Final Fantasy XIII: Platinum Hits

So this game has been out for a week now, and the reviews for this game are greatly exagerating the cons, giving little light to all the things this game does right. The two grievances that are being exagerated are the Xbox 360 graphics vs the PS3, and the linearity of the game. First lets deal with the graphics, since I think this complaint is the most insignificant. *in no way should you go buy a PS3 just in order to experience this game at its fullest!!!* This game was made for the PS3, moded to the XBox360, so there are subtle differences in the graphics. The video is compressed on the xbox360, but has a higher framerate than the PS3, but unless you are a unrelenting, anal-attention to detail freak, I don't think you would notice. I played it on my 47" HDTV on my Xbox360, and I can honestly say it is a next gen graphics kinda game; it looks absolutely amazing, and the FF artwork and enviroments are in full force in this one, beautifully rendered and fluid. Now I was hanging out at my friends house who just bought this game on his PS3, and he was playing it on his 46" HDTV, which is an LCD just like mine, but I believe his has a faster processor; and as I watched him play the first hour of the game (which is mostly cutscenes) I could distinguish no real difference to the experience I had on my 360, except maybe the hair looked a little bit better in motion, but nothing to lead me to believe the PS3 version to be superior. I get it, the PS3 owners are unhappy that Microsoft is getting a peice of the pie, understandable, and if you want to claim your version to be superior, thats fine, but its not a game breaker, or shouldn't be unless your a fanboy one way or another, its a ridiculouse argument to pursue, and should just be avoided. BOTTOM LINE: You will enjoy the graphical awesomeness of this game no matter which system you play it on. The next argument is a little harder to address, but should not sway you into avoiding this game. The complaint has been that this game follows too much of a linear path, and removes much exploration from this strong RPG franchise. Now I have played final fantasy games since I was 5 years old, and they have always been greatly geared to wandering around towns, talking to NCCP, trying to find objectives and missions to advance the story line. Now I know this is one thing that has made the series great, but I don't feel that removing the wasted hours of wandering around towns trying to advance the story has hindered the RPG elements of this game at all, if anything I think it has improved it greatly and made it a much more enjoyable experience. Now this is coming from a guy that has been bored with this franchise for awhile now, the wandering had gotten to be an astronomical waste of time, leveling up characters and barely advancing the story, playing stupid card games and other B.S. that offered little to the actual game other than a waste of time without reward. Now I have spent 10 hours on this game so far, and I hear the game takes 50-60 hours to complete, and I am in no way feeling skimped on because I haven't had to wander aimlessly. The direction to take is usually clear (provided by an onscreen mini-map), with different paths to walk and explore with dead ends and 'orbs' to find, but the main path remains clear and easy to find. As I've progressed the exploration has increased more and more while keeping the main story line in focus, it eventually gives rise to greater areas of exploration, but nothing like the FF games of the past. It is genuinely a 'new' expereince, for better or worse depends on the gamer and what you want out of a FF game. Even with a more 'linear' path, the basic RPG elements of the game flourish. The combat system has been improved, and offers a fresh take on an old favorite. You only control one party member durring combat, the other party members are controlled via A.I., which die hards of the series will scorn at, but it makes combat faster with less decision makeing and more sword slashes. You are able to control what the computer controlled players are doing by a system called 'paradigm shift' which allows you choose their battle style focus, i.e. strictly attack, defend, use magic, or be a medic, which you can change their focus at any time in real time to strategically alter the progression or outcome of a fight. This is really cool because it gives you enough control to give the fights strategy and depth, but doesn't overload you with commands and keeps the fights moving and entertaining to watch. You are able to chain up your attacks in this fighting system, so as your chain gauge charges in real time, you can input a string of different attacks and watch them get carried out all at once,which is really cool when you can do 3 or 4 attacks in one turn. There are multiple routes to leveling up your players ( you have 6 playable characters total) depending on your focus. You unlock abilities and such based on a certain battle focus, then in battle, whichever focus you are using you will have those abilities available to use i.e. when your in your medic focus you can use cure, when your in your attack focus it might be unavailable for that character. You can unlock abilities for all 6 characters in whatever area of battle focus you choose, developing each individual how you see fit. The RPG elements are still in full tact in this game, just presented differently, in a more user friendly fashion if you will. You level up your characters, find and acquire new items, equip and develope your characters how you see best, and send them into battle to watch beautifully rendered fight scenes that are as much fun to watch as play. Don't think that because you have a more linear story line that the content isn't there, it is!! There are plenty of side quests and missions to complete, even after you complete the main game. The adventure is definetely that of a Final Fantasy epic, and your personal taste would tell you wether you like the storytelling capabilities of Square or not, thats a personal preference in my opinion, but it is true to the story of any final fantasy game, a monumental epic, with exceptional graphics and a real good voice cast ( except for Vanille ). I think fans of the franchise and newcomers alike will enjoy this game. It has plenty of content, and you deffinetely get your moneys worth in it. Xbox 360 users rejoice, our version is just as good as the PS3's, if they want to argue over theirs being the superior version, let them After all, we all need something to feel good about. :O)

