Review: Final Fantasy XIII

Dakeyras-Way

New member
Aug 12, 2008
32
0
0
Warachia said:
Dakeyras-Way said:
I would like to point out that the date scene was just an example i don't particularly care one way or another whether the characters remember it or not the fact remains you did influence the events and that's not the only place it happens... Plus quite a few of the towns that you do go back to DO have events that occur outside of the actual story..

But most importantly just because you found that returning was boring and insipid that doesnt actually make it linear... the fact you can choose to return and do something new or whatever you wanted (by your own admission with the megalixer thing) makes it non linear... The STORY is linear but the actual game isnt..

Oh and saying there is no point in getting a different part of the story after claiming there were no other parts kinda proves my point
It seems weird that in a series based around a linear story with linear dungeons you would claim it is not linear.

I never claimed that the date scene was part of the story, it was an add on, as many were, As I've said before stopping to do add on SIDEQUESTS. As part of the earlier points, everything people talk about before are sidequests, little missions you do assideto the main story that are given by in game person A to accomplish objective A and get reward A.

If the sidequests don't need to be finished in order to progress in the game and are for rewards that you don't absolutely need, then the game is still linear with no alternate progression, and no amount of optional quests can change that, as FF 12 proved, it only puts a hold on the main storyline While you run around doing things that don't matter, not that there is anything wrong with that, I'm only explaining that not having these doesn't downgrade the game as much as people claim and that the FF series has hardly had squat to do with them, except as an afterthought (except possibly FF 10 and FF 12 if you're willing to count it).

I also never claimed that a city being boring and insipid makes it linear, I only said it destroyed my enjoyment of a good place, but that's just me.
First of all the date scene IS part of the main story.. you can't continue in the game without doing it...

Second of all when i say that not all are linear i agree that they are partially linear but NOWHERE near as linear as this... And yeah putting the 'linear story' on pause to do something else for a few hours may not in actual fact change the story (and lets face it ALL stories are linear) but the choice to do something other than the story is there, and in many FF games the Side quests are long and just as much fun as the main quest. By forcing the player to follow a single path through the ENTIRE game counts as linear whereas when you have the opportunity to say "hey i don't really feel like going there right now i'd rather go wander in that forest or in the cave" it not only gives you other paths (making it LESS linear) but also makes the game feel less like it is simply a single path straight from start to boss...

Oh and not having side-quests or optional quests DOES downgrade the game.. You personally might not like exploring the world or doing side quests finding them 'boring and insipid' but a lot of people (myself included obviously) quite enjoy finding out all the secret cool stuff that the developers put in for you to find if you work hard enough.. I mean i spent hours fighting in the Golden Saucer to get Cloud's Limit Break "Omnislash" which was definitely a side quest worth the work as was racing the chocobo's and breeding them to get a Golden one with which you could (guess what) EXPLORE the WORLD. Most of my fondest memories of the game were of completing these sidequests. (along with killing Ruby and Emerald Weapons')

And yes you didnt say that the towns being boring and insipid made them linear you said that you never wanted to go back to them because it would degrade the experience without events... MY point was that the towns (for some) were still fun to explore and had heaps of secrets to find.. For example in VII there were a lot of secret events in Nibelheim (i think that's how its spelt) such as in the basement of the Shinra mansion there were about 3 from memory..
 

lumenadducere

New member
May 19, 2008
593
0
0
Thanks for the review. I've been on the fence about this one, but I've heard good things from people I know who have it and with this review I think I've finally been convinced. I think I'll pick it up when I get through Dragon Age: Awakening...which should give me a few weeks to beat it before Splinter Cell: Conviction comes out.

*sigh*

This year is absolutely nuts in terms of games that I want. There was so little comparatively for me the last few years, and now it's all coming in a massive rush. Ah well, at least Spring Break is coming up.
 

Rayansaki

New member
May 5, 2009
960
0
0
Apparently I'm having the opposite reaction to the game as other people. It was my first Final Fantasy game, and I really like the first part (Except for the first 5 chapters that could basically be passed with 1 hand on controller), but I liked every bit until Gran Pulse more than I liked it after. Its just that I was so used to knowing exactly what to do and every objective, that getting to a large openworld with questgivers scattered all around and being able to pick only one quest at a time overwhelmed me a bit. For me, the chapters 7, 8, 9, and 10, specially the
Cid Raines
fight, were my favorite bits.

