Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Spoiler Thread)

[Marle]

I'M GOING TO CHANGE THE TOPIC BECAUSE THIS FEELS WEIRD.

As far as Snow/Serah/Noel: I don't ship any of em tbh, I don't have an emotional connection to their romantic connection. But if I had to throw my weight against a pairing it'd be Snow/Serah. I had to sit through a nauseating display of affection between the two in the first game, they might as well seal the deal. Also, in general, I sort of like the idea of a strong, secure relationship that doesn't overwhelm the story or go through huge WILL THEY WONT THEY moments. It's like- yeah it's there, yeah they love each other, no I'm not making it a focus of the game. On the other hand, I feel like it's underdeveloped compared to the rest of the relationships explored in game. That and I think one of the reasons why Noel-Serah works so well is because they never introduce the romantic element in it.

But whatever, I'm not even going to bother with the ship wars in this game, I don't care that much about them.

To be honest, I never cared for shipping in FF13. Maybe because I was never too crazy about it. I liked Lightning and Fang tons and everyone else was decent. I don't like Snow. He had potential and then he opened his mouth and the only time I enjoyed any of his screen time was when Lightning punched him in the face.

I never liked Snow even before the idea of Noel and Serah came about. And I think Splintered has it right about the fact that Serah/Snow felt so forced on me as a player. You never see it really develop, it's just sort of given to you like: oh btw, they're gonna be married and it's true love blah blah <insert kiss with fireworks here>

I mean no offense to anyone who likes it. I really don't. But Serah/Noel definitely appeals to me more because the relationship is more subtle and you watch it blossom. Call me old fashioned but I prefer that a lot more than what we got in the first game. There's more mystery about it and it's just more interesting because of that.

Snow/Serah wasn't a main focus for which I was grateful. But I also feel that Serah/Noel isn't the main focus and yet, I think their relationship is better developed and has more potential.

Sorry if I offend anyone. Just an opinion gaiz.

 

[Zee]

snow is the worst
THE WORST

YOU ARE NOT THE HERO
SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN

edit: @ava: y'know I saw someone describe snow/serah as a summer fling that ended up getting super serious because of what happened to her

which i kinda agree with? in a lot of ways even though he's gung ho stupid about saving her he sorta just...shrugs her off and leaves her because he thinks HE'S the hero and it's like uh IT'S NOT LIKE SHE CAN'T FIGHT?

if they wanted to actually show some snow/serah THEY should be off together doin' time adventures rather than her running off with some dude that apparently has enough respect to treat her as a partner UNLIKE HER BOYFRIEND

 

[Marle]

snow is the worst
THE WORST

YOU ARE NOT THE HERO
SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN

edit: @ava: y'know I saw someone describe snow/serah as a summer fling that ended up getting super serious because of what happened to her

which i kinda agree with? in a lot of ways even though he's gung ho stupid about saving her he sorta just...shrugs her off and leaves her because he thinks HE'S the hero and it's like uh IT'S NOT LIKE SHE CAN'T FIGHT?

if they wanted to actually show some snow/serah THEY should be off together doin' time adventures rather than her running off with some dude that apparently has enough respect to treat her as a partner UNLIKE HER BOYFRIEND

I totally agree with this, trust me. I think Snow brings Serah down but that's just me. Part of the reason I didn't like Serah was because of Snow. But now that she's off having her own adventure and doing her own shit because Snow is useless, I actually think she's doing okay so far, lol. I think my dislike for Snow just bleeds into everything.

 

[looneymoon]

HERPING AND DERPING INTO THE SPOILAR THRAD HEY GAIZ WATS UP

I think it's easy for people to start shipping leads in video games. Especially if they are co-leads and forward the plot together. It shows an equal partnership, and it's better than the classic Mario-Peach hero saves the damsel type relationshio though I still maintain she gets kidnapped on purpose because she is secretly having an affair with Bowser.

I mean, that's why I started liking the Link/Zelda ship in OOT. She wasn't just the Princess he needed to save. She was also his partner.

That said I still have no idea who the fuck this Noel guy is, let alone ship him with Serah who I don't give two shits about either. I just really hate Snow okay

 

[Zee]

That said I still have no idea who the fuck this Noel guy is, let alone ship him with Serah who I don't give two shits about either

All you need to know about Noel is that he hates Snow just as much as the rest of us do.

 

[Marle]

All you need to know about Noel is that he hates Snow just as much as the rest of us do.

I don't know much about Noel either but hearing him bitch Snow out in the trailer with such passion...

IT WAS LOVE.

