Final Fantasy XIII [PS3, X360]

[patsu]

Yeah, I don't like the story. May be it appeals to the Japanese gamers more.

As for the combat system, I can see why you don't like it if you think it's merely a glorified attack-defense scheme. It's not that simple; buff and debuff are very powerful tools. It becomes obvious when the enemies use them against you instead. ^_^

The weapon upgrades, equipment upgrades, personal abilities, elemental and spell attacks, plus enemy behavior (regen, summon, courtship, etc.) also make the encounters more interesting. I don't use the Eidolons much, but when I did use them, I really needed the extra help -- so I welcome them in open arms.

 

[Rolf N]

I liked it a whole lot when it all opened up, but I dread the thought of replaying the game and having to go through all the baby steps again. The first time through, it at least helped me understand the mechanics, it is a drawn-out tutorial after all. But for a second playthrough, when I already understand the game well, I don't really want that.

 

[Arwin]

Yeah, I don't like the story. May be it appeals to the Japanese gamers more.

Certainly there's a large component of shame in the story that is going to be totally lost on most of the Western audience.

As for the combat system, I can see why you don't like it if you think it's merely a glorified attack-defense scheme. It's not that simple; buff and debuff are very powerful tools. It becomes obvious when the enemies use them against you instead. ^_^

The weapon upgrades, equipment upgrades, personal abilities, elemental and spell attacks, plus enemy behavior (regen, summon, courtship, etc.) also make the encounters more interesting. I don't use the Eidolons much, but when I did use them, I really needed the extra help -- so I welcome them in open arms.

Yeah, it may appear that the battle system is just defend-attack, but definitely not. However, since the game has no real difficulty system (which I think is a shame), the game is quite forgiving for a very big part of the game, allowing you to get through by plodding along for quite a bit.

 

[London Geezer]

Yeah, it may appear that the battle system is just defend-attack, but definitely not. However, since the game has no real difficulty system (which I think is a shame), the game is quite forgiving for a very big part of the game, allowing you to get through by plodding along for quite a bit.

Well i started dying and having to actually follow the battle already at the third chapter, so it's not that bad!

 

[patsu]

Yeah, it may appear that the battle system is just defend-attack, but definitely not. However, since the game has no real difficulty system (which I think is a shame), the game is quite forgiving for a very big part of the game, allowing you to get through by plodding along for quite a bit.

The difficulty is implicit in your target monsters. The monsters in Gran Pulse are noticeably harder than elsewhere.

The number of stars is also one way to measure yourself.

 

[nightshade]

Then again, I didn't notice any god ray in the game while people like nightshade could see 'em.

Tomorrow I shall post a video on Youtube showing you some [or atleast one] of them
I'm surprised that you never noticed it in places where it was all over xD

Yeah, I don't like the story. May be it appeals to the Japanese gamers more.

Well I generally hate the stories in most JRPGs ,cause I just can't stand teenage protagonists & characters saving the world [Persona series being the only exception]. So anything that isn't teen fluff is an automatic win for me, no matter how confusing & contradictory it gets. Afterall Metal Gear is my fav franchise, so I have a thing or two for confusing story

 

[patsu]

Sorry man, I'm not a graphics guy. I can recognize art, but specific graphics features don't stick with me that much, if at all.

IMHO, the thing about FFXIII art style is it's an eclectic collection of Japanese mecha and fantasy arts. I can't identify a main theme in it, other than the standard anime character models. But I do agree that it's all pretty and shiny.

 

[Rolf N]

The god ray effect is used in every single combat transition. It's the blocks of light extruding out from the back of the screen to the front in some sort of shifting perspective, sweeping right to left or somesuch. If you can recognize it there, it becomes easier to see it during exploration as well, though it's not everywhere. You may have to walk a while to find a place.

 

[London Geezer]

The god ray effect is used in every single combat transition. It's the blocks of light extruding out from the back of the screen to the front in some sort of shifting perspective, sweeping right to left or somesuch. If you can recognize it there, it becomes easier to see it during exploration as well, though it's not everywhere. You may have to walk a while to find a place.

Yeah, it's not in-your-face like in GOW3 where you get god rays everywhere, even if you walk in front of save points.

