Poll: What is everyone's problem with XIII?

[DirgeNovak]

At first I was thrilled by the presentation and the combat was great, but after a few hours I found out it was really shallow, repetitive and a little boring. So I traded it for GoW 3 and am now much happier for it. I'll pick it up again when it's in the bargain bin next summer during the release drought.

Where is [...] talking to random people in towns

So you enjoyed that tedium of having to press X next to every single fucking moron to read unimportant crap? Archades in 12 comes to mind. I want my hour back, Squeenix!

 

[SalamanderJoe]

I never played it. I've never got round to it. All I know is that XIII is my girlfriend's favourtire game 'so far'.

EDIT: Ooooo, Final Fantasy XIII...not, XIII. Nah we thought FFXIII was a disapointment. I didn't like how if you lead character died everyone died regardless of HP. That sucked.

 

[TehAudioSurfer]

My only gripe was the beautiful parking lots and hallways of enemies...enemies everywhere.

But those FMV's were gorgeous, and the soundtrack was nice.

 

[Risingblade]

It was fun till they forced you to grind

 

[FinalHeart95]

I thought the battle system was a great change of pace for the series. Instead of focusing on choosing attacks, you focus on setting up the right paradigms for your situation. It feels so fast-paced if you ask me.
The story was pretty good too. It had its flaws, no doubt, but overall it wasn't too bad.
The villains sucked. Still pissed off at the wasted potential in Jihl Nabaat.
The main heroes weren't all that bad. I didn't mind Vanille, and Hope started off as an obnoxious brat, but that ended. I wish you got to see more of Fang's snarky side though. Sazh was a great character.

So, yeah, I enjoyed it. Not my favorite though, that still goes to FFIV.

 

[D_987]

The story was pretty good too. It had its flaws, no doubt, but overall it wasn't too bad.

I'd be interested to hear what you thought of the ending; since it's rare I see someone who enjoyed the games story. [in spoiler tags of course].

 

[Bat Vader]

I suppose the reason I disliked Final Fantasy XIII was mainly because of how linear it was. I could understand the beginning level being linear when you have to escape the prison. Even after you escape it keeps being linear. I like being able to choose where I want to go in a game.

The combat just felt really boring. I loved Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2 combat system. Final Fantasy XIII should have used that type of combat system. I like being able to move around freely in combat. The biggest thing I disliked about the game was the character Hope. The kid was worthless. He added nothing to the story and was just there to complain about things.

I never finished the game because of how disappointed I was by it. I am not saying it is a bad game. I am just saying why I disliked it.

 

[TaboriHK]

It was a horrible game. The characters were uninteresting and waaaay overdesigned, the world was uninteresting and waaaay overdesigned, and the gameplay itself was not rewarding or fun. I made it through an hour with my friend before sending it back. I am not interested in hearing about how good it gets 34 hours from when I quit. Video game has GAME right in the name. If it isn't fun or enjoyable in a reasonable timeframe, it has to go, and FFXIII is maybe, without exaggeration, the worst video game I've ever had the displeasure of wasting my time on. I would have had more fun spending an hour trapped with the Chilean miners.

 

[spinFX]

I though this was about the PS2 Cel Shaded gem XIII for a second there.

Yeah same.

Was about to be all: "I didn't know people had problems with it?"

 

[FinalHeart95]

The story was pretty good too. It had its flaws, no doubt, but overall it wasn't too bad.

I'd be interested to hear what you thought of the ending; since it's rare I see someone who enjoyed the games story. [in spoiler tags of course].

Spoiler

Well, I'm assuming you're talking about "WHY THE FUCK DID THEY KILL ORPHAN?"
Here's how I see it:
- Either they would kill Orphan, or Orphan/Barthandelus would kill them. Obviously, they should sacrifice themselves in this situation.... unless...
- The fal'Cie will just make other people l'Cie to do the same damn thing. And if they don't do it, they'll make some other people l'Cie. And it will continue until someone kills Orphan.
Taking that into consideration, maybe they figured it would be better off trying to wing it and hoping they get lucky. However, I do have my gripes with the ending, for example... SINCE WHEN CAN VANILLE AND FANG TURN INTO RAGNAROK AT WILL? That was bullshit. It would've been much more satisfying at that point to see Cocoon crash and burn than seeing them pull that out of their ass.
That being said, most of what I like about the story comes from pretty much Chapter 9 and before. Once they get to Cocoon things go downhill, but not enough to ruin the entire thing for me. Generally a bad ending will ruin a movie/game for me, but I guess it simply wasn't bad enough.

