Man, this game is a mess. For every awe-inspiring moment which captures what I really love about Final Fantasy there is something in response which feels like a de-evolution of it. I hesitate to call this "bad" as many detractors would proclaim but I can't deny if I said I do understand where that frustration came from. Let me be upfront; I think there's a very solid game buried deep within here.
The story about an unlikely group, barely getting along with each other and forced to under circumstances, who become fugitives on the run from a government that hates magic(?) is a really cool idea on paper. The futuristic dystopian backdrop setting to this seems like a cool-looking world to just immerse yourself in. The problem comes with the way this is conveyed and laid throughout the game. The opening to FFXIII is the best example for this, taking obvious cues from FFVII, which does an effective job of thrusting you right into the action where the party comes together. But then it starts to lose itself once you try to wrap your head around the many questions you have about the "why?" or "what?" of what's going on. Who are the Fal'Cie? What's a L'Cie? What's the deal with Vanille? What even is the Gran Pulse anyway? Not that Final Fantasy has never had a narrative that doesn't at least leave you stumped for how much is going on. Here though, this becomes a clear issue because the game almost expects you to know all this story and world-building beforehand. There's no audience surrogate to help ground the game and familiarize ourselves with these unclear concepts to really get the bigger picture through breadcrumbs. These questions do get addressed somewhat but by the time they do it's far too late into the story. And it becomes difficult to really get fully invested or engaged when there's this level of disconnect going on in the narrative. Besides that they're mostly explained through Datalogs rather than something naturally explored through cutscenes or dialogue. I wouldn't even call this badly written per say, because if you cut right through the plot there exists a solid story there, but the way this is handled doesn't do it much justice.
Having said all that, I think it's ironic that for a game about understanding yet defying destiny it's very scripted in how it strips player agency for a majority. You're basically stuck with training wheels for the way you can barely customize and progress through the game's notorious linearity. Which amounts to running through hallways to hallways, empty corridors to empty corridors, and narrow pathways to narrow pathways with nothing to do but a rinse and repeat of fighting enemies, finding a save point, and then a cutscene plays. I get this franchise has always been very straightforwardly linear but they usually do a good job of making up for the fact you're going from point A to B. From including overworld map environments, the quirky little towns or hubs you can visit, and the NPCs populating it which breathes life into the entire experience. FFXIII is completely divorced from this purposeful set dressing which was vital in engrossing you into the respective game's vibe and setting. And considering how very unique FFXIII's world is, this design choice makes the adventuring experience more detrimental than it could be intentionally beneficial to whatever the devs had in mind. Combine this with how restrictive the combat is until Chapter 9 (out of 13) and you end up with a very monotonous gameplay experience that leaves you wanting to just be the one in proper control for once.
And yet, as the party gradually reunites back in the latter half of the game, and you finally get more freedom to play how you want, it actually becomes a very decent experience all around. What I think FFXIII does an interesting job with, something people are understandably going to be split on, is its combat and how it differs from the way the series handled turn-based before it. I still have my gripes, like your party members being AI controlled, but the Paradigm system is a fair tradeoff for how deceptively deep it actually is. This probably makes the most engaging use of the ATB system from any Final Fantasy, or even RPG, I've played so far. Although you don't have complete control over your party members, you can change the playstyles or classes of your party every turn. Making you really consider the specializations of your party, like who's the best for debuffing or who's great at being a bullet sponge tank to draw attention from the others, and try to fight as one unit rather than individually. It easily makes it one of the most demanding RPGs combat-wise for how reactive and quick you need to be. It's not perfect as there's still quite a bit of a gradual learning curve to really get the feel for it and how monotonous it can still end up being fairly often, but I don't hate the concept really. It's actually quite fitting that for how much the game feels almost like the prototypical first failed attempt at remaking FFVII for the modern gaming generation that FFVII Remake ends up lifting a lot of the gameplay here to better refine it.
What surprised me the most from my experience throughout FFXIII was how I grew to really endear myself to its main characters. A lot of people really seem to hate them, which I'll admit they're lacking in certain character to really stand out stronger, but by the end of it I couldn't help but root for this likable bunch. I wasn't entirely fond of them from the get-go, since the game was reluctant in allowing you to really understand what their deal is, but I think around Chapter 8 is when I just really vibed with them mostly. Snow is just a really cool dude trying to be the hero that these dire situations need. Hope I was indifferent towards but I really liked how much he's matured. Vanille and Fang are very fun characters all around. Sazh might actually be one of my favorite characters in the franchise for how endearingly "normal" he is in trying to be a good dad while getting caught up in typical Final Fantasy bullshit. Lightning was the weakest link for me as she's clearly supposed to fill the Cloud Strife role in the game but never gets the needed depth to rise above -- "she's kinda there I guess. kinda boring tho". I still would've liked to see them have more going on than certain character moments to feel more well rounded but I think that ties back to the poor way the narrative is told.
Just having beaten the game, it really puts this into perspective how hard it is for me to recommend this or not. Because for one, this could be seen as too much of an unsatisfying departure in the series to plunge 50 hours into for really anybody to pick up. The gameplay is very limited for 2/3rds of the playtime, the story seems promising but can feel frustratingly underwhelming in its execution, and the pacing is very gradual and not in a way that justified its length (this should've been 20+ hours tops). But on the other hand, it's still even today a visually stunning game with often beautiful environments, the character writing can invoke the genuine goodness that this franchise can excel at, and the combat can have a lot going for it mechanically. Also, this might have the coolest renditions of summons by just making them into transformers you can fight with so maybe it's actually the best Final Fantasy after all.
