I could be wrong but weren't towns scrapped because they started making the 360 version?
Considering the 360 version was already 4 discs without them.
The game itself is 6gb, the rest are cutscenes.
I could be wrong but weren't towns scrapped because they started making the 360 version?
Considering the 360 version was already 4 discs without them.
The gameplay is some of the best in the series it's just too bad they had to spread each new gameplay element 5 hours apart.It's a solid £9.89 if you ask me.
On a serious note, FFXIII is a fantastic presentation piece. It's really beautiful and has a fantastic soundtrack. But the gameplay is some of the worst of the series and the story, holy shit. The story and characters are just unbearable.
TL;DR:
Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics:10/10
Music: 10/10
-1 for story
-0.5 for dialog
-0.5 for no HD towns
-0.5 for linearity
I agree with much of your assessment, but if you're hoping to understand where the game's critics come from, you need to realize that you compared to FFX as your gold standard throughout your post. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts if you were to go back and play FFVI or FFIX.
Personally I enjoyed it quite a bit, however it was obvious to see where it fell short in terms of its lineage
The gameplay is some of the best in the series it's just too bad they had to spread each new gameplay element 5 hours apart.
10/10 in my book
this is what every game should strive to be like; no padding
The gameplay is some of the best in the series it's just too bad they had to spread each new gameplay element 5 hours apart.
Let's be honest, if it takes 15-20 hours to get to the good part of a game, it sucks, let's be honest.
Well, FFXIII certainly had its issues but IMO they were mostly present in FFX too but I don't hear people hate on FFX the way they hate on FFXIII which baffles me. If you're going to say FFXIII is a 1/10 because it's linear, no exploration, characters are annoying, and story is confusing, then FFX also gets a 1/10 in my book.
I've never played the older games and need to go back and play them, definitely.
It doesn't, though. At that point which I assume everyone is referring to when it "opens up," it's the same exact game only you can run around a big ass field but engage in the same exact gameplay you've been experiencing up until that point. There is no 20 hour tutorial. It's like other games how there are gradually more and more additions to the game mechanics as you go. The story and gameplay begins when the game does, not 20 hours in.
Let's be honest, if it takes 15-20 hours to get to the good part of a game, it sucks, let's be honest.
knowing that this is one of the biggest and most prolific gaming forums in the industry and then to come here and see someone describe Final Fantasy XIII's Gameplay: 10/10 completely un-ironically makes me weep.
we are all doomed. because fuck games with any real complexity lets just all buy the games that play themselves
It doesn't, though. At that point which I assume everyone is referring to when it "opens up," it's the same exact game only you can run around a big ass field but engage in the same exact gameplay you've been experiencing up until that point. There is no 20 hour tutorial. It's like other games how there are gradually more and more additions to the game mechanics as you go. The story and gameplay begins when the game does, not 20 hours in.
Gameplay
Again, they really nailed this part. For those who complain that it's "auto-win", you realize that FFXII required even less input from the player, right? (and I loved FFXII's battle system) Let's look at the battle system for the past 3 games:
FFX - press X, select attack, press X, press X, press X, select attack, press X, press X, etc. It's okay I guess, but pretty boring for the most part.
FFXII - once I got some good gambits set up, I never touched a button for all the battles or ever entered a manual command, even for the final boss. I thought this was pretty cool, but it's not for everyone.
FFXIII - similar to FFXII, but I had to constantly shift paradigms, especially for the harder bosses. Streamlined for the player, but with more input than FFXII. Instead of starting out a battle and manually casting protect/shell/whatever, simply switch to COM/SYN/SYN and the system casts for you. Then switch to COM/RAV/RAV to slow stagger bar, then switch to RAV/RAV/RAV to stagger faster. Just like the traditional battle system except you don't have to manually select each magic spell painstakingly; the system does it for you. Setting up the paradigms and figuring out how to level your characters and choose spells to maximize paradigm effectiveness was really fun too.
You aren't wrong, OP. The game might have been disappointing as a Final Fantasy game, and it did to some stuff wrong, but it's by no means a "bad" game.
I don't think people understand what "bad" games are anymore. It's time to pull out some PS2/Wii Shoverlware or some of the turds on XBLA so that people can understand the difference between "bad" and "I don't like thing".
I don't much care for this philosophy for scoring myself, it's assuming there's some hypothetical perfect game they just keep falling short of akin to a perfectly solved math test or a machine designed perfectly according to listed specs, versus a creative work that can only strive to be as good as it can be and is left to the observer's opinions as to how well it succeeded.TL;DR:
Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics:10/10
Music: 10/10
-1 for story
-0.5 for dialog
-0.5 for no HD towns
-0.5 for linearity
7.5/10. It's flawed but fun. It's not the worst game ever made.
I.....I...I just can't take this part seriously, WHAT!?
Heck I liked the game much more up to that point, at least you were learning new mechanics during that twenty hour build up. The moment you reach Pulse however you learned everything there is to know and the game basically says now start grinding for twenty hours because fuck you.It doesn't, though. At that point which I assume everyone is referring to when it "opens up," it's the same exact game only you can run around a big ass field but engage in the same exact gameplay you've been experiencing up until that point. There is no 20 hour tutorial. It's like other games how there are gradually more and more additions to the game mechanics as you go. The story and gameplay begins when the game does, not 20 hours in. At the 20-25 hour point you simply go to a new environment that is more open, but there are still similar, linear paths within that area and it doesn't really last that long unless you're doing sidequests, and after a little while you're back to more linear paths.
Ok then it's just as bad 20 hours in as it is in the beginning? I always thought maybe people that enjoyed it just tolerated it long enough for some kind of magic to happen and it got better. I played closed to 15 hours and just couldn't stand anymore of it waiting to get good.