[Game Complete] Pushing It to the Thirteenth Hour: My Step by Step Impressions of Final Fantasy XIII.

[Russell]

Update Mog?
Or, (unlike myself) are you busy having a life?

Just got to Chapter 12.

Spoiler

Why was the whole FMV with hover bikes so much of a cluster-fuck? Started great but towards the end parts of it moved so fast I couldn't tell what I was looking at. <_<

Snow had a funny line, he’s saves a guy with help of the Shiva sisters, people cheer him until they see the brand on his arm then freak out. Realising this he says something like “yeah… probably should have covered that.” Don’t know why, it made me laugh.

And doesn't the whole hover-bike-grand-prix in a city in the sky seem like it would have been a cool mini-game? Another opportunity missed Square-Enix.

But I guess in context this game couldn’t have mini-games, the whole story is constantly moving and the main cast are L’Cie. (they are all basically infected with something that will turn them into monsters, a fate worst than death.) So taking a ten minute break every hour to play cards, raise Chocobos, race hover bikes wouldn’t really make sense.

Also has anyone found a good guide/list of weapons and upgrades anywhere?
I’ve searched Google but can’t find any…

 

[Strangelove]

Spoiler

And doesn't the whole hover-bike-grand-prix in a city in the sky seem like it would have been a cool mini-game? Another opportunity missed Square-Enix.

Spoiler

They could have at least used the whole transforming summons thing outside of battle and given you a little section with each character, having to make your way through the enemies while you control the summon (little racing section for Sazh and Snow, flying one for Fang, FFVII-motorbike-esque one for Lightning, etc.). That would have been a bit of a change of pace, pretty though the FMV may be

 

[Makoeyes987]

Update Mog?
Or, (unlike myself) are you busy having a life?

Just got to Chapter 12.

Spoiler

Why was the whole FMV with hover bikes so much of a cluster-fuck? Started great but towards the end parts of it moved so fast I couldn't tell what I was looking at. <_<

Snow had a funny line, he’s saves a guy with help of the Shiva sisters, people cheer him until they see the brand on his arm then freak out. Realising this he says something like “yeah… probably should have covered that.” Don’t know why, it made me laugh.

And doesn't the whole hover-bike-grand-prix in a city in the sky seem like it would have been a cool mini-game? Another opportunity missed Square-Enix.

But I guess in context this game couldn’t have mini-games, the whole story is constantly moving and the main cast are L’Cie. (they are all basically infected with something that will turn them into monsters, a fate worst than death.) So taking a ten minute break every hour to play cards, raise Chocobos, race hover bikes wouldn’t really make sense.

Also has anyone found a good guide/list of weapons and upgrades anywhere?
I’ve searched Google but can’t find any…

That's a bullshit excuse, just to let you know.

There's nothing stopping them from having included it save their own choice and rush to develop it. They intended to have all that content there anyways, along with towns and shit.

 

[Russell]

When I say “in context this game couldn’t have mini-games” it’s because it’s so fucking linear letting you do something else other than mush on would seem tacked on and out of place. Almost like another (good) FF universe has bled through into this one.

Normally you could stop off at a town look around and your leisure, visit the shops, talk to the people and maybe do some side quests or minigames.
FFXIII never gives you a break or a rest like that so it’s hard to think of where they could put a minigame in. Even if a DLC gave you a minigame that you could access at a save point it would just feel tacked on.

Thinking about it most FF’s were very linear, story wise. But they gave the impression of freedom with a world map/towns. If you got sick of the story you take a break in game, backtrack to places you‘ve been, XP grind, do quests/minigames when you wanted.

I got sick of FFXIII after about 24 hours, with nothing else to do in game I played and completed Batman Arkham Aslyum again.
IMO any game where you feel mentally drained and have to take a break from because you don’t want to play it anymore has gone very wrong somewhere.

Cutting out towns (and therefore the opportunity for side quests/minigames) was the biggest mistake this game made.

Spoiler

They could have at least used the whole transforming summons thing outside of battle and given you a little section with each character, having to make your way through the enemies while you control the summon (little racing section for Sazh and Snow, flying one for Fang, FFVII-motorbike-esque one for Lightning, etc.). That would have been a bit of a change of pace, pretty though the FMV may be

^ There's a good idea.
That FMV was like playing DoC again. You see your character(s) doing something awesome in CGI and think: looks like fun, shame I can't do any of that whilst playing the game. <_<

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Update #15: (not sure, didn't get a chance to see yet)

goddamn motherfucking SHIT Chapter 12 opens up with one of the coolest FMVs I've ever seen in my life. I didn't even mind that I couldn't control it, sometimes I do like to just watch, and that was a good example of a badass motherfucking cutscene.

