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Post by dgunther on Mar 10, 2015 10:34:05 GMT -7
I think that XIII's biggest weakness is also it's biggest strength. Having a very linear game for the majority of it made for a story that was MUCH more suspenseful then a lot of the other Final Fantasy games. The characters are placed between a rock and a Hard Place, and are on the RUN for the majority of the game. FFVII is probably still my favorite, but it just doesn't make sense for a party to wander around the globe, raising Chocobos, and playing at a Casino in your spare time - All while following Sephiroth.
I love pretty much all of the Final Fantasy games but I like how XIII really leads you down a path following the relationships between the characters. For the first 1/2 of the game, you're not playing as a party, you're only really playing as 2 or 3 characters and watching their interactions. Beyond that, too, I thought it was BRILLIANT how the characters' "Roles" in battles are also part of their dynamic in the relationships. Like how when Hope is with Lightning, he plots his revenge against snow, learning to FOLLOW Lightning (since she is acting as a Commando or Ravager, and he is acting as a Synergist or Ravager during battles). Later, when he is placed in a party with Snow at Palumporum, Hope has to rely on Snow to PROTECT him in during Battles since Snow has the Sentinel role, and Hope will get destroyed by certain enemies if you don't use Snow that way. The game isn't just telling the story through cutscenes, they're setting up relationships and having them evolve through the actual GAMEPLAY.
Sorry, long rant, but I love XIII and I think it gets way more flak than it deserves. Feel free to rebuttal, though!
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Post by Battman on Mar 15, 2015 22:12:03 GMT -7
I agree, I think FF13 was much better than people give it credit. The one negative thing I will say about the game is that it just throws you in the middle of a very convoluted and often times confusing storyline, instead of allowing you the opportunity to learn about the world organically. While I think datalogs are a clever way to add depth to a story, they shouldn't have been the way we learned about the world. There were some confusing concepts to pick up very early in the game and it took me a few hours before I had a grasp on what was going on.
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Post by dgunther on Mar 17, 2015 10:06:39 GMT -7
I agree, I think FF13 was much better than people give it credit. The one negative thing I will say about the game is that it just throws you in the middle of a very convoluted and often times confusing storyline, instead of allowing you the opportunity to learn about the world organically. While I think datalogs are a clever way to add depth to a story, they shouldn't have been the way we learned about the world. There were some confusing concepts to pick up very early in the game and it took me a few hours before I had a grasp on what was going on. You're right the datalog should have been full of fun facts - Not things you NEEDED to know to understand what the hell was going on. I read it religiously, but I definitely think that it took away from the cohesion of the overall story. Especially since some of the enemies that seemed important added almost nothing to the plot after they played their bit part (Like Nabaat and Cid Raines). The character development still worked since their relationships between each other made sense, but that story can be a MESS. XIII-2 was a bit less complicated and Lightning Returns is MUCH better at wrapping things up. Did you play those? |
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Post by Battman on Mar 23, 2015 20:24:31 GMT -7
I played both, and really liked 13-2. I felt that it was a more complete game than LR, even though it had a cliffhanger ending. I think the storytelling in 13-2 was great, along with the battle system and using monsters as a third member. While I liked LR, I felt it was a bit of a step down from 13-2. The characters seemed to feel disconnected to me from the previous games, probably a result of square trying to make the game less linear.
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Post by Shinryu on Mar 24, 2015 3:00:18 GMT -7
I remember reading every datalog as soon as I got them. It really helped me to understand everything but I kinda wished they would have done them in an easier way like the older FF games would slowly explain a story to you in ingame text or dialogue.
I did enjoy reading though since it gave me a break from playing.
