The Official Final Fantasy XIII Thread

[AP]

FF13: http://www.rpgsite.net/videos/42/ff13dktrailer.avi

FFvs13: http://www.rpgsite.net/videos/85/ffvsdk.avi

These have been out for a week or two, but I finally got HD rips from Square today. Discuss.

[Mig]

Familiar summons, lots of airships, hoardes of generic enemy soldiers, guns, blades, attractive girls with pink hair.. oh, and some mysterious woman whose face we dont see but who happens to have long, silvery hair a la Sephiroth.

Sounds like a new Final Fantasy to me.

Graphics look fantastic as expected, those dinosaur-like things at the start look pretty epic, and I love the whole shiva bike thing.. it's something new, at least. I'd love to know what the japanese text means but more than that give us some damn gameplay Square!

[AP]

Even though it just looks like KH without the Disney, I really like the look of Versus. Well.. kind of. Well... sort of. Well... I like the sound. Shimomura is a genius.

[Aether]

I can see the Kingdom Hearts coming out in Versus XIII. But that's probably seeing as almost everyone involved in it is from Kingdom Hearts. Well to be more accurate - it's Kingdom Hearts with Disney removed and something like Scarface, The Godfather, and Blade mashed into it.

Final Fantasy XII....first thought was

"Oh my god, they've finally done something totally stupid...they've done a Final Fantasy - Star Wars crossover"

From those trailers however...I'm more likely to be waiting for Versus XIII. Plus that Sword/Reflect spell looked awesome.

[Mig]

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/dor/objects/826843/final-fantasy-xiii/videos/ffx3_whitecombo_012909.html;jsessionid=35uf7re6dq7 e3

Yay for gameplay.

[Sioux]

And apparently Lightening is the "female version of Cloud" in concept. right.

They both look interesting and have the per usual stellar graphics and are using the hell out of the capabilities of these powerful platforms.

I'll probably be two years later playing both of these but, I have you folks to bring me all the details about the games and how to beat tough enemies and bosses like with XII and how to get weapons and items.

[Aether]

Seems the gameplay is a cross between something like an ATB and FFXII's battle system. Or possibly Crisis Core's :P

It's intriguing at least to see the new battle style. Also from the mentions of Cocoon and such I'm guessing at the end of disc one you get to leave the Cocoon ala Midgar in FFVII.

[Dr. Flux]

I don't see the wet dream fascination some of you peeps have for Cloud and ff7. I recently just played through the game for the first time. Good game though, but not worth such crazed reverence. I say it's time to let go. It's unhealthy to hold on to the past.

I do believe these games will more or less knock my socks off... 10 times in total.

[Sioux]

Well, Flux can you really blame people?

The older games in general are the standard for comparison for that Final Fantasy-esque feeling. And most people fell in love with VII for it being the first of the 3D generation of FF and Cloud was the first poster boy and one of the long lasting cash cows for the Final Fantasy series.

My first and one of my favorites is still VIII so I can understand your issue with it as it all seems so fanatic. Hell, some of the effects and a majority of modeling in VII aren't really that impressive beyond the occasional amount of lighting and really good texturing of some of their models. The story and the characters is what made that game and keeps people buzzing about it.

And from the amount of rampant arguing and comparisons I see on every other FF website(and even the occasinonal non) I don't see people forgetting about the classics anytime soon.

As for these games, they look shiny but, I'm expecting about the same experience I had with FFX, FFXII, or KH II. Shiny and interesting and I'll definitely find something to love(texturing, lighting, modeling, storyline, characters/character development, plot development, themes, motifs, etc, or a combination of some) but I doubt they'll have the long lasting power the previous titles enjoyed. These games just come out so quick and the characters just become cookie cutter and or niche filling as they fit into spaces provided for them from the previous characters who held them before unless its job system in which there is some uniqueness at least.

[Dr. Flux]

I'm just a grump is all.

[Sioux]

Don't worry. I'm one too.

[AP]

I have a HD download (500mb .mov) of the new trailer but sadly I am embaroged and NDAed and if I release it SE will be very cross. :(

[Aether]

And how many seconds after they say it's OK will this aforementioned trailer take to make it to the internet?

Not many I'd think.

[AP]

I'm allowed to post it streaming (embargo for that ended 4pm GMT last Thursday), but I'm not under any circumstances allowed to provide a download.

[Kat]

I still can't believe her name is Lightning.

[Andy]

Because "Cloud" is such an original name, right? I'd assume that it was some kind of codename? Then again... there's a "Snow" too - sounds like a puppy.

However, for this one, I hope it seperates itself from XI and XII's battle system as I quite miss the ATB.

Oerba is probably my favourite character so far though.

[Nurse Fin]

Lightning is pretty hot though ;_; If she ends up being a cool and powerful, logical female character (FF doesn't have enough characters like this; the only ones that came close are probably Freya and Beatrix), consider me a fangirl now.


I hope "Snow", like Lightning, is also just a code name xD


But right now I'm more interested in Sazh, the "wtf?!"-looking guy with a Chocobo living in his afro, if only because I'm looking at it and thinking, "what the hell".

The demo will reveal a bunch of new characters as well; I'm looking forward to that.

[Kat]

Yeah, Cloud is an original name--though I don't see how that's relevant to Lightning's name being funny. Somehow it's just on a whole new level.

*shrug* Hope it is just a codename.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of summons coming out of discs, too. <_< And half machine. I just think this (http://shivamotorcycle.ytmnd.com/)

[Andy]

I agree it's a silly name, of course - I was simply comparing their "elemental" monikers. To me "Cloud" is a label of equal sillitude (However, as patron-saint of all gaming he is protected from such slurs). Though I suppose you could say that Lightning comes from the same place as clouds - which is ironic since the brief required a female evolution of Cloud. So I guess she really does... but now I'm really getting irrelevant.

http://i44.tinypic.com/nl3iue.gif

^Les enfants terrible?

I'll probably grab this on the PS3 just for the sake of actually having something interesting to play on it. Normally I'd get it on the Xbox, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-uTnqYHZ-I) but hey! Got to have something interactive on the Blu-ray player/PS2 upscaler.

Summons have come out of discs since Final fantasy VII! Not being quite so literal though... I'm slightly uncomfortable with the new design for Carbuncle. He looks like "a bird who's swallowed a plate" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=328Q79GoR7g) who also happens to be a green Manchester terrier... as for the Shiva twins (That turn into a bike...)... no doubt there are already several H-artists beavering away at creating reams upon reams of icy cunnilingus for that most hungry and perverse "modern wonder" - the internet - with or without this game's brand of Ifrit.

[Nurse Fin]

Yeah, Cloud is an original name--though I don't see how that's relevant to Lightning's name being funny. Somehow it's just on a whole new level.

*shrug* Hope it is just a codename.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea of summons coming out of discs, too. <_< And half machine. I just think this (http://shivamotorcycle.ytmnd.com/)

From all that I have read and understood, Lightning isn't her real name; she can't even remember what her real name is so that's just what everyone calls her. If Snow's real name is Snow, I'll never get over that, however. Snow sounds more like a girl's name to me...

Summons coming out of discs... just makes me think of Monster Rancher.


edit: Oh, and I just watched the trailer again. I saw two more character names in the battle scene, "Gadeau/Gadoh" and "Repro". But no faces to go with the names yet. :p

[AP]

Some nice looking new character art and screens that give us a glimpse of some more characters from the trailer here (http://www.rpgsite.net/news/307.html).

http://www.rpgsite.net/images/screens/42/ff13_siteupdate9.jpg

[Minion]

From all that I have read and understood, Lightning isn't her real name; she can't even remember what her real name is

Doesn't EVERY main character/mysterious character forget their name? Srsly.

This looks interesting. I'm not about to smash it to bits. I'll leave that to the real reviewers....and S-E.

[Sioux]

I'm having more trouble with that guy next to her looking nearly like a hobo version of Seifer.

[Dr. Flux]

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/4702/lightning.jpg

Lightning

She doesn't talk much. This isn't her real name, they just call her 'Lightning'.

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/5110/snowqqi.jpg

Snow Villiers

A macho man who uses his body like a finely tuned weapon. He is honest and straightforward in word and deed. [Can't read the rest]

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/8673/vanille.jpg

Oerba Dia Vanille

She's a pretty girl who's always trying to look on the bright side of things. Deep down she's strong willed, although you never can tell.

http://img119.imageshack.us/img119/4681/sazh.jpg

Sazh Katzroy

Can't be bothered reading. Lets just say he's a kind hearted Chocobo lover.

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/915/noral.jpg

NORA

The new age AVALANCHE? Let's hope they aren't as namby pamby and green. I'm guessing...rebel gang with aspirations of staging a coup d’état. The following are some cronies of this guerrilla group, headed by Mr. Snow.

