Final Fantasy XIII-2

[kabooz18]

I quite enjoyed playing FFXIII, although it certainly was no where near as good as the older Final Fantasy games, and once I completed it I got rid of it, which is a rarity for me in a Final Fantasy games (I've played 6 - 10 countless times). FFXIII-2 was unnecessary, I thought. It was an alright game, but, again, as soon as I completed it I got rid of it.

Though non-linear (to an almost ridiculous extent...) the story wasn't as good as FFXIII's. Yes, often Final Fantasy stories are quite confusing, and "this happens because it does", but XIII-2, for me, had a lot of "eh?" moments. I still don't fully understand what was happening, or what the bad guy's motives were (I can't even remember his name now...), but maybe that's because I wasn't really paying 100% attention. To be honest, I was more concerned with naming and dressing up the monsters I had captured (ah, Solomon the Cactaur...).

I think that it's worth playing, if you enjoyed XIII or Final Fantasy in general, but...it's nothing to write home about.


I love the series, thoroughly enjoyed 6 - 10. Even 12, which receives a lot of hate, was pretty good, I thought. 10-2 was decent as well. Personally, I'm still wanting remakes. The Final Fantasy games are those games where the graphics don't matter - I can still play FF6/7/8/9 and have a great time, but it would be nice to see some current gen graphics and voice acting, I think. As long as they get the voice acting right. I didn't agree with Kuja and Zidane's voices in Dissidea, but the others (like the ones featured in Kingdom Hearts) are all alright.

xD I found the story of FF XIII-2 to be far more challenging than that of the first part this time not because of the huge amount of lore, more because the story is very intricate but I didn't have "eh?" moments or at least none that I can remember right now. (also it's actually not as nonlinear as everyone seems to think, the map is just confusing XD)

I never liked FF XII very much but that is because I found the story to VERY boring to me I still don't understand why... maybe because vaan is not the real main character... but it's one of the most fun fighting systems to date.

I can still play all except FF XII because aforementioned reasons and FF VII for largely the same reasons but there it's actually the butt ugly graphics, the, to me, very boring character Aerith and clouds , to me, very stupid and annoying infatuation with her.
I still replay every else Final Fantasy after 5 about yearly just because I like them

 

[Tiddles]

?Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.? ~ Shakespeare

I like the FF series. I don't like Resident Evil, I don't like Halo, I don't like a plethora of game series. If I felt so strongly about it that I was compelled to post on the internets about it, I'd write to devs a letter explaining why I wished their series to end.

So OP I hope your wish isn't granted but wish you well in your future arguments regarding sales volumes and unarticulated points about how bad the series is.

 

[kabooz18]

Every FF game has its issues.

Seven tries too hard, and takes too long to get going.

Eight had the 2nd worst combat in the series, and a pointlessly emo protagonist.

Nine was too happy for its own good, removing seriousness.

Ten had some linearity.

Ten-Two had a massively pointless story.

Twelve had 2/6 of the roster be entirely useless. Replace Vaan and Penelo with a potted plant, and the story wouldn't change an inch.

Thirteen was a festering shitpool the likes of which I have never seen. Worst combat in series history. Most linear in series history. ZERO PLOT EXPOSITION. Did I mention that the combat (the thing you do most) is the WORST IN SERIES HISTORY. Yes you "can" do more, but where was the motivation when auto-battle works in 95% of situations?

The thing is, I liked 7, liked 8, thought 9 was okay, Loved 10, liked 10-2, Liked 12. DESPISED 13.

... the fighting system is the same in FF 7, 8, and 9. 13 is almost the same only adding staggering paradigm shifts which in a sense was present in FFX (and replacing standard attack with an auto attack function)

why do you blame the game that you can't stop using the auto-battle button?

every finalfantasy except FF X-2 and FF XIII-2 is extremely linear
sure you can choose to go different places but the story progresses only ever one way.

sidequests are in every FF in FF XIII are they only late in the game as is the same with freedom of locations

actually FF XIII has exposition but it's subtle. The first 20 minutes are prologue and exposition also basically a tutorial the only fault I can really see with that is that it should be AT MOST 5 minutes long.

-SNIP-

You know here is a thought, how about a god damn Dragon Quest game.

Boy are you out of the loop.
http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/04/dragon-quest-x-online-release-date/

This is actually old news...

And this one was released what, last year outside of Japan (2009 in Japan)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Quest_IX:_Sentinels_of_the_Starry_Skies

Say I should focus on anything that is their franchise that they are not using. After all, that Dragon Quest game you mentioned is on a handheld, not a console. Why didn't you think I knew about the one on the Ds, obviously I would be talking about console. Yeah before you say someone is out of the loop, ask them if they know about the ones on the handheld. Every time I hear Square come up, people get rather nasty. Really think Final Fantasy should go away for awhile.