 

[Arianna]

At this point, with what I've seen in the Japanese version of XIII-2, I agree it would have been nice to have a prequel, something around the War of Transgression (which seems to be the true start of everything).

That would have just been so cool! (Yeah, I would have liked to see what guise Barthandelus took during that time period.)

Alas, that's not what we got. We got Serah and new character named Noel and their story as they run around in time after the fall of Cocoon. *shrug* Go figure. As the word is in the fandom, "Toriyama'd".





I'm still getting the game, and have some excitement for it. I will get the Ultimanias too. Still... everyone dying is kind of a buzz-kill for me.

 

[Madame Mayor]

And I think Splintered has it right about the fact that Serah/Snow felt so forced on me as a player. You never see it really develop, it's just sort of given to you like: oh btw, they're gonna be married and it's true love blah blah <insert kiss with fireworks here>

To me I loved that we were introduced to a couple already in an established relationship and in love and serious. It was refreshing compared to a lot of other FFs. Not that I don't like seeing a relationship develop, but it was a change that the relationship(s) (if we include Fanille as well) were already together and we were seeing them go through couple issues that we generally don't get from the 'just beginning a relationship' couples we normally get.

But again I also didn't hate Snow so that's probably why it makes it easy to like Serah and Snow together.

 

[Tennyo]

I actually wouldn't have minded Serah/Snow if...

...well I've said it a million times, do I really need to say it again?

 

[Celes Chere]

Serah Noel is where it's at

 

[Tennyo]

From an aesthetic perspective he is the better choice by far.

Depends on his personality, though.

 

[Celes Chere]

From what I've seen of Noel, he seems pretty cool. ;w; His outfit is still kinda lame though, I prefer his alternate waaaay more. xD I just love him telling off Snow <33

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

What a stupid story this turned out to be. Serah's a glorious idiot (slower than Michael Kelso on the uptake, and repeats what others have just said followed by a question mark more than characters did in Dirge of Cerberus), Caius's plan is pretty stupid (he really can't see any negative consequences stemming from that?), Lightning doesn't get enough screentime to even justify putting her in the marketing for this thing, Fang and Vanille have next to no presence whatsoever, there's no Fanille to speak of, Snow's role is completely forgettable, Alyssa's annoying as shit, the conversation options don't do what pre-release interviews implied they'd do (or maybe it was our wishful thinking that it would be like "Mass Effect"), and there's way too many "just because" plot points --

Caius having Etro's heart and the consequences of him being stabbed, the connection between Etro and the seers, their role and the fate they face, Snow becoming a l'Cie again, the consequences to time from Etro interfering in the ending of FFXIII in the first place, Caius basically trying to repeat what Barthandelus did ...

And needs more Sazh.

Noel is cool enough, and you can't not like what they did with Hope, but jeez. What a disaster of a story.

 

[Vendel]

Lightning doesn't get enough screentime to even justify putting her in the marketing for this thing, Fang and Vanille have next to no presence whatsoever, there's no Fanille to speak of,

.........

And needs more Sazh.

So basically this game has very little of the characters people actually like. And the story is a giant cluster?

What a wonderful concept.

 

[Arianna]

To me I loved that we were introduced to a couple already in an established relationship and in love and serious. It was refreshing compared to a lot of other FFs. Not that I don't like seeing a relationship develop, but it was a change that the relationship(s) (if we include Fanille as well) were already together and we were seeing them go through couple issues that we generally don't get from the 'just beginning a relationship' couples we normally get.

But again I also didn't hate Snow so that's probably why it makes it easy to like Serah and Snow together.

... and ...

What a stupid story this turned out to be. Serah's a glorious idiot (slower than Michael Kelso on the uptake, and repeats what others have just said followed by a question mark more than characters did in Dirge of Cerberus), Caius's plan is pretty stupid (he really can't see any negative consequences stemming from that?), Lightning doesn't get enough screentime to even justify putting her in the marketing for this thing, Fang and Vanille have next to no presence whatsoever, there's no Fanille to speak of, Snow's role is completely forgettable, Alyssa's annoying as shit, the conversation options don't do what pre-release interviews implied they'd do (or maybe it was our wishful thinking that it would be like "Mass Effect"), and there's way too many "just because" plot points --

Caius having Etro's heart and the consequences of him being stabbed, the connection between Etro and the seers, their role and the fate they face, Snow becoming a l'Cie again, the consequences to time from Etro interfering in the ending of FFXIII in the first place, Caius basically trying to repeat what Barthandelus did ...

