I played about 5 hours and Finally hit chapter 4 I think. Liking the game so far but man. Took a long time before I started earning CP for skills and still have no clue how I'm supposed to be leveling equipment. I figure I got to be getting closer to that skill soon. Also...chocobo might be the greatest cast member in the game
It will unlock in chapter four(upgrade system).
Yeah I just unlocked weapon leveling and....leveling shit seems to take a ton of materials compared to what I had onhand at the time. Am I doing it wrong? Is there any rhyme or reason to what materials you should be using on what, since it seems to let me do whatever i want?
Then you should play Dragon Age or Mass Effect 2, both should fulfill your need for an RPG where you are taking all your actions within the world.
I cannot play shooters; I just can't. I liked what I played of ME2 but alas.
And Dragon Age, from what I can tell, takes place in a boring-ass European fantasy world straight out of Tolkien tropes. The reason I have an emotional investment in the Final Fantasy series is because, for all the stupid anime trope shit in these games, and their unfathomable costume and monster design, and uncanny valley, and my pickiness with their general gameplay directions, etc.—they are incredibly creative. They're amazing spectacles. Even FF13, which to my eyes is among the least originally designed (so far it's basically been a mishmash of FF10 and FF7) is pretty damn cool; there is a floating planetoid with a society apparently based on highly advanced technomagic. Every FF game has presented an interesting new universe to explore; what I'm after here is fleshing out that universe by tying it into the gameplay.
It's a Bioware game, so they innovate and flesh-out pretty well.
Though this brings me to a common problem, as I see it, in geekdom. The idea of selling something on concept, rather than execution. Dragon Age, while not ME2, is an extremely well-done game. To be honest, in my eyes, many of the Final Fantasy games often have within them a mishmash of ideas and systems, but almost entirely exist to serve plot convenience.
Long story short: give it a shot. I was skeptical at first and then it ate my soul.
I understand everyone has an opinion about games, but it always blows my mind when someone plunks down 60 bucks for a game, then proceeds to lambaste it for basically everything that the genre is known for. It's like, "I hate everything about JRPG's, and now I am so mad I paid 60 bucks for FF13"...really...you never thought about the fact that you aren't really in to JRPG's before you handed the guy your debit card?
Yeah pretty much this.
I mean I went through A LOT to avoid spoilers as much as humanely possible but when I started up the game I got exactly what I was expecting to get and am loving every minute of it. Yeah Snow is goofy as hell, but it is clearly done on purpose and the fact that Lightning hates him for it is hilarious to me.
Vanille is the extreme bubbly optimist, but you can tell it hides something deeper. Hope is the sullen little kid (though hearing he grows a pair later is heartening) and Sahl is the comic relief/normal guy that is among a bunch of powerhouses going "WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE THIS IS NOT NORMAL!"
And Lightning is your standard badass, take no prisoners hardass bitch with her mind on the mission and hellfire and brimstone to anything that gets in her way. (especially Snow)
None of this is spoilers you can tell all of this from the trailers and commercials.
As for things being confusing about Cocoon and Pulse. The back of the game case in about 20 words sums it up nicely if you are too lazy to read the datalog stuff in the game itself. And on top of that they feed you all the info you need in the first two hours, all you have to do it piece it together.
My one gripe is as adorable as I find Vanille's voice and personality I had to turn on subtitles because sometimes I couldn't understand her when she talks fast and lays the accent on extra thick. But in turning on the subtitles I found I could understand the random banter between the characters even more on those occasions where they are talking but are a bit far away from my main character.
Delphinidaes on
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joshgotroDeviled EggThe Land of REAL CHILIRegistered Userregular
I played about 5 hours and Finally hit chapter 4 I think. Liking the game so far but man. Took a long time before I started earning CP for skills and still have no clue how I'm supposed to be leveling equipment. I figure I got to be getting closer to that skill soon. Also...chocobo might be the greatest cast member in the game
It will unlock in chapter four(upgrade system).
