So I started playing FF13....

nesf

Reading this thread I think far, far too many people haven't played enough extremely bad old school (think early 90s and before) western RPGs. FFXIII isn't that bad. Then, haters will be haters.

noodler

nesf wrote: »

Reading this thread I think far, far too many people haven't played enough extremely bad old school (think early 90s and before) western RPGs. FFXIII isn't that bad. Then, haters will be haters.

I'd say most of them haven't experienced the holocaust either..doesn't mean living in Syria right now "isn't that bad"!


EDIT: "Moms are tough..."

nesf

noodler wrote: »

I'd say most of them haven't experienced the holocaust either..doesn't mean living in Syria right now "isn't that bad"!

Perspective is important no?

e.g. I enjoyed FFXIII because the battle system was interesting and fast paced without being too frentic. I could get over the linearity and annoying cut scenes because of this.

noodler

nesf wrote: »

Perspective is important no?

e.g. I enjoyed FFXIII because the battle system was interesting and fast paced without being too frentic. I could get over the linearity and annoying cut scenes because of this.

I literally just started so have no opinion on the game yet other than the aforementioned "Moms are tough" line but I just thought it was a strange to argue that game X isn't that bad just because it isn't the worst game in the world.

nesf

noodler wrote: »

I literally just started so have no opinion on the game yet other than the aforementioned "Moms are tough" line but I just thought it was a strange to argue that game X isn't that bad just because it isn't the worst game in the world.

I was more getting at the hyperbole of some people painting it as if it had no redeeming qualities.

Mindkiller

I played a little more of it but I'm still on chapter 11. By the time I've completed it I'm sure X-2 will be in the bargain bins.

It's not a fun game to play mainly because it's a relentless onslaught of things to kill in a straight line. Even in the one open area you're just going through the motions. There is no side quests or diversions to relieve the monotony of it. Combined with the auto-battle system it's like the Assassin's Creed (first game) of jrpgs.

ancapailldorcha

I'm throwing it out there, I love XIII.

The graphics, the world, the story, the battle system. And it's nice to see Eidolons with a role in the story. Can't wait for XIII-2, even if we're stuck with Serah.

It annoys me a little when people moan about the lack of towns. It would have been silly if your characters, almost universally loathed and feared l'Cie could just go and buy weapons and talk to people.

The linearity bugged me quite a bit, it wouldn't have killed SE to have added a few sidequests or at least added a few extra routes on levels to make it feel less like running from one end of a corridor to the other repeatedly. I just finished the marks and you really have to have the right set of Paradigms to beat them, high stats alone aren't enough. Was quite happy the way they did that. I never had the time for hours and hours of grinding.

megaten

I really liked how the Paradigms almost eliminated grinding. Anytime I couldn't beat something it was almost always because I wasn't approaching it the right way.

d'Oracle

megaten wrote: »

I really liked how the Paradigms almost eliminated grinding. Anytime I couldn't beat something it was almost always because I wasn't approaching it the right way.

I'm out.

GothPunk

megaten wrote: »

I really liked how the Paradigms almost eliminated grinding. Anytime I couldn't beat something it was almost always because I wasn't approaching it the right way.

Yeah I can agree with this, it's definitely a game that you can 'play wrong'. Every enemy has a trick to defeating them very quickly, except for some of the hunts.

Retr0gamer

Ah, glad the hyperbole has stopped and there's people out there saying they actually enjoyed it. It's flawed for sure but I think there's enough in the game, from one of the best soundtracks to one of the best battle systems ever devised, to make it enjoyable and worthwhile playing.

nesf

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Ah, glad the hyperbole has stopped and there's people out there saying they actually enjoyed it. It's flawed for sure but I think there's enough in the game, from one of the best soundtracks to one of the best battle systems ever devised, to make it enjoyable and worthwhile playing.

I think I can sum it up with: "I've enjoyed far worse games."

Raze_them_all

Decided to give this another go after all i played it to death so in the interest of fairness i said I'd try again, Once again I hate it. May not be helped by the fact i deleted my last save game and have to redo a 20 hour tutorial

nesf

Raze_them_all wrote: »

Decided to give this another go after all i played it to death so in the interest of fairness i said I'd try again, Once again I hate it. May not be helped by the fact i deleted my last save game and have to redo a 20 hour tutorial

I'm replaying it at the moment. I found it frustrating until I got access to Paradigms but didn't find it too bad from that point on.

Then linearity doesn't bother me in a RPG once the story is kept going at a good pace.

ancapailldorcha

I really liked how there was conflict between some of the characters. Always annoyed me how a group could stay together without any arguments.

Didn't like seeing Hope getting the Meg Griffin treatment though. Nice to see a character reacting like a human being as opposed to just taking it in his stride.

GothPunk

Raze_them_all wrote: »

Decided to give this another go after all i played it to death so in the interest of fairness i said I'd try again, Once again I hate it. May not be helped by the fact i deleted my last save game and have to redo a 20 hour tutorial

Fair play to ya man, I know how much you hated it after all you wrote about it here, hehe. I can imagine having to sit through the first few chapters being painful alright.

I've been meaning to go back to this to finish all of the hunts, but I guess I'm saving it for a rainy day.

Raze_them_all

GothPunk wrote: »

Fair play to ya man, I know how much you hated it after all you wrote about it here, hehe. I can imagine having to sit through the first few chapters being painful alright.

