REVIEW: Final Fantasy XIII
So. I haven't quite gotten into "review mode", but I figured that if I didn't do this now it would never get done, so LET'S START~.
FF XIII will be reviewed thoroughly in the following: Graphics, Story, Characters, Soundtrack, Localisation, Gameplay, and Overall. I'll be making certain comparisons to FF X, since that's 1) The most recent FF I've played since XIII, and 2) A lot of people have played it, making it a good point of reference.
GRAPHICS: A++
Score for X: A
First of all, *WOW*, holy crap, is Square-E defending its reputation for eye-popping graphics. The environments are *GORGEOUS*, and there was definitely not any slacking off when it came to detail. If you just stopped in the middle of a city road in Cocoon or in the middle of a meadow in Pulse, and moved the camera around, it is amazing how much painstaking attention has been put into the world design.
In addition, I've lost track of the number of times that I couldn't tell if a scene was being done in real-time or in CG, which, for those that remember X, SHOULD NOT BE THAT DIFFICULT TO DO. The one thing that *REALLY* tripped me up was the rendering of water; Usually that's the one dead giveaway, but this time it made things even more confusing. In addition, the textures, even during plain gameplay scenes, are so realistic and very well done; A marble floor *LOOKED* like marble, and rocks and houses and trees all looked like they were taken from a photo.
There *IS* one minor complaint I have, and it's barely relevant to graphics: There has been no Nomura-done promotional art for XIII, which makes me sad. I would've also liked them to have used the hand-drawn character images instead of the 3D renders for the Crystarium pictures, like in X and X-2, but again, minor and barely relevant.
STORY: A
Score for X: A+
Was the story good? Abso-fucking-lutely yes. Was it THE BEST FF STORY YET?? Not quite. While I did like the use of flashbacks, the beginning few chapters used them almost too much, and were slightly distracting. In addition, I've concerns about how confused people who haven't read the webnovel would be about certain details. Granted, they're summarised in the Datalog, but a lot is still lost.
Which leads me to another thing. In X, you found out little details about the characters through side-quests or the story. In XIII, you still found out those details, but the majority of the trivia was either in the webnovel or the Datalog, instead of being worked into the actual game itself. That was a loss, I felt.
Then there are the loose ends. There weren't all that many, but one in particular really, *REALLY* got to me: Lightning's real name. After it was revealed, I kept on waiting and *WAITING* for *SOMEONE* to bring it up, because hello? LIGHTNING'S REAL NAME. But no one ever did. It was revealed, and never brought up again, which was just like, "...wat." I mean, sure, they were sort of occupied SAVING THE WORLD AND EVERYTHING, but at the end (Which was BEAUTIFUL, by the way), there wasn't even the clichéd, "So, Lightning--" "It's not 'Lightning'. It's _______." The fact that she took on an alias was SUCH A FUNDAMENTAL PART OF HER CHARACTER that it felt criminal to have paid so little attention to her birth name. Another loose end was the ending. Whereas in X they wrapped things up with Yuna's speech, XIII wrapped things up, but vaguely in terms of SO WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED TO THE WORLD?? A similar thing could be said for the scene before the final boss battle.
HOWEVER, complaints aside, I really *DID* love the story, quite a bit. The ending, especially, left me feeling all...asdlkakjsd. It was beautiful, like, I kept on replaying the scene in my head. (Also kept on replaying the scene that made the shipper in me want to cry for three weeks, but, irrelevant). What's more, the story was really fast-paced and so-very addictive; I just hadhad*HAD* to know what was happening next, which was much more reminescent of my experience with Persona 3 than my experience with FF X (P3 being, without a doubt, my favourite game of all time).
CHARACTERS: A++++++
Score for X: A-
FF XIII's characters...oh, gawd, where do I *BEGIN*, they were the fucking *HIGHLIGHT* of the game, I swear to Nomura. I'm going to have to break this down by character, because there is just SO MUCH TO SAY, HOLY SHIT.
Lightning: We all know that Lightning's fierce, cool, badass, and the best female to represent a main FF title that we could have. But then they developed her as more than a soldier, more than a fighter: As a woman, as a sister, as someone who felt that she had lost everything and had nothing more to fight for. They didn't try to make her perfect, they showed plenty of her flaws: Her explosive temper and tendency to act like an arrogant, high-mighty bitch (The flashback with her, Snow, and Serah), her stubborn refusal to *SEE* what was in front of her. But she changed, and the change was so subtle and yet so evident at the same time, and it was just wonderful to see. Her relationship with Hope, for example, was just so beautiful and wonderful. I mean, you see this kid without a mother and with only anger fueling him, battling emotions he doesn't know how to deal with, and Lightning, Lightning sees herself in him, and how she just slowly *ACCEPTS* him, it's wonderful. She sees her old self, and that helps her to change, and she just becomes such a *MOTHER-LIKE* figure, who's confused, too, but wants to help this person who is so much like her. AND I WANT TO GO MORE INTO THE CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS BUT I'LL SAVE THAT FOR ITS OWN SECTION, BECAUSE THERE IS JUST *SO MUCH* TO SAY.
