Final Fantasy XIII/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Abuse Is Okay When It Is Female On Male: Real quick, switch Snow and Lightning's gender. Would half of Light's abuse of Snow be as tolerated by the fandom as it is now?
  • Alas, Poor Villain: At the end of Chapter 12, Yaag Rosch fights your party nearly to the death, but spends the last of his energy ordering his soldiers to evacuate the citizens, then blows himself up in what appears to be an attempt to keep your party safe from outside attack. And the 'Game Over' music plays in the background.
  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: A rather large number of gamers became excited about the game when Sazh Katzroy was announced entirely because he looked so different from everyone else in the series (i.e., he has an afro). The man has a baby chocobo living in his hair! And is fighting to save his adorable six-year old son! And his Eidolon is Brynhildr, some kind of fire robot chick that turns into a sportscar with mounted machine guns. Sazh is actually cool enough to have invented his own summon. And he has a Badass Longcoat.
    • Oerba Yun Fang was almost unanimously declared to be the sexiest thing since sex once she was introduced. And a pretty strong character, too. It also helps that both of her ultimate weapon and her Limit Break are Shout Outs to Kain Highwind, she gets a lot of Woobie-points in the end, AND has a sexy Super-Powered Evil Side!
      • Not to mention all of the Les Yay subtext between her and Vanille.
    • Lightning's upcoming appearance in Dissidia 012: [Duodecim] Final Fantasy.
    • At seeing another black character. (Amazing how many people assumed he was the first despite Barret being around for years prior.)
  • Angst Dissonance: Hope is 14, went through a hell of a Trauma Conga Line and he is hated for the resulting Freak-Out.
  • Base Breaker: Dahj's either the most huggable widdle thing you've ever seen or you will see him in your nightmares.
  • Complete Monster: Barthandelus/Galenth Dysley is easily one of the least sympathetic main villains in the series.
  • Crossover Ship: Noctis/Lightning is surprisingly popular, and has been even before the release of either game, if FF.net is any indicator.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: The one thing just about everyone agrees on with this game is that it, like the rest of the series, has an absolutely stellar soundtrack.
  • Deus Ex Machina: Some view the ending of the game to have this, though others disagree. Most chalk it up to a Deus Ex Machina, saying that the events that occur throughout the ending such as the heroes getting a new Focus from an unknown entity and the de-crystalization and brand removals occurred via Etro's intervention, or at the very least were so out of left field and unexplained that they may as well have been a DEM. Others interpret it as a feat of Heroic Willpower, saying that some divine being doesn't save the day nor does something that wasn't hinted at before, it is the heroes by doing exactly what Vanille says, by "Making their own miracle" -- after finally deciding on what they want, they decide to use their power for the exact opposite of what it was intended to. Vanille and Fang decide to create rather than destroy, and since they have the will and power to do so, they are able to.
  • Disappointing Last Level: Completely Inverted, as the consensus is that the game is much much better when you get to chapter 11 (it's all linear up to that point). This was actually intended, as the developers stated that Cocoon was more story-driven whereas Pulse was more exploration-driven. (A lot of the people mostly complained about not getting to see more of Cocoon... and really, wouldn't YOU?)
  • 8.8: Shortly after release, many people complained (repeatedly and at great length) that they would not be purchasing this game because it didn't receive straight tens across the board, is therefore the worst game in the series and will surely be the last. This was after Final Fantasy XIV was announced, too.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Sazh tends to be the only character who's even praised by the game's detractors, thanks to a few genuinely touching scenes, and his tendency to keep histrionics to a minimum.
    • And if Sazh isn't your favorite character, more often than not Fang is.
    • Hope's mom Nora had a bigger impact on some players than most of the cast combined.
  • Even the Girls Want Her: The entire fandom agrees: Fang can bang us anytime.
  • Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory: Let's see, we'll start with the fal'Cie Anima (conveniently cross shaped) l'Cieifying everyone, then blowing up the Hanging Edge, and freezing Lake Bresha. Oh, and it's made of hundreds of church bells that ring while an opera sings a melancholy tune. And that's just the prologue.
  • Evil Is Sexy: Jihl Nabaat, to many fans.
    • If Fang turning into her version of Ragnarok is considered evil, then is anyone complaining about it? Not really.
