Final Fantasy XIII
is a 2009 role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles and later for Windows. Released in Japan in December 2009 and internationally in March 2010, it is the thirteenth title in the mainline Final Fantasy series. The game includes fast-paced combat, a new system for the series for determining which abilities are developed for the characters called "Crystarium", and a customizable "Paradigm" system to control which abilities are used by the characters. Final Fantasy XIII includes elements from the previous games in the series, such as summoned monsters, chocobos, and airships.
The game takes place in the fictional floating world of Cocoon, whose government, the Sanctum, is ordering a purge of civilians who have supposedly come into contact with Pulse, the much-feared world below. The former soldier Lightning begins her fight against the government in order to save her sister who has been branded as an unwilling servant to a god-like being from Pulse, making her an enemy of Cocoon. Lightning is soon joined by a band of allies, and together the group also become marked by the same Pulse creature. They rally against the Sanctum while trying to discover their assigned task and whether they can avoid being turned into monsters or crystals at the completion.
Development began in 2004, and the game was first announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2006. Final Fantasy XIII is the flagship title of the Fabula Nova Crystallis collection of Final Fantasy games and is the first game to use Square Enix's Crystal Tools engine. Final Fantasy XIII was critically acclaimed in Japan and received mostly positive reviews from Western video game publications, which praised the game's graphics, presentation, and battle system. The game’s linearity received a more mixed reception from some critics. Selling 1.7 million copies in Japan in 2009, Final Fantasy XIII became the fastest-selling title in the history of the series. As of 2017, the game has sold over 7 million copies worldwide on consoles. The Windows version has sold over 746,000 copies according to SteamSpy. A sequel, titled Final Fantasy XIII-2, was released in December 2011 in Japan and in February 2012 in North America and PAL regions. A second sequel, titled Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, which concludes Lightning's story and the Final Fantasy XIII series, was released in November 2013 in Japan and in February 2014 in North America and PAL regions. As of September 2014, the Final Fantasy XIII series has shipped over 11 million copies worldwide.
The game was added to Xbox One backward compatibility in November 2018 along with its sequels. It is also Xbox One X Enhanced allowing it to run at a higher resolution.
Gameplay
The player directly controls the on-screen character through a third-person perspective to interact with people, objects, and enemies throughout the game. The player can also turn the camera around the characters, which allows for a 360° view of the surroundings. The world of Final Fantasy XIII is rendered to scale relative to the characters in it; instead of a caricature of the character roaming around miniature terrain, as found in earlier Final Fantasy games, every area is represented proportionally. The player navigates the world by foot or by chocobo. Players may save their game to a hard disk drive using save stations, where the player can also purchase items from retail networks or upgrade their weapons. An in-game datalog provides a bestiary and incidental information about the world of Final Fantasy XIII. The Final Fantasy XIII Ultimate Hits International version of the game, released in Japan, also contains an "Easy" mode option.Battle system
As in Final Fantasy XII, enemies are integrated into the open field and can be approached or avoided by the player. When the player's character touches an enemy, the screen transitions from the regular map to a separate battle screen similar to those used in previous Final Fantasy titles; the character's health is fully restored after each battle.A maximum of three characters may be used in battles, which use a variant on the series' traditional Active Time Battle system first featured in Final Fantasy IV. Unlike previous games in the series, the player only controls the lead character while the remaining two characters are controlled by the game's artificial intelligence. During battle, the player selects an action from the menus, such as Attack, Magic, and Item. Each action requires a specific number of slots on the ATB bar, which refills in real time to a set maximum number; this total size gradually increases throughout the game from two to six.
The Paradigm system allows the player to program "Paradigms" in which the active party members have a specific role in combat, roughly akin to the job system of previous games. The player can only choose from a limited stock of paradigms set up outside of battle, limiting the possible combinations of roles available; this is the only way of directing AI-controlled party members. The roles consist of Commando, dealing physical damage; Ravager, using elemental magic; Medic, a role which can heal and remove negative status ailments; Synergist, which uses magic to strengthen allies by giving positive statuses; Saboteur, which uses magic to weaken enemies by inflicting negative statuses; and Sentinel, which has protective abilities and may take on enemy focus.
In addition to a health bar, each enemy has a stagger bar, indicating with a percentage starting at 100 the strength of attacks dealt by the player. When the chain bonus reaches an amount specific to the kind of enemy, they are staggered. Stagger increases damage massively by providing an instant boost to the chain bonus, and may launch the enemy into the air. Stagger is increased by a large amount by magic-based attacks, but will fall unless sustained by physical attacks.
Each leader or controlled character can summon a specific Eidolon into battle. These summoned creatures include series staples Odin, Shiva, Alexander, and Bahamut, and newcomers Hecatoncheir and Brynhildr. When summoned, the Eidolon stays in combat while the characters accompanying the summoner leave the party. While an Eidolon is summoned, the player can trigger a feature called Gestalt Mode, in which the Eidolon transforms into a different form and performs different attacks while the summoning character rides them.
Crystarium
The Crystarium is a leveling system consisting of six crystals and resembles the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X. Each crystal in the Crystarium represents one of the six roles, and is divided into ten levels. Each level contains various nodes that supply bonuses to health, strength, or magic, or provide new abilities and accessory slots. These nodes are connected by a semi-linear path. The player may advance down the path by acquiring Crystogen Points, which are awarded after defeating enemies. The full Crystarium is not available to the player at the beginning of the game; at specific points in the game's plot, the player gains access to new crystals or levels.Plot
Setting
Final Fantasy XIII is set on the futuristic world of Gran Pulse. Central to the story is Cocoon, a massive artificial sphere that floats above Pulse's surface and is ruled by the Sanctum, a theocratic government. The two worlds are controlled by fal'Cie, mechanical beings with godlike power. The Cocoon fal'Cie are responsible for keeping Cocoon floating, as well as providing light and water to the people that live inside. Each fal'Cie handles a specific task. The fal'Cie have the capability of marking the humans that live in Pulse and Cocoon as their servants. These servants, called l'Cie, are branded with a symbol representing either Pulse or Cocoon and are given a "Focus"—a task to complete. If the l'Cie complete their task in time, they are transformed to crystal and according to legend gain eternal life; otherwise they become mindless monsters called Cie'th. The l'Cie are not explicitly told their Focus, but are instead given visions that they must interpret.Several hundred years before the events of the game, a battle known as the War of Transgression took place between Pulse and Cocoon. During the battle, l'Cie from Pulse attacked and ripped a large hole in Cocoon. Eventually, the l'Cie completed their focus and were turned to crystal. The hole was patched with material lifted from Pulse, and Cocoon's citizens have since lived in fear of another invasion; this fear is used by the Sanctum to remain in power. The Sanctum oversees two military branches: the Guardian Corps, responsible for keeping order on Cocoon, and the Public Security and Intelligence COMmand, the special forces in charge of dealing with any threat related to Pulse. The fal'Cie have given the humans advanced technology, including flying airships and mechanical creatures, and a form of magic also exists. This magic is normally only accessible to l'Cie, fal'Cie, and various monsters in Cocoon and Pulse, though distilled chemical forms can be used by normal humans through the use of Manadrives.