'Final Fantasy XIII' Game Club: Week 1

Welcome to the Final Fantasy XIII Game Club, a series discussing our experiences with the game as we play it week by week. You can join in through the forum and comments box, details of which are at the end of this blog post.

Spoiler warning: this week takes us through Chapters 1 to 3, which is the start of the game, through to the end of Lake Bresha.

The opening few chapters of the game were slow but effectively paced: from the battle system down to exploration and the story, things are very basic and built up layer by layer in a very gradual and friendly way. While all Final Fantasy games have done this to a degree, the fact that you don't really see the true extent of the battle system until around three hours into the game is a sign that they want you to really get to grips with things.

The first chapter was extremely plot focused, even if you didn't actually learn much about the characters and their motives. It's a bit of a rollercoaster, really, tapping X (or A) to win each battle and watching the cutscenes unfold. Things didn't get going until chapter two, where areas start to open up in width, with items and battles being somewhat more optional. I enjoyed the way in which Snow's progression through the Vestige led the way for the other two parties, even if it was scripted to jump from one to the next. Although Chapter 3 focused primarily on one party, the occasional branching path and hidden chests stashed away helped to counter those arguments that progression is as limited as early reports had suggested. It helped that the crystallised Lake Bresha section was absolutely gorgeous, too.

It was frustrating that the first two chapters didn't contribute anything in terms of levelling, even if they did give spoils or pave the way for item chests. It was a thought mirrored by others too: Funkmaster T said, "There were perhaps too many unnecessary battles (quite a few avoidable, of course)", in the opening sections. It was here that we finally got to grips with the Paradigm system, and what surprised me was that no one mentioned the boss difficulty within this third chapter. I died at the Manasvin Warmech encounter - twice - until I created the Diversity paradigm and learned to read the rather devastating beam attack more effectively. The Shiva battle was similarly difficult, and hammered home the fast nature of the battle system by making you finish before Doom ends.

And how is everyone finding the plot? Since the game will essentially live and die by its story, it's a good job that it carries a fair deal of intrigue. The characters are an enjoyable bunch, although Vanille and Hope's opposing attitudes are equally as annoying as one another. While discussion overall is positive, no one had a bad word with the story. Skywolfie made a particularly good point on how the characters seem so memorable despite the short time spent with them, something which I'm sure many others would agree with.

So far it's an enjoyable opening few hours - the battle system took me by surprise with how fast and snappy it all is, and it contained moments of challenge from several boss encounters. Forum member Bester hit the nail on the head for me, I think: "Linearity aside it has all of the classic FF hallmarks; great character design, gorgeous animation, lovely melodies, an epic plot and a fluid combat system." Of course, it's all early days, with a few dozen hours left to run. Have you enjoyed the opening chapters so far?

Next week we'll be playing through Chapters 4-7. Want to contribute to the next Game Club episode? Discuss the coming chapters here. If you missed out on this week's discussion, you can add your thoughts with the comment box below. See you next week!