I've been meaning to go back to this to finish all of the hunts, but I guess I'm saving it for a rainy day.

oh the hate is still there, but I'm planning on getting to the part where i can pick my party, leave it for a week or two, come back and play it like a normal FF should be and I'll post up my new opinion if i have one

seraphimvc

ff13 is the only ff that i have no desire to turn it on again after i finished it i did quite some of the side quests and i remember i got the 2 ultimate weapon for fang and lightning i remember....iirc every characters have 7 ultimate weapons....so...i really did my best to try to love it but i just cant T_T

i heard about the stories of alot chinese players spend so many hours just to get the achievement of completed every characters's ultimate weapon. they said they fall asleep so many times during the grinding >_>

Raze_them_all

seraphimvc wrote: »

ff12 is the only ff that i have no desire to turn it on again after i finished it i did quite some of the side quests and i remember i got the 2 ultimate weapon for fang and lightning i remember....iirc every characters have 7 ultimate weapons....so...i really did my best to try to love it but i just cant T_T

i heard about the stories of alot chinese players spend so many hours just to get the achievement of completed every characters's ultimate weapon. they said they fall asleep so many times during the grinding >_>

Fang not in 12 :P

seraphimvc

^ rofl typo!

Mario007

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I really liked how there was conflict between some of the characters. Always annoyed me how a group could stay together without any arguments.

Didn't like seeing Hope getting the Meg Griffin treatment though. Nice to see a character reacting like a human being as opposed to just taking it in his stride.

that's precisely what I loved about FF 13. I think it was the strongest in the series in this regard, I mean from the moment Lightning punched Snow twice at the beginning of the game I knew it was gonna be great for character interaction.

And the Vanille vs Sazh scene is probably my favourite scene of any FF game

nesf wrote: »

I'm replaying it at the moment. I found it frustrating until I got access to Paradigms but didn't find it too bad from that point on.

Then linearity doesn't bother me in a RPG once the story is kept going at a good pace.

Same here, a good story can easily overshadow linearity. This is especially true for FF games since they're pretty much all linear with only the illusion of open world.

Raze_them_all wrote: »

oh the hate is still there, but I'm planning on getting to the part where i can pick my party, leave it for a week or two, come back and play it like a normal FF should be and I'll post up my new opinion if i have one

If I could advise you leave it for a week and come back after Lightning and Hope are partied together and are separated from Sazh and Vanille. THe paradigms open up around that time and it is a much better experience than the first 3 hours of combats being simply about attacking without strategy

Raze_them_all

Mario007 wrote: »

that's precisely what I loved about FF 13. I think it was the strongest in the series in this regard, I mean from the moment Lightning punched Snow twice at the beginning of the game I knew it was gonna be great for character interaction.

And the Vanille vs Sazh scene is probably my favourite scene of any FF game

Same here, a good story can easily overshadow linearity. This is especially true for FF games since they're pretty much all linear with only the illusion of open world.



If I could advise you leave it for a week and come back after Lightning and Hope are partied together and are separated from Sazh and Vanille. THe paradigms open up around that time and it is a much better experience than the first 3 hours of combats being simply about attacking without strategy

I literally just pressed Auto battle for 99.896% of the game last time and beat it no problem.


I got to where i wanted now taking a break playing the original dragon age

nesf

Raze_them_all wrote: »

I literally just pressed Auto battle for 99.896% of the game last time and beat it no problem.


I got to where i wanted now taking a break playing the original dragon age

Paradigm switching is where the strategy is at. That and occasional micromanagement with a buffer because the AI is a bit dumb with buffing Str on Magic roles and such.

Raze_them_all

nesf wrote: »

Paradigm switching is where the strategy is at. That and occasional micromanagement with a buffer because the AI is a bit dumb with buffing Str on Magic roles and such.

the pardigram switching is the other .104% of the battles!

nesf

Raze_them_all wrote: »

the pardigram switching is the other .104% of the battles!

I found the complete opposite. I was always switching paradigms trying to eek out a little extra performance to bring things down faster.

seraphimvc

just remember chaining with lighting(the magic) is quicker. easily stagger kill all bosses with that iirc. until some summon boss i remember since you fight them 1v1 or 2v1 >_> (that alexander)

Retr0gamer

I used paradigm shifting in all the battles. You could beat all the battles much quicker that way. I can see people hating the game because they only autobattle through it because the battles would take too long without any player input, like the worst of FFXII.

Banjo Fella

I had been experiencing a bit of a JRPG hankering recently, so I decided to give this a go despite the overwhelming amount of negativity I've heard levelled at it. And, er, I'm actually really enjoying it! The battle system's fast and fun, the mythology of Pulse and Cocoon is original and absorbing, the graphics and general art direction are insanely gorgeous, a lot of the music is great (Sunleth Waterscape's track is particularly lovely) and even the characters I initially felt indifferent towards are starting to become more interesting and likeable. Plus, Sazh is a BAMF and a half! I'm some of the way through Disc 2 now, after boarding the Palamecia. It's been linear, but not moreso than any of the other recent FF games I've played; the early stages of X had a similar level of progression funnelling, only the battle system wasn't as unique. I'm liking it, anyway.

Aurongroove

yeah, where a lot of people go wrong with battles in FFXIII is in thinking you just need to "win"
No. you need to "win, quickly".

The quicker you try to win, the much harder and much more fun the fighting becomes. As soon as you start engaging in the challenge to finish the battle quickly, it just becomes so entertaining and challenging.

just like you can win in VII with just attacks, or VIII with just summons.
you can, but how boring!

try go through the game getting only 5 star ratings, and see how boring it is.

Risteard

I agree with that. I played it the first time and didn't think much of it, finished i and left it at that.

Decided to play it again about a month ago and tried to get all trophies. Found it much more enjoyable when going through battles trying to get 5 star ratings. Was better than I had initially given it credit for.