Did I miss something about FFXIII?

[lordmardok]

So I played about 10 hours in to FFXIII right? It was... not exactly a stellar example of the franchise in my opinion. Where other final fantasies gave you incredible visuals with the ability to move around and explore the world and the characters that live in it, FFXIII seems to stop at the visuals part and ask you not to foul things up too much while it shows you how games are really supposed to be played. I loved being able to switch between the various characters, it kept what would probably have become an arduous and samey battle system from becoming so by keeping things interesting the variety of abilities you could call on and the different character animations.

The levels were beautifully rendered but it was ruined by being uninteractable, sort of like walking through a museum or an art gallery, look but don't touch, except its a game, its meant to be interacted with right?

I thought that FFXIII was probably the most disappointing game in the entire franchise because it seemed to be biased against the player actually playing the game.

This rant brings me to my question, FFXIII seems to have a solid fanbase so... what did I miss? I'm not going to be so arrogant as to assume everyone who likes it is wrong, so I have to assume there is something I didn't get to, I stopped playing it because the core mechanics the game was built on got on my nerves so badly that I couldn't bring myself to keep playing it, did I stop too soon?

Before anyone answers this understand I had no problem with the storyline aside form it being, well, a little slow to get started.

 

[Link XL1]

you kind of missed the whole "we hate ff13" thing. everyone cried out against its linearity, annoying characters, etc. over all its probably one of the least liked final fantasies, short of the MMOs.

 

[Roofstone]

As Link stated. It is, pretty much the most hated final fantasy. I'd dare say its fanbase is rather small, if even existant, but that is just a guess on the complains against praise ratio I've seen..

 

[Danzaivar]

FFXIII has a solid fanbase? Anything you read about it is trashing how it's a new low for the series and is basically 40 hours of running down a corridor.

The only real thing you seem to have missed is the internets reaction to it

 

[lordmardok]

Which I thought was the main opinion yet I keep seeing and hearing people who say they thoroughly enjoyed the game. How and why is my question meaning you kind of have no place in this discussion, thanks though.

Here's another forum topic... Why do people post in discussions just to tell the person that the point of their discussion is invalid?

Seems like a pointless waste of time.

 

[lordmardok]

So I kinda stopped at the point where stuff might've gotten a little interesting? I find that kind of depressing. Lol, I am one of those people who are willing to forgive a lot for a good story and narrative though.

 

[lordmardok]

you kind of missed the whole "we hate ff13" thing. everyone cried out against its linearity, annoying characters, etc. over all its probably one of the least liked final fantasies, short of the MMOs.

Yah, I played the first FFMMO, found it to be horrible grindy, more unforgiving in its leveling system than Lineage, and lacking any definite plot thread.

After that I just sort of steered clear of the whole concept of an FFMMO.

 

[joemegson94]

Final Fantasy XIII was a bag of shit. I played it for a bit, got bored and sold it.

 

[lordmardok]

If you have nothing useful to add, kindly remain off of my discussions thank you.

 

[Richardplex]

Good analogy, an art museum. The aesthetics were mind-blowing, the music was great, but the interactiveness was weak and was incredibly linear, even for a JRPG. If this was made as a CG anime or something, I'd probably love it, but not while the controller I'm holding is looking at me, feeling rejected and useless. Then again, even just going to full way and removing all interactiveness might not counteract Hope.

Also, please show me this solid FFXIII fanbase, I wish to go and guffaw at them.

OT: I got to 30 mins before the end, and I'd say... there is no 'point where it gets good'. Not to say that I think it is inherently bad, it isn't, just there is no definitive turning point. I'd guess it's something that if your not interested in 10 hours in you won't be interested 40 hours in.

Not everyone "hates FF13". I personally enjoyed the game. What people are hating most though, is that beginning segment. Its 10-15hrs long, extremely narrow-minded, and gives you little, if any, room to play around.