Actual update coming up in a few.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

also plotwise: shit just got real

edit: check last post of last page for previous update

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Update #16: 67 hours, 45 minutes

Yeah, I know, a lot of hours. Some of that is grinding, and the other seems to be when I left the Xbox on by accident. Whoops.

Anyway, I'm coming up on the end of the game here. Before the final leap though, you're given the option to go and explore around Pulse to train and get your strength up and do some side shit, so I'm doing that. Considering the difficulty of the last few fights, I'm gonna have to.

But besides that, I have a few things to say. I have a lot of mixed feelings regarding the story, here. I dunno, man, it's just not...gripping me. At this point in most of the other FFs, I'm pretty pumped for the end, but now, eh...feels kinda limp dicked. I'm trying to put my finger on why, but I'm not sure. It may be a few things. I'll just list how I'm feeling.

1. The main antagonist in this game sucks ass. I mean, you could argue that this game isn't really about a 'main antagonist', but that doesn't even fly because the one they put in there sucks balls. Pretty much the worst FF antagonist of all time, next to the Cloud of Darkness or something. I mean really bad. Terrible.

2. There's a lot of unanswered questions. The linearity of the game works against it, because there's next to no worldbuilding. Maybe some of the sidequests will uncover some of the burning questions I have, but right now, either shit doesn't add up, or the stuff that was resolved was pretty lame.

3. The story moved too fast for its own good as well. Some of the resolved plotlines just sort of seemed rushed so players won't complain that they weren't. And even then, there's still a big hole in some aspects.

4. Man this game would have been the shit with towns. Probably one of the best FFs ever. But it doesn't. So its not even in my top 5. I'm really tired of doing nothing but fighting. I kinda want to get it over with, but I'll be damned if I dropped the 60 dollars I did to not play it all the way and see all the side stuff I can.

5. The Upgrade system kinda sucks. It's completely undecipherable without a guide (which I had to resort to using) because the game doesn't give you ANY clue on what to do, but it gives you a SHITTON of items to upgrade with, but ALL of them are useless except for like, 5 things. So basically you could be pumping every component you got into an accessory just to find out that it ends up pretty much worthless. Yay!


Damn. I don't know what to think.

 

[Russell]

It&#8217;s the Mirror&#8217;s Edge of JRPG&#8217;s. An experiment in something new that has failed.
(I actually quite liked Mirror&#8217;s Edge despite the flaws that made me want to become a an Hero.)

It&#8217;s a good thing that it exists as it stands apart from other games, and shows that the developers are capable of trying something new and different, but it&#8217;s still a failure. There is already evidence that SE has learned from this failure as there is a thread here on TLS about how airships & towns will be included in the next game. They realised that they would have to announce this early so that people would buy it. If another game set in the FFXIII universe was coming out and it had no towns and was still linear would you buy it? I wouldn&#8217;t.

 

[DLPB]

It’s the Mirror’s Edge of JRPG’s. An experiment in something new that has failed.
(I actually quite liked Mirror’s Edge despite the flaws that made me want to become a an Hero.)

It’s a good thing that it exists as it stands apart from other games, and shows that the developers are capable of trying something new and different, but it’s still a failure. There is already evidence that SE has learned from this failure as there is a thread here on TLS about how airships & towns will be included in the next game. They realised that they would have to announce this early so that people would buy it. If another game set in the FFXIII universe was coming out and it had no towns and was still linear would you buy it? I wouldn’t.

I won't buy it if there is...unless the battle system is engaging again rather than these dumbed down "things" I want no more to do with it...and story can only do so much.

They say towns and airships, but to what extent I do not know. What about minigames and decent side quests? What about a decent story? What about proper gameplay...

I don't see how XIII versus can be much different in terms of quality, when it has been made with the same money grabbing mind set as XIII. They are endlessly churning out games now and I don't see the quality of old returning any time soon. Anyway ps3 is gone now, so I can't buy it if i wanted to

I will read the reviews and watch some vids though, and see if it is decent...well to be fair, it cannot be any worse than XIII imho...although I said that about XII to XIII before it came out.

 

[Bex]

Alex and I had a saying while we were playing through it.
'If nothing gets explained now, it will do later. Probably'
Then it got old, and I was like EXPLAIN PREASE

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

When I say &#8220;in context this game couldn&#8217;t have mini-games&#8221; it&#8217;s because it&#8217;s so fucking linear letting you do something else other than mush on would seem tacked on and out of place. Almost like another (good) FF universe has bled through into this one.

Normally you could stop off at a town look around and your leisure, visit the shops, talk to the people and maybe do some side quests or minigames.
FFXIII never gives you a break or a rest like that so it&#8217;s hard to think of where they could put a minigame in.

I can easily think of a bunch of places where they could have put actual mini-games in, starting as early as Chapter 1, and mostly working with what's already in the game.

