Final Fantasy XIII

[SaiKar]

Despite the incredible fan bitching, it doesn't seem to really affecting their status as a well-known corporate giant though. People say they don't like the games, but they still buy them, and that's what matters in the end.

[Zerlina]

I think it's because there's no other company really churning out RPGs with the same production values. You may not think the new FFs are awesome, but you buy them because you think they'll probably be better than than the other titles you've never heard of. Unless it's XII- couldn't even finish it.

[Cerebus]

Well I'm pretty sure one of the main reason people will buy any FF game even though they might not enjoy it is simply because it is a Final Fantasy. Rename it something else I'm sure they won't sell as much.
Of course I may be wrong, though.

[HackersTotalMassLaser]

I am personally waiting on The Last Story by Mistwalker. I think it might bring some good old day RPGing, with a refreshing approach to fantasy. The recent sci-fi whoring approach of fantasy now adays is getting overrated.

Despite the incredible fan bitching, it doesn't seem to really affecting their status as a well-known corporate giant though. People say they don't like the games, but they still buy them, and that's what matters in the end.

Sadly, that's why the games I don't like and need to play I get off the bootleg store across the street.

[Deathreaper]

Well, I'm not really one who cares for FF anymore. I've left Square Enix and went to Atlus a long time ago with the Shin Megami Tensei series

[Archem]

You ever play a game called FF1?

Assuming that it's bad, this is an unfair comparison. You can't take the first of a series and suggest that it's the worst, and that it deserves to be remembered as the worst. It's the first. Of course it's been improved upon. It's been 20 years.

Of course, I would also like to state that I loved that game. Still better than X in my eyes.

[Nandez]

Well, I'm not really one who cares for FF anymore. I've left Square Enix and went to Atlus a long time ago with the Shin Megami Tensei series

Wise choice. That series was very enjoyable for a good rpg.

[Prpl_Mage]

Wait, what? Full heals and no towns or NPCS? What's this crap? Are you serious?

You don't have Mp in this game, all hp is restored after battle and all status problems removed.
You can even press Select to restart a battle if it goes bad or something.

Everytime you enter a town stuff happens and you don't get chances to speak with NPCs(you can't reach them), but the few times you do get near them they just say stuff as you pass by and it's more like to each other rather than to you.

Also, the save point acts as the shop, and it is very rarely updated.

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You can say that it's FFX but a different storyline.
You have the "walk where your nose point" maps that pretty much means follow the road to reach the next part of the game.
You have the Crysto-somethingsomething which is basically a different version of a Sphere grid. Tons better than the license board BUT you need to progress through the story to unlock more things.
You have a minimap.
The game seems to focus a lot on you looking at the beautiful detailed backgrounds.


Beside that... Well. Enemies walk around on the maps, you tuch them to engage in combat. The combat system is ATB gone wild. everything is so goddamn dynamic that the game never stops even when you enter a meny. You gotta be quick.
Skills and stuff costs AP, and most characters have 2-3 AP at the start of the game. for example. Fire costs 1 ap and fira costs 2. So you can either use 3 fire or 1 fire, 1 fira. Everyone with math should be able to understand it. You can also choose to cut the command in the middle. Say you have 3 AP and just want to do one attack instead of 3 and doesn't want to wait for the ATB bar to fill - simply press triangle button and it executes it instantly.
NOTE: AP is in fact an ATB bar divided. So when it passes the first mark it should be seen as 1 ap. Donno how to explain it.
Oh yeah, you only control the leader of your party - the rest are AI controlled. You can however somewhat affect their usage thanks to the class system.

Yes, FFXIII have a class system. And you can swapp the entire party's "formation" in the middle of the battle. In fact, you pretty much have to in order to survive.


But the fact remains, this is an enjoyable game. Lots of stuff that makes little sense to begin with(storywise) and some lacking RPG elements as well as a bunch missing fantasy elements. But it is a good game.

[fruckert]

The battle system sounds horrible, dear God.

[Deathreaper]

Well, I think that you're not supposed to even pay attention to who made it. You play the game and not the company, after all.

To be honest, I never cared who made what. But what Square has been giving the past few years has been very underwhelming for me. Since most people I've meet seems to think Square to be the only company in the world to produce JRPGs (no kidding, I've ran into a dozen people people who never played an RPG NOT made by them), I made that statement about leaving them since most people don't know about much else. Of course people here would know other RPGs than Square RPGs. But in real life, not many people who play RPGs have.

I'm not really company loyal to anyone, but Atlus has pleased me well with the Persona series, Digital Devil Saga and more. Though I still play any other RPGs made by anyone else.

As for FF13? Well... I don't really know if I will play it, really. I wasn't too excited for the game when they showed the trailers or anything. I never payed attention to it. So I might sometime, but maybe not soon

[Darkfox]

True that. All-in-all it looks pretty generic. Nothing interesting, more eye candy than a game it seems.

[Cerebus]

Of all the FF I played and enjoyed, there was:
1, 2, 4, 7, 9, FFTA and though I was quite disappointed, FFT:WotL (or FFT remake). I also enjoyed FFMQ, though it was probably called FF to increase sells. Heard FF6 was pretty good, so I might give it a try some days. I did not like 3 for many reasons and 5 doesn't appeal me much. I've seen enough of 10 and 11 to know I wouldn't enjoy any of them. Haven't tried 12, but apparently I shouldn't expect much. Know absolutely nothing about 13 beside what's being posted here.
I also enjoyed Chrono Trigger.

Only non-square RPG I can remember playing right now was Golden Sun (1 and 2) and it is awesome.

[drenrin2120]

Assuming that it's bad, this is an unfair comparison. You can't take the first of a series and suggest that it's the worst, and that it deserves to be remembered as the worst. It's the first. Of course it's been improved upon. It's been 20 years.

Of course, I would also like to state that I loved that game. Still better than X in my eyes.

I like this. I never played the original, but the FF1 remake for GBA was a lot of fun. The only thing I disliked was the ridiculous amount of battles. But I expected that going into the game.

[Osmose]

Of all the FF I played and enjoyed, there was:
1, 2, 4, 7, 9, FFTA and though I was quite disappointed, FFT:WotL (or FFT remake)

The fact that you were disappointed in FFT but not in FFTA makes me question your sanity.

I really liked FF12, and FF13 is pretty fun thus far. I've also heard good things about the battle system in FFX-2. And I enjoyed FFX.

I guess I'm just the odd guy out of everyone here. I didn't find huge faults in these games that were deal-breakers.

[Cerebus]

The fact that you were disappointed in FFT but not in FFTA makes me question your sanity.

There are many other reasons as well, but we're not talking about this.
Seriously though, what disappointed me in FFT:
Only humans, need a class to learn and use items, charge spell/skills, learn from actions rather than equipments, random battles rather than clan moving on the world map with the option to skip them (though there were random attack for turf), only 5 characters per fights rather than 6, counter effects and such not even 100% chance...

I guess if I had played FFT before FFTA, I wouldn't be disappointed at all. In fact, I might've been disappointed by few things in FFTA instead, such as the Laws.