Final Fantasy XIII

[Chill]

Are we all too busy playing this game to talk about how amazing it is?

 

[DTP]

I'm forcing myself to not play it tonight so I get a decent/better sleep for tommorow.
It's really difficult to do when it's sitting right there....

Anyways, best game ever, love it.
I'm only 26 hours in and I can't wait to see how the rest of the story unfolds.

 

[Lovely]

One of a few games that I love every playable character. At first I didn't like Hope, but he grew on me later on in the game.

 

[Spire]

I'm about 27 hours in and playing it at this very moment.

Seems as if the first 10 chapters are training for the last three.

And yes, every character grows on you. They all develop so well that you'll love them to death. Amazing cast, amazing story, amazing game. I am truly blown away by it.

 

[Chill]

I have a question to ask you guys but I'll wait until myself and a few others have finished the game. See you in two weeks?

 

[Spire]

Looking forward to it. I love how momentous Final Fantasy games are. When they come out, people disappear. Like aside from sleep and school, I have been playing 13 in every waking hour I've had since 9:30 PM Tuesday.

 

[Kuraudo]

No spoilers in this comment here, but, I just had like... A taste of what it was like to play World or Warcraft or something.

Chapter 8 near the beginning before the first boss of said chapter, I grinded for a good 5+ hours straight on enemies that gave me 640 CP per battle. I... I'm dead tired.

Maxed out the characters playable during the chapter, and still have a long ways to go (I hope) for this chapter, and I've got 60,000 CP stored. ... The rest of the party when I play them again is gonna love the stat boosts. LMAO

I had to stop myself from trying to go for 100,000 CP and call it a night. Good lord am I hooked.

One of the best RPGs I've played in a long time, and my favorite battle system to date. Even Hope grew on me, thank god. The cast...everything... Yeah. **** I love it all. I could go on for hours and hours on end.


For anyone whose only gotten to Chapter 8, or anyone whose played past it, but their opinion BEFORE going past that chapter,

Spoiler

Holy ****. Chapter 7 was the most intense I've played so far. Not a single moment wasn't heart-pumping and dangerous. No wonder this game is linear in the greatest way possible. Who the hell has time to explore when you're spending a lot of it, as a l'Cie, running the **** away for good reason. Everything that I possibly wanted happened in this Chapter. Lightning developed further, we got to see more of the awesomeness that is Fang, and it's the chapter where he finally grew on me as he and Snow started patching things up. As Fang and Lightning were making their way to Felix Heights, and the music that played as Snow was carrying Hope against the will of his own battered body...

This game really knows how to pluck at your emotional strings.

From the revitalized and evolved ATB system, the storyline, the engaging characters, the mythology of this world (fal'Cie, l'Cie, Eidolons, the legend of the Chocobo Chick LOLZ, etc.), the beautiful world itself, how you level up and get stronger (the caps on your strengths per chapter is a wise move to keep the challenge there, but make things a bit easier IF you decide to push for maximum), just everything...

Next to VII (VII's storyline, thanks to the explanations/backstory given by prequels and the expanded sequel of Advent Children Complete, beats it out SO far), XIII is my second favorite game of the Final Fantasy series.

Final Fantasy IV and VI have spent a very long time as my second favorites to VII. That's VERY **** hard to do to beat out those games on my list. Just...****.

Way to go Square-Enix. You took your sweet, sweet time for a reason. And the wait has been worth it.

 

[SyOn]

why would you grind in chapter 8?

wouldn't grinding in chapter 11 be a lot better?

 

[Lythium]

This game probably has one of the most intriguing and intelligently designed battle systems ever. I have a feeling I'm going to grind a lot just for the fun of it.

 

[Kuraudo]

why would you grind in chapter 8?

wouldn't grinding in chapter 11 be a lot better?

I didn't want to run into any shortcomings, that and I've also been keeping myself pretty much in the unknown about what happens next in the game.

Never knew when I'd run into a good spot to gain CP again or good components. So, why not grind in Chapter 8, huh? S'pecially if I don't know what's ahead of me. And that's the BEST part.

