Final Fantasy XIII-2

[Glaurung]

No info has been released about the rest of the group (Sazh, Snow, Hope) yet. We will have to wait until TGS.

 

[Arianna]

Vanille is not one of my favoirte characters, not because of how SE presented her, but because she's the only person who actually knows what's going on and she doesn't tell anyone even when the opportunity presents itself. If she had told Fang what had happened right after they had gotten out of crystal stasis...

... and ...

Too bad SE trivialize her backstory with their presentation of the character itself.

Vanille is a fictional character. Her hardships are not real. They have to be made real to me, and Vanille utterly fails at doing so.

I can't argue against this point. It really would have been nice if the past was played out for us, with a bit more detail than Sazh's story regarding how Dajh became Kajata's l'Cie. We did need this information.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

The more said about this game the more excited and hopeful I become. I really feel like they can deliver something awesome for the first time in a while.

Yeah I think people overreact about pre-rendered cutscenes. I rather like them, myself. If a game has too many cutscenes, it has too many cutscenes, it doesn't matter when they're rendered.

The problem with them being pre-rendered versus using the in-game engine is that there's no opportunity for the player to interact with what should be among the game's most amazing gameplay set pieces.

FFXIII was full of such missed opportunities. There were nothing comparable to the Midgar highway chase from VII despite opportunities for such things.

Hell, the fact that we didn't even get to fight Titan is another example of failure. Seems like the message got to the developers' ears on that note as well, which is probably why they're giving us Atlus this time around.

 

[Tetsujin]

FFXIII was full of such missed opportunities. There were nothing comparable to the Midgar highway chase from VII despite opportunities for such things.

There has been nothing comparable to the highway chase ever since the...well, the highway chase. I always wondered about that and it makes me a sad panda. D:

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

A good point, but there have at least been interactive moments at other times -- even if it was something like a glorified game of Paper, Rock, Scissors when Squall fought a Galbadian Paratrooper in the sky above the Gardens in FFVIII. That's one of the most memorable experiences in FFVIII, enhanced greatly by the fact that you get to be part of it instead of just watching it.

Looking at just VIII, it has other examples of such moments -- uncoupling train cars during the Forest Owls mission and rescuing Rinoa in space. These little moments of interactivity add up to have great value.

Imagine how much better remembered your FFXIII experience would be if you could have had a hand in controlling any of the many experiences where the characters took to the air, or if you could have participated in that amazing-looking sequence where they descend on Eden.

 

[Tetsujin]

A good point, but there have at least been interactive moments at other times -- even if it was something like a glorified game of Paper, Rock, Scissors when Squall fought a Galbadian Paratrooper in the sky above the Gardens in FFVIII. That's one of the most memorable experiences in FFVIII, enhanced greatly by the fact that you get to be part of it instead of just watching it.

Looking at just VIII, it has other examples of such moments -- uncoupling train cars during the Forest Owls mission and rescuing Rinoa in space. These little moments of interactivity add up to have great value.

Ah true. Those belong to my favourite moments of FFVIII.

 

[ForceStealer]

The problem with them being pre-rendered versus using the in-game engine is that there's no opportunity for the player to interact with what should be among the game's most amazing gameplay set pieces.

But that still has nothing to do with the cutscenes being prerendered. A cutscene is not interactive by definition. So again, too many cutscenes is too many cutscenes, regardless of how its rendered.

Hell, the fact that we didn't even get to fight Titan is another example of failure.

I dunno, I feel like killing Titan would cause some problems on Pulse, considering he keeps the whole ecosystem going
But I guess if just fighting, if not killing, him would be enough for you

 

[Kobato]

Looking at just VIII, it has other examples of such moments -- uncoupling train cars during the Forest Owls mission and rescuing Rinoa in space.

Not if you hated Rinoa though. To most people getting the message that Rinoa was lost in space forever is a better ending to FF8 than the one that you actually got.

And yeah, where's Sazh ? He was actually a very decent character and one of the best parts of FF13.

