Final Fantasy XIII Box Art
Lusipurr.com is pleased to open discussion on the content of this year’s biggest RPG release: Final Fantasy XIII!
The thirteenth (or fourteenth, counting Final Fantasy X-2) iteration in the ‘main’ Final Fantasy series, Final Fantasy XIII was released in Japan on 17 December, 2009. The American, European, and Australian release takes place today, 9 March, 2010.
Available for both PlayStation 3 and XBox 360, it has been the focus of industry-wide speculation for years. Matters technical, logistical, structural, and creative have been the source of (occasionally bitter) contention. Much has been made of the news that the 360 version runs at a lower resolution; that the PS3 version has a less consistent frame rate; that there are no towns; that only one character is controllable in battle; that nearly the first half of the game is incredibly linear; that the soundtrack is too ambient; and so on.
The time has come for the general, English-speaking public to weigh in upon these and other matters. Now that Final Fantasy XIII is available for purchase, we want to hear your first-hand accounts of anything and everything that you feel worth mentioning. What do you think of the battle system, the story, the characters, the soundtrack, the technical performance, the limitations of the hardware, the voice acting, the translation and scripting, and anything else? Use the comments below to tell us what you think. This week’s comments will be used in the upcoming Megaphones Ahoy! Podcast.
We look forward to discussing Final Fantasy XIII with you!
Lusipurr
Bup
Ginia
Lane
Eric J
Jenifer
2010.03.09 at 00:47
-The linearity hasn’t been getting to me too much, but rather the fact that battles don’t yield EXP until a ways in (no doubt justified the L’cie narrative, but nevertheless unenjoyable). I’m in the Fal’cie shrine now though, so hopefully the drudgery is near the end.
-Vanille, Hope and Snow are all intolerable, Vanille in particular sounds like Mickey Mouse. I have heard that they become better as the story progresses however.
-I like fighting as Vanille, there’s a pleasing cadence to how she moves with her wire weapon thing.
-I like the higher difficulty/low punishment balance they’ve struck.
-Regardless of how enjoyable the first playthrough is, I think it will have the lowest replayability of the series, owing to how long it’s taking for its combat to get going (I just want some EXP).
-Amazing graphics for a JRPG, but it still doesn’t come anywhere close to the Uncharted games. Many aspects of the graphics are improved from the demo, yes oddly some are worse.
-The camera feels way too loose, I wish I could adjust it’s sensitivity.
2010.03.09 at 00:48
(no doubt justified *by* the L’cie narrative, but nevertheless unenjoyable)
2010.03.09 at 00:50
*yet* oddly some are worse.
-My proofreading has been found wanting.
-Back to XIII!
2010.03.09 at 00:56
Lightning’s ok thus far, and Sazh is really good!
2010.03.09 at 01:29
Played up to Snow tonight. Will have more impressions tomorrow.
So far, not as bad as I had expected. Not as engaging as FFIX, but still not bad at all.
2010.03.09 at 01:59
-The frozen lake looks really cool!
-I now have access to paradigms, but what I really wanted was access to the levelling up system (or at the very least EXP), so that I could make battles worth a damn …
-The enemy designs are amazing!
2010.03.09 at 02:04
-Ah, my guide tells me that the Crystarium system will be available toward the end of my current map!
2010.03.09 at 02:16
-Snow seems to fill the role of Steiner, a one-note lunkhead, I’m going to try and stop taking him seriously, as that just wasn’t working out for me.
2010.03.09 at 02:19
I’m up to playing Snow, but here’s my (horribly bad) two cents thus far:
- I like all the voices I’ve heard, Snow my favorite but I’m biased towards Troy Baker. I’ve heard Vanille speak a little, and I liked the little I heard from her.
- Camera Angles take a bit to get used to. I don’t know about anyone else, but I swerved like a drunken sailor for about 5 minutes as I tried to rotate the camera. It turns really easily, which is annoying if your going straight from a PC Game to a Console Game and you aren’t used to using a controller again yet.
- I’ve not enjoyed a FF game since 9, but I like this one. The story seems interesting, and I find myself wanting to actually read all the background information in the log to find out whats going on (partly because I had no idea what was going on, I tried to avoid the hype so I wouldn’t be disappointed if it sucked).
- Not going to comment on graphics, as I don’t care if they are 2D or 3D. I’m playing on the 360 though, and in my graphical knowledge: There Pretty?
- Music seems pretty good thus far.
- Moms are Tough
2010.03.09 at 03:39
The story’s starting to come together a bit more now, not quite hooked yet, but it’s starting to show a bit of promise.
2010.03.09 at 09:12
Haven’t read the comments yet because I have to play catch up, but I get my copy in 45 minutes, I’ll play the hell of it, then I’ll join in the fun!
2010.03.09 at 09:18
-I don’t think anyone has mentioned any plot particulars, just discussing the technical details.
2010.03.09 at 10:21
XIII doesn’t seem to support the dualshock’s rumble …
2010.03.09 at 13:29
Sazh is awesome. I haven’t bought it but I’ve seen a japanese playthrough and understood enough to know that he’s the shit. without spoiling anything he’s one of the more normal characters so he acts as a kinda player surogate along with… Hope. though Sazh is a lot less irritating.
