Final Fantasy XIII

[Ramar]

An RPG shouldn't need an overworld to be a good game. Agreed?

 

I really want this collectors edition. Really want it - but only for the sexy plain white case. FF box art shouldn't ever have pictures on the front cover.

 

I agree, but I'm not prepared to pay an extra £20 just for different cover art (the rest of the CE is rubbish).

[CooInTheZoo]

PS3 version, just preordered the collector's edition

 

Where did you do it? Tempted with ShopTo but it's got a scary "first come, first served" message and I'm afraid I've left it too late.

 

I might just pick it up in town on release day, all this pre-ordering stuff is giving me a heart attack.

[Daft]

PSM3 Review Scores - March 2010 - Issue 124

 

All reviews are on PS3 unless stated otherwise

 

Heavy Rain - 88%

Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days (PSP) - 85%

Dante's Inferno - 80%

Undead Knights (PSP) - 79%

MX vs ATV Reflex - 74%

MAG - 73%

Final Fantasy XIII - 70%

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (PSP) - 65%

Last Rebellion - 61%

Madden NFL Arcade - 58%

Guitar Hero Van Halen - 40%

Vancouver 2010 - 35%

 

Not too surprised.

[Sheikah]

 

Not too surprised.

To be fair, they have given Disgaea 2 85% despite every Disgaea being near identical and being practically all battles. I sincerely doubt FFXIII is a less enjoyable game.

[killer kirby]

 

Not too surprised.

 

Man, Heavy Rain got that score, kind of surprised, never looked at this magazines reviews, I am guessing they are tough with reviews and just don't give every game thats got hype over 95%?

 

If there is one review I am going to bloody enjoy it's going to be Zero Punctuation if he decided to review this, 2nd most wanted review from him is this game, Dante's Inferno is number 1 though (Can't wait for him to rip the biggest asshole out of that game )

[gARYgREATIE*]

http://www.zavvi.com/games/platforms/xbox-360/final-fantasy-xiii/10048634.html

 

I just watched this weird trailer for FFXIII, anyone else seen it? I particularly enjoy the section talking about Leona Lewis. Synergy ftw.

[Domstercool]

To be fair, they have given Disgaea 2 85% despite every Disgaea being near identical and being practically all battles. I sincerely doubt FFXIII is a less enjoyable game.

 

Disgaea 2 is also a top notch strategy RPG with crazy amounts of depth and amusing story and characters.

[Shorty]

I gotta be honest, I think this game looks terrible. I loved FFVII and I'm not averse to JRPGs in general, but this looks like they've gone for some cheesy, linear "cinematic experience" with characters I could never like and too much focus on looks instead of enjoyability. Graphically it looks astounding and the fights and levelling up may be top notch, but its always been what you do between the fights that makes me love a game like this (hence why I wasn't a big fan of FFVIII).

 

That doesn't count for tactical RPGS like FFTA though, mind. That's another ball game.

[killer kirby]

I gotta be honest, I think this game looks terrible. I loved FFVII and I'm not averse to JRPGs in general, but this looks like they've gone for some cheesy, linear "cinematic experience" with characters I could never like and too much focus on looks instead of enjoyability. Graphically it looks astounding and the fights and levelling up may be top notch, but its always been what you do between the fights that makes me love a game like this (hence why I wasn't a big fan of FFVIII).

 

That doesn't count for tactical RPGS like FFTA though, mind. That's another ball game.

 

Well what you stated is exactly what FFXIII will be all about, a linear game with no freedom, so if you like a type of game that has a real animu story in it, then you will love it I guess.

 

And FFTA is a great game which I spent way too many hours on, though the original FFT game, now THAT is one damn awesome game xD

[Sheikah]

Disgaea 2 is also a top notch strategy RPG with crazy amounts of depth and amusing story and characters.

 

The games are mostly the same across titles. The game format usually has a few new things every edition, but is largely the same. It's clearly mostly about the gameplay (at least with disgaea 3, the story was pretty dire - can't imagine there being much difference across titles), which undeniably stays fairly constant. Given the story is mostly told to you in short sections before a battle begins...well...yeah.

 

The gameplay is good, but like the dynasty warriors games after X number of sequels; tired. It's great for people with nothing better to do than endless grinding and equipment hoarding. But yeah, I can't see it being a better game than FFXIII will be. Even though I didn't particularly like FFXII, it was a solid game that was far more fleshed out than a disgaea title. it felt like I was playing a PS1 game when I played disgaea 3 on PS3. Every main FF title so far (bar XI, which in fairness was a fully online MMORPG) has been a reasonably enjoyable epic title, so I don't see how this will be any different.

[killer kirby]

Final Fantasy XIII boss responds to review scores

Tuesday 16-Feb-2010 10:39 AM Director Toriyama-San says critics see the game "from a western point of view"

 

The key developers of Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII have revealed they "try not to listen to the critics too much" - and responded to criticism of the game's linear nature.

