Final Fantasy XIII-3's Environments Will Be "About 90%" Open

[Roxas1359]

I prefer FURNER FURNTERSER TAKTIKS myself. Agreed with everything you said there, though I have to ask, did anyone else think X-2's battle system (apart from the aesthetics) was really good? As in the best of the post-VII games?

I'm a black sheep in this and actually liked FURNER FURNTERSER TVELVE mainly because I loved the amount of sidequests and exploration it had. But X-2's battle system was good I think, and the way turns were decided was from IX which helped redeem the game for me. Now I'm gonna put up a flame shield again because whenever I say I like FF XII I get shit.

OT: Hm, this intrigues me as XII really reqarded exploration and returning to that would be interesting. This may warrant me to check out the game, but I'm still recovering from XIII and have not played XIII-2 yet.

Tactics is great, though in fairness it is for the most part a Tactics Ogre game with a Final Fantasy paintjob. I believe it even had the same development team as Tactics Ogre.

Tactics games, Ogre, and XII were by the same team. Yasumi Matsuno was the director of all of them up till FF XII when he left the Square Enix halfway through XII's development. It's why they added in the Farewell to A Legend Hunt as Yiazmat was a reference to Matsuno leaving (although in the Japanese version there was no 'i' in Yaizmat).
Trivia man, away! *flies off to play more FF XII International again)

 

[MrBaskerville]

i like the idea of a timer (It worked very well in Pikmin and Dead Rising 1-2) and everything i've read about the gameplay sounds really interesting so i''m actually looking forward to this quite a bit. Obviously the story is going to suck, but who really cares at this point anyway?

 

[Kopikatsu]

Well, I imagine the reason this system is in place is because when the timer runs out, you fight the final boss. If your power wasn't tied to story progression, then you could probably just grind up in the first few areas and beat the final boss without having done much (or any) of the story at all.

 

[The White Hunter]

Cue the comments shutting down this piece of fantastic news for being fanboys in 3...2...1..

In my own opinion, I really can't wait for lightning returns, Finishing 13, Zack fair armor and angeal/zack blade, big open world? Isn't that a final fantasy we've been wanting?

Oh no, apparently the only things fans want is another port or attempted remake of FURNER FURNTERSER SEVERN.

I would prefer an HD remake of 4, 6 or 8, frankly...

OT: I just don't care about the story of that world anymore so I shan't be buying it, though I hope anyone who does has fun with it.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

Well, I'm excited for this.

An almost open world with a doom clock, not really sure how that's gonna turn out, but I'm hoping that they do it right and not make it clunky and forced as hell. They probably set up some grinding areas or something like they did with XIII, but we shall see.

 

[Colt47]

Don't get me wrong, I liked it too, but I always felt I could never catch a break, it made me dread playing the game for fear that I would piss around too long and fuck myself over.

I like dark games (although they are over-saturating the market now, where those happy games at?) But one where they force you to move your ass aren't that much different from linear games, if they tell me to go places and I have a time limit, I will go to the next area without looking around, not much different from the linear FFXIII.

Take FF12, once I beat the Henne Mines I was free to run around, I managed to get the ultimate gun by using my head (I got it using a complex plan since I was going into a place way above my level) and get several weapons WAY before I should have them, I was rewarded for going off the beaten path, taking my time and having a look at GameFAQs around the world.

I will probably get this (I didn't like XIII but I liked XIII-2) So I will see for myself how it is. On the plus side, there will be ways to increase the timer.

Reasonable skepticism. It's a good point. XIII-3's gameplay might potentially try to shuffle a player away from areas using the timer, so that you can't notice the backdrops are actually cardboard cut-outs with limited rewards for exploration.

And now you've reminded me of XII, which was a very different beast. Yeah, XII encouraged exploration, with the exception of areas where higher level monsters would keep you away until you progressed the story, had a clever strategy, or grinded for a bit.

I think its sad that I consider myself a hardcore FF fan yet SE seems content on me not playing a new FF game for half a decade and growing due to their decision to stay with the worst universe they have ever created for the Final Fantasy series.

To each his own indeed. I actually like the universe of XIII. With all the techno-organic life forms and junk. It's the characters and convoluted writing that drags it in down in my opinion. Style over substance. It can be fun in a way, so long as you don't think too hard about the plot.

I think most of us just want to forget that Final Fantasy XIII exists at this point. There is a niche of people who stuck through the first two that might be interested in this one, but at the same time they also have added in features that are even more niche, such as the in-game time management elements.

I don't think they would have decided to make XIII-2, and now Lightning Returns if they didn't think there was an audience for it. 2.37M sales, roughly half of the original XIII, which was 4.98M. So niche, in a way. Although XIII was their first Final Fantasy for some of the people I know that are really into this series.

