Final Fantasy 13 Thoughts (possible spoiler)

raistlin

raistlin

CAGiversary!
So I picked up FF13 and I've gotta say I'm really liking it. The visuals are great and the story is interesting. It's cool reading the back story behind the events happening in the game as well as more information on the world around the characters. I recall playing Final Fantasies in the past, feeling like I couldn't take a break from them because otherwise I might forget what was going on in the story or whatnot. But with this new "datalog" feature, now if I decide to take a break to play other games for a while, I know I can always refresh my memory by going through the logs. I don't know if anyone had considered that in reviewing this game, but I find it to be a great added feature.

I would like to say as well, don't let the negative reviews you've read or heard deter you from picking up this title. If you're an RPG fan, this is a must have to be sure. I'd like to add as well I think it's nuts how CheapyD acts like he's not interested in reading in games like FF, yet he will pick up a whole book about Mass Effect before the title even releases. Anyone else get the feeling he just has a hate for JRPG's for no reason? That's unfortunate because he's going to miss out on allot of great games for what seems like a pre-conceived notion or stereotype.

Anyways, just my two cents thus far.
 
is this the official thread? my copy was shipped yesterday from amazon so i'll get it soon. can't wait to start playing this.

I think people are just tired of JRPG because it's been dominating for so long. People can probably connect more with WRPG too.
 
[quote name='Shippuden']is this the official thread? my copy was shipped yesterday from amazon so i'll get it soon. can't wait to start playing this.

I think people are just tired of JRPG because it's been dominating for so long. People can probably connect more with WRPG too.[/QUOTE]

In some cases I think people are just prejudice against JRPG's, but that's just my opinion. But like I said I guess it's their loss. Anyhow...

I didn't really do my homework before I bought this. Come to find out if you purchase it for the 360 and register on the Square-Enix website, you get two codes you can redeem on Xbox Live for avatar clothing.

All of the details can be found here: http://member.square-enix.com/na/features/ff13/serialcode/xbox360.php
 
My copy is on the way, though it will probably be a couple days from now when it arrive. (crappy shipping, but basically free with rewardzone points from best buy).

I do not know how I will like it, and I am already apprehensive about that fact. The last true final fantasy that I touched was Final Fantasy VII. That was what? 13 years ago?. And tactics, of course.

I am hoping for the best, and will give it a fair go.

I'd like to add as well I think it's nuts how CheapyD acts like he's not interested in reading in games like FF, yet he will pick up a whole book about Mass Effect before the title even releases. Anyone else get the feeling he just has a hate for JRPG's for no reason?
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A side note about that:

The problem is that currently, I have not played a jrpg this console generation that I enjoyed that much. I am hoping that FFXIII is different.

It is strictly a storyline / dialogue issue, too. I still enjoy the mechanics, art styles, etc. I don't want to simply say that I grew up, as I do not mean to imply anything or insult.

But things have changed. I am no longer a teenager; I recently hit the 30 year mark and have a wife and two kids in tow. The methods that the Japanese use to tell stories no longer clicks with me.

I just.. don't know. I feel the same way about every anime that I have ever attempted to watch. I want to like them. I love the art style. But the character dialogue, the plot... it just makes me want to roll my eyes and facepalm constantly.

The story is usually over told. The smallest plot twist that the typical person could understand quickly will be the subject of 17 flashbacks and 3 hours of cutscenes for some reason. The complete and utter awkwardness of anything involving a relationship amuses me. The badass who just killed 50 people without blinking is suddenly blushing and stammering when the girl he likes touches his arm. I dunno, it just feels a bit insulting, overall.

And yeah, I would say that Bioware's recent efforts are how you should tell an rpg story. And yes, the story and setting engaged me enough in Mass Effect that I bought books.

These are strictly my opinions. I am hoping FFXIII changes my outlook. I have not always disliked jrpg. But to say that someone "hates jrpgs for no reason"... there are always reasons for someone to have likes or dislikes, even if you do not agree with them.
 
The problem is that currently, I have not played a jrpg this console generation that I enjoyed that much. I am hoping that FFXIII is different.
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That remark right there means the difference between someone that has truly given the genre a fair shake and someone who hasn't ya know? At least you buy & try. I could rant about it here, but that's not what this thread was intended to be about. Anyhow, hope you enjoy the new FF.

On a side note, geez you just made me feel old! Has it really been 13 years since FF7?! I just turned 30 last year myself. I can kind of relate as far as my feelings changing about a genre, but that would be more geared towards MMO's. For the most part I haven't liked any of them nearly as much as I did EQ. But that's a whole different topic. :)
 
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The game looks, feels and plays great. A huge problem for me would be the lack of towns which take away the immersion of the game for me.
 
Played for about two hours last night.

Praise:
Beautiful, Fast, Funny (at least the token black guy), first battle in about 5 minutes instead of 45 minutes as some JRPGs will do to you, amazing 5.1 mix in cutscenes, SUPERB english voice acting

Complaints:
Only control one party member (this may change), horrible audio during gameplay (footsteps are incredibly loud, and sound the same for the 6'6" badass as they do for the 5'3" little kid and even for the chick wearing heels...), lack of options in the settings (can't use jap dialogue with english subtitles, no audio options, etc...) so far it's walk in a straight line and have five or six fights before you're in the next area.

