Topic: Final Fantasy XIII (Read 11159 times)

mberan42 · « **on:** 29 Apr 2010, 19:24 »

Have we talked about this game yet? I know we had trailer threads and other stuff, but I don't think we have a thread dedicated to FFXIII now that it's out.

I've played every modern FF game (except for whichever one was the online game) and have enjoyed them. Sure, they all have their faults, but it's one of the only video game franchises in which I'll play all the games (provided I have the system).

I'm about 3 hours into the game, I have to say, this is THE corniest Final Fantasies ever. The dialog is corny, the voice acting is melodramatic, I have NO freaking idea what's going on story-wise, and the characters are either whiny little punks or showboating "lookit me, imma hero!" I am pretty disappointed so far.

The battle system is pretty neat, I guess. I just got the Paradigm shift thing, so I'm hoping that'll change it up a bit. I don't know how I level up, I don't know where I am or what I'm supposed to do, and it's really annoying.

That all said, it's a gorgeous game. But graphics will only take a game so far.

Thoughts?

kemon · « **Reply #1 on:** 29 Apr 2010, 19:27 »

don't worry, the tutorial will be over in 27 more hours. then it all makes sense.

Blue Kitty · « **Reply #2 on:** 29 Apr 2010, 21:01 »

beat mouse · « **Reply #3 on:** 29 Apr 2010, 22:11 »

FF13 suffers from a mysterious void, it has spectacular presentation, the battle system is great, and thoroughly enjoyable to switch roles on the fly, but somewhere between presentation and gameplay mechanics they managed to miss making a single quality decision in terms of content. I played the first 15 or 16 hours and put it down, over a month ago now.

Johnny C · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Apr 2010, 02:23 »

"oh but it gets good after twenty hours!!!" -people with stockholm syndrome

scarred · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Apr 2010, 02:26 »

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/1569-Final-Fantasy-XIII

Storm Rider · « **Reply #6 on:** 30 Apr 2010, 13:21 »

I haven't played it yet, I picked Resonance of Fate instead because I had the feeling that would be more likely to become hard to find and FFXIII will be on shelves forever. It'll get a Greatest Hits version eventually, I'll play it then. I've heard very mixed things, though, more so than just about any game I can think of. Some people love it, some people hate it with a passion, and there's just about every gradation in between.

mberan42 · « **Reply #7 on:** 30 Apr 2010, 16:36 »

Well damn, that Zero Punctuation review kinda summed everything up. /sigh What a waste of $66.

Alex C · « **Reply #8 on:** 30 Apr 2010, 17:23 »

It's like Square has become the anti-Meier. It's like they're trying their damndest to shit on the idea that games are a series of interesting decisions.

Johnny C · « **Reply #9 on:** 30 Apr 2010, 23:51 »

GAMES ARE WHAT WE TELL YOU THAT YOU ENJOY

mberan42 · « **Reply #10 on:** 01 May 2010, 21:01 »

Man, FUCK YOU, you whiny bitches! Seriously, this is REALLY ANNOYING. SHUT UP already!

Johnny C · « **Reply #11 on:** 01 May 2010, 23:34 »

YOU ARE GOING TO WATCH THIS POINT OF LIGHT MOVE ALONG THIS STRAND OF SPACETIME TO CRYSTALS THAT REPRESENT STAT UPGRADES WHICH WE ARE GOING TO HEAVILY RESTRICT ALL THE TIME AND YOU ARE GOING TO LIKE IT

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #12 on:** 03 May 2010, 17:39 »

what a piece of junk.

I had actually forgotten about it until just now and I find myself once again filled with unequivocal rage. I played the thing for like 30 or 40 hours and then, suddenly, like a light switch being flipped on, I realized: HEY, FUCK THIS GAME.

I need to trade the infernal thing in and put the money towards something that doesn't suck.

That said, I am very disappointed that it sucks so much since it is so very gorgeous and the battle system is actually pretty fun (aside from the 100% useless summons, whatever they're called). And I'm one of the ones that really really liked XII.

RallyMonkey · « **Reply #13 on:** 03 May 2010, 17:51 »

Since we're all in agreeance that FFXIII sucks, can anyone suggest an RPG similar to the Final Fantasy series for the Xbox 360 that doesn't suck?

