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[H_Prestige]

In FFXII, characters actually talked and acted like intelligent adults. That's not pretentious.

 

[makingmusic476]

I was never able to complete FFXII, due to losing my save file when my 60gb ps3 died, but I loved what I played, and I felt like it had the potential to easily be my favorite FF, and probably one of my favorite games of all time.

Now I'm waiting to restart it in the hopes they release an HD version on ps3.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Now I'm waiting to restart it in the hopes they release an HD version on ps3.

If VII HD isn't happening then there's no way this is.

 

[TheSeks]

Pretty much. I liked XII. I don't like XIII.

Well... guess I can save my money waiting for FF13 to hit $20 to "never" now. :/

Honestly, the only thing I want out of 13 is:

-Interesting art design.
-Interesting battle system (even if it isn't the perfection that is FF12's. :/)

But I ain't paying $30-60 for Line Fantasy 13.

 

[Ikael]

I liked it way more than final dungeoncrawling 12. While I do understand why some persons wouldn't like ff13 (looooooong tutorial, no towns, Hope, etc) but I don't know how can anyone hate its combat system. A little more customization degree on the behaviour of your partners, and it would have been perfect.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

If VII HD isn't happening then there's no way this is.

I think he/she just means a collection disc like GOW.

 

[makingmusic476]

I think he/she just means a collection disc like GOW.

This, though he has a point. SE definitely re-releases their own games on their own schedule, and just because other studios are doing it doesn't mean they will.

Though FFVII/VIII/IX/VS/etc. hitting PSN in a relatively timely manner give me hope.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

I think he/she just means a collection disc like GOW.

I'd love an HD International collection.

 

[Scythesurge]

I'd love an HD International collection.

Oh my god me too

 

[H_Prestige]

This, though he has a point. SE definitely re-releases their own games on their own schedule, and just because other studios are doing it doesn't mean they will.

Though FFVII/VIII/IX/VS/etc. hitting PSN in a relatively timely manner give me hope.

Isn't Tomb Raider an SE game now? That just got a HD collection.

 

[SilentProtagonist]

Since when were games in the 85% range considered 'bad'?

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

I really liked FF13 as well. I didn't think it was the best Final Fantasy game, but there were quite a few things I liked about it a lot.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Since when were games in the 85% range considered 'bad'?

Ratings mean nothing before the almighty

Spoiler

non-existant

hivemind of Gaf. How else do you think GTA4 can get away with being the worst game of all time despite its reception?

 

[hamchan]

Since when were games in the 85% range considered 'bad'?

When every other game in the series gets higher than that.

 

[Chamber]

So does anyone actually like this game BEFORE you get to Gran Pulse and gain complete control of your characters and some amount of freedom?

I liked it MORE before you got to Gran Pulse. How you like them apples?!

 

[ChocolateCupcakes]

This will end in tears.

Anyway, I thought XIII was OK, and certainly not as bad as GAF makes it out to be (besides Hope and Snow). But XII wasn't only a better FF game, but one of the best games I've ever played.

I agree with this guy. God, I really loved FF12. I will never understand the hate. And FF13 doesn't deserve the bashing it gets either.

 

[Rahxephon91]

When every other game in the series gets higher than that.

In the main series, I'm pretty sure MGS3 has the "worst" rating. So yeah reviews...

 

[Combichristoffersen]

I agree with this guy. God, I really loved FF12. I will never understand the hate. And FF13 doesn't deserve the bashing it gets either.

FF XIII has some glaring flaws, but it's not like it's the worst game ever made. But yeah, FF XII is superior.

Spoiler

Fran's ass <3

 

[Fimbulvetr]

I liked it MORE before you got to Gran Pulse. How you like them apples?!

I prefer Pulse for the most part, but this is completely understandable.

 

[mavs]

Since when were games in the 85% range considered 'bad'?

When they're bad games.

 

[Evolved1]

XII is my favorite FF...

I've recently been replaying some of these games and they don't do it for me anymore. I mean FFIX, I was so excited to replay but it's honestly been like a chore going through it. Battles are random... take forever.

I hated FFX.

