Out of all the things I've spent with $60, this game is probably the most worth it. You MUST get this game.
So that's exactly what I did.
Everything about this game just sucks you in... from the storyline to the graphics to the gameplay, it's incredible and you'll never want to stop playing.
Gameplay: For the first couple hours, the gameplay is incredibly simple... But later on, it really picks up and you get quite engaged. The majority of the battles will be challenging unless you truly understand the battle strategies, called paradigms. Luckily, it isn't too hard, even though a lot of people call this game incredibly difficult. Though still, the occasional battle will be a challenge. And one of the best features here - is that if you fail the battle, you have the option to retry it, which will respawn you for no cost whatsoever a few steps away from the battle, so you can go back and grind if you need to.
Then there's how you get stronger. You gain Crystogen Points after battles, which you can then use to learn new abilities or improve skills in the Crystarium, which can be fun as it gives you the freedom of choosing how you want to level your character, with some limits.
There's a whole host of other features, though I won't go on and on.
Storyline: It gets you involved. It's an incredibly deep story, and will often move you. Although hard to follow at points, everything makes sense later on, and it's just an amazing story..
Graphics: As some of you may know, Final Fantasy has long been known as pretty much having the best graphics out there. FFXIII is no exclusion. As for graphical differences between the Xbox 360 and the PS3, you really can't tell a difference unless you sit right in front of your TV.
Sound: Wonderful. The music will almost never bore you - it's really quite enjoyable. Also, the voice acting is amazing. Gamespot greatly criticizes Vanille's voice, and I don't understand why. It's really not that bad at all.
"Is it really worth the price?" Yes. As I said, out of all the things I've spent with $60, this game is probably the most worth it. The main story itself takes at least 35-50 hours depending on how sidetracked you get, and after that you could easily spend another 50 hours unlocking and doing everything. I should also mention that this game is filled with cutscenes, and with the amazing graphics, it feels like a movie. Personally, I like that a lot, but others may not. There were just three things that could've been better about this game:
1. There is barely any city travel at all, and that is disappointing, as it feels like you're all alone and there's no in-city stores or side-quests to take on there.
2. Speaking of side-quests, there's a definite lack of them. There is one ongoing one that kind of seems like some bounty-hunter type of thing, and it's incredibly long, but that's about it.
3. This issue isn't nearly as bad, but it would've been slightly more enjoyable if it was a bit more sandbox style instead of linear, just because it's fun to be able to get sidetracked a little. Ignoring these three things, it was an amazing game.
A lot of RPG's these days don't give you this kind of length or quality for their price. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for an RPG or of course - any Final Fantasy fan.