***Final Fantasy XIII-2***

[:(Rhodri:)]

To sum up what you said, "I didn't like the game because I didn't understand it and couldn't get into it and because like a lot of Final Fantasy fans I think I know everything and how the game should be and I'm always going to be disappointed when it doesn't match my expectations.".

I do understand it and still massively dislike it. The linearity is so obvious for so much of the game that I find it oppressive, the first 30 hours all just felt like wondering down a corridor. It feels exactly like their crystarium system - there's only one direction to go in 95% of the time, so why have this clunky system in place to spend the CP. Like so much of the game it's all style and no class.

Gran Pulse is better than the corridor sections I'll agree, yet there's still very little to do. I can go and fight mosters - like I've pretty much been doing in all of the corridors? Swell.

The exploration and freedom of movement in FF 7, 8 & 9 was far more interesting than you make it sound, as if you travelled back to older areas and towns in the game a lot of the time the people and places would have changed as the story progressed. You could talk to the NPC's (I hate that this is lacking in FF13) and be more drawn into the world and the story as a result. There was also a lot of side quests you could do to get different items etc. as well as often finding out small snippets about the characters or story as you did so.

And of course a lot of this is personal preference, however I can't help but wish they'd go back to the more traditional roots of Final Fantasy and just return to a turn based battle system, text boxes outside of cut scenes, NPC's that aren't just background filler and a world map.

 

[RopAyy]

Lots of people enjoyed FFXIII, and I'm sure lots of people will enjoy FFXIII-2. Just because it wasn't a remake of your precious FFVII, doesn't mean that it's a bad game. It's a different game.

I understood the game completely. Its hard not to.

In regards to some of your points;

- It was more than slightly less involved, had they removed the 'auto' button then it would engage players to think and stack moves in a strategic way. The pace of the battles i enjoyed, relatively fast paced. I found the only bit of strategy used is when shifting through paradigms but i managed most of the battles with only ever shifting to cure and nothing much else.

- I never said this was any different, i avoided battles because they were a bore, more a chore than a challenge.

- Not all personal preference, the characters were alright on face value but really did not grow through the game, what you saw at the beginning was same close to the end bar a few events.

- It didnt feel like i was been led through a story but forced down it. They should always leave some sort of deviation, especially in an RPG.
It was like a 3D side scrolling game only allowing one route and out come!

- There was plenty of story in the game yes but its was portrayed in such a dull and again linear way. It was like one big CGI told story, nothing picked up and learnt from exploration and talking. I never said they ruined FF just a very poorly put together JRPG im open minded to all and not just a stubborn FF fanboy.

- Yes, yawn.

- That 'limited' exploration took up hours of time and usually introduced a whole new worth into the game. New items, weapons, armour, characters both playable and NPC. You usually had different places with different people all with different views of the current events dependant on which FF universe your playing in. The fact that you could get lost and lose track of the main mission or having to use some brain power to find out where you needed to be next or visiting an old town and seeing it changed. The point was you were given more freedom in the game.

- As said, i fully understood the game, your right i couldnt get into it very well as i felt i was 'forced' to do everything. There is little fun to be had going down a one way corridor for the best part of 30 hours.
Just because ive played all the FF titles it does not mean i have not experienced, played and enjoyed many other JRPG's of this sort, this does not mean i know everything on how the game should be but i do know when the game lacks many of the critical components to make it something special and memorable.

My precious FF would not be FFXIII and i do not make my views because i dont think any other title can live up to the standards of Cloud and his team. I make my judgements based on playing the game and how the game allows you to play, thats all.
Had i never played an FF game before i would have still said more or less the same.
It is a different game it just has a lot of failings.

 

[wannabedamned]

and angry that people actually like this crap.

lol, If you find anger in other peoples likes you have a problem. How is it hurting you for others to like the game\demo? its quite sad. But to be fair I know for a fact if i did a search for FF13 and your username we'd get the same constant OMG IT SUXXORS or youR usual picture montage. throughOUT the results. Even in threads where its not required to be fair.

