The Very Big Final Fantasy XIII Thread

[bluestarultor]

LESS BAYONETTA, MORE FF13!


I have to say I don't mind Nomura's designs and I respect him for both his ability to build from the ground up and to translate Amano's very traditional art into a usable form.

Like, FFX is a study of the range of his abilities, as Amano had little, if any, input on most of the cast. Things range from the ultra-traditional Yuna to the ultra-modern Tidus. That puts him at a pretty good range of styles, including a bit of self-indulgence in Lulu's dress. XD

To call him a bad designer really isn't fair, since he's given a setting and told to design for it, or given art and told to translate it into a usable form. Given the settings and art he's been handed over the years, I think he's done a really good job.

[Kim]

I hate a lot of Nomura's character designs, but X was the worst it got in the main franchise, as far as I know. Tidus is awful, Wakka is awful, Lulu is awful, and the Al Bhed are awful. Yuna and Auron are pretty great, and Rikku's isn't too bad once she rejoins your party, though.

I don't mind it so much in Kingdom Hearts because it's supposed to be a ridiculous nonsense world where Disney and Final Fantasy drink beers together, and TWEWY was pretty damn great in terms of character designs. The man can do good character designs, and sometimes he does, but other times his brain falls out.

[bluestarultor]

Tidus and Wakka aren't as bad once you realize they're wearing sports uniforms. And they actually make a good deal of sense given the sport.

And like I said, Lulu is just his self-indulgence. All the belts had to go somewhere, right? XD


The point being, he designed all that from nothing. He was given the idea of an Asian-inspired setting and was told to design for it. And overall, I think he did pretty well with it. If you look at Yuna, Kimahri, and Auron, they are all Asian-inspired. Wakka is less-so, but he serves as a bridge to Tidus' Blitzball uniform. Lulu was designed to be exotic and there's some question as to whether she's even human, especially after Paine came around, and Rikku is Al-Bhed, which is a holdover from the original idea to keep things going in the technological direction that was tossed out. All of it sounds like a mixed bag until you realize that it largely fits onto an even spectrum, or maybe even a sort of wheel. Like

Rikku->Tidus->Wakka->Yuna->Kimahri->Lulu->Auron->Rikku




Edit: Anywho, you can't accuse his designs for FF13 of being out of place. From the futuristic area of Cocoon, you have Lightning, reminiscent of a Roman soldier with her red cape, Sazh, who also wears something resembling a uniform, Snow with his trench coat, and Hope with his outfit, while from the wilds of Pulse, you have Vanille, mostly based on traditional African dress, and Fang, more based off traditional Indian dress or certain other parts of Africa. Given that Lightning and Sazh were both soldiers, and Hope and Snow were both civilians, the only real disparity is between Vanille and Fang for wearing very different clothes while coming from the same tribe.

[Kim]

Originally Posted by bluestarultor

Tidus and Wakka aren't as bad once you realize they're wearing sports uniforms. And they actually make a good deal of sense given the sport.

Don't lie. It reflects poorly on you. Wearing a half shirt where one sleeve deviates into some leather webbing... thing does not make sense. Wearing overalls does not make sense, either. When one of the legs is shorts, and the other leg is short shorts... just... argh. The future looks fuckin' dumb.

Edit: Anywho, you can't accuse his designs for FF13 of being out of place.

I can accuse Snow's Buddy Team for looking fucking dumb. I know they probably die or something fairly early on, but goddamn those outfits are fucking awful.

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by NonCon

Don't lie. It reflects poorly on you. Wearing a half shirt where one sleeve deviates into some leather webbing... thing does not make sense. Wearing overalls does not make sense, either. When one of the legs is shorts, and the other leg is short shorts... just... argh. The future looks fuckin' dumb.

Well, you have to consider things like laterality and which limbs a person is most likely to block with. Tidus has a longer right pant leg because he's right-handed and likely is going to use his right knee on the ball when deflecting or positioning it. The mesh on the back is to help prevent opposing players from taking out his kicking knee from behind where it's most vulnerable. His left leg actually has the leg zipped off, indicating a lefty would have the option to be switched around, and it reduces drag on his weaker leg. His left arm is padded because when blocking, assuming the opposing team is all right-handed, the ball will be speeding at him on his own left side from the front. His right arm is kept free to less hinder it while making hand passes. You'll notice his "overalls" are actually in two layers, meaning better padding for his abdomen.

