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Post by Elliot Kane on Oct 13, 2009 20:29:12 GMT
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Post by Gray Lensman on Oct 14, 2009 4:54:58 GMT
Looks like an interesting movie, so far.  Got to give them credit on this one, though... at least they don't seem to be offering us the usual whiny androgynous lead character that we've seen in previous games. The graphics look to be much improved, but I'd expect no less from them on that score. But as with all things Final Fantasy, the quality will be better judged in the gameplay. Hopefully the story on this one will be able to deliver, but I'm at least curious enough to give this one a try once it hits the stores. |
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Post by Elliot Kane on Oct 14, 2009 5:18:46 GMT
You mean, will the second half make sense considering the first half? ;D We can only hope... ;D
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Post by Alrik on Oct 30, 2009 20:51:22 GMT
Does there exist in English language a word to mean "the one before the last one" ?
I mean - I'd like to invent a satire title : Not the final fantasy, but the one before that ...
The German language has such a word : If you translate "last one" with "Letzter", then you just need to put a prefix before that meaning "before that", kind of, and the result is : "Vorletzter".
So, a title like "Vorletzte Fantasy" would sound highly ironic, I guess. ;D
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Post by Gray Lensman on Oct 30, 2009 21:08:22 GMT
"Penultimate" is the word I think you're looking for there. And yeah, no fantasy is ever final in a series that's gone over 14 games long, is it? ;D |
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Post by Alrik on Oct 31, 2009 22:32:31 GMT
It impresses me the more installments of this series appear. ;D
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Post by mysterd on Mar 8, 2010 23:25:16 GMT
I dunno, but reviews for this one been all over the place - I've watched some of them and read some of them, over the weekend.
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Post by mysterd on Mar 8, 2010 23:47:12 GMT
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Post by mysterd on Mar 9, 2010 0:01:26 GMT
GameSpot - 8.5 (out of 10).Video Review.Written review.GTTVGTTV review - 8.6 from GTTV.Hmmm...so you do your shopping at Save Points now in FF13? That sounds a lot like having vending machines being where you buy items and equipment in the gameworld - i.e. Bioshock and Borderlands.
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Post by Gray Lensman on Mar 13, 2010 0:11:39 GMT
I've played all the way through to Chapter 4 of this game, so I'll give you my current impressions of it so far... Final Fantasy 13 is a very different game than much of what I've come to expect from the series. In fact, I get the feeling that this, more than any of the others, is more like a playable movie than a game as such. By that, I mean that your control over the story is (thus far) nonexistent, there are no real options other than moving ahead in the manner the game wants you to go, and even the combat is very regimented. So if what you're looking for is Dragon Age-style open storytelling, this is not the game for you. As an old-school FF fan that started with FF4, I have to admit that I'm not particularly fond of being forced into a box for this long. The good news, however, is that what the game allows you to do, it does quite well. It's a playable movie, but it's a movie that I'd actually want to see. The characters all have reasonable motivations for being involved in the story, and I get the sense of a gradually unfolding story involving this small group of characters. The graphics (even on the 360) take the series to the next level, and I quite like the leveling system (which is somewhat of a callback to FF10). I like the more fluid style of combat in this game, which is more chaotic but adds a sense of believability to the action that I haven't seen in past games. The trick to this game is timing... if you change your combat tactics too late, you can lose your entire party if you're not careful. Yeah, the shopping is all done at save points. There's also an upgrade system where you acquire components from monsters, which you can then use to build better weapons. You can also sell back or break down obsolete weapons for components. Not a bad approach if you're going to do the game this way, I suppose. Other thoughts: I'm rooting for someone to give Hope a thorough smackdown, preferably Lightning. This kid is irritating, not to mention stupid. Let me count the ways... Yes, Hope's mother is dead because Snow recruited her into the anti-Sanctum resistance, but a) it was her choice, and b) it was the Sanctum that killed her. Why is Hope so obsessed with confronting Snow, who was in no position to save his mother, while at the same time not giving even a second thought to the evil fascist government that brutally murdered her? And that's leaving out the useless and constant whining about his problems and never doing anything to solve them. Can you tell I hate this character?  On the other hand, Sazh (the game's resident Shaft impersonator) is quite cool. And I find Lightning to be a far more interesting and sensible character than Cloud ever was, in spite of the fact that she was directly inspired by him. So far, with the exception of Hope, it looks to be a solid cast. Okay, that's enough out of me for now. More will come later as I progress. |
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Post by mysterd on Mar 13, 2010 14:46:33 GMT
Yeah, the shopping is all done at save points. There's also an upgrade system where you acquire components from monsters, which you can then use to build better weapons. You can also sell back or break down obsolete weapons for components. Not a bad approach if you're going to do the game this way, I suppose. You "suppose?" You just don't sound like you're sold on this new style of shopping here.... |
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Post by Gray Lensman on Mar 13, 2010 15:38:59 GMT
Not completely, no, but then I'm old school. With most RPG's, I like being able to look around for new shops and different deals on weapons. It's part of the whole exploration aspect of the RPG for me. With a game like, say, Dragon Age, part of the fun of it is seeing what kind of cool gear is hiding in a particular part of town or who might have a shop that's off the beaten trail. Not so much with FF13. This game pretty much hands everything to you. Beat a boss, get access to a new shop with the next save point, move on. I haven't even actually spent much money in a while... I get my basic items replenished by either beating monsters or opening chests, and I get better weapons just by upgrading. I like the upgrade system, but it's the straight-line system of exploration that I'm less fond of. Even FF10 had more to explore than this game does so far (though I hear it opens up much later), and much of that game was linear as well. I can appreciate what they're trying to do with this, but it's just not my thing, really. But like I said, there's a lot of positives that balances it all out. |
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Post by Gray Lensman on Mar 14, 2010 1:33:20 GMT
More random thoughts as I proceed into Chapter 4 of this game...
