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[Threi]

on ch. 7 right now, going real slow.

Same thing as the guy before me, I have no money, and I only upgraded my weapons to level 2 and then stopped.

My question is about Rav and Com. First of all: Is there any reason at all to have Lightning as anything other as a Com? I have yet to see a reason. (probably will show up in the later levels)

Also, I noticed that Rav builds the chain gauge faster, but the enemy can recover faster, while Com builds the chain gauge a lot slower, but the enemy doesn't recover as quick. Is this how they are in general or is there some hidden bonus I don't know about?

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Is the game stupidly grindy without doing marks?

I did like 8 marks and still had some trouble with chapter 12. Of course there are people that say they didn't do any marks and had no trouble.

Your equipment might be a factor but you really just need to know what you're doing I guess. It won't be impossible either way even if you don't grind at all.

 

[Owzers]

Is the game stupidly grindy without doing marks?

I killed like 4 marks just because i wanted to leave something to come back to down the road to give me a reason not to sell the game after beating it. Just don't horde points, the 5th tier doesn't even unlock till after you beat the game, which i didn't know till closer till the end so when i spent all my points ( especially on hp upgrades) i did okay.

 

[Soloist]

on ch. 7 right now, going real slow.

Same thing as the guy before me, I have no money, and I only upgraded my weapons to level 2 and then stopped.

My question is about Rav and Com. First of all: Is there any reason at all to have Lightning as anything other as a Com? I have yet to see a reason. (probably will show up in the later levels)

Also, I noticed that Rav builds the chain gauge faster, but the enemy can recover faster, while Com builds the chain gauge a lot slower, but the enemy doesn't recover as quick. Is this how they are in general or is there some hidden bonus I don't know about?

You have to sell items to get money... the money makers explicitly say can be sold for high price or something like that.

Your observations about the RAV and COM are correct. At that point I would hit once or twice with a paradigm with a commander and immediately switch to dual RAV(or RAV/SAB with Light/Fang) to build up the break bar to increase stagger % then switch to COM/RAV. COM also does more damage than RAV in general.

 

[marathonfool]

Upgrade weapons and accessories if you got the components.

In terms of crystalium Abilities > Role Level > HP > Strength/Magic > Techniques

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

on ch. 7 right now, going real slow.

Same thing as the guy before me, I have no money, and I only upgraded my weapons to level 2 and then stopped.

My question is about Rav and Com. First of all: Is there any reason at all to have Lightning as anything other as a Com? I have yet to see a reason. (probably will show up in the later levels)

Also, I noticed that Rav builds the chain gauge faster, but the enemy can recover faster, while Com builds the chain gauge a lot slower, but the enemy doesn't recover as quick. Is this how they are in general or is there some hidden bonus I don't know about?

Once I got Fang I used Light as a RAV mostly.

Yes RAV's will build the chain gauge faster but it will also drop quickly as well. Attacking an enemy with a COM essential applies a hidden debuff that slows the rate at which the chain gauge depletes. I believe this also applies to SAB spells.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Is the game stupidly grindy without doing marks?

Lets see I left Chapter 11 with the main role crysterium filled for my main three characters. Between Chapter 12 to endgame, I didnt grind that much I believe. I had the crysterium maxed just with the fights from 11 and onwards (even running past enemies). So I dont think there was any grinding beyond that point. I didnt do but three marks, the ones that youre required to do.

I didnt even modify weapons or anything

 

[Firestorm]

on ch. 7 right now, going real slow.

Same thing as the guy before me, I have no money, and I only upgraded my weapons to level 2 and then stopped.

My question is about Rav and Com. First of all: Is there any reason at all to have Lightning as anything other as a Com? I have yet to see a reason. (probably will show up in the later levels)

Also, I noticed that Rav builds the chain gauge faster, but the enemy can recover faster, while Com builds the chain gauge a lot slower, but the enemy doesn't recover as quick. Is this how they are in general or is there some hidden bonus I don't know about?