I've not played the demo yet, but i will be. I just find it so funny how people are trying to go out their way to discourage others from trying or playing o.O

 

[compboyo]

hey sorry i was asking foir a review of ff13-2 demo not ff13. but cheers anyway!

Is ff13-2 better?

 

[VTR]

Just finished the demo

It's pretty much more of the same with slight improvements. Slightly less linear with the side quests, more interaction with NPC's, few changes in the battle system and the ability to have a monster fight with you etc. Looking forward to the full game now!

 

[Mark1989]

Just finished the demo

It's pretty much more of the same with slight improvements. Slightly less linear with the side quests, more interaction with NPC's, few changes in the battle system and the ability to have a monster fight with you etc. Looking forward to the full game now!

So sounds like exactly what i was expecting and looking forward too! Will be awesome, Im not playing the demo as i want to be totally new

 

[VTR]

Where's the best place to pre order for garunteed delivery on release or before that won't take payment until the 27th or later? (payday)

 

[Streeteh]

Where's the best place to pre order for garunteed delivery on release or before that won't take payment until the 27th or later? (payday)

Shopto always process two days before release and get it to you nearly always the day before release.

Dunno when the game is released, but if it's two days after the 27th then you're golden.

[EDIT] Yes it is, so i would recommend ShopTo. Their prices aren't the best but their delivery times are, as i said, nearly always one day before release.

 

[compboyo]

im replaying ff7,8,9 i dl from ps store. Its a world away from this modern styel FF. but things do progress. Whether for good or bad I dont know its only a short demo.

But id rather play MW3 than doom1. Though Id rather play MW1 than MW3 lol

 

[Noxia]

I actually quite enjoyed XIII. Sure it wasn't anything like VII, my fave game of all time but then they didn't want to stick to an old JRPG format, fair play. I'll be getting XIII-2 for sure.

Whils't I'm at it, I couldn't stomach more than a couple of hours of VIII and X bored me to the point I never finished it, enjoyed Blitzball though.

 

[cb_linus]

As i've said before and I'll say now. It's a binary. If you think FFXIII is a good game, you have bad taste in games.

I have a friend who loves Twilight (as per your previous example) but who can also hold a decent conversation in world politics, literary theory and enjoys world cinema for its portrayal of the human condition and the real, often difficult, world that we live in.

Twilight might not be 'good' in the same sense that taking an active interest in literature is 'good' but I understand it's often necessary to have a release, to access something less cerebral from time to time - a balance perhaps? Liking Twilight does not mean you have bad taste in film. Similarly FXXIII may well be a good game to many people - a 'guilty pleasure' in some terminologies even, it does not mean they have bad taste in games.

I understand that people will often accept media (games, film, news etc) in a dumbed down form, which is a shame, but the world we live in isn't so binary that a person should be judged from a simple extrapolation of 'if they like x then they have no taste in y'.

I wasn't a big fan of FFXIII but I can see plenty of elements in the game which are good, and while I'm on the fence about the demo for FFXIII-2 I can still see elements that tend to indicate the new game will (hopefully) be an improvement of its predescessor.

 

[Mark1989]

So people who dont like the game come to this thread and moan to the people who do...Some people like the game get over it! If you dont like the game leave the thread if your not interested in the game anyway >.<

 

[Swampyseifer]

- Not all personal preference, the characters were alright on face value but really did not grow through the game, what you saw at the beginning was same close to the end bar a few events.

You did play the same game as me right?

Possible spoilers......





Take vanille for example...she tries to hide a dodgy past from the group, she even attampts to run away from the group and her fate with sazh at one point. Later on Fang gets her memory back and confronts vanille about the past and her character changes quite a bit once this is out in the open.

