PS3 Demo Impressions – Final Fantasy XIII
The impressions you are about to read come from a long-time Squaresoft and Final Fantasy fan. I have been disappointed as of late by Square Enix, and wasn’t exactly thrilled with the new battle system that Final Fantasy XII offered. I pretty much went into demo with low expectations. Does this small glimpse of FFXIII live up to the franchise? Or is it yet another Square Enix disaster?
The demo starts off with a cut-scene, and as you would expect from a Final Fantasy game, it’s very cut-scene heavy. In fact, of the hour or so that the demo lasts, at least half of it (maybe more) is comprised of cut-scenes. However, doesn’t take away from the experience as they are usually over pretty quickly, and the graphical prowess is enough to hold your attention while you wait until the gameplay resumes.
Speaking of graphics, the game is beautiful. It’s one of the prettiest games that the PS3 has to offer, so don’t worry about the Xbox 360 port harming the PS3 version’s graphical quality. Square Enix looks to have kept development for the two versions separate. There is one particular scene where you see a young girl’s vibrant red hair, and it is absolutely stunning to look at. The level you play in is rather dull looking; you’re running around a bridge that seems to be encapsulated in this mini-world. Jets, and aircraft that look like dragons zoom about as you explore the terrain.
The PSI-COM soldiers have red eyes reminiscent of Killzone’s Helghast. The rest of the enemies are sadly a bit boring. The over-the-top characters you are allied with are just what you would come to expect from a Final Fantasy game. One character’s hair even serves as a nest for a baby Chocobo. You start the game playing as the female lead character Lightning, whom you’ve no doubt seen before, accompanied by Sazh, whose weapon of choice is a gun. Most of the characters on display seem to be donning a firearm of some sort. This isn’t your normal Final Fantasy. For the second half of the demo, you play as Snow, the mysterious blonde rouge who relies on his fists as weapons.
The gameplay itself is actually more traditional than I had expected. It’s a variation of turn-based JRPG’s from the past with a large dose of action mixed in. Don’t get too comfortable with hearing the phrase “turn-based” as your enemies WILL attack you while you choose your commands. Your normal “attack” is really a chain of 3 different attacks. You can switch it up on the fly by selecting the different commands using Circle, and hitting Triangle to execute. Of course, there is the option to use spells. Cura, Firaga, and Blizzaga are the spells available for use in the demo. This is disappointing since the best thing about the FFVII demo packaged with Tobal No.1 (from way back in the day) was being able to witness the amazing Leviathan summon that the game offered. I don’t know about you guys, but in all previous FF games, summons were always some of the most memorable moments. And to not see what the next generation has done for summons was disheartening.
The musical score is what you would expect from a Final Fantasy game, the orchestral music gives you a feeling of wonder and enchantment. The tempo picks up during battles, and slows during cutscenes to fit the mood and level of intensity.
With my demo play-through finished, I can say with great pleasure that Final Fantasy XIII is a day one purchase for me. It offers enough of the Final Fantasy’s of old to keep fans of the series happy, while bringing in enough of a new look and feel that it should keep things fresh. I look forward to when this game finally arrives in the US. Rounding out the demo, you get an extended trailer for FF Versus XIII, and another for FFXIII Agito. Of course you get the FFVII Advent Children Complete Blu-Ray that the demo is packed in with as well. Let’s not forget about that.
If you still haven’t purhased Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Blu-Ray Complete for this Japan exclusive first print demo, you should do so this very second by clicking HERE. Act quickly because, as mentioned above, this FFXIII demo is packed in with the first print only and is selling at a very fast rate, so you may not have the chance to pick one up much longer.
If the fact the demo is in Japanese is holding you back, HERE is a walkthrough complete with translations of each cutscene. That should help you on your journey.
16 Responses to “PS3 Demo Impressions – Final Fantasy XIII”
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April 21st, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Can’t wait for this to finally come stateside.
