Final Fantasy XIII​ (ファイナルファンタジーXIII, Fainaru Fantajī Sātīn?) is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix and is the thirteenth installment in the Final Fantasy series. It was released for the PlayStation 3 entertainment system in Japan on December 17, 2009 and is due for release in North America and PAL regions on March 9, 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The concept for Final Fantasy XIII’s battle system is to maintain the strategic nature of command-based battles. The system stemmed from a desire to create battles similar to those found in Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. Like those in Final Fantasy XII, enemies are integrated into the world environment. However, unlike Final Fantasy XII, battles do not take place in the same “dimension”, instead there is a short transition and players are transported to a new battle screen, separate from the main playing world. The Active Time Battle (ATB) system will return, but it will work differently from its predecessors. Users will be able to chain large numbers of commands together in order to achieve attack bonuses.

The first battle system was shown during the E3 2006, but it was only a prototype. A new interface was shown in September 2009 by Square Enix in various Japanese magazines and trailers (depicted in the image adjacent). In battle, the player can only control one character at a time out of a party of up to three.

Multiple commands can be stacked into slots per turn and released at the same time to form a combo. The number of command slots increases as the characters grow in strength. These commands include series staples such as Attack, Fire, Blizzard and Cure, as well as new ones such as Ruin, Ruinaga, and Radial Strike. The difference between XIII’s battle system and the ATB gauge is that these commands can still be placed in the slots even though the bar has run out, and the actions will be executed once the required slots are filled up. The game does not make use of MP but introduces “cost points” for each command, which determine how many times the commands can be used per turn. Because magic cannot be used outside of battle, the Hit Point (HP) of the party is completely restored after each battle.

When engaging an enemy, the camera moves to another position and the battle menu appears, making the battle transitions nearly seamless. The after-battle victory screen in XIII holds information such as the time it took to finish the battle, the highest number of combos executed, the number of break attacks and the quality of battle which is determined by a ranking of one to five stars. The party will be able to purchase new weapons in the game for use in battle.

A “Break State” is one of the new features of the Final Fantasy XIII battle system. The breaks refer to the times an enemy enters a state of reduced retaliation. This occurs when a chain combo has been maintained for a certain period of time on an enemy, filling a bar to maximum. When a high level combo has been achieved, the enemy will glow red and enter this state, during which the player will be able to inflict high amounts of damage and knock some enemies high into the air. The chain bar will gradually deplete during this period; when it becomes empty, the break state ends.
Roles and Paradigms

The “Role” system exists in order to control what abilities are available to characters in battle. Rather than having all abilities available to characters as they are learned, abilities are restricted to certain Roles, similar to the Job system of previous installments. The Japanese version’s Roles are Attacker, Blaster, Defender, Enhancer, Jammer, and Healer, while the English localization calls them Commando, Ravager, Sentinel, Synergist, Saboteur and Medic, respectively. Commandos strike with physical, non-elemental attacks; Ravagers use elemental abilities like Frost Blow and Thundaga; Sentinels provoke and absorb enemy attacks, and dish out counterattacks; Synergists use buffs like Shell and Brave, while Saboteurs use debuffs like DeShell and Bio; and Medics exclusively heal, using abilities like Cura, Raise, and Esuna. Roles, with a specific purpose in mind for each, are the only means by which to direct ally AI.

Each character may only take on one role at a time, and each combination of three Roles for a given party is called a “Paradigm” (“Optima” in Japan). Up to six Paradigm combinations may be stored at any one time. During battle, players may switch between them on-the-fly, called a “Paradigm Shift” (“Optima Change” in Japan). Timing Paradigm Shifts correctly can fill the ATB gauges, making switching frequently in battle an advantage.
The Crystarium

The leveling system for the game is called the Crystarium System which resembles the Sphere Grid in Final Fantasy X. Instead of gaining experience points after winning a battle, characters gain CP (Crystal Points) which can then be spent in order to unlock abilities and increase attributes such as maximum HP. Every character has a Crystarium, and within it, different sections corresponding to each Role the character has available.

The Crystarium is not initially available within the game, and only becomes available through story sequences. After that point, levels in the Crystarium become unlocked as the story progresses, essentially capping the amount of growth that can be achieved in the middle of the game. Every character initially specializes in up to three Roles, and the other Roles are not even available in their Crystariums until much later in the game.
Summons

The classic summoned creatures called Eidolons (as they were in Final Fantasy IV DS and Final Fantasy IX) return in Final Fantasy XIII. Each character possesses only one Eidolon that is summoned from a crystal that sprouts from the character’s mark of l’Cie. The Eidolons include series staples Odin, Shiva, Alexander, and Bahamut, and newcomers Hecatoncheir and Brynhildr. When summoned, the Eidolon stay in battle while the characters accompanying the summoner leaves the party. There is also a new feature called “Gestalt Mode” (known as “Driving Mode” in Japan), which when activated joins the summoned and its summoner; Snow can ride and steer the combined Shiva Sisters which is a motorcycle, Vanille’s Hecatoncheir can transform into a bipedal mech with machine gun turrets in which she can control, and Sazh can ride and steer Brynhildr as a race car. This changes the pace of the combat significantly. But not all summons turn into mechanical vehicles; Odin’s Gestalt Mode changes him into a horse for Lightning to ride on, Bahamut’s Gestalt Mode is a flight mode for Fang to ride on, while Alexander’s Gestalt Mode changes him into a large castle which surrounds the enemy and fires lasers at them from all sides. The summons play a major role in the game’s storyline as well, much like Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy X.

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Final Fantasy XIII PLAYSTATION 3 Games
Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 Games