Zero Punctuation: Final Fantasy XIII
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
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To PrinzMegahertz pg. 25: The limit breaks in FFVII and ensuing Final Fantasy games replaced the specialized ability system that existed somewhat in FFIV and in VI. You could argue that the characters became less distinct due to the loss of these constant abilities, but I would argue that the player was forced into developing the characters in a manner that HE or SHE wanted, and character specialization became focused in the storyline rather than in the battle mechanics. I think FFVII is the best because it had the best storyline and the materia system offered great versatility and added interest to gameplay (you didn't just get abilities by leveling; you had to find the materia first, and THEN level). But, I can see why you wouldn't like VII if you really liked the specialized abilities. I cannot, however, see how you wouldn't have liked IX or X more than VI, because the specialization re-emerged in these games (Only Zidane can steal, only Dagger and Eiko can summon; Tidus is fast and Auron is the most powerful). FFXIII also has this specialization, because certain characters perform better in roles than others (Fang is the best Commando, Vanille the best Ravager, etc.).
Love the game, and love the review. It's every bit exactly right. Yes, it does get better later, but in this case, it takes a special (like special bus) kind of gamer to actually get that far without being ruined by loathing for everything it puts you through. Yes, I'm that kind of special.
Yahtzee, you are a magnificent stud for bearing with it for as long as you did.
Yahtzee, you are a magnificent stud for bearing with it for as long as you did.
HEY YAHTZEE!? You know what would be great for working off the stress of playing a game you hated this much while trying to open a bar at the same time???
GOD OF WAR III!? Where's my fucking review? Don't tell me you reviewed Darksiders, Dante's Inferno and Bayonetta to NOT review God of War.
GOD OF WAR III!? Where's my fucking review? Don't tell me you reviewed Darksiders, Dante's Inferno and Bayonetta to NOT review God of War.
Ok all I got to say about your mentioning the story is THANK YOU, im glad im not the only one, cause when I told this to a friend who played it they were like "maybe u just werent paying attention" Im a JRPG fan but as I was playing the game what I was mostly thinking was. 1- Soo when am I gonna know what the the stories about, and 2- Soo I waited 2 years (maybe 1 year) for THIS GAME. And yah they do explain the story by reading it in the datalog, but I dont want to read about it I want them to explain it to me IN THE GAME. So yah good job on this Reivew.
60 hours is what it took me to beat it, which I think is a bit too much for Yahtzee to handle in a week without him playing all day, each day. I'm disappointed in Yahtzee though, not because he didn't like it (as that's just to be expected), but I'm disappointed because there was a lot of comedy gold to rip on this game if he'd have stuck it out and played the thing from beginning to end. This video felt like a lazy attack on the game, but I guess Yahtzee needs a break from time to time. Maybe I take it for granted he can play a game in a week and construct a satisfying video in the end to discuss it.
Weird. I could have sworn that the only two exceptions to Yahtzee's hatred of JRPGs were EarthBound and Paper Mario. Had he simply forgotten about Final Fantasy VI?
On second thought, the sixth out of thirteen of ANYTHING would probably be pretty easy to forget...
On second thought, the sixth out of thirteen of ANYTHING would probably be pretty easy to forget...
Wow, completely aside from Yahtzee's review, this game never had a chance. First, there's the FF/Square/Enix/Squenix haters. Then, on one hand, if the game wasn't 40+ hours long, people would complain that it wasn't worth the money. If they draw a plot throughout the game, it's boring. I expect an FPS to give me the major chunk of the plot in the first hour, but not an RPG.
I don't get the linear comments--most RPGs are linear in nature: FFVIII punished you for going outside of the linear plot for quite a while into the game. It's not a sandbox game--it's an RPG. The seeming lack of involvement with combat bothered me at first, but based on previous experience, I believed it would evolve--and it did. Is it perfect? No, but my perfection and others' perfection are most certainly not the same.
Also, the character debate is bewildering. I've enjoyed the development of the characters in FF XIII, similarly to the enjoyment I got from IV, VI, VII, IX and X--even X-2. Part of me wonders if some of the Hope haters doth protest too much. I'd love to have an actual discussion, but it doesn't seem likely.