I haven't SPOILED myself for this game. It's great.

 

[DTP]

Grinding......

Yeah I won't mind grinding in this game, but I'll wait a bit until I do that. More CP and stuffs.....


God I love this game. I'm going to play all day haha
I'm tempted to ditch my friends birthday thing, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go anyways .__.

 

[Spire]

Grind in Ch. 11. That's what it's in the game for. You get around 3,000 CP for just about every battle, and keep in mind, half of the enemies are impossible to defeat at this point.

 

[Minato]

I'm at Nautilus. I'm not blown away by the game but I still find it enjoyable. There are issues here and there obviously, but getting past it, the game's not too bad. Not my favorite game or even FF, but I didn't expect it to be.

 

[Spire]

I'm at a place called the Twilit Cavern right now. TOTAL reference to Twilight Princess if there ever was one.

 

[DTP]

I got to the 5th Ark Thursday night. That's chapter 11 right?

Time to start on that!

 

[Spire]

It's after The 5th Ark that Ch. 11 really begins. You'll see soon enough (though, the 5th Ark is really long and sports quite a challenge).

 

[DTP]

Yeah before I did it I ran through the entire thing because I got curious. It was long as hell D:

The end (I'm assuming it was the end) caught me off guard
I fought him for a bit and then went to bed lol



Avoiding names to prevent spoilers btw. We know everyone looks at spoiler tags anyways.

At least I do .__.

 

[Spire]

@Ch. 11 buddies: has anyone beat

Spoiler

Hecatoncheir

? I'm having an insanely difficult time with him. I've managed to get his Gestalt bar halfway, but even can't manage to do much more before his endless array of unavoidable attacks that kill big time.

 

[Gates]

So guys, I have a question:

What exactly is the point of the Sentinel class?

For reference I'm on Chapter 7 (I think...whichever one Palumpolum is) so maybe there's some uber ability that I haven't unlocked for Sentinel yet, but halfway through the game it really just seems like a pointless class. The only uses I can see for it are:

1. Taking damage when you know your opponent is about to do a **** attack.
2. Distracting bosses while your other party members cast cure/buffs/debuffs.

Both of these really only apply to boss battles, which most of the battles in the game are not. In notmal battles, a Commando or Ravager is almost always better. It's because of this class that I'm really starting to hate Snow, not for his actual character in the storyline, but because he has a useless ability (Sentinel), a good ability that he sucks at (Ravager), and only one useful ability (Commando). Sentinel just seems to pointless to me. Does anyone else feel this way?

And I totally agree with all the characters becoming likable. I hated Hope at first because I thought he was a whiny little ***** but he's grown on me to be more likable.

 

[Spire]

I haven't found much use for Sentinel until Ch. 11. If you set up a Med/Sen/Syn (Protection) or Med/Sen/Sab (Attrition) paradigm against some tough enemies, one character can provoke them all, then guard against their attacks as the Medic heals them while the third either boosts your team or lowers the stats of the foes. Great way to start battles out.

Or you could go Med/Syn/Sab (Evened Odds) and have two characters boosting and lowering the party/enemies while the third heals. Though without the Sentinel, it could be risky depending on who you're up against.

 

[DTP]

Yeah I agree with it being useful for the two reasons you gave.
But I also found that if you have multiple enemies (Like 5-7) then Sentinel really helps.

When I know they're all going to attack I just switch paradigms and let Snow/Fang tank it out.
Yeah there are other options besides Sentinel, but it's far from pointless imo.

I actually really like it tbh.



It just kinda puts the other characters in a safer position overall, which I like. I don't always have a Synergist (sp.?) with me to cast protect on everyone so I go Sentinel instead.

I don't use Hope or Sazh much lol



Iunno, it's understandable why some people wouldn't like it, but I put it to decent use lol



EDIT: Yeah I love using the Med/Sen/Sab Paradigm.

 

[Lore]

I'm hoping to get this game soon.

It looks really good, but I just can't decide between this or Heavy Rain. Does anyone want to convince me to get this?