 

[flying mong]

i have to say that i dont see the problem with the linearity the game offers i stuck with it to the end and although the game wasnt brillent it at least brought the memories of the old games back to my mind and yes it wasn't what i was expetecting but it looked brilliant and was the first final fantasy game i have managed to play on a current gen console without paying for it monthly

 

[Julianking93]

I really liked it. It's by no means my favourite Final Fantasy, but I liked the characters and the combat system was a lot of fun when it finally opened up after the first few chapters.

Eh. More or less this, but I actually thought it was the best Final Fantasy.

That's only my opinion though.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

in terse terms:

bad design, bad writing, bad characters. The game was made by some of Square's worst, especially Toriyama who is a hack writer.

 

[Jumpingbean3]

9 words: no free roaming UNTIL TEN TO TWENTY HOURS IN. Also the only likeable and relate-able characters are Sazh (an incredibly obvious stereotype) and possibly Lightning (who is only likeable and relate-able because she bitches out Snow), the story was so confusing you had to read STACKS of information before you had a good idea of what's going on and why (a storytelling death trap for 2 reasons: 1) most people aren't willing to read stacks of information and 2) as Yahtzee said in regards to this very issue "you're supposed to weave exposition into the narrative not hand the audience a fucking glossary as they walk into the theatre"), the Paradigm system was good (the Espers battle system was okay but needed improving) but I still would have liked to control the other 2 characters in combat but I couldn't so combat felt somewhat uninvolving, the level up system was a linear as hell system in non-linear clothing, the ability for characters to access all jobs should have been introduced in the beginning because introducing it half way through is pointless because A) after levelling up characters with their set jobs for so long you're not going to go to the bother of levelling up new ones from scratch and B) the game has already set them up as being fine as they are; why make level up Hopes Commando ability when he's already the best mage in the game or why make Lightning a sentinel when she's been built up as a mostly aggressive fighter and Snow and Fang are good enough sentinels already and finally most of the game is spent in linear corridor after linear corridor. I probably would have more but ironically I gave up on FF 13 the moment people say it really gets 90good out of sheer boredom with the game and since then it's either gone missing or I've sold it (I forget). When I first played this game I liked it, when I gave up on it I thought it was a letdown, down that I've finished typing this post I want to do to FF 13 what shaqfu.com wants to do to the game Shaq Fu.

 

[D_987]

The story was pretty good too. It had its flaws, no doubt, but overall it wasn't too bad.

I'd be interested to hear what you thought of the ending; since it's rare I see someone who enjoyed the games story. [in spoiler tags of course].

Spoiler

SINCE WHEN CAN VANILLE AND FANG TURN INTO RAGNAROK AT WILL? That was bullshit.

Spoiler

That was more the point I hate about the ending, although the fact they attack Orphan only makes sense if you choose to beleive they have some hidden knowledge the player doesn't. Ironically they end up going along with Barth's plan and only succeed thanks to the Deus Ex Machina the writers pulled out of their asses at the last minute...

What also annoyed me was the fact Serah and Dajh show up, literally out of thin air [you're telling me the military, whilst rounding up and saving citizens from the attack on Eden though it best to take along the L'ci they've feared all their lives down to Pulse? That or Fang and Vannille created them...I dunno, I'm yet to hear a convincing argument for why they appear as they do] and the fact the party are uncrystallized. Why? The only reason Cid isn't crystal was because Barth needed him, likewise Fang and Vannile, so why do the rest of the party suddenly gain this power without a brand? [which the others who survived have].

The list goes on...

 

[kickyourass]

I can't say I know, while it's by no means earth shattering in greatness, I feel that it's a perfectly acceptable game. I thought the combat system was an interesting way to go though I prefer the old ATB system, I really liked the Crystal leveling system instead the regular one, and I had no problem with the lack of exploration. The only major problems I have is that the story is too slow, too much of the backstory is in the Data log instead of in the actual game, and I very badly want Hope to DIE in the most brutal fashion a Teen rating can get you.

 

[Nocturnal Gentleman]

What is so great about the whole final fantasy series in general?

I don't like it myself.

I have to agree. For most of the games I loved the art and that was pretty much it. Too much corny drama. I like the openness of XII and III too because it felt like an actual world and not a series of paths like VII, VIII, IX, and X.

XIII was a let down because it really just felt like they wanted to make a movie rather than a game. It was just cutscene overkill and I didn't like any of the characters. I'm one of those people that would put up with crappy gameplay for good stories and characters. This game was devoid of both so I quit pretty quickly.