2010.03.09 at 13:30
@SN: That was one of the first things I noticed–no rumble. Vy strange!
2010.03.09 at 13:36
Of course you guys start the playthrough the week it comes out…being poor sucks…
2010.03.09 at 13:53
Uh oh, channeled Oliver for a second…sorry guys! lol
2010.03.09 at 15:03
Why do I keep telling myself that I don’t need a next-console… ARGHp34o583p4ojrwekng!!!
2010.03.09 at 19:07
@Lusi-Yeah it stuck out like a sore thumb during the opening sequence fighting that heavy piece of machinery.
-This game is very polished and enjoyable, I’m having a lot of fun playing it, but it DOES NOT FEEL LIKE A FINAL FANTASY GAME. There are elements within it which obviously give off an FF vibe, but it really doesn’t come together to scratch that FF itch. I’m not sure whether or not this is a criticism, because like I said it’s a fun game, but it just doesn’t feel like the complete package.
2010.03.09 at 19:11
@SN: I’m not far enough in to say for certain, but at this point my main complaint is the shallowness of the actual experience. I feel like I am actually playing very little at all. I hold up to run along the corridor which makes up a level, press X repeatedly through some battles, and then watch the interspersed cutscenes.
Does this really qualify as a game? Maybe, but if so, it is certainly not much of one. I’m not knocking the presentation or the storyline, which seem interesting enough (even if the game is deliberately obtuse about the meanings of the things the characters are talking about), but a game is more than its script.
2010.03.09 at 19:35
Once the paradigm shift mechanic is introduced it becomes very strategic and enjoyable! I was having a ball last night! But it doesn’t feel like a Final Fantasy game, it isn’t as grand, fully featured and sprawling as a Final Fantasy game should be, and I haven’t really been able to invest myself in the story yet, there are more party members that I dislike than like.
-This game needs towns. I don’t want cutscenes to be automatically triggered all the time, I want to wonder around a town/building/boat/aircraft and find different people who trigger cutscenes, it just feels more natural and rewarding that way …
2010.03.09 at 21:38
@SN – I think you gain CP even when it doesn’t explicitly state it. I agree about Snow, but the good thing is that other characters don’t take him that seriously either, so I don’t feel expected to.
I didn’t like Hope’s voice in the trailers, but I’m buying him in the game.
I’m enjoying the game a LOT, but I think I agree with you, Noob, I can imagine it will have the worst replay value of any of them. We’ll see how much I like the story, that will depend a lot on how this all ends up.
About 9-10 hours in.
2010.03.09 at 22:30
- I think I’m about where SN was when he made his first comment, and I agree with pretty much everything except his dislike of Snow’s voice actor. I actually think he’s doing a pretty good job. Try as I might, though, I have NO IDEA what’s wrong with Vanille’s voice. PLEASE tell me she gets better ad the game goes along. Right now, she doesn’t sound like Mickey Mouse, she sounds like Mickey Mouse died in her throat and nobody noticed.
- I had issues with the camera at first, too. I’m wondering, when controlling a 3rd person free-floating camera (a la FFXII), am I the only person who always holds up on the left stick and essentially steers by moving the camera with the right stick? It seems like nobody on the FFXIII dev team tried this, since the camera DEFINITELY doesn’t work with that character control method.
- So far, I’m really digging the story, characters, and world. Like AntiRainbow, I found I pretty much had to read all the supplemental material in the menus, since I deliberately avoided anything and everything plot related, so I had no idea what any of their made-up words meant. I am hoping to have a reason to get into battles soon, though. No experience for the first 2 hours was a pretty bad choice, in my opinion.
2010.03.09 at 22:59
Oh yeah, and Sazh is my favorite character so far. I love the little incidental dialog he gives while you’re running around the world.
2010.03.09 at 22:59
Oh no, I hate Vanille’s voice actor, I never meant to say that Snow or Hope have bad voice acting, just that I hate all their dialogue, and wish that they’d stop acting like a couple of shallow one-note stereotypes. Not the voice actor’s fault at all, they just suck.
2010.03.09 at 23:00
Sazh is magnificent!
2010.03.09 at 23:16
Hope WAS a bit annoying in the beginning but as the game progresses he seems to get a lot better, as does Lightening attitude it seems like.
My two beefs so far is that Disc 1 was short, and that they basically force you to use party members. Does anyone know if that changes down the road and we’ll be able to pick who we use?
Oh… I also am a bit annoyed there no option to Flee the battle. I know running away is bad, but goddamn it I at least want the option to do so.
2010.03.09 at 23:24
-Only during chapter 11.
-Press start and then press select (or 360 equivalents) in order to initiate a retry, the game will take you back to the point just before you initiated the battle.
2010.03.10 at 00:09
It sits forlornly on my shelf. Work prohibits me from playing.
2010.03.10 at 06:09
@lane – my condolences.
2010.03.10 at 06:50
@Darth – I typically steer that way as well (via camera), but I VERY quickly learned that it’s a bad idea in this game, but the level design doesn’t really lend itself to it, even with branching paths. If you treat it like a normal camera, you’ll be very frustrated. If you let it be, it’s incredibly cinematic and turning off the mini-map is a beautiful experience.
