Poll: What is everyone's problem with XIII?

[RabbidKuriboh]

Seriously i see more and more "omg ff13 is shit" rants everyday. Although i dont rank it as the best ff it was far from the worst and in some cases like the battle system improved on prevoious titles.

So I ask you was XIII a dissapointment for you? And if so why?

 

[AssassinJoe]

What is so great about the whole final fantasy series in general?

I don't like it myself.

 

[Gunjack65]

I though this was about the PS2 Cel Shaded gem XIII for a second there.

 

[WrongSprite]

I though this was about the PS2 Cel Shaded gem XIII for a second there.

My thoughts exactly, I was about to launch a defence of a it.

 

[Ignatz_Zwakh]

I enjoyed it immensely. I can sympathize with those who dislike it though. By no means perfect, but definitely a choice piece of JRPG entertainment.

 

[WOPR]

Seriously i see more and more "omg ff13 is shit" rants everyday. Although i dont rank it as the best ff it was far from the worst and in some cases like the battle system improved on prevoious titles.

So I ask you was XIII a dissapointment for you? And if so why?

It wasn't the best, and the junctioning was either hit or miss...

what I couldn't stand was "drawing" spells, what happened to materia/skills?!

*sigh* either way I liked it but it wasn't my fav (that's still FF4)

EDIT: I see my horrible flaw... I got the X and the V mixed up... *sighs*

 

[Royta]

I though this was about the PS2/Gamecube/Xbox Cel Shaded gem XIII for a second there.

Ditto, was just about to grab the comics from the closet and defend it 'till everyone was a believer.

 

[GundamSentinel]

I really liked it. It's by no means my favourite Final Fantasy, but I liked the characters and the combat system was a lot of fun when it finally opened up after the first few chapters.

My thoughts exactly. It had strong characters and a strong story to enforce a very decent combat system. I loved it.

 

[D_987]

Seriously i see more and more "omg ff13 is shit" rants everyday. Although i dont rank it as the best ff it was far from the worst and in some cases like the battle system improved on prevoious titles.

So I ask you was XIII a dissapointment for you? And if so why?

I found it a disappointment because it's just a really badly designed game; I cannot be bothered to type out a long rant explaining why so here is the bullet-point version:

- Way to linear - no exploration, no feeling of progression.

- Terrible writing - "Moms are tough", "Seraph!!!" [Every 5 seconds] and all the other corny melo-drama in the game.

- Horrible characterization - Primarily thanks to the above.

- Massive plot holes that make no sense / Deus Ex Machinas - See Anima, see the ending, see Cid Raines.

- Pointless characters - the game only has a few named characters and yet at least 5 of them are completely irrelevant...

- Battle system plays itself - there is no thought or focus to playing that system, just mash auto-attack and you'll win 90% of the time.

- Items are useless because the game is very easy.

- Elevator music doesn't match the areas - gives the plot a childish feel.

- Lack of things to do after main game.

- Melo-drama for the sake of it - the game trying to trick you Sazh killed himself when within the context of the scene it makes no sense. Insults the players intelligence.

- Horrible voice acting - again thanks to terrible writing.

- Lack of progression when leveling - you never feel particularly powerful, even during the end-game and maxed out...

- Game hides the poorly thought out story in the data-log - player has no idea what's really occurring for the first half of the game.

I could go on if I wanted to...

 

[technoted]

I've been playing for a lot of years now since Final Fantasy 6, and since IX I've felt the main series games have been going downhill, and Final Fantasy XIII just didn't feel like a FF game at all.

 

[kitsunefather]

Seriously i see more and more "omg ff13 is shit" rants everyday. Although i dont rank it as the best ff it was far from the worst and in some cases like the battle system improved on prevoious titles.

So I ask you was XIII a dissapointment for you? And if so why?

I found it a disappointment because it's just a really badly designed game; I cannot be bothered to type out a long rant explaining why so here is the bullet-point venison:

- Way to linear - no exploration, no feeling of progression.

- Terrible writing - "Moms are tough", "Seraph!!!" [Every 5 seconds] and all the other corny melo-drama in the game.

- Horrible characterization - Primarily thanks to the above.

- Massive plot holes that make no sense / Deus Ex Machinas - See Anima, see the ending, see Cid Raines.

- Pointless characters - the game only has a few named characters and yet at least 5 of them are completely irrelevant...

- Battle system plays itself - there is no thought or focus to playing that system, just mash auto-attack and you'll win 90% of the time.

- Items are useless because the game is very easy.

- Elevator music doesn't match the areas - gives the plot a childish feel.

- Lack of things to do after main game.

- Melo-drama for the sake of it - the game trying to trick you Sazh killed himself when within the context of the scene it makes no sense. Insults the players intelligence.

