Final Fantasy XIII Comments by Keza MacDonald

busboy33

You should probably just accept that you dont like FFs. Itll make it easier for both you and me(us).

Jap RPGs are a joke. While the west gets proper games the Japs waste time with emo crap like this. Why can't the japs put some effort towards a FPS? I'd really like to see what they could do to the FPS genre, I am sure they could add their own unique flavour.

I'm both stupidly excited and completely unfazed by the development of this game. The FFX vibe makes me giddy whereas the FFVII makes me face-palm. Some of the characters, even this early on, inspire interest whereas others are stereotypical to the point of inanity. The visuals are remarkable but the art-style lacks inspiration.

Mixed emotions really.

@ busboy33

Well, you do make some good points, and you're not trolling (yay). Trolling would be saying "FF sux and you're dumb for liking it." ; )

As for why people like it, I wanted to make a few suggestions, in no particular order, along the lines of:

* The joy of the grind. Which can either turn you off or -really- hook you in, seeing your party climb the path to godlike awesomeness inch by inch.
* Beautiful, rich worlds filled with characters you can actually grow to care about. They're more scripted than modern western rpgs, but that means it can be a more directed plot with more considered dialogue/interactions that weave together with the overall story.
* I agree that a lot of the gameplay has gotten a bit stale in some titles, but .. there's a lot of history and nostalgia behind that gameplay! I think they're just trying to tweak and improve and freshen it up in small amounts so it doesn't change into something that's not FF.
* Stunning visuals, including FMVs, cut scenes and every other part of the game. Going by prior FF titles, the whole thing usually looks top notch, again heightening the immersion and the cinematic effect.

BUUUT: All of those things were present in FF7 and FF10. When I played FF10, I spend 180 hours on it (I had a lot more time on my hands then than I do now) and I really fell in love with the characters and the world. If you've played both, and given them both enough of a chance for them to get their hooks into you (which, sadly, is about 10 hours for FF games) and you've still been left cold, then I'm afraid you're just gonna have to accept that they're not for you. Which is fine - all of us have things we like and things we don't.

I feel very similarly, in that I just don't *get* why people feel so strongly about Star Wars.
But it doesn't bother me that they do. : )

"Wouldn't it be neat if, coinciding with the release of this, Microsoft revealed a Blu-Ray add-on for the Xbox 360?"

Nope. :)

Can't wait to watch the fanboi battles.... comparing graphics between the 2 versions, there's gonna carnage! They'll be examing each version down to the individual pixels looking for differences.

@busboy33

Kudos for a well-written and justifiable query. Wish more people could be like that.

As to responding to it... well, for me the thing that has always set the FF series apart is the sheer level of polish on offer. Many RPGs offer likeable characters, epic storylines and deep systems. But few go so far as the Final Fantasy series in making their game as slick and polished as it can possibly be, from the visual style and technical achievement to the refined gameplay mechanics. Of course, the FF series is not perfect, and each game has its flaws, but when you combine the glossy feel of the games with the epic storylines and deep character arcs, then compare it with other RPGs, the others often come up lacking. Even titles like Lost Odyssey, which is one of my favourite JRPGs of recent years, just can't compete with the degree of refinement in most Final Fantasy games.

@ berelain

I second that! Well said.

It's a shame the 360 version will be compromised. The game will be written to take the lowest common denominator into account, and as the PS3 is so limited in the graphics department and allocation of memory it means the product as a whole will be diminished.

If it sells as well as other PS3 'blockbusters' (KZ2 I'm looking at your awful sales) then it would seem the better choice would be to not bother with a PS3 version at all then at least the genuine version, the 360 version, would not have to be hamstrung.

I have a question... Though it may have missed it in the text and comments.

Do you have direct control over all characters in your party? Or only just the main one?

Personally I disliked the fact I had no control over the rest of my party in FF12...

I've not been able to tell from the vids, from what I've seen, its just the one character that has been issuing commands.

Yeah it's only the main character you control but I think you can set up supporting characters to help with combos.

@ Widge and Breedob :: Ok, thanks for answering. Can't say Im too happy about this if it is like that... but it might work better in the end then FF12, so we'll see. :)

buyboy33

FF+KOTOR, both systems years old

Yet remain immensely enjoyable.

This section of the game does appear rather linear, however I'm sure it will offer plenty of exploration.

I guess what originally excited me about FF games was part new visuals/story telling/ and nostalgia. Nowadays (sinse XII struch a new chord) I look forward to seeing if they can offer something different without comprimising the traditional aspects of the franchise.

If you played VII and X, then I doubt you will anticipate and enjoy XIII much as others. Maybe JRPGs just aren't your thing?

I don't think it's the end of the world though, I have no doubt there will be new games availble the equal or better XIII.

I SHALL PREDICT THIS GAME SCORES 9 omgomgomgomgomg.

@Zanuah
As long as the combat is more involving than 12 I'm happy. There was some good things about it although it did feel as if you were just watching a bit too much.

