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[TheDanimal]

I've recently been continuing my first playthrough of Final Fantasy X (the HD rerelease), and I couldn't help but compare it to FFXIII.
FFXIII is a game that I really just do not like. Its generic hallway after generic hallway held together by a story I didn't care about just frustrated me to no end, despite its combat system that was actually pretty good (plus the soundtrack is fantastic).
From what I've gathered from GAF and the internet's general dislike of FFXIII, people don't like it because it is a "hallway simulator" and other such factors.
However, as I play through FFX, I can't help but notice the same issues. I feel like I'm just walking down one path for most of the game, with almost no deviation. However, since I am only ten hours in, I cannot quite comment on the story or if the hallway syndrome improves. For the most part it seems to have a pretty standard story for a JRPG (please spoiler tag any story spoilers if you want to discuss that!). The combat also seems to be pretty standard fare, and it might even be worse than XIII's (but that's pretty subjective).
What sets X apart from XIII? What makes it so much better? Is it actually better than XIII?

 

[mrmickfran]

I like both but FFX is actually easy to follow and doesn't have a nonsensical story.

And X does have a part where it opens up. Though it's nowhere near Gran Pulse level.

 

[ivanthebearable]

The ability to really backtrack if you need to, to past areas at almost any point (except for story-centric segments) and the abundance of side content separates it more than enough.

 

[ULTROS!]

The story for one is much more clear and concise in FFX. It's not as lore heavy like in FFXIII but you get a good grasp on what Spira is all about, because it's not stuffed with too much lore. I'd also say the CGs in this game are one of the very memorable bunches in the FF series (especially the ending).

Also despite the linear structure of FFX, you can actually backtrack to the previous location and there are more quests that are just not hunts like in FFXIII.

 

[toastyToast]

It has better hallways

 

[jrush64]

Let's see... Better characters, Better story, equal music (except to Zarnakand is better than almost every Final Fantasy track), Better battle system, better overall gameplay, better and more immersive world.

 

[Astral Dog]

It was released way before XIII and better.

 

[Taruranto]

X has towns, NPCs, side-quests. The linearity even made some sense with the game's theme (It's a journey).

I'm not particularly fond of the game, but you can hardly compare it to XIII.

 

[Enzo88]

Let's see... Better characters, Better story, equal music (except to Zarnakand is better than almost every Final Fantasy track), Better battle system, better overall gameplay, better and more immersive world.

Pretty much this, but i also like FFX overall soundtrack much more than XIII.

 

[Eria]

Let's see... Better characters, Better story, equal music (except to Zarnakand is better than almost every Final Fantasy track), Better battle system, better overall gameplay, better and more immersive world.

.

 

[DR2K]

Better battle system
Better cast of characters
Better world
Better story
Better level up system

For me, and most people who've played both.

 

[Seik]

It has better hallways

And a better story.

And more enticing characters.

 

[potatohead]

Better battle system
Better cast of characters
Better world
Better story
Better level up system

For me, and most people who've played both.

.

 

[Toki767]

It didn't have Hope or Vanille.

And it had Blitzball.

 

[ffdgh]

Beca-

Let's see... Better characters, Better story, equal music (except to Zarnakand is better than almost every Final Fantasy track), Better battle system, better overall gameplay, better and more immersive world.

Well there ya go.

 

[BassForever]

FFX did a lot of cool things that a lot of other jrpgs have since copied

A grid like method of character upgrade so you see constant improvement every battle or two

A time system which shows who went next and how your actions impacted the turn order

The ability to instantly switch out to any character of the party

This was combined with incredible graphics for their time, a compelling love story, and a tragic story of defying destiny in a simple to understand world.

 

[Eylos]

Oh boy, here we go. Will get the popcorn and wait for the toriyama fans

 

[Spinluck]

FFX might be the most overrated Final Fantasy.

Random encounters also puts it pretty low on my list.

 

[jrush64]

Then you also have 10-2 which actually gives you better closure to the way the world is after the events of 10. They might both have linear structure but 10 is just a much much much better game.