This game expects a certain amount of efficiency from your party to defeat the monsters that you fight. You have a time limit to take down your enemies before you start losing your ranking (which is scored from 1 to 5 stars). Mostly, it doesn't matter that much, but a good score does help you replenish your technical points, which you use to power your Techniques, which includes things like your summoned Eidolons (FF13's versions of Aeons, Guardian Forces, etc.).
But there's more. To get a good ranking, you have to fill the enemy's limit bar and Stagger them. This allows you to get in high attack bonuses, which allows you to kill the enemy much faster. Staggering is not always easy to do, since the limit bar tends to go down over time. That means that to get the high bonuses, you have to inflict damage faster than the bar depletes.
Okay, all of this is fair enough. So how do they expect you to get a decent technical ranking when they constantly give you a working party composed of Sazh and Vanille, two of the worst frontline attackers in the group? Don't get me wrong; I like them both, but they're best geared toward a support role. And some of these monsters wear down pretty slowly, while their limit bars deplete relatively quickly. I'm lucky if I can do better than a 3-star ranking with Sazh and Vanille normally, and with particularly long and challenging battles... well, you see where I'm going with this. I'm winning these fights, but I'm not scoring all that much in technical points.
Oh, yeah, and the battles against your Eidolons (which you must win to acquire your summons) are so far tougher than the boss battles in this game. The object is to use your skills to raise the enemy's bar enough to claim the Eidolon. Oh, yeah, and you have a Doom counter slammed on you at the start of every Eidolon battle, which means you will die if you don't win it fast. What's worse is that the game gives you no clue as to how you're supposed to win them. The Shiva battle particularly is pretty cheap that way, and if you don't know what you're supposed to do, you'll run out of time before you can claim the Eidolon.
But hey, at least the story is good. Welcome to Final Fantasy. ;D
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Post by Gray Lensman on Mar 14, 2010 4:20:16 GMT
Moving on to Chapter 5... I like where things are going here. Well, Hope is my designated party leader for this mission, but we can't have everything in life. ;D Right now, it's just Hope and Lightning, so I'm doing generally better in the battle rankings now. Even when she's outside of my direct control, Lightning is still the most awesome fighter in my group... it's not too often I get less than 4-5 stars in my tech rankings with her there. And for all my problems with his motivations and personality, I can't deny Hope is an extremely versatile mage on the battlefield. I'm also noticing some interesting quirks in the upgrade system... it seems that if you experiment with upgrade components, you will sometimes get an EXP upgrade bonus on your weapons. Kind of useful when trying to upgrade Lightning's main gunblade, I find. I have to hand it to Square Enix. Lightning is one of the better protagonists I've seen in an FF game. Granted, this isn't much of an achievement, but still. Anyway, I like the depth and complexity she's showing so far. And she's managed to influence Hope into being less annoying, which earns style points on its own. |
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Post by Gray Lensman on Mar 14, 2010 8:48:17 GMT
Some more random thoughts, and this will be the last one for a while... I've reached Chapter 6, and it was easier going to get here than I'd expected. It probably helped that I leveled up characters and weapons pretty thoroughly for both Hope and Lightning, mind. Good to see the Behemoths again. They're an old staple of the FF series since at least FF6. They actually aren't that hard to beat in this game either... they're easy to get preemptive strikes on, and once you get a Stagger on them, Lightning will usually pound them into the ground. Snow's little rebel band is called NORA. The name of Hope's mother? Nora. You've got to be kidding me, Square. There's coincidence, and then there's outright contrivance. More style points to Lightning for finally telling Hope what someone should have told him five chapters ago. Not that this even makes a dent in Hope's thick skull, but at least she brought it up. Sigh. This kid is starting to reach Tidus levels of idiocy. Snow is stuck in a drawn-out subplot. Barring one flashback sequence, he hasn't been directly controllable since about three chapters now. But at least we've met Cid in this game. I expect this subplot should advance before too long, though. I hope. Now back to Sazh and Vanille again. Fighting what amounts to an Attack of the Killer Tomatoes in the middle of the forest. Fun little sequence, and the graphics really bring this world to life. And my party is finally getting good battle scores. Anyway, still enjoyable so far, barring some occasional issues. |
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Post by mysterd on Mar 14, 2010 13:03:30 GMT
