Final Fantasy XIII Preview
So I imported Final Fantasy XIII recently, and just received it the other day, but I haven’t had a chance to play it yet. As an experiment, I’m going to try doing some sort of “coverage” here of my playthrough of it. Unlike most people interested in this game, however, I completely skipped the PS2 generation. Unless you count the PC version of Final Fantasy XI, which I bought when it first came out in the US, and it was horrible back then. Otherwise, I’ve only played I-IX, so this will be my first game with voice acting, and my first game without Uematsu’s music. I don’t really know or care what the deal is with the main song, either. I just don’t like playing Final Fantasy games in English because I’m a bitter old lady.
But anyway, first, I’d like to talk about the version I got. I bought it because it was (and still is, as of this writing) on sale at PlayAsia for much less than its normal price. In fact, it’s less than what the US version costs. And that’s even with shipping factored in, if you pick a cheap option. But even though it’s in Japanese, it’s not exactly the version released in Japan. It’s a Japanese language version of the game released in countries like Hong Kong and Taiwan. But it is NTSC (supporting 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p, according to the back cover), and everything from the manual to the game itself (I have checked that much) is Japanese only. There is one extra sheet that includes Chinese and English translations of the menus and controls, though. But otherwise, it’s almost identical to the Japanese version, content-wise. It just doesn’t have that code for Final Fantasy XIV, which I’m guessing one wouldn’t be able to use unless they had a Japanese residence anyway. So if you are interested in importing the game, this version seems just as good as the one from Japan. Though, I honestly don’t know which song is used, not having played it yet, aside from the opening video and options menu. But I’d assume it’s the Japanese song, since all the other audio is in Japanese.
Anyway, I took some pictures of the case and manual and stuff, for those who might be curious about it. And before you think it, turning the flash off would have made these look even worse. My camera sucks. But click them for full-size.
The front cover of the box. You probably can’t read it here, but below the English font is the katakana “fainaru fantajii XIII.” No Chinese title anywhere, despite PlayAsia’s listing implying it might be.
The back cover of the box. The silvery text is a (the?) Japanese tagline, while the rest is all technical stuff, mostly in English, but a little Chinese. The flash obscures the little table that explains the language stuff. It says that the voices, subtitles, and manual are all Japanese, but the “Operation Sheet” is in Chinese and English. There’s also a blurb that says the game has trophies, which is good, because my trophy collection is lacking.
The inside of the case. There’s a disc, a manual, and a couple of inserts. One of which is for PlayStation Network, but I already have an account. It offers a free LittleBigPlanet theme if you have a PSN account in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, or Singapore, but mine’s based in the US, so I can’t do anything with it. If you have a PSN account based in one of those countries, I’d be happy to give you the code. It expires August 31, 2010. But it doesn’t look like the theme has anything to do with FFXIII.
A glimpse of the manual. Though it’s hard to tell from this terrible shot, it’s all Japanese. But there are technical blurbs and warnings at the very beginning which are in English and Chinese. “When playing, to prevent injuries, take a 15 minute break every hour.” This game sounds dangerous, but luckily I tend to get distracted for at least 15 minutes an hour anyway.
This is that “Operations Sheet” with Chinese translations of the basic controls and menus and stuff.
On the other side of the “Operation Sheet” is English translations of the controls and menus and whatnot. I don’t really need it, but it could be useful to other English-speaking importers.
And that’s that. My “coverage” will likely start later today or tomorrow. I’ll try to avoid or at least hide spoilers, since I’m sure there are many people who don’t want things ruined, and most of the world still hasn’t gotten this game yet.