Topic: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)

[gpw11]

Square Enix made another mistake with this game that I've noticed since I started playing but couldn't figure out how to fix it until now.  Apparently, Square decided to make Dolby Digital the precedent audio codec to use instead of DTS (if you look at the box, it is clearly stated that DTS and Dolby Digital are both supported).  It's a completely illogical decision.  Apparently you have to deselect Dolby Digital support within the audio settings of your PS3 (not in game, but on the XMB) in order for DTS to kick in.  That is retarded.  Most games that support DTS select automatically (Uncharted, Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, Dragon Age Origins, etc.)

 

I have no idea what this means.  Do some receivers not support Dolby Digital?  Is DTS pretty much the standard?

[Cobra951]

He's saying that DTS should be the default when available, so I assume DTS is superior to Dolby Digital.  This game doesn't follow that convention, and he's unhappy about it.

Edit:  There is no shortage of information anymore.

If the grammar problems there mar credibility, here is an alternative article.  It's much shorter too, but basically says the same thing.

[Pugnate]

The game is pretty decent, but probably not worth the full price. I've enjoyed what I've played so far, but it has been a pretty monotonous experience.

What has been disappointing is the game's setting. It started with this weird futuristic fantasy thing, but since then has gone into this standard wilderness setting. While the various enemies are very creative looking, the game's maps are starting to look very uninspired.

I was quite excited at first because the game started on this futuristic railway track, with what looked like an advanced city in the background. It reminded of some great animes I've seen. Unfortunately, my party members soon found themselves in the under city, which is devoid of anything that made that opening sequence special.

The combat isn't bad, and I am enjoying it, but it seems all that made the game feel so cohesive and creative at first, is slowly slipping away.

Interestingly enough, the party members have stopped chatting with each other during the exploration portions, which is again disappointing.

But yea, I hope it slips back to what made the game look so interesting, and feel so special.

[iPPi]

25.5 hours in, I've finally left Cocoon and made it to Gran Pulse.  It hasn't opened up quite yet because I literally just landed in Pulse and then quit the game.  The last 3-4 hours were BORING... basically all of chapter 10.  You're stuck in this place that is linear (no surprise there), but also because it doesn't progress the story very much at all.  There are like 3 cutscenes that are story related in chapter 10 (the start, the middle and the end) and as a result, it's one big grind.  There is a reason to that though and it is woven into the story giving you a reason as to why it's a big grind, but still as the player I'm wondering, 'when is this chapter going to end?'

Anyway, still a good game overall, but chapter 10 sucked.

[Ghandi]

Yahtzee's review. Ouch.

[TheOtherBelmont]

I'm still playing this right now, I'm about 42 hours in and still enjoying it.  Just finished Chapter 11 which was pretty fun, had a nice variety of different areas and all the sidequest stuff was a nice break in the main story and offered some funny cutscenes.  The opening to Chapter 12 was fucking awesome, but that's where I stopped last night.

[Cobra951]

Yahtzee's review. Ouch.

Ahahaha!  That's one of his funniest outings.  I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when he mentioned banging coconuts together.

[Pugnate]

Probably his funniest review since he started, and I actually like the game

[MysterD]

Yahtzee's review. Ouch.

Hysterical.
One of Yahtzee's best.

[iPPi]

Great review from Yahtzee.  What he says is true, though if you do persist through the game it does get a lot better.  The first few hours had me scratching my head as I wasn't drawn into the story at all.  It does pick up at about the 10 hour mark, and then it gets really boring at about the 20-25 hour mark before the world opens up for you to explore.

This game has its ups and downs, but it's still fun.  That said, I've put it on hold right now since I'm working on God of War III.

[PyroMenace]

Jeff of Giantbomb gives it 3 out 5 stars.

He starts off rather negative, "I stuck it out because I needed to review the game and because I loved Final Fantasy once, and ultimately I'm glad I did. But if it weren't for those two drivers I'd have probably never made it through the first 15 or so hours it takes to see the good part, where the fighting becomes fun and you start to understand the story and care about what happens to its characters."

But has some good things to say at the end, "There are a lot of great things going on in this game--I genuinely loved something about every aspect, from the combat to the story to the visual design."

[TheOtherBelmont]

Well, I finally beat the game.  What a great story.  I clocked in at around 55 hours and still need to do the post game sidequest stuff.  Overall, this was a good game, but there are some things they need to address with the next games if they are going to continue in this direction for their next titles.  The lack of towns and exploration is probably my biggest complaint and if they could just open up the world a little more (and much earlier) and stick with the same gameplay and story pacing, the next game will be even better.

[iPPi]

I finally finished it tonight... this is the first Final Fantasy game I've ever finished (having only played 7, 8, and this) and I am somewhat disappointed in this game.  There were ups and downs at the start, but by the time you hit the 25 hour mark and the game opens up, the story is complete nonsense and I didn't care for the world or the characters.  By the time the credits rolled I was grateful it ended, but I still couldn't bring myself to care for any of the characters at all.  The gameplay difficulty ramped up significantly in the final chapters, but then the final boss was a complete pushover as well.

Overall, it's a very, very mixed bag.  You get to create a cleared game save after the credits so you can return to Pulse and finish up the side missions and max out your characters... I might do a couple more for some trophies since the Gran Pulse missions do pose a nice challenge, but other than that there is no incentive to play the game anymore.

[K-man]

This is on sale at K-mart the next few days for 30 bucks, if there's one around you.  They also have Modern Warfare 2 for 30 bucks, which I picked up.

