Author Topic: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)  (Read 45975 times)

Offline TheOtherBelmont

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #160 on: Friday, July 06, 2012, 04:03:26 AM »
Level with me...do these games suck?  I used to like Final Fantasy games.

I have made some posts concerning how I felt about the first game in previous posts but hadn't realized I never posted about the second game.  FFXIII and XIII-2 do not suck.  They both have some shortcomings and problems though, but they have a lot of good things about them as well.  Having beat both FFXIII and XIII-2, I can say that I don't have any interest in playing the DLC for XIII-2 or playing any upcoming XIII-3.  They really squeezed as much as they could out of that setting and I was really disappointed in how they handled the To Be Continued bullshit ending in XIII-2.

FFXIII and its sequel both have a neat combat system that I enjoyed and excellent visuals.  Some of the characters were kind of cool in the first game (I really liked Lightning, Fang, and Sazh), but not so much in the second one.  I honestly would have been happy with FFXIII without any kind of sequel because that story got wrapped up rather nicely and I didn't feel like it needed any continuation which is why I had doubts about getting XIII-2 when it first came out.  Then I started watching some gameplay videos and hearing impressions about the improvements over the first game and I decided to go through with getting it. 

I was enjoying it for the most part and the story was kind of crazy, which is expected of an FF game, but had some interesting elements in it that kept me playing.  XIII-2 addressed some of the complaints about the first game, which was mainly that there wasn't enough side content and exploration in FFXIII.  XIII-2 added a good amount of side content/exploration and some of the side quests were genuinely interesting in it adding to the main story and universe the game is set in.  One of my complaints with XIII-2 is that it had way too many slow moments and a lot of time where stuff wasn't happening which wasn't an issue in the first game.  My other complaint with XIII-2 is that Serah and Noel were really not all that interesting characters.  I kept wanting to see more of the characters from the previous game and they would show them in little cameos and sections here and there but it wasn't enough.  I was really confused why Square took away the focus from the characters of FFXIII and made these two the primary characters of the story.

To you specifically GPW, I don't think you'll enjoy either FFXIII or XIII-2.  FFXIII is cheap now since it hit Greatest Hits and it is worth checking out at that price for sure though.


Offline MysterD

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #161 on: Sunday, September 16, 2012, 04:22:52 PM »

Offline Xessive

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #162 on: Thursday, September 18, 2014, 01:46:12 PM »
Apparently, this is coming to PC next month.

Go figure.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #163 on: Thursday, September 18, 2014, 02:48:29 PM »
FF13 is already up on Steam for pre-order:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/292120/

Offline MysterD

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #164 on: Wednesday, October 08, 2014, 06:12:48 PM »
Don't know if you guys been checking forums and stuff, but FF13 PC is up for pre-load on Steam.
It's the talk of the town.

This game is a 60GB download; and now being listed as running at 60FPS on Gamersgate.

Offline idolminds

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #165 on: Wednesday, October 08, 2014, 07:16:31 PM »
60GB. Ouch. You know, this next gen with all the game sizes exploding....thats going to be rough. That is a long time on even fast connections not to mention download caps on ISPs.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #166 on: Thursday, October 09, 2014, 11:18:26 AM »
If anyone has checked any of the typical forums - i.e. NeoGAF, Steam Forums, Etc...
....FF13 PC is locked at 720p.
Just so y'all know.

EDIT:
Polygon picks up on the story of FF13 PC locked at 720p; and that Durante is working on fixing the game.

EDIT 2:
Durante's Page -> GeDoSaTo gets Pre-Alpha plug-in for FFXIII PC Released from Durante.

