Final Fantasy XIII Date announced, $56.99 at Amazon.

[quote name='Ryuukishi']XII is the best game of the last generation.[/QUOTE]

Agreed, although I understand the fact some people don't like the battle system. In my opinion, it takes a lot more strategy and micromanaging to successfully win a battle in XII than most (if not all) other Final Fantasy's. I think that is why I like it so much.
 
What is funny to me is that FF12 got pretty much all perfect or 9/10 scores among professional reviewers. And then among fans there is this huge backlash and love/hate divide. Not to say that the reviewers were "right" or that anyone's personal opinion is invalid, but it is interesting to consider what about the game triggered universal praise from reviewers, but totally pissed off so many rank-and-file Final Fantasy fans. It's like one of those art films that critics love but no one else gets. :)
 
I really need to play through XII. I started when it first came out and played for a few hours but got diverted.

DO you guys suggest PC emulation or just using my PS3? Kind of want to test out my new laptop but not sure if its worth the headaches.
 
Well I guess we North Americans get to gaze at Lightning humping the ESRB logo just like our European cousins get to see her hump the PEGI.

Revealed on finalfantasyxiii.com, the US box art is the same as the Euro.
 
[quote name='punkmaggit']XII was a revelation. Had Vaan not been there, it'd be right up there with my VI, my all-time favorite.[/QUOTE]

+1

i totally agree with you. couldn't have said it any better.
 
Debating if I should pick up 12 on goozex or something to play on my PS3. I just remember really liking the art style on the FMV but feeling like the game was playing itself. Worth another try?
 
[quote name='mikespit1']Debating if I should pick up 12 on goozex or something to play on my PS3. I just remember really liking the art style on the FMV but feeling like the game was playing itself. Worth another try?[/QUOTE]

It kinda feels like that at the beginning. Just give it some time. Once the battles get more difficult, you are going to be managing the battle quite a bit. At least I did. The gambit system is great, but it is missing just enough to make you manage battles more tactically as the game progresses.

Another great thing about XII is the fact that there is literally tons of stuff to do outside the main storyline. Defeating all the marks in the game is a very enjoyable (and difficult) experience in and of itself.
 
Already have it preordered months ago.

Apparently, Sq Enix must have figured that a hot picture of Lightning on the cover will help them sell more...far beyond the core FF fans who would buy whatever craps that have FF on it.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']What is funny to me is that FF12 got pretty much all perfect or 9/10 scores among professional reviewers. And then among fans there is this huge backlash and love/hate divide. Not to say that the reviewers were "right" or that anyone's personal opinion is invalid, but it is interesting to consider what about the game triggered universal praise from reviewers, but totally pissed off so many rank-and-file Final Fantasy fans. It's like one of those art films that critics love but no one else gets. :)[/QUOTE]

The same thing happened to Final Fantasy VIII. The masses loved FFVII but didn't like the fresh changes of VIII. I must be the odd one because I liked VIII more than VII and last generation I liked the openness of XII over the narrow path of X and on the SNES I liked FFII over FFIII.

[quote name='PrinnyOtaku']Lol wow, FU! I love J-pop to to end, the theme song is so damn gooooood!
[/QUOTE]

Different strokes for different folks. To me it sounded like a Japaneses version of I'll Be There by Mariah Carey to my ears but done with a squeaky voice.
 
XII was exactly what Final Fantasy needed. X was just another JRPG and XI's success was predicated upon it becoming the biggest MMORPG which it wasn't. XII had relatively likable characters and an endlessly entertaining battle system. I wouldn't put it over IV or VI but it's pretty easily my third favorite FF game ever.
 
[quote name='Halo05']XII was exactly what Final Fantasy needed.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. I don't know if you ever read Eurogamer's review, but they talk about how XII will revolutionize the genre as other JRPG makers rush to copy its gameplay advancements. If only. :cry: I'm super pumped for XIII in any case, but I really wish it had built on the foundation laid by XII rather than apparently regressing to a more X-like structure.
 
BLABLABLABLA

FF LXIX is the best because I'm an authority on these things. I know everything; therefore, I'm always right.

BLABLABLABLA

fuck OFF
 
I fired up FFXII just last weekend because I never finished it. I'm already 35 hours into it. It's definitely fun, and I'm psyched for XIII
 
[quote name='salazarmark']BLABLABLABLA

FF LXIX is the best because I'm an authority on these things. I know everything; therefore, I'm always right.

BLABLABLABLA

fuck OFF[/QUOTE]

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Seriously though, how do you really feel?
 
