I'm at the point in the game where I've confronted Mika at the Highbridge and have an appointment with Sin. Like all good JRPGs, the point right before the final confrontation and completion of your long journey seems like a good time to stop what you're doing and go on a World Tour!
* Jecht spheres - collected. Auron learns Tornado!
* All Al Bhed Primers collected.
* All unpowered celestial weapons collected.
* All crests collected.
* Sigils collected for all party members except Wakka and Kimahri.
* Beginning the Blitzball season for Wakka's Sigil.
* Rikku's Godhand completed!
* Anima and Magus Sisters Aeon's obtained.
* 10 of each area monster collected for all areas except Omega Ruins and Inside Sin.
Blitzball, despite being easy with the end-game Dream Team you can create at this point is a draining process and I'm forced to break up my playtime in order to not burn myself out. This is my current priority however - after this task is completed, it's on to Macalania to get Kimahri's sigil and power up the remaining Celestial Weapons. Then it's on to the Omega Ruins!
I made sure to complete Rikku's Godhand early because she is constantly in my party and Gillionaire makes for a nice bonus when you're running around the world capturing monsters. There's no reason to complete the other weapons until I'm done collecting monsters, however.
I'm on Chapter 7 right now, and I feel like the game is ending. I can't possibly conceive how this game will work when it opens up in 11. A questions for when I get there: Should I do all the missions then and there? I've think I've been told not to elsewhere.
You can't do all of them. You can do about 30 of them if you feel like it, after that they get too hard to attempt until after you've finished the game.
Starting off with Sab/Sab is a fucking waste of time because Fang just stands there doing nothing. And during the time he just stands there you're too busy trying to get your health back up after his utter rape series of attacks to do much damage to him and then the annoying cycle continues. I didn't mind Odin, and I didn't mind Barthalandus. But this fight is such utter cock I'm a hair's breadth away from abandoning the game and going to do something fun instead. And yes, I've done a bunch of the stone missions to get better stats, but if the only way to do this is to fuck off and grind for four hours I'm going to just stop because what the fuck. Am I being dense? Is there a strategy to beat this fucker I'm not seeing?
And only two people for this fight? Such bullshit.
It's definitely the lamest Eidolon fight. Here's how I beat it:
I upgraded my Tetradic Tiara to max level and disassembled it into Sprint Shoes. Once Vanille had Auto-Haste the couple extra actions she got were just enough to push me over the top.
Also use Com/Rav to build a little bit of distance between Fang and Vanille to make sure they aren't both caught in his attacks.
Yeah, I'm not grinding the fuck out of things just to earn a ton of cash to upgrade shit to pass a boss fight. I'll try Blackjack and Mortal's advice, though. Cheers, guys.
Obviously a little late since you beat it, but upgrading a Tetradic Tiara only takes about 2000 experience..
I just used that shroud that gives you haste. But yeah, cheaping out and using haste seemed to be the only way for me to beat it.
So I was at a party last night, clowning around as usual. Someone mentioned to me that one of the people there had played FFXIII and that I needed to talk with him about it. It was a pure bitch-fest, which was a bit annoying to listen to, but the nature of his complaints struck me. The "big three" as he called them were:
-No towns
-Linear corridor
-No minigames like Chocobo Racing
At this point I figured he must be from Mars or something. I hate minigames padding up my RPGs, especially when they induce murderous rage like the goddamn sun sigil. Deconstruction line aside, the antitheses of his points never seemed to impact my enjoyment of RPGs a great deal. But it struck me that this guy may as well have been rambling off GAF/reviewer impressions. Certainly makes me wonder as to the effect reviewers and "impressions" have on the community at large. Also apparently the combat is "slow," and this is after the guy praised FFIX for being a great game. To me, this shit is mindboggling. It's a good litmus test for people's analytical abilities though. The game certainly has flaws and aspects that won't appeal to certain kinds of people, but the issues people choose to latch on to are of interest to me.
