Final Fantasy XIII-2 News

[cirus]

The International version of FFXII is quite good.  You pick jobs and the license boards are arranged such that the choice of Quickenings affects which licenses characters can get.

The biggest complain that i have is this one: WHAT THE f*ck THEY DID WITH THE f*ckING SUMMONS/ESPERS/AEONS?
GOD DAMMIT IN 12 THEY SUCK SO HARD THAT I DIE EVERYTIME I USE THEM. OR I DIE FIRST OR THEY DIE BEFORE THE TIMER ENDS TO USE THE ESPECIAL, AND WTF MAN BELIAS? MATEUS? WHO THE f*ck ARE THOSE? I WANT IFRIT AND SHIVA...

then in 13:
OH MY GOD IFRIT AND SHIVA ARE BACK? WAIT IFRIT JUST TURNED INTO A f*ckING CAR? AND SHIVA INTO A f*ckING BIKE? seriously... go to hell square-enix I want squaresoft back...

FFXII takes place in Ivalice.  It is the same world as Final Fantasy Tactics, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2, and Vagrant Story (FFTA 1 may not count, it's open to debate).  The summons in FFXII are the Zodiac Braves from FFT, hence Belias, Mateus, etc.  It's actually quite likely that FFXII takes place during the "golden age" discussed in FFT.

Fun fact: many of the items in Vagrant Story talk about FFT characters by name.

 

[yoshi314]

hmm ff12 main character.... who exactly are you referring to? if that game had any kind of main character, ashe would be the the best fit.

 

[yoshi314]

I mind.
And more people should mind.

Agreed.  It is because people keep accepting this garbage that nothing is changing.  I ventured onto a few game forums the other day, just brisking over them to see what people are saying about FFXIII-2, and there are actually people saying, "Well, I didn't like XII or XIII and XIV is poor as well, but maybe they finally realised their mistakes...  It is Final Fantasy so I'll give it a shot"

And things similar.  I am at an absolute loss how brain dead and brainwashed people have to be to keep saying this after every single problem that comes out of that money making machine, Squenix.    I gave up, so I guess it doesn't affect me anymore financially, but that doesn't mean I am not pissed off at what is happening.

I have to be honest though, not in my wildest dreams did I think Squenix would be THIS blatant.  After all the criticisms XIII got, to just ignore fanbase and MAKE ANOTHER XIII game is mind boggingly ignorant.  They obviously know by now that people will buy whatever they throw out.

Again, this is on the assumption that they haven't fixed those mistakes. I have no doubt that they're gonna at least make it less linear (but probably not enough so), since that was the first XIII's biggest criticism. Though, the story will probably be considerably worse than XIII.

i do not mind, because with every next ff i feel like i don't care anymore about the series. so i am just indifferent.

ff12 got me hooked, as it dealt away with lots of mundane stuff, threw a lot of stuff out through the window, and did something different from "save the world". ff13 fell flat with the linearism and brought back the boring. not to mention really cheesy cutscenes and too much emphasis on visuals.

i wonder what would happen if next ff would introduce a character recruitement system from star ocean - you can recruit one but that will make some other character impossible to recruit. would that make game more interesting?

 

[DLPB_]

hmm ff12 main character.... who exactly are you referring to? if that game had any kind of main character, ashe would be the the best fit.

XII didn't have any real characters... maybe balthier but that was it.  No character development at all really.

 

[yoshi314]

well it had a bit of character development, but only bits and pieces.

ashe's slow stray from quest for revenge is a bit of character development, similar as vaan's. but the game feels like it doesn't have enough story in it.

 

[gjoerulv]

FF12 was a good game. It had it's flaws, yes, but imho it is better game than 10, and 8.

I bought 13 on Friday. Relax, I bought it used, really cheap, so I'm not supporting squeenix here. I actually got it 'cause the sh*tstorm among fans it created; this topic reminded me of it and got me curious lol. I've played it like 8-10 hours, and it's quite fun. The battle system is very well designed. The story and characters are ok 'til now; I've seen a lot worse. The linearity reminds me of 10 without the random battles. You basically walk in a straight line, have some battles, cheesy cutscene, repeat. Just like in 10 lol. And whats up with the savepoints? Couldn't you just save and shop from the menu?
In the end there are a lot more good things to say about it. The bad stuff is kinda more noticeable though (no traditional shops, towns, worldmap and random battles are not bad things btw). It does not live up to the hype built up around, but it's far from being a bad game.

