Final Fantasy XIII

[Deleted member]

Is it just me, or are the first 15 hours or so a tad... linear?

 

[Gates]

They're definitely linear. I don't mind though.

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

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.

^This

I love this game so much. I'm not very far in () but it's amazing so far.

Subscribed.

 

[Ryu Shimazu]

I finally finished FF XIII today. XIII didn't suit my tastes. I don't think it's a bad game and I can understand why some people like it. I think XIII missed a lot of things that I like about a Final Fantasy game.

The game really disapointed me because of that. It's too linear, FF isn't supposed to be. Everything else was perfect, though.

 

[EdreesesPieces]

I don't mind the game being linear. However, the complete absence of towns is a serious drag. Also, the dungeons aren't just linear, but they repeat the same pattersn and maps over and over again. It's a serious drag and makes the game really repetitive. The battle system itself is fine, but dungeons take like 3 hours to beat, then instead of exploring a town, you just do another 3 hour dungeon. Really dissapointed with this game, even though I do like the story and characters a lot, as it's enough to keep my playing.3

I also got really mad once because I had a team of Vanille, Lighting and Fang, with my paradigm deck set up. Then, because of a boss fight, the game "switched" my party to geuss who? the same 3 - Vanille lightning and fang. (its the bahamut boss fight) BUT ALL MY PARADIGM ARRANGEMENTS GOT CHANGED. This is just plain stupid.

 

[Kuraudo]

The game really disapointed me because of that. It's too linear, FF isn't supposed to be. Everything else was perfect, though.

It's like everybody's forgotten Final Fantasy X.

THAT. And the fact that almost every Final Fantasy has a sense of linearity to it, story-wise. The only thing that's non-linear in other Final Fantasy games are side quests.

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

I'm not a huge FF fan, but to be perfectly honest I like this one more than the others I've played. I don't mind it being linear since the battle system is amazing and the game looks spectacular no matter what.

 

[Minato]

It's like everybody's forgotten Final Fantasy X.

THAT. And the fact that almost every Final Fantasy has a sense of linearity to it, story-wise. The only thing that's non-linear in other Final Fantasy games are side quests.

Yes, FF games are all pretty linear into the end. I guess it just depends on how well the game hides it. I found FF X linear when I first played it. I disliked X at first but I've grown to like it. Hopefully the same will go for XIII as time goes on. X was linear but it had parts that gave you a little breather which was nice. XIII didn't have that for me. That's a good thing for the people that were hooked on the storyline though.

 

[GooeyBanana]

Dear lord, I caved into using Hope. I guess I don't hate him for being a boomerang user so long as I don't use him as the leader, I mean who can pass up his outrageous amount of Magic? So now my party is Lightning, Fang, Hope. Might switch out Lightning here and there for Snow, I don't really know yet because having two Sentinels seems kind of ehhhh...

 

[Gates]

I also got really mad once because I had a team of Vanille, Lighting and Fang, with my paradigm deck set up. Then, because of a boss fight, the game "switched" my party to geuss who? the same 3 - Vanille lightning and fang. (its the bahamut boss fight) BUT ALL MY PARADIGM ARRANGEMENTS GOT CHANGED. This is just plain stupid.

I know, I hate it when **** like that happens. Why can't they just let you keep the paradigms and then reset them only if you don't have that party?

It's like everybody's forgotten Final Fantasy X.

FFX had Blitzball which you could play at any save point (inside Sin lol) so that made it non-linear lol.

having two Sentinels seems kind of ehhhh...

Having two sentinels is totally pointless. The reason you have a sentinel in the first place is to draw attacks away from your other party members. If you have two then you're only drawing attacks away from one of them. It's just stupid.

 

[fkacyan]

Linearity has been in every FF, and will continue to be. What made them feel non-linear was a sense of caring about the world the game was set in my attempting to make it feel more 'real.' FFXIII feels bizarre because it removes the trappings of a typical RPG where the world matters to you.

I just hope Vs. XIII ends up being more like FFIX. Now that's an FF I never get tired of playing.

 

[Lord Viper]

I know, I hate it when **** like that happens. Why can't they just let you keep the paradigms and then reset them only if you don't have that party?

☆ I thought you can.... if you skip the cut scene when your going to fight, (I'm not sure if that works on PS3 but someone can try it). =P ☆

☆ I just got to chapter 11, and I need to put more time to this game. I'm starting to get behind in my gaming schedule. )= ☆

 

[GooeyBanana]

I almost have chocobos unlocked...ugh...so...much...running...

