Final Fantasy 13: Guide to Everything

Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy 13: Guide to Everything
Page content

Thirteenth in Line: Final Fantasy 13

Thirteenth in line of major releases in the franchise, Final Fantasy 13 is a game marred by a few large flaws. Square-Enix decided to depart from the typical RPG/Final Fantasy pattern and make a game completely without towns and largely linear. The characters range from awesome to terrible, as is typical for a JRPG. The monsters are often recycled. On the plus side, the music is decent and the graphics are awesome.

The game was initially meant to be a part of a multi-game saga known as the Fabula Nova Crystallis, but most of the plans for that have fallen through with the lack of critical success of Final Fantasy 13. One of the games dropped the FF13 name, and another was renamed into the upcoming Final Fantasy 13-2. However, with Final Fantasy 13 being the primary game released to date, that’s the one this article focuses on. The game is surprisingly deep, especially the upgrade system, and there’s a lot of information to be had. Here we have it for you! Just take a look and find what you need. If you don’t see something you’d like to see, let us know!

General Game Information

Crystarium

Final Fantasy 13 can have a surprising amount of depth. The leveling system, called the Crystarium, offers a bit of customization before the endgame. Which of the six trees does your character specialize in, and how far do you go before you want to buff one of your subclasses? Of course then there’s the choice of which three of the six characters do you want to use as your main party? They all have their benefits and their downsides. Each one has their own Eidolon to summon, their own weapons and styles to use, and certain roles they’re better at than others. Learn all about each of these facets of FF13’s crystal below!

Complete Game Walkthrough

FF13 Pulse

Even though one of the biggest complaints about Final Fantasy 13 is its linearity, that’s not to say there isn’t content to miss. Given that one of the achievements is to at one point or another hold every item in the game, it further increases the importance of exploration. Couple that with the massive expansion of the map when you hit Chapter 11 and you have a lot that the average player may miss. These guides will help point out anything you may miss, and will give you tips for beating each boss or troubling encounter that comes your way. Anything that comes your way in a given chapter is covered in the guide for it below, so take a look!

Optional Missions and Tough Bosses

Mithridates

Final Fantasy 13 isn’t all about killing robotic dogs and running down long hallways. There are plenty of tough bosses, and even more optional encounters. The optional encounters especially can come as a shock to someone unprepared. Almost everyone, upon entering Pulse in Chapter 11, ran up to one of the giant turtles expecting to be able to murder one. Then they got stomped. They aren’t impossible to kill, though! Far from it. Of course some of the less optional encounters can be just as difficult, like the brick wall many players encounter when they fight Odin for the first time.

For both storyline bosses and mission marks, we have guides for you! Learn how to take down even the most fearsome foe, Vercingetorix, the optional superboss.

Final Fantasy 13’s Robust Upgrade System

FF13Ultima Weapon

One of Final Fantasy 13’s achievements is to hold every item at one point or another in the game. This doesn’t seem very hard, though it is time consuming hunting down a few rare drops. Then you realize that “every item” includes every weapon, including the ultimate weapon for every character. With several weapons per character you need to upgrade to tier 2, and have the exp needed to upgrade one of each to tier 3, it’s a lot of grinding for money and drops. Not to mention all the catalysts necessary to transform items. And the accessories you need to keep around and upgrade just in case. Then again, for those of you who do want to get the achievement, a guide is better than nothing. So here we have several! General tips for the upgrade system, item checklists, and upgrade guides. Enjoy!

Achievements, Tips, Tricks, and Other Info

turtle

Even with all of the other information presented above, there are still plenty of facets of Final Fantasy 13 left to cover. After seeing some of the achievements you may wish there was a 2x experience cheat or an infinite gil hack, but nothing of the sort exists. We do have plenty of tips and tricks for you, though, including the best grinding places in the game. Also we have plenty of analysis of what makes the game good, including the characters and the soundtrack. Check it out!

References

  • Images Copyright Square-Enix
  • All information from Bright Hub writers, further credits in individual articles