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[LiquidMetal14]

Just got the 360 version. So, performance issues later in the game? That really sucks, because so far I think the port is fantastic. Really sucks if true, I guess I'll have to read all about it later (or just wait till I get to these portions of the game).

Anyways speaking of the port so far. I am very happy with the graphics. I'm going to play the PS3 version at a friends so I can compare, but so far I have no issues. No jaggies, clean looking, even the hair is totally fine. Rock solid framerate, I have no complaints ( so far ).

'Can't believe the port falls apart later in the game. That's some lazy coding bullshit right there.

More than anything, you will be impressed with the high IQ of the game and cutscenes in the PS3 version. Looks really good and is the best Japanese developed game I've played (PS3 version) from a visual standpoint. Performance is pretty much the same but with the high ammount of cinematics it will leave an impression going from one to the other.

 

[ULTROS!]

that is hilarious to go back and read (starts around page 67). the announcement seems like it had about 100x the impact of the actual game coming out.

I've been wondering, was it really worth crying about now since it has been released? :lol

 

[Dresden]

I've been wondering, was it really worth crying about now since it has been released? :lol

Forums are built for mass bitching, though. If you aren't bitching, then you aren't doing it right.

Nothing builds a community more than rage.

 

[toastyToast]

The chochbo scene was ubearable.. its like the 360 couldn't do it.. or just poorly coded? who knows

I noticed some slowdown in that sequence on the PS3 although it was rather tolerable.

Nautilus would have been great if they gave us a little more freedom

 

[Papercuts]

I noticed some slowdown in that sequence on the PS3 although it was rather tolerable.

Nautilus would have been great if they gave us a little more freedom

Yeah, on PS3 I had some slowdown at the start of the Chocobo area. Only place I've noticed it in the whole game so far.

1080p if that makes any difference.

 

[teiresias]

Not really a comparison thing per-say, but a technical question concerning the PS3 version. The PS3 cut-scenes are compressed 1080p, right? But the game itself is 720p right? Now, I have my PS3 output settings set with 720p and 1080p checked, so games usually output at 720p since I don't keep 720p unselected to force 1080p. Does this mean when a cut-scene starts my AV receiver will actually have to switch resolutions to 1080p, because this is hardly a seamless or instant process. My Kuro goes blank for a second and throws up a display to show me the new resolution, etc.

Just wondering how this is all handled in the AV output settings.

 

[Kagari]

Not really a comparison thing per-say, but a technical question concerning the PS3 version. The PS3 cut-scenes are compressed 1080p, right? But the game itself is 720p right? Now, I have my PS3 output settings set with 720p and 1080p checked, so games usually output at 720p since I don't keep 720p unselected to force 1080p. Does this mean when a cut-scene starts my AV receiver will actually have to switch resolutions to 1080p, because this is hardly a seamless or instant process. My Kuro goes blank for a second and throws up a display to show me the new resolution, etc.

Just wondering how this is all handled in the AV output settings.

FFXIII upscales everything to 1080p for you, so there's no resolution switching.

 

[teiresias]

FFXIII upscales everything to 1080p for you, so there's no resolution switching.

Really? That's like completely opposite of how most software on the PS3 works isn't it, since to get 1080p you usually have to force it by deselecting 720p in your PS3 setup. That's interesting at least.

 

[Kagari]

Really? That's like completely opposite of how most software on the PS3 works isn't it, since to get 1080p you usually have to force it by deselecting 720p in your PS3 setup. That's interesting at least.

Yes, it's optimized nicely.

 

[teiresias]

Yes, it's optimized nicely.

Seems somewhat funny to think they had to implement their own upscaler simply to accommodate the 1080p cut-scenes they wanted. :lol

 

[theignoramus]

Considering this is arguably the best story in any jRPG made so far....

:lol
I'm not even a fan of Lost Odyssey, the game, but the story and writing in that stomps all over FFXIII...within 30 minutes of play.

 

[zerokoolpsx]

We used to be so innocent.

