FINAL FANTASY® XIII

I tried to like the game, I really did. Compared to all prior Final Fantasy games, the battle mechanics along with pretty much every aspect of the game are just abysmal. The worst one out of the 13. The only positive I can think of is the effort that went into the cut-scenes. I don't understand why Square-Enix designed FF13 the way they did but it made me feel obsolete. As others have already mentioned, the story is linear, the battles are semi automated and you can't fully control your character. You only have control of 1 member of your party until way further into the game and you go into the game not knowing enough of what's going on to really appreciate the RPG aspect of it. Not worth your time if you're expecting the same caliber as the more modern Final Fantasies like 7, 9, 10/11 or even 12 (which I liked, minus the grind).

I always say "Always play to reach your own conclusions". It's no surprise to anyone that FFXIII is a game involved in several controversies, however it was quite important for the portfolio at Square, as it also built a saga. I recommend the first title if you like Final Fantasy, good stories and captivating characters, otherwise stay away from it, the linearity bothers to a certain extent, but with that in mind, you will enjoy an excellent JRPG

Overall, it's a good Final Fantasy game, and my review will only focus on the negative aspects (my personal opinion):

1.This version of the game only comes with Japanese audio. There's no option to change the audio language.

2.The gameplay is very linear. The path feels like a long tunnel or corridor. The only place where you can start free-roaming is in Grand Pulse (Chapter 11).

3.The mini-map is rotated, with no compass directions (North/East/South/West). It became so annoying when I reached Grand Pulse; I lost count of how many times I had to open the big map just to check my position and make sure I was heading in the right direction.

This certainly IS a game.

I think this game is way too hated, however, I do get why people don't like this game at all. At best, I would definitely rate this game like a 6.5 out of 10, it's not a terrible game as people make it out to be. But it sure does have its faults.

To start:
- The beginning of this game is really boring, up until Chapter 3 where the "real" mechanics begin. Yes, the combat (paradigm/crystarium system) finally works 3 Chapters in. I can see why people who don't know absolutely nothing about the game will quit it before Chapter 3 begins because it is SO BORING.
- The beginning of the game also makes you think you should know everything that's going on and it kinda forces you to make you read about the events unfolding. Yes, this is a common negative a lot of people talk about, the "datalog" and the lore. However it isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Yes, it's way too much information going on, and the narrative should've explained things much better instead of just blurting out names from the characters.
- You won't get a full 3 person party until Chapter 10. This honestly kinda pisses me off, the game is close to ending and you're barely giving me the permission to have a 3 person party. Yes, events happen where the previous chapters are only 2 party members. Still, it is really annoying just missing a person for almost the entire game.
- "The game opens up at Chapter 11." So you're telling me, the game actually becomes a game, 2 chapters before it ends. ??? Not only that but man does the difficulty spike hit super hard once you get to this chapter. You are forced to grind which depends on the type of player you are can either be really annoying or just part of the rpg genre. Had to grind about 2 hours because a basic enemy was 2 shotting my entire team lol. Call that a skill issue on my part. Still, this game makes Chapters 1-10 a glorified tutorial which is baffling to me, I just don't know how to feel about that.
- The main villain sucks and his name is literally Bart. Plus the final boss has an random chance instant kill spell, which is super dumb.
- Nitpick; when entering combat and switching paradigm, you're forced to watch a 3 second cutscene of your whole party switching classes. This is just me but this pissed me off because you can get a game-over during this small cutscene.
- Your party AI can sometimes be utterly brain dead to the point where YOU have to put matters in your own hands. Especially healer AI, they don't Esuna or Raise UNTIL all the party members are full health. This is stupid and I hated it.
- You cannot control your character's movements during combat, meaning ALL of your party members WILL stack together to get hit by an AOE attack. WHY????????????????????
- Upgrading system sucks.
- Save station menu navigating SUCKS.
- Whoever designed the camera needs to get punched in the face.
- If the party leader dies it's game over, go fuck yourself.
- My biggest disappointment, and others can definitely say that I'm wrong about this, is that the summon system is terrible? Summons, KNOWN for dishing out TONS of damage hit like a wet napkin. They're only ever used for getting your party out of dangerous situations only for a short while.
- PC support is horrendous and the game looks horrible if you don't get a modfix. Base FF13 has a weird diagonal cut?? It's really bizarre, also the game is capped at 30fps along with ugly as hell graphics. The mod made this game look amazing though, so good on them for fixing it.
- The story is just mid. There's some good moments and then there's RIDICULOUS moments. JRPGs are known for being really tropey, but this game does it to an extreme. There are several parts in the story that legit makes no sense and the characters just play it off as nothing happens.
- Speaking of characters, I feel very mixed. I like them, but mostly their entire personality consists of just talking about one person, THE ENTIRE GAME. SHUT. UP. SNOW WE GET IT. The first half the characters are unlikeable, which I kinda like, they're all douchebags to one another and eventually will come together as a true party. Especially Hope, who can be super annoying at the beginning of the game. Vanille's stupid "noises" during combat and exploring is really annoying too. Lightning can also come off as having the personality of stale bread and I'm pretty sure anyone who played this game has called her "Girl Cloud" at least once. Fang is too cool to change. Either way, this game is way more character-driven than story-driven.
- The music is pretty good!

