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[ZephyrFate]

Well, for all of its linearity, characters had clear-cut roles and I found that to be much better coming off of FF12 and its too-much-freedom.

 

[jiggle]

RPGSite: Do you feel that fans were disappointed with the original Final Fantasy XIII? Are there any features in Final Fantasy XIII-2 that were direct actions based on fan feedback and fans of the original?
Kitase: I think that XIII was criticized by other people we think because it was meant to be story-driven. But it was so much so, that people thought it was quite linear, which people didn’t like. So before we started making XIII-2, we decided that we were determined to take all the negative comments seriously, and rectify every single one of them fairly and properly. So this new game is more player driven, than story driven, so that the player will have very active involvement. There’s a lot more things you can do and explore, like towns and other things, and also you can choose what you want to say to a NPC.

:lol, why can't it be both?

 

[Xilium]

In fact I'd say that's one of the few things FF13 did correctly. It's better to give the player choice, even if it's a bad one than to take away all choices entirely.

I gotta disagree with this. I personally can't stand open world games and much prefer linear games. With games like ME and DA, I find it annoying that I'm having to make a dialog choice in nearly every conversation I get into. I really don't feel that having choice is always a good thing (choice for the sake of having it).

As for skill/character progression goes, in party based games I generally prefer that the characters all have predefined roles since, more often than not, you're going to have to fit them into those roles regardless. In games that I'm only controlling one protagonist, I prefer more choices as that is detrimental to how you will ultimately play that game.

In XIII, there was no reason to branch out of the obvious roles set out for each character till post-game. Doing so before then would just cripple that characters usefulness and even post game, it was more just cause you can than actually providing any practical use.

 

[toastyToast]

The Crystarium was visually really good looking, I don't get where this 'eye straining' bullshit is. The menu is easily the sleekest I have EVER seen in an RPG.

How could ME saying I found it eye straining bullshit? Maybe I have bad eyes? I do in fact have bad eyes, it was way too bright for me.

Unless you wanted me to preface the post with imo.

 

[The Xtortionist]

Gameplay is actually sounding pretty good. Great, even, if the devs keep their word. If only the dialogue and character designs didn't make me want to shoot myself...

I'm cautiously optimistic - a great success for a FF game in the year 2011.

 

[Gvaz]

I like Open World games such as new vegas because they're open world (and if doing so, I better be able to make my character ME or as much of the me I want to be as possible) and you can do anything within the constraints of the game design.

I don't like that they're not nearly as directed, but it makes up for it by having the story be driven by the player. It's up to you, you choose.

I like Linear games because they're heavily story driven, allowing for a concise path.

I don't like linear games because your choices are so tied down. It feels like you're playing with a menu screen of a movie, I especially got that feeling with FF13. I wasn't actually doing anything. I was just pressing some buttons sometimes and holding forward. This does not engage me. You do not choose anything of significance.

 

[Stinkdog]

So, this just looks like the second half of FFXIII's mediocre story to me. I'll probably wait to buy it until it's bargain price.

 

[ZephyrFate]

I like Open World games such as new vegas because they're open world (and if doing so, I better be able to make my character ME or as much of the me I want to be as possible) and you can do anything within the constraints of the game design.

I don't like that they're not nearly as directed, but it makes up for it by having the story be driven by the player. It's up to you, you choose.

I like Linear games because they're heavily story driven, allowing for a concise path.

I don't like linear games because your choices are so tied down. It feels like you're playing with a menu screen of a movie, I especially got that feeling with FF13. I wasn't actually doing anything. I was just pressing some buttons sometimes and holding forward. This does not engage me. You do not choose anything of significance.

Pressing buttons and sometimes moving forward is kind of endemic of the entire franchise.

 

[Dark Schala]

and even post game, it was more just cause you can than actually providing any practical use.

I thought they were pretty practical, though. Vanille was a pretty awesome Sentinel (good for Mission 64 before you max your Crystarium), and Snow/Sazh made for okay Saboteurs (good for killing off some Long Guis). The secondary roles, even though they were not ideal for some of the characters, were useful in terms of the skills that they provide to the characters. Vanille/Hope's Com felt useless, though.

