Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Spoiler Thread)

[Lord Noctis]

Yeah, as Caius Ballad said Caius is still alive.

This makes me laugh for some reason.

 

[Arianna]

I said it in the other thread, and feel it needs to be said here. In regards to the final chapter: Evil Giraffes.

As long as SE doesn't start milking the cow and give us a FF XIII- 4, 5, and 6 everything should be fine. * hopefully * xD

Hopefully they won't get the wild idea to make 13 installments.

I am personally getting a bit tired of the idea of '13' everywhere. It was clever at first, but it's gotten worn out.

 

[Kikki]

Alright, I finished the main storyline (got 93 fragments) about a week ago but was too lazy to post a comment here but I’ll give my thoughts on the game now

Storyline: Like others have said the storyline isn't a masterpiece but it's still pretty good. Although personally for me it felt a bit short. I know I still got to get a lot of the fragments but still. Or maybe it felt short cos I enjoyed the game so much I didn't want it to end.
I actually didn't mind the ending too much . I do love Serah though, it not like I hated her or anything like that and wanted that to happen to her The whole game kind of felt like the ying to XIII's yang so I guess it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise.

Gameplay: This was the best part of the game. I found it really fun and although I wasn't sure about having monsters fight by your side it actually worked quite well. I loved fighting with a chocobo <3. I still wish though that you could have other guest members like Snow at least.

Music: The music didn't have too much of an impact on me. It was nice enough to listen to whilst playing the game but I don't think I will be really listening to many of the tracks outside of the game.

Characters: I really liked all the characters. Both Serah and Noel are amazing and I loved how you could switch between them whenever. TBH at first I didn’t care much for Caius or Yeul but by the end of the game I ended up feeling bad for both of them. Although at the very beginning of the game me and my sister burst out laughing when Lightning shouted at Caius. She sounded so much like an angry mum or teacher .
I don’t understand why Alyssa gets so much hate? While she does make some dickish moves she seems very human to me and her motives are understandable.

Others: Um, I still on the fence about the Historia Crux. While it’s handy to backtrack and chose where to go next, for me it breaks the story up too much. I loved the live trigger events but it seemed that further you got on in the game the less LTEs there were? Or maybe I just missed them all I don’t think there were enough cinematic actions either.

But all in all I really really really really really enjoyed the game But I hope they resolve the ending in a XIII-3 rather than in a downloadable content. There seems to be too much to finish off and I wouldn’t want to (or afford to) buy a series of downloadable episodes just to get the final ending. But that my two pennies worth.

 

[Zee]

okay time to talk about the ending i'm in a crazy theory mood and i'd like to hear everyone's thoughts aside from NOOOOOO

because

i was actually thinking everything went as planned??

light wanted to pull serah into valhalla which was the whole point of this crazy journey, and that's exactly where she and everyone else end up (not that she wouldn't have gone there when she died anyway)

getting serah's fragment she's trapped in some cold dark place, but she's alive (sort of). so was light's whole mission really more damage control than prevention? she encourages hope's new cocoon and his saving fang and vanille -- i assume seeing all things from valhalla meant she knew the pillar breaking was inevitable, and etro's death probably was too.

i'm just tossing stuff out there because I REALLY WANT LIGHT'S DLC NOW although idk how they are planning to do it?? since she's locked in a timeloop with caius

is it too much to hope sazh's dlc gives some hints?

also this begs the question what the FUCK is the purpose of snow? if lightning didn't ask him to protect the pillar (and it's hinted that she didn't) then most likely he went to prevent whatever massive time loopy shit goes on in the coliseum, but was it by lightning (and serah also questions why lightning would ask only him and no one else to do such a thing) or is it his focus? or did the fal'cie just go "you're legit go pick your own focus"?

