Raine Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 FF13 has been a love-hate game of the previous generation drawing mostly hate from players who see it as a departure from the original formula of the final fantasy series but away from the growing consensus of then and now, that games, RPGs in particular, should include open worlds, real-time combat, in-game choices, etc. FF13 disallowed all of those, but created a linear story-driven graphically-focuses game that relied on story-telling, world-building, and moral and ethical issues between characters and the story world. When I first played the game, I was on the love side but just barely as I could see how the combat was artistically pleasing but lagging behind even contemporary competition, and the story took a while to build up momentum or even like half the characters who ranged from angsty soldier girl, to hopeless romantic hero, to Hope... but if the story did the characters any favor it was developing all six of them in a subtle way, that didn't change their personality but rather their mindset and their relations to others showing them as well-written characters that don't feel forced by the author's hand. The story's grand plot line is somewhat contrived as it's puppet-ed by in-game forces which can either be explained as trying-to-be-creative or Deus ex machina to show off all the cool assets SE made. But the characters, and art created one of the best in all JRPGs in recent times. And the music, F***, the music is good... actually it's why I wrote this as I remembered the game through the OST today. What were your thoughts on FF13 and have they changed over time or do you bear your torch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andx Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 I am a big FF fan and played FF XIII for the first time last summer and I actually very much enjoyed the game. I'd heard some of the common complaints before playing it and I understand them but for me the experience was still a good one. I will admit that when it comes to being linear the game had me a little confused. Most of the game was incredibly linear in that it was very clearly go down this one way and never look back cuz the plot ain't slowing down. Now in terms of typical FF world exploration this isn't anything like what we've seen before. Normally you have lots of towns and places to explore and back track to whenever you want. But XIII kept going. While I would have appreciated some more of that I didn't mind the plot continuing to drive forward. The thing for me is how the game hits you with open world exploration all at once rather late in the game. I played the first 10 of the 13 chapters and was at terms with how linear things were going to be. Then chapter 11 shows up and suddenly you have a ton of exploring to do. It was a real breath of fresh air but it quickly sort of lost its magic. And that was because all of the side quests that opened up to you were rarely anything more than go walk around and find this monster and kill it. I'm used to sidequests providing at least interaction with somewhat interesting npcs but FF XIII decides to give you all your optional content on a desolate land where all you can do is go kill stronger monsters. I felt the plot wasn't anything new or impressive honestly. Pretty typical FF villain stuff going on, manipulating stuff and wanting to basically destroy everything. I think the fact the game's shorter than it's predecessors sort of lends itself to feeling a little rushed or at least not as developed as it could have been. I did appreciate the character interactions a lot though. No one in the cast particularly bugged me, for too long anyway. Lightning being the painfully obvious female Cloud is kind of annoying but she is very much her own character. Everyone was kinda angsty for a while at the same time but I liked seeing everyone pull out of their funks and get stuff done. I liked the changes to the battle system a lot. Not that I don't love the standard ATB, search through menus type thing. But keeping things active like they did really fit well with the graphics and feel of the game. I liked that boss fights in particular would slap you in the face if you ever got too complacent in battle. And struggling through tough fights to find out a particular paradigm strategy that works was actually fun for me. Overall I really liked it. I understand that it's very easy to compare to FF 7, 8, 9, 10 or whatever other number was near and dear to your heart and not like it for being so different. But I just took the game for itself and had a good experience with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 I wish I could write as much but basically my idea is that the game was fun, and GORGEOUS. It was an experience that's for sure. And I really enjoyed that experience. Honestly I get it was linear and simple but it was just plain engaging to watch and such that I didn't care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo. Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 I'm very interested in playing the trilogy, should i? I want to because i heard the GORGEOUS music from Theathrythm. (Like at least 3/4 of my favourite tracks in the game are from the FFXIII trilogy) Also because i need gifts to ask for since christmas and my birthday are coming up soon, and my relatives already started asking what i'd like... So yeah, should i play the trilogy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andx Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 I wish I could write as much but basically my idea is that the game was fun, and GORGEOUS. It was an experience that's for sure. And I really enjoyed that experience. Honestly I get it was linear and simple but it was just plain engaging to watch and such that I didn't care. Oh that is something I forgot to mention. The game is beautiful and the capabilities of cgi in the super hd cut scenes was mind blowing but even out of those it was pretty. I'm very interested in playing the trilogy, should i? I want to because i heard the GORGEOUS music from Theathrythm. (Like at least 3/4 of my favourite tracks in the game are from the FFXIII trilogy) Also because i need gifts to ask for since christmas and my birthday are coming up soon, and my relatives already started asking what i'd like... So yeah, should i play the trilogy? I haven't touched XIII-2 or Lightning Returns yet. People have other issues with them but I think they just don't like that the game that they didn't like got two sequels. I can't really say much about them of course. At the least I would recommend the first game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smear Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 Oh god, I love FFXIII & FXIII-2. Lightning Returns is a cool concept but done pretty poorly. I didn't understand why a lot of people disliked this game. It has a stunning and extremely diverse landscapes and the music, oh my god the music is beautiful. The story and gameplay are just as good! I mean I had a great time going along with those characters and seeing them develop. It's seriously one of the better games that I've played. I think a lot of the reason that people didn't like it is because they didn't see it as much of a Final Fantasy game and instantly called it sheet. (Same as BK N&B which I had loads of fun the gameplay with but it really was not a BK game in the slightest.) I'll be honest, I didn't get into the FF series early on and it's too late for me to play the older ones (probably because of the technology gap and what I'm used to now or something). Oh and the XIII-2 just took the gameplay from XIII and expanded on it. The new third party member of getting enemy crystals is a lot of fun. Trying to hunt down the best and rarest monsters and trying to make an awesome build out of them is so exciting. God I love these two games so much. Lightning Returns is hard, because I really want to play it but it's just so different that I can't. I haven't touched XIII-2 or Lightning Returns yet. People have other issues with them but I think they just don't like that the game that they didn't like got two sequels. I can't really say much about them of course. At the least I would recommend the first game. You should really try XIII-2! I enjoy the gameplay more than the XIII. Although the story in XIII was better IMO, but that's because XIII-2 gets really convoluted and I prefer the main party. (Although Serah and Noel are pretty cool). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo. Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 You can play all the old ones if you have either a ps3 or a psvita Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smear Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 You can play all the old ones if you have either a ps3 or a psvita I've tried. I just can't do it. I can't play older games for long and I have literally no idea why. Not a fault of mine or the games, I just can't get into the games for some reason and I think it's because I tried to play it so many years after they came out. That's why I'm keen for the FFVII remake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tentacruel Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 I enjoyed my play-through but all in all it's pretty bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerion Brightflame Posted November 18, 2015 Report Share Posted November 18, 2015 Since I replayed the game pretty recently this is kinda convient; The story is worse than I gave it credit for originally. Like, the first playthrough it is breathtaking due to some of the moments in it. But when you know what's going to happen, it actually feels a little rushed and a little bland. I think part of the issue with that is that because you spend a lot of the game bouncing between people, what feels like a long time in game is actually a short short time for the characters, and makes some of the rapid development a bit jarring. This is also reinforced by the fact the story kinda just disintegrates (In terms of advancing it) after about chapter 10? In terms of the characters I mean. The combat is significantly better than I gave it credit for; Like maybe it's tedious for individual fights, but it's so wonderful to fight bosses with the system, more so that say the old turn based ones, or the Gambit system of 12. You feel involved without it being you dictating every little thing. The visuals remain stunning, but not as good as it was the first time. Like I think the biggest thing that could've happened would've just to be introduce the Open World a little sooner; Or at least make it a little more than it was. The Open World feels like a relatively minor part of the game, and that's to it's detriment. I get why though, because it's thematic to the differences between Gran Pulse and Cocoon, in the one is more open to nature and developing organically, and one is mediated and controlled. Like Nautilus; Imagine how good Nautilus could've been? If we actually got the chance to just relax and play some minigames before hitting us with this massive emotional moment. All in all... It's an okay game; Not as bad as it gets a rep for, not as good as it could've been with a few different changes. Like refocusing; It should've either focused on the story and been like a version of The Last of Us for FF, or been more typical to what was expected. FFXIII-2 is a game I need to replay, I just find the opening segment so tedious, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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