Though unique to its own merit, it does not compare to the impact and charm of its predecessors.
Nature of the Story
The main focus of this game didn't seem to be gameplay, but it was the story and its presentation. And that would be your primary goal: to use up all your dedication of the game to see the story through to the end. The game's story is very complex with many twist and turns.The storyline is very astoundingly confusing and would definitely be better if it wasn't presented to you in the way it was. The story is seen through cutscenes sprinkled through all the dungeons. It is very in-your-face through the first half of the game which earned many annoyances. But there aren't any 30 minute cutscenes like some claim there are and most of the time you'll be playing the game rather than watching it. That being said, the cutscenes are top-notch with extreme attention to detail and enjoyable at times to watch. The story itself is great and unappreciated with strong character development. Basically the plot is about a group of confused souls who find meaning in life and save the world from its inevitable fate. You hate everyone at the beginning and learn to love them (or hate them more) by the end. Some you'll just want to hug over and over again and some you just want to slap. Unluckily the story is so fast-paced with no need stop that it will wear you down like an old man. The story is also not something that you would be emotionally connected to either like most of its predecessors have achieved. The story is overall a decent one, but is presented in a way that makes the experience less enjoyable than it was thought to be.
Battle System
The battle system in this game are the most action packed and fast-paced in the series, you can finally enjoy watching your characters perform crazy actions in high definition on the battlefield. In battle you utilize three characters at a time and unfortunately can only control one of them. To make up for it, the game has the critically acclaimed system called Paradigm Shift. A paradigm is assigned to every character and is basically a job with certain abilities. Here are all the paradigms and their roles.
Commando - Inflict physically high damage and slows stagger
Ravager - Inflict magical attacks and boost stagger
Sentinel - Shields characters with high defense
Medic - Cures party in battle
Synergist - Powers up characters in battle
Saboteur - Powers down enemies in battle
You can mix-and-match the roles to your three characters to create a Paradigm. You switch between these Paradigms in battle to change up your strategy to defeat different enemies. However, some battles will require a specific strategy or it will become more difficult to than it purposely is. This limits your freedom on how you want beat your behemoth bosses. It must also be ironically noted that these fast-paced battles will drag on if not played correctly. In battle a gauge will fill up bars as time progresses. You select actions like Attack, Fira, Cure, etc. which takes up bar(s) and then it is executed to be performed in battle. Even though some bosses have HP in the multi-millions, the difficulty tends to be on the easy side. The battles are basically about staggering your enemies into critical condition by a barrage of attacks so you can finish them off in a weak state with brute strength. There is also the infamous auto-battle option which lets the computer decide your attacks for you...and it is right almost all the time. There is also no MP so you can just hammer away at your opponent and after every battle your HP heals itself to the max. Every character is associated with a Eidolon that acts as their specials, but since you only control one character at a time you can only use the one assigned to your leader. One good thing is the availability to retry a battle instead of restarting the entire dungeon again. The battle system, though watered down by minor imperfections, will be one of the more memorable aspects of the journey.
Customization
This is the weakest category that Final Fantasy XIII suffers from. Character customization is practically obsolete and useless. It's there but the easy difficulty makes this a waste of invested time. By the end of the game this is all you get to put on your characters: one weapon and four accessories. The accessories grant stat bonuses to your HP, attack, magic, etc. Regrettably, there is no armor, helms, shoes, gloves, etc., etc. for your characters at all. There also not a dire need to upgrade your weapons to higher levels and the ability to do so becomes more available by the end of the game. The only reason to upgrade is for your own self-satisfaction. The characters do not gain levels in this game and instead use a system very similar to the sphere grid in Final Fantasy X. After finishing battles you'll gain CP which you may be used to spend on stat growth. Every character gains CP, so you can easily alternate between party members. But even the the six different characters share similar move sets. They learn the same skills for the same rolls and there's so much different stats missing that there is virtually no difference between them but their designs. Customization does not exist in any happy way with this Final Fantasy XIII.
Exploration
If you didn't already know, there are no towns to visit, no over-world map to walk through, no normal help/quest NPCs (in fact the game is all voice acting with no reading), and no real shops! In the far nightmarish future where online distribution replaces retail store you can't even take a breather to enjoy browsing a collection. There is no need to even stock up on potions since you heal after every battle! These useless online stores/save points are sprinkled every few cutscenes away from each other and even exist in places abandoned for hundreds of years. One of the most major reasons why so much negativity exist in this game is because you are basically walking down small, narrow paths for the entirety of the game (40-70 hours). This is typically what happens: walk, fight, walk, fight, cutscene, walk, fight, cutscene, and finally boss battle (and then cutscene). Final Fantasy X was also linear, but never to this extent. You at least felt a connection with the world you were saving and it did not forcefully drag you along like in this game. Even with the amazing atmosphere around you...you can't even explore it! You can't even stop to take a break and enjoy other fun side-quest and mini-games thanks to this single-minded tour of Cocoon and Gran Pulse. But even walking down linear paths, there exist an illusion of a huge world around you present in the gorgeous lush environments (too bad you can't run to those places). Though ultimately, you will feel like a infant who is amazed so much by the world, but cannot walk to experience it.
Appeal
The areas where Final Fantasy XIII excel is in the technicalities. The graphics are absolutely stunning and breathtaking for a game. Shining crystal caverns, illuminant cities of dreams, vastly open and wild plains, and snowy isolated mountains will certainly impress you. Another great thing that makes a Final Fantasy game a Final Fantasy game are the compelling orchestrated scores. Alas, Nobuo Uematsu is not composing the soundtrack for XIII (which might be a good thing), and instead we have Masashi Hamauzu writing the melodies. It certainly feels different and relates unique experiences, but they aren't similar to previous Final Fantasy games, so be prepared for a something new. The music is great and will earn respect outside of the video game community, but Uematsu's skill will still be missed. But it still is one hell of a re-memorable score, so kudos to him. The character designs are great as well. There is also more balance to the character designs, not over the top and not too dull and bland like some of Tetsuya Nomura's earlier work. The designs are simple yet unique and likable. Voice acting is also great, fitting every character perfectly, and even marks the return of some charming accents. This game will definitely provide some memorable memories outside of gameplay. But the overall appeal will be far less than other titles in the series.
Conclusion
When reviewing a Final Fantasy game so many details have to be taken into account and are constantly compared to their great predecessors. It is safe to say with certainty that Final Fantasy XIII should not have existed the way it did. Do not be mistaken it's a great game with great ideas, but it was trying to hard to be what it was not. When the name Final Fantasy appears on the title we expect more than just what was given to us. It's now up to future titles to redeem the legacy of the Final Fantasy franchise and I hope it lifts it to new heights...but I am clearly not content with the way Final Fantasy XIII turned out. It has everything a great game wants, but it doesn't have what a superb game needs. Final Fantasy XIII will be remembered as the game that tried hard to give us too much, but instead failed and gave us too little.