[MysterD]

Shacknews -> A domain for Final Fantasy XIII-2 has been registered.

Remember, Square a while back did state that there was enough stuff on the cutting room floor to make another game...

[sirean_syan]

I guess when you're making straight line levels you can really pump them out.

[iPPi]

Zero interest.

[Xessive]

Great, what they initially aborted somehow survived.

[Cobra951]

They boxed it and sold it too.  Now they're adding more to it.

[Pugnate]

Bastards.

Easily my biggest disappointment on the PS3.

[MysterD]

Shacknews -> Final Fantasy XIII-2 officially announced for PS3 and X360 for Winter 2011.
Trailer included in here, as well (in Japanese).

[Quemaqua]

Have any of you even played the game?  Seems like an awful lot of badmouthing.  I didn't play a whole lot but did manage to put a few hours in on Julia's copy.  Design choices may have been questionable, but it still seemed like a competent game.

[iPPi]

Played it all the way through and didn't really like it at all, except for the cinematics and the character design.

[K-man]

Have any of you even played the game?  Seems like an awful lot of badmouthing.  I didn't play a whole lot but did manage to put a few hours in on Julia's copy.  Design choices may have been questionable, but it still seemed like a competent game.

I haven't played the game, but I read a ton of reviews in an attempt to decide whether or not to purchase it. I would place a wager that if the game didn't have the Final Fantasy moniker attached to it, the game would have gotten middling reviews at best.  I think Squenix has begun to overestimate their ability to deliver a AAA title and bought into their own bullshit.  If it wasn't for the Dragon Quest series, I'd probably be done with them altogether.

[Quemaqua]

I dunno'.  This new game doesn't really appeal to me because JRPGs in general don't anymore, but FFXII is still one of my favorite games of all time.

[K-man]

I loved what I played of XII.  Interesting characters, good writing.  Apparently it all takes a huge nose dive in the second half though. At least that's what I've been told.

[Quemaqua]

Not in my opinion.  The story isn't as personal as it should have been, but I think people spent so mich time complaining about what they didn't like with XII that they turned XIII into the antithesis of that and everyone hated it even more.  Frankly, I think people are just so hung up on things they do nothing but bitch no matter what gets released.  XII had its soundtrack badmouthed almost universally just because Uematsu didn't do it, but it was a bloody Sakimoto masterpiece.

[K-man]

I enjoy the soundtrack greatly.

[MysterD]

NOTE: There are SPOILERS from FF XIII-1 in below link, so you have been warned...
1Up -> What to expect in FF XIII-2 for story and gameplay.

[MysterD]

GameSpot -> Final Fantasy XIII-2 - E3 Teaser Trailer.

[iPPi]

FFXIII-2 Launch Trailer

Though it shows that production values are top notch, as is expected from Square, the game, story, characters, and writing look terrible.

[sirean_syan]

I thought this was pretty notable:

FF XIII-2's Chocobo theme

I'm not sure if this is the best or the worst take on the theme yet (best sure to stick around for at least 11 seconds before you decide).

[TheOtherBelmont]

I thought this was pretty notable:

FF XIII-2's Chocobo theme

I'm not sure if this is the best or the worst take on the theme yet (best sure to stick around for at least 11 seconds before you decide).

Hahaha, I knew someone was going to post this! Yeah, I was cool with it until the dude starting singing.  It's kind of a funny track but I doubt that was their intent.  I've listened to a few of the other tracks on the OST and they are pretty good and on the same level as the soundtrack for FFXIII, which isn't surprising since its the same composer.

[Cobra951]

A dude starts singing?  Where?  Not at 11 seconds.   

Yeouch!  That's godawful, and a tragic break from the lovely harmonic nature of past FF music.

[MysterD]

Final Fantasy XIII-2 REVIEWS
GameTrailers -> 8.8 (out of 10).
Eurogamer -> 8.
Destructoid -> 8.
IGN Review -> 8.0 (of 10) = Written review.; Video Review.
GameSpot -> 7.5 = Written Review;Video Review.

[TheOtherBelmont]

I'm so weak.  I told myself I was going to hold off on buying FFXIII-2 until later, but I ended up picking it up today.  I plan on diving into it after I study a little more today.

[Xessive]

I still have to finish XIII! It's such a drag though!!

[MysterD]

IGN -> Square-Enix might do a FF XIII-3.

When asked if whether Final Fantasy XIII would be a focus at the the upcoming Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary event, he replied, "The [FFXIII-2] Lightning download content had an ending that left a feeling mystery and hope. The day when the meaning of this will come to light is not too far off."

Speculation about the possibility of a third instalment in Lightning's story has been rife since Final Fantasy XIII-2 ended with the words "to be continued", but this was later suggested to refer to DLC.  Now though it seems the original idea could be closer to the mark.

Thankfully we won't have to wait too long to find out; the anniversary event mentioned by Toriyama is scheduled to take place at an art gallery in Shibuya from August 31.

[gpw11]

Level with me...do these games suck?  I used to like Final Fantasy games.

[Xessive]

Level with me...do these games suck?  I used to like Final Fantasy games.

I love FF games.. I cannot finish FFXIII.. I haven't played FFXIII-2.. Visually FFXIII looks great (though extremely weird), but it is so f'ing boring. To test myself I went back and played FFVIII (the last FF game I found boring) and I'm having a better time with it!

The pipe-dream of every FF fan is a FFVII remake but who knows when/if that will happen. So what we're all holding our collective breath for is FF Versus XIII, which seems to slip away with every Square-Enix announcement or press release (which never mention it).