I'll make my review concise as possible. Yes, the game is linear in scope. And yes, the game is very Japanese in nature. But linearity is by no means a bad thing, and with Final Fantasy XIII it helps unveil the story Square Enix tells in a very cinematic and enjoyable fashion. The story definitely won't be for everyone, as it has been said in many interviews already posted to date. Yes, it can be very melodramatic at points. Melodrama personally puts me off as well; but that melodrama is far from grating enough to write off a game of this grand of a scope. I've seen both games in action across both consoles. I'd like to dispel the belief that the 360 version is 'vastly' inferior to it's Playstation predecessor. They're both of equally gorgeous to play firsthand. The Playstation version is indefinitely clearer in resolution, but in action such a difference could never be fathomed if not set side by side (in which case some might not even 'tell' the difference side by side). The granduosity experienced throughout the game's gorgeous environments and extremely detailed character models are a must to experience across either platform. The gameplay has been my favorite across the Final Fantasy genre to date (I've played everything in the series exluding III, and XI). For me, it feels like Chrono Cross/Xenosaga meets traditional fantasy combat (and those games pose as my favorite when it comes to turn based battle systems). It's fast paced, you can link combos in a fun and equally fun to 'look' at fashion. The battle system is also strategic enough to appease long time fans of the series, as for when Optimas (Paradigm shifts) are unveiled a whole new slew of options are introduced. This is also where the linearity helps the game in scope. The battle system opens up at the same pace of the story, introducing core mechanics at a pace that 'anyone' can understand them. For some it may seem cumbersome, but as a whole, Square's method of unveiling the combat works well. Overall the game is indeed is fun, and almost a must-buy for any JRPG/Final Fantasy fans out there. Yes, the game can be linear, and yes the game opens up semi-sluggishly; but you're enjoying your time while traveling down that 'linear' path, being immersed into a game at a pace that's appropriate for what Square Enix has created. Sidenote - Vanille and Snow are equally obnoxious in the Japanese versions. But both characters grow on you. And if they don't...well. Mute your television whenever either opens their mouth. In all seriousness, experiencing the game's story alongside these characters, even if you dislike them in the beginning, makes the game all the more engrossing. Hopefully everyone who purchases the game has as much of a good time as I did/am.