 

[Nairume]

Yes, FFX does have a lot of the roots of what is wrong with XIII. With that said, it has a significantly better combat system, the character customization (while busted and poorly balanced) does at least give a lot of freedom that XIII refuses to offer, the pacing is infinitely better, and the story at least doesn't require frequent trips to side materials. Also, while it has some atrociously difficult minigames, it at least has them.

I don't particularly like X, but it isn't that hard to see why it's much more fondly regarded than XIII.

 

[TheDanimal]

FFX did a lot of cool things that a lot of other jrpgs have since copied

A grid like method of character upgrade so you see constant improvement every battle or two

A time system which shows who went next and how your actions impacted the turn order

The ability to instantly switch out to any character of the party

This was combined with incredible garphics for their time, a compelling love story, and a tragic story of defying destiny in a simple to understand world.

This is a really good answer, I think.
It makes a lot of sense that it was very influential, and that that wouldn't come through playing it 16 years after release.

 

[rtcn63]

FFX had some semblance of actual gameplay

 

[Vincent Grayson]

I know which OST I'd rather listen to, characters I'd rather interact with, and game I'd rather play, and it's not X.

 

[Cheshire_Buddha]

Linearity in XIII was never the problem. I mean, yeah, it's a huge problem compared to X (in which you could backtrack, which was encouraged for capturing monsters and picking up Jetcht spheres), but whatever. Narrative or something.

The problem with XIII is it never allows you to view the history of it through exploration. I can't tell you shit about any of the areas in XIII, but I could tell you all about Spira.

X is just better. Better story, some memorable characters, what feels more content, and it's enjoyable. It's not VI or IX, but it's leagues above XIII.

 

[James Scott]

Probably better by the standards of the industry in terms of story telling and gameplay.
Combat was pretty fun too. It was the last turn based one.

FF as a franchise hasn't aged too well thanks to a few factors.

 

[roflwaffles]

Bc this guy is still the best FF character

 

[Fou-Lu]

It has better hallways

This is actually true. When the hallways split in FFX you can't always immediately see which way leads to the next story point (and the way that doesn't might actually reward you with something cool instead of more potions) and sometimes it will even split more than once! *gasp* FFXIII does not do this.

As others have said it also actually allows backtracking, has side content, doesn't block off massive parts of the combat system for half of the game, and has a better story and characters.

I say all this and I actually like FFXIII a lot. FFX is just better in every way and is one of the best FF games.

 

[Caronte]

Rotating party members in combat already gives you more freedom than the first 20+ hours of FFXIII combined.

The story and characters are also far better.

 

[MrDenny]

FFX story had a more coherent story and cast of characters.
FFXIII had a lot of melodramatic moments and some really poor developed characters.
You had to read the datalog to find out what happened to Jihl.
Rygdea seemed like he was suppose to be an important character but didn't have much character development at all.
FFX's lore was told throughout the course of game, FFXIII you basically had to read a majority of it through the datalog.

 

[Mediking]

Anything good from FFX is ruined by Seymour so FF13 wins

 

[hipsterpants]

XIII is basically like Toriyama copied X and then somehow managed to get just about everything wrong.

If XIII had:
- better story
- better characters (the most important part)
- more lively and interesting corridors
- a combat system without massive restrictions until the 25~ hour mark

it would be a significantly better game even with the linearity.

 

[KZXcellent]

Final Fantasy X has towns, NPCs, sidequests, Blitzball, and the ability to backtrack. Final Fantasy XIII is a hallway where you just push forward.

The other thing is that the combat system in FFX is 100% more focused on your strategy. You're checking the constantly changing Turn Order, executing moves and trying different things out. XIII you're switching to the safest Paradigm setup and mashing Auto Battle for most of it.

The Sphere Grid in X let's you take a character down a path and have them learn certain abilities and even deviate into completely different section with a couple of the Key Spheres you pick up below. By the end of the game your version of Tidus or Yuna can play a lot different than mine.

Summons and Equipment in X also have a decent amount of upgrading you can do to give yourself even more options.

The Crystarium is the same as the map of Final Fantasy XIII it's a linear hallway. You don't make choices, you just level up the next major thing. There's nothing exciting about it, the game has decided for you the path that you will follow.