I've said a lot of bad things about this game but when it's good, it is actually engaging. The paradigm system can be a lot of fun once you start learning how to get around encounters, switching back and forth to see what meets and what not. A gripe I had is that some characters are miles better than others, Hope has a faster animation of casting compared to ANYONE else which kinda makes him a must have near the end of the game. However, any character can be viable, which is cool.

I've said enough; TLDR: This game has lots of faults, and can be summed down to be just a mid game, but it does have its highs.

I've tried very hard to get into this title but after 27 hours I can't safely say this game isn't for me.

The premise is very interesting and the characters do feel fleshed out enough to see where the writers wanted to go with them but I feel like the pacing despite being linear till chapter 11 is all over the place and I feel like the writers were butting heads with each other over interpretations of certain character arcs and the plot itself seems to be padded out for a much longer length then it really needed to be.

Combat is really a mixed bag as in the beginning it feels like they're afraid of you getting confused so they limit the amount of actions you can do till your a Lia'ce (magic user) and it doesn't really open up in terms of customization till about 10 hours in and hell you have no actual control of your party set up till....20 hours into the game. (at least for me) and for a 40 to 60 hour game to do that is abysmal.

If you do consider getting this game please install the fix mods as the port is terrible on its own.

Personally I'd say get it on a sale and try it on your own as I feel this game is made for a certain type of player and that player isn't me unfortunately. I wish steam could give a mixed rating as I feel that is how I feel about this game as it's not necessarily bad but it's not for everyone.

The second half of the game is where the really good stuff starts to happen.
Beyond that, I vastly prefer Final Fantasy X all round.
But still, it's a classic FF that warrants download and playing it to the finish.

I know the story is all over the place and the exploration is nonexistent. but i LOVE this game and its combat system. I don't know, maybe its just me. Love fang and Lightning. Trying to 100% the game.

Replaying this game after more than 10 years has been an incredible experience. I've never enjoyed it so much and it always ranked as one of my least favorite Final Fantasy games, but playing now is making appreciate it so much more. The music, art direction, combat system, characters and story (Which was the aspect i disliked the most back when i played it the first time). The combat system especially is incredibly deep and once you get it and start experimenting with it, it makes you never want to stop fighting enemies and it also makes battle end very fast, which was an issue i had the first time, where battles were insanly long, but it was due to me not utilizing the combat system properly and all the mechanics the game provides.
The characters and stoy this time around were so memorable to me. I could understand the story better because i was actively reading everything and paying attention (It's still a problem with the story "requiring" you to read the datalog). Definitely recommend it to everyone!

A game with peak story, world, characters but very boring combat (hope it improves with later games in the trilogy)

"We live to make the impossible possible. THAT is our focus!"

