"The future belongs not to those who wait..."
—Final Fantasy XIII Game Trailer
"The Battle Within Begins..."
—Final Fantasy XIII Tagline
Final Fantasy XIII is the thirteenth installment in the Final Fantasy series, and is the first of the series to be released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Unveiled at E3 2006, the game is the flagship of Square Enix's Fabula Nova Crystallis project. The game runs on Crystal Tools (formerly known as White Engine), a proprietary engine built for Square Enix's next-generation games. The game was released in Japan on December 17, 2009, and 9th March, 2010 for North America and Europe. A Traditional Chinese version to PS3 was released in May 2010[1]. This is the first time a game in the series has been translated into Traditional Chinese.
The battle system, called Command Synergy Battle in game, has been described as "More tactical than Final Fantasy X, faster than X-2, and almost as seamless as XII." The enemies are visible in the field. When the player runs into them with the playable characters, the screen lights up and the scene switches to a vast, blank battlefield, marking the start of a battle. In the battle, the player can control only one character out of a party of up to three, but after a certain point in the game that character can be switched. The progression in the game will be chapter-based. In each chapter, you'll see the story through the view of different characters.
Experience points are not featured in the game, and characters grow in power in a system similar to the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X called the "Crystarium System". Characters win "Crystogen Points" (CP) in battle, and can use these CP to purchase stat boosts, spells and other abilities on a circular chart. The skills a character learns affects their ability to learn other skills and opens new paths on the chart—learning Fire, for example, opens a skill path that leads to Fira and other spells.
The Active Time Battle bar returns in the battle system, but this time it is divided into sections. Each command available to the battle party has a numeric value referred to as "ATB Cost" next to the name indicating how many of these sections it will take up. This allows the player to input several commands per turn. The next turn comes up sooner if the ATB bar is only partially used.
The available commands vary from character to character, but series staples such as Attack, Summon, Fire, Blizzard, and Cure make a return, along with new commands such as Blitz, which causes area-of-effect damage, and Ruin, a new non-elemental spell. Magic and summoning are only available to characters that are l'Cie.
Because of the "ATB Cost" points, there is no MP in the game. Also, since magic cannot be used outside of battle, the party's HP is completely restored after every battle. At Gamescom 2009, it was revealed that there are no Limit Breaks because of the unique summoning powers, and that there is no way to escape from battles once they're initiated. There are items that can be used to avoid battles, though. If a battle ends in defeat, the player has the option to either try it again or return to the previous save point.
Save points in this game allow the player not only to save, but access a shop in which items can be bought or sold.
A new element called the Chain Gauge is added to the battle, as well. It is specific to each enemy, and it fills as the player performs attack combos marked by a percentage. If the combos continue, "Stagger Mode" is entered, where even more damage can be done. Enemies in this mode can be launched in the air and juggled with attacks. When a battle is won, a victory screen pops up, giving the player a one-to-five stars ranking on how they did in the battle, as well as showing how long the battle took and the number of chain and break attacks. This information is linked to the Trophy and Achievement systems of PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, respectively.
This is also the first Final Fantasy game in which you cannot win Gil from battles; rather you need to find them in Item Spheres or sell items.
Paradigm Shift
In the battle system of the game, the player can only control one character at a time. The other party members' actions can, however, be affected by a system called the "Paradigm Shift" ("Optima Change" in the Japanese version), which was explained by Motomu Toriyama at Gamescom 2009.
Paradigms are described as "stances" or "classes" that the characters temporarily take during battles to define the abilities they use. However, they are more strict than job classes; for example, the character with a Healer's role equipped can do nothing but heal, while the Attacker's role forces the character to only attack with physical and magical strikes.
The paradigms can be changed at any time to suit the situation at hand. However, they cannot be changed individually to each character, only for the whole party at a time. Thus, a paradigm is a combination of three roles. There are a total of 83 possible paradigm combinations. The roles used are shown as colored abbreviations next to the characters' names in the battle screen.
According to the developers, this system was added later in the development process to give more strategy and depth to the battle system.
Summoning
Summons return in this game as Eidolons, linked with the powers of the l'Cie. Playable Eidolons include the Shiva Sisters, Odin, Bahamut, Alexander, and two new summons Brynhildr and Hecatoncheir, while Ifrit, Carbuncle, Ramuh, and Siren appear in Final Fantasy XIII but are not playable. All Eidolons have been given futuristic designs and the power to change their shape. The Eidolons are used both as a gameplay feature and as plot devices in cutscenes. Each character has only one Eidolon, and Eidolons replace the other party members besides the summoner when called.
Eidolons are summoned by the use of "Technical Points" (TP), which is won after battles. Also, instead of HP, Eidolons use "Summon Points" (SP) to indicate their health, but SP also slowly decreases over time. Once SP is completely depleted, the Eidolon will disappear, and the other party members will return. Additionally, each l'Cie must win the "approval" of their respective Eidolon by defeating them in combat.
In addition to summoning Eidolons to fight alongside them, each Eidolon can transform into another form that combines them in some way with the summoner. This takes place in a mode called "Gestalt Mode" ("Driving Mode" in the Japanese version), where combat becomes more action-oriented, with the summon being able to perform various special attacks with certain button combinations. Each Eidolon's Gestalt Mode also includes a powerful finisher move that will end the summoning after being used. The duration of Gestalt Mode is determined by the Gestalt gauge that appears once an Eidolon is summoned, the gauge will fill as the summoner builds attack chains with their Eidolon.
Missions
When on Gran Pulse, there will be several points marked by large crystals, called Cie'th Stones, where the party may acquire "Missions." These are similar in function to the Hunts in Final Fantasy XII and involve battling one of the many large monsters around Pulse. They are not part of the main story, but players can experience Focuses of past l'Cie. These l'Cie failed to complete their assignments, and thus their targets are still alive. It is up to the player whether to defeat the specified enemy, some of which have been compared by the staff to mountains towering above the party e.g.: Adamantortoises.
By completing these tasks, the party can gain materials and items to improve their equipment. The main difference between the Hunts of Final Fantasy XII and the Missions of Final Fantasy XIII is while every Hunt can only be completed once, the player may take up each Mission multiple times. However, the mission reward for each mission can be obtained only once; subsequent missions will earn the player a different type of reward, usually of lesser quality (e.g.: Bomb Ashes and Bomb Shells).
- http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XIII
Fri Jun 18, 2010 12:07 pm