Final Fantasy XIII initially strikes me as the best in the series in terms of graphics and sound. That should not be a surprise, considering it is the first entry for this console generation. What is surprising is how fast paced and brutal the game is with little to no down time in battle. I am playing the Xbox360 version and thus will base my impressions of the game on that.

The Story
The story is something hard to judge over the course of the game, but it is none the less intriguing. Instead of starting on some grand quest, the game begins halfway through one much like Final Fantasy VII did. Where the game quickly differs from FFVII is in the grand mystique it weaves with a noir style. The game takes a good ten hours to masterfully fill out the back-stories and true motivations of each character.

The first disc heavily delves into the expressionistic noir plot. There is little daylight and the setting is distinctly marked by an urbanized heavy techno flair. The moody environment is augmented by the veiled mystery surrounding the story. Oh, and don't worry noir fans, there is more than enough melodrama. The first disc stands out as the best in terms of storytelling as it baby steps through each character's story and how they fit into the grand scheme.


The story you need to understand is that the nation of Cocoon floats in the sky above the world of Pulse. Cocoon was created by the angelic fal'Cie to save man from the warlike inhabitants of Pulse. Legends and stories persist about the evils of Pulse, despite centuries without conflict. The most fearsome legend details Pulse fal'Cie that wish to destroy Cocoon. These evil fal'Cie create i'Cie who are given a Focus to destroy Cocoon. The i'Cie must complete that Focus and be granted eternal life or turn into mindless undead Cie'th.

The game starts when a dormant Pulse fal'Cie is discovered in a remote Cocoon city. The Sanctum government quarantines the entire town and orders the residents to be Purged (exiled) to Pulse in case any were corrupted into a dreaded Pulse i'Cie. Conflict erupts between the Purged and the Sanctum as it becomes apparent the exile is nothing more than a masked execution. You take over playing as two distinct groups of Purged citizens fighting back against the Sanctum.

What some people will not like is that for a long time the game is like Final Fantasy X on rails. Every Final Fantasy game has portions where you merely follow a set path, but this game's "linear portion" is particularly long. Don't worry, later in the game it does open up massively for exploration and there is easily 60-90 hours worth of content in a single playthrough. The key is to sit back and let the story envelop you on your initial playback. You will be on rails for 10-20 hours depending on your play style.

Early on your characters split up and you're forced to play with distinct parties as it tells a frame story ala Final Fantasy VI. It will be close to disc 3 before you gain full control over all your characters. In the mean time, you get some very challenging pairings that emotionally build off each other. The pairings create a lot of interesting story points and vastly different gameplay experiences. The designers were rather cruel to one pair that constantly seems to be surrounded by ridiculously strong monsters.

Near the end of Disc 2 the story rapidly speeds up. Much of the initial mystique disappears and the mood dramatically shifts. There is a sequence of grandiose revelations that really miss the mark and at times it feels like the story is shaking itself to pieces. I really questioned the way they developed the story in this portion and there were definite missteps. It lost a lot of the maturity as the game refused to maintain some of the dark elements it initially set out with. Unfortunately, this is a game whose beginning far outshines its ending in terms of story.

The Theme
It is obvious from the tag line "The Battle Within" that character is going to play a big role in the game. In typical Square-Enix fashion, each character displays a strong and unique personality. Lets just give them a glance:


Lightning
Lightning is an ex-Soldier for the Sanctum and the lead protagonist. She is an agile fighter that wields a sword called the Blaze Edge that can transform into a gun. Her motives and nature are largely unknown as she remains very cold and aloof with her companions. Lightning is the only trained professional amongst the initial crew and views the rest as a liability that she will cast aside in a moment's notice if they inhibit her mission. She will remind you of aspects of Cloud and Squall, although she clearly is her own character.

Snow
Snow is the brash and arrogant self-proclaimed Hero. Don't mistake him for Balthier as he exhibits little class or sophistication; instead he comes off as a modern cowboy, trench-coat and all. He is a slow and powerful bruiser favoring a direct approach that includes fighting sans weapons. Snow is a complex character who seems to struggle with how to actually be a hero. The consequences of his actions haunt him and he sees no way out but to go forward. His musical theme features some amped electrical guitars and will surly be covered by the Black Mages in the future.

