Final Fantasy XIII-2

[Tyloric]

Did anyone decide to invest in it? I got the CE.

I have to say, I'm really enjoying it so far. It definitely feels more open than XIII did.

 

[Gikoku]

Was tempted to get it, but wasn't sure if I should for fear of it repeating the turn-offs of the original.

How are the characters, story, and gameplay? You said it's more open, as in like the older FF games? Some of the characters bugged me in 13 and the new ones I saw in XIII-2's trailers didn't grab me, would you recommend this?

 

[Steve]

I haven't really properly played a Final Fantasy game since FFX. If I can't play get it for PC or emulate it, I'm not really interested.

Are Square back to churning out good FF games, then?

 

[Quistrix]

I haven't really properly played a Final Fantasy game since FFX.

That's fortunate. Because...

Are Square back to churning out good FF games, then?

No. They haven't made a good one since FFX. FFXIII is alright, it does it's job. But it's lacking what made previous titles great. So I don't have high hopes for FFXIII-2 if I decide to buy it.

 

[White_Howler]

In all honesty FFIX was the last good FF game for me, excluding X-2.

I have some serious iussues with FFX and FFVII. I get all kinds of people telling me either of those are their favorites and I always ask "What other FF's have you played?" The majority have only played one or both of those. It ****es me off to no end. I did NOT enjoy FFX, and it was in large part due to the horrid voice acting (I realize it was one of the first to include large amount of voice acting but gawd was Tidus awful). I didn't connect with a single one of the character, in EITHER. Though I still greatly enjoy FFVII, just nowhere near as much as FFIV, FFVI, FFVIII, or FFIX (the 4 best imho).

I never got far in FFXIII. I got reeeaaally sick and tired of being spoonfed the story, them holding my hand and directing me, and how little involvement there was in combat. I felt like I was pushing forward and hitting A to watch a movie.

This is all coming from a looooooooongtime Square fan. I've played more than just FF from them and they've made a slew of amazing games. After FFIX the company as a whole started to go downhill in a very bad way. I'm not sure what exactly happened but I recall some info about how the original brain behind FF and all had left the company.

Sorry if some of this comes off as biased, but after being a FF fan since day 1, and seeing all kinds of people flock to FFX (which is worse than FFVII in this next respect) and claim it as the best FF ever who haven't played a single one of the other games... or FFVII. It's frustrating and one can only tolerate it for so long.

Rant complete, sorry if anyone disagrees.

 

[Gikoku]

I did NOT enjoy FFX, and it was in large part due to the horrid voice acting (I realize it was one of the first to include large amount of voice acting but gawd was Tidus awful). I didn't connect with a single one of the character

Dude, I don't even know you anymore.

 

[White_Howler]

All cuz I don't like FFX? Eh I'm used to people sayin that to me. I'm very unknown :blink:

 

[Quistrix]

I did NOT enjoy FFX

I did NOT enjoy FFX

I did NOT enjoy FFX

I did NOT enjoy FFX

 

[Dark Drakan]

I really liked FFX and also really enjoyed IX but everything after that ive barely even bothered with. I couldnt get along with XII and then heard lots of bad things about XIII from Final Fantasy fan friends so havent even looked at it properly.

 

[L0ki]

I thought FFX was average. Biggest thing for me about it was the graphics at the time.

Favorite FF's are IV, VI and VII. I hated IX. I hated the main character mostly, probably why I couldn't stand the game.

Then everything else after X was complete crap to me, then I gave up on Square-Enix.

I miss Squaresoft.
Lol.

 

[Quistrix]

I hated IX.

A part of me just died inside.

 

[Gikoku]

I hated IX. I hated the main character mostly, probably why I couldn't stand the game.

....

 

[Tyloric]

Was tempted to get it, but wasn't sure if I should for fear of it repeating the turn-offs of the original.

How are the characters, story, and gameplay? You said it's more open, as in like the older FF games? Some of the characters bugged me in 13 and the new ones I saw in XIII-2's trailers didn't grab me, would you recommend this?

It's not particularly stellar writing.

Serah in particular is a genius. She just knows things, and people just accept that she does.

Serah: "They're hacking the network. Oh, and they're doing it from the future."
Noel: "lolok 8D"

With that being said, the time travel is really fun. It's interesting to meet characters, change history, and then go back to see that everything else is different (from characters actually knowing who you are to the landscape having been drastically altered).

Another really neat aspect is that you can reset events. What this means is that any part of the game you have completed, you can literally turn back the clock and replay those moments of the game again (without losing any character progress). This is really cool when there was a particularly powerful enemy you had to avoid at first because it outclassed you so, only to replay the event and kick its ass and see how differently events play out because you took a different path.

Also, taming monsters is really neat.

TL;DR: It won't win any awards for storytelling (or acting), but the areas are huge, there are multiple paths through events, and there are plenty of quests to do.

And that's my $.02.

EDIT: And if you can, get it on the PS3. I'm playing it on the 360 (I don't own a PS3) and it does tend to have problems with frame rate, especially when there is a lot happening on screen. It's not terrible, and it hasn't ruined my experience any, but some people might find it quite irritating.

 

[White_Howler]

I thought FFX was average. Biggest thing for me about it was the graphics at the time.

I liked the combat system and the CONCEPT of the story. The only characters I really liked were Yuna, Lulu, and Auron... maybe Kimarhi too.

Favorite FF's are IV, VI and VII. I hated IX. I hated the main character mostly, probably why I couldn't stand the game.

Zidane starts out kind of generic thief/ladies man kinda guy. Trust me, he grows on you. FFIX was NOT the kind of game you could play a small amount and get the idea. It gets VERY complex and rather dark as well. Until you've beaten the game, don't rule Zidane out. Granted he IS emo but what FF MC isn't?

