This month has featured some monster titles rounding out the end of the winter season. And through much anticipation Final Fantasy XIII has graced U.S. shores. Should you be jumping out of your pantsu and think you’re turning Japanese? Or does this title make you want to yawn and scream “No more Squaresoft we hate you forever” Hironobu San why have you forsaken us?

Well it seems that Final Fantasy XIII is the love/hate relationship pretty much like the relationship in “My Name is Earl”. Whether you love them or hate them, Squaresoft has been a dominating force in the genre of HP, potions, EXP, and mana games. First conceived by the former Square game designer Hironobu Sakaguchi, the Final Fantasy series has been a thriving franchise in the past years. But the task of creating the next generation of FF games was helmed by its new director Motomu Toriyama. A huge weight was placed on the creation of this title including several different spin-offs to games on other platforms. And with great expectations does Final Fantasy XIII really deliver? Yes and no.

To clear the air for the naysayers out there in true form factor this “IS” a Final Fantasy game. It would seem that Square decided to use the bits and pieces that stood out in many of the different FF games made to date. Yes you build up a character, yes you have HP, yes you have EXP, actually wait….scratch that and put it in reverse. No this game does not have experience points. What the HELL? Square you have ruined my childhood!!! I kid I kid. FF XIII has broken the form factor in regards to character development. You pretty much beat up the baddies and level up in a different manner known as you ready for this? “Roles……” Doesn’t the R in RPG stand for that word? You take control of any of the characters throughout the story. There are six in total and you can level up the six available roles. This would include the Commando aka “Warrior”, the Ravager aka “Caster”, the Sentinel aka “Tank”, and finally the Synergist (buffs), the Saboteur (debuffs) and the Medic (do I really have to explain this one?) If you know your Final Fantasy, this type of character layout has always been the bread ‘n’ butter of the series.

Okay so far so good. The next thing that is a bit new in regards to battle design is the induction of the ATB…okay for the  newbs out there, it’s the Active Time Battle system. This feature has always been present and loosely modified many times over. But here is where the fun begins….(R.I.P Heath Ledger. Joker reference….) The ATB works in conjunction with your character’s role. Everyone eventually can obtain every role that’s available, though they specialize in at least 3 of them. During a battle you can create decks of character roles called “Paradigms” which can be re-organize to alter the party on-the-fly. Essentially a player is able to shift in real time into a completely different role during the battle. Please note that you only have one main character, the leader if you will, and this is all dependant on where you are in the story.

You can start off as say a Commando, Medic, and Saboteur. But if you party is losing to the enemies in the battle, you use the Paradigm shift to facilitate your party’s needs. You could then tag-team with a Synergist, Ravager, Ravager for instance. There is also an “Auto” feature in the game which is designed to do the work for you to where the A.I. can choose the right commands for you based off of the situation. It’s kind of cool because later on the battles get so hectic that you really have to react quickly to the situation. It will be a big turn off to veteran RPG gamers, though if one relies on the “Auto” feature too much, you will quickly sleep with the fishes. The pay off really lies in the player’s choice of Paradigm shifting. Trust me you’ll get much more enjoyment out of the battles when you are actively taking control. The other characters in your party will act on their own – kind of like in Kingdom Hearts (No there’s no Goofy Goofra or whatever.) To be honest the A.I. does an amazing job, unless of course you got too greedy trying to create “chains”.

Wait there’s “Aerial Raves” in my FF XIII? Characters can chain a string of blows ranging from physical attacks to casting magic. The awesomeness meter (chain gauge) starts to rise as you pummel baddies hit after hit, then pop the poor soul into the air casting magic attacks and debuffs, only to have the lifeless body swept up into the air to do it all again. This can only be achieved however when you stagger the enemy from a consistent string of attacks. It’s like poetry in motion! Don’t worry though because the enemies can do the same to you. All in all I would say this is a very fun battle system. The attack system is remnant of running macros in an mmorpg-type games because you can stack your moves on the segmented meter as the ATB timer fills up.

Sorry to linger on the battle system, but I seriously feel that’s one of FF XIII’s strengths. Moving onto character development. I think that in this day and age gamers are becoming more lazy when it comes to playing JRPGs. The reason I say this is because eventually the player will die in many of the battles as frustration starts to kick in.  So to keep you moving forward in FF XIII you get to retry right where you died and with whatever inventory you had beforehand. Even as you load up your game saves, the loading screen pretty much tells you where you are in the story by keeping track of all of the plot points in the data log. This keeps the player engaged and you won’t ever feel detached from the story. I really feel that Square spared no expense with the “introductory” gamer in mind.