Also, I know we’ve all heard it a thousand times even before the game came out, but I love the battle theme. The soundtrack in general isn’t one I’d download to listen to or import to play on the piano, but I love most of it. I think it’s unique and suits the personality of the game with some standout numbers. …Although there’s the occasional complete dud.
2010.03.10 at 08:00
@Ethos: Yeah, agreed about the battle theme, but where’s the FF Victory Theme?!? Maybe it’s just because I’m early on, but I haven’t heard it yet, and that makes me very sad :f.
2010.03.10 at 08:18
I think it’s beginning to sink in that my much beloved FF series of the 1990’s is dead and gone …
2010.03.10 at 09:02
Yeah, but we have enough of them. I haven’t even beat FFVI, so I have more of the classics to play, maybe that’s why it doesn’t bother me so much.
And Darth, 12 hours in and I haven’t heard it, but that’s okay with me. Remember FFXII? It was out of place in the few spots they put it in. I imagine if it’s in this one, it’ll be like in Advent Children, a clever nod.
2010.03.10 at 10:54
I got to play a few hours last night. Graphically, it’s really pretty, I’m enjoying the environments.
I still feel like most of the battles are “press x to win” but it’s nice to get some challenge from the boss battles. The lack of xp and gil as rewards is a little odd, but I haven’t had to actually buy anything yet.
Snow is annoying in the jock kind of way. Hope was a total whiny bitch even before what happened, and only gets worse. I wish we got his mom in the party instead. And Vanille is a little too perky, though it’s obviously a defense mechanism since she tells hope something like “I know you’re upset, but deal with it later.” So, I assume she does the same.
2010.03.10 at 16:16
Yeah, Hope’s Mum >>>>>>>>>>> Hope.
2010.03.10 at 22:46
Hope’s Mom was a MILF!
I played through the fist chapter at work today. Cool job huh? I have to say I was having a great time with it. Its really easy so far but the battle system hasn’t fully opened up yet so i’m sure that will get better. I’m just putting myself into a state of mind that this game is not a FF so I don’t start feeling sad how much I miss the older styled FF’s. Working so far. It helps that the victory fanfare seems to be absent because you fight a lot.
2010.03.10 at 22:49
And what’s up with Vanille’s accent? Shes the only person i hear talking like that and sound more like a person that has been deaf since birth would talk. Shes pretty cool in battle though.
And I wish Snow would shut up with the hero talk.
2010.03.10 at 23:21
It’s a really bad Australian accent, and Hope’s Mom IS a milf! Snow is definitely annoying, but he’s believable. Mostly because of how people react to him. They don’t buy his crap either.
2010.03.10 at 23:47
I was half expecting him to put on a red cape and start making whooshing sounds.
I think its the general consensus that Sazh is awesome and I most agree. He is indeed Awesome.
Hope’s Mom is a huge MILF.
Crikey! That has to be the worst Australian accent ever, Mate!
2010.03.11 at 00:05
… That’s actually kind of sad because Vanille VA is Australian. It’s pretty bad when you can’t do your own accent.
That said, I like it. I like hearing her and Fang talk.
2010.03.11 at 00:11
-Yep, fortunately I’ve never come across another Aussie chick that sounds as awful as her inept VA, else I’d probably have cut off my ears by now. I still think SE accidentally confused the person they hired to VA Vinille with the voice actor doing Mickey Mouse in BBS …
-IMO Snow is the realistically proportioned modern day equivalent to Steinerk, though personally I think that the character type would work better with a SD character design.
2010.03.11 at 00:12
*Steiner*
2010.03.11 at 00:12
Vanille is awesome. I love her voice.
The rest of them I am not very pleased with. I find Sazh annoying. Sorry.
Hope is whiny and needs to grow up, and Snow’s I’m-a-hero schtick is mighty old by this point. Lightning manages to find a way to turn and look away, all emo, at the end of every scene.
Vanille, on the other hand, is awesome.
Also, I’m feeling better about the battle system with the introduction of the Paradigm and Crystarium features, but I still want exp and levels. And I REALLY WANT TO CONTROL MY OTHER PARTY MEMBERS, OKAY?
Srsly.
2010.03.11 at 00:40
Orly?
2010.03.11 at 00:45
Are you feeling OK Lusi?
2010.03.11 at 01:26
@Lusi: I’m finding Vanille much less annoying now that I’m getting more into the story (still only about 5 hours in). I think it’s because her reactions are becoming a little bit more appropriate for the situation, which may have been my problem with her initially. Still not a fan of the VA, but I’ve enjoyed characters with worse, that’s for sure.
@AntiRainbow: That actually might explain some things. Maybe it’s one of those things where they told her her natural accent doesn’t sound “Australian” enough, so she’s trying to imitate the Crocodile Hunter or something.
2010.03.11 at 09:59
I honestly don’t think Vanille sounds at all Australian. She just has a weird accent, and I like it.
2010.03.11 at 10:40
The crystalline lake looks incredible! I’m really liking some of the art direction in this game-some of the enemies and characters are really unique in terms of their designs.