Afterwords it does open up, but the costs to learn skills and abilities outside of those 2-3 classes your characters were given at the beginning of the game is absurdly high, and requires an ungodly amount of grinding just to start going through them.

I just ignored those classes, it was fine just using the standard 3 for each person for me. But aye, the ability to choose all 3 members of your party would probably be the point the OP is looking for, if any.

 

[andreas3K]

Some say it gets better later on, but I thought it was awesome from start to finish. I'm serious. It's fucking amazing. It's the most beautiful game I've ever seen. And the gameplay gets really good once you learn to play well and you get new abilities.

 

[kaioshade]

One day i will understand the hate for Final Fantasy XIII.

People complained that when the main character dies, the game is over. Mass Effect 2 did it, and no one seemed to mind.

People complained about only the main character having direct control. Tales of Vesperia, Mass Effect, Star Ocean, Nier, plenty others and yet they get a pass.

Levels are linear. Go back and play Final Fantasy X, widely considered to be one of the best, plenty of walking forward in a straight line.

 

[jacobythehedgehog]

I really loved Final Fantasy XIII. To me I loved the battle system and I loved the characters. The character development in the game was rather solid. Again the game looked great and had a solid story to back it up. Was final fantasy XIII as good as other Final Fantasies .... no. "BUT" Final Fantasy XIII was still a great edition to the Final Fantasy series in my opinion. I was there on launch day to buy this game on March 9th, and I beat the game in 3 sittings. I just loved it. But I do see where JRPG's are diminishing in the North American audience. I personally don't like WRPG's... To me I would sit down an play Final Fantasy XIII then any Bioware game.

 

[jacobythehedgehog]

Final Fantasy XIII was a bag of shit. I played it for a bit, got bored and sold it.

Say the guy trying to defend Duke Nukem Forever???? Really?!?!? well if FFXIII was a bag of shit, then Duke Nukem Forever must have been a bag a Monkey Shit mixed with Donkey piss shoved up the but-hole of an elephant.

 

[AlternatePFG]

People complained about only the main character having direct control.

I think that's more of a complaint that stems from the fact that it was a major part of previous Final Fantasy games and it was strangely omitted. If games like Tales of Vesperia and Star Ocean had you control all the characters it would get crazy (And you still can switch between characters mid-battle).

Personally, I didn't really enjoy my time with Final Fantasy XIII either. When I first played it, I hated it but I've calmed down a bit and just really think the game wasn't terrible just boring and mediocre. Beautiful game and wonderful music but it was just so repetitive. The gameplay itself was fine in my opinion but the battles were just dull. Bosses dragged on and on, battles seemed to be meant to slow you down instead of actually challenging you. The story was a mess and there were some terrible characters. (Though I really like Sazh and I thought Lightning was a better main protagonist than in most FF games) That "It gets better 20 hours" thing was bullshit in my opinion, the sidequests it gave you were just more boss enemies and the battles dragged on even longer after point.

 

[joemegson94]

Final Fantasy XIII was a bag of shit. I played it for a bit, got bored and sold it.

Say the guy trying to defend Duke Nukem Forever???? Really?!?!? well if FFXIII was a bag of shit, then Duke Nukem Forever must have been a bag a Monkey Shit mixed with Donkey piss shoved up the but-hole of an elephant.

Very eloquently put, there.

Duke Nukem Forever may have its issues, but it's superior to FXIII in every way, except graphics and loading times.

DNF is a game for men. MEN!

 

[Heartcafe]

I'm not part of this "FF XIII" fanbase that supposedly exists but I did enjoy the game to a certain extent.
Actually, 10 hours in is when I started enjoying it (the moment you reach that junkyard area) because they actually introduce some new things in gameplay and it was enough to keep me going.