EDIT 3 -> :
This is embarrassing; we're now seeing comparison vids from major internet gaming publications...
Polygon -> FFXIII PC - Comparison vids of 720p original (unmodded) vs 1080p w/ Durante's Mod GeDoSaTo
« Last Edit: Friday, October 10, 2014, 02:32:20 PM by MysterD »

Offline gpw11

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #167 on: Friday, October 10, 2014, 06:25:36 PM »
PC gamers are the absolute worst.  I get it, there aren't a ton of options there and it only really runs in one resolution.  Yeah, that's really shitty for a big budget release.   But it's a $15 game that was announced about three weeks ago.  I find this to be a completely different situation compared to something like Dark Souls being released for full price. PC gamers just bitch to bitch about stuff.  It's like complaining that Fez runs in 720p.  "But Square Enix has the money to properly port it!"  Yeah, but they don't care.  It's $15. Anyone already playing it probably got it for $10. It's completely functional, get over it.

Offline PyroMenace

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #168 on: Friday, October 10, 2014, 08:23:35 PM »
Totally, it's like when they bitched about Halo going to console and now they can never get over the scorn thus hating forever an actual good game. AMIRITE

Offline MysterD

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #169 on: Friday, October 10, 2014, 08:25:23 PM »
I get it, there aren't a ton of options there and it only really runs in one resolution.  Yeah, that's really shitty for a big budget release.
Exactly.

Quote
But it's a $15 game that was announced about three weeks ago.
Doesn't matter if it's $15 or when it was announced. It should've been done properly.
This is a AAA title from a AAA company. They could've priced it up a bit and released it in a more reasonable 1080p setting - which has been the PC gaming standard resolution for years, BTW.
PC gamers normally sit ultra-close on their PC's, while console gamers often sit much further back on a couch - so, b/c of our field of view + 1080p makes much more sense here than on the consoles.
Plus, we have hardware that can handle it, as well.

And other PC titles from Square have been in 1080p and above - which makes this even odder.
Plus, most titles on the PC these days have numerous different resolutions supported or have arbtitrary-res' support, anyways.

Quote
I find this to be a completely different situation compared to something like Dark Souls being released for full price. PC gamers just bitch to bitch about stuff.  It's like complaining that Fez runs in 720p.  "But Square Enix has the money to properly port it!"  Yeah, but they don't care.  It's $15. Anyone already playing it probably got it for $10. It's completely functional, get over it.
While I do not have the game - gamers have reported framerate raises + drops, no matter the system...before the mod and after it.
So, it still ain't perfect even in 720p - especially when compared to other PC ports that can do higher resolutions.


Offline MysterD

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #170 on: Friday, October 10, 2014, 08:28:51 PM »
Totally, it's like when they bitched about Halo going to console and now they can never get over the scorn thus hating forever an actual good game. AMIRITE

The original Halo wasn't that good - sorry.
While the first half was great, second half wasn't.
2nd half had lots of reused/recycled areas (monitor levels, anyone?), copy + paste areas, and backtracking - just like Dragon Age 2.

Can't speak on Halo 2 and newer, though. Still would like to see the rest of the series ported here, as well.
Same goes for Fable 2 + Gear of Wars series, as well.

Offline PyroMenace

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #171 on: Friday, October 10, 2014, 08:31:55 PM »
I love you D.

Offline Cobra951

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #172 on: Friday, October 10, 2014, 10:07:10 PM »
PC gamers are the absolute worst.  I get it, there aren't a ton of options there and it only really runs in one resolution.  Yeah, that's really shitty for a big budget release.   But it's a $15 game that was announced about three weeks ago.  I find this to be a completely different situation compared to something like Dark Souls being released for full price. PC gamers just bitch to bitch about stuff.  It's like complaining that Fez runs in 720p.  "But Square Enix has the money to properly port it!"  Yeah, but they don't care.  It's $15. Anyone already playing it probably got it for $10. It's completely functional, get over it.

They're no worse than the console fanboys.  They constantly bicker about resolution, and most recently accusing Ubisoft of holding back AC Unity on the PS4 for parity with the XB1.  They don't want to hear that the game is CPU-bound, by thousands of NPCs at any given time, and both frame rate and resolution take a hit as a result, on both consoles.  Oh no, it must be a shady deal with the devil himself: Microsoft.  For every discussion about actual gaming, there are 10 about this kind of horseshit.  So, what do you think, #GetOverIt?  Or is that taken already.

