FINAL FANTASY XIII
Final Fantasy XIII took more than four years to finally hit store shelves after its announcement. The series’ unique style was still very much intact, looking better than ever. You could almost see the individual strands of multicolored hair sprouting from each character’s head. Everything was a joy to explore and discover, but the game didn’t feel very much like its predecessors.
The structure of the game was much more linear, with no open world available until the game was almost done. You were just pushed from battle to battle. The battle system itself was a fun evolution of the ATB and job systems that had defined the franchise, but the sense of exploration that had always gone hand-in-hand with Final Fantasy was completely stripped away. Your health was even fully replenished after every encounter, also removing the sense of stress that large dungeons and long excursions brought on.