After one hit from Commando, you can usually switch to Ravager as the slowed gauge holds. At that point, I believe I went COM-RAV at the beginning, then after the first hit switched to RAV-RAV until they got staggered and switched back to COM-RAV. Every other attack I'd switch between COM-RAV and RAV-RAV to take advantage of the free ATB refill.

I think higher % during stagger means higher damage as well so RAV during stagger is still useful.

 

[Fuu]

(Chapter 11)

lol wow, after so much cutscene foreplay

Spoiler

Dahaka

was a cakewalk.

Spoiler

Taejin's Tower

felt somewhat like FF12. Went trough the place in one go but I'll have to leave reaching

Spoiler

Oerba

for tomorrow.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

I really want to fill out stage 8 on my main roles for my guys but I'm worried about the amount of grinding required.

Tips so I can get this shit filled out?

Also, I got to a C'eth uh...stone? And it mentioned way points, but now I'm like 10-20 minutes of walking time away from the main hub area of Pulse. Thing is, I don't see a waypoint option when I examine it. What gives?

I'm liking the hunts though. Going to different areas to find marks gives the game the sense of adventure it has been lacking heavily. Still wanna fix this waypoint issue, though.

The enemies give out so many Crysterium points after chapter 11 that it isnt really a problem anymore, I want to say that each fight is like 4000+ CP points, and then in Chapter 13, the fights can net you 32,000CP, regular enemies

 

[Epix]

I really don't like the equipment upgrade system. I feel like I have to occasionally throw some exp on some equipment because I see the option pop up on the menu. I have no strategy to what I'm doing nor do I have any real feeling like I can judge what equipment is better when I pick up something. I'm still using all the same weapons each person started with, and I let the equipment optimizer sort everything else out. Kind of a disappointment.

 

[Fantasy Final]

Beat the game! And I totally owned the final boss, pretty easy. Here's what I did.

Spoiler

Went through Chap. 1-12 without doing any grinding and missions on Gran Pulse. After finding all the bosses really hard and seeing GAFers finding the last boss super hard, I returned to Gran Pulse on Chap.13 doing some missions. Went through mission 1-14 + the 52 I guess (the one that gives you the Growth Egg, Double CP and used the cheap trick of Death spamming I found on YouTube). After that, went back to Orphan's Cradle and found the chapter pretty easy after that. CP farming a little and managed to max all my 3 main classes of all my characters thanks to the Growth Egg. Beat the final boss, saw the awesome ending, End.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

I really want to fill out stage 8 on my main roles for my guys but I'm worried about the amount of grinding required.

Tips so I can get this shit filled out?

Also, I got to a C'eth uh...stone? And it mentioned way points, but now I'm like 10-20 minutes of walking time away from the main hub area of Pulse. Thing is, I don't see a waypoint option when I examine it. What gives?

I'm liking the hunts though. Going to different areas to find marks gives the game the sense of adventure it has been lacking heavily. Still wanna fix this waypoint issue, though.

The waypoint stones are a different color on the mini map. The normal ones are white while the waypoints are brownish red. Once you complete the waypoint stone's mission, you can use it to teleport as long as you've done the same for another waypoint.

 

[Vilix]

So I caved and got FFXIII from Gamefly. Gotta be honest I'm not that impressed. I mean, I'm liking the game mechanics, but I'd like to get a chance to....oh what's the word....PLAY THE FUCKING GAME!!!! Every 5 minutes there's a friggen movie. Pushing a story along is fine and all. But, can't you flesh it out by playing the game????? Yes, yes, yes: This is how all FF are. And, I know I can skip them. But, still. FTS. The game's going back to Gamefly tomorrow. >:^(

EDIT: And what's with all these lame character names?? Lighting? Snow??? I mean, I thought the name Cloud was bad enough. Why can't the character devs at SE come up with names other than basic elements??

 

[cosmicblizzard]

So I caved and got FFXIII from Gamefly. Gotta be honest I'm not that impressed. I mean, I'm liking the game mechanics, but I'd like to get a chance to....oh what's the word....PLAY THE FUCKING GAME!!!! Every 5 minutes there's a friggen movie. Pushing a story along is fine and all. But, can't you flesh it out by playing the game????? Yes, yes, yes: This is how all FF are. And, I know I can skip them. But, still. FTS. The game's going back to Gamefly tomorrow. >:^(

EDIT: And what's with all these lame character names?? Lighting? Snow??? I mean, I thought the name Cloud was bad enough. Why can't the character devs at SE come up with names other than basic elements??