D, get over it.

Offline Xessive

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #173 on: Saturday, October 11, 2014, 12:54:16 AM »

Offline Cobra951

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #174 on: Saturday, October 11, 2014, 09:18:53 AM »
Haha!  It's all just as silly anyway.  And there's that word again--horseshit.  :)

At this point, I think developers/publishers should stop talking about the subject entirely--put out the stats (e.g., 900p @30fps) once if they want to disclose them at all, and not ever try to justify them in any way.  Buy the game or don't; that's your only choice.  Bitch all you want; won't change a thing.  Fannies are going to bitch no matter what the devs say, so why give them any more fuel for the fire?

Offline gpw11

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #175 on: Saturday, October 11, 2014, 03:24:20 PM »
Haha!  It's all just as silly anyway.  And there's that word again--horseshit.  :)

At this point, I think developers/publishers should stop talking about the subject entirely--put out the stats (e.g., 900p @30fps) once if they want to disclose them at all, and not ever try to justify them in any way.  Buy the game or don't; that's your only choice.  Bitch all you want; won't change a thing.  Fannies are going to bitch no matter what the devs say, so why give them any more fuel for the fire?


How about #horseshit - to be used whenever someone, somewhere gets their panties in a bunch over something completely retarded and video-game related.   You have a good point there though - throw the product out there and refuse to comment on the technical details like that.   As much of a dick Steve Jobs could be, his philosophy on dealing with customers is pretty hilarious "Hold your phone differently" and kind of respectable in a weird way.

Exactly.
Doesn't matter if it's $15 or when it was announced. It should've been done properly.
This is a AAA title from a AAA company. They could've priced it up a bit and released it in a more reasonable 1080p setting - which has been the PC gaming standard resolution for years, BTW.
PC gamers normally sit ultra-close on their PC's, while console gamers often sit much further back on a couch - so, b/c of our field of view + 1080p makes much more sense here than on the consoles.
Plus, we have hardware that can handle it, as well.

And other PC titles from Square have been in 1080p and above - which makes this even odder.
Plus, most titles on the PC these days have numerous different resolutions supported or have arbtitrary-res' support, anyways.
While I do not have the game - gamers have reported framerate raises + drops, no matter the system...before the mod and after it.
So, it still ain't perfect even in 720p - especially when compared to other PC ports that can do higher resolutions.



See, this is what I don't get.  People throw around the word "entitled" a lot when talking about gamers and it's usually bullshit.  Although, sometimes it's not.  This is one of those times.  Who's to say what "properly" is for a game at a fifteen dollar price point?  To me, properly means it's playable and it's exactly that.  Would improved resolution support be good?  Yes, it'd be great.  Is it game breaking? not even close. 

And really, lets not fuck around here, it's a port of a game that was an AA title 5 years ago which was released on PC at a price point roughly 1/5th of the original release price.  Hell, new copies of the PS3 Greatest hits version currently still sell for more than the PC version.  Yes, the PC is a budget game in every meaning of the word.

There is nothing odd about Square's lack of 1080p.  Obviously they're technically capable of doing it, they just probably didn't think that spending the additional development time in order to offer additional options was worth the time and resources on the PC version....it's a 5 year old budget game.  That said, this has done a lot better than I'm sure they originally though, so maybe they'll offer support in a patch, maybe not.  Who knows?  In either case, it's not nearly the end of the world that people are making it out to be. The games not in VGA - if someone claims they can't enjoy something because it's in 720p that's purely their fucking problem.