FFXIII I just started. So far I like it well enough... very linear... battles are just a tad too fast for my taste (I've been getting perfect scores on 95% of them, but I kinda wish I had a few more seconds to think about stuff) but I love the art.

FFXII dialogue and characters absolutely murder all other FF's and it's true of XIII as well... but the game is slick looking and pretty fun so far. I don't care about lack of towns either.

All FF "stories" are retarded so I don't even judge that... Imo FFXII is the only one that treated it's audience like adults. So far XIII is not as good in that regard, but better than most of the other games.

 

[SouthernDragon]

I played XIII after Uncharted 2, and I'm now taking a break from XIII (end of Chapter 7) to play Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and inFamous.

It compares rather poorly. Terrible characters, sterile environments. Redeeming factors are the Crystarium and the Paradigm Shift mechanics. Everything else... bleh.

Hope is the worst offender in terms of character, and Vanille's voice is just... weird. Even outside of the characters themselves, the interactions are terrible.

I'm not sure why I am playing this game. Especially since you have to grind at some point, I am told.

 

[Ledsen]

In FFXII, characters actually talked and acted like intelligent adults. That's not pretentious.

Exactly. It seems like some people consider actual good writing to be pretentious?

I liked it MORE before you got to Gran Pulse. How you like them apples?!

Well, since the game is supposedly pretty long, I guess I should be glad that you and others have convinced me it's not worth continuing.

 

[Anticitizen One]

FF XIII looked more like a Phantasy Star game rather than a traditional Final Fantasy.

 

[Mooreberg]

I wouldn't rank it among my top five RPGs, and I have probably only completed ten or so in my life. Everything was dumbed down and streamlined to an extreme degree. Red Dead Redemption isn't even an RPG and that did a better job with towns, merchants, and side quests. Probably one of the biggest step backs I've ever seen a franchise take from one full fledged installment to another.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

FF XIII looked more like a Phantasy Star game rather than a traditional Final Fantasy.

Most Final Fantasies don't feel like the first set.

 

[Evolved1]

Exactly. It seems like some people consider actual good writing to be pretentious?

RPG's are just so long... it's hard to write anything coherent, or consistent. There were moments where the game really shined and I thought the English voiceover was just super high quality stuff compared to other games. Some of the dialogue was really well done. Uncharacteristically well done for a FF game. Maybe that's why people didn't like it. Too different from the other crap in the series.

FFXII was aimed at a different crowd, I think. I think the game was made for me. I fucking loved it.

 

[Rolf NB]

I'm not playing games for story. FF XIII has a bad, bad story, punctuated with an outright offensive ending, I agree. I just really like the battle mechanics, and that matters much more to me. I enjoyed playing it.

 

[thepotatoman]

I'm apparently one of the few people that enjoyed the first 20 hours of the last 20. It might be because I never spent any money or experience points unless i absolutely had to trying to make the game more difficult. The game really did feel exciting then because i did lose reasonably often and the way it just resets you right before the battle made it not frustrating at all. At some point though around the time i was getting to pulse i think i had to spend all my stuff to beat one very difficult boss, and after that I just basically had to set everyone on relentless assault or something and they win super quick 5 stars. By then I was feeling kind of done with the game too wanting to move on so i just kept spending my xps and stuff until i finally finished it.

Its also partly because i honestly did enjoy the story exactly up to the point where you finally group up because right after that you meet the stereotypical big bad and then it just devolves 100% into the generic cheesy "believe in yourself to awaken your powers" and god verses human crap that you see in many other JRPGs.

But yeah overall i did like it. Enjoyed it way more then XII which was so boring i couldn't even get past the first 10 hours despite what looked to be a very interesting story. Even turned me back onto the franchise enough to try out XIV which turned out to be very very bad no matter which way you look at it (well except for the graphics).

 

[John Rabbit]

When you can actually form any argument worth a damn, believe me, I'll match you.

XII has a generic Star Wars plot layout with pretentious faux-British voice acting and dialogue, that goes wildly off-base halfway through due to its sick director. Many of the characters are totally extraneous to its plot.

FFXIII, for as shitty as it is, has at least some focus.

is this some new breed of comedy?

 

[ZephyrFate]

is this some new breed of comedy?

