Final Fantasy XIII is the experience gamers have been thirstily awaiting and if all goes well, it’ll be on western store shelves on March 7th. Early reviews from various outlets have surfaced unto the web, with almost all judging the highly anticipated title with low scores. I’ve paid little attention to those reviews because come what may I’ll be buying Final Fantasy XIII; I’m a die-hard fan and will play this game to the end.
However just yesterday, while reading Eurogamer’s hands on experience with the game, it dawned on me: Final Fantasy XIII might disappoint us all.
As noted, you’ve surely heard of the early reviews all giving FFXIII low scores, including the Hong Kong magazine that described it as being the “biggest swindle in gaming history”. See the thing is, we’re not familiar with these websites but Eurogamer on the other hand is one that’s universally respected. Simon Parkin, one of the website’s journalists, got his hands on an imported version of the game, detailing what to him was the “curious” decisions made by the Square-Enix leading to the game’s in my opinion, seemingly abysmal journey.
Talking about the first few hours (almost mirroring what the Hong Kong mag said), Simon Parking described the game as being “devoid of spectacle”.
“The frequency of cut-scenes might lead one to expect the drama to move quickly,” Parkin said, “but in reality, the first few hours of the game are curiously devoid of spectacle. Compare the same section of the game to that of Final Fantasy VII, with its train escapes, big-business terrorism and bombs, and Final Fantasy XIII’s trudge along suspension bridges, implausible futuristic hallways and ice caverns is curiously devoid of events.”
He added: “The battle system is slow to reveal its charms, for the first few hours you’ll be hammering the X button without much need for tactical consideration. You control just one member of your party, issuing standard attack moves, special moves or items and receiving a star rating for your performance in each fight, based on the time you took to finish the enemy off.”
Did Square-Enix lost direction while making the game? It has been in development for so long one would conclude the time they took to complete the title only made it better. Apparently it has not, what happened along the way we’ll probably never know; did they change course midway? Was this always the route? Questions without answers, however the saying rings true: where there’s smoke, fire looms and with all the negative reports that have been building, we are left with our hopes not up, but down.
“After five hours of the Japanese version of Final Fantasy XIII, it’s still hard to say how successful the game’s skew-whiff approach has been in general. For players who saw Yasumi Matsuno’s Final Fantasy XII as a creative and interesting exploration of how the aged JRPG format could shift into something contemporary and fresh, the thirteenth game seems sure to be a crushing disappointment.”
Final Fantasy XIII is out on March 7th. Are you still excited about the game? Share your thoughts.
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Wow, I was definitely going to buy this game, after reading this, I’m not so sure… Wow, now I’m thinking should I have read this…..
I couldn’t care less what other people think of a game. If i based my decisions to purchase a game solely off of reviews then i would never have bought games like Sonic Unleashed or Wanted: Weapons Of Fate – 2 of the most enjoyable games this generation.
Theese same “Journalists” will probably give an absolutely garbage game like Mass Effect 2 a high score and say it “Reinvents the RPG genre.” or something equally stupid when in fact, ME 2 isn’t an RPG at all, it’s a Third – Person Shooter that allows you to upgrade your weapons, no different than Ratchet & Clank.
If FF XIII was a low – quality game then would 1.8 million people, nearly half of the PS3 install base, in Japan have bought it? I don’t think so.