Final Fantasy XIII

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » January 14, 2010, 1:53 am

It's not really reviewing very well. I may actually wait until this is in the cheapie bin. My hype has been lowered a great deal since it was first announced.

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » January 14, 2010, 3:38 am

Winnow wrote:The theme song video/trailer to Final Fantasy XIII:

http://kotaku.com/5446456/new-final-fan ... ice-acting

Song isn't very good. If you try to block out the song, you can almost see a storyline for the game although not really.

Square Enix has talent but it's been misguided.

The female character with the aussie accent looks the most interesting.

Awful. I could forgive the gorgeous graphics and great voice work if the song complemented the video. But instead, the lyrics muddled with the spoken words and I'm left wondering how many FF7 esque, quality games could be released in the time it took them to animate the trailer.

Do you folks really like technology (graphics, voicework, grandeur) enough that you'd want to see Square Penix take 3 years to shit all over your beloved Final Fantasy? Bring back simplicity and allow the story, characters, tension, decisions, and the rest of what makes RPGs great form the immersion we all crave!!, and not expensive, overcooked marketing machine linear bullshit.

Three dimensions adds magnitudes of pain for development. Give me a cel-shaded, story-heavy final fantasy with gorgeous, immersive backdrops (pre-rendered ftw) and multitudes of side quests, nestled deep within an ambitious gearing and leveling system and I'll even forgive the fact that they'll still put a shitty, too-modern soundtrack in it (why a fantasy series has become obsessed with a modern look and feel baffles me. The potential is in the opposite direction, Squeenx!).

And a FUCK YOU!!! to the guy who decided to get rid of leveling altogether!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 14, 2010, 4:54 am

Divisive RPG Final Fantasy XIII has received its most damning print review to date, being awarded a pathetic 40% by an overseas rag evidently free of the need to toady up to Square’s advertising department. The game is a “swindle” and a “joke” it is said, and many who have played the game will likely sympathise with the criticisms made.

The game received the following score:

System: 1/10 “Such a crude system barely warrants being called an RPG at all.”

Scenario: 2/10 “An epic tear jerker.”

Graphics: 9/10 “Top marks here.”

Sound: 7/10 “Mostly quality.”

Enthusiasm: 1/10 “As if you could play this for 100 hours! I could put up with 8.”

Total: 4/10 “To think it got this bad…”

Criticisms include:

The game is complete linearity until the open areas near the end. You can’t even backtrack.

Of all the RPGs I’ve played in recent years, this is the first which has been so linear that it’s little more than riding an amusement park ride.

I had heard the opinion that “It’s amazing once you get to Chapter 11,” but why should you spend 20 or 30 hours on a game to get to the only enjoyable part? Just how do they intend to make me play this? Do they think I’m some kind of masochist?

He goes on to deride the gameplay for having become a button mashing puzzle game with no real strategy or RPG elements and a plethora of annoying features, saying the game as a whole is little more than a “digital novel” of sorts.

For such a game to approach 2 million copies sold must be due solely to the strength of the Final Fantasy brand, he opines, calling it in closing the “biggest swindle in gaming history” and the “biggest joke of 2009.”

miir · Post by **miir** » January 14, 2010, 10:41 am

Here's a different take on FF13

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2664 ... y_XIII.php

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » January 14, 2010, 12:06 pm

miir wrote:Here's a different take on FF13

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/2664 ... y_XIII.php

I like that one more.

Two things I think we are forgetting here.

1) JRPGs, especially when they have a name like FF behind them, don't review well.

2) This game alone over the past few months I think doubled the sales of the PS3 in Japan, not that sales were hurting there to begin with.

I'm still very excited for this game. I'm sure the experience will be different from other FF games, but that's been the case for the most part in the past. There have been a lot of them I've started off not liking, but warmed up to after time. The only exception to this is 8, which is the skid mark on the series underwear.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 14, 2010, 12:20 pm

That article seems too wrapped up in making excuses and trying to define the Final Fantasy series instead of evaluating the game on how entertaining it is to play.

I enjoy lots of cut scenes if they are high quality and don't mind a movie type experience so I'll get FFXIII probably no matter what.