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #14 on:** 03 May 2010, 17:58 »

LOST ODYSSEY

Alex C · « **Reply #15 on:** 03 May 2010, 18:06 »

JRPGs are still mostly DS and Sony territory. Hell, until the last year or so a surprising number of them were still coming out for the PS2 rather than the PS3.

RallyMonkey · « **Reply #16 on:** 03 May 2010, 18:13 »

That's why I stopped playing JRPGs when I went from a PS2 to Xbox 360. I was excited to see FFXIII coming out for the Xbox 360, but with that disappointment, I've been left really wanting to play one.

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #17 on:** 03 May 2010, 18:15 »

seriously, play Lost Odyssey.

It's fantastic, if a bit overlong.

Storm Rider · « **Reply #18 on:** 03 May 2010, 20:40 »

Yeah, Lost Odyssey is very old school, but intentionally so and it's very good at what it sets out to be. Awesome music, too.

Cire27 · « **Reply #19 on:** 03 May 2010, 21:57 »

One of my favorite parts of JRPG's is changing the disks out. Really gave a sense of accomplishment meeting that screen: PLEASE INSERT DISC 2.

Thirding that Lost Odyssey recommendation.

FIXDIX · « **Reply #20 on:** 03 May 2010, 22:45 »

Man, I found Lost Odyssey boring as hell. I actually just remembered I have it. I think I put about 10 hours into it before giving up, which yes admitedly isn't enough to truly hate the game, it just never got my attention so I stopped playing.

I did enjoy Eternal Sonata as far as JRPGs go. Also Valkyria Chronicles for the PS3 is pretty fun.

I've heard nothing but good things about Tales of Vesperia.

But yeeeeeeeeeeeah, XII. Ahh. I want to love you and you nearly got me with your fun as hell job system but the connection between plot and characters just doesn't make me want to play you BECAUSE I DO NOT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOU.

But hey! If I'm free in a few months I will totts pick you up again.

Cartilage Head · « **Reply #21 on:** 16 Jul 2010, 05:13 »

Sorry to kind of necro a thread here. So I'm playing XIII, and I was aware ahead of time that if you want to really enjoy it, you need to put up with a kind of underwhelming first 20-or so hours. I'm just curious, if anybody else has finished it or is playing through it, is there anything that I could really be worried about missing or trying to accomplish? It seems unlikely since I'm pretty much just travelling the most linear path ever, but I was just curious.

Tom · « **Reply #22 on:** 16 Jul 2010, 15:16 »

I still can't decide if I want to buy this for less $30-50 AU.

SaskiWhiteflower · « **Reply #23 on:** 16 Jul 2010, 18:40 »

I dont know bout you all but i didnt really enjoy FF13... FFVII to X ftw

mberan42 · « **Reply #24 on:** 19 Jul 2010, 14:53 »

I'm 10 hours into it, or so, and just can't be bothered to pick it up again. So boring, so linear, so lame.

Alex C · « **Reply #25 on:** 19 Jul 2010, 15:13 »

I really didn't like VIII-X. VII was kinda the last hurrah of the series for me. There was enough going on that I liked to see it through, but I don't dig anime style crazy convoluted plot lines with fragile/angsty/mindfucked heroes. Maybe it's refreshing to some people but it sure as hell wasn't to me. Between FF7, NGE, and Xenogears I was pretty much set up to be done with the kinda Japanese pop culture that actually gets imported over here, and FFVIII really sealed the deal.

Ozymandias · « **Reply #26 on:** 19 Jul 2010, 17:02 »

VII was okay. X was pretty good. IX was decent enough. VIII I think actually killed JRPGs forever for me.

Cartilage Head · « **Reply #27 on:** 19 Jul 2010, 18:17 »

Final Fantasy is just the best series at getting some things perfect, but others terribly wrong. VIII has a cool, interesting and complex system, but a terrible story and characters, as does X. I would say that the most "perfect" of the new Final Fantasies (that would be post-VI) would have to be XII.

So far I'm about 25 hours into XIII. Cool battle system, and it is actually pretty challenging (weird for FF) and the characters are interesting and develop defined arcs pretty early in the game. I'm still holding out for when it becomes less linear, which I have read occurs when your characters move from Cocoon to Pulse.