Finally, the datalog plot listing. It became pretty obvious to me that the entries were created to cover the loading screens and they just gave access to them for the heck of it. There's no reason to read them unless you want to. You don't even have to access them unless you want to lose the ! icon.
As to Yahtzee's review--As I've said in earlier posts, I don't think it's wrong to expect a reviewer/critic--especially one who's known for picking on games--to actually play the game. I'm willing to bet that Yahtzee spent more than five hours on Wii Sports Resort. Some other poster said that he felt this review was to piss off the FFanboys. I hope that's not as true as it seems.
If he really didn't want or have time to play FFXII, he could have gone the Unskippable route and done VI instead. He could have done a different game or even done a spot on the bar. I'll still watch and be amused, but it'll just be with a bit less esteem--at least for a while.
I don't get the linear comments--most RPGs are linear in nature: FFVIII punished you for going outside of the linear plot for quite a while into the game. It's not a sandbox game--it's an RPG. The seeming lack of involvement with combat bothered me at first, but based on previous experience, I believed it would evolve--and it did. Is it perfect? No, but my perfection and others' perfection are most certainly not the same.
Also, the character debate is bewildering. I've enjoyed the development of the characters in FF XIII, similarly to the enjoyment I got from IV, VI, VII, IX and X--even X-2. Part of me wonders if some of the Hope haters doth protest too much. I'd love to have an actual discussion, but it doesn't seem likely.
Finally, the datalog plot listing. It became pretty obvious to me that the entries were created to cover the loading screens and they just gave access to them for the heck of it. There's no reason to read them unless you want to. You don't even have to access them unless you want to lose the ! icon.
As to Yahtzee's review--As I've said in earlier posts, I don't think it's wrong to expect a reviewer/critic--especially one who's known for picking on games--to actually play the game. I'm willing to bet that Yahtzee spent more than five hours on Wii Sports Resort. Some other poster said that he felt this review was to piss off the FFanboys. I hope that's not as true as it seems.
If he really didn't want or have time to play FFXII, he could have gone the Unskippable route and done VI instead. He could have done a different game or even done a spot on the bar. I'll still watch and be amused, but it'll just be with a bit less esteem--at least for a while.
From the way things look, if you agree with Yahtzee you're a Yahtzee fanboy with no intellect on seeing games for what they really are and are blindly following the advice of a game critic. But if you disagree with it you're a FFXIII fanboy who's only moaning and complaining because you're poor delicate feelings were hurt. I wish we could find a middle man.
I would like to make a point though: too many people want to brush this review off as unprofessional for Yahtzee only putting in a few hours really need to think for a minute. It's a known fact Yahtzee has given his impressions after only playing them for a brief amount of time on numerous occasions. It's happened with Conan, the Witcher, Eve Online, ect. He's stated there's nothing wrong (in his opinion) with stating a game is terrible after a couple of hours just like there's nothing wrong with assuming a good game will stay good.
And last I checked, Yahtzee is popular because of the style HE chose to review games. Not to the way you think it should be done.
I would like to make a point though: too many people want to brush this review off as unprofessional for Yahtzee only putting in a few hours really need to think for a minute. It's a known fact Yahtzee has given his impressions after only playing them for a brief amount of time on numerous occasions. It's happened with Conan, the Witcher, Eve Online, ect. He's stated there's nothing wrong (in his opinion) with stating a game is terrible after a couple of hours just like there's nothing wrong with assuming a good game will stay good.
And last I checked, Yahtzee is popular because of the style HE chose to review games. Not to the way you think it should be done.
I'm surprised Yahtzee even got five hours in. If he had played it any further he probably would have killed himself because he probably just got up to the end of Ch4 and Ch5 is god damned awful. Chapter 10, which is about twenty hours in, and the one before the game finally "gets good", is like The Library from Halo 1 stretched over two hours.
In other words, there is no fucking way Yahtzee would have been able to play the whole game before reviewing it, he would have killed himself or broken his PS3/Xbox first. Anyone saying he should have completed it before reviewing it is deluded. (I sort-of enjoy FFXIII by the way, don't get me wrong).