 

[Dana Scully]

If they're going to give us any 'interactive cutscenes' or whatever the fuck you want to call them I hope they go the Tifa/Scarlet slap-fight route and let us punch Snow repeatedly in the face.

 

[Terrafig]

I rather liked the constantly looming idea of YOUR GREAT AND POWERFUL OVERSEER, Titan, rather than something that you can hit with a sword. Watching him run around and thinking "hoshit" without ever having to confront him is a nice touch.

I would like to see more Titan in the sequel.

 

[ForceStealer]

I agree, but speaking of - was there ever an explanation for what the deal was with that circle of Cie'th Stones on the Archylte Steppe? Every time you activated one, Titan roared and it became real foggy.
It contained many of the hardest Hunts, but not all of them were hard. And of course when you succeeded in all of them the Adamantoises were replaced with Long Gui's...but I never figured out what that little scene was about.

 

[Mariketsu]

I don't think seeing a strange fal'Cie destroy your entire home - which not only includes the people and the city/town that 'home' incorporated, but also the entire land area around it, as well as all other lives - plants, animals, and the like - is a sob-story. I think it's unfair to label someone's hard times in any negative way.

Still, I can agree with you that it would have been nice to have been introduced (at the very least) to the horrors that she and Fang had witnessed. Why did Pulse hate Cocoon so much, and vice versa? Episodes 0 and 1 are interesting additions to the what is mentioned in the game; but, some of the information from Episode 0 would have been helpful to know in the progress of the game.

^ This is exactly why I felt it should've been a Prequel and not a damn Sequel.. but I digress. I might play this one largely because Serah seems to be a main and I like her way more than Lightning .

Still should've been a Prequel tho.

~ Raz

 

[Arianna]

I rather liked the constantly looming idea of YOUR GREAT AND POWERFUL OVERSEER, Titan, rather than something that you can hit with a sword. Watching him run around and thinking "hoshit" without ever having to confront him is a nice touch. ... I would like to see more Titan in the sequel.

I would have yelled "Hi Titan!" and waved at him from afar.

I'm weird that way.

I want a lot more fal'Cie action in XIII-2! Cocoon and Pulse fal'Cie!

And no, I don't believe all the Cocoon fal'Cie are dead.

^ This is exactly why I felt it should've been a Prequel and not a damn Sequel.. but I digress. I might play this one largely because Serah seems to be a main and I like her way more than Lightning .

Still should've been a Prequel tho.

~ Raz

Prequel or sequel seems very interesting to me.

Still, I can see how a prequel would have possibly wrapped up things in a neater package than a sequel.

They (whoever at Square; Kitase or someone) said that the sequel was going to explain the behind-the-scenes actions that happened in XIII.

We should understand everything about XIII by XIII-2's end. ???

 

[Terrafig]

was there ever an explanation for what the deal was with that circle of Cie'th Stones on the Archylte Steppe? Every time you activated one, Titan roared and it became real foggy.
It contained many of the hardest Hunts, but not all of them were hard. And of course when you succeeded in all of them the Adamantoises were replaced with Long Gui's

Are you referring to the five or so hunts that are Titan's Trials? I think those are the ones where he appears and the weather changes. They all talk about some "truth" to discover. He's overseeing those missions, and I think he's using the l'Cie as pawns to weed the ecosystem.

Beyond that, I'm not sure what the "truth" is or if there's another purpose to his appearance beyond looking cool.

 

[ForceStealer]

No, not the Titan's Trials, it's right on the Steppe with all the Adamantoises. It's 6 or so Cie'th stones arranged in a circle.

 

[Terrafig]

Ah, you have a good memory. I'm guessing you're supposed to connect the transformation of the Adams to Titan so it doesn't seem completely random. All the mission texts reference "life's circle" and "the soul," so it's possible that this area of the Steppes have particular significance for the Fal'Cie and/or Pulse.

