Introduction

Final Fantasy XIII is a game that needs no introduction. Released in March 2010, it is perhaps the most divisive title in the entire franchise to date - no small feat for a series that contains games like Final Fantasy VIII and XII. While it is unquestionably a lesser game than IX, VI, or X, it's far from the worst the series has to offer. The battle system is fast, fluid, and challenging, the game is a gorgeous triumph on both a technical and artistic level, and the difficulty curve is silky smooth, combining the best (and worst) bits of SMT and Final Fantasy. For most people, this is counterbalanced by the game's excessive linearity, terrible story, and characters that make even the most hardened defender of the game groan.

As for me, I like the game. It's not perfect, but I had enough fun with it to call it an enjoyable experience. My partner in crime, Fedule, does not. Maybe you don't either. But that's okay! I'm not going to tell you that if you had just read Datalog 5.38A then the story would have made perfect sense and everyone would love the game. I'm not here to change anyone's mind about the game, and all I ask is that you do the same. Just keep it civil and concise - no one wants to read your 10,000 word diatribe about how Final Fantasy XIII is god's gift to mankind or an abomination crafted by Satan himself in a bid to destroy the franchise forever, and I will lock the thread if things get out of hand.

This LP will be done in video, and there will be commentary over cutscenes. The story is the last reason to be playing FF13 and while we'll do our best to let the game speak for itself, you're not missing much, I promise. There'll also probably be more than a few effort posts along the way covering combat, datalogs, etc, but we'll cross those bridges when we get there.

Spoilers: If you absolutely have to post them, tag them. Sure, they're going to be incomprehensible to anyone who hasn't played the game anyway, but it's good form. And absolutely no spoilers for the sequels. Period. Not even tagged.

Full Playlist

Table of Contents

• Update 1: Does this remind you of anything?
• Update 2: Neither a Hope NORA Care
• Update 3: Sympathizing with Hope
• Update 4: A Brilliant Plan
• Update 5: Crystalline Drifts and Paradigm Shifts
• Update 6: Tri-Disastrous
• Update 7: Slippery Summons
• Update 8: Trash Walking, Trash Talking
• Update 9: Managerial Initiative for Incentivizing Rapid Growth of Industrial Synergy
• Update 10: Abandon Hope
• Update 11: Auric Amulet of Forgetfulness
• Update 12: Following the Blue Light Road
• Update 13: You Wouldn't Stab a Golden Retriever...
• Update 14: The Umbrella School of Pokemon Design
• Update 15: Step Into the Rainbow
• Update 16: Weathering the Wilderness
• Update 17: Director Rosch Vows to Personally End Pulse Menace
• Update 18: How Many More PSICOM Troops Will Pulse L'Cie Murder Today?
• Update 19: Repulsed! Cowardly l'Cie Flee in Face of Heroic Stand by Citizens
• Update 20: Panicked L'Cie Continue Flight From Justice
• Update 21: Could YOUR Child be a Pulse L'Cie?
• Update 22: The City of Dreams
• Update 23: The City of Nightmares
• Update 24: Aerodynamics 101 with Motomu Toriyama
• Update 25: Oerba Dia Vanille's Pro Kalavinka Striker Fishing®™
• Update 26: Space Pope Cope to Cope
• Update 27: Ark-Annoyed
• Update 28: When it Raines...
• Update 29: Falling with Style
• Update 30: The Writing on the Wall
• Update 31: The Hunt Begins
• Update 32: Drakengard!
• Update 33: Undyin' Over Here
• Update 34: Paling in Comparison
• Update 35: A Feathery Frolic with Friends
• Update 36: something something Hecatoncheir?
• Update 37: Hope, Emissary to the Juggernaut People
• Update 38: Who the Fuck is Taejin?
• Update 39: Taejin Our Time
• Update 40: Dekcus noegnud siht
• Update 41: The Sands of Time
• Update 42: End of the Road
• Update 43: Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
• Update 44: Where Hope Goes to Die
• Update 45: Pride Before the Fall
• Update 46: A Haerii Situation
• Update 47: Welcome to the Matrix
• Update 48: Eden's Final "Challenge"
• Update 49: The Cradle Will Fall
• Update 50: Hunt Roundup 1 - Analect Edition
• Update 51: We're Going to Need Some Bigger Numbers
• Update 52: A Treatise on the Collapse of the Pulsian Economy
• Update 53: 1000 Needles
• Update 54: A Titanic Achievement
• Update 55: Well that was anticlimactic
• Update 56: Claire Farron, Oretoise Hunter
• Update 57: ~Fin~