Snow: Ah, Snow. What can I say? He's just such a sincere guy, and I love him for it. He tells it like it is, and he's just so *HONEST*. I suppose you could compare him to Tidus, but Tidus annoyed me at times with how childish he acted. Snow acted like a kid, too, but he just became so *SERIOUS* when it came to keeping the promises he made to so many people. Throughout the story, as things got bleeker and you saw his spirit get shaken, he pulled through and it was just...WOW, seriously, so much inner strength. And his feelings for Serah, oh man. I'm a Snow x Lightning shipper, still am, but his love for Serah was just so *PURE* and so *EVIDENT*, and she was literally his reason to go on. All the times he was like, "I've never had a family. That's why I'm going to save Serah, save Cocoon, and have myself a big happy family," I wanted to *CRY*, it was so honest and sincere and beautiful. This is a man who puts everyone before himself, and, wow. Just a really, *REALLY* great guy.
Hope: I loved Hope. So much. If you ask me, he was the character that developed *THE* most throughout the story, and I loved watching him go from this scared, lonely little kid to a strong-hearted young man who wasn't afraid to admit that he was scared out of his mind, but he also wasn't afraid to go on, because that was what he had to do. Looking at him at the beginning and looking at him at the end, he changed *SO* much, and for the better. His relationship with Lightning taught him to look ahead, to put aside feelings for what had to do done. He learned that "It's not a matter of can or can't. You just do it.", and he learned it *WELL*. He began depending on himself and slowly growing into someone who can take care of himself. There was a bit of a lapse when he was forced to partner up with Snow, but then you see him grow even *MORE*. Spending time with Snow finished the work that Lightning started, and I just *REALLY* loved the scene where he faced a humongous fiend all on his own. Then, his entire character was polished by the rest of his experiences, so that by the end *HE* was the one motivating his much-older companions to keep going on, keep fighting, that it was what they *NEEDED* to do. It was wonderful to watch, lemme tell you that.
Sazh: I really loved Sazh's character for being so *DIFFERENT* from Square-E's usual. I was really happy that they didn't make him out to be the stereotypical HAHA BLACK GUY WITH AN AFRO COMIC RELIEF!! Sure, he was still comic relief (His attempts to get on a chocobo always make me giggle), but he was so much more than that. He was a father, a forty-year-old man doing something that he was probably way too old for, but he was doing it for his FAMILY. He was the father-figure of the group, and acted like one to Vanille, to Fang, to all them young folk (heh). He was a mature man raising a child on his own, and the difference that made in his character really made him stand out from the typical FF cast member. After all, VII's Cid and X's Auron were older men in their mid-thirties/forties, too, but Sazh was the first one who was a father, and that smoothed out the roughness that Cid and Auron had, and it was new, and refreshing, and just really nice to see.
Vanille: Where Snow was so brutally honest, Vanille's concerns mirrored that of young girls hiding their true selves to be accepted. Of course, her reasons were much darker, but the concept is the same. She's a character that really tugs at your heartstrings, and you just feel so *BAD* for her, but she doesn't pity herself, and that's admirable.
Fang: Fang was *AMAZING*. First of all, her flirtatious side, oh man I *LOVED* her. She was just the kind of person who's perfectly comfortable with herself, and not embarassed no matter what the situation. She's confident, and gorgeous, and just so dead-set on her goals, it's amazing. And she valued her friends *SO MUCH*, I really loved seeing that extreme of her. She was so protective of Vanille, and just such a strong moral support for her, as well as for Lightning. BY THE WAY, Lightning and Fang are *THE* best BFF duo *EVER*, I lovelovelove*LOVE* them. ♥♥♥
Minor Characters: YES, THE MINOR CHARACTERS DESERVE THEIR OWN SPOTLIGHT, I think they were one of the best aspects of the cast. Sure, they didn't do much for the plot, and you didn't see them much, but what you *DID* see was enough to establish them as round, well-developed, realistic characters, WHICH IS JUST *SO* RARE IT'S FUCKING AMAZING. Take, for example, Hope's mother. During the flashback at the fireworks, when Hope was like, "So what did you wish for?", and she replies, with this sad sigh and an arm around her son, "That next year, your father could be here with us." And that scene just *STAYED* with me, because Hope's mother just seemed so *REAL* in that scene. Part of it was an amazingly awesome job by the VA, while the other part was in her expression, her pose, the way she just looked up at the sky so wistfully, it was like I was watching a real person. With the members of NORA, you could see the camaderie between them, and the loyalty and friendship they had for each other. Cid Raines and Rygdea, OH MAN, Rygdea. During the scene in Eden, I wanted to *CRY*, his expressions and the feelings you could just *SEE* on his face, they were amazing and did so much for his character. Then Jihl and Rosch andandand *ROSCH*, holy shit did I love him by the end. Jihl's cool demeanour being *SHATTERED*, and her pacing and frantic muttering and breaking her glasses? *AMAZING*.