So I was at a party last night, clowning around as usual. Someone mentioned to me that one of the people there had played FFXIII and that I needed to talk with him about it. It was a pure bitch-fest, which was a bit annoying to listen to, but the nature of his complaints struck me. The "big three" as he called them were:
-No towns
-Linear corridor
-No minigames like Chocobo Racing
At this point I figured he must be from Mars or something. I hate minigames padding up my RPGs, especially when they induce murderous rage like the goddamn sun sigil. Deconstruction line aside, the antitheses of his points never seemed to impact my enjoyment of RPGs a great deal. But it struck me that this guy may as well have been rambling off GAF/reviewer impressions. Certainly makes me wonder as to the effect reviewers and "impressions" have on the community at large. Also apparently the combat is "slow," and this is after the guy praised FFIX for being a great game. To me, this shit is mindboggling. It's a good litmus test for people's analytical abilities though. The game certainly has flaws and aspects that won't appeal to certain kinds of people, but the issues people choose to latch on to are of interest to me.
I agree with you except to say that every FF that doesn't have Triple Triad is a lesser game for it.
I'd call the later missions a "mini-game" or at least quite a bit of additional content. They're quick difficult unless you're crazy levelled and are fun to try and 5 star.
I do think the lack of towns hurt XIII, but indirectly. Towns in RPGs provide some pacing. They're an opportunity to slow down and adequately reflect on what has happened so far, and they're a place where the team is safe and not under immediate pressure to keep moving. Even in X (from what I remember), there are more than enough places where the party rests or otherwise take a break from endlessly moving forward. In XIII, the team is invariably being broken up and chased through the first 10 chapters. It doesn't help that in a few of the chapters, almost all that happens story-wise is that the party gets from point A to point B. The party is always hurried, and consequently, the player feels rushed.
Something else that X had that XIII doesn't is a map. Sure, X doesn't have an overworld, but the player still had some sense of how the world is organized, which helps the player appreciate the scope of the events in the game. Hardly anyone understands how Cocoon is really structured, so the player doesn't have a strong sense of progression through the game or appreciation of each of the sights along the way.
Arteen on
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RentI'm always rightFuckin' deal with itRegistered Userregular
edited April 2010
So I'm playing this thirteenth installment of the fantasies which are final
It is a good game
A very good game
That's all
Rent on
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Raijin QuickfootI'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPAregular
edited April 2010
I did not end up taking down Neochu last night. My wife decided to watch a marathon of Teen Mom until 3am.
you probably shouldn't sell accessories/weapons really, if you care at all about achievements/trophies.
Otherwise go ahead.
EDIT: And money making sucks in the game. It feels more like FFXI than anything in how you don't really get any money from anything except rare drops on annoying enemies.
How the fuck am I supposed to do the first stage within 8 minutes? Whenever I get near to a stagger he does that stupid sword butt attack and resets. Using Fang/Hope/Vanille with all 3 main crystarium paths maxed at level 9 and buffs up all the time. Try getting him to like 330-350% then switching to COM/RAV/RAV to boost it up fast but need a medic the rest of the time for the damage.
I do think the lack of towns hurt XIII, but indirectly. Towns in RPGs provide some pacing. They're an opportunity to slow down and adequately reflect on what has happened so far, and they're a place where the team is safe and not under immediate pressure to keep moving. Even in X (from what I remember), there are more than enough places where the party rests or otherwise take a break from endlessly moving forward. In XIII, the team is invariably being broken up and chased through the first 10 chapters. It doesn't help that in a few of the chapters, almost all that happens story-wise is that the party gets from point A to point B. The party is always hurried, and consequently, the player feels rushed.
Something else that X had that XIII doesn't is a map. Sure, X doesn't have an overworld, but the player still had some sense of how the world is organized, which helps the player appreciate the scope of the events in the game. Hardly anyone understands how Cocoon is really structured, so the player doesn't have a strong sense of progression through the game or appreciation of each of the sights along the way.
I really agree with all of those points. Just wanted to go ahead and say that.
I do think the lack of towns hurt XIII, but indirectly. Towns in RPGs provide some pacing. They're an opportunity to slow down and adequately reflect on what has happened so far, and they're a place where the team is safe and not under immediate pressure to keep moving. Even in X (from what I remember), there are more than enough places where the party rests or otherwise take a break from endlessly moving forward. In XIII, the team is invariably being broken up and chased through the first 10 chapters. It doesn't help that in a few of the chapters, almost all that happens story-wise is that the party gets from point A to point B. The party is always hurried, and consequently, the player feels rushed.
