Support NeoGAF

[Seda]

I have a feeling Noel will be like Tidus.

I hope your spider sense is malfunctioning :/

 

[Dark Schala]

I have a feeling Noel will be like Tidus.

D-d-don't say that... He might have Japanese Tidus's laugh too.

Noel seems a little like Fang to me except hopefully not. I hated her. Not as much as Vanille but still.

While I like Fang quite a bit, I truly hope that Noel will have more of a character and better character development... (But I'm keeping my expectations very low.)

 

[Cheska]

Only two fixed characters would be a major downer for me. I like being able to opt out of using someone I find boring or annoying.

Just curious, why do so many people hate Lightning?

 

[Akselziys]

Only two fixed characters would be a major downer for me. I like being able to opt out of using someone I find boring or annoying.

Just curious, why do so many people hate Lightning?

I like Lightning ;-;

 

[The Xtortionist]

Just curious, why do so many people hate Lightning?

She has no personality besides being bitchy for some arbitrary reason.

 

[WrenchNinja]

http://ps3.rpgsite.net/news/1119-final-fantasy-xiii2-first-look-podcast My impressions, in audio form.

Private demo impressions later on. I have an EA booth tour coming up here shortly.

I wasn't able to ask Toriyama/Kitase about HD collections. The moderator cut us short :/

Great impressions. You guys should do more podcasts.

 

[Droplet]

D-d-don't say that... He might have Japanese Tidus's laugh too.



While I like Fang quite a bit, I truly hope that Noel will have more of a character and better character development... (But I'm keeping my expectations very low.)

Oh god he really does sound like a crow. That's hilarious.

I actually would have liked Fang a lot more if it weren't for the fact that she barely had a character. She was just kinda there to quip random one-liners and not interact with anybody but Vanille. If there was anything I actually liked about the characters in XIII it was the way that they built relationships with each other, so having a character that they didn't even try to have bond with anybody was annoying.

Just curious, why do so many people hate Lightning?

I liked her for what we got. As said before she was kind of bitchy for no reason but I liked the way that she was able to act tough and feminine without following the tropes that typically go along with that. Except her miniskirt and whatever the hell she's wearing in this game.

 

[ULTROS!]

Lightning did have terrible lines too:

"Worst birthday ever!"

 

[TheChillyAcademic]

Lightning had the potential to be a fascinating character, she was described initially as having the personality more inline with an Antagonist than a standard protagonist...in the end she turned out to be a lifeless over dramatized brat.

 

[Hours Left]

Yeah, I'm hoping that Serah actually is the main character and is not relegated to the Yuna/Ashe position. (aka The real main character, but shoved to the side by lame "PoV heroes".)

Noel seems to be doing a lot of the leading. :/

 

[Pooya]

anoop has some more
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/06/14/ffxiii_2_interview/

ON CHARACTERS

Newcomer character Noel knows little about Cocoon and Gran Pulse, Toriyama noted, saying that he wanted to have Noel in a similar position to a newcomer player to FFXIII -- that is, someone who doesn't know about the world and story.

As mentioned earlier, Lightning is a major character, but Noel and Serah, the two characters featured in the E3 demo, are main in terms of characters you control.

Just in case you're doubting the central role of Noel, Toriyama's closing message in the interview was something along the lines of, while the strong female character Lighting was the draw of the previous title, XIII-2 features Noel, a cool male main character.

During battle, Toriyama said to think of Noel as fighting in the front and Serah supporting from behind. Noel's job image is hunter. He hunts monsters in Gran Pulse.

I assume you've heard about Serah's Moogle weapon already...

ON THE E3 DEMO

The E3 demo was like a digest version of two chapters with most of the story sequences cut out. When playing the game, you'll see how Noel and Serah meet.

ON MUSIC

The game's main musical component is from Masashi Hamauzu, the composer from the original FFXIII. They're doing an experiment where Hamauzu will retain the same feel of the FFXIII music while a different composer (Or possibly composers?) will work delivering a new world view. Toriyama said to look forward to the staff's announcement.

