- Internet linearity meltdowns are WAY overblown
-The game is pretty good so far
-Is the antithesis of FF12
1UP's latest cover story is now live, and -- since I seem to have been pegged the default go-to guy for everything Final Fantasy XIII -- my fingerprints are all over this one. Currently I'm about 20 hours into the English version of the game, but you needn't worry about spoilers; today's preview (and all our other upcoming info) is based largely on the early hours of the game.
Now, I've been a fan of the series since the original Final Fantasy launched in the U.S., 20 years ago this July. I bought into the whole "Summer of Final Fantasy" hype in Nintendo Power, oh yes I did... though sadly I didn't win one of those rad crystals. And I have played each and every entry in the series (except XI -- being a Mac user with no PlayStation 2 HDD I didn't have the means to play it until it arrived on Xbox 360). That being said, I don't love all Final Fantasy games unconditionally, and my tastes in the series tend not to be the same as most other people's. I like FFV more than FFVI, FFVIII more than FFVII. And I could easily use FFXII as one of my "desert island games."
Since the beginning, FFXIII has struck me as the antithesis of XII, and I was worried that it would feel like a dramatic step backward for the series. The verdict's still out, as I don't think I'm even halfway through the game, but so far I feel like all the collective hand-wringing about FFXIII's purported linearity -- flames fanned by a few early importers and spread by the Internet's love of preemptive meltdowns -- is severely overblown. I guess we'll see where I end up when our review goes live next week, but from what I've seen to this point... it's pretty good, actually.
But then, I suppose it helps to realize that FFXIII isn't an RPG at all, right? I slapped a deliberately attention-grabbing headline on our new preview/interview with the dev team, but that whole "not an RPG" thing isn't my invention. It comes straight from the developers. And I think knowing their intention provides important context for the game, because FFXIII really does stray well afield of the traditional concept of what a role-playing game is. I suspect that people who have little experience with Final Fantasy are probably going to be more receptive to it than long-time fans.
Anyway, thanks for reading our cover story; hopefully you'll find it interesting. And now, here is a small bonus for you: A tiny excerpt of our developer interview that didn't fit into the preview, but which deserves to be seen. Herein is revealed the secret origin of the man who is rapidly becoming my favorite FFXIII character, Sahz Katzroy. Please enjoy:
1UP: Speaking of the characters, I notice that each one is named for something tangible -- Lightning, Fang, Vanille -- except Sahz. What's the story there?
Yoshinori Kitase: For FFXIII, the theme color is white*, and light is also part of the theme. So all the characters have names that link back to something white or bright, like a bolt of lightning, a ray of hope, snow, etc. With Sahz, the inspiration was something with bubbles, like the foam on beer....
1UP: So... he's "Suds"?
Kitase: Yes, because his afro looks similar to foam.
1UP: It's not because he drinks a lot?
Kitase: (laughs) No, he doesn't drink; his Eidolon turns into a car. He can't drive drunk!
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