abysmal

Plenty of questionable design choices, yet they all still work — and work surprisingly well. The linear world design fits perfectly, as does the skill tree combined with the hybrid combat system. Even the huge, empty open world in Chapter 11 has its own charm.

im giving this game review 9/10!!!!!

PROS
- voice acting
- mission/sidequests
- chapter 11 (aka farming mode)
- soundtracks is od
- superboss (mission 64)

CONS
- chocobo riding is od slow

This is my favourite game ever. I love the characters, the story might be a bit clunky and the pacing is a bit slow, but overall the experience is one of the best one can have in a RPG.

The "realtime turnbase" combat system is the best to ever exist, rewarding strategy, tactics, and the depth in placement and combat macro (paradigm system) has a depth I've never found in any other game ever. It is not easy to learn and hard to master, but each playthrough is so drastically different due to the skill you've aquired.
I strongly advise you check online for guides and tutorial, otherwise most of the depth can be quite obfuscated and it's easy to rely on the "press X to win" appearance of the game (due to the "auto battle" button, the true game is in the paradigm shift mechanic).

The PC port is quite bad though, and requires some comminity patches to work correctly (https://github.com/rebtd7/FF13Fix), but please don't let this detail make you not play this wonderful game

Such a poor port for a fantastic game, still a lot of crashes even with mod patches... I hope we get a remaster soon.

Having a lot of fun with this game, I think it got more hate than it deserved. Was shocked to realize Lightning's VA also voices Liara from Mass Effect!

The steam port crashes way to frequently. Square needs to update this and fix the issues with crashes. Still happens even after ten years.

I think this game is fine, but it could be a lot better. I honestly feel like it has great ideas, but it also has too many annoying things, so it is easy to complain. After a boring (more on this later) and very, very linear start, it improves as you go forward, and It definitely had its moments. If you enjoy the genre I'd give this a try.

The visuals are quite good, and some scenes are well done and convey things effectively, even if I don't love the story (it has its moments too). Other scenes can be a bit bizarre.

I enjoyed the combat system, and it is one of the strong points of the game for me. But also, I'd like being able to have more choices.


Now for some of the annoyances, and sorry for the rant.


- Game systems are introduced too gradually(Restarting the game would be a pain, things are kept too simple for far too long) AND some of them are badly explained.
- I guess it was made in order for you to learn, but you are forced to play a needless ammount of bland sections with different skillsets. These are mostly simple, feel artificial and slow down the pace too much.
- Dialogues can be too simple and stereotypical. Specially early.
- I don't like having my team members changed in the cutscene right before a bossfight without allowing me to spend my points on the skill tree and choosing the equipment.
- The economy in this game feels useless for a big chunk of it
- Character "Skill trees" end up being way too basic, I think they run out of ideas for late game.
- Even if you can do a lot with the skills they give you, some of the game battles feel like a stat check. I know this won't resonate with a lot of the fans, but I don't feel a lot of accomplishment if I just win because I farmed for the stats, instead of solving a problem .
- Some of the main characters feel dumb and annoying
- Some antagonists could be more interesting, but they don't feel fleshed out at all. Maybe if you read all the optional texts you can learn more about them (?)
- I don't know if there is some guide, but the optional missions seem to require a crazy ammount of walking and backtracking
- Some battles get a little repetitive
- I don't like using summons here and only use them in very specific situations.
- Upgrading a character is needlessly slow, and it has a loading screen.

6.5/10

Look, this is an extremely flawed game and those flaws are all very well documented. It's linear as hell, offers little to no variety in its gameplay, and is paced worse than maybe any game ever made, to the point where the game would benefit enormously from being about half as long. The story at it's core is shockingly simple, but told in the most convoluted way possible, with confusing terminology, nonsensical dialogue, and long stretches where the characters meander around aimlessly waiting for something to happen.

But there's still a lot to love here. It's a genuine aesthetic masterpiece, with visuals unlike anything else and a gorgeous soundtrack. The characters, while extremely flawed, have a surprising amount of depth and really grow on you throughout the course of the story. And the combat, once it fully opens up, is really quite fun, and -- much like the rest of the game -- is utterly unique.

Ultimately this is my major takeaway: there are some works of art that work on a intellectual level, and some that work on an emotional level. Final Fantasy 13 is the latter. If you think about a lot of what it's doing -- story wise, gameplay wise, anything -- for more than a few minutes, it kind of falls apart. But if you turn on your heart and just go full empathy -- soaking in the visuals, rooting for the characters in their times of need, and fist pumping when cool ♥♥♥♥ happens -- then you'll have a much better time.

Meet it where it's at, and you may find something here to like. Come in with a critical eye and a mind ready for analysis and you'll hate it.