Final Fantasy XIII - Sum-Ups, Reviews, Opinions? *SPOILERS*

[Makoeyes987]

Mako, I'm on your side here, but I've read that FFXIII sold rather well in Japan. Perhaps one of us should pull up some numbers here to supplement ourselves.

Just want to make sure everyone is fighting with the right facts here.

It sold rather well initially, but if you look at the sales comparison of FFXIII versus other FF games, you can see that they've fallen far. Any hopes of FFXIII beating out FFVII are unfounded and hilarious.

The game went from being being in first place in terms of sales, to fourth. And its only gotten lower since Christmas, dude. It got beaten out by a 6 month old title after being out for only a couple of weeks. What the fuck is that?

 

[Zee]

There are several sources that contradict you (even some of your own) -- the game sold very well and there's more to the current drop in prices than people disliking or "not caring" about the game. But far be it from me to shatter your perception of reality, carry on.

 

[Makoeyes987]

There are several sources that contradict you (even some of your own) -- the game sold very well and the current drop in prices have far more to do with people disliking or "not caring" about the game. But far be it from me to shatter your perception of reality, carry on.

I never denied the game sold well initially. Read. The game has no long term profitability (i.e. maintaining a record of high sales). They're only going lower.

 

[ForceStealer]

Again. You can rationalize and normalize this as much as you want. But this shit shows FFXIII's sales and long term profitability are abysmal. If all of S-E's games sold like this, they'd be fucked.

If this is true...aren't they then? What game have they come out with that sold more lately?

I guess that DS Dragon Quest game? Well that sucks, because now they're just gonna make what few non-DS franchises they have left on that.

But Mako, dollars spent on the game now aren't going to encourage Square. They've gotten the reaction they're going to get and have already taken it however they're going to take it. Quit being so melodramatic.

 

[Makoeyes987]

If this is true...aren't they then? What game have they come out with that sold more lately?

Did you even read the links, for one? Because no, not all games sell like this and this is again, not normal devaluation in retail or buy-back price. Do you know how game sales work? KH2 had robust, consistent sales, even after the game was a year into its release. KH2 didn't start getting bought back 10 bucks after a year on the shelf. Nor did it price drop. So again. No, this is not normal.

But Mako, dollars spent on the game now aren't going to encourage Square. They've gotten the reaction they're going to get and have already taken it however they're going to take it. Quit being so melodramatic.

....Okay, so I guess its just normal for games to drop 90% in value six months in. My bad.

Any dollars spent anytime are improtant. You think S-E stops caring about making money when a game gets six months old? If this is so normal, find me another example of this and I'll eat my hat.

 

[Winter]

....Okay, so I guess its just normal for games to drop 90% in value six months in. My bad.

Severe drops in prices like this happen for books, movies, and video games all the time, especially to ones that are highly anticipated and therefore are the most expensive right after their release.

I could get Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix brand new in paperback for $10 even though I spent $40 on it at its release. Hell, Mass Effect 2 is like $20 now, and that game is fantastic.

Just because FFXIII's decline in price was a bit sharper doesn't mean SE is suddenly shitting bricks because they feel inadequate. They still made damn good profit off of that game.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Severe drops in prices like this happen for books, movies, and video games all the time, especially to ones that are highly anticipated and therefore are the most expensive right after their release.

It's not about it happening, its about it happening so soon, and so steep when the game is still new.

I could get Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix brand new in paperback for $10 even though I spent $40 on it at its release. Hell, Mass Effect 2 is like $20 now, and that game is fantastic.

The market for books and video games is not the same at all. Mass Effect wasn't 20 dollars six months into its release, either.

Just because FFXIII's decline in price was a bit sharper doesn't mean SE is suddenly shitting bricks because they feel inadequate. They still made damn good profit off of that game.

If they aren't, then they should. No ones denying they made a profit, but the profit sure as shit not as high as their other franchise installments. As numbers have already proven.