How much have you played? I doubt the game is for you judging by your post but I'm curious.

 

[dreamer3kx]

Just finished the game after two weeks of just playing this game alone, great ending, my final score is a 9.3, really enjoyed it for the most part, yea its linear or whatever but the game has some gorgeous environments, great battle system and great detail along with the awesome SE CG, loved it, now on to GOW3 finally.

Oh ill do missions and trophies on the side while playing gow3.

 

[Replicant]

Okay, I am still in Chapter 11 and about to do Mission 3 but I can't seem to find the red dot.

Spoiler

unless it's that locked area. In that case, how do I unlock it?

So now I'm wandering around and end up in Mah'abara (sp?) WTF? I didn't want to go away from the plain just yet. Should I go back now before it's too late or can I still go back after this? Also,

Spoiler

what's the story with that robot that you find on one of the caves? How do you defeat him?

 

[hateradio]

Okay, I am still in Chapter 11 and about to do Mission 3 but I can't seem to find the red dot.

Spoiler

unless it's that locked area. In that case, how do I unlock it?

So now I'm wandering around and end up in Mah'abara (sp?) WTF? I didn't want to go away from the plain just yet. Should I go back now before it's too late or can I still go back after this? Also,

Spoiler

what's the story with that robot that you find on one of the caves? How do you defeat him?

Just follow the dot to the next map/area.

 

[Cep]

So I caved and got FFXIII from Gamefly. Gotta be honest I'm not that impressed. I mean, I'm liking the game mechanics, but I'd like to get a chance to....oh what's the word....PLAY THE FUCKING GAME!!!! Every 5 minutes there's a friggen movie. Pushing a story along is fine and all. But, can't you flesh it out by playing the game????? Yes, yes, yes: This is how all FF are. And, I know I can skip them. But, still. FTS. The game's going back to Gamefly tomorrow. >:^(

EDIT: And what's with all these lame character names?? Lighting? Snow??? I mean, I thought the name Cloud was bad enough. Why can't the character devs at SE come up with names other than basic elements??

Hey, I am all for bashing the stupidity of JRPGs(any genre really), but as cosmic says, you are most likely playing the wrong game/genre.

 

[Rpgmonkey]

S-E: "Ya like fightin' the giant turtles?"

Me:"...No."

S-E:"Well here's a SUPAH GIANT TURTLE!"

And...as soon as someone tells me how to access mission 64, I'm done with this game. :/

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Okay, so I'm busily doing Death over and over on our favorite Adamantoise in Chapter 12. (I've now heard "Let's go, Hecaton!" more times than I can count. :lol) The real annoyance is having to kill 3 sets of trash mobs to recharge the TP bar, because those fuckers have bazookas and it slows the fights down. Is there a faster way to charge up the TP bars than this? (Besides wasting Shrouds.)

To increase the chance of Traps dropping, I need to use Connoisseur's Catalog and not Collector's Catalog, right?

 

[Styles]

Okay, so I'm busily doing Death over and over on our favorite Adamantoise in Chapter 12. (I've now heard "Let's go, Hecaton!" more times than I can count. :lol) The real annoyance is having to kill 3 sets of trash mobs to recharge the TP bar, because those fuckers have bazookas and it slows the fights down. Is there a faster way to charge up the TP bars than this? (Besides wasting Shrouds.)

To increase the chance of Traps dropping, I need to use Connoisseur's Catalog and not Collector's Catalog, right?

I recommend you to finish the game and unlock crystarium level 10 if you want to make it easier on yourself. And one more thing, stay away from mission if you're attempting to get all of your ultimate weapons.

 

[crimzonflame]

Also if you press select you can skip the summoning animation.

 

[Threi]

before I continue this game are the turtles worse than the Yans in FF9? Because those were some real annoying motherfuckers.

