Honestly, wth.
FFXIII has a pretty solid cast for an FF title. Did you see one of the main cast being neglected? No. They got plenty of background context, unlike some FF characters *cough*Selphie, Eiko, Irvine, Penelo... *cough*
To me, FFXIII excelled at visuals, cast (including lots of development) and soundtrack.
The rest you can critique all you want, like story and stuff, but
when I see someone bashing those three things, I always go... :/
________________
source: animenewsnetwork
Join SRoMU Scanlations or visit #SRoMU at IRCHighWay.
Manga Poll
Manga is the Japanese equivalent of comics
with a unique style and following. Join the revolution! Read some manga today!
Join #baka-updates @irc.irchighway.net
RSS Feed
Forums
FFXIII
From User
Message Body
Member1:18 am, Apr 28 2010
Posts: 9026
Member
3:23 am, Apr 28 2010
Posts: 18
3:23 am, Apr 28 2010
Posts: 18
Honestly, to me the biggest flaw in the game was the battle system. It was enjoyable, but I liked the system when I played with the basic idea in Legend of Legia. And the leveling system felt like a blend of the license system from XII and the sphere grid from X. I can handle the story being slow to develop... I think just because I've spent most of my 30 years reading, or rather waiting, on multi-part novel series. I liked the characters. Yes, some didn't feel fleshed out quite the way I would have liked, but they did get more backstory and fleshing-out than did many of the side characters in the previous FF titles.
And for doc, I'm old enough to remember playing the original on the old NES, and I boast about the fact that I still own every FF from the game boy titles, to the re-releases they've done on the PS1, plus on the kids' DS's, the gamecube titles, to the current one for my 360. Personally, my favorite is VI, but I've enjoyed them all, even to some extent X-2. While I don't think the franchise is dead, I'm not as... pleased... with the latest iterations carrying the title as I have been with the NES, SNES, and PS1 titles.
(please excuse any utter stupidity in this post... I'm off away from the family and a little lit at the moment)
And for doc, I'm old enough to remember playing the original on the old NES, and I boast about the fact that I still own every FF from the game boy titles, to the re-releases they've done on the PS1, plus on the kids' DS's, the gamecube titles, to the current one for my 360. Personally, my favorite is VI, but I've enjoyed them all, even to some extent X-2. While I don't think the franchise is dead, I'm not as... pleased... with the latest iterations carrying the title as I have been with the NES, SNES, and PS1 titles.
(please excuse any utter stupidity in this post... I'm off away from the family and a little lit at the moment)
I LOVE YOU, OK
Member
5:34 am, Apr 28 2010
Posts: 822
The older games seem to be better at least for one reason: the freedom of the game makers.
You're never too old for games!
________________
Far-off places with sweet sounding names.
Quote from lemondude
man if you can remember buying and playing FF7 or older, you are too old for games, and therefore shouldn't complain.
You're never too old for games!
________________
Far-off places with sweet sounding names.
Member
6:03 pm, Apr 28 2010
Posts: 320
6:03 pm, Apr 28 2010
Posts: 320
Quote from Dr. Love
Honestly, wth.
FFXIII has a pretty solid cast for an FF title. Did you see one of the main cast being neglected? No. They got plenty of background context, unlike some FF characters *cough*Selphie, Eiko, Irvine, Penelo... *cough*
To me, FFXIII excelled at visuals, cast (including lots of development) and soundtrack.
The rest you can critique all you want, like story and stuff, but
when I see someone bashing those three things, I always go... :/
FFXIII has a pretty solid cast for an FF title. Did you see one of the main cast being neglected? No. They got plenty of background context, unlike some FF characters *cough*Selphie, Eiko, Irvine, Penelo... *cough*
To me, FFXIII excelled at visuals, cast (including lots of development) and soundtrack.