White Knight Chronicles is still looking more like a classic FF type game with a Feb 2nd release date.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » January 14, 2010, 12:24 pm

Winnow wrote:That article seems too wrapped up in making excuses and trying to define the Final Fantasy series instead of evaluating the game on how entertaining it is to play.

I enjoy lots of cut scenes if they are high quality and don't mind a movie type experience so I'll get FFXIII probably no matter what.

White Knight Chronicles is still looking more like a classic FF type game with a Feb 2nd release date.

That doesn't seem to be the case at all. The article seems to be doing it's best to make people realize that just because the game isn't what they expect and what it has been in the past that it can still be good.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » January 14, 2010, 12:47 pm

Funkmasterr wrote:
That doesn't seem to be the case at all. The article seems to be doing it's best to make people realize that just because the game isn't what they expect and what it has been in the past that it can still be good.

shhhh, I didn't really read the article!

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » January 14, 2010, 1:00 pm

Winnow wrote:
Funkmasterr wrote:
That doesn't seem to be the case at all. The article seems to be doing it's best to make people realize that just because the game isn't what they expect and what it has been in the past that it can still be good.

shhhh, I didn't really read the article!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 2, 2010, 3:36 pm

Well this can't be good:

Game retail watchers can’t help but note that the price offered for second hand copies of Final Fantasy XIII has plummeted to about $15, despite the game initially retailing at almost $100.

The same list shows the much older Perfect Tales of Vesperia to be worth more than twice as much as Final Fantasy XIII, with Geo offering ¥3,100 for it; indeed, there is no RPG being bought up so cheaply.

Fans Disgusted by Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII – Zetsubou Shita! “It’s Just a Long Tunnel!”

That the game has been dumbed down into an excessively linear “CG movie player with RPG elements” has been the major bone of contention amongst fans and even a few commercial reviewers, although it seems likely the game will continue to be a great commercial success even as it is a critical failure, thanks to the overpowering Final Fantasy brand.

Final Fantasy XIII as Linear as a Piece of String

Players of Final Fantasy XIII are aghast at the dumbed down map design the game offers, with the entire game seemingly reduced to a single interminable path punctuated by cutscenes and unavoidable mob encounters.

The first 6 hours of the game in maps:

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » February 2, 2010, 3:41 pm

Get off it already dude...

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platfor ... lfantasy13

Not a lot up there yet but certainly isn't negative city like everything you've posted. There aren't cities and big maps to explore.. Do I wish it was different? Sure. Does that mean the game won't be good still? Absolutely not. The problem with everything you are posting is that the gripes are basically "it's not the same thing as every other FF game"... Yeah, and?

Edit: As an aside, Japanese people have weird fucking taste in video games. Like, really weird. The trade in value going down would be indicative of them not LOVING it, which in my book is very possibly a good thing.

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » February 2, 2010, 5:59 pm

The trade in value going down would be indicative of them not LOVING it, which in my book is very possibly a good thing.

absurd

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » February 2, 2010, 6:00 pm

Leonaerd wrote:
The trade in value going down would be indicative of them not LOVING it, which in my book is very possibly a good thing.
absurd

Thanks?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 2, 2010, 6:06 pm

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 2, 2010, 6:07 pm

Winnow wrote:
Final Fantasy XIII Linear “Since Towns Were Too Much Work”

Interviews with the Final Fantasy XIII development team appear to have yielded some surprising revelations, including the admission that the game’s notoriously linear structure was due in large part to the trouble inherent in designing towns in a “high definition” manner.

The game’s linearity was just because depicting towns and so on like we did before was impossible to do on an “HD” console – it was too much work.

Lazy!

ref: Mass Effect 1/2

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » February 2, 2010, 6:14 pm

Yawn.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » February 2, 2010, 6:58 pm

Squeenix apparently confirmed that the 360 version will ship on 3 disks.
http://kotaku.com/5462115/yup-final-fan ... hree-discs

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 2, 2010, 7:11 pm

Animalor wrote:Squeenix apparently confirmed that the 360 version will ship on 3 disks.
http://kotaku.com/5462115/yup-final-fan ... hree-discs

With the linear game design, I guess there won't be any concerns with excessive disc swapping. Score one for the 360!

