Genre: RPG
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix

Like a lot of Japanese developers, Square Enix persisted in developing their own engine in-house as opposed to just licensing one of several excellent products available on the market. The result of this approach is that they did not have the expertise to get both HDR and 720p working at the same time in the Xbox 360 version of the engine, with reasonable framerates-- the resolution was thus sacrified. The decreased resolution does little to affect the artistic wizardry of Tetsuya Nomura and his team, which have produced for this title some of the most striking character designs to ever bless the genre. The scenery, which includes creepy factories, blooming forests, a lush green field area, ancient temples, and everything else you'd expect from the genre, is nothing short of outstanding, right from the get-go all the way to the end of the sixty or so hour adventure.

After the less-than-stellar soundtrack Hitoshi Sakimoto's team produced for the series' twelfth iteration, Square Enix turned to Masashi Hamauzu (who, incidentally, left Square Enix after his work on this game) to deliver this title's score-- and deliver he did! The game's many zone, battle, and boss songs are melodic and orchestral, but without relying on corny Hollywood effects. They are also memorable, a trait often ascribed to Uematsu's work with the series, which helps one to overlook the surprising choice to supplant the well known Final Fantasy theme song with a Leona Lewis pop number. With the exception of Georgia Van Cuylenburg's markedly uneven performance as "Vanille", the rest of the English voice cast shines-- perhaps even rivaling the quality seen in many modern Western releases.

Final Fantasy XIII feels like two games bundled in one package-- the first half of the title is spent with the player being shuffled through a bit-too-long sequence of dungeon, cut-scene, boss, then dungeon again cycle. This portion of the title is salvaged by fantastically beautiful character and scenery art, a wonderful soundtrack, and one of the best battle engines ever utilized in a JRPG. The battle engine is notable in that, like the combat in Bioware's recent "Dragon Age: Origins", it is designed for the player to focus more intently on managing the overall tactics and direction of the fight, rather than micro-managing all of the nitty gritty details. The second half of the game features a hub-and-spoke design, centered around a quite large and gorgeous field area, complete with Crisis Core-like optional side quests. Once the title is completed, the player is free to explore the game's open world freely and liesurely complete the plentiful side quests on offer.

In many ways, Final Fantasy XIII is to Eastern RPGs what Mass Effect 2 was for the Western RPG variant; it eschews many of the genre's staples-- the overwhelming central focus on a field map, the inclusion of towns, and a micro-management oriented combat engine-- and instead places the onus on pacing and genre-busting combat. The game's inclusion of user-friendly elements, such as supplementary text summaries of the excellent story that unlock as the game progresses and the ability to instantly replay any battle immediately after death, are much appreciated. Despite the many positives, there are moments in the first half or so of the experience that simply feel too constraining-- this is where the inclusion of even limited exploration elements in the earlier parts of the game would have helped to break up the claustrophobic feeling of endlessly navigating tunnel-like dungeons and fighting baddies. Nonetheless, Final Fantasy XIII is a mildly inferior yet still viable contender to Sakaguchi's "Lost Odyssey" for the crown of best contemporary Japanese-developed RPG.