Storm Rider · « **Reply #28 on:** 19 Jul 2010, 23:00 »

VIII is completely fucking terrible, anybody who enjoyed that game has a head injury as far as I'm concerned. XII is so so so close to being amazing, but the Square bigwigs had to fuck with it at the last minute and it really shows. It's still easily my favorite post-SNES Final Fantasy. Still haven't played XIII yet, I'm waiting for it to get cheaper before I bite the bullet.

VI is the best game in the series by a wide margin, of course.

Johnny C · « **Reply #29 on:** 20 Jul 2010, 03:15 »

ffx slays

ackblom12 · « **Reply #30 on:** 20 Jul 2010, 11:34 »

it slays my will to complete the game yes.

Cartilage Head · « **Reply #31 on:** 20 Jul 2010, 13:56 »

It slays all the hopes and dreams of anybody who grew up with Final Fantasy.

Bryan, at this point in playing it, I'm not sure if you'd like XIII. This is mostly because you're the guy who didn't finish Odin Sphere because of slowdown.

SaskiWhiteflower · « **Reply #32 on:** 20 Jul 2010, 22:09 »

I didnt finish Odin Sphere either. Mainly cause it's boring after the second character

Cire27 · « **Reply #33 on:** 20 Jul 2010, 22:38 »

What amazes me about VII is all the hidden mechanics behind every damn thing possible.

snalin · « **Reply #34 on:** 21 Jul 2010, 14:40 »

I've played IX from the start like five or six times, never finishing it. I can't really tell what made me love the game so much, but I did love it. The story became too complex without getting more interesting towards the end, and the scenery got less interesting, so when I got stuck on some boss or another, I gave up. There was some pearls on the way though - the Vivi character and the whole story surrounding the black mages is what stands strongest in memory. And unlike the other FF I've played much, X, the scenery has a lot of interesting changes - medieval castles and jungles with plant monsters and swamps with giant frog-things eating frogs and the black mage village (with a sweeet soundtrack) and more renaissance era towns and really cool ruins and pretty much a lot of awesome. It's pretty impressive how they managed to make much more interesting places than X (which really only had the "ruins of high tech civilization" set at the cost, the inland, the mountains and other places), even though there's a huge quality gab in graphics.

I kinda lost interest after XII, which didn't have one single character that interested me. You could laugh at the ridiculousness of the NPCs from X - the goth chick? with dolls? really? She's more stereotyped than the goth chick from CIS, but the ones from XII was just bland.

The fact that most people say that FFXIII takes over twenty fucking hours to get good, you know, once you're finished with the tutorial, makes me wonder why people bother.

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #35 on:** 21 Jul 2010, 15:00 »

IX is pretty much the best. Definitely holds a spot on my coveted "Top 5 Games of All Time" list.

VIII is an abortion that didn't quite take. It somehow managed to survive and has eeked out an existence by convincing people that it's flaws are somehow endearing and that's it's utter failure at existing is somehow admirable.

XIII is just as bad as VIII, except it's prettier by an order of magnitude that is uncalculable to humans, so it has that going for it, I guess.

I got 30 hours into XIII, right when it gets "good" and I realized "oh, so you're just now going to make the game good finally? Fuck you." and I traded it in and burned the Strategy Guide that I stupidly bought with it. I haven't been so disappointed since Spore.

Emaline · « **Reply #36 on:** 22 Jul 2010, 11:49 »

So....did anybody play Neir? http://www.niergame.com/

Also made buy Square Enix, somewhat similar(in my only ever finishing one Final Fantasy game, on the ps1, and only playing a few others though never finishing opinion) Final Fantasy, better story, fucked up endings, and uh...actually enjoyable.

DavidGrohl · « **Reply #37 on:** 22 Jul 2010, 12:57 »

I love(d) IX more than words can express (except for the final boss . . but w/e -- he wasn't that important to the storyline).

I hated XIII. I forced myself to play through it because I paid for it.

The thing I disliked most about it was the lack of cities. I didn't get the impression that the world was 'real' or 'believable' in its own respect.

What's left at that point, is hoping the characters and story provide some supreme entertainment and fascination. They didn't.

