Final Fantasy XIII-2

[Max Payne]

Lol he still looks ridiculous

 

[Fangu]

I'm just wondering what he needs all those pockets for.

Spoiler: Bad M-rated joke

Condoms? Guess he still didn't get laid, poor boy

 

[Tetsujin]

Lots of pockets are still more useful than lots of zippers, I suppose.

 

[Ghost X]

How exactly is he supposed to open those things on his belt?

 

[Splintered]

It looks like two girls readying for a dildo fight. Meh

So you're saying lesbians are confirmed.

 

[Fangu]

So Caius is like that chick in "The L Word" - he's a man trapped inside a girl's body, but he (she) still likes girls, so he's a lesbian?

 

[OneWingedDemon]

Wtf are the double buckles for? It's such a stupid look, although I suppose compared to Noel anything is better.

That having been said, boots look decent. I always hate how boots fit these fictional fuckers perfectly and there's no creasing and such around the ankle area. That shit always happens to me. =(

 

[Tennyo]

^Same, so many cute boots, ruined...

 

[Celes Chere]

I think he looks amazeballs. For me it's not HOW he opens the pockets, but what inside them is so important that you have to go through such a process to open them. ORRR maybe the belts are simply just clip ons for show.

 

[Fangu]

You can now switch instantly between Paradigms. This will help out with the pacing during the game's basic battles, as the focus for these is on speed.

XIII-2 makes one major improvement to the usability of the paradigm system: the game will now save your paradigm combinations, so you can easily switch them out.

Toriyama suggested that the bosses in XIII-2 may be tougher than those of the original FFXIII.

That is sweet music to my ears!!

 

[AvecAloes]

Paradigm Shifts
You can now switch instantly between Paradigms.

This makes me happy. Really, really happy.

Blood damage was added to the game because Toriyama wanted to fix the problem where if you had a healer in your party you could win the battle by just taking your time. Blood damage can't be healed by healers, although there are items that will recover it.

This...sounds kind of like an annoyance but we'll see how it works!

Summons
The game will have summon creatures. However, they will not appear in the same form as in the original FFXIII, as the characters are not l'Cie this time.

I'm also glad they're doing this. It's something I've been missing in X-2, actually.

Wondering what happens if Serah an Noel die leaving the monster as the sole member of your party? You won't be able to take control of the monster. When the two human characters die, the game ends.

So does this mean that it's no longer the same system where if the party leader dies, the game is over? I'm not sure if this was addressed before in the forums (I did try to catch up as best as I could but I didn't read everything thoroughly) so please forgive my ignorance.

 

[Splintered]

Glad to hear about the paragims stuff. Especially saving you paragim deck (switching out characters often meant I had to redo my deck constantly >___>)

Blood damage was added to the game because Toriyama wanted to fix the problem where if you had a healer in your party you could win the battle by just taking your time. Blood damage can't be healed by healers, although there are items that will recover it.

I always thought Senitels made it so that you would always win if you had patience, not necessarily a healer (although two healers could make you damn invincible) but eh, whatever/

Balance
Balancing the battles has been difficult, in part because they don't know in what state the player will be when they enter a particular area.

The team made a special program just for balancing work. The program analyzes the test players' logs, and can output such things as how the payer defeated the boss.

The game is being balanced so that, at the extreme, it might be possible to clear the game by defeating bosses. Of course, you can go the traditional route and build up your characters gradually. The game does not place caps on your characters' growth.

I was interested in this as well. FFXIII worked in part because they could cap growth but also because by placing some monsters around on a very linear map they knew where you would be basically. XIII-2 seems inherently nonlinear, you can even replay missions, so it would be hard to try to balance fights. I wonder if this means that they might try to make monsters will level up with you.

So does this mean that it's no longer the same system where if the party leader dies, the game is over? I'm not sure if this was addressed before in the forums (I did try to catch up as best as I could but I didn't read everything thoroughly) so please forgive my ignorance.

I'm pretty sure this was said. At least I know it was confirmed you can switch party leaders (Noel-Serah) any time in the game.

 

[Lumina]

Let me loav you Alex. AKDSFAJEFHSDJH Hope in High Resolution. Nothing hurts or matters. Final Fantasy XIII-2 got a little of my attention now.

 

[Catherine]

Difficulty
Toriyama suggested that the bosses in XIII-2 may be tougher than those of the original FFXIII. However, the game has an Easy Mode, so if you're having trouble with a boss, you can turn the difficulty down. And if you still can't defeat a boss, one option may be to temporarily give up and move on to another scenario.

Blood damage was added to the game because Toriyama wanted to fix the problem where if you had a healer in your party you could win the battle by just taking your time. Blood damage can't be healed by healers, although there are items that will recover it.

Balance
Balancing the battles has been difficult, in part because they don't know in what state the player will be when they enter a particular area.

The team made a special program just for balancing work. The program analyzes the test players' logs, and can output such things as how the payer defeated the boss.

The game is being balanced so that, at the extreme, it might be possible to clear the game by defeating bosses. Of course, you can go the traditional route and build up your characters gradually. The game does not place caps on your characters' growth.
[/spoiler]

I love love love this, especially the 'optional' bosses part. Seems like they really are giving a lot of freedom to the players this time around, IT'S AWESOME.

All these new features sound amazing and I'm so happy they're actually listening to the fans. I'm too excited for this game for my own good, omg.

 

[ForceStealer]

Saving paradigm decks was really the only feature I REALLY wanted in the paradigm system. Glad we're getting that.

 

[Catherine]

It looks nice, but it doesn't really make me jealous of the 360 players.
I do hope they'll release some kind of bonus for PS3 players too though!

 

[Lumina]

^^^^ Yep!
As long as they tear up Hope's month and send it my way. I am ok with it. =)

Also, I don't know if it was said but the official release date for this game is January 31. I went to gamestop the other day and they had a box saying that xD.

 

[Celes Chere]

well you should be jealous of us

 

[AvecAloes]

Eh, I'll take it on my PS3 any day. Speaking of, I think it's time I preordered this from Amazon. I want that pre-order bonus

 

[Lumina]

^^^Why? You will tear off Hope's part in the calendar and send it to me because you love me too much right? RIGHT? =D

 

[ForceStealer]

As long as they tear up Hope's month.

Fixed.

 

[AvecAloes]

Fixed.

HAHAHAHAHA yes.

 

[Glaurung]

ORRR maybe the belts are simply just clip ons for show.

I actually have a purse like that, with fake belts as ornament and clips to secure the lid XD

 

[Catherine]

Spoiler

 

[Guts]

Don't those Chocobos look vastly different to the ones in FFXIII or is my memory just trippin' out?