One of the most beloved franchises is at it again. Square Enix released Final Fantasy XIII on March 15, 2010. Just as many Final Fantasies before it, it is one of the most graphically advanced games, but it still has its problems. It is extremely, and I do mean extremely linear, meaning it’s all in a straight line and there’s no extra stuff to do off the main storyline such as quests. However, something to make up for the linearity is its beautiful graphics and excellent battle system. Final Fantasy is one amazing game with beautiful graphics, an excellent battle system, and a fun atmosphere. It is a must-play.

Final Fantasy has been around since the 1980’s, revolutionizing the role-playing genre ever since. When Final Fantasy VII was released for Playstation in 1996, it gained critical acclaim and was very successful. Final Fantasy always had beautiful CGI (computer generated imagery) scenes and full 3-D models of characters. Ever since Final Fantasy began, the graphics have been doing nothing but improving, becoming more lifelike and amazing every time. Final Fantasy XIII is no exception. Final Fantasy XIII is one of the most beautiful games out there without a doubt in my mind. From the realistic nature, the crystal caverns, and the mind-numbing metropolis cities, Final Fantasy XIII will forever be one of the most graphically advanced video games of its time. It also looks a lot more amazing in HD.

Another thing I love about this game is its evolved ATB battle system. ATB means active time battle, and it used to be boring for me because it involved waiting for a bar to be filled all the way and then doing one action at a time (attack, heal, magic, etc.) before the bar has to be filled again. In Final Fantasy XIII, they improved it much more. This time around they split the bar into a number of sections so you could string up combos and make it more action-packed. Some actions require more than one segment to be filled up. Something else you can do during the battle is summon up a special monster. Each character has a special monster. The monster can also be turned into a vehicle mode and gain more attacks for you to use. They almost look like transformers when I first used them. Although this new style of gameplay is a very enjoyable one for me, something I disliked about it is that you can only control one party member. You used to be able to control a whole team, but not in this. However, it’s still a fun battle system, except for that one little part.

The dialogue in Final Fantasy XIII is very realistic and the voice actors bring lifelike emotions into the character’s personality. One of the voice actors is Vincent Martella, and I know him from this show about famous comedian Chris Rock. I was glad to see him as a voice actor for the game because he’s a good actor. Some of the other actors I haven’t heard of, but they do a good job with the characters they play.

A certain aspect I like about this game is that it’s LONG. It takes about forty-plus hours to beat this game. I like long games because it keeps you busy for a while, especially with single-player games like this. Other games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the Halo series were really short. These games were about four to five hours long only. They made up for it with excellent online multiplayer system though. If Final Fantasy was that short it would be bad cause they don’t have an online mode to provide much reason to play it again.
With amazing graphics and fun battle system, this game isn’t without flaws. This game is extremely linear. Final Fantasy was known for its open world exploration, but in this game Square Enix made it really linear. Along the way there are pretty narrow paths and you don’t do much but battle and watch amazing cut scenes. This is pretty much for the first part of the game which is like ten hours into the game. Then it gets a little freer. This kind of bothered me.

In conclusion, I still think this game is a must-play especially for Final Fantasy newcomers and veterans alike and any gamer who likes a good RPG game. This game has beautiful graphics, an amazing story that’ll suck you in, and fun battles. Just be warned of the linearity and for Final Fantasy veterans who haven’t played this yet, it’s a lot different from previous installments. I give it an 8.25/10.