That picture x 1000 when I heard the announcement. All I could hear on the video was holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!! :lol Reading those comments on page 67 and on was damn funny. It just keeps on going.

 

[Kodiak]

I say this as a lifelong, diehard fan of the series. This game is a fucking travesty.

 

[DarknessTear]

I say this as a lifelong diehard fan of the series. This game is amazingly good, and I don't understand the hate at all. Best RPG this gen by far.

 

[grumble]

I say this as a lifelong diehard fan of the series. This game is amazingly good, and I don't understand the hate at all. Best RPG this gen by far.

Yeah, it reminds me of XII in that it's a love-or-hate kind of game and polarizes the fanbase. I'm at ch.9 right now, and I've been having a good time. The dialogue is heavy-handed, the game makes no effort to hide its linearity, and the lack of non-dungeon time kind of wears on you a bit for a few reasons, but overall I'm happy I got this. The voice acting is solid, the characters aren't too bad overall, the story is mildly interesting, the battle system is WICKED and the graphics are nice. It's fast-paced enough to keep me playing, and I hope they walk out of this game with some solid tweaks to the formula to make FFXV amazing.

 

[Kodiak]

I say this as a lifelong diehard fan of the series. This game is amazingly good, and I don't understand the hate at all. Best RPG this gen by far.

The standard for story telling in RPGs has been raised since Final Fantasy XII came out, and Square Enix appears to not have noticed. Not only that, but they removed the elements that made you feel like you were part of the world in previous games.

All that remains is a shitty anime movie interspersed with playable fight scenes.

 

[avatar299]

I say this as a lifelong diehard fan of the series. This game is amazingly good, and I don't understand the hate at all. Best RPG this gen by far.

Seconded. This game is my goty and I'm not even done.

 

[Dresden]

The standard for story telling in RPGs has been raised since Final Fantasy XII came out, and Square Enix appears to not have noticed. Not only that, but they removed the elements that made you feel like you were part of the world in previous games.

All that remains is a shitty anime movie interspersed with playable fight scenes.

:lol

So melodramatic.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

I say this as a lifelong diehard fan of the series. This game is amazingly good, and I don't understand the hate at all. Best RPG this gen by far.

Agreed. Of course I've been waiting 9 years for another good Final Fantasy so maybe I'm a bit delusional.

 

[Kodiak]

:lol

So melodramatic.

how is what I said melodramatic?

 

[JaseC]

how is what I said melodramatic?

It's melodramatic because he disagrees.

 

[avatar299]

The standard for story telling in RPGs has been raised since Final Fantasy XII came out, and Square Enix appears to not have noticed. Not only that, but they removed the elements that made you feel like you were part of the world in previous games.

All that remains is a shitty anime movie interspersed with playable fight scenes.

I'm sorry, I was distracted by seeing Lightning shoot a baddy in the face in mid air while Fang knocks another baddy across the room towards Vanille who kills the baddy with lightning right before I shifted.

What were you saying?

 

[hipgnosis]

We used to be so innocent.

:lol at the meltdowns in that thread.

 

[DarknessTear]

Everyone can cry about XII all they want, nobody in S-E can emulate Matsuno quality storytelling. Mourn his loss and move on.

 

[Kodiak]

Everyone can cry about XII all they want, nobody in S-E can emulate Matsuno quality storytelling. Mourn his loss and move on.

if you're referring to my post, reading comprehension FTL

 

[cosmicblizzard]

if you're referring to my post, reading comprehension FTL

I actually thought the same thing he did but then I read it again. To be fair, the standard really hasn't been raised for JRPGs. It will always be the same cliche anime story lines. That's how the genre works and I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Ariexv]

I say this as a lifelong diehard fan of the series. This game is amazingly good, and I don't understand the hate at all. Best RPG this gen by far.

Well the game definitely has turned around the last couple chapters and I'm no longer hating it, it's probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite JRPG of the gen behind Lost Odyssey and possibly Tales of Vesperia.