I've run this game for 3 hours or so.  I don't know if I like it or not really, but I do know that it runs completely fine on my old PC. Are some people having frame drops?  Sure, probably, but this is PC gaming - SOME PEOPLE are going to have some problems with almost any game out there.  I don't believe it's anything wide spread at all.  What I have read is people complaining about 30fps in cut-scenes - again, if that ruins something for you it's your deal.   That also leads me to believe that some of these people complaining about frame drops are complaining about dropping from 60 to 45fps or something like that - close fraps, walk away.

The only other complaint I've heard is that the ESC key closes the game right down.  Is it weird? Yes.  Is it a bug? Possibly.  Game breaking? DON'T PRESS THE FUCKING ESCAPE KEY UNLESS YOU WANT TO EXIT OUT.

It's not a great port but it works.  Hell, it works better than a lot of PC games on release.  It could be done better for sure, but raising a shitstorm over 720p and the escape key? #horseshit

Offline MysterD

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #176 on: Saturday, October 11, 2014, 04:09:48 PM »
@GPW

One of the strangest things is this: The Last Remnant PC version can run in 1080p by default, which hit the PC in 2009.
Yes, 2009. Before FFXIII dropped on consoles. And Square Enix was the one who supposedly did that TLR PC port!
You mean to tell me Square Enix couldn't take the time to even implement the 1080p res, when TLR PC did? That's what's so baffling here.

I'm not asking for the moon here w/ a PC port, I don't think - asking for 1080p res'.
While I'd rather Square support graphics bells + whistle out the gate officially in-game - if they won't, I can just use my NVidia panel here to force AA, AF, and other graphics bells + whistles on, if necessary...as long as it'll work w/ the game (hopefully).
And when I do get FFXIII PC - you can bet that if Square don't do anything to improve FFXIII PC, I'm going to use Durante's GeDoSaTo.

Also, about dips + rises in framerates, usually 10 frames or more - when that's happening when gameplay is happening, it's noticeable. When it happens during gameplay, that can cause stutters slow-downs or speed-ups in gameplay - all which can make play less fluid and much less natural. If it's happening b/t switches from say end of gameplay to cut-scene or vice versa - I don't think the framerate dips like that will be big problem.
Also, there's been claims for people locking it to 30 frames - and it still will drop 10-15 frames, when it does. If that happens during gameplay, that's unacceptable to dip below 20 frames. Better off sticking w/ lock to 60 frames and tolerate the drop to 45 or so - which is a bit more tolerable. The lock 30 FPS solution is a fine solution, IMHO - as long as the framerate doesn't stray too far from there during gameplay.

I have TLR PC locked to 30 frames - and it looks and runs fine, without problems or anything of the sort. I could've kept it at 60 FPS - but for me, even w/ Turbo Mode off, I can't hit the buttons w/ the right timing, when you get a Quick-Time Prompt during combat. I have no problem w/ locking games down to 30 frames, if they're going to stay around that framerate - and to keep some games stable (i.e. NFS: The Run, Dark Souls PTD, NFS: Rival, NFS: Hot Pursuit) - that's exactly what I did. To keep Thief 2014 stable - I used EVGA Precision X and locked that one down to 40 FPS, since its constant fluctuations b/t 40-60 frames were driving me nuts.

EDIT:
I think Bully PC is the worst PC port I've ever seen in all my years of PC gaming, BTW.
Yes, even worse than Dark Souls PTD (unmodded). At least Dark Souls PTD was function, locked it its low-res. It just...needed some PC love to make it look better - all thanks to Durante.

And there's my next thought - Dark Souls PTD PC is a down-right beautiful game. And from the screens I've seen w/ FFXIII PC - the same can be said for that, too. These games have such beautiful and fantastic art direction, that I don't want to see the res' limited. I don't want these games held back. They deserve to have their beauty and art direction shown, off in the current PC standard of 1080p glory. I want these games to be done justice on the PC.

