Final Fantasy XIII was pretty enjoyable, and it contains maybe the best Graphics, and definetly the best Rendered Movies ever seen., and in addition: The Soundtrack is pure Awesomeness, and it doesnt have to hide when it comes to a comparison to Uematsu's Tracks. (but okay, i still have to say that it doesnt match Uematsu, but epic is epic, right?)
If i have to rate the Storyline, i'd give it a 8,6 - its great, but not Outstanding. i think its time to compare XIII to XII. i missed deep emotion in XII, they were there, but only in the first hours of the Game. now, it exists the whole Game, BUT the World of Ivalice felt alive, Cocoon doesnt. (okay, Pusle was a great made piece of Data, but Pulse is just a short part of this Game.)
i think, that the linearity, and the missing towns are responsible for that livelessnes, and in addition, they cutted out a big Piece of Gameplay: Non-Story Related interaction and Shopping!.. FFXIII only Contains Fighting and Cutscenes, and thats too less variety, imo. (Fight x10 -> Scene -> Repeat.)
another bad part, is the introduction of Characters you'll never see again. for Example NORA. you see these Guys twice in this Game. both times without much importance. they are placed in this world, but with no real existence. the same thing with the introduced leader of the fleet, Rygdea. this guy is also non existent later, so they could have saved the time of creating his Character Model and instead doing something different.
okay, now lets judge the Battle System: .. its good., but sometimes just frustrating. lets take the Paradigm Shift: a good System, but with weakpoints. for example: your Characters have a certain Role: if one Character is a Healer, he can heal. he can ONLY Heal. i have no problem with that, but if i see, that the enemy can heal, buff himself and attack you all at once without changing anything, you may think you've been fooled by the system. and yes, if you Change paradigms to heal yourself, it takes some seconds, and if you have bad luck, they kill you while changing.
another thing is, that the leader has to be alive or it means game over, no matter what. and THAT feels very cheap, when your enemy casts instant death at you.
Overall, i'd give it a 8,9.
I'm a Foreigner, and as such, i am grateful for everyone pointing out any mistakes in my english posted above - only this way i'll be able to improve. thank you!
