Final Fantasy XIII isn’t perfect. However, my stubborn nature is insisting I finish it before I start Uncharted 2. That’s providing quite a motivation. Today, in the middle of a rather linear, grinding section of the game, something struck me.
Why do the characters in this game hate the wildlife so much?
It’s one of the recurring themes of RPGs: you run around in circles getting savagely attacked by exotic fauna and flora. In the days of random battles, you could justify destroying the local ecosystem. You’d be minding your own business, trying to save the World from evil when a gang of bloodthirsty frogs/cacti/horses would ambush you, the only wish in their hearts to inflict pain and suffering.
clearly self-defense.
Now the wildlife are the ones minding their own business and you have the choice to tip-toe past, leaving nature undisturbed. The creatures of FFXIII’s world only attack you when provoked as wild animals are known to do. No malice in their hearts. It’s not completely necessary to fight them if they do take a dislike to you; they can’t follow you for more than 12 feet before forgetting what they were doing and wandering off again. So please, remind me why I keep slaughtering these animals?
Oh yes - so I can earn points and steal their treasure.
The most effective strategy for this is to creep up behind a creature and then kick the living crap out of it. The best thing about FFXIII is its beautifully realised, richly populated environments. We’ll see how they look when I’ve caused the largest mass extinction since the end of the Cretaceous. At least I can use the creatures’ byproducts to upgrade my boomerang.
But this isn’t new to FFXIII. Most RPGs I’ve played which don’t rely on random battles have the same relationship with the game world’s animal kingdom. At least unlike the Zelda series I don’t have to make my money by attacking the undergrowth - there’d be nothing left of the place.
Final Fantasy XIII on Amazon.co.uk