No, you're out of the loop because the first link is DQX for Wii - a console...
And where in your post did it mention that DQ had to be for a console, hm? You asked for DQ, I gave you 2 DQ games in the last 3 years... one for your precious console and the other, a full sized release for handheld...

Before you accuse people of getting nasty, maybe you want to review your own words as well as the entire response, since you really missed the boat.

[sub]Also your health meter to post number ratio tells me it's not other people who are nasty... hope you enjoyed your time here on the The Escapist - I doubt you'll be here much longer.[/sub]

I actually think too those are not real dragon quest games...
I played starry skies and watched trailers and read of DQX
DQIX was very boring and pointless story wise, character wise it actually was almost nonexistent
if I compare that to DQVIII leveling and fighting are the only interesting things about DQIX
which is really sad if you think about it.

DQX is an MMO on the Wii which has no hard drive space or capability to update games or add actual content... just think about that for a second...
also I fear that in the MMO spirit story and characters will once again fall short which are essential to DQ games if you played any of the games before DQIX


EDIT: forgot the paradigm system

 

[kabooz18]

-SNIP-

~SNIP~

I don't think you played 7, 8 or 9 if you think the fighting system was the same...

7 used the Materia system, allowing you to set up what you wanted to use in battle, how strong to make it, and if you wanted extra abilities on top. This allowed you to set your party's combat how you liked it.

8 used the Junction system, where you used magic to customize stats and elemental and status bonuses. It was an awful system, mostly because it made everything short of attack, limit break, and occasionally summon worthless, since magic was so weak, and so needed for everything.

Side quests start in 7 as early as when you exit Midgar (6 hours) Side Quests in 8 start as soon as you finish the SeeD test (4 hours) Side Quests in 10 start as soon as you leave Luca (14 hours average). Side quests start in 12 at almost the beginning (1:31 if you skip cutscenes). Side quests in 13? 21 hours in.

I blame the game because if the commands the game would do for you matter as much as your own, something in fundamentally wrong. I could set up my paradigms for a combo chain, but it doesn't give any real advantage 95% of the time, doesn't speed up the battle (actually slows it down), doesn't give any reward or even sign that it's the right thing to do, it's pointless busy work.

no, I've played them FF8 was my first and FF9 was my second I played FF 8 nearly 15 times now and have modded the interface somewhat for the pc version.
As I myself work in game design I think much on how a game works an makes me feel.

you seem to be making the assumption that the junction/materia/ect systems are part of the battle system, that they are not these are level or character progression systems.

the materia system is you socket materia to your weapon which can:
increase or decrease your stats,
give you spells or
change your commands. (IIRC)
all are levelable which grants bonuses depending on the kind of materia
interchangeable whenever you want outside of combat.

whereas the junction system and GF made it possible to:
enhance your stats with magic depending on what your junctioned GFs have learned,
you can convert items to items , items to magic, magic to magic, cards to items,
can set what fighting commands you want to have except attack (e.g. draw magic or use GF)
you can set what kind of auto abilities a character schould have (haste, protect, attack to steal),
you can change what set of GFs a character should have and with that the abilities
GF levelable and abilities unlockable, streng of magic dependent of junction (e.g. 100 cure better for HP than 100 Fira),
everything interchangeable whenever you want outside of combat.

as for the junction system and magic, many have a problem with that but to my experience it's mostly if someone does not think about what they are doing with the characters.
I have no problems using magic and GF and other commands like devour and I'm stronger for it,
it's a more complex system I admit but it allows more individuality and freedom with the characters than any other FF to date IMHO.


to your point on sidequests:
you're absolutely right but it doesn't matter much to me when you have the chance to do that stuff^^

as for combat in FF XIII
after I've gotten to gran pulse paradigm shifting is necessary to keep alive even with some normal mobs, and auto battle does not only do a crudely job at it, it's even not really survivable sometimes.
so I don't think something is fundamentally wrong with it, however it takes far too long to be interesting enough

as for speed for me it can slow down a fight if the enemy is too weak but with a strong enemy it can cut down the time needed to defeat an enemy to about a fifth of the time.

my fav fighting systems in the final fantasy series are FF X and FF XII
my fav lvl systems are FF VIII and FF X
in that order
for completeness my fav story is FF VI and FF XIII and FF XIII-2

 

[Fractral]

I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed 13 when I played it through a few weeks ago; especially the final bosses and the end cutscenes. As far as I'm concerned the battle system is pretty decent; its faster paced than other FF games but it maintains some depth; more so than many FPS games. Although for the majority of the battles you can just follow a strategy of buff/debuff -> Chain Building -> Damage dealing. The boss fights shake this a little bit, such as the penultimate boss who forces you to keep changing paradigms and read attacks ( he can take of 90% of your health at any time then keep attacking) and the final boss who gives you a time limit.
So yeah, basically, I liked both of them. Not the best games in the series, but I definitely hope that Square Enix makes more of them (just as long as they keep changing the gameplay around, and don't recycle old mecahnics)

Oh, and the story? What story? I didn't realise 13-2 had one.

