Final Fantasy XIII: Platinum Hits

So this game has been out for a week now, and the reviews for this game are greatly exagerating the cons, giving little light to all the things this game does right. The two grievances that are being exagerated are the Xbox 360 graphics vs the PS3, and the linearity of the game. First lets deal with the graphics, since I think this complaint is the most insignificant. *in no way should you go buy a PS3 just in order to experience this game at its fullest!!!* This game was made for the PS3, moded to the XBox360, so there are subtle differences in the graphics. The video is compressed on the xbox360, but has a higher framerate than the PS3, but unless you are a unrelenting, anal-attention to detail freak, I don't think you would notice. I played it on my 47" HDTV on my Xbox360, and I can honestly say it is a next gen graphics kinda game; it looks absolutely amazing, and the FF artwork and enviroments are in full force in this one, beautifully rendered and fluid. Now I was hanging out at my friends house who just bought this game on his PS3, and he was playing it on his 46" HDTV, which is an LCD just like mine, but I believe his has a faster processor; and as I watched him play the first hour of the game (which is mostly cutscenes) I could distinguish no real difference to the experience I had on my 360, except maybe the hair looked a little bit better in motion, but nothing to lead me to believe the PS3 version to be superior. I get it, the PS3 owners are unhappy that Microsoft is getting a peice of the pie, understandable, and if you want to claim your version to be superior, thats fine, but its not a game breaker, or shouldn't be unless your a fanboy one way or another, its a ridiculouse argument to pursue, and should just be avoided. BOTTOM LINE: You will enjoy the graphical awesomeness of this game no matter which system you play it on. The next argument is a little harder to address, but should not sway you into avoiding this game. The complaint has been that this game follows too much of a linear path, and removes much exploration from this strong RPG franchise. Now I have played final fantasy games since I was 5 years old, and they have always been greatly geared to wandering around towns, talking to NCCP, trying to find objectives and missions to advance the story line. Now I know this is one thing that has made the series great, but I don't feel that removing the wasted hours of wandering around towns trying to advance the story has hindered the RPG elements of this game at all, if anything I think it has improved it greatly and made it a much more enjoyable experience. Now this is coming from a guy that has been bored with this franchise for awhile now, the wandering had gotten to be an astronomical waste of time, leveling up characters and barely advancing the story, playing stupid card games and other B.S. that offered little to the actual game other than a waste of time without reward. Now I have spent 10 hours on this game so far, and I hear the game takes 50-60 hours to complete, and I am in no way feeling skimped on because I haven't had to wander aimlessly. The direction to take is usually clear (provided by an onscreen mini-map), with different paths to walk and explore with dead ends and 'orbs' to find, but the main path remains clear and easy to find. As I've progressed the exploration has increased more and more while keeping the main story line in focus, it eventually gives rise to greater areas of exploration, but nothing like the FF games of the past. It is genuinely a 'new' expereince, for better or worse depends on the gamer and what you want out of a FF game. Even with a more 'linear' path, the basic RPG elements of the game flourish. The combat system has been improved, and offers a fresh take on an old favorite. You only control one party member durring combat, the other party members are controlled via A.I., which die hards of the series will scorn at, but it makes combat faster with less decision makeing and more sword slashes. You are able to control what the computer controlled players are doing by a system called 'paradigm shift' which allows you choose their battle style focus, i.e. strictly attack, defend, use magic, or be a medic, which you can change their focus at any time in real time to strategically alter the progression or outcome of a fight. This is really cool because it gives you enough control to give the fights strategy and depth, but doesn't overload you with commands and keeps the fights moving and entertaining to watch. You are able to chain up your attacks in this fighting system, so as your chain gauge charges in real time, you can input a string of different attacks and watch them get carried out all at once,which is really cool when you can do 3 or 4 attacks in one turn. There are multiple routes to leveling up your players ( you have 6 playable characters total) depending on your focus. You unlock abilities and such based on a certain battle focus, then in battle, whichever focus you are using you will have those abilities available to use i.e. when your in your medic focus you can use cure, when your in your attack focus it might be unavailable for that character. You can unlock abilities for all 6 characters in whatever area of battle focus you choose, developing each individual how you see fit. The RPG elements are still in full tact in this game, just presented differently, in a more user friendly fashion if you will. You level up your characters, find and acquire new items, equip and develope your characters how you see best, and send them into battle to watch beautifully rendered fight scenes that are as much fun to watch as play. Don't think that because you have a more linear story line that the content isn't there, it is!! There are plenty of side quests and missions to complete, even after you complete the main game. The adventure is definetely that of a Final Fantasy epic, and your personal taste would tell you wether you like the storytelling capabilities of Square or not, thats a personal preference in my opinion, but it is true to the story of any final fantasy game, a monumental epic, with exceptional graphics and a real good voice cast ( except for Vanille ). I think fans of the franchise and newcomers alike will enjoy this game. It has plenty of content, and you deffinetely get your moneys worth in it. Xbox 360 users rejoice, our version is just as good as the PS3's, if they want to argue over theirs being the superior version, let them After all, we all need something to feel good about. :O)

