Hey hey, welcome to the opening of Paramina's Final Fantasy XIII Walkthrough! I intended to wait to write this until my VII walkthrough was finished, but I managed to lose my PS2 controller (playing VII old school in four-disc format, how I shun you, fancy PSN single file download) and I literally have no idea where it is, so I can only sit and look at the VII opening credits. Which helps no one. So, I figured I'd get this baby going. So without further ado...
Our stage is set...[]
An idyllic helicopter sky span shot, tranquility interrupted by a rattling train hurtling at mega speed down below. Familiar? Final Fantasy XIII has a lot of familiar elements actually - the next is just about to pop up and make you jump:
"The thirteen days after we awoke... were the beginning of the end."
Sweet cliché, yes, Final Fantasy XIII has a BariTidus narrator like my dearest Final Fantasy X, only our XIII narrator isn't a now-baritone-with-maturity blond ace, it's a now-alto-with-maturity ginger maniac. You can surely tell the crazy from the accent.
These "thirteen days" she speaks of are kind of skimmed past in the game, you can read about them here in Episode Zero: Promise, a prologue, if you will. Yeah, XIII's kind of keen on the whole "you should read to learn what's going on" shtick. You haven't seen the Datalog yet...
Mission: CHAOS. KILL THINGS? I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN.
Final Fantasy XIII's opening is like no other - you get bombarded with a hell of a lot of stuff straight off the bat. Utter info-chaos. Plot. Characters. Factions. Infra-factions. New words I'm sure I just made up. Rampant "Fal'Cie" and "l'Cie" chat that makes no sense right now. The new ATB system. So just as a heads up: this page is seriously box and text heavy.
Anyway, as the train bursts through a barrier, one of the Purgees strikes. A woman leaps out from underneath her robe and utterly decimates all the soldiers that panic around her. It's difficult to catch a glimpse of her as she is literally a flying blur of high-kicks, mini-skirts, gravity-manipulating-flips and rapid gunshot. When she eventually stops for a breath, we finally get to see a shot of her face. You know she's got to be our heroine because she has a bizarre, spiked-yet-curled pink hair-do, which screams Nomura trademark like nothing else (except unnecessary belts, but it's cool, because she's got her fair share of those, too). Howdy...
Playable Character: Lightning |
"Worst. Birthday. Ever." I'm not a Lightning fan. Mainly because she's like some sort of unholy amalgamation of Ashe and Advent Children Cloud (ugh, do not get me started on AC Cloud), with all of the annoying, stereotypical douchey bits and none of the good. I'm going on official record now saying I don't like her. I'm probably the only person on this wiki who really dislikes her. I honestly think she's such a fail of a character - there's being cold and mean, I've played there, ragged on that. She takes it to a whole new level. You know how the series has kind of funny, righteous bitches like our darling Princess? Lightning's just a mean bitch. And she's totally unjustified; her parents died? So how does that force you to turn into an animated mannequin who is permanently on snark mode? I find her "maternal" turn with Hope so out of character and weird. She only warms up right at the very end and by then, I'd given up trying with her around forty hours previously. She's impossible to even vaguely like, in my eyes. And now I think about it, she also suffers because so many characters in XIII surpass her and stand out more. Oh, and she's not the main character. Deal. During the storyline gameplay, she's useful. I will give her that. She majors in the Commando, Ravager and Medic roles, (though "majors" is a term I'd use in the loosest sense for Medic). Post gameplay, she's actually useless. I kid you not. Characters exceed her in every single Paradigm - even near the end of the storyline, her main role as Ravager sees her superseded by superstar Sazh. You'll have her as your automatic party lead a lot of the time, but seriously, she's good during storyline. |
Meanwhile, the much cooler man she was sitting beside springs into action behind her. This is a monumentous occasion guys: your first HD afro. How does it feel? Is this as special for you as it is for me?