 

[Kodiak]

I actually thought the same thing he did but then I read it again. To be fair, the standard really hasn't been raised for JRPGs. It will always be the same cliche anime story lines. That's how the genre works and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Damn me for hoping Final Fantasy might be the game to push it forward, then.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Damn me for hoping Final Fantasy might be the game to push it forward, then.

"Forward" is relative. Gotta appeal to the fanbase. A lot of people hated the story in FFXII and other Matsuno games just as much as non-anime fans hate the stories in other FF games. You don't go up to a hockey fan and say "hockey sucks, it should be basketball instead". If you don't like it, either don't play it or skip all the cutscenes. It's as simple as that.

 

[Dresden]

Damn me for hoping Final Fantasy might be the game to push it forward, then.

:lol

Final Fantasy is the last place you should look for that. It's the JRPG equivalent of a summer blockbuster.

Megaten games already pushed storytelling far beyond what FF is capable of. XII? Don't make me laugh, the finest final fantasy story ever told was Tactics and that was more than ten years ago.

 

[Kodiak]

"Forward" is relative. Gotta appeal to the fanbase. A lot of people hated the story in FFXII and other Matsuno games just as much as non-anime fans hate the stories in other FF games. You don't go up to a hockey fan and say "hockey sucks, it should be basketball instead". If you don't like it, either don't play it or skip all the cutscenes. It's as simple as that.

I love JRPGs, in fact my favorite game of all time is Suikoden 2 closely followed by Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IX. And to me, FFXIII pales in comparison to all of those games in terms of immersion and story telling.

Instead FFXIII tells its story much more like a Metal Gear Solid game or Uncharted. Which is fine, and for what it is the story is OK.

I think what irks me the most is that the world that they thrust you in doesn't feel like a world at all, just a bunch of random bullshit colliding and exploding and making teary eyed faces at each other, that makes no logical sense.

edit: what is with this widespread fail at understanding my earlier post :lol

when I said the standard for story telling has been raised since FFXII came out I meant by games like Mass Effect and Uncharted. XII's story is almost as big a mess as XIII's. But at least it had a grounded, interesting world.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

I love JRPGs, in fact my favorite game of all time is Suikoden 2 closely followed by Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IX. And to me, FFXIII pales in comparison to all of those games in terms of immersion and story telling.

Instead FFXIII tells its story much more like a Metal Gear Solid game or Uncharted. Which is fine, and for what it is the story is OK.

I think what irks me the most is that the world that they thrust you in doesn't feel like a world at all, just a bunch of random bullshit colliding and exploding and making teary eyed faces at each other, that makes no logical sense.

edit: what is with this widespread fail at understanding my earlier post :lol

Yeah, that's what happens when the lore is spread across more than one medium. The fact Square expects you to read the datalogs (and maybe even episode zero) is a bit disappointing. It isn't THAT big a deal for me but I can definitely see how many people would find it annoying.

 

[Yoboman]

"Forward" is relative. Gotta appeal to the fanbase. A lot of people hated the story in FFXII and other Matsuno games just as much as non-anime fans hate the stories in other FF games. You don't go up to a hockey fan and say "hockey sucks, it should be basketball instead". If you don't like it, either don't play it or skip all the cutscenes. It's as simple as that.

People hated FFXII's story because there was no story, certainly whatever Matsuno had going only vaguely made it into the game so we were left with a shell of a story

 

[Unknown One]

I wouldn't say FFXIII world is bad, it's just you don't really see any towns and hardly see and interact with the people. The world has potential but it was half assed thanks to no towns and hardly any interaction with NPCs.

 

[Dresden]

edit: what is with this widespread fail at understanding my earlier post :lol

when I said the standard for story telling has been raised since FFXII came out I meant by games like Mass Effect and Uncharted. XII's story is almost as big a mess as XIII's. But at least it had a grounded, interesting world.

