One level: games. The other level: studying. You must choose. . . wisely.

For many Final Fantasy fans out there, the March 9th was a day to look forward to. The day has come and gone, but many people have entered the 10th of March with a brand-new game in their collection, yours truly included. In fact, walking back to my place from a long journey to the mall one city-over, we ran into a grad student, with a copy of FFXIII AND a brand new PS3. Dedication? I totally think so.

Anyhow, the Final Fantasy series has touched the hearts of many gamers. It brings back memories of. . . well, bad posture, poor eyesight, questionable eating habits, and long days and nights in sleeping clothes tirelessly glued to a television screen. The experiences from that television screen, however, can be described only as magical. You follow these little characters as they become entangled in this epic journey to save an entire planet from unmistakable evil. And as the hours pile up, so do your emotions. It eventually comes to the point where you become immersed in an entirely different world then your own*. Experience is the best way to describe an RPG like Final Fantasy.

So, recalling the nostalgia of previous games, I was definitely excited for this day to come, for nearly two years now. The day has come and gone, and despite a fairly busy workload and the beast that is finals are coming up, I was able to get in about two hours of gameplay in. Some initial thoughts:

• Maps are very linear. So far, it’s very easy to know where you need to go, just follow the map and run. This, however, became a little repetitive. I found myself wanting a little more, but then again it was the very beginning of the game.
• I cannot stop imagining what this game would look like on the PS3. While images and cutscenes are crisp, and definitely very very very good, I have this lingering feeling that the PS3 experience would be astounding.
• The battle system is a little repetitive during the tutorial phases of the game, but as you progress, it becomes a lot more complex. For instance, you start out learning how to attack, later on you learn how to level characters, and how to set up formations and attack chains.
• I wasn’t able to find Japanese audio with English subtitles, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t present. However, the voice-overs are top notch, which is what you’d expect from Square-Enix.
• Menus are smooth and sleek. It’s very pleasing to the eye!

FFXIII has definitely not disappointed! Stay-tuned for an in-depth review!