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » February 2, 2010, 7:17 pm

360 version preordered. I'm on board with Funk's line of thinking. Just because it's not traditional FF doesn't mean it win't be a great game. Besides, I find many games more enjoyable when under a more "scripted" experiance built around the narrative.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 2, 2010, 7:29 pm

Fairweather Pure wrote:360 version preordered. I'm on board with Funk's line of thinking. Just because it's not traditional FF doesn't mean it win't be a great game. Besides, I find many games more enjoyable when under a more "scripted" experiance built around the narrative.

Fair, I gotta ask. All browsers have spell checkers (if not, you need to get Firefox). Why do you always misspell experience as "experiance? I typo all day long but not the same word consistently when I see the error repeatedly with spell checkers.

I'm not a spelling Nazi and have more than my share of errors. Going to the moon is old hat. Spell checkers are old hat as well I guess and not needed!

ack

setback:

Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 Graphics “Inferior to PS3″

Players given the opportunity to playtest the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Final Fantasy XIII side-by-side have been reporting the in-game graphics of the Xbox 360 version are noticeably inferior to those of the PS3.

Square Enix’s marketing activities, in the form of a touring bus, have given US fans the chance to play both:

I went to the Sunnyvale one today and got to play the 360 version. I am so very disappointed to see the difference in textures and detail of the 360 version vs. the PS3. =( I know it’s DVD vs. BD, but I didn’t think it would be that noticeable. My boyfriend told me it’s fine if I wanna stick with the 360 version, but he’s going for the PS3 one now.

Both PS3s and 360s were being used to show off the game, which was great as I was able to see both versions running side-by-side. As expected, the 360 version was noticeably less crisp than its PS3 counterpart, but it still ran nicely.
The only difference reported previously was that the movies and sound on the Xbox 360 would be substantially lower quality in order to cram the game onto 3 DVDs – in-game graphical differences were said to be absent.

International fans planning to purchase the Xbox version are understandably dismayed by this, although at least it seems to demonstrate the game was not intentionally crippled on the PS3 in order to accommodate the port.

Analysis of the content of the Blu-ray disc housing Final Fantasy XIII on the PS3 suggests some unpleasant compromises may be in store for the Xbox 360 version, in spite of assurances to the contrary and what many suspect to be reductions in graphical quality on the PS3 version in order to keep both versions identical.

The BD containing the game amounts to 38GB, whilst the Xbox 360 version has already been confirmed as being packed onto 3 DVD discs (offering an absolute maximum of 25GB or so).

Add to this the fact that each disc will have to duplicate key game resources and the amount of space available to the Xbox 360 version drops even further…

However, concerns over a crippled Xbox 360 version are misplaced – of the 38GB of data on the disc, only 8GB is game data, the rest being given over to sumptuous CG movies (see above), leading to the promise that the in-game elements will be “mostly” identical, whilst the movies simply enjoy far lower data rates to compensate, an admittedly dubious consolation.

Fairweather Pure · Post by **Fairweather Pure** » February 2, 2010, 10:23 pm

Winnow wrote:Fair, I gotta ask. All browsers have spell checkers (if not, you need to get Firefox). Why do you always misspell experience as "experiance? I typo all day long but not the same word consistently when I see the error repeatedly with spell checkers.

I'm not a spelling Nazi and have more than my share of errors. Going to the moon is old hat. Spell checkers are old hat as well I guess and not needed!lower quality in order to cram the game onto 3 DVDs – in-game graphical differences were said to be absent.

I never spell check on my iphone. Small posts usually = iphone post. Having said that, yeah, I'm not a great speller. At least I don't do the your/you're thing. That bothers me when I see it.

Guess I may have to cancel my 360 version and go PS3. Well, I'll wait a bit before I do that and read a couple more 360 reviews. It's not looking good though. I kinda saw it coming though.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » February 3, 2010, 9:54 am

Yeah, I've kinda thought that I'd end up buying this one on the PS3. At this point now it will take quite a bit to change my mind.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » February 8, 2010, 10:51 pm

Final Fantasy XIII Sells for $20, Sales Now a Damp Squib

Troubled blockbuster corridor marathon Final Fantasy XIII is now the subject of humiliating ¥1,980 sales, whilst its sales figures have dropped to record lows.

