FF XIII: The Unreview
To be perfectly fair, I'd decided I wouldn't be buying the game some time back.
I've long considered myself to be a fan of Final Fantasy games. FF 2/4 and 3/6 were inspiring. FF Tactics was great. FF 7 was... greater than it should have been. It's actually one of my favorites, but I have to acknowledge that it was not really that awesome as a game. But it came at the right time and involved the right innovations to have a lot more impact than the story and characters probably deserved. FF 8 was a bit uninteresting to me, but that's a fluke, right? After all, FF 9 was a nostalgic trip of awesomeness. FF 10 was okay. FF 11, I would once have sworn, would be the only MMORPG to be able to draw me in fully - I was obviously wrong there and never even played it. FF 10-2 was meh. FF 12 seemed to have potentially, but it didn't hold me enough to actually finish it. So I guess when I think of Final Fantasy games, I tend to think back to the high points (in my opinion) that are years ago.
FF 13 looks slick, sure. But when 12 didn't hold me, I was sorta skeptical. And then the Japanese release hit and players started complaining about the linearity of the game. Seriously? JRPG players complaining about linearity is akin, in my mind, to MMORPG players complaining about grindiness or driving game players complaining about realistic physics - these are elements you expect in these game genres, you just hope the fun overrides them. With the US release, I've seen reports of the storytelling being convoluted and pointlessly slow (which I increasingly feel is a staple in Japanese games/manga/anime, if not all their media) and the characters not evoking any connection with the player. If the coffin needed another nail, that probably did it.
Today, I asked a friend/gamer/coworker what he thought. He'd been looking forward to it enough to be talking about picking it up at midnight, and he's very much an enthusiastic "let's get to the action!" kind of guy in RP and video games from what I've seen. He says he doesn't like it and can't recommend it to anyone, that it was the wrong design team, that it's too linear, that he only cares about one of the characters at all, that he's actually to the point of skipping through cut scenes... I thought he might overlook all the flaws I've heard about because he could be progressing from fight to fight and getting all the action. Nope, even he doesn't care for it.
I think I'll continue to skip it, thanks.
I've long considered myself to be a fan of Final Fantasy games. FF 2/4 and 3/6 were inspiring. FF Tactics was great. FF 7 was... greater than it should have been. It's actually one of my favorites, but I have to acknowledge that it was not really that awesome as a game. But it came at the right time and involved the right innovations to have a lot more impact than the story and characters probably deserved. FF 8 was a bit uninteresting to me, but that's a fluke, right? After all, FF 9 was a nostalgic trip of awesomeness. FF 10 was okay. FF 11, I would once have sworn, would be the only MMORPG to be able to draw me in fully - I was obviously wrong there and never even played it. FF 10-2 was meh. FF 12 seemed to have potentially, but it didn't hold me enough to actually finish it. So I guess when I think of Final Fantasy games, I tend to think back to the high points (in my opinion) that are years ago.
FF 13 looks slick, sure. But when 12 didn't hold me, I was sorta skeptical. And then the Japanese release hit and players started complaining about the linearity of the game. Seriously? JRPG players complaining about linearity is akin, in my mind, to MMORPG players complaining about grindiness or driving game players complaining about realistic physics - these are elements you expect in these game genres, you just hope the fun overrides them. With the US release, I've seen reports of the storytelling being convoluted and pointlessly slow (which I increasingly feel is a staple in Japanese games/manga/anime, if not all their media) and the characters not evoking any connection with the player. If the coffin needed another nail, that probably did it.
Today, I asked a friend/gamer/coworker what he thought. He'd been looking forward to it enough to be talking about picking it up at midnight, and he's very much an enthusiastic "let's get to the action!" kind of guy in RP and video games from what I've seen. He says he doesn't like it and can't recommend it to anyone, that it was the wrong design team, that it's too linear, that he only cares about one of the characters at all, that he's actually to the point of skipping through cut scenes... I thought he might overlook all the flaws I've heard about because he could be progressing from fight to fight and getting all the action. Nope, even he doesn't care for it.
I think I'll continue to skip it, thanks.
Says something when the black guy with a chocobo chick living in his afro is probably one of the more detailed characters in the game. Main character Lightning. Aloof, stern, sullen ex-soldier. 'K seen that a million times. Black guy is a bumbling fool with quirky, out of place moments, sounds like they cast a Wayans (To his credit, he does have some depth as the "old and wise guy" in some scenes). A brawler with a love interest taken from him that he vows to get back (also one of the more interesting characters). A syrupy cheerful girl who refuses to let the world get her down and the emo androgynous Tidus clone she's often partnered up with as traveling companion.
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