We have a couple of interesting quotes for you to check out now, in which Final Fantasy XIII director Motomu Toriyama has stated that mixed reviews for the game so far are due to critics taking a ‘western point of view’.
As reported from VG247, reviews for the Japanese version of the game have been mixed so far, with Official Playstation Magazine scoring the game 9/10, while PSM3 only gave FFXIII a 70% score.
Toriyama believes that this is the result of looking at the game from a Western point of view, explaining that ”[It] becomes very difficult to tell a compelling story when you’re given that much freedom.”
Bit of a head-scratcher that one we reckon. Cant expect perfect scores from everyone. The full game is out March 9th over here, lets wait till then.
Give us your thoughts on his comments below.
i agree to an extent. i don't think dragon age was the most free game out there though. i think comparing it to a previous final fantasy shows a better contrast. after playing 7, 8 and 9 there was story at the beginning for a good 5 or so hours and then you got onto some free roam time, and could choose when to continue. apparently xiii is similar but instead takes 30 hours to get to free roam time. im ten hours in, its been utterly superb visually and the combat is excellent. i also am enjoying the story… Read more »
"becomes very difficult to tell a compelling story when you’re given that much freedom"
???
Did he play Dragon Age Origins.
The story is superbly tellen and the game offers 1000 times the freedom of FFXIII.
The problem is not to look wih western eyes, the problem is that Japanese games can't anymore justify dumb gameplay/freedom with the excuse of telling a great story.