Okay seriously I totally dont get this hatred towards some of the new Final Fantasy games, especially not in the way that people are delivering it to others. For example hopping about on a magic cloud with a giant anime smile and preaching about how great the old games were isnt going to change shit.
There is a reason that we are now playing games like Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 because there is this existence that humans have known for a while now, its called time. Generally over this ‘time people get bored of the same old crap being spewed out over and over again, take a look at Castlevania, there are like a billion Castlevania games and people started bitching about them but these hypocrites still went out and bought the new game. Now Im not saying that this is the case for every Final Fantasy XIII hater out there, so sit down for a second and check out what I came up with...
Number 1
Square Enix have lost their ways, they dont know what a true Final Fantasy game should be like anymore.
Well no. You see what happened here was they tried to implement out the old standard turn based system after the X series, which caused a massive uproar because now, instead of pressing circle or cross to pick your attack with loads of time to plan it, you simply keep spamming it and get the exact same outcome. The reason Square Enix have put this in their games is because there is a new generation now, with their Miley Cyrus and their Jonas Brothers or whatever the kids are taking now a days. It is this generation that blew that nice cul de sac that was Final Fantasy straight in our old faces.
So ladies and gentlemen, bite the bullet on this one, because it seems like nothing is going to change here and if it is, Square Enix might be leaving it a little late.
Number 2
This is almost the same as number one. Yes, it might not be as good as the old game but it is still Final Fantasy...what if it wasnt though.
Endless developers are sitting in their offices with the smuggest look on their face thinking, Holy shit balls, Ive just made a freakin awesome game!
I hate to break it to you guys, Blue Dragon was not a good game, Star Ocean (Another Square Enix game)...okay it was a good game but as good as the Final Fantasy series? Yeah, I dont think so. Dragon Age should have stayed on PC; The Last Remnant (Square Enix title) was dreadful. However do you know what links all these games together? Dumbasses still went out, bought them and said Hey, you know what? That game was pretty good.
What?! No. It wasnt. However dump out any of these titles with a Square Enix logo slapped on the front (excluding The Last Remnant and Star Ocean) and all of a sudden this is your response.
What the F**k is this shit?!
Why is it that just because the title is made by a company that has already had success with other games, do their new games get automatically judged by their previous accomplishments. Tiger Woods doesnt seem to win any golfing shit anymore but come on, we still love the guy. Basically, if the game was called Random completely new unrelated RPG it would be giving people boners.
Number 3
Dont hate the game, hate the player.
It isnt Square Enixs fault, nothing is the same forever, on the other hand however the person playing the game and criticising it endlessly needs to be hated. People constantly bully the characters in the XIII series and I dont understand why. Take a look at the characters in Final Fantasy XII, they were dreadful, like lifeless pigeons; at least the actors that play the XIII characters arent dreary and monotone.
Also why wherever I look do I see gamers moaning about XIII and XIII-2 but then finish their essay of putrid hate with I dont play the XIII series because it is that bad, I actually got half way through XIII and decided it was so dreadful that I would just give up.
Well good for you but next time please do the rest of us a favour and leave the criticisms for those of us who arent lazy enough to not even reach the end of the game. If you havent finished the game, than dont bitch about it.
I Love Final Fantasy VII
Youre probably sitting their thinking, well this douche obviously isnt an old school Final Fantasy fan so he doesnt understand, when actually I do. Final Fantasy VII is probably one of my favourite games of all time; it was what originally drew me to the series in the first place. I study a degree in game development so it is understandable that I know how much time and effort goes into these games, because designing and programming is a total bitch but come one guys! Give Square Enix a break. If you actually took the time to notice how much detail has gone into the XIII series and how little glitches are in the game, you would realise that Square Enix put much more quality into their titles than other developers.
Finally, did it ever occur to anyone that the reason neither of the latest titles included an expansive world map and an airship is because the current generation of console cant handle it? Skyrim tried it and look what happened, insane loading times, massive offline lag and several terrible glitches. I have spoken.