Also, Lightning looks like a really awesome character. Is she actually any good in the game? XD

 

[Spire]

I almost primarily just use Fang/Lightning/Sazh. Snow has a ton of HP and is a good Sentinel, Hope is a good Ravager, and Vanille is a good Med/Sab, but I like the aforementioned trio the best.

My paradigms:

• Bully: Sab/Com/Syn (best way to start out a relatively even match)
• Evened Odds: Sab/Med/Syn (good alt. to Bully, healing rather than attacking head-on)
• Solidarity: Sen/Med/Com (great way to stay at bay with Sazh attacking from afar)
• Relentless Assault: Com/Rav/Rav (get Stagger up with Com balancing the fast drawback that two Ravagers make)
• Protection: Sen/Med/Syn (just as the title says, excellent protection)
• Cerberus: Com/Com/Com (after stagger breaks, unleash this beast)

 

[DTP]

I'm hoping to get this game soon.

It looks really good, but I just can't decide between this or Heavy Rain. Does anyone want to convince me to get this?

Also, Lightning looks like a really awesome character. Is she actually any good in the game? XD

Get this!

Although I've heard Heavy Rain was good too.
But if you're looking for a long RPG with a fantastic cast and amazing storyline, then get this!

And yeah, Lightning is the best imo. Not sure if that's true or not. Maybe someone else surpasses her later on.




@Spire

I always stick With Lighting and Vanille, then I switch between Fang and Snow depending on how I feel.


My main Paradigms:

• Diversity - Ravager/Commando/Medic
• Combat Clinic - Medic/Medic/Sentinel
• Solidarity - Commando/Sentinel/Medic
• Relentless Assault - Commando/Ravager/Ravager
• Attrition - Medic/Sentinel/Saboteur

There are a bunch of other ones I go through depending on the situation and the enemy, but those are the ones I tend to stick with the most.

 

[Gates]

iirc, Lightning gets the second highest Attack and Magic in the game. So yeah, she's pretty good.

 

[Kuraudo]

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/gdc-10-final-fantasy/62834?type=flv

Of course Sentinel is the best. I mean, did you see the Steelguard?

 

[XFadingNirvanaX]

I'm only at ch.6, but so far I'm loving it.

Did anyone get the hardcover guide?

 

[Lord Viper]

☆ I need to play this game more, 4 hours a day isn't good enough. >.< ☆

 

[Kuraudo]

I'm only at ch.6, but so far I'm loving it.

Did anyone get the hardcover guide?

The hardcover guide is gorgeous. I didn't think I'd need it, it'd just be a nice collectable.

Oh how wrong I was. /has referred to it a couple of times

 

[Spire]

I just grinded 250,000 CP. I found an awesome spot in Pulse to farm Behemoth Kings.

 

[XFadingNirvanaX]

The hardcover guide is gorgeous. I didn't think I'd need it, it'd just be a nice collectable.

Oh how wrong I was. /has referred to it a couple of times

what's your number?

Mine's 157,493

 

[DTP]

I just grinded 250,000 CP. I found an awesome spot in Pulse to farm Behemoth Kings.

:D

Good to know. I'd probably be there by now if I didn't have to work today.......
Should be there by tomorrow. I can't stop playing this game.

 

[zaneebaslave]

Dont tell me what happens. I'm only 7 hours into the game. So far, all the characters are still douchebags. They all have their great personal angst which is extremely grating: especially Hope, which I assume is a very ironic name because he is the most pessimistic douche I've ever seen. Lightning is some butch girl who hates everyone. Snow sortof... lost his mind. They all are very sickeningly angsty.

The only optimistic one is Venille, which I hate too, because she cant stick to an accent. It's like a strange combination of the generic japanese squeely girl, a southern truck-stop beauty, and a british lady. All of those accents are annoying to me, and she happens to have all three. All she needs is to start speaking in jive and we'd have the most annoying woman in history.