Also, I really liked Vanille, Hope and Lightning, and hated Snow, Fang and Sazh, which is pretty much the opposite of what everyone else thinks, with the exception of maybe Lightning.
 

Wounded Melody

New member
Jan 19, 2009
539
0
0
kawaiiamethist said:
I hated Snow too, right to the bitter end.

Turning to crystal beats the alternative. Would you rather become a crystal or a brainless beast?
Sad part is I thought I was going to like him ><;

Good point on the two choices, but still it's pretty much lose-lose.
 

Typhron

New member
Dec 17, 2008
52
0
0
Jaranja said:
BlueHighwind said:
"FF13 feels like a direct reaction to many fans' criticisms of Final Fantasy XII: It was too open-ended and sprawling; there wasn't enough focus on the story to carry things through; it was too easy to get lost, etc."

Who are these people? They sound ill of mind.
Me, I hated FFXII because it just wasn't a FF game any more.

OT: Why did you say the linearity was a bad thing to people that enjoy exploration? This is a FF game, people who don't like linearity shouldn't buy it.
I hate you so much right now.
 

BlackndEclipse

New member
Mar 17, 2010
76
0
0
Just finished FFXIII tonight, was epic, final boss fight got me shifting paradigms like every 20 seconds lol. Lightning, Fang and Hope are the greatest
 

Crimsoneyelion

New member
Oct 18, 2008
8
0
0
Crimsoneyelion said:
Flurry's too close to furry...speaking of which, aren't we overdue for another Mog/Red XIII/Kimarhi-esque character?
Heh, sorry, forgot to quote someone earlier about the possible names of FF15, but this is in reference to that joke line, I'm sure you'll figure it out.
 

Super Toast

Supreme Overlord of the Basement
Dec 10, 2009
2,476
0
0
I've only rented it, but in the short time I played I found it cripplingly boring. It gets better the more you play it, but MAN! Worst. Opening. Sequence. EVER
 

BlackndEclipse

New member
Mar 17, 2010
76
0
0
Crimsoneyelion said:
Flurry's too close to furry...speaking of which, aren't we overdue for another Mog/Red XIII/Kimarhi-esque character?
Kimarhi was just pro
best scene in FFX, "Summoner may pass, Guardians may pass, KIMAHRI may not pass"
 

Mythrignoc

New member
Oct 17, 2009
77
0
0
ZippyDSMlee said:
John Funk said:
Mythrignoc said:
@Zippy,

Not one final fantasy game will let you open endedly explore the world until the end of the game.
Not one final fatnasy will allow you to choose your own background and story.
Not one will have an ending based on who you fight and who you don't fight, or which moral/ethical side you are on.

They give you the illusion of choice in some game but the end result is still the same. For instance, in 5, you could do whatever job you wanted, allowing you to have say Bartz as the mage and Krile as the warrior instead of the stereotypes, but no matter what you do, the end story and end result of the game will always be the same no matter how you play it. Exdeath, Sephiroth, Kefka, Sin, Edea, all of them will die by your hands no matter what you do in the games.


Don't kid yourself into thinking that there's degrees of linearity in games. You either do or don't have a choice, there's no maybe with something like that and while I hate black and white analysis', this is one of the few that I have yet to find any middle ground.
And IMO thats what made them great and what modern gaming is nearly incapable of doing creating the illusion of being open ended without making things horribly disconjointed. We either get linear as frak (anything bioware or capcom made)and disconjointed (anything Bethesda made and most sand box designs) because it takes to much time to build a sand box with rules.....

Erm...I never said linearity is a bad thing. All I'm saying is looking for non-linearity in a game designed to be linear is pointless, and final fantasy is one of those kinds of games.
 

