Final Fantasy XIII has undergone something of a cultural reevaluation in recent times, so it’s not really surprising to learn that newer employees at Square Enix list the game as their favorite Final Fantasy title in the series. This is according to Final Fantasy VII Remake director Naoki Hamaguchi, who made the claim in an interview with YouTube channel GamerBraves.
Around the 9:32 mark, the interviewer notes that a lot of developers at Square Enix list Final Fantasy VI as their overall favorite game in the series. Hamaguchi responds, “So recently, because the company has been growing and changing as new employees come in and the company just keeps going on. The younger folk who come in don’t say Final Fantasy VI anymore, they say, oh yeah, Final Fantasy XIII was my favorite. So I really do feel the passing of the ages.”
The conversation doesn’t linger on the statement, but it’s maybe not too hard to figure out why. At the time of its release in 2009, open-world games were the new hotness and people were disappointed by how linear XIII was. In the near 17 years since, open-world games have gone from being a novelty to the dominate style of game, with Ubisoft becoming the butt of many jokes for creating basically the same game over and over again. Newer players find it refreshing that XIII is so straightforward, allowing them to focus on the combat system without worrying about navigation.
I don’t share that opinion and am a firm Final Fantasy XIII hater. I didn’t enjoy the game back at launch, and I still don’t like it. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good ideas present, and no one can knock the audio/visual presentation, but XIII came at a time when Square Enix wasn’t sure of how it would move into the future. It rests as this strange product of modernism and traditionalism that does neither particularly well. The combat system is also poorly thought out, though paradigm shift is a great mechanic.
At any rate, if you’re one of the few that believe XIII is the best, know that you aren’t alone.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