 

Producer Yoshinori Kitase told CVG sister mag Xbox World 360: "We try not to listen to the critics too much. Most of the criticisms have come because the first half of the game is very linear.

 

"But we've got a story to tell, and it's important the player can engage with the characters and the world they inhabit before letting them loose..."

 

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."

 

They might have a point - reviewers don't seem to be able to make up their mind on the title.

 

As reported by CVG, GamesMaster's Final Fantasy XIII review gave the game a respectable 81%, but PSM3 was less enamoured, awarding just 70%.

 

However, the Official PlayStation Magazine's Final Fantasy XIII review gave the game a 9/10, saying it "makes the hours pass likes minutes".

 

Who's getting it?

 

Source:CVG

[CooInTheZoo]

I think (and hope) that the hype for this game has hurt it more than anything. If this game was announced a year or so ago, and it hadn't been so long since a decent Final Fantasy then the reviews wouldn't be so harsh. If you actually read the more negative reviews much of the 'bad bits' are really nitpicking, and the fact that much of the first half of the game are very linear doesn't mean its bad. Its not restrictive for no reason, it's to tell the story and get the player used to everything without overwhelming them. Final Fantasy X was very linear, but that didn't necessarily make it a bad game - I don't think so, anyway.

 

I really hope I'm right, and it's an enjoyable game. Hope I don't sound too much like a fanboy.

 

These two articles are a good read if you want more info on the game.

10 Things I loved about FF XIII

10 Things I didn't love about FF XIII

[Ramar]

I don't get that whole moan on how linear the game is, the majority if not all (exclude XI) Final Fantasy's are pretty linear.

 

Regardless of reviews I pre-ordered it the other day, I'll judge for myself whether it's poop or not.

[Jon]

I don't get that whole moan on how linear the game is, the majority if not all (exclude XI) Final Fantasy's are pretty linear.

 

Regardless of reviews I pre-ordered it the other day, I'll judge for myself whether it's poop or not.

 

Final Fantasy VII was hardly linear.

[killer kirby]

Final Fantasy VII was hardly linear.

 

You obviously did not play the first couple of hours of it then

[Jon]

You obviously did not play the first couple of hours of it then

 

I obviously did. You judge a 60 hour odd game on it's first 2 hours?

 

Good going.

[chairdriver]

FFVII is as linear as FFVIII and FFIX are.

 

Any game with a story is pretty much linear anyway.

[killer kirby]

I obviously did. You judge a 60 hour odd game on it's first 2 hours?

 

Good going.

 

Well you mustn't have since the beginning in Midgar was linear as fuck

[Jon]

Well you mustn't have since the beginning in Midgar was linear as fuck

 

It's called a story and getting used to playing the game and there's plenty of other things you can do in Midgar apart from just following the story.

[killer kirby]

It's called a story and getting used to playing the game

Does not get rid of the fact it was linear.

 

and there's plenty of other things you can do in Midgar apart from just following the story.

 

Not really, besides talking to different people and gaining 1 or 2 more items, which is like any game really (Even FFX)

 

The Midgar section was linear, only once you got out of that place could you finally do something else besides follow the story.

[Tyson]

It's called a story and getting used to playing the game and there's plenty of other things you can do in Midgar apart from just following the story.

 

Killer kirby isn't happy in this world of lines. He was brought up in a town where rulers were spherical, you could join a queue where ever it took your fancy and structure was generally frowned upon .

[Sheikah]

You obviously did not play the first couple of hours of it then

Oh, I see. Clearly if the first couple of hours were linear, we should write off the whole game as linear.

 

Of course the first couple of hours were linear. It's called the introduction. Freedom comes at the price of a good story. For instance, if you can complete the game in a variety of ways then there's more and more variables, resulting in them having to create a story for each outcome, as opposed to one very good, refined story.

 

A lot of games create fake freedom by letting you visit places in whatever order you choose. But as long as you still go to those places anyway, it's hardly freedom. True freedom games are rarely as memorable or have as good stories as more linear games, and once you really approach true freedom you're practically playing The Sims. If you had the ability to save Aeris in FFVII then she wouldn't have become nearly as popular as she did, as well as if you could have converted Sephiroth to the side of good, etc. Sometimes what they want you to see turns out to be the best story after all.

[Dante]

Eh so SquareEnix released mock-up screenshots of the xbox360 version that makes it look worse?

[Pit-Jr]

those mock-ups were PS3 screens with Xbox buttons shopped in.

 

Some American reviews say the PS3 version has better cinemas and the 360 version looks a tad bit sharper overall but are both basically identical

[Aimless]

According to one of Digital Foundry's contributors the 360 version runs at 1024x576, as opposed to the PS3's 1280x720 (720p). In other words the game will be a bit blurrier on the Xbox, although the internet will no doubt have you believe this is the greatest affront to humanity since the holocaust.