Toy Review: FFXIII Lightning

03/9/10

Play Arts Kai FFXIII Lightning

I’m sure Final Fantasy buffs (I know several) would rant about what I’m about to say, but I hate hate hate the way most Japanese video game stories are written. Fans of the games keep telling me that the story is one of the reasons they like the series so much, expecially FF VII, but whenever I get to the end of one it’s like “what the fuck was that?”. I’ve always thought video game stories were pretty weak at best, and every time I experience those from Japan, I come away feeling unimpressed.

From the what I’ve read and seen, Japanese culture tends to glorify ambiguity. Plots often seem to be obfuscated behind a lot of unnecessary little complications. Characters often have nebulous motivations and endings tend to be open to interpretation. I’ve seen it in Japanese cinema, anime, manga, etc and it seems damned lazy. Really, what the hell was up with Evangelion?

I’m an Westerner when it comes to my storytelling sensibilities. I like closure. I like a clear beginning, with a nice action-packed middle and an end that ties up everything nicely. I want that rising action, that climax, and that little part at the end where everyone gets drunk, sleeps with the other protagonists (or surviving antagonists) and then get amnesia and forget it ever happened.

The write ups of FFXIII seem to show that it’s much the same. There’s this whole history about individuals that are chosen by mechanical gods who are created from crystals and who see visions of their dictated destiny and if they don’t fufill it they become monsters but if they do they become crystals themselves. Then there’s a story about a war between two cities and some dude in a trench coat who meets some gal with a sword and how they need to defeat some ancient enemy of someone or other who is making an ass out of himself so they get a whole gang of outlaws and exiles to do it some of whom of course need to die at the end.

I’m sure they’ll work in one of those nice Jpop slow mo montages in there somewhere.

HOWEVER… while I hate Japanese storytelling, I love Japanese video game design. I still remember how fun those early FF games were, and even though I thought the story for Crisis Core was retarded, I did have a blast playing it, easy or not. I love the look of many of the characters that have come from this series as well. Even if it’s story was all over the place Advent Children was pure eye candy. That’s the reason I collect the Play Arts FF series. Because the figures are just that good looking on your shelf. Poseble, detailed, and usually with a few decent accessories and a stand.

Lightning is the first of the set that I bought from Wasabi Toys in the Shoppesville mall at Greenhills Shopping Center.

As you can see in the picture above, the box for these new Play Arts Kai toys is bigger compared to the old FF lines. That’s because the figures themselves are bigger. There’ll be more comparison pics of her next to the older figures, but she stands about an inch higher than them. These aren’t 8″ scale figures anymore; they’re 9″. Sadly, that means I can’t really pair them with alot of the Sigma 6 GI Joes. They stand like supermodels next to figures like Destro.

The rest of the packaging is more of the same old Play Arts plastic trays. They’re big and flimsy, but they’re molded perfectly around the toy and accessories. I love this type of packaging since it’s completely reusable. Just cut some Scotch tape around the tray cover, take out the figure, then put it back when you’re done and cover it back up. Slides right back into the box. Very neat.

The only thing is, it’s hard to keep that box since it’s pretty huge and not really that sturdy. There was a time I kept the boxes from the previous FF lines, but around the time I started on Advent Children toys, I had to give it up. There’s just no space.

Out of the box, Lightning looks like a spokesmodel showing off some designer’s new collection. She’s built like the girls you see in Sports Illustrated, with long limbs, a long body, a tiny waist, and little itty-bitty hands and feet.

While that all looks good on the drawing board, it makes for a kind of annoying toy. The high center of gravity, the lack of mass, and that tiny tiny footprint make her a real chore to stand up. She comes with a stand, but it’s of little help (I’ll get into that later). If you want to get her to stay up, you really need to fiddle with her legs and body to balance her. Wide stances seem to work the best.

She has wonderful articulation. Really amazing. I would go so far as to say that she is the most well articulated toy that I have ever seen. There are a ton of joints and it’s all USEFUL.

• Ball joint head
•  Ball/post shoulders with a back and forth swivel
•  Swivel arms
•  Swivel elbows with a range that’s slightly more than 90 degrees
•  Swivel wrists
•  2 torso ball joints instead of a ab crunch and waist swivel
•  Ball and socket hip joints (a bit limited by her skirt)
•  Swivel thighs
•  DOUBLE HINGE KNEES!!!
•  Swivel calves
•  Hinge ankles
•  Swivel feet to allow the soles to lie flat

In total, that’s 28 points of articulation.

“What?”, you ask? “28? That’s only 27″

Well she has one more joint and that’s a combination swivel/post joint on her back where that thing that looks like a scarf is connected. It allows you to do stuff like this:

More shots of her joints in action:

The only problem with the joints is that they are very very loose for a new toy. Her knees can’t hold a pose for long and the swivels will give way if you put weight on them or hit them the wrong way. It’s the same deal with her torso ball joints and this aggravates the posing difficulties.

Which brings us to the stand.

I don’t like it. It’s a pretty good stand compared to the old Marvel Legends ones, but the Play Arts lines have always had those beautifully simple black ones. They always worked well and were sturdy enough to use for some of the big Transformers.These can barely hold up a GI Joe. The small ones.

The thing shares the same problems as the figure itself, floppy joints. Even with the ratcheting built into them, they sag as soon as you put the figure in the transluscent claw at the end. To make matters worse, the base isn’t really up to the job of keeping the arm straight up in the air. The arm tends to sag sideways.

The only real help the stand gives is if you have her with one foot on the ground at all times, and sometimes not even then, since the arm tends to flop from side to side.

Fail.

She comes with 2 accessories. A sword and, what looks to be, a gun. Both fit in her hand very well and are held there by a peg on her right palm and a hole in the hilt of the weapons. it’s a very sturdy solution, but I’m worried I’ll break that post every time I pull off or put on one of the weapons.

Both of them are highly detailed. Enough so that you can see that in-game, the sword folds up and is packed away in the big-ass holster that hangs from her belt. When I saw the product photos a few months back, I was thinking that the weapon transformed, which would have been all kinds of cool. Unfortunately I was wrong. So wrong. Not that the accessories aren’t cool. They definitely are.

Despite the problems with the joints and the stand, this is a figure that is worth the Php 2,300.00 asking price at WasabiToys because of one thing; the sculpt.

It’s rare that you see a toy of this scale with this much articulation with such a detailed sculpt. Even some 1/6 scale figures don’t have the kind of detail Play Arts worked into this. These new figures have all kinds of little features that really get my geeky juices flowing. Pockets, pouches, belts and buckles, the sculpted hands (with a second pair of fists), the hair and the scarf, buttons and boot laces.

I’m glad they went with the more realistic sculpting for the face, and not the cartoony look of the Star Ocean and Full Metal Alchemist figures. I’m not really a fan of the overy stylized or deformed designs, like the upcoming Bayonetta figures either. I think this time around they really did a great job in balancing that anime aesthetic and proportion.

About the only part I have issue with is the look of the double hinged knee. It would have been nice if they gave it a more seamless look when she’s standing straight at least. Can’t have everythign I guess.

So to sum up this long review, Lightning is worth it.

Though she’s got her problems (expensive, not readily available, odd scale, loose joints, and that assinine stand), she more than makes up for it with her numerous good points. She is nicely sculpted, highly detailed, very well articulated, and has logical accessories.

You can get her HERE, but I’m not sure if Pat and Nick still have stock.