The battle system, in fact the Crystarium and most of the gameplay mechanics feel really slimmed down to me, from what I am used to in the series. I’m around 5 hours in and it feels condensed, kind of RPG-lite, probably to help try and draw in the mainstream crowd which its obvious they were trying to with this one, and I think it has worked. A few people I know are playing this who wouldn’t normally play games of the genre. Definitely different to the other FF games so far.
I’m enjoying it so far though.
Vanille’s voice actor is just..wierd though. It sounds like she is intended to be part Australian, part English but with a bit of Smurf, Mickey Mouse and probably some brain damage thrown in there for good measure.
2010.03.11 at 13:26
@lusi – trust me, Sazh gets much better latter on. wish I could say the same about snow.
2010.03.11 at 13:27
I wonder if were gonna hit 100 posts again.
2010.03.11 at 13:42
@breaka666 – Really? I mean, I like Sazh fine, but he seems to be the same all the way through. But I’m only 20 hours in. And Snow is ALWAYS annoying, but he’s believable. And other people call him on his shit, and other characters get annoyed by him. That makes him a lot easier to bear for me when I don’t think that Squeenix is expecting me to take him as seriously as he takes himself. Same goes for Lightning. When she sees herself in other people, she’s like “oh shit, I’m an idiot”.
2010.03.11 at 16:17
Sees herself in other people? Someone’s reading a lot into the script–and far more than is there, methinks.
Will be posting my general overview of the system as taken from my FB.
2010.03.11 at 17:30
I miss controlling the other characters in battle. I feel like what ever they did right with the battle system is negated by the fact you only control one character and if He/She dies Its gameover man… GAMEOVER!
2010.03.11 at 17:40
@Lusipurr – Nah, it’s pretty explicit.
2010.03.11 at 17:54
@Oyashiro-The battle system is actually one aspect of the game that I have absolutely no complaints about (once it opens up).
2010.03.11 at 18:02
@Ethos: Quote me that and I’ll concede the point. You always read what you want into games, investing them with a depth that usually isn’t there. :p
Now about that summary of what to think about when purchasing Final Fantasy XIII (taken from my Facebook)…
There are several matters which you must consider if you intend to purchase FFXIII.
First is that the storyline is pretty interesting, though it throws you into it in a sort of ‘in medias res’ sort of fashion. You’ll want to read the datalog entries (a sort of in-game encyclopaedia, a la FFXII) so that you understand what is going on.
The battle system is unveiled gradually as the story progresses. After each section of ‘tutorial’, more options are available. However, you are never given direct control over more than one character at a time. You are, however, allowed to indirectly control characters through the use of the paradigm system, which makes sense given the frantic pace of battles and the speed at which they take place–controlling multiple characters manually would be impossible at these speeds.
The ‘Crystalium’ progression system is almost exactly like the Sphere Grid, except that it is divided up on a per-job basis. Characters have multiple ‘jobs’ (called roles) that they can switch between as part of the paradigm system (this will make sense when you get to it). Each of these jobs has its own Crystalium progression which unlocks new abilities for the job, and which unlocks stat boosts for the character. Abilities can only be used when set to that job, but the boosts are permanent across all jobs.
Jobs have ‘levels’. Levelling up a job unlocks more abilities on the Crystalium grid which you can access. Accessing these abilities uses CP which are gained after each battle.
The game is devoid of towns and shops in the typical sense, but this does actually make sense given the setting of the game. I must grudgingly admit that it would be very odd for any of the locations I’ve been in to have shops, stores, or so on.
The progression is linear, but there are still little alcoves and side-sections with items hidden and monsters guarding them.
All in all, I was extremely pessimistic about the game prior to its release, but I have been pleasantly surprised with it so far, and increasingly so. As more options have become available to me, I have found the game increasingly engaging.
If you are a big FF fan, you won’t want to miss out on this. Pick it up now. If you are an occasional fan of the series or somewhat unsure (given the information I’ve just related), you can wait and the price will come down in a few months.
2010.03.11 at 18:28
Regarding Ethan’s assertion, I think there were a couple of moments when other characters advocated a course of action that she inwardly yearned for, which resulted in her storming off for some reason (perhaps because she saw it as a weakness within herself). I don’t know whether I’d call this ’seeing herself in other people’, but I probably wouldn’t dismiss it out of hand either …
2010.03.11 at 19:16
^Personally I think it’s just a defence-mechanism reaction to other character’s optimism, stemming from her inability to do anything about her parents passing, and so now she’s quick to discount her efficacy in saving or protecting the people she cares about. If she doesn’t believe she can do anything to save the people she loves than she doesn’t have to open herself up to personal failure. The only thing Lightning has confidence in is her combat ability, which is why whenever she feels uncertain, powerless or relied upon by others she is quick to put up a wall and then move on looking for the next fight.
-Then again, perhaps I’m just over-thinking this like Ethan …
2010.03.11 at 19:28
I just realized, it was pointed out that XIII doesn’t support the rumbly goodness, and thought it was odd because it’s clearly there on the 360 version of the game.
2010.03.11 at 19:30
And I’m assuming you meant the vibration. If I’m wrong just ignore me, I’m being stupid apparently and misunderstand things. I tend to do that.
2010.03.11 at 20:19
@Luis (who isn’t here): Thanks for ‘correcting’ my spelling of Crystarium to [the incorrect] Crystalium. I appreciate it!
