While wandering through the city, one of the first things I noticed was the addition of a Moogle sidekick for the party; which were also conspicuously [mostly] absent in the game’s predecessor, despite being a staple of the series. Moogles are the party’s handy little comrades and will help you get through hidden obstacles to find treasure, while offering tips occasionally as well. I also learned that the game would have quite a bit in common Square-Enix legend, Chrono Trigger, in that it would time travel would be a prominent story element, along with multiple endings depending on the decisions you made throughout the game. Some of these choices are dialogue options you’ll have to make when in a situation; these will usually determine your approach to enemies or conversations with other characters. As mentioned above, time travel is a huge plot element in XIII-2. And it’s implemented quite nicely, with the new addition of mini-games as well. (Something else that was a staple in many Final Fantasy games.) At one point during the demo, Noel and Serah fall into a time flux of sorts, and must solve a puzzle to escape and move on. In short, this was an overhead mini-game in which entailed disappearing floor tiles as you moved across them. The objective was to collect all of the crystals on the way to the finish line, in the correct sequence so you wouldn’t cut yourself off from the goal. I was informed there would be a large variety of mini-games available to the player too, most of which would be available to play at any time during a point in the story, much like the Gold Saucer in Final Fantasy VII.

While fighting my way through the city, I was able to recruit monsters to assist me in battle; Apparently hundreds of different monsters can join you, each with their own job for the Paradigm. You’ll know you’ve gained a new monster when a small crystal appears at the end of a fight; you can then add any monster in your arsenal to your party to suit your needs, each with its own unique abilities. Random encounters have also been brought back, though only to an extent. Enemies will spawn randomly, however you have a set amount of time via the Mog Clock to either engage enemies for a pre-emptive strike or escape the encounter entirely. It’s also possible to gain the aid of NPCs, like soldiers in the area to assist you as well.

When it was finally time to face Atlas again, who had begun to attack the city, I was faced with a choice; Attack him head on, or look for another method of defeating him. I went with the latter, and decided explore a bit to activate a device that would weaken him; apparently the game will be enveloped in choices like this that will impact the outcome of the story and characters, while setting you along a branching path for your ending. While fighting Atlas, I also noticed another new feature in combat; Staggering an enemy will not only weaken them for additional damage, but also trigger a “Cinematic Action” sequence. These are similar to quick time events in games like God of War, but more forgiving and strategic in nature. You can trigger one at the correct time to disable one of Atlas’ hands, which cause the most damage to the party. Paradigm shifting will also be more strategic now as well; rather than changing at one point to meet your needs, players will have to watch the enemy and shift accordingly to its actions. Such as, when Atlas is about to smash the party with his fist, it’s important to switch to a more defensive Paradigm to minimize damage taken.

Overall, Final Fantasy XIII-2 is shaping up beautifully; Many issues gamers had with XIII are being addressed, while fans of the previous installment will get a more fleshed out story and expanded universe to enjoy, with a host of new characters and diverse game play experience as well. FFXIII-2 will be released in December for Japan, and in January stateside. Be sure to check back for our review of the game!

Hopefully fans are much more receptive to this title, which promises to bring back a more open world as opposed to the incredibly linear storyline of its predecessor.

Are you willing to return to the series, if you weren’t such a fan of the last title?

First off, let me just toss out that if you haven’t finished Final Fantasy XIII and you even care one iota about the plot of that game – don’t watch this. I mean, what it throws out there is kind of obvious, but still. Blah blah blah, trailers for game sequels will probably have something about the plot of the original game, I know. But still. If you care – do not watch. (For the record, I only work on XIII a little bit at a time since I have to play other stuff and I now consider myself spoiled, even if it was kind of a “duh” thing.)

You’ll also get a quick glimpse of Lightning’s new…enemy? Friend? No clue. But she has a purple sword!

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is due out “this winter,” so I’ll guess early 2012, since Japan gets it in 2011. Maybe they’re really on the ball with localization this time, though.

Also, Lightning – I miss your pants. This metal bikini suit…thing…it is not becoming.

