Review: Final Fantasy XIII

feeqmatic

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Im sorry, but what was so bad about 12. I loved 12. I dont exactly remember what went on but i remember loving it to death and playing it nonstop like a madman. I still think Vesperia is my alltime favorite JRPG (the only one i have ever played through twice) but 12 is a close second.

What were people complaints about 12, especially in lieu of this mediocre product we have here.
 

keinushi

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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 hated it as well, and wtf was this guy thinking???? You can not relate to the black guy, in fact, none of my friends can even stand him!!!! I sold it simply so I wouldn't have to listen to any of their voices anymore. the only one I could relate to was Lightning, and that was only because she hated all of them as well! this is the worst review I have ever heard, and I hope this guy goes to the deepest layer of video game hell.
 

Spygon

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Am i the only person who doesnt like the new "one character control"

Several times i have needed a character to do something specific in a battle but the AI decides to do something else that causes a huge problem for me.Then i have to stop what im doing to fix it or lose the battle.
 

Wuvlycuddles

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Spygon said:
Am i the only person who doesnt like the new "one character control"

Several times i have needed a character to do something specific in a battle but the AI decides to do something else that causes a huge problem for me.Then i have to stop what im doing to fix it or lose the battle.
I'm with ya on this one, they should have at least allowed you to swap the active character during battle.

Other than that, i had only two major grievances, firstly, the save point/shop thing was terrible, seeing as you can restart/retry every fight you really only needed to save if you intended to stop playing, so why not be able to save from the party menu? and access the shops and upgrade thing from there also?

Secondly,

i was pissed off at the lack of any really sinister arch villian, sure there is that old fart who crops up like three times during the game, but he was a terrible badguy. I reckon they really dropped the ball on that one, i mean the FF games have had some pretty cool badguys in the past and without a good one in this game it felt like all the fighting was a tad pointless.

Please spoiler tag spoilers. -Mod
 

FinalHeart95

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keinushi said:
I hated it as well, and wtf was this guy thinking???? You can not relate to the black guy, in fact, none of my friends can even stand him!!!! I sold it simply so I wouldn't have to listen to any of their voices anymore. the only one I could relate to was Lightning, and that was only because she hated all of them as well! this is the worst review I have ever heard, and I hope this guy goes to the deepest layer of video game hell.
Aren't opinions just a blast?

The general rule of thumb I'm seeing is:

Liked FFX, hated FFXII = Like FFXIII
Hated FFX, liked FFXII = Hate FFXIII
Liked both = Probably like FFXIII
Hated both = Why were you even thinking of buying this game?
 

kawaiiamethist

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s69-5 said:
Spygon said:
Am i the only person who doesnt like the new "one character control"

Several times i have needed a character to do something specific in a battle but the AI decides to do something else that causes a huge problem for me.Then i have to stop what im doing to fix it or lose the battle.
Actually, I've found the AI to be quite good. Just make sure you know the rules.

For example:
Healer will act in this order:
1- Leader HP < 30% - Cure
2- Party HP < 30% - Cure
3- Leader HP < 70% - Cure
4- Party HP < 70% - Cure
5- Party member KO - Raise
6- Leader Status Effect - Esuna
7- Party Status Effect - Esuna

From this we can see the order in which actions will take place. So if you need a quick "Raise", just make your leader a Healer and manually raise the party member if need be. Since most Status ailments can be reversed with a synergist, and Esuna is low priority, you could always use a synergist instead of a healer, for example.
I didn't have an issue with the AI either, and when I did, it was just out of panic. Once I could choose my party, I went with Lightning/Hope/Fang (what can I say, the guide made a strong case for the trio) with Lightning as leader; she's a decent medic and has access to raise early enough.
 

kawaiiamethist

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s69-5 said:
kawaiiamethist said:
s69-5 said:
Spygon said:
Am i the only person who doesnt like the new "one character control"

Several times i have needed a character to do something specific in a battle but the AI decides to do something else that causes a huge problem for me.Then i have to stop what im doing to fix it or lose the battle.
Actually, I've found the AI to be quite good. Just make sure you know the rules.

For example:
Healer will act in this order:
1- Leader HP < 30% - Cure
2- Party HP < 30% - Cure
3- Leader HP < 70% - Cure
4- Party HP < 70% - Cure
5- Party member KO - Raise
6- Leader Status Effect - Esuna
7- Party Status Effect - Esuna

From this we can see the order in which actions will take place. So if you need a quick "Raise", just make your leader a Healer and manually raise the party member if need be. Since most Status ailments can be reversed with a synergist, and Esuna is low priority, you could always use a synergist instead of a healer, for example.
I didn't have an issue with the AI either, and when I did, it was just out of panic. Once I could choose my party, I went with Lightning/Hope/Fang (what can I say, the guide made a strong case for the trio) with Lightning; she's a decent medic and has access to raise early enough.
Is the guide helpful? I haven't picked it up, but might if it's worth it.
Absolutely. It stopped me from making great errors. Without the guide I would have been attempting to upgrade everything, used up all my buff cans expecting there would be plenty more, wondering where all the gil was and rage quitting because I couldn't get past a boss. The maps are fairly useless, since there's barely anything to map, but the lists, explanations and especially the strategies are solid. The only boss I ever felt hopeless against was the first Bathandulus battle; you can have all the strategies in the world, but goddam you need some luck!
 

kawaiiamethist

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s69-5 said:
kawaiiamethist said:
Absolutely. It stopped me from making great errors. Without the guide I would have been attempting to upgrade everything, used up all my buff cans expecting there would be plenty more, wondering where all the gil was and rage quitting because I couldn't get past a boss. The maps are fairly useless, since there's barely anything to map, but the lists, explanations and especially the strategies are solid. The only boss I ever felt hopeless against was the first Bathandulus battle; you can have all the strategies in the world, but goddam you need some luck!
I hated Bathandalus. Took me three tries to beat him. It was also the only boss battle where I needed to pull out Odin to win or more precisely survive his attack, you know the one (I was also hit with Doom BTW). My party was low on health and he was almost done charging another blast, so I summoned Odin, landed a few hits and he nailed me. That's when I learned that Odin auto-revives the player and leaves. It saved me! Then I went on to win...

