Final Fantasy XIII Reviews

noodler · 08-03-2010 8:39pm

An Aeris-revival quest would wreck the game - wheres the emotional impact if dead characters keep getting brought back to life?

Kimbot · 08-03-2010 8:41pm

In case anyone is interested, Xtravision selling the game today...

Xluna · 08-03-2010 8:45pm

Just installed it and watched the intro sequence. It looks beautiful.

(Edit). No Japanese language option.Bah!

johnny_ultimate · 08-03-2010 8:53pm

Xluna wrote: »

Just installed it and watched the intro sequence. It looks beautiful.

(Edit). No Japanese language option.Bah!

Yeah the English track is awful. Looks amazing so far though, battle system hasn't really opened up yet though - apparently it will in 20 hours or so :pac:

Xluna · 08-03-2010 9:05pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Yeah the English track is awful. Looks amazing so far though, battle system hasn't really opened up yet though - apparently it will in 20 hours or so :pac:

Yeah,the dubbing on Lost Odyssey seems better so far. Have you checked the achievements? Only 35 and about 25 of them are secret.

johnny_ultimate · 08-03-2010 9:10pm

Xluna wrote: »

Yeah,the dubbing on Lost Odyssey seems better so far. Have you checked the achievements? Only 35 and about 25 of them are secret.

Not yet, have played just over an hours worth now and have unlocked 2 trophies though (picked up PS3 version because disc changing is so passé

)

Xluna · 08-03-2010 9:21pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Not yet, have played just over an hours worth now and have unlocked 2 trophies though (picked up PS3 version because disc changing is so passé )

Damn fangled new technology. Witch craft I say!:P

johnny_ultimate · 08-03-2010 11:37pm

Alright played as far as the Paradigm shift tutorial there (which takes three hours - they definitely ease you into the combat system, and not in a good way!). Hard to judge so far. It looks and sounds absolutely fantastic - bar the voice acting, which is dreadful. The combat is pretty visceral, but have only just got access to commands that aren't derivatives of 'attack'. I welcome the return to ATB system. I like the idea of shrouds too, and also think the battle initialisation options are interesting (I for one welcome the death of random battles in this series). The story seems pretty po-faced and ridiculous, probably not helped by the acting, and the first location is fairly uninspired. However, the levelling system has just opened up, so hopefully there'll be more variety over the next few hours. Definitely getting a heavy FF10 vibe off it - from the locations to the gameplay flow, it is definitely the closest reference point at the moment (the opening sequence is very similar to the opening segment in FF10 on the motorway / bridge).

First impressions of course, and I guess this is the kind of game where you can't really make more meaningful first impressions for a long time.

Gummy Panda · 08-03-2010 11:46pm

I'll pick a copy up tomorrow from HMV.

noodler · 09-03-2010 12:12am

Xluna wrote: »

Just installed it

360 version?

Gummy Panda · 09-03-2010 12:23am

noodler wrote: »

360 version?

Must be as I heard the Japanese version PS3 doesn't install

johnny_ultimate · 09-03-2010 12:47am

Yup no PS3 installation. Optional install on Xbox.

Xluna · 09-03-2010 3:10pm

Eh...........are there really no towns? I hate to admit it but I'm finding it pretty damn tedious already and I'm only towards the end of chapter 3. It seriously needs some towns to break the routine up. *Walk through route,fight easy enemies, learn crystarium,cut scene,fight boss...ad infinitum.*

Retr0gamer · 09-03-2010 3:13pm

There are towns, but they are just linear areas with no enemies and NPCs to talk to.

Xluna · 09-03-2010 3:24pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

There are towns, but they are just linear areas with no enemies and NPCs to talk to.

Well I guess that's not too bad...but it kind of kills the thrill of exploring a town and it's more colourful inhabitants.