The Holiday season is now upon us, and it’s never too early to begin shopping for the anime/Japanese culture fan in your life. Two of my personal favorite sites for this are; Play Asia and the official Square Enix Shop. You can find a variety of wonderful gifts here, and many for an affordable price. (Square Enix also features a nice line of expensive jewelry themed after many of their successful games.)

Square Enix Shop
Bleach Play Arts Kai, Volume 1; $42.99 (each)

The newly released Bleach Play Arts Kai, Volume 1 were released this fall and would be the perfect present for any Bleach fans, like myself. Play Arts Kai are some of the best articulated figures on the market, and look wonderful on display or simply left in their box. Volume 1 includes Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki and Toshiro Hitsugaya, each complete with their Zanpakuto. I’m personally hoping to find the lovely recreation of Ms. Kuchiki under my tree this year.

Square Enix Shop
Final Fantasy XIII Serah’s Engagement Pendant; $249.99

Final Fantasy XIII was highly successful this year, and the individual characters had very memorable designs. To commemorate the game’s characters, Square created a line of jewelry, including the lovely engagement pendant Snow gave to Serah. Although a bit on the pricey side, the sterling silver necklace is beautiful, unique design and would make a lovely present for any fashion savvy nerd this Holiday season.

Square Enix Shop
Chrono Trigger Formation Arts; $39.99 (set of four)

Many of us are happy to discover that Square Enix hasn’t completely forgotten Chrono Trigger as a series, even if it is only in merchandise form at the moment. This lovely set of formation arts comes blister boxed and includes detailed figures of your iconic team, including; Crono & Frog, Crono, Robo & Ayla, Crono & Magus, and Lucca & Robo. Here’s hoping the next set will include both Marle and Ayla!

Square Enix Shop
Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker, Play Arts Kai, Snake; $44.99 (Sneaking suit version)

Metal Gear Solid is one of my favorite game series of all time, and although a Konami IP, I’m glad that Square obtained the rights on it (like the Bleach figures above) to produce their own line of breath takingly detailed Play Arts Kai. The line of course begins with Snake (Biggu Bosu~), and hopefully Square will expand it further to characters we Metal Gear fans also adore. (Hint, The Boss!)

Square Enix Shop
Kingdom Hearts Charm Bracelet; $126.99

This sterling silver charm bracelet is perfect for any fans of Kingdom Hearts who are looking to subtly display their fandom in a more classy way. The bracelet comes with one charm, the signature heart featured on the logo of the games, and many more are available to be purchased seperately. (Like Kari’s star shaped charm, or a crown for Sora.)

Square Enix Shop
Final Fantasy Plush White Mage Chocobo; $20.99

We Final Fantasy fans are frequently bickering about which game in the series is the best. But what we can all agree on is that the traditional parts of every game are always respected. Especially the Chocobos, our friendly yellow means of transportation in most games of the series. This adorable plush Chocobo dons the classic White Made robe and hood, and is super affordable for those looking for a nice present on a budget, or a stocking stuffer.

Play Asia
Shigenori Soejima Art Works 2004-2010; $37.49

Shigenori Soejima is the designer/artist mostly famed for his beautiful work in the Persona series, and Atlus’ upcoming Catherine. This beautiful collection of his work is printed on quality paper and is considered a must have for any Persona fan, or fans of his art style in general. I’ve always been a sucker for art books and find them inspiring for artists and non artists alike.

Play Asia
Evangelion: 2.22 You Can Not Advance [2-Disc Edition]; $36.29

Now available on Blu-Ray, You Can Not Advance is the follow up to You Are (Not) Alone. Evangelion has been re-envisioned with completely updated art, and further developed story. Considered one of the holy grails of the anime world, this two disc set would be a pleasant surprise for any hard-to-shop for giftee this holiday season. (Here’s hoping I’ll get one, too!)

Play Asia
Monster Hunter Pre-Painted Candy Toy: Airou Case; $5.40

Monster Hunter Tri is one of Japan’s best exports, and will soon be returning to the PSP as well as the Wii which was released earlier this year. These adorable cats are your helpful (or occasionally thieving) comrades during your journeys, so who wouldn’t want a cute little candy filled toy replica of one?