Cire27 · « **Reply #38 on:** 22 Jul 2010, 14:12 »

I don't know guys, I liked all the ps1-era games. Maybe I am just nostalgic.

beat mouse · « **Reply #39 on:** 22 Jul 2010, 14:26 »

I have lived most of my life being ostracized for the fact that I preferred 8 over 7. If I was backed into a corner and had to pick my favourites I would still hold 6 and Tactics over the rest of the series, however I do not think highly of 7 at all. After working on a popular Final Fantasy website (FFGurus) for several years as a young teenager before it shut down, I have had more arguments over this than I care to count, or get into again, but it surely soured my taste of the game.

I haven't touched 13 since the few days I spent after I bought it, I suppose I will go back to it eventually but it has definitely not kept my attention, similarly to my several attempts to make it over halfway through 12. I will blame other genres of games for my lack of JRPG affection, since I no longer have it in me to stay focused on dicking around in towns and shops when I could be shooting things in the head or constructing additional pylons.

Ozymandias · « **Reply #40 on:** 22 Jul 2010, 16:50 »

7's not really that great of a game.

It's just that 8 is so much worse.

Alex C · « **Reply #41 on:** 22 Jul 2010, 18:30 »

I just plain didn't like the plot or characterizations all that much. In theory, I don't actually mind sullen protagonists, but FF8 seemed to focus too much on fixing Squall for my tastes, and I wasn't really buying the Squall+Rinoa match up. It just became a mess.

Ozymandias · « **Reply #42 on:** 22 Jul 2010, 19:23 »

See, I liked the side characters in 8. Irvine, Selphie, Quistus, I think were all fine characters.

They also did absolutely nothing nothing involving the plot after Disc 1. Discs 2-4 were 100% Squall and Rinoa and it was awful.

Cartilage Head · « **Reply #43 on:** 22 Jul 2010, 19:36 »

I have always said that IX is the best. Probably tied with VI, and one of my favorite games of all time.

Storm Rider · « **Reply #44 on:** 23 Jul 2010, 01:50 »

Also, the late game twist in 8 is one of the most unforgivably stupid plot devices I've ever seen, even by JRPG standards.

Alex C · « **Reply #45 on:** 23 Jul 2010, 14:11 »

Ozy, you're right, I do remember thinking some of the supporting cast was pretty decent, but like you said, they swapped to Squall+Rinoa as being the focus for the most of the game, so I mostly remember being annoyed. It's been a decade, after all. Awful really is the word for the Squall+Rinoa thing. Like I said, I could have handled having a cheerless, cynical protagonist. As hackneyed as it may be, I don't have a real problem with the young, reluctant hero sheds some of his cynicism and proves that in the end, he'll come through for people. Maybe he'll even loosen up a bit and remember that friends are worth having even if you lose them sometimes and all that other happy heroic fantasy bullshit. But instead of a gradual evolution, they went with a slightly douchey guy suddenly falling for an idealist and being redeemed by the power of lurve route, and then the focus of the damned game changes. Bleaaargh.

Cire27 · « **Reply #46 on:** 24 Jul 2010, 06:06 »

I remember thinking the airship in VIII was pretty badass.

Ozymandias · « **Reply #47 on:** 24 Jul 2010, 09:31 »

Actually, I really loved Seifer and the Disciplinary Committee in FFVIII also. I thought they had a really interesting story and I was way more into them leading into the end of Disc 3 than Squall and Rinoa. There's also little things in FFVIII that I thought were really good like Triple Triad, some of the sidequests, the little touches in the world that seem to suggest deeper thought into it than usual. It's just....why the fuck did they make the plot they did and the battle system they did and the magic system they did and graaarg. Bryan is right. The twist in FFVIII was one of the dumbest things ever in any game. Period.

Cartilage Head · « **Reply #48 on:** 26 Jul 2010, 10:44 »

I prefer Tetra Master over Triple Triad.

Ozymandias · « **Reply #49 on:** 30 Jul 2010, 09:19 »

I could never get the hang of Tetra Master and it was irrelevant to the rest of the game anyway. Triple Triad cards could be used to build your (largely pointless) weapons, but all Tetra Master got you was insane completionism.

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Author Topic: Final Fantasy XIII (Read 11159 times)

ackblom12