Most of it makes sense, really. The only real problem is his hood-like collar.

I can accuse Snow's Buddy Team for looking fucking dumb. I know they probably die or something fairly early on, but goddamn those outfits are fucking awful.

Those aren't Nomura's designs, though. Ikeda did them, along with all the other non-essential NPCs.

[Kim]

Originally Posted by bluestarultor

Well, you have to consider things like laterality and which limbs a person is most likely to block with. Tidus has a longer right pant leg because he's right-handed and likely is going to use his right knee on the ball when deflecting or positioning it. The mesh on the back is to help prevent opposing players from taking out his kicking knee from behind where it's most vulnerable. His left leg actually has the leg zipped off, indicating a lefty would have the option to be switched around, and it reduces drag on his weaker leg. His left arm is padded because when blocking, assuming the opposing team is all right-handed, the ball will be speeding at him on his own left side from the front. His right arm is kept free to less hinder it while making hand passes. You'll notice his "overalls" are actually in two layers, meaning better padding for his abdomen.

I guarantee you that if blitzball were an actual goddamn sport, they'd have vastly superior ways to do everything you said, and they'd probably look less dumb, too.

Even if Tidus outfit makes sense, it is aesthetically awful.

Those aren't Nomura's designs, though. Ikeda did them, along with all the other non-essential NPCs.

Whatevs. They're still super awful. So goddamn awful.

[Professor Smarmiarty]

Originally Posted by bluestarultor

Well, you have to consider things like laterality and which limbs a person is most likely to block with. Tidus has a longer right pant leg because he's right-handed and likely is going to use his right knee on the ball when deflecting or positioning it. The mesh on the back is to help prevent opposing players from taking out his kicking knee from behind where it's most vulnerable. His left leg actually has the leg zipped off, indicating a lefty would have the option to be switched around, and it reduces drag on his weaker leg. His left arm is padded because when blocking, assuming the opposing team is all right-handed, the ball will be speeding at him on his own left side from the front. His right arm is kept free to less hinder it while making hand passes. You'll notice his "overalls" are actually in two layers, meaning better padding for his abdomen.

Most of it makes sense, really. The only real problem is his hood-like collar.

Hahahaha, oh man. I remember in primary school we had to design super advanced costumes for the local rugby team and I did shit like this. It's fucking nonsense.

[Regulus Tera]

Blues.

Blues I just wanted to tell you you're my favourite poster.

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by Smarty McBarrelpants

Hahahaha, oh man. I remember in primary school we had to design super advanced costumes for the local rugby team and I did shit like this. It's fucking nonsense.

I'm not saying it's a perfect solution, just relating my interpretation of the justification. You'll notice he has traditional padding sticking out of the short leg of his pants, too. :p

Originally Posted by Regulus Tera

Blues.

Blues I just wanted to tell you you're my favourite poster.

Aww! :o

[Bob The Mercenary]

Had the opportunity to try Final Fantasy XIII a few days early, but only got about two hours in before the game had to be returned.

The short - it's absolutely gorgeous. The cut scenes and character animations are as expected from seeing the trailers. The environments (at least in the opening scenes) are filled with activity going on around you as you progress through the level. As in you'll be running down a corridor as you look up and see a battle taking place above you, as ships crash land around you. At one point you are walking on a lake that was frozen into crystal. Your character's image reflects off of every wave and gets distorted according to the angle.

But, as other reviews have already pointed out, so far this game is a straight line. The first hours I talked about are really a two hour long tutorial filled with running into battles and mashing the X button until it ends (or oh noes you have to use a potion). And there are plenty of potions. In one boss battle I used five of them and still had 25 left in my inventory. I haven't quite made it to the overworld map yet, I'm wondering when exactly that will be.

I'm willing to let the baby step opening battles go if for nothing other than the plot has been engaging (I am now convinced Lightning is the female version of Steven Seagal). The characters are each funny in their own way, but clearly have a deeper story yet to be revealed. Oh, and you effectively have a five character party about an hour in.

The dialogue is clearly anime. The only two people who aren't melodramatic about it are Snow and the guy with the chocobo in his fro. And Hope is scared of absolutely everything. Let's see where this goes. I'm picking my copy up Wednesday, should give me enough time to find out who the Origami Killer is.