Play Asia
Anime Calendar 2011: Code Geass Lelouch of the Rebellion R2; $19.99

One of the most practical gifts you can give during the Holidays is a calender for the upcoming year. Play Asia has a wonderful selection of anime themed calenders, with exclusive artwork from all of your favorite shows, including Code Geass, even though the series concluded. These calenders by Etoile are printed on high quality paper and are larger than the usual North American calenders you’ll find, usually featuring unique art by the series’ creators.

I hope this list and the websites assist you guys in all your Holiday shopping endeavors this season! Happy Holidays from the GamingAngels.com staff!

If the general consensus says theres something “wrong” with Final Fantasy XIII, shouldn’t there be? I dunno. Maybe. It isn’t “linearity,” though. Let’s see what Bioware has to say:

“Well, before I address the main point I just want to take a slightly more controversial route: You can put a ‘J’ in front of it, but it’s not an RPG. You don’t make any choices, you don’t create a character, you don’t live your character… I don’t know what those are – adventure games maybe? But they’re not RPG’s.”

Said Daniel Erickson, Writing Director for Bioware. Some of us can probably picture him gallivanting atop his high-horse. The thing is, Bioware isn’t revolutionizing the RPG genre; They’re tactful at compensating for the lack of RPG elements that many previous RPG titles have been unable to foster. The intricacy of immersion, to be exact. Funny thing is, this is all a matter of opinion. Who says someone somewhere didn’t “live” the characters in Final Fantasy XIII? Its hard to imagine, I tell you what.

Anyway you slice it, they’re at the, uh, Vanguard of the RPG genre because they’ve, well, yet to take anything away from the concept of the RPG. They’re just givers, I suppose.

On this site, the writer comments: “By his definition, a Role-Playing Game allows for choices, character creation and immersion. By that definition more than half of the RPGs out there including the famously award-winning Final Fantasy VII aren’t really RPGs.” Unfortunately, Final Fantasy XIII removed a few cards and the entire structure gave-out. As I’ve stated previously, it really wasn’t the quantity of cards removed. The best cards in the deck were like, torn. Burned beyond recognition. Messed with far too much. I mean, we’re all so eager to kick games into labeled containers, but aren’t we only playing by recognition? Many people simply didn’t recognize Final Fantasy XIII–whether it be as a Final Fantasy or a general RPG. You can’t say I didn’t try.

Thank you, Bioware.

So, the other day, said friend named Final Fantasy XIII “exhausting.” Um, OK. “The characters fail to be people,” he said. “I got so tired of trying to relate. It was… hard.”

“Vanille. Do people really act like this in Japan? I complained about this on a forum and some dude told me Japanese chicks behave this way, but I dunno ‘cause I’ve never been to Japan.” I LOL’d. “I presume young girls of any nationality could very well act squirrelly,” I said.

By “act this way” I suppose he meant the JRPG way of exasperating awkward emotional reactions—like the “ugh-ing,”“ah-ing” and “oh-ing” in every scene, I guess. “Maybe this is why I prefer Western RPGs,” he said. Sure, you could say he was highly annoyed. He said he’d held his tongue a good forty hours into the game before he realized he couldn’t build an attachment to it. I still found it funny that said friend blamed his dislike of Final Fantasy XIII on Japan’s “social norms.” In his usual nonsensical fashion, I presumed he was trying to say that he wasn’t used to trying so hard to like the characters in a Final Fantasy game. I agreed because, well, I wasn’t either.

Welp, our Twitter stream didn’t help. People were calling it “epic.” I’m not gunna lie, this made me cringe. Lets not forget telling nay sayers to “blame technology.” Sorry to say, “Better” technology doesn’t necessitate a poorly designed game and I can’t imagine, say, the turn-based battle system of Final Fantasy games up until XIII being a forced design mechanic. Even now, we’re still seeing numerous JRPG titles being made “traditionally.” This isn’t the root of the issue, though. If Final Fantasy XIII was half as “polished” as people say, I would gladly accept it.

