Final Fantasy XIII Demo Impressions – worth the hype?
Final Fantasy XIII is undoubtedly the most anticipated RPG game of next year. The game has been in development for a very long time and Japanese PS3 owners will have first crack at it later this year. The lengthy demo for the game was released several months ago in Japan with enough content packed in to offer a taste of the game.
I recently attended Otakon, which is the second largest anime convention in the U.S. and the third largest in the world. It was a sight to see with folks from all across the U.S. from California to Florida in attendance. This year it seems like the video game presences was waning a little bit with Namco Bandi missing in action.
The convention draws a lot of business from overseas with importing companies in attendance selling games and stuff only available in Japan. I was able to pick up a copy of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete on Blu-ray along with the trial demo of Final Fantasy XIII on Blu-ray for $74.
As soon as I arrived home I tore open the trial demo and shoved it into my PS3. The intro to the game looked amazing watching it on Blu-ray in crystal 1080p. Since everything is in Japanese I had to play around with the controls a bit to figure out all of the commands.
Surprisingly, I was able to figure out most of the commands without understanding a lick of Japanese. The most notable difference in the combat system for FFXIII is the battle system. In FFXII, the combat was practically real-time but it looks like Square Enix has gone back to its turn-based roots.
For those not familiar with the combat system in Final Fantasy XIII, it’s very similar to what is found in Mass Effect or Fallout 3. However, it’s an active turn-based system where you are attacking real-time instead of loading up at a frozen screen. The notable addition to the combat is the queuing/combo system. Gamers can queue up attacks similarly to FFXII or Fallout 3 and execute them.
Being a huge fan of Fallout 3, I instantly fell in love with the new combat system. There are no random attacks, similarly to the way it was in FFXII. You will be able to see enemies and evade them if you wish to avoid confrontation.
I would just like to say that the demo is pretty long. I was not able to complete it today and was only able to play 30 minutes of it. The trial demo is supposed to be as long as an hour-and-a-half to two hours. The trial demo is massive in size as well as it sits at five gigs on the Blu-ray disc. I will make sure to bring you more details about the game after I have beaten it a few times.
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31 Responses to “Final Fantasy XIII Demo Impressions – worth the hype?”
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July 20th, 2009
Wow, your so lucky. I wish I could get the demo like you did too.
I hope that boxart isn’t real. It’s nice, but it wasn’t what I was thinking for the box.
July 20th, 2009
Cool looks pretty sweet, and wow $74 DX
I remember hearing that the game will be in 720p, and the cutscenes in 1080p. It might sound weird to some of you, but knowing S-E, it can happen lol
July 20th, 2009
@Zoar,
lol.. yea thats not the boxart.. I updated the story with the picture of the boxart sleeve at the top of the page.
July 20th, 2009
As a JRPG fan I am looking forward to this.
July 20th, 2009
$74 Mike? Damn!
July 20th, 2009
I know.. pricey, but I figured it was worth it since we won’t be able to get our hands on this bad boy until later next year and the devs already confirmed FFVII: Advent Children Complete w/FFXIII Trail Demo won’t be hitting outside Japan.
Game looks beautiful and it plays great, think Fallout 3 VATS but all in real-time action.
July 20th, 2009
“Final Fantasy XIII Demo Impressions – worth the hype?”
@Mike
The title of your post lead me to think you were going to let us know if it was worth the hype. Next time when you throw a bone have some meat on it, I’m starving here! LOL
I’m dying for this game, FF is my fav JRPG. RPG’s are my fav genre, looking forward to this one alot! I like that it is getting released for both PS3 and Xbox360. Kinda sucks for Japanese people who have only a 360 though. I think just a few of them will cave and get a PS3! The Japanese are going to eat this one up, not sure if it will fare so well in other places. Thanks for the teaser Mike, finish that puppy up and spill the beans!
July 20th, 2009
lol
July 20th, 2009
hey MIKE
i heard last week that LEVEL-5 is going to announce a new game this week. can you keep us posted on that. since ur good at getting inside info
July 20th, 2009
I hope the Japanese version has English subs…I’ll be able to import it then and understand what the hell is going on.
July 20th, 2009
why did sony let this one get away?….
July 20th, 2009
wazzup with Square Enix and all these female characters and female looking guys
July 20th, 2009
An even better quesiton Roca. Why are no characters Asian looking?
July 20th, 2009
That is my biggest problem with Anime.
All the guys look like girls.
My 5 year old daughter is a big fan of those type of cartoons.
July 20th, 2009
Thats why I like the characters from FF7
Cloud, Barret, Cid, Vicent, Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie, Red XII and Caith Sith were all different from each other. guys look like GUYS (they made cloud look king of girly in Advent Children and Crisis Core) but the girls were not role models or Princess
July 20th, 2009
Well I’m back if anyone cares. I wish i had the Final Fantasy XIII demo the story is gonna epic i can tell.
Mike Ferro: Nice post lately congrats.
July 20th, 2009
You should raffle off the demo to us after you’re done with it. Maybe take a picture of a jar of jelly beans, and we’ll all submit our guess of how many are in the jar.
July 20th, 2009
New Hitman game to be released late 2010 if anyone cares. Brings me back to my ps2 days. It’s been far too long!!!
July 20th, 2009
“why did sony let this one get away?….”
@kevo
So you would have something to flame about of course, you silly rabbit! lmao
July 20th, 2009
for those of you who are waiting for a price drop.
In the latest Listen UP (1UP.com’s weekly podcast) episode, David Ellis revealed a new rumor saying that the PS3 Slim is coming in August and that it will bundled with Madden NFL 10.
The transcript below can be heard at the 01:26:14 mark
“It’s gonna be in August. Everything I’ve heard says it’s coming in August, it’s tied with Madden.”
Sony already confirmed a three hours long press conference for GamesCom on August 18 and Madden’s release date is August 14.
According to Ellis that’s one of the reasons for Activision’s CEO “threat” against Sony – because they are tieing the release of the PS3 Slim with an EA game and not an Activision title.
July 21st, 2009
a rumor of a PS3 price drop? wow, never heard one of those before…..
July 21st, 2009
Roca, where in your post does it suggest a price drop? Nobody knows officially if or when the PS3 slim is coming and at what price. Think I will wait to hear from Sony before I decide on anything. If the slim does launch at say $299, I will be tempted to pick one up. I have an HDTV in my living room and in my bedroom, gets to be a pain switching the PS3 back and forth when the need to do so comes about.
July 21st, 2009
if this is true, i’ll be tempting to get it. just so my old PS3 can get a rest.
July 21st, 2009
They are not going to release a slim at a discounted price.
If there is a slim it will most likely come out at current price and they will drop the price of the current design lower then the slim until the stock is sold out.
Then they will drop the price of the slims.
July 21st, 2009
^^^^ make sense.
July 21st, 2009
Just like the PSP Go will cost more or they could lower the current model when the Go hits the stores.
July 21st, 2009
well the PSP go have blue tooth capabilities and it also has built in memory.
but with the PS3 they are going to shirnk it making it less expensive to make and it wont cost as much to ship.
July 21st, 2009
Ncaissie – the PSP go is a unique situation. Due to GameStops monopoly of the market, Sony had to raise the margin of the Go. The Go goes against GameStops used game agenda, and gamestop had no interest in carrying it. They raised retail margin to keep them happy as a result.
July 21st, 2009
‘a rumor of a PS3 price drop? wow, never heard one of those before…..’
July 21st, 2009
With inflation the way it is, a $400 console in 10 years will be cheap like borscht .
July 22nd, 2009
$99 PS2 now = $149 or less PS3 in 2015-17?