Sazh
Sazh acts as the father figure of the game at the ripe age of 40. He is a man who is obviously suffering on the inside, yet lets a vast amount of wisdom and humor shine from within. He is the most visually distinct character of the series sporting an afro and dark skin. His most distinctive feature though is a Chocobo chick that lives in his hair. Sazh will bring equal amounts of gripes and laughs as he goes through the motions and seemingly emulates Danny Glover ala Lethal Weapon. He steals the show in both positive and negative ways and delivers one of the most powerful moments I can ever recall in gaming. His funky jazz theme stands out as one of the most unique pieces of Final Fantasy music ever.


Vanille
Vanille is an enigmatic 19 year old female with a perky cheerfulness that masks a deep darkness dwelling inside her. She is an adept magic caster favoring protection and healing rather than destruction. Her weapon is the Bind Rod which looks like Final Fantasy IX's rackets until it sends four wires out that whip and tear at her foes. Many players will have trouble adjusting to her Rikku-esque tendencies although her attractive features will probably allow them to abide. She sports a distinct, albeit perky Southern Australian accent.

Hope
Hope is the character Square-Enix included for the younger players. A very young 14, his driving force in the game is to get revenge against Snow whom he blames for his current situation. Hope however is a coward, unable to assert himself or really face danger let alone emotion. You slowly watch him gain confidence and become focused from an unlikely source. He is adept at magic bolstering allies. Surprisingly, Hope and his boomerang do quite well in battle really dispelling rumors no one would play him at all.

Fang
There is a sixth character named Fang, but she is not introduced until later in the plot and explaining her on almost any level would spoil much of the mystery of the early game. She wields lances and has a saucy Australian accent. My one qualm about her and Lightning's visual appearance is that their hair looks like it needs a good washing.


Each character displays very apparent flaws that the game attempts to address by softening or hardening them appropriately. Through out the course of the game you will watch them evolve from atypical heroes into the Final Fantasy heroes many people expect. Sometimes the evolutions seem a little forced, but most of it is done very well. Thus the meaning of tag line for the game "The Battle within...".

The theme has a second meaning though as there is no true main villain in this game. Instead, your characters are hunted by Cocoon as a whole. The Sanctum, the fal'Cie, and the entirety of the populace are pitted against you. Your heroes must struggle with how to save a world that wants them dead. In essence, you play both the villains and the heroes of the story.

The Music
Final Fantasy is notorious for its arching soundtracks and powerful instrumentals. This game pushes the limit even further using subtle themes that overlay almost everything. Masashi Hamauzu the composer, deserves vast praise for the interesting compositions and the absolute best battle music I can ever recall. Normally I could care very little about the music and often times will mute it if it gets annoying. However, the striking string pieces really set this game apart. I also appreciated its continued push to include vocals into the basic soundtracks. I was fond of Leona Lewis before the game and the inclusion of her new song "My Hands" was a big win in my book. The song may not pay off big with all fans, but just as many will really appreciate it.

The Voice Acting
There is a solid voice cast here. Each character has a unique and memorable quality. Fang and Vanille both sport Australian accents which really threw me for a loop. On Australian accents: when Miranda Kerr started narrating Victoria's Secrets commercials I instantly fell in love with her. Australian accents are the new sexy.

The Sexiest Limerick Ever
There once an angel so fair
Whose bra was lighter than air
The reason you see
And it's no mystery
Her bra cups were made out of air

.....anyway back to Final Fantasy. The Australian accent of Fang is exotic and exciting. I've long noticed a distinct lack of good accent voice work in video games.

Vanille's is the one everyone will talk about though. It is perky, energetic, and not the typical Australian accent many are familiar with. At times there is a "Southern" twang to it; once you get used to Vanille in general you will learn to appreciate it. For every person that wants to argue it is not an Australian accent, just remember the voice actor, Georgia Van Cuylenburg, is Australian and has a very strong informal Southern Australian dialect. Here is proof.