It's okay, FFXII just really isn't that great. I mean, the disc probably works best as a sleeping aid, really. Doctors should prescribe it as such.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

It's okay, FFXII just really isn't that great.

But I thought you were arguing with MEEEEEEEEEEE.

 

[John Rabbit]

It's okay, FFXII just really isn't that great.

i was referring to the assertion that your arguments were on such a level as to be unmatched and then proved exactly the contrary.

 

[ZephyrFate]

i was referring to the assertion that your arguments were on such a level as to be unmatched and then proved exactly the contrary.

You think that was me actually trying? My, you're the comedic one here.

 

[bon]

NEEDED BETTER DUNGEON DESIGN.

I liked the rest of the game though. Very cool battle system.

 

[P90]

FF XIII is the most boring FF. Likeable characters. Ok battle mechanics. obviously, the op thinks otherwise.

 

[SilentProtagonist]

When every other game in the series gets higher than that.

Logically, that would make it a below average final fantasy game, but not actually a bad game.. But... logic... videogames... reviews... Eh.

 

[Aexact]

The similarities to starwars are cosmetic at best, XII uses it's themes and tropes in a way that greatly differentiates itself from the original trilogy.



The VA and dialog in XII are significantly ahead of XIII's. I'd understand "pretentious" if you were talking about WotL, but definitely not XII.

As opposed to XIII which goes nowhere because it's writer just sucks.

Yes, as opposed to XIII which treats most it's "characters" like tools to be immediately ignored after use.

Oh and Vaan, Penelo, and Fran aren't many.

I liked FFXIII

But I agree with this guy.
The characters felt so disposable after their issues were fixed. I mean, I enjoyed their character arcs but upon resolution, their individuality seemed to shut down. By the time Fang and Vanille's issues started getting the focus, the rest of the cast seemed comatose in how they reacted to them. It was kinda weird, given the crying and falling to knees and impassioned shouting that preceded it.

Though perhaps I just like the presentation of the written word better. I mean, I found myself randomly flipping through the in-game dictionary and reading the synopsis even after the screen was done loading. It was kinda like browsing through a fantasy Wikipedia. But that's no way to present a story in a visual medium.



Gran Pulse was intimidating. In a way, it was akin to what I remember about FFXII. Wandering around trying to locate Hunts / Missions and getting lost. Only from what I remember, because of the corridor nature of FFXIII, some of the enemies could not be avoided so it slowed down my "around the world" trek considerably whenever I backtracked someplace. Eventually, you activate the FFXIII warp crystals but FFXII had those open to you for less fuss and they were placed in places you were heading. It felt more haphazard in FFXIII (though I didn't go into the post-game, which was probably Gran Pulse heavy so perhaps they were useful in that regard). You could buy chocobos and travel in FFXII. You can't do that in FFXIII until you complete a mission that doesn't give indication that doing that mission in particular will unlock chocobos.

 

[Rahxephon91]

You think that was me actually trying? My, you're the comedic one here.

Well you haven't done anything except that, so yes that looked like you were trying.

 

[Mr_Elysia]

You think that was me actually trying? My, you're the comedic one here.

This argument has now devolved into some thirteen-esque ridiculousness.

 

[ZephyrFate]

This argument has now devolved into some thirteen-esque ridiculousness.

But at least it hasn't dropped off halfway into complete ass in a twelve-esque fashion.

 

[Ermac]

I think FFXIII's main problems is that the game bet too heavily on focusing exclusively on a tiny number of elements, so it is natural that if any of those elements fall short, and/or if the player does not respond well to one or more of the elements, the game starts to feel like a real drag.

The problem is not just that the game has no "towns" but that there is simply no variety in the gameplay. The game is designed like a SRPG instead of a regular RPG, but it is played like a RPG. This is confusing in terms of presentation to the player. The entire game is essentially dungeon -> battles -> dungeon -> cutscene -> dungeon -> battles -> cutscene etc. This is not entirely a negative thing on its own, but when players have a certain expectation for what to expect from a RPG in terms of pacing, this works out poorly because there is no down time at all. With no exploration and non-combat based down time, and no minigames whatsoever, the momentum becomes very stiff and it feels as if the entire game is just one long path. Even if the dungeons are literally one long path (FFX was basically like this), the presentation and pacing can make a huge difference to a player.

