Final Fantasy Final Impressions

Now that I am further into the game I can safely say, Final Fantasy XIII intrigues me. The game is trying to stick to its FF roots by having stupid hard bosses that can one hit KO a party without even blinking an eye. Yet since the game has a pseudo real-time aspect to the combat makes it so that you can actually power through a lot of such battles if you really strategise on what you are doing.

The one thing that is starting to get on my nerves now is the constant switching of player characters. While I sure there is a deep story impact emotionally, I find this mechanic really annoying. I just find myself thinking, “Come on, I just got used to playing as so and so.” After having played 20 some hours I have now gotten used to all the characters, whether I wanted to or not; and there are character that I wish I did not have to play. I preferred it when the AI was doing the healing, and not me.


As far as the story is concerned, I think anybody else would know better than me as I still don’t quite understand (nor have I really been paying attention, but I am trying to speed through the game so I will probably pay more attention through the second playthough) what had happened (or why), but now that the world ending monster has been determined the PC are getting ready to kill it. And there is a lady who is wearing cleavage conforming clothing and she carries a whip, so you can tell she is ‘Evil’.


I did get to meet the last player character that I was missing.
FANG as I like to call her (yes, for some reason every time I utter her name I have to raise my voice) seems to be a foreigner. Why? Well, she speaks with an Australian accent. She seems to have been in bed when all this happened and has not had a chance since to comb her hair or run her fingers through it to make it settle down. She seems to be wearing a Saree in such an atrocious fashion that would make an Indian blush with embarrassment; the game ‘teases’ you with possible upskirt shots (up saree?) of her at many an occasion. Her shoes seem to be stolen from Roman legionaries. She fills the ‘tough guy’ role of the party when Snow is not around.

The combat system is one of the shining moments of this game. With the last post I was not further enough into the game to say this, but once you hit the point with the paradigms, strategy becomes important; Especially if you are looking for something over 1 star at the end of battle. Choosing roles correctly at the times in boss battle can really turn the tide in your favour. But most of the lower level enemy battles consists of mashing the A button to auto ability kill the enemies.


One thing of note: English voice acting with Japanese cinematic direction does not mesh well. While the voice actors in FF XIII did a great job (especially Sazh), the gestures and head shakes make the dialogue look awkward, even cheesy, at times. But again, probably since this is such a massive release there was lot of attention paid to the voice acting, so there is actual acting there. Although Lightening was probably the easiest; look and sound sullen, and when there is an emotional scene sound even more sullen. Sazh seemed to have the most character growth (with Hope trailing behind him) and the voice acting for him is top notch. But, for once I would like there to be a situation like the one he ends up in where the character responds logically, not emotionally. It is just a dream of mine.


This part I don’t understand. So eight hours into it and the game asked me to switch disks. Now I am 20+ hours into it and I am still on the second disc. Why was the first disc so short?


Over all, I like the look and the feel of the game. Probably because it does not play anything like a FF game that I have previously tried. Once I am done with this playthrough, I will probably be going back to collect the rest of the stuff I miss.


On another note, Resonance of Fate comes out tomorrow. It is by the same company that made Infinite Undiscovery. Is anyone else looking forward to it?