic.



She found out


FF13 takes a whole bunch of rpg fat, and trims it off, now to a new player of rpgs, that's probably a great thing, but they removed, or changed a few key things that take away a huge amount of rpgs. Now one thing they took out is towns, and that is fine by me, as long as shops are in the game(which they are) and you can visit said shops, and buy new, upgraded weapons(which you can). HOWEVER, a key element in getting the best weapons and items in the game is the new upgrade system, where you basically trade in junk dropped by enemies, in for xp, in order to level up your items. Now being that im not using a internet guide, or hand copy, i have no clue, that if my lvl5 weapon i got 5 hr's ago, is better then this lvl1 item thats in the shop. The fact that the game just says, you buy this, you lose 100 strength cause your item is level20, and this weapon, which may have better stats then your level20 item but you don't know that cause it's level1, and ugh it's frustrating and wrong and bad. The game is linear, that's ok, that doesn't break a game, it holds your hand and forces you to go from point a to point b, some people may hate it i dont, but at least it doesn't break a game. ARG


Accurate map structure in ff13

ANYWAY, before i punch my ps3, the next things i want to talk about is how boring the game really is. Straight up, the battle system sucks, it plays it'self and is just not fun. You sit there, hitting auto battle, and generally, you get 5 stars(battles are rated on time, and some other stuff that they don't explain) I had friends over recently, and i was fully involved with them in conversation, not watching the t.v. and yet, still getting 5 stars. Am i just that awesome at rpgs? No. Do i have a inherit ability to make those strategies without looking? No. The basic fact of it all, is that the battle's have little to no strategy involved in them. If you dare to try to not level up your characters properly, to force yourself to strategize better, like i tried myself, it punishes you by having almost every fucking attack one shot you. This sucks, because the one thing your going be doing in this game the most, (besides watching the cut-scenes) is playing these battles, your going to get bored, your going to start wanting to skip battles, your going to get stuck, your going to have to grind, and that is not right. Grinding sucks, backtracking sucks, ff13's battle system sucks.


Lastly, i just wanted to say, just how god dam beautiful that this game is. The environmental design is simply incredible, The vista's you see are complete eye candy, and the work and detail put into every inch of the game is a feast for your eyes. The enemy art, is something beyond fantastic(although repeated far to often). The limbs of every enemy move and contort so seamlessly compared to previous titles, and to add to that they are on the map before battle, which gives the world a much more alive feel.
Unfortunately the pure work that went into the graphics is probably the product of a shitty fucking battle system.

If your a ff fan, i wouldn't take the hits i gave the game to seriously, your gonna like the game, in fact, rpg fans are gonna love it, and I'm sure all the faults i can point out wont deter anyone. It's got a decent cast of characters, with a good story, some fundamental flaws like the item upgrade system, and battle a system, a few minor hits, like the linearity and lack of towns, but since graphics are the most important thing to a game....11/10

oh and the xbox 360 port broke the ps3 game, amirite?


Fact

ps3isbetterforff13casueshitboxbrokeitlololforhitz!