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[User 10639]

I don't really hate it. I just think it's mediocre.

I bought it for sixty dollars; I'm going to get my money's worth.

Ah, OK. For me, playing more of a mediocre game is not getting my money's worth - it's just prolonging the pain. I'd sell it off now and get something I liked more, or something I think I'd like more, i.e. a SMT game in your case. But YMMV.

I remember the final dungeon in 13 being very pink and having some cheap ass mobs that I ran by with deceptisols.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Was Nomura joking when he stated that Noctis is gay recently in a news article

i just want some confirmation that it was not an april fool's day joke

What, would that be a first for the series? Though then again I cant really see how much it would even affect the game story

 

[Fun Factor]

How much of this monotony is left until I beat it? I beat what I suppose was the mid boss of chapter 11 and now I'm at Oerba after the extremely disappointing tower dungeon - you know your game design and level design is bad when that's the supposed best dungeon in the game - and I'm at the point where I'm just going to take it out of my ps3 and trade it in for Strange Journey already. I want to beat it but I completely lack the resolve to even play it.

Christ Almighty, will you shut up about Strange Journey already.
Half your posts here have been about how you hate this game & trading it in for that shitty game. You literally only had like 6-10 hours left to beat the game since you started saying this the past week+.

If monstrous repetitive & simplistic dungeon crawlers like Strange Journey is your thing, just drop this game already & get on with it.

 

[badcrumble]

I haven't liked a Final Fantasy final dungeon in over decade so I'm not expecting much. I can't remember FF9's final dungeon as it is completely forgettable, FF10's sucks, FF12's is two rooms (unless you count Pharos as the real final dungeon) and FFX-2's final dungeon is just alright.

Agree on most of those, but I sort of enjoyed FF9's final dungeon (it was a total tribute to the FF5 final dungeon). FF8 and FF6 probably have the best final dungeons in the series, though, since there are actual puzzle elements, however small, and the bosses are decently integrated into them; they also really feel like a 'lair' for the final boss you're going to fight and express some of its character.

 

[Fun Factor]

For the life of me i just cant beat the chapter 5 boss....cheap ass motherfucker that he is. I even stooped to looking at a youtube vid for how they do it, and when i try to do the exact same thing i cant stagger the son of a bitch, and i lose so much health from the physical attack, im literally having to heal every other move..losing what little stagger meter i have already built up.

Just use Hope to as a Synergist till you buffed both characters as much as you can. Then switch him to a Rav or a Med when you need to heal.

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

:lol at your :lol

 

[Cep]

Christ Almighty, will you shut up about Strange Journey already.
Half your posts here have been about how you hate this game & trading it in for that shitty game. You literally only had like 6-10 hours left to beat the game since you started saying this the past week+.

If monstrous repetitive & simplistic dungeon crawlers like Strange Journey is your thing, just drop this game already & get on with it.

SJ-gaf, lynch this man!

Also, I find it funny that you say this without the tiniest bit of irony.

 

[IronFistedChampion]

Any tips for beating Fang's

Spoiler

Summon

? I hate this battle team. :lol

 

[burgerdog]

Light has the same items equipped and Vanille has the magic boost item. Shit just drops now, it's kind of sad.

 

[User 10639]

If monstrous repetitive & simplistic dungeon crawlers like Strange Journey is your thing, just drop this game already & get on with it.

RPGs are by nature extremely repetitive, moreso than most videogames. FF13 is certainly no exception, especially since battles are basically all there is to it. And there's nothing wrong with crawling if the dungeons are good.

Can't say anything about simplicity since I haven't played SJ yet, tho.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

If monstrous repetitive & simplistic dungeon crawlers like Strange Journey is your thing, just drop this game already & get on with it.

Replace "dungeon crawler" with "tube runner" and "SJ" with "XIII".

Well it is arguable that Fang wants to do the clit tango with Vanille.

Arguable my ass.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

I am seriously laughing out loud.

FTWer :lol

Maybe his tag should be WTFer.

 

[badcrumble]

Light has the same items equipped and Vanille has the magic boost item. Shit just drops now, it's kind of sad.

:lol damn.

