You really shouldn't bother with this guy, like at all. He is blatantly not here for proper discussion, if he's not trolling, he's legitimately not worth wasting the words on.Colt47 said:
Zero Punctuation: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
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Hey now, have you played RE5 and 6? The movies have CLEARLY taken over, quality wise. At least the movies are at least somewhat aware they're kindof dumb.Colt47 said:
Teasing aside, and I actually kind of liked Lightning. Her broodiness was given context here and there and she had the decency to not wallow in her depression and take action on a fairly regular basis. Also watching her punch people was a delight. And it's been a while since I played it, I recall her lightening (heh) up towards the middle end bits. But wait, that was XIII.
This now, Lightning Returns? Was rather nonplussed with the combat system, it felt too awkward and then the demo was over before you could really start to enjoy it. Here's the first cutscene and half a tutorial, enjoy! Meh. Bad first impression, it will take quite a bit to get me to even rent this one, even if I give Lightning as a character more leeway than others are willing to. And to whit, I skipped XIII-2 entirely.
The plot reads like fanfiction, Stagger and the fact that your roles are still actually supposed to align with Commando, Ravager, and Medic/Sentinel is never explained at all unless you recognized their little symbols, and Lightning remains as dull as ever, the whole thing is a goddamned mess. But it's also really, really fun.
This isn't even a Final Fantasy game, this is a Tri-Ace game, and I mean that in a really good way. Combat is 13's fully realized final hour where everything is open to you, except it's all open to you from the very start. The time management makes things feel very fraught and like you're always on the brink of not making it to the next bit but in actuality you can just come back again another day which is a plus or minus depending on how you take it. Further, time doesn't pass in combat. For whatever reason I also liked how the apathetic populace typical of a sidequest heavy rpg actually comes into play into the plot, and it changes the world around you as you complete their quests. The people are 500+ years old and are just... done. They don't care anymore and are just waiting for the world to end, but when you help them you bring back meaning fulfillment to their life and they and the people around them change with it. Yusnaan goes from a mindless party awaiting the end to everyone helping each other out and preparing for what's to come, the air of desperation turns to one of actual enjoyment.
You don't level up, instead you get stat upgrades from completing quests so grinding is a non-issue unless you want to go about making the monster population extinct to get the "Last One" bonus rewards like an incredibly powerful sword and chips to level up your abilities. But the largest monster populations, for things that you can kill in one or two hits, aren't much above 100.
I couldn't in good conscience recommend anyone to go out and buy the game at full price, because as I said it's a mess, but it's also by and away the best entry in the FF13 trio. Probably because it doesn't feel like it was meant to be, it just happens to have the cast in it.
This isn't even a Final Fantasy game, this is a Tri-Ace game, and I mean that in a really good way. Combat is 13's fully realized final hour where everything is open to you, except it's all open to you from the very start. The time management makes things feel very fraught and like you're always on the brink of not making it to the next bit but in actuality you can just come back again another day which is a plus or minus depending on how you take it. Further, time doesn't pass in combat. For whatever reason I also liked how the apathetic populace typical of a sidequest heavy rpg actually comes into play into the plot, and it changes the world around you as you complete their quests. The people are 500+ years old and are just... done. They don't care anymore and are just waiting for the world to end, but when you help them you bring back meaning fulfillment to their life and they and the people around them change with it. Yusnaan goes from a mindless party awaiting the end to everyone helping each other out and preparing for what's to come, the air of desperation turns to one of actual enjoyment.
You don't level up, instead you get stat upgrades from completing quests so grinding is a non-issue unless you want to go about making the monster population extinct to get the "Last One" bonus rewards like an incredibly powerful sword and chips to level up your abilities. But the largest monster populations, for things that you can kill in one or two hits, aren't much above 100.
I couldn't in good conscience recommend anyone to go out and buy the game at full price, because as I said it's a mess, but it's also by and away the best entry in the FF13 trio. Probably because it doesn't feel like it was meant to be, it just happens to have the cast in it.
This is like when you send a poorly cooked meal back to the kitchen, but it returns reeking urine.
Except the meal has been sent back to the kitchen for a second time. And now it has come back smeared with feces on top of even more urine this time around.
Except the meal has been sent back to the kitchen for a second time. And now it has come back smeared with feces on top of even more urine this time around.
Wait, so Chocorodeo, the person literally threatening the lives of about a dozen people on this thread, only got a 3-day suspension? Escapist, ban that person permanently. I do not take kindly to that type of behavior, and it should not be remotely tolerated by the moderators.
I have seen anime, tend to read manga too. Heck, I am currently reading a manga that has a main character akin to Lightning. Emotionally dead(mother did experiments on him when he was a child which removed to his emotional capabilities) and something of a genius in his field. But even then, he still has more character than Lightning. Also involves a slightly future version of the world in which magic is invented and he has a little sister than has something of a brother complex for him. And still better than Lightning for some ungodly reason!Abomination said:
I watched some of LRR Kathleen's footage of the game a couple of weeks ago. She, too, observed that the game had a tendency to both discourage combat and require it at the same time. Apparently it just doesn't give as much benefit as just wandering around doing quests, so it doesn't feel like it's worth the trouble until you get to a boss fight and turn out to be woefully unprepared.
In any case, this was a highly entertaining video and Yahtzee deserves some positive feedback, so... here it is!
In any case, this was a highly entertaining video and Yahtzee deserves some positive feedback, so... here it is!
Actually, from a statistical point of view, that's kind of inevitable. If quality is normally distributed, then 70% will be 'average', 15% poor to terrible and 15% good to fantastic. If you assume that people's expectations will develop so that most media is judged relative to the average, then it will be the case no matter how good things actually are.RJ Dalton said:
To be honest, I'm rather curious to see if he likes Thief. Yes, it's getting bashed by reviews, but I really can't fathom why.Ryan Hughes said:
I've put 10 hours into it so far and think it's the best recent stealth game we've seen. My only conclusion thus far, is that it's a little too niche. It doesn't really support the other play-styles that games like Dishonored and Splinter Cell have. Combat is very stacked against you. If you don't stick to the shadows and pay attention to the environment enemies spot you pretty quick. And you'll be hard pressed to keep using the best items if you don't take the time to swipe everything you see. It also requires a LOT of patience.
Maybe that's the problem. It's like they changed too much for hardcore Thief fans, but didn't make it accessible enough for people used to more action oriented stealth games.
For me, though, it has climbed to the #2 spot on my list of favorite stealth games (Chaos Theory still holds #1). It's got great atmosphere, solid mechanics, good pacing, and a surprising number of great little touches.
The little touches have me especially pleased. They did a lot of little things to make the stealth more engaging. Enemies hear it if you fail picking a lock. Walking over broken glass or in water make your steps louder. If you knock over or step on a vase or glass it will shatter, not only causing noise but also leaving debris on the floor that will crack if you step on it. If you leave a door, safe or chest open it will cause guards who see it to become suspicious. Lots and lots of really nice touches.
The story of this game, at least as Yahtzee speaks of it, is such a compelling train wreck -- like the gaming version of The Room -- that I was briefly compelled to go and get this game. Then he mentioned the gameplay and the combat which reminded me of why I stopped playing Final Fantasy games after VI. Oh well, that's money saved.