Nine was too happy for its own good, removing seriousness.

What? The bad guys commit genocide on the second disk, and by the third disk most of the major cities on the planet have been destroyed. How is that happy?

 

[Ryotknife]

Every FF game has its issues.

Seven tries too hard, and takes too long to get going.

Eight had the 2nd worst combat in the series, and a pointlessly emo protagonist.

Nine was too happy for its own good, removing seriousness.

Ten had some linearity.

Ten-Two had a massively pointless story.

Twelve had 2/6 of the roster be entirely useless. Replace Vaan and Penelo with a potted plant, and the story wouldn't change an inch.

Thirteen was a festering shitpool the likes of which I have never seen. Worst combat in series history. Most linear in series history. ZERO PLOT EXPOSITION. Did I mention that the combat (the thing you do most) is the WORST IN SERIES HISTORY. Yes you "can" do more, but where was the motivation when auto-battle works in 95% of situations?

The thing is, I liked 7, liked 8, thought 9 was okay, Loved 10, liked 10-2, Liked 12. DESPISED 13.

... the fighting system is the same in FF 7, 8, and 9. 13 is almost the same only adding staggering paradigm shifts which in a sense was present in FFX (and replacing standard attack with an auto attack function)

why do you blame the game that you can't stop using the auto-battle button?

every finalfantasy except FF X-2 and FF XIII-2 is extremely linear
sure you can choose to go different places but the story progresses only ever one way.

sidequests are in every FF in FF XIII are they only late in the game as is the same with freedom of locations

actually FF XIII has exposition but it's subtle. The first 20 minutes are prologue and exposition also basically a tutorial the only fault I can really see with that is that it should be AT MOST 5 minutes long.


EDIT: forgot the paradigm system

I don't think you played 7, 8 or 9 if you think the fighting system was the same...

7 used the Materia system, allowing you to set up what you wanted to use in battle, how strong to make it, and if you wanted extra abilities on top. This allowed you to set your party's combat how you liked it.

8 used the Junction system, where you used magic to customize stats and elemental and status bonuses. It was an awful system, mostly because it made everything short of attack, limit break, and occasionally summon worthless, since magic was so weak, and so needed for everything.

Side quests start in 7 as early as when you exit Midgar (6 hours) Side Quests in 8 start as soon as you finish the SeeD test (4 hours) Side Quests in 10 start as soon as you leave Luca (14 hours average). Side quests start in 12 at almost the beginning (1:31 if you skip cutscenes). Side quests in 13? 21 hours in.

I blame the game because if the commands the game would do for you matter as much as your own, something in fundamentally wrong. I could set up my paradigms for a combo chain, but it doesn't give any real advantage 95% of the time, doesn't speed up the battle (actually slows it down), doesn't give any reward or even sign that it's the right thing to do, it's pointless busy work.

in 13-2, i mostly used manual commands because the auto battle commands are chosen extremely poorly (group of bunched up enemies....lets use single attacks!)

and out of all of the FF games, 13 and 13-2 have the best combat system by far (in my opinion) as it actually makes you think and requires quick reflexes. FF12 eventually plays by itself to the point where you dont even need to input any commands whatsoever. FF8 system was terribad, 7 was at least interesting, 9 was mediocre.

and i was disappointed by the story in 13-2 because i was expecting a complex storyline since it involves time travel and paradoxes like Chrono Trigger and the Legacy of Kain series. Hell, the Soul Reaver series storyline constantly blows your mind. Compared to those two games, the story in FF13 is easy and straight forward.

 

[Flamezdudes]

Eh, I never understood the hate for FFX or FFXIII, I love both of them. Hell, FFX is my favourite from the entire series.

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

Nine was too happy for its own good, removing seriousness.

What? The bad guys commit genocide on the second disk, and by the third disk most of the major cities on the planet have been destroyed. How is that happy?

Thanks for getting to this before I could. Colorful and exaggerated graphics =/= a happy story. Hell, 3/4 of the game focuses on genocide, musings about mortality, or some other depressing aspect. In my opinion, IX has one of the darkest and most interesting stories in the main series.

OT: I enjoyed XIII, so I'm one of those few people who thinks that it was a good idea all along to make a sequel that smoothed out the wrinkles that the first installment had. Really, I think every game in the series had its moments, even those that aren't really my cup of tea, like II, VIII, or X-2.

