No Levels In FF13
When I first heard that Final Fantasy XIII would be doing away with the traditional level up system (article at Official XBOX Magazine) all my years of anticipation for the game came crashing into a mound of disappointment. Leveling up has been a staple of the franchise - and of most great JRPGs - forever, as well as a point of bragging rights and sense of achievement. Leveling also gives you a clear goal set where you can set out to reach Level XX by some obscure deadline you set for yourself. The leveling up system in games is more than a motivator, it pushes you to continue playing that one game, perpetuating the “just one more level” creed we begun as children in games that are more open and don’t have breaks between areas the way adventure games used to have 1-1 and 1-2.
The drive to level up also leads players to obscure areas of the map that fall outside of the main plot as they attempt to explore and fight tougher enemies for more experience points. But perhaps I’ll still feel the need to explore because of the drive to discover new items with new abilities.
According to the Official XBOX Magazine’s website, character levels and experience points will be replaced with Crystal Points (CP), which will be used on a circular chart to unlock abilities. This is similar to (AP) in Final Fantasy IX and X, or (LP) in Final Fantasy XII. The question will be how these abilities effect game progression. Will you have to manually upgrade your health points, magic points, evasion, agility, strength, etc. as well as your special moves? I think it’s also safe to assume abilities will be learned through items as in Final Fantasy IX or through equipped summons as in Final Fantasy VI and VIII. Although, the name “Crystal Points” denotes the points are earned through the usage of crystals, so I think it’s a safe bet that equipped crystals learn abilities and also equip summons.
If the system works out that way then the game should be fine, but I will sorely miss leveling up simply out of nostalgia. At the very least maybe no leveling system will mean the series will be somewhat challenging again. And that’s something I’ve missed for a while.