FFXIII exceeded my expectations.

[aka958]

After at last buying the game I so long have waited for and started playing it I knew this was a great game. Though i'm not yet done with the game and I think it has just started for me i can say it awesome in many ways.

You can't really develop your abilities in the beginning of the game which can be a little annoying. But the swift changes with paradigm shift and the classes to choose from gives fast paced and strategic battles which is really enjoyable.

I always thought summons kinda sucked in most FF games since 8 (7 had a few good ones) but in this game they can be a life saver and can dish out lots of damage.

You get recovered HP and there are no MP costs for doing abilities in this game, if there were then the game would be impossible to complete. The monsters are thougher and it doesn't take just one attack to kill them. Random encounters may sometimes be an actual threat to you even if your on the same wavelength as them.

The thought of not having any towns like in previous FF's is awesome, no more tedious walks through towns with a little to wide empty space.

The game was linear to me the whole two firsts discs (Xbox360) and they weren't that long either, so I believe that the last disc is the biggest one since now I can start all the side quests and all the fun stuff.

Excellent graphics, it's great and I believe it could be the best graphical game yet. When you first see gran' pulse your gonna be suprised over how amazing it looks.

Great character development. Unlike FFXII this one got deep character development. Can't say much more for it would spoil.

It gots a deep storyline and a whole gigantic datalog for you to read about the locations, story events, toturials and monsters you've meet so far.

Lots of enemies, names and critters from the previous FF games is back, such as chocobos, flans and much much more!

Summary: it's the best game I've played in a long time and possibly the best FF game I've ever played.

 

[Meg]

Sounds great. What's the gameplay like?

 

[aka958]

The gameplay, it's linear like FFX but later in when you come to gran' pulse it gets much more open wided, like calm lands times 10 plus a little more.

Flexible leveling system but it is limiting you and it expands when you progress in the story. It expands more and more the more you progress in the story so it ain't limiting you that much.

There are 6 classes in total, everyone has it strategic uses. Not all characters can have all six classes in the beginning, just 3 and later on you get the option to to upgrade them into having other classes (very costy and not worth it until late in the end game IMO).

Sometimes you need to get yourself buffed up and healed in a battle you can change classes via the paradigm shift. Example:
Lightning's possible classes: Commando, Ravager, Medic
Hope's possible classes: Ravager, Synergist, Medic
Fang's possible classes: Commando, Sentinel, Saboteur

You can set up to 6 different class combinations to shift between under battle. Example (just 3):

Lightning Hope Fang
Commando Ravager Commando
Medic Medic Sentinel
Ravager Synergist Saboteur

That didn't look great but i hope you understand it. So if I start the battle with Commando Ravager Commando and I start running out of health then I switch to Medic Medic Sentinel to quickly heal myself and then switch back. Now there is many many possible combinations.

There is much more to it but how can I explain the gameplay? Didn't I do that before?

 

[Angelo Credo]

Great descriptions of the game and gameplay, however, I've heard that it's pretty much a cutscene-fest, to the degree that it even rivals MGS4 for cutscene to gameplay ratio, that puts me off a bit.

Can you confirm or deny that? I like my story, but I don't like it when more than half the game is spent watching pre-rendered cutscenes.

 

[aka958]

^ What? No, it is not. The beginning, or the intro chapters (1 and 2) has lots of cutscenes. But later in, you'll get more and more fighting and less cutscenes. I never thought for a single minute that it hads lots of cutscenes and I never felt bored or annoyed by any of them either.

 

[Angelo Credo]

Fair enough, looks like I'll be picking this up on Monday then.

 

[DreadnoughtDT]

:'( Wahh! Now I feel stupid for not preordering this... Instead I bought Silent Hill 4 and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance...

 

[Darth Angelo]

I really wish I had got into FF I don't know why I never did it sound like my sort of thing.

 

[BlueDevil]

I'm still working on FF7 as I just started playing it this year. But I haven't touched it in about a month or so (probably longer) I think I'm about half way through that game, but it won't stop from getting this one. >_> Snow ftw.

 

[Meg]

Aka, you did a good job explaining it. The only thing is that you confirmed that I won't like this game.

 

[aka958]

^ :O That's to bad, just not your style I guess.

@Dreadnought: Man, I didn't want you to feel regret.

@Angelo Credo: What? You listened to my advice? ? Awesome!