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/1268/lebreaunora.jpg

Lebreau

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6435/gadotnora.jpg

Gadot

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/549/maquinora.jpg

Maqui

Check out the website: http://www.square-enix.co.jp/fabula/ff13/

It may be in Japanese but there's really not much to read, it's mainly just pretty pictures and noises.

[Nurse Fin]

I'm having more trouble with that guy next to her looking nearly like a hobo version of Seifer.

I'm glad I'm not the only one weirded out by his design xD
The only thing that could make it more picture perfect is to give him a shopping cart full of newspapers he picked up off the streets to insulate his cardboard pad with.

[Sioux]

The only thing that could make it more picture perfect is to give him a shopping cart full of newspapers he picked up off the streets to insulate his cardboard pad with.

And have a broken gunblade at the bottom next to an already open bottle of potion in a bag.

And I have to say the more I look at these characters the less I like them. Final judgments of course have to stay with experiencing the game but, this happened with FF XII as well. Hopefully they instill some personality into these hobo looking people.

[AP]

It's worth noting though that the "hobo seifer" isn't actually designed by Nomura, but one of the other guys.

[AP]

http://www.uffsite.net/news/193.html

Summary of a new interview from a Japanese mag.

[Roger]

So, the reaction to the FFXIII Japanese demo was rather positive. (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/final-fantasy-xiii-hands-on?page=1)

[Nurse Fin]

Just played through the demo...

The battle system was actually really easy to get used to. Not sure what's up with the star rankings, though. :P Battles and a little bit of running around the map seemed to be the only aspects of the gameplay featured, though... aside from those and cutscenes, that was it. No menus or chatting with random NPCs (though they do talk in kinda ambient background noises... whiny kids and people saying they don't know how to fight etc etc)... I might record it/sub it and put it on Youtube if I have the time.




...and I think Snow really *is* a hobo. A hobo with a hero complex? But he's more likable than I expected (so long as he's actually a hobo, it'll be cool). Lebreau and Gadot are very meh... and Maqui is annoying. One of those characters that has to end every line with "ssu", while Lebreau is the sarcastic lady and Gadot is the big tough beefy guy of few words. That's all I could assess from the 15 or so minutes they were on-screen.

Vanille only had like, 2 lines... "Okay!" and "Bang!", in which she sounded rather dotty... she could be a fun character. Her brother (?) seems like a total a wuss. Wonder what's up with that.

[AP]

Hmm. And how about Advent Children? How does the new cut fare?

[Dr. Flux]

Here's a live feed for the demo's gameplay. All I can say is fucking awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tcN_Gq9nvI

Looks as though the battle transition between battle and walkabouts won't be as smooth as FFXII but more action inspired.

[AP]

The gameplay certainly is different and I feel simultaneously a step back and a step forward from 12, but I wasn't a fan of 12's style, so I'm definitely with them. The design aesthetic (so far) is bloody wonderful, and I hope everything else remains that pretty looking.

[Dr. Flux]

I would like it if they took a more balanced approach between old-school of battle and the new-school of battle (ie. FFXII's novel interpretation). I am in the fan boat for FFXII (and of course most of the games that have the Matsuno seal on them) so I really appreciated what a felt to be a more strategic approach to battle. A lot of people wouldn't agree with me, because of course you could get away with just hacking everything to death, but the point is mute for the same could be said for any battle system of the like. FFXII tried to prevent the hack and slash approach every now and again with their lovely anti-<physical/magical/everything> palings but of course, the quickenings they introduced made it too easy to do massive damage.

There is a point in there that I was trying to make though. Although I am a fan of that battle system, I do understand that it's not for all, and if they can find a middle ground between boring, repetitive 'turn based battle systems' and 'real-time go for your life as fast as you can and let the gambits do all the grunt work' battle systems then I think they're on to a winner.

In other FFXIII news: Final Fantasy Versus!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1yfJnNEer4&feature=fvsr

Here's something else that came out of the new Blu-ray Advent Children. It's just a rehashed version of clips we've already seen of Final Fantasy XIII Versus with an extended dramatic scene in the middle of Prince Noctis and Stella. However, the trailer is intended for Japanese eyes only and thus contains Japanese subtitles only. I believe this means they haven't worked out the voice overs yet. Although it kind of reminds me of FF7 in that respect, a lot of walking around, nothing not much happening at all, with the dialogue boxes wizzing by on screen to give you some inkling of what is going on.

I do wish they would hurry up. I am very keen on this game but they haven't shown us anything new or interesting. In fact, I don't even know if the official website has been opened yet. I guess first priority is FFXIII even though I heard on the grapevine they'd be developing the two separately and simultaneously.

There was also a little message at the end of this game. 'For Playstation ONLY'. I guess this means that although FFXIII will be a multi-platform game, square-enix intends to keep Versus exclusive to the old boy Playstation community.

[Nurse Fin]

I still haven't gotten around to watching AC Complete yet. I only sat through the first 20 minutes or so. What stuck out most in my mind is how gross and miserable-looking Geostigma is now. And according to my sister, who watched the full movie, the violence is a lot more intense.

Example:
During Cloud's battle with Sephiroth, Seph impales Cloud with the Masamune through the bottom of his shoe, through his knee and out his thigh. Ow...

I did get around to watching the Denzel OVA (which had some Engrishy signs like "Midgul" and "Johonny's")... and surprisingly the disc has an English language track too.

[AP]

I've been able to watch AC:C now and I think it's a much more impressive movie in its longer, extended form... everything makes a lot more sense.

[AP]

I have some sit-down interview time with the Director and Producer of this game. Suggestions for questions & talking points welcome :D

[Dr. Flux]

I have some sit-down interview time with the Director and Producer of this game. Suggestions for questions & talking points welcome :D

Testuya Nomura? :o :o

Ask him if you can auction off a lock of his hair, some crazo would pay good money for that.

I've been reading a few blogs here and there about various interview Tetsuya has had with Dengeki and Famitsu magazines in japan and it seems as though he feels the PS3 is the only suitable system that will hold up to the number crunching and strains FFVersus will create. Keeping in mind it is exclusive to the PS3 and Mr. Nomura has outlined a graphical leap from 12 -> Versus similar to that of VI -> VII.

So considering the fact that Versus will not be at E309, see if you can squeeze some info out of him. :) No matter what it takes. Just imagine how many hits you'll get if you get something unique out of the man that nobody has ever heard before. It'll be like a bucket of blood poured into a shark tank.

Edit

Also something note worthy, there's a 'coming soon, winter 2009' message, for Japan of course, on the official FFXIII (not versus) website. So us english speaking nations will probably get our hands on it early to mid next year.

[AP]

Riding Odin's Horse... :o (http://www.rpgsite.net/images/screens/42/2132390978.jpg)

http://www.rpgsite.net/news/429/new-hd-ff13-shots-released.html

[Aether]

OK....that can't be sleipnir. He hasn't got 6 legs!

Mind you this "Driving Mode" intrigues me.

Nice High def shots too.

[Porslinsankan]

I was gonna say what Aether said, except Sleipner has 8 legs "in reality". For some reason it's always had 6 legs in FF, which makes no sense...

Starting too look forward to FF13 now, too bad it's ages away still...

[AP]

Basically every summon has "driving mode" where the character takes charge and drives them. Odin, Lightning rides the horse... Ifrit turns into a hot rod motorcycle. His horns like become the exhaust pipes.

[Aether]

Huh, I would think that Ifrit's horns would become the handlebars :P

"Final Fantasy, more than meets the eye"
Summons! Roll out!"

[AP]

Correction: Ifrit becomes an F1 style car - Shiva becomes a motorbike.

[Shned]

Heh, the fanboys finally get to ride Shiva.

I'm still apprehensive to all hell, but I'm biased.

[Dr. Flux]

Heh, the fanboys finally get to ride Shiva.



Don't knock it till you try it shned.

I guess it's something new for FF that's always a plus.

[AP]

Well, the whole thing about "driving mode" where you take control of summons directly is very different, though slightly similar to FF10's summon system..

[DreamersImperial]

"Final Fantasy, more than meets the eye"
Summons! Roll out!"

Aether, you've officially made my day, lmao. :laugh:

As for the interview, AP, I agree that you should shoot for some exclusive info about VersusXIII. Although I'm kinda pissed it's a PS3 exclusive...Now I HAVE to buy one. At least they finally dropped the price. But I think Sony is just way too cocky for its own good nowadays. Their commercial advertising the price drop proves it. And their press conference at E3, too. And this coming from a Sony-enthusiast up until this current gen. Oh well. Guess I'm just gonna have to suck it up and give them their moneyz. Hah. o_O

[AP]

14'll be on 360 too, mark my words. Only reason it's not already is because Microsoft are refusing to allow them cross platform play, but they'll cave and allow it.

