Final Fantasy 13

Final fantasy 13 . Gotta appreciate the irony. :)

Anyway , Final fantasy is surely a brand in the jRPG genre with a lifespan of 3 consoles and maybe even more . This last sequel got a lot of divided reviews especially about the storyline and character depth , one of the primary selling points for a jRPG.

I decided to make a jump of faith and still buy the game and see for myself. I’m afraid that I must agree with the negative reviews more than the positive. The story is classic fantasy setting , futuristic society , conflicts arise from several main fractions , and all the classics. That in itself is a good thing , I mean I already mentioned that I like jRPGs so I don’t mind the linearity and the final fantasy setting.

But what's a dealbraker for me is as soon as the character's memories are relayed to the player , they hold no (or very little) value and play no part in building the connection with the characters. I mean characters who have not even spoken 3 lines of dialogue suddenly talk of each other like they’re soulmates or w/e , sections consisted of just walking (like , you watch animation - you walk 1 minute - another animation starts), COME ON!

The game mechanics is nothing out of the ordinary , team members are assigned positions according to the role they play in combat. The team building is an interesting option , but you’ll have access to it only after you complete 75% of the game . That's about the only positive thing about this game, and it's just sad.
Also the story doesn't get any more linear than this.
This game is an insult to the franchise and also the entire genre.

4.0