Final Fantasy XIII, released about a week ago, is definitely a visually stunning game, but there just seems to be something missing.

I have been playing the FF games since the first was released for the NES way back in 1987. I still think it was the greatest game ever released for that system. One of the first games I owned for my SNES was FFII (FFIV in Japan) and acquired FFIII (FFVI in Japan) when it was released. The sole reason I purchased a PSOne was to get FFVII and I played the real FFII, FFIII, and FFV as ROMs with poor translations on emulators on my PC. I even own FFX-2, that horrible shit sandwich of a game. The only FF game i dont have was the FFVII sequel that had Vincent as the main character. I couldn’t debase myself enough to purchase it, so I know my Final Fantasy.

This is not a Final Fantasy game.

One of the great things about the original FF was the open world aspect. While there was a linear story line, you did not have to follow it. Case in point, I always acquired the float stone, got the airship, and went through class change before going to the volcano to battle Kary. It was hard as fuck, but was extremely worth it. If you don’t know what I am talking about, then fie on you, go back and play the original FF. It’s available all over the place (even on iPhone). FFXIII has completely linear game play. What in the hell is that?

They also removed any real semblance of a leveling system. How many hours did we spend in FF going back to the Earth Cave fighting in the hall of giants grinding away the levels so we could defeat Chaos at the end? There are “spheres” that allow you to increase you stats and abilities, but I have heard if you fight every encounter in the game you will have enough CP for everything without grinding. Without grinding! Do you realize the grind I went through to beat the Ultimate Weapons in FFVII? And that was just for the bell of it!

While it is viasually stunning, I just find myself severly disappointed with the game play so far. If I want an interactive movie, I’ll go play Heavy Rain again (which is an amazing game). It appears if I want a Final Fantasy challenge, I should go buy the original for my iPhone.

Batman .. Arkham Asylum

Been spending the past two nights in Gotham City with this game for the PS3. It is, by far, the greatest Batman game ever made. Of course, the second greatest was the game for the NES many years ago (everything else belongs in the dung heap) so it doesn’t have much competition to go up against.

The game captures the atmosphere of the Batman universe very well. The criminals are absolutely insane, not some watered down version, the violence has a very real feel without being over the top, much like in the movie The Dark Knight, and has consequences. Put simply, people are going to die.

They created a combat system for the game called “Free Form Combat.” It may sound like button mashing, since you only have a couple buttons used to attack with (with one primary strike button), but you have to time stuff just right to pull off combos and actually survive in the large gang fights.

Included is a very small leveling up system, you gain experience and buy new unlockables like better armor, better batarangs, etc. There are also plenty of secrets to find, riddles to solve and trophies from everyone’s pal The Riddler and interview tapes of the criminally insane denizens of Arkham that give you a little more insight into their own personal insanity.

Definitely one of the best games I have played so far on the PS3.
Also available for XBox360 and PC.