Yeah I just unlocked weapon leveling and....leveling shit seems to take a ton of materials compared to what I had onhand at the time. Am I doing it wrong? Is there any rhyme or reason to what materials you should be using on what, since it seems to let me do whatever i want?
Nope. It takes a lot of materials. Although I went from lvl 1 with the first sword to lvl. 18 with all the stuff I had to that point.
I played about 5 hours and Finally hit chapter 4 I think. Liking the game so far but man. Took a long time before I started earning CP for skills and still have no clue how I'm supposed to be leveling equipment. I figure I got to be getting closer to that skill soon. Also...chocobo might be the greatest cast member in the game
It will unlock in chapter four(upgrade system).
Yeah I just unlocked weapon leveling and....leveling shit seems to take a ton of materials compared to what I had onhand at the time. Am I doing it wrong? Is there any rhyme or reason to what materials you should be using on what, since it seems to let me do whatever i want?
Nope. It takes a lot of materials. Although I went from lvl 1 with the first sword to lvl. 18 with all the stuff I had to that point.
It just seems like it would be weird to use everything I have to improve one weapon for one character. Should one strive for more balance? How do you decide what to upgrade?
I played about 5 hours and Finally hit chapter 4 I think. Liking the game so far but man. Took a long time before I started earning CP for skills and still have no clue how I'm supposed to be leveling equipment. I figure I got to be getting closer to that skill soon. Also...chocobo might be the greatest cast member in the game
It will unlock in chapter four(upgrade system).
Yeah I just unlocked weapon leveling and....leveling shit seems to take a ton of materials compared to what I had onhand at the time. Am I doing it wrong? Is there any rhyme or reason to what materials you should be using on what, since it seems to let me do whatever i want?
Nope. It takes a lot of materials. Although I went from lvl 1 with the first sword to lvl. 18 with all the stuff I had to that point.
It just seems like it would be weird to use everything I have to improve one weapon for one character. Should one strive for more balance? How do you decide what to upgrade?
I upgraded my Commando. Once materials come in bigger supplies more people will get upgrades.
Is there anything I shouldn't be throwing into my weapons?
EDIT: Grundle, different items are worth different amounts for different weapons.
Different.
This makes sense, but there were certain items that always give big exp, and some that always give the exp bonuses (like wicked claws). I'll be sure to check on this when I get back to the game. I'm encroaching on hour 28, and still haven't:
I'm about half way I guess into ch. 4, just got the weapon customization unlocked. I think it's fair to say the opening is done. The people who said it lasted like 20 hours were silly geese. The combat and paradigm is in full swing. I'm now tweaking the setup, and shifting for optimal combat. Still trying to get a good bead on the system, but this is the game at full tilt now it feels.
As I get into really tweaking the paradigm system though, I'm starting to see the complaints of how you can't select which character you want. And I'm also seeing that it's a bit of a red herring. It really feels to me that the classes are the real choices, not the character attached to them. If I need a commando for a fight, I have one. It doesn't matter if it's Lightning or Sazh, they both do the job equally as well. And most every FF had the exact same system. Everybody in V was a blank slate and did any job just as well as the other. VI did the same thing as soon as you got espers. VII too with materia, and XII's license board. It doesn't matter who the avatar is, so there's no need to be up in arms because the story says I can't use a particular character.
And so far, the story is doing a somewhat decent job of explaining why X character isn't in the battle party at any one time. The only time it gets weird is when the party is the same, but the leader is different. Before it was Lightning leading with Sazh and Vanille, and now it's the same party, but I'm controlling Sazh. But so far though, I don't mind the system at all.
At the end of the day, this Final Fantasy has ended up turning out like every single one. I like it. I can also see the flaws and understand why people might hate it, but I don't find them annoying at all. I've been able to happily enjoy every single game in the series at face value, and this game is no different.
