Greased Lightning

So, Final Fantasy XIII came out yesterday and I battled the crowds to buy this momentous life-changing game. I came home and put it in my PS3 and played it and then...I WAS HORRIBLY DISAPPOINTED! D:

God, guys, this isn't a proper Final Fantasy game. GOD! It's so linear and I have such a problem with that even though all the other games bar FFX-2 were linear too when they started but I like to pretend that wasn't the case. And GOD! Nobuo Uematsu didn't do the music so I instantly hate it even though it's actually kind of good, but that doesn't matter because th victory theme isn't right and without the da-da-da-daaa-daaaaa-da-da-daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa how can I possibly enjoy this game? AND GOD! The battle system moves too fast and it's just pressing X a lot and has no strategy even though I haven't even passed Chapter 2 yet and haven't seen the battle system properly in action yet. GOD! IT'S SO SHIT!

The above is, obviously, a lie. I actually quite like the game. I think it's good. Yes. I just wanted to poke fun at some of the worst complaints I've heard about it so far.

Now, I've not played much so far (I'm just on chapter 4, I believe, which is only really because chapters 1 and 2 are shorter than a very short thing and pretty much hold your hand the whole way through), so I can't give my full opinion on the game. But my first impressions are good. The game, obviously, looks gorgeous. The characters are well-animated, the environments are stunning and there are a ton of lovely looking effects all over the shop.

Beyond this, initial impressions of the game were a little mixed from me. Yes, it's very linear at this point, but it doesn't really feel any more linear than FFX did. And the battle system, while very impressive, did start getting a little tedious after a while. Well, until Paradigms were introduced and suddenly everything improved and got a lot more tactical. Plus there is a general sense that the game is merely preparing me for something bigger and better to come. In other words, it's a bit of a slow-burner, but it's definitely worth sticking with.

And the battle system, coming back to that, is actually great fun once it really gets moving. It's basically like FFX-2's (which is probably what's got some of the unpleasable fanboys on the run) but faster and with control over one character (which draws some parallels with FF12's system, but only slightly, it's nowhere near as awful as that game). At first just bashing enemies to death gets a bit tiresome, but the Paradigms add an interesting level of strategy, basically switching character roles around for the entire battle. At first it seems like you can get away with using one system but it quickly becomes apparent that you NEED to learn how to switch, and switch tactically. As the system gets more complex, the more interesting and fun to use it gets. I highly applaud it. Sure, it's not traditional FF, but it feels like a natural evolution to me (particularly with its similarities to the aforementioned previous games' systems).

The linearity I can cope with for now. I've heard it gets more open later, and judging by the trophies, there's a few side quests awaiting me when I get there. Of course, this is no different to previous FFs (most of FF7's sidequests were unavailable til part of the way through disc 2, most of VIII's weren't available til you got the Ragnorok on disc THREE!), but try telling that to some people. Like I said before, it feels like X (with hints of X-2 in the jumping bits). Sure, the lack of towns feels a bit weird, but I can live with it.

The story is great so far. There's a lot of interesting mythology going on, and already it's making me question things and push forward to find out more. And after XII's disastrous character set, the fact that I've warmed to this cast almost instantly is a definite achievement. Well, apart from Hope, since he's just Tidus but in child form, making him worse x1000000. I want to punch him, and half the time I'm genuinely surprised that Lightning doesn't just stab him, especially with the way she looks at him half the time. Sazh is just plain awesome, Snow is surprisingly likeable despite my initial impression of him, Vanille is kinda fun (no, she actually doesn't annoy me!) and Lightning is just plain badass. Not just in character, but in game. Honestly, I missed her when she wasn't in my party recently because everyone else seemed so underpowered in comparison.

All in all, so far so good. It's certainly a grower, I can say that much, but it certainly is showing signs of becoming one of my favourite FFs, probably coming in behind IX and X-2. Even if the FF7 fanboys will probably hate it. But who really cares what they think, right? :p