Something else that X had that XIII doesn't is a map. Sure, X doesn't have an overworld, but the player still had some sense of how the world is organized, which helps the player appreciate the scope of the events in the game. Hardly anyone understands how Cocoon is really structured, so the player doesn't have a strong sense of progression through the game or appreciation of each of the sights along the way.
I really agree with all of those points. Just wanted to go ahead and say that.
I still love this game, but I miss those aspects.
Yeah, I really wanted to know about the geography of Cocoon. Is it like a spherical version of Halo? Or is there a roof to it?
How the fuck am I supposed to do the first stage within 8 minutes? Whenever I get near to a stagger he does that stupid sword butt attack and resets. Using Fang/Hope/Vanille with all 3 main crystarium paths maxed at level 9 and buffs up all the time. Try getting him to like 330-350% then switching to COM/RAV/RAV to boost it up fast but need a medic the rest of the time for the damage.
Don't use a non-offensive party member unless you need to put buffs/debuffs up. With your lineup, you should have access to every class. Use a stacked lineup to rush a stagger like Sab/Rav/Rav, switch to Com/Rav/Rav during a stagger and before that use Sab/Syn/Rav or something of that nature to get your buffs up. To heal, just drop into Sen/Med/Med. In my playthrough, he stopped his stagger about half way. He's no pushover, but you can get 5 stars on him. If you really want to finish it off but don't want to take a risk, Rav/Med/Com should do it. I'm not sure highwind will hit him with all 4 strikes, but consider it if you want to make him feel the pain while about halfway through his first stagger (that's where he always interrupted me anyway).
Also, swap out your accessories for purely offensive ones. Power gloves etc. on Fang and glyphs and marks on the kids.
How the fuck am I supposed to do the first stage within 8 minutes? Whenever I get near to a stagger he does that stupid sword butt attack and resets. Using Fang/Hope/Vanille with all 3 main crystarium paths maxed at level 9 and buffs up all the time. Try getting him to like 330-350% then switching to COM/RAV/RAV to boost it up fast but need a medic the rest of the time for the damage.
Don't use a non-offensive party member unless you need to put buffs/debuffs up. With your lineup, you should have access to every class. Use a stacked lineup to rush a stagger like Sab/Rav/Rav, switch to Com/Rav/Rav during a stagger and before that use Sab/Syn/Rav or something of that nature to get your buffs up. To heal, just drop into Sen/Med/Med. In my playthrough, he stopped his stagger about half way. He's no pushover, but you can get 5 stars on him. If you really want to finish it off but don't want to take a risk, Rav/Med/Com should do it. I'm not sure highwind will hit him with all 4 strikes, but consider it if you want to make him feel the pain while about halfway through his first stagger (that's where he always interrupted me anyway).
Also, swap out your accessories for purely offensive ones. Power gloves etc. on Fang and glyphs and marks on the kids.
Managed to scrapethrough, a few tries all on no stars but got 5 on orphans final form. Took me a few tries but it came together when I gave on on using haste. Had Vanille/Light/Snow, started off as SAB/RAV/COM and put imperil, deprotect and deshell up, switched to RAV/RAV/RAV and then RAV/COM/COM on stagger, went down easily on the first stagger.
Also as much as I'm not a fan of Leona Lewis, the song worked well as a bit of music to go over the final cutscene.
It was weird though, in the final dungeon I was starting to get a bit bored of the battles and general progression of the game, but as soon as I finished I wanted the storyline to carry on.
The money in this game is without a doubt the worst part of it.
I like how gil isn't trivial and you have to actually think on how you want to use it. On the other hand, I went a ridiculous stretch getting no gil and then a robot gave me 600k in mats which was not good economic pacing!
Yes, the Treasure Hunter trophy is that bad. It definitely weighs down the otherwise nice postgame. It'd be nice if we had a more steady source of income. Anyway, my point still stands. This is one of the few FFs I've 100% completely and I figure they did something right.
