Final Fantasy XIII [PS3, X360]

[ShadowRunner]

I just grinded on a few monsters and carried straight on with the main story. You can warp back to pulse in the final chapter and do everything then when you are more poweful and have unlocked more crystarium levels so dont wory about trying to do everything before continuing the main plot, you wont be able to get powerful enough to do everything until you beat the main story anyhow

 

[Antan]

Hit another brick wall. Chapter 11. Fighting Hope's summons. Any suggestions? Also the save point is a bit iffy. Quite a gap between it and the fight. I've been back and forth a few times to save. I get 6000ish CP's every run which is some comfort, and too much to lose especially now as everything is at least 4000 to 6000!

 

[patsu]

Spoiler

This is the first battle right after our discussion on sentinel on this forum. So I deployed Fang as the sentinel and pounded on it with Hope and Lightning. I used Combat Clinic to heal everyone quickly, and then kept the pressure on.

I think to simplify the fight, I may have cast Haste and Protect before the fight. Not sure anymore.

 

[tha_con]

So Edge's poor review of a multiplatform game proves they are biased against the PS3?

Anyways, my brother got this game on PS3, watching him play for a minute. Looks great on a 52" TV, I guess, at least the walking around stuff. Prerendered stuff never impress me.

But, the series has been trending towards more and more cutscenes, and more and more linear, forever, and this is only even worse. Not for me.

PLEASE stop with the Edge discussion, just shut up. The whole thread reeks of bias from both sides, it's disgusting.

BACK TO THE GAME.

I personally PREFER the way it's gone. I don't need pointless towns with pointless NPC's with pointless side quests for shitty items that aren't going to help me in the long run. I really really enjoy the stream lined systems they've put in place in FFXIII. It removes all of the silly things that artificially inflate the story portions of the game, and replaces it with a straight forward game. Then you have the whole grind / explore / sidequest stuff available on Gran Pulse if you're into it.

I've tried going back and playing some of my favorite past RPG's, and I simply cannot do it. Too much "nothing" lacking any "real" substance. Hell I have trouble getting through Fallout for the same reasons. It's TIRESOME to do.

 

[patsu]

I don't mind the linear path at all because the story is branchy. But I wish that path was shorter. And they have better explanations for how Eidolon fighting works.

I the sidequests/missions btw. But I can't get into FFVIII type adventures anymore too.

 

[Antan]

Spoiler

This is the first battle right after our discussion on sentinel on this forum. So I deployed Fang as the sentinel and pounded on it with Hope and Lightning. I used Combat Clinic to heal everyone quickly, and then kept the pressure on.

I think to simplify the fight, I may have cast Haste and Protect before the fight. Not sure anymore.

Dont have combat clinic or haste with any of the 3 characters 8(

 

[patsu]

Oh, I used the default characters selected by the game (Hope, Lightning and Fang I think). Combat Clinic should be 2 meds and 1 sen.

 

[JB9861]

Fluff that gives a player something else to do or a breather from the mundane is what keeps RPGs from crumbling under their own weight. I don't see how the monotonous one-note design of FFXIII can be viewed as a step in the right direction. It's tiresome the first time through let alone the unfortunate second or third time. I'm not sure why anyone would touch this outside of Gran Pulse post-game.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

PLEASE stop with the Edge discussion, just shut up.

Things were going just fine, until you chose to quote a two weeks old post...

I don't know when I'll personally have enough time to invest in to this game. Too much stuff to do at school and work... Maybe in the summer.

 

[Rolf N]

Regarding the story, it's definately redeemed itself. Though, there was a section around the middle that really began to drag...so bit of a love/hate thing going on, but overall I'm diggin it.

I enjoy the ride, but find the story quite underwhelming. The events in the game don't make a lick of sense. Think about how often you somehow stumble upon a little ship you can board, make a wild two-minute CG chase and crash in an entirely different place you had no reason to go to.

 

[ShadowRunner]

I would basically want FF7 with FF13s combat. If i dont get that then there is room for improvement until i do

 

[Antan]

Ok, i did it, yay! G Pulse looks absolutely jawdropping!!! highlight of the whole game!!!