FFXII didn't get bought back or sold for less than half its retail price 6 months into its release. That's just silly.

 

[Winter]

The market for books and video games is not the same at all. Mass Effect wasn't 20 dollars six months into its release, either.

I said Mass Effect 2, and it's $20 right now and has been for a while.

I'm not saying the markets are the same for books, movies, and video games, but they do function similarly.

 

[Makoeyes987]

I said Mass Effect 2, and it's $20 right now and has been for a while.

I'm not saying the markets are the same for books, movies, and video games, but they do function similarly.

I'm talking brand new. Mass Effect 2, brand new, is still around 30 to 35 bucks from most resellers, which is in line for X-Box 360 games. They don't price as high as PS3 games do over the long run. PS3 and X-Box 360 games do not sell at the same price.

For a PS3 game to drop that low and sell back for so low, is not normal at all.

 

[ForceStealer]

Did you even read the links, for one? Because no, not all games sell like this and this is again, not normal devaluation in retail or buy-back price. Do you know how game sales work? KH2 had robust, consistent sales, even after the game was a year into its release. KH2 didn't start getting bought back 10 bucks after a year on the shelf. Nor did it price drop. So again. No, this is not normal.

Boy did you ever read my post wrong. My point was what SE games ARE selling really well now?

 

[Makoeyes987]

Boy did you ever read my post wrong. My point was what SE games ARE selling really well now?

Oh, I guess I did.

I honestly don't know. I'm sure BBS will be good for them however.

 

[Arianna]

Overall what I don't like about this game is that Square Enix seems to be - purposely avoiding gamer-view quality due to 'too much work.' They did this with Red XIII in Advent Children and Advent Children Complete - not to mention Dirge of Cerberus, and now with Final Fantasy XIII. If they are not going to make use of the PS3's abilities, then don't make the product for it. Saying this, though, I have only a PSP and a PS3 - I would not like to see the series go to a strictly (other) one-system line.

Take the time to give me the quality I expect from you, Square Enix. Don't give me reasons as to your failure or want to not do something; make it positive. If you want to go with a linear outline, fine - tell me the good points to that. If it means a longer, more indepth story with no side quests (but definitely more fleshed out characters with reasons I should care for them, as well as a storyline that doesn't confuse me) - I think I can take that. If it means a shoddy job story and/or gaming wise - don't give me that.

As crazy as it may sound: if it's quality, I'll pay $60 for a good story and graphics. Do I think XIII offered this - no. I honestly think graphics wise it's good; but, as said, story-wise, again - please give me something to mentally digest about each character. You are their creators - tell me why you think their story is important! Try to tell me something that makes me care: even if I dislike or even hate them! I did delve there with some of the characters, but sadly - they were more the side characters or the characters that seemed to have more invested in the story's goings on than the main characters! Personally, I find Barthandelus (Dysley, Orphan, Lindzei, Menrva), Cid, Yuug, Nora, Snow's band, and Jihl much more interesting.

They obviously don't love it enough to keep it. I'm sorry, maybe 'hate' is too strong a word. That would indicate some form of emotion or attachment. They just don't give a shit. The game's a waste of time and they want to sell it.

I liked some parts of it, and disliked others. Is there anything in this game that I love or hate? Nothing regarding the it's playability, for sure. To me, it's interesting to think over some bits, but it's not as stimulating as discussing Final Fantasy VII. This is my take on it. Of course, depending on the subject, I could discuss in length.

The game isn't all that long, some people do trade the game in after they finish to save up for whatever else is coming out. I love FFXIII, but I agree it doesn't have great replay value, so after you finish it there is no point in keeping it.

However, again, that doesn't mean the sole reason for the cheap buyback is that everyone hates it. The game got good reviews, sold well here and overseas, and now people are focusing on the new titles coming out.

I think this is where my opinion lies for the most part. The game itself really was not too engaging in the sense of you actually had to go out of your way to do some activities. I mean, it's pretty much everything was right in front of you. This is fine, but it didn't really make me want to stay in any one area for long. I did, to level up, but it was boring as hell at times.