This game is really special to me because it is something that I have obsessed over as a child just because of the cool characters, flashy fight scenes, amazing cutscenes, and I thought the character Lightning was the coolest person ever; but I knew absolutely nothing about the game as a whole because I was too young. This game has its ups and downs for sure, and it is not the best Final Fantasy title, but I have a special place in my heart for this game and it is surely my favorite Final Fantasy series (FFXIII/Fabula Nova Crystallis).

After becoming much older and being able to actually absorb games and understand them, I am enticed with this game it has a crazy mythology with a story that can become like static at times, but as a whole it is a game that I highly enjoy. Lightning is a character that I have always loved and seeing her before Lightning Returns is amazing due to how much character growth she has. Snow has the coolest Eidolon design imo, Twin Shivas that turn into a motorcycle is sick asf. I'll always defend this game series and I really hope that it gets remastered someday all three games in one.

I am not gonna draw this out though, so I will end it with this: you either really love this game or you really hate it, there's no in between. I really love it lol. I love the characters, I love the lore with gods and the L'Cie (especially since it still tied with the whole crystal mythos theme of Final Fantasy). I do agree that this isn't the strongest game by itself story-wise, but if you are going to play this game you might as well play the others to finish the story.

Thank you Nomura for the amazing character designs as always and Toriyama for creating the expansive world of FFXIII, it will forever go down as my favorite game title(s) of all time.

Until we meet again!
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people hate on this game, but to me, it is absolutely great. just like pineapples on pizza, dont let the internet influence you.

long story short: this games is a VIBE. and if you're into the vibe you're gonna enjoy it a whole ton.

Too unstable, especially at chapter 11. I had to give up playing. It sucks because this was the last turn based final fantasy and the last one with a female protagonist. I hope it gets a remaster that actually works well.

I enjoyed playing Final Fantasy XIII. I have played a lot of the other final fantasy titles, but this is the first one I have played on Steam. There are good sides as well as bad sides to this game. In my opinion it was really good, but I can definitely see why some would not like it.

The main problem that most people have with this game is that is too linear, and I do agree with this. It is very different from a lot of other final fantasy games. It is not an open world game and you just do what the game tells you to do. There are no side quests or decisions you can make; it is mostly running on a straight path and fight the next group of adversaries. This may cause a lot of people to not like this game, but I didn't mind it much.

One thing that may get annoying is the fact that a lot of the fights are basically the same. Sometimes the game gives you hallways full of groups of opponents that you have to fight to move on. These fights get old after a while because it doesn't matter what attacks you do or anything you do in these fights - it becomes spamming any attack or just using auto-battle finish the fight quickly.

Aside from the last issue, the combat system in Final Fantasy XIII is pretty alright. It is simple: you have something called an ATB gauge that you have to wait for it to fill up in order to choose what your character will do. You can have a different number of moves that are possible depending on how advance your character is. You can use the move slots in the ATB gauge to use items, heal party members, or attack, basically.
One thing I believe could have been better is if it was just turn-based. I feel like the combat system could have benefited a lot from this because it is really awkward how the game works between attacks; it can just turn into you attacking an enemy the same time an enemy is attacking you.

One thing that makes the combat system stand out is the paradigm shift feature, which you will need for most boss battles. It is a little weird learning how to use it at first (partly because it is introduced already a few hours into the game), but it becomes very helpful later on. This is the feature that makes the game interesting. It allows you to change it to fit your characters and fighting style. You can, and will, change between paradigms in battle. They will suit what each character in your party needs to do at the moment; for example: if your characters just took a lot of hp damage, you can press tab and switch from a paradigm that is more offensive (like having two commandos and one ravager), to a paradigm that is more balanced (like two commandos/ravagers and a medic or a commando/ravager, a sentinel, and a medic) or a paradigm that is more defensive (like a commando/ravager and two medics, a sentinel and two medics, or three medics). One thing that is annoying is that you may need to switch them quickly in some battles, like at the end of chapter 5 or in the fight against Odin. You need to be very precise with when you use which paradigm. You don't know when you will receive a new attack so there is some uncertainty. You can play it safe and switch quickly to a paradigm that has offense and defense, but you also risk not doing enough damage to your opponent's stagger bar. This adds to my criticism that Final Fantasy XIII should be turn-based, or at least pause when shifting between paradigms or using items.

