Final Fantasy 13
By Rob Jones | March 13, 2010
Earlier this week, I found out – more by accident then anything else – that the new Final Fantasy has been released. I had seen some jaw dropping movies from this game quite a while back and I was instantly tempted to pick it up. I actually managed to forget to do so until last Thursday. I’ve been playing it this weekend and I’m not disappointed!
I had never played a Final Fantasy game before, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. When I opened the package I had to frown. Three discs squashed onto each other in the box. Picking the first disc and loading it up, I was amazed at the intro being presented to me. A movie of absolutely stunning quality. Still I thought to myself: “It’s only an intro, it probably doesn’t look as good ingame.”
Not long after I started playing, I had a flashback to Lost Odyssey. I quickly summed it up to myself: stunning movies, the plainest menus you can think of, poor gameplay of running through a straight line until the next encounter. For a moment I dreaded that Final Fantasy would undergo the same fate as Lost Odyssey: played for one or two hours, only to put it back in it’s box and let it gather dust ever since.
After playing for more then just a few hours I can breathe in relief. This game is simply stunning. Even if you’ve never played any game within the Final Fantasy series, it’s easy to start. For the clueless noobs like myself, Square Enix has provided tutorials that explain how each part of the game works. Gradually you get introduced to the more complex moves and things start to become fun!
The absolute stunning quality of cut-scenes, never mind the length and the frequency of them, makes it feel as if I’m playing within a movie. I’m simply loving it! Stunning graphics, good story, strong gameplay… all the ingredients for an addictive game. So far it looks to me as if this game has high potential to rank itself amongst the best of the best this year.
No doubt I will write another post about this game once I advance a bit further into the story!
