X has a lot of shit to find. We'll see about this one, but I think like a lot of normally content heavy franchises first dip into the HD pool this game is going to be a little light on shit to do.
Which is kind of odd, since something like mini-games probably take far less budget + time than making another zone with the level of graphic fidelity they're going for here.
I haven't heard much about completion time from people yet, but I'm leaning on 17 hours and only in chapter 7 (of 13, but I guess the later ones are much longer)...so I'm expecting to hit probably 35-40 hours without too much sidequesting which is about what I expect from a typical FF title. Previously, I think I've finished virtually every one of them in 25-35 hours except XII, which was much longer.
Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I think FFX basically put you on a straight line through the game as well. If it didn't bother you in FFX, it shouldn't bother you in FFXIII.
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BeezelThere was no agreement little morsel..Registered Userregular
edited December 2009
come to think of it, FFX -was- rather linear and I enjoyed that game a lot despite all the shit I talk about it.
Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I think FFX basically put you on a straight line through the game as well. If it didn't bother you in FFX, it shouldn't bother you in FFXIII.
Pretty much. And much like FFX, XIII is completely driven by the story. There's really no downtime at all, certainly not enough for mini-games and sidequests.
Granted I haven't played the game yet but I don't expect the linearity to bother me. When you think about it, don't people usually complain that the world is going to end, but you still have time to play underwater handball or a cardgame or two? It sounds like Square may have actually listened to some of these complaints and set out to create a world with more immediacy (sp?) than those in the past.
If there's a legitimate threat to the world right from the beginning of the game, I can understand why there's less focus on wandering around and more focus on pushing the party forward to eliminate the threat.
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RentI'm always rightFuckin' deal with itRegistered Userregular
Also, people are gloom-and-dooming this game already? Really? What was the last objectively bad main-series FF released? V? III? II? Probably not V, so either II or III
IMO, XII horrid combat is a total deal breaker for rpgs for me.
Aw man, I knew someone would say this!
But yeah, the "FFXII is shit" opinion (which, to a certain extent, I agree with...Gambits were basically the best thing since sex but most of the characters sucked, there's the aforementioned "3-4 environments" problem, and the story just falls the fuck apart halfway to three-quarters of the way through) is why I said "objectively bad", because even if you don't like it, you can't disagree FFXII is pretty well critically acclaimed and is liked by a huge section of the FF fanbase
Also I put in "objectively bad" because some douchenozzle will always try to argue like FFVI sucks or something like that
Well, in FFXIII I find that if you're not outright more powerful than the enemies, you really have to think about which roles your characters are going to play. If you think you can muscle a few grunts, then it makes sense to switch your party to all attackers. If you think you can dizzy an enemy easily, then a mixture of blasters and attackers might be good. Even more interesting, is that if an enemy has a devastating attack, you'll need to switch to a defender right as the enemy is priming up his attack so that they can withstand the blunt of it for the whole party. It's kind of an actionish system in how you really have to time which attacks your going to use correctly.
My issue with FFXII might be that I killed it off before I got into any sort of real game play, I hated the characters, the combat was so horrid I couldn't continue to play it past about 10 or so hours. Also take note I don't care for most bioware combat either, ff12 felt like playing an mmo but with only the not fun parts to me, but maybe I didn't get deep enough into gambits to really see what was going on in the combat. ALSO of note ffx-2 is prob my favorite ff combat wise, I also like 8 better then 7 and 9....
Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I think FFX basically put you on a straight line through the game as well. If it didn't bother you in FFX, it shouldn't bother you in FFXIII.
Pretty much. And much like FFX, XIII is completely driven by the story. There's really no downtime at all, certainly not enough for mini-games and sidequests.
Are there really no sidequests or mini games at all? That was my favorite part of the past games. People ridicule me for the amount of time I put into blitzball.
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FencingsaxIt is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understandingGNU Terry PratchettRegistered Userregular
edited December 2009
Is the ally AI good enough to use enemy vulnerabilities and debuffs properly? (e.g. won't use fire against a fire absorbing enemy, or blind against a blind immune enemy?)
Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I think FFX basically put you on a straight line through the game as well. If it didn't bother you in FFX, it shouldn't bother you in FFXIII.
Pretty much. And much like FFX, XIII is completely driven by the story. There's really no downtime at all, certainly not enough for mini-games and sidequests.
