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r505Matt on 07 March 2010
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Catlana said:
lestatdark said:
Catlana said:
Wagram said:
lestatdark said:
Well, it was kinda expected, plus their review isn't that bad, just that the linearity let them down big time.

Plus, they gave Dragon Age a 5 too, so FFXIII = DA:O is really awesome in my book :P

Though I didn't like DA all that much. I still say it deserves an 8.

I decided to ignore Edge as a rpg rating site after the 5 to Dragon Age which I really enjoyed. The Edge reviewers are not rpg fans and the low ratings for RPG games show that. 

They have a very unique and strange way to rate RPG's. They have given good scores to most FF's before and even in this gen, they have given some good scores to RPG's as well. 

I do question their rating choice in the cases of both DA:O and FFXIII, but in the content of the review, they were far more professional with the FFXIII review than with the DA:O one, as that one felt to me, at least, that they were just giving it a raw comparison to the current trend of WRPG's, instead of focusing on the strenghts and unique points of DA:O. 

The problem comes from their reviews using this strange and different rating system. A site that gives Fable 2 a 9, Borderlands a 6, and Dragon Age a 5 is quite off the beaten path for reviews. There is no discernable standard that Edge is using. If I can not trust the review mag / site why should I bother with their reviews?

But even Joystiq is saying the same thing. Some highlights:

"The game gets exceptional after this one moment -- but, regrettably, this moment came for me after suffering 15 hours and 30 minutes of pure, unadulterated tedium."

"Fifteen-and-a-half hours probably demands more from a player's patience than they'll be willing to give -- especially if said player is one of the Final Fantasy newcomers the game is seemingly tailored for. Still, if you can make the time investment, there's a lot to love about the roundabout story."

"Perplexingly, Final Fantasy XIII keeps its sextuplet of protagonists divided into three groups of two for a large chunk of the game. Though each character appears to have the potential to be interesting, they just don't shine while they're adhering to the game's compartmental introduction. However, once the characters are brought together, and begin to forge engaging relationships between one another, your concern for their well-being increases exponentially -- as does your interest in the mission that has been forced upon them."

"However, it takes a while to get to a point where you can start developing strategies for yourself. In those grueling, first 15-and-a-half or so hours, you will have no control over the characters selected for your party. What's more, the game's new character progression engine, the "Crystarium," doesn't offer much room for specialization until later in the game."

Overall, it's far more positive than Edge's review, but if Joystiq gave numbers, I'd imagine it to be a 7 or so. Essentially, the beginning is slow, but "There is a moment in Final Fantasy XIII where everything just clicks." That's what I'm getting out of these reviews.

Edit: Figured I'd post the review for anyone that hasn't seen it http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/05/review-final-fantasy-xiii/