ON MONSTER RAISING

The game's new monster raising component, which lets you gather and bring monsters into your battle party, will give the game greater strategy, Toriyama said. There are Defender monsters, Attacker monsters and so-forth. There's also a growth element to the monsters.

Sokuho's writeup says that your party can consist of at most three characters, including the monsters (this is different from some of the earlier leaks). However, you will also sometimes have one guest character come in.

OTHER BITS AND PIECES

Other points mentioned in the interview include:
•Your party members will move around town and get into conversations
•When it rains, people in town will gather under covered areas.
•The weather will have some effect on battle.
•There will be search/exploration element involving Moogles.
•The save system will in general be auto save.

so 3 characters including the monsters = 2 + monster -_-

 

[Droplet]

SE Dawn of the New World came out in 2008 come up with some original ideas or at least copy ideas that people liked please.

 

[ZephyrFate]

SE Dawn of the New World came out in 2008 come up with some original ideas or at least copy ideas that people liked please.

You never played the Lufia games, did you? This mechanic has been unoriginal since, like, 1992.

Or before that, Shin Megami Tensei, in 1988.

 

[Hours Left]

anoop has some more
http://www.andriasang.com/e/blog/2011/06/14/ffxiii_2_interview/

Exactly what I was not hoping for; Noel as the main, and monsters as your primary third.

Bleh.

 

[Seda]

All I have to say is....

Noel better be a flipping fantastic character.

 

[ULTROS!]

Good to see the weather system being put into use. FFXIII used it for one chapter only, and only a third of that chapter. :/

 

[Pooya]

They are "fixing" things that didn't need fixing, this is quite a downgrade, looks like they still don't get it, actually they are undoing things they got right last time, sigh.

 

[Droplet]

You never played the Lufia games, did you? This mechanic has been unoriginal since, like, 1992.

Or before that, Shin Megami Tensei, in 1988.

Well...yes, but I was referring more to the fact that they're implementing it in the same way (sequel, using monsters to take up party space) even though it's obvious that it didn't work out very well.

Spoiler

it's a stupid idea in every game

 

[ZephyrFate]

Well...yes, but I was referring more to the fact that they're implementing it in the same way (sequel, using monsters to take up party space) even though it's obvious that it didn't work out very well.

Spoiler

it's a stupid idea in every game

That's just simply not true. Many games have used monsters as party members and turned out fucking totally awesome. See: SMT: Nocturne.

 

[The Xtortionist]

All I have to say is....

Noel better be a flipping fantastic character.

His design already puts him into the negatives. He'll need oscar-worthy dialogue and a stellar performance to fully recover.

 

[Dark Schala]

Most of the reasons why I dislike Lightning have been stated already by other people. She just rubbed me the wrong way. I was expecting a badass Celes. What I got was a rock with nice gymnastics here and there, who punched people when she didn't get her way, and who had "interesting lines". Hopefully they'll improve upon her character in XIII-2, but seeing as though Lightning is not the focus this time around, I don't think it'll be done adequately.

Just in case you're doubting the central role of Noel, Toriyama's closing message in the interview was something along the lines of, while the strong female character Lighting was the draw of the previous title, XIII-2 features Noel, a cool male main character

...well... uh... whether or not I like Noel will be entirely dependent on what their definition of "cool" is, I guess. His design isn't exactly cool at the moment. *expectations lowered once again* At least his English voice seems to be good.

The game's main musical component is from Masashi Hamauzu, the composer from the original FFXIII. They're doing an experiment where Hamauzu will retain the same feel of the FFXIII music while a different composer (Or possibly composers?) will work delivering a new world view. Toriyama said to look forward to the staff's announcement.

Well, that's interesting enough. I wonder who the composers are now. So far... I'm not sure what to think of the score. But I think it's a little needless. Let Hamauzu do his thing. He's more than capable of doing so and he's proved it time and time again. Let Nakano and Ishimoto in on the fun if they're going to do this sort of thing and improve the prototype tracks. Some of the stuff in the demo seemed out of place (nothing wrong with rap at all; it just felt out of place here, and some of the vocals weren't very pleasing to the ear), and it still bothers me.