The Full Motion Videos
If you thought the FMV and scenes of other games were strong...you're in for a treat. The movies in this game blast everything done before them out of the water. Intense care was used to produce strong facial emtion and mind blowing graphics. I'm playing the Xbox360 version on a 64" HDTV and it looks phenomenal. At one point you can actually see Hope's lips slightly quiver with anger and a look of intense hatred fill his eyes. I've heard the [url=http://www.us.playstation.com/PS3]PlayStation 3[/url] version is even better. Do not take my word for it though, check out the trailer and imagine how that would look on your HDTV:


The FMV's are not just eye candy thrown in here and there. Almost every cut scene - and there are a lot - is done as a FMV. I cannot think of a single game that even comes close to these terms. It might as well be the Avatar of video games in the graphic regards. There are numerous videos I would love to mention, but the Eidolon Dance Parade in Nautilus takes the cake in terms of sheer majesty and visual gusto. The Eden Grand Prix will also command attention with some extremely intense action.

The Gameplay
The gameplay is the one aspect that will kill the game for many people. Innovation is nothing new to Final Fantasy, and with FFXIII they threw out the rulebook. While the field maneuvering highly resembles Final Fantasy X, the battles are a wholly new creation. Each character has a role that utilizes many elements of past Final Fantasy jobs.

• Commando: Brutal Physical Attacks. Stabilizes the chain bar.
• Ravager: Powerful Magic Attacks. Builds the chain bar.
• Medic: Heals HP & Status Effects
• Saboteur: Enfeebles the Enemy
• Synergist: Bolsters Allies
• Sentinel: Provokes and Absorb Attacks

Your party features unique load-outs that you can customize to take full advantage of all of these classes. There are 56 unique combinations of class load-outs and surprisingly they took the time to name each and every single one. The main strategy in this game though is to target a single enemy until they reach a stagger point at which point the damage inflicted becomes ridiculous. Without hitting these stagger points, many battles will take ages.

Do not worry about gameplay getting easy or repetitive, however. I have found this game to be one of the truly hardest Final Fantasies I have ever played. The battles are extremely fast and you will have to quickly juggle Paradigm Shifts (role changes) to alternate between chain point building and keeping your party alive. The creatures are heavily varied and even basic monsters can be extremely challenging. Basic fights can take anywhere from ten seconds to four minutes. They are also timed and rated so you can judge just how efficiently you are performing.

To offset the speed and intensity of the battle is a fairly strong AI that controls your two companions and determines your lead character's auto-abilities. You can queue the abilities if you want, but it takes a lot away from the game and gains very little. It is important to note that the AI seems to pick up on your general play style and throwing in some inputted commands can change how it behaves. Do not think you have no control, though; the main way you influence the battle is through the Paradigm Shifts. The AI has never really let me down and reacts far faster than I ever could. Still, some players may not like this dramatic shift.


The Minutia
There are a lot of really cool things going on that I did not point out elsewhere. One of them is how your battle team follows you around on the field. Typical RPGs would just have them follow in a line or formation, or even just show the main character. Final Fantasy XIII however brings them to life as they literally bound around the field and interact with scenery and run from monsters. All the while they are gabbing away about what is going on, whether it is casual dialogue about how pretty a view is or more plot focused chatter about the best course to proceed. It is a really interesting and possibly revolutionary take on the field map.

Another massive change is the towns. Just as the battlefield character interaction takes place on the battlefield, there are no true "dialogue events" in the towns. As you approach another character, 99% of the time they simply begin talking - and by talking I mean full sound, not text. There is no text box driven dialogue in this game. It is entirely and fully voice acted. The towns are well executed visually, but serve little purpose beyond immersion and story. All of your shopping and upgrading is done at save points.

There is also a datalog that contains notes on the plot, characters, and monsters. The entries will change after major events and the bestiary has an actual purpose. As you fight a particular species of monster more and more information is revealed about it. This information can of course be used to influence your strategy, but will also be used by your character's AI to use the most appropriate offensive and defensive abilities. After learning about a monster expect your characters to exploit its weaknesses and not wasting time fighting through its strengths.

Overall
Final Fantasy is nothing short of a technical masterpiece displaying the absolute sharpest FMV ever created and some of the most vivid music ever. Its general graphics are sharp on both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation versions, distinctly setting itself as the absolute best looking seventh generation RPG I have ever seen. The story is prone to melodrama and takes chances that usually pay off in terms of character and plot development. The gameplay the jury is still out on, but I enjoyed it none the less. In an era when every game is so focused on the open world aspect, it is refreshing to find one that still wants to tell an epic story even if it stumbles from time to time.

Final Grade: 9/10

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