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[Dark Schala]

A friend and I were actually talking about the movement on the battlefield in FF13 last night, and that's one reason why despite the fact that I can talk at length about advanced strategy with CSB, it's not one of my favourite battle systems in the series. For example, there are AoE attacks in the game, and some people have a stupid tendency to get close to Defenders who are trying to draw attacks away from the party. But lol, everyone gets hit by an AoE attack anyway because they're too stupid to stay away from the Defender or the Defender doesn't have enough room to move around anymore.

As for the bit about getting tired of saying the same things ad nauseam in FF13/Lightning threads, that's also one of the reasons why I don't feel like participating in those threads anymore (aside from the obvious reasons). It had gotten to a point earlier in the year and late last year where I simply felt like I was quoting my previous posts because the same threads were constantly made, or because people just didn't get what you'd said the first time around despite actively posting in a similar thread a week or so before. Why bother drumming something new up when you've basically said the same thing before over and over for the past two years now? It gets incredibly tiresome. And with how toxic those threads tend to get, posting something rather thoughtful gets lost in the mix.

Nobuo Uematsu played live tonight with his band the Dancing Dads here in Hawaii at Onicon. They played a variation of original music along with some Final Fantasy and Blue Dragon music. And what do you know, we spotted Hironobu Sakaguchi in the crowd (He wasn't "adverstised" to be here) recording video of the performance. Most people passed him by like he was just another guy. . Sakaguchi was nice enough to autograph my last story. Got Nobuo Uematsu autograph as well. He liked my club nintendo mario shirt!

Oh, that's really cool! Well, Uematsu and Sakaguchi have worked together for a looooong time, so he was likely invited as a personal guest.

 

[HTupolev]

A friend and I were actually talking about the movement on the battlefield in FF13 last night, and that's one reason why despite the fact that I can talk at length about advanced strategy with CSB, it's not one of my favourite battle systems in the series. For example, there are AoE attacks in the game, and some people have a stupid tendency to get close to Defenders who are trying to draw attacks away from the party. But lol, everyone gets hit by an AoE attack anyway because they're too stupid to stay away from the Defender or the Defender doesn't have enough room to move around anymore.

That's part of why I didn't feel very inclined to use SEN much until I could use that passive which makes AoE's on them do less damage to their nearby allies. It makes that quite a bit less obnoxious.

I've only made one pass through FFXIII, and I used a lot of Lightning/Vanille/Hope. Dat constant panicked switching between offensive paradigms and MED/MED/MED.

 

[CorvoSol]

A friend and I were actually talking about the movement on the battlefield in FF13 last night, and that's one reason why despite the fact that I can talk at length about advanced strategy with CSB, it's not one of my favourite battle systems in the series. For example, there are AoE attacks in the game, and some people have a stupid tendency to get close to Defenders who are trying to draw attacks away from the party. But lol, everyone gets hit by an AoE attack anyway because they're too stupid to stay away from the Defender or the Defender doesn't have enough room to move around anymore.

As for the bit about getting tired of saying the same things ad nauseam in FF13/Lightning threads, that's also one of the reasons why I don't feel like participating in those threads anymore (aside from the obvious reasons). It had gotten to a point earlier in the year and late last year where I simply felt like I was quoting my previous posts because the same threads were constantly made, or because people just didn't get what you'd said the first time around despite actively posting in a similar thread a week or so before. Why bother drumming something new up when you've basically said the same thing before over and over for the past two years now? It gets incredibly tiresome. And with how toxic those threads tend to get, posting something rather thoughtful gets lost in the mix.


Oh, that's really cool! Well, Uematsu and Sakaguchi have worked together for a looooong time, so he was likely invited as a personal guest.

BING BING BING.

I am so tired of the pro-XIII fans slinging the most absurd of claims at people who complain even remotely, and so tired of doing the same dumb dance and hearing people say the same four things again and again and again.