Relating to the Paradigm Shift, Final Fantasy XIII has a "level-up" system called "Crystarium." The Crystarium system is also easy to maneuver to suit your fighting style. You level up specific roles your characters can play in different paradigms. You start off with three roles per character, like Commando, Ravager, and Sentinel for Lightning, but about halfway into the game you can upgrade any role for any character in the Crystarium, as well as customize your party members (with a limit of three). Depending on how much you have played, you can upgrade different qualities like health, strength, and magic with Crystarium points.

My last remark about the combat system is that you only control the actions of one character, and the entire party will lose if your character dies. I wish it was different because then you wouldn't have to switch to a defensive paradigm and lose progress on stagger bars.

Going on to the story of Final Fantasy XIII, I thought it was decent. The main premise is that there is a land called Cocoon, and people from Cocoon fear outsiders called l'Cie who have magic powers. l'Cie are given a vision called a focus that will lead them to complete a mission. The main character, Lightning Farron, was a soldier of Cocoon, but resigned after her sister, Serah, became a l'Cie. Trying to help her sister, Lightning becomes a l'Cie as well, and joins with other people who have also become l'Cie (Snow, Hope, Sazh, Vanille, and Fang) to complete their focus.
There are beings named Fal'Cie who give the l'Cie their focus. The fal'Cie are supernatural beings. To not give out spoilers, I will not say much more about the fal'Cie to not give out spoilers, but there are great plot twists at the end.
One comment about the story is that they sometimes throw a lot of information at you, especially at the beginning, and it may be hard to follow for some. You jump right into the story with all the information given to you in the dialogue. If you aren't paying enough attention, you may miss out on some details of the main conflict.
Another thing is the pacing. I really liked the pacing on some parts and hated it on others. There were sometimes contrasts between these, like when you go from Chapter 7 to Chapter 8. Chapter 7 was an amazing part of the game; it was fast-paced but still good, it was epic, there were awesome fights, and a lot of things happened that made it great, but right after that, the story switches to two other characters (Sazh and Vanille) at a Chocobo Park. Events important to the overall story were still happening, but it felt out of place. And it was the same with the contrast between Chapters 6 and 7, and Chapters 8 and 9. They all switched the pacing too much.
I guess you do need to change up the pace a little, but it felt way too drastic at times. It also may have contributed that in the more action-full chapters you are playing with characters like Lightning, Snow, and Fang, while in the chapters that felt slower you would play as Sazh and Vanille, who aren't as good to use in a fight.
That was it for the story.

Final Fantasy XIII looks amazing for a game that was originally released for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The cutscenes almost look like they were made for a PS5 game, but the actual gameplay looks alright. It definitely looks better than some Final Fantasy titles released years after (like Final Fantasy Type-0 two years later). One thing that was weird is that, from the beginning, there was a small stutter approximately every second. It doesn't stop whether you are in a cutscene or in a battle, but you can get used to it after a while. After an about hour of gameplay I ignored it - it doesn't really affect anything.

These were my thoughts on Final Fantasy XIII. I think it was a great game. I would definitely play it again (and I most likely will). I hope this helps.

If you're planning to play this on PC: install fan-made mods to prevent crashed
Great game otherwise

15 years later, I decide to play my first Final fantasy game, despite growing up surrounded by friends who were fan of the serie, especially FFVII. I have always loved JRPGs (mostly star ocean and Tales of series) but I don't really know why I never tried Final fantasy games, even though it has been the most popular entry to the genre in the west for years.

Obviously I remember how FFXIII was critisized at its release : at the time, open world games were extremely popular and the linearity of FFXIII was controversial. I decided to grab it recently to actually try it and meet this franchise. I was definitely not expecting much from a controversial 15 years old game, but I thought its linear gameplay could actually be relaxing to "try" it and wouldn't bother me too much.

