Fainaru fantajî XIII

I finally got my version for the Xbox 360 of this amazing game, after all those words about being too lineal or too boring, here's my review of 6 hours of game (if it gets different, I will update this review) I won't talk about the story, don't want to spoil anything, except saying something about the people who says this is the worst "Final"...well I have played all Final fantasies and the first one was the VI, all I wanna say is that this is by far the greatest in characters, story, graphics, fights, everything.

Story: 10/10...the best story I've ever heard from a game, it captures you, it makes you feel their pain, their feelings.

Graphics: 9.8/10...The best graphics I've seen, even from the Xbox 360 version, they both look amazing (put a 10/10 for the PS3 version)

Sound: 9.8/10...The only game I ever liked the music was Final Fantasy VII, but this game is too much, I love the battle theme! The voices are great (Vanille is maybe too loud, but you get used to it)

Duration: 9.7/10...50 to 60 hours the principal story...more than 100 hours to get all done, is it enough for you?

Gameplay: 9/10...yes, it is lineal and straight at the start, just fighting and hearing the amazing story from these great characters (specially Lightning OMG I love her!) but it doesn't look boring for me.

RATING: 9.8/10 : It is the highest note I haver ever putted on a game

I know all the bad reviews but I just LOVED the game, story, characters (I repeat, Lightning is too much!!)...everything! It's lineal at the start, yes...but a lot of games are too (counting Final Fantasy X, Devil May Cry, Call of Duty, etc)

Stunning graphics,good plots and strong characters.All of that is still not enough to make this game superior to FF 7;FF 8;FF 9;FF 10 and mainly to FF 12. The lack of optional things to do in this game is its greatest flaw.While in other FFs we have several optional bosses,stories and stuff,this one only has hunts!Why one would waste its time hunting monsters,many of them that can only be defeated after the end of the game,to earn items to make your characters stronger to fight no-one else but these hunted monsters??

We can have good times playing this one.All magic lies on the first time you play it.It is a Final Fantasy,thus it deserves to be played,only once, not twice.We can't spend too much time playing this one.

Final Fantasy XIII almost became the best, unlike its predecessors, the HP could reach 100,000.

After three months and 72 hours of gameplay, the game was deleted. With so much training time, the Cactus hitting kills makes playing it discouraging.

*Story: Acceptable plot, but having to receive so many names like Fal'cie, l'cie, Pulse city, right away and only later studying and understanding the fantasy is boring. It's interesting to see Lightning and her friends receiving the l'cie mark and being victims of racism and hatred. Characters overcoming anguish and fear, hatred against religion and the system, and a lot of love for others.

*Gameplay: Good evolution in movements, less robotic characters and more simulation with human movement. The fights also have beautiful action scenes.

*Music and sound effects: Menu sound, dubbing, and all sound effects in the gameplay, nothing to complain about, top. And especially great music by composer Hamauzu, Final Fantasy XIII has the best music in the franchise.

Negative points.

❌ Not always having control of Lightning, making any other character the leader, and forcing you to evolve a character you don't want to play.

❌ Gameplay limitations, the game following a pre-defined script.

❌ It takes a while to access the fighting skill and magic.

❌ Limited evolution system.

Positive points.

✅ Beautiful graphics, and good character design.

✅ Best music in all of Final Fantasy.

✅ Incredible battle system, no strategy, no victory.

Game Awards 🏆 Game of the Year: Final Fantasy XIII 🏆 Best RPG: Final Fantasy XIII 🏆 Best Soundtrack: Final Fantasy XIII 🏆 Best Game Song: Frances Maya (The Sunleth Waterscape) - Final Fantasy XIII 🏆 Best Graphics: Final Fantasy XIII 🏆 Best Actress: Naho Nakashima (Lightning) - Final Fantasy XIII.

I honestly loved this game. It's beautiful in almost every aspect--the visuals are probably the best visuals in a video game to date, the narrative is amazing, the voice acting is flawless, and the combat system is nothing short of brilliant. The major criticism this game is receiving is its linearity--which I agree, was a bit irking.

The game is very linear, with beautiful landscapes but paths so narrow you almost feel claustrophobic. However, if you think about it this was probably a tactical move by Square Enix in order to draw in new players without overwhelming them. The game is designed to be friendly to the new FF player, and hopefully after the disappointment that was XIV, Versus XIII will keep the new players hooked on the series, along with XV if Square decides to continue the series (and I hope they will).

The combat system is one of the most challenging you will find today. It starts out very simple--choose an attack and wait for the gauge to fill up, then repeat till the enemy is dead. However, soon you are introduced to roles, magic, and Paradigms--combinations of different roles to combine different attacks and moves. After all this, the challenge is choosing the right Paradigms, because that is the difference between victory and defeat in this game. It keeps you hooked and never bores you, and prevents players from just going through the motions.

The visuals are amazing, after the opening scene I was amazed that it was all CGI. The cinematics are beautiful on the PS3, so I urge you to get the PS3 version. Many environments are breathtakingly beautiful, such as a crystal lake, a house of moving stairs, and many more.

The narrative is brilliant and fits with the very likable cast of characters. You meet Lightning, a young woman who is portrayed as very cold, but slowly opens her heart up while keeping her ice cold determination; Sazh, a man who is drawn into Lightning's plans through curiosity and ends up getting more than he bargained for; Snow, a headstrong, confident young man who is engaged to Lightning's younger sister; Hope, a teenager who, despite his name, has no hope, but matures and gains confidence and courage; Fang, a strange woman with a past she can't recall; and, unfortunately, Vanille-- an upbeat redhead with a very annoying voice who will probably drive you crazy, but is hiding something dark within.

All these characters are citizens of Cocoon--a city-world in constant fear of invasion from Pulse, the world below. The government is corrupt and is run by godly beings known as fal'Cie, who carry out the Purge, in which people who live too close to Pulse fal'Cie and/or are or might become its slaves, Pulse l'Cie, are transported from Cocoon to Pulse against their will.

All in all, the game is beautiful and the storyline is touching and better than most Hollywood films. The linearity is bothersome but nothing too bad. I definitely think this game could be made into a movie, and end up as one of the greatest animated films of all time. I would recommend this to anyone.

Final Fantasy XIII (and its sequels) is very different than the rest of the FF series. Especially its extremely linear pathing and story that you wont fully understand unless you read the datalogs. It (thankfully) got rid of Random Encounters for this game, and instead you can see your enemies, pick and choose your fights, and (hopefully) win. The music is not composed by Nobuo Uematsu for this installment, however this does not cut down on the quality of the soundtrack, as a lot of the songs are wonderful and memorable earworms. The story is genuinely good (in my opinion) and i like the themes that are covered by the game (taking charge of our destinies, not giving on to despair even when things get difficult, etc). The game is good, even if long and a little tedious. Get it when its on sale if you can. Dont buy it on PC though PC Port is not very good (not bad enough to take away from the game as a whole, but definitely not the best port i have played)