[quote name='InFlames215']Agreed, although I understand the fact some people don't like the battle system. In my opinion, it takes a lot more strategy and micromanaging to successfully win a battle in XII than most (if not all) other Final Fantasy's. I think that is why I like it so much.[/QUOTE]

See, while I actually enjoy and praise the gambit system, and while, in theory, it would take more strategy and micromanaging to successfully win a battle, in practice, you don't need that much strategy and micromanaging to breeze through battles in XII. Most bosses could be defeated by having a haste/beserk/etc. gambit being cast on the party's tank and using quickenings (which I hate), and you can get through most normal battles without having to change around your gambits very much.

The thing that I dislike about XII's battle system is that while there are so many skills, magicks, and whatnot there, you don't need 80% of them, and you can kill enemies too fast to warrant using, for example, summons and status effect spells whatsoever. The idea is definitely there, and I appreciate that about XII; I just don't think it transpired well in practice. I wanted more challenge; I would have liked more need to micromanage, adapt, and change my gamits; however, I found that as the game went on, I was on auto-pilot.

XII, while it's not my least favorite FF by far, is the first game since V that I stopped playing for a long period of time. I just couldn't bring myself to continue playing during some of the really poorly paced portions (yay alliteration) of the game--going from forest to field to dungeon to forest to, finally, continue to the story. Had Balthier and Fran been the main characters, I think the game would have been more interesting, because the story, as it is, is trite and lackluster.

I hope we see the gambit system tinkered with in RPGs to come--I think there's so much potential there. Gambits are 10000x better than AI-controlled party members in, especially, action RPGs; that makes me feel like the game is playing for me--and playing shittily and stupidly, I should mention.
 
FFXII was fine and refreshing, but if I wanted to play a game with a combat system like XII's, I would've preferred it on the PC. Yes there was micromanaging and "strategy" involved, but it's just like Dragon Age, you lose some of the preciseness you would get if it were on PC. A lot of the combat is automated, and frankly, you COULD say the game was challenging but it really wasn't.

I'm also not a big fan of Ivalice or the races aside from the Viera. Ashe was a good female lead but Vaan... oh god.

I liked FFVIII to be fair, it was different from FFVII but it still felt grounded in the FF universe, whereas FFXII really was a leap in another direction from X.

The one thing reviewers got wrong though from their thoughts on FFXII was that every Japanese developer would look to XII as an example and mimic what it did right. They... really didn't. At all.

Same thing is being said about FFXIII. The JRPG genre is stagnant until Square releases their masterpiece, then everyone else copies. It definitely feels like it's more likely to happen this time since the core mechanics are back, but... I doubt we'll see a JRPG with close to the production values for XIII in the next two years (aside from Versus if it does come out in the near future).

Hell, L5's WKC Next looks like shit compared to FFXIII. /shrug

EDIT: To add to the gambit system; it's not broken or anything. A lot of games have tried ways to control party AI and really when it comes down to it, XII's gambit system did it damn well. Had something like that been implemented in P3 (which has in recent years overtaken FF as my franchise of choice), the game would have been a lot better. They tried fixing it in FES but it still didn't really feel... smart. Customization when it comes to AI is really crucial, in any case. I do prefer to have full control over all my party members though, real-time or not.
 
Maromi, those are definitely some valid criticisms. I also think the game could have been a lot more challenging, and could have had more battles/situations that required different strategies. I don't even recall there being very many of the traditional 'monsters that are impervious to everything but ice attacks' or what have you. It was possible to muscle through pretty much the entire game using physical attacks and the right combination of buffs. And there were some big problems with pacing, especially toward the end of the story. Still, the world of Ivalice was so fascinating, the characters so engaging, and the core gameplay so relentlessly fun that it's hard for me to dwell too much on the game's shortcomings.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Maromi, those are definitely some valid criticisms. I also think the game could have been a lot more challenging, and could have had more battles/situations that required different strategies. I don't even recall there being very many of the traditional 'monsters that are impervious to everything but ice attacks' or what have you. It was possible to muscle through pretty much the entire game using physical attacks and the right combination of buffs. And there were some big problems with pacing, especially toward the end of the story. Still, the world of Ivalice was so fascinating, the characters so engaging, and the core gameplay so relentlessly fun that it's hard for me to dwell too much on the game's shortcomings.[/QUOTE]I agree! Except it for that "engaging characters " part. FFXII was definitely very fun.
 
If XIII mimicks XII in the combat system aspect, then I think I'm going to just wait it out and get versus XIII instead since it's supposedly similar to Kingdom Hearts in terms of combat.