Also, Snow/Sazh as Saboteurs while killing Long Guis are a good idea (particularly Sazh) because his attack animation time for Daze syncs up pretty well with the length of time it takes for your other characters (probably Fang/Lightning) to take down the Gui while keeping it Dazed and preventing it from attacking. They tend to get ridiculously easy when you start doing it.

But after a while, the battle system feels like it's you going through the motions half the time. X X XXXXX L1 X XXXXXX X XXXXXX L1, etc, repeat ad nauseam, etc, etc. I decided to select abilities manually to add to the difficulty, but when you're trying to kill the same things repeatedly, it feels boring. So I really hope they switch it up and randomize it a bit. To be honest, I was playing Graces F at the same time I was trying to plat FFXIII, so that's likely the reason why I felt like FFXIII was like that.

More battles like the ones for Vercingetorix and Atticus, please. Those were probably my favourites in the entire game.

On another note, I effing LOVED FFXIII's menu. It was really pretty.

 

[Unknown One]

I prefer if it went back to traditional leveling. Just have separate leveling for different class or something. I hated all the grid based leveling in the FF series and it was predetermined anyways, so you're not really customizing your characters at all by the end game. There is no risk in picking a path.

 

[Let me in]

Well, for all of its linearity, characters had clear-cut roles and I found that to be much better coming off of FF12 and its too-much-freedom.

The best thing about XII was that you could choose their roles and customize to you heart's desire. If you wanted to have each character represent a class archetype all you had to do was pick the right licenses. Even better, ZJS does that for you (which I liked better).

I didn't think the characters in XIII were that differentiated. It was all an illusion anyway since everyone's role was predetermined.

 

[ZephyrFate]

The best thing about XII was that you could choose their roles and customize to you heart's desire. If you wanted to have each character represent a class archetype all you had to do was pick the right licenses. Even better, ZJS does that for you (which I liked better).

I didn't think the characters in XIII were that differentiated. It was all an illusion anyway since everyone's role was predetermined.

How were they not? Characters that were fighters clearly were attuned to Commando/Sentinel/etc., and characters that were mages were clearly attuned to Medic or Ravager.

I enjoyed the fact that XIII had pre-determined roles. It made characters less walking avatars of unlimited customization and made them unique.

 

[Let me in]

How were they not? Characters that were fighters clearly were attuned to Commando/Sentinel/etc., and characters that were mages were clearly attuned to Medic or Ravager.

I enjoyed the fact that XIII had pre-determined roles. It made characters less walking avatars of unlimited customization and made them unique.

They might be fairly better at one thing, but they're all interchangeable. Most of them share similar skills. Does is matter if it's Fira or Blizzara?

And no matter what you do, these characters won't grow in any other way that what has already been written into the game. That limits my imagination right from the word go.

Once all the characters learn all roles, I will say it was interesting to have the full array of role combinations available. Too bad it occurs way too late in the game to have been any use.

Your argument that characters were attuned specifically to one thing makes it even worse for me; the developer's invisible hand is always present predetermining, in large part, how the battles are going to go. Everything is planned because they know exactly how your characters are developed at any given time, so boss battles are tailored to that.

 

[Rahxephon91]

Final Fantasy XII's role custimization is pretty terrible. Everyone becomes the same with little difference in other then weapons. They all learn the same skills and just playing the story gives you more then enough skills. It's a real boring system. By the end of the game I just stop buying skills for the sake of having diffrent characters but even then there's no point.

XIII at least has characters that aren't all the same and obviously tuned for specific roles.

I like having characters actually be unique and not the same and while XIII basicly fights you when it comes to character custimization, I'd still take that over the thoughtless custimization of XII.

 

[ZephyrFate]

They might be fairly better at one thing, but they're all interchangeable. Most of them share similar skills. Does is matter if it's Fira or Blizzara?