Let me know your thoughts.
Tags: Final Fantasy Complaints, Final Fantasy Series, Final Fantasy XIII-2, Game Opinion, Game Review, Gamers Opinions, My Frustration, Square Enix, Square Enix Games, Square Soft, UnashamedVandal, XIII Series
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Holy wall of text, Batman! Break the article up a little. Please?
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There is alot to compete with lately and games like Dante's Inferno, God of War have made a statement in terms of their fighting style. This being said Square-Enix (To avoid another bankruptcy like they had before they made FF1 which got them out floating again) has had to "mesh" new styles with their old ones. I collect game consoles and videogames as a hobby. I've played every single final Fantasy Game ever made and I agree maybe the new games aren't like the old ones but they definitely aren't bad. Just because they job system or fighting system changes doesn't mean the game sucked. Then again they've changed their fighting and job system for every single game sometimes it resembles another one but they're all different. I have alot of respect for Square-Enix for always keeping on top in terms of graphics, a good story line with a near flawless gameplay. Does anyone remember the times we'd play FF series strictly for the cutscenes? I do and that was me in Final fantasy 7,8,9,10,12 and even now in 13 I enjoy the cutscenes.
I get all of the criticiscm but come on! Square-Enix has done one hell of a job bringing what everyone originally wanted THE BEST GRAPHICS EVER in a video game and they deliver in their own original way not copying anyone else.
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I am completely agreed, I just finish the XIII and I liked the story but only minus about the game is it dont have towns you can visit
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...what?
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The final fantasy series is really one of the best
but really square enix should consider a VII remake
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Every fan would love a VII remake, I can't see it happening though. Square Enix publically said that it would take far too long too recreate all the models and maps for the current generation of console. It would defintely be worth it for them money wise, they would make millions and millions from sales.
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Well you end it with saying, look at how little glitches there are, and I agree with you there; It's well worked out.
But what gave me a boner about Final Fantasy 7, was that you could potentially finnish the game at level 2x; Because it was well THOUGHT OUT.
Squenix's mistake is that they are so busy with player experience that they forgot they where making a GAME, not a movie. They lost sight on what was important about an rpg, character growth, learning, making choices, freedom.
When you boil down FFXIII to it's basics its movie -> walk through corridor -> mash x -> boss battle -> start over. That's not the dept, or the freedom that "old school" are used to. And rightfully so.
I get that insistand bitching about FFXIII won't make it a better game, but at least it'll make them rethink their aproach to making games, because they have CLEARLY taken a wrong turn. I get that you don't like the bitching but strawman arguments about skyrim are bullshit. The thing that made final fantasy so great was that it was able to relay an experience despite the limitations. It worked around them, or embraced the limitations and worked it into the gameplay.
What they have done with the new final fantasy is that they said: fuck experience, we go for easy thrills. This is something that doesn't sit well with "old school" gamers, because we are not twelve anymore. We have grown, we have seen and experienced pulp before and decided that it was not for us, we have refined our tastes. Continuing on an existing merchandise gives Squenix the OBLIGATION to their fans that they try to improve themselves, refine their taste. Instead they lost themselves to cheap thrills and the shallow market.
That's fine for most gamestyles, but not for rpg's. Rpg's have always had more depth to them then most games, and losing sight of that, means losing sight of the people you did it for, just to get the "new market". I disagree with that.
If you want to continue a franchise, than continue it. If you want a newer market, start a new franchise. Don't abuse an old franchise for the sake of young money.
Final fantasy 12 was bad because they choose to go into a different type of story. Final Fantasy 12 is to Final Fantasy 7 as star wars 4 was to star wars 1. Star Wars 1 was about personal hardship and growth to overcome it, Star wars 4 was about some people who where put into a weird spot and reacted to it.
