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Random access memory - The battle system
FF's battle system has always been the killer for most gamers. Before the divisive FFXII came out, all the main single-player games used a turn-based system and random battles. While this proved, and still is, hugely popular with enough gamers to make the series massively popular, there was just as many who hated it for those two core game mechanics. Perhaps in response to this, Square Enix decided to move away from deliberate turn based combat and do away with the random battles for FFXII, instead incorporating an MMO aggro style system which meant you could avoid getting into scraps if you wanted to. And from what we know of FFXIII, it looks like Square Enix is going for a similar system.
The developer has said the combat in FFXIII will be as fast as an action game but will also allow you to input commands. Actions will continue to be initiated in a turn-based fashion, but time will continue to pass as you're doing it, similar to recent iterations of the series. There will also be a new animation system so that fights look better choreographed - think the action sequences from not quite as good as we'd hoped cgi movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.
We can see from the trailer that you'll be able to chain attacks, hopefully creating a bit more variety to the combat than in previous FF games. Mashing up the bad guys will be all about combinations, incorporating lots of different attacks into one fluid motion. So you might fancy a run and slash attack and mix it up with some fire, thunder or blizzard magic. Customisation, it appears, will be key to making the combat look and feel like you're directing an action scene from Advent Children.
Like FFXII, it looks like you'll be able to size up a fight before deciding whether or not to take it on. So you'll also be able to approach battles in different ways, giving you an edge with good use of tactics for example. However, that doesn't mean FFXIII will be an exact replica of FFXII. We know there will be a completely new way of getting into scraps, somewhere in between the completely random battle and completely non random battle extremes.
What we don't know is how controlling your party will work. We don't know if you'll have something along the lines of the divisive Gambit system from FFXII, which allowed you to program actions into your party members, thus allowing you to sit back and enjoy the show, or if you'll have to micro-manage everything yourself. It could be in fact that you'll have no control over your party members. We'll go out on a limb and say FFXIII won't have something similar to the Gambit system, well we hope anyway, and instead will give up more control over the party. But this will entirely depend on how turn-based Square Enix decides to go with the game.
So what's the verdict on FFXIII's battle system? Some gamers have expressed their concern that it will be too much like directing a movie, little more than initiating pre-rendered attacks to chain CG movie sequences together. We can see the point here, but isn't this what FF has always been about? Initiating commands and watching spectacular attacks unfold on screen? Personally I have reservations, but I'm cautiously optimistic that we'll get a level of control over battles which will dynamically incorporate the environment. How about speeding into a battle on a bike, knocking down a few enemies with that, jumping off, killing a few others with a chain attack and then using the environment to customise your landing? That would be nice. Fingers crossed.
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