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[ZenaxPure]

I wonder if there's more to this background story element.

To that specific story line, or in general? Because there are a lot of fragments that give background story info about events and characters. There is an entire set that explains

Spoiler

Caius' history along with why he has the heart of etro

and

Spoiler

a bunch revolving around the members of team NORA

, along with my absolute favorite,

Spoiler

a bunch of background info about where Mog came from and his hilarious/sad adventures traveling through the void beyond and eventually Valhalla. Poor guy.

 

[Nose Master]

Lol. Got the achievement mob in Oerba 400 first shot while running down there to get some chests. :3. 124ish fragments. I need to find a list of the rare monster spawns.

 

[firehawk12]

Wait till you see the Arcadia 4XX paradox ending.

I want a sequel to that ending. That should be DLC.

To that specific story line, or in general? Because there are a lot of fragments that give background story info about events and characters. There is an entire set that explains

Spoiler

Caius' history along with why he has the heart of etro

and

Spoiler

a bunch revolving around the members of team NORA

, along with my absolute favorite,

Spoiler

a bunch of background info about where Mog came from and his hilarious/sad adventures traveling through the void beyond and eventually Valhalla. Poor guy.

Wait, which one goes into

Spoiler

Caius'

storyline? I don't remember that one.

 

[ULTROS!]

I like to pretend the paradox ending at Academia 4XX is the canon ending. Best ending ever.

 

[StuBurns]

I played the first couple of hours of XIII today, and it really made me think less of this game. It was kind of obvious it looked, and ran worse, but it's practically every aspect of production which is weaker. XIII had the polish I associate with the series mainline entries, XIII-2 really feels more b-tier, despite I think being a more enjoyable experience often. If there is a XIII-3, I really hope they give it the requisite time and money to bring it up to XIII quality.

 

[Shadow780]

The production value of XIII is definitely higher.

 

[RPGCrazied]

To be fair, XIII was in development for what... 4 - 5 years? XIII-2 came out in like a year or less. If it had another year at least in development, it could've benefited greatly.

 

[StuBurns]

XIII-2 had more than a year, like two years, it also had all the tech already built, most of the assets done, it should be about the same I would think.

 

[desu]

To be fair, XIII was in development for what... 4 - 5 years? XIII-2 came out in like a year or less. If it had another year at least in development, it could've benefited greatly.

XIII had 2 preproduction phases. Actual development was around 2 years (according to the huge development report I read in an cgworld issue, they had a time scale in there too). XIII-2 apparently was around 18 months, with most assets and stuff done. However according to one of the interviews they didnt really create too much concept stuff due to time constraints. A year more might have helped it, but I am sure most of the stuff that annoyed me would still have been in there.

 

[Kagari]

PS3 ファイナルファンタジーXIII-２ スク・エニ 797,986

360 ファイナルファンタジーXIII-２ スク・エニ 12,993

Current sales LTD in Japan.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Don't really care about the decrease in CGI and Pre-rendered cutscenes, but hopefully they get the framerate stable again if they do a XIII-3.

Oh, and one thing that was disappointing about XIII-2 was how the sky boxes were a huge downgrade compared to XIII:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=28927671&postcount=156

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=28927856&postcount=161

It was one of the key things that brought the wow factor in XIII's visuals, but for some reason in XIII-2 they just weren't as detailed. Found it strange, since they reused so many of the same areas and assets.

 

[StuBurns]

360 sales are really weak, to the point I'm not sure if it justified it's release over there.

 

[neoism]

PS3 ファイナルファンタジーXIII-２ スク・エニ 797,986

360 ファイナルファンタジーXIII-２ スク・エニ 12,993

Current sales LTD in Japan.

so what is the total so for 4mil+?

 

[Kagari]

so what is the total so for 4mil+?

Er... it's just over 810K in Japan.

 

[duckroll]

Production values are not really related directly to how long it takes to make a game. A lot of other factors come into plan, including the size of the team, and who that team is made up of. FFXIII-2 definitely has lower production values and less polish compared to FFXIII, even if a lot of the design is more varied, and there is more thought put into the scope of gameplay and level design.

 

[neoism]

Watch out for spoilers. Some of us are still waiting for Serah resort DLC to come out before beating the game

yeah good thing I really take my time with Finals.... I may wait til may or something if the story DLC is worth it.

 

[neoism]

Er... it's just over 810K in Japan.

wat holy shit I thought that was just this months sales. :/

 

[StuBurns]

Production values are not really related directly to how long it takes to make a game. A lot of other factors come into plan, including the size of the team, and who that team is made up of. FFXIII-2 definitely has lower production values and less polish compared to FFXIII, even if a lot of the design is more varied, and there is more thought put into the scope of gameplay and level design.

But the team is the same as XIII no?

 

[duckroll]

But the team is the same as XIII no?