 

[Zee]

and serah's letter--i had forgotten she had said that. it also makes me wonder how she'll find her way out of this 'cold dark place'

it's weird cause in episode 1 lightning also stumbles around in a similar fashion before ending up at etro's throne

all i know is that noel is going to

BREAK

HEADS

and get her back

i have no clue about snow either, it really confuses me. i hope they release a story dlc for him because i want to know more about wtf is going on. maybe it was his focus...idk

my friend had the theory that snow actually ends up as the arbiter of time (loopy time theories!!!!)
but either way idek, something was supposed to happen there the "day the bell of the goddess tolls" but it is kinda suspicious that snow is purposely trying to go on his own -- whether to feed his hero complex or because he might never come back who knows

oh and yeah they will def leave lightning's for second to last, i'm sure of it. but that's actually cool with me cause i do wanna know about sazh and snow

throws all my money at square

you have me by the balls just take it take my blood

 

[Dana Scully]

okay have yet to read any of this thread so apologies if i repeat anything that's already been said, just wanna get my thoughts down first

Spoiler: these are the random notes i took down while playing

- alyssa is annoying as fuck and i'm sorry but i don't trust her she always looks weasely and shit nope dnw
- "Could flans be causing the end of the world?" pffttt yeah okay seriously, flans, i mean please HOLY SHIT FRANKENSTEIN FLAN OKAY I BELIEVE YOU
- snow i know you're not the sharpest knife in the drawer but really, why don't you declare you marriage being on hold with more conviction you dick. poor serah
- i was doing the Brain Blast thingy and it was final question and i was all antsy and then "Which chocobo urban legend is true?" A CONVICT WON FREEDOM FOR HIM AND HIS FRIENDS YEAAAAAHHHHHH
- is that
- is that vanille's voice
- i can't hear god DAMMIT AIR CONDITION STFU
- VANILLE OMG IT IS HER
- AND FANG ASDKFJALDFASDFAIDF
- SO MANY FEELINGS AND YOU'RE ONLY HERE FOR ALL OF 2 MINUTES BUT I DON'T EVEN CARE
- every time a song from xiii plays i'm reminded how much i dislike most of xiii-2s soundtrack >:
- you know etro it's okay you can just leave lightning naked i don't mind
- huh if you wiggle the right joystick during the loading screen the tunnel of light moves around WOOOO WIGGLEWIGGLEWIGGLE
- i wish there were more QTEs that involve making moral/plot decisions than just attacking shit because that is STRESSFUL
- poor fang and vanille will have to catch up again on another 500 years of history
- ew this ending song is kinda painful
- WAHT
- THIS IS NOT OKAY NO SERAH
- ALSO THIS FUCKING SONG IS CREATING SOME MAJOR MOOD DISSONANCE WHERE ARE THE ANGSTY STRINGS AND SHIT
- omg so many noelxserah feelings
- ...
- what the fuck
- what kind of ending is this
- are you seriously telling me i'm gonna have to wait 2 or 3 more fucking years to find out how this all works out what the FUCK square

yeah not at all impressed with that ending :/

Alright so now that that's out of the way:

The final boss fight took me 32 minutes. I dunno if I was underleveled (

Spoiler: levels going into final boss fight

Serah: 99 Rav, 99 Sab, 87 Med, 3 Com, 1 Sen
Noel: 99 Com, 99 Sen, 89 Sab, 2 Rav
Paradigm Pack: 40 Rav, 40 Syn, 40 Med

) or just doing it wrong but jesus it took me like 8 tries to beat it.

I found the game to be incredibly easy for the most part, and then every now and then I'd come across some really fucking difficult fight and die repeatedly. Never crafted any of my equipment, and I only futzed with the infusion system a little bit. Would have vastly preferred a 3rd controllable person but still the monsters were fairly enjoyable to use.

The clock puzzles were annoying as fuck and I hope I never have to see them again.

I wish that XIIIs characters had played more significant roles. Even Snow and Lightning's roles were pretty measly, and the barely existent cameos of Vanille, Fang and Sazh were nothing short of criminal imo. They better appear more in 13-3.

uhh what else

Spoiler: noel/serah headcanon

As I see it Noel starts feeling FEELINGS relatively early on but is all like dude not cool she's got a fiance don't even go there but he just can't help himself and meanwhile Serah's FEELINGS don't come until later and at first she pushes them off because Snow's gone and she's just been lonely but by the end she's feeling super conflicted because she still loves Snow but Noel is Noel and let's be honest Noel is proving a lot more reliable than Snow at this point.

And this isn't even including the other angsts they cause each other what with Serah dying from seeing all the new futures and Noel's memory fading (and I can't remember if this was suggested in the game but I thought that in the end he might no longer exist because his future never happened which I like to think also occurred to Serah angstangst).

