Laughably bad article that does raise an interesting question

[Roger]

I didn't play XIII. Did players seriously have trouble coping with the tension? There's plenty of similar RPGs that don't insert minigames into the main plot and nobody complains. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what tension refers to (grind or plot?)

Being very linear, having no towns and no mini-games, and it just being a selection of corridors that lead you to cutscenes as opposed to a worldmap with locations on it each contributed. Minigames are not the only way RPGs break up the action.

 

[ChipNoir]

I didn't play XIII. Did players seriously have trouble coping with the tension? There's plenty of similar RPGs that don't insert minigames into the main plot and nobody complains. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what tension refers to (grind or plot?)

Being very linear, having no towns and no mini-games, and it just being a selection of corridors that lead you to cutscenes as opposed to a worldmap with locations on it each contributed. Minigames are not the only way RPGs break up the action.

There are exactly two mini-games. You can play mecha-bowling in the junkyard part, and you can fuck with the weather in Sunleth to pick different enemy types. Thats about it.

 

[Clement Rage]

It made perfect sense that fugitives with clearly identifiable markings and well known faces didn't interact much with NPCs, but the 'long hallway' structure did get repetitive.

I could swear that the Chocobo theme tune had the words 'Huuman slaaaaves' in it.

 

[ChipNoir]

It made perfect sense that fugitives with clearly identifiable markings and well known faces didn't interact much with NPCs, but the 'long hallway' structure did get repetitive.

I could swear that the Chocobo theme tune had the words 'Huuman slaaaaves' in it.

Yet nobody at Nautilus gave Vanille and Sahz any trouble. These people have never seen a L'cie. There likely hasn't been one since the coccoon/pulse war, and that was what, 2000 years ago? I get that some of these people have long cooshy lives and die of old age at like 120 but there's still no living memory of what a L'cie really means. All the brands are well hidden too. You'd have to take off at least some article of clothing to see them, with only Hope and Snow being the ones to have brands are a part of the body normally exposed.

Think about that: Every L'cie is branded. Its very damned easy to identify them. Yet the people of Coccoon agree to a total purge when all you have to do is a body check. Find a tattoo, and boom, bullet to the head. Simple, and easy.

So, yeah, nobody on Coccoon knows anything about what a L'Cie really is, much less that they may be walking among them unless they're outed. They basically react because of whatever poorly explained dogma tells them to react that way. Its really kind of a frustrating plot hole.

So I don't really buy this "Need for cover" plot contrivance. If Palapolum hadn't already been a hot spot, I doubt that Lightning and Hope would ever have been known to the public at large. The rest continued to be unknown.

 

[Clement Rage]

They're found almost immediately whenever they enter a town. Even playing the first time, I was thinking 'No, don't go to Palumpolom, they'll burn it down.
No, don't go to Hope's Dad, you'll get him killed!'

People tend to resist being stripped by the military, and anyone with the actual tattoo is capable of fighting back hard.

Cocoon Fal' Cie are a thing. A crowd of bystanders is capable of immediately recognising a pulse brand at the races. But they seem to think that ordinary L'Cie have the Fal Cie power of turning others into L'Cie as well.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

It made perfect sense that fugitives with clearly identifiable markings and well known faces didn't interact much with NPCs, but the 'long hallway' structure did get repetitive.

It also bears remembering that the fugitives thing became part of the plot in the first place to justify the "action tunnels" structure, which itself was the design choice because the developers didn't want to put effort into proper towns and NPCs.

 

[Clement Rage]

It made perfect sense that fugitives with clearly identifiable markings and well known faces didn't interact much with NPCs, but the 'long hallway' structure did get repetitive.

It also bears remembering that the fugitives thing became part of the plot in the first place to justify the "action tunnels" structure, which itself was the design choice because the developers didn't want to put effort into proper towns and NPCs.

Huh. Didn't know that. Makes sense though.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

It makes sense, but it doesn't feel elegant at all, does it? Especially since that was the first big outing for FF on the PS3, it failed to meet expectations. At least I know it failed to meet mine.

It's still a great game in some other respects (and still a poorly designed one in a few others), but that aspect of the game definitely made for a disappointing showing from Square coming out of the starting gate into the PS3 era.

 

[Clement Rage]

Ehh, kind of. I can respect a failed experiment even if it didn't work out, and I liked so much about 13's story and how it was told that I can forgive it a lot.

The party is fugitives in nearly every game in the series, but in this one it came with actual consequences for once. Usually, it doesn't stop you from doing anything ( which is usually ignored, but was once justified brilliantly in Tales of Symphonia when

Spoiler

The Pope tries to excommunicate his religion's Jesus equivalent, leading to awkward conversations where various guards pretend not to see him or really really apologetically don't let him through the gate they're guarding.

)

Sorry, tangent. I'm less forgiving of the 13 sequels, because even though they were probably better games, I didn't like the plot.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I too can forgive a lot of the issues with the game because of the story (mainly the excellent characterization), and while I can appreciate the notion of giving consequence to being a fugitive, I have to ask "Did they really?"

You can still buy items and such ... just from the most boring interface imaginable. You can still travel ... just not anywhere memorable or with identity. You even get to hear about a place that's supposed to be all kinds of fun, but not for you. The only consequences that could be perceived to come out of it are for the fun factor and immersion.

 

[X-SOLDIER]

So, I made a post in the FFXV Thread about Episode Prompto that's got some good stuff about pulling off the FFVII Snowboarding section in the same way that that chapter does a downhill escape on a Snowmobile.

Without getting into spoilers for that chapter, there're a lot of intentional parallels to FFVII – as XV is a sort of "Greatest Hits" Final Fantasy in many ways for the elements in the game. In playing it, it's made clear that it's VERY possible to have a fun escapade down a downhill snowy bank without suffering from mood whiplash, which always seems to be the primary concern of that part being in the Remake.





X

 

[AerithLives]

Falling like thiiiiiss

I agree. Not a single panty shot in sight.