And no matter what you do, these characters won't grow in any other way that what has already been written into the game. That limits my imagination right from the word go.

Once all the characters learn all roles, I will say it was interesting to have the full array of role combinations available. Too bad it occurs way too late in the game to have been any use.

Your argument that characters were attuned specifically to one thing makes it even worse for me; the developer's invisible hand is always present predetermining, in large part, how the battles are going to go. Everything is planned because they know exactly how your characters are developed at any given time, so boss battles are tailored to that.

That's not true, though. The weapon system actually changes what roles your characters specialize in. You can have characters go all offense to increase their role as a Commando, or all magic to make them better Ravagers. This is best seen in Lightning, whose weapon paths can either make her very good at fighting, good at magic, or a jack-of-all-trades.

There IS difference between the characters, it's up to you to make it happen.

 

[Let me in]

By comparison I found holding down X at the crystarium screen akin to having a frontal lobotomy. Totally mindless. But... it was pretty!

I think ZJS was really the best of both worlds between freedom and predetermination. Each character could be a different class, or if you're feeling nuts they could all be white mages.

That's not true, though. The weapon system actually changes what roles your characters specialize in. You can have characters go all offense to increase their role as a Commando, or all magic to make them better Ravagers. This is best seen in Lightning, whose weapon paths can either make her very good at fighting, good at magic, or a jack-of-all-trades.

There IS difference between the characters, it's up to you to make it happen.

So, this is a good point. Except I really hated the weapon leveling system :/ I managed to play through this game twice and that system never grabbed me. I usually just equipped them with what the game seemed to want me to (i.e. boost Lightning, Fang in attack, Vanille in magic etc.).

 

[Sword Familiar]

Final Fantasy XII's role custimization is pretty terrible. Everyone becomes the same with little difference in other then weapons. They all learn the same skills and just playing the story gives you more then enough skills. It's a real boring system. By the end of the game I just stop buying skills for the sake of having diffrent characters but even then there's no point.

That's fixed in ZJS. You pick a job and you're stuck with it's board for the rest of the game.

 

[ZephyrFate]

By comparison I found holding down X at the crystarium screen akin to having a frontal lobotomy. Totally mindless. But... it was pretty!

I think ZJS was really the best of both worlds between freedom and predetermination. Each character could be a different class, or if you're feeling nuts they could all be white mages.


So, this is a good point. Except I really hated the weapon leveling system :/ I managed to play through this game twice and that system never grabbed me. I usually just equipped them with what the game seemed to want me to (i.e. boost Lightning, Fang in attack, Vanille in magic etc.).

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Final_Fantasy_XIII_Weapons#Gunblades

Each of the characters have different weapon trees that fundamentally change what type of role you want them to have in battle. The end result is the same weapon, but with different properties. Things like Stagger Lock will prevent a character from being able to Stagger a foe, but provide huge stat boosts; the opposite will allow you to quickly Stagger a foe, but with reduced stats.

 

[Droplet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGkPFiTSvl0&feature=channel_video_title

Demo video with clear audio. I don't think the rap music is that bad but I can already see that Mog isn't going to be the most popular character kupo~

 

[ULTROS!]

The mog has a funny voice.

But it looks sooooooo cute.

 

[ZephyrFate]

I am enjoying the regular battle theme, but not as much as I did the original game's. :/ The rap doesn't sound too bad, it's like a lo-fi Persona rap song; the fact that the battle theme is buttrock also seems to be another riff off of Meguro's work.

 

[Dark Schala]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGkPFiTSvl0&feature=channel_video_title

Demo video with clear audio. I don't think the rap music is that bad but I can already see that Mog isn't going to be the most popular character kupo~

Needs more Lotus Juice. I don't think it's too bad, though I'm listening to it out of context so I can't make a proper judgement.

I like the battle theme, at least--it sounds like a prototype version, however. And I am SO glad it doesn't do the "pan around the characters" during the battle's first Optima Shift.

The rap doesn't sound too bad, it's like a lo-fi Persona rap song; the fact that the battle theme is buttrock also seems to be another riff off of Meguro's work.