Speaking of Snow, I think the dude definitely is feeling some chilly feet. He was way too quick to tell Noel the wedding was on hold. That's not to say he doesn't love Serah or shit like that but marriage is srs business and I think Snow may have finally realized that.

Anyways I adore NoelxSerah a lot more than I expected I would adfoajdf so many feelings must feed them with all the fics.

annyyywways i think that's all i wanna say atm, gonna go spoil the other endings for myself now

 

[Tifabelle]

yeah not at all impressed with that ending :/

It was fine until the TBC part. I mean...... I was even ok with the living 500 years in the future. It was stupid, but I was like... well ok then, I'll just look past that. But then you kill Serah and it's all like TBC. NO.

The final boss fight took me 32 minutes. I dunno if I was underleveled (

Spoiler: levels going into final boss fight

Serah: 99 Rav, 99 Sab, 87 Med, 3 Com, 1 Sen
Noel: 99 Com, 99 Sen, 89 Sab, 2 Rav
Paradigm Pack: 40 Rav, 40 Syn, 40 Med

) or just doing it wrong but jesus it took me like 8 tries to beat it.

It only took me two tries to beat them. But it did take a while just because there was a lot of back and forth of him reviving the two bahamuts. It was very easy though, just getting the rhythm. Once you figure out how to defend against the big attack, it's like not even a big deal.

The fight that gave me the most trouble was that one Caius fight cause he kept healing himself. And I wasn't leveled enough because I hadn't done ANY side quests. So I just wasn't doing enough damage to keep up with his healing.

Would have vastly preferred a 3rd controllable person but still the monsters were fairly enjoyable to use.

Agreed. The monsters were fun, but I think I would still prefer regular party members.

The clock puzzles were annoying as fuck and I hope I never have to see them again.

OMG I LIKED THEM. XD I liked them better than the ones where you have to find the right path. It probably depends on how your mind works which kind of puzzles you like/are better at. lol

I wish that XIIIs characters had played more significant roles. Even Snow and Lightning's roles were pretty measly, and the barely existent cameos of Vanille, Fang and Sazh were nothing short of criminal imo. They better appear more in 13-3.

Yes needed moar everybody. At least Fang & Vanille there is an excuse for them not to be there.

Anyways I adore NoelxSerah a lot more than I expected I would adfoajdf so many feelings must feed them with all the fics.[/spoiler]

This. I was surprised at myself for liking them so much.

I feel conflicted. I feel a certain loyalty to SnowxSerah, plus they're engaged. But hnnng, NoelxSerah is just so perfect. Why did SE have to make a better pairing after already establishing one?

 

[Zee]

As I see it Noel starts feeling FEELINGS relatively early on but is all like dude not cool she's got a fiance don't even go there but he just can't help himself and meanwhile Serah's FEELINGS don't come until later and at first she pushes them off because Snow's gone and she's just been lonely but by the end she's feeling super conflicted because she still loves Snow but Noel is Noel and let's be honest Noel is proving a lot more reliable than Snow at this point.

And this isn't even including the other angsts they cause each other what with Serah dying from seeing all the new futures and Noel's memory fading (and I can't remember if this was suggested in the game but I thought that in the end he might no longer exist because his future never happened which I like to think also occurred to Serah angstangst).

Speaking of Snow, I think the dude definitely is feeling some chilly feet. He was way too quick to tell Noel the wedding was on hold. That's not to say he doesn't love Serah or shit like that but marriage is srs business and I think Snow may have finally realized that.

Anyways I adore NoelxSerah a lot more than I expected I would adfoajdf so many feelings must feed them with all the fics.

come here let me love you

let's all just get in a big group hug and deal with all these feelings okay

I feel conflicted. I feel a certain loyalty to SnowxSerah, plus they're engaged. But hnnng, NoelxSerah is just so perfect. Why did SE have to make a better pairing after already establishing one?

i honestly have no idea how SE is going to justify making snow/serah endgame at this point

they seemed to do everything in their power to make sure snow had nothing at all to do with serah's life anymore

 

[Splintered]

omg guise, dissenting opinions about ships D<

Spoiler: pro Snow/Serah blabbling

Just a disclaimer, not trying to rain on anybody's parade or start a ship war. I'll leave that for tumblr or some other shit. Just this conversation got me thinking.