@BlueDevil: This one is completely different from 7, maybe some names will be familiar. Lol... Flanitor. That was really creative of square!

 

[darkslayer13]

well now i know for sure that i really want this game. i've heard a lot about it all good. so i definitly have to have it.

 

[aka958]

That's great!
Stupid boss I am facing... He got 3.3 Million HP... I mean, if you hit 1000 damage when he is non staggered with your combos and then around 4000 to 8000 when he is staggered is just like saying: Hey I got two hours free, wanna fight?

 

[Ember To Inferno]

I've heard that it's pretty much a cutscene-fest, to the degree that it even rivals MGS4 for cutscene to gameplay ratio, that puts me off a bit.

I've always seen MGS4 as a movie, not a game. They even have MGS4 listed as a movie on a movie site I go too >_> I even watched it XD

But yeah if FFXIII is like that, then oh man..I'll just watch the cutscenes stashed together somewhere and have my sister buy the game; she can waste her money not mine XD

 

[aka958]

How would you then know if it is or not? You gotta buy it first to see right?
I promise you, there aren't many cutscenes, just in the beginning.

You liked DMC, right? There are more cutscenes there if you compare total gameplay to finish it (10 hours?) and the time to complete FFXIII (took me 50 hours). There are ALOT of cutscenes for 10 hours, and there aren't that many in percentage compared to DMC in FFXIII. You could have a two hours travel forward then a cutscene or two, but in DMC if you play the story straight on two hours then you will experience a hell alot of cutscenes.

 

[AzureNight13]

I absolutly love the gameplay in XIII. Only thing I don't like about it is that I can't switch from person to person. So if the Leader dies, game over. Other than that, I like the whole switching strategy. And they did a really good job with the summons (Except with Odin, what happed to the six legs?! And the doom spell they put on you sucks).

However I am not a fan of the Story. Nor am I a fan of the names of some character. I did expect more originality.

Though I haven't beaten it yet so there maybe some hope left

 

[aka958]

I absolutly love the gameplay in XIII. Only thing I don't like about it is that I can't switch from person to person. So if the Leader dies, game over. Other than that, I like the whole switching strategy. And they did a really good job with the summons (Except with Odin, what happed to the six legs?! And the doom spell they put on you sucks).

However I am not a fan of the Story. Nor am I a fan of the names of some character. I did expect more originality.

Though I haven't beaten it yet so there maybe some hope left

Yeah, there is more hope left.
Where ya at?
Chapter 7 is vital for the storyline and Chapter 8 is my favorite part of the storyline, knowing it's Sazh and Vanille's turn to shine. I hate Vanille...

Loved to see Fang and play as her the first time. Slow made it so easy to kill the Ushumgal Subjugator.

I learned a few tricks now when I played, like switching paradigm exactly after you've done a action gives you a full bar. That doesn't work twice in a row though.

1. Attack with full ATB bar
2. Switch to any other paradigm
3. Gained a full ATB bar to do whatever you want
4. Switch if you want to but nothing will happen this turn if you do.
5. Switch to another paradigm and gain a full ATB bar.
...

I think you can figure out how to do.

Air juggle, that is something that saved me from death from many enemies. I finally got that tyrant in stagger, I'll never let it touch the ground again.

I need Fang as a Ravager so I can get triple disaster or whatever it's called. I need Hope as a commando so I can get Cerberus, important when enemies are staggered.

What's not to like in the story? I mean, it beats FFXII by a longshot and everyone are supposed to be ignorant or a jackass in someway in the beginning. How else would they learn that they are doing it wrong later?

 

[Ebony]

I had to come on here and share my news that my boyfriend suprised me today and bought me the colectors edition!!!

I'm so happy! I hinted and bitched and whinged for a month, and now he's been paid it was the first thing he did! Anything to shut me up! Hurrah!

He's gone out for the night, so it's just me and the X Box whoop whoop!

 

[Meg]

I had to come on here and share my news that my boyfriend suprised me today and bought me the colectors edition!!!

I'm so happy! I hinted and bitched and whinged for a month, and now he's been paid it was the first thing he did! Anything to shut me up! Hurrah!

He's gone out for the night, so it's just me and the X Box whoop whoop!

aw that's nice. was it a special occasion, or a just cause present?

 

[Ebony]

Well, he owed me a present 'cuz ge really p*ssed me off a few weeks ago (men are evil!) So I demanded he bought me a present.