[Kurisu]

Eorzea, on Mar 11, 2010 - 1:01 AM, said:

It's great to hear some positive reviews! I was under the impression that this game was going to be a colossal disappointment for many people, but I'm happy that doesn't seem to be the case.

Enjoy!

There were quite a lot of bad reviews! But at the end of the day it all comes down to personal opinion, and that's the same for all games.

I think the people who gave FFXIII bad reviews just didn't like change. Personally I like all the changes that have been made, as it makes for a much smoother experience.

Love love loooove

[Momotaru]

I think it helps to understand that this FF is mostly made by those who brought you FFVII, VIII, and X.

VIII and X in particularly were much more linear in progression than VII, so XIII following in the direct footsteps of X isn't all that shocking.

My concerns have been put to rest as I reconciled that it's a great game, even if it's not what I might have liked.


Now I just need to play it.

[Kurisu]

Hopefully you will get to play the game soon, Momo!

(& I lied when I said I was 13 hours in. I was about 11 and a half hours in at the time I said that. But NOW I am 13 hours in!)

[Dalkor]

FFXIII is perhaps my favorite FF EVER! Six characters, and NONE of them suck!! Finally a game where I am attached to every person in my party . Who is your favorite? Mine is Snow since he has a monk-ish fighting style and I love his lines the most. I am most surprised about Hope, who I thought was going to be really annoying haha. I just got the the part where you can finally make your own party (forced to use lightning as leader though still )

[Kurisu]

Yea, all characters in this game are great! Vanille was a bit annoying at first, but she's a grower! I am not sure who my favourite is as I am really fond of them all for their individual ways. They ALL bring something to the group. It helps that all the characters have fully fleshed out back stories, this all having their own reasons why they want to fight.

This post has been edited by Kurisu: Mar 11, 2010 - 6:36 PM

[Dalkor]

Yep Do you know your planned party? I am still experimenting with mine >.< I thought it'd be easy but it's not... and 12 creature battles FTW

[Ch1efer]

I'm about 4 hours in now. Just getting the hang of things. Loving the battle system more and more. The more I play the more I like it, which says a lot because I haven't played I game I've liked in quite a long time. Normally I turn my systems on (Whether that'd be PS3 or 360) look at the market place, play 5 mins of an arcade game and turn it off. I actually want to play XIII. The characters are all like-able and all have there own distinct personalities. The way they interact with each other too just seems very fitting. I still think it'll take me a few months to beat it though. Since I have such a busy schedule, but that is completely okay with me. I'm not looking forward to any other games. (Except for the obvious, XIV) So I will be taking my time to enjoy every little corner of XIII.

Hope you have a chance to play it Momo, And Eorzea... When you getting a PS3?!!?!!?

[Attikus]

I'll have to be the debby downer I suppose. I've played 13 for a few hours and I immediately felt sick and had to go make a new FF7 game file just to play a true rpg game again. They have dumbed these games down too much for my liking. Since FF10 this series has gotten worse and worse, 10 was at least a little difficult but 12 and 13 are just a joke in the difficulty department.

I really felt a connection with the characters in 7,8,9, and even 10. But 12 and now 13 just seem to be all about looks and less about a deep and unique story. They have gotten wayy too futuristic with the series for my liking and I'd love if they could fix that with their next title. I could care less about flashing graphics, I just want a deep story line without linear maps and linear gameplay. I loved how there used to be times when you would need to grind exp to level up in the old games and now you can get through the entire game without grinding much at all as long as you fight the mobs along the paths. I guess they have to cater to the new generation though which seems to like things a lot easier and not put effort into games. The days of EQ and old-school FF's are dead...

[Kurisu]

I feel more connected to the characters in FFXIII than I do with all the other FF games I have played! And a unique story, you say? FFVII: save the world. FFVIII: save the world. FFX: destroy sin, bring peace to the world. FFXIII...you are tasked to potentially destroy the world! FFXIII has a great story line. As for the difficulty, it starts off easy. You will still be getting battle tutorials 10 hours in to the game. How many hours did you play, exactly? The first difficult battle is Odin. I am now 25 hours in to the game, and I am stuck on the Chapter 9 boss. I hope you go back and give this game another chance, as it may grow on you. Sure, it's changed a lot from the older games in the series, but change happens. How boring would it be if EVERY game in the FF series followed the exact same battle mechanics? "Been here, done that". I understand that FFXIII takes the series to a whole different level, but I think it works well. I've played VII - XIII, and I love them all for their individuality.

This post has been edited by Kurisu: Mar 12, 2010 - 7:06 PM

[Attikus]

I'm only like 4 hours in and I could not stand to play it any longer. The battle system is so dumbed down its just button clicking basically and only controlling one character is insanely stupid. I miss the old days of actually using all the characters in order to win a battle and needing to level up before bosses by grinding.. The game is also EXTREMELY linear... there is very little free will in moving around unlike the days of 5,6,7,8,9, and even 10 a little.

Obviously they all have unique stories I suppose, even this one. Just its too furturistic and high tech now adays with the emphasis on graphics more than characters imo. They make silly childish characters like a guy with a chocobo in his afro at the start of the game.. just seems silly to me, but I'm an old grouch who misses the days when video games were more challenging and required more time spent on them and less button smashing.

This post has been edited by Attikus: Mar 12, 2010 - 8:00 PM

[Kurisu]

Yea, there is a large amount of "X" thumb action that needs to be done in this battle system, and it does seem a bit basic at the beginning. Are you able to paradigm shift yet? That adds a new element to the battle. You may not be able to control all the characters directly, but it's important that you manage the roles of the party well in order to a) keep the party leader alive. If they die, game over and find the best way to stagger your opponent. Staggerig is really the only way to win sometimes.