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Post by Shinryu on Mar 24, 2015 3:00:57 GMT -7
I played both, and really liked 13-2. I felt that it was a more complete game than LR, even though it had a cliffhanger ending. I think the storytelling in 13-2 was great, along with the battle system and using monsters as a third member. While I liked LR, I felt it was a bit of a step down from 13-2. The characters seemed to feel disconnected to me from the previous games, probably a result of square trying to make the game less linear. I think 13-2 had the best final boss out of the 13 trilogy. Its my favorite and it had the best final boss music too. |
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Post by Battman on Mar 31, 2015 0:39:23 GMT -7
I played both, and really liked 13-2. I felt that it was a more complete game than LR, even though it had a cliffhanger ending. I think the storytelling in 13-2 was great, along with the battle system and using monsters as a third member. While I liked LR, I felt it was a bit of a step down from 13-2. The characters seemed to feel disconnected to me from the previous games, probably a result of square trying to make the game less linear. I think 13-2 had the best final boss out of the 13 trilogy. Its my favorite and it had the best final boss music too. I also thought Noel and Caius were awesome additions to the FF universe. |
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Post by Shinryu on Mar 31, 2015 1:26:28 GMT -7
I think 13-2 had the best final boss out of the 13 trilogy. Its my favorite and it had the best final boss music too. I also thought Noel and Caius were awesome additions to the FF universe. I agree. Its one of the first times where an FF direct sequel introduced new characters that really were good. |
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Post by SamCroft on Apr 26, 2015 1:38:23 GMT -7
I'm still on the fence here.
1st, Final Fantasy XIII, I had never really given much thought to the linearity in that way. I think you have a strong point, but previous games in the series have been able to tell an epic story with less linearity. I personally think it's to appeal to people who have maybe not given a JRPG a second glance before.
2nd, XIII-2, while it felt like a more complete game than XIII certainly, the story felt forced to me. And LR was.... Not enjoyable for me. I really really wanted to love it, but I just couldn't.
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Post by EyesOnMe on Apr 28, 2015 12:46:15 GMT -7
I'm doing to be the Debbie Downer here (story of my life!) and say I did not care much for FFXIII. I realize this game does not follow a lot of typical FF styles but there was just something about it overall that did nothing for me. One of my biggest complaints is the praise and obsession people have for the character Lightning, am I missing something here? Yes she is gorgeous, I get it, but I feel as if SE basically made her a female version of Cloud with even less personality. At the end of the game I honestly did not care about her, or many of the other characters really which is one reason why I don't care much for this installment. The only two characters, in my opinion that are interesting are Fang and Vanille, I absolutely love their storyline (I totally ship them together!) The game play itself was OK, I was not a fan of the battle system because I like turned base, I know I'm an old lady. It was insanely linear and I like being able to explore every little place available to discover everything but this game was lacking in that aspect. I will say the graphics are incredible and I love the music, I could easily stare off into the distance and lose myself in the environments. The L'Cie storyline was kinda cool and I did feel for the characters and their struggles but overall I was just sort of...meh. Ok, FFXIII. Nothing fancy. Commence the bashing!  just kidding, I know everyone here respects everyones opinions, myself included! |
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Post by husk on Apr 28, 2015 14:35:26 GMT -7
Most of the series is linear. They just hide it better.
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Post by Battman on Apr 28, 2015 14:52:44 GMT -7
Most of the series is linear. They just hide it better. I personally don't mind a somewhat linear as game. If that makes for a better story it's alright with me. |
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Post by Shinryu on Apr 29, 2015 1:11:24 GMT -7
I'm doing to be the Debbie Downer here (story of my life!) and say I did not care much for FFXIII. I realize this game does not follow a lot of typical FF styles but there was just something about it overall that did nothing for me. One of my biggest complaints is the praise and obsession people have for the character Lightning, am I missing something here? Yes she is gorgeous, I get it, but I feel as if SE basically made her a female version of Cloud with even less personality. At the end of the game I honestly did not care about her, or many of the other characters really which is one reason why I don't care much for this installment. The only two characters, in my opinion that are interesting are Fang and Vanille, I absolutely love their storyline (I totally ship them together!) The game play itself was OK, I was not a fan of the battle system because I like turned base, I know I'm an old lady. It was insanely linear and I like being able to explore every