[AP]

So, uh... Anyone Like Pink? (http://www.uffsite.net/news/262/could-this-be-the-ff13-box-art.html)

http://www.uffsite.net/images/news/tgs09/ff13ps3.jpg

[Mig]

Does anyone else get the sense FFXIII is a bit girled up? Pink PS3.. yeah ok, I'll stand for that. But the cover art is horrid.

[ShimmyDylan7777]

Yeah, that PS3 looks sick and I don't care that it's pink. :P

I'm going to agree with Mig, the cover art is horrible.

[Anty]

i dont know wat your on about i like the cover art O_o
+ i have no problem with a pink PS3 i dont really see colours as being gender specific anymore. . dont know why lols

[ShimmyDylan7777]

i dont know wat your on about i like the cover art O_o
+ i have no problem with a pink PS3 i dont really see colours as being gender specific anymore. . dont know why lols

If you click on the link, there is another picture that is supposedly the Japan cover art.

[Anty]

i have this site on a bookmark starting at the main page. . . i has a look at all the updates there
www.uffsite.net

[ShimmyDylan7777]

My fault Anty, I thought you said "I don't know what your on about the cover art." I misread your post, so I thought you didn't see the cover art.

[Anty]

aha all good, everyone makes mistakes, *check own post just in case*

[Aether]

Well I'm not worried about that cover art. Every Canon FF that has come out here has had the cover art of plain white with just the logo on it. Why change a winning formula?

[Sencodo]

Hey um i made a thread bout ffXIII and it got deleted, um just wondering if i did something wrong.... if i did sorry!!!!! (Can someone tell me what i did wrong, Thanks.....)
I i just wanted to ask about the characters and the release date!!!!! So if anyone has any imformation about the game i would love to hear it.

[Redthing]

That cover art is hideous!! BOO!

Hey um i made a thread bout ffXIII and it got deleted, um just wondering if i did something wrong.... if i did sorry!!!!! (Can someone tell me what i did wrong, Thanks.....)
I i just wanted to ask about the characters and the release date!!!!! So if anyone has any imformation about the game i would love to hear it.

It was deleted because there was already a topic about it! Don't worry about it. According to wiki, April 2010 for North America >_> I don't know much about the characters or anything :P I'm sure a ton of websites have that on google though!

[antman]

I would imagine it was simply because there is already a topic (this one) about Final Fantasy XIII; don't worry about it :)

What did you want to know about the characters? As for release date, no Worldwide date has yet been announced (besides Spring 2010) so ignore any dates you see. Meanwhile, it's due 17th December 2009 in Japan.

Edit: I was beaten to it :)

[Sencodo]

ok thanks a bunch!!!!!

[Sencodo]

any thing you know would be great!!!!!

[antman]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XIII#Characters

http://www.ff-xiii.net/index.php?page=ffxiii_char

Some character info can be found at the above :)

[Sencodo]

Thank's a bunch, it really helped!!!!!

[AP]

Yes.. Q1 2010 for US/Europe. Exact date hasn't been announced yet!

You can find some HQ art images of the characters over on the Beta Media Vault! (http://media.rpgsite.net/artwork/42/final-fantasy-xiii)

[Sencodo]

Thank's for the pics they look cool!!!!
Is it just me or does Lightning look a bit like cloud???
Something about her face...
Must be my imagination?!?!?!?!?

[Sencodo]

The Battle System look's different?????
Anyone care to tell me about it?????
Plus anything else?????
Got the characters worked out tho!!!!!

Sorry about the double post, still getting the hang off things?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[AP]

The battle system is interesting. It's back to ATB again like FF4-10, but it's much faster paced and there's no random element - all enemies appear on the field so you just go up to them and hit them to start battle. In that respect it actually has a little in common with Chrono Trigger...

[Nurse Fin]

It's going to cost me over $100 to import this game. Even with my coupon. What. T_T I didn't want to have to wait on this one, but it seems like I'll have to....


And I don't care what age Lightning's little sister is supposed to be-- she looks 14... the Serah/Snow thing is a little creepy.. D:

[Anty]

http://www.uffsite.net/news/273/ff13-kisses-levels-goodbye---what-does-this-mean-for-gameplay.html

Thought I'd chuck this here for those that missed it.

[DeeDee]

Thank's for the pics they look cool!!!!
Is it just me or does Lightning look a bit like cloud???
Something about her face...
Must be my imagination?!?!?!?!?

I think the aim of the designers for Lightning were to basically create a female Cloud. But yeah, I know what you mean - don't worry.

[AP]

http://www.rpgsite.net/news/496/new-english-final-fantasy-xiii-screenshots-released.html

Buncha new English language screens.

[Anty]

Sweetness. My anticipation for this game is really growing now.

[Sencodo]

A female Cloud??? hmm ok, good job tho!!!

[Shned]

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/e/ed/26df1.jpg

Alexander looks ridiculous.

[Sioux]

Hah! They gave him the Yojimbo treatment. Not that I mind. Alexander was never on my favorites list really.

[Dr. Flux]

I'm a bit skeptical of the summons in this game especially for the fact that they transform into vehicles. Like what is Alexander going to change into, a fucking submarine...this isn't transformers damn it it's final fantasy.

Buuuuttt, you never know, they might pull it off.

[Sioux]

I'm kind of interested if they do it right like bring the summons into the storyline and make them an interesting part of battle again where they make a difference as in VIII or IX-ish. Sure. I'll even buy this whole "turning them into means of transportation" thing.

If it turns into another FFVII or XII situation where the summons become either oddly placed in the game somewhere or require a ridiculous amount of effort to use them effectively I doubt I'll ever use them or really care to get them.

[Aether]

Like what is Alexander going to change into, a fucking submarine.

Can't you see? Alexander will be what he was in FFVIII....a tank.

[Sioux]

We can only hope.

[Dr. Flux]

A submarine tank?

[Shned]

In his Gestalt Mode, he becomes a fortress surrounding the battlefield while Hope stays on him, giving him orders to shoot with his cannons. According to Motomu Toriyama, Alexander is a "tactical commander".

Also.

this isn't transformers damn it it's final fantasy.

Ark. I need say no more.

[Sioux]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/SiouxMoonArtist/26df4.jpg

He is certainly looking cool though. Total set crafting materials right there.

I'm also enjoying the fact that Siren will be coming back...I just hope she is slightly more useful then the last couple times we saw her. I got more use out of her card in FF VIII to be honest. <_<

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b284/SiouxMoonArtist/800px-XIII-Siren.jpg

["SHADY" Gerald Mouse]

I really hope this FF turns out good. :)

[kru3ger]

I never used the summons in 12 cause they were weak imo but they are nice eye candy :D

[AP]

The Final trailer before the Japanese Launch tomorrow! (http://www.uffsite.net/news/280/final-final-fantasy-xiii-trailer-on-the-way.html)

Should be good, then it's plain sailing 'til launch..

[thomasstuart]

Hi Guys This is Thomas.
The whole thing about "driving mode" where you take control of summons directly is very different, though slightly similar to summon system.
Have a nice day.

[AP]

There's some real cool stuff with driving mode & the summons in the new trailer.

The new Final Fantasy XIII trailer (http://www.rpgsite.net/news/512/japans-final-final-fantasy-xiii-trailer.html)

[.Joey]

I really hope this FF turns out good. :)

I think it will, it has been massively antisipated all over the world, if its crap I'll be complaining-/

[AP]

We're doing a countdown to the Japanese release!

Day 7: The Merchandise (http://www.uffsite.net/news/293/ff13-countdown-the-merchandise-(7-days-remaining).html)

Day 6: The Artwork (http://www.uffsite.net/news/295/ff13-countdown-the-artwork-(6-days-remaining).html)

More to come.. and some big surprises when the game comes out!

Also, awesome:
http://www.uffsite.net/images/news/ff13news/dengeki-cover-xmas.jpg

[Ridley]

Super stoked, though I may ask for White Knight Chronicles for my birthday for its release on February 2nd, and hopefully get my fill, or at least a small dose, to ready myself for Final Fantasy XIII.

[Michael]

I'm really not fond of the line-up of this game, but I gotta admit, that's a pretty spiffy cover.

[Sioux]

I'm really not fond of the line-up of this game, but I gotta admit, that's a pretty spiffy cover.

I know what you mean.

Female Cloud, thin Barret with the odd Fro, the homeless version of Seifer and the rest of the motley crue is just not there for me looks wise. Here's hoping the ingame voice acting and character development saves them.

[seeker_of_truth]

Really can't wait until the game comes out, I'm super hyped for this upcoming weekend!!

[Nurse Fin]

Game ships out tomorrow... I should have it on Friday, hopefully... Monday at the latest.