[Momotaru]

Attikus, on Mar 12, 2010 - 7:58 PM, said:

I'm only like 4 hours in and I could not stand to play it any longer. The battle system is so dumbed down its just button clicking basically and only controlling one character is insanely stupid. I miss the old days of actually using all the characters in order to win a battle and needing to level up before bosses by grinding.. The game is also EXTREMELY linear... there is very little free will in moving around unlike the days of 5,6,7,8,9, and even 10 a little.

Obviously they all have unique stories I suppose, even this one. Just its too furturistic and high tech now adays with the emphasis on graphics more than characters imo. They make silly childish characters like a guy with a chocobo in his afro at the start of the game.. just seems silly to me, but I'm an old grouch who misses the days when video games were more challenging and required more time spent on them and less button smashing.

You sir, sound like you could use a delicious serving of Demon's Souls!!
My game of 2009!



Also, from what I understand, XIII doesn't really open up until a dozen or two hours into the game... sure, that's unfortunate, but it becomes progressively deeper as you go on.

I agree, about the first 4 hours. I watched my brother play it from start till about 4 or 5 hours in, and it's extremely dull, gameplay wise. 'Auto Battle', at this stage in the game, will play it for you.

When I noticed 'Auto-Talk' to NPC's, I had to laugh a little. It really is an experiment in automation.





I really have to admit. There are an absurd number of pretty, perfect, people in this game... My brother and I had so much fun MST3K-ing FFXIII for the first 3 hours.... Snow, especially, is just too hilarious. How can I take the game seriously? 30 Hours in, I might be able to handle it, but there's just WAY TOO MANY PERFECT PEOPLE.

You can judge a characters importance by how hot they are... if they're hot, but not fashionable, they're NPC's with some plot significance.

Hope's Mom... She was just hot enough to get about 5 minutes of screen time... Too bad she's a MOM. She can't be hanging out with hot people all day being a mom.

And what is with Vanille? This is perhaps the perkiest character Square has ever thrown at us... Her accent is something between British, Challenged, and Pokemon.
Now, all this variety in character would be okay.. were they not all gorgeous. FFX, a fair comparison, had pretty people, mind you, they also had personalized attributes that leaned toward reality in some way. Example.. Wakka is a fit dude, but he also had a somewhat wide, square head.. which is absolutely okay! Lulu's bust is quite a spectacle, but she's also very mature and with a somewhat thinish head.. Yuna is cute, but her face is especially innocent, and her cheeks extra round.. I could go on.

It's okay not to all look the same kind of gorgeous!

But this XIII crew.. Other than Sahz, I just can't take any of them seriously (ironic, because he's the funny guy with a nest-afro).

Rikku, I don't find attractive at all... and yet Vanille is so absurdly hot that she needs her clothes removed, her tah-tahs squeezed, and perhaps some lessons on how to behave in public. Someone as dysfunctional as her would be walking around in sweatpants and a horrible makeup job.

[armyofbear136]

Momotaru, on Mar 13, 2010 - 1:10 AM, said:

Rikku, I don't find attractive at all... and yet Vanille is so absurdly hot that she needs her clothes removed, her tah-tahs squeezed, and perhaps some lessons on how to behave in public. Someone as dysfunctional as her would be walking around in sweatpants and a horrible makeup job.

I JUST got some gametime in with 13 tonight and it's pretty freakin RAW. The combat moves alot faster and doesnt drag through 40% of your playing time. But more specifically, I'd like to agree with you hands down. I was laying on my couch playing, until Vanille hit the screen. I was sitting straight up for the rest of my experience. Again I'm not more than an hour into it and I have to hit the sack. I feel like, after just dumping 30 hours of my life into ff12, and now starting ff13... I'm not sure this game is as great as it could have been. I don't know about you guys but I actually enjoyed the combat system in 12, it reminded me of playing 11. I'm sure my opinion will change somewhat over the following days.

[Kurisu]

armyofbear136, on Mar 13, 2010 - 2:23 AM, said:

I don't know about you guys but I actually enjoyed the combat system in 12, it reminded me of playing 11.

You see, I didn't enjoy the combat system in XII at all. At first I thought "this is refreshing" but after a while...wow, boring. Very mundane in my opinion. FFXIII ramps it all up with fast, fluid combat, with summon animations that are just

Quote

'Auto Battle', at this stage in the game, will play it for you

I'm 25 hours in and I still use auto battle sometimes! It's especially useful if your using the Medic Role or the Ravager Role (once you've used Libra to find an enemies weakness you can spam auto battle to throw out magic attacks that the enemy is weak to, although it's often more efficient to input your own commands).

Quote

You can judge a characters importance by how hot they are... if they're hot, but not fashionable, they're NPC's with some plot significance.

This is so true!

Quote

And what is with Vanille? This is perhaps the perkiest character Square has ever thrown at us... Her accent is something between British, Challenged, and Pokemon.

Vanilles voice is more Australian, but Fangs more so than hers. Vanilles voice is funny, though. During the game she is all high pitched and screechy, but during the narration she sounds really different. There is a reason for this, though.

[Nestorm]

Attikus, on Mar 12, 2010 - 7:58 PM, said:

I'm only like 4 hours in and I could not stand to play it any longer. The battle system is so dumbed down its just button clicking basically and only controlling one character is insanely stupid...

you sir need to give it some more time, it gets tougher as u keep playing. Its obvious that they had to make it easy at the start to introduce the new battle system.
I know it can be lot of X smashing but it ur up for the challenge try to make ur own combinations- later on it gets veeery dificult when u start facing lots of mobs at the same time.

Also if u dont like the battle system after all, give it a try just for the story, i think its a pretty good one