 

[demosthenes]

Beating Ochu took so long @.@

Finally got my Egg though

 

[Alucrid]

http://i40.tinypic.com/f0t74o.jpg[IMG]

Light has the same items equipped and Vanille has the magic boost item. Shit just drops now, it's kind of sad.[/QUOTE]

Dayum, how long did that take?

 

[mr stroke]

Finished the game today @42 hours, good/bad

-

-FalCi, Icee, LaCi, Abc, what ever its called is officially the worst name in any RPG.
-Gil is pointless, never used it more than a handful of times.
-Final boss sucks(is that all they could come up with?)
-Story makes no sense.
-really uneven graphics, some areas are stunning, while others look like HD PS2.
-voice acting.
-odd pacing.


+

+CG cut scenes are amazing.
+Battle system is the best in the series.
+Linear structure.
+Graphics(in most areas)
+Lighting is awesome, if she were a real person I would have sex with her.



over all really enjoyed the game, would put it as one of my favorite in the series.

 

[User 10639]

Seriously though, FTWer has some kind of serious axe to grind with Strange Journey. Last time it was brought up ITT he was hating on it, too.

Arguable my ass.

You're right, it's pretty much fact. They don't even try to hide it by the end.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Seriously though, FTWer has some kind of serious axe to grind with Strange Journey. Last time it was brought up ITT he was hating on it, too.

More like SMT in general.

 

[burgerdog]

A staggered turtle takes 250,000 damage per hit. Everything else dies too fast :l

How long did it take? Clock is at 93 hours.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

+

+CG cut scenes are amazing.
+Battle system is the best in the series.
+Linear structure.
+Graphics(in most areas)
+Lighting is awesome, if she were a real person I would have sex with her.



over all really enjoyed the game, would put it as one of my favorite in the series.

The linear structure helped to rush through the story in the first 25 hours, I liked that. Lightning was awesome, though I wouldnt go to that extreme (she seemed a bit cold and too rough for my tastes though her kind side towards hope was a fantastic aspect, I think she and Hope were the most humanly believable characters).

Its the only numbered, actually the only final fantasy Ive ever beat. Though your pros were definitely on point.

 

[User 10639]

Can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. I bet you he didn't beat Matador in Nocturne and now has a vendetta and/or he hates the smug attitude that SMT fans typically have.

Matador? That's like the fourth or fifth boss in that game. You really think he made it that far?

And we're smug because we're better, duh.

Do they kiss?

Do you really want me to spoil that for you?

Spoiler

no :'-(

 

[FateBreaker]

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

OK, I have NOT played this game, and I love Atlus's RPGs, but one thing they typically have is repetition to a degree of being maze-like, nauseating, and not fun. Just saying.

Final Fantasy XIII: should I max out all my levels before doing the trials in...the faultwarrens...or whatever that place is called?

 

[Pooya]

I was watching some of the earlier trailers and the scene pictured below, Was this scene even in the game? I can't remember seeing this in any of CG cut-scenes.

it's only used in the intro video and and in background for Light's menu.

Final Fantasy XIII: should I max out all my levels before doing the trials in...the faultwarrens...or whatever that place is called?

they are all pretty easy, only mission 51:Attacus is hard a bit.

 

[User 10639]

OK, I have NOT played this game, and I love Atlus's RPGs, but one thing they typically have is repetition to a degree of being maze-like, nauseating, and not fun. Just saying.

But the dungeons have real actual puzzles and alternate paths and other such things that, well, dungeons are supposed to have. It's part of what makes repetition tolerable in that type of game.

edit: also, what's wrong with mazes? Isn't that much preferable to tubular level design?

 

[Fimbulvetr]

I was watching some of the earlier trailers and the scene pictured below, Was this scene even in the game? I can't remember seeing this in any of CG cut-scenes.

it's only used in the intro video and and in background for Light's menu.

It is but Lightning's model as well as some parts of the scene were changed slightly.

 

[marathonfool]

I was watching some of the earlier trailers and the scene pictured below, Was this scene even in the game? I can't remember seeing this in any of CG cut-scenes.

it's only used in the intro video and and in background for Light's menu.

Do you have a 1080p wallpaper version?