Offline idolminds

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #177 on: Saturday, October 11, 2014, 04:26:07 PM »

Offline gpw11

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #178 on: Saturday, October 11, 2014, 07:15:02 PM »
@GPW

One of the strangest things is this: The Last Remnant PC version can run in 1080p by default, which hit the PC in 2009.
Yes, 2009. Before FFXIII dropped on consoles. And Square Enix was the one who supposedly did that TLR PC port!
You mean to tell me Square Enix couldn't take the time to even implement the 1080p res, when TLR PC did? That's what's so baffling here.

I'm not asking for the moon here w/ a PC port, I don't think - asking for 1080p res'.
While I'd rather Square support graphics bells + whistle out the gate officially in-game - if they won't, I can just use my NVidia panel here to force AA, AF, and other graphics bells + whistles on, if necessary...as long as it'll work w/ the game (hopefully).
And when I do get FFXIII PC - you can bet that if Square don't do anything to improve FFXIII PC, I'm going to use Durante's GeDoSaTo.


Who knows why they didn't include 1080p support.  They didn't and people can either live with it or just not by the game.  My point is that the circle jerk around it is ridiculous.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #179 on: Saturday, October 11, 2014, 07:19:03 PM »
Who knows why they didn't include 1080p support.  They didn't and people can either live with it or just not by the game.  My point is that the circle jerk around it is ridiculous.
My guess: to try and save money.
And possibly, they might even hoped someone like Durante would do exactly like he did w/ Dark Souls PC, Deadly Premonition, and other games - mod them up.

Offline Xessive

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #180 on: Saturday, October 11, 2014, 09:06:35 PM »
It's likely a  cost-cutting measure, they didn't want to redo the UI from scratch for 1080p.

I bet someone will figure out how to force the game to 1080p and we'll see the UI looking aliased and stretched.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #181 on: Saturday, October 11, 2014, 10:13:07 PM »
It's likely a  cost-cutting measure, they didn't want to redo the UI from scratch for 1080p.

I bet someone will figure out how to force the game to 1080p and we'll see the UI looking aliased and stretched.

That's what Durante's GeDoSaTo program/mod is for - to take games stuck in a certain (low) res, up-sample them to very high res', then down-sample them.
Plus, you can add more graphics bells + whistles, too.
If you check the GAF, modders already working on new fonts that ain't jagged.

Offline gpw11

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #182 on: Monday, October 27, 2014, 12:20:48 AM »
So, I'm one of the clowns who bought this, because at $10 who gives a shit.

Honestly, I don't get a lot of the flak this game gets.   If I wanted to play an RPG, this would probably be it - and I put like 10 hours into it.  I get that a lot of people were let down with the linear nature, but that's kind of Final Fantasy and what you should expect.  Sure, usually they open up a bit (or at least used to?), but it was always a fake kind of open - "You can go anywhere now!! But really, you need to go here, here, and then here, in this order.  And all those other places have nothing to do right now or you've already done everything".  FFXII was somewhat different but it was the odd man out.   It was good, but it was also a departure and I'm sure some were let down.

So, what you get here is a very (extremely) linear adventure with a shit ton of polish, great music, and maybe the best RPG battle system I've seen.  It has an in-media-res opening and never stops to explain what the fuck is going on, but five minutes of reading the data logs in-game and I was caught up. 

I found the music, polish, and battle system enough to keep me playing when I didn't even want to - which says a lot. In the end there are JRPG tropes that I just can't get past but if I wanted to play a JRPG, this would probably be the one.

But I don't.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #183 on: Tuesday, November 11, 2014, 05:34:34 PM »
Polygon -> Information on PC versions of both FFXIII-1 and FFXIII-2.
-> FFXIII PC patch officially coming to put in custom resolution support (720p, 1080p, etc) & other graphics settings in December.
-> FFXIII-2 PC is also coming on December 11th w/ all of those features planned in FFXIII PC patch; 60 frames per sec gameplay support; and Japanese voice-overs + subtitles support.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #184 on: Wednesday, December 03, 2014, 05:57:33 PM »
Final Fantasy XIII (PC) -> My 1st Impressions

I've got about 8 1/2 hours into the PC version of Final Fantasy XIII. Here's some thoughts.

