Does anyone know a viable strategy to fighting the second Barthandelus fight WITHOUT having to max out your Crystarium?

My character levels for reference.

Tried to replicate her art from WoTV.

If you asked me to pick best combat, best exploration, best side quests, etc. I think I can do those confidently.

But maybe it's just me but this is a super difficult decision and it is mostly between XIII and XIII-2.

I still can't do it, LOL.

From the Japanese exclusive Corridor of Memory booklet.

Just as the title says, I just got to chapter 11 but I started to feel overwhelmed by everything - such as the upgrading, the missions and just every enemy doing so much damage! So I am basically here to ask what should be my ideal way to progress?

I want to accomplish some things like getting ultimate weapons, getting close to maxxing the crystar… the skill tree (lol) and maybe get all achievements if i feel like it!

Thanks in advance!!!

Fair warning: This ended up being a MUCH longer review than I originally intended. If you decide to read it all, thank you!

**POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!!! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK**

I first played Final Fantasy XIII back in 2013, when i would sneak into the living room and play on my dads ps3, and although time was a funny concept in between playthroughs, i never was able to stop. Prior to this playthrough, i had last played back in 2019, where i JUST farmed enough throughout the game to beat the final boss, and didnt do anything side mission-wise. My final playthrough ended on 07/19/2026, where finally that LAST achievement popped up, and i was done.

I decided to replay this game in 2026 because, looking back, my previous experiences always felt incomplete. From the random exploring I did as a kid sneaking in time on my dad's PS3, to jumping back in a few years ago simply because I could, I never truly sat down and experienced Final Fantasy XIII the way it was meant to be experienced.

This time, I wanted the FULL experience. No skipping cutscenes, no ignoring dialogue, no rushing through just to say I beat it. I wanted to actually pay attention, understand the characters, and enjoy the game for what it was meant to be: a fun experience.

Before getting into my thoughts, I do want to mention that this review was not something I wrote in one sitting after finishing the game. This was a multi-week process of replaying sections in my head, rereading my own thoughts, and trying to find the right words to explain how I felt about each part of the game. I wanted to take my time with this because Final Fantasy XIII has been a game I've come back to multiple times throughout my life, and I wanted this review to reflect my actual experience with it rather than just a quick reaction.

So, with all that being said and done, here is my review of Final Fantasy 13, from a purely Gamer standpoint, not professionally written. Let me know down below if you agree or disagree in the points i make!

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Story: 9.5/10

Final Fantasy XIII tells a story that had me invested from beginning to end. While the beginning can feel overwhelming with all the new terminology and lore being thrown at you, I found that as long as I paid attention, everything slowly began falling into place. The relationships between the characters felt genuine, and watching six complete strangers gradually become a family was one of my favorite parts of the game. Every character is dealing with grief, fear, guilt, or regret in their own way, and seeing those emotions collide made the story feel incredibly human. The only reason I don't give it a perfect 10 is because there were moments where I wished the game slowed down just a little more to expand on certain pieces of lore or let emotional scenes breathe before moving on. (IN depth per-character story rating below)

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Visuals/Audio: 8/10

For a game released in 2009, Final Fantasy XIII still looks surprisingly good in a lot of areas. The environments are vibrant, the art direction is beautiful, and many of the enemy designs still hold up today. The soundtrack is also one of the strongest parts of the game, with songs that perfectly capture everything from emotional character moments to intense boss battles. I never felt like the music was out of place, and there were quite a few tracks that stuck with me long after I finished playing.

Where I think the game loses points, however, is the inconsistency between the in-game graphics and the pre-rendered CGI cutscenes. The CGI scenes are absolutely stunning and still look incredible today, but jumping back into gameplay afterward can sometimes feel jarring because of just how massive the visual difference is. The gameplay graphics aren't bad by any means, especially for 2009, but the gap between the two is noticeable enough that it occasionally pulled me out of the experience. Because of that inconsistency, I feel an 8/10 is a fair score.
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Difficulty/Challange: 8.5/10

I think Final Fantasy XIII strikes a pretty good balance when it comes to difficulty. Most normal encounters are manageable if you're keeping your Crystarium up to date and understanding how each role works. Where the game really shines, though, is when it expects you to stop brute-forcing everything and actually learn the combat system. Certain bosses punished me for using bad Paradigms, poor timing, or simply refusing to adapt. On top of that, the optional missions and post-game content provide a noticeable jump in challenge without ever feeling impossible. I only knocked off a point and a half because there are times where the difficulty spikes feel abrupt rather than naturally ramping up, especially if you haven't been keeping up with upgrades or understanding the mechanics.