Well, here's the question: are the sales indicative of who actually likes the game, or effects of marketing and hype? The reality is that the audience that really enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII and its sequel is much smaller than the sales numbers of the actual game. This isn't the only game that worked out like this, either.

Marketing has unfortunately been going down the negative avenue of being almost completely manipulative these last few years rather than being informative. Eventually, it ends up biting the organization paying for the marketing in the rear.

 

[Foolery]

Well, here's the question: are the sales indicative of who actually likes the game, or effects of marketing and hype? The reality is that the audience that really enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII and its sequel is much smaller than the sales numbers of the actual game. This isn't the only game that worked out like this, either.

Marketing has unfortunately been going down the negative avenue of being almost completely manipulative these last few years rather than being informative. Eventually, it ends up biting the organization paying for the marketing in the rear.

Now that's a decent question and appreciate you saying it. Can't honestly tell you, really. I would guess a good chunk of the original XIII's sales, was likely from it being the first Final Fantasy on current home consoles, and a bit of marketing. XIII-2's sales probably lean more towards those who actually had enjoyed the original game rather than those bought the first one to try it out or because of hype. I won't lie, I picked up my copy of XIII brand new in a bargain bin for 20 bucks. I had stayed away because of the negative attention it received. Certainly not one of my favourites, but I didn't think it was as bad as some people said. XIII-2 I haven't played.

 

[Colt47]

Well, here's the question: are the sales indicative of who actually likes the game, or effects of marketing and hype? The reality is that the audience that really enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII and its sequel is much smaller than the sales numbers of the actual game. This isn't the only game that worked out like this, either.

Marketing has unfortunately been going down the negative avenue of being almost completely manipulative these last few years rather than being informative. Eventually, it ends up biting the organization paying for the marketing in the rear.

Now that's a decent question and appreciate you saying it. Can't honestly tell you, really. I would guess a good chunk of the original XIII's sales, was likely from it being the first Final Fantasy on current home consoles, and a bit of marketing. XIII-2's sales probably lean more towards those who actually had enjoyed the original game rather than those bought the first one to try it out or because of hype. I won't lie, I picked up my copy of XIII brand new in a bargain bin for 20 bucks. I had stayed away because of the negative attention it received. Certainly not one of my favourites, but I didn't think it was as bad as some people said. XIII-2 I haven't played.

Unfortunately, I've seen more than one person who has bought a $60 game, played it for maybe a week and a half, and then turned it into the nearest gamestop or mothballed it. Due to preorder bonuses, the shift to digital entertainment, and the collapse of local rental stores, many people end up making day 1 purchases without actually trying the game first. Those day one sales then get fed into these charts that companies like to toss around to show their success. Why do you think companies don't like showing the retention rate?

 

[mad825]

SE, only gullible people will listen to your crap. Being "about 90%" open is not very descriptive and I'm sure that people are imagining their own fantasy on what that will be like. Give evidence, Show proof.

 

[Moontouched-Moogle]

But what do I know? My favourite game is FURNER FURNTERSER NERN.

I prefer FURNER FURNTERSER TAKTIKS myself. Agreed with everything you said there, though I have to ask, did anyone else think X-2's battle system (apart from the aesthetics) was really good? As in the best of the post-VII games?

Tactics is great, though in fairness it is for the most part a Tactics Ogre game with a Final Fantasy paintjob. I believe it even had the same development team as Tactics Ogre.

Never got into X-2 myself (never really liked X), but I did hear good things about the battle system.

FURNER FURNTERSER TAKTIKS ERDVERNSE was the game that got me into Final Fantasy in general and holds a special place in my heart. I definitely appreciated the increased difficulty of Tactics(War of the Lions) and Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together though. While I generally prefer how Final Fantasy Tactics handled the job system, Tactics Ogre did have some interesting takes on it. Shame my PSP screen broke before I could get very far in it.

Can't say much about X-2's battle system since I've yet to play it (holding out for the HD release now), but I definitely loved XII's seamless overworld/battle system. Hopefully XIII-3's open environments and battles will operate in a similar fashion.

 

[Moontouched-Moogle]

SE, only gullible people will listen to your crap. Being "about 90%" open is not very descriptive and I'm sure that people are imagining their own fantasy on what that will be like. Give evidence, Show proof.

I'm sure if the game woefully under-delivers on what we imagine based on this announcement, that will be the final fantasy they'll allow themselves to imagine.

 

[MammothBlade]

Sounds good, but...