 

[Krammy]

Does anyone know what the TINA_02 design is from in the Ultimania? I redrew it tonight (to the best of my ability), but I don't remember it from the game. It looks like an early design that got scraped. It's not nearly as colourful, the sprite seems a lot more amateurish, the hair is different, and it's also blonde like the original design. I can't find any info about it anywhere, but there's a whole sprite sheet in the book, and I'm getting curious to know if there's any info on it out there.

TINA_02 vs Tina (Final)

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Is it just me, or is the voice direction in Dissidia really bad? Like... just plain awful.

 

[Meccanical]

Is it just me, or is the voice direction in Dissidia really bad? Like... just plain awful.

Eh...it's alright.

I mean it's no FFXII, but hell what is these days.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Is it just me, or is the voice direction in Dissidia really bad? Like... just plain awful.

Well when you have bobble head mania combined with Cloud's "My voice....is coming....out....delayed...." it gets hilariously bad.

Granted the voices aren't all bad but it's pretty much half great half suck.

You have good voice direction(mostly coming from the villains like Golbez, ExDeath, Emperor...actually any villain that isn't Ultimecia) and then you have things like Onion Knight where you just want to strangle the character.

 

[CorvoSol]

Is it just me, or is the voice direction in Dissidia really bad? Like... just plain awful.

Depends on the character. If that character is Cloud or Terra then yes, yes it is.

If that character is Golbez or ExDeath, nah, they're better that way.

 

[Wazzy]

I've always hated Squalls but I'm in a minority on that one. I think he sounds too monotone and deep. I preferred Boreanaz's voice wayyyy more.

 

[CorvoSol]

I've always hated Squalls but I'm in a minority on that one. I think he sounds too monotone and deep. I preferred Boreanaz's voice wayyyy more.

Well yeah, sure, everybody sounds inferior to him.

But I mean, Chaos got Keith David. You don't get luckier than that.

 

[NHarmonic.]

Guys i'm like 16+ Hours in FF13 and i need some advice... What do you guys recommend, regarding to the upgrade process of Weapons and accesories? I don't feel like wasting 1000+ points on something useless...

I have only upgraded Lightning's Gladius (it's like level 7) and Sazh's Deneb Dwellers

Any recommendations?

 

[Wazzy]

I would try to avoid leveling up your weapons too much early on. Save the materials for later once you can access better materials through the shop and then you can start leveling your weapon. I haven't played XIII in forever so I'm blanking on her best weapon. I just remember Lionheart being great for stagger.

IIRC there's a material trick while though it still costs money, it's easier to get your weapon upgraded. You want to get the best and cheapest multipliers before using the big material's to level up.

 

[badcrumble]

Guys i'm like 16+ Hours in FF13 and i need some advice... What do you guys recommend, regarding to the upgrade process of Weapons and accesories? I don't feel like wasting 1000+ points on something useless...

I have only upgraded Lightning's Gladius (it's like level 7) and Sazh's Deneb Dwellers

Any recommendations?

My honest recommendation is to avoid leveling weapons or equipment for as long as possible, until you've completed chapter 12 basically. You won't need it, and any work you do put into it will likely be a waste.

However, at the very tail end of chapter 11, you'll unlock a new tier on the Crystarium. Chapter 11 contains a bunch of sidequests that don't become available to you again until partway through chapter 13. When that Crystarium tier unlocks, you should go back and do a bunch more of the sidequests in order to power yourself up. That's much more worthwhile than grinding out weapons at that point in the game.

Don't level Lionheart for Lightning, btw. Instead, go for her Axis Blade. It's generally agreed upon to be the better investment of the two. Quick Stagger is one of the only weapon passives that *doesn't* level up when you raise the weapon to its second form (i.e. there's no Quick Stagger II). Lionheart's pretty neat when you first get it, and it's perfectly handy to keep around for a while, but it's honestly not that great for the late game.

 

[SkyOdin]

Guys i'm like 16+ Hours in FF13 and i need some advice... What do you guys recommend, regarding to the upgrade process of Weapons and accesories? I don't feel like wasting 1000+ points on something useless...