It was like, XIII grew so overly concerned with forcing a dynamic cast of characters; So much in fact, that Square Enix probably forgot they’re attempting to create fathomable people. This game however, only manages to produce hollow creatures, beautifully designed yet completely unremarkable in every other aspect. The funny thing is, I wouldn’t complain about this if Final Fantasy XIII didn’t try so hard to force emotion into me and… it tries really, really hard. I was confused. Do I put the blame on its terribly, messy narrative direction? Or is my maturity rendering me unable to buy into the “fantasy” aspect anymore? I was scared. In the entirety of this installment, I realized I’ve never felt so utterly detached.

People look at Final Fantasy and usually, a particular age-group and “type” of gamer come to mind. I’ve never believed that. I do believe that it possesses (or possessed) something to offer everyone if they at least try it and that’s why I continue to play it. You can’t sit there however, and try to convince me that nostalgia isn’t one, definite reason why Final Fantasy continues to ship millions of units worldwide. The majority of people purchase Final Fantasy based on their expectations of previous games. I must realistically add, that, whatever potential this game possessed at being “a good Final Fantasy” is far more important than it being “a good game.”

This is because Final Fantasy IS distinguished by its characters. Final Fantasy IS to what degree of emotional investment I place in its characters. Final Fantasy hinges on the strength of its plot. Its what we’d hope for all JRPGs but rarely, recently especially, ever find. Its what we hope to find by continually purchasing every Final Fantasy game and every side-game relating to it. All XIII offered me was a series of poor ideas and poor excuses for ideas. Regardless of how long it took to hit shelves, it was weak.

Should I just accept the fact that I’ll never feel like I felt in IV? What about II? Or VII, VIII, IX, X…? I’m not asking for another dip in the Lifestream, but should I care if Vanille gets shot? Probably. They’re trying to make me to care. I’m trying really hard to care. Sorry, I don’t care. If Square Enix wasn’t planning on making an actual Final Fantasy game, they shouldn’t have titled it as such.

I think the defining reason for our, to say the least, disappointment over Final Fantasy XIII was that it made us realize just how empty an aesthetically pleasing game was capable of being.

So, to go ahead and get on with the show, we just let you know about Sony’s Major League deal to bring the MLB to your console (for a rather hefty fee, of course).

However, that’s not all that’s coming to the console! A mandatory system update is coming soon that will get you to firmware version 3.30.

What’s included? New ways to organize your trophies. You can sort by:

• Trophy Folder (Title List) can be sorted by game name/ by title according to the date in which you earned your last trophy (ascending/descending)
• Add-on list (Group list) can be sorted by original/the date in which you earned your last trophy (ascending/descending)
• Trophy list can be sorted by original/trophy name/grade/date of obtaining the trophy (ascending/descending)

This PS3 update will also add support for stereoscopic 3D gaming, just in time for Sony’s own 3D television line to hit the market, naturally.

Also, PlayStation Home’s getting another dose of Final Fantasy XIII gear, just in case you wanted to outfit your entire virtual pad (or your avatar!) instead of just parts of it. Four new costume sets will be available (Lightning, Sazh, Snow and Vanille), and new items will be available, like an airship figure and Lightning’s gunblade.

These additions should be available for purchase now.

Anywho, Leona’s holding her own contest, one month after the game’s release. The instructions are pretty simple (you can find them here), and the prizes are pretty sweet: Ten people get a copy of the game for PS3 or 360, as well as a mysterious signed item from Leona.

The contest ends May 7, so you’ve got just a little under a month to get entered!

Rating: T for Teen
Players: 1
Genre: JRPG
System: PS3
Publisher: SquareEnix
Release Date: March 9, 2010
Final Fantasy XIII

BUY

While I really enjoyed XIII and found it to be a remarkable game in many aspects, and I still consider it a front runner of quality RPGs this generation, there are still some facets of it that I felt could have been better or more developed than they were. Especially considering the length of time it took to create the game, while I appreciate some innovation I felt it also should have retained at least slightly more of the original formula that made the franchise such a success in the first place.

