Final Fantasy XIII

[Cthulhu]

I'm a little surprised there's not a topic about this already - and I also can't imagine I'm the only one here that has imported it. My overall opinion after 15 hours - I really like it.

Good things:

Character development setup
Storyline
Battle system, including new summon setup
Characters (except Hope, who is too whiny)
Music
Purdy graphics


Bad Things:
Linear, linear dungeons
Hope (who is too whiny )
Really dull first two hours of the game
The stores (so far, haven't found _anything_ worth buying)

[Zaarock]

Thanks for the impressions.. I liked XII apart from the horrible plot, this sounds promising. I'll get the PAL version of XIII for 360 when it comes out.

[lgb]

fucking MASASHI HAMAUZU FULL COMBO, you cannot hate

anyway, I hope it doesn't turn out to be awful. I like Hamauzu a lot

[Cthulhu]

I'm not there myself yet, but supposedly once you're ~30 hours in the game really opens up and there's tons of side stuff to do in addition to the main quest, whereas up until then it's extremely linear. Sounds like FF X, which, incidentally, is the game XIII resembles the most out of the other FFs.

[ZOM]

Yeah it opens up quite a bit in in Gran Pulse on chapter 11; there you can also get mob hunt missions from the Cie corpses.

fucking MASASHI HAMAUZU FULL COMBO, you cannot hate
anyway, I hope it doesn't turn out to be awful. I like Hamauzu a lot

Yeah, the music is a dream for the most part but there's also stuff I DO NOT like (Vocals). All in all I'd say 80% of the music in FFXIII is very, very very good. (gotta love the new Chocobo theme )

[Cthulhu]

Yeah it opens up quite a bit in in Gran Pulse on chapter 11; there you can also get mob hunt missions from the Cie corpses.

fucking MASASHI HAMAUZU FULL COMBO, you cannot hate
anyway, I hope it doesn't turn out to be awful. I like Hamauzu a lot

Yeah, the music is a dream for the most part but there's also stuff I DO NOT like (Vocals). All in all I'd say 80% of the music in FFXIII is very, very very good. (gotta love the new Chocobo theme )

Agreed, the music is excellent. Now I just have to decide... do I spend the money on the soundtrack, or on another game? Tough call... but with the lousy exchange rate, I really can buy a whole other game for the same price.

[Jockel]

Is Uematsu responsible for the music again?
Cause whatever he touches is gold.
*Hums Lost Odyssey's battle theme*

[Momijitsuki]

Is Uematsu responsible for the music again?
Cause whatever he touches is gold.
*Hums Lost Odyssey's battle theme*

No. Uematsu hasn't been incredibly active in the Final Fantasy games since Final Fantasy IX-- every other FF after that was him working with other composers-- and he's not even listed for XII or XIII.

He is, however, involved with Final Fantasy XIV.

[Cthulhu]

Is Uematsu responsible for the music again?
Cause whatever he touches is gold.
*Hums Lost Odyssey's battle theme*

No. Uematsu hasn't been incredibly active in the Final Fantasy games since Final Fantasy IX-- every other FF after that was him working with other composers-- and he's not even listed for XII or XIII.

He is, however, involved with Final Fantasy XIV.

The music is quite good - I'd venture to say excellent even (although a few songs have vocals, which I know drives some people nuts - not me, obviously), but it is not done by Uematsu. It makes me sad that he's involved with FF XIV, and not this one, as I still am on a personal crusade to deny that MMOs are legit entries in the series.

[ZOM]

...as I still am on a personal crusade to deny that MMOs are legit entries in the series.

I'd gladly join you. Watching FFXIV's first teaser made me salivate: "Finally, the stuff I like is back!", just to be kicked in the balls by the logo saying "Online".

[Cthulhu]

...as I still am on a personal crusade to deny that MMOs are legit entries in the series.

I'd gladly join you. Watching FFXIV's first teaser made me salivate: "Finally, the stuff I like is back!", just to be kicked in the balls by the logo saying "Online".

