Final Fantasy XIII (+ Versus & Agito for PSP.)

YAHOOOOOO!!! This is going to be great. All three of the games sort of sync together to create this really expansive world. I'm pumped.

Plot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XIII#Plot

XIII

Just beautiful.

Versus

Not much on the Verus' story yet.

Agito

Plot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Agito_XIII#Plot

So much on this plate...don't know if I'm up for the amount of gameplay/time and money being asked from me.

Two things bug me about this installment of Final Fantasy:

1. You can't control your party, only the party leader. The rest are a.i. controlled.

2. If the party leader dies, its game over.

From what i've been reading, the designers wanted to put more of an emphasis on strategy, so it's all about positioning your characters correctly (mage, healer, ect.) I hate to complain, not having played the game yet, but this just seems odd to me. Guess we'll see.

^ Really? That does suck

They're just trying to keep the battle-system fresh is all. Didn't XII have an AI-command you can instill on characters? Haven't played that one yet.

I think it'll be fine. They're really going all out on this installment.

It looks nice graphics wise, but that's about it. Nothing really makes me interested in the story or characters. The game play looks pretty fun, but I hate that you don't get to do some of the things from the older games. I enjoyed FF games not because of the stories but because of the many things you can do. That's what made them fun- for me.

I sorta regret pre-ordering it because God Of War 3 is coming out next week and if I get God Of War 3 next week, I'll put this game a side for a while. But I haven't pre-ordered God Of War 3 yet, so I might end up getting it a few weeks later. It depends how much extra cash I have.

I did enjoy FF 7-9 and 12- so hopefully I'll like this. I just don't see myself getting that into it.

well it's release day...and i have off (call it serendipity) but the bad thing is, i didn't think i was gonna HAVE off, so i just told my video game shop to mail it to me since it's all paid, to which they were very cool and agreed. so i have to wait until thursday regardless that's just an intergalactic owned.

Am I the only one not hyped for XIII?

Problems that I've heard so far:
1. You only control one character in battle
2. Ridiculously linear
3. No open world exploration
4. No shops
5. Little to no NPC interactions

I could go on, but those are the worst offenders in my eyes. The visuals and battle system are supposedly awesome, but I don't think that's enough. In fact, from what I can tell, I'm not sure XIII even qualifies as an RPG, which makes me sad.

I've loved the Final Fantasy series since the first. I never thought they could make a bad game until I played VIII. (What a piece of shit.) IX was a good return to form. Every game after that got progressively worse. XII was a complete and total waste of time.

Stick a fork in me. I'm done. I'm not giving Square-Enix any more of my money until they make a quality game. XIII isn't it.

No airship.

I'm going to pick it up on thursday for the wife, I'll probably be trading it back in as soon as she gets all the achivements. X was the last decent FF IMO

HairyTrucker wrote:Am I the only one not hyped for XIII?

Problems that I've heard so far:
1. You only control one character in battle
2. Ridiculously linear
3. No open world exploration
4. No shops
5. Little to no NPC interactions

I could go on, but those are the worst offenders in my eyes. The visuals and battle system are supposedly awesome, but I don't think that's enough. In fact, from what I can tell, I'm not sure XIII even qualifies as an RPG, which makes me sad.

I've loved the Final Fantasy series since the first. I never thought they could make a bad game until I played VIII. (What a piece of shit.) IX was a good return to form. Every game after that got progressively worse. XII was a complete and total waste of time.

Stick a fork in me. I'm done. I'm not giving Square-Enix any more of my money until they make a quality game. XIII isn't it.

I'm not sure any of those are valid, man. I've heard that XIII alone has areas that are "almost forever" [one of the creators] once you get out of the first area, which is apparently really entrapping for a long period, unlike past FF games. But yeah, not even counting Versus or Agito, it is possibly the longest one yet, with the exception of XI with its expansion packs and all.
Not sure about the shops.
You control characters indirectly.

I thought VIII was pretty good. Hardest to me. X was one of my favorites. I enjoyed parts of it more than VII. IX was really boring, I thought. The story was weak, and the gameplay felt cartoony. Enjoyed the setting and the characters to an extent, but, again, the story failed, IMHO. I trust Square-Enix. They've had enough time to create an epic, with fun gameplay.

i'm playing it...i like it....i have....some issue with not being able to control my party members,but other wise i'm digging it.

HairyTrucker wrote:Am I the only one not hyped for XIII?

Problems that I've heard so far:
1. You only control one character in battle
2. Ridiculously linear
3. No open world exploration
4. No shops
5. Little to no NPC interactions

Same here. I decided to wait until the price drops, I'm in NO RUSH to play this after reading all that stuff about it.

