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Final Fantasy XIII's First English Review - 7/10

December 26, 2009 in Reviews comments 22

After so many years of waiting, Final Fantasy XIII is finally here. But has it been worth the wait?
RPGland.com have written the first (real) English review for the game and, while they enjoyed it, they admit that FFXIII may disappoint many fans.

[Discuss in the Final Fantasy XIII forum]

Coming three years after the last main-series Final Fantasy title, Final Fantasy XIII is overall solidly built and has a lot of great things going for it. Though the end credits declare “thanks to all fans of Final Fantasy,” it also has some departures from tradition that are bound to anger a lot of long-time devotees. These innovations are designed to keep the product fast-paced and cinematic, but what they sacrifice hurts as well as helps. Despite some poor design decisions, though, Final Fantasy XIII is worth playing, even if it isn’t a must-play.
Miss Razz via rpgland.com »
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  • 3
    chautemoc Dec 27, 09
    Huh..well good on them for being a small site with the first review. And for having balls to give it a 7. I reckon I'd give it about that...
    • 3
      Zero and X Dec 27, 09
      You would give it that, meaning you played the game already?
    • 0
      phowell23 Dec 27, 09
      Looking at their scores for other games, i think they went a little overboard with their critisism 13. I havent play it but i did play Valkyria Chronicles and as great as a game that it was, the story was VERY linear and they gave its story an excellent and replay value a great. I think they might be nittpicking but i guess they have the right.
    • 0
      Zero and X Dec 28, 09
      I just want to mention I wasn't trying to stir anything up, I was asking a genuine question.
  • 3
    ruledbysecrecy Dec 27, 09
    Yeah, chautemoc, I'd reckon I'd give a game I haven't played yet a 7 too.
    • 2
      chautemoc Dec 28, 09
      I'd give this conversation a 2.
      • 0
        ruledbysecrecy Dec 28, 09
        Yeah chautemoc, I'd give a conversation I hadn't even read yet a 2 too.
  • 0
    Fallen Royalty Dec 27, 09
    Guys, guys, chautemoc is from teh future and has played everything up to final fantasy 22. Cut him a break.
    • 1
      Onvacation Dec 27, 09
      you two do realize the game is already out, right? Theres nothing that indicates he hasn't played it.
      • 1
        ruledbysecrecy Dec 27, 09
        No shit, but I'm going to go out on this huge limb here and say that he hasn't first of all, and that if he has, he has no *bleep*ing idea what happened because he can't read fluent Japanese.
        • 1
          Rabla Dec 28, 09
          Not the smartest person on the internet here.

          Ya know theres heaps of translations and walktrhoughs already.
        • 1
          ruledbysecrecy Dec 28, 09
          Again, ultimately true, but highly unlikely. It would seem you two aren't the most logical people on the internet, but then again logic is asking a lot of most people on the internet.

          Logically, the chances of him importing the game and going to all that trouble just to read a translation of a game that has ridiculous amounts of disjointed text are highly unlikely. Hence my stance.
          Also, let's see these full game translations, a quick search reveals next to nothing of real use.

          I thought about importing this game, but this is a freaking JRPG. I got to thinking, do I really want to experience this game the first time and see what's happening but not understand any of the dialogue unless I have some guide sitting next to me? The answer was clear. *bleep* NO.
    • 1
      chautemoc Dec 27, 09
      I am the order and the light. It's disappointing you would all doubt my word.
  • 0
    phowell23 Dec 27, 09
    Wow, the one thing that I want more than anything else in a final fantasy game is a great story and if this review is accurate SE has hyped us up for another giant letdown. I really thought that they would learn from 12's mistake and fix the shitty story and dialogue but it looks like I might be wrong... but im still going to have to play it to see for myself. Whether some1 likes the story is a personal thing so maybe it just wasnt for them. The no towns was a bad idea but im excited to try out the gameplay. By the way why is an english site reviewing a japanese version of a game?
    • 0
      Dragoshi1 Dec 27, 09
      Wait until the reviews start pooling in instead of judging a game that isn't out in the states or UK yet.

      Nitpicking at a game before it comes out is what the L4D2 boycotters did, and now look, more then half of the protesters went and bought the damn game and are playing it as we speak.
  • 0
    reaver11 Dec 27, 09
    Well I only skimmed through it, but from what I gather, they only downed it to a 7 was because it removed certain RPG elements in favor of others, and had some certain FF elements removed...so FFXIII gets a 7/10 because...it wasn't like the others?

    I only skimmed it so feel free to correct me. I didn't have time to read it all. But if this is the case, then I don't consider this as a real review. Reviews are supposed to rate the game itself, not how well it stacks up against its predecessors, like what they did with FFXII. I don't want to know how different it is from past FF, but how good of a game it is. The score should reflect that instead.

    But feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
  • 1
    Shuyu Dec 27, 09
    It's a game that isn't for anyone simply because people can't get over their notions of what an RPG is supposed to be.

    The review raises points that I agree with on Hope and Snow - of all the characters, they seem to have grown the least. Snow is, by far, the worst of the main characters. There is one part where he gets all sad and moody and within the hour, he's back to his whole "Let's protect everyone and be heroes" thing. Hope has redemption in the way his relationships with other characters grow. If it weren't for his relationship with Serah, Snow would be nothing short of useless.

    On the other hand, I actually find myself giving a damn about what happens to the characters and no Final Fantasy game has made me do so before. That said, the antagonist side is just flat out slack. Were it not for all the details pre-release, you wouldn't know jack shit about Jihl or Yaag except for that fact that Yaag is made of steel and Jihl doesn't actually NEED her glasses.

    I'd feel more than comfortable giving the game an 8/8.5 and if I was feeling slightly generous, a 9.
  • 0
    Archangel Dec 27, 09
    I had a feeling this game would getting a lower score than anticipated. I'm not saying it's a bad score, because 7 is still pretty damn good, but I think a lot of us were hoping for higher.

    I guess people just don't like the fact it's trying to change the way we think about a typical RPG. Change isn't something that's widely accepted, especially about something that's been so prominent in gaming the past couple decades. Thing is, I'm sure the next game is going to push the envelope even more, so it's something we'll have to get used it.
    • 3
      reaver11 Dec 27, 09
      I bet fanboys are gonna start blaming the "potential" letdown of the game on the 360. The roads always seem to lead there when a deemed-great PS3 exclusive goes to the 360 and turns out less than hoped for.
      • 3
        Red 9* Dec 28, 09
        I think Squenix just overhyped the damn thing, regardless of what console it's on. Also, how exactly did it try to "change the way we think of RPGs" exactly?
  • 1
    Darknet Dec 28, 09
    My impression is this: hype it up, the game will fail. Don't hype it up, and you'll have fun. So for the love of God people, calm down...
  • 2
    Province Dec 28, 09
    My impression is that, like more Square games recently, this game is going to suck >.

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