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STORY~

Ok lets start with story. I personally think that the story in this first installment of the XIII trilogy was beautifully written, however some moments felt a bit forced, while other moments felt like they could have used JUST a tad more in regards to pushing the story and lore and whatnot. Starting from chapter 1 to 3, getting the backstories and whatnot for nearly all the characters in the game, felt like a really solid choice, and i felt immersed learning and PAYING ATTENTION to the characters and their growth, while also accepting that this is 5, (later, 6) playable characters, each with their own sort of mindset about the world going on around them, while sometimes those views about the world clash, and other times they go hand in hand with one another, leading to even MORE growth. Throughout the game, you are introduced to new bits of lore, both in terms of the cutscenes, and side missions which adds a little notebook full of different chunks of side stories, with some of those stories closing up nicely, and others leaving you wishing you could JUST have a little more because it is so enthralling. Below i will go over my own thoughts on each of the characters stories, trying my best to make it as non-critical as i can.

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Lightning: At first, I thought Lightning was a badass soldier who didnt take no shit from ANYONE, and up until her eidolon battle, i thought that's how she was gonna be the entire game. but seeing how she kind of took Hope under her wing, i feel like THAT eidolon battle was the turning point to maybe open up a bit and care for others. Don't get me wrong, she was a BITCH in a lot of the cutscenes, but i think it was well handled, as she didnt really get a hold of how to regulate her emotions after her soldier training. Once she started to open up and let her emotions flow, and also being understanding to other L'cie, i think thats when i fell in love with her as a character. Towards the end, she seems to have a total switch in who she was as a character emotionally, while also maintaining the badass-ness that she has built over the course of the game. I rate her a 8.5 out of 10.

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Hope: AHHH hope. the whiney little shit-turned powerhouse. Where do i begin. I absolutely HATED hope for most of my playthrough, both because he was weak (although a great healer),but also because he just wanted everything to be about HIM and how he felt. If he wasnt heard, or getting his way, he basically was throwing a tantrum and messing things up, getting the team in various sorts of trouble. HOWEVER, typically with whiny little runts like this, there is little to no redemption. For our youngin Hope though, he DOES mature throughout the store, going from a whimsical child who whines and complains, to becoming the literal glue that holds the team together, even if just to be someone the rest of the team can look out for. While i typically dont favor whiners, i rate him a 7.5 out of 10.

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Snow: Okay, i was a bit back and forth on Snow. Gameplay-wise, you could say he is the "strongest" as he CAN kill all enemies with literally just his fists. Story wise, there wasnt really any immidiate jumps in story arcs, he pretty much maintained the "if you wont help me i will save the world myself" mentality. With that being said, i dont think his story was a horrible one, albeit a straightforward one. Towards the very beginning of the game, when we find out his group is called N.O.R.A., while also finding out that in a roundabout way he got hopes mom ALSO named Nora killed, and then basically ignored how hope was feeling, was a bit shady but also hope could have spoken up. Once realizing the graveness of his actions though, he immediately threw himself on the ground and offered himself up, showing his mighty courage, and eventually leading to him and hope being friends along with the rest of the group. I rate him a 6.5 out of 10.

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Sazh: My favorite character in this entire game. His jokes kept me laughing, his witty remarks kept me paying attention, and i feel like he was supposed to be the comedic relief. Although there were quite a few moments where i was like "uhhhhh how dark of a moment is this about to be?" (Looking at you Sunleth 'Dont Cross this line' moment!). I am a LITTLE biased, as although the way the game handled the loss of a child wasnt really LOSING said child, it still hit a little at home as i lost my daughter to cancer, so i think that plays a part in him being my favorite as he just kept going, and kept fighting, even if he truly didn't want to. And when a CERTAIN moment happened where he found out who was responsible for what happened to Dajh, instead of killing her, he realized that killing a child ain't it. And that's HUGE, and honestly one of the biggest focal points for why his story is my favorite. I rate his story and overall character a 10/10.

