Most Dangerous Game Character

Many games have opinions said about them, split opinions more-so due to different tastes of gamers across the gaming community as a whole. Final Fantasy XIII is certainly a game and series that has split opinions, especially in the game community. Opinions like these can lead to the question, is it worth your time and money to get into. Final Fantasy XIII has not only been the leader for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 frontier of the Final Fantasy series, but also the leader in the newer 3D style of the games.

Having been released on December 17th, 2009 and ended on November 21st, 2013, the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy is certainly a masterpiece to behold for yourself. From amazing characters, beautiful scenery, enchanting music, to amazing gameplay it is all worth witnessing from the heart-gripping story told through all three games.

Final Fantasy has been around for over 20 years and counting, their first release being December 18th. 1987 on the Nintendo Entertainment System. The franchise itself was originally created by none other than Hironobu Sakaguchi. Since the franchise’s success came sequels. The interesting bit about the franchise is that each number, or sequel, (ex: Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy IV, ect…), introduces a brand new set of characters and story line. With its success in the video game genre of role-playing style, or RPGs, it has been the consistent leader for 2 decades now. The Final Fantasy franchise has spanned across all platform types, totaling in 13 main games, 7 enhanced games, and 32 spin off games across 50 platforms.

Final Fantasy XIII is actually a trilogy set, featuring the first ever female heroine of the series named Lightning Farron. Lightning is quite the stoic one who isn’t afraid to punch someone in the face, literally. All three games of the XIII trilogy set feature Lightning as the main character, guiding the player through her story of saving the world as everyone knows it. The first game’s goal was set to not only save humanity, but also to bring back everyone alive. The second game took a turn when the game featured Serah Farron, Lighting’s little sister, as the main character alongside her friend Noel Kreiss. Through this game, we figure out that lightning had become an immortal being, Etro’s champion. The goal for this one was to save not only humanity, but the timeline of the universe as a whole from the new antagonist Caius Ballad. Finally, the third game of the trilogy jumps back to our former main character from the first game, Lightning. This game is set a bit differently, now featuring the character as a god and a savior of souls. Her mission, in this game, was to save as many souls as she could within 13 in game days. Upon the final day, the new goal was to kill the god Bhunivelze upon discovery that he didn’t want to save souls, but destroy them and create a new world from scratch. Not only is this game interesting to one’s knowledge, but also interesting at how many points of views it takes before reaching the ultimate end of this story underlying throughout the three games, similar to The Lord of the Rings.

Throughout your journey as Lightning and Serah, you meet various new friends and alliances. Hope Estheim, a troubled teenager who has to cope with his mother’s death in the beginning of the game, was the intelligence of the group, also holding a close spot to Lightning the cold herself. Sazh Katztroy, a former aircraft pilot who’s entire goal throughout the series was to save his son and humanity as a whole, wishing for a peaceful life for everyone. Snow Villers, Sarah’s fiancé who is always optimistic about achieving victory and sees the good in everyone from bad to good. Oerba dia Vanille, also an optimistic person that sees the good in everyone though carries a heavy burden about the past and future outcome for humanity narrates the story that soon becomes Lightning’s and Serah’s. Oerba yun Fang, almost like an older sister for Vanille and a protector for those she loves, is quite the stubborn one when it comes to doing what is right and putting up a fight. She isn’t afraid to voice her opinion or point out the obvious faults. Finally, Noel Kreiss, more-so a friend to Serah rather than Lightning, carries the heavy burden of knowing the future outcome fro humanity and fights along with Serah to stop that destiny from becoming a reality. The group, as a whole, have an impact on each other one way or another, all giving strength through an alliance that bonds them as one powerful unit against the destructive evil.

The gameplay of Final Fantasy XIII 1-2 showcases a more linear play of game due to the plot being more streamlined than open world like previous games in the series. The benefit for having the game driven like this, helps the player see the objective on where to go and to get them to the next checkpoint in the game for story continuation. The battle system features a classic turn-based system that allows the player to have each character on their team do something before it’s the enemy’s turn. However in the final game of the trilogy, it features a more open world kind of gameplay, featuring a new battle system that is real time action based. This had never been done. In any main final fantasy game before this trilogy, setting it up as somewhat of a pilot for 2016 title Final Fantasy XV.

For years, Square Enix has been the leader when it comes to graphics in video games. Looking at their various other projects such as Kingdom Hearts and Star Ocean, one can conclude that Final Fantasy XIII grabs the horse by the reigns when it comes down to its breath-taking scenery. From the Gapra White Wood to the Luxerion Cathedral, there are hours upon hours of beautiful landscapes and buildings to gaze in awe. The precision and detail of each and every model of not only the scenery, but the characters themselves have people stunned at just when they do. You are able to see the threads in the clothes and the individual strands of hair on all character models. It’s almost as if you’re in the movie, and you embody the main character.

Now, this is the question that everyone asks when it comes down to it: is it worth your time and money to invest into this trilogy set? Final Fantasy XIII as a whole is a masterpiece and journey to enjoy. Gorgeous visual graphics of the game just loop you in with this breathtaking scenery of nature and sci-fi alike. The gameplay itself is sleek and demonstrates ease of streamline play throughout the game to enjoy the characters and the many different maps alike. However, it all can’t be fully appreciated without the inspiring storyline that takes you on this adventure through all three games of the set. Through the entire story, you are able to develop attachments to the characters and watch them grow. Each scene in the three games is enhanced by beautiful music scores and legendary voice acting. These games are worth the time and money to get into, enjoying this movie like series on a quest to save all of humanity. It is certainly an experience worth not to miss. 

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