The entire team? No. A lot of the leads in the core team are the same, but even there we see several notable people not being involved at all or not being involved in the same capacity. Instead the main programmer takes double duty as main game designer as well, and the battle programmer also has double duty as the battle director.

Considering how they even had programmers, level designers, battle planners, and modelers/etc from tri-Ace helping with the game, it's clear that they were stretched internally. Don't forget, there's a giant albatross that's still in the building. I think it's called Versus something. Lol.

 

[ULTROS!]

PS3 ファイナルファンタジーXIII-２ スク・エニ 797,986

360 ファイナルファンタジーXIII-２ スク・エニ 12,993

Current sales LTD in Japan.

Man, I wonder if this game will crawl up to 1m (well... For the PS3 version) if they release a complete version.

 

[Meccanical]

Man, I wonder if this game will crawl up to 1m (well... For the PS3 version) if they release a complete version.

Well it's already passed a mil worldwide.

 

[Shadow780]

How many did X-2 sold?

 

[StuBurns]

The entire team? No. A lot of the leads in the core team are the same, but even there we see several notable people not being involved at all or not being involved in the same capacity. Instead the main programmer takes double duty as main game designer as well, and the battle programmer also has double duty as the battle director.

Considering how they even had programmers, level designers, battle planners, and modelers/etc from tri-Ace helping with the game, it's clear that they were stretched internally. Don't forget, there's a giant albatross that's still in the building. I think it's called Versus something. Lol.

Is it the same cutscene director/s?

I knew TriAce worked on it, I thought it'd be more of an asset building army type situation, because SE's were busy with said albatross.

 

[Meccanical]

How many did X-2 sold?

FF X-2 sold like 1.5 mil in a week.

Currently sitting at a little over 5 mil worldwide

 

[Kagari]

How many did X-2 sold?

ファイナルファンタジーX-２ ｽｸｳｪｱｴﾆｯｸｽ 1,960,937

 

[Clear]

What's funny to me is that XIII was the hardest FF game in years, whereas XIII-2 is the opposite and pretty much the easiest since VIII. I think if they can hit the sweet spot between the two with a second sequel, it should be about perfect for me.

I'd also add that XIII-2 has very obviously been put together on relatively small budget for a FF title, to the extent that it wouldn't surprise me at all if it was in profit already just from the Japanese sales. Its a perfect example of asset reuse.

 

[Shadow780]

Dat good ol' days

What's funny to me is that XIII was the hardest FF game in years, whereas XIII-2 is the opposite and pretty much the easiest since VIII.

wait what? What's hard about XIII?

 

[Meccanical]

What's funny to me is that XIII was the hardest FF game in years, whereas XIII-2 is the opposite and pretty much the easiest since VIII. I think if they can hit the sweet spot between the two with a second sequel, it should be about perfect for me.

I'd also add that XIII-2 has very obviously been put together on relatively small budget for a FF title, to the extent that it wouldn't surprise me at all if it was in profit already just from the Japanese sales. Its a perfect example of asset reuse.

Basically.

 

[StuBurns]

I thought XIII was the most difficult FF for a very long time (since Tactics if you count that I guess), but I don't think it was too hard, I think they got it just right.

 

[Meccanical]

I'd agree with that.

 

[ZenaxPure]

Wait, which one goes into

Spoiler

Caius'

storyline? I don't remember that one.

Set wasn't the best word to describe it since there isn't an entire fragment section dedicated to

Spoiler

Caius

but if you look at the fragments for

Spoiler

Dying world

and some of the

Spoiler

Yaschas Massif ones you learn a lot of his history. Essentially was a war hero and was given the heart of etro so he could protect Yuel forever. Also explains (or rather doesn't explain) where he got the name Ballad and why he can use Bahamut.

 

[Clear]

Replaying XIII now, every fight seems over-long after XIII-2. Which isn't all bad as it shows off the tactical aspect of the combat engine, but you rarely feel mad powerful in quite the way that XIII-2 and older FF's do.

The big revelation for me though is that XIII-2 really shows how irrelevant big "summon" spells have become. This used to be such a signature for the series and yet I can't think of a single comment about XIII-2 bemoaning their absence.

 

[duckroll]

Is it the same cutscene director/s?

I knew TriAce worked on it, I thought it'd be more of an asset building army type situation, because SE's were busy with said albatross.

Some of the cutscene designers are the same. The lead cut scene director is different. The animation director for cut scenes is the same though. In general it's a smaller cut scene staff compared to XIII. 5 guys instead of 10.

 

[Mario007]

Some of the cutscene designers are the same. The lead cut scene director is different. The animation director for cut scenes is the same though. In general it's a smaller cut scene staff compared to XIII. 5 guys instead of 10.

So basically, what I'm getting from all this is that the team got smaller in order to help out the Versus team to finalise the game. Kinda like the versus team helped out at the start of FF XIII's production?

 

[ZenaxPure]

Replaying XIII now, every fight seems over-long after XIII-2. Which isn't all bad as it shows off the tactical aspect of the combat engine, but you rarely feel mad powerful in quite the way that XIII-2 and older FF's do.