Seeing how this game somewhat reminded me of 10, I expect 13-2 to be sh*t, just like 10-2. I'm not judging it 'til I seen some good reviews though. And if it turns out to be really bad, as it most likely will, I couldn't care less.

 

[DLPB_]

I would have to argue strongly that XII isn't anywhere near on level with VIII and X, definitely not in story, and what was there to do game wise?  Gambits play the game for you, no minigames between the adventure and few overall, no real side quests.  All you do in XII is walk forward while the game plays itself via gambits.

It is a fact that there is tons more to do in VIII and X compared with XII and XIII.  There is more gameplay... by far.  There is more story... by far.  The rot started with XII, and it was made 1 better with 2 AI characters in XIII.

I don't know how people can argue that XII is a better game when you look at the basic gameplay and story that it is completely lacking.  All you do in XII is watch hoards of creatures being dispatched, with nothing at all to break it up.  The dungeons are drab and boring.  No puzzles like Cloister of Trials, nothing intelligent at all.  No Ultimecias castle with tons of secrets or Tomb of Unknown King with another puzzle to solve.

XII's Summons are worthless in battle, the skill grid is boring and unengaging, you cannot find best weapons at all without a guide.  There really is NOTHING in this game to redeem it. 

All XII is, is a game with good graphics.  Nothing else.  The gameplay is basic, the story is basic, the battle system is dumbed down.  All of these things can be demonstrated as fact, and not just a nice phrase.  If you add up what there is to do in XII, and compare to VIII and X, you will see the massive difference.  XII relies on battles as virtually everything.

 

[yoshi314]

It is a fact that there is tons more to do in VIII and X compared with XII and XIII.  There is more gameplay... by far.  There is more story... by far.  The rot started with XII, and it was made 1 better with 2 AI characters in XIII.

there are lots of things that can be done, and are not required for gameplay.

most ff games had sidequests as a pretext for achieving ultimate weapons or some power ups. this game has many optional areas and things to do, that won't get you any super weapons or some ultimate skills, but will provide a nice challenge.

also, there are no real ultimate weapons locked to each character. it all depends on the job/style of gameplay. that's probably what is annoying to many people, as it breaks the "tradition".

I don't know how people can argue that XII is a better game when you look at the basic gameplay and story that it is completely lacking.  All you do in XII is watch hoards of creatures being dispatched, with nothing at all to break it up.  The dungeons are drab and boring.  No puzzles like Cloister of Trials, nothing intelligent at all.  No Ultimecias castle with tons of secrets or Tomb of Unknown King with another puzzle to solve.

hmm i wonder. there are few riddles here and there, there are a few elite marks to hunt. and the biggest puzzle is figuring out the right setup of jobs and gambits for your party.

as for story  - i admit, it fells unfinished.

XII's Summons are worthless in battle, the skill grid is boring and unengaging, you cannot find best weapons at all without a guide.  There really is NOTHING in this game to redeem it. 

as i stated before, there are no "best" weapons in ff12. it all depends on the style and one setup challenges one another. fomalhaut gun, for instance, is pretty easy to find, even without a guide.

and the way random battles are implemented, allows to plan ahead and possibly avoid them.

as for summons, i agree. as far as classic ff12 is concerned. ZJS version is a whole different story.

All XII is, is a game with good graphics.  Nothing else.  The gameplay is basic, the story is basic, the battle system is dumbed down.

actually i think the battle system is the best thing about the game. you can micromanage your equipment to react to your enemies attacks (e.g. equip anti-poison accessory as enemy starts casting poison spell), and you can specifically order your allies what to do, by pretty much programming their AI. and this is also how enemies and summons behave - they also have their gambits.

you bet i was pissed at ff12 at first, but once i learned to use the gambit system, i instantly loved it. this is how every ff should be like. i don't find ff12 visuals that fancy, but i love the game for the battle system and that weird vagrant-story-feel that it has to it.

 

[gjoerulv]

@DLPB
I' getting the impression of opinion based facts here. Let me do the same:
Cloister of trials was... boring as hell. Tomb of the unknown king too. <- Those aspects of those games would be some of the 1st things I would remove, or at least change. Some of the story in 8 were ridiculously bad written. Blitzball minigame was dull; the sport basically didn't make any sense whatsoever. Some of the cutscenes in 10 is extremely embarrassing, and the generally awkward voice acting did not help. Tidus... Need I say more.
And there is no way to automate your players. Random battles. Victory screen. Victory posing. Fixed weapon types. Gil as salary? Junk shop? Monsters dropping gil? (See what I did here?  )

I'm being a bit harsh. They're all good games, but you can dig up tons of sh*t if you want to.

