The Very Big Final Fantasy XIII Thread

[Kyanbu The Legend]

Originally Posted by Doc ock rokc

Is this a Rent or a Buy guys?
I can only buy new games every once and a while so Be picky

Depends entirely on rather or not you can sit through 3 hours gameplay time worth of tut after tut.

Rent it first. Then buy it if you like it.

[Yumil]

Originally Posted by Mirai Gen

Roommate went to get his on midnight launch.

There were like almost a hundred people there, and only one of them wanted the 360 version.

So, yeah. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

I sell more arcade 360's to people whod rather have a ps3 but dont want to save the $100 more for one.

It's probably my area.

[Lost in Time]

The only reason that someone would want the 360 version is that they don't own a PS3. That was my position.

Anyway, just 3 hours in, and I'm liking it. I enjoy Snow. Vanille does alternate between me smiling a little bit and wanting her punched. Speaking of punching, I laugh every time Lightning punches someone, hope she does it more through the game. Also I agree that I would have wanted Hope's Mom instead of Hope.

Linearity doesn't bother me, as most games are. And the tutorials aren't bad, they really go easy into letting you feel comfortable with the battle system, which I like. If they threw me into the first battle and said "Here's everything, have at it!" I probably would have gave up.

Can't wait to get out of work to play it some more.

[Azisien]

I actually got the 360 version to support their decision to go multiplatform with it. And because I don't like the couch where my PS3 is. :p

[Lost in Time]

But now you need to get up every 20 hours to switch disks! That's no way to beat laziness!

[Bonepart]

I picked up the 360 version because it's my preferred console to play on. If something comes out for both I usually get the 360 one

I only managed to play for 4 hours last night, so I'm still in Chapter 3

[bluestarultor]

Okay, I have to say that despite my time on the FF wiki, there was just so much I didn't know, it's amazing. I was pleasantly surprised. Was watching Phantom play last night. The only issues I had with it are:

1.) Georgia Van Cuylenburg might be a great comedian (never heard of her before this game), but she has no VA experience and Vanille is really inconsistent, especially at first. She seems to improve a bit after a while.

2.) Being mostly linear doesn't bother me. It's a JRPG and the scenery is gorgeous, and shops at every save point is convenient as hell. Also, who's going to sell to l'Cie in person, anyway? Fuck towns, they're always 90% empty space. There's nothing wrong with the setup.

HOWEVER. It really feels like there's no place to stop and rest for as far as we've played. Save points abound, but you never seem to reach a point where it feels right to stop, which leads to you feeling just as fatigued as the characters, who are literally falling over at the point we left off. I really don't mind the tutorials, in fact, I think it's handled well, but the entire tutorial portion is written without any sort of pause and a driving pace, like being tied to the back of a moving truck, and the driver isn't stopping regardless of how exhausted you're getting. I get that it's all supposed to be roughly continuous with the occasional flashback, but, you know, they only ever stop to take a breather once, and even then, you have Lightning operating like a machine and running off, which is where Phantom and I finally said fuck it and went to sleep with as much of the party together as possible.



Don't get me wrong, the game's been nothing short of amazing so far, with some pretty good writing and some actually good party banter along the way. That alone is worth a gold medal. The systems being slowly introduced has been really helpful and I helped Phantom figure out the full depth of the battle system available to us long before it was properly introduced, which is great, because he's already whipping it out like a pro and just having the option for more advanced players is great. The ability to continue the game from right before you entered battle is awesome, as are all the special items you can use to improve your chances in battle before you enter the fight. Potions healing the whole party sounds too easy, but it's amazingly balanced. The Paradigm Shift system works amazingly well. Battle is fast-paced and challenging without being overwhelming. The game is aesthetically GLORIOUS. Crystarium takes the idea of the Sphere Grid system and makes it beautiful and even easier to move around in, letting you put points literally in the direction of any node branching from a lit one, even without being able to reach it all at once, and CP is relatively easy to come by. The fact that your party members grow even without being in battle means you don't have to worry about them seriously lagging behind so long as they're tagging along (we have yet to see if members not present see this benefit, but I'd guess not).

The entire game is nothing but glorious except for those two issues. If you have the stamina, it's definitely worth a look, if not a buy.

[EVILNess]

Okay, made it to chapter 4, and then stopped. My opinions so far...

Snow... is slightly annoying and very loud. Also kinda whiny. 2nd least favorite character.

Vanille... is Riku on crack, with a British sounding accent. I don't hate her at all, surprisingly. Probably cause of Sazh. I am totally calling that she is from Pulse right here, right now because of the weird Yevon prayer thing she does with her hands and a few other things.

Hope... is a little bitch. I hate him so far.

Sazh... is my hero. I love him so much, best character in the game so far. He makes a great foil for Vanille since she is like SUPER HAPPY POSITIVE and then Sazh looks at her and is all like "Yeah, we are probably gonna die."

Lightning... I am not sure how to quantify her yet, she hasn't really done anything but scowl, frown, kick a few soldiers ass, and then walk off leaving everyone behind.

Not missing the towns at all, great story, and I am kinda having fun putting the pieces of what the hell is going on together. The only things I don't like so far is that is Lightning dies its game over and Hope. Overall, glad I decided to ignore all the bad things I heard and buy it.

[Mirai Gen]

Watching my roommate play it. Looks pretty fun. I'm kinda glad I can go into the living room while he's playing it and see that he's fighting something 90% of the time instead of faffing about in towns.

Found out character switching doesn't get unlocked till Chapter Eleven. Jesus. Overkill much?

[Azisien]

The level-up system bugs me a bit. I don't mind that it's just wacky-crystal version of a sphere grid, sphere grids are okay. I don't like how the game decides what level I can be at. I don't even grind that much but I find my characters generally maxed out and sitting there with CP, waiting for the next boss fight so the game deems fit that my grid can be expanded.