Final Fantasy XIII

[boiler]

I can't believe that no one has posted a single thing about this yet (this would have never happened if Anonymo was still alive), but seeing as how Final Fantasy XIII was released about a week ago, I thought it merited discussion.

 

(and for those that didn't already know this, it is available for both 360 and PS3 right nao)

 

Anyone played it thus far? I'm intrigued by it, and may be considering it as a spring/early summer purchase. I have never played a Final Fantasy game before (save the 2 hours I spent with FF2 on my B&W gameboy back in the day), so past experience isn't a factor here. I have, however, played and enjoyed the hell out of Chrono Trigger, for what it's worth. I'm not adverse to the idea of a JRPG.

 

If FFXIII is crap though, then I'll take a pass. There are truckloads of good to great games coming out in the next few months. After dumping 130+ hours into ME2 though, I'm almost ready to sink my teeth into another meaty experience.

[anonymo]

*strolls in whistling random tune, looking at the ceiling*

 

So uh...

 

Hmmm. How do I put this? I uh...I bought it. Thought you might have noticed me playing in on the PS3 the other day? Guess not.

 

To sum it up, here is an actual conversation between my cousin (who lives with me) and I.

 

Cousin(upon coming upstairs from the basement): What the hell are you doing?

Me: Uh...playing a game?

Cousin: Bullcrap, are you watching that Japanese hentai porn crap?

Me: Whaaaa?

Cousin(still not within sight of the screen): I've been standing at the bottom of the stairs for 5 minutes, you're <don't make me say it> aren't you?

Me: What the heck are you talking about? I'm playing FFXIII

Cousin: They have porn games now? That's messed up.

TV: UGH, AHHH, SIGH, UGH, OHHHH, TEEEHEEE

Me: Ok...actually yes, I'm watching Japanese anime porn, let's go with that.

 

I'm going to say...don't bother. It's a great game, big improvement over FFX and FFXII but the level of cheese has been cranked to maximum.

[boiler]

First of all, rofl.

 

Second, Yes, I noticed you were playing it, that's why I posted this hoping to get some feedback

 

I heard about the, um, sound effects in reviews I read. Sounds like I may give it a rent sometime in the future (or if it drops to $40 or something), but I think it's fallen back in line behind God of War III and possibly Dragon Age. If you still say "great game" somewhere in the cheese, then I'll give it a play.

 

Don't forget, I suffered through the "story" in Lost Planet and still really enjoyed the game, so let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

Edited March 16, 2010 by boiler

[NorgmaN]

These are my personal thoughts...

 

Pros: Combat system, flawless, fun, challenging. Story, 15 hours in, pretty good, after 13 FF's you have to get a little creative. Graphics..... how do I put it... AMAZING, sound just as good.

 

Cons: VERY LINEAR, my friend and I have decided that FF has started to try and become "streamlined". Compared to back in the day when all you would do is walk around on the work map and fight and level (those were the days), the game is very 'noobed' down. And also the fact that they made it for XBox tells you they are going for copies sold, and not hardcore fans happy.

 

Overall: I am very pleased. As a long time fan of the series, I am dissapointed in the way they went about with the linear, no open world, no money... yes no money. I am 15 hours in and i have 3400 gil, and I have purchased nothing. Everything you get in the game is found in 'treasure boxes', and some few items are dropped by enemies. It is very different from the way FF was made back in the day. But with the story and AMAZING graphics I can kind of put the noobness behind me. I don't know what I would rate it considering I'm nowhere near the end of the game. I would give it a 7/10 right now, but only because of the fore mentioned 'noobness'.

[lousiest]

Why no love for the PC??!!

[anonymo]

Compared to back in the day when all you would do is walk around on the work map and fight and level (those were the days), the game is very 'noobed' down.

 

I have bad news for you...brace yourself, Ima be real with you.

 

 

FF1-X were completely linear, to say they weren't is just arguing semantics.

 

"Oh I can walk around this map...but there's only one place to go. Oh there's this tower, that's cool...I can either go there or skip it, I GO THERE EVERY TIME, if I don't I'm weak later on" if that's what you call open-world, no wonder RPGs are generally garbage these days.

 

Someone had to say it, don't hate me. Sure they're being really blatant about it with XIII but come on...

 

[NorgmaN]

Of course you have a 'path' that you have to follow or you can't progress, but you are IN A HALLWAY the for every step. You get open area's every once in a while, and either way the scenery is great. There is just no sense of the 'world'. You don't get into your first town until your about 14 hours in, and even then you take 5 minutes to run through it, and your only fighting. I've played almost every FF to the end, and this one (to me) seems very dumb down.

 

Otherwise, Excellent game. Time to play more!

[NorgmaN]

So I'm done, took about 60 hours, which isn't bad. I did not rush my way to the end, spent some time doing missions and little side quests. After you beat the game more 'game' opens up to you. Personally I find this kind of dumb, you should be able to do/get everything by the time you go to finish the game, maybe I'm just old-school. Overall, a great game, I finally started to get a hang of the story by the very end of the game, then they started making it all confusing again. Oh well, I'll just play it again. I think I'm up to 65 hours or so now, finishing off the missions and getting the extra features/trophies. Has anyone else finished it yet? Comments?

 

Oh, and the 'linear' part of the game finally "stops" when you reach ..... then it starts going between 'linear' and 'open' depending on what you want to do. I liked the game much more when it finally opened up, along with many of the other slight complaints that I had (money, leveling, etc.) Overall 8/10, the first 30 hours give you tunnel vision

Edited April 21, 2010 by NorgmaN

[MetalF0rce]

Haven't beaten it yet, only to the part where you reach Gran Pulse, but so far it hasn't felt like a Final Fantasy game to me. FFX may have been linear as well, but you could still run around towns, explore the areas, get a feel for the world. While in FFXIII it just feels like cut scene after cut scene just drops you in another area to run for the marker and repeat.

 

Battles are a lot more fun, and even just watching them is a feast for the eyes. But it still just doesn't have the FF-feel that I had hoped for.

[lousiest]

Yeah, the linearity is what seems to be throwing most of my friends off. I know they said they were able to tell a better story because of it. So, what do you think of the story-telling? Was removing the ability to explore justified?

[MetalF0rce]

I don't think the story is any improved over any other FF really. The only real solid info we get about the world, more on the party, or on more in-game terms and such is from the glossary. Having to pause and read up on things to understand what a Fal'Cie was sort of a buzzkill, since one minute you running from this evil Fal'Cie, and next you fighting to save it.

 

The characters seem to be fleshed out enough, but the world just seemed so bland without being to explore it firsthand. Also, got tired of that damn theme song being remixed and replayed for every area.

[lousiest]

Bummer...