The story about an unlikely group, barely getting along with each other and forced to under circumstances, who become fugitives on the run from a government that hates magic(?) is a really cool idea on paper. The futuristic dystopian backdrop setting to this seems like a cool-looking world to just immerse yourself in. The problem comes with the way this is conveyed and laid throughout the game. The opening to FFXIII is the best example for this, taking obvious cues from FFVII, which does an effective job of thrusting you right into the action where the party comes together. But then it starts to lose itself once you try to wrap your head around the many questions you have about the "why?" or "what?" of what's going on. Who are the Fal'Cie? What's a L'Cie? What's the deal with Vanille? What even is the Gran Pulse anyway? Not that Final Fantasy has never had a narrative that doesn't at least leave you stumped for how much is going on. Here though, this becomes a clear issue because the game almost expects you to know all this story and world-building beforehand. There's no audience surrogate to help ground the game and familiarize ourselves with these unclear concepts to really get the bigger picture through breadcrumbs. These questions do get addressed somewhat but by the time they do it's far too late into the story. And it becomes difficult to really get fully invested or engaged when there's this level of disconnect going on in the narrative. Besides that they're mostly explained through Datalogs rather than something naturally explored through cutscenes or dialogue. I wouldn't even call this badly written per say, because if you cut right through the plot there exists a solid story there, but the way this is handled doesn't do it much justice.
Having said all that, I think it's ironic that for a game about understanding yet defying destiny it's very scripted in how it strips player agency for a majority. You're basically stuck with training wheels for the way you can barely customize and progress through the game's notorious linearity. Which amounts to running through hallways to hallways, empty corridors to empty corridors, and narrow pathways to narrow pathways with nothing to do but a rinse and repeat of fighting enemies, finding a save point, and then a cutscene plays. I get this franchise has always been very straightforwardly linear but they usually do a good job of making up for the fact you're going from point A to B. From including overworld map environments, the quirky little towns or hubs you can visit, and the NPCs populating it which breathes life into the entire experience. FFXIII is completely divorced from this purposeful set dressing which was vital in engrossing you into the respective game's vibe and setting. And considering how very unique FFXIII's world is, this design choice makes the adventuring experience more detrimental than it could be intentionally beneficial to whatever the devs had in mind. Combine this with how restrictive the combat is until Chapter 9 (out of 13) and you end up with a very monotonous gameplay experience that leaves you wanting to just be the one in proper control for once.
And yet, as the party gradually reunites back in the latter half of the game, and you finally get more freedom to play how you want, it actually becomes a very decent experience all around. What I think FFXIII does an interesting job with, something people are understandably going to be split on, is its combat and how it differs from the way the series handled turn-based before it. I still have my gripes, like your party members being AI controlled, but the Paradigm system is a fair tradeoff for how deceptively deep it actually is. This probably makes the most engaging use of the ATB system from any Final Fantasy, or even RPG, I've played so far. Although you don't have complete control over your party members, you can change the playstyles or classes of your party every turn. Making you really consider the specializations of your party, like who's the best for debuffing or who's great at being a bullet sponge tank to draw attention from the others, and try to fight as one unit rather than individually. It easily makes it one of the most demanding RPGs combat-wise for how reactive and quick you need to be. It's not perfect as there's still quite a bit of a gradual learning curve to really get the feel for it and how monotonous it can still end up being fairly often, but I don't hate the concept really. It's actually quite fitting that for how much the game feels almost like the prototypical first failed attempt at remaking FFVII for the modern gaming generation that FFVII Remake ends up lifting a lot of the gameplay here to better refine it.
What surprised me the most from my experience throughout FFXIII was how I grew to really endear myself to its main characters. A lot of people really seem to hate them, which I'll admit they're lacking in certain character to really stand out stronger, but by the end of it I couldn't help but root for this likable bunch. I wasn't entirely fond of them from the get-go, since the game was reluctant in allowing you to really understand what their deal is, but I think around Chapter 8 is when I just really vibed with them mostly. Snow is just a really cool dude trying to be the hero that these dire situations need. Hope I was indifferent towards but I really liked how much he's matured. Vanille and Fang are very fun characters all around. Sazh might actually be one of my favorite characters in the franchise for how endearingly "normal" he is in trying to be a good dad while getting caught up in typical Final Fantasy bullshit. Lightning was the weakest link for me as she's clearly supposed to fill the Cloud Strife role in the game but never gets the needed depth to rise above -- "she's kinda there I guess. kinda boring tho". I still would've liked to see them have more going on than certain character moments to feel more well rounded but I think that ties back to the poor way the narrative is told.
Just having beaten the game, it really puts this into perspective how hard it is for me to recommend this or not. Because for one, this could be seen as too much of an unsatisfying departure in the series to plunge 50 hours into for really anybody to pick up. The gameplay is very limited for 2/3rds of the playtime, the story seems promising but can feel frustratingly underwhelming in its execution, and the pacing is very gradual and not in a way that justified its length (this should've been 20+ hours tops). But on the other hand, it's still even today a visually stunning game with often beautiful environments, the character writing can invoke the genuine goodness that this franchise can excel at, and the combat can have a lot going for it mechanically. Also, this might have the coolest renditions of summons by just making them into transformers you can fight with so maybe it's actually the best Final Fantasy after all.
2 Comments
i know that but i really don't like having to plunge through the datalogs too often to get the gist of why everything is happening so far. tbh i think having an audience surrogate through one of the main cast would help out the pacing pick up better for the first half.
chandler
1 year ago