Fashionably Late Reviews: "Final Fantasy 13"

Airships, Chocobos, and plenty of crystals, its time we got down to the nitty gritty and started talking about some "Final Fantasy". Responsible for saving an entire company from going bankrupt back in 1987, "Final Fantasy" has gone on to become one of the flagship video game series of the world. Used as a sort of launching point, many Japanese developers look up to the titan of story driven role playing as a kind of big brother that they can all emulate and learn from. The popularity of "Final Fantasy" is not just isolated to the land of the rising sun though; outside of Nintendo properties, "Final Fantasy" belongs to the elite club of gaming titles that sells well both in western and Asian territories. So in 2006 when Square Enix brought their heavily touted cash cow to the HD show room floor for everyone to see, the game was met with uproarious applause. Little did the people at that year's E3 realize the game was still 4 years away from actually seeing daylight. By early 2010 the game was finally here but did it manage to show up fashionably late to the HD gaming kegger or was it dead on arrival wearing last years fashion?

"Final Fantasy 13" sends the player to the imaginary world of Cocoon, an immaculate Utopian society floating high atop the savage surface world known as Pulse, a vacation spot whose wildlife would surely ruin one's picnic if they had forgotten to bring their flamethrower. Our tale begins with the player controlling the central character of Lightning but quickly expands to include a full roster of rag-tag do gooders and reluctant heroes. whilst undergoing a go-for-broke rescue mission they encounter a Pulse Fal'Cie, a behemoth god-like being much higher on the food chain than Humans, that burdens them with an ambiguous task that may or may not include the complete destruction of their home world Cocoon. Sounds simple enough, unfortunately for the would-be heroes of FF 13, failure to complete their nebulous task results in them becoming mindless aberrations. Faced with the challenge of turning on their own society or becoming monsters the heroes set about looking for a potential third option.

Unlike previous "Final Fantasy" titles in recent memory, "Final Fantasy 13" throws away the recipe book in favor of a more character driven plot. Calling back to classics like "Final Fantasy 4" and "Final Fantasy 6", the game decidedly devotes a lot of attention to the characters and their individual struggles rather than focusing on the more esoteric qualities of the world in which they inhabit. While the dialogue can get in the way at times with its Manga-esque melodrama it never deviates so far that it gets in the way of the player's enjoyment. The characters are human enough to illicit some sympathy from the audience and their various struggles and plights are an appreciated detour from more traditional Japanese archetypes. This isn't to say that these archetypes don't exist but several of the characters' presentation suggest that the writers have become a little genre savvy; playing around with established stereotypes but managing to steer them in unexpected directions.

Unfortunately, while the story is fascinating, the world is richly imagined, and the characters breath some fresh air into the series it can't distract the audience from the clunky delivery of the exposition and the unusual plot twist that comes towards the end. Without spoiling too much, by the time the story enters its third act, any potential that existed for a cerebral and deeply moving human exercise in existentialism is squandered in favor of a more predictable conclusion. There's definitely a sense that the ending may have been rushed or that the writers put themselves into a corner.

Thankfully Square Enix had the foresight to overshadow their shortcomings by breathing a lot of life into their imaginary world and the actors of its stage. Duplicating the Bioware format, the game includes a large encyclopedia with enough information and back story to keep an enthusiast busy for hours. Contained within the massive catalog is detailed information on wars and political handshaking that took place long before the central plot which sheds some light on the current state of affairs. None of this is necessary for the plot although I will admit that with all the strange terminology that gets thrown around, this dossier is a convenient travel companion for those who are easily distracted or aren't familiar with the usual trappings of science fantasy.

Stories aside, we mustn't forget that we are in fact playing a video game here, emphasis on the word game, and no matter how grandiose and epic the tale may be if there is no solid core game play then the whole effort will collapse in on itself. Realizing that they had to bring their A game, Squarenix went all out with developing one of the most intense and satisfying combat systems ever devised for a turn-based JRPG.

