It's been a while since I put the tunnel vision behemoth down after reaching a particularly difficult Eidolon battle. And since these insolent little conflicts are one of the games biggest flaws in my opinion, I took a break. Who doesn't under such circumstances, and I will not take any flack for my waiting to continue. However, I returned to the game, passed the fight, and proceeded, and discovered something very odd as I progressed.
Let's go ahead and note that Final Fantasy XIII hasn't been widely accepted by the gaming community, and only a few people have found enjoyment out it. I enjoy it despite it's flaws, mostly due to the fact that it tells a story better than it's predecessor. Sure, the story may not be that great, and still pales in comparison to the Playstation and SNES era, but it's a story that kept my interest.
And now that I've cleared my throat, it's time to get down to business.
Final Fantasy XIII is a perfect example of Square-Enix trying to apply the style of American mainstream games to the Japanese role playing game, specifically calling on first person shooters.
Let that sink in, folks. It's an odd statement, and I have plenty to support it with. Just...breathe it all in.
Alright, now that you are ready for this, let's dig in.
Anyone who has played the game knows very well how narrow the path is, leading you from story event to story event, with absolutely no variation in the game until the eleventh chapter. I can compare this to the average modern first person shooter, wherein which you go down streets or tunnels or whatever the path de jour, and go from battle to battle. Even the actual combat plays out similarly to an FPS. Attack, defend, heal, repeat. Sure, the FPS is going to be a bit more intense seeing as your character is directly controlled by you, but I still stand that this is the flow of combat in FFXIII. Not to mention that potions of almost all kinds are nearly worthless now. It's much easier to switch paradigms for a quick heal than going through the menus for potions several times.
At the end of each path, following several rounds of combat, a story event comes, at times paired with a more difficult round of combat than before. Yes, this is an element of pretty much every game, so this one is a bit unfair, but keep in mind that exploration offered something to keep the player interested in plowing through those random battles. No such variety exists here, until the aforementioned eleventh chapter. I can't think of very many modern first person shooters that offer branching paths out into open areas that stray from the missions provided. So, needless to say, why not apply such constant focus on the story of a game through a similar method of progression? The story of FFXIII seems to be what is in the sight of the director, allowing no way to step away until almost the end.
But that's not saying that they haven't been going this direction in the past. Final Fantasy X suffered a similar progression, despite having many more opportunities to step off the beaten path.
The lack of cities and the usual variety of NPC's is almost unexplainable for a JRPG. I can only assume that this is something else borrowed from the mainstream FPS tradition. Sure, even Gears of War has a cast of someone other than Marcus Fenix, but aside from the squad of Gears that accompany him, the world isn't exactly populated with fine folks offering you guidance from city to city. And that's fine for the genre. You don't need a world full of people in a game where aliens are annihilating cities and wiping out the general population. However, when you are playing a game where you traverse a few still standing cities, you should expect to see a few people in passing.
Also missing from the usual formulas are the shops. Yes, there is a menu where you can buy and sell weapons, accessories, items, and components, but there isn't any personality beyond the backgrounds and sound effects associated with them. I can't say that there was much variety between the shops in towns in past games, but at least you had a sense of place, going through the game as it progressed. All of the environments in FFXIII felt more like they were there as a result of necessity. Have we programmed a snow/ice area? Okay, stick on here. Industrial? Alright, let's play that card. Undergound? Do it. What does this have to do with American FPS games? Not much at all, other than it's something you often see in those games as well. And every other game.
The only place I can see the differentiation is in the way the story plays out. While many have gotten this right, most first person shooters keep the story and the game play apart from one another. You could make the argument that Final Fantasy has been doing that since the first installment. However, I stand that a lot of the story from the classics in the series came from the world, and the people you interacted with throughout the story. More than anything, FFXIII and the modern first person shooter have you interacting with set piece events and combat sequences that do little more that add some of that good old "wow" factor.
While I don't think that FFXIII stands on the same level of quality as it's predecessors, I still enjoy it, warts and all. It's a bizarre run of experimental game design, filtered through a unfocused development process. It will never stand on the same playing field with Final Fantasy VI, but it's still more interesting than some games. If you agree, disagree, or whatever, that's fine. Just think about this if you stick the game in some time in the near future. You might be surprised by what you see.
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