Character Relationships: I. *LOVED*. The characters' relationships. To highlight a few:
Lightning and Snow: Lightning hated him, so much, and then she grew to *ACCEPT* him and was even *GRATEFUL* to him, and when she's all guilty for how she treated him, Snow's jovial "No problem, it's fine" just made me LOVE THESE TWO MORE.
Lightning and Hope/Snow and Hope: Like I've said above, Lightning and Snow became such a mother figure/older brother respectively, and not only did they help him grow, he helped *THEM* to sort so many things out, and appreciate so many things, and see so much in a new light.
Lightning and Fang: AGAIN, BEST BFFS *EVER*. But the two just had *SO MUCH* in common, with their respective desires to save/protect Serah and Vanille at all costs, and anything that kept them from doing that just made them show such a different, fragile side of their selves.
Fang and Vanille: Already mentioned, but they just support each other *SO MUCH*, and they really *ARE* all they had before they met Lightning & Co.
Vanille and Sazh: He's like a father who just found himself with a bouncy teenage daughter, and not much clue as to how to deal with her. It's really cute, and he's such a good father-figure!
Snow and Serah: Such pure, sincere love. I find myself supporting them even though I'm diehard Snow x Lightning. ;;
So yes, the characters' relationships were definitely some of (if not *THE* best) I've seen in a game yet.
Also want to make a note on the actual character designs for this game: I've loved Lightning's design ever since the first looks at XIII came out years ago, and that hasn't changed; She and X's Yuna remain my favourite of all the series' designs. As usual, Nomura's designs are all amazing and I love it, but I feel that I should say a bit more about Ikeda Nao's design work for this game, since in terms of quantity, she contributed much more than did Nomura (Who designed the six party members, Serah, and two villains, in contrast to X where he also designed many of the NPC-s as well as the summons). Ikeda did a really good job with "matching" Nomura's design and style, but at the same time putting her own touch in. For example, Jihl Nabaat, Yaag Rosch, and Rygdea all look pretty "Nomura-ish", and I would have thought that Nomura had designed them if I hadn't known. However, the members of NORA, while definitely not sticking out, had much more "Ikeda". In short, Ikeda's style is unique yet fitting with the FF-style, and I look very-much forward to her future works (Plus she's a lady in a male-dominated industry, gotta give some support for that!!)
Last note here: The characters in this game are so tall!! Even Serah, who looks so tiny and fragile, is 5' 5" (Taller than me!!). I definitely approve of this change. (':
SOUNDTRACK: A+
Score for X: A+
I *LOVED* the soundtrack, Hamauzu did a really good job. It makes me really sad that he's left Square-E, but seeing as how Uematsu's been doing work for them anyway, hopefully Hamauzu will do the same. C: ♥
I've yet to actually sit down and listen to the entire soundtrack, but I absolutely *LOVE* the violin-heavy battle theme and the quiet, piano title theme. The music throughout the game was so diverse, from blues/jazz to classical to traditional video-game music, and yet it all fit. Definitely want a hard-copy of the soundtrack, it's very nice. ♥
LOCALISATION: A-
Score for X: A-
Where I took off points mainly for sub-par voice-acting in X, in XIII it was for things that I really didn't expect I would have to take off for. First of all, Leona Lewis's "My Hands" v.s. Sugiwara Sayuri's "Kimi ga Iru Kara" (And the complete omission of "ETERNAL LOVE"). Now, I don't have anything against Lewis, and "My Hands" is a very nice song, but I'm of the firm belief that there's a reason video-games have "*ORIGINAL* soundtracks", instead of just "soundtracks": Everything is being designed for the game, to fit the game, and putting in a song that was written/composed completely separately just does. Not. Work. Apparently it was because of troubles "translating the lyrics"; So why not just do what X did, and keep it in there, original Japanese language and all? Both "Kimi ga Iru Kara" and "ETERNAL LOVE" were waaay more in the background than "Suteki da Ne"; What, was there a gigantic backlash from people for using a foreign-language song in a *FOREIGN* game?
Then there were the changes in names. I was quite glad to see that the English version followed the prounciation of "Vanille" as it was spelled, instead of turning the "e" into an "a" for the Japanese pronounciation. However, Lightning's real name was changed *COMPLETELY*. Granted, I rather liked the new name, but such a change is just far too drastic. Yes, there was the Tina/Terra deal back when VI first came out, but that was in 1994. As in, people actually cared about being ~*~ exotic ~*~ back then (And this change made it *LESS* "exotic"). For them to change the *NAME* of the main protagonist in 2010 is rather...shocking, to say the least. Then there's also the changes in Lake Bilge/Bresha, etc., all of which are "Americanising" attempts that I haven't seen in a really long time.
