FFXIII
DiscoZombie
Join Date: 2003-08-05 Member: 18951Members
Join Date: 2003-08-05 Member: 18951Members
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">Final Fantasy on rails!</div>So I actually haven't played it yet. Just read reviews. Who has it and what do you think? Honestly, the lukewarm reviews around the linearity aren't really scaring me off. I'm sort of over the whole "my RPGs have to be insanely complicated to be good" thing. Though it's non-linear filler stuff that usually makes FF games so long - I'm curious to see how they have 20 hours worth of content on rails before you get any freedom... then again, I guess that's what Midgar was...
The fact that 2 of your characters are AI controlled doesn't scare me off either - it was the AI control that made me love FFXII. I always play the pet classes in MMOs too, I love having AI work for me. So really, it sounds like this game would be a good bet for me. On the other hand again, I did manage to get bored before finishing FFXII, even though I very much enjoyed the combat.
So yeah - first impressions?
The fact that 2 of your characters are AI controlled doesn't scare me off either - it was the AI control that made me love FFXII. I always play the pet classes in MMOs too, I love having AI work for me. So really, it sounds like this game would be a good bet for me. On the other hand again, I did manage to get bored before finishing FFXII, even though I very much enjoyed the combat.
So yeah - first impressions?
Comments
Linearity doesn't bother me because a large majority of previous FF exploration was a retarded waste of time. Also, the linear pieces of 13 are just for the first 20 hours or so before the game opens up apparently.
Voice acting is pretty solid.
I like it. I think it just is getting sub par rep because JRPG's in this day and age don't translate well to the western market because of old habits.
I'm 4 hours in. Enjoying it. Definitely a worthwhile purchase so far.
If you are looking for another good jrpg on the ps3 i can recommend star ocean international. I'm having a good deal of fun with that one so far.
<a href="http://members.home.nl/afj.wientjes/final-fantasy-xiii-extreme-linearity.jpg" target="_blank">http://members.home.nl/afj.wientjes/final-...e-linearity.jpg</a>
That pic is a graphical representation of the first 6 hours of the game.
But I grant that this is a little more linear than most other FF games. You could fix that by occasionally having the path branch out into dead ends though.
I think my friend said it best:
"The main difference between Western RPGs and JRPGs is that Western RPGs let you tell a story, whereas JRPGs let you play a story."
Personally, linearity can be awesome especially since then you can more tightly control the storyline. Granted, in some cases, I definitely wanted a bit more freedom (kill Tidus button), but since we don't have games yet that have 100 different endings (some based on your very DNA), I'd rather have a solid linear game than two semi-different stories slapped next to each other and called un-linear (HL:EP2).
Anyways, my only knowledge is via my FF fanboy friend, and he's played 22 hours of it within 28 hours of release.... so yeah.
I get what you're saying, but in what way does Ep. 2 make any claims of being non-linear? That game's completely linear, as have all HL games been. Or maybe that was your example of a linear game? Wasn't very clear in that case.
It claimed non-linear battles and stuff on its original little blurts. In reference to those oh-so-non-linear Strider battles.
I don't see why not. It's not connected in any way to FF 1-12.
I quite like feeling like I have a motive, for a change.
some people also seem to be complaining about the battle system and the fact that you only control one character. I caved in and bought the game, and I think that's fine. I do have one complaint about the battle system though. The game makes you feel like you have to race to enter your commands before your ATB bar fills up, but the menus appear kind of slowly and it's hard to tell where your AoE's are going to hit... all in all though, I'm enjoying the game so far, and I consider the linearity to be a plus instead of a minus. Yeah, in other FF games, the dungeons were more spread out, but that was just an illusion of non-linearity. I don't see why it's a bad thing to not have to waste your time exploring a million dead ends for a change.
<!--coloro:grey--><span style="color:grey"><!--/coloro-->Yeah the battle system can go a bit too fast at times, but most of the time it's fine. The Paradigm system is pretty nice once you start getting the 2nd or 3rd sections (i.e. more abilities) and you become familiar with it, like when you get good at switching people to ravagers to stagger enemies. The linearity really help you focus and keep pushing on, but still has enough room to allow for stuff you can skip. I'm not too far into it but so far all the boss gimmicks have been reasonable, as long as you pay attention, though it's nice that death isn't really much of a setback. The only thing that's really bothered me so far is how much time you spend with a split up/partial team in the beginning. I guess I'm nearing the end of that but it will still be a while.<!--colorc--></span><!--/colorc-->
~~Sickle~~
My only complaint so far is I have to play the game with English voice acting. The small australian girl makes me want to hurt somebody and lightning's lines often feel a bit flat. To be fair though the rest of the cast is holding up fairly well though for some reason hearing the crazy dialogue I'm used to japanese people spouting being said in english with western accents doesn't really work for me.