 

[Rpgmonkey]

Heh, I should go make an equipment setup like that. Just for fun.

How long does a (Shao) Long Gui take you?

Agree on most of those, but I sort of enjoyed FF9's final dungeon (it was a total tribute to the FF5 final dungeon). FF8 and FF6 probably have the best final dungeons in the series, though, since there are actual puzzle elements, however small, and the bosses are decently integrated into them; they also really feel like a 'lair' for the final boss you're going to fight and express some of its character.

Mmm, Kefka's Tower was great.

Interesting design, every song featured in that place is just fantastic, and most of the fights were fun, if a bit easy. Was the best part of the WoR, though I admit I never cared much for the WoR in the first place.

 

[Zoe]

I was watching some of the earlier trailers and the scene pictured below, Was this scene even in the game? I can't remember seeing this in any of CG cut-scenes.

Spoiler

The scene was changed to include Hope and Fang.

 

[Pooya]

Spoiler

The scene was changed to include Hope and Fang.

Spoiler

in chapter 7? Lightning looks so much better in this one compared to the final video, her model is so much better in this

 

[Dedication Through Light]

I was watching some of the earlier trailers and the scene pictured below, Was this scene even in the game? I can't remember seeing this in any of CG cut-scenes.

http://videogames.techfresh.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/lightning11.jpg

it's only used in the intro video and and in background for Light's menu.
.

Was that scene when she and Hope rolled right into the Plaza in PalumPalum (sp?).

 

[Kagari]

Spoiler

in chapter 7? Lightning looks so much better in this one compared to the final video, her model is so much better in this

Her in-game model was better in the original E3 2006 render too...

 

[Llyranor]

What I can say is that FFXIII hasn't felt repetitive to me at all. The battles are so easy to avoid (which I do whenever I can), I can just run through the dungeons, and any battles I do end up engaging in provides a good challenge given my relative lack of CP. I actually find the pacing pretty good. Fewer but tougher battles, less repetition, less tedium.

But I'll challenge anyone questioning SJ's quality. That's through and through a quality JRPG, with not an ounce of tedium so far (2 dungeons in only, though); gameplay is fresh, exploration is fun, and game is challenging.

And hey, if we're going to rag on repetitive/tedious dungeon crawlers, at least bring Etrian Odyssey into the fray. At least FFXIII doesn't force you into very similar random encounters every few steps, and SJ avoids that by providing an ever-expanding party customization system via demon recruiting/fusion to keep the gameplay fresh.

/canofworms

 

[Llyranor]

First SMT, yeah. It's not about demon fusion being a new concept, but an evolving gameplay mechanic where you aren't stuck with the same party setup for most of the game, which EO is extremely guilty of (and any sort of branching via extra characters or creating new classes that are unlocked later in the game makes it even more tedious, since you have to grind them up from lvl 1; game makes an extra effort to be as unflexible as possible). I also found EO battles to be pretty mindless, yeah (save for the FOEs/boss battles, which were pretty awesome - just too much tedium in-between them). I'm finding FFXIII battles to be a lot more engaging than EO's, but to each their own.

 

[Zertez]

Thinking about missing scenes. Does any remember what cut scenes or part of the game shows Vanille on top of

Spoiler

Hecatoncheir

pretending to shoot things with her hands? Ive seen several avatars and gifs with the scene, but I never saw it in my playthrough.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Well it is arguable that Fang wants to do the clit tango with Vanille.

Arguable? Did you read Episode Zero? I got the feeling after reading Episode Zero that they already have. :lol

 

[Magnus]

Himmy, you have to finish the game, just to be appalled at how retarded the last couple of hours are.

YOU CAN DO IT

 

[Llyranor]

Anyways, enjoy. SMT formula is lightyears ahead of EO formula

It is.

It's not the real deal, though, as much as internet fans would like it to be.

Also true. Wizardry VIII is one of my favorite RPGs ever. I couldn't even finish EO (got to 20F or so, so it got more than a fair chance.

 

[User 10639]

Rpgs is a genre that will get repetitive; this is a fact. And that's why variety is so much important. It's the very reason why the town -> dungeon -> town -> dungeon formula exists. Without it, you're doing the same shit for fourty hours. That's not fun, that monotony.