Btw, fully upgraded Hope's Hawkeye and he pretty much dominates the enemies now rofl. I'm sad panda'ing to the fact that I don't have the Taming Pole or Lionheart for Fang/Lightning, because I don't want to upgrade their weapons since I don't have those two =(

 

[overgamer]

I really enjoyed this FF. It took me 43 hours 46 minutes to finish, and had a hard time leveling around chapter 11, but I really enjoyed the game. Time to go back to Grand Pulse and have some fun!

 

[AvaricePanda]

I feel a slight disconnect with the obvious linearity of it. Not that all FFs aren't linear, but I feel like what Edrees said. There's not really room to breathe in this game until chapter 11 (which btw I'm on and love). Still, before then you're not really immersed in a world, you're just given a story. It's not necessarily bad, it's just that the plot twists that don't involve the main characters are, "oh cool" instead of "OMFGFOWTFTHATHAPPENED????"

CHAPTER 10 SPOILER ALERT:

Spoiler

like after beating the boss at the mid-end of chapter 10 in the fifth ark, it was like, okay cool you're a l'cie but we only saw you for like 10 minutes beforehand so I really don't care as much

I also cringe at some of the random monologues some characters give. Like 90% of the time the characters are awesome (everyone said they hated Hope but I actually like him a lot, as well as obviously Sazh) but randomly they'll bust out CLICHE MONOLOGUE TIME that doesn't really seem to fit. The characters seem to make it believable though, most of the time, it's just the words themselves....ugh.

Those are my only real gripes. This game's hella fun otherwise, like seriously chapter 11 I just started and am just smiling. The battle system's amazing, and killing stuff is actually fun.

edit: ADAMANTOISE WHAT THE HELL?

 

[Minato]

I also cringe at some of the random monologues some characters give. Like 90% of the time the characters are awesome (everyone said they hated Hope but I actually like him a lot, as well as obviously Sazh) but randomly they'll bust out CLICHE MONOLOGUE TIME that doesn't really seem to fit. The characters seem to make it believable though, most of the time, it's just the words themselves....ugh.

Those are my only real gripes. This game's hella fun otherwise, like seriously chapter 11 I just started and am just smiling. The battle system's amazing, and killing stuff is actually fun.

Yeah, that is kind of weird. XIII's cutscene direction looks really nice but some of the dialogue still feels JRPG-ish. I haven't explored all of Pulse yet so that'll be fun to do once I get the chance to play some more.

 

[overgamer]

edit: ADAMANTOISE WHAT THE HELL?

You WILL have fun with these dudes. ^_^

 

[Just Sexed]

Finally getting XIII today ill tell you guys what I think

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

This is one of the only games where it's actually fun to grind for exp (CP in this case).

Snow is my favorite. He's so ******.

 

[Kideras]

I hate that in the end game, chapter 11, it takes a whole 6k cp just for one stat boost, it's ridiculous, and by then, all the Eidolons are useless, except for emergency healing, (but Bahamut looks so awesome ) so all that got on my nerves and it's sitting in my xbox.

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

That's why you gotta grind, son. Go do some Mark Missions or something.

 

[Kideras]

^note to captain obvious above me,

I have gotten every character in ff12 to level 99 so you can shut up about grinding

and also it's not just skilling up that gets me, but also getting components for weapons since mobs never drop anything worth using

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

^note to captain obvious above me,

I have gotten every character in ff12 to level 99 so you can shut up about grinding

Chill, I wasn't insulting you. Kids these days. >_>

Besides, if you did that, why is farming CP a problem in this game...?

and also it's not just skilling up that gets me, but also getting components for weapons since mobs never drop anything worth using

Get that item that increases rare drops then. I think it's like the Collector's Catalog or something.

Again, do Mark Missions. They give you CP and components.

 

[Kideras]

i wasn't insulting you back, im just being obnoxious,
I have the collectors catelogue I do missions, it's just im spoiled on easier RPGS,

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

Iunno, I think shis game is pretty easy. I'm normally really bad at most RPGs, but I haven't really had much trouble with this one.

So yeah.

 

[Gates]

I have gotten every character in ff12 to level 99 so you can shut up about grinding

Wasn't there that Negalmuur auto-leveling trick in FFXII where all you had to do was set gambits, spawn him, and leave your PS2 on for about 10 hours? Yeah, level 99 in FFXII is not much of an accomplishment.