2010.03.11 at 20:21
Also, the PS3 box indicates that FFXIII is Dual-Shock ready, rumble and all.
It appears that it only rumbles when an enemy is staggered, for special attacks, and so on. I have actually felt it, but it is quite infrequent compared to the other games from FFVIII to the present.
Curious! I wonder what the reasoning behind the scaled-back use of rumble is.
2010.03.11 at 20:42
@Luis: LOL!
2010.03.11 at 21:12
I’m liking some of the references to other FF games, like the town of Palumpolum (wtf kinda town name is that), the Gestalt gauge (I’m guessing its a reference to Emperor Gestahl and FFVI’s espers)
2010.03.11 at 21:17
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology
2010.03.11 at 21:19
To me, rumble on console controllers always has seemed like a bit of a tacked on gimmick-not exactly adding much or necessary to be honest.
I guess its one of those things I don’t notice much, it probably has a subconscious effect on some level when it does rumble.
Can’t say I’ve noticed it yet much, I’m playing the PS3 version. On the topic of hardware, have you guys seen it on an HDMI cable? It looks amazing, most notably the crystallised lake. So many nice effects.
2010.03.11 at 21:29
@Berserk: Yep, I’m playing it on my PS3 with HDMI on my 42″ HDTV, and I have to say it looks fabulous.
I might complain about lack of control and (what is at times) a generally shallow battle system, but I certainly can’t complain about the graphics. SE has come tops again in the flash arena.
The soundtrack reminds me a *lot* of Final Fantasy X in every way, good and bad. It’s not so bad, hearing it paired up with the game, and it makes sense as it seems that XIII is significantly inspired by X. Still, I would have liked something more epic, more memorable, more… Uematsuean.
Oh well, FFXIV at the end of the year should set that desire arights.
2010.03.11 at 21:52
The battle system is anything but shallow, it’s the one shining light around which all else in the game coalesces!
2010.03.11 at 21:55
@Beserk- (re: rumble) It really depends on the game. RE4, Heavy Rain and Fear 2 have all noticeably deployed rumble to enhance aspects of the games, yet many other games have used the feature to negligible effect …
2010.03.11 at 22:17
Here’s a few of my thoughts on the game so far. I’m about 6-7 hours in and just got the ability to upgrade weapons and accessories.
Battle System:
- So far I’m really enjoying it, but I hope there are a few more features added soon. I think I’m getting the hang of swapping paradigms on the fly and, as of the last boss, I’m spending more of my concentration on that than pressing X to auto-battle. Overall, I do like how they’ve taken out a lot of the micromanaging and replaced it with general ideas rather than specific commands. I was really afraid the AI would lead to problems like Persona 3 had, but so far there’s never been any case where I wish I could have had direct control over the AI characters. It seems like every other time things start to get boring, they’ve thrown in a new mechanic, so I hope they keep that up.
- The “gameover if the main dies” thing hasn’t bothered me at all. Maybe I just got used to it from playing so much Persona this past year.
- I really like that potions effect the whole party. I think it would get pretty frustrating if I had to select a specific party member to apply them to in the heat of battle.
- Overall, the system reminds me a lot of X-2, except with less fine-grained control and more movement. I kind of wish they had added something to do between ATB gauge fills, though. Maybe optionally mash a button to increase the strength of your next attack
- Paradigm shifts make me feel badass
Crystilalalalium:
- I think “simplified sphere grid” does sum it up pretty well. It would be nice if at some point you could select which roles you want to have for which characters, but I kind of doubt that will happen, since so far it’s been all plot-based.
- Trying to navigate can be confusing sometimes
Controls:
- I still don’t like the camera, but I’m starting to figure out how to keep it from getting in the way. I guess that’s about all you can do with a camera system, anyway. The best systems are the ones you never notice.
- I guess I’m like Berserk in that I really don’t notice rumble much in games. I didn’t even notice it was mostly missing until reading posts about it here
Story (I’ll try to keep spoilers out as much as possible):
- I love how the story starts en medias res. I’ve always been a fan of stories that employ that technique, and FFXIII’s does it particularly well, in my opinion. I think the flashback sequences are my favorite cutscenes so far. I do agree with Lusi that it seems to assume you’ve read the codex entries, but I’m OK with that since I was planning on doing that anyway. So far, that’s been the biggest aspect in connecting me to the gameworld. Towns with NPCs and incidental dialogue would have been more effective in my opinion, but there is something to be said for having all the information in once place.
- Vanille is kind of growing on me. I’m still not a fan of the VA, but at least the character’s becoming a little more believable in my mind. Hope is still whiny, so lets hope (*rimshot*) he improves soon. Overall I am liking the cast and the whole “isolation” theme so far. I agree that towns would have been really out of place and probably taken away from the story itself in places.
Graphics:
- Yeah, I’ve got it running on my 60inch read projection in 1080p and it does look gorgeous. Aside form the purely technical aspects, though, I’m really enjoying the enemy designs. They’re some of the more interesting ones in recent memory. Hopefully they keep it up and don’t just pallet-swap the same few models for the whole game.