I haven't played through all of the original or XIII-2. Not sure if I have enough interest in the XIII series to buy it.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

So was XIII-2, but you managed to fuck that one up too Square. I honestly think it was worse, because you never addressed the core fucking problem. Every single damn character in this horrible series of games is written so terribly that none of them, with the possible exception of Sazh, remotely approach being likable, believable, enjoyable, or purposeful. You made a character driven series of games and could hardly make a single functional character. Yeah, the gameplay sucked horribly, yeah, the plot has been totally ridiculous, and yeah, you removed any semblance of freedom from the (first) game in favor of your bullshit, horribly written cut-scenes, poorly designed and dull hallways, and boring hand-holding combat. But before all that you made the keystone of your whole game, the characters, out of pure, mushy, shit. Once the characters are "90%" functional, then we can fucking talk Square.

 

[medv4380]

The linear mess was a bit issue but not the only issue. I'm waiting several months after before I even consider it, and even then. The whole Lightning "Jesus" seems a bit much, and a bit too much playing into the western messiah complex as far as I can tell.

 

[Dr. Crawver]

Too bad I have no confidence in the game after XIII-2. I just don't care for the story anymore, so even if they address the mechanical faults like this, I can't really care so won't be getting it. Pitty, since I loved 12 so much.

 

[KingdomFantasyXIII]

I don't think they would have decided to make XIII-2, and now Lightning Returns if they didn't think there was an audience for it. 2.37M sales, roughly half of the original XIII, which was 4.98M. So niche, in a way. Although XIII was their first Final Fantasy for some of the people I know that are really into this series.

Final Fantasy is hardly "niche" in any shape or form after selling that many copies, also, I though FFXIII sold 6.5 million. If the sequel sold only 2.5 million, that is a good indicator that not a lot of people liked XIII.

Okay, seriously, where are you getting these sales numbers? All of these sales numbers are wonky and out of whack.

Here is how it went down:

FF13: fastest selling FF game since FF8 and first multi-platfrom game
sold 5.5 million copies in a few months after release
sold 6.2 million copies after one year (sales similar to that of the 6.7 million copies FF10 sold in one year of release)
sold 7 million copies as of now (2013)

FF13-2: Second direct sequel since FF10-2 and the second multi-platinum game
sold 2.4 million copies in the first few months
sold 3.1 million copies after one year (similar to that of the 3.4 million copies FF10-2 sold in one year of release)
sales TBC for now until 3 full years pass to properly see where the sales of FF13-2 will be that of FF13.

Both FF13's and FF13-2's sales are consistent with that of FF10 and FF10-2 sales. If you want undersold FF games, then look at FF12 (5.2 million copies) and FF9 (5.4 million copies).

 

[Foolery]

I don't think they would have decided to make XIII-2, and now Lightning Returns if they didn't think there was an audience for it. 2.37M sales, roughly half of the original XIII, which was 4.98M. So niche, in a way. Although XIII was their first Final Fantasy for some of the people I know that are really into this series.

Final Fantasy is hardly "niche" in any shape or form after selling that many copies, also, I though FFXIII sold 6.5 million. If the sequel sold only 2.5 million, that is a good indicator that not a lot of people liked XIII.

Okay, seriously, where are you getting these sales numbers? All of these sales numbers are wonky and out of whack.

Here is how it went down:

FF13: fastest selling FF game since FF8 and first multi-platfrom game
sold 5.5 million copies in a few months after release
sold 6.2 million copies after one year (sales similar to that of the 6.7 million copies FF10 sold in one year of release)
sold 7 million copies as of now (2013)

FF13-2: Second direct sequel since FF10-2 and the second multi-platinum game
sold 2.4 million copies in the first few months
sold 3.1 million copies after one year (similar to that of the 3.4 million copies FF10-2 sold in one year of release)
sales TBC for now until 3 full years pass to properly see where the sales of FF13-2 will be that of FF13.

Both FF13's and FF13-2's sales are consistent with that of FF10 and FF10-2 sales. If you want undersold FF games, then look at FF12 (5.2 million copies) and FF9 (5.4 million copies).

I think my numbers were dated is all. Where did you get those sales records from? I used vgchartz. Probably not reliable. Here, from wikipedia. "Selling 1.7 million copies in Japan in 2009, Final Fantasy XIII became the fastest-selling title in the history of the series. As of January 2013, the game has shipped 6.6 million copies worldwide."

 

[Seracen]

And no single f--- was given. Seriously, why should I care enough to buy this game at launch, when the first entry is so boring?

Honestly, I petered out around 5 hours into the game. It shouldn't take the length of entire other games (30 hours from what I keep hearing) for me to "get into" a game.

Just stick a fork in it already, 13 is done. I'd have had more respect for a 5 hour DLC that ended the storylines, at least then it wouldn't have been as much a waste of time, as well as money...

Full disclosure, I did actually get FF13-2, but my friend bought it as a gift from the sale bin. I'll likely give the 3rd entry the same treatment.

And that's not really what a AAA title should aspire to...begrudged purchases at sale prices.