  • Fan Dumb: As should be expected from Final Fantasy, but FFXIII is quite possibly the worst offender, especially regarding the Xbox 360 version. The moment that version was announced, a portion of the fanbase declared that FFXIII was Final Fantasy In Name Only. Because of this, they declared Final Fantasy Versus XIII the "true" Final Fantasy XIII on the grounds of it being Playstation3 exclusive. They also blamed the 360 version when the critical reaction to the game was less than enthusiastic, even though the game had been finished and ready for Play Station 3 release before the 360 version was even started. Some even claim that the game had worse graphics than the announcement trailer because of the 360 version, even though Square has had a history of making announcement trailers look better than the final product and the fact that it's still one of the best looking games ever released, even on the 360. At the same time, many of these fans still believe that the 360 version somehow ruined the whole game.
  • Fan-Preferred Couple: Hope/Lightning, or Hoprai, has apparently gotten to be the most popular couple in the game. Or at least the one that's attracting the most Fan Art.
  • Foe Yay Shipping: Careful not to let yourself forget that Hope hates Snow; if you do, several scenes and lines suddenly look a little suspect.

Vanille: Couldn't tell him? Nothing'll change if you don't do anything.
Hope: Words won't change anything. Next time we meet, he'll learn exactly how I feel.

  • Funny Aneurysm Moment: During the fireworks scene in Bodhum, Snow says to Serah, "Our engagement is way bigger news." When they do tell Lightning about Serah becoming a l'Cie and their engagement the next day, Lightning doesn't believe in them largely because of the engagement, thinking it's made up as an excuse so they can get married.
  • Hate Dumb: It's also natural for a Final Fantasy.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Barthandelus's Evil Plan is basically to summon God by destroying the world. Okay, we get that the fal'Cie are all big time Death Seekers, but do they have any idea how pissed off the Maker is likely to be when He finds out they've blown up his world because of their own selfishness? Given the complete jackasses they've been, too, the odds of them ending up in a place with fluffy clouds and cherubs lulling peacefully to sleep every night don't exactly seem great.
    • It doesn't help that it is unknown what God they were referring to when they say Maker. Pulse Fal'Cie were made by the Fal'Cie Hallowed Pulse. Cocoon Fal'Cie were made by Lindzei, who could be considered their Maker. Or they could refer to the original God who made Pulse, Lindzei, and Etro, known as Buniberzei.
  • Internet Backdraft: God help the poor soul who likes either "Kimi ga iru kara" or "My Hands". These songs opened a new wave of English vs Japanese.
    • This game was originally supposed to be a Play Station 3 exclusive. Since Final Fantasy is a system seller, many people shelled out $600 for a Play Station 3 for this game alone. Then it was announced at E3 that FFXIII was coming to the Xbox 360. A lot of people were pissed, especially Sony's hardcore fans who viewed this as a scathing betrayal instead of good business sense. And yet they all forget how Squaresoft left Nintendo more or less for a few good years without a Final Fantasy game back in the day, and how many people shelled out $300 for an N64 assuming that Final Fantasy VII would naturally stay with Nintendo. From this point forward, every screenshot was scrutinized, with any and all differences being claimed to be further proof that features and visual fidelity were being ruined to make the 360 version by some fans. No Japanese track? Well of course some fans thought it was because of the 360 version (and not other issues like Square never putting out a dual language FF in the first place and never showing an interest in changing). Having enough content to make another game? Well, obviously half the game was cut to fit the 360 version onto less than 4 discs! Initial HD mockups looking slightly less detailed in the final version? Obviously, these would have been the final mockups if only the 360 version hadn't forced them to ruin the Play Station 3 version. And so on and so forth.
    • Forget that, God help the poor soul who said they actually liked it and thought it was enjoyable -- say you like this anywhere and you'll be lucky if they don't recreate the impalement scene in Cannibal Holocaust.
    • Depending on who you are, this game is either So Cool Its Awesome, So Okay It's Average (note: the EXTREME minority on the internet), or So Bad It's Horrible. The same could be said of any game ever, but it applies more to this game than most others.
  • Jerkass Woobie: Lightning. Yes, she abuses Snow at the drop of a hat and thinks Hope is a nuisance at first. But she willingly gave up a normal life so Serah could have one, and then volunteered to be Purged, throwing away a successful military career in an attempt to save Serah from the burden of being a L'Cie. It is also implied that Lightning projects her own feelings of loneliness onto Serah to avoid looking weak; she's the one left behind when Serah gets engaged, yet Lightning blames herself for not spending enough time with her?
  • Launcher of a Thousand Ships: Lightning's been paired with Snow, Hope, and Fang on a regular basis; she and Noctis are a very popular Crossover Ship; it isn't uncommon to pair her up with Cid Raines, LeBreau, Vanille, her own sister, or Sazh; and her similarity to Cloud Strife means she's been paired with him, Tifa, and Aerith. Probably comes from being very attractive and without a canon Love Interest.
