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[Dark Schala]

Since I can't find the OT for the game, I'll just ask here.

I got to the Archelyte Steppes for the first time and looking at a guide, I can appaerntly grind on the Behemoths but I need to upgrade my weapons first? The guide tells me to get Lightning's Axis Blade to an Enkindler, get Vanille a Malborro Wand, and etc,. However, I have no idea how to upgrade weapons to another tier; could someone explain? All my weapons are still at level 1.

You do not need to level up your weapons, period. I beat the game, took down my first Gui, and 5-starred all the missions with using Tier-1 weapons. Just note that if you increase the tier value of your weapons, the target time for the fights decreases because you're essentially increasing your stats if you equip a higher tier weapon (this is important to note when you're doing the missions and if you want to get the trophy for it).

Just level up your Crystarium with the fodder around Vallis Media (where you ran around to find the injured Hope; it's where you came from before your party appeared on the Steppe), and then if you feel strong enough, try out the fodder enemies like the wolves and flans, and also go into the northwest area of the Steppe to get to the path near the cave (it's where the two monsters are fighting). You can avoid those two monsters (though they're easy to fight since you'll always, always get a preemptive strike on them--just attack the Behemoth first, get rid of it and go for the other monster), but if you run into them and don't feel prepared, you can just hit pause, retry, and try to avoid the battle and run into the cave area.

In the cave area, you'll come at a crossroads, where you can either go up or straight. Go up and keep running through that area fighting the bombs and robots. You'll earn a lot of CP, and the respawn rate of the enemies is really fast, so if you want to grind over there, do it.

 

[Ken]

Thanks. I actually got to the Steppes half a year ago probably and just picked up the game again since I got XIII-2 yesterday, so I don't remember much about what happened story-wise.

So I shouldn't ever bother leveling up weapons? Is there a better use for the weapon-leveling items then?

Also, here's my Lightning's current stats:

Are there any good items I should be getting for my characters?

Think I went the wrong way looking for the cave area; ran into two Dire Flans that gave me a lot of trouble and then a dead end.

Where is it on this map?

 

[Kolgar]

So I just started playing this, having picked it up recently for the obscene price of $10.

WOW. I'm loving it after five hours. Having not played a FF game since VII, I appreciate the tutorials and how the game smoothly ramps me up into the complexities of battle.

That said, I'm worried that I'll soon be in over my head. All the talk above about Sentinels this and Ravagers that, selecting the right teammates, making the right moves at the Crystallarium, and finding certain special weapons to equip on each character have me concerned that I'll hit an impenetrable wall at some point.

As a relative novice to this series, am I doomed? Or do you think I can progress to the end, enjoying the gorgeous locales, lovely character models, and amazing cut scenes?

I've never really been a big RPG guy, but I've completed a few this generation, including Dragon Age 2 last week, and I really want to play and enjoy this wonderful experience to completion.

 

[Dark Schala]

Thanks. I actually got to the Steppes half a year ago probably and just picked up the game again since I got XIII-2 yesterday, so I don't remember much about what happened story-wise.

So I shouldn't ever bother leveling up weapons? Is there a better use for the weapon-leveling items then?

Also, here's my Lightning's current stats:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/NobodyHome/cf602911.jpg[IMG]

Are there any good items I should be getting for my characters?

Think I went the wrong way looking for the cave area; ran into two Dire Flans that gave me a lot of trouble and then a dead end.

Where is it on this map?

[img]http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy/images/9/94/Archylte_Steppe_Map.png

Well, you could level up weapons, but you really don't have to do it unless you want the trophy.

The items you really need are the sturdy bones/vibrant oozes/barbed tails to increase the multiplier to x3 and just use Superconductors/Perfect Conductor/Particle Accelerators/Ultracompact Reactors to increase the XP on the weapons. Those are all the ingredients you ever need. Hold onto the bomb cores/fragments/bomb whatevers and the chocobo feathers in case you need quick items to increase the multipliers.