Also, FFVI is an overrated piece of nostalgiaware and I'm pretty surprised he likes it. It's so damn boring; it has a nice soundtrack for an SNES game but the battle system is a yawnfest and the characters and setting are so uninteresting. I cannot see what seemingly every other person on the internet can see in it; everywhere I look there is constant praise for this bland game. I'm disappointed that Yahtzee likes it, and that he kind of stumbled all over himself in that one part of the review where he praised FFVI for doing a lot of things that he typically slams video games for, and even went on to attack FFXIII for doing some of the things FFVI did. Makes me think there's some kind of April Fools' thing going on, but whatever.
This is a lot of words about video games!! I am a little ashamed.
In other words, there is no fucking way Yahtzee would have been able to play the whole game before reviewing it, he would have killed himself or broken his PS3/Xbox first. Anyone saying he should have completed it before reviewing it is deluded. (I sort-of enjoy FFXIII by the way, don't get me wrong).
Also, FFVI is an overrated piece of nostalgiaware and I'm pretty surprised he likes it. It's so damn boring; it has a nice soundtrack for an SNES game but the battle system is a yawnfest and the characters and setting are so uninteresting. I cannot see what seemingly every other person on the internet can see in it; everywhere I look there is constant praise for this bland game. I'm disappointed that Yahtzee likes it, and that he kind of stumbled all over himself in that one part of the review where he praised FFVI for doing a lot of things that he typically slams video games for, and even went on to attack FFXIII for doing some of the things FFVI did. Makes me think there's some kind of April Fools' thing going on, but whatever.
This is a lot of words about video games!! I am a little ashamed.
what the bollocks?
"you might like this one?"
they're the same crappy game being produced every time the typical socially retarded idiots get worried they may actually get %100 completion and get scared that they will have to face that dreaded end-of-game horror known as "the real world".
i've tried to like the final fantasy games but to me it's the same as trying to like battery acid being dripped on your tongue. no matter how much you do it,you won't like it.
glad to see Yahtzee rip the games arms off then kick it down some stairs.
"you might like this one?"
they're the same crappy game being produced every time the typical socially retarded idiots get worried they may actually get %100 completion and get scared that they will have to face that dreaded end-of-game horror known as "the real world".
i've tried to like the final fantasy games but to me it's the same as trying to like battery acid being dripped on your tongue. no matter how much you do it,you won't like it.
glad to see Yahtzee rip the games arms off then kick it down some stairs.
This does not justify how awful and absolutely unrelatable of a character she is. There are really beyond fucking excellent characters in video games in films that don't act "normally" that are still entirely functional characters. Hal 9000 and Yoda come to mind. She doesn't act as "weird" as much as she acts like every other shitty anime character that acts entirely unrealistically and schizophrenically.17th colossus said:
He was very very (very) obviously trying to explain that a streamlined combat system with less totally arduous waiting was preferable to a more "complicated" system that literally accomplishes the exact same thing. Pretense to intelligence through needless complexity, basically.17th colossus said:
This was a leap and a bound away from what he said. Joseph Campbell movies have narratives that are present within the context of the fucking film. FFXIII literally took you aside from the gameplay and the narrative in order to explain the plot and setting. In the context of a movie, the characters explain who they are, their motivations, and indirectly the world around them through all interactions they have with anything. This is an intrinsic part of all media that rely on narrative.17th colossus said:
"Ultimately, what I'm saying is that you have to develop your own opinion of something and consequently acknowledge my standards as more valid than his."17th colossus said:
I'll say FFVII is better than VI when someone can explain the plot of 7 in a straightforward manner free of plotholes.
Either way, you're still pressing attack when a bar fills up. The only difference is that in FFXIII you pile on commands instead of issuing them one at a time. The FFXIII system is not that radically different from the previous games.Dubman said:
Bad guy tries to become a god by channeling the souls of the dead into his own body.Wounded Melody said:
I knew Yahtzee wouldn't like Final Fantasy 13, and I don't blame him. I feel FF13 isn't doing anything new and is just stuck on repeat. I don't mind JRPG games I must say however I didn't even enjoy FF13. I stopped playing it also around 5-10 hours. Just bored me too much.
Jesus Christ the RPG fanboys are raging right now.
Regardless a decent review by Yathzee.
If I do study in the Gold Coast next year, I open my nerdiness for one night and stop by the mana bar. But just for one night... and you'd better be there.
Regardless a decent review by Yathzee.
If I do study in the Gold Coast next year, I open my nerdiness for one night and stop by the mana bar. But just for one night... and you'd better be there.