Having never played a FF game before XII, I think that it was very good for an RPG... I hate most RPG's that are turnbased.
 
[quote name='Maromi']See, while I actually enjoy and praise the gambit system, and while, in theory, it would take more strategy and micromanaging to successfully win a battle, in practice, you don't need that much strategy and micromanaging to breeze through battles in XII. Most bosses could be defeated by having a haste/beserk/etc. gambit being cast on the party's tank and using quickenings (which I hate), and you can get through most normal battles without having to change around your gambits very much.
[/QUOTE]


My only response is, I've hardly ever been challenged in a FF since 4(our 2, not the "hard" japanese version, so you can excuse me there), so that's kind of status quo. Sure there are tough bosses and optional stuff, but I never really do those anymore, I want to experience more games rather than more of the same game, these days. But some totally valid critiques overall, definitely. It's rare to hear anyone do anything but say the game sucks, which is my only real problem; the lack of an explanation. Still, even though I'm a little defensive of the game, I never actually beat it :whistle2:#(I'm terrible with jrpgs these days)

I always tell me I'll get to it(it being one of a hundred games) eventually.
 
@Ryuukishi: I don't necessarily dwell on the game's shortcomings, but the broken and unbalanced combat system, for me, is too big of a shortcoming to overlook. I just feel as though if there were more necessity to use your entire arsenal of skills and magicks at strategic moments, the game would be much better.

There should have been something to balance the ridiculousness of berserk+haste+strength up+etc.; a game that focuses so much on strategy, planning, and micromanaging should not have a limit break system that is based purely on luck. I was sad that I left the game feeling disappointed, because I really did enjoy myself for the first 60% of the game. I think the flaws become more visible as you progress forward, and the pacing slows to a crawl, complemented, unfortunately, by a story that offers little excitement.

I'm also a fan of Ivalice, which is sort of another reason why I was disappointed--I wanted the game to capture the amazingness that is FF Tactics' Ivalice.

Either way, like I said, I don't dislike XII at all and hope that XIII builds on XII's system and balances it out. Had XII done some things a bit differently and created more need for different skills and adaptation, I think it would have had some of the best gameplay in JRPG history. As the game is, I consider it to be "pretty good" out of "incredible."

And Vortextk: good point. FF isn't necessarily the series to go to for challenge. I suppose I was hoping XII would really elevate the game to a new level in the challenge department and punish the gamer for relying on the same strategies (attack, heal, repeat).
 
By the end-game of any FF there was always something you could abuse to blow through the game, like VII's KOTR Miming, which essentially broke the game. FF games aren't really supposed to be balanced though, nor do they claim to be. What they do get correctly is make you feel like a badass. Character development and grinding in most FF games pay off tremendously whereas in other games, the reward for the most part seem pointless. If you put 60+ hours into a game to get the ultimate weapons and summons, etc... you should be able to wreck everything IMO.

What they need to do is put in some bosses mid-game that give you a run for your money. Not in the sense that they make you say: "Wow, I need to go and grind some more, I'm underleveled" but more on the lines of, you go in queueing up normal attack buttons and what not and get completely destroyed due to a unique mechanic.

I'll relate it to the raid encounters in WoW. If all of the boss fights in FFXIII had a unique method of killing it, unique abilities which needed to be countered pre-emptively because they follow a pattern/timer-base, and require certain party members who don't feel like the same character with a different skin, the game would be amazing.

Sadly, it doesn't work that way. Which makes me sad because, most RPGs put save points in front of boss battles, but what's the point when there's no risk of dying to them anyways?

Instead of stacking insane buffs, making unique fights which make it clear that using Protect, Shell, or Reflect is the way to win would be a nice change. I ran through FFVII with my characters afflicted with Hyper permanently to abuse learning Limit Breaks quickly and blowing through every boss battle with them. That... shouldn't be possible.

Although there's the whole debate of job system versus unique characters each with special skills that only they can use (i.e. Jump... only useful). I don't like a generic White Mage/Monk, etc... job system since they make the characters lose a lot of their personality, but that's just me.
 
[quote name='salazarmark']BLABLABLABLA

FF LXIX is the best because I'm an authority on these things. I know everything; therefore, I'm always right.

BLABLABLABLA

fuck OFF[/QUOTE]

sarcasm?

or maybe reverse physcology?
 
[quote name='Vortextk']My only response is, I've hardly ever been challenged in a FF since 4(our 2, not the "hard" japanese version, so you can excuse me there), so that's kind of status quo. [/QUOTE]

If anybody wants to scare the crap out of me, play the Zeromus boss music. I tried to rush through it (PS1 version), and got my butt kicked 1000x over on the final boss, even though I managed to scrape through the treasure bosses. I had to gain at least 10+ levels to even stand a chance. (I remember Rydia hadn't even learned Flare yet.) Even on the DS version, part of me wanted to go running away screaming in terror, and I didn't even have any problem.