I know they went through the effort of re-animating all the cutscenes to make the lips synch with english voice actors but I'd rather have it in it's original language. If I watch a french movie, I want it in french, korean flicks in korean, etc. I can't say I've ever been a fan of localization; it's just another excuse to be ignorant of the world outside your own culture :/
Ultimately I don't see why you wouldn't offer subtitles as an option though. Sub or dub, you have to translate the game first anyway, and it seems to me that the road from translation to subtitles is a relatively short one. I prefer subtitles with the original language myself, and it does annoy me when that option isn't available.
It's kinda a complicated thing. It's mostly the fact that they see 'pretty' as a mix of Japanese/Asiatic features and a few anglo-saxon ones. So no character is overtly/stereotypical Japanese. However, there are, if you know the cues, overtly white characters. Also, stylization of characters is fun and easy (colored coded hair/clothing for your convenience!) and so very few characters match up well to real-life counterparts.
Also, going for generic for better worldwide appeal works wonders.
Article on the phenomenon!
More than all the above, though, is the way the characters move contains lots of Japanese mannerisms and I said before even when directly translated the lines a Japanese character would say sound iffy from a western character.
<b>edit:</b>As far as the 'what race are they?' thing goes, I realized after reading that article that I generally just go off what language they speak and what they do :o
<span style='color:#000000;background:#000000'>So far pretty much all the characters have been a-holes to each other and everyone acts like crazy behavior is totally normal. Hope, a kid, wants to kill a guy whose only "crime" was to allow his mother to help defend him and the rest of the deportees. He is encouraged by Vanille and Lightning. Then, to top it off, Snow accepts the blame, and gives Hope the choice to kill him if he chooses. Snow obviously feels guilty, and that's acceptable, but why hasn't anyone spelled out to Hope the obvious fact that the Sanctum is to blame, not Snow, and his mother died of her own volition protecting him. Lightning said it in passing when she started to regret egging him on, but neither she nor anyone else said the obvious, "if you kill this man who did nothing but save you multiple times and tried to save your mother too, you will be doing a very evil thing and regret it the rest of your life."
Then, to top it off, they're using the very same plot mechanic with Sazh and Vanille now. Dude, she can't help what she is, and it's not her fault that being in the wrong place at the wrong time got his son turned into a l'cie. And just like Snow, Vanille goes along with it and is willing to take the blame and the punishment. I sort of understand Sazh's reaction, because it's in the heat of the moment when his son was just turned to crystal, and he wound up controlling himself and not attacking Vanille in the end... but Hope, I don't understand. He actually tried to kill Snow, and then 10 minutes later everything's fine and everyone's chummy like it never happened.
I don't really find any of the characters particularly likable or sympathetic yet. Snow is well-intentioned so he's probably my favorite so far. Fang is probably my second favorite, though she hasn't been around long enough to show too much of a negative side.
I guess there's still plenty of game left for the characters to redeem themselves... maybe the game is just ham-handedly trying to push the point that the sanctum and the fal'cie turn people against each other. It seems to be an important theme for the game, but they don't need to make the main characters unlikeable as a result...</span>
Edit: Tycho of PA apparently has a distaste for the characters too: <a href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/2010/3/15/" target="_blank">http://www.penny-arcade.com/2010/3/15/</a>
Anyway, don't let the reviews discourage you from purchasing this if you were having doubts. Yes it is linear but the visuals, good combat system and the story suck you in so fast you won't even notice. I'm having a blast so far and while i don't find it particularly true to the tried and tested final fantasy way, it's an enjoyable game. I'm some 3 hours in and the paradigm shift system makes combat really enjoyable.
In other news, it has been confirmed that Versus 13 WILL in fact feature that same old formula. Airships, towns, world map, all that kind of jazz. Guess I'll spend the next few years in wait for Versus 13 as i did for 13. Either that or i will go back to Star Ocean International after i finish with 13 a couple of times and finally finish that.
nope.