Then I started it and after 2 hours, I thought "Damn, It's not too bad actually, I like the atmosphere and I'm curious about the lore".

25 hours in, I was getting hooked by the combat. I don't really know why, but there is something well designed about it, its pace, the animations, the simplicity was pleasant but at the same time it was really fun to try different strategies and think about some build ideas. At the same time, I actually loved the linear progression in the story, it was so refreshing after all those years with lazy open world games, filled with tedious tasks... The story, and mostly its characters started to be deeper, more interesting and I definitely wanted to understand the world more.

Several hours later, I get further into the game, when it opens up, witnessing a great part of the world, filled with huge mobs. There, I started playing for the fun of testing build strategies and combat as this moment into the game allows this kind of freedom, nearly telling you "go ahead, now play". At that point I was having so much fun that I wondered "What if I tried to actually platinum this game? I love it so much what the hell". For the context, I am definitely not an achievement hunter and actually try to "100%" games extremely rarely. But this time I was enjoying every part of the game so much, I wanted to achieve a lot here.

And here I am, afetr a bit more of 100h of playtime, the game 100% completed with a huge smile on my face. What a journey that was... It is so rare, but I actually loved everything about this game, the story, the ending, the combat, the progression, the world building, the challenges. It was the kind of experiecne every gamer dreams to have with his games, the one which is really special, that leaves a mark in your brain, the one you want to tell everybody about, the one you want to find again.

Okay... So, that was a Final Fantasy game, I guess... Glad to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you...

Great FF game but on my recent playthrough i finally figured out why people haaaaate this game . It is so slow and monotonous but once you get to maybe the end of Chapter 9 the game picks up . I have never felt so sexy playing an ATB Style turn based game as much as i did here . It's so fluid once you master the battle system . Download the ram mod and the FF13fix mod though ( ridiculous how you need them to make this game run half decent)

It's a lot of fun -unless you want to do the Ceith stone missions. The player would have benefited from having a north point on the HUD compass, and the expandable map not moving. It would also be great to know where each exit on the map leads too, so the player doesn't need to look up a guide. I know the game wasn't made with Oerba in mind, but they threw a massive open map with unclear navigation. I've been told that all of these issues are fixed in the subsequent games, so I'm looking forward to playing them. Being able to flee combat would be nice too. New game+ would have been nice, considering you can't unlock the 10th tier of the Crystarium without beating the final boss.

My biggest gripe: if the player character dies in combat, it's over. You can immediately retry the battle with all of your items restored, but it's so BS.

All that aside, my pros...
I like the cast. The combat is fun. Being able to switch out every member of the party is great for strategy. Even though the party is split up before you reach the 10 hr mark, it gives you a chance to learn the strengths of each character. It's cool to see character development separate from the whole cast. I'd happily play this again, while avoiding the Ceith stone missions.

I really enjoy the dynamic fighting style with the paradigm shifts, as well as the visuals that compliment the story.

music is great, combat system is different but does have a learning curve, graphics are great for time frame of the orignal release. fantastic story as usual with ff games.

love it <3 great story, memorable characters with exciting stories <3

Finally gave this game a chance. It's not like other final fantasys before it, in that it is VERY linear for the first half of the game - battle enemies watch cutscene, run down corridor, repeat. Though It does open up later on, about 20 hours in. The music is incredible and the characters are all likeable in some way (just vanilles voice and personality in the beginning is really annoying to me). Overall I recommend.

Been playing it with no mods on steam deck mainly, runs flawlessly.

I think people were far TOO harsh on this game back then...

The game looks gorgeous, it has very layered characters, the world has its own lore to get invested into, the sci-fi themes gives me(personally speaking) Star Wars vibes, the soundtrack is WONDERFUL, the gameplay also is far from mindless like some people wanna make it out to being.

Final Fantasy XIII deserves far more love, if you're a Final Fantasy fan especially... This game is VERY much worth the purchase on PC here! I'd also recommend the Xbox 360 and PS3 releases as well!