 

[Sigfried1977]

^while it's definitely more subtle than in GOWIII, it's still kinda hard to miss imo. (unless the tv is running in it's show floor mode where all the nuances are likely getting crushed by excessive contrasts, gamma curves, over saturation and edge enhancement)

 

[nightshade]

Actually I found that its more noticeable in FF13, in GOW3 you have God Rays that are quite small...I mean the light volume is comparatively smaller. I just donno how to explain it but I found it to be more obvious in FF13 and in some places the volume is pretty dense & its all over the screen.

Here see these:

The 2nd video is my own [donno why its so awful in quality & in 4:3 aspect ratio..lol]
Anyways the place in the 2nd video is one of the place where its most noticeable & very very hard to miss.

 

[London Geezer]

Well i got to Chapter 6 and i'm kinda liking the story so far. I mean, when i saw

Spoiler

Vanille with Sazh's kid, as he discovers that he's a little monster too,

i was like WTF is she doing there?!!

I'm sure it will turn out to be a pretty underwhelming revelation, but still, it did get my interest up!

I even kinda like Vanille! At one point when he's in the woods with Sazh, her -completely faked and in a bad way - accent went super british and i had to do a double take. I'm sure it wasn't british before that point, and if it was, it wasn't THAT british! Perhaps she wasn't trying as hard.

 

[nightshade]

The voice actress for Vanille is an Australian.

 

[Rolf N]

The voice actress for Vanille is an Australian.

Figures. Pulse is the land down under [Cocoon] after all. Fang sounds a bit Australiish as well.

 

[scooby_dooby]

It's as good (or bad) as FFX. Some people hated it, some people loved it. Thank god i loved it, cause now i can enjoy this game and lose another half a year, while i really should do all sorts of other things! Thinking about it, i wish i hated it, cause i really have no self control.

Wow, speak for yourself. For me, these two games are not even in the same stratosphere. FFX was one of the best, if not the best JRPG ever made. FF13 is a pale, scrawny shallow imitation. I see almost no area of comparison between those two games, really they could not be more opposite.

But I'll cut you some slack, you're still early, I was really enjoying the game at that point too... just wait, it gets real old real fast.

Regarding grinding, don't bother. Everytime you reach a new milestone in the game, your CP bonuses shoot up so drastically that it will make you feel like a moron for grinding... ie You just did 20 battles at 1000pts each, and all of a sudden, you're making 6000 in a single fight... ok well that was a waste of time... and it contnues like that throughout the whole game.

So at some point you just resign yourself to never grinding, or even worse, just avoiding the enemies all together near the end of any given section. At that point it really starts to feel like a completely linear action adventure game, with no exploration, a horrible story and bad pacing.

 

[Arwin]

Ha LB, you're making good headway. You're now exactly where I ended up yesterday. Without spoiling anything, are you going to avoid them or get them all? You probably know what I mean. I went for the latter.

 

[patsu]

...

If you sustain till Chapter 11, then you get rewarded with proper FF mechanics.

nightshade, thanks for the videos. I can see them now. I think while I was playing, I wanted to clear through the levels asap. I seldom/never stopped to admire the graphics.

 

[nightshade]

Figures. Pulse is the land down under [Cocoon] after all. Fang sounds a bit Australiish as well.

Yes Fang's Voice actress is australian as well.

 

[patsu]

Sales numbers for Square Enix titles:
http://www.siliconera.com/2010/05/1...million-plus-data-on-other-top-selling-games/

From December 2009 onwards, 1.85 million copies of Lightning’s fate fighting tale were sold in Japan. Final Fantasy XIII made its debut in the West in March where it moved 1.79 million and 1.77 million units in North America and Europe, respectively. Add in sales from other regions and you have a total of 5.55 million copies of Final Fantasy XIII. Later this month, Square Enix will re-launch Final Fantasy XIII in Asia with a Chinese/Korean version.

Others...

Dragon Quest IX sold extremely well with 4.28 million units in Japan. North America hearts Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and bought 750,000 copies, a tiny bit more than Japan and Europe together. Just Cause 2 did best in Europe with 590,000 units in sales from March 26 to the end of the month. The Avalanche Studios developed game surpassed the one million milestone in April. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, a January release in Japan, already racked up 760,000 units in sales.

Despite all of the hype, Dissidia: Final Fantasy sold a modest 440,000 in North America and 380,000 in Europe. Even when combined, the sales figures are still less than Japan. On the other hand, Batman: Arkham Asylum was a hit in the West, but not in Japan. Square Enix only managed to squeak out 30,000 units after Batman: Arkham Asylum made its debut there this past January.

 

[nightshade]

hoorray !!
So much for being the worst FF ever.