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Destructoid Reviews Final Fantasy XIII - 4/10

March 16, 2010 in Reviews comments 33

Destructoid's Jim Sterling recently reviewed Final Fantasy XIII and he was not impressed, giving it an overall score of 4/10 and calling it "the worst main chapter in the Final Fantasy series to date."

Final Fantasy XIII has perhaps one of the worst introductions a Japanese RPG has ever had. Square Enix thought it would be a good idea to not tell the player what is happening, and as a result, the first ten hours of the game feels like a conversation that the player has stumbled in on halfway through. All the characters know what's going on, and talk as if the player should know, leading to a very alienating narrative that ensures the player never truly connects with it. When you finally do work out who is who and what's going on, however, you'll wish the game had stayed so vague.
Miss Razz via destructoid.com »
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Most recently commented on by on Mar 19, 2010

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  • 0
    Hideo1 Mar 17, 10
    That quote just translates to 'wha, wha, whaaaa, I need to be spoonfed the story like a child'.
    • 0
      Seproth Mar 17, 10
      Maybe so, but that doesn't mean it's good.

      For me it's not so much the vagueness of the story that bothers me. FF has been like that for the past few years now, even with Spirits Within and Advent Children. It's just that I wasn't convinced.

      I tried to care, they're like "We gotta save Cacoon! I just don't know why, and I can't force myself to play anymore."
      • 0
        Hideo1 Mar 17, 10
        I expect the story to suck, I do, I just can't stand it when people clutch at straws like he was in that example is all
        • 0
          Seproth Mar 17, 10
          You're right, like someone said below. His reasons are fair enough, but a 4 is really low. 6 would have been more reasonable considering the review, but that wouldn't have been much better I don't think. People are pretty naturally split on this game.
  • 2
    Darknet Mar 17, 10
    When you gave an iconic game like Final Fantasy at 4-5/10, you're just reaching for attention.

    But I'm having fun with the game and that is all I care about.
    • 0
      conel3 Mar 17, 10
      I have to agree with Darknet that this is just pure attention seeking. It's fair enough that people should have their own opinions about games but the person says right at the start that they don't like Final Fantasy games. This seems to be more like Destructoid trying to take a fanboyish cheap jab at JRPG fans than it is actually a review of FF13.

      You can tell that the reviewer had no intention of liking or even enjoying the game before he started playing it.
    • 1
      Akira_EX Mar 17, 10
      To be honest, you know there's something wrong when you call giving a mediocre score to an iconic game "reaching for attention".

      It's like these games are impossible to be anything short of great.
      • 0
        Bale Fire Mar 17, 10
        Well considering the sheer amount of money and effort poured into the Final Fantasy games you expect it could at least manage an average score, the graphics and sound should have alone allowed it to keep in the 5/10 to 6/10 mark.

        So basically I think this guy didn't like the game, but played this up to get Destructoid more traffic through the controversial review.
      • 0
        Hideo1 Mar 17, 10
        There's something wrong when you class a game review above a 4/10 to be great

        Methinks you need a new scoring system.
        • 0
          Akira_EX Mar 17, 10
          No one said a 4/10 was great.
        • 0
          Hideo1 Mar 17, 10
          You said 'it's like these games are impossible to be anything short of great'. Therefore 4/10 is short of great, as it is what people are talking about, thus by your logic anything above 4/10 is great. So yes you did. Word your douchebaggery better next time.
        • 0
          Akira_EX Mar 18, 10
          That's some leap in logic you got there. You should probably work on learning what that saying means. "4/10 is short of great" makes no statement on what else is short of great, other than 0-3/10 is also short.

          People will not be satisfied unless they get that high score that they are looking for a certain game. However, my point is that there are no sacred cows.
        • 0
          Hideo1 Mar 18, 10
          I knew what your point was, you just worded it like a tit.

          And it was a stupid point to make in the first place, since anyone who has actually read the article knows he's just looking for attention.
  • 1
    phowell23 Mar 17, 10
    His reasons seem genuine to me; liked graphics, most of battle system and the music was decent and disliked the story and charecters but thats not a 4 in my book. A 4/10 is a game with no postives, he semi liked 3 outa 5 things so a 4 sounds like attention seeking to me.
  • 0
    ShadowGuard Mar 17, 10
    Another reviewer bits the dust, and another one's gone and another one's gone, another one bits the dust.

    Destructoid, may want attention, but not the negative kind... Their entire site is a FAILURE now...
  • 0
    ruledbysecrecy Mar 17, 10
    Final Fantasy XIII deserves a 0/10. Because I've been having so much fun and despite all these shit reviews it sold extremely well.