Then again, I've warmed up to FFX-2's score just because I understood what it was trying to do. It's too bad the other composer who worked on it decided to bail out of the industry partially because of the harsh criticism of the score. So who knows? I'll have to hear the final products to judge whether they're good or not.

Sokuho's writeup says that your party can consist of at most three characters, including the monsters (this is different from some of the earlier leaks). However, you will also sometimes have one guest character come in.

Le sigh. So guest characters don't sound like they're permanent party members. Seems like it'll be Noel and Serah + some monster or guest member all the way through. How disappointing.


Overall: They are fixing things that never really needed to be fixed. What in the world...

 

[The Xtortionist]

...well... uh... whether or not I like Noel will be entirely dependent on what their definition of "cool" is, I guess. His design isn't exactly cool at the moment. *expectations lowered once again* At least his English voice seems to be good.

My two cents is that Square designs anime characters and forces them into a "realistic"world, "realistic" as in it's not overly-stylized like TF2 for instance. I don't find a fairly-realistic looking character (minus the hair of course) in a ridiculous outfit to be compelling. If the game was cel-shaded or stylized it might work, but their current approach imo is inconsistent and comes off as being silly.

Just thinking aloud here.

 

[Rpgmonkey]

Well...yes, but I was referring more to the fact that they're implementing it in the same way (sequel, using monsters to take up party space) even though it's obvious that it didn't work out very well.

Spoiler

it's a stupid idea in every game

It was their method of expanding the party in X-2 International from the three girls to dozens of different party setups. This is something Toriyama's crew has done before, at least.

The quality of this idea lives or dies based on the monsters we can get and how we can train them, however. Getting a bunch of flan and behemoth palette swaps is not my idea of fun, but if we can do crazy things like get an Adamantoise (or at least the smaller version), then I don't have a problem with it.

 

[hamchan]

Speaking of Lighting was she supposed to be likeable? Coz she was just a stone cold bitch to me. She wasn't even cool either.

Y'know what's cool? Dudes in suits. Square Enix should design more characters that wear suits. See the Turks in FF7, and look how popular that game became. There is no losing when your character's are in suits.

 

[Dark Schala]

My two cents is that Square designs anime characters and forces them into a "realistic"world, "realistic" as in it's not overly-stylized like TF2 for instance. I don't find a fairly-realistic looking character (minus the hair of course) in a ridiculous outfit to be compelling. If the game was cel-shaded or stylized it might work, but their current approach imo is inconsistent and comes off as being silly.

Just thinking aloud here.

I've always wondered why SE has not experimented with cel-shading or stylization rather than the (photo)realism approach to graphics (outside of TWEWY, DQ and 4WoL). I get that photorealism looks pretty, they're trying to push graphics engines, and appeal to a lot of people (rather than getting a "The Wind Waker-like" backlash--thus relegating this sort of style to handhelds in games like 4 Warriors of Light), but I think it would be interesting to have a cel-shaded FF at least (not a spinoff). My interest in FF doesn't really have much to do with the aesthetic of the characters, but rather the world, the world-building and the battle system. I never really cared what the characters looked like as long as the game itself was good.

Like, I could never really see someone like Kratos Aurion in a photorealistic style with his clothing (though his clothes are already silly anyway) because I wouldn't be able to take him or his motives very seriously. Final Fantasy IX pulled off some of its designs pretty well, imo, because it didn't take an ultra-realistic approach to its artstyle. Same with The World Ends With You. I guess that's why the Persona series/Catherine continues to stick with its anime style as well... same with Tales.