I'm super stoked for Lightning. She's pretty much the entire reason I'm getting this game.

[Dr. Flux]

<3

Gigantic Cactuar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLqyTkYLzzc&feature=response_watch

[Mig]

I'm growing more and more unsure about the summons in this game. Awesome giant cactuar, though. :P

[Nurse Fin]

Okay, I have to say this game is really.... long. Not that it's a bad thing though, I think this is overall my favorite group of main characters. A very interesting bunch indeed and I like them all, some of them are now favorites (usually there's always at least one character I hate, but it is not the case here). There are a lot of actions certain characters take that have never been seen in a Final Fantasy before, some of which are kind of shocking. Not in context of the story, because in one case you saw it coming, but I mean before playing, you probably wouldn't expect characters to act that way. I'd be specific but it may be too spoiler-ish.

I'm 30-something hours in now and I think I've got QUITE a ways to go before the game is over, considering how many sidequests there are, and all the areas to unlock, and how badly certain monsters are kicking my ass... yeah... random battles in this game are harder, you have to be really fast and have a plan (usually I have Vanille in as a Jammer, because status magic is VITAL in this game)... I just came across my first enemy with over 2,000,000 HP yesterday.

As for my progress, right now I just got all the parts to fix Vanille's little robot friend Baktii.

Alexander is my favorite summon so far too, all the attacks hit all enemies multiple times in driving mode, and in regular mode he's a huge defender tank, blocking hits and rocket-punching everything so it's easy to break all foes. Though I haven't used... .... .. forgot the name... Vanille's summon yet.


And yeah, Shiva driving mode is REALLY... xD Snow riding two ladies scissoring, seriously. I was half-expecting the boobs to be used like handles or something.

[Dr. Flux]

I'm growing more and more unsure about the summons in this game. Awesome giant cactuar, though. :P

So was I until I played it. But I grew quite fond of the summons. Their moves aren't as grand as previous FF summons, but the graphics are so mind blowingly good that you forget about it.

I thought I'd hate Hope, thought he'd be the stereotypical angst ridden Final Fantasy teen that recurs in a lot of their stories, but I've grown fond of even him. I'm in Fin's boat, I'm betting you'll like all the main characters. They're very well developed. Sahz isn't too bad either, in fact he was one of my favourites from the beginning.

The difficulty curve in this game can get annoying. Some people on the net are complaining about how you're level capped until you reach certain points of the game. Technically yes and technically no, because you can level up your weapons and accessories by synthesizing them with different objects and artifacts, which further increases your stats. And you can always mine Crystallarium Points in preparation for the next level of stat bonuses being unlocked. In fact, I'd advise you to.

Ps. You're gonna die a lot in this game.

[AP]

Lots of preview stuff from Flux coming up on RPGSite now...

[Dr. Flux]

Finally managed to beat the final bosses, what a mean feat that was. :P

The ending is very good. Very, very good.

[Aether]

Just watched the English Trailer. The voices they've chosen seem to fit the characters really well. Just because of that, I think I have a new favourite token black guy :D

And even though I pretty much abhor Leona Lewis, the song in the trailer is pretty awesome.

[Aether]

Just watched the English Trailer. The voices they've chosen seem to fit the characters really well. Just because of that, I think I have a new favourite token black guy :D

And even though I pretty much abhor Leona Lewis, the song in the trailer is pretty awesome.

[Magus]

Whoever did the final sound check on that trailer should have done a better job. The audio levels were absolutely horrible. Leona Lewis just became even more annoying when her song almost drowned out the English voices. I had to turn it off because I couldn't hear what they were saying

[Dr. Flux]

Lex has finished editing my import review of FFXIII so go check it out if you're interested in how all the nitty-gritties of this game stack up as a whole.

http://ps3.rpgsite.net/reviews/42/190/final-fantasy-xiii-import-review.html

[Mig]

Fantastic article Flux, you've definitely ensured that I'll pick it up on release.

God damn, it looks beautiful.

[blazelion]

Probably the most excited I've been for an FF game since FFX. :)

[AP]

It arrive!
http://i48.tinypic.com/2m83akm.jpg

[Michael]

Bastard. *grumble*

[MVP]

Getting it tonight...so excited! :)

[Aether]

Tonight? You're getting an advanced english copy?

:O

[MVP]

Yeah! My 360 is modded lol. So I can get games a few days earlier. I cannot wait!

[DreamersImperial]

WHAT! hmph. Darn. Mine will be in my mailbox Tuesday at least.

[Serah Farron]

Mine comes in today, and I am excited to get it this will be one sweet game.

[Sylverline]

Yeah! My 360 is modded lol. So I can get games a few days earlier. I cannot wait!

I don't take kindly to that sort of talk here, booooooy

I'm just raging because I have to wait a while before I can venture and get my copy.

[Roger]

Middle of the month. The chances of £40 magically appearing in the bank are slim to none, so it'll have to hang fire. ;_;

[DreamersImperial]

My copy came today. :D

I absolutely love it. Everything that people seem to be griping about (linearity, blah blah) I have no problem with, because I love the presentation of it. And the battle system. Ah! I love it. Total improvement from the FFXII system. Haven't gotten far enough to really make any huge use out of it yet, but I can see that once I get enough abilities it's possible to do some pretty cool stuff with it. :D

[Ridley]

I will be playing it when I come home for Spring Break, because the copy my brother got for me came today. I hope to get my first Platinum Trophy for it.

[MVP]

Hmmm sucks for you Roger. Hopefully that works out. About 7 hours of game play now and the game is starting to finally pick up. Just got on disc 2 (360), hopefully this game is a big game, and not short..

[Michael]

Got it the day before yesterday. Store broke the release date.

I'm very much impressed. The first 3 or 4 hours are very slow in dripping out the gameplay mechanics, but once that's out of the way, the gameplay really opens up fast, and it's an awesome combat system.

Lots of character dynamics forming as well. I'm interested to see where this story goes.

[Kat]

Got it midnight today :) Still too early to decide on, well, anything (I'm about 2 hours in) but the events so far: oh shit.

[Dr. Flux]

About 7 hours of game play now and the game is starting to finally pick up. Just got on disc 2 (360), hopefully this game is a big game, and not short..

Once you get to a certain point it all opens up and you have full reign and control. But make the most of your current locations because you can't go back. ;)

[Aether]

Waiting on mine to come in the mail hopefully Friday. Picked up the last copy of the Collector's Edition pre-orders for PS3. So I think I get some cards and a calendar.

[Mig]

About 3 hours in.. so far, so good. Paradigms are slightly confusing, but they make sense. Really nothing to criticise at this point.

Visuals blew my pants.

[DreamersImperial]

I'm in love with this game. Just made it to disc 2 earlier today, about 7 hours into it at that time. I'm at 10 hours now. It just keeps getting better the more and more you play it.

[Michael]

The piece-meal rate at which the game's mechanics are revealed to the player is very off-putting in trying to gauge the quality of the game initially, but once those mechanics open up and become not only useful, but required to win fights, the game really comes into its own.

Any reviewers who claimed this was lacking in RPG elements are idiots.

[DreamersImperial]

Download Code for FEMALE PSICOM SOLDIER UNIFORM:
JG874-XXDP6-9VRQ2-44BGM-QKVWD

So yeah, I can't use this because my avatar is a male, so if one of the female members wants this for her XBL avatar, feel free to take it. :)

[Minion]

Current time put in: 2 hours, 34 minutes

and I STILL don't know wtf is going on.

Just tell me im in Hitler's army. Something.

[Kat]

Download Code for FEMALE PSICOM SOLDIER UNIFORM:
JG874-XXDP6-9VRQ2-44BGM-QKVWD

So yeah, I can't use this because my avatar is a male, so if one of the female members wants this for her XBL avatar, feel free to take it. :)
Claimed! Eeee thank you! :D :D It's a shame, I'm sure your avatar dude would've rocked this outfit even harder. Look at those booty shorts! If I happen to find a male PSICOM uniform somewhere you'll be the first to know ;p

thanks again! (:

and Min I totally felt the same way. 5 hours into it I'm still not sure I follow <_>.

[Mig]

Read the Events section of the Datalog - it's a bit repeptitive and tiresome but it fills in some of the gaps and tells you more about the characters' motivations and shiet.

[Kat]

Too bad I don't really care about any of them either.. |: Not yet anyway. Except for Hope; he is preciouss.

[Minion]

Read the Events section of the Datalog - it's a bit repeptitive and tiresome but it fills in some of the gaps and tells you more about the characters' motivations and shiet.