    *bleep* reviews.
  • 0
    Zero and X Mar 17, 10
    I don't think that necessarily every review of this game that's mediocre automatically translates to the author wanting attention. It may very well be that he did not like the game. Reviews are not objective as much as we would like them to be, they are a perception of a product and there are different perceptions for every product. It's very possible that yes, this may be attention seeking giving the game a low score, but to assume that simply because the game you like got a sub-par score, I think that means you're just biased towards the game and don't want to accept other opinions.
    • 0
      conel3 Mar 18, 10
      I agree and it's fair enough that people don't like the game. This game isn't for everyone and mostly old fans of the series will be the people who like it but you can tell just by reading this review that it's just attention seeking.
  • 3
    Spike Spiegel Mar 17, 10
    I think a reviewer should take an objective standpoint when reviewing a game. The overtone of this particular review seemed anything but objective. He admitted from the beginning that he was about to tear the game "limb from limb" and advised not to read it if you hope to find anything positive. Although I like the game, I found some of the things he said to be valid (hey, the game isn't without flaws *shrugs*). But he went overboard, saying things like "This is the worst (insert feature here) in JRPG history!"
    His tone almost seemed angry at the game, at certain points taking personal jabs at what he percieved the developers personality traits to be. For a reader like me, I can shrug it off because I played the game and know it has its saving graces. But for someone looking for encouragement in making a choice to buy, that's flat out tainting the reader's preconceived notions of a game. That's unprofessional in my opinion.
    • 1
      ruledbysecrecy Mar 17, 10
      + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
    • 0
      Hideo1 Mar 17, 10
      He's like Yhatzee, just without the art of actually being funny.

      AKA he's just a dick.
    • 0
      conel3 Mar 18, 10
      There are plenty of things that I think could have been much better about the game but it's been brought to everyone's attention that he hasn't even finished the game so maybe he just didn't play it enough to find the saving graces. Either way people shouldn't even be allowed to review a game until they have finished it. You can't review what you havn't even played.
  • 0
    Existence Mar 17, 10
    Evidence suggesting that this reviewer didn't even finish the game has come to light.
    • 0
      ShadowGuard Mar 17, 10
      This is even more of a failure now. Someone is about to get fired...
  • 1
    Aussie Legend Mar 17, 10
    This just in: God of War 2/10, Mass Effect 1/10!

    Destructiod thanks you for putting up with their attention grabbing bullshit.
  • 0
    John Master Lee Mar 17, 10
    I'm not even sure this is designed to be flame baiting. I think it's more about trying to use a review score to teach the developer a lesson. As if saying "If you do this again, we will hurt you with our reviews." Which simply isn't what a review should be about.
    • 0
      Hideo1 Mar 17, 10
      I doubt this guys so arrogant that he believes a poor review from Destructoid will teach Squenix a lesson.

      Actually no, he does seem that arrogant.
  • 0
    RabidChinaGirl Mar 17, 10
    Meh, it's Destructoid. You guys really shouldn't be surprised.
    • 0
      Hideo1 Mar 18, 10
      To be fair most of their stuff is sarcastic and, dare I say it, funny. This is just bile.
  • 0
    tekmosis Mar 18, 10
    I've been playing games in the FF series since FF3 and I have to agree with the review to some degree. I wouldn't give it a 4, maybe a 5.5

    I don't have much enthusiasm to play the game and when I die in a fight because some normal encounter enemy deals 560 damage to my main character who only has 480hp even with an accessory that gives me +100hp, it's rather hard to choose "Retry" rather than "Turn off console". Especially when my other teammates can't even phoenix down me, it's gameover if I get KO'ed.

    When normal encounters can last just as long as a boss fight normally would it gets rather tedious when the benefits are rather little. Small amount of CP and either a couple items or none at all.

    I hope they've done a better job with Versus.
    • 0
      ruledbysecrecy Mar 19, 10
      Really tek? I've noticed that when I didn't know how to play the game, yes, it can take an incredibly long time in the most mundane battles. But since I've come to learn the ropes I just desecrate enemies.

      Also, if you've only got 480 hp you haven't gotten to the good stuff yet. Not by a long shot.
      • 0
        RabidChinaGirl Mar 19, 10
        I've got friends who enjoy the game, and friends who don't. Totally subjective.
        • 0
          ruledbysecrecy Mar 19, 10
          That's a given, it's not even worth bringing up.

          My post wasn't that his opinion was wrong, it was that I was in a similar situation, feeling like the game was balanced wrong, but it was really a matter of me not understanding it, and I can't fault a game for that. I don't want my games to all play the same. Sometimes people act like they would like their games to all play the same without even realizing they're doing it, always comparing everything to another thing.

          If all of a sudden every game played like every other game, we would get tired of that game real quick. It's why I always liked Resident Evil's old style of play. It was unique. I embrace that. It wasn't second nature out of the gate, it took some time to get used to but now I can handle fixed camera angles like a pro, like it's not even an issue. It's similar to Final Fantasy XIII in that regard. It is very different than previous Final Fantasy's.

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