I have only upgraded Lightning's Gladius (it's like level 7) and Sazh's Deneb Dwellers

Any recommendations?

Don't even bother, and just use weapons based on what special qualities they have. I beat the game using un-upgraded weapons. I have yet to figure out which are the best weapons to focus on, but I think upgrading weapons is only really a big deal for the post-game content.

 

[Professor Beef]

Cloud and Squall's voice direction is awful.

Terra's is fine, but I hate her anyways.

 

[Red Mage]

Guys i'm like 16+ Hours in FF13 and i need some advice... What do you guys recommend, regarding to the upgrade process of Weapons and accesories? I don't feel like wasting 1000+ points on something useless...

I have only upgraded Lightning's Gladius (it's like level 7) and Sazh's Deneb Dwellers

Any recommendations?

Quit while you're ahead? (I kid I kid).

As others have said, wait. Honestly, there's little reason to trade out characters in XIII except for a few side-quests. Once you've determined which three work best for you, then start concerning yourself about upgrades.

 

[MagiusNecros]

Thoughts on Robot Angel ExDeath...err....Bunnybelts....err...Bhunivelze?

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Thoughts on Robot Angel ExDeath...err....Bunnybelts....err...Bhunivelze?

Pulse has a similar esthetic. I think he is holding

Spoiler

Serah's

soul.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Thoughts on Robot Angel ExDeath...err....Bunnybelts....err...Bhunivelze?

I'll repeat my earlier sentiments: I'm finding it hard to care. Everything about Pulse, Lidenzi, Etro, Bhunivelze, and Mwynn has been so poorly conveyed outside of other material not legally accessible outside of Japan that, at this point, I'm just waiting for this trainwreck to shamble into the station and then leave after 30 or so hours. So much wasted potential.

 

[CorvoSol]

Thoughts on Robot Angel ExDeath...err....Bunnybelts....err...Bhunivelze?

Wait. Have they released official images of the Gods now?

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Wait. Have they released official images of the Gods now?

Just Bunny-boy.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Wait. Have they released official images of the Gods now?

Well in the first game we saw Pulse.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Edit: That sounded a lot pissier than I intended. Sorry, Dragmire.

 

[NHarmonic.]

My honest recommendation is to avoid leveling weapons or equipment for as long as possible, until you've completed chapter 12 basically. You won't need it, and any work you do put into it will likely be a waste.

However, at the very tail end of chapter 11, you'll unlock a new tier on the Crystarium. Chapter 11 contains a bunch of sidequests that don't become available to you again until partway through chapter 13. When that Crystarium tier unlocks, you should go back and do a bunch more of the sidequests in order to power yourself up. That's much more worthwhile than grinding out weapons at that point in the game.

Don't level Lionheart for Lightning, btw. Instead, go for her Axis Blade. It's generally agreed upon to be the better investment of the two. Quick Stagger is one of the only weapon passives that *doesn't* level up when you raise the weapon to its second form (i.e. there's no Quick Stagger II). Lionheart's pretty neat when you first get it, and it's perfectly handy to keep around for a while, but it's honestly not that great for the late game.

Don't even bother, and just use weapons based on what special qualities they have. I beat the game using un-upgraded weapons. I have yet to figure out which are the best weapons to focus on, but I think upgrading weapons is only really a big deal for the post-game content.

Quit while you're ahead? (I kid I kid).

As others have said, wait. Honestly, there's little reason to trade out characters in XIII except for a few side-quests. Once you've determined which three work best for you, then start concerning yourself about upgrades.

Thanks for the advice guys Another question though, how much time you have to play until you can select your party members and leader?

Also i don't think i'll get the most out of this game specially, i kinda want to finish it to be ready to move to 13-2 so i want to get the most out of the story mode

 

[Meccanical]

You want get to choose your own party until chapter 12.

Or was it 11?

Whatever chapter you first get to go left and right uninhibited in.

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

Thanks for the advice guys Another question though, how much time you have to play until you can select your party members and leader?