I'm firmly in the Serah/Snow and don't see it not being canon in the end. I actually like the fact they don't spend a good deal around each other, to me it felt like writers were making a point, you don't need to be around forever and ever to be in love and you can have other primary relationships. I thought the fact that Serah wears her engagement ring throughout the entire game much more poignant than any other Serah/Snow moment in the games- it's less in your face and kind of shows their level of commitment without overly sappy moments.

It's weird because I actually like Serah-Noel better, but in a completely non romantic way, like platonic life partners. And I don't actually enjoy Snow-Serah sap, I really like the idea of it. The closest terms I can say about it is, well if anyone played Lost Odyssey, the main leads Sarah and Kaim are married and they love each other, but there's never ever development- you just know they love and trust each other without any moments that are really romantic. Even with the overly heavy handed scenes with Snow/Sarah, I kind of feel that's like it. I'm not extremely attached to the romance itself- it's overly pushy, narmy, and lacks the development that gets people into it. But I like the idea of two, confident people where there is no real jealousy or omgwilltheywonthey, doing their own thing but still together.

When we met Snow, I actually likedSnow and Noel's interaction more than I liked Snow and Serah's. Noel was snarking and angsting in Snow's direction and Snow was absolutely not giving a shit. And I like how there's that tension that had nothing to do with romance, and more of Noel projecting what little emotional baggage he had on Snow, and Snow being an idiot and just doing his own thing.

I like two protagonists that go off with each other and say "dude I'm off limits" in the beginning, never really bring it up, and doesn't have weird romantic subtext in everything they do. Think about it this way- Enix is going to make a new game right? With only two characters you follow the entire story. And those characters will be Snow and Serah.

Horrifying.

Actually, I had a a hard time trying to put my finger on what I thought Serah/Noel were like. Some moments seemed really shippy, and other moments it confirmed it was completely platonic. To be fair, I felt the same way with Noel and Yuel, and that made me kind of "do no want"- even if 15 and 18 isn't that bad- and much better than 14-21, still meh.

It made more sense to me once I got use to the idea of words guardian-farseer, because I could sort of tap into that ffx sense. Now I see Yuel-Noel as more of a yuna and kimihari/wakka thing, where they aren't really family and they aren't really good friends- but it's a very intense almost spiritual bond and one where Yuna is the most important person in their lives- and has nothing to do with love. I also put Serah and Noel there with one major exception- Serah and Noel are equals and best friends as well, added that Noel is technically a failure knight and we get the ending of XIII-2.

Which... even to my rationalizing looks extremely shippy. So I don't get whiney with Serah/Noel fans like a lot of Snow/Serah fans I've been seeing around. What's up with that anyway?



That said the only thing I take issue with

Speaking of Snow, I think the dude definitely is feeling some chilly feet. He was way too quick to tell Noel the wedding was on hold. That's not to say he doesn't love Serah or shit like that but marriage is srs business and I think Snow may have finally realized that.

(not my intention to pick on you, I just like character debates)

I really disagree with this. I don't think Snow's the kind of guy who shies away from commitment. Just looking at the first game, he's the one that proposes marriage, and uses words like "I promised to be hers forever."

Personally I interpreted as a circumstance thing, like I saw a lot of the trouble Snow/Serah was in- both game 1 and game 2. They've got no problem being together but when the situation arises, they go off and do what they need to do, even if it's apart.

Snow was distant because he had become a l'cie and knew he would probably disappear after the paradox is resolved. But he's dumb and clumsy with words when it isn't declarations of passionate love so he sort of moves away from it. It's also one of the reasons he always has SRS FAEC whenever Noel and Serah jump into a gate. Most of all he knows exactly how Serah will react- the same way she reacted when did find out, severe angsting for about ten seconds. It wasn't right of him to do, but it's understandable.

I found the game to be incredibly easy for the most part, and then every now and then I'd come across some really fucking difficult fight and die repeatedly.

I thought this too, XIII-2 had a weird difficulty curve that was all over the place. I think I finished the game overleveled though. So I'm eventually going to go through the game again, but speed run it and keep myself underleveled because I was disappointed how I kind of just streamrolled over Caius.

