FFXIII-2

[Nevex]

Ehhhhhhh.... that's a bit of a stretch, honestly. I look at the big picture, not simply the end of a game. How interactive was the battle system until chapter 8, really?

Chapter 1 and 2 were just tutorials.
Chapter 3 introduces roles and paradigm shifts so I assume most players will experiment with those.
Chapter 4 you need to have decent/good timing with Vanille/Sazh in order to stagger mobs until you unlock Sazh's COM role. Light/Hope sections you need to be fast with cures/potions since both of them are very frail.
Chapter 5 is pretty much all about AoE attacks and picking the right target to maximize their effect.
Chapter 6 you need to switch between offense and buff/debuffs a lot, especially against those large HP mobs you encounter halfway.
Chapter 7 forces you to switch to SEN very often since there are lots of very damaging enemies.
Chapter 8 is pretty short, though you get some very nice spells so I think most players will toy around with them.

It's nothing special compared to the following chapters but other than Ch. 1 and 2 the interactivity is there.
Then again keep in mind that I almost never use auto-battle because I want to play FFXIII just like I would with another FF, therefore the interactivity part was never really gone for me. If anything it felt more interactive because regular battles weren't just about spamming "Attack" and "Curaga" like most FFs.

Many people who dislike the battle system say that it's because of auto-battle ruining it, but I don't think that's a valid reason.
I mean, sure auto-battle works ok (if it didn't why put that command in the game at all?) but isn't it common sense that if you want to get the most of the game you should play it the real way?

[Hyan]

Sort of an offshoot, but is it possible that FF13 Versus tells the story of why Pulse was uninhabited? Aren't the 3 versions of 13 supposed to be related to something?

Didn't XIII's Pulse ruins look like skyscrapers and such? Versus could definitely be a prequel in that sense.

Also, does anyone know why SE has not released ANY information regarding XV?

Well, their Fabula Nova Crystallis hype blew on their face, so that could be one reason..

And a Gears of War with swords and magic is a superior alternative?

Yes. Although MGS was on my mind, as proper storytelling should be the priority.

I also don't understand why they should "just make XIII-2 a movie". What's wrong with Gears of War style, honestly? Nothing. There's a reason why those games don't fuck around with worlds and huge cities full of NPC's- gotta focus on what matters. Something that FF hasn't done until lately.

[Xno Kappa]

I don't get why people are so hung up over FFXIII not having any towns. Who cares? Towns almost always devolve into hide-and-seek for that one specific NPC to advance the story.

Inns? You auto-heal after battles.
Side-quests? It was done through hunts.
Shops? It was done through save points.
Lore? It was done through the database.

Unless people were expecting the old dungeon > town > dungeon > town progression style RPG, I saw no point in towns with FFXIII. I really want to hear one legitimate claim about the games lack of it.

[miokomioko]

@Mioko: Don't run our dreams, Mioko, or our discussions. You still have yours; of a beautiful FFXIV world of milk and honey. The FF forums have been slow as molasses; any new, potentially juicy discussion is good discussion.

You mean arguing about which # of the franchise was good and which wasn't? Cool. Have fun doing that for the billionth time while pretending a domain registration means anything and bringing up an unnecessary embellished stance on XIV that proves you don't know what you're talking about.

Anyways, yeah, sephir. The other two installments of this "trilogy" are supposed to take place in the same universe. What that means, exactly, we still don't know. It could take place on a past or future Pulse, Cocoon, or even another planet. My initial assumption was that Agito was going to be a prequel, when Pulse was inhabited and less feral, though I don't see any proof in existing Agito material that implies there are humans living in coexistence with massive, mechanical Fal'cie like XIII's lore describes. Agito looks decidedly Advent Children in its world design.

[Kuya]

I thought that when people said FFXIII was linear, they were talking about the level design.

[quannum]

ff6:WoR, not linear

[MF Perm tha Fineass]

I hope SE makes every new FF game like FF13. FF13 is the best so far in the franchise, outside of Mystic Quest of course.