That KILLED it for me. Honestly, I could give a fuck less about story- Final Fantasy is fun because you could do all that stuff. Running around from point A to point B doesn't sound like anything I'm rushing to play. I did like VIII though, but yeah I'll probably end up getting this game when it's like 40 bucks.

Unless VERSUS gives me a reason not to bother with it and just get Versus instead.

I'll be picking this one up with my next paycheck. I can't wait!

HairyTrucker wrote:Am I the only one not hyped for XIII?

i dunno, i know i was.

HairyTrucker wrote:Problems that I've heard so far:


1.You only control one character in battle

yeah, you can only control one person in battle via the actual atb system, but the way they hooked up the paradigm system and such makes it almost secondary. at least to me.....i mean in all the previous FF's i was controling all the characters and they were all doing the same stuff anyways...."flare, cure, summon, repeat." after a while. so i'm not losing my mind.

HairyTrucker wrote:
2. Ridiculously linear

eh,linear to me would mean that it's just one boring non moving plot...going nowhere, i'm up to chapter 5 or 6, and the actual group is going now in 3 seperate directions following 3 seperate stories....which i imagine will meld at the end.

HairyTrucker wrote:
3. No open world exploration

yeah that is a bummer, but truthfully they move you storywise (which i like) so much that while you can sit and enjoy locales.....imo,i'd rather see where the development of the characters are going.

HairyTrucker wrote:
4. No shops

actually your shops are used like key items and accessed at the save points and certian ones are gained through boss fights and such,besides it save me fumbling around towns looking for the one place that sells the stuff i need from one side to another.

HairyTrucker wrote:
5. Little to no NPC interactions

if they aren't involved in the story,no big deal to me. and it's not like they still don't speak, in fact in the first major part of the story after a movie sequence i was standing next to one and he says "i will not fear, fear is the mind killer, i will face my fears and permit them to go through me."....sweet quote.

HairyTrucker wrote:
I could go on, but those are the worst offenders in my eyes. The visuals and battle system are supposedly awesome, but I don't think that's enough. In fact, from what I can tell, I'm not sure XIII even qualifies as an RPG, which makes me sad.

I've loved the Final Fantasy series since the first. I never thought they could make a bad game until I played VIII. (What a piece of shit.) IX was a good return to form. Every game after that got progressively worse. XII was a complete and total waste of time.

Stick a fork in me. I'm done. I'm not giving Square-Enix any more of my money until they make a quality game. XIII isn't it.

wow,i know tons of people who say 8 is awesome and 9 was garbage, to each their own i suppose. either way i'd say rent it if you could, just to see if you like it....the more i play it the more it keeps me involved. and the summons are cool DESPITE what you may have heard. i'm all about transforming summons.

so i picked up the game - im like chapter 3 i guess - i dont play it hardcore enough

i have to admit the above statements got to me - like no open world, linear plot etc

its like playing lost odyssey or something minus open world and shops. i find that im watching it more than im playing it... i got it for cheap which was good but i dunno if its good enough to par with the previous rpg feel ones

graphically heavy but i have the 360 ver so its slightly duller lol oh well

so far i give it a nice 7.5/10 which factors in gameplay and visuals (and visuals gave it most of the ratings) lols

the last half of the game (which i made it to kid of quick but hell i'm not complaining) is all an open map....with certian creatures who can one-shot you. i imagine while you can't level like in final fantasy of old, you will have to grind out that crystarium grid so eventually you can kill them, because they are all over the place.

colossus1979 wrote:i'm playing it...i like it....i have....some issue with not being able to control my party members,but other wise i'm digging it.

In agreement here. Definitely enjoying it.

Part II
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/01/20/first-look-at-the-final-fantasy-xiii-2-trailer/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=FFX132_012011

BlueMaxx wrote:Part II
http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/01/20/first-look-at-the-final-fantasy-xiii-2-trailer/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=FFX132_012011

Damn! I was playing the first FFXIII but stopped once I got to the open world (got tired of it) But after seeing this I really want to go back and finish it. Then again before seeing this I have been wanting to go back and finish it, work has just been draining me lately.

^ I've heard that they're really pushing part II because of XIV's horrible reviews. Considered worst Final Fantasy ever. And that's including all the off-shoots. Yes, even the Chocobo Dungeon/Racing stuff. :/

FFXIII was kind of a disappointment. It really just felt rushed. I'm not sure how a part two will be received. They might be better off just starting a new story and do it right