Final Fantasy XIII OUT

Final Fantasy 4 is my favorite. The SNES version.

 

Anyone get this yet? I considered getting it today, but I have about 6 other FF games that I havn't gotten anywhere in.

My favorite FF games are Crisis Core, X, and VII. Can't beat them.

 

Avoiding FF13 on the grounds it's not Final Fantasy anymore. Barely qualifies as an RPG come to think of it. I might pick it up some day 'cause it's probably pretty good, it's just not what I wanted. When you hear "Final Fantasy" you're expecting a certain type of game... not this... thing.

 

Isn't it a turn-based RPG? It has action in it, but it's still turn-based, so I don't see the issue. Actually, it kind of adds the one thing I've always wanted to see in a turn-based RPG: tons of action. I think Paper Mario came the closest to ever actually nailing that with its action commands, but the other FF games (With the exception of 7 and Crisis Core) have always been slow and without any action. While I like that, and have come to expect that sort of thing, I'm open to some change in the series. People probably felt the same way about III's (which was actually V. Go figure) combat system and it's time based system, but it worked great. So I don't doubt that this will be great as well.

 

I got it today and I'm having a lot of fun with it. The story's great, and the battle system is a lot of fun. It's not turn based, it's called an "active time battle," a la Chrono Trigger.

Seriously, I've never played FF before but I'm loving this.

 

Yeah, the battles in Chrono Trigger always confused me... I never got an instruction book with the game and there's no tutorial, or anywhere online that explains it... This might be a good place for me to start. Then again, I want to buy a PS3 and there's a ton of upcoming iPhone games that I'm going to need, so there goes all my money for FFXIII. Unless I get it for the PS3 when I get it.. hmm...

 

I have it on 360, and from what I can tell the only difference in versions is the 360's resolution is just a touch below the PS3 (although from what I've read, it runs smoother), and the 360 version comes on three discs.

Yes, that's right, I said three. Darn you, standard DVDs!

 

*hugs his bluray copy*

 

Need I say more? Ah well, I'm just glad it's on Xbox in the first place.

 

FFIV is my favourite.

 

I'm about 2 hours into this and it's very disappointing so far. The game feels linear like FF X-2 and just like that game I don't really care about the characters or storyline yet.

 

I LOVE the Final Fantasy series, but I'm not liking this game so far... I wish they would've kept the same battle system from 12. As everyone has been saying, it's very linear as well...

I think I may end up playing through 12 again if my opinion doesn't change after 5 hours of gameplay... I'm pretty disappointed.

 

It's not the battle system I'm worried about, it's the RPG part. No towns, no explorable environments, no NPCs, no world map, no alternate paths/missions... just one long, linear line of endless battles and no role-playing whatsoever.

As far as long lines of linear battles go it's probably a decent game, it's just not what I wanted at all.

 

Linearity - Anti-Rant

This topic kinda died, but I'm bumping it 'cause my view on XIII has changed somewhat. I've been playing VII and VIII lately and thinking a lot about how linearity affects games, and the more I played the more I realised my favourite parts of Final Fantasy are actually the linear areas. The whole Shinra HQ section in FFVII always gives me a strong feeling of nostalgia whenever I play, and it's that feeling of driving forward, deeper and deeper into the action, music escalating in it's urgency and danger creeping ever closer until it erupts into a climatic conclusion (usually with a boss or major cut scene) that I enjoy the most. The towns, NPCs and "free roam" areas are relaxing and a welcome break from the action, but what's their real purpose? The majority of NPCs only have one line of dialogue, the shopkeepers never have anything interesting to say so they might as well be vending machines (read: save points à la FFXIII) and the free roam areas do nothing but block access to everything but the one correct route ahead.

Now I understand what the pro-FFXIII crowd mean when they say that all the content is in fact still there, it's just been streamlined. I don't need open areas as much as I thought I did, because when I'm given an open area, what's the first thing I do? I search for something exciting. FFXIII gives you the exciting thing without forcing you to waste time searching for it. As for the people who say it detracts from the series, I disagree. It's far closer to Final Fantasy than XII was, it's better come to think of it, XII was too much, too soon... and way, way too empty. FFXIII reminds me of VII, VIII and IX more than anything else, which is a good thing as those three will always be my favourites... and going back to the classic ATB system (albeit with some huge changes) was a great move.

It's interesting to note that since the release of FFX there have been a few massively popular western RPGs, most notably Oblivion and Fallout, both of which provide unprecedented levels of freedom in their worlds, practically redefining the role-playing genre... I think they've skewed our views a little. We've spent so much time with them we've almost forgotten that it's not the only way for an RPG to work, it's just another way. They differ greatly, but both are good in their own right. I was worried about XIII after reading the previews, but now I think that I'd probably just spent too much time in the Capital Wasteland, and lost sight of what I really loved about Final Fantasy in the first place.

 

The problem with FF XIII isn't the linearity. It's the bland characters and lack of cohesive story they are trying to tell in the beginning of the game. I'm almost 6 hours into the game and it's one of the worst 3D rpgs i've played in a long time. Unlike the other FF games I don't feel connected to the characters at all and the whole game just seems pointless to play without a semi-interesting story to tell.

I'm not saying all RPG'S need to have good stories but I could easily follow all the other FF games and be engaged in the characters along with the world right away. I do want to play this game until the end because it supposedly gets more interesting but I'm hearing it takes 15-20 hours which sounds really crazy. I've waited almost half a decade for this to come out and really wanted to enjoy it. The only character that seems to have a personality right now is the one with the Afro and it's only because he's always cracking jokes to lighten the general mood of the game. I do want to beat this one day since it's an ff game but right now I can't play this for more then 10 minutes without getting a headache

 

With all due respect, it seems you're playing it kinda slow. It's been nearly 14 days since your last post in this topic and you've only advanced 4 hours. I think a lot of people would break the 6-hour mark the first day they start playing, so to them all the stuff you're not happy with is over and done with pretty quickly. Even people who love the game admit it starts off slowly, but there seems to be enough of a change afterwards to forgive the flaws at the beginning. The battle system does the same thing, apparently the difficulty spikes upwards something harsh about two thirds of the way in and the game really transforms into something exciting.

So yeah, I see what you're saying, a game really should grab you from the word go and this one doesn't... that's something of a flaw, but hopefully the overall experience makes up for the slow buildup.


...a bit like 2001: A Space Odyssey.

 

I dont have, and probably never will have, an Xbox, so i dont have this game...i AM a fan of the FF series though, my absolute favorite being IX

 

I'm 22 hours into it and loving every minute. I don't find the characters or the story bland at all.

Really glad I bought this one, despite the reviews telling me not to.

Edit: Let me also point out that this feels like a breath of fresh air for JRPG's. They have been getting so bland. Same thing over and over. I'm really glad that SE is willing to experiment with different things, sure they don't always get everything right, but what they do get right makes the experience feel much more fresh.

If SE is willing to experiment, maybe other JRPG devs will follow as well.(I'm looking at you Namco Tales Studio)

 

I'd buy every main FF game regardless of the reviews. It's one of those franchises I love and grew up with since VII and no intentions of getting rid of this either. I just hope I'll beat this before XIII vs comes out but I recently bought a bunch of old Gamecube and PS2 rpgs I missed out on and want to play first.