 

[kabooz18]

What? The bad guys commit genocide on the second disk, and by the third disk most of the major cities on the planet have been destroyed. How is that happy?

Thanks for getting to this before I could. Colorful and exaggerated graphics =/= a happy story. Hell, 3/4 of the game focuses on genocide, musings about mortality, or some other depressing aspect. In my opinion, IX has one of the darkest and most interesting stories in the main series.

pretty much the same can be said about FF VI ^^
the world ends [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-KKuOQXXG0] after the first half of the game
with that many characters you knew.

 

[krazykidd]

personally, i think it'S terrible. I sold reletively well . Not call of duty well , but well enough for square-enix to think they did a great job. But i think it's really bad, the ONLY final fantasy game i haven'T finished. Seriously. I am a huge Final fantasy fanboy, maybe i'm biased, but it is the worst final fantasy (main series ) ever, FFX-2 is a close second. again this is only my opinion. The story is utter shit, seriously, i liked FFXIII , i will defend that game to hell and back, But FFXIII-2 can die in a fire. IT saddens my heart to say this, but Square has fallen from grace, i held them so high in my esteem , defended ALL their games, but this, i was so hurt by this it brought my back to my sense, Jrpgs are dying, this game made me realise this. i didn'T want to admit it , i still don't i go back and play Jrpgs in the PS2 era and love them , i am currently playing SMT digital devil survivor , and i love it, but FFXIII-2 is not worth the time to say the damn title.

Also sorry for the spelling errors, i have been drinking.

 

[F4LL3N]

I have about 75 hours up, and I'm just trying to finish some of the side stuff. It's shaping up to be one of my favorite games.

Spoiler

There's going to be a sequel, possibly XIII-3. At the end, it's got a 'to be continued.'

In my opinion, it's got a great plot and story, great characters and dialogue, great SFX and music, great visuals. There's plenty of side things to do; puzzles, quests, collecting monsters. It's not perfect, but it's still a good game if you can get over the auto-battle system.

If you could disable the ATB system/auto-battle and play normal turn based combat, that would have been great. Some hack n slash areas would have went down well also.

My other major complaint is the character progression could be better.

I loved Caius' motivation (the villain), I thought that was quite unique. Anyway, I don't understand the hate. Although I did love XIII too.

 

[Launcelot111]

I just beat FF XIII-2 last weekend, working on the sidequests/extra bosses now. Each game's (XIII and XIII-2) story has plenty of merit but is seriously flawed in other ways. Like in XIII, I liked the falcie rulers providing life but bending people to their will to suit their needs. I liked most of the characters (Hope and Snow not so much, but everyone else was just fine with me). The side characters were weak, but whatever. The one thing that ground my gears was the whole Ragnarok angle, which came out of absolute nowhere and which I still don't understand at all. In FF XIII-2, I liked the time traveling and seeing the world be rebuilt and thriving post-fall. Their idea of time travel was different than most games/movies/etc, but it was for the most part fine (their parallel universes were stupid if there's only supposed to be one timeline). The whole Caius/Etro/Yeul thing was weak. Caius could have been cool, but he was so melodramatic and over-designed, and the Etro thing was a bit of a copout, seeing as the falcie were the supreme beings, and then suddenly there's some thing that trumps them but dies by proxy with little effort? Yeul was a cool idea but the base of all the crappiness. The ending is terrible, that goes without saying

For the combat, I'm still on the fence after two games. I like the speed and the flash and the fact that you have to choose roles and consider how they fit. I don't feel like the enemy design corresponds well to that system though. So many enemies are just "hit them til they break, them hit them more." If each battle starts fresh so you can focus on tactics rather than survival, then make tactics more important. Auto battle isn't always viable, but it shouldn't be viable as often as it is. Even then, the only two ways to stagger are ravager and saboteur, and saboteur is situational, and so you're stuck with ravager, and different elemental spells aren't significantly different, so why not auto battle your ravager? Moreover, so many enemies are just meat shields, like they have no real chance of killing you if you're paying a modicum of attention, but they take like a full minute of wailing on them to kill one (especially some of the cieth from XIII). The best fights take solid reaction and planning, but they're few and far between. One last thing- if you're going to have AOE spells, then have some way to move your characters or enemies to change the target zone (ala XII).

The linearity of XIII is real but overhyped. FFX wasn't much less of a hallway if you think about it. XII-2 didn't do much to change the lack of towns, and the talking NPCs weren't very inspiring. The quests in both were pretty weak- XIII dull monster hunts and XIII-2 fetch quests.

All in all, I like the games, but of all the Final Fantasies I've played, I won't think less of anyone for hating these two especially. There's a lot of room for improvement