This game's beautiful, artistically. I just love to see every frame + every detail in this game, in its glory on my PC. This is one of the most beautiful games that I've ever seen - period. Even with FFXIII PC stuck at 720p currently - it's still beautiful. It just currently doesn't live up to its possible potential on the PC, until Square's upcoming patch comes that'll fix the lack of higher-resolutions and add some graphical features; or gamers actually decide to use the fantastic program GeDoSaTo. In the meantime, until we see what the official patch brings us - GeDoSaTo does a fantastic job of making this game look extremely beautiful and actually live up to its potential. If you're looking to to push the game to 1080p or above - GeDoSaTo is currently a must to have, just to do so. And it looks simply amazing in 1080p.

Performance on my PC (i7 950; 16 GB of RAM; 1 GB VRAM GeForce GTX 560 Ti; Win 7 64-bit) was all over the place w/ GeDoSaTo - when downsampling to 1080p and some graphical features turned on or at some higher setting. Depending on whether you're in battle or just roaming the game-world, the game fluctuates its maximum cap either at 30 frames per second or 60 frames. Turning some GeDoSaTo's settings off or to lower settings helped a lot - but wasn't enough. When above 30 frames (when the game goes capped at 60), the issue was trying to get something solid. It would be a bit all over the place, b/t 35 frames to 60. But, still - it took locking the game's VSync to half-rate (30 frames) at all times via NVidia Panel to end all of my issues with bouncing frame-rates and to give me something slick and as smooth as silk.

Gameplay is quite different, compared to older FF games. Granted, I haven't played a FF game since FF9 on the original PlayStation. FF13 is not entirely turn-based, either - even though you have menus with skills, attacks, items, and whatnot to pick from. Combat is faster-paced, as you have a timed-meter and you can queue-up moves to use before the bar is full. Once it's full, whatever you queued-up will happen or you can attack right there on the fly. Whatever move you use, it uses up a certain amount of the bar. Some attacks take up more of the bar, some (like a regular attack) take up much less. You do NOT control the entire party directly, either. Anyone else in the party - they're NPC's, controlled by the game and its AI. You only can control entirely the character designated at the leader for the game's chapter, section, or whatever the case is. The better you do in combat, the more spoils and/or the better the spoils you get from battle will get.

Early on, this seems like a very easy system to learn - which it is, as a good deal of the first few hours of the game is teaching you a lot of the game's systems and mechanics. It teaches them to you in a pace that's slowly, but surely. It might even take a bit too long, for some players to get. Then, things later get more complex and way more interesting - once more characters, Classes and Paradigms are introduced. Once these are introduced - for any other party members: you basically tell them their specific role to play. Once this stuff gets unlocked, when your character has more Classes behind them and more Paradigms to switch between, the game can get more difficult + constantly keep you on your toes. When leveling-up happens and certain events happen, you can then push what directions you want the character to go in. The further you go along - the more Classes and their skills, abilities, and whatnot are available for you to decide to level-up with. Most characters have more than one Class - and you'll need to switch between those classes on the fly when facing certain enemies or at the right time to succeed in combat. Once the game introduces the Paradigm system around some 3-4 hours into the game - more Classes, and more skills are available to the player, turning the game's combat into this fast-paced; quick-thinking needed; strategic; and extremely fun + addictive combat system.

There's a lot of story; characters; events; and FFXIII-created jargon + terms here going on. If you don't have a clue what's going on with the stories, characters, terms, and anything they're talking about - make sure you read the DataLog, once the game tells you it got updated. The Log explains pretty much anything & everything that you likely have no clue about and/or have questions about - as often the game feels like it's just putting you in the midst of something with little to no much explanation; or there's something you just want more information on. DataLog pretty much expands on this, cluing the player in on just about everything the player needs to know. Just like reading a Codex feels necessary in a Mass Effect game, the same can definitely be said about the DataLog here in FFXIII.