And needs more Sazh.

Noel is cool enough, and you can't not like what they did with Hope, but jeez. What a disaster of a story.

I agree with the two of you. I didn't hate Snow, just some of his character, which sadly is mostly all we got to see. The entire story turns out to be similar to XIII in the end. Why not allow Barthandelus to have his way? At least something productive may have come from it (meaning, it may have been enough to wake Buniberzei up and actually change the story.)

 

[Lumina]

Lightning doesn't get enough screentime to even justify putting her in the marketing for this thing, Fang and Vanille have next to no presence whatsoever, there's no Fanille to speak of, Snow's role is completely forgettable, Alyssa's annoying as shit,
And needs more Sazh.

Noel is cool enough, and you can't not like what they did with Hope, but jeez. .

With this I agree. In my way of seeing it they did the same thing they did with Final Fantasy X-2. They left the main characters of the main-game, and introduced a bunch that honestly...weren't needed. I do like Serah though. I love that she got more screentime, was playable and stopped being the girl who everyone was out to save. And what about Snow? The guy who went running in circles to save his future wife? Unlike other people I liked Snow. Because he did, what real people do for love. Go until the very end to save them. Maybe he didn't do it in the best way, but he did. And if it wasn't for him, Serah wouldn't be there in the first place.

But really? Suddenly Serah has a woman who says they are the same out of nowhere, Caius, who wasn't even introduced in a Secret scene appears out of nowhere and Noel, a pulsian who lived... WHERE? In XIII we played around pulse and the only place that seemed to have a little "Life" was Oerba.

Also, WTF with Georgia? Didn't she said she was recording? I saw this game as Vanille's and Fang story, and how they were going to save them. But then all that went to hell because Caius came into scene and Lightning out of nowhere became a holy knight or some other shizz. So much marketing and she didn't got enough screen time :/.

I havent seen ANY of the streams. This is what I've understood from Tumblr and such. So don't see this as a STATE of FACT. But so far its my way of seeing and half understanding this.

BUT someone told me that the gameplay was better than XIII so far. So I guess that's pretty cool. And for me playing as Serah is another good thing since I loved her.

 

[Zee]

But really? Suddenly Serah has a woman who says they are the same out of nowhere, Caius, who wasn't even introduced in a Secret scene appears out of nowhere and Noel, a pulsian who lived... WHERE? In XIII we played around pulse and the only place that seemed to have a little "Life" was Oerba.

The residents of Cocoon were setting up on Pulse because their planet became a giant crystal. @_@ If he's from a future where Cocoon was never rebuilt/saved, then it should make sense that everyone just got comfy on Pulse and stopped caring about the former rivalry between the planets. At least that's what I had assumed.

there's way too many "just because" plot points --

Caius having Etro's heart and the consequences of him being stabbed, the connection between Etro and the seers, their role and the fate they face,

wait how was all that "just because" plot points i was pretty sure those things were explained in noel's dream/nightmare sequence? unless you're talking about why etro did all this being a big just because??

Serah's a glorious idiot (slower than Michael Kelso on the uptake, and repeats what others have just said followed by a question mark more than characters did in Dirge of Cerberus)

Serah being the victim of anime cliche #9832042805 doesn't make her an idiot, though.

An example of actual idiotic behavior: Snow constantly bullrushing into enemies that nearly kill him no matter how many times Serah and Noel try to save him (or maybe that's insanity).

 

[ForceStealer]

and repeats what others have just said followed by a question mark more than characters did in Dirge of Cerberus)

I'd pin this more on Metal Gear Solid than on Dirge of Cerberus, Dirge was basically trying to copy MGS anyway. Has Snake EVER let someone's sentence just end without parroting it back at them?

 

[Celes Chere]

What a stupid story this turned out to be. Serah's a glorious idiot (slower than Michael Kelso on the uptake, and repeats what others have just said followed by a question mark more than characters did in Dirge of Cerberus), Caius's plan is pretty stupid (he really can't see any negative consequences stemming from that?), Lightning doesn't get enough screentime to even justify putting her in the marketing for this thing, Fang and Vanille have next to no presence whatsoever, there's no Fanille to speak of, Snow's role is completely forgettable, Alyssa's annoying as shit, the conversation options don't do what pre-release interviews implied they'd do (or maybe it was our wishful thinking that it would be like "Mass Effect"), and there's way too many "just because" plot points --

Caius having Etro's heart and the consequences of him being stabbed, the connection between Etro and the seers, their role and the fate they face, Snow becoming a l'Cie again, the consequences to time from Etro interfering in the ending of FFXIII in the first place, Caius basically trying to repeat what Barthandelus did ...