Decay of standards is not something we should tolerate as fans, and not bitching about it is the same as allowing squenix to make poor games. As long as your bitching is argumentative.
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Stopped reading when you compared FF to Star Ocean on the grounds that they're both "Square Enix" games.
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I totally agree with your comment regarding the decline in game experience rather than the external experience of the player but cutscenes and movies make games that have important storylines. Old school games didn't have the technology to achieve this so they were left with no option but to fill the void with expansive maps and unusual circumstances. Creating a game like the old games for the PlayStation 3 would blow the system up, it doesn't have the hardware to support such demanding games and this was clearly shown in Skyrim which reacted horribly to the PS3.
I'm not saying that XIII is better than VII because it isn't but at the end of the day it is still a very good game that supplies what the user wants. Good graphics, a storyline you can become involved in and many hours of gameplay. As far as freedom and choices are concerned, Square Enix tackled this issue with XIII-2 as best they could, but like i said there is no way the PlayStation 3 hardware could deal with much more. The original XIII title had much more to it than people thought otherwise it wouldn't of spanned over three discs.
End of the day 90% people of could admit that if the game was part of a different franchise or wasn't made by Square Enix, players wouldn't dislike it half as much. Developers are limited by their consoles now, this wasn't a problem with old school games because people weren't fussed about graphics, now it is an issue it has to be tackled and that means sacrificing other areas. If a game has bad graphics now, most players won't even give it a thought. Of course Square Enix have to be concerned about the player experience, there is no point spending millions on a game that won't sell because you will go bankrupt, if i was a developer i would love nothing more than to supply a title that everyone loved but that can't happen anymore and with the constant demand for Square Enix to bring out new games, they are under pressure to release titles every few years.
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"However dump out any of these titles with a Square Enix logo slapped on the front (excluding The Last Remnant and Star Ocean)"
Even further down i complain about people that moan about games they can't even be bothered to complete...your comment is a perfect example of this (in this situation), by all means finishing reading and say what you want.
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Funny... I let off some steam at IGN the day before XIII-2 came out. I said the same thing, seriously. I hate that people hate XIII and now XIII-2 because they cannot except that the times are changing and that with time will bring new content. We cannot sit on the same exact game that comes out like every year for the next 20 years. People have to realize that they need to grow up and welcome themseleves to the future, because things will not change back to past games with gaming series like Final Fantasy.
Stop living in the past, and stop comparing Current RPGs to old school RPGs. FFVII is my all time favorite as with most people, and now FFXIII is my new current generation FFVII. I don't compare the two, but instead I cherish both. One as my favorite old school RPG and the other for my favorite new school RPG. Don't hate because you cannot accept the newer generation, don't compare to old school RPGs because you can't live your life comparing something current to comething from like 15-20 years ago, and live in unision because no one should hate old school or new school games. Why can't they coexist in peace? A true RPG'er will be able to accept a change in their favorite RPG series. Sounds like there are a lot of "players" out there are not real true fans of the Final Fantasy series, and should go find a new series to play. I am a true hardcore fan of the Final Fantasy series, I have been since I was 4 years old, and I have been since the original Final Fantasy for the NES. I have played them all, beat them all. So it bugs they hell outta me when these stupid kids pick up the game and judge it within 5 minutes, put the game down, and rate it terrible - the worst game ever. Mind you I am only 23 years old, I speak of the current generation of teens, ages 14-19 or so. They should go back to their crappy Halos and their crappy call of dutys.
I know what it takes to be a true RPG'er. I take pride in all of my RPGs, and I take great pride in my gaming ability to be a completionist at every RPG I ever play. I welcome new content to the Final Fantasy series. Anyone who is not a true fan of the series and cannot accept that change will happen can GTFO now!