Not completely, no, but then I'm old school. With most RPG's, I like being able to look around for new shops and different deals on weapons. It's part of the whole exploration aspect of the RPG for me. With a game like, say, Dragon Age, part of the fun of it is seeing what kind of cool gear is hiding in a particular part of town or who might have a shop that's off the beaten trail. I do agree w/ you - part of doing the shopping in towns is to also get the player really immersed into the gameworld and hear what the NPC's have to say about the gameworld and the events happening in the gameworld. Also, I thought one of the main reasons in most RPG's to have you go to a town to shop, see the towns and the inhabitants of gameworld was to take a break from the combat for a time period! This mechanic of FF13 having you go to a save point to do your shopping sounds a little bit similar to the vending machines littered around the gameworld of Borderlands and Bioshock - in which those two games both really are shooter/action-RPG's - yeah, especially true with Borderlands. You know, from the sound of things here w/ the way FF13 pushes the player in a straight line (until like Chapter 10, I think reviewers have said - don't quote me on that) - this sounds like a huge dungeon-crawl kind of game. Of course, Square has gone on record saying one of their major influences was the Call of Duty series and other (linear) FPS's. |
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Post by Gray Lensman on Mar 14, 2010 21:10:22 GMT
Haven't played Call of Duty, so I can't speak to the similarities, but I can't say I'm surprised. The camera control functions feel in a lot of ways like a FPS. I also wouldn't be surprised if they took a few hints from Mass Effect in blending FPS and RPG elements. In some ways, that's kind of a shame... I never warmed all that much to shooters, and I'd rather not see this done as a trend. Then again, every FF game is different to the previous ones in gameplay, so maybe they'll do something different when they get around to 15. Yeah, I've heard that the game opens up around Chapter 11 or thereabouts, but beyond that, it's pretty much a dungeon crawl in terms of gameplay that's built around the story. There are some exceptions here and there, though... for instance, there's a flashback cutscene where you take Snow around the beach and just talk to people until the story progresses. Good news, though... I'm now at Chapter 7, and it's back to Lightning and Hope for now. So only a few more chapters until the linear crawling ends. With any luck. |
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Post by Gray Lensman on Mar 16, 2010 19:23:13 GMT
Onwards to Chapter 9... Hope has gotten less annoying at the point I'm at, mainly due to story and character developments. Hope finally realized that the whole revenge thing against Snow was a bad idea, and it turned out that it was all just a cover to deal with his personal issues anyway. Still kinda dumb, but at least there's real characterization here. Snow has a real idiot moment late in Chapter 7. So Snow's brilliant plan to keep the Sanctum military from killing civilians is... to scare the civilians off by playing the bad guy. So naturally, the mob concludes they have to protect their homes and try to kill our heroes. Great tactical plan there, Patton. Sigh. The end of Chapter 7 was a beast, mainly because the game sticks you with a new party against a tough boss without giving you a chance to set your own battle Paradigms. The worst of that particular fight is that it's deceptive... late in the battle, the boss gets progressively harder, and if you don't have a very good defensive/healing Paradigm, you will get napalmed to death. Guess what the game didn't give me on the first run? Fortunately, I was able to set my Paradigms on the second try. Chapter 8 was fun... Sazh and Vanille in a Chocobo theme park, which is a neat concept. Reminded me a little of the Gold Saucer in FF7, though I wish it could have been more interactive like it was in FF7. Memo to the Evil Empire's military: it isn't efficient or ruthless to start shooting indiscriminately just to capture or kill the enemy; it's stupid. Doubly so when a large part of your strength is propaganda and good publicity. It is possible and even advantageous to strategically pick and choose battles to minimize collateral damage, you know. And the people of Cocoon still think the Sanctum are the good guys? I am more than halfway through the game... and yet I still have no option to switch out party members. Even though I have four members currently in my group, and I have an active group limit of three. I don't get this at all. Previous FF games let you switch out party members early in the game, so why do this here? I'm currently in a good spot to level grind, which I badly need to do. It's in your best interest to win as many battles as you can, if only to raise your attributes enough to win the later boss battles. And I had to avoid a fair few difficult battles in Chapter 7. Fortunately, I have both a save point and two sets of enemies that give good experience and items... so I may be here for a while. |
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Post by mysterd on Apr 1, 2010 21:27:11 GMT
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Post by Gray Lensman on Apr 2, 2010 2:07:20 GMT
Yeah, I'd say Yahtzee gives a pretty fair review of the first few hours of the game, in addition to being a funny take on it. FF13 does get gradually better, and the story is eventually explained as it goes, but it's a really drawn-out process of watching the story unfold. But I also have to agree with Yahtzee that the story should be at least reasonably clear early on without the use of footnotes. I can't help but wonder if we'll see Spoony review this one in a few years, honestly. ;D |
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