Was always a fan of the game but the PC port is a nightmare with the amount of additional fixes you have to download to get around lags, freezes and sometimes just straight-up not being able to launch the game. The game overall is not bad despite the criticisms; loved the characters, loved the soundtrack, and once I got used to it, enjoyed the battle system too.

Great game from beginning to finish. gameplay, soundtrack, story everything about this game is well done a complete masterpiece.

This is a very different final fantasy game compared to others. It has some designs that you may find bad. like the game being extremely linear to the point where I doubt even zoro could get lost here. But i think the combat can be fun, the upgrade system for the characters is interesting and overall it can be fun if you play it with an open mind, just don't expect it to be like previous entries of this saga.

A very fun open world MMORPG, replayability is not there at the end when you decided to fight the final boss. It's a Final Fantasy game, the story and the rhythm is immaculate. I recommend this game to anyone that wants to experience 3-4 hours non-stop gameplay that is enriched by the story itself, yes it's very addicting. For personal bias being I've watched my relatives played this game when i was 7 years old, it is so nostalgic to finally see the ending of this game, it's been a 13 year gap between the last visit.

I never gave this a chance back in the day. Perhaps it was far beyond its time and the linear aspect of the game put me off.

However, playing it again years later I'm blown away not only by the graphics, story line and epic set of characters but I'm impressed by the battle system (something I hated when it came out).

This game is quite addictive once it gets going and I put a little bit more effort into learning what was going on! Final Fantasy games are often a victim of what the community wants and we don't necessarily judge each new game on their own merits.

Well done Square - I own this game on 3 different mediums but this version is the first one that held m attention.

To start off, the FF13 fix makes this game run significantly better and I would say that it is a must use to enjoy the game.

This game has possibly my favorite Final Fantasy combat system and an absolutely gorgeous art style. I like seeing the main cast evolve through the story. While the main villain was interesting, I would say that some of the smaller villains were underutilized. The story, although confusing at times, was very interesting, and I loved the setting/world building.

I would definitely recommend this game.

I haven't finished the game yet, but I'm nearing the end of it.

This has been one of the best cast of the Final Fantasy Games, their chemistry and personalities, grey morality and intertwined stories works really well, their all likeable and develop as the story plays out. I put a lot of time in the series this year, playing them all, and this one surpirsed me. If you liked X, then XIII feels like an evolution of it - its very linear, but that works for the story since we're on a journey and can't look back.

Cons: This is not a traditional turn based RPG, there's no open world outside Chapter 11, I can only influence my party, not control them, and the cut scenes can move a little fast through events. Like most PS3 games, the developers forgot colors exist for much of the game.

Pros: Juggling is Fun. The Cast play off each other well, their designs and personalites shine, Gran Pulse is gorgeous, I want to see how this ends.

This has been a fun linear adventure, and I'm hopiong XIII-2 is almost as fun as this.

I played this game originally for Xbox 360, and I remembered the joy I had experienced completing the game. Building Paradigm decks, crafting weapons, completing side quests before completing the main story, spending many hours in Orphans Cradle grinding for XP, losing over and over again to the Adamantortoise for materials, accidentally selling the material needed to get Lightnings Ultimate Weapon (because I didn't have internet at the time and didn't know better). Now I'm ready to replay this childhood memory after beating Lighting Returns 9 years ago. Time flies when you're young..

After being very disappointed at release i'm giving this game another try almost 20 years later.
Honestly, i'm enjoying every minute of it.
Yes it has its flaws. Yes it doesnt really feel like a final fantasy game but its a good game in its own unique style.

SNOW is an absolute horror ........ other than him annoying the living shit out of me everytime he appears the game and other characters are great.

Will update review when i finish the game.

Let's preface that this negative isn't about the performance, I installed the 4GB Patch and the FF-13 fan patch and the game ran practically perfect for me, 0 crashes, no stutter and not even a noticeable graphical glitch in my 72 or so hours.