Lastly, what I did like was the developing mythology and (for lack of better terms) beastiary - including humans and fal'cie. If Pulse, Lindzei, this "Goddess" character and so forth are names that will be in the XIII universe as repeating forces, I look forward to learning more about them. But, I'm really into real mythology and ancient religions so...

 

[DLPB]

I don't know why people use sales to support this "game" when it is clear even those crap horns at the world cup sell thousands.

A judge of this game will be in 10 years time, when there are a handful of people who actually still talk about it or "play" it (I use "" because it actually played itself mostly). It was another dumbing down along the lines of MGS series of late.

And I am getting tired of these excuses for it. Just accept it that the game was a mediocre attempt instead of embarrassing yourselves with desperate reasoning. Sure love the game if you must but please don't try to get round the fact that so much of what makes FF and JRPG was ripped out and what was left was served pretending to be a full dinner.

ps. the graffix were awesome innit

 

[Tetsujin]

The rocks sure were shiny.

Wait, somebody said that already.

=(

 

[Vossler]

I liked the game. Plain and simple. However, I didn't like the fact you couldn't really revisit some of those places. Just as a scenery thing you know? I felt like it was a waste with those spectacular graphics.

 

[ForceStealer]

Exactly. Was it their best work? Certainly not. Does it bode poorly for the future? Perhaps. But the fact remains that I enjoyed myself for the 71 hours I played it which is absolutely my money's worth. (< $1 per hour )

 

[Sprites]

Longish review of my FFXIII playthough so far. I say so far because I'm not finished it yet but I've seen more than enough and read enough on it to give the following opinions.

Storyline wise its nice but it doesn't pull me in enough to keep me gripped and wanting more, there was a lot of things that felt unexplained to me. The characters I did enjoy and thought they were well rounded in terms of how they connected to the story and eachother.

I did enjoy the battle system and the different paradigm combinations you could make and its nice to go back to the 'all characters level-up/gain exp/cp as you go along, that hasn't been in play since FFVII. I did get annoyed however that you have to fill your chain guage enough to inflict extra damage as with some high hp/defence monsters this takes a very long time in battle, especially if you can't get the right paradigm combination.

The datalog was highly unnecessary and got to the point where I couldn't be bothered with it.

Graphics were lovely and I thought the transition from normal to fmv was smooth.

The upgrade equipment system would've been interesting if it wasn't so complicated.

Lack of gil to buy new pieces of equipment bugged me even though you can do good enough damage with more basic weapons.

I disliked the summon system a great deal and the methods that had to be used to obtain your summons, in fact I've only ever used mine 2-3 times one of those times being when Snow rides in on Shiva and starts the battle with her. A system like FFX or FFXII would've been better. I think your summons also depends on timing in the sense that you need to know when exactly to summon them as the chain guage gets reset.

Lack of towns and sidequest. The linearity didn't bother me half as much as the fact that anytime you do reach a town you can't even rest or explore without getting into a battle. Towns and sidequests/minigames give you a break from the main storyline and keep your interest in the game

I'm sorry but the new game plus and mission mode available in FFXIII does not count as a sidequest/minigame to me unless you want extra cp to help complete the crystarium and componets for new weapon upgrades.

The New Game Plus feature isn't even a proper new game plus feature. Honestly starting from your position before facing the final boss again and completeing extra missions does not consitute as a New Game Plus feature. A better example of New game plus is FFIV DS, FFX-2 and Crisis Core.

Something I just want to add is that the best sidequest/minigame I've ever played in the FF series was Chocobo Hot and Cold in FFIX, thats got to be the most addictive and enjoyable sidequest/minigame I've ever played in an FF game.

All in all FFXIII is an alright game. I haven't completed it yet (though I'm more than half way throough now) its likely I won't for some time because there's just not enough in it to keep me motivated to play it for long periods of time.

