940°
7.0

Final Fantasy XIII first (real) English review - RPG Land

Janelle Hindman has completed Final Fantasy XIII and reviewed it. In her opinion, the good slightly outweighs the bad as she gives it a "Very Good" ranking.

sakura20095238d ago (Edited 5238d ago )

they kept all the good ideas for final fantasy versus xiii =)

knifefight5238d ago

I don't know much about Versus XIII. Please tell me the good ideas :D

Noctis Aftermath5238d ago (Edited 5238d ago )

Versus has alot more promise, FF13 was made as a safe bet it didn't take to many risks and Versus is trying something different.

Skip_Bayless5238d ago

That's the way i like someone who uses the full 10pt scale.

Cartesian3D5238d ago

is there any more pictures of FFversusXIII ingame shots? Iv never seen that screen..

if you have more please post the links..

5238d ago
wxer5238d ago

FF XIII was just to sell and to move some PS3's

FF versus XIII on the other hand
is the real deal

GameGambits5237d ago

Like I said yesterday, this game WILL get murdered in reviews here in the west. The main reason is most reviewers will not play the 40 hours required for the game to become it's full potential. Ch11-13 are like an entire awesome FF game in itself. The first 10 chapters are just a drowsy filler of a mess.

Glad to see she completed it. I'm sitting at a solid 8/10 for it in my book right now, and depending on how the ending fairs it might get a bump to higher 8.X, but if it blows well 7.X here we come. :/

There is a lot of good things here in this game... it's just a shame SE didn't spread it out over the course of the game and instead just dumped it on you at the very end. It ruins pacing to say the least.

kingdavid5237d ago

Are you kidding zlatko?

All big review sites go with the flow and base scores on reputation of a series.

Every FF game released has always had good reviews from the west. FF13 will be no different.

ShinGundam5237d ago

@Cartesian3D
No in-game footage except Nocits and stella first meeting which is
a year old video
http://www.gametrailers.com...

5237d ago
GrandDragon5237d ago

Why didn't the review mention the Open World exploration?

Considering how this Game has been criticised falsely for its lack of exploration I find it amazing how the reviewer didn't try to debunk that myth...

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Oldsnake0075237d ago

Thank the FF-FAns who bit_ched about FFXII.

IMO its open world was the best, gameplay was the best,even Story was good but thanks to the bit_ching they changed everything back instead going forward .

Pika-pie5237d ago

Even if this game gets mediocre reviews its still a day one purchase for me. Iv waiting so long for it!

The Lazy One5237d ago

the reviewers dislikes had nothing to do with the new ideas and more to do with the lack of old ideas (towns) and poor story telling/dialogue, which has been a problem in general with a lot of JRPGs lately.

Removing towns sucks. They really made the world feel more alive. sucky. The new battle system does look pretty sweet though.

iamtehpwn5237d ago

I'ved played the game, it's at least a 9. I don't know where the hate from this game is come from but...weird.

FamilyGuy5237d ago

"Replay Value - Bad"

That's a lie, this reviewer CHOSE to stick to the story and do nothing extracurricular that was present in the game. She beat it in 47 hours but just yesterday I was watching this feed http://www.justin.tv/rrrrui and he's 91 hours in after all the post game missions and activities (chocobo treasure hunting ect.)

I'll tell you one more thing, the after game missions and unlockables are worth the time, this guy does moves and fights enemies you'll never see 47 hours in. And it all looks fantastic.

evrfighter5237d ago

if a game "requires" a 40 hour wait for it to become good.

Does said game deserve a 9 or 10?

f**K no.

FamilyGuy5237d ago

How many hours did you put into previous final fantasy's? 40 hours is nothing in those games, it's like playing less than half a game.

Hisiru5237d ago (Edited 5237d ago )

@zlatko
No, big sites/magazines will finish the game before they give a score. I never heard of RPGLand, so I am not giving too much credit to this review.

@FamilyGuy
No... he is right. If you aren't having fun with the game and you have no clue of what this game is all about after 40 hours then it's not for you or the game has a bad storytelling. You won't know everything about the storyline in 40 hours but I NEVER had to play a Final Fantasy game for 40 hours to know if it's an incredible game or has a bad storytelling. BTW, I am playing Final Fantasy since the NES era.