Since I'm a compulsive hoarder, I still have plenty of the "aerosol" cans left and until Bathandalus my equipped weapons were lvl 2 (I raised Light's to level 6 for that fight).

I'm only on C Rank missions right now (actually staring the Behemoth mark in the face as I type -- kinda avoiding him -- Behemoths got really strong on Pulse).

Well, back to it!
You're so lucky; it took me way more than three attempts - and we all know how long that battle rages for! Meanwhile, the next two times I faced him the experience was simple and took only one attempt. The only battle that came close to being as annoying as that first fight with him was Cid, but then it only took 2 attempts and felt a heck of a lot more manageable.

I've finished the game, and not quite ready to do the missions. I think I'll play some other games before I return to Pulse, so I can treat it like a separate entity.
 

ZippyDSMlee

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feeqmatic said:
Im sorry, but what was so bad about 12. I loved 12. I dont exactly remember what went on but i remember loving it to death and playing it nonstop like a madman. I still think Vesperia is my alltime favorite JRPG (the only one i have ever played through twice) but 12 is a close second.

What were people complaints about 12, especially in lieu of this mediocre product we have here.
For most poor thought out skill system, simplistic story and simpler characters and a horrible combat system.

I found the characters to be a bit simple but the story was not bad it was just poor skills system and lacking equipment system just made the game boring.Combat was ok but could have been deeper.
 

RUINER ACTUAL

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John Funk said:
Review: Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII stumbles out of the gate, but catches up by the end once it finds its Focus.

Read Full Article
Actually the pre-rendered cut scenes don't make me wonder why they didn't use the game engine, the pre-rendered cut scenes make me wonder why they didn't make a FUCKING MOVIE.
 

iblis666

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ZippyDSMlee 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.
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.
FF9 was one of the last great games of the final fantasy series because it was balanced. It gave you some nice mini games, good story, exploration, colorful characters, and didnt take its self too seriously.

the problem is that after that we get games like FF12 that felt like just one big bland mini game with bland uninteresting characters and while the battle system was interesting at first after a while it felt like your characters were on auto pilot.

With FF13 It looks pretty, the characters took less bland than FF12, and the battle system looks like it might be more interactive than ff12; but it seems to be too linear what with no exploration and mini games plus it seems that it takes its self too seriously.

Square enix can save this game though with something that wasnt available on earlier ps systems and that is the ability to download addons, with this tool they can release exploration such as: towns, dungeons, and fun secret stuff; they can also release mini games and side quests that can flesh out the game and improve its replayability turning it into some what of a evolving world that will be a bit different every time you replay it after a addon is patched in.
 

Stylish_Robot

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I actually found XII to be really fun gameplay-wise though I hated the fact I needed like 20 Wolf Pelts to afford one ****ing dagger but aside from Ashe and Balthier, the characters kinda sucked

So far though I'm loving XIII and I got to say the graphics are absolutely stunning and might even go as far to say they're better than UC2 (that game never constantly wowed it, it just did it now and then)
 

Wounded Melody

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ZippyDSMlee said:
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.
You really think FF6 was completely linear?
And I know with some of the FFs, like 5, I would be flying all over the world map trying to find the next spot to go to (if I didn't consult a map). I consider that a bit more open than just running from point A to B as FF13 seems to be.
 

Tjebbe

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Wounded Melody said:
ZippyDSMlee said:
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.
You really think FF6 was completely linear?
And I know with some of the FFs, like 5, I would be flying all over the world map trying to find the next spot to go to (if I didn't consult a map). I consider that a bit more open than just running from point A to B as FF13 seems to be.
Indeed, I haven't played any since 7, but 4, 5 and 6 all had this great open world, which you could travel through and explore freely (after a certain while), the main story might be linear (doh), but the games certainly weren't.

Oh man remember that magic-only tower in 6? :)
 

bjj hero

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Susan Arendt said:
"Humidity and Chance of Rain"

*giggle*
I'm waiting for sleet and drizzle myself.

I don't think I can invest 20 hours of work into a game before I get to the good part. For the record I thought FF12 was a breath of fresh air to FF.
 

Dakeyras-Way

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Warachia said:
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).
I feel we are arguing about 2 different things... and some parts are as you said personal opinions.. I have been slightly over enthusiastic and as such I apologise for being rude...

I did like the way the towns changed in Enchanted Arms... It was always good to work for something like that... I just feel that perhaps that isnt the only thing that works... Linearity isnt a bad thing... And throughout all the discussion we have agreed that FF is linear to differing degrees...

I really enjoy the exploration, the side quests and finding all the secrets in a game. You appear to prefer only working towards valuable things in the game like unlocking different endings or such (which dont really happen in FF as you have said).

I do however say (from what i have read undisputedly) that FFxIII is LINEAR to the extreme and sadly so...