But anyways, each FF has its good & bad points. I can't pick out 1 FF as the "best". Each one has something that is the best (or most enjoyable) the series, and also something that is the worst (or most frustrating) in the series.
 
Looking forward to FFXIV about 1000x more, but still wanting to play this badly. Pumped that it's only a few months away.
 
for some reason, i have very low expectations for Versus -- may be it's because with the exception of FF and DQ and anything that's more RPG centric, SquEnix games are usually just "meh". Sure, nice cutscenes and even great graphics but bad to mediocre gameplay. Remember Drakengard, Bouncer, or even Dirge? No? There's a good reason for that.

I'm actually excited to see how FF13 pans out. It certainly looks amazing. I don't have a 360 or a PS3 but am thinking about picking one or the other up eventually. I'm inclined to get a PS3 but there are a handful of 360 games I want to play (Vesperia, DOA4, Halo 3) and, well, the 360 is still "less expensive" since I don't need a blu-ray player.

That said, I'm very happy that FF13 will be on both consoles and minus the "more than 1 disc" thing on 360, the games will be virtually identical. Since both now will be devoid of the Japanese track, I don't really have any inclination towards one over the other.

Oddly, I kind of want it for the 360 just to see Final Fantasy running off an MS machine. Sure, there was FF11 but this one is a real FF game. There's always something about seeing a time-honored console franchise hopping off. It's sort of like when I first played GTA on Xbox or Resident Evil on Gamecube ;-)
 
Square-Enix has a horrible record with putting language tracks aside from the native language in games. I can understand in the days of DVDs, but when they include lossless audio on the PS3 version of FFXIII, you'd think tossing the Japanese VA on the BR wouldn't be an issue.

Or... better yet. Hire some better VA's so my ears don't bleed.
 
[quote name='PrinnyOtaku']Square-Enix has a horrible record with putting language tracks aside from the native language in games. I can understand in the days of DVDs, but when they include lossless audio on the PS3 version of FFXIII, you'd think tossing the Japanese VA on the BR wouldn't be an issue.

Or... better yet. Hire some better VA's so my ears don't bleed.[/QUOTE]

That's not the question. The question is if Lossless audio/1080p, uncompressed cutscenes from the Japanese PS3 version will remain in tact for the NA PS3 version or not because of the 360 version.
 
[quote name='KingBroly']That's not the question. The question is if Lossless audio/1080p, uncompressed cutscenes from the Japanese PS3 version will remain in tact for the NA PS3 version or not because of the 360 version.[/QUOTE]
Never thought of comparing the NA version with JPN in those terms. But if Square actually does what they said they'll do,(50/50) then it makes sense.
 
[quote name='Zen Rukasu']Never thought of comparing the NA version with JPN in those terms. But if Square actually does what they said they'll do,(50/50) then it makes sense.[/QUOTE]

If they do it, I can tell you that the backlash will be unbelievable.
 
FFXIII isn't running at 1080p though, not to my knowledge.

I know the back of the Japanese retail box has been leaked but just judging by the pretty stable framerate from the trailers, I'm guessing it's running at 720p native. Lossless audio is a different question, and I have no clue how full the 3 DVDs for the 360 version are so, who knows.

I'm can't complain, going to be playing on my Onkyo 7.1 setup :)
 
[quote name='PrinnyOtaku']
I'm can't complain, going to be playing on my Onkyo 7.1 setup :)[/QUOTE]

Same here! And I agree that it's unlikely that the game would have run at 1080P natively, 360 version or not.
 
[quote name='PrinnyOtaku']

I'm can't complain, going to be playing on my Onkyo 7.1 setup :)[/QUOTE]

I hate you. I've been looking to buy a HTS-6200

I might pop in my copy of VIII to beat, and give XII another try to fix my FF craving from all this talk.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']So when can we expect some Japanese reviews to start hitting? I am dying to see whether Famitsu will give this another 40.[/QUOTE]

Given how liberally Famitsu has been handing out 40s of late, and that it's Final Fantasy XIII, I would be sort of worried if they gave it anything less than 40.
 