Are there really no sidequests or mini games at all? That was my favorite part of the past games. People ridicule me for the amount of time I put into blitzball.
I've a feeling mini-games probably won't be something you can really spend much time until people near the end of the game. Though, the game's been out long enough now that some crazy Japanese guy probably speed-ran through it in less than 10 hours, right? If anyone knows if there are mini-games or sidequests to complete, ultimate weapons to unlock, secret abilities on the grid to open, it'd be out there now, right?
So, how is the story? I don't need spoilers, but is it interesting? Lame? Any similarities to other FF games?
I like the story so far. The grander plot isn't really jumping out to me as being totally awesome so much as the amount of interaction between characters. Almost every major event so far is about one or more characters confronting another, rather than faceless evil or some primordial enemy.
While there's plenty of non-human monsters and boss fights, the big story moments are all between human beings with surprisingly mature and developed personalities.
I'm not sure it has a lot in common with any previous FF story, especially with the focus being mostly on escape and eluding the government, rather than being driven forward by a desire to stop someone/something evil.
I know there's already been a lot of bitching about Hope, but I'm not finding much to take issue with. He's a child character, which is always a little iffy, but he has legitimate reasons for acting the way he does, and he's generally not an obnoxious brat.
In a way, I'd say this game is the exact opposite of FFXII. Where XII was a huge open world with a fairly bare plot and characters who spent little time dwelling on personal issues, XIII is a very driven, linear story and world where almost all of the dialogue is between party members....and it's often not very friendly at all.
These are not people who are lifelong friends on a journey together, but rather largely unrelated people swept up together and on the run, but with enough connections to create tension and lots of very interesting developments (largely revealed via flashbacks).
Is the ally AI good enough to use enemy vulnerabilities and debuffs properly? (e.g. won't use fire against a fire absorbing enemy, or blind against a blind immune enemy?)
Yes, but only if you've already discovered it. If the AI uses fire on an enemy, it will record immune/weak/half damage on their information screen (which you can see by hitting R1). If you use Libra (a TP ability), it'll reveal all of that information at once.
Once that info is known, the AI will use the right spells (including using things like an anti-fire protection spell on your party members when facing an enemy that uses fire spells)
So, how is the story? I don't need spoilers, but is it interesting? Lame? Any similarities to other FF games?
I like the story so far. The grander plot isn't really jumping out to me as being totally awesome so much as the amount of interaction between characters. Almost every major event so far is about one or more characters confronting another, rather than faceless evil or some primordial enemy.
While there's plenty of non-human monsters and boss fights, the big story moments are all between human beings with surprisingly mature and developed personalities.
I'm not sure it has a lot in common with any previous FF story, especially with the focus being mostly on escape and eluding the government, rather than being driven forward by a desire to stop someone/something evil.
I know there's already been a lot of bitching about Hope, but I'm not finding much to take issue with. He's a child character, which is always a little iffy, but he has legitimate reasons for acting the way he does, and he's generally not an obnoxious brat.
In a way, I'd say this game is the exact opposite of FFXII. Where XII was a huge open world with a fairly bare plot and characters who spent little time dwelling on personal issues, XIII is a very driven, linear story and world where almost all of the dialogue is between party members....and it's often not very friendly at all.
These are not people who are lifelong friends on a journey together, but rather largely unrelated people swept up together and on the run, but with enough connections to create tension and lots of very interesting developments (largely revealed via flashbacks).
Is the ally AI good enough to use enemy vulnerabilities and debuffs properly? (e.g. won't use fire against a fire absorbing enemy, or blind against a blind immune enemy?)
Yes, but only if you've already discovered it. If the AI uses fire on an enemy, it will record immune/weak/half damage on their information screen (which you can see by hitting R1). If you use Libra (a TP ability), it'll reveal all of that information at once.
Once that info is known, the AI will use the right spells (including using things like an anti-fire protection spell on your party members when facing an enemy that uses fire spells)
So basically like Persona 3 except your AI partner doesn't magically "forget" that an enemy is weak/resistant to a skill they just used.
I'll buy that.
"No, Mitsuri, doesn't use the ice attack on the character who've just absorbed it 10 times in a row. No...don't use Marin Karin."
But is it as important to exploit vulnerabilities and use debuffs as in a modern SMT game? That's the question I want answered.
