Final Fantasy 13

Platform: xBox 360 and Play Station 3
Developer: Square Enix
By: Taylor McLelland, Associate Editor

I've been playing Final Fantasy games for almost 20 years now, the first being Final Fantasy 2. (Which I would later discover was actually 4) And for all those years I have been a huge fan of most of the games. While there were a few let downs, and I still don't consider 11 to be an actual numbered FF game, (it should have been Final Fantasy Online in my opinion.) The newest installment to the series is actually a lot of fun. While it is pretty different from most of the other installments in a few key ways, it still keeps true to the series. First, the differences.
While most FF titles, after about an hour or so of the story being set up, you can immediately wander about the world, and do as you please, for the most part. This isn't true of FF 13. This game is very linear for most of the game. You have an objective, and you can only go from A to B. There is no going from A to C to J to M to B like in previous installments. In fact, there are really no side quests till you beat the game; then they unlock. But despite this, the game is still fun, just has a different feel to it.

Some of the other differences are that the random encounters, are now not so random. You see the monsters roaming around the map, and if you enter their territory, they will run after you. In some ways, this is the thing I hate most. I don't know if it is just me, but when I can see the monster standing there, I tend to want to run past him and avoid the fight. Square did find a way to lessen my want to do this by having chests, that are near monsters, locked until they are beaten. So if you want the goods, you gotta fight for them. And seeing as how battles don't win you gold anymore. Chests are your only chance of earning dough for spending money.

And speaking of battles, the battle system in FF 13 is one of the best battle systems in any FF game. Not best, necessarily, in that you control a ton of people, and certainly not the fact that if your main character at the time dies, it's game over. (even though you can clearly see that your other team mates are alive and kickin, and probably would be able to bring you back with a phoenix down, or something.) But this battle system is the best in creating a ton of fun, that will keep you on your toes the whole time. Seeing how this is just a review, and not a strategy guide, I won't go into detail on how to make the most of your battles. All you need to know is that they took the old turned based battle system, and made it a lot faster paced, and got rid of the feeling that you are taking turns.

And finally one of the big differences, is that there are no more towns. So no shops, or anything like that. You do all your shopping at save points. This was a choice by Square enix that has to do with the story. So while it makes sense, it does leave you craving something more from the game, if you have played previous titles.

Certain things that many people have come to expect from FF titles, such as Chocobos and a guy named Cid, are not left out of the game; and it helps keep the nostalgia alive for those you have been long time fans. Plus when you top that off with amazing graphics, and some awesome characters, Sazh being the best, (again, my opinion) you have a great all around game, despite a few problems. The main problem, which actually is not a big one, being the story. I feel the story isn't quite as epic as previous titles, though it is better then some. All in all, I give Final Fantasy 13 for the 360, a 4.5 out of 5.