Final Fantasy XIII [PS3, X360]

[patsu]

Chapter 7 thus far and it's one of this gens highlights in my eyes! Some of the architecture is just a sight to behold, and has been pointed out already......butter smooth! Battle system has revealed itself in full, and it's just fabulous. Battles now require plenty of thought which is how it should be. Top stuff all round.

How may chapters altogether ? Might want to reply in spoiler tags.

Ha ha are you crazy? I said so far ... I'm only about 2-3 hours in I think, still wandering around in a frozen lake.

I didn't get to play today. Wasn't on for long yesterday. I wouldn't know if you had a marathon session like I did sometimes. ^_^

Besides inefficient, has anyone else completed the game ?

 

[patsu]

GDC 2010: Toriyama explains the themes of the Fabula Nova Crystallis trilogy:
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/14/gdc-toriyama-explains-the-themes-of-the-fabula-nova-crystallis/

The creators of Final Fantasy XIII have been notoriously tight-lipped about the Fabula Nova Crystallis trilogy, a series comprised of FFXIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII and the PSP-exclusive Final Fantasy Agito XIII. During a GDC panel titled "The Crystal Mythos," director Motomu Toriyama gave a few scant details about the other two branches of the trilogy, and the few similarities connecting the entries in the franchise's 13th series.

Toriyama's main point during his presentation is that Agito and Versus won't be sequels to the recently released Final Fantasy XIII -- they'll both have their own unique set of characters, gameplay systems and overarching stories.

...

EDIT: More GDC 2010 stuff: How western gamers and Japanese gamers rated FFXIII in focus tests:
http://www.siliconera.com/2010/03/12/final-fantasy-xiii-as-rated-by-focus-groups/

The Japanese group enjoyed the story and characters more than the US focus group. Perhaps, this may be due to the story design, which was has an undercurrent of elements from Japanese culture. Toriyama compared the theme to Japanese society where if you drop out it’s almost impossible to come back. However, there is hope to recover. Lighting and the fal’cie share a similar trail where they need to fight against how people percieve them. In the USA, the focus group rated the battle and field elements higher.

 

[PARANOiA]

Question... is there a "respec" option anywhere? I've been spending CP as I've earned it and now I'm thinking I probably don't really want to have to grind later after learning that character x is the only one that can learn a certain class-based skill. Really frustrating if not :/

 

[rabidrabbit]

There is no undo command, or ability to scrap all your cp spending and start anew with your hard earned cp.
I don't know many rpgs that do give you this kind of ability.

 

[PARANOiA]

There is no undo command, or ability to scrap all your cp spending and start anew with your hard earned cp.
I don't know many rpgs that do give you this kind of ability.

Not that many RPG's give you 20 hour training wheels with the ability to spend your points after 3-4 hours I'd be less annoyed if I could actually see the skills that would become available but really, there's no way to know what your "late game" group should look like early on.

I guess they want to increase the hours spent in the game further by CP grinding later.

 

[patsu]

Other than the summon, is there a character specific spell/ability to begin with ?

I see more roles/classes open up for every character as the game progresses.

The only custom thing I see are the personal weapons, but you can switch them around too if you want to.

 

[Sigfried1977]

While every character in the game can learn every role later in the game, they still have some unique spells here and there. Not every Ravager class character can learn the Firaga spell for example.
The same roles don't translate to the same abilities for each character either, at least up to a certain point. Both Sazh and Hope are synergists from the get go, but even 40+ hours into the game I see little if any overlap in terms of skills. Hope's buffs are mostly focused on protecting the party, Sazh's on the other hand make your party deadlier. Vanille's sabateur abilities are about debuffing the enemy, Fang's are all about negative status effects.
What really sets the characters apart is pretty much how much strength, magic and health they can obtain. Hope will absolutely dwarf every other character in terms of magic (best healer), Lightning is a great all-rounder, Fang is by far the strongest character (best commando) and Snow gets a ton of health (best sentinel).

By the way, you are all in for a real treat once you reach Grand Pulse.

 

[patsu]

I am spending points as I gain them. Should I save some up for a specific ability/spell for any character ?

 

[jlippo]

I am spending points as I gain them. Should I save some up for a specific ability/spell for any character ?

no, but you can bypass unnecessary stat boosts and go for nice skills.
Go back for those missed 50hp points later, without any additional cost.

 

[rabidrabbit]

Is there yet any sales numbers for FFXIII in west?
It'd be interesting to see how PS3 and xb360 versions have sold respectively.

 

[London Geezer]

Is there yet any sales numbers for FFXIII in west?
It'd be interesting to see how PS3 and xb360 versions have sold respectively.