All the people complaining about the linearity of the game need to stop. They have no idea just how much design and production really costs, and if Square tried to satisfy everyone, not only would we never actually see another FF game again (they would never leave production), but Square would go bankrupt trying to satisfy everyone. I'm a designer with designer friends and friends who make video games for a living and they all say the same thing; quit complaining and enjoy. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Now, that being said, the plot is classic Final Fantasy, the graphics are beautiful and the controls are old school FF with a new school twist. Trust me, play the early games for Nintendo and you'll see what I mean. Honestly, I love the twist. I wish the battles gave you money, but you can't win them all. I'm only a few hours into it, and while the plot is so slow to get moving, I can't help but stare at the other two discs in the case and smile. That is the beauty of the FF series, they take their time with the plot and character development. They build up the plot, you start off doing one thing and wind up doing something completely different. It's a beautiful style that's been working quite nicely for Square all these years. I can't really say much about the absense of the world map, mostly because I'm patient enough to wait for it to happen (Remember FF7? Took 7 hours of game play before we reached the world map, didn't it?). And just from reading the booklet that came with the game I can tell you that there are side quests (honestly, am I the only one that reads the manuals? I can't be). All in all, it's a pretty amazing game all things considered, we have stellar graphics, Yoshitaka Amano graphics no less, gorgeous music, an interesting cast, and a nice conflict. All we need are a guy named Cid and some moogles and we'll be in business. But like I said, I'm patient, and I have faith that their coming. This game is nothing short of a feat of engineering, and an excellent story at that. Do I wish some things had a little more meat to it? Yes. But I also respect Square's bottom line, and I can appreciate the shear amount of work that goes into creating something like this. So go ahead, get the game. It's a beautiful story with lovely characters, just be a little patient and you'll be more than satisfied.

I've been an avid fan of the Final Fantasy series since Final Fantasy 4, 5, and 6 were released in the United States. It's been nearly twenty years that I've loved this series... and this is the last Final Fantasy game I will play. It's not that I'm not open to a new installment of the series, but rather that the last two games have been so unpleasant that I'm unwilling to take a chance until someone whose opinion I trust tells me "No, it's okay, this new game is NOTHING like 12 and 13". But this review isn't about Final Fantasy 12, which I played about 75% of before deciding I had better things to do. It's about Final Fantasy 13, a game so beautiful that I mistakenly gave it a chance to be fun. Five hours into the game, I have a glimmer of an understanding of the story; there are these giant demigod-like entities called Fal'Cie, which will on occasion choose people to become l'Cie, whose sole purpose is to carry out some mission (called a Focus) and then turn into crystal. Apparently, that's a good thing, unless you're from the neighboring planet that everyone seems to hate even though it would appear that there's no way to actually travel between the two. Being a "Pulse l'Cie" when you're on the planet "Cocoon" is apparently grounds for everyone to simultaneously decide to hate you. After those first five hours, I hadn't had any fun. "Okay," I thought, "It's just setting me up to have fun later. It's not like Diablo 2 or anything, where the early game is a bit tough and not as fun as the end game, but I guess I expected some fun since I really enjoyed the early game of Final Fantasy 7 and 8." So I kept playing, leveling my characters up on an unusually linear, well-defined, completely boring new skill system, which seemed a lot like the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X but without any of the ability to deviate from a single path and do something interesting. Nope, you picked a tree and filled out some passive benefits (like +life) and some active skills (which were only available when your Paradigm used that particular role for that particular character). I got about 15 hours in, and still wasn't having fun. I realized that much of the reason the game wasn't fun came in a two-fold double whammy of boredom: first, the story was complicated and difficult to follow. Unlike Final Fantasies 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and a little bit of 10, this game didn't introduce a clear opponent: you're just some outcast group of people (surprise! that totally never happened in the 7 games I just mentioned!), running away from the nebulous and vast forces of some rather powerful militaristic organization. The problem was that it wasn't clear where you were going: why was I going on this obnoxiously linear path? Where were the side quests? In fact, where was the MAIN quest? At 25 hours in, I hadn't figured out what the MAIN quest was, other than to not carry out their Focus (that thing the fal'Cie told l'Cie to do). But there weren't any side quests to do for entertainment or side story, just keep running. That's where the second kicker comes in: despite some heavy monotony and/or predictability in former Final Fantasy games, at least the combat was fun. Final Fantasy 4, 5, and 6 were okay in this regard, but had some charm and the comedic story deviations were worth it. Final Fantasy 7 and 8 had great combat, and 9 returned to 'okay'-dom. FFX had interesting combat; some parts good, some parts bad, but definitely on par with 7 and 8. Final Fantasy XIII had none of that. You pick a "paradigm", which selects roles for ALL of your characters, and whichever characters you aren't controlling automatically cast spells on an enemy using some kind of seriously deterministic algorithm for deciding which spell to cast 3-6 times in a row. Which is completely different from what your character does, which is continue tapping the A button to select "auto-battle", which instructs the character you're controlling to do the exact same thing that your allies are doing: use an algorithm to figure out what attacks to perform on an enemy. Oh, wait, that's the same thing. Whoops. So we've got a monotonous, difficult to follow story that makes no sense, characters you'd rather see die for their wimpy whining than follow along on their misguided quest to not be l'Cie, and combat that you'd rather run away from because it's so boring. It's now 45 hours in, and I'm not sure why I played for 40 hours longer than I decided the game wasn't fun. Probably because it's a Final Fantasy and I was a hardcore fan. It has to get fun at some point, right? So I finish the game. It took me about 60 hours because I got sidetracked on a hunt system similar to the Marks of FFXII, which were only marginally more interesting battles because I had to use OTHER paradigms. After 60 hours of playing the game, start to finish, I hadn't had any fun. None. At no point did I say to myself "This game is good, I totally want to play it". No, as an idiotic loyal fanboy, I said "This game is a Final Fantasy, so I want it to be good, so I'm going to keep playing it". It wasn't good. 60 hours of my life spent playing a game I hate. Lesson learned: when Hironobu Sakaguchi, the guy who designed the Final Fantasies up through 9, jumps ship, it's time to abandon the series. No more Final Fantasies for me. On the flip side, Lost Odyssey (a game created by Hironobu Sakaguchi) was an excellent game. You should play that instead of Final Fantasy XIII, which was awful.