Or what about Hope...yeah he's annoying but the way he acts is totally changed by the events of the game. His mother dies, he fights then only to get to Snow to murder him in revenge. He doesnt even like fighting really at the beginning and when travelling with Lightning he decides he needs to learn to be strong so that he can confront Snow.

or Sazh. He is trying to save his son, but he finds out he cannot. he then tries to run away from his fate with vanille. Eventually he finds out who really was responsible for his sons fate and even attempts to kill them...but he cant and chooses to commit suicide, although even that fails.

 

[B1C3P]

I still like FFX 13 it's not a terrible game, it can be linear yeah but still good. But played the demo for this and it's sort of much of the same with bits added in (from first thoughts). If I'll be honest after being a huge fan of FFX and the turn based system etc I still can't really get used to this. Will be holding out for the FFX HD remake whenever it comes...

 

[Makhaira]

Really enjoyed 13, although my main gripe was the fact that most of the Gran Pulse missions needed Stage 10 to be possible, which meant finishing the game, reloading, going back to an old area in order to be able to complete those side missions, which to me seemed completely the wrong way around.

That said, ticked all the boxes for a console game with story!

 

[Roadkillv1]

You did play the same game as me right?

Possible spoilers......





Take vanille for example...she tries to hide a dodgy past from the group, she even attampts to run away from the group and her fate with sazh at one point. Later on Fang gets her memory back and confronts vanille about the past and her character changes quite a bit once this is out in the open.

Or what about Hope...yeah he's annoying but the way he acts is totally changed by the events of the game. His mother dies, he fights then only to get to Snow to murder him in revenge. He doesnt even like fighting really at the beginning and when travelling with Lightning he decides he needs to learn to be strong so that he can confront Snow.

or Sazh. He is trying to save his son, but he finds out he cannot. he then tries to run away from his fate with vanille. Eventually he finds out who really was responsible for his sons fate and even attempts to kill them...but he cant and chooses to commit suicide, although even that fails.

agree with all of this. saying they didn't grow is just an outright lie lol. i felt more attachment to them than the chars from 8 for example. i ignored irvine/selphie/zell for most of it. but ALL the playables in 13 caught me in some way

 

[Phatjayunoi]

The linearity argument of FFXIII can go in different ways. Yeah sure, the level design was just that, and really poor when you compare to some of the older games. But in terms of the flow with the characters and story, it is intentional. Afterall, they are fugitives on the run, and whilst there were lack of true towns and being unable to go back to places in the Cocoon chapters, it was like that for a purpose.

From my experience, I find most people who complain about the game are the ones that really don't pay attention, probably just skip the cutscenes or don't even read the datalogs to get a full grasp of the story.

 

[VTR]

Shopto always process two days before release and get it to you nearly always the day before release.

Dunno when the game is released, but if it's two days after the 27th then you're golden.

[EDIT] Yes it is, so i would recommend ShopTo. Their prices aren't the best but their delivery times are, as i said, nearly always one day before release.

Thanks I'll order off there now, already got an account but haven't preordered anything for years so wasn't sure who was best.

 

[Xinn]

Finally got around to playing the Demo of this last night and I must say I really enjoyed it. Went and pre ordered the limited edition today.

Couple of gripes were not being able to see the crystarium properly, though it seems the blank nodes are just stats. I'd still like to be able to see the entire thing at once and plan how much CP i'll need to reach a certain skill.

Also the camera seemed far too close to the back of the character, not sure if this can be changed in options though I imagine not.

Need to zerg through 13 in 2 weeks now so the story is fresh in my mind.

 

[Aeleys]

Really enjoyed 13, although my main gripe was the fact that most of the Gran Pulse missions needed Stage 10 to be possible, which meant finishing the game, reloading, going back to an old area in order to be able to complete those side missions, which to me seemed completely the wrong way around.

That said, ticked all the boxes for a console game with story!

that is pretty much the same as in every FF.

I'm still yet to complete XIII but i got two free days coming up and i shall try get it done ready for -2.

i still don't think a FF will ever come close to how good X was for me. (apart from the HD remake )