Final Fantasy XIII

Reviewed by Jason Venter (March 20, 2010)

The multi-faceted nature of combat means that in Final Fantasy XIII, nearly every battle is a fresh adventure. That's not evident in the first few hours, where you're still learning new techniques and simply mashing the 'X' button allows you to slaughter most enemies that you encounter. The dynamic changes abruptly once you've been playing for a few hours, however, and you're suddenly going up against monsters so powerful that they can smash tanks, or you're fighting so many at once that they can overwhelm you almost before the fight begins unless you truly understand how to get the most out of your party members.

Reviewed by Rob Hamilton (February 24, 2012)

At least the fighting was fun — after the game had decided I'd done well enough with the remedial classes and gave me access to everything. Each character can take on a number of roles. Ravagers blitz foes with attack magic, while Commandos deliver powerful melee attacks. Other roles are more specialized, doing things like buffing party members, debuffing foes, casting healing spells and serving as tanks to protect the more frail from powerful assaults. As the game progresses, each character learns new roles, making them more versatile. With a click of a button, you can switch from a set-up with two Ravagers and a Commando to one designed to quickly heal the wounded.

Reviewed by eviltb (April 26, 2010)

Final Fantasy XIII (Xbox360) – by eviltb