The Wolfman on
"The sausage of Green Earth explodes with flavor like the cannon of culinary delight."
My only gripe so far is getting your first summon fight then not playing with the character who binded with it for another few hours.
This is actually rather annoying.
It's truly my own fault. I've been grinding for about two hours in Scavenger's Trail.
You can grind in this game?
That's actually one major change I'm really digging so far, only a set amount of enemies in each area so no grinding necessary.
I'm terrible at grinding, you see.
The enemies respawn. I promise.
Pretty quickly too - I had to run back to a save point in a hurry this morning and I was surprised at how many of the packs had respawned behind me already.
Is there anything I shouldn't be throwing into my weapons?
EDIT: Grundle, different items are worth different amounts for different weapons.
Different.
To be more specific, each item (weapon or accessory) has a rank, from 1 to 11. The higher the rank, the less XP components will grant.
Either way, your strategy should be to use all your low XP items on getting the multiplier maxed, and dump as many high XP items as you can, at once, on a single item.
Well, finally made it through a good bit of chapter 9. And finally, finally, finally, it looks like I'm not going to have to deal with any two-person party nonsense anymore.
I still have rough spots on occasion, but man is it so much easier in general. No frantic switching between healing and damaging because you can't have a dedicated healer in a three person team unless you want to spend an hour killing something with a lot of HP.
That very, very long period of time with that type of party nearly killed the game for me, and I imagine that contracting the experience for that long is going to make a lot of people enjoy the game a lot less. The combat is just way less interesting with two, ultimately.
I mean, I understand that some of that had to happen for storyline reasons but that crap is why I'm unlikely to ever play through the game after I beat it once.
Edit: Oh, and also I no longer hate Hope. He's definitely not my favorite but I can actually bear to have him in my party.
Just kept banging my head against the third Eidolon fight. I knew how to beat it, but I never had enough time.
Then I switched to Slow ATB mode.
Beat it with plenty of time to spare.
WotanAnubis on
0
AJRSome guy who wrestlesNorwichRegistered Userregular
edited March 2010
I’m still kind of iffy about buying this. It sounds like a combination of things I’d really hate, with things I’d really like. Hope sounds like the kind of character who’d really get under my skin.
Took a break, but I'm quite happy that they included the datalogs, so I actually have some notion of what the hell is going on because of what happened earlier (though the chapter play-by-play is less necessary).
Also, I'd have to reccomend this game, it is fucking stunning, I love the trippy ass music, the battle system is great. This is the best jrpg out hands down. I have to admit, when I started the game I really hated all of the characters, but once you get into the story they aren't so bad, especially hope.
Indica1 on
If the president had any real power, he'd be able to live wherever the fuck he wanted.
Just kept banging my head against the third Eidolon fight. I knew how to beat it, but I never had enough time.
Then I switched to Slow ATB mode.
Beat it with plenty of time to spare.
Blitz. Fills up the bar in about a minute. Honestly. I played one brutal fight on Slow ATB, and had to restart because, after playing the game at full speed, that shit was just going way too damn slow.
The people who said it lasted like 20 hours were silly geese.
You will do the exact same thing for the next 6 chapters: Cut scene, combat, switch party, cutscene. . .etc. Those of us referring to the game not opening up until the 20th hour were talking about the "real game" as far as narrative and having no limitations on what one can do. You will NOT have any freedom until that point. Not in the slightest.
Its funny how all the Fal'Cie has Espers/Summon/Eidolon/Aeons names, so far I've seen Anima, Eden, Phoenix and Carbuncle, not sure if its supposed to mean anything, maybe its just squeenix who likes to use those names once again.
Just kept banging my head against the third Eidolon fight. I knew how to beat it, but I never had enough time.
Then I switched to Slow ATB mode.
Beat it with plenty of time to spare.
Blitz. Fills up the bar in about a minute. Honestly. I played one brutal fight on Slow ATB, and had to restart because, after playing the game at full speed, that shit was just going way too damn slow.