Basically, the weapon system works like this:

-> all of the weapons get XP from the items
-> the items are divided into two groups: organic items and synthetic items
-> organic items like bones, oozes, tails, feathers, etc can be used to INCREASE XP multipliers. This is what you should do first. Usually, it takes 36 sturdy bones/vibrant oozes/barbed tails to increase the multiplier to x3 (which is the highest). I suggest using these ingredients to increase the multiplier because they're the cheapest items in the shops.
-> synthetic items like conductors, accelerators, and reactors gives lots of XP, but they DECREASE XP multipliers. This is what you apply after you increase the weapon multiplier to x3 with the organic items to level up your weapons quickly.
-> so basically, you apply the organic items to increase the multiplier to x3, and then apply the synthetic items to level up the weapons.

You can't really use the weapon/accessory items for anything other than levelling those things up. They're sellable, though I wouldn't advise just doing that yet if you want to level the weapons up in the future. The items don't drop a lot, so it's best to hold onto them.

As for Lightning--well, I didn't use her after chapter 9, lol. I think you should give her a strength+ accessory since she doesn't really need an HP+ accessory. Same goes for Fang and Snow.

Hope should be given HP+ and Magic+ accessories. Same with Vanille.

As for Sazh, he can't do it until you get his Cold Blood Skill, but give him his Betelgeuse Customs and a Speed Sash/Energy Sash for the "Random Instant Chain" technique. When he uses the Cold Blood Skill, he'll shoot the enemy a lot. What Random Instant Chain does is that it has a possibility of instantly staggering or near-staggering an opponent. Because Sazh hits a lot, Random Instant Chain's percentage of hitting will increase with every hit. This is only for when he's the party leader, though. I guess you can give him whatever you'd like if he isn't your party leader or if he's just there to buff the party.

And finally as to where the location of the cave is, it's right where the Mah'habara Subterra is marked with the arrow pointing up (that's what the cave's called), towards the north end of the map.
You'll know you're in the right place if you see two monsters fighting each other (they ignore you, so don't worry about approaching them).

 

[Kinyou]

So was the game worth the $16? I'm kind of a need for a new game right now and seeing all those XIII-2 commercials (and playing the demo) got me a little interested. I'm generally not a fan of those slow anime-stories but I think if the rest is ok I could bare it. I guess most important to me would be if the characters are likable and if the world is interesting.

Edit: oh sorry missed this post

So I just started playing this, having picked it up recently for the obscene price of $10.

WOW. I'm loving it after five hours. Having not played a FF game since VII, I appreciate the tutorials and how the game smoothly ramps me up into the complexities of battle.

That said, I'm worried that I'll soon be in over my head. All the talk above about Sentinels this and Ravagers that, selecting the right teammates, making the right moves at the Crystallarium, and finding certain special weapons to equip on each character have me concerned that I'll hit an impenetrable wall at some point.

As a relative novice to this series, am I doomed? Or do you think I can progress to the end, enjoying the gorgeous locales, lovely character models, and amazing cut scenes?

I've never really been a big RPG guy, but I've completed a few this generation, including Dragon Age 2 last week, and I really want to play and enjoy this wonderful experience to completion.

Sound pretty good.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

This here blows my mind every time I read it. It's better than pressing A all day? Wow. Awesome. Jrpg gamers have lowered their expectations to this point?

That's the thing. I'm never just pressing A. I interrupt the action all the time and direct the leader's actions in a pinch (especially when healing - AI doesn't prioritise the leader's HP for some reason) and set things up so that I have a set of common behaviours that I use in battle as required.

I just spent two hours grinding Mushunnu (Teijin's Tower) for Moonflower seeds. Every battle, I'd experiment with techniques and in the end, the one that worked best was to start with RAV/RAV/RAV to stagger the Mushunnu, immediately switch to Bully (COM/SAB/SYN) so I can beef up my COM while they're finishing off Mushunnu, then when that's done, that COM can basically mop up the rest of the enemies faster than I can switch to Relentless Assault (COM/RAV/RAV). See, Mushunnu has high magic resistance and a really low stagger point (assuming you've maxed out you main jobs at level 4), so you can stagger him almost immediately and remove him as a threat. Buffs make a BIG difference so that someone like Sazh often contributes to more damage as a support unit than as a direct damage dealer (<3 Haste).

Then they throw different combinations of enemies at you and you have to figure out the most efficient way of killing them in order to get good drops and a lot of the time, just pressing A in the endgame will either get you killed or result in slow, frustrating battles. Strategy matters.

But yeah, pressing A and all that. It's rad.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

So I just beat Bartandelus (again). I had done so much grinding for cash at this point, however that I had just over 700,000 CP saved up and nearly maxed out the expanded Crystarium immediately. Now (with maxed out weapons), my main team has these ridonculous stats.

