Final Fantasy XIII

Finally, it came. The first new generation Final Fantasy game. Honestly, the game itself is not that good. It misses so many good things about the Final Fantasy Universe that... I don't know...

There is little to explore, and not that many sidequests to do. Not many places to explore, no cities and houses to go around searching for clues and items... the closes thing you get to that only happens near the end of the game and there isn't much to do anyway. The closest thing you get to a world map is the so called "open world" in Chapter 11 that's little more than a scenario like Calm Lands from FFX with enemies running all over the place. I miss a world map with cities and towns and airships to ride, I miss all those scenarios where you could talk to people and explore the houses searching for bonuses and small sidequests... where's all that gone???

The game is basically a one way road. When you seem to find an alternative path, it only leads you to one of those item balls - in fact you really learn that tere's nothing else but an item ball in every corner, in every alternative pach, in every place that seems to be the wrong way. Some scenarios are just too repetitive and if it wasn't for the battle system this game would be more suited as a hack n slash rather than an RPG with Final Fantasy in the title. the game's still big, but the ending is rushed... The story may become a mess if you don't read the datalog, and a lot of questions are very hard to ask. Despite all that, it's not a bad game. The storyline is good, the graphics and scenarios are stunning and the overall experience of playing the game is good. But still, not what I was expecting for a new Final Fantasy game. I miss those times when I played through VII, VIII and IX. After that it's been a downhill ride, seriously... Just sharing my opinion...

Above we have the two collector's Editions for both PS3 and 360, as well as a sealed copy of the regular 360 game with the limited edition slipcase. I expect to get the limited edition slipcase for the PS3 as well as the HMV exclusive slipcase for both editions. And not to forget the Crystal Bearers on the Wii which I got thanks to a promotion.