The Living Few · 10-03-2010 10:42am

Got it yesterday after work. Played it for a while. It seems to be almost exactly like ffx in regards to how linear it is. The fighting style is very boring and repetitive though which is the opposite to 10 lol. I had to endure about 7 million long boring ass cutscenese just to play 20 minutes of actual game. What the f*ck is the deal with this? I don't want to watch a movie, I want to play a game. Exact same with final fantasy 10, even though it played like a dream it was almost not worth it due to being bombarded with pointless cutscenese (unskipable I might add). Voice acting is abysmal and the characters are annoying and as usual unlikable arrogant twats, especially the males. I did notice the really cool, folkloresque music stylings though which I liked, compared to 12 which now that I think of it, might aswel have had no soundrack at all. As far as visuals go though it looks great and although this seems like a widely negative review, as long as you skip all the boring suck-scenes then you eliminate all the rubbish elements of the game. So far though it's playing like a 7/10. You could propably take this as a review of ff10 too while you're at it.

speedboatchase · 10-03-2010 11:39am

Unlike The Living Few, I hated X but I'm quite enjoying this installment. I disliked X because I detested the characters, the plot, the blitzball mini-game and the dungeons. The game mechanics were sound but for those reasons I just couldn't play any longer. Only played 90mins of XIII last night and despite a few ropey moments (hated Vanile already, "moms are tough"), I'm find the storyline engaging and already quite fond of Sazh, Lightning and Snow. The battle system seems fun too and I'm not too pushed about controlling one character after playing Mass Effect 2. I do think it's a bit late in the day to be complaining about cut scenes in FF games, has always been that way since it switched to discs

Xluna · 10-03-2010 11:54am

The Living Few wrote: »

As far as visuals go though it looks great and although this seems like a widely negative review, as long as you skip all the boring suck-scenes then you eliminate all the rubbish elements of the game.

Considering there's no proper towns and NPCs skipping the cutscenes would leave no story at all.

The Living Few · 10-03-2010 3:21pm

Cut-scenes are what RPG's are all about right? Cause there's no way to tell the story without them right?

Retr0gamer · 10-03-2010 3:23pm

The Living Few wrote: »

Cut-scenes are what RPG's are all about right? Cause there's no way to tell the story without them right?

Battle mechanics are more important for me and bad or over long cutscenes can kill a game. There's plenty of games as well that tell good stories without cutscenes or not relying on them.

The Living Few · 10-03-2010 3:35pm

I have to agree with you there retro. Some people seem to get it mixed up and think that visuals are what makes a game great, especially these new bandwagon RPG fans. Although visuals may contribute to the overall quality of the game. They have absolutely nothing to do with gameplay. Gameplay being the most important aspect of any game. For those of you who disagree with me on the whole suck-scene scenario.....go play Super Mario bros 3 and come back and tell me why you liked it? Where the cut-scenes amazing? The story perhaps? The characters, it must have been the characters? No wait, wait, it was the soundtrack coupled with the amazing voice acting and realistic sound of mushing gravel as you walk.

Gameplay is all that matters in any game ever made. FACT.

speedboatchase · 10-03-2010 4:08pm

The Living Few wrote: »

I have to agree with you there retro. Some people seem to get it mixed up and think that visuals are what makes a game great, especially these new bandwagon RPG fans. Although visuals may contribute to the overall quality of the game. They have absolutely nothing to do with gameplay. Gameplay being the most important aspect of any game. For those of you who disagree with me on the whole suck-scene scenario.....go play Super Mario bros 3 and come back and tell me why you liked it? Where the cut-scenes amazing? The story perhaps? The characters, it must have been the characters? No wait, wait, it was the soundtrack coupled with the amazing voice acting and realistic sound of mushing gravel as you walk.

Gameplay is all that matters in any game ever made. FACT.