Anyway, I like buffing/debuffing, so I'm running Lightning/Vanille/Sazh with maxed out Helter-skelter, Malboro Wand and Sirius Sidearms all at max level (though I wonder if I should have gone Axis Blade or Lionheart for Lightning).

Anyway, after killing Bartandelus, he very helpfully left behind a ship going back to Cocoon, but I wanted to go back to the steppe to do some missions (hadn't really done any). Thing is, I hadn't activated any warp points on the steppe, so I had to fight my way back there on foot. Ugh.

Two questions:

- Someone mentioned chocobos. How do I unlock them? I can see the steppe getting very tedious to traverse otherwise.

- Please tell me there are warp points on the steppe

- What's the best way of killing adamantoise? They're supposed to drop the transformational catalyst for the ultimate weapons and I can't see how to do it other than by risky half-hour long battles.

 

[Zoe]

- Someone mentioned chocobos. How do I unlock them? I can see the steppe getting very tedious to traverse otherwise.

It's one of the missions in the teens.

 

[The Antitype]

I'm LTTP on this one too.

And I'm actually liking it. I'm at the part where most of the party meets at Hope's house, and I'm actually starting to care about the characters.

It's true that the opening is WAY to slow, but it seems like the game is starting to roll now, and with the combat as great as it is, I'm really enjoying it.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

It's one of the missions in the teens.

Oh thank God.

@the poster above me - yeah, it is pretty slow at first. It's also a bit overwhelming when the steppe first opens up, but if you're an obsessive min-maxer like I am, you'll end up spending the bulk of your time there. I'm on like 46 hours of game time and half of that is doing missions on the steppe.

 

[KorrZ]

I guess I'm LTTP on this game too, just picked it up for $12.99. I've played about 11 hours so far and I really have to say I'm in love with it and don't see where all the hate comes from. Granted, this is coming from a guy who has only ever played 2 Final Fantasy games (7 & this one) maybe that's why I like this one. I love the story and characters so far, every one of them. I mean Vanilles voice can get a little annoying at times, and I wish Hope wasn't a little bitch for so much of the game. The battle system is perfect, flashy, cool looking and incredibly fast paced all while still having a good deal of depth. It just leaves you with a lot of room to experiment with the Paradigm system, constantly trying to readjust my strategy to take things down the most efficiently ( need that 5 stars!). Also the game is incredibly gorgeous looking and I still find myself having to stop and gawk at the character models, not to mention the stunning CG.

All in all, I'm disappointed that I didn't give this game a chance sooner.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

So I decided, after trying and failing to obtain a trapezohedron drop from the giant turtles, to finish the game without getting any of the ultimate weapons.

I'm in the Orphan's Cradle tasseracts and I have to say that this whole sequence with the three goddesses is really grating on me. Why is this bit so long and frustrating?

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

So I beat the game and expanded the Crystarium and I'm done with the game. I thought about taking on some adamantoises and getting the ultimate weapons, but beating the final boss kind of took the wind out of my sails.

Also, the story makes no sense. Barthandelus built Coccoon in order to destroy it and summon the Creator, but he can't do it himself because fal'Cie lack initiative? How did he come to build it in the first place?

Also, why did Pulse and Cocoon fal'Cie hate each other?

 

[Svafnir]

I just recently got back to this game. (quit at last boss months ago) Been doing some grinding and I am reminded of how amazing the battle system is in the game. Super fun.

 

[Toki767]

I just recently got back to this game. (quit at last boss months ago) Been doing some grinding and I am reminded of how amazing the battle system is in the game. Super fun.

Use a SAB on the last boss if you're having trouble.

 

[exhume]

Whaaaaat, I just started replaying this last night after beating XIII-2 and died like five times against the stagger gauge tutorial boss. Lolol this game is much harder than its sequel.

 

[SomeDude]

If it takes a game 20 hours to really start up then the said game has failed.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Use a SAB on the last boss if you're having trouble.

Yeah, I had to do the final boss twice, but the first time, I had to stop halfway through. I didn't try to debilitate him until the second time and it basically halved the time it took to beat him.

 

[Riposte]

If it takes a game 20 hours to really start up then the said game has failed.