Iunno, I think shis game is pretty easy. I'm normally really bad at most RPGs, but I haven't really had much trouble with this one.

So yeah.

Yeah, it's only hard on some of the high-level marks and the Adamantoise and King Behemoth clones. It's easy to die if you're careless but otherwise it's not hard.

 

[Minato]

I had some difficulty in XIII for some odd reason, but that was probably due to the fact that I rushed through the game was quickly as I could because of homework. IMO, I found it as one of the harder FF games as of late. The PS1 FFs were all easy. X an XII weren't too difficult if you knew what you were doing. XIII felt difficult only on certain parts, but the game certainly was forgiving since dying isn't that much of a problem.

As for the grinding thing, I liked grinding in X and XII due to the Sphere Grid and License Board. The Crystarium System in XIII was fun, but not as addicting for me. I used to be bugged by the level cap between chapters, but then I realized it really wasn't much of an issue.

 

[Gates]

I actually like grinding in XIII more than X or XII (Negalmuur auto-level trick notwithstanding) because the CP you earn from battle goes to all your characters instead of just the ones who participated in it. This saves a lot of time and means I don't have to use characters who I don't like using like Snow, wheras in X and XII I had to use characters I hated (like Kimahri in X and everyone but Balthier in XII).

And the Crystarium is like exactly the same as the Sphere Grid so I don't see why anyone who liked one wouldn't like the other.

 

[DTP]

And the Crystarium is like exactly the same as the Sphere Grid so I don't see why anyone who liked one wouldn't like the other.

It's not EXACTLY like the sphere grid lol
I personally enjoyed the sphere grid more, but the crystarium is cool too.

The sphere grid had more depth and strategy to it imo.

 

[overgamer]

It's not EXACTLY like the sphere grid lol
I personally enjoyed the sphere grid more, but the crystarium is cool too.

The sphere grid had more depth and strategy to it imo.

The sphere grid was much more powerfull, because you could destroy all bad stats and replace em with +4. That leads to so powerfull characters!
FFX was just the best/funniest game when it lead to powerleveling.
I loved the tricks to get 99 level in one battle, was funny as hell.

On FFXIII, it looks somehow that you're free, but you're not. You're just spending CPs on your main jobs until the very end...

I had trouble with FFXII, and still did not finish it. I was too much used to speed up my chars with boost, and cast berserk on em, and wait til the fights finish. (I'm not sure if these are the correct english names, as I played the french version, anyway...)
Gambits were great, but too much of a hassle to change within each different mobs.

I had some difficulty in XIII for some odd reason, but that was probably due to the fact that I rushed through the game was quickly as I could because of homework. IMO, I found it as one of the harder FF games as of late. The PS1 FFs were all easy. X an XII weren't too difficult if you knew what you were doing. XIII felt difficult only on certain parts, but the game certainly was forgiving since dying isn't that much of a problem.

As for the grinding thing, I liked grinding in X and XII due to the Sphere Grid and License Board. The Crystarium System in XIII was fun, but not as addicting for me. I used to be bugged by the level cap between chapters, but then I realized it really wasn't much of an issue.

I dont tell you how many hundreads of game over I had on the game. :S

 

[Kideras]

I actually like grinding in XIII more than X or XII (Negalmuur auto-level trick notwithstanding).

heh you used the negalmuur? that is actually one of the slowest grinds fyi use the jelly trick, got balthier basch and ashe from 50 to 99 in one day, (I killed gilgamesh after that but it kind of wasn't fun after that since vaan fran and penelo suck and I won't bother with level 22 chars)

 

[Gates]

Well I sold my copy of XII so it's too late now.

 

[XFadingNirvanaX]

Just beat the game and it's Easter too. Double exp!

My Hands fit the ending pretty well. *fingers crossed for a possible direct sequel*

*major endgame spoilers*

Spoiler

On the trophy/achievement for Instrument of Change it says that you've witnessed the beginning of a new crystal legend. Cocoon is crystallized. Everyone now lives on Pulse. Does this mean that FFXIII is the "opening" for the other two Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy XIIIs? I've heard that they all take place in the same universe, but at different time periods.

If so, might there be references to XIII in the next two games like Ragnarok or a new dawn that had started for humanity?

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

Spoiler

I felt bad having to kill Cid Raines. He's such a cool guy, it's too bad I had to end him. It was a fun fight, he was the first boss with a good amount of depth.