Now, my favorite character, at least to this point, is good ol' Sazh. He's such a wonderful character! He's sad most of the time, but at least he's realistically sad. He seems to be the comic relief of the group, which is exactly what the game needs (At least right now, since I'm only 7 hours into the game. Hopefully optimism will hurry up and get here soon.) Plus: He's got a chocobo... in his afro. I had to remove the brick I was suddenly sitting on out from under me when I saw that.


Combat's great, story's well thought out, Eiolons are awesome, and the music's really catchy. I just hope the characters will get better because they're draining me of happiness.

 

[Spire]

^ that's how I felt at the beginning. I only liked Sazh. 36 hours into the game and I love them all. I think it was around Ch. 8 that I began to appreciate them all.

 

[zaneebaslave]

Does Venille's accent get any better further into the game?

 

[Gates]

Define "7 hours".

In games like these where you have an opportunity for a lot of grinding, measuring it in terms of where you are in the storyline is more reliable than how many hours you've put into it. I'm on chapter 9 right now but I've probably spent more hours on the game than other people did when they got to chapter 9 because I had to do about 3 hours of grinding to beat a certain boss (I won't say which it is for spoiler purposes, even though it's a minor spoiler).

But yeah, most of what your post looked like was just "I hate JRPG stereotypes". If you give it more time they'll grow on you as their personalities and backstories get fleshed out (Except maybe Snow, he never really evolves much as a character). Hope in particular is one that grew on me - he started out as a little ***** but now he's pretty tolerable.

I think Vanille and Fang are supposed to have Australian accents.

Does Venille's accent get any better further into the game?

lol wut? You mean like does she get a different voice actress later on in the game? lol

 

[Kuraudo]

I...guess so...?

I'd explain how, but spoilers, lol.

[EDIT]

I think Vanille's voice in general. If it's not so grating. Never was to me, but hey...

 

[Spire]

I like Vanille and Fang's Australian accents. I expected a cutesy american voice for Vanille, but I was pleasantly surprised. Fang's is spot on and works perfectly. She has become my favorite character of the cast.

@ Gates - what boss did you grind 3 hours for? Put it in spoiler tags.

 

[Maaaaaaaaaan]

Late to this topic it seems. Too busy playing it to have noticed. XD

This game is sooooo feckin' pretty and fun. But most of you already know that.


Just some quick things from me:
The battle system is too fun. I love the combination of traditional FF aspects thrown into the first true ATB system. First RPG where I get a sense of "combat" and real teamwork. As a sports fan, it's hard to explain what it feels like to me, but it's a real sense of team strategy.

Also, this game uses some pretty impressive storytelling techniques.

*Minor Spoilers*

Spoiler

The individual character stories are tragic in their own rights. Sazh and Snow epitomized two different forms of manhood.

Sazh as a father handles all adversity by just plain dealing with it, and even continues to show concern for others. That's something you don't see often in video game stories.

Snow freakin' proposed to Serah after she revealed her becoming a L'Cie, and does everything he can to save everyone possible. He's like Tidus, if Tidus had hit a second puberty.

And then little things here and there, like Fang and Vanille looking out for each other all the time... Lightning seeing herself in Hope, and both of them learning from everything... Hell, Vanille trying to reveal the truth about Euride Gorge to Sazh alone was powerful. She cared so much for him that she was willing to alienate herself to keep him safe.

I'm just really impressed that the characters are all evolving from their situation, not just one main character. Makes it that much deeper to me.

But yeah, I love the game so far. Mad fun to be playing FF again. And that **** baby chocobo is the most adorable thing EVER.





Oh, and yeah, Vanille and Fang have those accents for a reason.

Spoiler

They're supposed to be native.

I love their voices.

Personally, Vanille and Fang are SUPER HAWT. Much better than Lightning.




Welp, that's all from me for now. I'm still playing it after all. :D
(Chap. 9 only. Work makes it hard to play...)

 

[zaneebaslave]

Define "7 hours".

I just got

Spoiler

Odin

for Lightning. Now I am in some robot place... with robots. It's only Sazh and Vanille.

So, as you can see, I am not very far into the game. I just... dont like Vanille. Oh well, at least she isnt Hope.