Embark on a journey through the cityworld of Cocoon and the outerworld of Pulse. Along the path to discovering your destiny, you will encounter diverse allies who will fight beside you. You will have to summon all of your expertise with weapons and magic, as well as all your courage, to determine your fate in the latest action-packed installment in the renowned Final Fantasy video game series.Face your destiny as you travel through the worlds of Cocoon and Pulse in Final Fantasy XIII. Discover diverse allies who will join you in your fight, and execute punishing attacks with powerful weapons and magic. Summon the enigmatic Eidolons with the evolved Active Time Battle system. With seamless transitions between real-time gameplay and in-game cinematics, Final Fantasy XIII draws you into the mystery and the magic of the series like never before.
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Coming from someone who has played the Japanese version now, I don't believe everyone will enjoy this game. Those who are great fans of the turn-based battle system found in VII, VIII, IX, and X, and those who feel like the battle system was half the fun of the game may be disappointed. If you can look past this and a handful of slight adjustments to the normal interface (such as in the transition from X to XII) you will probably find a great enjoyment from beginning to just about the end. About 3/4 of the way through you gain the every area independence you normally do towards the end of every Final Fantasy. This is where the game really took off for me. I don't want to spoil anything, but I highly recommend buying it for the full experience.
Although not as epic as VII VIII and IX in story line, the story rarely has a dull moment and the only boredom I found in the game was the battle system when gaining levels. Think Star Ocean 4 + FFXII for the battle system in XIII.
What's great about it: Incredible visuals, great story that will bring the 80+ hours normally expected with all the side quests etc.
What's not so great: Fans of the VII - X entries may find this a dissapointing repeat like XII. Expect something new coming into this game.