That’s all I’ve got for now. I’m taking tomorrow off work (not directly related to FF, but a happy coincidence), so hopefully I’ll be able to catch up to where everybody else is story-wise.
2010.03.11 at 22:38
“@Ethos: Quote me that and I’ll concede the point. You always read what you want into games, investing them with a depth that usually isn’t there. :p”
It’s when Hope and Lightning travel together. She sees how she’s inspired him to be like her. She sees herself in the way he’s acting and it makes her realize the philosophy’s flaws. Not sure if you’re there yet, but the datalog confirms it as well.
2010.03.11 at 22:40
Oh, and once the Crystalium reaches stage 5 or 6, it opens up a lot more, and choice and strategy starts to take over blind upgrading.
2010.03.11 at 22:46
IMO it amounts to fail to require readings of data-entries in order to pick up on a plot point.
2010.03.11 at 22:48
Yeah apparently all characters will be able to do all roles eventually.
2010.03.12 at 00:40
Crystarium, not Crystalium.
Don’t be a Luis.
Also, what SN said about plot points and data entries. You’re not telling your story properly if you have to convey information via an encyclopaedia.
2010.03.12 at 02:16
I think that’s also the reason that they released all those FFXIII novellas, I’d have been lost without their provision of background info, though they’re also full of spoilers …
2010.03.12 at 03:03
Apparently the Japanese version had proper rumble, and they took it away for Western release …
http://kotaku.com/5491663/small-differences-between-japanese-final-fantasy-xiii-and-international-ffxiii
2010.03.12 at 03:05
This better describes it: http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/2010/03/11/the-irritating-changes-made-to-final-fantasy-xiii.html
2010.03.12 at 04:44
Heh, I was wondering about the rumble. I could have sworn I felt it once or twice but I wasn’t sure if it was just my imagination. It broke me away from the game for a second to think “WTF?”
2010.03.12 at 07:53
Wow, why WOULD they make those changes? …Really bizarre. I don’t use the shroud menu because I’ve been engaging in every battle so far and selling those items for money because I desperately need it, but it confuses me to at least not give the option ala FFXII.
I agree that the datalog shouldn’t have so much key information, but in that case, I was saying it confirmed it. It seemed obvious to me without the confirmation.
2010.03.12 at 11:24
The cynic in me says they made those changes because, deep down, Japan still hates America.
Maybe there is some other reason, but I can’t think of any that make sense.
(Also: 82 comments. Keep it up and we’ll break 100 before tomorrow’s Podcast recording!)
2010.03.12 at 11:37
It all stems from the fact that Wada’s dog was run over by an SUV when he was little.
2010.03.12 at 13:14
@darth – I got used to the whole main character dying thing too with persona but it doesn’t make any more sense. The reason it bugs me (and I know I’m not alone in this) is that the shit doesn’t make any sense. there’s no reason why your party members can’t toss a phoenix down at you/ use recarm on you. and regarding mashing buttons they actually had something that seems to like what you’re describing in the alpha version of the battle system but it was taken out for some reason.
http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/2010/01/30/this-is-what-final-fantasy-xiii-looked-like-on-ps2.html
And Hope does get better but he has the Final Fantasy Prince Archetype problem. even though he gets better he still was a whiny little bitch and the memory stays like a bad aftertaste. Gordon of FFII, Allus of FFIII, and Edward of FFIV all had the same issue. I thought the reason SE stopped using this Archtype is because they realized that not many people actually like this archetype.
@noob & lusi – I don’t know enough Japanese that I could catch that problem. ya’ll are right, if that type of thing has to be explained in a datalog then that’s the definition of bad writing.
2010.03.12 at 13:28
@breaka – I think it’s because you’re in command of the battle. If you die, it’s a lot more your fault than if a party member dies.
2010.03.12 at 13:47
@Breaka: Those scans are awesome. I wish I had access to that book.
The Cel-shaded Yuna/Rikku in-battle picture looks awesome. Honestly, I wish they had gone in that direction. FFXIII looks great, but I would love to see them take the series where it has never been before artistically.
2010.03.12 at 15:57
@Berserk — I’m loving the references too. “The Lindblum” :)
@Lusi — “The Cel-shaded Yuna/Rikku in-battle picture looks awesome. Honestly, I wish they had gone in that direction. FFXIII looks great, but I would love to see them take the series where it has never been before artistically.”
~ Check out The Last Story (Official art was released)
Impression —
The CG’s and intro – I’ve never seen anything more gorgeous running on my PS3 or any computer. The 360 version must be blown out of the water for this part, only being able to output 720p.
Now, let me tell you this. I have seen the intro of the game at least 50 times. But after watching it on my screen directly from the Blu-Ray disc, it seems that I have never seen it. I was completely blown away at how lifelike all of the motions are. Every facial expression, every individual hair strand, every separate finger and toe motion, they all flow so smoothly in CG scenes. The Spirits Within and even Advent Children have been surpassed by a video game.
