I am enjoying Final Fantasy 13

[Veldt Falsetto]

I also agree that FFXIII is better than LO, I was incredibly impressed by TYODs but there was nothing else that game actually delivered on. The idea was pretty good and I actually love it in games where they force you to use certain characters it improves the narrative in the game, for instance where you just have to use Cooke and Mack on that railway line, that bit was brilliant, so disk 3 and thousand year of dreams was brilliant. In FFXIII all the characters where actually some of the best written characters in the medium including some TV and films, the battle system was fun not to mention that the graphics and soundtrack are some of the best things I've ever seen in gaming.

Maybe you should play it again, then, if you don't think it delivered in any other way. All the characters are well written, the "kid" characters aren't annoying as per usual, the story is fantastic and it takes a cliche (amnesia) and does something great with it. I don't know why you think Lost Odyssey didn't deliver but FFXIII did... :/

FFXIII's characters (well, Hope, even though everybody hates him) are pretty good, but you're talking out of your ass if you think they're some of the best in video games. Pretty much every other Final Fantasy trumps FFXIII in character development/characterisation, and not to mention other games, too. Graphics were awesome but the soundtrack was okay but doesn't hold a candle to Nobuo's stuff.

Not all of them, Kaim is pretty good and also Seth but the rest seem to be very cliche though I will agree that Cooke and Mack aren't annoying as per usual kid characters, they were pretty much useless. In my eyes Lost Odyssey didn't have an enthralling story, like I said the thousand years of dreams were brilliant but with the actual game I felt it was pretty much recycled stuff but lacking the charm and masterful design of other games that take the same formula whereas FFXIII wasn't perfect on the gameplay front I felt that it delivered in every other area but even though the battle system and world map weren't as good as it could be it was still that bit different to put it ahead of the game.

Character wise I felt that every character had amazing development in XIII, especially Snow and Hope. Saying pretty much every Final Fantasy trumps XIII in characters is a lie, apart from 6 (which in my eyes does it best) all of the NES/SNES games do very little in way of development and focus on how established characters deal with the situation, VII has development of 3 characters and the rest fall by the wayside, VIII has very little development unless it's Squall, skipping IX because I haven't played it much, X has a lot of development within the main group although it is pretty obvious development it works wonderfully though none of the characters are all that relatable, XII has very little character development and is more about the world and it's politics. XIII has relatable characters that start off dull, uninteresting and ordinary and turn into this colourful party of individually strong heroes that have overcome their own personal trials, every single one of them has relatable qualities and every single one of them (except maybe Fang) has as much depth as any film character, they are all well performed and you could do a very in depth essay on any one of their characters or even all of the main group and come out with an interesting work.

Not to say XIII doesn't have problems, it does, it has many. But in my eyes its this gen's best JRPG until Versus XIII comes out to compete (because that looks like it'll blitz XIII).

 

[Emz]

I got it because it was so different to other Final Fantasy's. I disliked 7 when I tried it and I also disliked 10 (my first FF game) and 12 but I did quite enjoy 13. As for why I disliked 7, I was a nintendo girl in my youth, and got FF7 quite late and by then the game felt dated and the random battle frequency started to grate on my nerves as I prefer story over combat. Perhaps if I had got it when I was younger I'd feel different but I gave my copy away for free to a mate after feeling disappointed with it.

 

[kurupt87]

As for Lightning, she was what took the conflict to the next level. She herself hated Snow, even before Serah turned to crystal, which is why her anger drove her to encourage and empower Hope. The conflict between characters in FFXIII was rather complex, pitting Lightning and Snow in direct opposition to each other even down to their base personalities (Snow as an optimistic idealist and Lightning as a cynical realist) so that Lightning would, in her hatred of Snow, actually encourage Hope toward his revenge...It's not Lightning neglecting to set the brat straight, it's her being blinded by her common hatred of Snow and wrongfully encouraging Hope; this is what her later monologue is all about.

This is why, for me, Lightnings development did not engage me at all. A cynical realist would not hate an optimistic idealist; they'd have a mixture of a small amount of jealousy and a large dose of contempt.

 

[Thaius]

As for Lightning, she was what took the conflict to the next level. She herself hated Snow, even before Serah turned to crystal, which is why her anger drove her to encourage and empower Hope. The conflict between characters in FFXIII was rather complex, pitting Lightning and Snow in direct opposition to each other even down to their base personalities (Snow as an optimistic idealist and Lightning as a cynical realist) so that Lightning would, in her hatred of Snow, actually encourage Hope toward his revenge...It's not Lightning neglecting to set the brat straight, it's her being blinded by her common hatred of Snow and wrongfully encouraging Hope; this is what her later monologue is all about.

This is why, for me, Lightnings development did not engage me at all. A cynical realist would not hate an optimistic idealist; they'd have a mixture of a small amount of jealousy and a large dose of contempt.

I would think that "large dose of contempt," plus the fact that Snow's optimism often leads to irresponsibility and recklessness that, in Lightning's eyes, contributed to the loss of Serah, would be enough to inspire hatred. Their polar opposite natures weren't the sole cause of Lightning's hatred, just a catalyst for it. She hated him because she saw him as a reckless, irresponsible child even before she lost Serah, let alone after it happened. I thought that was more than enough reason to justify her hatred.

 

[GotMalkAvian]

*shrugs* Final Fantasy XIII is one of three FF games I've ever enjoyed, the other two being the original and X. In general, I'm not a fan of JRPGs, and the Final Fantasy series seems to bring together all of the tropes and cliches that I dislike about the genre.

FFXIII, however, manages to be cinematic, accessible, and (I always thought this was impossible in a JRPG) actually allows me to customize my party, complete with allowing me to level up characters in the classes I choose.

In closing, FFXIII is the first JRPG I've managed to really enjoy in a long time, and may be the first one I actually manage to play from start to finish.