 

[Zee]

Snow/Serah probably will still be endgame, but damn that's gonna be a bitter pill to swallow when they created a character that's actually perfect for her. And, as you said, we don't SEE any development between Snow/Serah. Sometimes that kind of thing works -- I mean, we don't see how Fang and Vanille's relationship developed, but we still get something! They have a decent amount of time apart and when they get together we see them being a couple, just small things like Fang always touching Vanille and being by her side and it's really sweet! We don't need a whole lot of back story because you just kinda get why they work and with Snow and Serah that's...not the case.

I'm just the kind of person that needs to have some sort of attachment to the relationship to give a damn about it. If the game can't even be assed to have Snow around when Serah dies, when even Sazh can come out of the clear blue sky for no reason, it gives me the impression the game could care less about the relationship and therefore why should I?

Think about it this way- Enix is going to make a new game right? With only two characters you follow the entire story. And those characters will be Snow and Serah.

Horrifying.

Man, that's a problem. If SE realizes they created a couple so terribly irritating they can't even give them any extended interaction, they done fucked up.

 

[Splintered]

If the game can't even be assed to have Snow around when Serah dies, when even Sazh can come out of the clear blue sky for no reason, it gives me the impression the game could care less about the relationship and therefore why should I?

Actually, that does bring up a good point on what the hell Snow was doing at the time. I'm assuming he's actually doing important shit because he's going to get a novella but I sort of want a dlc. And I sort of don't want it, because I feel Snow is best when he's not a main character and I wouldn't want to be stuck with him a whole story.

But getting access to novellas is such a fucking pain, and I've been wanting so bad to read Fragments Before but I can't even find a place for good summaries. At least a dlc would be easy to get... or youtube. And Snow could have the Shiva sisters as the second and third party member. JUS' SAYING.

I mean, we don't see how Fang and Vanille's relationship developed, but we still get something!

To be fair, Fang is amazing and Fang/Vanille outstrips most relationships. Also, they were together most of the time, Snow and Serah have always been apart by circumstances. *shrugs*

 

[Dana Scully]

For the record, the reason I'm not addressing most of your post Splintered is that it's awesome and I actually agree with a lot of your points.

When we met Snow, I actually likedSnow and Noel's interaction more than I liked Snow and Serah's. Noel was snarking and angsting in Snow's direction and Snow was absolutely not giving a shit. And I like how there's that tension that had nothing to do with romance, and more of Noel projecting what little emotional baggage he had on Snow, and Snow being an idiot and just doing his own thing.

this. this this this thank you square for not making it into some stupid forced love triangle.

I like two protagonists that go off with each other and say "dude I'm off limits" in the beginning, never really bring it up, and doesn't have weird romantic subtext in everything they do.

The funny thing is, I think part of the reason I like NoelxSerah so much is precisely because there was relatively little romantic subtext. I mean yes there's plenty of shipper fodder if you want there to be but almost all of their interactions are based around mutual respect and comradery rather than some painfully blatant romantic tension. I feel like it leaves a lot more room for interpretation for both the characters and their relationship, whether it be romantic or platonic. That wiggle room is the reason I almost always prefer crack ships over canon.

That said the only thing I take issue with
(not my intention to pick on you, I just like character debates)

I really disagree with this. I don't think Snow's the kind of guy who shies away from commitment. Just looking at the first game, he's the one that proposes marriage, and uses words like "I promised to be hers forever."

Personally I interpreted as a circumstance thing, like I saw a lot of the trouble Snow/Serah was in- both game 1 and game 2. They've got no problem being together but when the situation arises, they go off and do what they need to do, even if it's apart.

See, my issue with Snow is that he strikes me as being unable to ever give up the role of HERROOOO and doesn't seem to have any problem leaving Serah behind in order to save the world, even when it's not his responsibility. While that's rather admirable, I feel like he's more committed to being a hero than to being a husband. The least he could have done is ask Serah if she wanted to come along - she was pretty darn willing to go gallivanting with Noel so I can't see why she wouldn't have gone with Snow if he would have let her.

And I just don't understand why they didn't get married. Snow fought through a 40 hour game to be reunited with his fiancee, and the moment they find each other again he takes off again? I guess the argument could be made that Serah wouldn't have wanted to get married without Lightning around, but that just doesn't seem like a good enough reason. Serah seemed pretty eager when mentioning the marriage during the reunion scene. And iirc didn't Snow want to marry Serah regardless of her l'Cie status in XIII? In which case even his being rebranded wouldn't strike me as a reason to act as distant as he did.