( SOME SPOILERS BELOW. ) I've edited this review to be less tl;dr for people. I am not taking FFXIII-2 or LR into this review. Good parts: -Square attempted something different. ( You and the rest of your characters are a ticking time bomb and people are scared of you. ) -Characterization. ( Lightning is not a Cloud-clone. Whoever keeps suggesting this is stupid. ) -Battle system. -Graphics. -Music. ( The best part of this game for me, to be honest. ) -Customization. -The dub not being terrible. ( No one sounds like Yuna from FFX's first release. ) In the middle: -The villians. ( What they did with Jihl is pathetic and robbed everyone of a good fight. ) -Unresolved plot ties. ( I'm looking at you, Fang and Vanille. ) -The 'summons'. ( Hit or miss if you like the transforming theme in the summons. ) -Certain character arcs. -Dialogue. Some is just awkward translating from Japanese to English. -How they dealt with iconic stuff from FF's past. ( Spells, weapons, and even names are referenced in FFXIII. ) -Blend of scifi with fantasy. ( Again, personal taste if you like or dislike. ) -No towns or classic trips to a town. ( Done on purpose for the game's theme but makes things feel lonely later on. ) -Monster difficulty spikes at certain locations in the game. The bad: -Extremely linear. ( This was probably the most glaring fault of the game. ) -Lack of being allowed to backtrack. -Weird plot holes. -The weapon and accessory upgrading part is very complex and grindy. ( We're taking 100+ hours if your RNG sucks. ) -Takes too long for the entire party to get together. -Lack of story arc or quests for characters later in the game. So should you get this game? I'd say yes, though I cannot defend it from the first few hours. It's a bit of a mess and almost feels like you have training wheels on for too long. But underneath is a very good game that offers a great amount of challenges. Yes, it's linear. And yes, some of the characters are annoying. But compared to a few past titles for this series, there is visible character growth in everyone. FFXIII offered a lot of content to pursue after I'd completed the game. It's very grindy and sometimes frustrating, but it also kept me engaged in playing longer. Spending more time doing stuff in a game like this means you get more bang for your buck.