This meme is really starting to annoy me and it is omnipresent, the first thing anyone mentions about the game. The fact is this isn't really true, especially when you compare it to other Final Fantasys which combat systems are usually pointless until you go up against the optional endgame content. FFXIII is only an easy game most of the time (with sudden spikes of difficulty for eidolons and some bosses/enemies), but that's a crime most/all JRPGs are guilty of.

 

[Liferebooted]

How much longer do I have about? I'm trying to rush through this so I can get ffxiii-2. I just beat the

Spoiler

Ambling Bellows

 

[Rahxephon91]

If it takes a game 20 hours to really start up then the said game has failed.

This isn't really true. After the game gives you your powers, you basically have the battle system. After that the game adds a few things, but most of the battle system does not change. This is no different then any other JRPG or FF game in general. I mean X can take up to 20 hours before they give you Rikku and you learn the ability to steal. Does X have a 20 hour tutorial because it added a new thing to battle? That's what XIII does. Not only that, a good portion of those battles in XIII during the first 20 hours have a lot of gameplay variety and situations as you figure out the battle system. The game is good most of the time with the story actually staying interesting as well.

 

[friskykillface]

I stopped playing in chapter 11 or chapter 12, i was so close to finishing right?


it was actually my first final fantasy game D: never played the nes,snes,PS1 or PS2 games 0_o , though played 10 briefly.

13 was pretty good and i had fun, i hated HOPE and those monster soul battles were annoying , i always failed at least once, damn that time limit


I'll finish it one day

 

[Flying Wonkey]

Also, the story makes no sense. Barthandelus built Coccoon in order to destroy it and summon the Creator, but he can't do it himself because fal'Cie lack initiative?

Also, why did Pulse and Cocoon fal'Cie hate each other?

? <- Click it.

Also something something datalog, something in untranslated novel something something fandubbed videos. I can't remember but that's usually where you'd go If you're trying to string up the whole the plot.

 

[Toth]

Here is my answers vicious from the other thread:

Spoiler

Barthandelus built Cocoon in order to sacrifice it and summon the Maker, but he can't pull the trigger himself as fal'Cie lack free will, right? In that case, how could he have built it in the first place?

Spoiler

He and his brethern could build Cocoon but not destroy it. Fal'Cie cannot destroy themselves. Barthanedelus planned to ignite a war with Pulse so their L'Cie would destroy Cocoon. Basically, a loophole in his plan.

Spoiler

What were the Pulse fal'Cie fighting Cocoon for anyway? Were they trying to stop Barthandelus or help him? If the former, why attack en masse? If the latter, why did the Cocoon fal'Cie try to stop them? It makes no sense.

Spoiler

It is not stated as well in the game but Barthandelus was taking pieces from Gran Pulse and agitating the Pulse Fal'cie. People on Pulse felt that the Cocoon Fal;Cie were stealing their land and family away. The leaders of the Pulse cities began spreading the stories that the people within Cocoon were evil. Thus it was a war of survival. These tidbits are explained better in the Episode O novellas (never officially translated of course...)

As for the Pulse Fal' Cie, no they were not helping Bart as they are pretty indifferent to human life. Their 'programming' is to search for the door to the Unseen Realm through excavating Gran Pulse. Barthandelus and Cocoon were impeding that and thus needed to be taken out. Fal'Cie are programmed to defend themselves whether they want to or not so they had to fight back even though they would have happily laid down and let Fang rip the world apart.

Spoiler

In the end, the party kills Orphan even though that's specifically what they were trying to stop the Cavalry from doing not a half hour previously. Then Vanille and Fang turn into Ragnarok and stop Cocoon from crashing into Termina Gran Pulse. They screwed up and got bailed out by the last two Aussies left in the planet and that's somehow a happy ending?

Spoiler

Lightning and co. went into the Cradle with their goal to protect Orphan and kill Barthandelus. Unfortunately, killing Bart only caused him to merge with Orphan and reveal the truth that Orphan did not wanted to be protected at all. It was born only to die and death was all it believed in. The party had to fight to stay alive from the Orphan hybrid but they could not win as long as Ragnarok was not summoned to break Orphan's shield. Fang almost did just that but Etro intervened (you see her 'eye' - Etro's Gate - open just before Fangarok is about to land the final blow) and reminded Fang of her journey and her humanity. Bartandelus tried to get her to transform again but with his shield down, Lightning was able to kill him. Orphan alone then arose to fight and the team made their stand. If they did nothing, Orphan would simply do what Barthandelus did and coax other innocent people into killing him. Or he could sit back and let the world tear itself apart with all the monsters from the Ark killing the citizens. The Fal Cie had to be destroyed if humanity was to survive.