little place available to discover everything but this game was lacking in that aspect. I will say the graphics are incredible and I love the music, I could easily stare off into the distance and lose myself in the environments. The L'Cie storyline was kinda cool and I did feel for the characters and their struggles but overall I was just sort of...meh. Ok, FFXIII. Nothing fancy. Commence the bashing! just kidding, I know everyone here respects everyones opinions, myself included! Fang is arguably the best character and I"m not a Lightning fanboy but I do like her attitude lol she is great. I like Snow a lot too but a lot of people seem to hate him. You make some valid points but even then you have to admit that FF13 deserves at least 8/10 rating or something the game might not be the best FF game but its better than a lot of games that come out every year. The Battle System I thought was a lot of fun and it gets better in FF13-2 its fast paced and engaging and becomes strategic later on when you switch between roles. The music was great and the graphics were very nice. |
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Post by Judge Gabranth on Jul 29, 2015 10:34:26 GMT -7
I love the XIII trilogy! As annoying as some people say she is, not really to me, but Vanille is the best character. Play wise, she's the best healer, best saboteur, and not far from Hope when it comes to black magic. As a character I think she has the most depth and the biggest struggle. Some people can't see passed the giggly, sunshine and rainbow, front that we see as Vanille. I thought it would have been fitting for Sazh to actually challenge her and get defeated once she reveals who she is. When she says "I am Oebra dia Vanille, a L'Cie from Gran Pulse...." her entire voice changed. She reminded me of Rydia a bit whos my favorite female character in the series, basically a little girl who can kill you instantly. When they introduced Caius, I thought he instantly replaced Kefka/Sephrioth at the top of the villain ladder. First Liam (can't think of his last name), does an awesome job with the voice acting and secondly I think he was as intelligent, cool, and calculated like Sephrioth but as crazy as Kefka to end the world. "Oblivion is the fate of all things." What a bad ass! I'm 29 I grew up playing FF1 when I was 5/6 years old and played the series all the way through to now as I got older, I always wondered how I would mentally handle the graphics vs the story as the graphics got better. I stopped playing Zelda when it got to 64 because it was too much in 3D (to me) and it was better on the SNES and before that. I think by XIII being very linear in it's first jump to a newer console was a safe way to keep the fan/the game in line, there's no way I could pay attention in Lightning Returns if I didn't play XIII first. Especially with time not being on your side, you could literally waste days in Lightning Returns if you have no idea of direction. Overall I think it's a gorgeous series, with well developed story and characters, I think they could do more (but shouldn't and won't), and like always the music was awesome!
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Post by husk on Aug 1, 2015 8:27:51 GMT -7
I'm doing to be the Debbie Downer here (story of my life!) and say I did not care much for FFXIII. I realize this game does not follow a lot of typical FF styles but there was just something about it overall that did nothing for me. One of my biggest complaints is the praise and obsession people have for the character Lightning, am I missing something here? Yes she is gorgeous, I get it, but I feel as if SE basically made her a female version of Cloud with even less personality. At the end of the game I honestly did not care about her, or many of the other characters really which is one reason why I don't care much for this installment. The only two characters, in my opinion that are interesting are Fang and Vanille, I absolutely love their storyline (I totally ship them together!) The game play itself was OK, I was not a fan of the battle system because I like turned base, I know I'm an old lady. It was insanely linear and I like being able to explore every little place available to discover everything but this game was lacking in that aspect. I will say the graphics are incredible and I love the music, I could easily stare off into the distance and lose myself in the environments. The L'Cie storyline was kinda cool and I did feel for the characters and their struggles but overall I was just sort of...meh. Ok, FFXIII. Nothing fancy. Commence the bashing! just kidding, I know everyone here respects everyones opinions, myself included! Fang is arguably the best character and I"m not a Lightning fanboy but I do like her attitude lol she is great. I like Snow a lot too but a lot of people seem to hate him. You make some valid points but even then you have to admit that FF13 deserves at least 8/10 rating or something the game might not be the best FF game but its better than a lot of games that come out every year. The Battle System I thought was a lot of fun and it gets better in FF13-2 its fast paced and engaging and becomes strategic later on when you switch between roles. The music was great and the graphics were very nice. I played it for a while. And thenGod of War III came.... |
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just kidding, I know everyone here respects everyones opinions, myself included!