Like I said, I'm only two hours in and so far I've enjoyed it immensely. There are definitely some annoying bits but they are redeemed by how great everything else has been
 
First two hours are pretty boring, but it could be worse (see Persona 4's first two hours where you are just scrolling through dialogue.) After you get paradigm shifts and jobs, the battles get tougher and are a lot more fun.

The graphics are insane, as expected. The upscaling job reminds me of MGS4-- it's upscaled, but still incredible, aside from some obvious macroblocking in the CG video.
 
I really like the battle system so far, it's nice and fast-paced but they give you just the right amount of control so it's not overwhelming (I found it hard to keep track of what was happening in X-2, for comparison). Final Fantasy XII is actually my favorite game of all time so I expected to be put off by how different XIII is, but so far I'm not. XIII is a different animal and I can see how the traditional towns and such just wouldn't make sense in this context.

No complaints with the story, characters, and dubbing so far. It's the typical JRPG metaphysical melodrama of course, but the datalogs really help flesh things out and the tale is pretty intriguing so far. I don't even mind Vanille at all, and it's fun to heckle Hope whenever he acts like a pansy, which is all the time.

Honestly I'm not as bowled over by the graphics as I expected to be-- they're awesome, but not a quantum leap over other great-looking 360 games like, say, Gears of War 2. Probably it's more impressive on PS3 but I don't have one of those, so there you go.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Final Fantasy XII is actually my favorite game of all time so I expected to be put off by how different XIII is, but so far I'm not. XIII is a different animal and I can see how the traditional towns and such just wouldn't make sense in this context.[/QUOTE]

I loved FFXII as well and was in the same boat with XIII. I thought I would struggle going over to it, but so far, so good.


[quote name='Ryuukishi']Honestly I'm not as bowled over by the graphics as I expected to be-- they're awesome, but not a quantum leap over other great-looking 360 games like, say, Gears of War 2. Probably it's more impressive on PS3 but I don't have one of those, so there you go.[/QUOTE]

This surprises me. I have played it on both PS3 and 360, and while PS3 is superior when it comes to detail, the 360 version is still fantastic. I consider it one of the top visual games you could play on the system.

[quote name='ninja dog']First two hours are pretty boring, but it could be worse (see Persona 4's first two hours where you are just scrolling through dialogue.) After you get paradigm shifts and jobs, the battles get tougher and are a lot more fun.[/quote]

I could not disagree more. I did not find the first two hours boring at all. Good to hear it picked up more for you later though. :D
 
[quote name='Yanksfan']This surprises me. I have played it on both PS3 and 360, and while PS3 is superior when it comes to detail, the 360 version is still fantastic. I consider it one of the top visual games you could play on the system.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I don't know. The facial animation and lip syncing are the only things that I would really say are on a different level than other games on the system. I'm only on the third chapter though. But so far I'd say there are a few other 360 games (Gears 2 and Resident Evil 5 spring to mind) that have it beat on technical prowess and overall "wow, I haven't seen this before" factor.
 
One thing I have to say about this game is that it has the "just a few more minutes" factor in spades. Just one more battle and I'll have enough CP for another stat increase... Just want to see what's around that next corner...

I haven't found myself itching to get back to a game like this since... well, since Mass Effect 2 last month, but still. :)
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']One thing I have to say about this game is that it has the "just a few more minutes" factor in spades. Just one more battle and I'll have enough CP for another stat increase... Just want to see what's around that next corner...

I haven't found myself itching to get back to a game like this since... well, since Mass Effect 2 last month, but still. :)[/QUOTE]

:lol:

That indeed is an excellent quality for any game to have.
 
I'm halfway through chapter nine and I like the game so far but I do have some complaints.

1. All the copy and paste corridors. It gets very boring walking in a straight line.
2. Hope. His character just annoyed the piss out of me. I hate his voice, his emo behavior, his cat eyes and his status picture looks like a bad yearbook photo.
3. The Eidolons. I'm not sure yet how I feel about the Transformers summons yet. I kind of half expect them to form into a Megazord for the final boss.

Things I like so far (not a complete list):
1. The chocobo theme
2. The difficulty. It's nice to play an RPG that actually poses a challenge at times.
 
Ugh... if I have to waste my time retweaking my Paradigm deck due to another cut scene shifting the leaders around I'm going to kill someone. The sweet simplicity of manual party control in combat oh how I miss thee indeed. I just started the second disc and honestly I'd have to rate my experience a 5.5 at best. So far I'd say Sazh's chocobo is my favorite character though I have to restrain myself from flipping Japan the bird every time it pops out of his afro. Lightning and Sazh himself are tied for second though I wish L didn't have a 14 year old little boy body with a face to match on most angles.
 