After the CG intro, the loading screen shows up for 6 seconds. Bearable — especially since this is the last time you will notice a load screen. You are thrown into battle with your first fight. Manasvin Warmech greets you with a grim smile. The battle system starts now. There is a ATB that fills up continuously. As the bar fills, it is split into segments. Starting off with two segments, and working its way up to probably 5 segments near the end of the game? Just guessing of course, as I’m only 4 hours in. Lightning has two attacks to choose from. The simple attack, and an AoE attack called blitz. The simple attack costs one segment of the ATB bar, while the AoE attack, blitz, costs 2 segments. While the ATB bar is filling, you choose how you want to spend your two segments. In essence, queueing them up — followed by choosing your target. Everything is happening in real time (default config set to active). Lightning is moving around the field, waiting for her chance to strike. Then the ATB bar fills, and she completes the task I had set up for her. Two attacks. They are both executed one after the other, animated smoothly. After she completes this, you are given the option to repeat what you just did, or make another queue. There is also the auto-attack button that randomly generates a set of attacks. Items are also different, since you only control one character, they simplified potions. A potion is now a mega potion! Hell yeah! So when you use a potion, everyone’s HP goes up 150 points. Best part, the ATB bar is not used for items.
The camera control takes some getting used to. But this is the first FF where you are able to specify X and Y axis Inverts. So everyone is happy; at least after you get used to how loose the camera is. To keep with the smooth style, the camera moves smoothly. Other than that, after a few hours, it just feels natural. I consider it a big improvement from Final Fantasy XII’s camera.
Speaking of XII, the story is also a Huge improvement. It almost feels like they’ve gone back to the PS1 era of story telling. The number one aspect that I was worried about is character development, and making you love the characters. I can tell you this: in my first four hours of gameplay, I feel aeons closer to Lightning and crew than I ever did with the crew in XII… Balthier is the exception. If you can get past the clich’e cookie cutter character roles… which I no doubt can, and see them for who they are, then you will feel the same as I do.
One last thing. The Music. Fast paced, trumpets of war. Simply put, the music matches the action. I will condone that there was one piece of music that is sticking to me, I will find out the name of it. Mainly because of the use of high pitched viola’s playing with their bow. Very smooth and pretentious. Similar to the score found in Chrono Cross‘ battle music. There is a theme song that is played quietly during key moments… I believe it is the Eternal Love theme…? There was also a touch of FF12 in one of the tracks while I was traversing through the frozen lake/waves, Lake Breska? I really enjoy FF12, but I do not like 80% of its music.
Overall, this intro is very reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII and Crisis Core’s intro’s. Train. Resistance Group. Fast paced. In medias res. Thrown right into the action without initially knowing why. No doubt, the story telling has at least returned to whence it came from in the PS1 era. Still hoping that the characters make me fall in love with them. Their voice acting is really good so far. I don’t care what the janapophiles say… this is top notch voice acting in america. You aren’t reminded that you are playing a game anymore from little flaws; especially since their lips sync up nearly perfectly.
2010.03.12 at 16:06
Japanophiles”
@SN — Forgot to mention, I love your find about gestalt psychology — Things like this are what really drew me into Final Fantasy in the first place. I wonder if this will carry over into Versus/Agito/Haerisis xD
2010.03.12 at 20:46
Yeah, the Gestalt psychology is quite interesting. In this example with the eidolons I guess you could think of it like this. The Eidolons are building up a picture of your psyche as you battle them, finding out about the characters and measuring their strengths and weaknesses. Essentially forming an image for themselves, to determine whether they see valuable companions in the l’Cie. Thats probably taking it a bit too literally though…
Whats the bet that Haeresis will either turn out to be FFXIV or be scrapped? I can’t imagine them releasing 2 MMORPGs within a short period of time.
http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/final-fantasy-haeresis-xiii/
88 comments, stay on target =p
2010.03.12 at 21:11
Oh, I forgot about the music..some of it just seems insane. Like the harmonica bluesy music in Sahz cutscenes, the wierd music in Chapter 4-I think its kind of a jazz style, not sure..all I know is that it really jarred.
2010.03.12 at 21:22
@Berserk – The jazzy music is the low part of the music soundtrack… most definitely. And I’m betting that Haeresis will be announced around E3 :D (Kitase had an interview with Game Informer http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/2010/03/11/crystal-tools-was-a-mistake-bring-on-new-fnc-titles.html )
Also… who else was thunder-shocked by the pronunciation of Eidolons?
2010.03.12 at 21:22
@Berserk: Thanks for mentioning the weird, jarring, harmonica piece. I had meant to say that myself. Who thought that was a good idea!?
2010.03.12 at 23:07
@ethos – it’s still nonsensical though. even if the leader dies and the chain of command breaks surely one person would think to pick you up. maybe if all of your party members cowards/idiots then it would make sense.
@lusi – same here on the art direction, though I’m always more partial to stylized graphics to realistic ones.
2010.03.13 at 00:40
The PS2 art direction looked amazing, I wish they’d stuck with that version, we would have got the game much sooner, and it might even have had towns!
2010.03.13 at 04:10
-Vocal tracks loop very poorly.
-I really enjoyed the seaside cafe section, the first concession to pacing since beginning the game, is it too much too hope for more of this? It’s like a brief window into how XIII might have been …
2010.03.13 at 05:24
Am playing through the woods section with Lightning and Hope and the story is finally starting to take off a bit, I hope things start to come together now …
2010.03.13 at 06:27
It’s very frustrating to have the Crystarium halt my progress when I’ve only ever fought every monster once! If SE wanted me not to exceed certain parameters then perhaps they should have populated the area with fewer enemies.