*HOWEVER*, I gave localisation an "A-", not a "D", for a reason: The voice-acting. I will admit, I hatedhatedhated Lightning's voice when I first heard it, and parts at the beginning, I still hated, but overall, Ali Hillis did an (unexpectedly) good job, especially with Lightning's roller-coaster of emotions and moods. Rachel Robinson was *AMAZING* as Fang, and really managed to bring out her flirty, devil-may-care personality (Especially with the summon dialogue. "Let me in on the fun~." "Bring down hell!" "What a sweetheart~. ♥" A++++++ job, right there). And is it just me, or is Troy Baker always voicing tall, burly blond softies (heh)? Excellent job there, too. Vincent Martella was very cute, and was great at capturing Hope; He's definitely going to be one of the "All-Stars" with Laura Bailey (Who was A+++ as Serah), Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt, and Liam O'Brien and the rest one day. Reno Wilson was very good as Sazh (Definitely did not look like he would have such a deep voice!), and amazingly, I was one of the few who did not find Georgia van Cuylenburg annoying in her portrayal of Vanille; If anything, she was cute!! So all in all, very good VA job, especially coming from a group of very very few veterans.
GAMEPLAY: A-
Score for X: A
First of all, let me just say that the "linear" structure or whatever of the game that has got so many people's panties up in a wad is typical of J-RPGs, because J-RPGs value story and character over gameplay (Hence why Famitsu gave XIII a 39/40, while Western magazines gave it 8/10, 7/10, etc., etc., etc.). I play games for the story, hence games with ~*~ amazing ~*~ gameplay like LittleBigPlanet bore the living *DAYLIGHTS* out of me.
The battle system was fun!! Very fast-paced, I loved the dynamic nature of it. It was definitely a major step up from X-2's ATB system. The "Auto-battle/heal/etc." button *DID* create a sort of new form of button-mashing, but I found myself chaining up abilities manually quite often, anyway. The fact that I could only control one character really didn't bother me; The NPCs were "smart" and reliable, much like in P3 (I wasn't one of those who got Marin Karin when I needed a Diarama, just FYI), so it was actually a relief to just let Hope heal and buff while I focused on the enemy. Slight learning curve, but once you get settled into the system, it's simple and very very fun.
The game *WAS* rather easy, which, coming from me, is saying something. That's not to say the enemies weren't hard; Hell, there were a lot of bosses that made me want to kill something. However, very few bosses took me 203984982343498 tries (As was the case in FF X, X-2, and P3). In addition, one major aspect of the game that kept me from wanting to throw my controller into the T.V. 20394902384 times was the fact that you were brought back, not to the last save point, but to right before the battle, which was very very helpful, seeing as I got killed more often by wild fiends than...by...bosses... > >;;;;;
I loved X's Sphere Grid, so naturally, I loved XIII's Crystarium. Absolutely no complaints there. ♥
I have a few complaints about the items, though. First of all, no Gil from battles, really? WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO GET MONEY FROM??? I CAN ONLY SELL SO MUCH. Also, while the Upgrade system in XIII was certainly good, I would have much preferred being able to choose and add on abilities and stats like in X. However, this is fairly minor, and did not really bother me too much (So much better than XII's upgrade system, I would assume...?)
Worst thing about the gameplay? Chapter Thirteen. Anyone who's finished the game will understand. Anyone who hasn't...well, you'll figure it out as soon as you get there.
OVERALL: A
Score for X: A
All in all, I loved this game to bits. Did it have its flaws? Yes, but I've yet to play a game that didn't. The story could have been stretched out a bit more, a bit less fragmented and vague (Then again, I *DID* sort of rush through the game...), but the characters more than made up for it. If for nothing else, play the game to meet the characters, and fall in love with them and the close bonds they share with one another. The details put into the world is a nice touch, too. ♥ So highly-recommended (PS3 version, guys!! Uncompressed, and no need to change the game disc three times!), definitely going to play again when I get the time. C:
Is everyone still alive? Anyone actually read through all nearly-four-thousand words of this? I spent two nights on it! (Oh if only I put half as much effort into my schoolwork... This is proof that I need to write my college essays on video-games. Oh hell yes.) There's talk of either a XIII-2 or AC-style CGI movie sequel, and I personally would love to see the latter! Like I've said in the Berlin Wall-sized block of text above, the ending really left a *LOT* of things up in the air, and I would like to see some of them cleared. Plus, the gorgeousness of Cocoon and Pulse in two-hours of fully-rendered 3D? *YES PLEASE*. ♥♥♥
FF XIII will be reviewed thoroughly in the following: Graphics, Story, Characters, Soundtrack, Localisation, Gameplay, and Overall. I'll be making certain comparisons to FF X, since that's 1) The most recent FF I've played since XIII, and 2) A lot of people have played it, making it a good point of reference.