That's even worse, considering how you criticized XIII as being a glorified animu with battle scenes and Uncharted 2 is basically an action movie where you occasionally shoot things in real time. It wasn't even a great story, and it's not even an RPG. It was all about the presentation for Uncharted 2, a simple story that was well told and beautifully shown.

And if you think Mass Effect pushed the boundaries of RPG storytelling... :lol

 

[BocoDragon]

But at least it had a grounded, interesting world.

I think this floating world of Cocoon and the story of it is a pretty wild scenario for any videogame, let alone FF. It's not the best thing ever written (it was okay), and the linear path of the early game seems far removed from the world its describing (towns would've helped), but I feel that they did present a compelling world in the game scenes and the datalog. This was a strange + bleak sci-fi storyline IMO... I enjoyed staring up into the sky in cocoon and trying to look to the other side of the sphere.. that's some freaky shit.

The intro to Pulse was pretty cool too I thought.

 

[Kodiak]

That's even worse, considering how you criticized XIII as being a glorified animu with battle scenes and Uncharted 2 is basically an action movie where you occasionally shoot things in real time. It wasn't even a great story, and it's not even an RPG. It was all about the presentation for Uncharted 2, a simple story that was well told and beautifully shown.

And if you think Mass Effect pushed the boundaries of RPG storytelling... :lol

You're completely wrong. Uncharted (especially 2) does an absolutely incredible job of letting you actually play every single cool part.

FFXIII makes you watch all the cool parts. Big difference.

And Mass Effect takes old school NPC interaction and combines it with modern day cinematic cutscenes allowing the player to feel like they are in control of an epic space opera that in most games you would have to watch pre-scripted cutscenes (like XIII). How is that not pushing the boundaries?

 

[Dresden]

You're completely wrong. Uncharted (especially 2) does an absolutely incredible job of letting you actually play every single cool part.

FFXIII makes you watch all the cool parts. Big difference.

And Mass Effect takes old school NPC interaction and combines it with modern day cinematic cutscenes allowing the player to feel like they are in control of an epic space opera that in most games you would have to watch pre-scripted cutscenes (like XIII). How is that not pushing the boundaries?

I love Uncharted as well, but XIII does a good job most of the time of letting you do cool shit. It's limited by the fact that it's an RPG and segments where gunplay or vehicles are in play just don't translate well to that sort of gameplay. Uncharted 1/2 has no such issues. It's like comparing apples and peaches.

As for Mass Effect, it's the exact same design they started with Baldur's Gate and perfected in KOTOR. It's the same thing every single game. I love Mass Effect, but innovation is hardly one of its strong points.

 

[KTallguy]

Storytelling in RPGs, whether they are JRPGs or WRPGs, still has huge problems that won't be solved by mainline games. Experimental games toying with different storytelling concepts are out there, but few publishers are willing to take a risk on a big budget, experimental title (Sony is an exception though).

 

[Kodiak]

I love Uncharted as well, but XIII does a good job most of the time of letting you do cool shit. It's limited by the fact that it's an RPG and segments where gunplay or vehicles are in play just don't translate well to that sort of gameplay. Uncharted 1/2 has no such issues. It's like comparing apples and peaches.

As for Mass Effect, it's the exact same design they started with Baldur's Gate and perfected in KOTOR. It's the same thing every single game. I love Mass Effect, but innovation is hardly one of its strong points.

thats crazy talk. you crazy.

but I'm not going to argue further. I'm just sad I'd rather be on here bitching and moaning rather than playing the brand new FFXIII.

le sigh.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Damn me for hoping Final Fantasy might be the game to push it forward, then.

Wait, what? Final Fantasy hasn't pushed anything in JRPGs forward except for technological advancement for at least a decade now. Final Fantasy is about appealing to the general RPG gaming populace, and even a few of the general gamers, and selling millions of units, it's not like Shin Megami Tensei where selling 100,000 units means you met expectations and selling 500,000 units is the biggest hit in the series's history.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

thats crazy talk. you crazy.

but I'm not going to argue further. I'm just sad I'd rather be on here bitching and moaning rather than playing the brand new FFXIII.

le sigh.