Also i don't think i'll get the most out of this game specially, i kinda want to finish it to be ready to move to 13-2 so i want to get the most out of the story mode

Chapter 10 is when you get to pick your own party. That's around the 25 hour mark for most people.

 

[Ganon Dragmire]

Edit: That sounded a lot pissier than I intended. Sorry, Dragmire.

I saw it, I get the frustration,its all cool. You edit too much. Haha. If you wanna make it up to me: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=708383&highlight=lightning+returns

Sign and Share. And the rest of you guys too.

 

[CorvoSol]

Edit: That sounded a lot pissier than I intended. Sorry, Dragmire.

You were right, though, that the Pulse-Anima confusion is still going strong. Plus we only get like a really blurry look at Pulse, whereas we've seen statues of Lindzei, paintings of Etro, and now pictures of Bhunivelze?

 

[Dark Schala]

Guys i'm like 16+ Hours in FF13 and i need some advice... What do you guys recommend, regarding to the upgrade process of Weapons and accesories? I don't feel like wasting 1000+ points on something useless...

I have only upgraded Lightning's Gladius (it's like level 7) and Sazh's Deneb Dwellers

Any recommendations?

Yeah, I beat FF13 with Tier-1 weapons only. I didn't even start upgrading until I 5-starred all of the missions in the game because the ratings takes into account the time you spent, and what your stats look like. If your stats are higher, your target time is lowered. Thus if you're pursuing the platinum, it's best to not upgrade or use a lot of accessories that raise your stats.

But since you don't care, just use whatever weapon is suited towards your playstyle. If you're not spending a lot of time with the game, optimization isn't going to be in your best interest anyway. Just use whatever attribute you like best.

I barely ever used Lightning in my party anyway. *shrug* Hope/Vanille/Fang for Chapter 10 and onwards. That's why I never really know what to say whenever people do want to know about her and her stats. :lol

Let me look for that one post I made about using organic materials to increase the multiplier to x3 and using inorganic materials to level up. Just know that organic materials increase the multiplier. Inorganic materials decrease the multiplier. Edit: Found it. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=34768300&postcount=204. The upgrade system in FF13 is stupid as all hell because a lot of shit is hidden away from the player. Poorly designed.

Oh man, it's just like I said before. Combing through my post history to find stuff about FF13 I wrote about a year or two ago. :V

 

[CorvoSol]

So Square Enix shot themselves in the foot today guys.

I dunno how many of you are experts on totally batstuff insane culture (I am) but you can't be doing this. Square Enix's only option now is to sell all of their properties to me for a nickel so I can trade 'em to Magius for a Pokemon card so he can manage them in the only way we really know to be appropriate:

-MC is Berserker with Axes

-GILGAMESH saga

-No characters under the age of 27.

 

[Meccanical]

I'm down with that.

 

[Dark Schala]

I wrote my thoughts elsewhere about that stuff.

I don't think it's the end of the world upon reading the pdf. It doesn't really say anything completely bad in that file (outside of presumably the DQ stuff, but an alternative reading is that "these games will also be ported to smartphones or vice-versa"). I almost feel like they might go multiplatform for some stuff, like they already are for some of their smartphone games. Reading that thread this morning only made me feel tired.

Really, the thread title is a little misleading, and thus I don't think a lot of people really bothered to read the actual document.

 

[CorvoSol]

Honestly, as long as they localize the Type-0 dating sim smart phone game, I don't really care what else they do. I'll get XV and Bravely Default but it isn't like they've announced anything else that is really interesting anymore.

Maybe I'd dip for DQ8 on my phone. Maybe.

 

[Dark Schala]

I didn't see anywhere in that document where they said they'd stop making console and handheld games, or "exclusively" making games for smartphones.

It just sounded to me that they'd make or port more games for smartphones than they already are while still developing games for other platforms (and thus the language used in the file was "accelerating production" as opposed to something like exclusively developing). I don't necessarily think that they're going for platform exclusivity anymore, and like it or not, the mobile platform still counts as another "platform" for them.