Perhaps we can take a bit of solace in the fact that since XIV is coming so closely on the heels of XIII, it likely means that they've realized that the online and offline entries don't necessarily compete for the same audience. It also could mean that work on XV is starting up sooner, and I doubt they'd release two online ones in a row, as that would just hurt their own chances at being able to milk money from both. Or maybe I'm just being excessively optimistic.

In other news, I'm just a tad under 20 hours into XIII and my opinions of it remain very high. My complaint list stays approximately the same, however. I'm still a little shocked by the linearity (other than tiny asides for extra chests, the game has been 100% linear, even largely corridor driven), but the storyline is progressing very well still, and the mechanics continue to be a lot of fun. I'll see if my feelings go either way once the game opens up more, which will allegedly happen in about 10 hours for me.

[scrilla4rella]

I was all for getting this but after hearing that there are no towns or shops my enthusiasm has dropped tremendously. I know it's a stupid thing to get hung up on but X was not one of my favorite FFs. I'm guessing there is no explorable world map, my biggest complaint against X

[Cthulhu]

I was all for getting this but after hearing that there are no towns or shops my enthusiasm has dropped tremendously. I know it's a stupid thing to get hung up on but X was not one of my favorite FFs. I'm guessing there is no explorable world map, my biggest complaint against X

So far no, it's much like X in the no-towns-no-map department. I'm not sure what mechanism they use to let you do the side missions when they show up, I'm not that far yet. I'm guessing it's a map with selectable locations like X and XII.

[PROMETHEUS]

I like linearity much more than explorable, open gameplay for a game such as a FF. It's a way superior way to tell a story, and that's the core thing that makes a FF worth playing.

[Cthulhu]

I like linearity much more than explorable, open gameplay for a game such as a FF. It's a way superior way to tell a story, and that's the core thing that makes a FF worth playing.

The story is indeed solid. I can't imagine it would hurt to make the areas a bit more flexible than corridors galore, but ehh, whatever. Still tons of fun.

[Cthulhu]

I finally reached the point in the game where things open up, as I had heard. It was indeed roughly 30 hours in, and the sudden ability to go off and do side stuff feels so liberating that I quickly dove in. Mmm. It's pretty much impossible to say where/when it happens without spoilers galore though. I'll just say that I'm happy with how the story is going and how the characters are developing. Combat system is still fun but since you spend a _lot_ of time fighting, I find it hard to play the game for more than 3 hours or so a day without a break. (Note that I don't get 3 hours in a single day very often, but whatever.)

[drunken starsailor]

Combat system is still fun but since you spend a _lot_ of time fighting, I find it hard to play the game for more than 3 hours or so a day without a break. (Note that I don't get 3 hours in a single day very often, but whatever.)

If you spend most of the game doing this,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0WYtky_pAc

then it saddens me to know that plenty of people will play this game from start to finish. (Because it's Square. )
Panzer Dragoon Saga's gauge and 4 corner position system looks genius in comparison.

[Ruldra]

There's a walkthrough of the entire game here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/sorumian#p/ ... 8C6790FE17

I'm gonna watch a few clips to see if I like the game or not. Looks promising though.

[Radiant Cinnabun]

I loved 12, and I'm not sure I can go back to vanilla Final Fantasy. I miss Matsuno and Sakimoto already. I'm being an obnoxious snob, but I can't help it.

That being said, the soundtrack does sound ok so far and I think that's what I'm most interested in. I'm looking forward to someone posting the final boss theme on youtube, as those are generally pretty good.

[Ruldra]

@Cthulhu: how much of the game consists of cutscenes? It looks like you spend more time watching than actually playing.

[ZOM]

I loved 12, and I'm not sure I can go back to vanilla Final Fantasy.

Errr, I wouldn't call FFXIII exactly "vanilla Final Fantasy"...

[Cthulhu]

@Cthulhu: how much of the game consists of cutscenes? It looks like you spend more time watching than actually playing.

In the first couple hours there's a LOT of cutscenes as they set the story up. The amount drops from there, but when you get near key story scenes the amount does ramp up again. I don't want to give a percentage, as I'm sure I'd be totally wrong, but if you really want ... I'd venture to say that ~25-30% of the game is cutscenes until you get quite a ways in. The amount drops steadily then.