GRAPHICS: A++
Score for X: A
First of all, *WOW*, holy crap, is Square-E defending its reputation for eye-popping graphics. The environments are *GORGEOUS*, and there was definitely not any slacking off when it came to detail. If you just stopped in the middle of a city road in Cocoon or in the middle of a meadow in Pulse, and moved the camera around, it is amazing how much painstaking attention has been put into the world design.
In addition, I've lost track of the number of times that I couldn't tell if a scene was being done in real-time or in CG, which, for those that remember X, SHOULD NOT BE THAT DIFFICULT TO DO. The one thing that *REALLY* tripped me up was the rendering of water; Usually that's the one dead giveaway, but this time it made things even more confusing. In addition, the textures, even during plain gameplay scenes, are so realistic and very well done; A marble floor *LOOKED* like marble, and rocks and houses and trees all looked like they were taken from a photo.
There *IS* one minor complaint I have, and it's barely relevant to graphics: There has been no Nomura-done promotional art for XIII, which makes me sad. I would've also liked them to have used the hand-drawn character images instead of the 3D renders for the Crystarium pictures, like in X and X-2, but again, minor and barely relevant.
STORY: A
Score for X: A+
Was the story good? Abso-fucking-lutely yes. Was it THE BEST FF STORY YET?? Not quite. While I did like the use of flashbacks, the beginning few chapters used them almost too much, and were slightly distracting. In addition, I've concerns about how confused people who haven't read the webnovel would be about certain details. Granted, they're summarised in the Datalog, but a lot is still lost.
Which leads me to another thing. In X, you found out little details about the characters through side-quests or the story. In XIII, you still found out those details, but the majority of the trivia was either in the webnovel or the Datalog, instead of being worked into the actual game itself. That was a loss, I felt.
Then there are the loose ends. There weren't all that many, but one in particular really, *REALLY* got to me: Lightning's real name. After it was revealed, I kept on waiting and *WAITING* for *SOMEONE* to bring it up, because hello? LIGHTNING'S REAL NAME. But no one ever did. It was revealed, and never brought up again, which was just like, "...wat." I mean, sure, they were sort of occupied SAVING THE WORLD AND EVERYTHING, but at the end (Which was BEAUTIFUL, by the way), there wasn't even the clichéd, "So, Lightning--" "It's not 'Lightning'. It's _______." The fact that she took on an alias was SUCH A FUNDAMENTAL PART OF HER CHARACTER that it felt criminal to have paid so little attention to her birth name. Another loose end was the ending. Whereas in X they wrapped things up with Yuna's speech, XIII wrapped things up, but vaguely in terms of SO WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED TO THE WORLD?? A similar thing could be said for the scene before the final boss battle.
HOWEVER, complaints aside, I really *DID* love the story, quite a bit. The ending, especially, left me feeling all...asdlkakjsd. It was beautiful, like, I kept on replaying the scene in my head. (Also kept on replaying the scene that made the shipper in me want to cry for three weeks, but, irrelevant). What's more, the story was really fast-paced and so-very addictive; I just hadhad*HAD* to know what was happening next, which was much more reminescent of my experience with Persona 3 than my experience with FF X (P3 being, without a doubt, my favourite game of all time).
CHARACTERS: A++++++
Score for X: A-
FF XIII's characters...oh, gawd, where do I *BEGIN*, they were the fucking *HIGHLIGHT* of the game, I swear to Nomura. I'm going to have to break this down by character, because there is just SO MUCH TO SAY, HOLY SHIT.
Lightning: We all know that Lightning's fierce, cool, badass, and the best female to represent a main FF title that we could have. But then they developed her as more than a soldier, more than a fighter: As a woman, as a sister, as someone who felt that she had lost everything and had nothing more to fight for. They didn't try to make her perfect, they showed plenty of her flaws: Her explosive temper and tendency to act like an arrogant, high-mighty bitch (The flashback with her, Snow, and Serah), her stubborn refusal to *SEE* what was in front of her. But she changed, and the change was so subtle and yet so evident at the same time, and it was just wonderful to see. Her relationship with Hope, for example, was just so beautiful and wonderful. I mean, you see this kid without a mother and with only anger fueling him, battling emotions he doesn't know how to deal with, and Lightning, Lightning sees herself in him, and how she just slowly *ACCEPTS* him, it's wonderful. She sees her old self, and that helps her to change, and she just becomes such a *MOTHER-LIKE* figure, who's confused, too, but wants to help this person who is so much like her. AND I WANT TO GO MORE INTO THE CHARACTER RELATIONSHIPS BUT I'LL SAVE THAT FOR ITS OWN SECTION, BECAUSE THERE IS JUST *SO MUCH* TO SAY.