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So if I break it down I get this;
Well, at least the first point we agree on. The new systems CAN handle the old way and the expansiveness, the problem is that they have focussed to much on the graphical qualities of a game. This is a bad choice. Here is why: Graphical qualities do not equal a good game. By that standard movies would be excellent games. There is more to games then how the make up is aplied. Make up, like with people, can only cover up so much, and only focussing on that may grasp your attention as people walk by, but it won't make them want to keep talking to you after they find out theres nothing beneath it. Developers are not limited to WHAT they can do, merely HOW they do it. The fact that a game is 3 discs says nothing, shallow girls easily wear 2 or 3 layers of make up, this does not mean that they have dept to them or content to speak of. Do graphics make a good game? No, they add to an experience. Are there games out there that have MILLIONS of people playing it with marginal/bad/old graphics? Yes, because the experience of a game is more then just graphics. (LoL, Minecraft, TF2, fuck it even World of Warcraft.) High end graphics are overrated, and all they do (nowadays) is cover up for the fact that the game is poorly thought out. (some exeptions to that though)
The expectations that the fanboys had let them to disapointment, but is that really the fault of the fanboys? Expecting a rising amount of quality from a company that is considered succesfull is not something that I think is unfair. And it probably would have been recieved better if they hadn't tied it too the FF franchise, but the problem is that they did and Squenix should be held accountable for that. Expectations arise from previous experiences, so choosing to go a different way is something that should be thought out. Who do I impact? What is my goal? What is it that I as a company/developer want to do or make? Do I want to be loyal, or do I want to sell out? Squenix clearly sold out, and I hope they are happy with the results, because Squenix lost something by doing so; they lost their image. Squenix is not what it once was, and they are nothing more then a generic company making substandard additions to an overflooded market. I don't want Squenix to make games, I want them to make legends. They have done it before and they should (get back to doing that) again.
Tl;Dr: Bitching about FFXIII is justified, Squenix is clearly making a wrong decision and they should know that.
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Now that I think about it, the problem with Squenix is probably that it's too much of a company. They lost touch with their fans and with the type of games they used to make.
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Three disc on Xbox, true. One disc on PlayStation 3 because it is on a Blu-Ray disc which can hold up to 60GB which is almost as much as the hard drive in the old consoles themselves. However the 360 is a current console and people want their console to do everything now because they are lazy, which means many Final Fantasy fans that had Xbox 360's found this process tedious and felt the need to complain about it.
High end graphics are 100% necessary, it is unfortunate but true. With the constant demand for better consoles and better graphics, no one would by a game with terrible graphics in this day and age, back when Final Fantasy VII was released it wasn't an issue. This doesn't apply for all current generation game but it does for a very large majority and FF is part of the majority. If developers were to produce a game as popular as Final Fantasy for this generation of console and sacrifice graphics to a minimum just to fit in a little extra freedom, their would be a bigger uproar than the hatred for the titles now.
Yes, fans are overly critical. It is unfair to compare every Final Fantasy title to number 7 or another already extremely successful game. They are some of the best games of all time so it is a rarity to come across a game that meets these expectations. Change is all about testing the water and if you don't do it than you'll never produce anything new and even i would get bored of playing Final Fantasy VII over and over and over again, no matter how much I like it.
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System limitations are only a partial limitation, if psx can do it, then the ps3 can do it. Simple as that. So what if the graphics suffer? Find something to make up for it.
High end graphics are NOT necesary, look at the insane amount of "indie" games on PSN, steam and other places. Innovation is what sells, not graphics. Again look at games like LoL*, Minecraft**, WoW***, they are all modest in their graphics. Why? Because they choose to incorporate the style and make it a part of the gameplay. Honestly, I think you are just flat out wrong in your perceptions here. If they sacrifice graphical quality somewhat for extra depth/gameplay/playability/replayability/freedom and just come out for it, they will get a positive responce for it.
Also, you are wrong in this case about that being the reason for its linearity. the game could have easily been more open worlded while maintaining a steady graphical results. They chose linearity for the sake of the story.