    • She's even been paired with Sephiroth!
  • Like You Would Really Do It: Sazh apparently committing suicide, horrifyingly dramatic though it may be, is pretty obviously not going to stick since it comes directly after he obtains his eidolon.
  • Magnificent Bastard: Barthandelus, who manipulates both the protagonists and Cocoon's own military towards his ultimate goal of destroying Cocoon.
  • Memetic Badass: Sazh's Chicobo. Just check WMG if you don't believe it.
    • Fang is the Sexy-Female-Dragoon-Aussie version of Chuck Norris, AKA: Chick Norris.
    • Two words: Snow. Villiers. As one YouTube comment puts him:

Snow is goddamned awesome. He punches monsters in the face to get strong enough to punch bigger monsters in the face. He faces beasts, abominations, god-like beings and Lightning's wrath to save his fiance. He nearly gets killed protecting Hope's life and STILL protects him after Hope made it clear he wants to kill him, and he rides a motorcycle made of women! If this dude was any more bro, the game would be about him (and Sazh) instead.

  • Memetic Mutation: TOOOOOOOOWWWWWNNNNZZZZZZ!!!
    • Nora Estheim's "Moms are tough" line from the English release seems to be going down this path, as well.
    • STEELGUARD!!!!
  • Misblamed: Sadly, some fans just Did Not Do the Research. At all. Do the names Motomu Toriyama, Toshiro Tsuchida, or Yoshinori Kitase mean anything to you? Kitase is the producer of the game, as well as one of the designers. Toriyama is the director, and Tsuchida is another one of the game designers. Supposedly, the designer, producer, publisher, debugger, marketer, and localizer was Tetsuya Nomura... who only is credited as one of the artists, and you know what else? He's not even the ART Director!
  • Moe: Vanille.
  • Moral Event Horizon: Barthandelus callously shattering the crystallized Dajh and Serah prior to the final confrontation has been met with similar revulsion, possibly pushing him into Complete Monster territory. However, this is heavily implied to have been an illusion.
    • Yaag Rosch crosses it in Palumpolum when he ignores the Guardian Corps's protests and orders to fire into crowds.
      • In fairness, he's well aware that he's doing so. Rosch is the kind of person who is willing to commit atrocities by his own hand for the greater good, so long as it brings peace and calm to the populace of Cocoon - even if he's hated for it. This is demonstrated most strongly when he realises he was in the wrong to follow fal'Cie orders, and aids the party in their goal of saving Cocoon.
    • Jihl was already a manipulative bitch for taking away Dajh from Sazh for being a Cocoon L'Cie, and allowing PSICOM soldiers to open fire at Nautilus of all places. But then she manipulates Sazh into letting him kill Vanille because she was partially responsible for Dajh becoming a L'Cie in the first place. Her reaction? To sit back and watch, because she thinks it would be amusing to see one L'Cie kill another.
  • Most Annoying Sound: Flanitors. Just... Flanitors. Sirens are already annoying, but at least in real life they pass by and grow quiet. These, however, just don't stop until you kill them. And there are a LOT of them in the area. And they heal each other. While making noise!
    • The continuous alarm that blares while you're onboard the Palamecia and the only time it ceases is when you access the menu. Code Red, Code Green, Code Purple, whatever, fine, but somebody shut off that damn alarm!
  • Most Wonderful Sound: That is one satisfying breaking sound every time Lightning finishes her gestalt with Zantetsuken. BAM-BAM-SMASSSSSHHHHH
    • Whenever you fill the stagger bar, particularly on a very resistant enemy.
  • Nightmare Fuel:
    • Orphan, the Cie'th, the cutscene between the first and second phases of the final boss... *shudders*. The ending as well, for Vanille and Fang, which is also a Tear Jerker. Imagine being a sentient crystal for eternity...
    • Serah's fate in the prologue.
    • The penultimate boss, oh so much. From Barthandelus's rapeface to Lindzei gently stroking a sleeping Ophan... There are no words!
    • Sazh's son Dajh is pretty damn creepy. He looks like a baby doll come to life.
    • The theme for the final dungeon is rather unnerving, as well. It sounds like something out of a Silent Hill game.
    • Just the concept of being a l'Cie in the early game. When you become a l'Cie, you suddenly have three choices in life:
      • Fulfill your focus, which you're not even told what it is and may involve hurting or killing hundreds of thousands of people and be rewarded with "Eternal Life" as an unmoving statue, while your loved ones mourn your loss and eventually die.