So I have to say that people shouting that the sky is falling in that thread left me scratching my head. Especially since KH3, and presumably FFXV, were announced waaaaaaaay too early.

 

[Meccanical]

That curious feeling where we live in a world where a game that was in development for 8 years was announced too early.

Granted I understand that it had to be completely overhauled and that's fine I'm even glad they did it.


But still.

 

[CorvoSol]

I didn't see anywhere in that document where they said they'd stop making console and handheld games, or "exclusively" making games for smartphones.

It just sounded to me that they'd make or port more games for smartphones than they already are while still developing games for other platforms (and thus the language used in the file was "accelerating production" as opposed to something like exclusively developing). I don't necessarily think that they're going for platform exclusivity anymore, and like it or not, the mobile platform still counts as another "platform" for them.

So I have to say that people shouting that the sky is falling in that thread left me scratching my head. Especially since KH3, and presumably FFXV, were announced waaaaaaaay too early.

I can see the complaints of people who are fans of Eidos as being very well grounded, though. Square converting the whole of Eidos into an online only deal seems like a bum rap.

 

[Dark Schala]

I can see the complaints of people who are fans of Eidos as being very well grounded, though. Square converting the whole of Eidos into an online only deal seems like a bum rap.

That's not what the pdf said?

The online bit where Eidos said that they're going more online-focused is basically referring to making their console games more online-focused (presumably adding more focus to MP (ex: Crystal Dynamics to Tomb Raider), putting microtransactions in their SP titles, going F2P with some original games, or making some online stuff...and uh, they did say that earlier this year in a blog post before, so this isn't new news).

I don't necessarily see the words "online-exclusive development" in that document. I see stuff that might lead to microtransactions or a focus on MP components, or resources for additional online development, but I don't see bits and pieces leading to them saying "online exclusive development".

Shit, I'm like the last person to defend SE because I can't stand 'em sometimes, but it's just like... the document is an IR report with numbers and small points on a powerpoint slide and usually when you're lecturing, you don't put everything you're going to say about each point on the slide? So I'm guessing that elaboration on those points happened (or will happen) during an investor call/conference?

It's a blueprint for what they plan to do but it's not like they're going strictly adhere to small bullets on a slide and outright stop doing what they're already doing.

 

[Labadal]

Guys i'm like 16+ Hours in FF13 and i need some advice... What do you guys recommend, regarding to the upgrade process of Weapons and accesories? I don't feel like wasting 1000+ points on something useless...

I have only upgraded Lightning's Gladius (it's like level 7) and Sazh's Deneb Dwellers

Any recommendations?

I barely levelled up my weapons. Only did that for the late game hunts and final boss.

 

[Labadal]

About the S-E situation. I don't know what the future will bring, but I'll focus on the games they actually have announced for now, starting with Bravely Default. It's better that way.

 

[CorvoSol]

That's not what the pdf said?


I don't necessarily see the words "online-exclusive development" in that document. I see stuff that might lead to microtransactions or a focus on MP components, or resources for additional online development, but I don't see bits and pieces leading to them saying "online exclusive development".

Shit, I'm like the last person to defend SE because I can't stand 'em sometimes, but it's just like... the document is an IR report with numbers and small points on a powerpoint slide and usually when you're lecturing, you don't put everything you're going to say about each point on the slide? So I'm guessing that elaboration on those points happened (or will happen) during an investor call/conference?

It's a blueprint for what they plan to do but it's not like they're going strictly adhere to small bullets on a slide and outright stop doing what they're already doing.

Well I dunno, then. I'm dumb anyway.

 

[Dark Schala]

Corvo, dear, you ain't dumb.

You just like FF4.

(Seriously, though. You're not dumb.)

 

[Wazzy]

It's disappointing to hear but hopefully it doesn't mean they'll stop making games for handhelds/consoles. I just don't like the direction Square is heading.

Oh well, I'll just have to look forward to BD and FF XV to stay positive.

