Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

[pietasterp]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

Every aspect of this game, save for the graphics, is awful.

To each his own. This has been argued ad nauseum, so no sense in doing it again.

I really enjoyed the game. So much so that I am going back to 5-star the missions on Pulse, and I never do that sort of thing. If there's a major criticism I have of the game, it's that the full potential isn't even realized until AFTER the game is over (!). The post-game makes you realize they should have introduced a lot of these mechanics and battles way earlier, because most people probably quit before or right after beating the story, and there's a ton more to do after.

[Lerxt]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

To each his own. This has been argued ad nauseum, so no sense in doing it again.

I really enjoyed the game. So much so that I am going back to 5-star the missions on Pulse, and I never do that sort of thing. If there's a major criticism I have of the game, it's that the full potential isn't even realized until AFTER the game is over (!). The post-game makes you realize they should have introduced a lot of these mechanics and battles way earlier, because most people probably quit before or right after beating the story, and there's a ton more to do after.

I too loved the game. I have played all of them in the 3d era too. GREAT experience.

[Chrisksaint]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

If you have the time, definitely finish it up. Seriously, I felt really satisfied after beating this game for some reason. It was really epic - or at least it felt that way - in a way that I was expecting (but didn't get) from Mass Effect 3 as an example. I think it was a great ride, and if you get into the characters and story, I think it's worth it. Especially since we all know what the game is now; I found I didn't miss the towns or other things people complained about (since most of those things are just thin veneers of the streamlined presentation of FFXIII anyway). It's a corridor, that part is true. But it's in service of the story, which I felt was worth it.

I think most FF endings have been pretty epic just from the long thought out stories they create.

[Candyman5]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

I still have my $600 PS3 waiting for the FFVII remake..... Last one I truly loved was Final Fantasy X.

[ubernoob]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

Last one I truly loved was 8. Between 7 and 8 those are literally my last great memories of Final Fantasy. XI doesn't count for me... Never got to playing 9 much, and the later ones are a good playthrough, but meh overall.

[pietasterp]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

The last one I played was VII, on the old PS1. I loved that one (as did most people), then my console purchases followed the upgrade tree: PS1 -> Dreamcast -> XBox -> XBox360, so I haven't had the chance to play a FF until now. Maybe that's why I have a different reaction to the game than other people? I have no reference point from a "modern" FF, and this was the first HD, brilliant-looking FF experience for me, so I was actually blown away. Aside from that, though, I feel like the journey was totally worth it, I loved the battle system (similar to Grandia II, one of the better JRPG options on Dreamcast IMO), and the characters were, I thought, really good. I like how the depth is revealed slowly (too slowly?) over the course of the game, and the flashbacks were really effective in revealing how it all comes together. And, as I may have alluded to earlier, most endings for games that I've played lately totally suck. I thought the way the ending was presented, the epic scope of the game, and the overall polish - Hollywood-type production values - really left me pumped. I was actually sorry to see the game end, and I got a little emo there too...anyway, it left enough of an impression on me that I went out and got XIII-2, which I hopefully will have time to get started on this weekend.

But again, maybe this opinion is because I spent the last decade playing NFL2k, NBA 2k, and College Hoops, and Final Fantasy from my gaming perspective fell off the face of the earth around the PS1 days and resurfaced only recently...

[Chrisksaint]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

FFX was my last favorite, I played that one over and over. I have 7 that I downloaded through PSN, 9 as well but never got around to beating didn't like the feel almost too much of a retro vibe for me. Need to get 8 that one was pretty damn awesome, haven't played that on in ages and don't remember most of the big story lines.

[Burns11]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

FFXII was the last one I enjoyed, liked nearly everything about it. Of course, that only means I didn't like XIII so...yeah. X-2 and XIII were the only 2 I didn't particularly care for.

[ubernoob]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

FFX was my last favorite, I played that one over and over. I have 7 that I downloaded through PSN, 9 as well but never got around to beating didn't like the feel almost too much of a retro vibe for me. Need to get 8 that one was pretty damn awesome, haven't played that on in ages and don't remember most of the big story lines.

The card game and junctioning system in 8 are absolutely perfect. The storylines were forgettable for the most part, but man...

[Candyman5]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

FFXII was the last one I enjoyed, liked nearly everything about it. Of course, that only means I didn't like XIII so...yeah. X-2 and XIII were the only 2 I didn't particularly care for.