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
20,364
0
0
Mythrignoc said:
ZippyDSMlee said:
John Funk said:
Mythrignoc said:
@Zippy,

Not one final fantasy game will let you open endedly explore the world until the end of the game.
Not one final fatnasy will allow you to choose your own background and story.
Not one will have an ending based on who you fight and who you don't fight, or which moral/ethical side you are on.

They give you the illusion of choice in some game but the end result is still the same. For instance, in 5, you could do whatever job you wanted, allowing you to have say Bartz as the mage and Krile as the warrior instead of the stereotypes, but no matter what you do, the end story and end result of the game will always be the same no matter how you play it. Exdeath, Sephiroth, Kefka, Sin, Edea, all of them will die by your hands no matter what you do in the games.


Don't kid yourself into thinking that there's degrees of linearity in games. You either do or don't have a choice, there's no maybe with something like that and while I hate black and white analysis', this is one of the few that I have yet to find any middle ground.
And IMO thats what made them great and what modern gaming is nearly incapable of doing creating the illusion of being open ended without making things horribly disconjointed. We either get linear as frak (anything bioware or capcom made)and disconjointed (anything Bethesda made and most sand box designs) because it takes to much time to build a sand box with rules.....

Erm...I never said linearity is a bad thing. All I'm saying is looking for non-linearity in a game designed to be linear is pointless, and final fantasy is one of those kinds of games.
Linearity ISN'T a bad thing. I really don't know where he's coming from here, to be honest.
 

AgentNein

New member
Jun 14, 2008
1,476
0
0
blipblop said:
John Funk said:
blipblop said:
i might be wrong, but did you steal GT review line by line at some places???
Uh, you're very wrong. I didn't even know GT *did* reviews. Hell, I've avoided most reviews of the game altogether since I didn't want my opinion to be shaped by them.

Plagiarism is a very serious charge, so I'd appreciate if you didn't insult me by suggesting that :/
yeah didn´t mean to insult you funk. I did just ask a question.
Great quote from Adam Sessler when it comes to junk like accusing reviewers of plagiarizing or taking bribes from companies:

"Do you fuck your mom? Why are you upset? It's just a question."
 

Archemetis

Is Probably Awesome.
Aug 13, 2008
2,089
0
0
I personally am enjoying FFXIII to no end, I've hit the Gran Pulse section after about 25-30 hours of play.

I was a bit confused and annoyed by how long it actually took me to get my entire team.
I guess I'm just a little more used to newer FF titles where the team is generally established early on and pretty much is just waiting for the great evil to present itself in some form.

XIII just seems to be more like:

"Here's all the characters you'll get, have fun playing between them all for the next 15-20 hours."

Don't get me wrong, even during the sections where I was playing in two character groups I was having fun.
Although the section in Nautilus Park with Sazh and Vanille really got on my nerves when Brynhildr was being a stubborn fuck with what exactly constitutes a satisfactory action... And again in the Palamecia with Barthandilus I grinded on the soldiers outside his room for two days to build my Crystariums to as high level as they could before finally kicking the shit out of him.
Despite these annoying little moments, the fun I've had so far has been in massive amounts and I was genuinely overcome with awe over the battle system, the new ATB system is brilliant, the way items work is great and well suited to the single character control style and the stagger system--

(I have to cut this short because something is about to happen to my internet, I'll be back to finish this.)

(edit: back again)

That was annoying, anyway the Stagger system I really liked, seeing as the game has no (noticeable at this time) limit break system in place it's handy to have another means of dealing above average damage and I really prefer it, it makes the already quite strategic nature of the combat become (Only slightly mind) deeper, I've quite often found myself talking in a newly developed mental language much like:

"Ok, I go in Diversity until his stagger is reached then unleash with Relentless and then bust out Combat Clinic in case the others damage me..."

It's all confusing at first but ultimately like most veterans of the series it becomes second-nature, which I suppose is what the games are good for.

I just hope that now I've hit Gran Pulse I'll have less of the "This is your team, you must deal with it, because we're not letting you have anyone else..." stuff.
 

Jaranja

New member
Jul 16, 2009
3,275
0
0
Typhron said:
Jaranja said:
BlueHighwind said:
"FF13 feels like a direct reaction to many fans' criticisms of Final Fantasy XII: It was too open-ended and sprawling; there wasn't enough focus on the story to carry things through; it was too easy to get lost, etc."

