Final Fantasy XIII - 5: Finger on the Pulse

"So, Bard, what happened to those more frequent updates," you ask? Well, the holidays, I was away for a few weeks, and I got a kitten... who is adorable, but also a major distraction. In fact, she just climbed up my back and is now reading over my shoulder. Cute? Yes. Cuddly? Yes. Major distraction? Most definitely. I don't really have an excuse though, so... onward!

My kitten also seems to like sitting perched on my arm... like a falcon. Perhaps I can train her to hunt?

When last we left off, the L'Cie had reunited on the ship Palamecia, and found that the Primarch Dysley was no-less than the master Fal'Cie, Barthandalus. Bart clues the party in to the fact that they are being manipulated by the Fal'Cie, and that their true focus is to destroy Cocoon. The party fights Bart three times in the game, which is odd, since he is supposedly guiding them towards their destiny, so what purpose does it serve for him to defeat the L'Cie? Somehow this didn't really bother me the first time I played the game. As best I can tell, Bart is training and/or testing them to make sure they are strong enough to achieve their ultimate task. This is a little lame, but I think it's okay to give this one to FF13 on account of it's being an RPG, and it making for some exciting battles against Barthandalus. It is somewhat implied that other L'Cie in the past had attempted the same mission and failed, perhaps being judged not strong enough by Barthandalus.

Snow on the Ark.

After defeating Barthandalus, the L'Cie find themselves transported to what they call an "Ark". It has presumably been lifted from Pulse, and hidden on Cocoon by the Sanctum. The purpose of the Arks is to train L'Cie to find their full potential. It seems that Barthandalus sent them there to grow in power. On the Ark, the party runs in to an old friend, Cid Raines, the leader of the Calvary, who helped them get aboard the Palamecia. However, the reunion turns out to be no fun, as Cid reveals he has been turned into a L'Cie by Barthandalus. It is his focus to lead the party to the destruction of Cocoon. He has decided though, to rebel and instead attacks! He hopes he can instead stop the Pulse L'Cie (which is the PC party, if you're having trouble following along.) The battle that follows was even more frustrating than Bart and his 'Destrudo" attack, as Cid tends to use an attack combo that is almost always an instant kill. These were basically the two hardest bosses in the game for me, and having them one dungeon apart was... ugh... not fun.

Cid Mighty-Morphs in order to trounce me severely. This isn't my pic, it's from a Japanese version. Source.

I think the plot gets a little confusing at this point, as Cid turns to crystal after the battle. The prevailing wisdom in the game world is that L'Cie turn to crystal after completing their focus, but Cid has decided to work AGAINST his. Since this is my second play through, I kind of see what's going on. I think Cid, by force of will, has created his own focus. He implies something along those lines in dialogue after he is defeated. The first time I played through though, I really didn't get what was going on with Cid. It's also worth mentioning that characters named "Cid" have a long history in Final Fantasy (all the way back to FF2), and they are usually responsible for getting the party an airship (also his job in FF2). Although there is no airship in FF13 (to it's detriment, I believe) Cid does lead an air unit and commands a ship that the party utilizes, so the tradition is upheld.

Today's filler-screenshot, Sazh with Pulsian sheep!

After making their way through the Fifth Ark, the L'Cie find themselves on the surface of the planet below, Gran Pulse. This is also revealed to be the home of two of the main characters, Fang and Vanille. I don't remember it clearly, but if I recall the party finds a ship set-up to launch through a portal which takes them to Pulse. The world of Pulse is teeming with wildlife, and its skies are no exception, as a flying serpentine creature causes the ship to crash land.

It's this point in the game where it purportedly "opens-up". My first play-through I was sorely dissapointed, as I expected an over-world to explore, complete with towns and dungeons to be discovered, as the Final Fantasy series has been known for. So, when I found out Pulse was just a collection of large grassland screens with the most to be discovered being new monsters, I was pretty disappointed. This time around, knowing not to expect towns and hidden levels, I appreciated a bit more that Gran Pulse is HUGE (at least compared to the rest of the game) and there are interesting things, like new items, to be discovered. 

Fang stands on the grasslands of Pulse. Cocoon hangs in the sky, and a massive adamantoise turtle lumbers by in the background.

Pulse continues two trends in the game, that is having highly detailed and colorful scenery, as well as the player not being able to interact with most of it. The artists created a massive LOOKING world, but in comparison to other RPGs it feels tiny, because of that simple fact, very little of it can be interacted with. Even NPC's that can be spoken with are few and far between.

Looking over a canyon into the Pulsian wilderness. The attention to detail is remarkable, as the player can often see into the distance into places they can later visit.

One thing I want to complement FF13 on is that the attention to visual detail is very impressive. Even down to the fact that the brands on the player characters change as the story progresses. Fang reveals that the brands change over time as a L'Cie comes closer to becoming a Cieth. A Pulse brand gains arrows, and a closed eye. When this eye opens, it's over, as the L'Cie becomes a mindless Cieth.

Somebody was kind enough to put together this example of the Pulse brand development, and it somehow ended up on a Star Wars site. Source.

The biggest introduction in Pulse is FF13's side quests. Like much of the game, these are a bit over-hyped, because however many of them there are, they all take the same form. Similiar to FF12's hunts, the player gets a mark, then must find and defeat it to complete the mission. In what felt like a somewhat forced explanation to me, Cieth who do not complete their focus and are not killed eventually become "Cieth Stones". These are monoliths that can be interacted with, in order for another to complete the focus.

Fang examines a Cieth Stone.

When examining a stone, the player gets an information screen, and has the option to accept the mission.

The mission information screen.

These hunts are generally entertaining, requiring varying strategies to defeat interesting foes. I keep repeating this statement, but once again I think the feature under delivers, because there is a major lack of variety. I think there are 60 hunts. If there were 30, plus a couple other side quest options, I'd feel a little better about it.

I did perhaps 10 hunts this playthrough. In my first playthough, I completed them all. Most were entertaining, but by the end I had a seriously sour taste in my mouth. Granted, this could be because I completed them in a marathon fashion, but I place blame on a certain group of Cieth the game calls the "Undying". Fighting these guys is just... a major pain in the ass. Take my complaints about Barthandulus and Cid Raines, then multiply by ten.

To add to the frustration, there are two Pulse Fal'Cie that the player sees at times. One is Bismarck, an aquatic creature, and Titan, a ridiculously massive humanoid that can be seen walking Pulse. The game, at least to me, seemed to be leading towards battles with these two beasts. However, once again, not to be, the hunts only lead to more pallet swaps and the soul crushing Undying.

Titan dominates Gran Pulse's horizon. Source.

It's a continuing theme, FF13 takes good ideas and just somehow manages to muck it all up. I find it somehow fascinating, because I really think it's rare that a highly anticipated, big budget game just misses mark after mark like this game does.

Our L'Cie have made it to the surface of Pulse, the supposed hell on earth. What awaits them there? Will the destiny of their focus end up in Cocoon's destruction? Or will they be able to defy their destiny, and be Cocoon's salvation? To find out, come back soon... to This Bard's Tales!