ThanatosDMC5237d ago

If Versus is better than FF13 then it'll be downplayed since it's an exclusive like the many others. "Eventhough teh battle systemz is great and innovative it failz cuz it's not subpar," or something like that.

sikbeta5237d ago (Edited 5237d ago )

Stupid SE, they're making so much mistakes, if this game don't make a good job in Europe or America on 1 of the 2 Consoles or both, Sony will definitely need to buy some Stocks or SE will fall, this is the best seller game for SE in a long time and everyone is killing it

knifefight5237d ago

@Hisiru
Um, there's a picture in the review of her postgame save file...

Hisiru5237d ago

And? I will wait for some big magazine or website like IGN, and then we will have a real score.

knifefight5237d ago

Well you made a remark that seemed to imply the game not having been finished so I thought I'd point that out. I apologize if that's not what you meant ^_^

I think in general there's too much focus on numbers here, because they're all different things to different people. To me, the text is what matters.

Only thing I can say is that IGN lost me more than once, one big step in their decline being the FFTA2 review a while back. Basically just a features list or preview x_X
http://ds.ign.com/articles/...

I don't think it's the review outlet so much that matters as the individual review and the text of said review. If the review sounds like something that resonates with you, then hey, you'll probably agree. If any given review's negatives are things you don't mind and its positive points are things are not, then you'll probably disagree. Just how it goes. :)

RememberThe3575237d ago (Edited 5237d ago )

I see this game as being one that is better then the reviews say it is. But, this is not a bad review. The 7 means that it is "very good" and even in the opening paragraph the author writes:

"Despite some poor design decisions, though, Final Fantasy XIII is worth playing, even if it isn’t a must-play."

From what I gathered (I'm not reading that whole thing), the game is good but not mind blowing. And frankly, I was going to rent it anyway.

Ravage275237d ago

it's becoming increasingly clear that this isn't the next-gen FF i was looking forward to (i.e. open world navigation,100hrs gameplay,jaw-dropping graphics). Whether it is due to limitations imposed by the multiplatform decision or SE's incompetence, this is looking like GTA4 all over again...taking a big step backwards (yes i did enjoy FF12 ALOT, esp. the Mark Hunting quests even though i was bitterly disappointed with the story...it had such promise sigh~)

cyberwaffles5237d ago

well, according to their review system (which is very different from most peoples' i think) they thought the game was very good. for example, a 5 from them is considered average and is not a bad score,

read their review system for any consolation

http://rpgland.com/criteria...

bakasora5237d ago

can i be more disappointing?

evrfighter5236d ago

"^You're a joke
How many hours did you put into previous final fantasy's? 40 hours is nothing in those games, it's like playing less than half a game."

are you an idiot?

the difference between past final fantasy's and this one is that the old ones drew you in during the first hour while having 100's of hours of gameplay.

to have to wait 40 hours?

It's no wonder why mediocrity sells nowadays. nutcases like you are completely oblivious to reality.

+ Show (27) more repliesLast reply 5236d ago
knifefight5238d ago (Edited 5238d ago )

http://img75.imageshack.us/...
^
I don't get it. @_@
What am I looking for?

5238d ago
kewlkat0075238d ago (Edited 5237d ago )

I hope they judge this game hard. I guess the story is meh, I'm getting from this review.

multipayer5237d ago

Isn't the game practically shovelware without the climactic story though... This is why pure RPGs are dying and square/enix wanting to milk DLC will only add insult to its injuredness.

7/10 sounds about right, with no online... Oh right, they have that other game that milks subscribers, wouldn't that look foolish.

Bodyboarder_VGamer5238d ago

I don't know, for all the praise he has been giving through the entire review a 7 seems kinda low... He likes everything about the game except for the story. So the author deducted 3 points just because the story's bad?

knifefight5237d ago

If you look lower, the Replay Value is marked as "Bad," and the review also mentions that there were some questionable design choices, so Story isn't really the only negative -- maybe the biggest though.

silkrevolver5237d ago

... it's kind of stupid to dock so much off of the story when you are playing it in you second language. I don't know how advanced his Japanese language skills are, but I'm sure at least a few things were lost in translation... But who knows, maybe the story sucks. Sounds kind of awesome from what I've seen...

5237d ago
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70°

The 7 Best Final Fantasy Characters: Unveiling the Legends

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220°

The older it gets, the more I respect Final Fantasy XIII

Alex Donaldson: "Hindsight is a hell of a thing, however, and in the years since Final Fantasy XIII, my respect for the decisions its developers made has skyrocketed. In the two Final Fantasy titles since we see both the brilliance and the folly in alternative approaches - and in Final Fantasy VII Remake, we get a more nuanced understanding of what FF13 was trying to accomplish from many of the same development leads."

