Final Fantasy XIII - Review - Satisfying From Beginning to (Eventual) End

A long time coming, huh?  Final Fantasy XIII came out on March 9th and here it is April 27th, 7 weeks later and I'm just now starting my review.

I think it's pretty appropriate in a way actually.  The commitment to play Final Fantasy XIII (I call it a commitment because it is much more than just playing a game) itself takes a long time to see through.  First, it took me around 64 hours to get to view the end credits, which ended up being exactly one month to finish the story. Second, I'm still playing as of today to get all the achievements and I have currently accumulated over 90 hours of total gameplay.  My prediction of how many more hours it will take to get the rest of the achievements?  Another 30.  If you're keeping tabs, any post-game leveling and achievement hunting could take upwards of another 60 hours depending on how much you play it the first time through.

Make no mistake, Final Fantasy XIII is a long game. Not only is the complete package time consuming, but the course to get there is practically a straight line that doesn't break wide open until after 20 hours (and even then it's deceptively large).  Does this construction limit the game's enjoyability?  Is it a monotonous trudge-fest that lacks depth and choice, instead funneling the player into predetermined choices making you feel like you're in an aggravatingly long QTE?

In an attempt to offer a breath of brevity:  No.

Final Fantasy XIII is a giantly fantastic game in more ways than one, and in the first four months of 2010 has captured my attention like nothing I've played since the original BioShock or Half-Life 2.  Heck, I'm still playing it and wanting to whenever I can get an just an hour to play.

Continue reading for the full review.

You Know What This Means?

Final Fantasy XIII review coming soon!

(Took this from my phone after finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally, finally beating it.  I don't use that many to insinuate that it was an arduous process.  I just wanted to write thirteen finallys.  GET IT?!?)

FFXIII In My Hands!

I didn't do the midnight thing last night since I didn't have the day off today.  And I was going to pick it up after work, but I had a mite frustrating day and needed a pick-me-up, so I got it during my lunch hour.






Looking forward to beginning the journey tonight!






Of course, I'm meaning once my wife goes to bed ... :)

Ominbus - Final Fantasy XIII

I haven't updated much about Final Fantasy XIII, have I?  And it's coming out just over 3 days, gawrsh dang it!  I promise you, I'm gearing up for this one as the countdown clock at the bottom clips towards zero.  Honestly there hasn't been a fury of megaton news drops about it, but with Final Fantasy in the title, it will make waves regardless.  Japan's had it for two months now (as pictured above), but those waves are finally going to crash Stateside this coming Tuesday!

I'm going to miss out on playing it crazily on March 9th, though, and I haven't decided yet if I'll be going to a midnight release (if they happen).  Work responsibilities.  My plan is, however, to begin Tuesday night and play into Wednesday by wrangling a day off.  'Twill be a fun hump-day!

I hope you've liked my two stabs at reviews for BioShock 2 and Aliens vs. Predator, but don't hold your breath for a Final Fantasy XIII review within the first two weeks or even month because I've read this adventure will take at least 30 hours to go through, and if there are opportunities to level up, then for me that will probably eclipse 45.  Unless a miracle happens that I can blaze through and wrap my brain around everything, then early April might be a more realistic window to post a review.

So, in omnibus fashion, after the jump are a series of articles, previews, reviews and bullet points for your perusal.  If you're not even the least bit in anticipation for XIII, you might want to give it a shot ... you don't even need to have played I-XII to know anything!

But shame on you if you haven't even heard of VII ...

Final Fantasy XIII to be a III-Disc Adventure?

Kotaku reports that stay-at-home game rental service GameFly has claimed that Final Fantasy XIII for the Xbox 360 will encompass three discs.

This brings me back to the good ole PS1 days when a lot of the big games had to go through multiple disc-swaps (FF VII, Metal Gear Solid).  You knew it was big if the game couldn't make it onto just one.

Kinda gives you something else to work towards, maybe clues to how much longer you have left.

**UPDATE**  Yep, confirmed.

Most Anticipated Xbox 360 Games of 2010, Part II

Here are my remaining three Most Anticipated Xbox Games of 2010 (in alphabetical order).  Click here if you missed Part I.

The Daily Sync for January 15th, 2010

 

Today was a blah day in news, in my opinion.  But that's all right.  I suppose if everyday had some major game detail reveal, then those days would feel like blah days until we upped the ante somehow.  But that's not to say there wasn't anything worth mentioning.

Assassin's Creed 2, a bit more Final Fantasy XIII, and a study on the parental adherence to ESRB ratings.

The Daily Sync for January 13th, 2010

Welcome to the first ever edition of "The Daily Sync," certain posts that are pretty much my attempt at compiling and further reporting video game news ... that other people have done already ... but I provide links to them and comments ... ... ... yay!  I figured that since I practically have a stock ticker of gaming news, I would do something else with it than read it for myself.  Lo and behold, my brain-news-child, "The Daily Sync."

Every weekday after 5pm I hope to provide a short list of some of the crazy, interesting, sad, and exciting news that has been released that day and the night before.  5pm because I'm at least done with my office work for the day (usually), and I take forever on these posts so I miss out on anything that happens that evening.  Just go with me, people! :)

Read on to see what I deem newsworthy!