Lightning and co. fought back though because when they were Ceith, they ALL witnessed the same vision, a new Focus where the world was saved and everyone was together. The six all decided to gamble it all and trust that that Focus was the fate they could shape if they destroyed Orphan. This they did and totally freed humanity from the Fal'Cie's false rule. Now, it does get a bit underwritten here but as they were falling upward from the imploding Cradle, Lightning, Sazh, Snow and Hope were unsure of what to do. Fang and Vanille, being the the only ones who really understood what Ragnarok was and what it entailed (once again discussed in the novellas...), saved the day by sacrificing themselves to become a complete Ragnarok and save Cocoon. As Hope says, if they have the power to destroy Cocoon, they have the power to save it. It is possible the team planned to join together and become Ragnarok themselves but doing so would result in them all being sacrificed. I have a theory that Vanille and Fang purposely stayed behind and turned themselves into Ragnarok first to prevent the other four from sharing their fate.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Here is my answers vicious from the other thread:

Spoiler

He and his brethern could build Cocoon but not destroy it. Fal'Cie cannot destroy themselves. Barthanedelus planned to ignite a war with Pulse so their L'Cie would destroy Cocoon. Basically, a loophole in his plan.

Spoiler

It is not stated as well in the game but Barthandelus was taking pieces from Gran Pulse and agitating the Pulse Fal'cie. People on Pulse felt that the Cocoon Fal;Cie were stealing their land and family away. The leaders of the Pulse cities began spreading the stories that the people within Cocoon were evil. Thus it was a war of survival. These tidbits are explained better in the Episode O novellas (never officially translated of course...)

As for the Pulse Fal' Cie, no they were not helping Bart as they are pretty indifferent to human life. Their 'programming' is to search for the door to the Unseen Realm through excavating Gran Pulse. Barthandelus and Cocoon were impeding that and thus needed to be taken out. Fal'Cie are programmed to defend themselves whether they want to or not so they had to fight back even though they would have happily laid down and let Fang rip the world apart.

Spoiler

Lightning and co. went into the Cradle with their goal to protect Orphan and kill Barthandelus. Unfortunately, killing Bart only caused him to merge with Orphan and reveal the truth that Orphan did not wanted to be protected at all. It was born only to die and death was all it believed in. The party had to fight to stay alive from the Orphan hybrid but they could not win as long as Ragnarok was not summoned to break Orphan's shield. Fang almost did just that but Etro intervened (you see her 'eye' - Etro's Gate - open just before Fangarok is about to land the final blow) and reminded Fang of her journey and her humanity. Bartandelus tried to get her to transform again but with his shield down, Lightning was able to kill him. Orphan alone then arose to fight and the team made their stand. If they did nothing, Orphan would simply do what Barthandelus did and coax other innocent people into killing him. Or he could sit back and let the world tear itself apart with all the monsters from the Ark killing the citizens. The Fal Cie had to be destroyed if humanity was to survive.

Lightning and co. fought back though because when they were Ceith, they ALL witnessed the same vision, a new Focus where the world was saved and everyone was together. The six all decided to gamble it all and trust that that Focus was the fate they could shape if they destroyed Orphan. This they did and totally freed humanity from the Fal'Cie's false rule. Now, it does get a bit underwritten here but as they were falling upward from the imploding Cradle, Lightning, Sazh, Snow and Hope were unsure of what to do. Fang and Vanille, being the the only ones who really understood what Ragnarok was and what it entailed (once again discussed in the novellas...), saved the day by sacrificing themselves to become a complete Ragnarok and save Cocoon. As Hope says, if they have the power to destroy Cocoon, they have the power to save it. It is possible the team planned to join together and become Ragnarok themselves but doing so would result in them all being sacrificed. I have a theory that Vanille and Fang purposely stayed behind and turned themselves into Ragnarok first to prevent the other four from sharing their fate.

Thanks for that. I even watched the video posted in the other thread. It makes a little more sense now, but geez, the game should be able to stand on its own as a coherent story.

