Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 Version Hands-On Impressions

by Alex Donaldson on 12 February, 2010

You’re going to find plenty of previews of Final Fantasy XIII out there that explain how the combat works, how it plays, how battles work, and undoubtedly they will be gushing about how slick and speedy it is, and they’re right to. But we’re RPG specialists, and we’ve played the import, and we’ve told you all about it in the past – so we spent our brief time with the Xbox 360 version of the game looking not at how it plays, but how well it’s been ported.

In case you’re not an RPG Site Regular, I’d like to point you to our other coverage before you read any further. If you want to know about how Battles play out, hit up our Battle Impressions. For info on character growth, you’ll want our Character Progression piece.

Finally, if you want to know exactly how good the game is, check out our full, massive Import Review. It’s almost 3000 words! With that out of the way we can finally ask the million dollar question – how is the Xbox 360 version?

Final Fantasy XIII is undoubtedly one of the best looking games so far this generation, benefitting from a pretty impressive custom-built engine and some wonderfully zany and out-of-this-world art direction that helps it to be striking at almost every moment in almost every area of the game.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game are identical in this respect. Everything magical about FF13’s world has been lovingly translated in the Xbox 360 version. Loading times are few, entry into battle is seamless, and everything looks sharp, clean and pretty. It’s a damn fine port, and in regular gameplay even the most devout fan might struggle to notice the difference between the two, were it not for the different button prompts.

In terms of both gameplay graphics and performance the two versions feel almost identical, and there are no significant flaws with either version. It’s clear that the same attention to detail and level of polish has been applied to the Xbox 360 version of the game, despite its shorter lead time.

Despite fears from many, in our time with the game we didn’t spot any muddy, low quality textures in the Xbox 360 version, and there weren’t any technical hitches even when battles got crazy with magical effects, explosions and gigantic enemies all in the mix.

There is a sticking point for the Xbox 360 version, which may prove crucial to some gamers: In game video.

FF13 comes packed with 40-some minutes of pre-rendered CGI sequences that help to further the story, and on the PS3 they run at 1080p and aren’t compressed as highly as on the Xbox 360 version. As well as being heavily compressed, the 360 CGI FMVs run at 720, a lower resolution.

In addition to the CGI sequences, one thing a lot of people don’t realize about FF13 is that many of the ‘in engine’ cutscenes aren’t rendered on the fly – they’re pre-rendered sequences, rendered on a powerful development machine and then placed onto the disc as a video file. That’s one of Square Enix’s tricks for getting their character models and environments to look so much prettier in the cutscenes than in gameplay.

The end result is this: as well as lower-quality CGI sequences, any of the game’s ‘in-engine’ cutscenes that aren’t rendered in real time will suffer from the same compression issues. These sequences are only at 720p on the PS3, but the Xbox 360 compression is significantly more powerful in order to fit the game onto 3 DVDs. The compression used means that any video sequences in the game have a slightly reduced quality.

In reality the compression isn’t going to bother most gamers, and you’ll have to sit pretty damn close to the TV or be playing the game on a massive TV or projector for the difference to detract from your gaming experience. The FMVs are still incredibly impressive – they’re just ever-so-slightly less vivid on the Xbox 360.

Look past the pre-rendered video compression, though, and you’ll see a port that appears as solid as any I’ve ever seen before. Gameplay appears almost identical on both pieces of hardware, and the few differences that I spotted were so negligible that they’re not even worth mentioning.

If one thing is striking about Final Fantasy XIII, its fine sheen the game exudes from every angle – and the same has to be said about the work that Square Enix have done on the port. It’s quite a piece of work, especially considering how quickly it’s come together, and you have to wonder if Square Enix already had the Xbox 360 plugs for Crystal Tools ready to go from the get-go.

The PS3 version looks like it will be superior by default with higher quality music, FMVs and of course no disc-swaps, but the bottom line is whichever console you buy FF13 for, you’re onto a winner. The core game is definitely the same on both versions.

Both versions of the game are out on March 9th, and the Xbox 360 version is going to also be bundled with the console if you don't already have one. Amazon has the Xbox 360 version here and the Playstation 3 version here. There's a Limited Edition Strategy Guide for collectors and the Hardware Bundle, too.

Note: This Article was Published by Alex Donaldson on behalf of John Davies.