 

[expy]

S-E: "Ya like fightin' the giant turtles?"

Me:"...No."

S-E:"Well here's a SUPAH GIANT TURTLE!"

And...as soon as someone tells me how to access mission 64, I'm done with this game. :/

Spoiler

The Cie'th Stone on the abandoned railway next to Oerba.

 

[Fun Factor]

So I caved and got FFXIII from Gamefly. Gotta be honest I'm not that impressed. I mean, I'm liking the game mechanics, but I'd like to get a chance to....oh what's the word....PLAY THE FUCKING GAME!!!! Every 5 minutes there's a friggen movie. Pushing a story along is fine and all. But, can't you flesh it out by playing the game????? Yes, yes, yes: This is how all FF are. And, I know I can skip them. But, still. FTS. The game's going back to Gamefly tomorrow. >:^(

EDIT: And what's with all these lame character names?? Lighting? Snow??? I mean, I thought the name Cloud was bad enough. Why can't the character devs at SE come up with names other than basic elements??

I can honestly say this game has the best balance of cut-scene to gameplay ratio of the entire series.
Cutscenes are fairly frequent to always give something to the characters or story. Though they are never too long to the point where you can just put down your controller & eat a sandwich.

If you don't like a story in a game, then RPGs are definitely not for you.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Yeah, I think I'm around Chapter 7 too...is it really not a good idea to upgrade weapons until 11+? I know you don't "have to", but I really would like some extra breathing room for fights...of course, not that I have a lot of gil to work with.

 

[jiggle]

Okay, I am still in Chapter 11 and about to do Mission 3 but I can't seem to find the red dot.

Spoiler

unless it's that locked area. In that case, how do I unlock it?

So now I'm wandering around and end up in Mah'abara (sp?) WTF? I didn't want to go away from the plain just yet. Should I go back now before it's too late or can I still go back after this? Also,

Spoiler

what's the story with that robot that you find on one of the caves? How do you defeat him?

no it's not too late to go back
but remember
the further u venture into Mah’habara(and beyond) the harder it is the backtrack into the steppes again (unless u do up to mission 17 and then do the teleport mission in every new area u enter)

but at the end of ch13, there is an option to teleport u directly into the steppes


mission 3 should still be in the middle of the plains, not locked area
unless u're thinking of mission 4, which is in Yaschas Massif
that's the area north of the canyon area u started the chapter in

Yeah, I think I'm around Chapter 7 too...is it really not a good idea to upgrade weapons until 11+? I know you don't "have to", but I really would like some extra breathing room for fights...of course, not that I have a lot of gil to work with.

this is completely dependent on what is the ultimate weapon u want for each character

take Hope for example, his best choice for upgrade, Hawkeye or Vidohunir, can both be gotten by ch7, so you can update either one asap

same with Vanille and her pearlwing or Belladona, both good for immediate upgrade


other characters don't get their good weapons until later on

 

[Rpgmonkey]

before I continue this game are the turtles worse than the Yans in FF9? Because those were some real annoying motherfuckers.

They're only annoying if you're rushing in without a plan and without decent stats. Most of the annoyances come from getting the stuff it drops really.

Once you have your preferred method of killing them, you just go through the motions as you kill one after the other.

Spoiler

The Cie'th Stone on the abandoned railway next to Oerba.

Thanks. I went there but I don't think the map said it was active, so I left. :lol

 

[Magnus]

Someone help me, I just lost an hour of my life arguing with a friend about XIII on AIM, christ :lol

It's like arguing with a brick wall. He won't budge on how brilliant the battle system is. "Faster and harder is better. I've died so much more in this one than any other FF. Lots of paradigm switching is cool." He relegates all previous FFs to an endless stream of button-mashing on the "Fight" command.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaJAHHSA FUUUUUUUUUU

 

[RedNumberFive]

Just follow the dot to the next map/area.

I'm stuck at the same mark. I go to the next area and can't find it. Any suggestions?

 

[firehawk12]

I managed to get 8 traps... now I'm having a hell of a time getting ingots.