Why should I be reading in a video game?! D=

[DreamersImperial]

Claimed! Eeee thank you! :D :D It's a shame, I'm sure your avatar dude would've rocked this outfit even harder. Look at those booty shorts! If I happen to find a male PSICOM uniform somewhere you'll be the first to know ;p

thanks again! (:


You're welcome! Glad to see it got put to use. As for a male one, I already have it. I got them in a pair, but, as I mentioned, I was unable to use that code because my avatar's a male.

And as far as not understanding what's going on goes...if you're like me, and you're too lazy to read through that datalog, just give it time. Things start to come together not too long after you reach the second disc. :D

[Aether]

Got my PS3 version at lunchtime today.

Sazh is freaking awesome. He's a token black guy who's also an odl guy :D

It's just a pity I knew some of his back story before I got the game, now it's not going to be a shock horror when he reveals how he knows so much about the l'Cie.

Mind you....even if I didn't know what it was, I could already have told you just by what he's said in the six hours I've played so far.

Plus, it's not hard to tell that Vanile's voice actor is Australian :D

[DreamersImperial]

Well I'm creeping up on my 20th hour (I'm at roughly 19.5 at the moment) and I'm still on the 2nd disc. Good. Most RPG's nowadays I can finish in 20 or less (Mass Effect being one) so it's good to know that Final Fantasy is still lengthy as always. Whether or not it'll be another 80 hour game like Final Fantasy X was (for me in my first playthrough, at least), that's yet to be decided. But it sure would be nice!

[Ridley]

It was said that FFXIII was more of a 60-hour game, so enjoy. I will be in a week or two (deciding whether to wait and play it on my 5.1 setup instead of at home where.... there are no home theater setups).

[DreamersImperial]

sweet. I like the sound of that. :)

[Mig]

Oh man, after the disappointment of FFXII, XIII is such a relief. Eleven hours in, and it just keeps getting better.

Now if only I could actually put it down and do my damn college work..

[DreamersImperial]

Well I'm on disc 3 now. Should start opening up soon I think.

[Phoenix]

I have to admit, I'm conflicted so far.

I'd heard that the first ~15 or so hours were fairly tedious, and that the background story would get revealed slowly, and that it was fairly linear.

But good god, at the pace this game is moving at so far I feel as though I'm going to be dead before it gets around to doing anything more interesting than "walk in a straight line and kill the same things you've been killing for the last hour" At least a little variety would be nice.

At any rate, I've just finished the first disc, so I'm hoping it opens up soon. Because, quite honestly, all this linear straight ahead business and lack of clear motivations for the characters is really making me yearn for XII.

Also: Hi again.

[Aether]

Wait...it can't be....Geoff? :O

Well got the first game over of what I was told would be many. On a boss fight at least. It seems my dual casters aren't good enough yet.

Enkis have kicked my ass good and proper. I have a feeling that I forgot to include the MED/RAV combination in my paradigms with Sahz and Vanille :P

[DreamersImperial]

Well...I've made it to Gran Pulse and the game has indeed opened up. Like...A LOT. And it's just beautiful. So, naturally, I'm doing what most people will probably do when they reach this point, and taking a break from the story for a little while.

BTW. Certain achievements unlock gamer pictures. I just found that out. I got the Loremaster achievement last night, and when I booted it up this morning there was a new Extras section at the title screen. And I now have a Sazh gamer pic! Yeah, that was pretty cool.

[Magus]

So I've only played a couple of hours, but so far I'm definitely liking it. Sazh turned out to be less of a token, jive talking black guy than I thought he would be. For some reason he had to channel Danny Glover in one scene and mutter "I'm too old for this", but I'll let it slide.

Vanille is a bit annoying, if only for being so damned cheerful. There's war literally all around her, someone's mother just fell to her death and she runs about all happy go lucky, arms to either side like she's frolicking or something.

[Kat]

I don't get why Sazh keeps referring to himself as an old man! I'm too afraid to Google around for his age but I bet he's not even Auron's age, and he was an old man ILF. :P

Vanille annoys me to tears too. At one point I almost wasn't sure I was going to get past the game; I truly detest her. o_o The way she speaks man. I mean ok, I'm no expert as I don't have many Aussie friends IRL, but I'm almost positive that is NOT how they speak. <_< (Unless they were trying to be cute and Japanese?) She's KIND OF growing on me though.

9+ hours in, still waiting for the action. <_<;

AND HI GEOFF :D!

[Wingly]

I don't get why Sazh keeps referring to himself as an old man! I'm too afraid to Google around for his age but I bet he's not even Auron's age, and he was an old man ILF. :P

I'm still on the fence about this game, to buy or not. I'll probably end up with it once I've finished some of the games I'm currently playing, and by then I have forgotten all spoilers, so I googled it for you. 40.

[Kat]

Oh damn.


And I wish I could lend you mine, I kinda regret buying it tbh. :\ Especially when a friend of mine is speeding right through it, I could've waited a week or two. *shrug*

[Wingly]

I'm guessing it's really, really good, then?

Quick review? From what I can gather we've got a somewhat similar game interest, so hey.

But yeah. There's also LP's, and hopefully GiantBomb will do a quick look at it. Or maybe an Endurance Run, like they did with Persona 4. That was hilarious.

[Kat]

Ha Alex loves GiantBomb too :P And I dunno, I really shouldn't make any judgments when I'm about 10% into the game but it's not exciting me just yet. But the general consensus so far (with me and everyone I've asked): it's very pretty and the combat system is fast-faced and intuitive AKA fun.

I just don't find myself rushing to play this and staying up late nights with it like I did with ME2 or FFIX, the first time I played it. Nothing gripping so far. That's just me though~

[Aether]

BTW. Certain achievements unlock gamer pictures. I just found that out. I got the Loremaster achievement last night, and when I booted it up this morning there was a new Extras section at the title screen. And I now have a Sazh gamer pic! Yeah, that was pretty cool.

The PS3 trophies net you XMB Themes for the achieves. There's one for each character. You've got to be careful with the gamer pics/xmb themes though as if you've got them on, apparently it can fail to unlock some of the achieves/trophies. Some glitch they never fixed in time.

The way she speaks man. I mean ok, I'm no expert as I don't have many Aussie friends IRL, but I'm almost positive that is NOT how they speak.

I've have met people who talk like Vanille, but most people like that are on kids shows like Playschool. Most of the people I know talk more like Fang than Vanille.

Also, Gestahlt mode is kind of boring so far. I'd rather have just the boost option back to be honest.

[Phoenix]

I don't mind Vanille so much, but it's disc two and the creators have succeeded in making Hope even more whiney. Dear lord, that kid just needs to shut up and heal me sometimes.

But, ~15 hours in now and we're finally fleshing out character backstories a bit. The plot pace is picking up, and its definitely more enjoyable than the early bits were.

Also: Hi Kat!

[DreamersImperial]

Vanille's voice gets better as the game progresses, I think. I'm on disc 3 now, and even through a majority of disc 2 I didn't find her to be as bad as she was at the beginning. But yeah, her voice was pretty bad at the start of the game...there were a couple scenes where I couldn't understand what she was even saying, it was just "Squeak squeak!" hah.

[Nurse Fin]

Kinda glad I first played the Japanese version then... I loved Vanille and her voice wasn't annoying at all (and no accent, I dunno why they did that for English, it's like stamping "I'm not from Cocoon" on her forehead, as if her attitude and clothing weren't enough).

She was so manic I didn't know if she was actually borderline insane, or what. It explains why she's like that a bit later, prolly has to do with her compulsive lying, but yeah. Hope is my favorite though. I still say Lightning and Hope is like Batman and Robin :P


Now I wanna play this game again.

[Aether]

Hmm...am I like the only person who is actually playing it in high def on the PS3? You all seem to have the 360 version :P

I'm loving Masashi Hamauzu's scoring for this game. Almost a fusion of his earlier work and Ghost In The Shell :D

[Dr. Flux]

I played it on ps3 in hd :(. I haven't washed my eyes since.

[Aether]

HD is the definite way to go for this game. Playing on a high-def plasma with full surround sound and it is pure enjoyment :D

[Phoenix]

Barthandelus is an ass.

[Kat]

Apparently Gran Pulse = Australia, teehee :D

So I THINK I'm at that point in the game where I'm supposed to forgive Vanille for being (as Fin said) totally manic. I hate her less, I guess that's something. But please tell me I'm not the only one who gets extremely uncomfortable having her in battle? :P WTF is with the moaning. She sounds like she's on the verge of orgasm every time she casts a spell.

And Geoff leave Hope alone! I'd like to see you pull yourself together if you had to watch your mama fall to her death ;_;

[DreamersImperial]

Barthandelus is an ass.

Pretty much.

Well I'm on Chapter 12 now. Wouldn't surprise me if there were 13 chapters in this game, since it seems to like that number quite a lot. hah.

