Final Fantasy XIII (Pre-Review)

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Finally a Final Fantasy that is worth playing…

It has been quite a while since I was this excited to play a Final Fantasy… The last time was way back in Final Fantasy VIII which was hyped because of Final Fantasy VII’s greatness.

Final Fantasy XIII’s got me this hooked to the game simply because of the previews and trailers that I have seen. It really has been a while since a game with great graphics had a really good story with great and easily lovable characters. FFX had a great story and great graphics but I can’t get over with the distracting bad voice overs on the characters. FFXII does not need any explanations, the merging of a children’s Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced (Final Fantasy  Tactis on PS1 and PSP were great and very much addicting compared to the Gameboy and DS versions) made a bad impression on me, characters don’t look good, voice are bad, story is dull, gameplay has changed so much it does not feel a normal JRPG anymore that I have grown and loved.

The gameplay mechanics on the XIII were great, they somehow reverted back to the regular battle system, the character design were great, (Lightning is really cute), the graphics were outstanding and if I’m not mistaken, even the absence of Nobuo Uematsu, the music were still great and all though if memory serves… I’m yet to hear the beloved victory music of Final Fnatasy.

I am playing the XBOX version, simply because I don’t own a PS3. And I made the decision to finally get this unit because of the Final Fantasy XIII to be released here as well alongside many games I really like that are XBox exclusive.

I haven’t made a complete run through the game as I’m only in the 2nd chapter and as soon as I finish this game I’ll be making my final thoughts about it. Hopefully in the next few months or so, new game releases will have a fast review from me.

As far as the linearity is concerned. For a JRPG, this is very typical and I really enjoy this type of games for there are less troubles needed to see the full story of the game. Final Fantasy series may have the chance to roam before the actual end of the game from before but is usually limited by the destroyed towns, locked gates and others that hinders the entrance.

Well, as soon as I compiled everything, I will make a full review of the game. And so far, I’m very impressed.

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