      • Don't fulfill your focus, and become a monster.
      • Die. Sazh actually considers suicide twice. Once to the government to see his son one last time, and then again after when his son is crystallized before his eyes and he realizes he has nothing else to live for.
  • No Yay: Just before their confrontation at Oerba, Dysley assumes the appearance of Serah and gives Snow a big hug. Pass the brain bleach, please.
  • Only the Author Can Save Them Now: The ending. There are at least eleven Deus Ex Machinas in the last half hour of gameplay. These include Lightning, Snow, Hope, Sazh, Dajh, and Serah's "will-powered" transformation from crystal stasis back to human form, the four unexplained brand removals, and Ragnarok's power being used to save Cocoon, when the game has been insisting for the last forty-something hours that Ragnarok's only use was to destroy it.
  • Ruined FOREVER: Some of the fanbase has this opinion. The licensing of a Leona Lewis single to replace the Japanese title song in the US and PAL versions has created a big uproar. The fact the game is linear with limited back-tracking is oft-cited as a point of contention.
    • Of course, this being a Final Fantasy game, it should come as no surprise; every game since FF7 has garnered this reaction to some extent or another.
  • Scrappy Mechanic: Who on earth thought it would be a good idea for entire battles to be lost as soon as the main party leader kicks the bucket - regardless of health of other members?
    • The same person who decided that it'd be good to see all three characters randomly decide to strike a pose the first time you paradigm shift -- without the battle pausing at all.
    • And probably also the same person who decided to leave party control entirely up to the AI. Apparently they weren't aware of how afflicted with micromanagitis some gamers are, and said gamers were quite insulted.
  • She's Got Legs: All three of our main heroines have a very nice pair, and they're not shy about showing them off.
  • Tear Jerker: The death of Hope's mother, and that's just in the demo!
    • The ending. OH GOD, the ending, if your name is Hope, Vanille, or Fang!
    • The climax of Chapter 8. After Dajh has turned to crystal and Jihl has revealed that Vanille is the reason he became a l'Cie in the first place, Sazh confronts Vanille who begs him to shoot her because she deserves it after what she's done. Sazh is torn between wanting to take revenge for his son and killing the cheerful girl that he's grown fond of.
      • Right before this as well, when Sazh decides he's going to turn himself into the government, knowing full well he'll be executed. The whole reason he wants to do this is so he can see his son one last time, to tell him about the Chocobos before he's killed.
    • Many of the Cie'th stones have a tragic story to them, ranging from how they know that they're doomed to failure, how much they're looking forward to succeeding and going home to their loved ones, how they're charged with killing loved ones who turned into Cie'th, or even how the Fal'Cie have given multiple l'Cie the same focus and are forcing them to compete against each other.
      • Not to mention Cei'th Stone 33: A Parent's Pledge. You're charged with killing a lost, lonely Adamanchelid desperately searching for its parents. Even the mission description has the l'Cie originally tasked with killing it refusing to do it, preferring to turn to a Cie'th than kill a lost child for the fal'Cie.
    • Getting to Oerba. Granted, you kind of knew what to expect, but actually finding it that way is quite an emotional punch. Especially with this One-Woman Wail. The song doesn't stop even when you enter combat, similar to the Zanarkand soundtrack in Final Fantasy X, adding even more to its emotional significance.
      • Seeing Fang lose it for the first time when she looks at the ruins of her home whilst running through the beautiful snow covered mountains of Oerba is rather solemn.
      • That isn't snow. It is crystal dust that falls from Cocoon.
  • That One Boss: Barthandelus is quite a formidable opponent, particularly in his first and second incarnations. He has loads of HP and enjoys dropping a doom timer on your party leader, so your damage had better be top notch.
    • The battle with Cid Raines is a very difficult one at the time the player is required to fight them, especially since he's more than capable of taking out any unprepared player in one swoop, and can apparently cast the uncurable death countdown spell if the player takes too long to defeat him, ouch! That said, most bosses in the game can cast Doom if you're taking too long to off them, not just these two.
      • As long as you have 3 TP, Doom can be cured by summoning your Eidolon (assuming the Eidolon doesn't finish the boss off).
    • Each player seems to find at least one Eidolith battle to be a pain in the ass.
      • Odin takes the cake though. He hits like a truck, which is already bad news for your Glass Cannon and Squishy Wizard duo - but even if you know that he yields to you if you heal Hope and amass Chain Bonuses with strategic use of the Ravager and Commando roles, you won't have enough time to react before he sweeps you into the air. Some players even have to resort to using a Fortisol and Aegisol before entering the battle, the latter of which is exceptionally rare.