[Apelila]

....for me there was no reason to use Snow or Hope

Hope done correctly can rape pretty much anything that isn't resistant to magic in one shot. So much so that when I got past eden into the matrix or whatever the hell it was I had to go back and upgrade Lightnings and some other people's physical weapons to actually do damage because it had been so long since I'd needed to actually swing a sword.

[Xno Kappa]

I hope SE makes every new FF game like FF13. FF13 is the best so far in the franchise, outside of Mystic Quest of course.

2/10

The Mystic Quest bit was overkill.

[Lucavi]

I also don't understand why they should "just make XIII-2 a movie". What's wrong with Gears of War style, honestly? Nothing. There's a reason why those games don't fuck around with worlds and huge cities full of NPC's- gotta focus on what matters. Something that FF hasn't done until lately.

FF's have too much text and talk to do a GoW style game well. There's not enough action in a FF game (as long as they continue to be developed in a style that tries to mimic each game's predecessor).

We know that any FF title will sell (even XIV sold) just from the name. Its not a matter of whether it would actually turn a profit, but would it work? Would it actually be a good game for its time? You guys talk about how apparently boring VI and VII are. You didn't think so back in the day, I can guarantee you that. I found XIII far more boring than I did VI and VII (but not VIII... ugh) when they came out. XIII doesn't even begin to hold a candle to VI when I think about how hyped I was for each game before their release, and how enthralled I was while playing. That's me though; that may not be you, but it ain't nostalgia when I think back to the very time I was playing them, as opposed to playing this over the summer.

I'm not saying XIII is a bad game; it isn't at all. I played it nonstop for 2 weeks and enjoyed it. Ironically, I became extremely bored of it as soon as it actually opened up in gran pulse. My comments on SE and movies are more focused around the fact that they seem to take more pride in FMVing everything up than putting out a complete game. They should just put out a complete movie instead, because XIII is/was far from complete, and they even admitted it.

[Eaglestrike]

FF's have too much text and talk to do a GoW style game well. There's not enough action in a FF game (as long as they continue to be developed in a style that tries to mimic each game's predecessor).

We know that any FF title will sell (even XIV sold) just from the name. Its not a matter of whether it would actually turn a profit, but would it work? Would it actually be a good game for its time? You guys talk about how apparently boring VI and VII are. You didn't think so back in the day, I can guarantee you that. I found XIII far more boring than I did VI and VII (but not VIII... ugh) when they came out. XIII doesn't even begin to hold a candle to VI when I think about how hyped I was for each game before their release, and how enthralled I was while playing. That's me though; that may not be you, but it ain't nostalgia when I think back to the very time I was playing them, as opposed to playing this over the summer.

I'm not saying XIII is a bad game; it isn't at all. I played it nonstop for 2 weeks and enjoyed it. Ironically, I became extremely bored of it as soon as it actually opened up in gran pulse. My comments on SE and movies are more focused around the fact that they seem to take more pride in FMVing everything up than putting out a complete game. They should just put out a complete movie instead, because XIII is/was far from complete, and they even admitted it.

So a game when you were younger and there were far fewer games you had played was able to enthrall you more 10+ years ago than a game does now when you have years and years of games under your belt? Wow, that's amazing! Surprising! Completely unheard of!

I don't expect a game to make me lose a nights sleep to play it, I can play a game, put it down to sleep and play it next time I have free time, no worries, no rush. Does that mean it's a bad game? No. A bad game is one that I never go back to play, one I never want to play again, one that pains me to consider playing (like say, FFXI!).

As well as it stands, I'll go replay FFXII or FFXIII before I go back and replay FFVII or IX. I loved VII and IX, but in the standards of me/today, they're not as good as XII or XIII.

[Lucavi]

Did I say XIII was a bad game? Seriously, when your first point is refuted by simply reading my post, I'm not going to bother responding to it.

[Alkar]

You mean arguing about which # of the franchise was good and which wasn't? Cool. Have fun doing that for the billionth time while pretending a domain registration means anything and bringing up an unnecessary embellished stance on XIV that proves you don't know what you're talking about.

