I’m in! Literally. I’m about 2.5 hours in to XIII and I’m enjoying my time with it quite a bit. I’m also getting strong FFX vibes off of the structure and the pacing, structure, and design of the game. The dungeon/level design seems to flow you forward very directly. Yes I know that this is criticism that was very directly leveled at the game when it came out, but I don’t see that it’s much different than FFX.
One of the things that has struck me is how modern the game feels in its design. If you told me this was a proto-Miyooverse mobile design, I might believe you. Your health is refilled after every battle. This makes it feel that individual battles have larger stakes. There aren’t even experience points! (Though I’m told that those come in later.)
I also came to talk about the Datalog as it ties directly into the conversation that @adashtra was having about in-game lore books on one of the recent episodes. I’m not sure that I’m going to dive into it very much myself, but it sure seems like there’s a lot to like if you’re that kind of person.
And as far as the characters go, I think they’re all neat. Sahz’s voice actor particularly knocks it out of the park. I don’t like Hope though. He’s just a broody teen (so far).
But like all video games, especially ones from 15 years ago, the drama isn’t always well-executed. My favorite example is this scene about 30 minutes or so in.
Snow: “Oh no! I’m gonna die!”
Big Explosion
Unnamed Woman: “Moms are tough!”
Another Big Explosion
Unnamed Woman: Dies
