Anyone who’s connected with me over social media should know by now I am a huge fan of the series, so to say this won’t be biased would be a bold faced lie. That being said, this installment is designed to be approachable to a new audience, and also raises the bar in using gaming as an art form. As such an entertainment milestone, I felt the key achievements should be highlighted.

What is Final Fantasy?

As one of the most ironically named series in video game franchise history, the Final Fantasy Series began in 1987 as an all-or-nothing attempt by a struggling Japanese start-up to stay in business (hence the optimistic name). Fortunately for Square, it succeeded and grew internationally into one of the most popular media franchises ever. One of the reasons of it’s successful longevity is that the story gets a “reboot” on every installment, building upon popular features, refining the game experience, and reinventing ways to play a game. The games are always role playing games (RPG), and there are recurring themes that span across the increasingly epic dramas centered around saving the world. The series has grown a (rabidly) loyal fan base as Final Fantasy games set themselves apart with elite production quality, Hollywood caliber animation ability (their CG Final Fantasy movie was done in house), and an acute ability to listen to customer feedback. Beyond the enviable longevity and commercial success of the franchise, one must also respect their ability to use a video game system as an artistic medium.

Reasons to love FFXIII:

1. It Raises the Bar

Available for the Xbox360, but designed for the PS3, this game is a gorgeous experience to lose yourself in beautiful 1080P. With superior story, graphics, pace, user interface and sound, this is a game that not only elevates it’s genre, but also the entire gaming medium. American studios have been doing an excellent job releasing top notch games the past year, but Square helps show us once again that Japan still sets the world’s standards of gaming excellence. A rich cinematic experience that blends epic science fiction action with authentic human relationships and emotion, Square offers us an amazing (geeky) tale with a level of depth and humanity that isn’t found in the U.S. market. Every few years a game gets released, where you begin playing it and your jaw keeps dropping. You’re playing on the same hardware played so many hours before, but this time you simply are floored in all that’s being delivered to you. Final Fantasy XIII is one of those games, leaving the user in perpetual shock and awe.

2. Superior Localization

A unique feature to FFXIII is that it features a pop theme song customized for it’s audience. While English speaking audiences got the Leona Louis’ My Hands featured in the first video; the song above is the original theme intended for the game. Previously, English speakers would have been stuck with with a dubbed translation version, which may translate the phrases but the cultural nuances were always lost. Furthermore, tastes in pop music are clearly different; the softer symphonic song just doesn’t have the same effect for the audience in our market. Giving us a western style theme is just one of the features which reflects how Square was paying tribute to it’s international following. This is also the best example of gaming stealing the cinematic thunder away from Hollywood since Hideo Kojima’s homage to Bond flicks in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater:

3. An Evolved Battle System

As stated previously, this franchise succeeds from listening to it’s fans. They are never satisfied with what works or what is good, and strive to continuously improve. The first installment of Final Fantasy is 23 years old, and is still selling new copies of the video game. I personally owned it originally on the Nintendo cartridge, and bought it a few weeks ago again on my iPod. Despite it’s age the game is still fun, and has changed little beyond some polished graphics. The above videos illustrate the same battle from the first version of Final Fantasy to the latest. Every action being done in the left can also be done on the right, despite the near live action feel to it. The interface is refined and repetitive actions have been automated to keep game-play streamlined, and open up the battle system to have greater depth to it without becoming over-imposing for more casual users. The result is an evolved machine that is a more fluid, dynamic, and futuristic user interface which further sells the science fiction setting of the game. And don’t let the automation fool you, FFXIII actually requires plenty of strategy in addition to it’s fast pace. While the complexities of mastering the system aren’t forced upon the user, the game becomes much easier if you customize it to reflect your style of play.

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