Snow: Ah, Snow. What can I say? He's just such a sincere guy, and I love him for it. He tells it like it is, and he's just so *HONEST*. I suppose you could compare him to Tidus, but Tidus annoyed me at times with how childish he acted. Snow acted like a kid, too, but he just became so *SERIOUS* when it came to keeping the promises he made to so many people. Throughout the story, as things got bleeker and you saw his spirit get shaken, he pulled through and it was just...WOW, seriously, so much inner strength. And his feelings for Serah, oh man. I'm a Snow x Lightning shipper, still am, but his love for Serah was just so *PURE* and so *EVIDENT*, and she was literally his reason to go on. All the times he was like, "I've never had a family. That's why I'm going to save Serah, save Cocoon, and have myself a big happy family," I wanted to *CRY*, it was so honest and sincere and beautiful. This is a man who puts everyone before himself, and, wow. Just a really, *REALLY* great guy.
Hope: I loved Hope. So much. If you ask me, he was the character that developed *THE* most throughout the story, and I loved watching him go from this scared, lonely little kid to a strong-hearted young man who wasn't afraid to admit that he was scared out of his mind, but he also wasn't afraid to go on, because that was what he had to do. Looking at him at the beginning and looking at him at the end, he changed *SO* much, and for the better. His relationship with Lightning taught him to look ahead, to put aside feelings for what had to do done. He learned that "It's not a matter of can or can't. You just do it.", and he learned it *WELL*. He began depending on himself and slowly growing into someone who can take care of himself. There was a bit of a lapse when he was forced to partner up with Snow, but then you see him grow even *MORE*. Spending time with Snow finished the work that Lightning started, and I just *REALLY* loved the scene where he faced a humongous fiend all on his own. Then, his entire character was polished by the rest of his experiences, so that by the end *HE* was the one motivating his much-older companions to keep going on, keep fighting, that it was what they *NEEDED* to do. It was wonderful to watch, lemme tell you that.
Sazh: I really loved Sazh's character for being so *DIFFERENT* from Square-E's usual. I was really happy that they didn't make him out to be the stereotypical HAHA BLACK GUY WITH AN AFRO COMIC RELIEF!! Sure, he was still comic relief (His attempts to get on a chocobo always make me giggle), but he was so much more than that. He was a father, a forty-year-old man doing something that he was probably way too old for, but he was doing it for his FAMILY. He was the father-figure of the group, and acted like one to Vanille, to Fang, to all them young folk (heh). He was a mature man raising a child on his own, and the difference that made in his character really made him stand out from the typical FF cast member. After all, VII's Cid and X's Auron were older men in their mid-thirties/forties, too, but Sazh was the first one who was a father, and that smoothed out the roughness that Cid and Auron had, and it was new, and refreshing, and just really nice to see.
Vanille: Where Snow was so brutally honest, Vanille's concerns mirrored that of young girls hiding their true selves to be accepted. Of course, her reasons were much darker, but the concept is the same. She's a character that really tugs at your heartstrings, and you just feel so *BAD* for her, but she doesn't pity herself, and that's admirable.
Fang: Fang was *AMAZING*. First of all, her flirtatious side, oh man I *LOVED* her. She was just the kind of person who's perfectly comfortable with herself, and not embarassed no matter what the situation. She's confident, and gorgeous, and just so dead-set on her goals, it's amazing. And she valued her friends *SO MUCH*, I really loved seeing that extreme of her. She was so protective of Vanille, and just such a strong moral support for her, as well as for Lightning. BY THE WAY, Lightning and Fang are *THE* best BFF duo *EVER*, I lovelovelove*LOVE* them. ♥♥♥
Minor Characters: YES, THE MINOR CHARACTERS DESERVE THEIR OWN SPOTLIGHT, I think they were one of the best aspects of the cast. Sure, they didn't do much for the plot, and you didn't see them much, but what you *DID* see was enough to establish them as round, well-developed, realistic characters, WHICH IS JUST *SO* RARE IT'S FUCKING AMAZING. Take, for example, Hope's mother. During the flashback at the fireworks, when Hope was like, "So what did you wish for?", and she replies, with this sad sigh and an arm around her son, "That next year, your father could be here with us." And that scene just *STAYED* with me, because Hope's mother just seemed so *REAL* in that scene. Part of it was an amazingly awesome job by the VA, while the other part was in her expression, her pose, the way she just looked up at the sky so wistfully, it was like I was watching a real person. With the members of NORA, you could see the camaderie between them, and the loyalty and friendship they had for each other. Cid Raines and Rygdea, OH MAN, Rygdea. During the scene in Eden, I wanted to *CRY*, his expressions and the feelings you could just *SEE* on his face, they were amazing and did so much for his character. Then Jihl and Rosch andandand *ROSCH*, holy shit did I love him by the end. Jihl's cool demeanour being *SHATTERED*, and her pacing and frantic muttering and breaking her glasses? *AMAZING*.
