A Dark day with a chance of Lightning

[SuperBelkar]

In this thread I'd like to discuss Final Fantasy XIII Lightning Returns. I know just by saying that I've probably spurred the dogs of war for people who love it, people who hate it and those who are just tired of talking about it and want the discussion to just simply disappear. I get it, and don't feel you need to say anything if you don't want to, so here we go.

I recently read a post informing me of the new game play mechanics going into Lightning Returns and I have to admit it didn't leave utterly jubilated if you follow me. Now before you get on my case about anything let me make myself perfectly clear. I didn't like XIII, and I didn't even bother with XIII-2, I can however admit when they did things well like how the battle system wasn't very Final Fantasy but was pretty fast paced and strategic in it's own ways. The main character, while being surrounded by drooling neanderthals, was actually not bad and had a decent arc.

Now I would suggest reading the post first called "Lightning Returns Blends Final Fantasy With Dark Souls" and then return. Finished? Okey dokey, here we go. I'm not one, usually, to outright say things like this however, in the most respectable way possible, I feel this is fucking offensive. Not because I'm some crazy fan of the series or because I hate change but the fact that they say that they will be using a system that is not only completely different, but formulas that were taken from other fucking game companies entirely. Dark Souls gameplay, mixed with a timing system from Majoras Mask. See the thing is, I'm actually pretty stoked for Final Fantasy XV, It dropped all pretenses of being like the old FFs and made it its own thing.

Now granted, the combat seems to be ripped from Kingdom Hearts of all things, but shit, at least they made that themselves! It's offensive that they can't even create their own thing anymore, so now they go around taking from other places, which wouldn't be so bad if they hadn't established themselves 12 freaking times as its own concept.

In the U.S. I feel that with the exception of the some hardcore fans, that most people seem to recognize XIII as the pretty sloppy, linear story that it was and while I don't know yet how these "new" game play and story mechanics will be implemented, I find myself getting simply frustrated that the XIII saga is doing as well as it is somehow. Maybe I'm being closed minded and I'm not seeing something clearly because I'm in a bad mood, but I'd love to here your thoughts and apologize for the rant.

Fingers crossed for FF XV.

 

[Able Seacat]

Standing on the shoulders of giants

I think it's only natural that popular mechanics are adapted and used by various developers.

 

[alphamalet]

Few things:

1) Why isn't this in the game discussion section?

The main character, while being surrounded by drooling neanderthals, was actually not bad and had a decent arc.

2) Who in the hell are you talking about? Final Fantasy XIII didn't have a single main character. Lightning was on the cover, Vanille was the narrator, and you spend hours playing as different characters in fragmented parties.

3) The combination or "ripping off" of gameplay comes off as more speculation from the author of the article. I don't think were saying that Square-Enix literally taped Majora's Mask, Resident Evil, and Dark Souls together.

If you didn't like Final Fantasy XIII, and you didn't play the first sequel, then why do you give a fuck? Seems to me like you weren't going to play this one as it is. This isn't a main series Final Fantasy game; it's a sequel to a sequel that has been outsourced to Tri-Ace. Square-Enix is only partially involved with this game, so this does not represent any sort of direction that the Square-Enix internal development teams are moving.

I didn't like XIII, and I didn't even bother with XIII-2, I can however admit when they did things well like how the battle system wasn't very Final Fantasy but was pretty fast paced and strategic in it's own ways.

Maybe this game will have a similar outcome... It doesn't seem as though you're too invested in the Fabula Nova Crystallis series as it is. Why not wait until we see more gameplay? Maybe the game will be good in an atypical Final Fantasy way. Maybe the game will be bad, but since you didn't enjoy the other two games I doubt it would be much of a loss for you...

P.S. I'd play Final Fantasy XIII over Final Fantasy VIII any day of the week. Final Fantasy XIII isn't the worst game ever.

 

[Maximum Bert]

So its taking popular things from other games and blending them into its own wow what a revolutionary idea why hasnt this been done before...oh wait it has yeah nothing new here if it turns out to be a better game for it then I have no problems with it.

As for change FF has always experimented with its battle systems sometimes for better and sometimes for worse and some changes are bigger than others its one thing I like about the series even if I dont like all the games.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Now I would suggest reading the post first called "Lightning Returns Blends Final Fantasy With Dark Souls" and then return. Finished? Okey dokey, here we go. I'm not one, usually, to outright say things like this however, in the most respectable way possible, I feel this is fucking offensive. Not because I'm some crazy fan of the series or because I hate change but the fact that they say that they will be using a system that is not only completely different, but formulas that were taken from other fucking game companies entirely. Dark Souls gameplay, mixed with a timing system from Majoras Mask. See the thing is, I'm actually pretty stoked for Final Fantasy XV, It dropped all pretenses of being like the old FFs and made it its own thing.

Now granted, the combat seems to be ripped from Kingdom Hearts of all things, but shit, at least they made that themselves! It's offensive that they can't even create their own thing anymore, so now they go around taking from other places, which wouldn't be so bad if they hadn't established themselves 12 freaking times as its own concept.

They haven't really taken any formula from any game. I think Dark Souls was on named in that article because you'll be able to move around, attack, and dodge in real-time; games have been doing that forever, Dark Souls was just picked because it's an RPG. Now if Lightning takes souls of her enemies to level up and buy stuff, you've got an argument.

The time limit thing probably ties more into the plot than gameplay.

I'm glad Final Fantasy is finally (had to do it) moving out of its completely unneeded and unwarranted turn-based battle system like many other JRPGs have started to do. The FF games were never strategic enough to be turned-based, they just bogged you down in menus for really no reason, FFXII showed that you can take the FF battle system and have it play itself with a few if-then-else statements (gambits), that's a telltale sign a game is not strategic. Put the gambit system in any prior FF game, and you'll get the same result as FFXII. Games like XCOM, Valkryia Chronicles, FF Tactics, Resonance of Fate, and Xenosaga 2 are examples of games that merit a turn-based battle system. FF should've became an action RPG or got an actual strategic turn-based system long ago, at least the series seems to be finally choosing a side with how this and FFXV are looking.