The problem with XIII is that they were trying to create conflict between characters to make the audience sympathetic to their cause but that backfired because it was all so forced and ridiculous. For example, (spoilers for the first hour) when Hope's mom dies because Snow lets go of her hand, we see Hope being all pissed and angst. So then a conflict is created between Snow and Hope. But this conflict drags on (literally) for 40 hours where all we get is Hope complaining about his mom and Snow being completely oblivious. It's just tiring when the characters bring up the same conflict again and again and it just doesn't get confronted (Like Lightening and her sister's engagement.)

To me, FFXIII to Final Fantasy series was how I felt DA2 was to Dragon Age: Origins. Not terrible, but just so damn average compared to the diamond examples that Square Enix (and Bioware) has put out in the past.

 

[Jackson Duke]

FFXIII... Where to start.

Yes, the game get's a bit better about 15 to 25 hours in (depending on how long you spend in each area) but there is no major improvement. The plot has so many lackluster "twists" that you just don't care anymore. The character voices start to get on your nerves and the repeating unnecessary battles get plain dull.

I played the game for almost 40 hours before I finally quite. I had promised myself that I would finish because I spent $70 on the game and the strategy guide, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

If you actually beat the game you can go back and complete a bunch of side quests which is where it actually opens up to be like an RPG. Once you BEAT THE GAME you can run around and do a lot, but you're pretty much stuck on a linear pathway until then.

Another thing, even if you DO level up all the characters in the "optional" classes (the ones other then their three starting ones) it isn't worth it. According to the strategy guide the three classes they start with are the ones that they are going to do best with... so WHY would you want to do that???

Another complaint I have about the game is the terrible boss battles. Do you know about those boss battles that take almost 15-20 minutes to finish? The ones where they will eventually put "DOOM" on your character? Well the guide book says that "Once they drop bellow "bla bla" health they will cast doom on your character"... yeah... EACH TIME the boss was supposed to do this, he would ALWAYS cast "DOOM" when his health was almost double what the guidebook stated, which meant that there was no possible way for me to beat him in time. Each major boss battle I had to fight the boss twice where during the SECOND time he would let his health drop to the correct level.

The game was OK in the beginning... I was thinking "Ok, this is kind of dull but all RPG's are dull in the beginning... right?". Not this one. If you don't like it in the first few hours be ready for a long boring ride.

This game takes 40+ hours to complete, but this is with blowing right through it. More than half of all the PSN Trophies, or XBL Achievements are ridiculous or require a "100% completion" mentality. "Complete all Mark missions with a five-star post-battle rating", "Collect all items available in the game", "Master the (Insert all class names here) role"... the list goes on. And most of them are hidden, so the only way to know about them is to buy the guidebook.

If you actually like this game... I feel sorry for you, but I also commend you for being able to survive through the grind-happy game in the whole world.

 

[AnonymouZero]

So I played about 10 hours in to FFXIII right? It was... not exactly a stellar example of the franchise in my opinion. Where other final fantasies gave you incredible visuals with the ability to move around and explore the world and the characters that live in it, FFXIII seems to stop at the visuals part and ask you not to foul things up too much while it shows you how games are really supposed to be played. I loved being able to switch between the various characters, it kept what would probably have become an arduous and samey battle system from becoming so by keeping things interesting the variety of abilities you could call on and the different character animations.

The levels were beautifully rendered but it was ruined by being uninteractable, sort of like walking through a museum or an art gallery, look but don't touch, except its a game, its meant to be interacted with right?

I thought that FFXIII was probably the most disappointing game in the entire franchise because it seemed to be biased against the player actually playing the game.

This rant brings me to my question, FFXIII seems to have a solid fanbase so... what did I miss? I'm not going to be so arrogant as to assume everyone who likes it is wrong, so I have to assume there is something I didn't get to, I stopped playing it because the core mechanics the game was built on got on my nerves so badly that I couldn't bring myself to keep playing it, did I stop too soon?

Before anyone answers this understand I had no problem with the storyline aside form it being, well, a little slow to get started.

it came on the xbox, so i guess they got more exposure? but ya mate, you're LATE to the hate party for ff13