But there are times when I really love some of SE's character designs (ex: FFX Yuna, Fang, Quistis, Stella, Auron, Balthier), and wish for them to be realized in a photorealistic landscape. So it's not like I can have my cake and eat it too. They've come so far with FF's realistic style that people come to expect the amazing realistic cinematics in an FF, so I don't know if they could ever announce a cel-shaded/stylistic approach for a new entry without losing a sizable portion of their audience. Perhaps a Catherine-esque or No More Heroes-esque artstyle might fly, but something like Tales might not.

But this has to do more with photorealism vs uncanny valley vs stylization, which isn't exactly relevant to the thread. It's an interesting concept to think about, though.

 

[The Xtortionist]

But there are times when I really love some of SE's character designs (ex: FFX Yuna, Fang, Quistis, Stella, Auron, Balthier), and wish for them to be realized in a photorealistic landscape. So it's not like I can have my cake and eat it too. They've come so far with FF's realistic style that people come to expect the amazing realistic cinematics in an FF, so I don't know if they could ever announce a cel-shaded/stylistic approach for a new entry without losing a sizable portion of their audience. Perhaps a Catherine-esque or No More Heroes-esque artstyle might fly, but something like Tales might not.

Or just design the characters to be more convincing? Regardless, most of the examples you listed you hardly as offensive as say, Gadot, Lebreau or Serah who would fit right into a stylized anime. In FF13's world where people look like people (for the most part), it's downright comical.

Also, FF13-2 better give me a Tonberry sidekick. Let me power up his Everybody's Grudge and unleash hell.

 

[hateradio]

The footage in the OP does nothing for me. This game is most certainly a pass.

 

[Dark Schala]

Or just design the characters to be more convincing? Regardless, most of the examples you listed you hardly as offensive as say, Gadot, Lebreau or Serah who would fit right into a stylized anime. In FF13's world where people look like people (for the most part), it's downright comical.

Also, FF13-2 better give me a Tonberry sidekick. Let me power up his Everybody's Grudge and unleash hell.

Well, the characters I listed aren't very offensive--they're characters I'd like to see in a photorealistic setting. At least a few of the characters we've seen in Versus and Type-0 seem to be convincing enough in terms of their designs.

If they wanted to, they could stick characters like Vaan (which was already done), Zell, Ashe, Vincent, Wakka (which was already done), etc, in games that aren't too photorealistic and call it a day. Lightning in Itadaki Street isn't bad to look at. Though to their credit, some of FF's character designs seem to take into account Japanese fashion. Just look at the conversation about Serah's hairstyle being a hairstyle that's all the rage in Japan right now. Noctis's hairstyle is quite popular as well. I'd guess that some of the clothing choices made in some of the designs could be popular locally as well. That's part of the reason why I don't think some of the designs are outright stupid. Some of the clothes (like Lebreau's) are pretty dumb, though.

Now Tidus's pants. Those are stupid.

Oh, I hope we can recruit some of the Undying (yeah right). Also, Raktavijas, since they were annoyances until I maxed my Crystarium and invested in M.Def bracelets.

 

[Arklite]

Looks like they put a lot of work into this one. Most of FFX-2 basically just had a few new character models and a heap of quests put into the existing world. This is looking like an entirely new game.

 

[Diablos]

http://ps3.rpgsite.net/articles/286-e3-2011-final-fantasy-xiii2-impressions

My super detailed impressions, over 3100 words.

I'm spent.

Excellent work.

I really like how you put emphasis on the potential problem that is the entire game being littered with bland, uninspired hip-hop. Also, it certainly does suck that we just found out about XIII-2 not that long ago, and yet since 2006 all we've got are three Versus trailers! Bullocks!

But yeah, your description of how the demo plays out is about as detailed as one could possibly get away with before sounding redundant, and I enjoyed reading it.

All I have to say is....

Noel better be a flipping fantastic character.

That's what I was going to post, haha.

I already can't stand him. He seems really sappy. Pretty sure I recall hearing something along the lines of "UGH... BETTER PRAY, THEN" in one of the gameplay vids floating around. He kind of reminds me of Tidus (I'd say he's more faithful and less of a jock). LAME-O - same tier of FF character. At least Tidus had some insight; knowing how the story in XIII progressed, I wouldn't be surprised if the pep-talk-every-other-scene dynamic is back in full force in XIII-2. I'd expect Noel to be all about prayer and faith every ten seconds, but I hope I'm wrong.