I'm not sure about exploiting vulnerabilities (largely because I have a hard time keeping track of everything happening, so I don't pay much attention to the damage numbers), but debuffs are very useful. Slow especially seems pretty successful in boss fights, but I haven't had much chance to use debuffs because I'm usually trying to heal through really hardcore attacks.
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Which is kind of odd, since something like mini-games probably take far less budget + time than making another zone with the level of graphic fidelity they're going for here.
I haven't heard much about completion time from people yet, but I'm leaning on 17 hours and only in chapter 7 (of 13, but I guess the later ones are much longer)...so I'm expecting to hit probably 35-40 hours without too much sidequesting which is about what I expect from a typical FF title. Previously, I think I've finished virtually every one of them in 25-35 hours except XII, which was much longer.
"...only mights and maybes."
Pretty much. And much like FFX, XIII is completely driven by the story. There's really no downtime at all, certainly not enough for mini-games and sidequests.
If there's a legitimate threat to the world right from the beginning of the game, I can understand why there's less focus on wandering around and more focus on pushing the party forward to eliminate the threat.
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Aw man, I knew someone would say this!
But yeah, the "FFXII is shit" opinion (which, to a certain extent, I agree with...Gambits were basically the best thing since sex but most of the characters sucked, there's the aforementioned "3-4 environments" problem, and the story just falls the fuck apart halfway to three-quarters of the way through) is why I said "objectively bad", because even if you don't like it, you can't disagree FFXII is pretty well critically acclaimed and is liked by a huge section of the FF fanbase
Also I put in "objectively bad" because some douchenozzle will always try to argue like FFVI sucks or something like that
Are there really no sidequests or mini games at all? That was my favorite part of the past games. People ridicule me for the amount of time I put into blitzball.
Triple Triad, yay!
Blitzball? Boo!
Steam: TheArcadeBear
I do hope we get some Ultimate Weapon pics soon.
EDIT: Dammit, I had to look...oh well. Looks like:
Tier 1 weapon at MAX level + Weapon Change item = Tier 2 weapon
Tier 2 weapon at MAX level + Trapezohedron = Tier 3 weapon = "ultimate weapon"
Therefore, you can create an Ultimate Weapon from any Tier 2 weapon.
I like the story so far. The grander plot isn't really jumping out to me as being totally awesome so much as the amount of interaction between characters. Almost every major event so far is about one or more characters confronting another, rather than faceless evil or some primordial enemy.
While there's plenty of non-human monsters and boss fights, the big story moments are all between human beings with surprisingly mature and developed personalities.
I'm not sure it has a lot in common with any previous FF story, especially with the focus being mostly on escape and eluding the government, rather than being driven forward by a desire to stop someone/something evil.
I know there's already been a lot of bitching about Hope, but I'm not finding much to take issue with. He's a child character, which is always a little iffy, but he has legitimate reasons for acting the way he does, and he's generally not an obnoxious brat.
In a way, I'd say this game is the exact opposite of FFXII. Where XII was a huge open world with a fairly bare plot and characters who spent little time dwelling on personal issues, XIII is a very driven, linear story and world where almost all of the dialogue is between party members....and it's often not very friendly at all.
These are not people who are lifelong friends on a journey together, but rather largely unrelated people swept up together and on the run, but with enough connections to create tension and lots of very interesting developments (largely revealed via flashbacks).
Yes, but only if you've already discovered it. If the AI uses fire on an enemy, it will record immune/weak/half damage on their information screen (which you can see by hitting R1). If you use Libra (a TP ability), it'll reveal all of that information at once.
Once that info is known, the AI will use the right spells (including using things like an anti-fire protection spell on your party members when facing an enemy that uses fire spells)
Yes.
So basically like Persona 3 except your AI partner doesn't magically "forget" that an enemy is weak/resistant to a skill they just used.
I'll buy that.
"No, Mitsuri, doesn't use the ice attack on the character who've just absorbed it 10 times in a row. No...don't use Marin Karin."
Apparently yes, if that blog by Jeremy Parish linked earlier is any indication
I'm not sure about exploiting vulnerabilities (largely because I have a hard time keeping track of everything happening, so I don't pay much attention to the damage numbers), but debuffs are very useful. Slow especially seems pretty successful in boss fights, but I haven't had much chance to use debuffs because I'm usually trying to heal through really hardcore attacks.