Early scans of the latest issue of Famitsu reveal the review scores given to XIII ahead of the game's release in on December 17.

The score of 39/40 - a trio of 10s complemented by a 9 - make it one of the highest of the year. It's a spectacular score, no doubt, though likely disappointing to which had hoped for an illustrious perfect 40. Only one game in the franchise has succeed in such: Final Fantasy XII.

In recent years, Famitsu has given out increasingly more perfect scores with four games receiving the nod in 2009 alone. Those games are New Super Bros. Wii, Bayonetta, Tri, and Dragon Quest IX.

It'll be some time more before we get to review Final Fantasy XIII since it isn't slated for release here until March 9.

By Tracy Erickson