I feel as though I've played RPGs with more cutscenes than this more than once (and it's nowhere near as bad as, say, Xenosaga); the amount is high but not exceptionally so.

[MX7]

Edge give it 5/10 : http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/rev ... i?page=0,0

I suppose this is going to piss a lot of people off, but it's sound reasoning. 5 isn't a 'bad' mark per se, merely average, which seems reasonable if their criticisms are apt. The battle system sounds pretty cool, something approaching an evolution of FFXII, a game that I (and Edge) thought was awesome.

[Drum]

Don't want to shit up the thread with whining so I'll make this small:

Everything I've seen about this game looks dreadful, from the hateable cast to the overdone architechture/fashion/vehicles. It looks like FFXx10. Not at all surprised by the poor reception.

[Elixir]

Edge give it 5/10 : http://www.edge-online.com/magazine/rev ... i?page=0,0

I suppose this is going to piss a lot of people off, but it's sound reasoning. 5 isn't a 'bad' mark per se, merely average, which seems reasonable if their criticisms are apt. The battle system sounds pretty cool, something approaching an evolution of FFXII, a game that I (and Edge) thought was awesome.

It's no masterpiece but there's no way this game deserves a rating of 5/10. The graphics are probably the best I've ever seen.

I won't go to any lengths to justify my preorder of the English version of this but I'm still looking forward to it.

[Jockel]

A few hours in so far, boring as fuck.

[lgb]

5 isn't a 'bad' mark per se

5 is very bad in regards to how much that review is "worth". of course, this is fairly average for real critical review.

Everything I've seen about this game looks dreadful, from the hateable cast to the overdone architechture/fashion/vehicles. It looks like FFXx10. Not at all surprised by the poor reception.

it's going to be FFXx10, and because of that I'm very surprised by any poor reception... except from Edge of course

[sjewkestheloon]

I look forward to playing this at some point but I definately won't be buying it for some time. I don't have the money for it and have a line of unplayed RPGs longer than my arm, including FF12, DQ8, a shit ton of other PS2 stuff as well as Chaos and BT runs of SO:TLH, BT and postgame for SO:TTEOT, reruns of Blue Dragon, higher difficulties of Infinite Undiscovery, and some achievement hunting in Lost Odyssey. Pretty much enough to keep me busy for a few years...

[Skykid]

It's no masterpiece but there's no way this game deserves a rating of 5/10. The graphics are probably the best I've ever seen.

I'd really recommend you think about what you just said there.

Personally, I am dumbfounded by the Edge review - what a revelation. Just when I though mainstream press couldn't get anymore lax in their approach to tackling mediocre current gen crap, this comes along and changes my mind.
I've got my copy right here, and like Jockel says, 3 hours in and it's boring as fuck.

As far as I can tell, this Edge reviewer has actually taken a step back and surveyed the market, the series history, and objectively thought about the qualities of the game he's playing. As long as we can agree that a 7 isn't an awful score for a game, then I'd say his verdict of 5 seems bang on the money.

Who cares about graphics if you have to surrender your life to the dull, trite and hackneyed themes of a series that used to flourish with originality.

The game’s producers have gone on record as saying that western audiences don’t understand this first section, but in fact we do: it’s just a bit rubbish. The first 25 hours of the game are one long corridor of palette-swapped enemies, fights that never quite find the right level of challenge, and cutscene after cutscene (after cutscene) leaving your joypad entirely idle.

It's current generation gaming for cosplayers, not gamers.

[dave4shmups]

I'm a little surprised there's not a topic about this already - and I also can't imagine I'm the only one here that has imported it. My overall opinion after 15 hours - I really like it.

Good things:

Character development setup
Storyline
Battle system, including new summon setup
Characters (except Hope, who is too whiny)
Music
Purdy graphics


Bad Things:
Linear, linear dungeons
Hope (who is too whiny )
Really dull first two hours of the game
The stores (so far, haven't found _anything_ worth buying)

Thanks for the impressions! The characters look too pop-culture for my taste, but I have that issue with FFX, but as long as this is a good RPG, who cares.