-Am enjoying the game much more today, I don’t know whether that’s because it’s getting better, or simply because I’m coming to terms with its limitations.
2010.03.13 at 08:34
Yeah, I wish the enemies respawned or something so grinding CP could be easier. I think they do if you load the game, but I’m not entirely sure since I’ve not done much backtracking to find out.
Thats one reason I prefer random encounters to enemies showing up in the world.
I never really liked the Spheregrid system from X because it feels so stop-start. You could battle for a half hour or so, get some sphere points, spend them and only come out with a couple stat points for your time only to have to start over from lv.0. Same thing in FFXIII so far from what I can tell. Often it just doesn’t feel worth it to spend 300 odd CP and just get +20 HP or whatever bonus it might be. Still, I guess you gotta go past all of these to get to the decent stuff at the end.
I guess its good to get extra stat points though, since the customisation system doesn’t feel very effective or efficient. Have any of you done much upgrading to weapons and accessories?
2010.03.13 at 08:54
@Beserk- They do. Or at least, I know of two area I had them respawn for me. I was actually surprised because I didn’t know they would respawn.
I just simply walked a bit, turned around and there they where.
2010.03.13 at 08:59
@Berserk: Yeah, they respawn if you leave an area and come back (and, I think, if you just get far enough away from the encounter spot). I spent a little bit of time grinding on the woods area, only to hit the same wall SN did. Now I’ve got a ton of extra CP (which, I suppose, I’ll be able to use later, so not a total loss).
@SN: I love how, in the description or the woods area, it says something about how it’s intentionally confusing to cause intruders to get lost, but it’s still just a straight line :F.
And yeah, I do hope there are more sections like the Cafe flashback. It was a really nice change of pace fomr the “GOGOGO” of the rest of the game. Ahhh, towns. How I miss you :f.
2010.03.13 at 09:03
@Berserk – I have definitely been upgrading weapons and accessories. This is the main reason I don’t have much gil ~ selling all my stuff for exp.
Upgrading is most definitely worth it though. I had a gun doing 8 attack, and after messing around with upgrading it, it was phenomenally more powerful. It’s like getting a few extra stat boosts from the crystarium :D
2010.03.13 at 09:14
@DG- There’s no getting lost in the world of XIII! XD
2010.03.13 at 09:17
@SN – Maybe when we get to Pulse?
2010.03.13 at 09:22
Maybe this was just me… or did Dahj’s character animation seem completely gimp? I could not help but laugh at him. He moved like a robot.
2010.03.13 at 09:32
Ugh … I’ve hit another CP brick wall!
2010.03.13 at 09:37
I’m not far enough in to upgrade weapons yet. :(
2010.03.13 at 09:45
XIII-2 is a possibility :D http://kotaku.com/5490042/final-fantasy-xiii-review–a-new-paradigm-for-an-old-franchise
2010.03.13 at 09:45
typo — http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/2010/03/13/kitase-toriyama-want-final-fantasy-xiii-2.html
2010.03.13 at 09:51
Well I hope XIII-2 has towns …
2010.03.13 at 09:59
I still have some comments to read, but my initial impressions and thoughts are:
Vanille is fucking annoying. Her voice switches from a childish lisp to a normal voice, to something Australian-sounding. (Sorry, SN). Sometimes she appears to be acquainted with the letter “r”, sometimes she does not. Argh! She seems like a good character, though. Probably the primary magical chick, at least for now. Hopefully I can get used to her voice, and how much she reminds me of one of my friends.
The CP system is kinda cool, but it seems so … small. I feel like I’m forced to give my guys attributes and bonuses that I really don’t give a crap about, simply because there’s nothing else to do with my points. It’s pretty cool, though. I still like the Sphere system more.
The “tunnel” is not bothering me as much as I thought it would. I still miss towns, because wandering around a town and breaking into peoples’ houses is fun, but I’ll live.
I’m not very far in, only really played it Thursday evening and Friday afternoon. I’ve been really tired lately, and opted to go to bed rather than stay up ’til dark o’ clock playing FFXIII. This will be remedied tonight.
2010.03.13 at 10:24
-Vanille’s voice is all over the place, she drives me absolutely insane …
-I just got to the outskirts of Pallumpollom, and it looks absolutely stunning, probably the prettiest location I have thus far seen in the game!
2010.03.13 at 10:33
@SN-Moreso than Lake Beshad? :O
I can’t wait to see it!
I’m in the woods in chapter 5 at the moment. Like you guys said earlier, I had noticed the same thing. As soon as they said it was really easy to get lost, I was thinking “well, knowing this game it will just be a straight path no matter what…” *sigh* They could have easily made it more maze-like
2010.03.13 at 10:39
This is rather embarrassing to admit, but I got lost in the woods.
I had my mini map turned off (for more of a challenge instead of always heading towards the next checkpoint) I paused the game to eat supper and watched some show… came back a few hours later and got to a dead end. Come to find out, right before I paused the game, I was pointed in the other direction and forgot to go the other way.
Protip: Turn the minimap off, and get yourself dizzy for more of a challenge