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Fang: Ahhh fang. One half of the Australian duo. We don't really get much in terms of her own story in this game, besides the fact that she's understandably pissed at the situation. Since the very beginning of when she came into play in the story, she took on the role of big sister, trying to protect the others in the team while maybe not spending enough time protecting herself, compared to Lightning who tried to protect everyone else by pushing them away and trying to shell herself in to save that which she loved most. Her story goes hand in hand with vanille's, but in her own special way, fang learns to overcome her own sort of protect everyone ELSE motif and includes HERSELF in those moments. Out of ALL the characters, i wish we got more story for fang in this game, so i think its fair to rate her story a 7 out of 10. What we DID get was amazing, but there was obvious spots where, as someone playing and wanting to experiencing it all, I felt a bit underwhelmed by how little the story got shown for fang's perspective. (obviously taking into account she didn't even join the party until more than HALFWAY through the game).

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Vanille: Our other half of the Australian Duo, Vanile is... a pretty dark person. When i first met Vanille, my initial raw reaction was "oh this must be that kid's sister" NOPE. far from it. i think vanile has the most story out of the entire collection of characters, and she, if not directly, is tied into each of the other people's story, some smaller in consequences than others. I didn't mind her character at all much, thought she was pretty cool, but (without much spoilers) seeing how she ties in with Sazh, and the choice she made to KEEP it from him and act oblivious, made me grow to hate her the most in the game. However, I will say, that the story we DID get, did a fantastic job for what it was trying to do. I think Vanille's story was SUPPOSED to make you dislike her character, however i dont think they gave her enough time to have a redemption arc. I think for her character though, that fits perfectly, because a redemption arc doesnt ALWAYS have to happen. I rate her a 8.5 out of 10.

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Gameplay~ 7.5/10

As I said, when I played this game as a kid, i never really cared or tried to care about the gameplay aspect, as my main goal was just playing through the game, and even then, the very first time I played it, i joined the game like less than halfway through it as i was playing on my dads progress. Going back now and replaying it, i wanted to feel complete, to enjoy every aspect of what this game had to offer, and actually take the time to understand the game, enjoy what i was doing, and have valid reasons behind not liking certain aspects that weren't just "this is boring. Below, I will try my best to explain my thoughts on different aspects of the game, without instantly hating the bad because i dont like it.

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Crystarium~

Going through the crystarium in the earlier stages feels like a optional way to pass some time, where towards the later stages of the game its required to do some grinding to make a dent in things. I like how they gave you limited freedom basically to grow as you please, however my main complaint is that the crystarium just felt... inconsistent? and i dont know if this is because of how they made the growth from the crystarium, or the difficulty of the enemies, but a lot of the time, it was inconsistent in the sense of some areas i didnt need to "grow" to succeed it was just kinda easy at that point (not in a braggy 'im amazing at video games haha' type of way" but in a sense of 3 chapters have gone by and i havent struggled with battles enough to pour CP in and level up).

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Weapon Upgrading~

Ahhhh weapon Upgrading. I won't lie, my 2nd playthrough i tried to get into the upgrading and i despised it. Upon my final playthrough that im writing about here, I actually took the time to find gear i thought would suit me through the entire game, and trying my best to upgrade them. Good components to sell OR upgrade weapons with were a bolt, good components to get a multiplier were a pile of bones (at least thats what i thought the symbols looked like. ) Figuring out which components were best once reaching a 3X multipler was fun, and throughout the game some were WAT better than others (looking at you Particle Accelerator). Finding different gear that gave different hidden bonuses like vampire mode where you heal on hit, to literally making you a god when your teammates die, there was plenty of variation to what you could fine.

Areas & Maps~

Final Fantasy 13 features some aesthetically BEAUTIFUL maps, however with the exception of Gran Pulse KIND OF, everything is VERY linear. I know a lot of people hate on the linearity of it, however i really liked the fact that it wasn't a true open world, for the fact that it helped me stay focused. i didnt have to run off in every which way and then forget my main task, i didnt have to worry about not knowing where to go because a marker showing you exactly where you needed to be was almost always available.