People really need to stop complaining about the linear story and whatnot. Have any of you ever played Lunar? It's the most linear storyline / gameplay I've ever encountered, but I still consider it to be one of the best. Grant it, in Lunar, there are tons of towns and people to talk to, you can purchase new weapons and armor, money is dropped from random enemy encounters, and you level like normal, but there are no side-quests, no summons, and no games to play, and I still consider it to be the best RPG ever made. You go straight from one objective to the next. This game is exactly like that. Ok, there are tons of things that could have been done differently with this one. But come on people. I'll be the first to admit that I was slightly disappointed that there seemed to be more cutscenes and cinemas than necessary, and part of the fun of a game like this is being able to explore large, open areas. But be honest with yourselves and realize that they're running out of things to create for the FF world, and they can't keep coming out with the same old thing every time a new FF hits stores. The graphics in this game are unprecedented and are amazing to watch. And even though it takes some getting used to, the battle system is amazing and fun to play. And are people seriously complaining about the AGE of the characters being too young? WHO CARES whether it's a 15 year old or a 41 year old saving the world? If some of you recall, Barret from FF7 was in his mid-30's. 35, to be exact. If you're expecting every character in every new FF to get older and older just because it's "un-realistic and annoying to be journeying and saving the world with a pubescent boy", you're nuts. As a 23 year old, I don't want to be playing a 50-something who looks like they're about to forget my name and can barely hold the weapon they're supposed to wield. I don't care about the age of the characters I'm controlling. I care more about being able to lose myself in the experience of an awesome game. All in all, this game is a little repetitive, but fun and different. If you don't like it, don't play it instead of coming on Amazon and bashing the game and the entire company that made it. The creators didn't take risks? They took all the risks that you people are bashing them for. And this whole "my horse is bigger than your horse" argument that people have started over which console is better, just need to get over themselves and their fantasies. These are just piddly things that people are finding to complain about because this game isn't necessarily what they wanted or expected. Games like these are a lot like music. Everyone has their own unique taste. I've been playing the series since FF7 came out. Each of the FF's were good in their own right. For me, 7 had the best storyline, 8 had the best ending, 10 had the best leveling system, and 12 had the best battle system. This game had the best graphics. This game is an absolute must-have for any avid FF player like myself to add to their FF collection, regardless of how much you may think it sucks. But it's like I said before. Either play the game or don't. Find something more fulfilling to do with your time.

I know what a lot of reviews and previews have said. This is a stripped down final fantasy....the graphics arnt as good as the PS3 version...etc. I am here to tell you that first of all the graphics still look amazing on the 360. If you do not have a PS3 and only have the 360 you will NOT be let down in any way by playing it on the 360. Unless you own both systems and both copies of the game and are playing it side by side.. i do not think you will really mind. It looks just as good as any other 360 game out there if not better. I took the time to play through the first part of the game twice (as the first time i was in bright sunlight in my room so wanted to play it at night for a better view). Haven taken the time to examine the cut scenes and close of views of the in game model of lightning and scenery and such. I believe it looks amazingly good. Lightning alone looks better then any pre-made CGI Final Fantasy character in the past! While some may gripe about the linearity of the game. I say it is a good thing. Lets face it how many of you here have played a rpg only to not know what the heck to go ....or what to do? You have to wander through town talking to 100 mindless NPCS till you find the right one to trigger the next event or wander a cave with 50 passages and floors just to find the correct path of the way out? This game cuts that out but still gives you a very enjoyable experience a big thing to keep in mind is even though it is more straight forward the game still manages to take a good 50 to 60 hours to finish! So that means..that despite the one track path in many cases. the game still has just as much content as any other final fantasy game...just in a different way. Meaning that ...you will still get your moneys worth out of the game! Some say this is an "action game" and not a "RPG" well the battle system is still menu based and once it opens up you still have to deal with much tactics...you still advance your charterers and gain new items and abilities over time. The story is still epic and detailed... and the scenery is still Final Fantasy. This is not some game that was redone with the "Final Fantasy name" tagged on (ala Final Fantasy the movie) this IS Final Fantasy just in a different light. Also to note after you finish the game there are still around 60 side missions you can take part in too! and you can return to previous areas in the end you visited so its not like its just ..one story...one path and then nothing else. The main thing that should draw you to the game is the story, the scenery and the adventure. It may not be your old final fantasy you are used to but i think its just as good enough to stand as it's newest member. and to be honest after playing for a while i feel just as excited for it as i did with Final Fantasy 7. While i wont say this is "better" then final fantasy 7 per say...i will say it if you put on the right mindset ...it can be just as fun! Give it a try!

