Final Fantasy XIII [PS3, X360]

[nightshade]

Good that you mention this, I think I just got to the beginning of Chapter 7 - is that the one with

I can't remember that precisely but its the one set in the city Palumpolum

Spoiler

where you need to get to Hope's home & the chapter starts off with Lightning & Hope starting near a place which looks like cargo hold & then you move on through the undergrounds encountering the food making Fal'Cie. You also encounter those flying enemies & dangerous Velocycles for the first time in this chapters while playing as Snow.

And yea its a LONG chapter...probably close to equaling the total time of chapter 1-6.

 

[Sigfried1977]

After a good 130 hours I finally got the Platinum trophy.

 

[Sigfried1977]

One mob... that you have to go to a save point to reset... that you have to kill dozens and dozens and dozens of times to level up your characters enough to do the hardest marks at the end of the game.

Really, SquareEnix? You thought that was a good idea?

Screw you.

That's just not true at all. Pretty much the only reason to kill turtles over and over is for money and traps. Basically just for trophies. Maxing out your 3 main jobs doesn't take very long, and it's all you ever need for the later missions, even if you intend on achieving 5-star ratings on all of them.

I don't think there has ever been a FF game with so little grinding.

 

[nightshade]

I don't think there has ever been a FF game with so little grinding.

Pretty much this.
It doesn't even requires you to grind seriously for the first 20 hours or so, getting 5 star Cieth stone mission doesn't takes a lot of effort once you finish the game, infact its easy enough to 5 star most of them before you even finish the story. The most tedious job in the game is to hunt for the Treasure Hunter trophy, but that's pretty much it.

 

[NathansFortune]

Good that you mention this, I think I just got to the beginning of Chapter 7 - is that the one with

Spoiler

all those big shield monsters?

I'm not sure about shield monsters, but in chapter 9, just before you face off with the boss you should take the time to level up in the arena prior.

Spoiler

Barthandalus is a bit difficult and has one really strong attack so you might want to get max HP possible for Lightning and stock up on Phoenix Downs. A titanium bangle plus the gold bangle and all the HP spheres do the trick with some room to spare incase he gets you with the strong attack and a medium attack one after the other.

 

[Sigfried1977]

I'm not sure about shield monsters, but in chapter 9, just before you face off with the boss you should take the time to level up in the arena prior.

Spoiler

Barthandalus is a bit difficult and has one really strong attack so you might want to get max HP possible for Lightning and stock up on Phoenix Downs. A titanium bangle plus the gold bangle and all the HP spheres do the trick with some room to spare incase he gets you with the strong attack and a medium attack one after the other.

All you need is a bit of a plan. I never stopped to level up my characters until chapter 11 (that's where the game's difficulty spikes a bit), and it worked very well. You can shut down the attack potential of the level 9 boss rather easily.

 

[patsu]

Story picks up slowly, I hope it turns out good...the worst thing in this game is the story telling itself - the characters are rather weird, with some kind of weird japanese-style gestures and behaviors, often giving the impression of a not so serious B movie (I always wonder when I am reading the conclusion afterwards in the data log about what story the characters tried to tell me in the cutscene?!), which is in stark contrast to the impressive, serious and superior audio-visuell presentation of the game!
But, up to now I can easily deal with it, as the great graphics and the settings want me to play along to see what the devs prepared next for me!

Be extremely patient and don't expect the story to improve; then you'll have a perfect FFXIII experience.

Spoiler

Handsome reward in Chapter 11 -- if you like sidequests and hunting.

Are there any fundamental "must know" gameplay hints you guys can give me with respect to battle strategy or up-leveling?

Eh... learn the intricate combat system even though you may feel like a champ now. You will need to know the system well.

The item upgrade system is important too. Learn how to maximize the item usage and conversion. Don't ask me ! Ask tha_con and I suspect Sigfried and Rolf too.

 

[Billy Idol]

The item upgrade system is important too. Learn how to maximize the item usage and conversion. Don't ask me ! Ask tha_con and I suspect Sigfried and Rolf too.

Yeah, in mean time I got the item upgrade ability. But to be honest, I don't understand how this works?!

