My analysis of Final Fantasy XIII (video game)

For this section, I chose to analyse the opening cinematic of Final Fantasy XIII. It might be a video game as a pose to a film; however, there are many similarities between the opening of the video game and a generic film opening.
The opening scene clearly indicates that the game will be action packed and allows the game’s narrative to be categorised in the Action Genre. The audience are almost immediately shown a battle sequence, which immediately engages the audience (player) into the game. The slow paced editing at the very beginning used to establish the area in which the narrative begins can also include the game in the adventure Genre, as the large expanse of scenery encourages the audience to believe throughout the game’s narrative, that expanse of land shown will be important.
In the opening scene, the audience are introduced to two characters who exchange diegetic dialogue, which makes the audience believe that those two characters will be important throughout the game’s storyline. When the battle scene commences, the main character is revealed. She is immediately built up to seem fantastic and is the first character shown to take action, which makes the audience view her as the heroine and important. There is a clear indication of who “Good guys” (the female and male protagonists) and the “Bad Guys” (the men in armour), which allows the audience to quickly make sense of who is who before getting into the games plot. A second male character is shown who is seen as the “hero’s helper”, as he begins to take action after the heroine has. The audience quickly get an indication that he will be quite a comical character throughout the game’s narrative when a chick pops out of his hair. This also indicates that a element of comedy will be apparent in the game. There is a non diegetic voice in the very opening of the scene, which entails of a voice setting out the narrative to the audience. This makes the audience believe that this character will also be quite relevant in the game’s plot and the character will be revealed later in the storyline. The clear themes introduced to the audience are warfare and adventure, and the opening scene gives a clear indication that these themes will be apparent throughout the game.
The game’s narrative is shown in the games opening to be closed, as the voice at the beginning of the clip states that “The thirteen days after we awoke were the beginning of the end”, indicating that one main storyline will follow through to the very end. The audience are quickly shown the first two stages of the generic five stage narrative: Equilibrium (where the train is travelling peacefully along the track) and disruption to the Equilibrium (where the battle commences) which gives the game a movie like structure. There is an indication that the narrative may be Anochronic, including occasional flashbacks to previous events that led to the disruption in the equilibrium.
The game is set in a clear futuristic period, which is made apparent by the characters’ clothing and some of the flying vehicles shown. The battle scene is also set on a train, which indicates to the audience that the game will have a variety of settings, again strengthening the adventure Genre.
The initial music immediately sets an ominous feel for the audience, serving as an action code for the battle sequence to follow. Also, in the opening dialogue between the main characters, the male antagonist says “best of luck”, which again serves as an action code to the audience. The sound of gunfire later in the clip strengthens the idea of war and serves to engage the audience.
The title of the game is quite simplistic and gives no implication to the themes or mood of the game. This can be because the Final Fantasy series is targeted at an existing niche audience and therefore no hints are needed for the targeted audience, while at the same time newcomers to the series will not be influenced by the titles of the game.
The structure of the game’s opening is quite similar with the opening of a film. This gives the game more depth, as the targeted audience are drawn into the storyline due to the movie like feel projected in the opening credits.