Final Fantasy XIII - Reviews Thread

Please post all reviews in this thread. Best to keep them all in one place

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Final Fantasy XIII's First English Review - 7/10

Excerpt: "Coming three years after the last main-series Final Fantasy title, Final Fantasy XIII is overall solidly built and has a lot of great things going for it. Though the end credits declare “thanks to all fans of Final Fantasy,” it also has some departures from tradition that are bound to anger a lot of long-time devotees. These innovations are designed to keep the product fast-paced and cinematic, but what they sacrifice hurts as well as helps. Despite some poor design decisions, though, Final Fantasy XIII is worth playing, even if it isn’t a must-play."

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Gamekult reviews Final Fantasy XIII - 7/10

Excerpt: "The question, for the traditional RPG fans will be thus the following one: Would you be ready to eat a thick and insipid dish if you had the assurance that the last mouthful will be delicious?

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Famitsu Reviews Final Fantasy XIII - Barely Misses A Perfect Score

Excerpt: Reviewer 1: "Beautiful graphics and superb story. These aspects can be enjoyed without feeling as though they're being forced upon you. Combined with this, the extreme sense of satisfaction from the gameplay, is a direct result of a system that's evolved and reached perfection.
With no vice to really speak of, at this time, this game stands at the RPG forefront of a superb combination of story and gameplay who's value can undoubtedly be experienced by all."

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NowGamer Reviews Final Fantasy XIII - "A Disappointment Which Fails To Live Up To The Hype"

Excerpt: "A game that never comes together properly. However, the certain individual aspects of the game and its battle system are of such high quality that it’s still engaging and fun to play... most of the time."

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Import Review: Final Fantasy XIII (Electronic Theatre)

Excerpt: "Regardless of language barriers, each of the game’s stars’ personalities shines through by way of their actions, facial expressions and body language. Plot advancement is handled through a combination of cut-scenes and in-game story telling, and even lesser, almost inconsequential characters are defined as individuals in a densely populated world. Even before taking into account the addictive nature of the gameplay, Square Enix has achieved a more than commendable feat in videogame engineering through the creation of such an intriguing and complex world, capable of ensuring suspension-of-disbelief for more than a few hours. Final Fantasy XIII marks the attainment of new milestones in creating believable virtual societies."

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SK Reviews Final Fantasy XIII - 9/10

Excerpt: "Final Fantasy XIII as a whole is worthy of a stroke, mainly due to the excellent battle system, absorbing visual experience, unique style and excellent fine-tuning of all the details. Players who can not forgive the developers for removing certain RPG standards will have a difficult time in the way and the worst the mood while playing. However, those who submit to the linearity and the generic manga styled conduct of the story will delight in the strengths of the game. And such, there really is a lot."

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Hong Kong Magazine Gives Final Fantasy XIII A 4/10 - "Biggest Swindle In Gaming History"

Excerpt: "A button mashing puzzle game with no real strategy or RPG elements and a plethora of annoying features, game as a whole is little more than a digital novel of sorts."

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Edit: Jan 10, 10

That's highly disappointing. Almost makes me not want to get the game...

quote Gregm

That's highly disappointing. Almost makes me not want to get the game...

5 is average. Don't be crazy.

The lack of a world map in X wound me up a little, I enjoyed the exploration in the previous ones, as slight as it was.

An Edge/Killzone 2 7/10 controversey isn't taking place with this score, maybe because people have realised that 7 is a good score... or possibly because the title isn't a console exclusive.

Good to see.

quote Archangel

If a 7/10 is enough to possibly make you second guess getting this, then you definitely put too much emphasis on other peoples opinions. I realize it's a review, but you can't judge a game unless you've played it yourself. If you're a fan of FF, then you will get the game, and play through it, and form your own opinion.

7 is a good score. And this is only one opinion. Before we start tar and feathering it, let's at least wait for a couple more.

This man speaks the truth.

quote Archangel

If you're a fan of FF, then you will get the game, and play through it, and form your own opinion.

Glad someone else said it so I don't have to. FFX had the lack of a true "world Map" and that didn't bother me all that much. Sure flying around in some form of an airship around the world is always fun but it is not in any sort of way game breaking.

This review has not changed my opinion on it.

Yeah, I know what you mean able people saying a game is basically God and then giving it an 8 or 8.5. I don't usually read reviews but I do watch the show Electric Playground, and they are probably the only people who's opinion I will trust.

I just read the whole review. It's basically what I expected. It seems like the story is pretty much falling into the Ivalice tradition of there being a lot of backstory but no real story. The characters seem like they're going to be laughably one dimensional and all choices of "favorites" are going to be based on how they look, not on their personality.

And then of course, it looks like the battle system is going to be really hit or miss. I can't believe they're sticking with the "only able to control leader" bit after FFXII. That really only works in RPG-Actioners like Rouge Galaxy and the Tales Series.

Also, I think its funny that they made Summons heal you. I'm already wagering that that's going to be their only use -- a quick full heal.

Hopefully the battle system is as much Grandia-esque as they could make it. If it is then I'll shut up and call this a fantastic game.