Thoughts on the XIII games

Storm2356 · Oct 5, 2013

I didn't notice any specific topics about this, so I thought I'd make one myself.

EDIT: I'd just like to make a few things clear here. As the guy who opened this up, I'm going to try and take some responsibility with it. I know that there are people who don't like XIII, and thats fine. That does not mean that you can post things along the lines of "FFXIII sux!1!11" or otherwise saying you hate it without rational reasoning behind it, because that's not good for discussion, and with how torn the fanbase is on these games, it's bound to start arguments. If you do get into an argument for any reason, I'm most likely going to be there to break it up and save the mods the trouble.

As should be obvious, this is the place for you to express your thoughts on Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy. Any part of any of the games (well, LR isn't out yet, but for right now, just what we know) is up for discussion, but if you're posting about an important point in the story, be sure to mark it as a spoiler with the handy dandy "Spoiler Content" button.

Just to start a specific conversation, what did you think of Eidolons of XIII? Did you think they gave enough background, be it explicitly mentioned in the story or in the Datalog? Which is your favorite?

For myself, I thought it was an interesting story reason for there to be summons in a largely sci-fi world. I, stupidly, didn't pay much attention to the Datalog, and my memory of what they said about them in the story is foggy, so I can't really answer my own question. As for my favorite, it would have to be Odin for actual use, and Alexander because I think he looks pretty cool. Seeing as I don't mind that he doesn't look really anything like our usual Alexander.

Tsukiyomi · Oct 5, 2013

I heard people comparing the linearity of FFXIII to FFX, and at the time I was like "FFX was linear??" When I played it, back when I first got my PS3, I could see it is considered linear, but I loved it. and when you reach Pulse, that HUGE HUGE HUGE area blew my mind away, you could visit the ruins of freaking cities in that place! I liked the summon system, but I actually forgot to use it except for some of the bounty hunts and bosses. My favorite has to be Odin, cause dual wieldng.

ArkhamFantasy · Oct 5, 2013

I loved the 13 games, i wish XIII had some nice sidequests scattered throughout the game and they could probably have toned down a bit on the melodrama but i still had a blast. 96 hours on XIII and 70 hours on XIII-2, Lightning Returns looks excellent as well.

XIII has my favorite battle system of the franchise, great graphics, great music and very polished. It of course has its flaws but i can live with them.

That being said, i do think that instead of making Lightning Returns they should have had that team assisting with XV, but we are getting Lightning Returns and it looks like a lot of fun.

Storm2356 · Oct 5, 2013

I'm not sure myself what the hype is for XV other than the fact that it's been in "development" for 7 years. I mean, I know it's in full development now and we will be getting it, but still, I need help understanding all of this hype. I will, however, accept your opinion because I'm not the kind of person who shouts, so to speak, over the Internet at someone with a different opinion.

I do think that LR is looking to be great, can't wait to get my hands on it next February, seeing as on a scale of one to ten, my excitement is at thirteen (obvious and unfunny pun is obvious and unfunny).

Zack · Oct 5, 2013

Everything completely fell apart for me when Barthandelus started talking. For ages, the fal'Cie were just dropping hazy images to the l'Cie of what their focus was to be when they could have just told them exactly what their Focus was instead of risk having their slaves screw everything up. It was as if there was a Black Hole where the plot used to be. After that, I just got some enjoyment out of the battle system. I will get through it and FFXIII-2 someday.

Storm2356 · Oct 5, 2013

Zack said:

You've got a point there. Why bother with a risk like that when you could be like, "Okay, here's what you've gotta do, now go do it" instead of "Have an extremely vague vision that offers no insight what-so-ever into this task I've forced you into"?

Caius · Oct 5, 2013

If you insult the XIII games, you might as well take a hike, to me anyways.

I live, eat, breathe, and sleep Final Fantasy XIII/XIII-2. I'm not sure how I feel about what I've seen of LR (I'm still not over the fact it isn't Cocoon/Gran Pulse). Given that, talking about XIII/XIII-2 with me, and asking me to, is a rather broad topic.

