First, hey, everyone's entitled to their own opinion. While I don't agree with many of Mr. Sterling's points, I respect his right to have them.
But honestly, I like the game. Pretty much for the reasons he cannot stand it.
Sure, it's not perfect, but I've always found that the best Final Fantasy game is the one previous to the one just released. Whenever FFXV comes out, the internet will be whistfully remembering the greatness that was FFXIII and bemoaning the non-linear story structure and other changes that ruin the genre found in FFXV.
And I'll admit that the game starting in medias res was jarring, and I frantically had to search the menu to find out what the heck a "Fal'cie" was and why the heck should I care. But once I read and got a grasp of the story, it became engrossing again. Additionally, I've yet to hear music in the game that was bland and unforgettable, and my only disappointment comes from the traditional battle theme being scrapped.
Anyway, I could go on the usual fanboy arguments, how the battle system is fun, liking the characters, etc. But the review's final statement is the one Mr. Sterling will regret and probably retract shortly in the following days:
"It's the worst main chapter in the Final Fantasy series to date, and if this is the future of the franchise, that future is incredibly bleak indeed."
Seriously, what the heck dude? Have you forgotten II? Or III? Or IV? (Only in my humble opinion. I don't really care for IV. If you liked it, I'm happy for you. It's no VI, though) Those games were wracked with just as much, if not more, game breaking problems as XIII. Perhaps nostalgia has twisted the memories of those earlier games, but XIII stands on its own just as much as VII and X, which are among my favorites in the series. If you're not a fan of VII and X, I can see not liking XIII. As for XIII being the future of the franchise, I find it very solid, considering the leaps it's made over X and XII.
Anyway, that's my response. I'm sure I'll be drowned out by other FF fanboys calling Mr. Sterling Shamu or whatever, but know at least one fan can be sober-minded about the review.
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To be honest, the more I hear about the faults of a game, the more I want to play them. I just hope that when that time does come around, I can see the points that Jim was making for what they are but not have them affect me as much.
This, this, 100 times this. People tend to forget THEIR bitching is what determines the next Final fantasy games path. People bitched about the linearity of FFX when it came out (completely forgetting the only non linear FFs were I and V, and if you don't believe that, you're a fucking idiot). So they went into a new direction with FFXII. And people bitched about it being open and "unfocused on telling a story." Square, pulling hair out, yelling "do they even KNOW what they want?" went back to how the bulk of the series was structured, and they get slammed for it yet again.
I also tend to see many of the ugliest reviews tend to be bashing the genre more than the game and hold onto the dogmatic religion of "Japanese developers aren't creative compared to Battlefield Bad Company 2."
Essentially give it a shot regardless, step away and process the game in a vacuum. Because what Final Fantasy XIII does, it does well. And it's stapled with VIII, X, and X-2's style. If you can dig that, great.
If anything I honestly find the story too simple. Yeah, I'm only on chapter 5 right now but still, I think easily Dragon Age, Mass Effect, God of War, BioShock, hell even Tales Of games have more complex and deep stories.
...But it's not bad by any means. The only 'groan' I've had towards this game so far was
*SPOILERS!*
When Snow fell to his knees after Serah told him she was a l'Cie, I was like, 'GUH, yes, I get it, the scene is seriousness, just don't make it overly serious!'
*END SPOILERS*
Granted, this IS a Final Fantasy game we're talking about and if it doesn't take itself seriously, then why play it? Literally, just saying it's my ONLY gripe with the story so far...
And oh yeah, I FUCKING HATE EIDOLON BATTLES!!!!!!!!
I love that they don't overly explain everything like they tend to do SO MUCH in other RPGs, and rely on the reader to think about stuff to figure it out.
I love the battle system where too much inattention can cost you a Game Over screen, and where your allies' AI scripts are pretty damn effective (no need to spend 15 minutes to re-configure your characters' behavior every time you get new abilities *cough*FF12/Dragon Age).
I love all the characters, that are often at odds with each other instead of being a happy family VS Evil McEvil. They start out as stereotypes indeed, but the story carves a depth into them that is seldom seen. For exemple, to me Lightning is a refined and more realistic version of Cloud; both are similar in attitude, but we get more insight into her thoughts during the storyline, how she really hates herself for not believing in her sister, how she seems to be angry at Snow for dragging her sister into this but that it's really misplaced jaleousy towards Snow's unwavering faith and commitment to Serah, etc. There's some interesting psychological stuff here, beyond the now common "every character has an agenda".
Anyway, all my babble in short means that FFXIII could bring you an entirely different experience than Jim Sterling's, and that you shouldn't take his opinion for facts.