If it's a fact that 10 is more fun to play than 12 there obviously is something wrong with me. There may be more things to do in 8 and 10, but that doesn't change the fact it seems redundant, weird and out of place in most of the cases. FF and minigames don't cope (with exceptions of course).

Enough of that. At least we can agree 6, 7 and 9 are great games 

 

[DLPB_]

So basically, your whole argument is that less and mundane is better.  Ooooh k

 

[yoshi314]

If it's a fact that 10 is more fun to play than 12 there obviously is something wrong with me.

not really, it's a matter of personal preference. i like ff12 more, and i just pointed out why.

i am not calling people stupid over preferring another game to it. all i stated is just my personal point of view.

 

[Covarr]

So basically, your whole argument is that less and mundane is better.  Ooooh k

Are you saying that X isn't mundane? Because it really is.

As an aside, I'm thinking of a game that's shorter than FFXIII, has a far less involved/intricate combat system, worse character development, less plot, inferior graphics, horrible music, and is more linear. Any guesses what game this is?

It's Donkey Kong. Turns out you can cite any number of specifics, but there's really more to a game than that, rendering every positive or negative thing anyone has mentioned about any game (short of it being horribly broken such as Anubis II) completely invalid.

 

[gjoerulv]

If it's a fact that 10 is more fun to play than 12 there obviously is something wrong with me.

not really, it's a matter of personal preference. i like ff12 more, and i just pointed out why.

i am not calling people stupid over preferring another game to it. all i stated is just my personal point of view.

Exactly my point, more or less. I was trying to demonstrate how my opinions don't necessarily are objective truths.

 

[ultima espio]

The history will be darker and mysterious and characters of Final Fantasy 13 will return but with important and unexpected changes. The goddess Etro  will be very important in the game. Our principal mission will be to try to look for the door to enter to the invisible world, Bunibelle.

 

[DLPB_]

If it's a fact that 10 is more fun to play than 12 there obviously is something wrong with me.

not really, it's a matter of personal preference. i like ff12 more, and i just pointed out why.

i am not calling people stupid over preferring another game to it. all i stated is just my personal point of view.

Exactly my point, more or less. I was trying to demonstrate how my opinions don't necessarily are objective truths.

That is true, but opinions are made up of many truths and many facts and many strong arguments.  Opinion is not a blanket excuse to mean that everyone has an equally valid opinion.  Not in the slightest.

 

[hotdog963al]

I've given X and XII a chance, but I've had to give up on them. When I heard about XIII-2 I almost wept, I wish they'd stop with all the obvious cash-ins and actually produce some decent games for once.

As heartbreaking as it is, the FF series is dead to me and has been for a long time now. Ah well, at least we all have the Squaresoft games to cherish forever <3

 

[DLPB_]

I've given X and XII a chance, but I've had to give up on them. When I heard about XIII-2 I almost wept, I wish they'd stop with all the obvious cash-ins and actually produce some decent games for once.

As heartbreaking as it is, the FF series is dead to me and has been for a long time now. Ah well, at least we all have the Squaresoft games to cherish forever <3

They won't... these cash ins continue to sell well.  Don't ask me how.

 

[Bosola]

Am I the only guy who liked X? Tidus wasn't the sharpest knife in the draw, but the core battle mechanic was very well done. CTB meant I could properly institute timing, and create strategies that exploited lulls in enemy offensives. Its status and element system was refined, and made important to every battle. Creatures were more memorable, and every character has an individual purpose - at least before the endgame.

Now, I hate sitting through the cutscenes as much as anyone, and I dislike how opaque Square made the 'lore' of Spira's world (this might be down to translation issues, though). But X became a PS2 Platinum for a reason.

 

[DLPB_]

No, FFX is my 2nd favourite and for good reason.  The sheer amount of things there are to do (and I mean away from battles, like XII and XIII force you into doing endlessly), coupled with a decent story makes it so

FFX is a masterpiece.

 

[Covarr]

coupled with a decent story

Try again. FFX had particularly lacking character motivation, and conflicts that were drawn out simply because the characters were too stupid to deal with them early on.