As for the Eidolons, I LOVE their concept. I've even made a few of my own Eidolons (using other FF monsters, namely the XII espers so far), and I just love the whole system it uses in terms of that. However, would I like to know more about the backgrounds of each Eidolon? Yes please, and I'd also like to know if there are more out there.

I knew it was part of the FNC line, and so I was always wanting to play it (Nothing hypish though, since I knew I wasn't going to get it anytime soon). However, when I saw the E3 2013 trailer I lost it. I lost all of it. I was so excited, and I think I started to cry when I rewatched it. I love what they're doing with it, the art direction and things are very nice, and it's modern enough that I like it. I can also tell they've been putting in a lot of work into it, and I'm uber excited for it.

Also fedora man. The pink haired man. He's my favorite `3` I have claimed him.

Kagari · Oct 5, 2013

They're old hat. It's time to move on from what to me was ultimately the most disappointing entry in the series.

Squirrel Emperor · Oct 5, 2013

Final Fantasy XIII made me feel like I was an observer on the sidelines instead of an participant in the actual events that were happening. When I play these types of games, I want that sense of being a part of that world. I want that sense of “living” in it. I want to care about things. I didn’t get that feeling at all. The world was simply boring and lifeless. There is nothing memorable about it. Dare I say it, due to how the entire game was structured and set up, it may as well play itself.

I didn’t like it.

Nikolasvanitas · Oct 5, 2013

To be honest i dont like the storyline and some of the characters in the FF13 saga,but i do enjoy the gameplay and the battle mechanics

Nikki-Cola · Oct 5, 2013

For all my Tumblr users out there, I found a blog called Final Fantasy Things. They post some great stuff about all FF games and including KH as well sometimes. Recently, they wrote a very long post. Ususally when I see a long post, I ignore it. (Like most people on Tumblr, lol..) But this post attracted me because the writer actually took the time to explain the ENTIRE backstory of XIII. (Which includes the myths and legends of Fabula Nova Crystallis.)

http://finalfantasythings.tumblr.com/post/63013629017

I think that people who don't like this game should take the time to read this post. Maybe if you see the background information, you may come to like the game a little more and give it another shot. Or you may not, who knows? It can't hurt, can it? I'm not saying you have to read it though, let me just be clear about that. I'm just saying this because quite frankly, this post is badass and whoever wrote it is awesome. And for the people who love XIII, it's awesome to read as a refresher for the upcoming Lightning Returns!

Tsukiyomi · Oct 5, 2013

Also, while I enjoyed the crystalirium (I know that isn't spelled correctly) because it brought me back to my FFX days, it was too restrictive in FF13, at least until you reach the end of the game where you can grind away. Thankfully I enjoyed the battle system so it wasn't too bad.

Storm2356 · Oct 5, 2013

Kagari said:

Hmm. While I won't shout you down for your opinion, I can't say the same because I haven't played any of the other numbered titles. Maybe once I get around to trying the other ones, with IV and XII being pretty high on the list, I could share your opinion, but for now, I enjoy them for what they are.

EDIT: As for those of us who do enjoy the games, what was your least favorite part? I like them a lot, but even I can't say they're perfect. In XIII, it was the Crystarium. It really annoyed me how you couldn't freely level your characters, and had to wait until certain milestones to keep going. Besides that, I never did enough fighting, so for the most part I was underleveled full time. For XIII-2, it would have to be the lack of variety in locations. Sure, if you avoided all of the side content, you only saw about six repeats, but even then they were only different visually because of lighting.

EDIT #2: Ha, how fitting, post number 13.

yeah_93 · Oct 5, 2013

Well, I kinda liked the first one, and didn't find the characters utter trash like most people have said (Have you ever played SO4?), but the linearity and tunnels were absurd, and the plot left a lot to be desired. I had no interest in XIII-2 but I played it and thought it was much better in certain aspects, such as freedoms, but way worse in the plot and difficulty. I have little interest in Lightning Returns but I think it has some interesting features.

Caius said:

...Okay then. Don't go to NeoGaf if you think that way.