Presumably the store in question found itself completely unable to shift its stock.

Second-hand, as reported the game is now being bought by stores for ¥1,500-2,500, although some stores are apparently no longer willing to buy. Second-hand stores are routinely offering the game for as little as ¥3,500.

More ominously, the sales figures for Final Fantasy XIII, whilst initially healthy enough, have plummeted to levels far lower than previous titles in the series.

I played, and im telling its shit. Now just go and get yourself mentally prepared so you dont kill yourself on 3/9,

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 2, 2010, 10:04 pm

FFXIII for 360 is finally out, RF

It's three discs. I only have two blanks! Hope that lasts until I make it over to BB.

Scanned guide please.

Siji · Post by **Siji** » March 2, 2010, 10:28 pm

Might want to consider waiting for a proper release, or fix.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 2, 2010, 10:34 pm

Apparently working…if you’re already banned,u should b good 2 go…

check!

Siji · Post by **Siji** » March 2, 2010, 10:40 pm

Unless the corruption is in the game partition vs the video partition. If it is, it could cause crashing. I was mid-way through getting it myself until I did some reading up on what the possible anydvd corruptions were.

Just trying to save your disks! *shrug*

EDIT: Proper being posted now, grab that instead.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 2, 2010, 11:17 pm

Grabbing Proper, hopefully it's a solid pack job. Thank the pirate gods for my speedy connection.

171 more corrupt 7GB+ file downloads this month and I'll reach Fairweather's leet leecher status!

Siji · Post by **Siji** » March 3, 2010, 3:16 pm

The proper posted is RAR password protected (die in hell anyone that does this for any release of anything), however a ppf fix was recently posted to fix the original posts.

Waiting on Winnow's review before burning!

miir · Post by **miir** » March 3, 2010, 3:49 pm

I thought there were forum rules about faggoting up threads with software/game/music piracy info.

Take it to PMs or post it on a non public forum, please.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » March 3, 2010, 3:55 pm

I got my Ps3 pre-order all linedup for next Tuesday! Can't wait!!!

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » March 3, 2010, 4:24 pm

miir wrote:I thought there were forum rules about faggoting up threads with software/game/music piracy info.

Take it to PMs or post it on a non public forum, please.

No, I believe the rules are just against actually posting said material here. We all know how sandy pirates make your vagina though, don't we gang? YARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 3, 2010, 4:38 pm

Funkmasterr wrote:
miir wrote:I thought there were forum rules about faggoting up threads with software/game/music piracy info.

Take it to PMs or post it on a non public forum, please.
No, I believe the rules are just against actually posting said material here. We all know how sandy pirates make your vagina though, don't we gang? YARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

yep! Fuck off Miir!

I deleted the original download. I'm going to wait for a repack and grab it then. If the game was getting good reviews I'd be anxious but somehow I'm not too worried about it.

miir · Post by **miir** » March 3, 2010, 4:43 pm

No, YOU go fuck yourself.

It's pretty fucking stupid to openly talk about software piracy on a open forum.
If anything were to happen, it's Sylvus' ass on the line, not yours.
Show a little bit of respect, man.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » March 3, 2010, 4:49 pm

Not even a tiny comment about how I'm retarded? Winnow gets all the h8.

sadface

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » March 3, 2010, 4:51 pm

I'm sorta inclined to agree. Anyone who has a flashed drive pretty much knows what comes out when so not really a need to announce it on a public forum. I'm not necessarily opposed to 'evaluating' software but there's a time and place for everything.

miir · Post by **miir** » March 3, 2010, 5:01 pm

I don't really care if you guys talk about piracy in a closed forum (like modding), but this forum is wide open.
Anyone can view posts in this forum, even bots.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 3, 2010, 6:27 pm

miir wrote:I don't really care if you guys talk about piracy in a closed forum (like modding), but this forum is wide open.
Anyone can view posts in this forum, even bots.

