Final Fantasy XIII Critic Reviews

The streamlined, focused structure eliminates potential tedium without dumbing anything down, and the battle system strikes an elegant balance between strategy and fast-paced action. Stunningly beautiful graphics and a pervasively meticulous level of polish throughout only add to the experience.

The graphics only represent the topmost layer of a pervasive meticulousness, and every last detail feels thoroughly polished.

Everyone who likes Japanese RPG will love Final Fantasy 13.

It probably goes without saying that this is one of the most gorgeous games to grace a video game console. FFXIII's in-game graphics look like other games' cutscenes. Its cutscenes look like other games' full motion video, and its full motion video looks like a Hollywood blockbuster.

One of the best games that I have played so far this year. The team at Square Enix has really taken a leap in the right direction for the JRPG genre. They have made a gorgeous game that is fun to play, yet at times challenging and rewarding.

No, Final Fantasy XIII isn't perfect. It is, by and large, an absolutely incredible accomplishment in terms of technical wizardry and streamlining of so much of the unneeded fluff found in a lot of JRPGs.

Despite the omitted tune, Final Fantasy XIII overall is a high quality RPG that is worth every ounce of the hype. It most likely won't change the minds of those who dislike JRPGs, but fans of the genre will love every minute of the 70-100 hours they will invest.

A phenomenal RPG destined to be remembered as a technical milestone for the series.

Square-Enix should receive high praise indeed for their continued willingness to take chances with their flagship intellectual property. While many of the JRPG standards are missing, what remains is an incredible game experience.

Final Fantasy XIII isn't just a game you merely enjoy. You fall in love with it. It's gorgeous worlds have you stopping to admire them in complete awe, while a graceful soundtrack massages your brain (despite the unfortunate replacement of the original Japanese theme with a song from Leona Lewis).

We can't assure it is a turning point in the series, but it manages to make fights fun and it's no doubt an outstanding game.

Final Fantasy XIII is a fantastical foray into a magical imagination. Ably supported by gorgeous visuals, the gameplay ramps up at a rate than can only be described as perfection as you fall in love with the characters in your party and the environment in which they adventure. It's not perfect in every way but the imperfections that are to be found are like dust on a diamond - there, certainly, but utterly irrelevant.

Final Fantasy XIII is an epic game that plays to its strengths by taking risks.

Final Fantasy XIII goes back to the J-RPG-roots of the franchise while stripping away that which made its predecessor appealing to fans of western RPG. For Fans of the linear J-RPG genre, FF XIII is a great game; fans of western freedom had better stay away from it.

Like Mass Effect 2, FFXIII seems to be an attempt to answer the question of how to create an RPG for the modern, console-owning masses. Square Enix's solution is certainly different than BioWare's, but it's arguably just as effective in its own way.

Ten hours in you might have doubts, but stay with it and you'll be smitten right through to the frankly unbelievable end.

If you expected a traditional JRPG, Final Fantasy XIII will be very disappointing for you. But that's not what Square Enix wanted it to be: this thirteenth chapter is a completely new point of view for the saga, which was in terrible need of a new direction. The plot is intense and built on an enjoyable smaller scope, the battle system is deep and satisfying, and technically (albeit a couple of unexpected flaws) the game delivers. So that's it, a NEW Final Fantasy: if that's what you were waiting for, big time.

The story, its great combat system and its sublime production values all work in one direction: submerge the player in the kind of hyperbolic odyssey that only the JRPG genre can offer.

Thank goodness for the battle system, then, because it saves the game while you're wincing through the saccharine banter and waiting for the training wheels to spin off.

Final Fantasy XIII establishes a new reference and reinvents itself again, offering an experience unlike any that came before.