Final Fantasy XIII -

In Final Fantasy XIII, you will embark on a journey through the cityworld of Cocoon and the outerworld of Pulse. Along the way, you will encounter diverse allies who will fight alongside you. Execute powerful attacks with weapons and magic, and summon the enigmatic Eidolons with an evolved Active Time Battle system. Experience seamless transitions between real time gameplay and in-game cinematics. Do you have the courage to face your destiny?

Final Fantasy XIII is a role-playing video game developed by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. Released in 2009 in Japan and 2010 in North America and PAL regions, it is the thirteenth installment in the Final Fantasy series. The game introduced a few innovations to the series: a fast-paced combat mechanic, a new system determining which abilities are developed for the characters called "Crystarium", and a customizable "Paradigm" system to control which abilities are used by the characters. Final Fantasy XIII also includes elements from the previous games, such as summoned monsters, chocobos and airships.

The game takes place in the fictional floating world of Cocoon, whose government, the Sanctum, is ordering a purge on civilians who have supposedly come into contact with those from Pulse, the much-feared world below. Lightning, a former soldier from Cocoon, begins her fight against the government in order to save her sister, who has been branded a l'Cie, unwilling servants to the beings known as the fal'Cie, who maintain order on both Cocoon and Pulse, and thus has become an enemy of Cocoon. Lightning is soon joined by a band of allies, and together the group also become l'Cie after their encounter with a Pulse fal'Cie. Together, they rally against the Sanctum, while also trying to discover their "Focus" as l'Cies, the tasks they must complete before their time comes to an end.

First appearing at E3 2006, Final Fantasy XIII is the flagship title of the Fabula Nova Crystallis collection of Final Fantasy games and is the first game to use Square Enix's Crystal Tools engine. Square Enix describes the theme of the game as "those who resist the world". Final Fantasy XIII received mostly high scores from noted video game publications but was criticized by many for its linear progression. It became the fastest-selling title in the history of the series, and has sold over 5.55 million copies worldwide.

Battle system

The concept for Final Fantasy XIII's battle system was to maintain the strategic nature of command-based battles. The system stemmed from a desire to create battles similar to those found in the film Final Fantasy VII Advent Children. Like those in Final Fantasy XII, enemies are integrated into the world environment, but by contrast, battles do not take place in the same field. Instead, there is a short transition and players are transported to a new battle screen, separate from the main playing world but visually similar to the current location.[9] Battles use the Active Time Battle (ATB) system of previous Final Fantasy games, but with some changes

The first battle system was shown during the E3 2006, but it was only a prototype. A new interface was shown in September 2009 by Square Enix in various Japanese magazines and trailers. In battle, the player can only control one character at a time out of a party of up to three.
The player selects several actions at once, which are then performed in the order selected by the lead character when the ATB bar has filled. Each action takes a specific number of slots, and the ATB bar increases throughout the game from two slots to a maximum of six.[10] There are no separate Magic Points, or MP, for magical attacks as in previous Final Fantasy games. The player also has the option to select less than the maximum number of possible actions, or to prematurely stop the filling of the ATB bar and perform as many actions as can be done with the current ATB amount. Only the lead character can be controlled; the other one or two characters present in the battle are controlled by the game.

The player may also select an "autobattle" command which fills the ATB slots with actions chosen by the game. Actions cannot be performed outside of battle, and the characters' health, measured in Health Points (HP), is fully restored after each battle.