@farticusmaximus - Hahaha... your post was funny in its "oh my, I'm such a blatant Xbox 360 fanboy, it hurts" kind of way. Makes me kind of glad that I am and always will be a multiformat gamer so I don't have to spout that kind of fanboy baiting nonsense. :P

Waw. Interesting read, and the comments section... People not only making intelligent posts but also ignoring the obvious trolls! I'm liking this EG much more!

EDIT: DARREN! Ignore the trolls! They feed on attention.

oh farticus, I do love you so. I think I can't possibly live without your comments.

Thanks to everybody that gave their views. I do feel like I'm missing out on something, and if there's fun in a game to be had, I want to enjoy it.
I've thought quite a bit about this lately, and I think my discomfort comes down to two factors: the characters and the fight mechanic.
There's something about the FF-JRPG style that gets under my skin. It occupies a very strange middle ground between realistic and stereotype. It has the appearance and scope of a serious tale, but then the tale is staffed with 2 dimensional characters. I really liked Eternal Sonata, and its characters were JRPG stereotypes, but its total fantasy styling seemed to fit with that. On the other hand, Blue Dragon (I'm a 360 owner) left me cold. Maybe the ES characters seemed to have more "maturity"? Of course, the FF series seemed to almost create the JRPG stertypes, so I suppose its a bit unfair to blame FF for that -- its hardly a discredit to the series that its characters are "FF-ish".
The fight mechanic has always rubbed me the wrong way. I understand the evolution of the "hop forward, hit, hop back" structure vis-a-vis the technological limitations of the time, but nowadays it frustrates me. As somebody noted above, the KOTOR style is still fun to play (I agree totally), but seeing the "stack moves" approach grafted onto the "hop-hit-hop" FF tradition seemed to emphasize the un-fun and imersion-shattering aspects of the FF style. I had the same reaction to RE5 -- its "traditional" mechanic was appropriate before, but now just seems anacronistic and inappropriate. Again, the videos surely don't show the totality of the system . . . mabye it picks up as the game progresses.
Anyways, thanks again for the suggestions and comments. I used to be turned off by the entire genre, but I've been trying to enjoy different things, and by almost all accounts the FF series is one of the absolute best. I plan to play it just to add it to my lexicon, but I'd like to enjoy it when I do.

Darren I usually agree with you but...well...

You are so wrong about Lost Odyssey :p

I have a good and bad history with Final Fantasy, I loved the early ones, was enormously impressed with FF7, 8 was a major dissapointment and 9 and 10 were very enjoyable. As I swore of MMO's I didn't play 11, but 12 was a game which should never been made. There was nothing in that game I found enjoyable, believe me I tried but after 33 hours of no having fun, it was enough.

The 'new' battlesystem in combination with endless grinds made the game the worst FF ever (for me at least), so I'm very sceptical about this one, especially if I read that the battlesystem is a modification of the one used in 12. So can anyone clarify how it compares to 12 and other JRPG's like Grandia 3?

''I do feel like I'm missing out on something, and if there's fun in a game to be had,''

It's just not fun for people who don't like the simple mechanics and storytelling. I've seriously tried to love FFX and FFXII, I just couldnt do it. It's not even an rpg, it's an adventure. As one poster above said: nostalgia plays a heavy role here. Hence the near indistinguishable plots and enemies over the ''different'' versions.

Darren I usually agree with you but...well...

You are so wrong about Lost Odyssey :p

Aye, I've only just bought a 360 and I got Lost Odyssey second hand and I'm enjoying it very muchly! Doesn't appear turgid to me (if you play a fantasy title you should pretty much expect some overblown dialog), and certainly not bland.

@Darren

Since you started badmouthing the 360 in EVERY SINGLE THREAD you post in, your comments on fanboyism are completely null and void.

Get your house in order mate. At least I admit I am partisan, you pretend to be impartial which is both incorrect and very, very hypocritical.

It's a shame as you used to talk about games. Now all you can do is talk about how much you hate the 360.

'Why can't the japs put some effort towards a FPS?'

Because they dont like FPSs - The majority of Japanese people will categorically say playing them makes them feel sick!

Metroid for example lost a lot of interest in JP when it made the leap to first person view. :)

@farticusmaximus - "@Darren

Since you started badmouthing the 360 in EVERY SINGLE THREAD you post in, your comments on fanboyism are completely null and void."

Are you for real? LOL

Bad-mouthing... how? Oh you mean because my sixth Xbox 360 has just failed and I've had to send it back for repairs? Or that I think multiformat games look and run better on my new PC? That's not bad-mouthing you silly boy, that's just stating a fact! I don't recall ever calling the Xbox 360 a poor games machine. If I thought that then I wouldn't own one. (Incidentally I do think the Wii is a poor games machine hence why I'm thinking very seriously about selling mine)

However the 360 alone isn't a perfect games machine and that's why I'm a multiformat gamer... so I can play the best version of any game and all the exclusives too.

Guess you're another for the Ignore button since you're clearly little more than an immature 360 fanboy troll with little of interest to say anyway. :P

@Lexx87 - "Darren I usually agree with you but...well...

You are so wrong about Lost Odyssey :p "

Sorry I know a lot of people liked it and it got good reviews so it obviously isn't a terrible game but I found it extremely tedious to play. It started off slow and featured a lead character that I neither liked nor related to. By the time it got going some 15 hours in (which was as long as I played it) I got bored of it. The random battles didn't help either, I absolutely hate those, they're so 1990s IMO.