April 21st, 2009 at 10:37 AM
You know what Sev? For the first time, I’m actually jealous! It’s good to hear that the demo is well made. =]
April 21st, 2009 at 10:40 AM
good impressions but there is no way i am paying to play this demo, to me an hour of cutscenes and a few battles is not worth it. I will however be buying the blu ray copy of the movie when it hits stateside.
Also why do i want to play a demo of a game i wont see until summer-christmas of 2010?
04/21/2009 at 11:28 AM
Not being able to play the full game until late 2010 was even more reason for me to buy the demo.
April 21st, 2009 at 11:09 AM
@Voyou San
very true, at the same time beggars cant be choosers.. it is worth the purchase but in away im not as excited as before. its just another game to buy. All the negative news from them IE no games for the PS3 makes me not care about the company and slowly loosing interest in FF/squareenix.
it was a let down there ARE NO summon in the demo. They always show off 1 summon before the full games out.
April 21st, 2009 at 12:32 PM
a few years ago I would have been interested in this, today I don’t care. It exists in a time frame that moves too slow for me personally.
April 21st, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Wow i cant wait, hope it comes early 2010 here in EU.Damn it M$.
April 21st, 2009 at 2:19 PM
i am with a few of yall in the fact i have pretty much lost all interest in this game and as it stands right now i have no desire to purchase next year. Maybe this will change in time who knows, but as it stands i don’t see any reason to purchase it.
April 21st, 2009 at 2:19 PM
Even the demo was torture lol. It’s like eating a cracker after you haven’t eaten for a looooong time. I’m hungry but that was the best cracker I’ve ever eaten!
April 21st, 2009 at 2:50 PM
Great cracker analogy?
I will wait for the full game if Sev says it looks like it isn’t gimped, however is this demo a build that was made before they announced it for 360 or what ?
April 21st, 2009 at 3:15 PM
If you import the Japan version just switch on the region settings for the Japan instead of US and you CAN see the imported FF ADCC
April 21st, 2009 at 10:29 PM
Well I stopped being interested in their RPGs when they stopped being RPGs and they became interactive movies. I’ll try the demo eventually and maybe it will change my mind.
April 21st, 2009 at 10:38 PM
@DGR8Mc187
I doubt they’ll say, but they haven’t even started on the 360 build at all so I’m confident it’ll look like this with a few improvements when it’s finally released.
@Robotron
Square pretty much brought production value to an RPG. “Interactive movies” are pretty much the same classic text filled RPGs but with voice overs, great graphics, and animation. There’s also a skip option during the cutscenes so if you like skipping over the story then you can always do that.
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:00 AM
@TheHater
does that mean you’ll actually have a PS3 by 2011???
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:24 PM
@Crotin
Well that was laced with sarcasm…which is hard to convey in a text message.
When I say “interactive movie” what I mean is that the game-play is mostly non-existent and most of the production values have gone into the movies that fill the disc. The game-path is very linear and splattered with mini-game events to fill up game time. After “Let’s play Pop-Star/Dress up…FFX2″ I just stopped playing their games.
Actually most RPGs today appear to have come from the same RPG generating machine that always has the same characters, same plot, and the same twist (oh no you mean HE was a bad guy?). Enchanted Arms was a breath a fresh air, but reviewers trashed that game and everyone avoided it. It seems like you can sell a steaming turd as long as the name Final Fantasy is attached to it….and you better make sure you wear a flame-proof suit if you even think of criticizing it.
April 29th, 2009 at 7:39 AM
to be honest id never gotten into final fantasy before. i played crystal chronicals on the gamecube and thought it was pretty damn wicked!!! but i still have never played any of the main series (numbered) games on a console. i have played all the games the ds has to offer and this will be without a doubt the first one i will play XD cant wait
May 13th, 2009 at 7:15 PM
I am so excited about this game. Finally the chance to play FF with the cutsence graphics in game! And they have been building this up for ages aswell. As im in the UK however, we will get it late, so ima get a US import =P. Thank God for a region free PS3