I'll make my review concise as possible. Yes, the game is linear in scope. And yes, the game is very Japanese in nature. But linearity is by no means a bad thing, and with Final Fantasy XIII it helps unveil the story Square Enix tells in a very cinematic and enjoyable fashion. The story definitely won't be for everyone, as it has been said in many interviews already posted to date. Yes, it can be very melodramatic at points. Melodrama personally puts me off as well; but that melodrama is far from grating enough to write off a game of this grand of a scope. I've seen both games in action across both consoles. I'd like to dispel the belief that the 360 version is 'vastly' inferior to it's Playstation predecessor. They're both of equally gorgeous to play firsthand. The Playstation version is indefinitely clearer in resolution, but in action such a difference could never be fathomed if not set side by side (in which case some might not even 'tell' the difference side by side). The granduosity experienced throughout the game's gorgeous environments and extremely detailed character models are a must to experience across either platform. The gameplay has been my favorite across the Final Fantasy genre to date (I've played everything in the series exluding III, and XI). For me, it feels like Chrono Cross/Xenosaga meets traditional fantasy combat (and those games pose as my favorite when it comes to turn based battle systems). It's fast paced, you can link combos in a fun and equally fun to 'look' at fashion. The battle system is also strategic enough to appease long time fans of the series, as for when Optimas (Paradigm shifts) are unveiled a whole new slew of options are introduced. This is also where the linearity helps the game in scope. The battle system opens up at the same pace of the story, introducing core mechanics at a pace that 'anyone' can understand them. For some it may seem cumbersome, but as a whole, Square's method of unveiling the combat works well. Overall the game is indeed is fun, and almost a must-buy for any JRPG/Final Fantasy fans out there. Yes, the game can be linear, and yes the game opens up semi-sluggishly; but you're enjoying your time while traveling down that 'linear' path, being immersed into a game at a pace that's appropriate for what Square Enix has created. Sidenote - Vanille and Snow are equally obnoxious in the Japanese versions. But both characters grow on you. And if they don't...well. Mute your television whenever either opens their mouth. In all seriousness, experiencing the game's story alongside these characters, even if you dislike them in the beginning, makes the game all the more engrossing. Hopefully everyone who purchases the game has as much of a good time as I did/am.

Este es uno de los mejores juegos del genero de rol creado por Square Enix. Una agradable mezcla de elementos clásicos e innovadores. con excelentes gráficos y estupenda música. Solo un detalle: En el titulo menciona que es "Standard Edition" pero mi copia resulto ser "Platinum Hits" Esto no tiene importancia para mí que solo pretendo disfrutar del juego, pero las personas que coleccionan Juegos podrían molestarse al no recibir una "Primera Edición"

Favorite Final Fantasy game. Love the characters, story, and progression. Pros: Really good battle system, a mix of old Final Fantasy and new style ATB. Perfectly varied bestiary. Epic boss fights Fantastic summons Astounding graphics Extremely difficult hidden bosses First main number FF that wasn't "I must save my girlfriend/loved one/crush". Cons: A bit linear, though I didn't entirely mind it Really tough to get the Lightning gamerpic. Not really too much of a con but I was never able to do it Would have preferred the JP ending theme rather than Leona Lewis' "My Hands". 3 discs, though the 360 sadly isn't capable of bluray The amount of unnecessary hate it gets

Magnifica entrega de la franquicia, excelente jugabilidad y gran juego, lo remiendo, los gráficos son excelentes, la entrega llego en el tiempo prometido sin ningún problema.

Ar first the gameplay took a bit to get used to then master but overall i don't understand the hate of this game. I grew to love each of these characters and watch them grow through their struggles. The story of changing one's destiny hits hard with me. Also Lightning is a good character. One negative is they kind of rely on you to read the book "Final Fantasy XIII episode Zero: the Promise" to understand where they came from and why they are the way they are at the begining of the game. Also the book is pretty good.

Damaged product and not original release copy as shown.