 

[Dana Scully]

I honestly think it could've been that at first, but now, I think it's more like Snow doesn't want to without Lightning there to witness it, for some reason idk. He even mentions getting her blessing.. but didn't he already at the end of FFXIII?... oh wait I forgot he forgot that part nvm lmao

Yeah, he would've forgotten but Serah would've remembered.

Yannow the sad thing is, Snow/Serah fans on tumblr are blaming her for him acting distant. Apparently she's a bitch or something idk. I must've missed that part.

...waht

how do people come up with these things

 

[Splintered]

See, my issue with Snow is that he strikes me as being unable to ever give up the role of HERROOOO and doesn't seem to have any problem leaving Serah behind in order to save the world, even when it's not his responsibility. While that's rather admirable, I feel like he's more committed to being a hero than to being a husband. The least he could have done is ask Serah if she wanted to come along - she was pretty darn willing to go gallivanting with Noel so I can't see why she wouldn't have gone with Snow if he would have let her.

This is the only part of Snow/Serah I actually see strain in so I agree. Although, like I said, I kind of like the idea of that. That being husband and in love doesn't automatically override his need to save the world and that you can still be in love and do your own thing. And that it doesn't overshadow the other issues of the game, Serah and Snow might be in love but the primary relationship in Serah's mind is not her love interest but her sister.

Although I kind of lol whenever I see Serah freak out over the l'cie brand, because she does the equivalent of his actions- she continues to change the future knowing she would probably die from it. Hell even Noel does the same thing, in game he talks about the possibility of him disappearing and doesn't care.

And I just don't understand why they didn't get married. Snow fought through a 40 hour game to be reunited with his fiancee, and the moment they find each other again he takes off again? I guess the argument could be made that Serah wouldn't have wanted to get married without Lightning around, but that just doesn't seem like a good enough reason. Serah seemed pretty eager when mentioning the marriage during the reunion scene. And iirc didn't Snow want to marry Serah regardless of her l'Cie status in XIII? In which case even his being rebranded wouldn't strike me as a reason to act as distant as he did.

I actually think that not getting married without Lightning's blessing very Snow, moreso than Serah. It wasn't an argument that made him go off, it's the acknowledgement that Lightning is out there and he is going off to find her. Because before that, Serah was extremely conflicted and marrying a woman that in a depression over his sister seems kind of wrong. Even moreso, Snow and the rest of NORA was actually rebuilding society, that entire village sprang up within three years.

So while they could have gotten married: Serah was emotionally conflicted, Snow always had absolute trust and faith in Serah which translates into believing what she said- doesn't think they should marry when Serah is in this state and since he believes Lightning is alive- would never dream of marrying her without Lightning present, and him trying to rebuild his home, would simply get in the way. He asked her to wait for him, and tbh I don't know why she didn't go with him. Maybe neither of them knew it was going to take so long. Or maybe Snow disappeared before he could come back or contact her in anyway. There's actually a live trigger that explains why she decided to wait, but I just think that Snow wasn't sure Serah was ready as a fighter. I mean, Noel waited for Caius to return as well, even though he was a fighter and could handle it (granted he had Yuel to protect)

Snow begins to notice that shit is getting real but isn't strong enough to stop it, so he does the only thing he can do- become a l'cie. When they meet again, he knew what that meant and how Serah would react so he acted a bit emotionally distant. I actually don't think he was distant while he was living with Serah, just that they, actually very wisely, decided not to get married during a very tense time.

Yannow the sad thing is, Snow/Serah fans on tumblr are blaming her for him acting distant. Apparently she's a bitch or something idk. I must've missed that part.

Ugh.

Some fans.