If anything, I hope that FF13 Versus keeps Paradigms in some way. It's a really cool system to control your party members and I think it would really work in a Kingdom Hearts type game.
Honestly, I could get used to not having to tediously explore towns anymore. When you think about it, most towns in JRPG's were really just filler for the rest of the game.
TurboGuard on
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silence1186Character shields down!As a wingmanRegistered Userregular
edited April 2010
I liked that treasures chests:
A.) Weren't invisible
B.) Contained static drops (*cough*fuckyouXii*cough*)
Yes, the Treasure Hunter trophy is that bad. It definitely weighs down the otherwise nice postgame. It'd be nice if we had a more steady source of income. Anyway, my point still stands. This is one of the few FFs I've 100% completely and I figure they did something right.
If anything, I hope that FF13 Versus keeps Paradigms in some way. It's a really cool system to control your party members and I think it would really work in a Kingdom Hearts type game.
It's probably the easiest game to get everything in since FF IV. I'd say FF IV DS actually beats this game on content. It really doesn't have a lot of stuff to do.
Honestly, I could get used to not having to tediously explore towns anymore. When you think about it, most towns in JRPG's were really just filler for the rest of the game.
I think it depends on the game. It really works in games where the character can really be involved in that town and create little relationships, optional or not.
And I agree with lionheart_m about paradigms. I really like the system, and I hope they keep it, but as it is so involved, I doubt it will come back without a lengthy tutorial section again. I really hope they have an option to take out the tutorial for it in the next game, if it is in, but that might ruin the accessibility.
Yes, the Treasure Hunter trophy is that bad. It definitely weighs down the otherwise nice postgame. It'd be nice if we had a more steady source of income. Anyway, my point still stands. This is one of the few FFs I've 100% completely and I figure they did something right.
If anything, I hope that FF13 Versus keeps Paradigms in some way. It's a really cool system to control your party members and I think it would really work in a Kingdom Hearts type game.
It's probably the easiest game to get everything in since FF IV. I'd say FF IV DS actually beats this game on content. It really doesn't have a lot of stuff to do.
Yeah, but really what does it mean to 100% a FF? All items? Superbosses? Or Max Stats?
Yes, the Treasure Hunter trophy is that bad. It definitely weighs down the otherwise nice postgame. It'd be nice if we had a more steady source of income. Anyway, my point still stands. This is one of the few FFs I've 100% completely and I figure they did something right.
If anything, I hope that FF13 Versus keeps Paradigms in some way. It's a really cool system to control your party members and I think it would really work in a Kingdom Hearts type game.
It's probably the easiest game to get everything in since FF IV. I'd say FF IV DS actually beats this game on content. It really doesn't have a lot of stuff to do.
Yeah, but really what does it mean to 100% a FF? All items? Superbosses? Or Max Stats?
As silly as it sounds, I'd totally re-purchase every FF title without any updates whatsoever if they added trophies/achievements.
But it's a legitimate question, certainly. 100% on say, FFX is fucking insane because you can replace every goddamn sphere on the grid with better ones, and that shit takes forever. I don't think how long it takes to 100% should be mean much. I think whether or not it's *fun* to do so should.
In that regard, I think XIII does pretty well, because combat is fun...but I wish there were ways to make money that didn't essentially involve fighting the same monster over and over and over again.
So I was at a party last night, clowning around as usual. Someone mentioned to me that one of the people there had played FFXIII and that I needed to talk with him about it. It was a pure bitch-fest, which was a bit annoying to listen to, but the nature of his complaints struck me. The "big three" as he called them were:
-No towns
-Linear corridor
-No minigames like Chocobo Racing
At this point I figured he must be from Mars or something. I hate minigames padding up my RPGs, especially when they induce murderous rage like the goddamn sun sigil. Deconstruction line aside, the antitheses of his points never seemed to impact my enjoyment of RPGs a great deal. But it struck me that this guy may as well have been rambling off GAF/reviewer impressions. Certainly makes me wonder as to the effect reviewers and "impressions" have on the community at large. Also apparently the combat is "slow," and this is after the guy praised FFIX for being a great game. To me, this shit is mindboggling. It's a good litmus test for people's analytical abilities though. The game certainly has flaws and aspects that won't appeal to certain kinds of people, but the issues people choose to latch on to are of interest to me.