The game's director Motomu Toriyama added: "We think many reviewers are looking at Final Fantasy XIII from a western point of view. When you look at most Western RPGs, they just dump you in a big open world, and let you do whatever you like... [It] becomes very difficult to tell a compelling story when you're given that much freedom."
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/235030/final-fantasy-xiii-boss-responds-to-review-scores/ (source)
Also my biggest issue with the game was that it was just to easy. Any system that allows you to bash x without having to set up or prepare anything and still makes you able to complete most of the game is unchallenging and as such unrewarding to play.
*
LoL has 4.2 million active players daily (http://euw.leagueoflegends.com/news/community-grows-32-million-players)
**
Minecraft is just shy of 5 million sold copies (http://www.minecraft.net/)
***
WoW has 8.5 million active players (http://gigaom.com/2007/06/13/top-ten-most-popular-mmos/)
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when a game is so boring that you don't even play it through halfway, you don't have the right to critizise? wtf?
i got bored on the first chapter and gave it another try later, but got bored again. the game goes like this: watch cursi movie, walk through corridor without turning left or right, automatically fight some enemies that block the corridor, save progress, start over again. boooooring!
grafics are great, but that's all - and grafics don't make a good game.
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About the difference of developers. Not even ONE of the developers actually listened to their fans or critics. Square Enix LISTENED to the critics and MADE changes according to them. If you didn't like XIII here is a chance to love this one. The game isn't linear. Graphics are good as in previous one. You get to choose your own fate. Stop complaining. They did everything you wanted them to do. Go play your COD whose games are just updates of the first goddamn game.
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I guess I might just be wrong, but I didn't notice any problem with games until it became Square Enix...I might just dislike EVERY enix game except Terranigma, but I think that just might have something to do with it.
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FFVII was the best, i just wish they would remake it in better graphic.
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FFVII was the best, i just wish they would remake it in better graphic.
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Personally, i would be content with a hd remastered version of FF7 for the PS3 like how FF10 is getting that done. It would probably be way simpler for them to produce just in time for its 10th anniversary as part of some FFVII Anniversary Collection w/ Advent Children complete and bonus content showing all the work that was put into making such a memorable Final Fantasy game. I would love Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core, and Before Crisis all to be part of the collection playable on the PlayStation 3 but that's a long-shot. They'll definitely have my money if that happens.
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As for PC games like WoW that is eight years old, which is why the graphics are outdated. It is popular because it has been running so long and it is very easy to implement new content onto a PC game that is entirely online based. Secondly, Blizzard don't have much of a choice for WoW graphics. It is a PC game which is played all over the world and everyone has a different computer with different hardware capabilities, so therefore they have to make a game that can run on the vast majority of PC's. If they had high end visuals, than the game wouldn't sell anywhere near enough. However every person has the same hardware in their PlayStation 3 which means everyone that buys a PS3 game can run it on their PS3 unlike a PC game, this means everyone has the same expectations of the system. That is why your point is invalid, you can't compare two things that aren't that same. It would be like me comparing the XIII series in this article to a driving game or a sports game and not another RPG, it would be pointless because they are so different. You can't compare a very fixed and limited home console like the PS3 to an easily expansive and customisable PC.
Finally, unfortuately hardware limitations aren't minor limitations, they are massive limitations. If there was no such thing as hardware limitations you could create a game with outstanding graphics, an insane story line and all the extras you wanted (assuming you have the budget). However this isn't possible which means developers are limited. Naughty Dog admitted that they squeezed everything out of the PlayStation 3 that was possible for Uncharted 3 and the game was less graphically demanding and shorter than Final Fantasy. As well as this it was actually applauded for how linear it was because it was like playing through a movie and gamers loved that. When Square Enix do it, it is a different story because change scares people that are stuck in their old ways. And yes I understand that Uncharted isn't an RPG but they both have the same in game movie concept which is easily comparable.
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Graphics are the least of my pre-requesites to make a great game....
