I finally got around to buying Final Fantasy 13 for the PS3 a couple of days ago. Having played through it for around six hours now, I just wanted to share my thoughts on my initial opinions of the game.

First thought - the game is linear. Very linear. When you consider that recent instalments (especially 12) have moved towards a less progression-based model and have opted for more free-roaming, this comes as a bit of a culture shock. Good or bad? That's for each individual to decide, and I'll answer this question by saying "neither". It just simply doesn't feel like Final Fantasy with the story being so forcefully driven along.

I've heard that the game starts to open up around the half-way point, but that's going to be a while by the looks of it. Now, I know that previous FF games have started out very linear (FF7's startup Midgar storyline was almost entirely linear and took a good 5-6 hours to play through), but part 13 really does take it to an extreme.

I'm not sure I like the battle system either. It felt in some ways like a mixture of FF8 and FF12, neither of which I liked particularly. It does feel a lot more dynamic, but there seems to be a lack of strategy. You spend the first few fights trying to be clever and get a feel for how certain tactics work, until you realise that the best way is simply to select "auto" every time and switch to a defensive paradigm every time your health is getting low. Compared to Final Fantasy 7, 8 and 10, the battle system feels very disjointed and you really don't feel like part of the action.

The story, however, is truly great. It basically follows the same trend that FF7 started, combining a sci-fi storyline with JRPG mysticism and it's a time-old recipe that never gets old. Watching a simple everyday joe living in his comfortable world of technology and comforts suddenly get plunged into a world of magic and mayhem is something that never ceases to amaze me. It worked with Cloud, it worked with Squall, it worked with Tidus, and it works with Lightning as well. Most of the characters are fairly well developed and interesting (Hope keeps you on your toes for a while) with one minor exception - Vanille - who is just simply irritating as hell.

The graphics, too, are absolutely gorgeous. The world of Cocoon is rendered in absolutely startling detail, with skyships, wildlife, spotlights and the like being rendered in the smallest detail. There's very little difference in the quality of the pre-rendered CGI cutscenes and in-game graphics, and considering the high quality of the CGI, that's quite an accomplishment, even for the PS3. The characters themselves are very well rendered and modelled, with the hair on each of the characters looking particularly impressive.

I think my major problem with FF13 though is that it just doesn't feel like a Final Fantasy game. Whenever I've played a FF game, it has always introduced the various mechanics, characters and storyline relatively quickly and thrust the player into an open world environment that allows the characters to explore, visit shops, talk to people and generally look around. Six hours into the game, and it feels more like Tomb Raider than Final Fantasy. I'm now well into the story (no spoilers here!) and the game is still introducing new features to the battle system every now and then and keeping me strictly on the path intended for me. I can never help but wonder when this prolonged tutorial is going to end.

Anyway, I'm going to keep on playing and hopefully reach greener pastures in the near future. Stay tuned.