Nope, you're just being a little bit narrow minded. I wish this game had mini games, and all sorts of other crap too and think it would make it VASTLY superior. Just because you like a single utterly linear experience with no choice, doesn't mean everyone does. Even the crystarium doesn't even really provide a basic level of customization.
I happen to like small minigames in my Final Fantasies, like the Motorcycle section from VII or the Juggernaut section from XIII.
What I don't like are "minigames" that are so massive that they twist the rest of the game around it. Triple Triad and Chocobo Hot and Cold might be entertaining, but I don't like what they did to the game they were in.
I don't really miss the towns that much. Most of the recent towns in RPGs (Mass Effect 1, FFXII, Lost Odyssey) have been TERRIBLE. They end up so sprawling that it takes you hours to explore them and they destroy the pacing. Mass Effect 2 did this right and I never remember having a problem with it before FFVIII.
tbloxham:
There is customization in the Crystarium. Not a lot, but picking which roles to master (and whether to increase a secondary role) is definitely a lot more customization than, say, FFIX or FFXII. Throw in the customized Paradigms and the difference between party members and you have some decent customization. The main party I use (Fang, Lightning, Vanille) plays completely differently from my Adamantoise backup party (Sazh, Snow, Hope).
I happen to like small minigames in my Final Fantasies, like the Motorcycle section from VII or the Juggernaut section from XIII.
What I don't like are "minigames" that are so massive that they twist the rest of the game around it. Triple Triad and Chocobo Hot and Cold might be entertaining, but I don't like what they did to the game they were in.
I don't really miss the towns that much. Most of the recent towns in RPGs (Mass Effect 1, FFXII, Lost Odyssey) have been TERRIBLE. They end up so sprawling that it takes you hours to explore them and they destroy the pacing. Mass Effect 2 did this right and I never remember having a problem with it before FFVIII.
tbloxham:
There is customization in the Crystarium. Not a lot, but picking which roles to master (and whether to increase a secondary role) is definitely a lot more customization than, say, FFIX or FFXII. Throw in the customized Paradigms and the difference between party members and you have some decent customization. The main party I use (Fang, Lightning, Vanille) plays completely differently from my Adamantoise backup party (Sazh, Snow, Hope).
Triple Triad is the best thing ever.
Square should make a DS game where all you do is play Triple Triad. I'd buy ten copies.
Yes, the Treasure Hunter trophy is that bad. It definitely weighs down the otherwise nice postgame. It'd be nice if we had a more steady source of income. Anyway, my point still stands. This is one of the few FFs I've 100% completely and I figure they did something right.
If anything, I hope that FF13 Versus keeps Paradigms in some way. It's a really cool system to control your party members and I think it would really work in a Kingdom Hearts type game.
It's probably the easiest game to get everything in since FF IV. I'd say FF IV DS actually beats this game on content. It really doesn't have a lot of stuff to do.
Yeah, but really what does it mean to 100% a FF? All items? Superbosses? Or Max Stats?
Well, let's divide it up.
I said that it's probably the shortest game to do everything in since IV, because four was the last game with set leveling, no jobs, no weird job replacement system, no real ultra bosses unless you count Odin, Bahamut, and Leviathan. Very short main story. It's also a good breaking point being arguably the first game in the modern FF era, with the ATB and all that jazz.
FF XIII is around the length of 6-12 (not including 11) for just main story completion. Probably just slightly on the longer end of those. Sort of hard to compare leveling up to the system in FF XIII, but it's somewhere in between VIII and X to max it out, closer to eight.
The real kicker is the real lack of minigames, missable loot, and ultra bosses, replaced by the money grind needed to buy all the weapons upgrades for that achivement. I'd say that IX and X are the longest total completion games in the series. XIII is probably pretty close to V in total, do absolutely everything length. Doable without going insane.
I'm not sure what's worse: missable loot that DEMANDS several playthroughs (unless you buy the guide) or the massive money grind in 13.
Regarding ultrabosses: I found the final mission in 13 required a lot of skill compared to say...Ruby Weapon. Even with a maxed Crystarium you have to time those paradigm changes while Ruby Weapons just demands a setup that's quite easy to get going.