The rest you can critique all you want, like story and stuff, but
when I see someone bashing those three things, I always go... :/
One thing I would never criticize is the visuals. Graphically, XIII is the best looking FF to date by a long shot, and one of the best looking games, period. But as I have told multiple people (not necessarily on this forum), graphics are dead last on my list of criteria for judging games. The soundtrack is solid, too. But again, soundtrack isn't that important (although I would rank it above graphics).
Cast, I can understand the argument you're trying to make, but no matter how I look at it, FFXIII has a weak cast of characters. It's not the weakest cast. That title goes to FFXII (the only truly weak aspect of that game). The "flashbacks" have some solid substance. I definitely sympathized with Sazh when I saw his flashback. Then, we came back to the present, he spoke, and I lost that sympathy. The same for Snow. His flashback is interesting, but again, he spoke and I lost it. Although, he did have one moment that I thought made him look cool. Vanille falls under the same category as Sazh. I tried sympathizing with Hope. He did have a sad background, but I just couldn't sympathize with him whenever he spoke (even after he stopped being a whining brat). Lightning and Fang have good backgrounds and they also make solid contributions to the present story. That's what makes them the best characters by a long shot.
As for the villains, uninteresting. Most villains have very little screen time before they're killed off. It's very hard to hate villains when they don't do enough to make you hate them (like Sephiroth, Kefka, Kuja, even Vayne was a solid villain).
And I don't see any difference between the screen time of these characters as opposed to the other FF. The fact is, no matter what you're talking about, some characters are more important than others. In FFVII, there were 9 playable characters, but the game was about Cloud. Every other character was a supporting character that helped Cloud's growth. In FFVIII, the main character is Squall. You can also put Rinoa in the same category, but even she was just a tool to make Squall grow. The only FF that I have seen not do this is FFVI.
Now, I realize a lot of the criticism I have for the characters has to do with the script. I'm sure if the script was better, I would like the characters more, but it isn't, so I don't. That's why the story is so important, especially when it comes to games like this (RPGs). The story is weak, and the story makes or breaks these games. If this was an action game, I would say that the story makes up about 30% of my overall score. But for RPGs, story makes up about 60-70% of my overall score, characters about 15-20%, game play about 10-15%, and the remaining percentage, miscellaneous things (such as graphics and soundtrack).
I don't hate the game. It's just not very good. It's mediocre (as I said in my previous post). As with any mediocre game, there are flaws. I'm simply listing those flaws.
Member2:39 am, Apr 29 2010
Posts: 9026
Quote from sandman1008
And I don't see any difference between the screen time of these characters as opposed to the other FF. The fact is, no matter what you're talking about, some characters are more important than others. In FFVII, there were 9 playable characters, but the game was about Cloud. Every other character was a supporting character that helped Cloud's growth. In FFVIII, the main character is Squall. You can also put Rinoa in the same category, but even she was just a tool to make Squall grow. The only FF that I have seen not do this is FFVI.
Yeah, FFVI.
But wait, are you telling me you know who the "main character" is in FFXIII? They already said in an interview that the casts' dynamic would be the same as FFVI where Celes, Locke and Terra all were very important characters to the story. To me, they're all main characters @ FFXIII. There is no distinct one that pops out. I'm only tempted to say Lightning because she was the one most promoted so I automatically think she's the lead. But was she really that impactful? I don't think so. At least not compared to the others. I think they were all important.
Also, you could say it's Vanille that is the encompassing main character since she's the narrator, but I don't think that's good enough of a reason. The story was mediocre which made the cast look less radiant to some too. I mean, you all saw them rage, get sad, smile, ... that means they properly exposed each character's variety of emotions. :'> And they didn't do it in a forced way either.
Sazh's plot climax was actually my favorite.
Last edited by Dr. Love at 3:04 am, Apr 29 2010
________________
source: animenewsnetwork
Join SRoMU Scanlations or visit #SRoMU at IRCHighWay.