The people who said it lasted like 20 hours were silly geese.
You will do the exact same thing for the next 6 chapters: Cut scene, combat, switch party, cutscene. . .etc. Those of us referring to the game not opening up until the 20th hour were talking about the "real game" as far as narrative and having no limitations on what one can do. You will NOT have any freedom until that point. Not in the slightest.
You say that like there's something inherently wrong with cutscenes and combat.
Even once the game "opens up", it's still the same exact stuff, albeit with one really large area.
So, now that I have the choice, I'm trying to decide what team I'm going to be using. My initial thought is Lightning/Sazh/Vanille because Lightning + the buffs/debuffs I get with that team sounds like good times. I'm betting Lightning/Fang/Hope would be pretty good in the long run too.
I like Snow and would like to use him since he can be a Sentinel in a pinch but I'm kinda doubting he'd be better than Lightning at Commando (and I like Fang better in certain ways also since she's a Saboteur).
Posts
Because Cait Sith is awesome.
Yeah I just unlocked weapon leveling and....leveling shit seems to take a ton of materials compared to what I had onhand at the time. Am I doing it wrong? Is there any rhyme or reason to what materials you should be using on what, since it seems to let me do whatever i want?
EDIT: Grundle, different items are worth different amounts for different weapons.
Different.
It's a Bioware game, so they innovate and flesh-out pretty well.
Though this brings me to a common problem, as I see it, in geekdom. The idea of selling something on concept, rather than execution. Dragon Age, while not ME2, is an extremely well-done game. To be honest, in my eyes, many of the Final Fantasy games often have within them a mishmash of ideas and systems, but almost entirely exist to serve plot convenience.
Long story short: give it a shot. I was skeptical at first and then it ate my soul.
Yeah pretty much this.
I mean I went through A LOT to avoid spoilers as much as humanely possible but when I started up the game I got exactly what I was expecting to get and am loving every minute of it. Yeah Snow is goofy as hell, but it is clearly done on purpose and the fact that Lightning hates him for it is hilarious to me.
Vanille is the extreme bubbly optimist, but you can tell it hides something deeper. Hope is the sullen little kid (though hearing he grows a pair later is heartening) and Sahl is the comic relief/normal guy that is among a bunch of powerhouses going "WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE THIS IS NOT NORMAL!"
And Lightning is your standard badass, take no prisoners hardass bitch with her mind on the mission and hellfire and brimstone to anything that gets in her way. (especially Snow)
None of this is spoilers you can tell all of this from the trailers and commercials.
As for things being confusing about Cocoon and Pulse. The back of the game case in about 20 words sums it up nicely if you are too lazy to read the datalog stuff in the game itself. And on top of that they feed you all the info you need in the first two hours, all you have to do it piece it together.
My one gripe is as adorable as I find Vanille's voice and personality I had to turn on subtitles because sometimes I couldn't understand her when she talks fast and lays the accent on extra thick. But in turning on the subtitles I found I could understand the random banter between the characters even more on those occasions where they are talking but are a bit far away from my main character.
Official PA Forums FFXIV:ARR Free Company <GHOST> gitl.enjin.com Join us on Sargatanas!
Nope. It takes a lot of materials. Although I went from lvl 1 with the first sword to lvl. 18 with all the stuff I had to that point.
It just seems like it would be weird to use everything I have to improve one weapon for one character. Should one strive for more balance? How do you decide what to upgrade?
Fuck, that music needs to shut up, I can't hear my dudes talk! Also, the music sucks.
This makes sense, but there were certain items that always give big exp, and some that always give the exp bonuses (like wicked claws). I'll be sure to check on this when I get back to the game. I'm encroaching on hour 28, and still haven't:
As I get into really tweaking the paradigm system though, I'm starting to see the complaints of how you can't select which character you want. And I'm also seeing that it's a bit of a red herring. It really feels to me that the classes are the real choices, not the character attached to them. If I need a commando for a fight, I have one. It doesn't matter if it's Lightning or Sazh, they both do the job equally as well. And most every FF had the exact same system. Everybody in V was a blank slate and did any job just as well as the other. VI did the same thing as soon as you got espers. VII too with materia, and XII's license board. It doesn't matter who the avatar is, so there's no need to be up in arms because the story says I can't use a particular character.