Following in the footsteps of the previous "Final Fantasy", FF13 has the player forming a party of three but only controlling a single member during combat. Most of the battle is automated although its possible for every single command to be input manually, however given that the computer will almost always choose the correct attack or command it is in the players best interest to choose the "auto attack" function. While on paper this sounds repetitive and lazy, the true elegance lies within the new "Paradigm" system. Each character can progress in six distinct class roles which include: melee fighter, spell caster, healer, buffer, debuffer, and damage absorbing tank. At any point during a fight the player can have all of the party members switch their roles to take on a new task. This constant need to juggle all the different abilities results in some of the most thrilling monster thrashing in recent RPG memory as each role is essential for getting from the start screen to the ending credits.

To make combat even more engaging, each enemy has something called a break meter. The more you damage your opponent the higher their break meter fills, the higher the meter, the more damage they take; if you manage to break away enough of the enemy's resilience they enter a debilitated state where they are vulnerable to numerous special abilities and techniques that allows the player to tip the scale favorably in their direction. Understanding the mastery of the break system is integral to defeating most of the heavy hitters and discovering the best way to take down their break meter quickly becomes an exercise in paradigm manipulation and quick thinking. The challenge level is so immense that the game actually allows the player to immediately begin a battle over again once they fall rather than have them go back to a previous saved state. If you're looking for a fight, believe me, you've got it here.

Taking into account everything that needs to be learned, FF13 has the unfortunate side effect of holding the players hand for far too long. For the first 2 hours or so the game is extremely restrictive and does not afford a lot of freedom or fun. By the time the player reaches the point where paradigms open the game then sets aside the following 20+ hours to restricting which roles and characters are available in an effort to familiarize the player with the intricacies of each class before setting them out into the world on their own. While its understandable why they went with this approach there's still a distressing agony associated with it that should have been reconsidered.

To deviate from the beaten path FF13 provides no mini games or other distractions which have become a staple of the series. At first this seems a little off putting but the trade-off is that the game instead focuses on what it does well. "Final Fantasy" and most story driven JRPGs have never provided a meaningful distraction from the core experience and with "Final Fantasy 13" the developers have dispelled any illusion that they may bring an amusing, albeit pointless, interruption by simply not including any. Make no mistake, the design philosophy this time around is to capitalize on what they do best and that's exactly what they have given.

In terms of design this game probably deserves both heavy criticism and a healthy supply of praise. Fully understanding that its endeavor was to serve the story and combat the game makes sure to balance the two features equally at all times. There isn't any one point in the game where you are subjected to too much exposition or engaging a seemingly endless wave of monsters. By constantly flipping back and forth between these two key components the game prevents any sort of exhaustion which could have arisen from the hectic and mentally fatiguing combat segments. Most cut scenes are less than 3 minutes with the largest being perhaps 10 and trudging through dungeons is pleasantly broken up with bits of dialogue that help to drive the plot forward. The unfortunate by-product from this design is extreme linearity.

The game amounts to little more than running down numerous corridors engaging enemies (or avoiding them if that's your thing. That's right, no random encounters!) with the occasional branch that leads to the predictable treasure chest. Not until very late in the game does the pacing change to allow for a large open area to explore. This level design is a bit absurd and perhaps something that shouldn't exist today, however it should be observed that the "Final Fantasy" series has never been known for its complex freedom. In many ways this game is just as narrowly confined as any previous FF with the biggest difference being that this latest one provides a mini map of every zone. Inclusion of a map only serves to call to attention one of the major flaws in the design that may have been overlooked by the audience otherwise.

Character progression has also been simplified. Calling back to "Final Fantasy 10" for inspiration, character advancement is not handled by levels but instead by an evolved sphere grid system called the chrystarium. As players fight monsters they gain points that can be spent in one of the six combat roles to gain increased stats and skills. Sadly, the branching tree design has the player advancing on a single rail with little opportunity to explore elsewhere, a problem that existed with FF10's sphere grid design as well, this issue is complicated at the beginning of the game when the player is only allowed to choose from as little as one to three separate combat roles per character. Add to that the inability to advance beyond certain stages because of a built in capping of level progression and there doesn't seem to be much freedom at all.