[Andy]

I'm not completely sold on this yet and haven't had a massive amount of time to play it. I'm getting really pissed off with the inability to choose party members... but it's ok.

I have to send it back to play.com though because my collector's edition box was fucked in the post... urgh.

[Phoenix]

But please tell me I'm not the only one who gets extremely uncomfortable having her in battle? :P WTF is with the moaning. She sounds like she's on the verge of orgasm every time she casts a spell.

Haha, I thought exactly the same thing. I like Hope more now that I'm on Disc 3, but his whole "Operation Nora" thing was kind of annoying.

Don't worry Andy, you'll finally have complete control over your party.... in chapter 10.

[Nurse Fin]

I did hear (from my sister who's playing the English version) that they inserted some more dialogue for Hope, like he'd say things like "no, no" or "I can't do this" more often when he'd be quiet. And that Vanille's voice is really that bad xD And that Sazh doesn't talk in 3rd person anymore (he'd call himself "Dad/dy" when talking to his Chocobo). Also, Snow doesn't call Lightning "big sis" and instead calls her by her name or Hope's nickname for her? :<


Oh well. Other than minor nitpicks about character nuances, the translation is supposed to be pretty good otherwise.

Unfortunately, my sister has commandeered the PS3 and it's in her room now, so I don't know when I will be able to play again. Probably not until I buy my own PS3 -_-;

[Michael]

I don't get why Sazh keeps referring to himself as an old man! I'm too afraid to Google around for his age but I bet he's not even Auron's age, and he was an old man ILF. :P
Sazh is 40. I think the "old man" thing is just meant to be a joke. *laughs*

o_o The way she speaks man. I mean ok, I'm no expert as I don't have many Aussie friends IRL, but I'm almost positive that is NOT how they speak. <_< (Unless they were trying to be cute and Japanese?)
I actually have an ex-girlfriend who sounds like her. Albeit not quite so ditzy. The "ditzy" element slowly fades away until it basically disappears completely.

Fang is a far more realistic representation of an Australian accent though.

She's KIND OF growing on me though.
There's one cutscene later on in the game that will completely change your opinion of Vanille, for the better. You'll know it when you see it, if you haven't seen it already.

Well played Square. You made my like what I thought was going to be the most annoying character in the game. I wonder if they did that on purpose.

[Phoenix]

Snow does call her Sis on occasion, much to her annoyance.

Spoilers and such ahead.

So I'm on the third disc and I'm still not entirely enjoying this game. I miss cities, and side-quests, and wandering around on the world map. Yeah, there's some of that on the third disc but it's really not the same :\ I think the whole Fal'Cie/L'Cie concept is interesting, but I wish they'd talk about the characters more than just what they'd done in the 13 days leading up to the start of the game. Secondly, my other characters should totally be able to use their eidolons in battle.

Also: where the crap did all the humans on Pulse go? I mean there are plenty of C'ieth stones around, so at some point they must have been there. Seems unlikely that the Fal'Cie would just kill em all off, considering their usefulness.

[Aether]

Don't worry Andy, you'll finally have complete control over your party.... in chapter 10.

Just got there. Finally get to customise the party the way I've been grooming their crystals for the past 9 chapters :D

And apart from the voice, I quite like Vanille. I'm waiting for the story to drop the L-bomb too. I mean...so far they've done all but say it whenever Fang and Vanille are together :P

[mikoisepic]

I'm new to JRPGS. The only RPG I've played is Fallout 3. I fell asleep at the beginning of Final Fantasy XII. I like fast-paced action games. Will I enjoy FFXIII? :cookie:

[Michael]

I'm new to RPGS. I've only had experience in fast-paced action games (like DMC) and first person shooters. This will be my first FF game (if I decide to get it). Will I enjoy the game for a long time?
Hard to say. It's definitely fast paced for an RPG though.

[Dr. Flux]

Favourite Party Members in battle?

Lightning
Fang
Hope

Have Hope and Lightning on Blaster (or Ravager or whatever it's called in the english version) and Fang on Attacker. Then when I'm getting smashed I like to put them into what I like to call 'OH SHIT' mode, Hope and Lightning Healers and Fang Defender. Then when the enemies staggered, lightning attacker, fang attacker and Hope blaster.

Works like a charm until you meet a nasty gang of Tonberrys. :P

[AP]

I'm gonna go ahead and merge this with the other thread, for the sake of tidiness!

Favourite Party Members in battle?

Lightning
Fang
Hope

Have Hope and Lightning on Blaster (or Ravager or whatever it's called in the english version) and Fang on Attacker. Then when I'm getting smashed I like to put them into what I like to call 'OH SHIT' mode, Hope and Lightning Healers and Fang Defender. Then when the enemies staggered, lightning attacker, fang attacker and Hope blaster.

Works like a charm until you meet a nasty gang of Tonberrys. :P

This is what I use. I don't think there can be any other way, really. This is the best way by far.

[Michael]

I can tell you right now that, statistically speaking, Snow is a superior Ravager than Lightning. He's let down by his lack of a Commando role, though... there's something about the Sentinel class that I just can't click with.

[Dr. Flux]

Two healers are better than two defenders in some of the more difficult battles IMHO.

[DreamersImperial]

I use Lightning, Vanille, and Fang. Same combos though. Vanille's got a higher magic stat than Hope does (at least for me), so she works a little better as a Medic for me.

[Aether]

The game has decided that I need to grind a bit before finishing Chapter 9...but at least it's really easy to do so in that area.

And can anyone tell me exactly what the Veil buff does? It's not mentioned in the manual or the Battle Primers and it really doesn't seem to do much in battle, even though Hope seems to like casting it.

[Phoenix]

I think it ups your resistance to debuffs. A hint for the end of chapter 9: when he does that charging attack, keep hitting him, if he gets halfway to stagger he'll have to recharge and the damage gets reduced considerably. I couldn't beat him until I learned that trick.

[Kat]

DUDE I use Lightning/Fang/Hope too! :D

Also, made it to Gran Pulse last night. Felt like crying, I did.

and @Aeth is that Barthandelus? What an ass |: I hate that he plummets Stagger back to nothing. It took me til the 4th try to realize if you bash him well enough while he's charging for Destructo(?), the damage is cut in half. Before then I was just bracing myself. XD *is a dunce*

[Minion]

From what ive seen so far (just about 20 minutes into Disc 2), FFXIII has the same map design as FFX. Press analog stick up to continue plot.

What I dont understand is why your supporting characters insist on running ahead. They end up back with you via battle.

Sure it adds a bit of depth of having your supporting characters on-screen with you, unlike other FF's where your other characters we crammed into your main character, but still.

[Michael]

You kinda answered your own question there, Tony. =P

I think having the other characters interacting with the world inrespective of your own movement is an extremely cool touch, and something I'm surprised hasn't been tried before. It makes so much sense!

[DreamersImperial]

Well, I [think] I'm near the end of Chap. 12 now, and I've found myself reverting back to some grinding here, just as I did with the end of chapter 9. I'm just gonna upgrade the shizznits out of all my weapons before I go face this boss, as I rather disliked my first try (so much so that I just quit out and proceeded to grinding). It's not so big a deal...enemies in this area give some pretty nice loot. :D

[Kat]

chapter 11 spoilers :x


This is kicking my ass. I THINK I was done with that dreary, rusty path with the trailblazing fal'Cie but I had to run back.. ;_; I made it all the way to the spring where Vanille and Snow have a little chat, but if I can barely survive a bunch of purple lizards then something is terribly wrong. I had to go back all the way to the Calm Lands and do some maajor grinding. :| Buhhh those elephants make me nervous!

But yess Michael I do have a new-found respect for Vanille. :3

[Aether]

Aeth is that Barthandelus? What an ass |: I hate that he plummets Stagger back to nothing. It took me til the 4th try to realize if you bash him well enough while he's charging for Destructo(?), the damage is cut in half. Before then I was just bracing myself. XD *is a dunce*

Yes, the nasty nasty Barthandelus. I did not know about the whole damage during Destrudo thing, I was just bracing with Protection and then using Combat Clinic straight afterwards. I grinded to get everyone to fill their crystarium and upgraded Light/Fang/Hope's weapons to level 12. The only thing that ended me this morning was that I almost took him down and all of a sudden I went:

OMFG WAAAAAT?! DOOM? YOU'RE FUGGING KIDDING ME!

But I shall try that, might save on the doomness. Was only about one or two hits off beating him when Doom ended.

[Michael]

I am not sure why everyone seems to running into the same difficulty troubles. I've had barely any problems so far.

I'm not trying to sound all "Oh, I'm so hardcore and you guys all suck", but I ended up creaming the floor with Barthandelus. He was supposed to be challenging..?

[Aether]

Yeah well, usually in the games I play, the idea of bashing the crap out of the bad guy rather than girding your loins for the attack that will more than likely one-hit your party doesn't come up all that often.