 

[L0ki]

Like I said, Zidane turned me off from the game. I played it for a bit, too. I wouldn't say I was near the end, though, but I'm sure I played enough of it. It got to the point I just gave the game to my friend. It didn't feel anything new for me, but maybe it's because I've played so many other RPGs before ever playing IX and it just felt so bland.

And plus, no other RPGs ever came close to Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, FF6, Xenogears, Lunar, and Star Ocean for me.

I guess I just had higher expectations after playing those games.

Plus, one of the reasons I don't even play RPGs anymore is because one RPG would remind me of another, etc, etc. and I end up feeling like I've played it before and then dissatisfaction sinks in. It's rare to see a truly unique RPG these days, in my opinion. At least a unique one that's actually good and stands out from the rest.

 

[mjmarin12]

Zidane starts out kind of generic thief/ladies man kinda guy. Trust me, he grows on you. FFIX was NOT the kind of game you could play a small amount and get the idea. It gets VERY complex and rather dark as well. Until you've beaten the game, don't rule Zidane out. Granted he IS emo but what FF MC isn't?

The one from...Wait no...How about...No he was too.... The only one that comes to mind is Bartz, but thats only from my experience with him from Dissidia.

These new-age FF games are just going down in value. You cant have FF in any legit game arguement unless you includes the usual VII, VIII, or X and even then people rip on the graphics and mechanics without giving the story a chance.

I doubt Enix will ever make another great FF game unless they drop all these -2 titles, and just devote all their time to a single FF XV or whatever number they're on now.

 

[White_Howler]

The one from...Wait no...How about...No he was too.... The only one that comes to mind is Bartz, but thats only from my experience with him from Dissidia.

These new-age FF games are just going down in value. You cant have FF in any legit game arguement unless you includes the usual VII, VIII, or X and even then people rip on the graphics and mechanics without giving the story a chance.

I doubt Enix will ever make another great FF game unless they drop all these -2 titles, and just devote all their time to a single FF XV or whatever number they're on now.

Actually trying to use FFVIII in any argument gets it shot down faster than a greased pig through a water slide at full blast. (hey that was a good one o.o) Which is sad because you're right.

One the THE saddest excuses for not liking FFVIII was this: The characters from FFVII were way more badass and could kick all their asses, they had to rely on GF's and blah blah blah. Take away the character's materia from FFVII and they become just as weak. (actually Squall from FFVIII has probably THE most abusable limit break ever. In fact it's possible to beat the entire game, using just him, using JUST his limit break. And all you have to do is be close to death, rather than having to take a beating enough, regardless of how close you are to dying. Actually very similar to FF6's limit breaks (rare as they were) that activated randomly when in 'wounded' status (all crouched down and hurt-like).

But I digress. Everything before FFX was pure gold. FFX took FF to the mainstream, and thus killed it. Not saying FFX didn't have a great battle system and at least a decent story, because it did. But most of the cliche's we see in FF's now were started by FFVII, and further exaggerated by FFX.


One little pet peeve of mine: I absolutely hate it when someone calls FFX, Final Fantasy ECKS! That's like saying "I like Final Fantasy Vee Eye Eye! ARRR MATEYS! hehe. But seriously, roman numerals.

 

[Tyloric]

THIS IS A FFXIII-2 THREAD.

GO AWAY.

 

[Gikoku]

It's not particularly stellar writing.

Serah in particular is a genius. She just knows things, and people just accept that she does.

Serah: "They're hacking the network. Oh, and they're doing it from the future."
Noel: "lolok 8D"

With that being said, the time travel is really fun. It's interesting to meet characters, change history, and then go back to see that everything else is different (from characters actually knowing who you are to the landscape having been drastically altered).

Another really neat aspect is that you can reset events. What this means is that any part of the game you have completed, you can literally turn back the clock and replay those moments of the game again (without losing any character progress). This is really cool when there was a particularly powerful enemy you had to avoid at first because it outclassed you so, only to replay the event and kick its ass and see how differently events play out because you took a different path.

Also, taming monsters is really neat.

TL;DR: It won't win any awards for storytelling (or acting), but the areas are huge, there are multiple paths through events, and there are plenty of quests to do.

And that's my $.02.

EDIT: And if you can, get it on the PS3. I'm playing it on the 360 (I don't own a PS3) and it does tend to have problems with frame rate, especially when there is a lot happening on screen. It's not terrible, and it hasn't ruined my experience any, but some people might find it quite irritating.

Sounds interesting enough so far, I probably will get it for PS3.

Does the game have any side-distractions (like mini-games) so you can take a break from the main path? Does it have any traditional towns filled with NPCs and walk-in stores, or does it still have those floating store interfaces littered across the main path?

What purpose is there for monster taming?

 

[Tyloric]

Sounds interesting enough so far, I probably will get it for PS3.

Does the game have any side-distractions (like mini-games) so you can take a break from the main path? Does it have any traditional towns filled with NPCs and walk-in stores, or does it still have those floating store interfaces littered across the main path?

What purpose is there for monster taming?

Just about every area you visit has NPC's that can be talked too. There are also no save points; the game auto-saves and you can manually save from the pause menu.

As for shopping, Chocolina is following you around the game. She's your shop.

As for breaks in the story, you have Serendipity, an area similar to the Golden Saucer in FFVII. You can even take Chocobo's you've captured in the wild and race them!

Also, monsters are your third party member. The only playable characters are Serah, Noel, and which ever monster you've added to your Battle Team. Each monster has its own role (one of the six from FFXIII) and can level up like a character would. You can infuse monsters with others to compound their abilities, and teach monsters skills they wouldn't normally learn on their own.

There are occasionally guests that fight with you (Snow follows you around a particular area in the game), but they're few and far between.