Dont ever mention that terrible POS game ever ever again. It was bad, really bad. I mean it was cool going back to the FFX areas and such but the Rock Star, battle system and all really sucked. Not to mention the character selection. Yuna and Rikku were in FFX but man that game....uhhhhhhhh.

[Chrisksaint]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

I didn't mind FFX-2 that much it was kind of weird, but like said FFX was one of my favorite games of all time.

Going through playing this again to the end to hopefully pick up FF13-2 later on, it's not as annoying as I first thought it was back when it came out. Ignoring the previous games combat system this one isn't bad adds some strategy, just the linear path is a killer.

[Candyman5]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

Huge Bump But.....what was the final verdict after all these years. Really wouldnt mind going back through this game to scratch that FF itch.

[pietasterp]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

Huge Bump But.....what was the final verdict after all these years. Really wouldnt mind going back through this game to scratch that FF itch.

Epic grave-digging. Nice work!

I think many people entrenched themselves in whatever viewpoint they initially formed of the game (some before ever even playing the game themselves), and that subsequently colored any/all impressions of the game even after people eventually played through it themselves. Then after it became more-or-less fashionable to hate it, people basically didn't change their minds. So, the 'final verdict', if you believe the interwebs, is likely negative.

Personally - and I'll qualify this by saying I'm not a Final Fantasy super-fan or anything (prior to XIII the last FF I played was VII on the PS1) - I loved XIII. Now, I did pick it up and play it many years after it was released, and so my experience was pretty much devoid of any hype (positive or negative) so it felt almost like I was playing it in a vacuum, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It probably also helped that I picked it up around the time that superstorm/hurricane hit the NYC area a few years back (those of you in the tri-state will well-remember that), and so with no cable and no way to get around the city for almost a month afterwards, I had a heck of a lot of free time and vanishingly few other options of what to do with my spare time. So maybe that made it seem a lot better than it was as well.

I was really impressed with the overall production values of the game. The graphics were absolutely gorgeous, and the different worlds were really interesting to run around in. Yes, it's a corridor, but since I enjoyed the story (it starts off goofy/slow/confusing, but if you stick with it I felt there was a good payoff) and the combat, that aspect didn't bother me at all. I never really missed towns or traditional RPG elements that were missing from the game, since I'm not a huge RPG guy anyway and honestly, I tend to play every RPG more or less the same way so it all gets boring for me pretty quickly. I hate inventory management, I don't particularly like aimlessly wandering around big open (empty) worlds, and level-grinding brings out the worst in my OCD qualities in games so I'd just as soon it not be there.

I really enjoyed the combat most of all. I found it interesting and strategic, but unfortunately the latter aspect doesn't really reveal itself until well after the main storyline is done. The one criticism I really agree with of the game is that the full potential of the combat system doesn't reveal itself until after the game is over when you can elect to go monster-hunting on Pulse (a little late, to say the least, considering most people probably didn't finish the main game). It's during the post-game that you really see how the paradigm-switching can be interesting/exciting and fast-paced.

I also really enjoyed the characters, which I know a lot of people disagree with. And I really like how epic the game felt overall, including culminating in one of the most satisfying endings to a game I've seen in some time. Honestly, for me - and probably no one will agree with this - other than "Red Dead Redemption" and Modern Warfare 2 - FFXIII was my favorite gaming experience of the 360/PS3 generation. It was a lot of fun to play through.

(note: I did also play all the way through XIII-2 and XIII-3, but I can't really recommend them as much because I liked each sequel less than the prior game. Many will likely disagree, but I felt like each game felt less-and-less 'epic', and the lack of a real squadron or team of characters made the games a lot less interesting to me.)

TL;DR: My opinion is it's worth a play-through.

[TheNumber35]

Re: Final Fantasy 13 (PS3/XBOX 360)

I'd agree with the post above for the most part. I enjoyed it for what it was. I seem to remember you being like myself Candy (a pretty big FF fan) so my advice is simple: don't expect it to be a typical FF title and you'll be golden.

The game itself is 100% linear until the very end (Pulse), the combat system and overall story/cutscene aesthetics are a plus for me (granted the story can get real confusing with events playing out both in real time and through sporadic flashbacks.)

As for the sequels: I liked XIII-2 as a whole, was meh on Lightning Returns.