I almost wonder if it's just easier to grind mission 24 forever rather than hope for ingot drops.

I don't even know what it'll be like to farm Dark Matter.

 

[luxarific]

I'm stuck at the same mark. I go to the next area and can't find it. Any suggestions?

It's not in the main plain area. It's off one of the side-tunnels. Map

 

[RustyNails]

I got to Chap 11 and farmed the behemoth king enemy for more than 100K cp

 

[toastyToast]

So I found my first Trapezohedron last night. What should I do with it?

I've read about tripling it but I don't want to get rid of my Venus Gospel (tier 2 Fang weapon). How much does it cost to star an ultimate weapon from scratch?

 

[burgerdog]

I managed to get 8 traps... now I'm having a hell of a time getting ingots.

I almost wonder if it's just easier to grind mission 24 forever rather than hope for ingot drops.

I don't even know what it'll be like to farm Dark Matter.

I have 9 ingots that I'm saving for a trophy. I remember telling myself that I would get at least one ultimate weapon for each character and multiple for my favorites. Yeah.. halfway through one ultimate I already wanted to quit. What about farming mission 63? You always get a gold nugget and a chance at an ingot/trap. Might be better than mission 24, also I hear dark matter has a good drop rate.

So I found my first Trapezohedron last night. What should I do with it?

I've read about tripling it but I don't want to get rid of my Venus Gospel (tier 2 Fang weapon). How much does it cost to star an ultimate weapon from scratch?

DO NOT BREAK IT. I have 7 trapezohedrons in my inventory that are rotting because ingots don't drop fast enough for me to max my weapons and use more traps.

I assume you're able to kill turtles in 2 minutes without summon/death method when I tell you not to max a weapon and then break it. If you're weak and only wanted one Trap and then used mission 24 to use money then go ahead and break it.

 

[jaundicejuice]

I'm on Chapter 7 and I just don't know if I'm going to bother carrying on with playing this game. I don't think I would begrudge Final Fantasy XIII's linear nature if the world design was actually interesting. If it held some surprises, if there were some dungeon-like sections, a bit of exploration, some risk/reward element, a change in pace of the gameplay. It doesn't necessarily have to be that overworld, dungeon, overworld, town flow, but there has to be some change in pace otherwise it's just monotonous.

There's no risk/reward to this game at all, you never have to worry about whether you're pushing your luck too far in a dungeon, if you fall in battle, you restart right before that very same battle, even boss battles. When the battles end, you're fully healed, you never have to worry about being worn down by enemies. You don't have any magic points to worry about, there's never any fear of pushing your luck too far and not being able to heal or use a powerful spell. You don't have to worry about exploring a dungeon and coming to a dead end, because there are no exploration elements, there are no dungeons. If the path branches it quickly comes back together. Even if there is some nook or cranny you could pass on by, the mini-map gives it away. There are no surprises.

I like the combat system and the whole concept of staggering your opponents, but I wish the game be set to faster speeds. When you don't get the drop on some enemies for that insta-stagger, some battles seem to just drag on and on, even with judicious use of the paradigms.

I think the quality of the voice acting is incredibly high and am amazed that Square-Enix re-did the lip synching in the NIS's for the localisation instead of simply doing ADR, just wish I didn't think the dialogue wasn't so corny or down-right awful. The fact that the story does nothing for me just doesn't help because that's clearly what the team has tied so much of this game upon. I like the general idea of the plot but the constant reinforcement of "I'm l'Cie, I'm sad, Pulse is bad, Pulse l'Cie are bad, I am sad, we gotta cheer up and move on!" is tedious. When the characters aren't harping on the same themes, the story is too cornball or melodramatic. It's like some bad soap opera with elements of the fantastic thrown in.

I think I'm simply going to avoid whatever future projects this team works on. I clearly do not like or enjoy their vision of what an rpg should be.

 

[luxarific]

So I found my first Trapezohedron last night. What should I do with it?

I've read about tripling it but I don't want to get rid of my Venus Gospel (tier 2 Fang weapon). How much does it cost to star an ultimate weapon from scratch?