 

[Rolf N]

Yeah, I was quite impressed. I did not expect Square to pull off this kind of technology. If anything, I would have expected a lot of loading screens, but there's virtually none. Even in and out of battle, it just transitions instantly.

 

[Arwin]

While not a big fan of bringing reviews into this thread, after having played 10 hours (somewhere in Chapter 5) I just read Eurogamer.net 's review again, and so far I agree 100% with the text there. That happens almost never these days so I had to mention it.

 

[Xalion]

Dont have combat clinic or haste with any of the 3 characters 8(

Spoiler

Combat Clinic refers to the Med / Sen / Med paradigm. You can set Hope and Light to med and Fang to Sentinel to get it when customizing your paradigms.

Hope didn't have haste for me either at this point, but he does have a fair number of decent buffs. Rather than haste, Patsu might be referring to slow which Fang should have.

 

[nightshade]

While not a big fan of bringing reviews into this thread, after having played 10 hours (somewhere in Chapter 5) I just read Eurogamer.net 's review again, and so far I agree 100% with the text there. That happens almost never these days so I had to mention it.

I read the Eurogamer review & why is it that they mention Grand Pulse to be halfway when clearly its near the end ?

 

[patsu]

Fluff that gives a player something else to do or a breather from the mundane is what keeps RPGs from crumbling under their own weight. I don't see how the monotonous one-note design of FFXIII can be viewed as a step in the right direction. It's tiresome the first time through let alone the unfortunate second or third time. I'm not sure why anyone would touch this outside of Gran Pulse post-game.

I agree with this but I have more positive attitude.

I think the linearity is fine. The issue is a combination of the one-track gameplay combined with long, slow story that I can't relate to anymore. The story branches saved it for a while but not for a full [strike]11[/strike] 10 chapters.

I also think that the Gran Pulse format is awesome. I especially like the way the cutscenes are embedded into the open world and marked on the map. While I'm fooling around, I will avoid those trigger locations.

Also grateful for the very short load time, and open world filled with hidden treasures/special monsters. At least there's more to do here than GTA4.

Spoiler

Combat Clinic refers to the Med / Sen / Med paradigm. You can set Hope and Light to med and Fang to Sentinel to get it when customizing your paradigms.

Hope didn't have haste for me either at this point, but he does have a fair number of decent buffs. Rather than haste, Patsu might be referring to slow which Fang should have.

I was refering to the Fortisol and Aegisol.

I read the Eurogamer review & why is it that they mention Grand Pulse to be halfway when clearly its near the end ?

I think you absolutely must do the sidequests. They improve the experiences significantly this time. This should increase your Pulse time substantially.

Btw, they should add co-op party for the next FF.

 

[Rolf N]

I kept a save from the start of the Gran Pulse chapter. Looking at the time, I spent some 16 hours mucking around. There are still sidequests, but none I feel I can beat. I gave up after getting pounded into the ground by the

Spoiler

Giant Cactuar

and moved on, continuing the story.

Speaking of these, you should definitely try starting a battle against the regular

Spoiler

cactuar

with an entirely passive paradigm, such as SEN/SYN/MED. See what happens if you don't attack for a while ...

 

[patsu]

That's related to my earlier question. How many of the

Spoiler

mini cactaurs

are there ? They stopped appearing after I took up sidequest 3 and beyond. Haven't returned to the plain yet.

 

[Rolf N]

That's related to my earlier question. How many of the

Spoiler

mini cactaurs

are there ? They stopped appearing after I took up sidequest 3 and beyond. Haven't returned to the plain yet.

I thought they respawn infinitely, on the central plain. They're just a bit hard to see sometimes.

Try looking around the hill with the ATAT guarding a chest. There's one behind the big guy, too, if you dare. I think you actually have to hop across there with a chocobo here to make the little guys available in the first place. You'll land on a plateu that is a bit non-obvious to access otherwise, and you'll meet the first one there. Walk a few steps away, and another will spawn.

There should be one at the northern lake too (towards the story exit), with a Chocobo.

Really, they are spread all over the map.