In the end Final Fantasy X is similar to FFXIII with it's hallways and linearity but it gives you breaks in the action, let's you play the game and develop your party your way and in my opinion is a lot more open than FFXIII when it finally "opens up"

Without going into major story details with FFX I can say that it's much much easier to understand than XIII. With XIII they expect you to already understand Fal'cie, l'cie, cieth and more jargon. in FFX they take their time explaning everything and characters motivations make sense. Can't say that for XIII.

 

[JayEH]

FFX might be the most overrated Final Fantasy.

Random encounters also puts it pretty low on my list.

Most FF games have random encounters so I'm curious to see your list.

 

[ZeroX03]

As people have mentioned, it's essentially better in every way.

People have had this weird assumption that 'linear' is the reason why XIII sucks. No, it's basically everything other than visuals and the battle system that sucks. You can do a straightforward, low exploration game and still have it work. The ability to backtrack, variety of locations like towns, varied side content, etc all makes the linearity a non-issue. The pacing alone is why XIII feels like a slog and X feels like a grand journey.

Even earlier Final Fantasy games the world map wasn't particularly free exploration. It took a long time before you could truly explore the majority of the world. IX might even be more on rails than X until the airship, your backtracking is severely limited.

 

[Freddo]

What sets X apart from XIII? What makes it so much better? Is it actually better than XIII?

I'm guessing the main difference is that by the time FF13 was released, large sandbox games were much more common thanks to the success of the Bethesda games, GTA3 and so on, which made people more unforgiven towards the linear nature of the game. Or they were disappointed because FF12 offer so much more exploration while the sequel didn't.

Can't tell from any personal experience though, didn't like FF10 (gave up on it after ~15 hours cause I didn't feel it went anywhere interesting or was any fun) and never played FF13 (or FF15 for that matter) because of what I've read about it. So weird how a series I held in such high regard during the 90s is now so uninteresting.

 

[Meowster]

They are very similar games but X had backtracking and the freedom to change characters early on which, despite being very small details, are things that can really make a huge difference. Everything else is pretty similar for the most part. I like the characters in both though no one compares to the development of Tidus or Yuna. X had a better plot. Equal music. Equal battle system.

 

[Toth]

FFX is largely self contained and the story pretty much ends where it needs to. FFXIII has a very dense mythology and large unexplored world(s). XIII also ends a bit too abruptly and it wasn't until LR that the true scope of the FNC lore was realized.

 

[darkistheway]

It has better story, better characters and better gameplay.

XIII-2 is better than both.

 

[Kinsei]

The story is better.

The combat system doesn't take for fucking ever to get fun.

The world feels cohesive. The world in 13 just feels like a bunch of disjointed levels.

The characters are better.

There are rest stops throughout the journey giving the game a better sense of flow.

The side quests are better.

The super bosses are better.

 

[vaporeon]

I think this just proves that the hallways of XIII were not the main source of why people disliked the game, it just happens to be one thing in a large list of why.

 

[Brix]

After 5 hours of playing FF13 I was completely bored. FF10 was the complete opposite. Interesting characters, coherent story, better combat.

 

[Dangansona]

I actually talked about this in our team Slack today at work. I honestly believe that a lot of the things people hate in XII, XIII, and XV can be found in X. In addition to what OP has expressed, I am playing through XII now and despite all the shit Vaan gets for being a poorly designed annoying protagonist, I think he is no worse than Tidus on those fronts. And I like Tidus!

I also think that at some point XIII's reputation snowballed out of control, and when combined with mixed feelings on the franchise as a whole around this time and that the fact it got two sequels has led to a hatred of the trilogy that the games themselves don't deserve.

Better battle system
Better cast of characters
Better world
Better story
Better level up system

For me, and most people who've played both.

- Disagree
- Debatable tbh. I think XIII's cast has higher highs and, in particular, one lower low.
- You're probably right.
- Agreed on that front.
- Not sure how I stand on this actually.

Edit: Also XIII's soundtrack kicks ass.

 

[DR2K]

It has better story, better characters and better gameplay.

XIII-2 is better than both.