Certain games need state of the art production moreso than others - would gran turismo be as realistic if the developers had a lesser budget, would dead space be as scary and atmospheric without its stunning production level and sound design? For games like FF which introduce incredibly imaginative worlds I think the graphical prowess helps suck gamers further into the narrative and world of the game. Gameplay will always be the overriding factor but it's not the only thing that matters

Xluna · 10-03-2010 4:13pm

The Living Few wrote: »

Cut-scenes are what RPG's are all about right? Cause there's no way to tell the story without them right?

I think you might have missed my point. I'm not saying cut scenes are be and end of all in an rpg,far from it. But in FFXIII they are simply because thats the only medium to experience the story since there's no towns,npcs and virtually no narrative which does'nt take the form of a cut scene. So if you skip the cut scenes you miss the story,which for me at least is as important as good gameplay in an rpg. Sure the story in smb3 did'nt matter but in an rpg it does-just as much as solid gameplay mechanics imo.

Retr0gamer · 10-03-2010 4:31pm

I heard that there's no cutscene on FFXIII that goes over 5 minutes which for me sounds ok. It's better than Star Ocean 4 or, shudder, Xenosaga which had cutscenes so long there was save points in the middle of them.

The Living Few · 10-03-2010 4:41pm

oops sorry xluna, i totally misread your words then. I know wat you meant, yeah story is improtant in rpg's, i was just using mario 3 because if it's exremely basic gameplay, visual, stoy etc. Everything totals up to the final product, I know this but I just think that they could find more creative ways of telling the story rather than interupting the gameplay constantly. You have to admit though a lot of the suck-scenes are completely pointless and only there to show off their cgi skills.

I know what your saying too speedboat, and i do agree somewhat, but again, there are just too many suck-scenes and they get boring after the third or fourth one.

Xluna · 10-03-2010 5:15pm

No problem. Yeah it started with FFVII due to the C.D. based technology and it expanded from there. The sucess of the P.S.1 meant that games were suddenly "cool",i.e. Wipeout. So established franchises which appealed to more introverted,hardcore gamers were altered to appeal more to a mainstream,extroverted audience. So we got rave and rap music and licensed songs in games. And emphasis was put on graphics and impressive cut scenes at the expense of traditional narrative.

Lets be honest, your average casual extroverted gamer is going to prefer ten minutes of cutscenes than reading half an hours dialogue and since that's where the money is that's the way games are evolving. There's a reason why Lost Odyssey and Suikoden 5 was not as popular as they should be. They're targeted for the more traditional gamer while the likes of Fifa,GTA and half of the Wii titles ect are for the mainstream and will sell more and get excessive praise.

The Living Few · 10-03-2010 6:19pm

I was actually eyeing up the final fantasy iv sequel on the wii, its supposed to be pretty sweet. Selling out to mainstream holds no water with myself. I just don't have time for it. In the endless sea of boring ass shoot em ups, ff was a good refrain from it all, a good place to go for a bit of different. Ah well, you win some, you lose some. I haven't seen anything in the way of a decent RPG for any of the next gen consoles. Recently purchased Eternal Sonata, it seems ok, Its taken a backseat to ff13 at the moment though.

Retr0gamer · 10-03-2010 6:34pm

The DS, PSP and PS2, have been where all the good RPGs of this generation have turned up. Valkyria Chronicles was the only big JRPG that I could count as a classic.

Gummy Panda · 10-03-2010 7:16pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The DS, PSP and PS2, have been where all the good RPGs of this generation have turned up. Valkyria Chronicles was the only big JRPG that I could count as a classic.

Is demon souls a JRPG?

p1000 · 10-03-2010 8:00pm

Got the game yesterday and i'm just about to get into the first 'town' (isn't it named after the spellcasting twins from one of the early games?) and i'm enjoying it so far. I like the main character progression, especially Hope now (didn't really like him at first). Even with the walk-a-linear-path--fight-grunts--fight-boss-at-end, i still want to see where the story's goin. I am lokking forward to the wide open area (

Gran Pulse?

) for a bit more freedom though. Does that happen any time soon?

Final Fantasy XIII Reviews

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