.....
So I guess it'd be okay if a RPG just did away with all forms of a battle system too and just had you walk around and see cutscenes all the time.
That's not really anything to do with the lack of shops?
Exploration, interaction, and immersion into the actual world of the game is quintessential in an RPG. And that goes with the whole element of actually interacting with a town via shops, people, etc. FFVII's world is remembered so fondly because you got to talk to a shit load of people. It has some of the longest scripts of NPC dialogue in Final Fantasy.
But how much of that random NPC dialogue was of any actual importance? Some were funny, some gave you story/background stuff. But you could probably cut most of them and not really miss anything major.
I guess it's a difference of opinion, because I don't count 'lots of NPCs to talk to' as a fundamental reason for having liked FFVII. Or 'not enough NPCs' as a negative against FFXIII. Maybe it would have been better, I don't know. Maybe they would have been just a bunch of full-voiced and pointless extra lines.
Bullshit. If you're not being forced to manage your resources (either via MP, AP, etc) that's a very large burden being lifted from your shoulders. Part of the difficulty of a dungeon crawl or adventure is being prepared and having enough energy to just make your way through a dungeon and back with what you're able to carry. That's what made the Necrohol of Naubudis so damn tough. Yes, you should be forced to heal yourself until you make it to a save point.
It's probably one of few games that doesn't make you manage all that, out of hundreds/thousands that do. Would you consider FFT healing you after ever battle a negative against it? It's pretty much the same thing, with FFXIII's being played out at a much faster rate.
You've not played the game yourself, but you're complaining about how this takes away the difficulty. Is it such a fatal design flaw to have done things differently and taken away that aspect?
The fact they allow it, means its no longer a mandatory part of the challenge, which cheapens the overall difficulty of the game. What's the point in challenging gamers with bosses and shit, if you're just going to give them a hand holding escape pod through the gameplay? Why bother? Either make it difficult and make them rise to the occassion, or make the game as easy as Mystic Quest.
How does it cheapen the difficulty? By not making you go all the way back to wherever you last saved because you accidentally went the wrong way and got into a fight you couldn't win? The battles have still got the same difficulty, regardless as to where they put you (or you choose to go) if you lose. It's basically just a 'continue' feature (and make-shift 'flee'). Have you got a problem with games that have continues?
It's not a mandatory part of the game to use the feature. If people don't want to, the other option is right there. Right under the one for people who don't mind/care/who like the option. Maybe you just weren't prepared for that particular enemy, but instead of making you lose all the items and points you obtained and walk all the way back through a dungeon, they just put you in front of the enemy so you can change your equipment/characters/Optimas or walk away.
You programmed the party members. And it allowed for a shitload of customization in terms of behavior.
Now Square did it for you
The character AI is FFXII's gambits (heal wounded characters, cast Protect/Shell/etc., use Fire on enemies weak to it), combined together and done automatically, mixed in with the job system from FFX-2.
Most reviews and players have said you don't have to change Optima very often, except in a few boss battles. And that hardly was a very difficult, or challenging experience.
Most RPGs you can probably win at the majority of battles with just pressing 'attack' over and over, then occasionally healing. Once you've reach a certain level, you could just power your way through them.
I've found I've used positive and negative status abilities more in this than maybe any other FF before it. Especially as you go through the game. I don't think I would have made it through Gran Pulse if I'd have just stuck with the same Optima and pushed the automatic 'attack' all the time.
But maybe I'm just not as ttly awesome as most reviewers and players
You're lame.
Exactly. There's no justification. If they wanted there to be towns, RPG elements, and the like, they could've been there. The plot is no excuse. Somehow the heroes of FFVII were capable of going through all the towns and shit wanted by Shinra. I suppose the creators could've just had you go from Midgar, then Junon, and then Icicle Inn, then the creator, because of the very same reasoning. It's piss poor.
But it was only Shinra who were after Cloud and the others, unlike FFXIII where Everyone hates l'Cei and when they realise who they are, will either run away or try to kill them.
It's another story-related reason, so obviously they could have changed that. Make the people not hate l'Cei so much (but rewrite the rest of the story to work about that) or have Snow, Sazh and Fang's l'Cei marks hidden so NPCs wouldn't be able to see them (but then the player can't either and can't see them changing).
No exploration means no immersion or interaction with the plot and world of FFXIII. I play RPGs to escape and get into not just a good plot, but a good scenario and game. It's digital roleplaying. Getting to know a whole new world, and characters is fun. Seeing how a new fantasy world was crafted is great. It shows the creativity of the team in making the game. FFXII did it extremely well with Ivalice, the Clan Primer, and all the NPCs you spoke to. Oh, and the hunts. The stories behind each hunt made going around killing those fuckers worth it.
An RPG is not just for watching pretty CGI cutscenes, its to actually get into the heart of the story and craft it yourself. Its why RPGs had YOU put your name as the main character, because it was supposed to make you feel like you were part of the story.
How the fuck are you supposed to get into an RPG's world and story when it doesn't let you do any of that? All you're doing is looking at the characters do cool shit and hit the occasional button to allow it to continue. That's not an RPG. It's sad most games today that are *not* RPGs have more elements of the RPG genre than the RPGs themselves.
When I asked that, I was mainly thinking from a gameplay standpoint. Towns gave you a place to rest (not needed in FFXIII), a place to buy items (not needed in FFXIII) and equipment (you'll pretty much find everything you need and can upgrade the rest), and instructions about where to go next.
But after I posted that, I did consider the world-building perspective. And in that way, it might be missing out. Anything can be improved on.
But actually playing it, I didn't really miss them that much. I wouldn't have minded seeing more locations, but I wanted to explore more of Padora in Gran Pulse, the empty ruins of a city, more than I wanted to walk around Palumpolum in Cocoon more talking to NPCs. I like seeing the locations more.
It was kind of annoying when FFVIII suddenly cuts you off from towns in the final disk, because it was taking away something that they'd let you do (explore towns) during the rest of the game. FFXIII didn't really take anything away, because it didn't really give you them in the first place.
You still get details and history of the world through the Auto Clip database, and the text passages you get for completing certain Cie'th Stone missions. Plus I thought the mythology of FFXIII was meant to be shared and expanded on with Versus and Agito, which is two more games to expand on and explore the world.