Final Fantasy X-2 is even better.

 

[LegendofDragoonLives]

I've recently been continuing my first playthrough of Final Fantasy X (the HD rerelease), and I couldn't help but compare it to FFXIII.
FFXIII is a game that I really just do not like. Its generic hallway after generic hallway held together by a story I didn't care about just frustrated me to no end, despite its combat system that was actually pretty good (plus the soundtrack is fantastic).
From what I've gathered from GAF and the internet's general dislike of FFXIII, people don't like it because it is a "hallway simulator" and other such factors.
However, as I play through FFX, I can't help but notice the same issues. I feel like I'm just walking down one path for most of the game, with almost no deviation. However, since I am only ten hours in, I cannot quite comment on the story or if the hallway syndrome improves. For the most part it seems to have a pretty standard story for a JRPG (please spoiler tag any story spoilers if you want to discuss that!). The combat also seems to be pretty standard fare, and it might even be worse than XIII's (but that's pretty subjective).
What sets X apart from XIII? What makes it so much better? Is it actually better than XIII?

XIII has the worst fucking cast by a country mile in the entire series. The only game that has a shitty cast. If you basically look at the worst tropey anime characters if you watch anime, you can pretty much make up the entire shitty cast of FFXIII with it. Just fucking terrible cast.

The world also wasn't as good as FFX, story was nowhere near as good. Music was great, but X still has better music. Only thing XIII is better at is graphics and gameplay (it's an evolved variation).

I actually talked about this in our team Slack today at work. I honestly believe that a lot of the things people hate in XII, XIII, and XV can be found in X. In addition to what OP has expressed, I am playing through XII now and despite all the shit Vaan gets for being a poorly designed annoying protagonist, I think he is no worse than Tidus on those fronts. And I like Tidus!

The problem with Vaan was that he was boring as fuck and often times felt like the weakest cast member in the squad, despite being the main character. Tidus is one of the best developed heroes in gaming that has one of the best endings ever for a player, despite it being pretty awful on his end. XII is a fantastic game though.

 

[ZombiePlatypus]

Better story , better characters , better OST, better world , better game.

FFX is a great FF despite being linear. XIII is considered awful cause it has a myriad of other issues on top of being linear.

 

[HvySky]

It has the superior story and characters. FFXIII has it beat in terms of battle system and maybe even music, but if you prefer a more straight forward approach to storytelling as opposed to world building and lore, then FFX is the clear winner.

 

[bluexy]

FFX did a lot of cool things that a lot of other jrpgs have since copied

A grid like method of character upgrade so you see constant improvement every battle or two

A time system which shows who went next and how your actions impacted the turn order

The ability to instantly switch out to any character of the party

This was combined with incredible graphics for their time, a compelling love story, and a tragic story of defying destiny in a simple to understand world.

This is a good list, but I think it's missing the main component for why FFX is so well-liked even to this day. It was the best selling FF ever, on the best-selling console ever. It introduced a FF to a generation of new gamers, reaching a larger audience than FF did even with FF7. Good or bad, that's a lot of people who are going to stick by their purchase.

Tyranny of the majority is going to win that argument every time.

 

[Jangowuzhere]

They're both bad

X is just slightly less bad

 

[jb1234]

There are some mechanical reasons but for me, it comes down to characters and story. I cared about Tidus, Yuna and the rest of the gang. I mostly just wanted Lightning and company to fuck off. And X's story remained coherent despite some missteps (Seymour, mostly) whereas XIII's was a complete melodramatic clusterfuck.

There's a scene early in X (Yuna in Kilika) which has more emotional power than pretty much the entirety of XIII.

 

[Inuhanyou]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=989636&highlight=

Its simple OP, one game is executed well, another is executed badly

I actually talked about this in our team Slack today at work. I honestly believe that a lot of the things people hate in XII, XIII, and XV can be found in X. In addition to what OP has expressed, I am playing through XII now and despite all the shit Vaan gets for being a poorly designed annoying protagonist, I think he is no worse than Tidus on those fronts. And I like Tidus!
.

Vaan(or Penello) doesn't mean literally anything to the story in his game. Tidus does.