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100% Agree. I'm glad somebody else feels the same way I do about this subject. I would, however, not choose FFVII as my favorite.
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not every game that comes out is sopposed great just because of the title the title has absolutly nothing to do with the game it really has to do with how you enjoy x titled game ive enjoyed every FF as well as others such as star ocean yea one might have been epicy good but i dont have my head shove so far up my ass that i dont give it a shot and go in with a open mind and end up enjoying itand everyone keeps saying remake ff7 im all for it but if any of you on that bandwagon had ever accually googled why they cant do it ill break it down to put ps3 graphics of ff7 it will take them close to 10 yrs and that does make sense and several 100's millions of dollars i think it was 100's$ could be wrong but its ok it would never be able to pay itself off making them any profit in order to deliver you the next FF geuss what keep hating and one day maybe the company tanks geuss what happens then you will all be like i loved all the FF's blahblah bsbsbs why did they go bankrupt because you didnt even give the game a chance and beat it once even if it was just once you would have that i give almost every game i purchase that chance stop just hating and give it a shot you may find yourself enjoying something because it is different
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AMEN BROTHA!
I get rather tired of the bitching also. Maybe just maybe when you were youger, it was easier to please you. Or maybe you memory of some of the older titles have gotten given the golden treatment by your memory. I love VII and VIII yet when i sit down and play them again, i realize that i may have built them up in my mind some too.
Also give it a fucking chance, i feel like so many people play it for a little bit and then dismiss it. Yes it may be a little cheesy at times but what final fantasy game isnt? If your gunna sit there an critisize XIII and then praise VII on cheesyness, all i gotta say is come the fuck on. Maybe you should give VII another whirl and realize ALL OF THEM HAVE SOME CHEESY ASS MOMENTS.
I feel like people are way to critical. If square kept doin the same shit over and over it would get old right?
Also ive read people sayin XII was the best. Are you high? For some reason that battle system fucked with me.
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They made Shiva a motorcycle, and we're the ones looking at the series from a 'western point of view' ? This gotta be a joke...
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Indeed Final Fantasy VII is also one of my favorites. BUT, i personel find that Dragon Quest VIII was a better game on the PS2. Both are really good but if i had to pick one........... Also, i really want to have a new Dragon Quest for PS3.
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If the systems can load GTA and Red Deads maps why cant it load a FF world map?
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Haha, very true. Final Fantasy XII was dreadful...worst battle system of them all. In my mind, VII and VIII were fantastic but what you say is very likely, I might have started idolising the titles over the years.
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....still sucks.
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man i must say Square Enix is dead after ff x
the system is so bad in ff13 and ff13-2 it even not rpg what happend chapter thing come on
just look at lost odyssey and blue dragon really rpg game world map
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Again I have no idea why you think FF 13-2 is so horrible. But personally I enjoyed it. And again that's coming from someone who absolutely hates RPG's and the FF franchise. Hell I even liked FF 13. But FF 13-2 was basically 13 done right. It took everything that was good from 13 and added the stuff that the fans criticized 13 for.
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EDIT: Sorry for the long post and one big blob of text. Dashhacks won't allow me to format spaces for some reason.
Have you ever even played Final Fantasy XIII-2? Yes the first FF 13 basically had the walk - > battle -> walk -> boss battle. But 13-2 does not. It has a lot more depth. Me personally I hate RPG's with a passion. Plus I absolutely hate the Final Fantasy franchise. But you know what? I fell in love with 13 and 13-2 is fucking amazing!
Square enix took the best parts of 13 and improved on it for 13-2. 13-2 is an amazing game, it's got hours of replayability (collecting all the items, going for paradox endings, etc.)
I've logged in well over 40 hours on FF 13-2 and I usually don't do that for any game, let alone a RPG.
So basically I have no idea why people bitch about 13-2 so much. It's an amazing game, it's miles ahead of 13, and overall it's just an amazing experience!
Plus the game does have depth.