Who are these people? They sound ill of mind.
Me, I hated FFXII because it just wasn't a FF game any more.

OT: Why did you say the linearity was a bad thing to people that enjoy exploration? This is a FF game, people who don't like linearity shouldn't buy it.
I hate you so much right now.
Isn't that cute.
 

Warachia

New member
Aug 11, 2009
1,116
0
0
ZippyDSMlee said:
There is no "diversity" in the linearity of free form things........ I suppose you have given up the fight on "qaulity" and go with whatever the flow is as most reviewers seem to do with today's 8's are yesterdays 6s and all.....

My "preferences" are more options,more content, more quality which seems to fly like sht hitting the preverbal fan in a 180 direction and less content,options lead to more money for the questionably "diverse" game industry.

I suppose art is in the eye of the beholder and all but it dose not make twilight(or "insert pathetic media here") any better and I am not getting any younger, all I need is a cane with a golf ball on it and I will be all set!
As I said before, all FF games that are linear, if you don't want linearity, don't play FF games, I don't know what you were expecting if you complain about this game being linear as well.

As for personal opinion, just don't bring it into these arguments, because it is an instant lose argument for both sides, to help you out though, you just aren't looking in the right places, try way of the samurai 3 for massive non-linearity, or try the Star Ocean series if you like Jrpg's.
By the way, I find it funny that you complain about quality when your spelling is horrible.
 

Warachia

New member
Aug 11, 2009
1,116
0
0
Dakeyras-Way said:
First of all the date scene IS part of the main story.. you can't continue in the game without doing it...

Second of all when i say that not all are linear i agree that they are partially linear but NOWHERE near as linear as this... And yeah putting the 'linear story' on pause to do something else for a few hours may not in actual fact change the story (and lets face it ALL stories are linear) but the choice to do something other than the story is there, and in many FF games the Side quests are long and just as much fun as the main quest. By forcing the player to follow a single path through the ENTIRE game counts as linear whereas when you have the opportunity to say "hey i don't really feel like going there right now i'd rather go wander in that forest or in the cave" it not only gives you other paths (making it LESS linear) but also makes the game feel less like it is simply a single path straight from start to boss...

Oh and not having side-quests or optional quests DOES downgrade the game.. You personally might not like exploring the world or doing side quests finding them 'boring and insipid' but a lot of people (myself included obviously) quite enjoy finding out all the secret cool stuff that the developers put in for you to find if you work hard enough.. I mean i spent hours fighting in the Golden Saucer to get Cloud's Limit Break "Omnislash" which was definitely a side quest worth the work as was racing the chocobo's and breeding them to get a Golden one with which you could (guess what) EXPLORE the WORLD. Most of my fondest memories of the game were of completing these sidequests. (along with killing Ruby and Emerald Weapons')

And yes you didnt say that the towns being boring and insipid made them linear you said that you never wanted to go back to them because it would degrade the experience without events... MY point was that the towns (for some) were still fun to explore and had heaps of secrets to find.. For example in VII there were a lot of secret events in Nibelheim (i think that's how its spelt) such as in the basement of the Shinra mansion there were about 3 from memory..
First, whereas you could change the character Cloud went out with it changed absolutely nothing, as well as getting Vincent, it might unlock slightly more dialogue but has no effect on the story at all.

Second, I'm not going to argue about how you felt about the sidequests or cities or about how we choose to remember them, because that is personal opinion and an instant lose for both sides, you might think that the game is for the worse without sidequests, I might think that sidequests have little to no effect on certain games, and FF games definantly fall into that section.
Personally, what I would like in a city is what the games Enchanted arms or Tales of Symphonia did, where the cities are there, changed/destroyed, and you help rebuild and watch as the city changes due to your efforts, but that's just me. Also, I never said I didn't want to go back to any city, I just said going back ruins the shock and awe value (if there is any).
 