Posts
I'm at the point in the game where I've confronted Mika at the Highbridge and have an appointment with Sin. Like all good JRPGs, the point right before the final confrontation and completion of your long journey seems like a good time to stop what you're doing and go on a World Tour!
* Jecht spheres - collected. Auron learns Tornado!
* All Al Bhed Primers collected.
* All unpowered celestial weapons collected.
* All crests collected.
* Sigils collected for all party members except Wakka and Kimahri.
* Beginning the Blitzball season for Wakka's Sigil.
* Rikku's Godhand completed!
* Anima and Magus Sisters Aeon's obtained.
* 10 of each area monster collected for all areas except Omega Ruins and Inside Sin.
Blitzball, despite being easy with the end-game Dream Team you can create at this point is a draining process and I'm forced to break up my playtime in order to not burn myself out. This is my current priority however - after this task is completed, it's on to Macalania to get Kimahri's sigil and power up the remaining Celestial Weapons. Then it's on to the Omega Ruins!
I made sure to complete Rikku's Godhand early because she is constantly in my party and Gillionaire makes for a nice bonus when you're running around the world capturing monsters. There's no reason to complete the other weapons until I'm done collecting monsters, however.
You can't do all of them. You can do about 30 of them if you feel like it, after that they get too hard to attempt until after you've finished the game.
I just used that shroud that gives you haste. But yeah, cheaping out and using haste seemed to be the only way for me to beat it.
Don't be a silly goose.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
-No towns
-Linear corridor
-No minigames like Chocobo Racing
At this point I figured he must be from Mars or something. I hate minigames padding up my RPGs, especially when they induce murderous rage like the goddamn sun sigil. Deconstruction line aside, the antitheses of his points never seemed to impact my enjoyment of RPGs a great deal. But it struck me that this guy may as well have been rambling off GAF/reviewer impressions. Certainly makes me wonder as to the effect reviewers and "impressions" have on the community at large. Also apparently the combat is "slow," and this is after the guy praised FFIX for being a great game. To me, this shit is mindboggling. It's a good litmus test for people's analytical abilities though. The game certainly has flaws and aspects that won't appeal to certain kinds of people, but the issues people choose to latch on to are of interest to me.
I agree with you except to say that every FF that doesn't have Triple Triad is a lesser game for it.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Something else that X had that XIII doesn't is a map. Sure, X doesn't have an overworld, but the player still had some sense of how the world is organized, which helps the player appreciate the scope of the events in the game. Hardly anyone understands how Cocoon is really structured, so the player doesn't have a strong sense of progression through the game or appreciation of each of the sights along the way.
It is a good game
A very good game
That's all
https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1JI9WWSRW1YJI
Also do you use old weapons for anything or should I sell them back?
Otherwise go ahead.
EDIT: And money making sucks in the game. It feels more like FFXI than anything in how you don't really get any money from anything except rare drops on annoying enemies.
At least there are no RMT campers.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/1JI9WWSRW1YJI
It's social commentary related to the current economical weather.
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I really agree with all of those points. Just wanted to go ahead and say that.
I still love this game, but I miss those aspects.
Yeah, I really wanted to know about the geography of Cocoon. Is it like a spherical version of Halo? Or is there a roof to it?
Also, swap out your accessories for purely offensive ones. Power gloves etc. on Fang and glyphs and marks on the kids.
Also as much as I'm not a fan of Leona Lewis, the song worked well as a bit of music to go over the final cutscene.
It was weird though, in the final dungeon I was starting to get a bit bored of the battles and general progression of the game, but as soon as I finished I wanted the storyline to carry on.
I like how gil isn't trivial and you have to actually think on how you want to use it. On the other hand, I went a ridiculous stretch getting no gil and then a robot gave me 600k in mats which was not good economic pacing!
Yes, the Treasure Hunter trophy is that bad. It definitely weighs down the otherwise nice postgame. It'd be nice if we had a more steady source of income. Anyway, my point still stands. This is one of the few FFs I've 100% completely and I figure they did something right.
