A blind playthrough of Final Fantasy XIII

[Indecision]

About a week ago (as of 9/9/2021), I started playing Final Fantasy XIII for the first time. I'm presently in chapter 5, but I still have plenty of thoughts on pretty much everything about the game, from the battle system to the story so far. As you might expect, this is where I'm going to be writing about them, as well as whatever happens later on.

I'll try to update this thread daily as permitted by real-life circumstances. My work schedule should fortunately allow for time to play the game and I can usually update it during my breaks.

 

[Indecision]

At present, my impressions regarding the game are generally good. Aside from the fact that Lightning is stupidly edgy, Snow is mildly annoying, and Hope is a bit more annoying, I've come to enjoy the characters I've met up to this point.

I still feel like the story itself is in the process of building up to the main conflict, even if the stage is pretty much set by this point, but said buildup has generally given me a good time. If it keeps up like this, I'd say I definitely got my money's worth in that regard.

Regarding the gameplay, I especially want to mention my two favorite parts of the game: the combat and the music. The fresh take on ATB is paced well to the point that I tend to invest a lot of my focus during fights, and the music was very nice for selling that impression effectively. Even outside battle, the music has a tendency to occupy my attention even to the point that I tend to pay less attention to the characters' voices.

If I were to change one thing about the game as a whole so far, I would make it so it's possible to slow time when selecting commands. FFVII Remake showed me that there's plenty of value in having more time to plan out your actions, especially with the fact that everything is moving and it can be hard to focus on the HUD with all the action on the screen.

Overall, I've been having an enjoyable time. Over the next few weeks, I expect I'll definitely have plenty to look forward to throughout my adventures in Cocoon and Pulse....