Luckily, this all gets alleviate towards the end of the game. Eventually the caps get disappear and all six combat roles are available for experimentation. Once this happens the progression has a great deal of depth as it allows the player to freely jump back and forth between classes to cherry pick the numerous talents that suit your characters' individual needs. Not every character's trees are built the same either, just because you have two characters maximized in spell casting does not mean they will be using the same spells or behave similarly. The character Snow for example, is one of the weakest and most limited spell casters but he can cast faster than anyone else, likewise, Hope, a spell casting juggernaut, may seem ill suited for the melee combat tree until you manage to unlock the ability "ruin" which is most devastating in his hands. There's a great deal of balance and synergism at play to allow for some fantastic character progression, unfortunately it comes way too late in the game. Thankfully the spoils of war are not too far to be found and battling the endless supply of disposable enemy obstructions leaves a wake of treasures and weaponry.

Adhering to well received standards, spitting open the head of the biologically engineered wolf results in the discovery of shiny trinkets that can be sold for money or used to synthesize and upgrade items. The process is a bit easy and uninspired compared to other contemporary RPGs but its a welcome addition none the less. Any means of jazzing up the item acquisition system is desirable but it is very obvious that the development team had their priorities elsewhere.

One tradition that is strangely missing from FF13 are towns with save points filling in all the grunt work for item shop. Again, this is most likely done to strip the game down to the essential elements the series has done well while simultaneously throwing away the tedious and annoying bits. I understand the logic here but it would have been nice to see them try to reinvent the tired old formula rather than taking a chainsaw to the offending dead limb. Despite all my claims and hypothesis' on how or why these changes made it into the final product, once a person sits down and plays the game it becomes all too obvious that it must have had something to do with the presentation.

From a technical perspective, "Final Fantasy 13" may not be biggest powerhouse of this current generation of high definition marvels, but it may well be the most visually arresting. The sheer amount of detail and artistry that has been painstakingly molded into every single inch of this title is astounding. Running along a corridor may seem like a boring proposition, although it is quickly dissolved when you realize you've just spent the last 10 minutes standing in place looking at the architecture of the building nearly a mile away in the background. A great deal of care went into the environments and each of the characters' life-like movements and facial expressions. Throw all of these features into a big bucket of high fantasy art design and one gets the sensation that this game was pioneered by the largest group of video game artists working in Japan today.

In terms of audio quality the game gets high marks as well. Despite a few egregious examples, the voice acting work generally ranges from excellent to stellar. In particular, the actors they got to portray Sazh and Hope are amongst some of the best you can currently get in gaming with each actor pouring a lot of subtly and emotion into their performances. Vanille on the other hand will make you want to shove something sharp into your ear canal, but her voice is an unfortunate consequence of a Japanese affectation that simply doesn't work in English, no matter how great of a voice actor you get. "Final Fantasy 12" it is not, but its still pretty good.

Taking an unusual step into strange new wildernesses, veteran composer Nobuo Uematsu is absent from this title as he passed the torch on to Masashi Hamauzu. Following in Nobuo's footsteps, Masashi desired to create a similar feel for this entry that would run the full range of emotions leading to both some unusual and dazzling moments. Trying to emulate several of Uematsu's more goofy soundtracks for playful or offbeat scenes, Hamauzu ended up crafting a pretty large misstep of uncomfortably forced silliness. However, for the more sincere and sweeping musical numbers, Masashi has managed to pen the most haunting melodies that will surely resonate inside your skull for years to come. The dichotomy that exists with the score is a little bizarre, but to Masashi's credit, the big songs that are meant to be emotionally compelling hit home like no other and in this reviewer's opinion are some of the best that the series has ever known.

The biggest flaw with "Final Fantasy 13" is simply that the project was too ambitious. In a recent article released by Square Enix, the company defied convention by coming forward and admitting that the project had problems due to the lack of a unifying goal during the early development period. In an attempt to appeal to a mass market they stumbled around too much early on and could not include everything that was necessary for a next generation title. As a result they fell back on some of their original ideas and removed anything they couldn't get finalized with their budget and new vision. Despite falling short on their own expectations, "Final Fantasy 13" still managed to be an impressive feat of the modern age and provided some of the best characters and combat that has come out of a Japanese role playing game in years. "Final Fantasy 13" is certainly not the best game out there but it certainly is not the worst the series has to offer either (Those NES titles have not stood the test of time that well, and numbers 8 and 9 just seemed like experiments in self-indulgence rather than a truly realized project), still I'm glad its here and while it takes a little while for the momentum to build, once you've sunk a few hours in it will run away with you leaving behind a pretty memorable experience.