You have a bunch of stuff which you can use to modify your weapon for instance. When I choose a weapon, it asks me to choose a item which I want to use to modify. when I choose an item, the only information I get is how much points the item gives...there are ones with rather low amount and items with rather high amount?! When I use some items to modify the weapon, sometimes I get the message that a multiplicator is now at 1.25, 1.5 or higher - what does this all of this mean?!

Does it matter which item I choose to upgrade my weapon? Is the only goal to reach the new level of my weapon?

 

[nightshade]

Yeah, in mean time I got the item upgrade ability. But to be honest, I don't understand how this works?!

You have a bunch of stuff which you can use to modify your weapon for instance. When I choose a weapon, it asks me to choose a item which I want to use to modify. when I choose an item, the only information I get is how much points the item gives...there are ones with rather low amount and items with rather high amount?! When I use some items to modify the weapon, sometimes I get the message that a multiplicator is now at 1.25, 1.5 or higher - what does this all of this mean?!

Does it matter which item I choose to upgrade my weapon? Is the only goal to reach the new level of my weapon?

Yes the only goal is to reach the new level but you have to do it in the most efficient way.


There are basically two components which you can use to upgrade (3 actually if you count the "transformation catalysts"..but you have to be careful to not use this while stacking up XP for weapons/equipments, cause you need these things for transforming your weapon once they reach their highest level)

Now the two main components are Organic & Synthetic...organic components are marked with a bone sign before their names, while the synthetic ones are marked with a metal screw before their names. The things which you need to know are that:

1) Synthetic components adds a LOT of XP
2) Organic components barely adds anything but they stack up the multiplier, what I mean here is that using enough the organic components will result in the weapon gaining a "Bonus Multiplier" like 1.5x,2x or 3x for the next time you add something to it.

The best way to upgrade a weapon would be to use as many organic components as required to reach a 3x Bonus & once you get there use all the synthetic components at once. For example if you have 3 superconductors (synthetic) & 30 sturdy bones (organic) then you have to use 30x sturdy bones to get a 3x Bonus & once you get the bonus multiplier, you'll want to use all 3 superconductors at once so as to yield the highest possible XP (& take advantage of the multiplier).

 

[jlippo]

Yeah, in mean time I got the item upgrade ability. But to be honest, I don't understand how this works?!

You have a bunch of stuff which you can use to modify your weapon for instance. When I choose a weapon, it asks me to choose a item which I want to use to modify. when I choose an item, the only information I get is how much points the item gives...there are ones with rather low amount and items with rather high amount?! When I use some items to modify the weapon, sometimes I get the message that a multiplicator is now at 1.25, 1.5 or higher - what does this all of this mean?!

Does it matter which item I choose to upgrade my weapon? Is the only goal to reach the new level of my weapon?

Organic items give those nice 2x 3x multipliers.. so first use organics and then use tech stuff for high exp for leveling.

After certain level items raise to * rating when they can be changed to something else.
The item they will be changed to depends from the item and in case of weapons every wepon will change to unique weapon and so on..

 

[Billy Idol]

Organic items give those nice 2x 3x multipliers.. so first use organics and then use tech stuff for high exp for leveling.

After certain level items raise to * rating when they can be changed to something else.
The item they will be changed to depends from the item and in case of weapons every wepon will change to unique weapon and so on..

Cool, thanks for the hint!!

 

[NathansFortune]

Yeah, in mean time I got the item upgrade ability. But to be honest, I don't understand how this works?!

You have a bunch of stuff which you can use to modify your weapon for instance. When I choose a weapon, it asks me to choose a item which I want to use to modify. when I choose an item, the only information I get is how much points the item gives...there are ones with rather low amount and items with rather high amount?! When I use some items to modify the weapon, sometimes I get the message that a multiplicator is now at 1.25, 1.5 or higher - what does this all of this mean?!

Does it matter which item I choose to upgrade my weapon? Is the only goal to reach the new level of my weapon?

Wicked Fangs and Sturdy Bones are awesome for multiplier bonuses as they can be bought for cheap from the creature comforts shop.

36 Sturdy Bones gives you a 3x multiplier so if you have items of very high xp value then buy some and keep the bonus at maximum.