If you actually use the battle system yourself instead of simply using the auto-battle system, you'll realize that it does have a lot of depth. Just because the auto-battle system is there, doesn't mean you have to actually use it.
Also there are towns in 13-2, and you do actually have to level yourself up or "grind" for later challenges. Hell even on the 4th level (Yashif 1XX or whatever) there is a Cieth (I believe it's a cieth) that is so hard that you actually have to wait until basically the end of the game before you can go back and beat it. It casts some pretty heavy buffs, has a shit load of HP, etc, that you can't beat it when you first encounter the mission at that stage in the game.
But 13-2 does have a lot of depth. Likewise you do actually have to grind for some of the later bosses and side quests.
Hell Ciaus (the final boss) is one badass final boss. If you don't have a party that is maxed out (level 99) you won't be able to beat him. I'm having to go back through to previous areas and level up because I just can't break his tank at my current level. My current level for all my character is around level 72.
EDIT: Also the author of the article is right in terms of Graphics. You guys can deny it from here to hell and back, but I see people everyday complain about games that have lack luster graphics compared to say UC3, Killzone2, etc, etc. I see it on every gaming site. When a game comes out and it doesn't have graphics equivalent to UC3, I see people say "holy shit are we playing a PS2 game?" I see comments like this almost every day. So some of you may not think Graphics are important, but alot of gamers do.
Likewise - I believe Graphics are just as important as Gameplay. Why? Because the whole point of playing video games is to feel immersed in the game world. So if your playing a game that has absolute shit graphics, your taken out of the immersion which makes the game suffer. Just because the game has good gameplay, doesn't mean it can skate by with just that. I play games because I wanna feel like I'm in them. So Sound, gameplay, and Graphics are all equally important to me.
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Well of course the first couple of hours of the game are gonna be slow. Are you stupid? RPG's are always slow in the beginning. If you can't even give the game a few hours to grow on you, you shouldn't even be playing RPG's to begin with. Both FF13 and 13-2 take far longer then the first two or three chapters to really get into the game. Hell the first and second chapters will only give you a graps of the battle system. That's about it. You barely even learn about the paradoxes, etc in that amount of time.
So basically you screwed yourself on that one. Playing an RPG for only an hour or two and deciding it's shit? ROFL!
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You relate big games in scope, with non-linear gameplay to that of Skyrim. Yet by your own admission it was the biggest game of the year, as well as the most profitable, and the most highly played.
It had nice graphics, and despite some issues, people still bought it in their millions, and played it for hundreds of hours. Bethseda made a fortune from it, and fans of the series got what they wanted.
If Bethseda managed to achieve it, how could a company [Square Enix] with a budget far in excess of their RPG rivals produce a much better game?
Hardware limitations... Now there's an interesting topic of conversation... I can agree to some extent, but the fact that final fantasy has never had a HUGE, free roaming map beyond the PS1, means that hardware limitations wouldn't plague the series much like it did to Skyrim. Loading a relatively small section of landscape, one after another (like in X and XII) is not beyond the scope of the PS3's hardware capabilities.
The main issue that people have with the next gen consoles offering to the series, is that there are no towns to explore, no people to talk to, no side missions or puzzles to sort through, other than simply taking them from a dull, uninspired MMO style bounty board.
There's no sense of world development. You can't empathise with anyone outside of the cast, as there is no one else. Infact, there isn't really any exploration available.
I was so thoroughly disappointed, and to be honest, shocked when I was playing XIII that there were no towns, no one to talk to, nothing more than the fairly predictable and uninspired characters that I was left to push my way through the story with.
You can't convince me that after everything that was put into these 'games' (read, 'interactive movies'), adding an extra scene, with 4 NPC's wandering around, that said a couple of witty lines, along with a couple of extra 'corridors' with people selling items in would've broken the PS3. Because it wouldn't of. It's just easier to have a hub to sell items. Less to design. No more sodding around in Max/Maya/zBrush, playing with UVW maps, being creative and building societies. Reusing the same meshes for your 'corridor' RPG saves time, money and employees. As it's part of the Final Fantasy Series, it'll sell. So why not.
