I think I may actually be enjoying this game… and I have no idea why.
I definitely approached XIII with a very negative bias. I read the generally poor reviews from sources I (for the most part) trust and, combined with the gameplay footage I saw, I was not looking forward to the game.
Then I started playing and, guess what? I did hate it. The first few chapters were garbage. I had no idea what was going on. Combat was too fast for me to understand what the hell was happening. The story was all Tarantino with massive out-of-order flashbacks and a confusing mythos that would only be adequately described later. I felt as if the game was driving itself and I was just along for the ride, aimlessly pushing the x-button along the way.
Then at about chapter 6 or so, I found myself playing for 6 to 7 hours on end. In all seriousness, I haven’t played a game consistently for huge chunks of time like this in over a decade. I’m a 2-3 hour at a time kind of gamer, mostly because I end up only marginal liking most games I play, so 2-3 hours is about all I can handle. But, with XIII, something is markedly different. Yeah, I can’t stand that most of the shit that comes out of Vanille’s mouth aren’t so much words, but rather squeaks, sighs, and whines. Yeah, the ‘levels’ are linear as fuck. Yeah, the Crystarium isn’t a customization system, but rather a thinly veiled linear level-up system. But, for some reason, I can handle all the (massive) negatives and am really having a pretty good time.
While playing yesterday, I mulled over this phenomenon and came to the realization that critics (myself included) have a tendency to compare any Final Fantasy to the rest of the games of the series. And, honestly, there is nothing wrong with that. Final Fantasy, has often been a hallmark game of whatever system it was on and should be a litmus test for the rest of the series. Unfortunately, I firmly believe that the Golden Age for Final Fantasy has long since past. The SNES and early PS1 days set a bar so high that Square-Enix may continue to produce quality games and never again reach that level.
With the above realization, it occurred to me that I had, not once, made a comparison between Final Fantasy XIII and any other game of the franchise. As a staunch Final Fantasy supporter for nearly 2 decades, why was I totally cool to let XIII slip through my pessimistic criticism of anything made after 1998?
(Here’s the part where I’m not going to make any friends.)
Final Fantasy XIII isn’t a Final Fantasy.
Watch Out, Steke! Don't piss off the Fanboys, or Cardboard Cloud will come for you!
Okay, let me explain. I know that since the days of FF VII there have always been critics that say this, but they are using it as a negative, whereas I am not.
Until XIII (and to a lesser extent XII), every Final Fantasy has possessed a familiarity about it. I could link the design, mechanics, and essence of the game to the rest of the series. Pressing start on any Final Fantasy, even including those I despised, was like coming home from a long trip.
But, when I turn on XIII and I don’t feel that familiarity, the comfort of something I’ve already done 12 freaking times… and it’s goddamn refreshing. It’s different. It’s new. Really, XII was the same way, it just took me 40 hours to realized that I was hating on a game simply because it wasn’t Final Fantasy VI. XIII earns mad points from me because Square-Enix took it in a new direction, it’s innovative, and it makes me want to play it.
Yeah, it’s not awesome like we’ve come to expect from Final Fantasy. Yeah, it has some... okay, many problems. But, the production value is still through the freaking roof, the music is incredible, the combat system allows for boss fights of grand scale, and it’s nothing we have really seen before. It won’t go down as my favorite of the franchise, but it sure as hell is better than X.
(Probably not making any friends with that last sentence either.)