\

Hm, maybe I'm a simpleton, but I found that the pacing was fine. I considered reading the datalog, upgrading weapons, the crystruim, and just general exploring to be adequate downtime. All these kept me me relaxed. The battles and cutscenes were the tension, and definitely got my attention. Again, I was very very interested in the world, so I loved just sitting and reading the datalog and exploring the world (even if there weren't that many treasures).

 

[BoilersFan23]

I agree, FFXIII is amazing. I wouldn't put it as one of my top 5 games of all time, but could see it as one of my top 20. Characters were great, battles were fun, soundtrack was good, and so on. Definitely my favorite or second favorite this gen. Glad to see another person really like it.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

You think that was me actually trying? My, you're the comedic one here.

Oh joyous. Your usual <make assertion> <get called out on assertion> <act nonchalant because you can't form arguments> defense.

Oh wow, how unexpected.

 

[epmode]

In FFXII, characters actually talked and acted like intelligent adults.

Matsuno's style is so, SO refreshing. I love 12 too, even though the lack of focus about 3/4 of the way through got me to quit.

But man did I enjoy that battle system. MMO combat in general has a lot of potential for single player games. Give me something that places a little more emphasis on positioning and it might be the best thing ever.

I'm very much looking forward to an emulated international version in the next year or so!

 

[2San]

I disliked FFXII, but I despised FFXIII. At least with FFXII I could say wow they are doing something I'd hope to see back in future games. With FFXIII is there really anything they do right? Sure they have the visuals and the music, but that has been Final Fantasy staple for years now.

But man did I enjoy that battle system. MMO combat in general has a lot of potential for single player games. Give me something that places a little more emphasis on positioning and it might be the best thing ever.

Isn't that pretty much any WRPG's? Honestly I never understood why they called it MMO combat it's pretty much the WRPG standard if anything.

 

[Majukun]

FF XIII has some glaring flaws, but it's not like it's the worst game ever made. But yeah, FF XII is superior.

Spoiler

Fran's ass <3

if it's not,it's pretty damn close

 

[Amir0x]

if it's not,it's pretty damn close

no it's not. Look I hate FFXIII but it's not even close

I mean it's not even in the top five worst RPGs.

play:

Quest 64
Paladin's Quest
Silver
Beyond the Beyond
Fatal Labrynth

 

[stupei]

It actually seems like fans of XIII are generally not fans of XII and vice versa. Makes sense since they're polar opposites.

I actually like both of them, which I guess makes me pretty unusual.

Wouldn't say either are my favorite FF, though, or even very close to topping the list. Just that neither pissed me off the way they seemed to with a lot of other fans, though I guess that's partially because of tempered expectations. It took a second attempt for me to appreciate FF12 and so I was prepared for anything when it came to FF13.

Hope is an annoying little shit, though.

Ermac, no offense, but you still haven't really said anything in your topic. "People don't like it, but I totes do," is not really interesting. I'm not suggesting you have to be all-business, refuting point-by-point, but you haven't backed a thing you said.

Like, why weren't the summons hideous and gaudy? Why wasn't the pacing for babies? Why did the story have a thematic and narrative throughline rather than being a poorly constructed animated kids show?

Couldn't this be said of every FF since 9?

Strike that, 12 has decent pacing.

 

[GhaleonQ]

Hm, maybe I'm a simpleton, but I found that the pacing was fine. I considered reading the datalog, upgrading weapons, the crystruim, and just general exploring to be adequate downtime. All these kept me me relaxed. The battles and cutscenes were the tension, and definitely got my attention. Again, I was very very interested in the world, so I loved just sitting and reading the datalog and exploring the world (even if there weren't that many treasures).

Ermac, no offense, but you still haven't really said anything in your topic. "People don't like it, but I totes do," is not really interesting. I'm not suggesting you have to be all-business, refuting point-by-point, but you haven't backed a thing you said.

Like, why weren't the summons hideous and gaudy? Why wasn't the pacing for babies? Why did the story have a thematic and narrative throughline rather than being a poorly constructed animated kids show?