 

[Selphie Tilmitt]

Vanille is not one of my favoirte characters, not because of how SE presented her, but because she's the only person who actually knows what's going on and she doesn't tell anyone even when the opportunity presents itself. If she had told Fang what had happened right after they had gotten out of crystal stasis...

That would have interfered with her great and grand plan of running away so she could return to Gran Pulse and become a Cie'th in peace

(SPOILERS)



Seriously though if she had spoken up then Fang would have known what their Focus was again and she would have wanted/coaxed/coerced/encouraged/forced Vanille to do it and/or would have been more than willing to repeat the past all over and become Ragnarok again with or without Vanille if that's what it took to save her/prevent Vanille becoming Cie'th. Fang didn't give a rat's ass about Cocoon nor the people in it to start with, she just wanted to ensure Vanille would be alright and to hell with the rest of world

(damn the girl even "betrayed"/turned on you/your own team not only once, not twice but three times all out of love/concern for Vanille )

On the other hand if later on Vanille had told Lightning and the others about it when she first met up with them they would have probably immediately tried to kill her or even worse to hand her over to the Sanctum (imagine the glee of Barthandelus to have everything fall right into his hands, especially if the team took Vanille to Eden to hand her over and they all ended up in Edenhall/Orphan's Cradle right at the very beginning before FFXIII/their journey had even got started <_<) Sure getting herself killed though would have been another way of fulfilling her objective of not becoming Ragnarok/destroying Cocoon, ensuring the safety of the people and that her focus wasn't carried out forever but when put in the actual firing ling/under pressure like that she might still have become really afraid and/or upset and then winded up becoming Ragnarok anyway

Vanille didn't know these people in the beginning and they didn't know her. She had no reason to trust them with the truth. Their behavior back then probably only just reinforced her opinion what with the extreme anger/fear/venom/loathing some of them exhibited like going on about how Pulse was hell, all L'Cie were monsters, all L'Cie should die, there is no hope for L'Cie Sazh was even willing to kill Serah, a Cocoon citizen never mind the Pulse ones and Lightning was also deeply freaked out, acting/reacting on emotions. If this was the reaction of others to fellow Cocoonians or to people they knew/loved I don't think Vanille stood a chance.

(yeah don't remember if it's also told in game but in the novella it's revealed the reason Vanille is on the train in the beginning of the game is because she wants to return to Pulse and live out the rest of her life in peace, until she becomes Cie'th - so she'll no longer be a threat to others with her focus)

 

[Arianna]

No, not the Titan's Trials, it's right on the Steppe with all the Adamantoises. It's 6 or so Cie'th stones arranged in a circle.

I don't know if it's the official name, but this group of Cie'th stones is called 'The Circle of Life'.

 

[Lemming]

FF13-2 is looking lame imho. Debate with me I love that stuff. But FFX-2 was lame and this seems to me just another one of those quick money making projects.

 

[Dana Scully]

So what about it is 'lame'? Hard to debate something so vague.

 

[Lemming]

I thought FF13 was good for ps3 ect, but weak in the FF series of games. So there is not a need for another game, thats my debate, no need for 13-2.

 

[Ghost X]

I'm pretty certain there are sequels out there that are better than the original. None come to mind, but I'm certain they exist. I think the FFXIII story seems to have potential, whether they can bring it out is the question.

 

[Username]

Sheep, you are sheep.

Agree with Lemming, man, we should hook up.

 

[Max Payne]

I'm pretty certain there are sequels out there that are better than the original. None come to mind, but I'm certain they exist. I think the FFXIII story seems to have potential, whether they can bring it out is the question.

Uncharted 2 immediately comes to mind.

 

[ForceStealer]

As I've said before, video games are the ONE medium in which sequels are routinely better then the originals. I imagine because it's easy to identify gameplay hiccups and correct them without changing the feeling. Movies and books and the like have to try and recapture the essence which is harder.

You can certainly wear out a gaming series. But there are a lot of games with a "2" after them that are better than their predecessor.