Although, I have noticed that FF13 seems to penalise you for having a healer in your party. The battle scheme seems to have been designed by lemmings.

Well I beat Barthendalus my way, and then saved and went back and beat him the way everyone else suggested just to see the difference. Way easier I must admit.

[Michael]

I disagree on the idea that having a healer in your party penalises you. FFXIII is all about quick reaction and adapting to the situation at hand.

As long as you change your paradigms at the right times to suit the situation at hand, most boss strategies are a war of attrition more than anything else.

There's no reason to have a healer out permanently unless you're actually taking enough damage at that exact moment to warrant it.

That's the one thing I really like about FFXIII. It requires you to significantly strategise and respond to split second situations. It's a feeling of tension and urgency that's noticeably absent from RPGs in general, even real-time ones.

I hope more RPG developers take this kind of approach to battle mechanics into consideration in the future, because I definitely think it works.

[Kat]

Yeah well, usually in the games I play, the idea of bashing the crap out of the bad guy rather than girding your loins for the attack that will more than likely one-hit your party doesn't come up all that often.
Same here. I felt dumb in that I didn't think of trying something else, and when I did it wound up being the "right" way. But yeah.. bolstering up your defenses and getting ready to heal for a devastating attack seems more sensible than mindless bashing but eh *shrug* I guess it's our fault for not thinking it could potentially halve the damage, right? :P

And yeah, for a while I felt like the rating system punished you for healing. I guess the game just felt that when I was healing I really should've been attacking, and thus punished me :p But now I'm strong enough to ignore a few criticals so whatever.

Sometimes though I feel like even when my strategy is spot on it's still not good enough. <_< Even when I finish way earlier than the target time. Oh well..

Chapter 12! Things are about to get juicy.

[Nurse Fin]

Healer/Healer/Healer is actually one of my favorite optima combinations. It's more useful when everyone can heal each other quickly as possible, so I can go all-out when I DO attack

Other favorites are Healer/Defender/Healer, Enhancer/Healer/Jammer, and for offense it's gotta be Blaster/Attacker/Jammer, or Blaster/Blaster/Jammer.

I have no idea what the English names are. I remember reading them once and they just didn't stick with me because they were so fancypants.

[Aether]

And yeah, for a while I felt like the rating system punished you for healing. I guess the game just felt that when I was healing I really should've been attacking, and thus punished me :p But now I'm strong enough to ignore a few criticals so whatever.


I did some experimenting...the battle rating system seems to dock you points for having a Medic or Synergist or Sentinel out for the entire battle. It also docks you if you shift your paradigms more than once in a battle. Did the same random battle a few times and got these results, which doesn't surprise me. Apparently tutrling is considered bad sport.

Anyhoo....sick of Light/Hope/Fang for now. Using Light/Snow/Vanille for a while. Next up is a bos fight against Raines I believe. Watched half the cutscene and then had to stop.

[Nurse Fin]

Isn't that because having healers or non-offensive strategies throughout the battle slows you down? I think the main factor in the star rating is the overall time.

There's a target time that it uses for comparison, and the other thing it measures is how well you used that time. Like a lot of the time, if you have an enhancer they will cast spells that you don't need. I always set Hope as my leader, and as an enhancer I NEVER use the auto-cheer function, at least not initially. I cast Haste on everyone (definitely one of the most useful moves later on) and then switch my strategy to something else so I can plow away the enemies, unless it's some ridiculous boss where I'd need to use the other spells to give my guys steroids and safety helmets.

Similarly, if you keep shifting your strategies without making full use of their abilities (not sure exactly how it calculates that), you can lose points. I shift pretty regularly (between must-attack and uh-oh-red-HP) but I can usually get 5 stars unless it's a particularly difficult enemy. Yeahhhh I don't really know.

[AP]

The rating system has some sort of math that actually adds together your total HP, strength, magic and so on to come up with a traditional 'level' number for your characters that is invisible. That number then determines how much time you have. The more powerful you are, the less time you'll have.

[DreamersImperial]

I had an interesting encounter (actually TWO) with some of the wolf-like enemies on Gran Pulse yesterday.

You know how here and there, there's a few of them just running around, chasing each other? Well, I had, on two occasions, one of them run into me, and I got a pre-emptive strike! I was laughing so hard. They start the battle, yet they have no idea I'm there. Of course I know it wasn't like they were chasing me, and they just happened to collide with me, but still. I thought it was pretty humorous, anyway.

And with that, I'm on chapter 13. Doing some leveling up. I'd *LIKE* to get my hands on 2,000,000 Gil so I can buy the item I need to transform Lightning's sword into the Omega Sword....but I've only got about 200,000 so far...so it be takin' a while. >.>

[Kat]

Is that the King Behemoth and that giant wolf duking it out just before you hit the trail? I spammed the two of them for like an hour or so. <_< easy 6,000.

Buh don't even remind me.. I still have to upgrade her crappy ass Lvl. 1 Lionheart.

[Dr. Flux]

I found the trinkets you get from the robots in those caves in gran pulse sell for decent money and drop frequently.

[Magus]

My progress in the game feels so insignificant compared to everyone else's. I'm only up to Chapter 4. Then again, with the problems I've been having with the game, and its disc (see thread started by me) I think I should get a fucking medal for making it that far without destroying my copy of the game along with my Xbox.

Unfortunately I've now rendered the game unplayable, as it won't load the next cutscene. I had just managed to kick Odin's ass (by having Ravager Lightning pummel him with magic), after which I went back to the nearest save point to save (so I didn't have to fight Odin again in case the game froze). Progressing forward the game promptly froze and I can't move further.

Stupid Xbox scratching the stupid game disc... *Is an obvious whore for sympathy*
I see if starting the game over again helps anything. My guess is if I skip all the cutscenes and simply power through everything it won't take me more than 3 or 4 hours to reach the point I'm at now. Maybe this time things will be different? *Fingers crossed*

[Kat]

*sympathizes* :( No, really, I hope you find a rental place that can do that CD grinding action for you.

Anyways, I just wanted to draw everyone's attention to this (http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=928790&topic=53963288) hilarious outburst by some precious Gamespot-er (spoilers?)

I am sick of americans and japanese always making fun of australians
in this game you have horrible attempts at an australian accent from vanille and fang. NO WE DO NOT SOUND LIKE STEVE IRWIN

ALso, why do they make gran pulse symbolize australia? WE DO NOT HAVE BIG DINOSAURS WALKING IN AUSTRALIA. yes we have some alligators but you have to be unlucky to encounter them. they just dont wait outside your house. i dont think the japanese understand this. americans dont get it either i think

Lastly i think is the biggest insult in the game. hope's weapon. i cant believe SE allowed him to use one of the most sacred aboriginal inventions of all time.. the boomerang. it IS INSULTING that a little white emo kid is allowed to use such a majestic weapon. If anythig Sazh should be using it. I hope SE does their research next time and tries to be less racist to Australians

:D But I shouldn't laugh, Aeth and flux must've felt the same way |:

[Aether]

I can't believe the troll got 38 pages. That's a credit all to himself :D

And to be brutally honest, my accent is pretty damn close to Fang's. Oh, we also don't have aligators - those things are tiny weaklings.

Last laugh about the troll - it would actually be mroe racist to give a black man a boomerang XD

[Dr. Flux]

XD sahz should have the boomerang, oh gosh, that's even worse. That's like...wow...I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole.

I never drew the comparisons between australia and gran pulse and never thought it was meant to be their inspiration. I just thought they used aussie accents to denote the fact that they're both foreign.

And I don't sound like them. But everyone knows the true test of your australian accent is the ability to pronounce Australia without the 'L'. :) But I'm not as lazy as my fellow citizens so I do pronounce the L and get accused of being from another country.

But this lady explains it better (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu7C7ye6gTM)

[Magus]

The minute I heard Fang's accent, I knew she had to be connected to Vanille. I had a suspicion they'd both be from pulse, but until it got spoiled I wanted to find out for myself. Thanks a lot guys. x_x

@ Kat: I did find someone to grind/polish the disc for me. Unfortunately the disc reader on my Xbox must be broken, because the game still won't play, and it's having trouble loading up other games as well. I contacted Microsoft about it and registered my console for repair.

[Dr. Flux]

That's really not the connection at all.

[Michael]

Geez guys, try not to spoil the good stuff for people. =P

Do we have a spoiler tag on here? Might come in handy.

But yeah Jens, there's far more to them than that. Keep playing.

[Kat]

Don't look at me!

[Magus]

Geez guys, try not to spoil the good stuff for people. =P

Do we have a spoiler tag on here? Might come in handy.

But yeah Jens, there's far more to them than that. Keep playing.