Bots can be turned off easily. It's up to the admins. Not sure why we have bots for this board. I do see VV posts turn up in google searches from time to time.

Siji · Post by **Siji** » March 3, 2010, 7:16 pm

I'm all out of cheese. Piss off.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 4, 2010, 12:49 am

Got this working.

Grabbed this disc one:

Final.Fantasy.XIII.X360-Allstars JUST4FUN-TEAM.NL & FTACLUB.NET - "all-ff13-dvd1"
(no corrupt rars)

used this ppf fix on it:

Final.Fantasy.XIII.X360.FIX-Allstars JUST4FUN-TEAM.NL & FTACLUB.NET - "all-ff13-ppf-fix"

used ppf-o-matic to apply patch although I don't think you have to, it's just a good ppf patcher app.

(waiting for a better release would probably be a good idea for most)
----

Played just enough to experience a couple battles. Graphics are very nice but I'm definitely not vested in the story yet. The brother is slap stick humor annoying.

Not sure I'm a fan of the live battle tree approach to combat. I like to take my time and select the actions I want. With the battle going on while you decide what you want to to, it makes for less strategy and more just click an action so you don't lose your advantage and get beat on. I think there's a way to plan your battles so I just need to go through tutorial a little more.

Menus and stuff look nice.

linear

Camera controls are a little unresponsive but nothing worse than any other recent FF game. Similar to Infinite Undiscovery (which I'd rate a better game if had to choose in first 10 minutes)

I need 80 more minutes out of this disc one for it to reach $1/hour entertainment level to earn the $1.50 disc I burned it on. I hope the characters get fleshed out so there's some reason to care about them. Might go on backburner for a bit.

Siji · Post by **Siji** » March 4, 2010, 1:19 am

Last FF I played was X on the PS2 I believe.. I liked that one and was/am hoping this one is similar. The combat doesn't sound like it is though.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 4, 2010, 10:36 am

Siji wrote:Last FF I played was X on the PS2 I believe.. I liked that one and was/am hoping this one is similar. The combat doesn't sound like it is though.

X was the best. XIII has same type of combat but for some reason they make you do it live instead of choose options for each of your team members, letting you use more strategy as opposed to twitch responses. I could only make live choices (not battle paused) for my selected character and the other characters fought by themselves. It's too early to know if there's way to slow things down to make choices of if you have to script things in advance. I guess it's most like X-2.

Kaldaur · Post by **Kaldaur** » March 4, 2010, 5:43 pm

Winnow wrote:X was the best.

I knew you were crazy, Winnow, but I didn't know you were that crazy!

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » March 4, 2010, 5:45 pm

Saying any Final Fantasy was the best, aside from 7, is ridiculous.. but 10 wasn't even close. The only one that was worse than 10, is 8. We should all just pretend like FF8 never happened, actually.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 4, 2010, 6:26 pm

yuna!!!!

lulu!!!

,

rikku!!11!

,

ah the FF VII cheerleaders. I stand by my FFX choice!

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » March 4, 2010, 6:32 pm

You would base your favorite one off the number/breast size of the anime girls in the game.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 4, 2010, 7:06 pm

Funkmasterr wrote:You would base your favorite one off the number/breast size of the anime girls in the game.

Their breasts weren't that big!

Anyway, the combat/sphere system in FFX is what I liked.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » March 4, 2010, 8:23 pm

This conversation again huh..

In my books, XII was a lot better than X. I couldn't stand the cast in X. They both pale in the shadow in VII, VIII and IX though.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » March 5, 2010, 2:48 pm

I'd like to dedicate this review to Winnow!

http://gameinformer.com/games/final_fan ... avior.aspx

I_can't_fucking_wait.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » March 5, 2010, 2:58 pm

The pigtailed character, Vanille

runs around the screen like a spastic Tasmanian Devil on crack. Whoever decided that would be a good walk/run animation needs to be shot.

So far, playing XIII is like watching a movie with zero challenge. You're just walking down the linear path to the next cut scene.

Haven't read the article linked by funk yet!