Ah, that's not necessarily true, though. SRPGs are basically nothing but battles, no dungeons necessary, and towns are just glorified shop menus in those games. I think with a dynamic enough battle system and more interesting level design (one thing SRPGs do to provide variety is actually make terrain matter) it's perfectly possible to make a game without towns or dungeons that's nonetheless fun to play without being terribly repetitive.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

What the hell is episode zero? Is this in the datalog? Not reading that encyclopedia thingy.

It's a novel that talks about the events before the game begins.

 

[BocoDragon]

What the hell is episode zero? Is this in the datalog? Not reading that encyclopedia thingy.

Not reading the datalog? You're missing 45% of the story

 

[Kandrick]

Finally started the game yesterday. I am about 6hours in right now, and i am surprised. I thought i was going to hate it. Dont get me wrong, i dont like it that much either, but it plays alright, considering i was prepared for worse.

The thing i really really hate though, is Hope and Vanille.... oh god. And then you are forced to play as them, why would SE do that if not to piss you off? At least Vanille is kinda hot, makes it less terrible to endure. Hope is just useless though, hope (lol) is he not that much important in the story.

 

[Vangellis]

Finished the game today @42 hours, good/bad

-

-FalCi, Icee, LaCi, Abc, what ever its called is officially the worst name in any RPG.
-Gil is pointless, never used it more than a handful of times.
-Final boss sucks(is that all they could come up with?)
-Story makes no sense.
-really uneven graphics, some areas are stunning, while others look like HD PS2.
-voice acting.
-odd pacing.


+

+CG cut scenes are amazing.
+Battle system is the best in the series.
+Linear structure.
+Graphics(in most areas)
+Lighting is awesome, if she were a real person I would have sex with her.



over all really enjoyed the game, would put it as one of my favorite in the series.

I agree with most of your points. I didnt like that it was so linear and they threw you in a huge area after 20-25 hours. Lighting was the best of the characters cause her voice acting was ok, and she didnt talk much.

I just beat it at the 40 hour mark. The last boss was a joke. He was way easier than I expected. But... omg the dialogue, story and most of the characters were terrible. How the hell does such a pretty game get made when the story, dialogue and acting is this bad?! It fucking embarrassing. Its my first jrpg in a long time, maybe my standards too high these days for voices and plot. I was either cringing, laughing, or rolling my eyes at every cut sequence. Man the story is so weak too. They need new writers.

The fucking characters... ugh. I swear they must brainstorm to come up with ideal cosplay outfits. Take snow for instance lol, frayed trench coat, gloves, hat with his amazingly positioned hair between his eyes. I guess they know there target audience, which im surely not. They should have a FF13 drinking game where you pound a beer every time Snow referrers to himself as a hero. Also...dude who writes the dialogue for this shit... if someone needs to call themselves a hero they arent one. If you have to say it at all, say it once. We get the point.

I swear if it wasnt for the battle system being kick ass I would have quit in the beginning.

 

[Magnus]

Finished the game today @42 hours, good/bad

-

-FalCi, Icee, LaCi, Abc, what ever its called is officially the worst name in any RPG.
-Gil is pointless, never used it more than a handful of times.
-Final boss sucks(is that all they could come up with?)
-Story makes no sense.
-really uneven graphics, some areas are stunning, while others look like HD PS2.
-voice acting.
-odd pacing.


+

+CG cut scenes are amazing.
+Battle system is the best in the series.
+Linear structure.
+Graphics(in most areas)
+Lighting is awesome, if she were a real person I would have sex with her.



over all really enjoyed the game, would put it as one of my favorite in the series.

I have trouble reconciling your points into the conclusion that it's one of your favorites. :lol

I actually dug most of the voice-acting, and thought the battle system was a disaster clothed in exciting disguise (which I've expounded on enough in this thread), but otherwise agree with you on most points.

I'm fine with linearity, but would slot its use in XIII as a major negative.

And yes, totally disappointed with

Spoiler

the final encounter. Bizarre, boring, self-indulgent design, too easy aside from the cheap death spell, and what a terribly unsatisfying ending.