@Darren

It's not what you say, it's how you say it.

Your allegiences have quite clearly been stated. Whether you wish to acknowledge them or not is another matter.

Come on folks, EG doesn't need to go all IGN and start having flaming wars on every thread. Why don't you just open up a forum page and have it out. Nerd on nerd.

I think when it boils down to it, the fact that my first ever RPG was Illusion of Time, I've always had a soft spot for SquEnix. I'm naturally drawn to Final Fantasy.

Really though, give XII a shot. It's really good and can be found for about 3 quid in the bargain bins.

EDIT: Pro Gamer: do you really think we need more devs making FPS games? The genre is well beyond saturation!

Does anyone else believe that final fantasy games are past it? They seem to be re-hashing the same old ideas again and again. And i agree with some peoples comments about the characters being extremely stereotypical. FF7 was the first RPG i played and its probably the game that i have spent the most time on (completing it twice and spending hours collecting everything), 8 was a slight disappointment but what else was i going to think after 7? Final Fantasy 9 however was absolutely brilliant. I dont understand why Square refuse to go back to the more traditional rpg fantasy setting that this used, as it really was great. but since then all the final fantasy games have left me feeling cold. I thought 10 had the WORST central character in any game ever (he was soooooo damn irritating, and THAT whiny voice!) and the rest of the characters just seemed incredibly bland (i think the overall voice acting had a part to play there aswell) and 12 was supposed to be a revolution/evolution of the series, but the fight mechanics just werent that good. And the grinding, oh my god the grinding!!! So im torn as to wether i will bother with this or not. Final fantasy brings up good memories for me, but since FF9 its been nothing but pain.

I liked FF 7 but, this seems like a total rep of that. The only change story wise, seems to be to change Cloud into a girl called Lightning. I muddled through the Japanese demo on a friends machine and was seriously underwhelmed.

Here's hoping the full game has a hell of a lot more to offer in terms of gameplay. Maybe it's time to re-introduce some minigames like the mountain snowboarding from FFVII. Hell this has nicked everything else from it. Why stop at just the plot.

@Darren

Makes me kind of glad that I am and always will be a multiformat gamer so I don't have to spout that kind of fanboy baiting nonsense. :P

You know, having just one system does not mean you _have to_ spout fanboy nonsense ;-)

Although sometimes, just sometimes, seeing someone diss the system(s) I own for no other reason than that they don't own it(them) does make my fingers twitch a little over the keyboard.

Something else that (the two that I have played) Final Fantasy games do better than most, is PACING (that is, skills and abilities, when you get them and whatnot and also the general flow of the game). That was a weak point of Lost Odyssey and pretty much every JRPG so far on the 360 that I have played.

I mean Lost Odyssey was OK and I finished it with max level characters, so I played it quite a lot, but I found it kind of stupid that the few "essential" abilities for battles (which there are a lot of) can only be found at the very very very end, where they're not really of much use any more.

With the demo clocking in at nearly 6 gig,How many discs is the full game going to need on 360?
I reckon it will need at least 6 dvds.
Bottom line the ps3 version will be far superior all those cut scenes will shine on bluray.

"I reckon it will need at least 6 dvds."

But I don't see why that would matter. What's important is the gameplay, and how much there is per disc. So if there was about 8-10 hours gameplay per disc, then the fact that it's on multiple discs is irrelevant, since it's not going to spoil the gaming experience.

Also, I doubt the gameplay graphics will look any different on the 360, so I don't agree that the PS3 version will be 'far superior'.

The only area I see compromise is for video and audio for cutscenes, where instead of perhaps HD video with 7.1 audio as on the PS3, the 360 version may be SD video with 5.1 audio, and even then, most of the cutscenes will be rendered in realtime.

So, not exactly a problem for the 360 version imo. ;)

I'm gonna buy this right on the launch, damn, i can't wait anymore :-S
I love this game.

Nngghh...

I was not gonna buy this after the Final Fantasy XII debacle. Jesus how I hated that game, I gave my copy away two days after I bought it. Luckily the mate who I gave it to enjoyed it much.

I was so not gonna buy Final Fantasy XIII, was fed up with the whole shitty series. Now... I think I will have to buy it. And I do not know if I should be happy or upset :(

Kanselier I had exactly the same thing. FFXII was one huge dissapointment, at the time I really thought it was the end of FF for me (and I still have serious doubts about FFXIII).

Will the game be any good, maybe but there are lots of other games on the radar......

FF XII was LEGENDARY, and so will this be.

And I don't even really do RPG's!

I rarely get excited over JRPGs but I love the FF series! 8 is one of my favourite games ever, I think I almost cried when it finished! I always play these with a game guide though. The FF games are the only games I feel are better with the guide.

I bet Sony are gutted they let this one get away now :s

Some flame bait for a certain wanker on these boards

Are people like play and the like going to have to charge twice the price to ship the 360 version as it will be the size of a house having to hold its ten discs on the superioir, or so you THINK, 360. hahahhahaha. Balls to ya