Spoiler

-Chapter 1: When Hope and Vanille ride the hover bike
-Chapter 3: When flying the small airship out of Lake Bilge/Lake Bresha
-Chapter 4: Vile Peaks could have had something better than that shitty business with the Pulse Armament; if they'd really wanted to; still, I guess it seems like bitching for the sake of it that I'm bitching about a time they did have a mini-game; it was just a weak-ass mini-game, and if that's going to be the one effort made, it should have been a better one
-Chapter 8: Nautilus is a fucking amusement park! Amuse me, bitch!
-Chapter 9: Okay, along with the fact that the Lindblum would have been a good time to allow for some exploration/an in-game break, there could have been anything here; in any case, when Fang and Vanille procure the service of a flying creature, that could have been a mini-game; also, when the team escapes the wrecked Palamecia in the craft provided by Barthandelus, that could have been; yes, I know the thing was on auto-pilot, and -- for the purposes of the story -- it could have remained so, but that doesn't mean we couldn't have manned a gun in an on-rails kind of shooter
-Chapter 10: When leaving the Fifth Ark and traveling to Gran Pulse, why couldn't there be a mini-game where we pilot that ship, trying to avoid the monsters that want to bring it down?
-Chapter 11: Something fun with Atomos could have been done
-Chapter 12: As has been pointed out in this thread, the highway chase (now why does that sound familiar?) could have made for a great mini-game

Really, a lot of this is right up there with "Why didn't we get to fight Jihl before she was blasted?"

1. The main antagonist in this game sucks ass. I mean, you could argue that this game isn't really about a 'main antagonist', but that doesn't even fly because the one they put in there sucks balls. Pretty much the worst FF antagonist of all time, next to the Cloud of Darkness or something. I mean really bad. Terrible.

Yeah, he's pretty fucking bad. It's good that he has great voice acting (both languages), and some good lines (ditto), because he's got little else going on. His design is lame (does he really still have to look like a pope after he stops being Primarch?) and he just doesn't feel all that imposing when he's in your presence.

Granted, he's a cunning motherfucker, but the Xanatos Gambit elements of what he's doing aren't as spectacular as they've been in the hands of, say, Exdeath, Sephiroth, Kuja, etc. I guess it might be because they lack the gloating that usually goes along with it?

2. There's a lot of unanswered questions. The linearity of the game works against it, because there's next to no worldbuilding. Maybe some of the sidequests will uncover some of the burning questions I have, but right now, either shit doesn't add up, or the stuff that was resolved was pretty lame.

The in-game Analects may help with some of that.

I don't see how XIII versus can be much different in terms of quality, when it has been made with the same money grabbing mind set as XIII.

Different development team, so I'd expect something as different from FFXIII as KHII was from FFXII. I loved both of them, but they're very different animals, despite being developed simultaneously.

 

[ForceStealer]

The plot it wrapped me in suitably, and for not having towns, I'm surprised how much a world they WERE able to build. My biggest problem, as I already said, is the team constantly stopped to have their existential quandary, determined they were going to defy their fate by...doing exactly what they were already doing. This happened SO MANY times and changed nothing. I really didn't get that.

I just beat it last night and

Spoiler

I cannot believe they didn't play the Final Fantasy theme during the credit roll. Not having the victory theme was bad enough, but to not have the main theme of the series during the credit roll? I like Hamauzu's music, I really do, but why does he hate sticking to themes (like Dirge of Cerberus not having Vincent's theme!)

(That's not a plot spoiler, it just about music that plays during the credit roll, but I didn't wanna risk angering anyone.)

 

[Cat Rage Room]

The in-game Analects may help with some of that.

Spoiler

Can someone just flat out tell me why there aren't any people on Pulse? Everywhere I look, I get "LOL DO ALL THE SIDEQUESTS TO FIND OUT" look motherfuckers I just want to know

so plz tell me

 

[Bex]

BIG SPOILER

Spoiler

While both Fang and Vanille conspired to destroy Cocoon, their actions also affected Gran Pulse as well. Fang, as Ragnorok, killed everyone on Pulse and took out part of the shell of Cocoon. Therefore, Fang and Vanille are to blame for everyone hating Pulse, as well as there being nothing but ruins on Gran Pulse.

 

[looneymoon]

I just got to Nautilus and pretty got bitch slapped in the face for the lack of mini-games. Honestly, this is the opurtunity to recreate Gold Saucer ffs. Alls I got was that stupid find the chocobo thing, but that doesn't event count.

I also haven't been upgrading at all for fear of wasting stuff The whole upgrading system sucks ass. It's probably making the game 200% harder for me, but I plan to do it all at the end/when I really need to when I cba to use a guide.

