FFXIII-2

[Burningthought]

Eww. Square-Enix members just released a video on the CE unboxing. I do not like that the concept artwork is sown into the box itself. I think I might take a pass on the CE this time around. I don't think the OST is bad, but i'd rather purchase it at a later date, and save the extra $20 for something else. Like my SSX preorder.

[Spira]

ok.. played quite a bit more..
maybe 7-8 hrs in. on episode 3..

this game is definitely a 10 for me.
however contrived the story may or may not be, the delivery is excellent. the way they put it into an episodic structure but still retain a non-linear style of gameplay is awesome.

the gameplay is fun. there's a bit of a collect-em-all draw about the game, apart from just progressing the story. i mean, with the fragments and all, as well as finding artefacts to progress thru the story.
its open-ended story progression is also something i really like. there are side-quests to solve and areas to explore. i get a huge kick from finding something 'extra' along the way.

battles are interesting, but because im just starting off and not sure what to make of monsters i've mainly been leveling the 3 in my paradigm deck. boss battles can be considerably challenging if your deck isnt set up well. I'm at a point where the story forks into 2 paths and one of them has a boss which is too much to handle for now, so I get to proceed down the other before coming back. the freedom with progression built in is very refreshing.

also, I definitely agree. the historia crux has got to be the best way to present a time-travel based RPG yet.
i've not tried making use of time reversals or closing time gates.. but since the whole game is pretty much replayable I'm ok with doing everything again later.

its a bit exciting for me because this is the first NA FF i'm playing in over a decade that I didn't play the JP version of before, and am not using any kind of strategy guide for, at least not for now.

[Uzor]

Hmm, the store I preordered it from also hands out the "FINAL FANTASY XIII -Episode i" for free, together with a lottery that gives out an Odin figurine to three people:

Spoiler: show

http://images.webhallen.com/files/Odin1.jpg
http://images.webhallen.com/files/Odin2.jpg
http://images.webhallen.com/files/Odin3.jpg

[Ratatapa]

2 more days

[Burningthought]

ok.. played quite a bit more..
maybe 7-8 hrs in. on episode 3..

this game is definitely a 10 for me.
however contrived the story may or may not be, the delivery is excellent. the way they put it into an episodic structure but still retain a non-linear style of gameplay is awesome.

the gameplay is fun. there's a bit of a collect-em-all draw about the game, apart from just progressing the story. i mean, with the fragments and all, as well as finding artefacts to progress thru the story.
its open-ended story progression is also something i really like. there are side-quests to solve and areas to explore. i get a huge kick from finding something 'extra' along the way.

battles are interesting, but because im just starting off and not sure what to make of monsters i've mainly been leveling the 3 in my paradigm deck. boss battles can be considerably challenging if your deck isnt set up well. I'm at a point where the story forks into 2 paths and one of them has a boss which is too much to handle for now, so I get to proceed down the other before coming back. the freedom with progression built in is very refreshing.

also, I definitely agree. the historia crux has got to be the best way to present a time-travel based RPG yet.
i've not tried making use of time reversals or closing time gates.. but since the whole game is pretty much replayable I'm ok with doing everything again later.

its a bit exciting for me because this is the first NA FF i'm playing in over a decade that I didn't play the JP version of before, and am not using any kind of strategy guide for, at least not for now.

The chocobos seemed to be some of the better monsters. Either way, I strongly suggest you ditch Cait Sith as a healer asap. I saw a few jps trying to do some of the later fights with Cait Sith and it constantly kept getting killed because of low max HP.

[Ratatapa]

i want the game

[Katlan]

Is there any big post game bosses like the long gui's in XIII?

[vadre]

Long-gui's still there (though possibly weaker to account for weaker characters), and I believe there is at least one other 'big' extra boss that isn't accounted for by the story, not to ruin anything.

Then there are bosses like Atlas which I don't think can be beaten till later or even after the end of the game if you don't grind a lot.

Im currently grinding to finish off my characters on XIII before XIII-2 comes out here next week (EU), it takes SO LONG. 4 roles per character done and I'm so sick of stupid tortoises.

[Burningthought]

The dialogue is a major high point in XIII-2; it actually makes sense now, and the writing is much more accessible and lighthearted.

I got this snippet from the destructoid review it seems like this game really is polarizing for some. I've read in some reviews that the story is terrible and an abomination against God, and in others i've heard high praise. What. The. Fuck. It's starting to make me wonder if some of these reviewers are just haters.

Just like the joystiq review he starts off the review with "There was once a time when "Final Fantasy" meant greatness, when seeing Square's brand on a game box meant you were about to play something special. That time has long since passed." and ends it with "Features like non-linear dungeons, optional side quests and NPC-populated towns are wonderful and all, but they were RPG staples twenty years ago." The only thing he praises is the battle system and its pretty much halfhearted. I pretty much discounted the entire review based off his first paragraph where he just emphasizes how much the FF brand has fallen. The score doesn't even make sense for the tone in his review. A 3/5 but you could barely say anything positive about the game?

I will give the joystiq review one thing though. It is pretty jarring to know that they are showing a minigame in Xanadu/Serendipity but it can't be played unless you buy it as DLC. I think that is a bit of bullshit. I knew from the JP version that there would only be Slots and Chocobo Racing, but i'm disappointed that they would show that in the game before you buy it. I'd feel a lot better about it if I didn't know about it until I looked at the DLC content on the PSN/XBLM.