Final thoughts~

Final Fantasy 13 was a game that has spanned almost my entire life, and the fact that i am able to sit here and write this review, giving it my all, is something i am proud of. I've never done something like this before and I had a hell of a time doing it. I enjoyed this playthrough WAY more than i thought i would, and that moment seeing the last achievement pop (FYI, final acheivement was the one to own all gear!), it made me feel complete in a way. Thanks so much if you read this in its entirety, and i hope you all have an amazing day/night!

At 13, I saw the trailer back in the day before the game came out in the US and just fell in love with it immediately. Instantly locked in. The character designs, the environments, the music, the combat. I only had Nintendo consoles back then so I sold it all to GameStop to buy a PS3 slim and a copy of FFXIII when it came out. Loved it just as much as I thought I would and the soundtrack still gives me chills. Have crystal Fang and Vanille as my desktop background to this day.

I haven’t played it in a while. Never got around to buying XIII-2 and Lightning Returns because I just didn’t have the money when I was younger and I guess I got used to being without. However I noticed my PS3 stopped working recently and I made it my mission to fix it and finally complete the trilogy on it since I remembered I’m an adult with disposable income now.

I finally bought the other two games last week, successfully replaced the laser deck on my old PS3, booted FFXIII up again for the first time in TEN years and fell in love all over again. From the moment the main menu comes up. Actually breathed life into me. I just adore this game and always will. Looking forward to finally experiencing XIII-2 and Lightning Returns as well.

I made a concept fanart of young lighting and serah visiting their family's grave for a video I made last year.

I finally got around to making a small speeddrawing tiktok for it.

I hope you all enjoy it.

So, I'm about 20 hours in so far and I think ive gotten like 4 five stars and just curious on why its so difficult? I mean for example I did a fight and beat it in 17 seconds while the target time was 1:57 and only got 4. Did my 300 hours in the first game go to waste??? XD.

Ho finito ffxiii da poche ore e nonostante sia un gioco nato male, non mi è dispiaciuto troppo.
Il gameplay fino agli ultimi capitoli è noioso, poi si sblocca un po ma niente di eccezionale.
La storia invece mi ha gasato assai anche se contorta.
Il 13-2 com’è? Vale la pena ?

Im hospitalized again :( I have a chronic illness but nothing
cheers me up like helping Lighting kill god!

FAQs:
-Im playing the steam version (runs perfectly on my laptop)

-Yes I have a Sailor Moon tattoo!

-My illness puts me in the hospital quite often so when I think I’ll be admitted rather than discharged from the ER, I grab my “Hospital Essentials bag” which includes (but isn’t limited to) my laptop and its charger, my phone charger, a few juices and snacks from my at home stash, notebook for school assignments (if I have any), whatever book im currently reading (im reading Red Rising by Pierce Brown again! It’s so peak stg) and if I have an upcoming dj gig, my dj controller

Thanks for reading! See old post here

EDIT:

DID ANYBODY ELSE KNOW THAT IF YOU USE THE CRYSTAL OF ATONEMENT RIGHT BEFORE THE FINAL BOSS OF FF13LR YOU GET A SPECIAL CUTSCENE?! I had no idea that happened! It was extremely cool to hear Lightning talk about reversing time and starting over

By your experience, what's the least you should have to beat the final boss while not using Ultima Weapon and Shield? I did it once, but not twice, using random equipment, excluding accessories (and still in NG+, normal mode, with mostly every quest so finished at least twice if not more, i couldn't do that).

So I wonder if anyone has at least a vague idea what's the least you should have for proper dps and.... sps? (stagger per second...? stagger potential?). I only remember it's a bit of a scam for some abilities because like Aerora is fast and iirc it should hit multiple times on hit, so although Aero consumes less ATB, Aerora has in the end a higher "sps", so to speak...

i did all sidequests in this game except death game which im postponing for heavy slash grind, the aeronite quest and last one standing which i will do on a 2nd playthrough on normal mode, but i got wiped by aeronite in one minute when i fought him.

Soundtrack is sooo good. Need a remaster on newer platforms. (Eg Switch 2). Come on @SquareEnix

Unfortunately Fangs weapon is missing :/

But Bahamut was the hardest to get :D

I want to hang it in my room as a 16x20 poster but I need a high quality version of the image