 

[Max Payne]

You know it's not about just towns you know, it's explorable environments and discovering new places and whatnot. Like finding new summons and items in places that are hidden from the main course like in FF7 and DQVIII.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I just got to Nautilus and pretty got bitch slapped in the face for the lack of mini-games. Honestly, this is the opurtunity to recreate Gold Saucer ffs. Alls I got was that stupid find the chocobo thing, but that doesn't event count.

I feel your pain.

How difficult it was for me during the two and a half months between the Japanese and western releases knowing there were those who still had hope for mini-games, but would hear nothing of spoilers.

Seriously, the baby chocobo even deserved better than that.

 

[DLPB]

If anything I would want people to tell me about the basics. The only thing I wouldnt want telling about is the story.

 

[Joker]

Here's something I've been wondering: I'm in chapter 5, wandering about the rather amazing scenery of the Gabra Whitewood, and I'm dying to play around with the Upgrade system...but I know every character has 6 "different" weapons, and I'm not sure which ones to try and upgrade now, and which ones should wait for later.

The one exception to this is Hope, because I know exactly what I want him to do (and because I bought the guide for the game ), and I just picked up the weapon I want for that. But what of Lightning, Sazh, and the rest of the crew?

Spoiler: how I plan to play

I plan to run a main party of Lightning, Hope, and Fang. Assuming that each character is assigned one role (just for the sake of making a point), here's how I want to set everyone up:

Lightning - Ravager/Commando/Medic
Hope - Medic/Ravager/Synergist
Fang - Commando/Sentinel/Saboteur
Snow - Sentinel/Commando/Ravager
Vanille - Saboteur/Medic/Ravager
Sazh - Synergist/Ravager/Commando

So I know I want to give Hope the Hawkeye, but for everyone else, I've no idea what I want to do ;.;

 

[Bex]

Lightning, Hope and Fang is the best part set up. Tru fax.
Hope's magic is the strongest in game, and Fang has the highest strength.
Lightning is just a good all-rounder.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Hmm.

While I can't disagree that's a good team, I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for Sazh's buff magic. Snow is a good powerhouse as well.

 

[Alex Strife]

I'm also using Lightning - Fang - Hope, for the reasons stated above. Lightning has a top level Flamberge right now, Hope has a level 19 hawkeye, while Fang has a level 28 Venus. I'm just beginning chapter 12. Things have gotten interesting. We'll see what goes on...

PS: Oh, and even if I keep selling the stuff I can sell...I have never felt poorer in a Final Fantasy game. This is also tru fax.

 

[ForceStealer]

I use Lightning, Vanille and Sazh a lot. Lightning, Hope and Fang is also a good combo. The only character I almost never use is Snow. He is the best Sentinel, but there aren't too many battles that call for sentinels (though when they do, you freaking need one). But Fang's a better Commando and almost everyone has Ravager.

 

[Cat Rage Room]

Update coming up soon, guys.

As an addendum, if you were considering getting this or getting something else, well...I want to save my final 'is it worth 60 bucks' for when I beat the game, especially when there are a boatload of other games to pick from, let me give you a fair example...

Let's compare FFXIII and Mass Effect 2. Both came around around the same timeframe, and both are similar genres of game. You see both of these games and you can only pick up one. Which one would I recommend?

Final Fantasy XIII is just a game. It's an alright one, not terrible, but not top five in the series or anything. I can imagine that even if you really liked it a lot, it's just a game, even if you think its great. I feel its fundamentally limited in that respect. Mass Effect 2, however, is an experience. It's not only literally one of my favorite games of all time, it's one of the best entertainment anything I've ever experienced, ever. I literally cannot get enough of it. I cannot name one major thing I dislike about it. And it's not just my opinion either, the game is pretty much universally praised by everyone. Literally nobody important dislikes it. Nobody.

I compare these two games because they're both in the same 'league' that you would normally expect them to be. A high production Final Fantasy title vs. a high production Bioware title, made and released at about the same time (I believe ME2 was made in a shorter time span, though), for the same general league of systems.

They started at the same place in the race, but alas my example is that a game like Mass Effect 2 shows us, and it showed me just how much I could enjoy a video game and what the modern video game is capable of presentation, narrative, gameplay, visuals, setting, all of that. This is what we're capable of nowadays, and more! Final Fantasy XIII...just doesn't have that. Sure its a game, but when you compare it to what a game could be, what a game is, what this game could have been, well...it sort of falls flat in that regard. After this playthrough of FFXIII I'm pretty sure I'm not going to play through it ever again (which is an extreme rarity for me and video games, I usually replay most games I have like a dozen times), as a matter of fact, I think after this I'm going to fire up ME2 (again) and check out the new DLC coming out because that's how they roll.

So if you want an example of this game compared to another, there's one for you.

 

[DrakeClawfang]

Question, since you're playing through it right now - is Ragnarok specifically called an Eidolon in the game?