Final Fantasy XIII opens with our protagonist (and by far one of my favorites in the series to date) Lightning, aboard a Purge train transporting anyone who may be a L’Cie out of the town’s major city, Cocoon to the dangerous wilds of Pulse. I greatly enjoyed the game’s story, but it feels a bit rushed in the beginning as many new concepts and story elements are thrown your way very quickly. Some things are introduced in such quick succession, it becomes hard to keep track of at the very beginning until the story softens it’s pacing a bit. Cocoon is the game’s major modern city, and save haven which floats high in the sky above the less “civilized” world of Pulse. The citizens of Cocoon live in fear of Pulse, and under the possible threat of invasion. Centuries before the game takes place, Cocoon and Pulse were at war with each other, due to the will of god like entities known as Fal’Cie. Fal’Cie mark humans to help them achieve their goals, branding them as L’Cie, and giving them a focus they are forced to fulfill. Failing to fulfill this focus will transform them into a monster–or rather, a Cieth. When Lightning and the others arrive at the Pulse Vestige for various reasons between them like rescuing Serah [Lightning's sister and Snow's fiance], they are branded L’Cie by the Fal’Cie Anima. They are given a brief inkling of the focus they’re expected to fulfill. Their journey begins, and they work together hoping to understand their focus, and to decide for themselves– to follow their own path or to follow the orders of the Fal’Cie.

XIII is simply put, an incredibly rendered game. It displays in full 1080p and easily one of the top games that made me really appreciate my 37″ HD 1080p Vizio TV. The frame rates and textures are consistently amazing, and the FMVs are some of the most beautiful I’ve seen in any game to date. Square Enix definitely wanted to push Blu-Ray to it’s limits, and it really shows. So many of the game’s environments are some of my favorites across any Final Fantasy game ever, including the frozen Lake Bresha, the Sunleth Waterscape, the Village of Oerba, which is covered in crystal dust, the Archlyte Steppe which is the most verdant and lively area in the game, and Suyyla Springs, which is reminiscent of FFVII’s Forgotten City.

The game’s combat system revolves around the new Paradigm system, and Paradigm shifting. During combat, you have a deck of up to six sets of Paradigms, each containing various roles for each of your characters. They also function similarly to how Gambits did in FF12, by dictating how the AI will behave depending on what role a character is in that Paradigm. You can customize your own Paradigms yourself, putting any character to any role, and can shift them at any time during combat when the situation calls for it. Each character starts out with three out of six of the game’s primary roles, and can unlock the others later on. Most battles will flow with the shifting of offensive, defensive and support based Paradigms, or a combination of all, depending on what’s the best approach for the kind enemies you’re fighting. The primary form of “leveling” in FF13 is the Crystarium. It’s extremely similar to FF10′s Sphere Grid, and functions the same way for each character’s growth. After every fight, you earn CP, which can be spent in the Crystarium toward stats or abilities. Each character has their own unique Crystarium for each of their roles.

A completely new addition to combat in FF13 is the Stagger Meter. The battles revolve entirely around the ATB gauge, with MP management and turn based elements of combat being done away with entirely. Every enemy has a Stagger Meter, and you build it up by chaining abilities in quick succession on enemies. When the Stagger Meter fills up entirely, and the threshold is broken, the enemy is staggered, revealing new weakness’ and will be far more easy to defeat. Combat is very fast paced, and shifting to the correct Paradigms at crucial battle phases are the key to victory in this game. Like in FF12, random encounters are gone too, and it’s also very important to try to sneak up on enemies for a Preemptive Strike to defeat them quickly whenever possible. Battle animations are beautiful in this game, with combat being satisfying not only to view but to partake in. Any combination of commands via the ATB will flow together very fluidly. The spell animations are also highly detailed, and casting a water spell will leave a watery residue along the floor even after the spell is finished. Lightning’s special, “Army of One” is also one of my favorite RPG attacks from any Final Fantasy to date, and describing it here wouldn’t properly do it justice.

The atmosphere the game immerses you in is truly ethereal and on par with any other Final Fantasy title in the series, if not better. The music also supports this really well, and FFXIII’s sound track has quickly become one of my favorite’s in the series as well. The cast really grows on you, and while it seems like a lot of people were raising complaints about the majority of them, I found by the end of the game they were all developed decently well, and their individual stories really draw you in. I can’t really find any reasons to consider Hope, Snow or Vanille annoying when I enjoyed them all far more than various other characters in the series, like Wakka from FF10, Gau from FF6, or any newly introduced characters in X-2. Many people raised complaints about the linearity of the story and the flow of the game in general as well, and although I always love it when any game gives me a very open ended sense of freedom, I still enjoyed the parts of XIII before players can travel around the world freely.