Anyways, yeah, sephir. The other two installments of this "trilogy" are supposed to take place in the same universe. What that means, exactly, we still don't know. It could take place on a past or future Pulse, Cocoon, or even another planet. My initial assumption was that Agito was going to be a prequel, when Pulse was inhabited and less feral, though I don't see any proof in existing Agito material that implies there are humans living in coexistence with massive, mechanical Fal'cie like XIII's lore describes. Agito looks decidedly Advent Children in its world design.

A domain registration may mean nothing to you but SE has been hinting at FFXIII-2 for a while now.
Back in December they gave out Christmas postcards of Lightning to SE Members of Japan saying "She must not be forgotten" and on the same month they released the game for the 360 in Japan with the Episode 1 novel which takes place right after the ending and it concludes with a cliffhanger of Lightning being in a weird place sorrounded by monsters.
A domain popping up right before the conference is simply another hint among many.

[Kuya]

Lightning being in a weird place sorrounded by monsters

I'm thinking hentai

[Hyan]

FF's have too much text and talk to do a GoW style game well. There's not enough action in a FF game (as long as they continue to be developed in a style that tries to mimic each game's predecessor).

But I doubt they'll ever have too much text and talk to do a MGS style game. All they need to do is bring the story up to par to justify it. The action is already good enough.

I think the pacing was already better than in MGS4 in XIII, but the storyline sucked. They just need to realize their main demographic (not <12 year old boys anymore).

[The Stig]

To be fair, FFXIII does start you off as someone really really really wanted, and hated, of all the world (Cocoon). It's therefore somewhat justified there's no towns [for the player to explore in, since everyone out there wants their neck], no?

(i'm sure 1 person mentioned this somewhere before, but I forget where, but it seems to be largely skipped)

[Fereydoon]

Well XIII-2 was confirmed. http://plixi.com/p/70791093

18:50 -- The game is coming to PS3 and Xbox 360.

18:50 -- It's Final Fantasy XIII-2!

18:50 -- The real announcement comes next!

18:50 -- So that last trailer was just a prelude into this discussion about the mythology.

18:49 -- Fabula Nova Crystallis is a series where the various creators are allowed to freely interpret the base mythology.

18:48 -- Kitase says that the mythology behind the Fabula Nova Crystallis series was set in place four of five year ago. Even post FFXIII, they will be telling stories that use this mythology as a background.

18:43 -- The name wasn't shown in the trailer, but it looks like Yoshinori Kitase is on hand to share more details!

18:43 -- The trailer appears to be for a new entry in the series. It shows animation that looks like a picture book (according to FF-Reunion) and has a kid's voice narrating the mythology of the Fal'cie.

18:42 -- It seems to be for a Fabula Nova Crystallis game!

18:42 -- They're showing the next trailer!

[Eaglestrike]

To be fair, FFXIII does start you off as someone really really really wanted, and hated, of all the world (Cocoon). It's therefore somewhat justified there's no towns [for the player to explore in, since everyone out there wants their neck], no?

(i'm sure 1 person mentioned this somewhere before, but I forget where, but it seems to be largely skipped)

Yeah, this is actually a PLOT HOLE from other FF games. You're largely wanted by Shinra, who owns the entire fucking world with money, but you can slip by them everywhere, you can freely run around any town with no issues, seriously? Same shit in many FF games. They make an FF game with some realistic sense to it and you can't freely walk about because of you being a wanted criminal and it's a travesty...wtf.

[Elona]

Really nice that its official now.

[Kaisha]

Well XIII-2 was confirmed. http://plixi.com/p/70791093

Comes out this year also apparently. Not sure how I feel about that unless they've been working on it silently for the last couple years, which might explain why XIII VS is at a snails pace in production.

18:53 -- Toriyama says that fans have been asking for a sequel. The FFXIII development staff also wanted to show players another dramatic story and game with Lightning.

SE should probably stop listening to their fans again.