- Horrible voice acting - again thanks to terrible writing.

- Lack of progression when leveling - you never feel particularly powerful, even during the end-game and maxed out...

- Game hides the poorly thought out story in the data-log - player has no idea what's really occurring for the first half of the game.

I could go on if I wanted to...

I'd also like to add:

- Dull as Dirt - It felt like the worst parts of an MMO, without the freedom to just look the fuck around.

 

[Gasaraki]

I loved it at first, nice story and alright characters, nice music and great graphics...but then came along the combat. Now, I'm a huge fan of jrpgs and I don't mind grinding. In fact, I love having to grind because it make me feel like I'm actually in control of my party. FF XIII battles weren't grinding though...they were torture.
This is basically how it went down: (First 10 or so hours) "Alright, pretty awesome so far. A lot of fighting but it makes sense for the most part, seeing as there's a big fight going on"
(next dozen hours) "Alright still pretty good". (Next 20 hours) OMFG I AM MOTHERFUCKING SICK OF THESE MOTHERFUCKING ENEMIES GETTING IN THE MOTHERFUCKING WAY OF THE MOTHERFUCKING PLOT! JUST LET ME RUN AROUND, LISTEN TO THE MUSIC, AND ENJOY WATCH THE DAMN CUTSCENES!

First Jrpg where I thought it would've actually been better if there was no field enemies whatsoever (except ones that are necessary; soldiers in an military base, stuff like that) and the party autoleveled to be strong enough for the bosses. That's right, I would have supported the dumbing down of FFXIII
*cries*

 

[Netrigan]

I though this was about the PS2 Cel Shaded gem XIII for a second there.

I was about to grumble about console fans stealing the PC's thunder yet again... then found out the PS2 and PC version were released at the same time.

But I got my eye on you

 

[Crocidurinae]

Fans didn't like it 'cause everything boring (grinding, looting, waiting in combat, plundering strangers houses) was removed or greatly reduced in FF XIII.

Can't figure why, but it was somehow appealing to them.

 

[Kukakkau]

Well I haven't played it myself but from what I've seen of videos for it, it's just really a case of choose a fight style and watch the characters do it for you.

It seems like one big glorified cut scene

 

[Sacman]

Ok not the best but not the worst...<.<

 

[D_987]

I loved it at first, nice story and alright characters, nice music and great graphics...but then came along the combat. Now, I'm a huge fan of jrpgs and I don't mind grinding. In fact, I love having to grind because it make me feel like I'm actually in control of my party. FF XIII battles weren't grinding though...they were torture.
This is basically how it went down: (First 10 or so hours) "Alright, pretty awesome so far. A lot of fighting but it makes sense for the most part, seeing as there's a big fight going on"
(next dozen hours) "Alright still pretty good". (Next 20 hours) OMFG I AM MOTHERFUCKING SICK OF THESE MOTHERFUCKING ENEMIES GETTING IN THE MOTHERFUCKING WAY OF THE MOTHERFUCKING PLOT! JUST LET ME RUN AROUND, LISTEN TO THE MUSIC, AND ENJOY WATCH THE DAMN CUTSCENES!

First Jrpg where I thought it would've actually been better if there was no field enemies whatsoever (except ones that are necessary; soldiers in an military base, stuff like that) and the party autoleveled to be strong enough for the bosses. That's right, I would have supported the dumbing down of FFXIII
*cries*

I actually agree, especially the opening area [before the characters become L'cie] where all that time you waste fighting gives you a few items you won't use and nothing else because you won't earn experience off them...so there's really no point to them being there [especially the sheer amount of enemies you'll find there] beyond being placed to slow you down from reaching the next story-objective.

It's not all bad; the game-world is very endearing and I did play it for 100 hours simply for that reason, but it's a really badly thought out game in my opinion; you can tell [as a post-review of the game written by the director showed] there was a distinct lack of unified vision within the development team.

 

[Thaius]

I thought it was quite good. Especially the first half of the story, when it was focusing on the drama between Hope, Snow, and Lightning. That was some good freaking stuff. The battle system is one of my favorites in the series as well. The soundtrack wasn't Uematsu, but it was the best Non-Uematsu score the series has seen.

For that matter, I disagree with most criticism against the game. Sure, it was linear, but why is that such a terrible thing? Why do people simultaneously say "it was too easy" and "you never feel powerful?" And how do so many people miss the strategy of the game? The auto-attack is designed to direct your focus to the paradigm shifts, something it does quite successfully, and the paradigms are where the gameplay gets quite strategic and exciting.

I liked it. Not the best: that distinction goes to VI, VII, and X. But quite good.