 

[Billy Idol]

Yes the only goal is to reach the new level but you have to do it in the most efficient way.


There are basically two components which you can use to upgrade (3 actually if you count the "transformation catalysts"..but you have to be careful to not use this while stacking up XP for weapons/equipments, cause you need these things for transforming your weapon once they reach their highest level)

Now the two main components are Organic & Synthetic...organic components are marked with a bone sign before their names, while the synthetic ones are marked with a metal screw before their names. The things which you need to know are that:

1) Synthetic components adds a LOT of XP
2) Organic components barely adds anything but they stack up the multiplier, what I mean here is that using enough the organic components will result in the weapon gaining a "Bonus Multiplier" like 1.5x,2x or 3x for the next time you add something to it.

The best way to upgrade a weapon would be to use as many organic components as required to reach a 3x Bonus & once you get there use all the synthetic components at once. For example if you have 3 superconductors (synthetic) & 30 sturdy bones (organic) then you have to use 30x sturdy bones to get a 3x Bonus & once you get the bonus multiplier, you'll want to use all 3 superconductors at once so as to yield the highest possible XP (& take advantage of the multiplier).

Thanks Nightshade - this helps a lot
Now, I am ready to upgrade!

Wicked Fangs and Sturdy Bones are awesome for multiplier bonuses as they can be bought for cheap from the creature comforts shop.

36 Sturdy Bones gives you a 3x multiplier so if you have items of very high xp value then buy some and keep the bonus at maximum.

Thanks for the hint!

 

[nightshade]

People who appreciate music....I bring you this:

 

[Sigfried1977]

People who appreciate music....I bring you this:

I love that song. Heck, the whole soundtrack is great. No idea why the fans keep bitching about it. It doesn't sound like Uematsu obviously, but why is that such a bad thing? I actually think Masashi Hamauzu is the more talented and versatile guy. He also made the best pieces of music for FFX, like ...

people of the north:

or

decisive battle:

the ffxiii boss theme is also brilliant:

 

[nightshade]

I love that song. Heck, the whole soundtrack is great. No idea why the fans keep bitching about it. It doesn't sound like Uematsu obviously, but why is that such a bad thing? I actually think Masashi Hamauzu is the more talented and versatile guy. He also made the best pieces of music for FFX, like ...

I agree, his music has shown more variety than I've ever found in Uematsu's, make no mistake Uematsu's great as well but I just think Hamauzu composes better.


I just frown when Uematsu fanboys start trolling about how his score is beyond anything & how FFXIII has one of the worst soundtrack in the series. Anyways from this I remember one incident where I couldn't stop laughing when a guy once complained about lack of intro theme & victory theme in FFXIII....please grow up ! its too stereotypical to see characters jump & punch in air with a corny music playing in background after winning a fight.

 

[Sigfried1977]

Lack of intro theme? Does not compute. FFXIII has an incredible intro theme if you ask me. I'm seriously temped to buy that soundtrack. My limited edition came with a CD, but it's only 10 tracks (good ones at least). Dust to Dust is sadly absent, though.

On the other hand I already spend way to much time and money on that bloody game. (I have a Nyx and Styria bike model sitting on my shelf)

 

[nightshade]

Lack of intro theme? Does not compute. FFXIII has an incredible intro theme if you ask me.

He meant the intro music that played before each fight.

I have a Nyx and Styria bike model sitting on my shelf

wow..Eidolon figurines cost a lot if I am correct.
I only have Lightning's play-art figure ...will buy some more later.

Tbh I like everything related to this game....I would love to have a sequel ie. FFXIII-X2, where they implement an improved design so as to make an even better game. An idea of a sequel isn't really out of the realm of possibility since it sold a lot & square did say that they may make a sequel if it sells well.

 

[Sigfried1977]

I'd buy it. I'm pretty much a FFXIII fanboy.

The Eidolons are indeed expensive as hell. Very pretty, though:

 

[Nesh]

I'd buy it. I'm pretty much a FFXIII fanboy.

The Eidolons are indeed expensive as hell. Very pretty, though:

Is it also transformable?