The game itself constantly is switching b/t stories, characters, who's the lead in this chapter that you're controlling, and whatnot. The game's story is nothing short of epic in scope. With such a cast of characters, one can't help but feel attached to most of them, as the game is constantly dishing out story, cut-scenes, and events to make you really care about these characters. Sure, some of the game's story is absolutely ridiculous, over-the-top, and melodramatic - but, we expect that from Final Fantasy. Above all, there's so much humor, charm + personality to this game and its characters, one still can't help but still be swept off their feet by the magic.

One thing that might seem jarring is even after 8 1/2 hours of this game, especially from fans of the FF series: your access to the game-world is extremely linear. We're talking Call of Duty linear here, as the game goes in order pretty much from chapter-to-chapter, in one direction without little to no side-directions, side-quests, or anything of the sort. The game-world, at least so far, is not open at all to explore. Everything here happens from chapter-to-chapter, playing out in a mostly linear A-to-B funneled straight and tunneled right down a corridor type of fashion. Since the game's so linear and feels like you move in one corridor or maze from Point A to B - don't expect to run into towns, either. In some ways, the game so far feels like a big dungeon crawl - as after my approximate 8 1/2 hours with this, I haven't ran into any towns. This JRPG feels like it also took FF into the dungeon-crawl realm, but with checkpoint saves thrown in-between. At these save points, you can also access the game's shops - where you can buy + sell any equipment that you have.

It's hard to say if this linearity here is for better or for worse b/c its huge emphasis on story + character is one of the best that I've seen in the series (keep in mind, I've only played FF1 on t he NES; and FF5,6,7,8 and 9 on the PSX). It'd definitely different in a FF game, that's for sure. Whether this linearity is for better or worse - that's of course, as long as immediacy of the story + character development doesn't fall apart anytime down the road. Let's hope for the best - b/c after 8 1/2 hours, I'm having a hard time putting down FFXIII especially b/c of its story + characters; and finally with the combat system turning its tide some 3-4 hours into the game.

Offline gpw11

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #185 on: Wednesday, December 03, 2014, 09:47:37 PM »
I really liked your writeup and agree for the most part.  Fuck, I even reinstalled the game.  As much as I dislike the anime nature that goes hand in hand with the FF series (and I used to be a pretty big FF fan) I just love the music and visuals in this game, as well as the combat. 


Offline MysterD

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Offline gpw11

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #188 on: Thursday, October 29, 2015, 06:10:33 PM »
So, I'm kind of trying to play this on PC again and I think maybe I just don't get something about the upgrades or battle system.  Like, it was pretty fun and then all of a sudden I'm dealing with these two characters party and it seems like it takes forever to make a larger enemy stagger.  As a result, I'm in like 5 minute battles of just "auto, auto, auto, auto, switch abilities, auto, auto, switch abilities, auto, auto, auto, auto.....   I'm pretty positive I'm using the right classes at the right times, but it just seems to take forever. 

It could be related to the upgrade/equipment system. It confuses me a bit.  I see that there are other weapons out there for the characters, but if I were to switch at this point I'd have to go down to level one and use a bunch more resources to upgrade back to level XXXX.  It seems like there's a bit of a sunk cost thing going on here (and not a false one) where it would just be wiser to stick with whatever weapon you started with and upgrade it until you can't anymore and then spend resources after that on the best available until it outshines it.  That can't possibly be a mechanic though, so I'm missing something.

Offline MysterD

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII (& XIII-2)
« Reply #189 on: Saturday, November 10, 2018, 03:47:55 PM »
Eurogamer - Entire FF13 Trilogy is going to be Backwards Compatible on XBox One:
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-11-09-final-fantasy-13-trilogy-to-be-xbox-one-backwards-compatible

So, the entire FF13 Trilogy is, as follows:
FF13 (original)
FF13-2
Lightning Returns: FF13 (A.K.A. FF13-3).