 

[CorvoSol]

Corvo, dear, you ain't dumb.

You just like FF4.

(Seriously, though. You're not dumb.)

But I

Spoiler

didn't read the pdf

!

 

[Dark Schala]

But you wrote the equivalent of a pdf for FF4 concerning Cecil's... extracurricular habits.

 

[SpaceBridge]

Booted up my old GBA copy of FFTA and started playing from where I left off (10 hours in according to the save file). It's a charming little game, but maybe I should track down a copy of FFTA2 instead.

My question; which one is better? FFTA or FFTA2?

Edit: I've played and finished the masterpiece that is FFTWoTL.

 

[Wazzy]

Booted up my old GBA copy of FFTA and started playing from where I left off (10 hours in according to the save file). It's a charming little game, but maybe I should track down a copy of FFTA2 instead.

My question; which one is better? FFTA or FFTA2?

Edit: I've played and finished the masterpiece that is FFTWoTL.

Tbh run from TA2 and never look back. NEVER. LOOK. BACK.

Advance is alright. I enjoyed it enough even if it doesn't live up to WOTL.

 

[MagiusNecros]

I'll repeat my earlier sentiments: I'm finding it hard to care. Everything about Pulse, Lidenzi, Etro, Bhunivelze, and Mwynn has been so poorly conveyed outside of other material not legally accessible outside of Japan that, at this point, I'm just waiting for this trainwreck to shamble into the station and then leave after 30 or so hours. So much wasted potential.

Well I give 0 fucks myself. My interest is in BDFF. More Final Fantasy then Final Fantasy but isn't Final Fantasy. I find Bunnybelts design to be bland and uninspired. Sorry but I'm not feeling it. Odds are he'll be the Deus Ex Machina boss.

 

[SpaceBridge]

Tbh run from TA2 and never look back. NEVER. LOOK. BACK.

Advance is alright. I enjoyed it enough even if it doesn't live up to WOTL.

One of the annoying things in Advanced 1 is that when I'm at a shop buying equipment I can't tell how new armor or weapons effect my stats.

 

[NHarmonic.]

Yeah, I beat FF13 with Tier-1 weapons only. I didn't even start upgrading until I 5-starred all of the missions in the game because the ratings takes into account the time you spent, and what your stats look like. If your stats are higher, your target time is lowered. Thus if you're pursuing the platinum, it's best to not upgrade or use a lot of accessories that raise your stats.

But since you don't care, just use whatever weapon is suited towards your playstyle. If you're not spending a lot of time with the game, optimization isn't going to be in your best interest anyway. Just use whatever attribute you like best.

I barely ever used Lightning in my party anyway. *shrug* Hope/Vanille/Fang for Chapter 10 and onwards. That's why I never really know what to say whenever people do want to know about her and her stats. :lol

Let me look for that one post I made about using organic materials to increase the multiplier to x3 and using inorganic materials to level up. Just know that organic materials increase the multiplier. Inorganic materials decrease the multiplier. Edit: Found it. http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=34768300&postcount=204. The upgrade system in FF13 is stupid as all hell because a lot of shit is hidden away from the player. Poorly designed.

Oh man, it's just like I said before. Combing through my post history to find stuff about FF13 I wrote about a year or two ago. :V

I'm on that corridor full of Psycom shit, when you finally can select your party members... I'm using Lightning - Snow - Fang but they don't go so well together, i'm not good as a medic...

Anyway, thanks again for the advice guys

 

[Wazzy]

I'm on that corridor full of Psycom shit, when you finally can select your party members... I'm using Lightning - Snow - Fang but they don't go so well together, i'm not good as a medic...

Anyway, thanks again for the advice guys

I would replace Snow with Vanille. She's great for debuffs and healing.

One of the annoying things in Advanced 1 is that when I'm at a shop buying equipment I can't tell how new armor or weapons effect my stats.

I haven't played it in forever but that sounds shitty. I remember you can miss out on missions which sucks because that also means you'll miss out on a character.