Character Relationships: I. *LOVED*. The characters' relationships. To highlight a few:
Lightning and Snow: Lightning hated him, so much, and then she grew to *ACCEPT* him and was even *GRATEFUL* to him, and when she's all guilty for how she treated him, Snow's jovial "No problem, it's fine" just made me LOVE THESE TWO MORE.
Lightning and Hope/Snow and Hope: Like I've said above, Lightning and Snow became such a mother figure/older brother respectively, and not only did they help him grow, he helped *THEM* to sort so many things out, and appreciate so many things, and see so much in a new light.
Lightning and Fang: AGAIN, BEST BFFS *EVER*. But the two just had *SO MUCH* in common, with their respective desires to save/protect Serah and Vanille at all costs, and anything that kept them from doing that just made them show such a different, fragile side of their selves.
Fang and Vanille: Already mentioned, but they just support each other *SO MUCH*, and they really *ARE* all they had before they met Lightning & Co.
Vanille and Sazh: He's like a father who just found himself with a bouncy teenage daughter, and not much clue as to how to deal with her. It's really cute, and he's such a good father-figure!
Snow and Serah: Such pure, sincere love. I find myself supporting them even though I'm diehard Snow x Lightning. ;;
So yes, the characters' relationships were definitely some of (if not *THE* best) I've seen in a game yet.
Also want to make a note on the actual character designs for this game: I've loved Lightning's design ever since the first looks at XIII came out years ago, and that hasn't changed; She and X's Yuna remain my favourite of all the series' designs. As usual, Nomura's designs are all amazing and I love it, but I feel that I should say a bit more about Ikeda Nao's design work for this game, since in terms of quantity, she contributed much more than did Nomura (Who designed the six party members, Serah, and two villains, in contrast to X where he also designed many of the NPC-s as well as the summons). Ikeda did a really good job with "matching" Nomura's design and style, but at the same time putting her own touch in. For example, Jihl Nabaat, Yaag Rosch, and Rygdea all look pretty "Nomura-ish", and I would have thought that Nomura had designed them if I hadn't known. However, the members of NORA, while definitely not sticking out, had much more "Ikeda". In short, Ikeda's style is unique yet fitting with the FF-style, and I look very-much forward to her future works (Plus she's a lady in a male-dominated industry, gotta give some support for that!!)
Last note here: The characters in this game are so tall!! Even Serah, who looks so tiny and fragile, is 5' 5" (Taller than me!!). I definitely approve of this change. (':
SOUNDTRACK: A+
Score for X: A+
I *LOVED* the soundtrack, Hamauzu did a really good job. It makes me really sad that he's left Square-E, but seeing as how Uematsu's been doing work for them anyway, hopefully Hamauzu will do the same. C: ♥
I've yet to actually sit down and listen to the entire soundtrack, but I absolutely *LOVE* the violin-heavy battle theme and the quiet, piano title theme. The music throughout the game was so diverse, from blues/jazz to classical to traditional video-game music, and yet it all fit. Definitely want a hard-copy of the soundtrack, it's very nice. ♥
LOCALISATION: A-
Score for X: A-
Where I took off points mainly for sub-par voice-acting in X, in XIII it was for things that I really didn't expect I would have to take off for. First of all, Leona Lewis's "My Hands" v.s. Sugiwara Sayuri's "Kimi ga Iru Kara" (And the complete omission of "ETERNAL LOVE"). Now, I don't have anything against Lewis, and "My Hands" is a very nice song, but I'm of the firm belief that there's a reason video-games have "*ORIGINAL* soundtracks", instead of just "soundtracks": Everything is being designed for the game, to fit the game, and putting in a song that was written/composed completely separately just does. Not. Work. Apparently it was because of troubles "translating the lyrics"; So why not just do what X did, and keep it in there, original Japanese language and all? Both "Kimi ga Iru Kara" and "ETERNAL LOVE" were waaay more in the background than "Suteki da Ne"; What, was there a gigantic backlash from people for using a foreign-language song in a *FOREIGN* game?
Then there were the changes in names. I was quite glad to see that the English version followed the prounciation of "Vanille" as it was spelled, instead of turning the "e" into an "a" for the Japanese pronounciation. However, Lightning's real name was changed *COMPLETELY*. Granted, I rather liked the new name, but such a change is just far too drastic. Yes, there was the Tina/Terra deal back when VI first came out, but that was in 1994. As in, people actually cared about being ~*~ exotic ~*~ back then (And this change made it *LESS* "exotic"). For them to change the *NAME* of the main protagonist in 2010 is rather...shocking, to say the least. Then there's also the changes in Lake Bilge/Bresha, etc., all of which are "Americanising" attempts that I haven't seen in a really long time.