Yes, this sums things up pretty well.

 

[Crash Station]

The moogle's voice is awesome <3

 

[Fimbulvetr]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGkPFiTSvl0&feature=channel_video_title

Demo video with clear audio. I don't think the rap music is that bad but I can already see that Mog isn't going to be the most popular character kupo~

I like that the music becomes actiony when enemies spawn. That's how XII should have handled battles with random monsters.

OH GOD he's like a pokemon!

I like that they kept random NPC chatter around, but they really mssed the mark with some of those. Like there's this giant semi-magical robot just wrecking everyone's shit and some soldiers just make unsurprised or snarky comments? Really? All this dampness is damp.

 

[Styles]

Seems like some of the music from XIII are still in, I wonder if these will be replaced in the final game. It's awesome how the music changed when you're about to encounter enemies. I like what I am seeing so far.

 

[Hcoregamer00]

From what I am hearing, this game is turning out to be what I wished Final Fantasy 13 was.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the heck out of FF13. Had they put what they are putting in FFXIII-2, I would have enjoyed it far more.

 

[robertsan21]

a little of topic here but as FF XIII-2 is in the making I need to finish XIII.

I sold my FF XIII before I even completed it, but I have saved the game save file from my last play session with FF XIII.

now I need to know if a game save works on a different region FF XIII.

let say I played the PAL version of FF XIII, would the US version work with my game save file and vice versa?

 

[Dark Schala]

a little of topic here but as FF XIII-2 is in the making I need to finish XIII.

I sold my FF XIII before I even completed it, but I have saved the game save file from my last play session with FF XIII.

now I need to know if a game save works on a different region FF XIII.

let say I played the PAL version of FF XIII, would the US version work with my game save file and vice versa?

My JP save does not work on my US copy and vice-versa, so no.

 

[Styles]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CMkdXp42pc&feature=channel_video_title Here's another video, there is more exploration in this one.

 

[Seda]

I'm liking the standard battle music.

 

[Dark Schala]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CMkdXp42pc&feature=channel_video_title Here's another video, there is more exploration in this one.

"It almost feels like I'm in a movie"
"This rain isn't artificial--it's the real thing. I'd forgotten how good it feels on my skin"
Mmhmm.

I really dislike how the rain splashes onto the camera. It makes sense if you're playing from the first-person perspective like in Metroid Prime, but it's a little distracting here...

 

[MooMoo]

I wonder if they'll improve the 360 version (yes yes, I bought it only system I own). With promises of towns and whatnot, I can't help but think of the frame rate dips in Pulse and that Chocobo festival place. I'm liking what I'm hearing and seeing so far though! Also liking the new battle theme.

 

[duckroll]

My JP save does not work on my US copy and vice-versa, so no.

Yeah the JP and US saves are not compatible, but strangely enough they actually made the US and JP saves compatible with the Asian English PS3 release of the game (with Japanese voice and English/Chinese text options).

 

[Jerk]

Looks, not completely awful.

This shocks me. If they add gambits, and a decent upgrade system, I may consider buying used.

 

[duckroll]

I wonder if they'll improve the 360 version (yes yes, I bought it only system I own). With promises of towns and whatnot, I can't help but think of the frame rate dips in Pulse and that Chocobo festival place. I'm liking what I'm hearing and seeing so far though! Also liking the new battle theme.

I really hope they do. Developers and publishers need to realize that when they commit to multiplatform releases it cannot be a half-hearted thing. Supporting the game on all platforms to the best of their ability is something which will gain a lot of goodwill and translates into long term support from fans.

 

[BocoDragon]

Yeah the JP and US saves are not compatible, but strangely enough they actually made the US and JP saves compatible with the Asian English PS3 release of the game (with Japanese voice and English/Chinese text options).

No way..! That's actually pretty cool. I've been thinking of getting a friend to send me the Korean ver...

I just like the option of putting it into Japanese audio w/ Eng subs..