I would if the fucking disc reader would work! But it doesn't, so I can't play. Fucking Microsoft.

[Aether]

AERIS DIES

You mean that tag Michael?

[Kat]

<_<

>_>

I'll go ahead and dissipate the weird tension with a huge WTF at the game's interpretation of an Ochu (http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb172/kadajd/Ochu_FFXIII-1.png)

I don't know what I would've done if I ran into that thing in my game.

[Sylverline]

First I shat bricks. Then I kicked its ass.

Then I fought Neochu and got owned repeatedly

[Dr. Flux]

[/awkwardness]

Tell me. Has anyone come up against the 3 tonberries and lived to tell the tale or am I just retarded?

[Michael]

[/awkwardness]Tell me. Has anyone come up against the 3 tonberries and lived to tell the tale or am I just retarded?
They're hard if you're not adequately leveled, but if you've cleared the first 4 levels of every characters Crystarium grid and made sure to upgrade your weapons a little somewhat, you should be okay.

The problem with them, as you're probably intimately aware, is that damn Grudge attack. I simply lay into them as fast as possible before they can get them out. A Deciptisol is especially useful on these guys.

[Magus]

Can I just ask... Do we really need the crystarium and the paradigm system? Couldn't everyone just have regular classes and level up in the old fashioned way? What does it add to the proceedings, apart from giving you a superficial amount of freedom?

[Michael]

Can I just ask... Do we really need the crystarium and the paradigm system? Couldn't everyone just have regular classes and level up in the old fashioned way? What does it add to the proceedings, apart from giving you a superficial amount of freedom?
At the end of the day, every RPG is a simple case of adding additional numbers ot an equation in a slightly different way.

I'll admit, I an a fan of RPG systems that ditch the traditional levelling system in favour of something else. Nothin' wrong with a bit of variety.

[Dr. Flux]

Well for the game mechanics, the paradigm system does help manage gameplay. Personally I preferred FFXII's method where you still had some sense of agency over everything your characters did.

[Kat]

Can I just ask... Do we really need the crystarium and the paradigm system? Couldn't everyone just have regular classes and level up in the old fashioned way? What does it add to the proceedings, apart from giving you a superficial amount of freedom?

LMAO I was whining to my boyfriend about this! At first I was totally enamored by the crystarium, I mean it's pretty and it feels pretty damned satisfying speeding through it and activating crystals.. but it really isn't anything more than old fashioned leveling up, except you have to do it manually. :P Getting to pick which role to level just gives you a false sense of freedom <_< I mean in reality, when you reach that point in the game where you DO get more options, you'll have three advanced roles anyway and it would have been totally counter productive to activate the others at that point. HP + 15 or HP + 50?

It's basically like FFX's Sphere Grid, minus the fact you're not rewarded with any type of flexibility later on. *loves her Auron-Rikku hybrid*

/rant

[Magus]

At the end of the day, every RPG is a simple case of adding additional numbers ot an equation in a slightly different way.

I'll admit, I an a fan of RPG systems that ditch the traditional levelling system in favour of something else. Nothin' wrong with a bit of variety.
Yes, but why switch out the levelling system with something that's basically the same and looks pretty? Why not just have them level up with the good old job system?

Well for the game mechanics, the paradigm system does help manage gameplay. Personally I preferred FFXII's method where you still had some sense of agency over everything your characters did.
I had no sense of agency over what my characters did in FFXII. The Gambit System was just stressful and confusing to me.

LMAO I was whining to my boyfriend about this! At first I was totally enamored by the crystarium, I mean it's pretty and it feels pretty damned satisfying speeding through it and activating crystals.. but it really isn't anything more than old fashioned leveling up, except you have to do it manually. :P Getting to pick which role to level just gives you a false sense of freedom <_< I mean in reality, when you reach that point in the game where you DO get more options, you'll have three advanced roles anyway and it would have been totally counter productive to activate the others at that point. HP + 15 or HP + 50?

Exactly! Why not just level up in the traditional sense?

[Michael]

I had no sense of agency over what my characters did in FFXII. The Gambit System was just stressful and confusing to me.
Uuuuh... you can turn the gambit system on and off as you see fit.

[Aether]

As to the battle system, I would have liked it if I could have had some control over all the party members like in XII - it would be nice to be able to hit a button and switch to controlling say the Synergist mid-battle rather than having to finish the battle and switch the default paradigm or switch paradigms when I really don't want to.

I suppose it doesn't really matter much when you master each role, but it would be nice during the opening chapters of the game.

[Magus]

Uuuuh... you can turn the gambit system on and off as you see fit.

Yes, but then they just stand there, and the battles get too hectic (for me at least) when it's not turn based.

[Nurse Fin]

I think Gambits made XII way too easy. It came to a point where the battles were completely hands-off aside from using the analog stick to move the characters away from enemy attacks, and back within attacking range after the ATB gauge filled up again... not exaggerating. Sure made level-grinding easy though. I made it to the lv40 range less than halfway through the game.

I think XIII requires a lot more user-input, at least beyond making presets in the Gambit menu that will do everything for you.

[Dr. Flux]

mmm, but it's always nice to have cruise contol on whilst on a long trip.

[Tim]

Man. I borrowed this from a bud a week or two back. Beat it rather quickly, it's not bad. Got a good bit of the missions done and even have my charactes leved up, omega weapon'd, and geared in general to take down adamantoise without death spamming...

BUT THE DAMN DISC SOMEHOW GOT A SCRATCH. I can't go back to Oerba, and I didn't do the missions there when I was first there or get the growth egg. I'm quite upset because one of the last missions in that circle of them on gran pulse (relating to the giant thing that screams everytime you accept one) is also in Oerba, so I won't be finding out what happens with that anytime soon.

Perhaps the ol' rental switcharoo is in order.

[Roger]

The last mark in that circle is a Juggernaut, and that's a piece of piss at the stage in the game you're at. However, if you never got to mark 64... O_O
-
Despite my best efforts, including taking down Adamantoises without Death, I still haven't had a Traphezedron drop, and my Platinum Ingot drop rate is so ridiculously poor. I've got both the rare drop and the normal drop catalogs on, it's annoying me now.

[Michael]

Wearing both has a negative effect, as I understand. Just wear the rare drop one.

I've already traded in FFXIII, and I am *not* a person who trades in games very often. So why did I in this instance? Because FFXIII is an incredibly average game.

It's end-game content is a joke. It consists of nothing more than grinding away at the same mobs for hours on end go get a trickle of items and CP, only to repeat the process again and again. It is drawn out ad-infinitum purely for the sake of it, and the completel lack of diversity in what you can do in the end-game kills any enjoyment I had in doing it.

And no, I'm not going to spend 140 hours getting an achievement just to artificially extend the play-time just because the developers were too lazy to create some *actual* content to fill up that space.

[Tim]

Despite my best efforts, including taking down Adamantoises without Death, I still haven't had a Traphezedron drop, and my Platinum Ingot drop rate is so ridiculously poor. I've got both the rare drop and the normal drop catalogs on, it's annoying me now.

Really? I set myself up with the rare drops and the rare shrouds thing when going into fight the adamantoise and get one Traphezedron every 3 or so. Hell, I even wound up with more than needed and sold some for upgrade materials.

But yeah. Oerba. Like Michael said, it's an incredibly average game, however I feel I've completed a good 80% of it and it really bothers me that I can't finish it up.

[Roger]

I've taken down ~20, and only had two Platinum Ingots drop, and no Traps. :/ I'll try just having the rare drop rate one on, see how that goes. Cheers Mike.

I've only got three marks to go, so I'm not giving in now. I actually prefer XIII to XII, but it still gets shat on from a great height by VIII, IX and X.

[Tim]

Agreed on the XIII > XII > etc idea. XII was too political, at least I can have a bit of fun advancing my chars and actually getting to know them in XIII. :)

Also, can't do titan trials. :(

Seen this? (http://www.edge-online.com/news/lawsuit-filed-over-ps3-final-fantasy-xiii-freezes) Don't know how legit, but I'd be quite pissed if my game AND console bricked. :P

[Michael]

FFXII is my favourite Final Fantasy of all time... *gets shot*

[Nurse Fin]

XII isn't a bad game, I bet if both my arms were suddenly amputated it might even become my favorite game, since I'd still be able to play it. :D (and DDR)

I picked up XIII again a little while ago, but then stopped... again. I still have a pile of games I got and haven't touched yet, and I'm busy replaying old favorites..

[nickoD]

love this game!!!

[Roger]

Finally, two Traphezodrons. I'm using the Dismantle technique, me thinks - saves the hassle of trying to get four more.

[Tim]

I've grown way too frustrated with this game. Its freezing on me everywhere now. :(

Oh well, fuck it. I've been playing DS a lot more anyway.