Final Fantasy XIII-2 Famitsu Review

Final Fantasy XIII-2 comes out December 15 in Japan, so the most notorious Japanese gaming magazine has of course, reviewed it. For many years, Famitsu was infamous for hardly ever giving out perfect scores, reserving the perfect 40/40 for the absolute cream of the crop. The Famitsu scoring system is to take the total weighted score of 4 judges each giving the game a score of 1-10, for a total score out of 40, meaning the lowest possible score is a 4/40.


Today, Final Fantasy XIII-2 has joined the list of Famitsu perfect scores. But what exactly does a perfect score actually mean? Or even a near-perfect score? Here is the list of games Famitsu has given a perfect score, in chronological order:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998, Nintendo, for Nintendo 64)
2. Soulcalibur (1999, Namco, for Dreamcast)
3. Vagrant Story (2000, Square Co., for PlayStation)
4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2003, Nintendo, for Nintendo GameCube)
5. Nintendogs (2005, Nintendo, for Nintendo DS)
6. Final Fantasy XII (2006, Square Enix, for PlayStation 2)
7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008, Nintendo, for Wii)
8. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008, Konami, for PlayStation 3)
9. 428: Fūsa Sareta Shibuya de (2008, Sega, for Wii)
10. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies (2009, Square Enix, for Nintendo DS)
11. Monster Hunter Tri (2009, Capcom, for Wii)
12. Bayonetta (2009, Sega, for Xbox 360)
13. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009, Nintendo, for Wii)
14. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (2010, Konami, for PlayStation Portable)
15. Pokémon Black and White (2010, Nintendo, for Nintendo DS)
16. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011, Nintendo, for Wii)
17. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011, Bethesda Softworks, for Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3) - the first non-Japanese game to receive a perfect score.
18. Final Fantasy XIII-2 (2011, Square Enix, for Xbox 360 & PlayStation 3)

As you can see, Famitsu has an incredible bias towards Japanese games, Skyrim being the only non-Japanese game to get a perfect score, and it's also an RPG, a category favorite of Famitsu. Here are all the 39/40 scores given by Famitsu:

1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991, Nintendo, for Super Famicom)
2. Virtua Fighter 2 (1995, Sega, for Sega Saturn)
3. Ridge Racer Revolution (1995, Namco, for PlayStation)
4. Super Mario 64 (1996, Nintendo, for Nintendo 64)
5. Tekken 3 (1998, Namco, for PlayStation)
6. Cyber Troopers Virtual-On Oratorio Tangram (1999, Sega, for Dreamcast)
7. Final Fantasy X (2001, Square Co., for PlayStation 2)
8. Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (2001, Sony Computer Entertainment, for PlayStation 2)
9. Resident Evil (2002, Capcom, for Nintendo GameCube)
10. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (2004, Square Enix, for PlayStation 2)
11. Gran Turismo 4 (2004, Sony Computer Entertainment, for PlayStation 2)
12. Kingdom Hearts II (2005, Square Enix, for PlayStation 2)
13. Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (2005, Konami, for PlayStation 2)
14. Dead or Alive 4 (2005, Tecmo, for Xbox 360)
15. Ōkami (2006, Capcom, for PlayStation 2)
16. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007, Nintendo, for Nintendo DS)
17. Grand Theft Auto IV (2008, Rockstar Games, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)
18. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009, Activision, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)
19. Final Fantasy XIII (2009, Square Enix, for PlayStation 3)
20. Red Dead Redemption (2010, Rockstar Games, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)
21. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 (2010, Namco Bandai Games, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)
22. Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010, Activision, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)
23. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd (2010, Capcom, for PlayStation Portable)
24. L.A. Noire (2011, Rockstar Games, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)
25. Tales of Xillia (2011, Namco Bandai, for PlayStation 3)
26. Gears of War 3 (2011, Epic Games, for Xbox 360)
27. FIFA 12 (2011, EA Canada, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)
28. Final Fantasy Type-0 (2011, Square Enix, for PSP)
29. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD Collection (2011, Kojima Productions, for PS3)
30. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011, Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3)

As you can see from the list of near-perfect games, Famitsu hasn't shown any clear bias, especially in this console generation, giving foreign developers a good chance and even awarding near-perfects to first person shooters, a category that Japan is historically not interested in. Famitsu's reviews have apparently changed things, because Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has sold like crazy in Japan.

FFXIII-2 was also given an "S" rating by Dengeki, the 2nd leading gaming magazine in Japan; the "S" rating is the highest rating that Dengeki offers, grading games on a scale of S, A, B, C, D, and F.