15 Years Ago, Square Enix Released the Most Divisive Final Fantasy Game

On 9th March, 2010, publisher and developer Square Enix released Final Fantasy XIII for Western audiences, and we can still recall the incredible hype behind it. Gorgeous, a stunning showpiece for what the famously difficult to develop for PS3 could achieve, it introduced us to Lightning, perhaps the most iconic protagonist the series’ has produced since Cloud himself; the release divided the already fractious Final Fantasy fanbase like never before, with some hailing it as revolutionary and others decrying it as a major step backwards.

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s easier to appreciate what Square was trying to achieve with Lightning and co’s explicitly sci-fantasy adventure. The Paradigm System, which formed the game’s visually impressive battle system, itself a return to something more traditional after the deviation that was Final Fantasy XII, was actually pretty darn good. Its soundtrack, too, was pretty stellar. We’d totally be down for a remake, as there is certainly something there.

Still, it’s hard to get past FFXIII’s disjointed narrative, the lack of exploration allowed by its more directed adventure, and ditching of essential elements like an overworld, towns, or even many NPCs to explore and interact with. We’ll never forget the rallying cry of the game’s staunchest defenders, that “it gets better after 20 hours”, once the core crew comes together and the game world opens up. Add to that the explicit war crimes that were Vanille and Fang’s alleged Australian accents in the English version; some atrocities can never be forgiven.