It can't get any worse than it already is. For all the complaints about FF12's plot and story progression, FF13's is far more aimless. I have been playing for 40 hours and the characters still don't have a plain or goal or resolve to do, well, anything. Do you want to destroy Cocoon, or do you want to get the brands off? And as much as the game is hinting at the cast being the bad guys, with a lingering sense of dark vibes due to the party's goals, the game's writing is so poor that it attempts to ignore this issue as much as possible. "Let's tell a story about a bunch of people who are bent on destroying a world to save themselves from turning into demons." Great, great idea; and extremely refreshing premise. Here's what they did with it.

Dude. I promise. It gets worse. The confusion over character motivation and what's actually happening moment to moment in some scenes actually gets worse. And it's funny. :lol

 

[User 10639]

What the hell is episode zero? Is this in the datalog? Not reading that encyclopedia thingy.

It's a prequel novel that reads like fanfiction but nonetheless does a better job of setting up the characters and their motivations than the game itself. For mysterious reasons the writers decided to bury important information there and in the datalog instead of putting that stuff in the game.

 

[BocoDragon]

It can't get any worse than it already is. For all the complaints about FF12's plot and story progression, FF13's is far more aimless. I have been playing for 40 hours and the characters still don't have a plain or goal or resolve to do, well, anything. Do you want to destroy Cocoon, or do you want to get the brands off? And as much as the game is hinting at the cast being the bad guys, with a lingering sense of dark vibes due to the party's goals, the game's writing is so poor that it attempts to ignore this issue as much as possible. "Let's tell a story about a bunch of people who are bent on destroying a world to save themselves from turning into demons." Great, great idea; and extremely refreshing premise. Here's what they did with it.

uguu!

 

[BigJonsson]

Upgraded the Lionheart to tier 2
Now to decide what other weapons to go with.........

I primarily use Fang, Light, Hope..........

 

[Unknown Soldier]

What the hell is episode zero? Is this in the datalog? Not reading that encyclopedia thingy.

Final Fantasy XIII: Episode Zero - Promise

It's a series of prequel web novels which Squenix posted episodically on the Japanese FFXIII site leading up to and after launch. THERE ARE SPOILERS.

 

[Pooya]

You know the age old "show the readers, don't tell them?"

For games, I feel it's "let the player experience the game, don't show/tell them about it".

If I'm missing 45% of the story due to not reading some stupid encyclopedia, then it's not a good story to begin with. That's like handing out cliffnotes to a crowd of people who are about to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Fuck. That.

Datalog doesn't really tells you more than what you see in the cutscenes, but there is a good chance you don't understand what happened in the scene you just watched, in this case reading datalogs is helpful but you won't miss much.

 

[User 10639]

Well, srpgs have difficulty going for them and they also tend to have darker and more interesting stories.

Of course they're exceptions. I'm talking about the traditional rpg formula here. Srpgs, you tend to fight oh, say, 30 or so maps (or battles) total; Traditional rpgs, you tend to fight hundreds if not thousands of times, so they need as much variety as they can get either within the battles themselves - through enemy variety, strategy variety, difficulty - or dungeons, or exploration, or sidequests. These things break the games up and make something that's typically tedious into something that's fun.

I don't disagree with any of that, but you're still talking about battles (and character progression/modification, the other really important aspect of RPG gameplay for me) for the most part. I don't think towns are necessary, or even fun really, and I'd much prefer interesting enemy/terrain variety and difficulty within the battle system. I'd like every effort to be made towards making dungeons interesting if a game has them (see FF13 for an example of how not to do that) but I don't think they're necessary either.

00:33 - 00:40 cracks me up every time. :lol

You've watched that more than once?!?

Uguu~I'm left-handed. :lol I don't know why I find that funny.

 

[Foxtastical]

Datalog doesn't really tells you more than what you see in the cutscenes, but there is a good chance you don't understand what happened in the scene you just watched, in this case reading datalogs is helpful but you won't miss much.

Yeah, that happened all the time for me.

It turned into watching a movie while at the same time reading a book of the movie.

 

[Magnus]

Yeah, that happened all the time for me.

It turned into watching a movie while at the same time reading a book of the movie.

Hahaha, exactly. Need a datalog entry for that ending. Shit.