If anything, I hope that FF13 Versus keeps Paradigms in some way. It's a really cool system to control your party members and I think it would really work in a Kingdom Hearts type game.
A.) Weren't invisible
B.) Contained static drops (*cough*fuckyouXii*cough*)
It's probably the easiest game to get everything in since FF IV. I'd say FF IV DS actually beats this game on content. It really doesn't have a lot of stuff to do.
I think it depends on the game. It really works in games where the character can really be involved in that town and create little relationships, optional or not.
And I agree with lionheart_m about paradigms. I really like the system, and I hope they keep it, but as it is so involved, I doubt it will come back without a lengthy tutorial section again. I really hope they have an option to take out the tutorial for it in the next game, if it is in, but that might ruin the accessibility.
Yeah, but really what does it mean to 100% a FF? All items? Superbosses? Or Max Stats?
As silly as it sounds, I'd totally re-purchase every FF title without any updates whatsoever if they added trophies/achievements.
But it's a legitimate question, certainly. 100% on say, FFX is fucking insane because you can replace every goddamn sphere on the grid with better ones, and that shit takes forever. I don't think how long it takes to 100% should be mean much. I think whether or not it's *fun* to do so should.
In that regard, I think XIII does pretty well, because combat is fun...but I wish there were ways to make money that didn't essentially involve fighting the same monster over and over and over again.
I think Final Fantasy 8 is worse on that regard. Even if you do a low level game you still need A LOT of money to get Stat Ups.
Nope, you're just being a little bit narrow minded. I wish this game had mini games, and all sorts of other crap too and think it would make it VASTLY superior. Just because you like a single utterly linear experience with no choice, doesn't mean everyone does. Even the crystarium doesn't even really provide a basic level of customization.
I'M BASCH BLUH ROSENBLUH OF BLUHMASCA
Eh..
I figured out how to get Squall's final weapon by the beginning of the second disc. FF8 was quite easy after that.
What I don't like are "minigames" that are so massive that they twist the rest of the game around it. Triple Triad and Chocobo Hot and Cold might be entertaining, but I don't like what they did to the game they were in.
I don't really miss the towns that much. Most of the recent towns in RPGs (Mass Effect 1, FFXII, Lost Odyssey) have been TERRIBLE. They end up so sprawling that it takes you hours to explore them and they destroy the pacing. Mass Effect 2 did this right and I never remember having a problem with it before FFVIII.
tbloxham:
There is customization in the Crystarium. Not a lot, but picking which roles to master (and whether to increase a secondary role) is definitely a lot more customization than, say, FFIX or FFXII. Throw in the customized Paradigms and the difference between party members and you have some decent customization. The main party I use (Fang, Lightning, Vanille) plays completely differently from my Adamantoise backup party (Sazh, Snow, Hope).
Triple Triad is the best thing ever.
Square should make a DS game where all you do is play Triple Triad. I'd buy ten copies.
Well, let's divide it up.
I said that it's probably the shortest game to do everything in since IV, because four was the last game with set leveling, no jobs, no weird job replacement system, no real ultra bosses unless you count Odin, Bahamut, and Leviathan. Very short main story. It's also a good breaking point being arguably the first game in the modern FF era, with the ATB and all that jazz.
FF XIII is around the length of 6-12 (not including 11) for just main story completion. Probably just slightly on the longer end of those. Sort of hard to compare leveling up to the system in FF XIII, but it's somewhere in between VIII and X to max it out, closer to eight.
The real kicker is the real lack of minigames, missable loot, and ultra bosses, replaced by the money grind needed to buy all the weapons upgrades for that achivement. I'd say that IX and X are the longest total completion games in the series. XIII is probably pretty close to V in total, do absolutely everything length. Doable without going insane.
Regarding ultrabosses: I found the final mission in 13 required a lot of skill compared to say...Ruby Weapon. Even with a maxed Crystarium you have to time those paradigm changes while Ruby Weapons just demands a setup that's quite easy to get going.
maybe of all time
sure he's a pain in the ass to just power through but if you have that setup you can literally just go and make a sandwich while he kills himself
even FFVIII's omega weapon wasn't that easy to cheese
Either:
Final Fantasy 8 is either EXTREMELY easy or too challenging for its own good.