 

[Zee]

To be fair, Fang is amazing and Fang/Vanille outstrips most relationships. Also, they were together most of the time, Snow and Serah have always been apart by circumstances. *shrugs*

Oh yeah, they def do, but...I mean, after the entire game of Snow struggling to get Lightning's approval, and then them finally getting to be together we should be looking forward to see the fruits of all that labor and finally getting decent interaction between them, not giving a big sigh of relief that they're barely together so we don't have to hear SERAHHHH or HEROOOOOO for the next 50 hours

or if anything it would have been an opportunity to give snow/serah some depth besides the hero complex/hero worship that seems to define them, except that somehow snow is even more irritating in the sequel :\

The funny thing is, I think part of the reason I like NoelxSerah so much is precisely because there was relatively little romantic subtext. I mean yes there's plenty of shipper fodder if you want there to be but almost all of their interactions are based around mutual respect and comradery rather than some painfully blatant romantic tension. I feel like it leaves a lot more room for interpretation for both the characters and their relationship, whether it be romantic or platonic. That wiggle room is the reason I almost always prefer crack ships over canon.

oh same

i actually feel like SE is almost always better when they're not really trying, or when they're subtle with relationships. when they go outright canon they seem to always go melodramatic and i don't know why

THANK YOU. I feel like I'm the only one who sees it that way--at least on Tumblr and it bugs me. Sure 15/18 isn't THAT bad.. but the problem is she doesn't even LOOK 15--she looks like she's 9. Plus the fact her face goes to his crotch lolwut, shes like a child. That pairing is as squicky as Hope/Light in FFXIII to me.

I don't see any romantic scenes towards them, it's exactly as you said. Shippers say it's because he says "my Yeul", but I take it to mean his Yeul from..yannow... his timeline. That's all. Also the fact that she seemed to want to be more with Caius than Noel? So yeah. At least from Noel's speech at the end anyway. But they ignore that <_<

yeul/anyone freaks me out

also i feel like they were going for more of a family dynamic with those three rather than a love triangle yet everyone in the fandom is still trying to force it and it's just....noooooo....she's a lil baby st0p

 

[Splintered]

not giving a big sigh of relief that they're barely together so we don't have to hear SERAHHHH or HEROOOOOO for the next 50 hours

My brother and I laughed our asses off when we first met Snow, because the very first words we hear him say is SERAAAAH. It's an inside joke now... I guess you had to be there >__>

or if anything it would have been an opportunity to give snow/serah some depth besides the hero complex/hero worship that seems to define them, except that somehow snow is even more irritating in the sequel :\

lol I'm completely the opposite, I actually like Snow more in this sequel. I hated him in the original game, but here it just seems like they had fun with his character.

He was so freaking ridiculous that I enjoyed it. It was like... they understood that Snow was ridiculous in the first game and instead of shying away from it, they picked it up and ran with it.

Snow has crazy people's hair, he dresses like a hobo, he lives in a forest in the future, he rides on the back of animal friends, he fights super powered flans of all things, and he does it to heavy metal music. And when chastised, he's like "lol okay, fucks not given, how about a handshake?"

That's amazing.

Personally I think this is where Snow is best. Where's not a main character and we aren't forced to be with him the entire time and watch his development. And it's not all about SERAHSERAHSERAHSERAH. It's still important, but like I said, he can an interesting tension with Noel and Vanille and Fang. Actually I point to this as the major reason why I like Snow this time around.

There's nothing that endears me more to a character than when they are respectful for a fallen comrade. Things like in Advent Children when they all wear pink bands, that actually makes me feel warm and fuzzy. So Snow fighting to protect Vanille and Fang, yeah it made me d'aawwww. Especially because you can see how close they were in game one. And there's a live trigger option where Snow gets to talk about them, and he talks about them so fondly that it makes me smile.

Am I the only one who thinks XIII-2 Snow is superior to XIII Snow?

 

[Zee]

like, i think the narm charm is cute to...an extent i guess? i mean i think they realized how over the top snow was but at the same time i feel like the sorta just...crapped on any character development he had. a big part of xiii was that they all had to come together as a group because splitting up to run off on a roaring rampage of revenge, or to play hero, or running out of fear just wasn't going to cut it. they all had to rely on each other.

so in xiii-2 when rather than downplaying the hero aspect (his most annoying quality) they amped it up to 1000%, i'm just sitting here asking WHY. at least all the other cast members have the decency to be completely disgusted by him. rather than saying, hey serah, since you remember all this stuff, it'd probably be a good idea for you to come along, he wants her to sit tight while he plays hero and MAKE SURE YOUR HIPS ARE READY FOR CHILDBIRTH WHEN I GET BACK ; DDDDD

And when chastised, he's like "lol okay, fucks not given, how about a handshake?"