You can eventually unlock all of the roles available. At that point you increase the characters traits and stats with something called the “Crystarium”. This reminds me of the grid system in Final Fantasy X or the License board system in Final Fantasy XII. Different attributes like 10+ HP or gaining the spell “Curaga” are placed on various levels on the cylinder-like grid system. All the characters will most likely gain traits at different times because no two grids are alike. The equivalent of EXP is simply translated into “CP (Crystarium Points) You then spend them at your leisure. See there is EXP in my FF…sorta? Throughout the game you can also farm loot to upgrade your weapons and accessories by using the loot to maximize the effectiveness. Items can be found in treasure chests, obtained in battles, or purchased in the shops located at every save point. Say goodbye to towns that have inns and shops. Overall the development cycle is simple and intuitive.

Another question that comes into mind when FF XIII is mentioned, is in regards to the Summons and the story. I combined these two categories only because again I feel these are strengths in FF XIII. The story is basically a sci-fi twist of oppression and segregation. No it’s not the “Roots” of JRPGs. The summons or “Eidolons” as they are called, relate the characters and are really a huge part of the story. The skinny is that the city of Cocoon and its inhabitants are threatened by divine entities called the “fal’Cie”. These floating entities are mysterious and possess mystical powers in which they use to choose certain humans and make them into powerful soldiers that do their bidding known as l’Cie. The now infected l’Cie have to complete a task called “Focus” in order have eternal life and are then crystallized until they are called upon. If they failed to succeed in finding their “Focus”, they will be transformed into a creature known as “Cie’th. What makes this whole story intriguing is that once you are a l’Cie you are the enemy of humanity. The governing officials of Cocoon stalk the l’Cie only to essentially quarantine and banish them to the lower land known as Gran Pulse, the living grounds of the fal’Cie.

The story in FF XIII is lead by Lightning, the heroine equivalent to FF VII’s Cloud with a little twist of Squall’s Gunblade. I feel she is a very strong character and a welcome addition to the FF series. But honestly all of the characters in FF XIII have their role and is blended well into the story. Oh yes the “Eidolons” I mean Transformers…..WTF?? Eidolons are one of the mysterious plot points of the story in FF XIII. For one only certain individuals can wield them. Who might they be? Well just play the game to find out. What’s cool is they can be summoned into battle. They have their own active time gauge that counts down while they are in battle. These hulking creatures are almost like the 80’s cartoon Visionaries as they are cast out of the hero’s body. They can wield their own attacks, but as time winds down you have the ability to have them use their transformed “Gestalt” form. This creates additional and more powerful attacks that count down from a set of points starting at 30. Each attack in Gestalt form costs a certain amount of points. Once you are almost down to 1 point, mash the final attack! And much like the summons in past FF games they deliver a finishing blow. At first glance in previews of the game, I wasn’t sure how to receive Eidolons, but watching them in action is a sight to behold.

Okay folks I’ve got to wrap this one up. In the end there is so much to like about FF XIII but it isn’t without some major flaws, at least in the minds of gamers. Many, many, many of you will be disappointed in the linearity of this game. You are literally hand-walked through the scenarios. You simply go from A to B kill, then are moved through C and D. BOSS FIGHT!!! It was a giant risk on Square’s part to take this approach, but it doesn’t seem to  hurt the game-play or diminishes the story by any means. The problem is honestly you the player will want to explore the beautiful scenery as you move throughout the different locales. And damn this game is gorgeous.

The graphics for most part are in-game graphics including most of the scenarios. The FMV scenes are not in-game but they are totally sick! For you PS3 owners you can rant on the boards on how your game looks prettier than the 360 owners. This is achieved because of the storage capacity of Blu-Ray which means that all of the video and audio are uncompressed. Is this the definitive FF game? No but it depends on how you look at it. I commend Square for trying to cater to a western audience. But frankly times are changing and I think Eastern game developers are starting to realize they have to catch up to the likes of companies such as Bioware and Bethesda if they really want to appeal to the masses. Final Fantasy XIII is a game that starts very slowly and has a novice difficulty range, but that quickly wears off mid-game. By the end FF XIII becomes a satisfactory and entertaining experience. Quote of the day….”I became a l’Cie and all I got was this stupid t-shirt!

GOD KING GRADE: (B)   ★★★★★