Kagari · Oct 5, 2013

Storm2356 said:

Hmm. While I won't shout you down for your opinion, I can't say the same because I haven't played any of the other numbered titles. Maybe once I get around to trying the other ones, with IV and XII being pretty high on the list, I could share your opinion, but for now, I enjoy them for what they are.

EDIT: As for those of us who do enjoy the games, what was your least favorite part? I like them a lot, but even I can't say they're perfect. In XIII, it was the Crystarium. It really annoyed me how you couldn't freely level your characters, and had to wait until certain milestones to keep going. Besides that, I never did enough fighting, so for the most part I was underleveled full time. For XIII-2, it would have to be the lack of variety in locations. Sure, if you avoided all of the side content, you only saw about six repeats, but even then they were only different visually because of lighting.

EDIT #2: Ha, how fitting, post number 13.

Your opinion might change once you've done so.

Nikolasvanitas · Oct 5, 2013

One thing we can all agree on is that FF XIII is the title that divided the fanbase to a great extent,I would really like to get inside Kitase's head and see what he thinks about his choices so far
I should probably stay away from Toriyama's head

Storm2356 · Oct 5, 2013

Kagari said:

I know, I said that in the original post. Still, though, even once I do play the previous ones, I'll probably still enjoy it for what it is. Usually I can't help but do that, XD
EDIT: Or I could have edited that bit in without notice, my memory sucks for being so young.

Zack · Oct 5, 2013

I think systems such as the Sphere Grid and Crystarium are the bane of my existence. I don't need extreme tedium when I just want to level.

Kagari · Oct 5, 2013

Nikolasvanitas said:

I just want to know why the game was such a massive step back from FF12 in terms of characterizaiton and writing. That's probably what disappointed me the most - looking past the linearity and level design - for me, I was most let down by the amount of deus ex machina thrown in to salvage what was arguably a plot that could have gone interesting places but ultimately didn't. Instead what we got was marred by melodrama, a terrible script and characters who failed to trigger any sort of emotional response following their husk of whatever development that followed their initial introductions.

Azuardo · Oct 5, 2013

I was quite ignorant when I first got FFXIII. I quite literally bought the PS3 for that game, and was absorbed into it for the whole time I played it. It looked beautiful. It had been so long since I'd played a brand new FF game that it made FFXIII seem brilliant, and I was very satsified with aspects of it.

But as time went on, I opened my eyes a bit more. As a matter of fact, I played FFXII for the first time after I played FFXIII, and I was actually amazed. FFXII was much more like the FF game I expected of the series. The open world and much more free battle system (why couldn't we program our allies in XIII?) felt like the game XIII should have been.

The linearity of XIII was so much apparent after then going into XII. People do call FFX linear, and whilst that may be true in terms of story progression and its lack of world map when compared to other FFs, at least you could still return to locations in FFX to do quests and the like. There was absolutely none of that in XIII. The only side quests were the hunts. The Crystarium was also poor, with no freedom in how to define your characters. Nothing like the Materia system of VII or the Junction system of VIII (the latter often underappreciated).

I appreciate what the guys behind XIII were trying to do. I can enjoy it for what it is. I liked the fast-paced nature of the battle system. But it failed in trying to be what FF has always been about. I don't dislike the game in any huge way; I just am disappointed in the way it turned out.

As for XIII-2; it improved on aspects, but the story was all over the damn place. Why on earth they needed to bring time travel into it and just screw with everything is beyond me. False advertising of Lightning as the main character, story DLC and "To Be Continued" were also disgraceful.

I will get LR day one because it's what I do with FF games. I still enjoyed my time with XIII/XIII-2, even if I do have issues with them. I would like to see the story conclude now. But my god, I can't believe a whole generation has been dedicated to these games. Drawing them out and shoving Lightning down fans' throats; it's no wonder people are mad.

And as Nikki mentioned, those interested in the XIII games really should give the novels a read to fill themselves in on the goings-on before XIII and in-between that and XIII-2. I gained a much better appreciation for XIII and its characters after reading the prologue novels, but it was pretty poor that you actually had to read them to gain said appreciation. A lot of that could have been included in the game, or should have got an official English translation.

Thoughts on the XIII games

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