Final Fantasy XIII
In short I will say this game was a serious disappointment. I do not buy into hype, in fact I avoid it as far as trying not to reading previews or watching pre-release vids. I had very little preconception before playing this game.
Lets see where to start... Well the game looks fantastic. I remember watching CG videos for some JRPG's quite some time back, and wishing ingame could look so good. Well, the time is pretty much here. The characters look largely amazing. From the hair, to some of the finer details on their cloths and their facial animations. It smacks of polish. This quality is however a little let down by the sometimes obvious, 'blocky' limbs, but that was never a real issue. The voice acting is hit and miss, some characters are great while others are utterly terri-bad. Music wise the game is decent with a few memorable songs.
This iteration in the series did not feel like a true Final Fantasy to me personally. So many things felt like they were lacking. First off any open world feel is ditched for a significantly linear one. Most of the game you will be running down almost corridors in one direction - This game is on rails. There was also a severe lack of complexity here. The character stat progression is flat, and the upgrade options for items are the same. Stat-wise there are only 3: Hit Points, Intelligence and Strength.
Now to the combat system. You will be spending most of the game mashing X with the Auto Battle option, changing it up mid-battle using the L1 button to change Paradigms (Combat Roles) as needed. Trust me, once you get over the initial fake speed, the combat becomes shallow pretty fast. Seldom arises the need to input specific commands since the Auto Battle option pretty much does it for you picking the best options. The combat difficulty does not help here either, the game in my opinion is pretty damn easy. Sure you will die, but it is often fairly easily overcome, and most battles come down to time and not skill. Another niggle I had is that the world, which seems amazing, never seems to be dealt with properly. One never gets a true feeling for the world or its inhabitants. This is likely due to the linear nature of the game.
In closing. Being a long running fan of the Final Fantasy series, I am sad to see this steady decline in the franchise. It feels like more and more games are being made for the lowest common denominator, which makes business sense, but it hurts the longterm fans. The game feels like so much has been missed out. There are some side missions available at Chapter 11, but they are tedious and unimaginative. There is no real incentive to do them, such as being able to kill that 'Uber' boss like in the previous games.
I will say I had fun overall, but nothing that will make this a classic in the slightest. The game is fairly long - 40-50hrs for the main story, and maybe another 20 odd hrs for the missions, so it is good value for money.
Perhaps they need to take a hint and finally make it - THE Final Fantasy.
Rating - 7.5
Personal Rating - 7.5