ZippyDSMlee

New member
Sep 1, 2007
3,959
0
0
Mythrignoc said:
ZippyDSMlee said:
John Funk said:
Mythrignoc said:
@Zippy,

Not one final fantasy game will let you open endedly explore the world until the end of the game.
Not one final fatnasy will allow you to choose your own background and story.
Not one will have an ending based on who you fight and who you don't fight, or which moral/ethical side you are on.

They give you the illusion of choice in some game but the end result is still the same. For instance, in 5, you could do whatever job you wanted, allowing you to have say Bartz as the mage and Krile as the warrior instead of the stereotypes, but no matter what you do, the end story and end result of the game will always be the same no matter how you play it. Exdeath, Sephiroth, Kefka, Sin, Edea, all of them will die by your hands no matter what you do in the games.


Don't kid yourself into thinking that there's degrees of linearity in games. You either do or don't have a choice, there's no maybe with something like that and while I hate black and white analysis', this is one of the few that I have yet to find any middle ground.
And IMO thats what made them great and what modern gaming is nearly incapable of doing creating the illusion of being open ended without making things horribly disconjointed. We either get linear as frak (anything bioware or capcom made)and disconjointed (anything Bethesda made and most sand box designs) because it takes to much time to build a sand box with rules.....

Erm...I never said linearity is a bad thing. All I'm saying is looking for non-linearity in a game designed to be linear is pointless, and final fantasy is one of those kinds of games.
John Funk said:
Mythrignoc said:
ZippyDSMlee said:
John Funk said:
Mythrignoc said:
@Zippy,

Not one final fantasy game will let you open endedly explore the world until the end of the game.
Not one final fatnasy will allow you to choose your own background and story.
Not one will have an ending based on who you fight and who you don't fight, or which moral/ethical side you are on.

They give you the illusion of choice in some game but the end result is still the same. For instance, in 5, you could do whatever job you wanted, allowing you to have say Bartz as the mage and Krile as the warrior instead of the stereotypes, but no matter what you do, the end story and end result of the game will always be the same no matter how you play it. Exdeath, Sephiroth, Kefka, Sin, Edea, all of them will die by your hands no matter what you do in the games.


Don't kid yourself into thinking that there's degrees of linearity in games. You either do or don't have a choice, there's no maybe with something like that and while I hate black and white analysis', this is one of the few that I have yet to find any middle ground.
And IMO thats what made them great and what modern gaming is nearly incapable of doing creating the illusion of being open ended without making things horribly disconjointed. We either get linear as frak (anything bioware or capcom made)and disconjointed (anything Bethesda made and most sand box designs) because it takes to much time to build a sand box with rules.....

Erm...I never said linearity is a bad thing. All I'm saying is looking for non-linearity in a game designed to be linear is pointless, and final fantasy is one of those kinds of games.
Linearity ISN'T a bad thing. I really don't know where he's coming from here, to be honest.
Mythrignoc said:
ZippyDSMlee said:
John Funk said:
Mythrignoc said:
@Zippy,

Not one final fantasy game will let you open endedly explore the world until the end of the game.
Not one final fatnasy will allow you to choose your own background and story.
Not one will have an ending based on who you fight and who you don't fight, or which moral/ethical side you are on.

They give you the illusion of choice in some game but the end result is still the same. For instance, in 5, you could do whatever job you wanted, allowing you to have say Bartz as the mage and Krile as the warrior instead of the stereotypes, but no matter what you do, the end story and end result of the game will always be the same no matter how you play it. Exdeath, Sephiroth, Kefka, Sin, Edea, all of them will die by your hands no matter what you do in the games.


Don't kid yourself into thinking that there's degrees of linearity in games. You either do or don't have a choice, there's no maybe with something like that and while I hate black and white analysis', this is one of the few that I have yet to find any middle ground.
And IMO thats what made them great and what modern gaming is nearly incapable of doing creating the illusion of being open ended without making things horribly disconjointed. We either get linear as frak (anything bioware or capcom made)and disconjointed (anything Bethesda made and most sand box designs) because it takes to much time to build a sand box with rules.....