I've been replaying 13 myself over the past month or so and I feel similar to the mindset that fights last far too long. I am about halfway through the game and the average normal fight takes at least a minute unless it's a group of Gremlins or something silly like that.

More than anything it's shown me how polished the combat is in 13-2 and personally I like it a bit more. I had forgotten how many useless buffs were in 13 and how poor the AI was at using them, for example Sazh constantly gives Vanille Bravery before putting a single buff on himself despite the fact it's useless for Vanille. Also I feel very naked without the ability to set up paradigms for focus/wide/normal, there is nothing more annoying than having a NPC use a single target attack when 1 aoe spell could potentially one-shot an entire group of enemies (such as those silly Gremlins). It slows combat down too much.

It's really weird because overall despite parts of 13-2 being easier than 13 I feel like 13-2s combat is more demanding with paradigm shifts and a lot more fun as a result.

 

[duckroll]

So basically, what I'm getting from all this is that the team got smaller in order to help out the Versus team to finalise the game. Kinda like the versus team helped out at the start of FF XIII's production?

I don't really think we can say for sure yet, since Versus still doesn't exist. It's possible, or they could be on other projects. The main point is the XIII-2 is game which is made with less people and in a shorter time.

 

[Ricker]

PS3 ファイナルファンタジーXIII-２ スク・エニ 797,986

360 ファイナルファンタジーXIII-２ スク・エニ 12,993

Current sales LTD in Japan.

I hope it's the same overall numbers for N.A.(split evenly probably,or a little more for the PS3 version)...I 'm really liking this game.

 

[Kagari]

I hope it's the same overall numbers for N.A.(split evenly probably,or a little more for the PS3 version)...I 'm really liking this game.

FF13's split in the US was 62/38 so 13-2 will likely be similar.

 

[StuBurns]

I don't really think we can say for sure yet, since Versus still doesn't exist. It's possible, or they could be on other projects. The main point is the XIII-2 is game which is made with less people and in a shorter time.

Do we have budgets for XIII or XIII-2? I've read them for VII, X and XII, so I guess SE have discussed that kind of thing before.

 

[Shadow780]

This load time is horrible, ugh.

 

[Toth]

Production values are not really related directly to how long it takes to make a game. A lot of other factors come into plan, including the size of the team, and who that team is made up of. FFXIII-2 definitely has lower production values and less polish compared to FFXIII, even if a lot of the design is more varied, and there is more thought put into the scope of gameplay and level design.

I agree with this but I must say the

Spoiler

opening sequence and finale from Academia 500

on were very high quality. Especially the

Spoiler

battles over the cities

. It was quite awesome.

 

[Toth]

I hope it's the same overall numbers for N.A.(split evenly probably,or a little more for the PS3 version)...I 'm really liking this game.

Last I heard was that game is almost at 2 million WW, if not already. Split was around 70/30ish.

 

[chri5t]

spoilers

Could you spoiler tag that please?

 

[elysianalartist]

Is lightning a better ravager than blue chocobo/cloudburst? After researching a bit there seems to be very different opinions on who is the best ravager.

 

[ULTROS!]

I'm assuming FFXIII had three types of character models (like FFX): in-game, cut-scene (much cleaner and has more detail than the in-game ones), and CGI. Does FFXIII-2 use only in-game and CGI models?

 

[duckroll]

Sunleth paradox ending = ROFLMAO. LOL. Comedy RPGs are the best. They definitely should make more, since they're more entertaining than serious JRPGs these days.

Oh and Lightning DLC = FUCK OFF. I must have fought her over 10 times now, and NO crystal. But I beat Omega just ONCE, and I get him! Wtf! Also, Omega fucking rocks. For no reason other than the fact that he's huge and I can still put a wizard hat on him, and it's HUGE too! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

 

[The Emperor]

Last I heard was that game is almost at 2 million WW, if not already. Split was around 70/30ish.

Where did you hear that? Was it the S-E Financial report?

 

[StuBurns]

I'm assuming FFXIII had three types of character models (like FFX): in-game, cut-scene (much cleaner and has more detail than the in-game ones), and CGI. Does FFXIII-2 use only in-game and CGI models?

I believe so, the in-game cutscenes are real-time this time around, so they probably couldn't use the better models.

I'm playing XIII right now, and Hope just said "hell on Earth", I don't know what idiot translated this game.

 

[sublimit]

Do we know how much did XIII-2 sold in its first week in NA/Europe?

 

[Perfo]

I agree with this but I must say the opening sequence and finale from Academia 500 on where very high quality. Especially the battles over the cities. It was quite awesome.

The start of the game and the ending sections obviously received more attention than the others, you can especially notice it in cutscene direction and spectacularity in general. That is the Final Fantasy I've come to love through years; what comes in between those parts, didn't make much of an impact on me.