 

[I'm an expert]

Going back to plat this after a year break and man my save is right where I left off..Eden farming the turtle. Been reading around trying to remember all the strats and upgrade stuff that I knew back then. Forgot how silly the all weapons/accessories trophy really is. Here we go..

 

[Liferebooted]

Is it just me or is Vanille's summon sexual? Specially that moan at the end....

 

[cj_iwakura]

If it takes a game 20 hours to really start up then the said game has failed.

The game had me hooked from the first hour.

 

[Laughing Banana]

I haven't read any other posts in this thread aside from the OP so I don't know if this has been addressed or not but:

Lightning's "optimum" weapon is Gladius? Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

 

[zashga]

I always liked Lightning, but a large part of that is because she's downright abusive to the other characters. The only legitimately good character was Sazh.

Also, regarding the ending.

Spoiler

Did everyone but Fang and Vanille actually turn into Cieth temporarily, or was that some sort of hallucination/trick? I had assumed it was the latter.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Is it just me or is Vanille's summon sexual? Specially that moan at the end....

Her summon is a character that's covered in like a thousand dicks. I think it's pretty deliberate.

I haven't read any other posts in this thread aside from the OP so I don't know if this has been addressed or not but:

Lightning's "optimum" weapon is Gladius? Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

I'm using Ultima Weapon (Lionheart derived) now. I picked the game up again to farm adamantoises and am waiting for that last trapezohedron drop.

I always liked Lightning, but a large part of that is because she's downright abusive to the other characters. The only legitimately good character was Sazh.

Also, regarding the ending.

Spoiler

Did everyone but Fang and Vanille actually turn into Cieth temporarily, or was that some sort of hallucination/trick? I had assumed it was the latter.

Spoiler

The latter, I think

 

[Laughing Banana]

I'm using Ultima Weapon (Lionheart derived) now. I picked the game up again to farm adamantoises and am waiting for that last trapezohedron drop.

She's really the jack of all trades character of this game. Good Commando but not as excellent as Fang; good Ravager but not as excellent as Hope; and so-so Medic--definitely not as good as Hope or Vanille.

Her Sentinel special move is unique to her, though, if I am not mistaken, although of course Fang and Snow outclasses her on Sentinel.

And the quick stagger from Lionheart only activates when the enemy has less than 10% HP, and even then it is just a probability. It is the most balanced weapon for her though, I admit.

Personally I prefer Axis Blade for her.

 

[Liferebooted]

Any tips for

Spoiler

Orphan ? I can't even get past the first 3 minutes of the fight and it really pisses me off there wasn't a save point between him and the last boss. once he does his 2nd sword attack he always fucking stuns all my 3 people which lasts forever until he kills my leader. I'm using sahz, vanille and fang.. I can't even get his health down at all since he does this so early on.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

Any tips for

Spoiler

Orphan ? I can't even get past the first 3 minutes of the fight and it really pisses me off there wasn't a save point between him and the last boss. once he does his 2nd sword attack he always fucking stuns all my 3 people which lasts forever until he kills my leader. I'm using sahz, vanille and fang.. I can't even get his health down at all since he does this so early on.

Spoiler

I don't recall ever getting stunned, to be honest. My guess is that you're not using Sazh as a synergist. Haste is your friend. Basically, spend a few turns getting jacked and debuffing him, healing/buffing/debuffing as necessary and you cut the fight in half.

 

[Locke_211]

Can anyone clear up something that I remember confusing me from the story. I think I read it in the Analect file things you can get on Pulse. Who exactly is Lindzei? I remember thinking the name seemed to be referring to Barthandelus, but then reading something else that meant they couldn't be the same person.

I remember really loving this game, but wishing it had just a bit more NPC interaction and non-linearity. Though it did carry me through the whole game and I enjoyed it lots. Also loving FFXIII-2!

 

[Liferebooted]

Finally beat it... ending.. ;(

Time to wait for FF13-2 to hit $40.

 

[The Emperor]

There is so much wrong with this game objectively...just so much.

But then why do I not hate it? Why do I for some reason just love it?

I don't think I'll ever know. About to sleep, will definitely expand on my feelings tomorrow.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Started playing FF XIII again to finish it up before I get to work on the sequel. It's a flawed game for sure, but I still really enjoy it. Obviously not as good as FF XII, but that's a given.