 

[Pooya]

http://e3.gamespot.com/video/6318720/#

gamespot's full stage demo, parts of it posted above, best video/audio quality from the demo.

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

Well, color me surprised.

This might turn out decent!

Now let's hope the script is at least decent.

 

[Thoraxes]

I can't tell this new music. All of the website stuff for sure sounds like Hamauzu, but the in-game stuff from the demo sounds like they pruposefully told him to do something different (or they didn't have the same budget they did for XIII, which also makes sense) than he did for XIII, which actually does make sense given Kagari and APZonerunner's interview, or it's not him (but we've only heard one unofficial confirmation and Hamauzu hasn't mentioned anything himself about who else may be collaborating on the project if they are). I'm diggin it, but I'd rather I wait to pass judgement on it until I get some 320 kbps or FLAC version of the audio. Not that my opinion matters to anyone.

I really liked the rap stuff, but the battle theme feels a little underwhelming to me compared to most of his battle themes in general. Maybe it's because I prefer his piano+violin stuff more, idk. Music is probably in mid-production too though (new stuff anyways) given he's freelance (which we can do (take more time) when freelance).

Glad to hear the following tracks return: Glory's Fanfare, Battle Results, and Mysteries Abound.

 

[GraveRobberX]

I forget where I watched a demo, but now they are adding QTE's into battles?

"Cinematic Events"

Really, now you have to be like Oh Shit!, Press L3 left 7 times, then tap X, "Congratulations", your party has gained Shell...the monster has no magic...troll face.jpg ; ;

 

[The Praiseworthy]

These videos of the demo proved me that I was right!! this is shaping to turn out better than FFXIII.

But I hope we don't only get two playable characters all game and a monster as a third party member, this going to suck for me soooooo baaaaaad.

btw, some of the music reminded me a little of Xenosaga Ep II

 

[Despera]

heh, love the variety in the music.

So far so good. I'm cautiously hyped for this.

 

[MechaX]

Hm... music is good, if not just more Meguro-esque than I would have expected.

And I'm getting some Lymle vibes from that Moogle. UGH.

 

[Gvaz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGkPFiTSvl0&feature=channel_video_title

Demo video with clear audio. I don't think the rap music is that bad but I can already see that Mog isn't going to be the most popular character kupo~

Eh. Looks too similar to FF13. I might play it but not for full price. I wish they'd make the battle system more engaging. Quick time events are NOT the way to do so.

At least you can jump now by yourself.

I like Noah's VA though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CMkdXp42pc&feature=channel_video_title Here's another video, there is more exploration in this one.

Huh. Meh.

 

[Appollowexx]

The new music actually seems pretty decent. Although I'm not sold on the rock-esque battle theme, doesn't seem very rousing or memorable. I also hope they don't reuse to much of the old soundtrack, as much as I love it, recycling old assets feels super cheap and takes away from the feel of a 'new game'.

 

[michaeltraps]

This is looking real good... sucks we won't get it until next year.

Spoiler

still no FF victory fanfare :-(

 

[RPGCrazied]

Anyone know who is voicing Noel? Not sounding familiar. The other's sound decent, but I can tell Mog is going to get on my nerves pretty quickly. The rap music as I thought isn't as bad as IGN made it out to be. Though I noticed a couple reused tracks from XIII, specially the fanfare. Surely it'll be changed up.

 

[Femmeworth]

Anyone know who is voicing Noel? Not sounding familiar. The other's sound decent, but I can tell Mog is going to get on my nerves pretty quickly. The rap music as I thought isn't as bad as IGN made it out to be. Though I noticed a couple reused tracks from XIII, specially the fanfare. Surely it'll be changed up.

It's already been discussed; it sounds like Jason Marsden.

 

[Gvaz]

It's already been discussed; it sounds like Jason Marsden.

Ahhhh Spirited Away and KOTOR, that's where I remember him from.

 

[CrankyJay]

It's already been discussed; it sounds like Jason Marsden.

LOL OMG, he played AJ Quartermaine from General Hospital.