Do I Still Want to Play JRPG? (Final Fantasy XIII Japanese Review)

Final Fanatasy XIII is creeping closer and closer to it's international release. However, some lucky consumers, ahem me, bought the Japanese version last Decemeber. The question in my head before buying the game was, "Is this game going to be just another JRPG?"

Yay! JRPGs!!:


Later in the game in order to use your summons you'll have to fight them. Once defeated you can call them using TP points. TP points accumulate depeding on your ranking in battles. Once, summoned your summon replaces the other two members and starts attacking the enemy. Each time you or your summon hits the enemy they're drive gauge continues to rise. On the other hand, your summons HP is constantly going down. Once it reaches zero that the end of the summon. If you time it correctly you can make the summon go into drive mode right before it's HP runs out. In drive mode each summon turns into a different vehicle. It's probably fair to say that drive mode is like your character's limit break.

The next thing I look for in a JRPG is the story. Can the story carry me through 40+ hours? I don't really want to go into the details of the story, but basically you're a group of people brought together by fate. Do you follow the orders of fate or do you release your self from it's chains? This time around the stories theme seems to be `Hope.' There is a love story built into the game but it's only a side story compared to hope. I wouldn't say that FFXIII has the best story of all the FF, but I do think it's better than VIII and X. The story will definitely carry you through this 50+ hour game.

This game is beautiful. Probably the best looking RPG out right now. The cut scenes look even better than Advent Children. The in game engine is just as amazing. This game has plenty of eye candy for the graphic enthusist. I probably didn't even have to tell you that.

Unfortunately, all those great FF sound bits are gone. I.e. the FF victory song is no where in the game. I think the only thing that is the same is the Chocobo theme song. This isn't a bad thing though, because the music in the game really matches the mood. Everyone will miss the old songs but, I'm sure they'll enjoy the new sound tracks. Voice acting in Japanese is awesome.

Bad! JRPG! No Cookie:
It's like with each new FF, the games become more and more linear. Only one part in the game do you have the choice to explore. I used to love how I could explore an unknow cave only to find an awesome weapon that'll make my progress a lot easier. That is pretty much dead and gone. I'm sure in the one area you can explore you'll find some unique items but it really doesn't feel the same to me.

Where's my airship? You aquire different flying vehicles in the cut scence but you never get to use them to travel back to areas of the game that you already visited. The adventurer cried when I realized this fact.

All-in-All:
This is definitely a must buy for RPG fans. This is the FF game we've been waiting for since X. The fast combat is enough to warrant this game a must buy. This game makes me feel like there is still hope for JRPG games in this generation.

(Played the Japanese version on the PS3 for 56 hours. Completed main story but did not complete side missions.)One thing I've always respected about Square Enix and their Final Fantasy series, FF series, is that they're willing to try something new. There isn't a single FF game with the exact same combat system. Systems are similar but they're never the same. Combat to me is what makes or breaks a good RPG. This time around FFXIII is all about speed. How quickly can you take out a group of enemies? Like in FFXI and XII you can view enemies on the map and decide whether to fight them or not. The fights are quick but the complexity of the system is quite vast. Each character after a certain point in the game starts with three job classes. The job classes are attacker(ATK), blaster(BLA), defender(DEF), healer(HLR), jammer(JMR), and enhancer(EHR). Each of the six main characters has a job class that is meant for that character. For example, Lighting is a good attacker and Snow is a good Defender. In battles you only control the group leader. The others are controlled by A.I. The way the NPC, non-playable characters, react in battle depends on what job they are equiped with during battle. Through the Optima system you can change every characters job class on the fly. However, you can only have six different combinations for the party. Let's say you're fighting a weak bunch of enemies the best route is to use, as your optima to eliminate these enemies in little time. But, if you're fighting a boss there maybe a time when you need one of your members to heal you, so works well. The healing character doesn't have an attack ability so their job is to only heal. Works well I've never died in battle because I felt like the AI wasn't sufficient enough to keep me alive. Within battle each and every enemy has a 'Break' point. Once your targeted enemy turns yellow their defenses drop dramatically and if your attacker has the ability they can knock said character into the air. Once in the air your party can start doing chain attacks. The longer in the air the more the damage multiplier stacks. If done correctly even a boss with a massive amount of health can be defeated in a few minutes. Awesome, right?