Playable Character: Sazh Katzroy |
"Don't you even! You think you die, and that's that?! You think you die an' everything'll be sugar and rainbows?!" It's official. Sazh Katzroy is right up there with my most revered and loved FF characters of all time (and he's in very exclusive and awesome company). Sazh is by far the most realistic character Square has ever created, and probably their best-developed. He's not some clichéd tough-guy loner with a chip on his shoulder, he's a normal single parent that would do anything for his son. And he manages to do so without being emo because he lost his wife and shit. Life is tough. Sazh deals. In fact, Sazh probably has the shittiest draws in terms of luck and who gets hurt in his life, but he takes it on the chin and continues on. He is human. His story arc in this game is awesome, and the only reason I replay. It is sad, touching and... I can't even describe... ahhhh, he's just so...! His character-centric Chapter has by far the most powerful and emotional cut scenes I have ever seen in all video games of all time. OF ALL TIME. Oh, and another thing: he is the epitome of cool. He just is. And I hate that word. By far, one of the coolest FF characters ever, and he doesn't need a missing arm or eye to prove it. People who say "Sazh sucks in battle" clearly just cannot play XIII. Quite simply. Let me put this clearly and succinctly: Sazh is the strongest character ingame. Concerning damage output, it is totally irrefutable. It is just a question of game mechanics. Square made him so. He just is. He majors in Commando, Ravager and Synergist - his version of Blitz is the game-breaker. Also, whilst his base stats aren't as high as the others, his weapons have the biggest stat boosts attached to them. Playing Sazh to the best of his ability just requires you to know how to handle his character well, that's what I'm here for. |
The two of them then storm the train, commando-style, ready to derail this thing for a reason still withheld from us at this point. It doesn't look like we're going to find out soon either, because our enemy (whoever that is) has sent a giant, aggro scorpion bot to end this swiftly (Familiar: The Sequel?)
Boss Battle: Manasvin Warmech |
Level: 75 We're thrown right into XIII with a boss battle. Since the combat system here is radically different to any previous battle systems we've come across together (in my walkthroughs, I don't hover over your shoulder and watch you play), I figured it required a snazzy new table layout. The layout gets snazzier later ingame when you can start choosing your own party and character set-ups, and you have more access to Paradigms, but what do you think so far? Snazzy? We start the battle with a quick ATB Tutorial. If this is your first playthrough, I strongly advise you read it. Basically trade blows with the Warmech for now, there's not much else you can do. |
After the first round, aggro Scorpionbot gets really aggro and SUPLEXES THE TRAIN. Lightning ninjas off the side in a predictable ninja-like manner. Sazh, the God of Awesome, does a much more realistic slide-almost-kills-himself kind of move you know you definitely would have done yourself, and you have to love him for. You will find a lot more to love him for, trust me. Even Scorpionbot loves him - so much its chased us back for another round of his company.
Strategy: Round Two | ||
Not much difference here, either hit Auto-Battle which will stack the Attack Command, or do it manually yourself using Abilities. I recommend you do the latter, as this walkthrough will be strategizing with the Abilities menu, and you'll want to familiarize yourself with it. Trust me when I say that given XIII's... um... "simplistic" level maps, if you use Auto-Battle, you do not need walkthrough'ed this game. Just kick back and listen to the wondrous "Battle Theme". |
...for some currently inexplicable terrorism to take place.[]

Yes, nice relevant artwork to start the images off. A good omen...
Okay, before receiving your spoils (Potion x6, thank you), you'll arrive at a screen you probably haven't seen before. This, comrades, is the Battle Screen, where your battle efficiency is assessed. Think of it like an evaluation; the entire time you were fighting, a little judge was sitting off-camera with a clipboard, watching studiously. You know we'll be aiming for Five Stars after every fight. If you don't get them - START OVER. Ha, I'm totally kidding. Except not really. |
Scorpionbot finally malfunctions and falls down into the abyss. Like all normal real people, Sazh is absolutely whacked after that battle. Lightning, on the other hand, is kind of peachy. She's a Sanctum soldier, you see, and used to such larks. She's also not interested in sharing her motives or being Sazh's best friend (no, I don't know why), and storms off somewhere because you know how it is with her type: they'd rather be alone.
