I finished Final Fantasy XIII last night.
Which is not to say I completed Final Fantasy XIII, as there are entire vistas of the game that don't become available until after you finish the story and load up the post-game save. There's a boat load of 'hunt down monster X' missions to do, a few optional areas to visit, and the challenge of going back and getting a 5 star rating on all the bosses and marks you didn't quite manage before.
Oh, and there's grinding. So much grinding.
Having finished the part of the game that's actually concerned with plot and characters and all, I can say that I enjoyed it - more than I thought I would given that I'd put it down without a second thought for nearly two years. I think things fell apart a little towards the end - the heroes won because they're heroes and heroes win, or something. (I'm told Final Fantasy XIII-2 explains it. Or makes it worse, depending on who you talk to.)
Most of the game is running down corridors beating stuff up, and fortunately that part works pretty well, although there were more than a few instances where I would get totally destroyed by a group of enemies only to do the exact same thing again and win within 30 seconds - if the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results, what happens when you do that and actually do get that different result?
I'd place FF XIII in the upper bounds of the Final Fantasy Angst Spectrum, above I - VI, IX and XII but below VII, VIII and X.
I've got just enough time now to download and finish the Arrival DLC for Mass Effect 2 before ME3 releases on Tuesday.
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