There's an article i can't access from work about PS3 vs 360 sales of FF13. Go on Google News, should be easy to find. Then you can report back

EDIT: This one http://news.spong.com/article/20902/UK-Software-Charts-PS3-Claims-FFXIII-Victory

 

[rabidrabbit]

Thanks l-b

PlayStation 3 version outsold the Xbox 360 version by a fair percentage. The PS3 version had 54% of the game's sales, while the 360 version accounted for 46%.

Couldn't find the sales numbers, but it went straight to no. 1 spot in UK.

 

[ShadowRunner]

I am spending points as I gain them. Should I save some up for a specific ability/spell for any character ?

Use them as you get them and spend them across the characters 3 main roles. The crystarium system is capped so ull find that you naturally max out each of the main roles just before it is expanded each time. I usually go for the abilities first though and then fill in the branches that are stat boosts after i have all the abilities. Make sure you use CP up for party members you dont use, i found out the hard way that the CP limit is 999999 (I never use snow so didnt bother upgrading him) and if you are at the limit any more CP will be lost, dont even know how much CP i wasted. Later on Sentinal will become vital so make sure you dont neglect it, same with Enhancer and to some extent Saboteour, you will need a balanced team that can cover these roles.

My team:

Light / Fang / Hope
1. RAV COM RAV
2. COM COM RAV
3. COM SAB SYN
4. MED SEN MED
5. COM SEN RAV
6. COM SEN SYN

Usually start battle with #3 to get hast and defense up and weaken the enemy. If its a tough enemy usualy will then change to #6 to continue buffing the party. Once all buffs are up change to #5 to whittle down the numbers until only 1 or 2 enemies left and then go for #1 or #2 depending on enemy and thier stagger resistance. If very strong enemy may need to stay switching between just 4/5/6 the whole time. Obviously use #4 when needed and for weeker enemies just go all out attack. Ull learn additional tactics for certain enemies as you go for instance the big walking robots that hope controlls will go into 'steam clean' state to remove status ailments, when in the state the dont attack so go all out and then inflict ailments again just as it is finishing to start the cycle again.

Loving the combat system really is fun. Biggest thing that really annoys me is your team has a nasty habit of standing next to eachother so that area attack spells hit everyone even if your sentinel has all the attention. Really gets anoying later on when you have enemies constantly spamming area spells that cause knockdown.

 

[London Geezer]

Thanks l-b


Couldn't find the sales numbers, but it went straight to no. 1 spot in UK.

I know it's not a very accurate thing to do, but i always look at Amazon.co.uk to see how something is doing, sales-wise. And today i was a bit shocked to see that FF13 is already down to 5th place (!!) after GOW3 (pre-orders), Heavy Rain (still hanging there!), MW2 and Battlefield. Very weird, i thought it would be number 1 for longer than a week, and certainly i didn't think it would drop to 5th so soon.
Then again that's just Amazon.

 

[corduroygt]

You ever think its just a crappy game ?

My friend only played 3 hours and went to trade it in. I haven't touched a FF since part 7 and even that was pretty bad.

When you compare the new final fantasy to WRPGs you will find it quite lacking in the RPG side. Its my feelings and it seems edge feels the same way. I've read many complaints about the game and many feel that it comes into its own in the last hour or so of game. But to me thats not a good game at all. I don't want to play 39 hours just to have 1 good hour of gameplay

It's a better game than Flatout Ultimate Challenge and Kameo, which scored higher.
If you were too lazy to read it the first time posted, here is the statistical PROOF of EDGE's bias from my link, you can't win the argument against numbers:

 

[Rolf N]

Can you do that graph with a rolling average of, say 10 games, so that values farther to the right no longer include the top N?

 

[Rangers]

FF13 is not a PS3 exclusive. Why do you keep bringing it up in this thread? In fact why are you bringing it up in this thread at all? It's OT.

 

[Rangers]

Is there yet any sales numbers for FFXIII in west?
It'd be interesting to see how PS3 and xb360 versions have sold respectively.

Chart Track (UK). PS3 version 54%, 360 46% week one.

 

[function]

Not everyone looks for the same things when they review.

If you value multiplayer and community elements, or innovation, then you score things like Little Big Planet and Halo 3 very highly, and Final Fantasy 13 probably not so much.

Edge are free to value whatever they want. I'm uncomfortable with the idea that you have to value the same things as everyone else (averaged) or there's something wrong with you.

 

[AlNom]

Let's move away from the reviews credibility... again. We've had the spin-offs many times in the past.