It's laziness, nothing more, nothing less. Square has lost their way, and my support along with it unfortunately.
RIP old friends.
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I know I've got to be old as hell when I start seeing statements asserting that one understands how the "old school" Final Fantasy players feel, and uses Final Fantasy 7 to back it up. Give me FF4 and 6 any day over that angsty nonsense. Oh well, times change, and I'm content to bust out the emulators and watch them roll by.
At least someone up there mentioned Dragon Quest 7. Good on you, buddy. If Dragon Quest 10 does it right then I might have hope for my gaming happiness yet.
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Final fantasy is crap compared to what it was, not hard to realise why, 12 they had no real charactors , no real story. So then they make a game with lots of story and no gameplay, well how boring. Why can they not just do both, like they used to. And how is it fighting when it is just automatic. Just repetative boring crap. i got to bored of it like 25hrs in and stoped playing. How can you say that i do not have a right to complain, so i gotta do all 50 odd hrs to decide that im still bored of it, if 25hrs have gone and it was no good, whats the point in doing eactly the same thing over and over for another 25. 9 was amazing, same as 8,7 and 10 was pritty damn good with a great battle system, the new ones are just final fantasy gone mad!! and i am hoping they do something like them again, there was a reason they were popular, come on square wakeup and smell the coffee, I know they spent along time making the game but they spent a long time on a rubbish game, stick with the foundations of what mad the game so amazing!!
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It's funny cause I'm playing XIII right now and can't help but to agree with the lot of you guys. The fight scenes are so unfullfilling I could die of boredom. X was my personal Favourite primarily cause they flawlessly smashed, cut-scenes, and intensive suspenseful battle and battle music together where as in XIII, all they've managed to do was allow for easier multi tasking (As you mentioned) by mashing X and winning 9/10.
XIII is a good movie but I would never consider this straight-line tale an actual game.
If they really wanted to make fans enjoy their games thru on thru, They need to let go of the wrong aspect of tradition they hold onto for dear life and evolve via a new means. for example, Instead of someday getting to FINAL FANTASY IXMIIXIIXIXMIXI
They should Ttry something -Slightly- new, but highly effective like for Example FINAL FANTASY ANCIENT FEAR and add and remove things bad/good like Keep The Paradigm system but maybe make the Leader capable of being entirely controllable by the User like in Dirge of Cerberus of at the very least FINAL FANTSASY XII where movement was actually possible.
It would be understandable not being able to control your allies but at the very least you should be able to blitz towards your enemy and hack an slash until your ATB runs out (In other words, Execute at will)
Perhaps a slower paced match so players can take a bit of time to imput commands then once loaded they can move at their own leisure and once in range (For Physical attacks lets say) Use X to trigger then and if not close enough, you miss.
Considering how easlily The PS3 can run FFXIII I see no issue in giving users a little more power for their money. It's completely stupid cause We are delivered a static one-way game and because SONY has their heads so far up their asses we can't even expand on our games to enjoy them a little more (As in Editing Single Player games Like in FINAL FANTASY X and FFXED where you were able to get items and things you never had or were just incapible of getting on your first, second, third run of the game.)
After I beat FINAL FANTASY X once, I edited my save to try stuff I could not before, and I ended up playing thru the damn game like 500 times before sticking it in my Game case for retirement. FINAL FANATASY XIII? I played it once, retired it, Played FFXIII-2, Burnt the fucking thing and eventually went back to XIII appreciating how it actually had a difficulty to it where FFXIII-2 I literally completed it in 3 hours...
Maybe I have no clue what I'm talking about, but Freedom to the users imo is the primary fan clincher.
Give fans freedom, diversity and variety, You have them playing for a lonng time. Great Story line helps a bunch too.
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