Erm...I never said linearity is a bad thing. All I'm saying is looking for non-linearity in a game designed to be linear is pointless, and final fantasy is one of those kinds of games.
John Funk said:
Mythrignoc said:
ZippyDSMlee said:
John Funk said:
Mythrignoc said:
@Zippy,

Not one final fantasy game will let you open endedly explore the world until the end of the game.
Not one final fatnasy will allow you to choose your own background and story.
Not one will have an ending based on who you fight and who you don't fight, or which moral/ethical side you are on.

They give you the illusion of choice in some game but the end result is still the same. For instance, in 5, you could do whatever job you wanted, allowing you to have say Bartz as the mage and Krile as the warrior instead of the stereotypes, but no matter what you do, the end story and end result of the game will always be the same no matter how you play it. Exdeath, Sephiroth, Kefka, Sin, Edea, all of them will die by your hands no matter what you do in the games.


Don't kid yourself into thinking that there's degrees of linearity in games. You either do or don't have a choice, there's no maybe with something like that and while I hate black and white analysis', this is one of the few that I have yet to find any middle ground.
And IMO thats what made them great and what modern gaming is nearly incapable of doing creating the illusion of being open ended without making things horribly disconjointed. We either get linear as frak (anything bioware or capcom made)and disconjointed (anything Bethesda made and most sand box designs) because it takes to much time to build a sand box with rules.....

Erm...I never said linearity is a bad thing. All I'm saying is looking for non-linearity in a game designed to be linear is pointless, and final fantasy is one of those kinds of games.
Linearity ISN'T a bad thing. I really don't know where he's coming from here, to be honest.
Ok let me try and explain it like this, there is a higher level of fun for me in a game that has a high illusion level of non-linearity but has not lost qaulity and polish to making an open world lulz fest. So Quake 1-2,RTCW,Dark Messiah is "deeper" than Bioshocck, FF4,FF6,ff9 are more fun and interesting to me than any other RPG I have played because newer games do not have much depth in the illusion of non-linearity they are more boxed and constricted concepts.

I apologize for my grammar and the way I communicate I tend to stick on easy trains of thought I can easily roll, its difficult for me to find the right words or line of thought sometimes.
Warachia said:
ZippyDSMlee said:
There is no "diversity" in the linearity of free form things........ I suppose you have given up the fight on "qaulity" and go with whatever the flow is as most reviewers seem to do with today's 8's are yesterdays 6s and all.....

My "preferences" are more options,more content, more quality which seems to fly like sht hitting the preverbal fan in a 180 direction and less content,options lead to more money for the questionably "diverse" game industry.

I suppose art is in the eye of the beholder and all but it dose not make twilight(or "insert pathetic media here") any better and I am not getting any younger, all I need is a cane with a golf ball on it and I will be all set!
As I said before, all FF games that are linear, if you don't want linearity, don't play FF games, I don't know what you were expecting if you complain about this game being linear as well.

As for personal opinion, just don't bring it into these arguments, because it is an instant lose argument for both sides, to help you out though, you just aren't looking in the right places, try way of the samurai 3 for massive non-linearity, or try the Star Ocean series if you like Jrpg's.
By the way, I find it funny that you complain about quality when your spelling is horrible.
Ok let me try and explain it like this, there is a higher level of fun for me in a game that has a high illusion level of non-linearity but has not lost qaulity and polish to making an open world lulz fest. So Quake 1-2,RTCW,Dark Messiah is "deeper" than Bioshocck, FF4,FF6,ff9 are more fun and interesting to me than any other RPG I have played because newer games do not have much depth in the illusion of non-linearity they are more boxed and constricted concepts.

I apologize for my grammar and the way I communicate I tend to stick on easy trains of thought I can easily roll, its difficult for me to find the right words or line of thought sometimes.
 

Sylveria

New member
Nov 15, 2009
1,285
0
0
I really really wish Square would stop experimenting with their flagship series, like they have with the two most recent installments.