 

[Clear]

Well XIII-2 was good enough to inspire me into replaying this again.

Despite having a ridiculous number of saves the earliest one I could find was the end of chapter7, which seems like a good enough point to get back into things.

First observations; Its so much slicker and polished than XIII-2 performance wise, and having just watched basically a throwaway CG sequence in

Spoiler

Nautilus

more extravagant than pretty much anything in XIII-2 the budget difference is really obvious.

Battles are a lot tougher, but they feel slower and less visceral than XIII-2 for some reason. The crystarium is so bloated though compared to the sequels streamlined, simplified version.

Most of all though, I've just remembered my utter contempt for Vanille's unbearably simpering voice performance... Laura Bailey does so much better with Serah in XIII-2, even though the characters aren't exactly poles apart.

 

[Error]

I'm enjoying this, it's like playing FF10 with a much better battle system and lead character.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

I'm enjoying this, it's like playing FF10 with a much better battle system and lead character.

And no Wakka or random battles, which instantly makes XIII a far more enjoyable game than X.

 

[cj_iwakura]

I thought FF10 was largely mediocre. Not bad, but nothing remarkable either.

Aside from Otherworld.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

I'm stuck at the fight against Vanille's eidolon. Any tips?

Also, the eidolon fights are terribad. Worst shit by far in FF XIII.

 

[MoogleWizard]

Reading the datalog and the analects in this game is just sad. XIII has arguably the most intricate and interesting universe in the series, there's so much stuff about the creation of the worlds, the fight and betrayal between the gods, the creation of mankind, Fal'cie and L'cie and so much more. They've put so much thought into all this only to cram it in some optional datalog articles, and instead of explaining the mythology of the world in the cutscenes we got "Heros don't need plans", "Moms are tough" and Lighting punches everyone repeated 100 times.

I still like the game but thinking of all the wasted potential is painful, this game could have been amazing had they set their priorities right.

 

[viciouskillersquirrel]

I'm stuck at the fight against Vanille's eidolon. Any tips?

Also, the eidolon fights are terribad. Worst shit by far in FF XIII.

The stagger gauge goes up regardless of what spell you hit them with. Including Sabetour spells. Just have Fang Sentineling it up and switch it up to heal every so often and you'll be good.

 

[Riposte]

I'm stuck at the fight against Vanille's eidolon. Any tips?

Also, the eidolon fights are terribad. Worst shit by far in FF XIII.

just keep hitting the x button, I've been told that's how you beat the whole game

 

[Combichristoffersen]

The stagger gauge goes up regardless of what spell you hit them with. Including Sabetour spells. Just have Fang Sentineling it up and switch it up to heal every so often and you'll be good.

Yeah, but he keeps killing me before I manage to fill up his bar. Anyway, are you suggesting using SAB/SAB to fill his bar and then MED/SEN to heal whenever needed? No use for COM/RAV?

just keep hitting the x button, I've been told that's how you beat the whole game

Tried it, didn't work :B Although hitting X has worked for most of the battles so far :lol

 

[Yasae]

just keep hitting the x button, I've been told that's how you beat the whole game

Nope.

 

[BadWolf]

Just finished it an hour ago and wow, what an amazing game.

Gorgeous graphics/design and a brilliant freaking battle system (basically an amazing combination of ATB, Job system and Gambits). The faces were so well done its not even funny, especially Fang's.

The story/world and all the ideas behind them were pretty damn good I thought, it was all just so refreshing and intricate. And no friggin love interest for the lead, woohoo.

10/10

 

[Combichristoffersen]

OK, defeated Vanille's eidolon, and man was that some grade A garbage bullshit (just like all the other eidolon fights). I spent a few hours grinding before trying again, so I have a bunch of CP to spare. What roles should I spend them on for Lightning, Vanille and Fang? Generally I've used them as RAV/MED/COM respectively, so I might just use the points on those roles?

Also, any tips on those Boxed Phalanx enemies? I've tried killing the Hoplites first, but then the BP just spawns more, I've tried killing the BP first, but the Hoplites always kill my party before I can kill the BP. I used Deceptisol to get pre-emptive strikes on the to stagger the BP as quick as possible in order to kill it, but I only have two Deceptisols left, and I'd rather like to save those :B