Member
4:59 pm, May 5 2010
Posts: 320
4:59 pm, May 5 2010
Posts: 320
Quote from Dr. Love
Quote from sandman1008
And I don't see any difference between the screen time of these characters as opposed to the other FF. The fact is, no matter what you're talking about, some characters are more important than others. In FFVII, there were 9 playable characters, but the game was about Cloud. Every other character was a supporting character that helped Cloud's growth. In FFVIII, the main character is Squall. You can also put Rinoa in the same category, but even she was just a tool to make Squall grow. The only FF that I have seen not do this is FFVI.
Yeah, FFVI.
But wait, are you telling me you know who the "main character" is in FFXIII? They already said in an interview that the casts' dynamic would be the same as FFVI where Celes, Locke and Terra all were very important characters to the story. To me, they're all main characters @ FFXIII. There is no distinct one that pops out. I'm only tempted to say Lightning because she was the one most promoted so I automatically think she's the lead. But was she really that impactful? I don't think so. At least not compared to the others. I think they were all important.
Also, you could say it's Vanille that is the encompassing main character since she's the narrator, but I don't think that's good enough of a reason. The story was mediocre which made the cast look less radiant to some too. I mean, you all saw them rage, get sad, smile, ... that means they properly exposed each character's variety of emotions. :'> And they didn't do it in a forced way either.
Sazh's plot climax was actually my favorite.
You're right, there is no true "main" character. I let my dislike of the characters cloud my judgment. However, a balanced cast of characters does not a good cast make. And you said it yourself, the mediocre plot (I'm not sure I would call it even that) made the characters "less radiant". I was more specific and said that it was the script that made the characters weak, in my opinion. Yea, some of their flashbacks were good, including Sazh's, which I stated. However, after that flashback, he resorted back (sorry if I offend anyone) to the token black guy. I would personally rather have one very strong main character, one very strong supporting character, one or two somewhat strong characters, and one or two basically useless characters. Final Fantasy 7-10 took this approach. If you were going to balance out the characters like FFXIII did, you better make those characters strong, like FFVI.
The Gorilla Killa™
Member
10:49 pm, May 9 2010
Posts: 3229
This is just a theory, but it seems like Square Enix was trying to market this game towards people who haven't played/rarely play Final Fantasy games instead of the fans. Think about it: They already knew that the fans were gonna buy it no matter what, so they tried to aim it towards the curious non-fans to give them a taste of how a FF game plays like. And then if they get hooked, they might want to buy the older FF games, which gives SE more fans and more money.
I'm basically just throwing that theory out there, because I rarely play FF (The only other time I touched a FF game was when I played 3 or 4 hours of FFVII just to see what the hype was all about), and I actually liked FFXIII (Though I have to agree it is real slow, especially when they stretch out teaching you the rules of combat throughout almost the entire game instead of compressing it so that it's through just the first few chapters).
________________
I'm basically just throwing that theory out there, because I rarely play FF (The only other time I touched a FF game was when I played 3 or 4 hours of FFVII just to see what the hype was all about), and I actually liked FFXIII (Though I have to agree it is real slow, especially when they stretch out teaching you the rules of combat throughout almost the entire game instead of compressing it so that it's through just the first few chapters).
________________
Quote from Klapzi
The cool part is that I never get tired of being deceived
Quote from tactics
Just because someone's head was chopped off doesn't mean they're dead. That's just silly.
Member
12:50 am, May 10 2010
Posts: 555
I beat this game a couple of days ago. I am still deciding what I would rate this game but I definitely enjoyed it quite a bit. I would even say I loved it if it was maybe 10-20 hours shorter (in recent years I have been wishing for games to be short) and they made it a more succinct experience. The combat system can be insanely awesome but can also fall short every once in awhile.
I posted this on another site about the battle system:
"The battle system is awesome when it's working for you correctly. I can remember during a boss encounter where I was switching from a Paradigm with a Sentinel in it at the moment the boss was about to attack to quickly shifting back to a buffing Paradigm, healing Paradigm or an all-out attacking Paradigm after the damage had been done. Unfortunately there's a couple of things to nitpick that detracted my enjoyment overall. Sometimes your strategy doesn't always work out so well and you end up with a 20 min. battle of grinding instead of the expected 10 min. the game tells you you should have finished at. Also the auto-battle system itself doesn't always know what it should be doing as well as the A.I. doing stupid things every once in awhile. I also hated how the first Paradigm shift of every battle needed that long unnecessary switching animation. Not sure how I would feel about another game with a similar system but it was an amazingly nice change of pace.