My major issues with the game are mainly that they could have done so much more with it. They could have added more side quests and optional content. They could have embellished the areas you explore and fleshed out the characters a bit better. While many fans of the series are tired of cuts scenes and flashbacks ad nauseum, I personally enjoy them, and it makes me feel like the developer’s actually care about the characters and worlds they’re immersing you in. I would have like to have known more about Lightning’s past, and what REALLY drove her to change her name, as well as more about what life was like in Oerba centuries ago when Vanille and Fang lived there. While there are some flash backs that show specific instances of what was going on in the days leading up to your group being branded as L’Cie,I would have enjoyed more personalized ones, also. In FFVI, were shown a touching scene in Lock’s past with the woman he loved, Rachel; I would have appreciated a scene like this for Sazh and his deceased wife, or perhaps a younger Lightning and Serah growing up together. I would have enjoyed Snow and Team NORA more as well, if we had seen a bit more of their history together as orphans, perhaps similar to the cut scenes presented to us in FFVIII. These are things I sorely missed personally, and would have rounded out the characters more nicely for me.

After falling through the Pulse Vestige and into Lake Bresha, where your party first discovers that they’ve become L’Cie, they quickly come under attack by the Sanctum [Cocoon's Holy Government] who will relentlessly pursue them for the remainder of the game. As your group tries to evade the Sanctum, tension builds between them as they waiver in their ideals and try to decipher what their focus is, while considering whether they should even fulfill it. When part of your group finds their way to Nautilus, I couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed by the lack of mini games. (Something FF12 also suffered from.) Nautilus seemed like the perfect spot to introduce something like FFVII’s Gold Saucer, a fan favorite. The beginning of the game is stream lined as your party is on the run, but the further you progress into the game, the more it begins to feel like a traditional Final Fantasy title, including meeting the game’s Cid, and eventually being able to move freely and go Chocobo digging. (I would have also appreciated some Moogles, Square.)

With all this in mind though, I still really adore the game. I don’t mind some deviation from the traditional JRPG standard, and while I found myself praising a lot of newer elements of the game, I also missed some of the older more traditional ones the game is lacking, as well. Like the Summons for example, while I enjoy the transforming Eidolons, traditional summons would have still been enjoyable as well. Final Fantasy really earns it’s “BUY” from me by the end of the game, where you have access to over 64 different side missions, primarily when your party arrives on Gran Pulse and will help L’Cie who failed to fulfill their focus during their life time complete them. Overall, Final Fantasy 13 is a wonderful game despite a few flaws, in addition to the series and on it’s own as well. Contrary wise to what others feel, I feel this game does more than hold it’s own against other titles in the series, especially with it’s awesome protagonist (the female protagonist we’ve all wanted and hoped for, for a VERY long time.) Yet for all the time it took to develop this game, it still has some room for improvement. I would definitely recommend it for veterans of the series like myself, along with newer gamers, and I promise that if you can get past some rushed story elements in the beginning of the game, you’ll find the experience very rewarding the further you progress.

While I may not have finished the game yet, I love Final Fantasy XIII. And I’m still stuck in the first half where nothing really happens. I’m not sure exactly why I love it yet.

It's like a shining tattoo...on my brain.

See, as far as a lot of people online are concerned, I should be hating the game. Compared to the games I loved so much in the past, a lot of things are different. No towns, everything’s completely linear, the fighting’s been been revamped, and I only get to play as one character during battle. (The characters are pretty similar, as Yuki’s pointed out recently, but that’s just an JRPG “thing,” as far as I’m concerned. I expect it.)

So, why do I love it? Well, I’m able to rationalize away all of the complaints everyone else makes.