I was thinking about picking this up for $20 at BB but I had a question first. I'd say I'm a medium RPG gamer (I do alright with the classic FF's, was afraid of Fallout 3 but picked it up real quick) and looking at the combat/strategy I'm afraid it's a bit over my head. So would an average RPG gamer find this game fun or frustrating?
 
[quote name='CombatCraig']I was thinking about picking this up for $20 at BB but I had a question first. I'd say I'm a medium RPG gamer (I do alright with the classic FF's, was afraid of Fallout 3 but picked it up real quick) and looking at the combat/strategy I'm afraid it's a bit over my head. So would an average RPG gamer find this game fun or frustrating?[/QUOTE]

The combat can be very frustrating at times. It is a lot of trial and error in trying to figure out the correct class combination to use in a specific battle. You might not even have the correct combination available to you in your current active party, making things even worse. If you know all of the correct combinations to use at each part beforehand, then the game is very enjoyable IMO, as the battle system itself and the story are both excellent (though obviously there is a lot of disagreement with that). I just think they made the difficulty a tad too high unless you have the correct combination in place, which like I said you may not even have available to you in your active party. On the plus side, if you happen to lose a fight, you can retry the fight right away without having to backtrack, and can then quickly change your group configuration if you know the correct combination (or at least suspect it), or you could try and just avoid the fight if it is not a boss fight.

To sum it up, as long as you don't mind trial and error the game can be very rewarding, but getting instantly owned several times in a row while you try and figure out what is best can get old very fast, especially when it is happening on just random monsters and not just on boss fights.
 
The really high level strategy only comes into play at the very end of the campaign and in the postgame, so if you're not that into it, you don't need to do all of the optional superbosses. And if something in the game proper ever becomes too frustrating (looking at you, Barthandelus) you can always just look up some strategies online. I definitely wouldn't let the battle system scare you away if previous FF's haven't been too complicated for you.
 
Thanks for the help. N00b or not I just can't seem to pass this up at $20 lol I guess even if I do hate it the current TIV is about $17 so I'm only out a few bucks
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']The really high level strategy only comes into play at the very end of the campaign and in the postgame, so if you're not that into it, you don't need to do all of the optional superbosses. And if something in the game proper ever becomes too frustrating (looking at you, Barthandelus) you can always just look up some strategies online. I definitely wouldn't let the battle system scare you away if previous FF's haven't been too complicated for you.[/QUOTE]

I guess I did go a bit overboard in explaining the combat system. For the most part I experienced no problems with the fighting, and I loved the Paradgrim (spelling?) system. There were a few fights that pissed me off, mostly the summon fights, but there were definitely some regular mob fights that really pissed me off too. The accordion type monster always owned my face no matter what I tried. I think it was by far the most annoying mob in the game for me, boss or no boss. As long as you don't mind looking up info online when you come across a tough mob (which won't be too often but when they do it could be really frustrating), you'll do fine. Also to add, there is nothing in the story you can miss as far as going for achievements goes as long as you do not sell any non duplicate items, so don't worry about looking at an achievement guide either if you want to try and get all 1000, though it doesn't seem like that is something you are interested in.

The story is great, and the 'linear' gameplay didn't bother me at all as I was too involved in the story to care that I didn't have complete freedom in where I was going. I just wanted to get there and see what happened next.
 
Its a great game in terms of story.

I really liked how the story played out and enjoyed it. The fighting system was good, but the bosses was far too hard to beat without spending a good amount of time grinding.
 
[quote name='GMM']Its a great game in terms of story.

I really liked how the story played out and enjoyed it. The fighting system was good, but the bosses was far too hard to beat without spending a good amount of time grinding.[/QUOTE]

I'm glad someone enjoyed the story. I enjoyed the game only because of the battle system. The graphics were great as well. The story was utter crap - horribly annoying characters - not all but most. I was very disappointed after finishing the game. I didn't have the same grinding problems. I didn't struggle with the difficulty too much. At times I had to grind a bit, but that wasn't a real problem - thanks to the system.

I love JRPGs but I guess the whole "We have to do our best!" crap from overly dramatic characters is getting old for me...yes Hope maybe the worst and most annoying character to grace a FF game...maybe any game.
 
[quote name='Bonesinski']I'm glad someone enjoyed the story. I enjoyed the game only because of the battle system. The graphics were great as well. The story was utter crap - horribly annoying characters - not all but most. I was very disappointed after finishing the game. I didn't have the same grinding problems. I didn't struggle with the difficulty too much. At times I had to grind a bit, but that wasn't a real problem - thanks to the system.

I love JRPGs but I guess the whole "We have to do our best!" crap from overly dramatic characters is getting old for me...yes Hope maybe the worst and most annoying character to grace a FF game...maybe any game.[/QUOTE]

I do agree it was a little too cookie cutter, but it did some interesting things. I really enjoyed the combat, but damn, those bosses.
 
[quote name='Bonesinski']yes Hope maybe the worst and most annoying character to grace a FF game...maybe any game.[/QUOTE]

I didn't mind him at all in the game, and he is surely not the worst character in any game. You should check out Lymle Lemuri Phi and Meracle Chamlotte from Star Ocean The Last Hope to see truly terrible playable characters.
 
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