And needs more Sazh.

Noel is cool enough, and you can't not like what they did with Hope, but jeez. What a disaster of a story.

Yikes... I don't think I want to buy this game... at least not at full price. I think I'll wait around for it to be rentable//when it's down to eight dollars like XIII is now, lol. But I really love Serah, Noel, and Hope and they have decent amounts of screen time obviously so i really wanna play it. ;-; I gotta say I had poor expectations for the story since I absolutely loathe FFXIII's original story which is cliched, flawed, and pretty much the most unoriginal plot in any FF ever created. (even the basic ones!) My attachment to this game is pretty much the characters that I *do* like. And XIII-2 looked like it was actually a lot more fun especially since it had more minigames (or so it seemed) and a better battle system.
How are those parts of the game, Tres? I am really conflicted on whether I really want to own this game or not. XD I don't even own the original FFXIII, never even bothered to pick it up even though it's pretty much worth couch change by now.

 

[Super Mario]

Okeh! Square Enix has failed me for the last time! There's the dream drop distance to watch out for though! SORRY SE! YOUR SKILL IS NOT ENOUGH! MAYBE NEXT TIME! BYE BYE!



...Maybe I will eat these words when I get it for collector's sake but but WHYYYYYYYYYY NO LIGHTNING WHYYYYYYYYY NO FANILLE!!! ; ___ ;

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

wait how was all that "just because" plot points i was pretty sure those things were explained in noel's dream/nightmare sequence? unless you're talking about why etro did all this being a big just because??

That's what I mean, yeah. There doesn't seem to be any reason for these things -- they're just there "because."

Serah being the victim of anime cliche #9832042805 doesn't make her an idiot, though.

It doesn't look good on anybody, but somehow seems worse on her. I dunno.

An example of actual idiotic behavior: Snow constantly bullrushing into enemies that nearly kill him no matter how many times Serah and Noel try to save him (or maybe that's insanity).

Can't really argue with that.

I'd pin this more on Metal Gear Solid than on Dirge of Cerberus, Dirge was basically trying to copy MGS anyway. Has Snake EVER let someone's sentence just end without parroting it back at them?

True enough, though Snake never sounded as dumb as Serah.

We can trace XIII-2's time distortions back to Metal Gear as well, if you think about it. The Codec obviously exists in a temporal field all its own, seeing as you can apparently have a two-hour conversation while bullets fly.

And XIII-2 looked like it was actually a lot more fun especially since it had more minigames (or so it seemed) and a better battle system.
How are those parts of the game, Tres?

I've yet to play the demo, but everyone who has played it or the full game has had nothing but good things to say about the gameplay. So, in your case, I'd say it's definitely worth a rental at least.

I don't even own the original FFXIII, never even bothered to pick it up even though it's pretty much worth couch change by now.

Don't feel too bad. I don't own it either. It's definitely a rental only.

I did get the strategy guide for it, though.

 

[Max Payne]

Serah being the victim of anime cliche #9832042805 doesn't make her an idiot, though.

That.....doesn't excuse it at all. To make it worse she has never demonstrated any sort of actual intellect at any point.

It's safe to call her an idjit.

Has Snake EVER let someone's sentence just end without parroting it back at them?

Of course? Entire conversations have gone by with Snake saying almost nothing at all, which is worse because he is constantly being led around by the nose and being informed about all of this shit he should already know being a veteran of war and black ops for all his life.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I think the "Uncharted" series ruined me for video game dialogue. After that, almost everything else grates on me endlessly -- especially stuff from Japan.

But, really, is it too much to ask that conversations sound like conversations? That people sound like real people?

I walk away now, shaking my head. Lost in a world of uncertainty.

 

[Max Payne]

Dude I had this problem with Metal Gear long before I played Uncharted to death.

Snake gets berated and badgered constantly on what to do, how to do it, and where to do it. It's non-stop, and Snake just takes it all blankly occasionally repeating what someone said to him in question form, because there's just no way that a vet like Snake would know these things.

I'm sorry, but what else are you supposed to call someone like that? I mean, you really can excuse all of that because you like a character and don't want to insult them?

I mean, I love Snake but....he's not very smart. Whether he's like that because of a videogame/anime/whatever trope is irrelevant, you can't dismiss that because it suits you.

 

[Arianna]

The English voice for Chocolina is just as shocking as her outfit (at least, to me).

All I can say is play the free demo (or watch a video of it) to see what I mean.