Einhander1972128d ago

FFXIII is actually one of the best Final Fantasy games.

I also sort of was disappointed at the time, never as much as the bandwagon. But really all the fantastic 3D rendered cutscenes and I actually liked the characters and the story though convoluted was actually fantastic and the ending was extremely emotional. So much budget and time were put into that game Square had such big plans, I actually have always felt kind of bad for how things played out.

I have been thinking for years how great it would be to get all three games on one disk for PS4 or 5.

Nyxus128d ago

I always liked this game, and I agree, a rerelease for current gen would be nice.

Shane Kim127d ago (Edited 127d ago )

Gotta take off the nostalgia glasses. It's the worst FF. Shiva as a bike, I mean come on.

Elda127d ago

Shiva as a bike is strange but saying FFXIII is the worst FF is not at all a fact, that's simply your opinion.

Terry_B126d ago

*One of the 3 equally bad FF's

DivineHand125127d ago (Edited 127d ago )

When I got my series X a year ago, I bought FF13 for nostalgia reasons but ended up being disappointed. When I first played it around the time it launched, I didn't have a lot of experience with final fantasy games, so I enjoyed it. Fast forward to when I played it again, I found that the game had many unnecessary filler moments instead of just giving us meaningful content.

The game is also very linear and a quote on the article said it best. "It is like a sewage pipe that leads to the ocean until it opens up on Grand Pulse."

The story didn't make much sense either and I believe it is my mistake as I played the FF7 remake on PS5 prior which is a night and day difference in terms of pacing, storytelling and likeable characters even though cloud is aloof.

FinalFantasyFanatic127d ago (Edited 127d ago )

Probably was a mistake to play any of the golden era FFs first (e.g. FF6 through FF10), it makes it harder to enjoy some of the FFs that aren't as good. I think FF12 was where major issues with the series started becoming apparent, and it just got worse from there.

FinalFantasyFanatic127d ago (Edited 127d ago )

I didn't really care for it that much, the only saving grace was that it had a better story than 15 (overall it was better than 15) and possibly 12, and even then, you had to read some of it through primers, like reading a book. Plus the battle system was reasonably fun for what it was, even if it was more the spectacle that was exciting for me (e.g. summoning). And to be fair, the 13 trilogy got better with every games, I still don't like Snow though.

Gamingsince1981126d ago

Ff13 is only good if you haven't played a ff before, or any other games that are decent for that matter.

-Foxtrot126d ago

It is in fact no way the best Final Fantasy game, it's one of the worst

Linear corridors, Cutscene, Fight, Cutscene...rinse and repeat

Dialogue and characters are pretty bad, especially Lightning as the main FF hero, they literally said they tried to make a "Female Cloud" and they failed.

Story was pretty awful

I could go on

I think the only alright thing that came from the game was the music.

Elda126d ago

That's not a fact that's your personal opinion. The game sold 11 million copies between its 2009 release up until 2014 including critically reviewed as an 8 out of 10 or an 80 out of 100. The game does have some issues but it's not at all a fact as one of the worst FF games.

-Foxtrot126d ago

Elda

Not just mine mate

A large majority

So….

Traecy126d ago

N4G commenters such as yourself aren't the majority. The game was well received.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 126d ago
+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 126d ago
gold_drake128d ago (Edited 128d ago )

i liked the game alot but i didnt like how they handled the terminology.

i dont mind reading data logs but it had soo many.

but i always loved the music and how it looked. the battle system wasnt too bad either.

but i like 13-2 more :)

i still dont understand why we never got a remaster of the trilogy

Eonjay126d ago

Xbox kinda did. Besides the video files of course which are still best on PS3 due to bluray.

Snookies12128d ago

XIII is a pretty solid game, but XIII-2 is WAY better. XIII-2 was one of the few games I decided to go for a Platinum trophy in, early on. Had so much fun the entire way through getting it too!

Eonjay126d ago

Totally agree. FF 13 was okay but 13-2 is my favorite FF game ever.

shinoff2183128d ago (Edited 128d ago )

I hated this to when it released. I haven't much liked a ff game since ff10 as much , aside from ff7remake. I decided to give it another shot on my series x since it's not on a current ps and was liking it quite a bit(just takes me some time to get over things ) until star ocean 2 remake came out I was all over that.

Square should definitely remaster it or something for ps4 ps5

KillerB127d ago

my favorite jrpg trilogy ever

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70°

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