*HOWEVER*, I gave localisation an "A-", not a "D", for a reason: The voice-acting. I will admit, I hatedhatedhated Lightning's voice when I first heard it, and parts at the beginning, I still hated, but overall, Ali Hillis did an (unexpectedly) good job, especially with Lightning's roller-coaster of emotions and moods. Rachel Robinson was *AMAZING* as Fang, and really managed to bring out her flirty, devil-may-care personality (Especially with the summon dialogue. "Let me in on the fun~." "Bring down hell!" "What a sweetheart~. ♥" A++++++ job, right there). And is it just me, or is Troy Baker always voicing tall, burly blond softies (heh)? Excellent job there, too. Vincent Martella was very cute, and was great at capturing Hope; He's definitely going to be one of the "All-Stars" with Laura Bailey (Who was A+++ as Serah), Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt, and Liam O'Brien and the rest one day. Reno Wilson was very good as Sazh (Definitely did not look like he would have such a deep voice!), and amazingly, I was one of the few who did not find Georgia van Cuylenburg annoying in her portrayal of Vanille; If anything, she was cute!! So all in all, very good VA job, especially coming from a group of very very few veterans.
GAMEPLAY: A-
Score for X: A
First of all, let me just say that the "linear" structure or whatever of the game that has got so many people's panties up in a wad is typical of J-RPGs, because J-RPGs value story and character over gameplay (Hence why Famitsu gave XIII a 39/40, while Western magazines gave it 8/10, 7/10, etc., etc., etc.). I play games for the story, hence games with ~*~ amazing ~*~ gameplay like LittleBigPlanet bore the living *DAYLIGHTS* out of me.
The battle system was fun!! Very fast-paced, I loved the dynamic nature of it. It was definitely a major step up from X-2's ATB system. The "Auto-battle/heal/etc." button *DID* create a sort of new form of button-mashing, but I found myself chaining up abilities manually quite often, anyway. The fact that I could only control one character really didn't bother me; The NPCs were "smart" and reliable, much like in P3 (I wasn't one of those who got Marin Karin when I needed a Diarama, just FYI), so it was actually a relief to just let Hope heal and buff while I focused on the enemy. Slight learning curve, but once you get settled into the system, it's simple and very very fun.
The game *WAS* rather easy, which, coming from me, is saying something. That's not to say the enemies weren't hard; Hell, there were a lot of bosses that made me want to kill something. However, very few bosses took me 203984982343498 tries (As was the case in FF X, X-2, and P3). In addition, one major aspect of the game that kept me from wanting to throw my controller into the T.V. 20394902384 times was the fact that you were brought back, not to the last save point, but to right before the battle, which was very very helpful, seeing as I got killed more often by wild fiends than...by...bosses... > >;;;;;
I loved X's Sphere Grid, so naturally, I loved XIII's Crystarium. Absolutely no complaints there. ♥
I have a few complaints about the items, though. First of all, no Gil from battles, really? WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO GET MONEY FROM??? I CAN ONLY SELL SO MUCH. Also, while the Upgrade system in XIII was certainly good, I would have much preferred being able to choose and add on abilities and stats like in X. However, this is fairly minor, and did not really bother me too much (So much better than XII's upgrade system, I would assume...?)
Worst thing about the gameplay? Chapter Thirteen. Anyone who's finished the game will understand. Anyone who hasn't...well, you'll figure it out as soon as you get there.
OVERALL: A
Score for X: A
All in all, I loved this game to bits. Did it have its flaws? Yes, but I've yet to play a game that didn't. The story could have been stretched out a bit more, a bit less fragmented and vague (Then again, I *DID* sort of rush through the game...), but the characters more than made up for it. If for nothing else, play the game to meet the characters, and fall in love with them and the close bonds they share with one another. The details put into the world is a nice touch, too. ♥ So highly-recommended (PS3 version, guys!! Uncompressed, and no need to change the game disc three times!), definitely going to play again when I get the time. C:
Is everyone still alive? Anyone actually read through all nearly-four-thousand words of this? I spent two nights on it! (Oh if only I put half as much effort into my schoolwork... This is proof that I need to write my college essays on video-games. Oh hell yes.) There's talk of either a XIII-2 or AC-style CGI movie sequel, and I personally would love to see the latter! Like I've said in the Berlin Wall-sized block of text above, the ending really left a *LOT* of things up in the air, and I would like to see some of them cleared. Plus, the gorgeousness of Cocoon and Pulse in two-hours of fully-rendered 3D? *YES PLEASE*. ♥♥♥