When Fallout 3 came out, most of the Fallout fans hated it because they felt it wasn't a REAL Fallout game... it was just a re-skinned version of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It felt more like a sequel to Oblivion than Fallout 2. After playing Final Fantasy XIII, all I can say is... I know how Fallout fans felt! Final Fantasy XIII doesn't feel much like a Final Fantasy game, especially in the first 10 hours of gameplay. The game's story overpowers the early hours of the game, and the battles seem very boring and simple. It takes something like 10 hours before you're even told that the items you've been accumulating from battles simply have point values for upgrading your weapons and accessories. You're really going to wonder what good those 40 Chipped Fangs you've collected are going to do for you. After your characters gain additional battle roles, like Sentinel, Synergist and Saboteur, the battle system becomes more exciting and even challenging at times. With these expanded roles, and the ability to upgrade your equipment, it finally starts feeling like a real RPG, where you're in charge of your character's development. Like everyone, I have certain criticisms about the game, but I'm still rating this 5-stars. If you've played this game and don't feel it's worth full retail price, you're just expecting too much from video games! Great story, great voice acting, stunning scenes, and (after 10-12 hours) great gameplay! It might not be the Final Fantasy game you were expecting, but it's still a masterpiece of a game.

Este es uno de los mejores juegos del genero de rol creado por Square Enix. Una agradable mezcla de elementos clásicos e innovadores. con excelentes gráficos y estupenda música. Solo un detalle: En el titulo menciona que es "Standard Edition" pero mi copia resulto ser "Platinum Hits" Esto no tiene importancia para mí que solo pretendo disfrutar del juego, pero las personas que coleccionan Juegos podrían molestarse al no recibir una "Primera Edición"

Favorite Final Fantasy game. Love the characters, story, and progression. Pros: Really good battle system, a mix of old Final Fantasy and new style ATB. Perfectly varied bestiary. Epic boss fights Fantastic summons Astounding graphics Extremely difficult hidden bosses First main number FF that wasn't "I must save my girlfriend/loved one/crush". Cons: A bit linear, though I didn't entirely mind it Really tough to get the Lightning gamerpic. Not really too much of a con but I was never able to do it Would have preferred the JP ending theme rather than Leona Lewis' "My Hands". 3 discs, though the 360 sadly isn't capable of bluray The amount of unnecessary hate it gets

Magnifica entrega de la franquicia, excelente jugabilidad y gran juego, lo remiendo, los gráficos son excelentes, la entrega llego en el tiempo prometido sin ningún problema.

Ar first the gameplay took a bit to get used to then master but overall i don't understand the hate of this game. I grew to love each of these characters and watch them grow through their struggles. The story of changing one's destiny hits hard with me. Also Lightning is a good character. One negative is they kind of rely on you to read the book "Final Fantasy XIII episode Zero: the Promise" to understand where they came from and why they are the way they are at the begining of the game. Also the book is pretty good.

Damaged product and not original release copy as shown.