FF12's combat was abysmal, truly the worst single player combat experience ever. If it was an MMO it might have flown but it would still be dull. FF13 made some improvements but its still just "press X 2-4 times to attack." The paradigm shifting is an unnecessary extra step especially when FF has proven it knows how to make a "Job" system (FFV, X-2, 11) which would do the exact same thing and not leave you fumbling to shift to a medic when the screen starts glowing red. Its like they took the dress change system from X-2 and shoved it down our throats with a big stick. At least the imagery of combat in 13 is a bit more flashy than 12 to keep you interested, but it could be so much better if they actually gave some interaction.
Honestly a less dynamic system like 1 through X2 where you control all 3 characters or a completely dynamic system like Star Ocean, Tales, .hack//GU, etc would have been so much better than this. Instead it feels like they're trying to please both types of people and end up with a mediocre system that very few people really enjoy.

The second huge flaw, which was commented on in the review, is this ultralinear world. It kills any sense of immersion at all. You don't feel like you're exploring a world. As much as I hated 12, the world felt large and epic; one of its few redeeming qualities. FF13 feels like a drag-race strip. 10 seemed to start this trend of point A to point B road maps but even there it had some secret dungeon offshoots and some expansive areas like the Calm Lands and desert.

As far as the game exploding with awesome at hour 20.. I'm waiting to see it. I am about 20hrs in but I spent a good 5+hrs farming CP and chips to sell for money because the encounters don't just drop gil which is incredibly retarded.
Remember how in 8 you got a salary but it was a pittance at best because you really didn't have much to buy? Well this is like that only 10x worse cause there's tons of shit to buy to upgrade your weapons.

After 12 I had lost a lot of faith in Square-Enix.. that was compounded by the new Star Ocean having some really stupid ideas (material farming) and mediocre combat. FF13 isn't the last nail in the coffin but it added a few to the box. I hope that FF Versus XIII gives me something I can really sink my teeth into because as it is, my PS2 RPGs from NIS are proving to be more entertaining.
 

ZippyDSMlee

New member
Sep 1, 2007
3,959
0
0
Sylveria said:
I really really wish Square would stop experimenting with their flagship series, like they have with the two most recent installments.

FF12's combat was abysmal, truly the worst single player combat experience ever. If it was an MMO it might have flown but it would still be dull. FF13 made some improvements but its still just "press X 2-4 times to attack." The paradigm shifting is an unnecessary extra step especially when FF has proven it knows how to make a "Job" system (FFV, X-2, 11) which would do the exact same thing and not leave you fumbling to shift to a medic when the screen starts glowing red. Its like they took the dress change system from X-2 and shoved it down our throats with a big stick. At least the imagery of combat in 13 is a bit more flashy than 12 to keep you interested, but it could be so much better if they actually gave some interaction.
Honestly a less dynamic system like 1 through X2 where you control all 3 characters or a completely dynamic system like Star Ocean, Tales, .hack//GU, etc would have been so much better than this. Instead it feels like they're trying to please both types of people and end up with a mediocre system that very few people really enjoy.

The second huge flaw, which was commented on in the review, is this ultralinear world. It kills any sense of immersion at all. You don't feel like you're exploring a world. As much as I hated 12, the world felt large and epic; one of its few redeeming qualities. FF13 feels like a drag-race strip. 10 seemed to start this trend of point A to point B road maps but even there it had some secret dungeon offshoots and some expansive areas like the Calm Lands and desert.

As far as the game exploding with awesome at hour 20.. I'm waiting to see it. I am about 20hrs in but I spent a good 5+hrs farming CP and chips to sell for money because the encounters don't just drop gil which is incredibly retarded.
Remember how in 8 you got a salary but it was a pittance at best because you really didn't have much to buy? Well this is like that only 10x worse cause there's tons of shit to buy to upgrade your weapons.

After 12 I had lost a lot of faith in Square-Enix.. that was compounded by the new Star Ocean having some really stupid ideas (material farming) and mediocre combat. FF13 isn't the last nail in the coffin but it added a few to the box. I hope that FF Versus XIII gives me something I can really sink my teeth into because as it is, my PS2 RPGs from NIS are proving to be more entertaining.
Did you try and play FF12 manually? I used the gambits for health and enjoyed it for awhile but the bland equipment system and broken skill system turned me off the game after 10 hours. I need to dig out my code breaker and go at it again.