No my main problems with FF-13 are its abyssal excuse for a "story", the horrible pacing throughout that bloated 40 hour mess, that the main cast are either unbearable to listen to or just poorly written and that 90% of the level design is you walking down a straight corridor.

I would genuinely argue FF-13 has one of it not the worst stories both in terms of actual story telling and gameplay of any main-line game. The only main-line games in the series which are probably worse, FF 3 & 5 were released in 1990 and 1992, not at the end of 2009.

I could go on and on but frankly I'd rather forget about this and move on to something good.

Excellent combat system, but the pacing of the story element is a drag. Its one long corridor of random fights, stopping to talk about their feelings, and repeat.

This game is so incredibly ass. Let me tell you what happened. At 2 am, I launch this game offline, hoping its like previous FF titles, and future ones. Usually, a game I play at this time is so fun, that im up until the sun rises, but let me tell you, I almost fell asleep with this shit combat system. It's really a shame because lightnings design is pretty nice, but the linear plot and snooze fest kills me. It might just not be my taste but you seriously have to have never played a good game in the FF series in your life to like this game.

This game brings back my childhood of having it on my playstation 3. I just now got a gaming laptop but I had an HP laptop that ran this game great! I would not recommend this game if you're not into fantasy based games, but if you are looking for a simple grinding game this is it! The story is great as well!

I tried... I really tried but I fell alseep each time I try to play (and I'm not even joking, I literraly fall asleep in battle)

Its the first time in a Final Fantasy that I like no one. I hate all the characters. Battles seems cool at first but beside bosses it's VERY REPETITIVE and not fun at all.

I stopped at the weird junkyard so maybe it's getting good after but I don't have the will, sorry.

I know FF XIII get a lot of hate for how linear it is, and it definitely is but I still really enjoy this game. It's story is great and I'm glad I got around to playing it again.

I wish it was better optimized because my PC is well above the min/recc requirements and I still couldn't get decent fps. Such a shame I had to refund, looked really cool

Final Fantasy XIII Review (Steam Version)

Performance Issues:
The game has several technical flaws on PC, including crashes to the desktop and lag issues. To mitigate the lag, you had to install additional software like vJoy, which detracts from the overall user experience. These issues suggest poor optimization for modern systems.

Positive Highlights:
Despite the performance problems, the game shines in two key areas:

Battle System: The unique Paradigm Shift system offers dynamic and strategic combat, making battles engaging and fast-paced.
Storyline: The narrative is compelling, with deep characters and an emotional plot that keeps players invested.
Overall Impression:
While the core gameplay and story remain strong, the PC port's technical issues may leave some players disappointed, especially when compared to the smoother experience on consoles.

Playable at first (years ago, older pc) now for some reason I get the worst stuttering I've ever seen in a game (modern pc specs);freezes every few frames for no find-able reason.
Going to do some more digging but this is a hard pass since i'm seeing other people talk about this issue.
(going to try it on an older rig when i find the time to slap the parts together, and update review when that day comes)

Yeah this game BETTER have mostly positive reviews. My PC hours are low, I've played this game since it came out.

Man the reviews about a poor PC port for this and it's sequels are honestly heartbreaking and something SE need to address ASAP, the XIII mini series is a work of art and would benefit tremendously with faithful PC service.

Now, to the game.

13 is divisive and there is no getting around it. It's a best seller but that doesn't take away from plenty of legitimate gripes fans of the series have. Unfortunately, it isn't for everyone. I recommend my wife play Persona 3 and 4 and she may love those more than me, I cannot recommend her this game with the same conviction.

Still, it's one of best looking games of all time. The graphic design and attention to minute details is outrageous. The characters look great. The environment is cool and colorful and beautiful. It was such a step forward for it's time, and I think the disappointment long time fans felt was palpable and lasting, not to mention what folks outside of the JRPG sphere felt.

FFXIII is incredibly ambitious, yet it didn't reach all of it's fans. It's not worth wondering what would've happened if it did, the sales of this and it's sequels are proof enough that this game has a legacy. Heck, Lightning is the most reproduced character in FFTCG after Cloud.

