Giving the XIII Saga a new chance.

[LeonBlade]

Of course you can't. Because it's not that bad.

The only problems with VIII are some mechanical things that most people playing the game won't have issues with honestly. If you know about the game you can break it horribly bad, but that was an oversight and not really how new players will approach the game.

In terms of the story, there are some problems, but there are problems in every FF game. I've noticed plenty of flaws with FFIX for example playing through it currently, but they are minimal and easily disregarded.

 

[buddhafied]

Of course you can't. Because it's not that bad.

*side eyes* There are so many things I don't like about VIII, everything from the annoyance of the cast (out of all the leads of Final Fantasy, I hate the character, or lack of character actually, Squall the most.) to the stupid "draw" system that is boring, over complicated for no reason, and just not fun. I recognize it's all preference, but FFVIII has the exact mix of things I do not like. The only thing I adore about VIII is the soundtrack, Triple Triad, and the little feather/wing logo, aside from those, every time I try to replay that game I just want to pull my hair out.

*Takes a deep breathe* Namaste

 

[yeah_93]

The only problems with VIII are some mechanical things that most people playing the game won't have issues with honestly. If you know about the game you can break it horribly bad, but that was an oversight and not really how new players will approach the game.

In terms of the story, there are some problems, but there are problems in every FF game. I've noticed plenty of flaws with FFIX for example playing through it currently, but they are minimal and easily disregarded.

That, and the characters were arse.

 

[LeonBlade]

That, and the characters were arse.

I think they could have done the characterization a lot better, but not all of them were bad. I do think that it was done poorly though which did reflect on all characters.

 

[Lulcielid]

Squall was done well.

 

[yeah_93]

I think they could have done the characterization a lot better, but not all of them were bad. I do think that it was done poorly though which did reflect on all characters.

Squall was done well.

Perhaps I should finish the game before giving an informed opinion about them. I didn't like what I saw when I tried to beat the game. Maybe I'll give it another chance, since I did so with Lighting Returns and eventually finished it.

 

[Lulcielid]

Remember, YMMV.

 

[buddhafied]

Okay, straying back to the topic of this post...

I have myself finished FFXIII as well as FFXIII-2. With FFXIII I had to stop after about 30 hours of game because I just can't do it anymore, then pick it back up a few months later and finished the game (for the story). I did like FFXIII-2 a lot better, as much as it didn't feel too Final Fantasy to me, but that didn't bother me too much.

Now, I was going to pick up Lightning Returns when it came out (even had it pre-ordered), but then dropped it the day before the release because I am quite sure the price will go down in a month or so, and it did. There were numerous times I almost picked up the game (now at $19.99 at a store near me with Cloud's outfit.) I am really interested in picking up the game to finish off the story line as I do want to know what happened to Lightning at the end.

Question: for those who finished the game, did you think your time in Lightning Returns was well spent? Or if you had a choice you would've just watched the story on YouTube?

 

[yeah_93]

Question: for those who finished the game, did you think your time in Lightning Returns was well spent? Or if you had a choice you would've just watched the story on YouTube?

I wouldn't have wasted money on that game. Sure, it has interesting ideas, but they are poorly executed, and the story is nuts. I only played it because a friend gave it to me, and even then it was months before I finally beat it.

 

[Flash Over]

Question: for those who finished the game, did you think your time in Lightning Returns was well spent? Or if you had a choice you would've just watched the story on YouTube?

Honestly, the game gives you too much time to do everything, especially with the Chronostasis ability. The limit is a joke. It's honestly possible to finish all of the main story's requirements within two in-game days (aside from the final day, obvs). Overall though, I did enjoy the freedom given to the player; it's completely parallel to XIII. One thing I really didn't enjoy, though, was that character growth is completely reliant on completing quests (though it makes sense, story-wise), rather than another variation of the Crystarium or even a traditional leveling system. The game overall is fun, but there's no denying how rushed the development was. I remember before the game came out, Toriyama bragged that it was going to be the most polished FF game to date, and he most certainly did not live up to his word. lol.

That being said, if you do end up playing it, start on Easy Mode. Seriously, start on Easy Mode. Normal and Hard are no joke.

 

[Lulcielid]

Couldn´t help but this is funny. (nebezial on DevianART)

 

[Rin]

Although I have all 3 games (PS3), I've never actually finished any of them. The revival of this topic has made me want to revisit the games and beat them before the arrival of XV, but I honestly don't know if I can finish all 3 in time... actually, I haven't beaten them not because of any perceived flaw (given the reception I'm sure people can point out many, lol) but because... I find the games kind of difficult. By "difficult" I mean managing resources and figuring out the best way to level up characters. This problem isn't unique to XIII but to all RPGs in general (except for Bloodborne, for some reason).

My question to you all is: how do you make decisions about leveling up characters and managing resources? With this question I'm thinking specifically of the crystaria in XIII and XIII-2.

 

[BladeRunner]

My question to you all is: how do you make decisions about leveling up characters and managing resources? With this question I'm thinking specifically of the crystaria in XIII and XIII-2.

Honestly, there isn't much decision making about leveling characters in FFXIII (almost none, I'd say). For most of the game each character will have three roles you can level up, but you'll end up leveling them all more or less simultaneously due to level caps. The process is very streamlined and there's no way to screw up the characters, so you shouldn't worry.

 

[coffee-san]

Although I have all 3 games (PS3), I've never actually finished any of them. The revival of this topic has made me want to revisit the games and beat them before the arrival of XV, but I honestly don't know if I can finish all 3 in time... actually, I haven't beaten them not because of any perceived flaw (given the reception I'm sure people can point out many, lol) but because... I find the games kind of difficult. By "difficult" I mean managing resources and figuring out the best way to level up characters. This problem isn't unique to XIII but to all RPGs in general (except for Bloodborne, for some reason).

My question to you all is: how do you make decisions about leveling up characters and managing resources? With this question I'm thinking specifically of the crystaria in XIII and XIII-2.

There's not a whole lot of decision-making as far as stat-building in XIII/XIII-2, to be honest. Think of the crystarium as a much more streamlined Sphere Grid a la FFX. In XIII, if you grind enough, you can always max out everything on the crystarium board before it opens up again.

XIII-2 is way more streamlined than the original crystarium.

 

[dissasterrific]

My question to you all is: how do you make decisions about leveling up characters and managing resources? With this question I'm thinking specifically of the crystaria in XIII and XIII-2.

Leveling the characters' crystaria (so is this the plural form we have decided, lol) in XIII is a more restricted version of X's sphere grid. It is strictly connected to the story's advancement. There will be a point later on where everyone's roles will be unlocked, but it's often not recommended to delve into the other roles that unlock for each character until you've maxed out your three main roles. Once you've done that last part, it will be easier to focus on which role you would max next for everyone.

For XIII-2 the roles are all available at the beginning so it allows more flexibility in levelling, but I would say it's not entirely difficult to adapt to it. As far as I can remember you'd easily feel the best (easiest) order of levelling once you experiment around, so it's up to you if you want to go for a more difficult route.