No towns? Well, the characters in question are, for the most part, Pulse l’Cie. If someone sees them, it’s pretty much a permanent “Game Over” with no “Retry” option. There’s no way they can just casually traipse around and plunder the boxes people keep hidden away behind their beds. Sure they can just put bandages on, but a whole group of people with oddly-placed bandages might look a little weird. It’s fun to beat down PSICOM, but when the villagers are coming after you with pitchforks…well, that’s a little different. This isn’t a game where you get to choose to kill the innocent. If you enter battle, no one’s coming back out of it except you. So, they just left it out. That’s fine. Well, it is to me, anyway.

Part of the issue with not having towns is a lack of NPCs. I think that they’re there, but you just don’t talk to them directly, you just get some “drive-by dialogue.” You can choose to stay and listen if you want, but you don’t have to. Just like in Final Fantasies past – not every single NPC is vital (in XIII’s case, none of them are, really).

The next concern I tackled was the linearity of this particular title. The first part is extremely linear. Linear as in “running down hallways of various widths with few chances to leave the main path.” A lot of people seem to hate this. With a burning passion, even. I…well, I don’t mind. I remember in the games with big overworld maps (Final Fantasy VIII specifically fits this description), you feel like the whole world is at your fingertips, but really – is it? Even if you can run everywhere, you usually had a specific goal in mind, or stronger enemies in areas too far out made the illusion come crashing down. Really, when it seems like you have infinite choices, until the last part of the game (or when you acquire an airship, assuming nothing’s in your way), there’s no way the entire world is completely open. Your choices usually consist of going where you need to go, or going back where you came from. (The lack of side quests you can complete early on in XIII is, admittedly, a little saddening.)

One other thing that people are treating with contempt is the battle system in place in XIII. The paradigm systems, the lack of control over everyone, the emphasis on finishing battles quickly…all of that just adds up to lots of people missing the active time battle system that allows you to pick what each character does.

I ache for the day I have this much HP.

This is where I start to veer away from the rationalization and instead head toward thinking about what could have been. Except it’s not what could have been Final Fantasy XIII. It’s thinking that perhaps Final Fantasy XIII is what the developers would have wanted for some of the earlier titles.

Yeah, this combat is a little different. There’s an awful lot of stuff going on all the time. There’s so much going on that we even have an auto-battle button to make sure we pick the right sorts of attacks. (I personally thank the person who came up with that.) All at once, we’re keeping up with health, making sure we have the necessary paradigm, and the chain combo meter. That fast pace means there’s no way to keep up with multiple characters’ actions. Try to imagine all of this happening in previous Final Fantasy titles. It would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it? (Only if I’m not alone on that, I guess.) But the thing is – it couldn’t be done.

This level of detail wasn't even in cutscenes back in '97.

Why not? Imagine how much computing power is required on your console just to keep that battle system running. I don’t know much about the components in this generation of consoles, but I imagine that this game uses up a good portion of what’s available to you. Now, try to imagine your Super Nintendo, PS1, PS2, or Xbox doing that. Unless you’re into a heck of a lot of home modifications, there’s no way it would work. The thing would explode and turn into a pile of burning plastic. Burning plastic can’t play any game, of course. Unless that game is called “Aiming a Pile of Burning Plastic into the Trash.”

So developers did what they could back then. Which, as far as JRPGs went, meant making the battles a little slower, not really having character voices (obviously, this excludes things from the PS2 era), making the graphics in the full-motion video far outweigh the in-game visuals, and ultimately still turning out a good final product.

But what if – and this is a pretty big “if,” I’ll admit it – Final Fantasy XIII was the Final Fantasy the developers have been wanting to make all along? It’s beautiful, the battles are exciting and encourage trial and error, and you hear even the most trivial of NPC voices if you only take the time to stop and listen. Wouldn’t hating it at that point be like a slap in the face of everyone who’s spent four years making a brand-new engine and crafting every tiny detail?

Heck, would a game like that, even with [insert your favorite Final Fantasy]‘s story, even sell all that well, knowing what we know now about many fans’ opinions on XIII?

Sure, the game is different, but maybe this is the first time some dreams can finally be realized, thanks to the technology we have now. So, if you’re among the vocal many, maybe blaming the developers isn’t the best course of action. (Except for the weapon upgrade system. I have to find some physical being to blame for that.)

Try blaming technology.