We get a quick Camera Control tutorial as well as info on the Datalog, which is pretty invaluable. Once we finally gain control, we're on Aerorail Trussway 13-E. There's a Save Point just ahead - go activate it (hello, trusty !) and create your base save file. Now, bring up your Menu by hitting
, and open Settings. Scroll down to Battle, and switch Default Battle Command from Auto-Battle → Abilities. Good, we're done with the mechanics for now: back in field, head forward a little more to receive info on Enemy Encounters (if you really want to recheck it, hit up the Datalog). There's a battle here with two PSICOM Wardens, which shouldn't stretch your abilities too much. Try not to yawn as you slice them to pieces.
Note: Maybe I should've said try not to yawn as you continually read "head forward" written in as many synonymous ways I can think of. Seriously, the one major flaw of XIII is its linearity. Many of its area maps are literally corridors, which is why I recommend switching Auto-Battle off, simply so you have more to do and think about. But yeah, please bare with me, it's difficult to avoid unnecessary repetition when you're essentially doing the same action over and over and over.

...
Proceed onwards and you'll find a dead end. There's a little spinning blue circle on the ground; approach it for Lightning to leap up the boxes and jump down the other side. Yes, it has finally happened: FF characters are no longer inexplicably incapable of any other movement outside of putting one foot in front of another and running exceptionally slowly. What we have just witnessed is true progress, my friends.
You'll be thrown into another battle with two PSICOM Wardens, and a little further ahead, a battle with three. For the latter, use the Blitz ability to deal multi-target damage here. Follow the path along and you'll find your first Treasure Chest on the left, with a Potion for your plundering pleasure. Head through the wreckage to trigger a cutscene about people preferring death over going to Pulse, which, apparently, is where the Purge Train was headed. You now have a new enemy to face in this area: the Pantheron. After fighting them, check out the little stairway to your right to find a hidden Treasure Chest with Potion x2 inside.
Go back onto the main path and Save Up before you jump over the roadblock. The stairway to your left leads to a Treasure Chest with an Iron Bangle inside. +50 HP is kind of shabby, but equip it anyway. Jump down back onto the main bridge and just behind you in a little alcove is another Treasure Chest, this time with 50 gil. Since monsters don't drop gil anymore (cheap bastards), scavenging will be our primary source of income.
After an epic pre-emptive fight fail you have to deal with, the bridge in front of you will suddenly collapse. Looks like our main route to wherever we're going has been cut short... "Quiet." Ugh, she's so nippy and shit, I hate her. And then she has the audacity to try and beat up Sazh when she suddenly decides to jump off the side of the bridge with her ninja-click and ditch him?! I don't think so, Lightning. Damn straight he broke her AMP, which is complete trite, game-breaking stupid technology she apparently owns and never uses at convenient times for the player.

Ha.
Follow Sazh on the alternate route (use Blitz then Attack after you've cut down the numbers to clear the bout of enemies you encounter on the way). Jump onto the lift and activate the switch with to arrive at Skybridge No. 369. You have to face a PSICOM Marauder here, flanked by Enforcer lackies. I can't be bothered mocking this up a snazzy table since it's so simple: just pick off the Enforcers then focus on the big guy. *Sigh* So simple. Oh, and if this is your first playthrough, watch the Attack Chain Tutorial, please.
Lightning and Sazh stomp on on their mysterious quest of terrorism, though Sazh seems as curious as we are as to why Lightning's so keen on cutting down everything in her path. Her angle? She's after the Pulse fal'Cie. "Still happy you tagged along?" It looks like Sazh may have his own reasons for hunting the fal'Cie down... ah... missions revealed, motives still hidden!
Screen fade. We're going to open elsewhere in the Edge (it's a busy place today, apparently). I'll meet you there.