FINAL FANTASY XIII

Do I recommend this game? Totally.
Does it work from the get go? No.
But its easily fixed
Download FF13Fix + the 4GB Patcher
Copy following files from the FF13Fix
d3d9.dll
FF13Fix.ini
Paste them here:
"Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY XIII\white_data\prog\win\bin"
Start the 4GB Patcher -> navigate to the same path as mentioned above and patch the game .exe:
"ffxiiiimg.exe"
That's it.
Happy gaming.

not everyone's cup of tea, but it is definitely my cup of tea. sip sip.

Final Fantasy XIII was my first journey into the Final Fantasy saga, and what a journey it was. I experienced all kinds of emotions for both good and bad reasons.
Final Fantasy XIII has a unique way of making you love its characters. You feel like you are living their adventures alongside them. After dozens of hours, the characters start to feel like friends, true traveling companions. Their character development is good and makes you genuinely attached to them.
The story itself, while interesting and ambitious, is also very confusing. The game throws a massive wall of names, concepts, and informations at you with very little explnation, which can honestly make things hard to follow sometimes.
Now let’s talk about the most frustrating part of the game. FFXIII suffers from major pacing issues. The game often feels unnecessarily long, and when the story finally reaches its peak, it suddenly buries you under tons of pointless fights, heavy grinding, and an unclear open world. This almost made me give up, but I’m glad I didn’t because in the end, it was worth it.
At times, the game can feel unfair due to its combat system (even though I personally enjoyed it). However, I wouldn’t recommend Final Fantasy XIII as a first entry for newcomers to the franchise.
Shoutout to the soundtrack and the cinematics, they are absolute masterpiece. This is where the game truly shines. They pull you in, make you feel powerful emotions, and allow you to fully dive into the heart of the story, it feels more like watching a movie than playing a game sometimes.
So, would I recommend this game to everyone? Definitely not, at least not without warning people about its flaws. Is it worth buying and playing? HELL YES. Final Fantasy XIII is a beautiful game that is far from perfect, but it left a lasting mark on me. Once it touches your soul, you begin to see its true beauty.

Once you install the fan patch to prevent the game from crashing this is one hell of a game. I'm not sure why it's such a controversial game. The gameplay is the peak of ATB, its super fast paced and satisfying to play. The visuals are insane too, I refuse to believe this ran on a PS3 or 360. The story and characters are all really good too. 10/10 would recommend if you're on the fence.

You may have heard a lot of bad things about this game, and over all, pretty much all the criticism is valid. I won't mince words, the gameplay in this kinda sucks at times (although the strategic element does come into fruition towards the end). The levels really are walking-simulator-tunnels. The tone might get a bit sappy at times, the main protagonist might rub some the wrong way with her broodyness and there are not a lot of RPG-esque choices to be made. It is overall not a very great game.
However, behind this friction lies a truly great vision of an underappreciated art piece. A creatively written and interestingly executed story with timeless themes, set in a world whose rules and ideas keep you on your toes, whose setting makes you sit through every mediocrity just to find out what more lore there is to offer. The breathtaking art direction oozes 2000's nostalgia without ever seeming too corny, Hamauzu's stunning aetherial soundtrack hits the highs of Uematsu frequently and even surpasses it at times. The incredible world design makes you stop in your tracks to look at the timeless 7th-gen-crunchy graphics that still look beautiful to this day (!). Final Fantasy XIII is an experience, I just can't ever forget about.
In a weird way, the contradictions between the narrative mantle and the gameplay aspects make this a really unique game that shines not in spite of weird and subpar game design, but because of it. The clash between the often tedious combat and disengaging levels with visual design that keeps you hooked with a story whose dialogue hits a perfect balance between personality and philosophy creates a unique love-hate relationship that will stick with you if you want to or not - a unique complex feeling that hooks you, makes you seek out more, nests itself in the back of your mind. The overall piece of art that emerges from all these aspects really is one of a kind, and even as it may be hard to approach this game as just a gamer, I think everyone should have tried it at least once, just as art-loving humans.
As games are more and more accepted as an artform over just pure entertainment, I predict Final Fantasy XIII will regain both popularity and acclaim.
If this outlook resonates with you, I can wholeheartedly recommend this game.
I can also recommend playing the whole trilogy, which thematically ties everything up nicely and elaborates more on the strongest aspect of FF13, the lore. Still, the game works quite well on its own as well.

THE XIII QUESTIONS
I. Is FFXIII a bad game?
No.
II. Is FFXIII a corridor simulator?
Yes, most of the time.
III. Does that make it bad?
No. It does make it linear which is by no means bad.
IV. Does the game play by itself?
No. The combat system has a lot of depth if you actually pay attention and learn its mechanics. If you think you'll get by the end of the game only by selecting "Auto Battle", you're gravely mistaken.
V. Is the combat fun?
Yes, it's fun but not for everyone. I really liked the Stagger System as well as the Roles presented for each party member. Also the ATB system in this game is good but has its flaws. But nothing game breaking.
VI. Is FFXIII only playable with mods?
Absolutely not. Just go to settings and select 1080p resolution and you good to go. I played it on a big OLED and on Fullscreen and didn't have any problems. The game is gorgeous even at 1080p at locked 60fps with rare drops on the Crystarium.
VII. Is the story good?
ABSOLUTELY! You'll have to read some of the entries to fully grasp what's going on about the world, but even so this is one of the best stories of a FF game I've played.
VIII. What about the characters?
They're perfect. Just perfect. I can't believe how much I care for each one from the start and their dynamic with each other is second to none. FFXIII has one of the best parties of the series.
IX. Is FFXIII overhated?
Unfortunately, yes. I do understand most of the reasons, however, this game does not deserve all the hate it gets. Most people just don't have the patience and worst of all: they follow the opinions of others like their own without even trying the game for themselves.
X. Is the game time consuming?
If you only playing it for the story -which was my case-, no. You'll have your standard JRPG time of completion and I beat it with 64 hours doing everything I could and doing all the side content available at my level. FXIII is quite challenging and if you are under prepared, you'll certainly die a lot. Now if you want to 100%, then yes. It's VERY grinding.
XI. Is the music good?
No, it's not good. It is fantastic! It's incredible how memorable all of the OSTs are.
XII. Which language did you play it?
Original japonese. However the eng voices and performances are really good for the scenes I saw in some videos. I just don't like and don't agree with the English localization of the script. But that's just me.
XIII. Do you recommend Final Fantasy XIII?
Yes, definitely. The game isn't perfect and that's exactly why it's so beautiful and worth the experience.

its 2011 , im 12 years old , it was rainy night , im getting my first xbox 360 ever inside a small gameshop , thats moment when i enter the gameshop , theres the pink haired girl , her poster are everywere inside the gameshop, that night i pickup my first ever xbox and the game alongside dead rising and street fighter 4, back at home i plugging my newly xbox and inserted the disk, that night , its change my life forever, the moment i entered the main menu , this some kind of mellow piano sountrack keep playing, it was sad , but beautiful kinda sad, then i started the new game , i watch the cutscene it was sooooo beauuuuutiful. Video game is art , art can touches you inside.