Lightning > Noel, for sure.

Speaking of which, seems like Lightning and Serah switched roles! Looks like we're going from "ugh... gotta stay strong, for Serah" to "ugh... gotta stay strong, for Lightning!" Wooooo!

Only two fixed characters would be a major downer for me. I like being able to opt out of using someone I find boring or annoying.

Just curious, why do so many people hate Lightning?

Two fixed chars would kind of be a let down, but when you take into account all of the other info that's surfaced thus far, I'd let it slide. I think.

Why do people hate Lightning? Well, I'm probably gonna set off some bro meters in here, but, lots of male FF players seem to hate the idea of a female lead in a FF game. I remember talking to a couple people who basically refused to play it game simply because of that. Pretty stupid; I think she's one of the best leads in the series.

 

[Zoe]

Haha, I just noticed in the Japanese interviews Noel's name is pronounced as "no-el." Wonder why they changed it for the English version.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Buying this day 1.

 

[Despera]

What about Alyssa? He could be an interesting character.

 

[nelsonroyale]

Its still baffles me to no end why they made Serah the main character? She doesn't look like she could fight off a snail

 

[ULTROS!]

What about Alyssa? He could be an interesting character.

I see what you did there.

 

[LiK]

Its still baffles me to no end why they made Serah the main character? She doesn't look like she could fight off a snail

Yea, she was helpless in the first game and suddenly she's a warrior. I guess its not too much of a stretch when Hope could suddenly fight an army too.

 

[Cornbread78]

They are "fixing" things that didn't need fixing, this is quite a downgrade, looks like they still don't get it, actually they are undoing things they got right last time, sigh.

one step forward two steps back. I'll never figure out why they are doing what they are doing. Obviously, we'll have to wait for the finished project, but for everything they "get" and make right, they turn around and change something for the worse. If they could ever put it all together at once, their games would be absolutely amazing again...

 

[toastyToast]

I would pay handsomely for a normal clothing DLC.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

I see what you did there.

Is she some sort of fast food mascot?

 

[LiK]

I would pay handsomely for a normal clothing DLC.

Versus clothing DLC would make mucho moola

 

[badcrumble]

I would pay handsomely for a normal clothing DLC.

That would be one hell of a troll if they did that.

 

[MoogPaul]

I just hope we arent forced to use monsters throughout the whole game. If I have 4 party members, dont make me sit two out and use a monster. Its just not my cup of tea.

 

[ULTROS!]

Is she some sort of fast food mascot?

Unless you haven't watched the latest trailer, how would you know it's a he or she?

 

[Unknown One]

I'm pretty tired of the saving the world/person scenarios. For once I want a FF that which you play an Anti-hero. End the game in global domination or some other douchey set goal.

As another gaffer stated, give them suits.

 

[LiK]

I'm pretty tired of the saving the world/person scenarios. For once I want a FF that which you play an Anti-hero. End the game in global domination or some other douchey set goal.

As another gaffer stated, give them suits.

FFVII Remake except play as Sephiroth and you win.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Unless you haven't watched the latest trailer, how would you know it's a he or she?

Her chest is not entirely flat.

 

[Dead Prince]

Her chest is not entirely flat.

chest armor.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

chest armor.

Armor that has a point? In my final fantasy game?

Whatever you wanna believe.

 

[Seraphinianus]

Is she some sort of fast food mascot?

i think she's a Lufthansa flight attendant

 

[RPGCrazied]

I bet it goes like this, set levels and no equipment change.

Chapter 1 Snow is a guest member
Chapter 2 Saszh is a guest member
Chapter 3 Hope is a guest member
Chapter 4 Fang is a guest member
Chapter 5 Vaneillie is a guest member

Chapter 6 - The End?

They are so going a ToS II, its not even funny.