If by 'crazy' you mean he's absolutely right, then yes, I agree with you. Bioware RPGs haven't evolved for a decade or more either in terms of storytelling. The gameplay mechanic changes, Jade Empire was a beat-em-up and the Mass Effect titles were shooters, but the fundamental Bioware formula has not deviated one iota from the Baldur's Gate days.

 

[Firestorm]

That's even worse, considering how you criticized XIII as being a glorified animu with battle scenes and Uncharted 2 is basically an action movie where you occasionally shoot things in real time. It wasn't even a great story, and it's not even an RPG. It was all about the presentation for Uncharted 2, a simple story that was well told and beautifully shown.

And if you think Mass Effect pushed the boundaries of RPG storytelling... :lol

A shining example of why people should play the games they "criticize".

I think what irks me the most is that the world that they thrust you in doesn't feel like a world at all, just a bunch of random bullshit colliding and exploding and making teary eyed faces at each other, that makes no logical sense.

So far this is annoying me but I hoping it changes soon. I'm only done five chapters, but so far none of what I've been through feels connected at all to the cities in the datalog. I'm finding it very hard to imagine the places I've been so far within walking distance from one another.

 

[painey]

I killed 3 adamantoises but only 1 platinum ignot drop.. not what I needed.. so its time to head to chapter 12 without ultimate weapons.. I ended up grinding 20 hours in Gran Pulse

 

[avatar299]

If by 'crazy' you mean he's absolutely right, then yes, I agree with you. Bioware RPGs haven't evolved for a decade or more either in terms of storytelling. The gameplay mechanic changes, Jade Empire was a beat-em-up and the Mass Effect titles were shooters, but the fundamental Bioware formula has not deviated one iota from the Baldur's Gate days.

Problem is, who has played Baldur Gate, or Neverwinter Night or any niche western PC rpg before they went mainstream on the xbox?

 

[expy]

Problem is, who has played Baldur Gate, or Neverwinter Night or any niche western PC rpg before they went mainstream on the xbox?

*raises hand*

 

[Dresden]

A shining example of why people should play the games they "criticize".

Because Uncharted 2 pushes the boundaries of RPG storytelling and Mass Effect's 'oh shit reapers' storyline was in anyway innovative? It was basically Saberhagen's Berserker series retconned with aliens.

Go whine about linearity more.

 

[Firestorm]

Problem is, who has played Baldur Gate, or Neverwinter Night or any niche western PC rpg before they went mainstream on the xbox?

Baldur's Gate sold 2 million copies and the series has a total of 5 million sales. Neverwinter Nights + expansions have sold close to 3 million units.

Because Uncharted 2 pushes the boundaries of RPG storytelling and Mass Effect's 'oh shit reapers' storyline was in anyway innovative? It was basically Saberhagen's Berserker series retconned with aliens.

RPG storytelling? Are we supposed to reject well-voiced, well-paced, well-acted, and well-written stories because we're working with an RPG? You made a terrible point about how Uncharted 2 features "occasional gun-shooting" broken up by cutscenes. That is not the case and the cutscenes do not last as long as you make out.

 

[Dresden]

RPG storytelling? Are we supposed to reject well-voiced, well-paced, well-acted, and well-written stories because we're working with an RPG? You made a terrible point about how Uncharted 2 features "occasional gun-shooting" broken up by cutscenes. That is not the case and the cutscenes do not last as long as you make out.

Except his earlier posts clearly stated that he was talking about RPGs. It's like whining that God of War lacks the complexity of Virtua Fighter's combat when the two are in different genres altogether.

As for Uncharted 2, it was an exaggeration made to mirror his exaggeration of FFXIII.

 

[avatar299]

Baldur's Gate sold 2 million copies and the series has a total of 5 million sales. Neverwinter Nights + expansions have sold close to 3 million units.

On the PC. It's still fairly niche compared to other console franchises, especially Final Fantasy