With that said... I liked the Crystarium system just as much or maybe even more. My memory is terrible but I can't remember a similar system from past Final Fantasy games being this good. I do remember hating the grid systems in both FFX and FFXII. You could destroy a good character build by going down the wrong path in those games. A FAQ was almost a necessity. The only rule you need to follow in FFXIII's system is to complete the 3 main roles of each character before branching out into other roles."
Snow's "hero" bit made me cringe because it does not work well in English. I came to quite enjoy Vanille and Fang's accents. The characters overall were a-okay with me by the end; I hadn't liked Final Fantasy characters since FFVIII.
________________
https://twitter.com/Hostile
I posted this on another site about the battle system:
"The battle system is awesome when it's working for you correctly. I can remember during a boss encounter where I was switching from a Paradigm with a Sentinel in it at the moment the boss was about to attack to quickly shifting back to a buffing Paradigm, healing Paradigm or an all-out attacking Paradigm after the damage had been done. Unfortunately there's a couple of things to nitpick that detracted my enjoyment overall. Sometimes your strategy doesn't always work out so well and you end up with a 20 min. battle of grinding instead of the expected 10 min. the game tells you you should have finished at. Also the auto-battle system itself doesn't always know what it should be doing as well as the A.I. doing stupid things every once in awhile. I also hated how the first Paradigm shift of every battle needed that long unnecessary switching animation. Not sure how I would feel about another game with a similar system but it was an amazingly nice change of pace.
With that said... I liked the Crystarium system just as much or maybe even more. My memory is terrible but I can't remember a similar system from past Final Fantasy games being this good. I do remember hating the grid systems in both FFX and FFXII. You could destroy a good character build by going down the wrong path in those games. A FAQ was almost a necessity. The only rule you need to follow in FFXIII's system is to complete the 3 main roles of each character before branching out into other roles."
Snow's "hero" bit made me cringe because it does not work well in English. I came to quite enjoy Vanille and Fang's accents. The characters overall were a-okay with me by the end; I hadn't liked Final Fantasy characters since FFVIII.
________________
https://twitter.com/Hostile
Member1:46 am, May 10 2010
Posts: 9026
Quote from loosecannon504
This is just a theory, but it seems like Square Enix was trying to market this game towards people who haven't played/rarely play Final Fantasy games instead of the fans. Think about it: They already knew that the fans were gonna buy it no matter what, so they tried to aim it towards the curious non-fans to give them a taste of how a FF game plays like. And then if they get hooked, they might want to buy the older FF games, which gives SE more fans and more money.
I'm basically just throwing that theory out there, because I rarely play FF (The only other time I touched a FF game was when I played 3 or 4 hours of FFVII just to see what the hype was all about), and I actually liked FFXIII (Though I have to agree it is real slow, especially when they stretch out teaching you the rules of combat throughout almost the entire game instead of compressing it so that it's through just the first few chapters).
I'm basically just throwing that theory out there, because I rarely play FF (The only other time I touched a FF game was when I played 3 or 4 hours of FFVII just to see what the hype was all about), and I actually liked FFXIII (Though I have to agree it is real slow, especially when they stretch out teaching you the rules of combat throughout almost the entire game instead of compressing it so that it's through just the first few chapters).
Yes, that is exactly what I think, loose.
Since all the new FF-ers, shall we say, liked it. So, I guess that's a smart move on their
side. D: And honestly, those whiners whine too much. Don't listen to them. >.> <.<
________________
source: animenewsnetwork
Join SRoMU Scanlations or visit #SRoMU at IRCHighWay.
0n3 Winged
Member
2:11 am, Jun 5 2010
Posts: 603
Yeah i see a lot of die hard fans protecting the game. Its good but its not better than 12,10,7
which all had systems far less to work on...