    • The True Final Boss's first form. He has the highest HP of any non-optional boss, causes tons of negative status effects, and has an attack that will always leave each of your characters with less than 100 HP, unless your characters are poisoned, in which case they'll be dead before the attack animation is even finished. And if you're lucky enough to survive the phase of the battle where he causes all those status effects, he can still randomly and unpredictably cause instant death on any character, including your party leader, which means instant game over.
  • That One Level: Near the beginning of Chapter 4, when Lightning leaves the rest of you behind, you're assigned a party of 3 non-COMMANDO characters for a duration. This period can be the most annoying part of the game; without a COM in your party, enemies with high defense or hit points become Goddamned Bats, as killing these Mooks without the aid of Stagger (which COM characters are a vital asset for inflicting) becomes a marathon of sorts. Battles that normally take less than a minute can easily go past five in this part of the game. Fortunately, Sazh learns the COM class after this section is over, so the problem never arises again. As a light compensation, 2 of the 3 characters you do get have the MEDIC class, so death is rarely a threat for this section.
    • A solution is to start off by debuffing the enemy with a SAB and then switch to all RAV. The extra damage will raise the chain gauge fast enough that you can stagger the enemy without a COM. Also, when SABs deal damage, they hold the stagger gauge steady like COMs do.
    • Fridge Brilliance kicks in when you realize the game is doing this to kick you out of the stagnation of doing COM/RAV(/MED) all the time. That's also likely the reason behind another of the game's allegedly "bastard moves", putting Hope in the lead. If you notice it, the game does it right after Lighning gains her summon. This way, not only you are prevented from spamming summons all the time, you get to witness what cool things Lightning can do now with her new Commando abilities and 4-slot ATB bar (for most gamers this section where she's supporting Hope is the first section where they see her Launch attacks; this gives you an ever bigger yearning to reclaim control of Lightning and do them yourself).
  • That One Sidequest: One trophy/achievement requires you to five-star every mission. Have fun with that.
    • You get an item after beating the last one that increases the time limit to beat the marks for 5 stars. Granted, you still have to rebeat every one you missed, but you should only need the additional attempt for 5 stars. Also, many can be preemptively struck, which is almost typically a guaranteed 5 star battle.
    • Another potentially frustrating sidequest is getting the Treasure Hunter Trophy, which involves getting every weapon and accessory in the game (thankfully not all at once, just owning each one at some point in the playthrough is enough). It requires an unfathomable amount of cash to do since you need to do a lot of upgrading, plus you need to get at least six of the rare and expensive Trapazohedrons (although there's a trick that allows you to get by with only having to find/buy two). It's not exactly difficult to do, but it takes much longer than anything else in the game and demands that you spend many hours farming Oretoises and Sacrifices.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: The entire game. A lot of fans aren't happy about the new formula. However, this is a fairly standard response to any game in the series.
    • Honourable mention: in the English Xbox version, the best source of mid-level CP farming -ochu- was patched to make him immune to sneak attacks, breaking the method used to farm him.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Many had hoped to see Jihl Nabaat as the main villain or at least an active one and was very disappointed to see her killed off after a total of ten minutes of screentime.
    • So, not surprisingly, those same fans rejoiced in the sequel where, in one of the alternate timelines, you finally get the opportunity to give Jihl the sound thrashing that's been overdue for years.
  • Wangst: Many players claim Hope is guilty of this. Although, given how his mother dies, he's separated from his father, he is branded with a curse that could lead him to a Fate Worse Than Death, the whole world is hunting him down, and he hates many of the people he's stuck with, one could excuse him for being a little emotional.
    • Plus we can't forget that many of these emotionally-shattering events happened within the span of days, and Hope had been a relativly normal teen beforehand. And fans think it's Wangst for reacting realistically? Reality Is Unrealistic much?
  • The Woobie: Worst birthday ever, eh, Lightning?
    • Worst five centuries ever, huh, Vanille?
    • Worst vacation ever, eh, Hope?
    • Worst trip to an amusement park ever, eh, Sazh?
    • Worst overthrowing of fal'Cie rule ever, eh, Fang?
    • Worst reunion with your girlfriend ever, eh, Snow?
  • Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Lightning plans on pulling this for a couple of chapters. She snaps out of it, though.
  • Woolseyism: NORA is originally a pun of the Japanese term for a stray cat. In the English version, it got turned into No Obligations, Rules, or Authority.
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