 

[GodRoy]

Just thought I should give my two cents, since I platinumed it as well.

When I first saw it, I immediately thought X-2, and so it took me a while after having access to it to actually make myself play. Once I did though, it was an overall enjoyable experience. It's not as epic, open, or as detailed as other entries and is basically a tube with a larger area about 80% down the tube, but an enjoyable tube. The kind of tube you would expect from good game, not great. If the best games in FF series are 10's, the next being 9's this one is an 8-8.5 IMO. It's better than all the worst ones, but not better than any of the good ones.

The game definitely left the impression of it was good, but could have been better. As if the game had things cut, or wasn't a complete product. But since it's final development was the tube, it just seemed they should have had a new plus mode so you could start the game over with your old stats, or should have had a cutscene gallery to unlock. If it would have had that, a solid 8.5. As is though, more like an 8.

BTW, Hope gets a place alongside Vaan on my top ten most disliked ff characters.

 

[ForceStealer]

It's better than all the worst ones, but not better than any of the good ones.

Well said

 

[Kobato]

Okay short review.

Character VA's. The VA's in this game was a bit of a letdown and a huge drop in quality compared to FF XII before it, where the voice-dubs were almost excellent. It was even worse in some cases than FF X which is almost retro in the terms of gaming. Good voices would have to be Lighting's and Sazh's, but apart from that the dub voices were downgrading and didn't really offer much of a match between voice and character. Poor.

Characters. Alot of the characters had potential to shine, however most of them failed with horrible personality's. Lighting was overally robotic and Snow had the personality of a character from a TV soap, melodramatic and made drama out of everything that was happening, not to mention his "I am a hero " quotes were made of cheese. Most of the characters were very cringeworthy. Positive highlights would have to be Sazh again, SE did a good job designing his character, but not the rest.

Battle system. It was different and unique from the usual battle system, but I felt like it was very poorly made and slacking in effort, only one character is controllable, compared to other Final Fantasies were all characters could be playable in your party. SE should of really just made Lighting a single fighter and do her battles on her own, because it gave out the idea that working together in a party, was very pointless.

World Map. What world map ?! Do you mean that straight line ??

Overall I'll give it about a 4/10. Entertaining for a weekend rent, but that's about it.

 

[Raquelborn]

Finished the game last night so it's my turn to review.

Characters:
Like someone else said they all had the potential to shine and make you fall in love with them but mostly they just didn't. Lightning was my favourite though she could come across as overly stiff sometimes. Fang was probably the best character of all since she showed a lot of personality, at least in comparison to the others, was likeable and didn't make herself annoying with it.

VAs:
Voice acting was pretty good, actually. Sazh had the best VA. Lightning's deep, throaty-ish (I think?) voice suited her character and Fang's Auzzie accent fitted her too. Vanille just sounded a little odd. All together better than FFX, any way.

Battle System:
Best battle system so far! Or at least the most fun to play. Fights are usually something I can find tedious and boring after a while. This battle system always made it fast and unpredictable. I like how without directly controlling your team members you still had to be mindful of what they were doing. Switching who the leader was is a nice touch also.

Graphics:
I often gaped, paused and rotated the camera while playing the game. I think that says enough.

Story:
An improvement on FFXII's heavily political storyline and it's resistance to flesh out the stories of individual characters in-depth. The l'cie/fal cie/c'ieth distinction was confusing at first (to me any way). But when it made sense there wasn't much to the story. I got excited when Hope was festering a lot of hatred for Snow and Lightning was opening up a little but after that I just wanted to get to the end simply to see what would happen. The ending didn't even feel that epic which was a bit disappointing. I'm used to a big finish.

Overall:
The linearity of this game and its mostly un-captivating plot are its biggest cons. The characters are a nice addition to the FF series though and I'm still glad I played it. The graphics were so gorgeous it was worth playing just for that. I've come away with two new favourite characters, too.


This sums it up the best:

It's better than all the worst ones, but not better than any of the good ones.