I'm not necessarily advocating that you do this, but since you asked (from here):

Once you have one Trapezohedron, you can turn that one into three.

To do this, pick up a Mistilteinn, one of Vanille's weapons, buyable from
Plautus's Workshop for 11,000 gil. Along with this, you will need the
following materials:

159 Sturdy Bone \
89 Superconductor \ Total gil:
2 Particle Accelerator / 1,507,400 gil
28 Ultracompact Reactor /

1 Scarletite - (bought for 100,000 gil from "The Motherlode", or farmed
from enemies. See "Obtaining Catalysts" section.)
1 Trapezohedron


Now, use the following items to upgrade the Mistilteinn in this exact
order (for best cost effectiveness)

36 x Sturdy Bone
50 x Superconductor

1 x Scarletite

36 x Sturdy Bone
2 x Ultracompact Reactor
15 x Sturdy Bone
27 x Superconductor

1 x Trapezohedron

36 x Sturdy Bone
26 x Ultracompact Reactor
36 x Sturdy Bone
2 x Particle Accelerator
12 x Superconductor


The weapon should now be a maxed out Nirvana. Once you dismantle this, you
will receive:

71 x Monstrous Fang
60 x Entrancing Tail
36 x Moonblossom Seed
10 x Tear of Woe
3 x Trapezohedron

 

[Firestorm]

oh god people were not kidding about chapter 10 being the worst in the game. My friend just told me the boss I killed was at the 40% mark.

This dungeon is even more same-y than anything before it. Ugh. It's so goddamn lazy.

 

[toastyToast]

Total gil: 1,507,400 gil

Shit, that's all the money I have :lol

I suppose I'll start farming for more traps, if I'm lucky I'll get some platinum ingots.

 

[Papercuts]

oh god people were not kidding about chapter 10 being the worst in the game. My friend just told me the boss I killed was at the 40% mark.

This dungeon is even more same-y than anything before it. Ugh. It's so goddamn lazy.

Don't worry, they repeat the same circular multilayered room multiple more times to come!

 

[marathonfool]

oh god people were not kidding about chapter 10 being the worst in the game. My friend just told me the boss I killed was at the 40% mark.

This dungeon is even more same-y than anything before it. Ugh. It's so goddamn lazy.

The shortcuts. Use them. It's not worth fighting.

 

[Meier]

Juggernaut target time is 3 something?! That is nuts. I just did it in 9 and was impressed! Chapter 12 is a slogfest....

 

[Darkatomz]

Well I guess it's time to check back into this thread, got distracted by God of War III and life for a bit. Just finished chapter 9

Spoiler

(the so-called 'intermission' of the game according to the guide)

, and all I can say is, thank god the story picked up.

I don't remember any recent FF game where the beginning of the game was so slow in terms of story and even battle mechanics. Not to say the game is bad at all, but I was still surprised by this.

Not sure I like the crystarium leveling system. Capping off your level until certain story requirements are met is just plain ANNOYING to me. Sure, it keeps the game challenging since grinding has much less of an effect, but damn, if I'm getting a Game Over screen just from fighting regular enemies, then I'll be damned. And yes, I've gotten at least over 30 deaths so far. Not to mention that this makes some boss fights really tough unless you know what you're doing

Spoiler

(Odin comes to mind)

.

Obviously, there are other RPG elements that seem out of place/missing from the game, but I'll leave that to another time.

Oh, and people all over seem to be complaining that Vanille is really annoying? She is a little, but I don't have an issue with it.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Juggernaut target time is 3 something?! That is nuts. I just did it in 9 and was impressed! Chapter 12 is a slogfest....

It's a good idea to just run past all the fights in Chapter 12 until you find the Giant Enemy Turtle. I used the Giant Enemy Turtle to grind out the rest of Stage 9 Crystarium, as a bonus I now have like 1.5 million gil. No Traps dropped, though. I'm going to need a Trap if I want to do the 1 Trap Becomes 3 trick.

The randomness of Death working is quite, well, random. I've successfully finished the Turtle twice in a row with Death in less than 30 seconds once, then another time I think I failed about 8 times in a row before I got him.

