The major theme here seems to be duty; upholding and fulfilling predetermined roles. This is seen in both the story and the battle system. That is the mark of a good game, when the rules and the narrative express the same ideas.
For instance, the l'Cie are these martyrs, right? Straying from their path results in "death," and completing it results in "death." Contrast this with the notion of the Cocoon citizens: a society so sheltered and constructed that open-minded thought is pretty much impossible; not living up to your expected role here is again, deadly. On the gameplay side, you've got this battle system which revolves around assigning and mismatching "roles" for the characters to fulfill. It strikes me as a juxtaposition and melding of two paradigms: the old school Final Fantasies (pre VII), and the newer ones (post VII). Old FF required players to utilize different characters' predetermined unique stats efficiently, by pairing compatible classes. New FF essentially turned characters into blank slates, to be customized entirely by the player. The fact that Final Fantasy VII was indeed a paradigm shift for the series, coupled with the (almost) painfully obvious and copious references to that game found in XIII, to the point that I'm not sure XIII isn't some strange secret remake, well... it makes me think.
Now, I'm still really early, but the inevitability is that at some point in the game, the cast will make it off of the technological, floating wonder that is Cocoon (or was it Midgar?), and onto the lurking wild below, opening up a whole new world of gameplay options and possibilities. Gone will be the pandering tutorials and sterility of party management. There will a breaking out of the shell, a shedding of the skin of such fantastic proportions...
... oh.
OH. I see what you did there, Square-Enix. Nice metaphor.
For instance, the l'Cie are these martyrs, right? Straying from their path results in "death," and completing it results in "death." Contrast this with the notion of the Cocoon citizens: a society so sheltered and constructed that open-minded thought is pretty much impossible; not living up to your expected role here is again, deadly. On the gameplay side, you've got this battle system which revolves around assigning and mismatching "roles" for the characters to fulfill. It strikes me as a juxtaposition and melding of two paradigms: the old school Final Fantasies (pre VII), and the newer ones (post VII). Old FF required players to utilize different characters' predetermined unique stats efficiently, by pairing compatible classes. New FF essentially turned characters into blank slates, to be customized entirely by the player. The fact that Final Fantasy VII was indeed a paradigm shift for the series, coupled with the (almost) painfully obvious and copious references to that game found in XIII, to the point that I'm not sure XIII isn't some strange secret remake, well... it makes me think.
Now, I'm still really early, but the inevitability is that at some point in the game, the cast will make it off of the technological, floating wonder that is Cocoon (or was it Midgar?), and onto the lurking wild below, opening up a whole new world of gameplay options and possibilities. Gone will be the pandering tutorials and sterility of party management. There will a breaking out of the shell, a shedding of the skin of such fantastic proportions...
... oh.
OH. I see what you did there, Square-Enix. Nice metaphor.
Good review, do like.
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