 

[Infernai]

The game isn't at all to bad, it has it's good points and its bad points but...i simply found it boring: Most of the characters aside from maybe three (Sazh, Lightning and Snow), i found myself holding little sympathy for...special mention goes to hope, who i badly wanted to see get used as a human shield or dumped in the middle of nowhere. The plot didn't interest me greatly, and the setting, while interesting, i feel wasn't used to it's full potential.

Thats essentially the biggest thing i find myself saying about this game; It didn't reach it's full potential. There was alot here that could have been tweaked more and elevated, and yet the designers simply didn't bother. Still, this is far from the worst Final Fantasy game I've played (That honor belongs to Final Fantasy 12) and it did have it's good points, i just felt there were ALOT of things that could have been handled or done better.

 

[RJFTW]

Seriously i see more and more "omg ff13 is shit" rants everyday. Although i dont rank it as the best ff it was far from the worst and in some cases like the battle system improved on prevoious titles.

So I ask you was XIII a dissapointment for you? And if so why?

I found it a disappointment because it's just a really badly designed game; I cannot be bothered to type out a long rant explaining why so here is the bullet-point venison:

- Way to linear - no exploration, no feeling of progression.

- Terrible writing - "Moms are tough", "Seraph!!!" [Every 5 seconds] and all the other corny melo-drama in the game.

- Horrible characterization - Primarily thanks to the above.

- Massive plot holes that make no sense / Deus Ex Machinas - See Anima, see the ending, see Cid Raines.

- Pointless characters - the game only has a few named characters and yet at least 5 of them are completely irrelevant...

- Battle system plays itself - there is no thought or focus to playing that system, just mash auto-attack and you'll win 90% of the time.

- Items are useless because the game is very easy.

- Elevator music doesn't match the areas - gives the plot a childish feel.

- Lack of things to do after main game.

- Melo-drama for the sake of it - the game trying to trick you Sazh killed himself when within the context of the scene it makes no sense. Insults the players intelligence.

- Horrible voice acting - again thanks to terrible writing.

- Lack of progression when leveling - you never feel particularly powerful, even during the end-game and maxed out...

- Game hides the poorly thought out story in the data-log - player has no idea what's really occurring for the first half of the game.

I could go on if I wanted to...

Don't forget:

Forced tutorial until almost the final third of the game Not only does it force who I play as, but also force me to play entirely how it wants, regardless of what would be the best option.

Terribly paced difficulty curve

Horribly fakes freedom of stat and ability development where if you want to have a character do something else because they happen to be your favorite/have already been polished off enough, you'll need to spend beyond reasonable amounts of time grinding for a single level in another linear line of stats and abilities. Don't forget that the line itself is capped at each chapter, meaning you can't level up more to easily fight a boss, as is the normal RPG strategy. No, you've got to fight it exactly how the game wants just by doing this.

Disgustingly short amount of side quests and for the most part they are just hunting missions with no real reward other than money/single item.

Combat system needed more player control I have to depend on the AI if I want to not be in a horrible place, such as right in front of the beast that deals huge amounts of damage or on top of a tracking beacon the enemy will be shooting at. The worst part is that the battles are clearly designed so that moving around is the right way to fight (like Kingdom Hearts, Tales, or even FFXII) but it gives this to your main character. In addition, you can't take over other characters to give them directions (or to avoid a game over when your main character is low on health).

Overly Padded This is most apparent early on, a bad sign already

Lacks a lot of the FF charm The signature stuff, such as chocobos, cactaurs, moogles, reoccuring enemies, etc. either don't appear, you have to hunt for, or just get horribly forced in. The world itself also lacks the same sort of majestic quality that even Ivalice had (except for the first and last few levels from what I remember), with nothing about it screams a fantasy realm worthy of being in the poster child of JRPGs. Strangely enough, in trailers, all the elements were condensed together to do this, but they are so thinly spread over the real game that they're hard to even notice. Then of course you've got the Pulse, the place built up over the entire first half of the game as a place unlike any other that is basically just like a small section of a world map in any other fantasy JRPG.

BORING The plot, the characters, the drama, the combat, the customization, the side quests, the horrible grinding, Pulse (which the only reason it wasn't worse than what came before is that it was more open... at least a part of it was), the action, the entire world, and the main villain (who was as successful as Kefka, Kuja, and Yu Yevon. How do you ruin someone like that?!) were all absolutely boring. The only interesting parts were the design aspects (character, summons, architecture, etc.), which didn't make up at all for the rest of this.

What more needed to be said about it than these two posts really?