his complete dismissal of noel and hope's calling out really just irritates me more

like his

STUPID GODDAMN PARADOX ENDING

where he literally just pops in and forcibly drags serah by the arm without even saying hi and even hope is like dude what the fuck is even wrong with you???? and he's just like HA HA HA HEROOOOOO and then decides to demote noel to babysitting

noel

who was personally invested and knew caius and is the only one who can defeat him

and then decides to keep changing the timeline without knowing what the fuck is going on (lol serah would die in like 2 days because he'd keep forcing her to have visions nice going!!!)

honestly i can't even give two fucks that he's protecting vanille and fang from flan
esp when you get a message from them like oh my god can this idiot snow just stop already what is he even doing

like being crushed under the pillar is favorable to having snow around all the time

i know the feeling ladies

 

[Lex]

I agree, I vastly preferred Snow in XIII-2.

The main thing this game lacked for me is just Fang and Vanille, but mostly Fang. I have huge fannygallop for Fang. In that scene with Vanille, I was expecting it to just be Vanille. Then out pops the most awesome character ever. That scene actually brought excited tears to my eyes. I physically moved up and down and squeezed my hands together, and it STILL WASN'T ENOUGH! Moar Fang plz. I am a huge Fang fanboy, and IDGAF!!!!

 

[Tifabelle]

oh god there are a lot of big paragraphs here, so I'm just going to comment on some random things that caught my eye.

I do still ship SnowxSerah. And I wouldn't want SE to break that up. However, I do see NoelxSerah as appealing. And maybe it's because, as was said, there's more development and interaction with Noel than there is with Snow. Even when they meet up in XIII-2.

Oh and don't even get me started on Snow not being there when she died. I said that to Sami, I think. Yeah, he should have been there. For their relationship development, but for development of Snow's character as well. I mean, the death of his fiance would be rather significant in his life, don't cha think?


As for YeulxNoel.... I sort of get it on the "we're the last two people on earth" sort of way. I understand the basics, and he did care about her (although imo not in that way). But yeah... kinda odd.


If I've learned anything being a fan of things over the years, it's that people appreciate more subtle romantic hints and whispers and little moments of romance than being bashed over the head with it. Where the characters aren't defined or consumed by it. But rather it's integrated into little things.

 

[Fangu]

I think the ending was as it was to keep the plotline tight. The reference from Noel and Serah to Caius and Yeul is obvious in the end, which is why I liked it so much. I did think about Snow, and I remember thinking that this might look weird in some ways. But I understood why it was done that way, so I accepted it. Snow was a B character in this game, having him in the end without having Fang, Vanille, Lightning, Sazh there... would just be wrong.

 

[Bex]

i just finished it today with around 80-ish fragments.

BUT GODDAMNIT SQUARE it feels like they have literally shit in my pillowcase
BASTARDS i was actually starting to like Serah
pls god don't say the main protags of the next one will be Snow and Noel
because i just dont think i can handle it

 

[Splintered]

i just finished it today with around 80-ish fragments.

BUT GODDAMNIT SQUARE it feels like they have literally shit in my pillowcase
BASTARDS i was actually starting to like Serah
pls god don't say the main protags of the next one will be Snow and Noel
because i just dont think i can handle it

All the women in FFXIII are so awesome and overpowered in the game that they need to kill them off or everyone will forget the dudes. That's my theory anyway

 

[Celesta]

There's nothing that endears me more to a character than when they are respectful for a fallen comrade. Things like in Advent Children when they all wear pink bands, that actually makes me feel warm and fuzzy. So Snow fighting to protect Vanille and Fang, yeah it made me d'aawwww. Especially because you can see how close they were in game one. And there's a live trigger option where Snow gets to talk about them, and he talks about them so fondly that it makes me smile.

Wait, what? How did I miss this

 

[Aqua]

All the women in FFXIII are so awesome and overpowered in the game that they need to kill them off or everyone will forget the dudes. That's my theory anyway

Well there's one FFXIII female who is just as sassy and amazing as ever and she's been allowed to live. So maybe there's hope.

 

[Bex]

Well there's one FFXIII female who is just as sassy and amazing as ever and she's been allowed to live. So maybe there's hope.

i hope you dont mean lightning
cuz in that ending she looked pretty dead

i swear
SE are women haters

did you see what they did to jihl nabaat