Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Platform: Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Genre: Role-playing game
Metacritic Rating: 83/100 PS3; 82/100 Xbox 360
Copies Sold: 6.2 million (As of May 2010)
Release Date: December 2009 in Japan; March 2010 US
Final Fantasy XIII is an RPG designed for play on the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. It was released in 2009 in Japan, and a year later in the US. The publisher is Square Enix, who has done all the previous 12 Final Fantasy games. The game involves quick combat, a unique system to determine what abilities the characters get, and customizable attacks. Final Fantasy XIII is similar to its predecessors in that it has monsters you can summon, chocobos, and flying airships. It also includes fantastic visuals, a compelling story, great music, and the classic good versus evil feel of the franchise.
The plot takes place in the world of Cocoon, which is ruled by the governing body, the Sanctum. Underneath Cocoon is another world, Pulse which Sanctum is afraid of. They order an extermination of anybody who has had contact with this world. The main character is Lightning, whose sister has been taken by Pulse and is thus now targeted by the government. Soon Lightning gets allies to help her, and they are on a quest to defeat Sanctum while also battling against creatures from the Pulse world. The world is quite immense and features an array of interesting and unique monsters to fight. The characters get stronger over time, which is necessary because they will be facing tougher and tougher opponents as they advance on their journey.
The game started being worked on in 2006, and intentions to produce it was announced at E3 in 2006. Final Fantasy XIII was well received by most publications, who liked the games graphics and combat system. Many reviewers were less favorable in their assessment and thought the game’s story was too linear and too close to other Final Fantasy games. The game sold 1.7 million copies in Japan during its release year, making it the fastest selling Final Fantasy game ever. Not even halfway through 2010, the game had sold over 6 million copies across the globe. Early in 2011, Square Enix said a sequel to this game was coming, called Final Fantasy XIII-2, hopefully destined for release the same year.