[quote name='bvharris']Given how liberally Famitsu has been handing out 40s of late, and that it's Final Fantasy XIII, I would be sort of worried if they gave it anything less than 40.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I'm expecting the internet to riot either way. :) Either "How DARE they not give this CLEARLY PERFECT game a 40" or "40s are meaningless since every game gets one including this PIECE OF CRAP." Ah, good times.
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Yeah, I'm expecting the internet to riot either way. :) Either "How DARE they not give this CLEARLY PERFECT game a 40" or "40s are meaningless since every game gets one including this PIECE OF CRAP." Ah, good times.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I just think that at this point I expect Famitsu to give bigtime releases like this 40s whether they deserve them or not. So if it didn't give it a 40, I'd be somewhat worried about the quality of the game.
 
[quote name='bvharris']Yeah, I just think that at this point I expect Famitsu to give bigtime releases like this 40s whether they deserve them or not. So if it didn't give it a 40, I'd be somewhat worried about the quality of the game.[/QUOTE]

Well, the impressions are the key. Being worried would mean that all big time releases are not 40s or are bad, and that is generally not the case.
 
[quote name='PrinnyOtaku']FFXIII isn't running at 1080p though, not to my knowledge.

I know the back of the Japanese retail box has been leaked but just judging by the pretty stable framerate from the trailers, I'm guessing it's running at 720p native.[/QUOTE]

If this is the case I then I will be getting the 360 version. I have a 1080P TV but I don't have a lossless receiver (just a 5.1 DD/DTS system.) But I guess it is too early to make that decision.
 
Yeah there's no way they're gonna have the PS3 version at 1080p and the 360 at 720p, so you're safe either way I guess.

Not that the game can even run at 1080p without taking performance hits. Square has commented before that the whatever resolution they use, it'd be a pretty rock solid FPS since they didn't want the game to suffer because of bumping up the res.
 
[quote name='PrinnyOtaku']Yeah there's no way they're gonna have the PS3 version at 1080p and the 360 at 720p, so you're safe either way I guess.
[/QUOTE]

You miss-understood me. The Xbox 360 upconverts 720P to 1080P and the PS3 doesn't. The PS3 has the sound advantage for the users with lossless receivers and the 360 has the advantage of upconverting 720P for 1080P users. It is the strength and weakness of both systems. So if FFXIII ends up being @720P naive the 360 has the advantage of the upconversion for 1080P users. That is why I will most likely buy it for 360 if it is a 720P title.
 
[quote name='spoo']You miss-understood me. The Xbox 360 upconverts 720P to 1080P and the PS3 doesn't. The PS3 has the sound advantage for the users with lossless receivers and the 360 has the advantage of upconverting 720P for 1080P users. It is the strength and weakness of both systems. So if FFXIII ends up being @720P naive the 360 has the advantage of the upconversion for 1080P users. That is why I will most likely buy it for 360 if it is a 720P title.[/QUOTE]

The PS3 can force 1080p. It ~usually~ won't upscale it for you but you can change the settings so it does. Not that you'd really notice a difference between a 720p native and upscaled. Many people would prefer playing in the native res. even if their TV supports higher. To each his/her own though.

Depending on how good your TV is, it'll upscale automatically for you, and it may be better than the 360/PS3's upscaler.
 
[quote name='PrinnyOtaku']The PS3 can force 1080p. It ~usually~ won't upscale it for you but you can change the settings so it does. Not that you'd really notice a difference between a 720p native and upscaled. Many people would prefer playing in the native res. even if their TV supports higher. To each his/her own though.[/QUOTE]

No idea what you just said...

PS3 version for me because:
1) Have PS3
2) Playstation is the home for FF (don't care that it's on 360 too since i'm not a fanboy)
 
Games that run natively at 720p but SUPPORT 1080i/p can be forced to display in those resolutions if you go into the PS3 display settings and UNCHECK 720p.

Most TVs have upscalers built in, so it makes more sense to let your TV to do the upscaling for you.

If you don't really understand the whole upscaling thing, don't worry about it. But the 360's default upscaling "feature" isn't something that the system has over the PS3.

I was just pointing out that there are people who like to play 720p games in 720p since upscaling causes jagged edges and such.
 
[quote name='JaroldL']this is why i own both systems.

don't need to debate what console version to get.[/QUOTE]


Is there sarcasm or a wrong word somewhere in there? That's exactly why I debate which version to get, I have both consoles.
 
[quote name='Vortextk']Is there sarcasm or a wrong word somewhere in there? That's exactly why I debate which version to get, I have both consoles.[/QUOTE]

He contradicted himself...
 
[quote name='Ryuukishi']Yeah, for those of us with only one console, there's really no debate. :)[/QUOTE]

Yeah there is,

360 or 360
PS3 or PS3
Wii or Wii
 
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