Let me start off by saying that I am a long time fan of the Final Fantasy Series. However, I am one that thinks that the series peaked with FFVI and has yet to be able to craft an experience on par with it (Though I would say FFXI is my favorite, it’s an MMO and I don’t usually count it in the cannon of FF). It seems that Final Fantasy XIII could have what it takes to get the series back on track after a couple of disappointments, most notably FFX-2 and FFXII. I will say though, that the battle system in FFXII is superb, so I can’t completely discredit it.
The Fro is a magical place where cute baby Chocobo live.
This time around you will play as Lightning, one of the few times you play as a female in the series. Say what you will about the last few having had main characters so effeminate that they looked like girls; they don’t count.. Say what you will about the last few having had main characters so effeminate that they looked like girls; they don’t count. I’m not one to whine about playing as a female because I think it makes no difference. She is your typical mysterious type that the player will get to know and explore as the story unfolds. Another new personality, Snow, is usually seen by Lightning’s side in the trailers. They appear to be friends, but Snow appears a bit more brazen in his approach to the situation at hand. Oerba is yet another mysterious person. She is being hunted down because she is a Fal’Cie, which, as always, will be explained as we explore the game. Sazh seems to be the comic relief of the bunch. In a couple of trailers he is seen with an adorable chocobo chick which, in one scene, pops out of his big fro. There are other characters as there always are but as of this time we don’t know much about them.
The environments in Final Fantasy games are generally done very well and make for an interesting backdrop. Final Fantasy XIII looks to continue that tradition. Cocoon is the major city this time around, one that is found floating above the planet of Pulse. Cocoon is a supposed paradise, a utopia of safety and happiness, while Pulse is feared as a primal, lower place of existence. The Fal’Cie are from Pulse while normal humans live on cocoon. Cocoon itself is an enormous and beautiful city that seems to make up a large portion of what is shown in trailers. However, the forests and plains of Pulse seem to be where much of the gameplay that we’ve seen takes place. Both places seem to offer something unique and the splitting of the two will hopefully keep them both fresh.
The story focuses on the Fal’Cie and the mystery behind how they affect their world. The Fal’Cie were once the protectors of mankind. As they say though, one bad apple ruins the bunch. So when one Fal’Cie turned hostile, the whole lot of them were outright condemned. There are humans called I’Cie that the Fal’Cie have handpicked in order to do certain tasks and therefore these people are also being hunted down. The story will center itself on a group that is resisting the government hunting them and fighting for answers to their questions.
The gameplay and battle system has, as always, changed since the last iteration. Like FFXII, you can see the enemies walking around the environment. However instead of battling straight from there, the game takes you to a separate battle screen. The developers say they did this because of the revamped combat system and the fact that the battles are timed. There is no more mana to draw on, so spells use a set number of action points which are used for all aspects of combat. You fill up slots with different actions and can make different combos based on the attacks. You can even fill slots if you have no action points and it will simply execute the commands as you gain them. You can only control one person at a time in battle, and rather than going with the complicated but cool gambit system in the vein of XII they are going with a simplified command system. A new feature is the “broken state” that you can put an enemy into, in which you can do more damage to it. One can only assume there will be enemies that have to be beaten this way. There is a set amount of time to complete each battle which is supposedly designed to keep you from wasting time on enemies that you won’t beat at that time. Because there is no mana and thus no ability to use magic outside of fights, your hp completely fills after each fight. What Final Fantasy game would be complete without the chocobo? Fear not, the lovable bird is back, along with a leveling grid that looks similar to FFX. The job system we have all come to love is here and is being flagged as a “Role System”. This time though, there is a new layer with the “paradigm” system. Each combination of roles creates an overall paradigm for the party which grants certain bonuses and if structured correctly can refill the action bar. Several different paradigms can be saved and swapped out on the fly for quick shifts.
Overall FFXIII looks to be shaping up nicely. Square-Enix is not afraid to change and that is a rare but great quality, especially in a typically tired genre like the JRPG. It looks like the real question will be whether or not the story and character progression can start going back in the right direction. Either way it is pretty much guaranteed that on March 9 new players and fan boys alike will be buying this game in droves.
http://www.allegedly-speaking.com/previews/xiii_preview.htm
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POSITIVE preview....nice read.