And so far, the story is doing a somewhat decent job of explaining why X character isn't in the battle party at any one time. The only time it gets weird is when the party is the same, but the leader is different. Before it was Lightning leading with Sazh and Vanille, and now it's the same party, but I'm controlling Sazh. But so far though, I don't mind the system at all.
At the end of the day, this Final Fantasy has ended up turning out like every single one. I like it. I can also see the flaws and understand why people might hate it, but I don't find them annoying at all. I've been able to happily enjoy every single game in the series at face value, and this game is no different.
Protip: Using the savepoints cause the respawn.
To be more specific, each item (weapon or accessory) has a rank, from 1 to 11. The higher the rank, the less XP components will grant.
Either way, your strategy should be to use all your low XP items on getting the multiplier maxed, and dump as many high XP items as you can, at once, on a single item.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
I still have rough spots on occasion, but man is it so much easier in general. No frantic switching between healing and damaging because you can't have a dedicated healer in a three person team unless you want to spend an hour killing something with a lot of HP.
That very, very long period of time with that type of party nearly killed the game for me, and I imagine that contracting the experience for that long is going to make a lot of people enjoy the game a lot less. The combat is just way less interesting with two, ultimately.
I mean, I understand that some of that had to happen for storyline reasons but that crap is why I'm unlikely to ever play through the game after I beat it once.
Edit: Oh, and also I no longer hate Hope. He's definitely not my favorite but I can actually bear to have him in my party.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Is there a way to do this? seriously... the music is drowning the shit out of everything.
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
Just kept banging my head against the third Eidolon fight. I knew how to beat it, but I never had enough time.
Then I switched to Slow ATB mode.
Beat it with plenty of time to spare.
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If the president had any real power, he'd be able to live wherever the fuck he wanted.
Took a break, but I'm quite happy that they included the datalogs, so I actually have some notion of what the hell is going on because of what happened earlier (though the chapter play-by-play is less necessary).
Nope. No mini-games whatsoever.
near as I can tell, there is no sound options whatsoever.
I'm gonna try messing with my tv settings to see if I can get the music to be a bit quieter, but I have very little hope.
If the president had any real power, he'd be able to live wherever the fuck he wanted.
Blitz. Fills up the bar in about a minute. Honestly. I played one brutal fight on Slow ATB, and had to restart because, after playing the game at full speed, that shit was just going way too damn slow.
You will do the exact same thing for the next 6 chapters: Cut scene, combat, switch party, cutscene. . .etc. Those of us referring to the game not opening up until the 20th hour were talking about the "real game" as far as narrative and having no limitations on what one can do. You will NOT have any freedom until that point. Not in the slightest.
If the president had any real power, he'd be able to live wherever the fuck he wanted.
This. I was literally saying outloud "man, someone needs to pun..." and BAM it happened.
I've only had to use it twice but it's nice that I have that option should I need it.
It happens so often though. She just starts coming off as a violent psychopath of sorts.
Ask yourself, would we really be okay with this sort of pattern of abuse if the genders were reversed?
3DS: 1607-3034-6970
You say that like there's something inherently wrong with cutscenes and combat.
Even once the game "opens up", it's still the same exact stuff, albeit with one really large area.
I like Snow and would like to use him since he can be a Sentinel in a pinch but I'm kinda doubting he'd be better than Lightning at Commando (and I like Fang better in certain ways also since she's a Saboteur).
Light? Total bitch. He needs to hit her back if she keeps pushing it.
If the president had any real power, he'd be able to live wherever the fuck he wanted.