 

[mr_nothin]

I'm on Chapter 7 and I just don't know if I'm going to bother carrying on with playing this game. I don't think I would begrudge Final Fantasy XIII's linear nature if the world design was actually interesting. If it held some surprises, if there were some dungeon-like sections, a bit of exploration, some risk/reward element, a change in pace of the gameplay. It doesn't necessarily have to be that overworld, dungeon, overworld, town flow, but there has to be some change in pace otherwise it's just monotonous.

There's no risk/reward to this game at all, you never have to worry about whether you're pushing your luck too far in a dungeon, if you fall in battle, you restart right before that very same battle, even boss battles. When the battles end, you're fully healed, you never have to worry about being worn down by enemies. You don't have any magic points to worry about, there's never any fear of pushing your luck too far and not being able to heal or use a powerful spell. You don't have to worry about exploring a dungeon and coming to a dead end, because there are no exploration elements, there are no dungeons. If the path branches it quickly comes back together. Even if there is some nook or cranny you could pass on by, the mini-map gives it away. There are no surprises.

I like the combat system and the whole concept of staggering your opponents, but I wish the game be set to faster speeds. When you don't get the drop on some enemies for that insta-stagger, some battles seem to just drag on and on, even with judicious use of the paradigms.

I think the quality of the voice acting is incredibly high and am amazed that Square-Enix re-did the lip synching in the NIS's for the localisation instead of simply doing ADR, just wish I didn't think the dialogue wasn't so corny or down-right awful. The fact that the story does nothing for me just doesn't help because that's clearly what the team has tied so much of this game upon. I like the general idea of the plot but the constant reinforcement of "I'm l'Cie, I'm sad, Pulse is bad, Pulse l'Cie are bad, I am sad, we gotta cheer up and move on!" is tedious. When the characters aren't harping on the same themes, the story is too cornball or melodramatic. It's like some bad soap opera with elements of the fantastic thrown in.

I think I'm simply going to avoid whatever future projects this team works on. I clearly do not like or enjoy their vision of what an rpg should be.

I felt and still do feel the same as you (when it comes to gameplay). I keep saying this and I'll keep echoing it....This feels like an "Intro to Final Fantasy" game. I hate the full health after every battle. I dont like the no magic points. I hate that it's SUPER linear (for the most part). I also dont like the fact that you restart right in front of the same enemy that killed you....make me restart from my last save point dammit! Punish me! I've voiced the same exact complaints at you....

But I'll still say this. Stick it out for the next 2 chapters at least. I really picks up...and by that, I mean that it actually becomes somewhat decent. The story starts to stray away from being DRY and the enemies do get "tougher". By tougher I mean that you have to think about the best way to take out enemies. It's a lot easier to die. I had some trouble with just 2 enemies (they silence you and you cant attack/cast). I'm on chapter 10. The END of chapter 7 - chapter 9 is how the game should have been from the beginning. It's still lacking but it's a hell of a lot better than those 1st 7 chapters.

I've only made it to chapter 10 so far. Just throwing my 2 cents in. Stick with it for 3 more hours and I think you'll start to kinda enjoy it

 

[Cynar]

Just got six achievements in a row, love those master "x" role achievements.

Time to farm traps like everyone else I suppose. :lol

 

[Rpgmonkey]

Mission 64 is a really repetitive fight...

Just got to get the "get five stars on every mission" and "every item" achievements, but I'm too lazy to do those.

Think I'm done with this game now.

 

[Feep]

Finally picked it up again after a week of craziness. Near the middle/end of Chapter 12, I suppose...

Why is everyone "farming"? From what I understand, there are no extra areas to unlock, no hidden ending, no extra scene. Are you all achievement whores, or something?

 

[Rpgmonkey]

Finally picked it up again after a week of craziness. Near the middle/end of Chapter 12, I suppose...

Why is everyone "farming"? From what I understand, there are no extra areas to unlock, no hidden ending, no extra scene. Are you all achievement whores, or something?

Making the best weapon for the characters you use most can be pretty handy.