I am a Nintendo fan..like most Nintendo fans i pick up games for the Gameplay. Graphics are a nice little touch and i like them but i'm not yet a graphics whore like most of everyone...
Every game you play can be revisited after a few years and still play it to see why you enjoyed it so much the first time. With every game you revisit, the graphics are no longer as amazing as it used to be, it wears of like a novelty over time.
Final fantasy has uber graphics, unrivaled and yes I died a few times because i couldn't see my hp bar...just staring at the screen
It took me a few hours to start realising its flaws though.
IT DOES NOT PLAY LIKE AN RPG! An rpg is supposed to give you a much wider choice. They didn't add anything new to the game-play that would make me say "thats great". Just a system of level up that hardly makes me feel like i am playing an rpg. Everyone can cast magic there are just those who specialize in the weapon to cast it...It lost its epic-ness...The fighting of other styles is not unique to them...just looks different. The only thing I like about what they did are the aeon's.
I didn't buy a rpg...I bought some weird half breed of something resembling final fantasy. Sorry it doesn't get a 10/10, it gets a 8 from me.
Last edited by fr33noob at 2:24 am, Jun 5 2010
________________
I believe in letting people do as they wish, as do I myself. Sometimes, of course, what I wish to do is kill them and they do not wish to die. This gives life interest.
which all had systems far less to work on...
I am a Nintendo fan..like most Nintendo fans i pick up games for the Gameplay. Graphics are a nice little touch and i like them but i'm not yet a graphics whore like most of everyone...
Every game you play can be revisited after a few years and still play it to see why you enjoyed it so much the first time. With every game you revisit, the graphics are no longer as amazing as it used to be, it wears of like a novelty over time.
Final fantasy has uber graphics, unrivaled and yes I died a few times because i couldn't see my hp bar...just staring at the screen
It took me a few hours to start realising its flaws though.IT DOES NOT PLAY LIKE AN RPG! An rpg is supposed to give you a much wider choice. They didn't add anything new to the game-play that would make me say "thats great". Just a system of level up that hardly makes me feel like i am playing an rpg. Everyone can cast magic there are just those who specialize in the weapon to cast it...It lost its epic-ness...The fighting of other styles is not unique to them...just looks different. The only thing I like about what they did are the aeon's.
I didn't buy a rpg...I bought some weird half breed of something resembling final fantasy. Sorry it doesn't get a 10/10, it gets a 8 from me.
Last edited by fr33noob at 2:24 am, Jun 5 2010
________________
I believe in letting people do as they wish, as do I myself. Sometimes, of course, what I wish to do is kill them and they do not wish to die. This gives life interest.
Madman
Member6:29 am, Jun 5 2010
Posts: 3342
I liked the concept, and I liked the battle system.
The Story line was pretty great all the way up to the end.
By that point I was rushing to just finish the game, because I was so close to abandoning the game because I lost all interest in this 50 hour long game...
________________
"“That's the difference between me and the rest of the world!
Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!” "
The Story line was pretty great all the way up to the end.
By that point I was rushing to just finish the game, because I was so close to abandoning the game because I lost all interest in this 50 hour long game...
________________
"“That's the difference between me and the rest of the world!
Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!” "
Member
10:50 am, Jun 5 2010
Posts: 320
10:50 am, Jun 5 2010
Posts: 320
Quote from Calíbre
I liked the concept, and I liked the battle system.
The Story line was pretty great all the way up to the end.
By that point I was rushing to just finish the game, because I was so close to abandoning the game because I lost all interest in this 50 hour long game...
The Story line was pretty great all the way up to the end.
By that point I was rushing to just finish the game, because I was so close to abandoning the game because I lost all interest in this 50 hour long game...
Wait, are you saying you like the game? I'm a little confused. You say you like the concept and battle system, and say the story is great (it's not, it's really weak). At the same time, you said you were losing interest. I don't know how you like a game and lose interest. Can you clarify please?