 

[overgamer]

Spoiler

I felt bad having to kill Cid Raines. He's such a cool guy, it's too bad I had to end him. It was a fun fight, he was the first boss with a good amount of depth.

completely agree with you. =)

 

[Gates]

So I beat the game tonight.

First of all, I think it's really stupid how you can't access the last of the crystarium until after you beat the final boss. It totally shafts people who try to do the Faultwarrens missions before beating the game like I did (****ing Neochu). The only way to complete many of those missions is to either be really lucky with Vanille+Belladonna Wand+Death spam or have stats that you can only get by maxing out their crystariums WHICH YOU CAN'T BECAUSE YOU DON'T GET THAT FAR UNTIL AFTER YOU BEAT THE GAME. Seriously, what were they thinking? That's like not being able to get a character's last Limit Break/Overdrive until beating the game.

Second, I want to talk about the main villain in spoilers.

Spoiler

I really didn't understand the motivation at all behind what Barthandelus and Orphan were doing. They wanted to bring their god figure back to "repent" for their "sins"? That makes Ultimecia's Time Kompression look brilliant. It's like one of the characters (I think Lightning) said, Orphan was just something who wanted to die ever since it was born, the most pathetic and downright stupid being you could think of. This really seems to me like a lame cop-out for an otherwise great story. I really loved all the characters and was intrigued by what tied them together, but in the end it was disappointing.

That said, I did enjoy the ending and without spoiling anything more I'll just say that it was very beautiful and moving and a real fitting end to it.

 

[¯\_S.(ツ).L.I.D._/¯]

Just gotta say that Gran Pulse is one of my favorite locales in any game I've ever played.

 

[Gates]

I agree. I wish we could have gotten there earlier but then we'd be missing out on the character development and stuff.

 

[AvaricePanda]

I just wish the game wasn't one giant effing line.

I didn't mind at first, but now that I'm past my first time through Gran Pulse (I'm in the latter part of 11), I'm thinking, okay this chapter's really cool and I was looking forward to it from the beginning, so why can't the rest of the game be like this?

I also legitimately cared more about the characters early on in the game — they seemed a lot more believable then. From chapter like 7 on it seemed like they'd have sudden, almost unbelievable spurts of character growth and sometimes go into random monologue time. Eh...

I still really like the battle system though.

 

[XFadingNirvanaX]

So I beat the game tonight.

Second, I want to talk about the main villain in spoilers.

Spoiler

I really didn't understand the motivation at all behind what Barthandelus and Orphan were doing. They wanted to bring their god figure back to "repent" for their "sins"? That makes Ultimecia's Time Kompression look brilliant. It's like one of the characters (I think Lightning) said, Orphan was just something who wanted to die ever since it was born, the most pathetic and downright stupid being you could think of. This really seems to me like a lame cop-out for an otherwise great story. I really loved all the characters and was intrigued by what tied them together, but in the end it was disappointing.

Spoiler

The Maker created both Fal'cie and humans along side each other. Fal'cie were powerful and considered superior beings, but had clear limits to what they could achieve. Humans on the other hand could hope, dream, and motivate themselves to achieve the impossible. That's why Fal'cie used humans as I'cie. After the Maker created everything, it vanished. Barthandelus wanted to try and bring back The Maker in hopes that Orphan could be reunited with him. He believed that the world was doomed to fail from the beginning without the Maker.

As humans and Fal'cie advanced, Barthandelus had started a plan. He was going to create a large enough sacrifice fit for the Maker to return. His thought was that, if so much death occurred at once on such a large scale, the Maker would return without a doubt to his creation. He started constructing a giant, new world*more like sacrificing alter* for humanity tricking them with promises of paradise; Cocoon. Somehow, other Fal'cie joined him in his plan playing different roles. idk if they agreed with his plan, or were tricked.

To the the people of Gran Pulse, Cocoon was a giant sphere of trickery. In Cocoon, Pulse was considered Hell. The people of Cocoon were pampered for many generations until Bartandelus considered the sacrifice fitting enough for the Maker. Even though he managed to build such a large place and plan everything accordingly, Barthandelus was still a Fal'cie and thus limited in power. He's an architect at best...and a trickster too. He needed L'cie to carry out his goal. Humans could achieve so much more, but the human spirit he planned to use was his downfall.

Anyone feel free to fix anything I may have said wrong.