[Jaxzer]

I want some Lightning in my partay.

[Katlan]

Long-gui's still there (though possibly weaker to account for weaker characters), and I believe there is at least one other 'big' extra boss that isn't accounted for by the story, not to ruin anything.

Then there are bosses like Atlas which I don't think can be beaten till later or even after the end of the game if you don't grind a lot.

Im currently grinding to finish off my characters on XIII before XIII-2 comes out here next week (EU), it takes SO LONG. 4 roles per character done and I'm so sick of stupid tortoises.

Nice. Too bad you can't fight Titan though

[Jaxzer]

Ripped this off a post I saw on Gametrailers. If anything it makes the game appear pretty well-rounded:

Machinima - 9,
Digital Spy - 9,
Inthegame.nl - 9,
X360 Magazine UK - 9,
Official Xbox Magazine US - 9,
G4tv - 4/5,
The Guardian - 4/5,
JustPushStart - 9,
GameTrailers - 8.8,
Platinum Hits- 9.1,
GamesRadar - 9,
Cynamite/Gameaktuell - 9,
Vandal Online - 9.1,
Xbox 360 Mag Italy - 9.5,
JeuxVideo - 8.7,
9Lives - 9,
GamingXP - 8.7,
XGN - 8.5,
Daily Echo - 9,
Daily Star - 9,
Mirror - 9

Starting to think that IGN reviewer is just a bit jaded.

[Nevex]

Oh wow a lot more 9's are showing up. I guess the average score is going to be somewhere around 8.5 then. Not bad at all, I just hope that the planned DLC is able to fix whatever needs to be fixed (not much I presume, just the ending and more party members).

[Spira]

yeah ditching Cait Sith now.. she/it has really low HP and dies too fast.. especially in boss battles where Wounded damage stacks up.

I'm into episode 4 now, killed Zenobia lol (in case u dont remember thats the undying that got stabbed by Tonberry in XIII). Trivial detail.

The Coliseum seems like it'd have a lot of potential if they roll out DLC properly.

Main story seems to move along pretty quickly, as people have been suggesting.. but theres also a lot of side quests to do along the way.. fun when you're figuring things out.. I also love the mog throw function. Makes you actually look around for chests lol.. and when i'm lazy to run over i just throw the damn moogle at it

edit: jeez. i read all these 'bad' reviews and i've never seen people THIS jaded about FF before, other than on Gamefaqs boards.

[Burningthought]

yeah ditching Cait Sith now.. she/it has really low HP and dies too fast.. especially in boss battles where Wounded damage stacks up.

I'm into episode 4 now, killed Zenobia lol (in case u dont remember thats the undying that got stabbed by Tonberry in XIII). Trivial detail.

The Coliseum seems like it'd have a lot of potential if they roll out DLC properly.

Main story seems to move along pretty quickly, as people have been suggesting.. but theres also a lot of side quests to do along the way.. fun when you're figuring things out.. I also love the mog throw function. Makes you actually look around for chests lol.. and when i'm lazy to run over i just throw the damn moogle at it

edit: jeez. i read all these 'bad' reviews and i've never seen people THIS jaded about FF before, other than on Gamefaqs boards.

Take your time and really dig into those sidequests, the story is relatively short, then after you beat the "ending" area all you can do is collect fragments to get the 30 second extra scene. With that said though, you probably know that you can't get all the fragments without completing the ending once.

[Spira]

yeah ive been doing that. tho some im pretty sure i cant do now which is why i'm mainly been pushing thru the story until i hit like a hard boss, then i'll go back and explore stuff and look for fragments and such.

have still not done time reversals on any areas..

wondering whether there's any point in grinding all monsters to cap eventually. by then i shd probably have enough gil to just buy out their levels..

read around and i wonder if just getting and infusing the 'best' monsters of each role will do

[Burningthought]

yeah ive been doing that. tho some im pretty sure i cant do now which is why i'm mainly been pushing thru the story until i hit like a hard boss, then i'll go back and explore stuff and look for fragments and such.

have still not done time reversals on any areas..

wondering whether there's any point in grinding all monsters to cap eventually. by then i shd probably have enough gil to just buy out their levels..

read around and i wonder if just getting and infusing the 'best' monsters of each role will do

If you are worried about the game becoming too easy or anything, some of the jpers were maxed out and still wiping to the ending area's bosses. Not to mention some of the optional stuff. I mean i'm sure it'll make a few parts of the game super easy. Not sure about the monster fusing stuff. Mostly because Leta, the guy I was watching, he refused to fuse anything until the final boss when cait sith kept getting 1shot lol.

[Appie]

I kept Cait Sith as healer until the end, he was lv66 or something =)
Infused him up the butt with dmg reductions, he actually held his own against the final boss, with his low HP. I'd focus on on 2-4 pets if I were you Spira, upgrade items for pets get more expensive as you level them up (5 levels of items, final one being 6k a pop).

[Katlan]

are there summons in this one? or i guess captured monsters that are basically summon equivalent?

[Jeryhn]

But we already know that there is DLC planned for it and unless they bother to review it again later on they should have raised the score.

Do you think FFXIV should be considered a good game because future patches might give it worthwhile content?