Final Fantasy XIII is a fun game. The story is not one that I was particularly fond of, but it was enough to keep me engaged. Great visuals that hold up over time and a decent soundtrack. Where this game really shines for me is the Paradigm battle system. After a bit of a learning curve, which the game is very good at giving tutorials on, I was hooked. Trying out and customizing your own paradigms with each battle/boss had me coming back for more. If you're not into that or get confused, you can have the game come up with some for you, or you can use a strategy guide. The biggest criticism I have of this game is that it is very linear. This isn't open-world, except for about 1/3 of the game towards the end. Overall worth a try if you like Final Fantasy games. If you've never tried one, I'd say you can start with another game. As a life-long series fan, this is one I can truly say I really enjoy.

beginning of the game is a bit long winded, however, once you get into the plains the game opens up. after that so muuch to do.

Great game but its broken now. I wanted to replay it but the game doesn't even launch past the config screen, very disappointed.

I really enjoyed playing this game. Kind of sad that I have to say no to this.
I have been playing this for the past few days and I didn't have any problems the previous days. Although for some reason today the game has crashed multiple times. I am in chapter 7 where I am playing as Snow and Hope is in the party. Running through the town it crashed once. Then I was able to start up the game and get past that part to save. I then get to where the flying guys come in. I defeat them and get to the next cut scene. At the end of the cut scene it ended up crashing. I came back and tried multiple times and it is still crashing. I verified the files and it has still crashed. I am unable to get past this part because of the crashing.

not worth your time unless you are a completionist kinda guy and want to experience every FF

It has an interesting history a bit cliche or overthought but that is not affecting the principals mechanics. You can go through the fight mechanics like paradigms that make battles more enjoyable and make you think more about the pre battle stage

Game Summary and Opinion

PC Port and Performance

1. PC Port (Patched & Modded)
   
2. PS3 version (FF13 was specifically made for the PS3 and was originally suppose to be a PS3 exclusive until Square Enix decided at the last minute to port the game to the Xbox 360 prior to launch)
   
3. Xbox 360 version (This version technically doesn't have anything wrong with it. Hell, it's the version I played back in the day, it's just inferior to the PS3 version; particular with things like resolution and sound quality.)
   
4. Vanilla PC Port (This version is just a port of the Xbox 360 version)
   

Mod List/Guide

• 4K/60FPS FMV
  
• 1080p FMV
  NOTE : If you are to replace the FMV's; whether it's the native 1080p or 4K Upscales, BE SURE TO CLEAR UP A GOOD CHUNK OF HARD DRIVE SPACE! These files are absolutely massive in size with the 4K upscales in partiuclar being roughly 20GB...each.
  

• The FF13 HD Project
  
• HD Models Plus
  
• Clean ReShade
  

• FF13FIX
  
• FF13FIX-4GB Patch Installer
  
• FF13 Series Launcher
  

• Gameplay Tweaks & Hard Mode
  
[*] Crystarium Editing

Overall I give this game a 10/10
The only problem is that it is region restricted.
I am sure about this "Notice: This version of Final Fantasy XIII only includes the following languages:

Subtitles and interface: Japanese, Chinese (traditional), Korean, English
Voiceover: Japanese" notice but the other information is misleading

1. It says the file size is 60 gigabytes but it is actually 29. I paid for a full game and got half the content.
Storage: 60 GB available space
2. The information on the right for supported audio has both English and Japanese checked off

Languages:
Interface Full Audio Subtitles
English ✔ ✔ ✔
French ✔ ✔
Italian ✔ ✔
German ✔ ✔
Spanish - Spain ✔ ✔
Japanese ✔
but only the Japanese files are given!

Because it wasn't advertised as an Asian Region only and doesn't have the options to download the English files from another Steam region or with the use of VPN I cannot recommend people to buy this version as the console versions are smoother to play and come with the the files you pay for!

But if you enjoy reading subtitles and like the original voices then this is for you. :)
I hope STEAM does the right thing and let's people download all 60 Gigabytes!