At least she's honest about it. There goes her moneyhat.
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FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 |OT| Change the Future
- Thread starter Kagari
- Start date
At least she's honest about it. There goes her moneyhat.
StunandStab
Member
Well, XIII was pretty easy for the most part, that's true. You didn't think any of the bosses had any challenge to them? What about the optional bosses, did you fight any of them? Specifically the final mark... oh, and that one ci'eth at the end of the titan trials. I also had trouble with the first two Barthandelus fights and the final boss, I just had to revise my strategy once for those, though.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
And that's the way it should be. People should formulate their own opinion by sampling the game. If they're unsure, rent.
I guess it's rather unfortunate that SE isn't putting a demo up on PSN/XBLA for this. It would probably help people decide.
The Guis were probably the hardest enemies out of all of those due to their unpredictability (ex: every battle with them followed a certain formula, but 75% of the time, they did not adhere to this formula). The mission enemies and the boss enemies were much easier in comparison since you needed Defenders to reduce damage if you're using the most standard of strategies. The Bart battles aren't really difficult if you have Defenders put into place at the right times and are ATB-cancelling/buffing at a good rate.
Regardless, the battle system finally became fun to play with when you were formulating alternate strategies for the mission battles that neglected using the Defender job a lot. Fighting Atticus without a Defender there at all times was fuuuuuuuuun, for example. That's probably my favourite battle in the entire game.
That's true. I wonder if it would have been worse if she had gotten the 100% extra ending scene, though. :lol
StunandStab
Member
And that's the way it should be. People should formulate their own opinion by sampling the game. If they're unsure, rent.
I guess it's rather unfortunate that SE isn't putting a demo up on PSN/XBLA for this. It would probably help people decide.
The Guis were probably the hardest enemies out of all of those due to their unpredictability (ex: every battle with them followed a certain formula, but 75% of the time, they did not adhere to this formula). The mission enemies and the boss enemies were much easier in comparison since you needed Defenders to reduce damage if you're using the most standard of strategies. The Bart battles aren't really difficult if you have Defenders put into place at the right times and are ATB-cancelling/buffing at a good rate.
Regardless, the battle system finally became fun to play with when you were formulating alternate strategies for the mission battles that neglected using the Defender job a lot. Fighting Atticus without a Defender there at all times was fuuuuuuuuun, for example. That's probably my favourite battle in the entire game.
That's true. I wonder if it would have been worse if she had gotten the 100% extra ending scene, though. :lol
Probably one reason I had difficulty with certain battles was I went through most of the game not realizing the importance of buffs/debuffs, or Sentinels for that matter.
Atticus without a Defender there at all times? I can't imagine having a Defender there at all times... would make that battle go by waaaay too slow. I would always just switch to a paradigm with a Sen when he started charging up his attack, that worked for me.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
:lol I decided to play this game like I do a Dragon Quest and just buff/debuff everything.
Nope. All you have to do is let Snow stand there like a punching bag in the Defender Role and have Fang/Vanille or Fang/Hope do all the work with regards to buffing/debuffing and going out on offense. Er. I guess you can use Lightning too. I never really used her outside of Gui battles or battles where I had to use her. You can imagine my surprise when Chapter 12 started and I was thrust into a battle where I had to use her and I wasn't really accustomed to using her... or her summon for that matter (ie: I never used summons prior to that point outside of the one tutorial battle in Chapter 4 to learn how to use it).
Having a Defender there at all times is the safest way to go because that way, if you choose a Defender with Mediguard + Provoke, your other characters will not be touched. You will not have to shift into an Optima to take up time to heal your characters. You only need two buffs like Haste, Brave(ra) and Faith(ra). It's more efficient than you think really. :O You can still get 5-stars in the battle no matter which strategy you choose (as long as you're efficient enough using the strat that excludes using the Defender at all times).
StunandStab
Member
Hmm. It probably helps having Synergist as leader then so you can control the buffing? I've never bothered to do that actually but it would probably save a lot of time not waiting for another character to throw up all those useless buffs you don't need. I'm pretty sure I 5 starred that battle the first time I did it anyway, I was glad I wasn't going to have to do it again. I actually used Lightning as a Sentinel I think lol... she just dodged everything and Atticus stayed on her even when I switched her off of Sen so she needed heals occasionally and that was about it. That's how I remember it going anyway
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Yeah, actually... Hope and Vanille happened to be my party leaders for the majority of the game. I disliked how the game prioritized the buffs/debuffs, so I decided to do everything myself, lol. I tried the "Defender at all times" strategy three times. Once with Hope as my party leader, so I used him for all buffs (I had not maxed my Crystarium at that point). Another with Fang as my party leader so I used her for all buffs/debuffs. And again with Vanille as party leader so I used her for most buffs/debuffs. I ended up preferring Fang as party leader so I could do both Enhancing and Jamming with her when Vanille isn't picking up the slack.
I think the Fang/Vanille/Snow party is the most efficient. (Eh, it's somewhere in that post. It's Mission 51.) Really, all you need are four Optima with that party: Enh/Jam/Def, Bla/Bla/Def, Atk/Bla/Def, Jam/Jam/Def. You can go with an Atk/Hlr/Def optima if you wanted to top Snow off a little bit. Plus Equipment:
Why two iron bangles? It gives the High HP: Power Surge skill. If Fang has high HP, it boosts her attack by 20%. When my friend told me about this, I just had to try it. So awesome. Since Snow is the punching bag, Fang doesn't have to get hit, lol.
I was hoping that FFXIII-2 would have more battles designed around planning carefully or experimentation with regards to battle tactics, but if that isn't the case, I'm a little disappointed. The postgame missions and the Guis were my favourite things to play with in the game.
StunandStab
Member
Yeah, that's what I'm worried about with the game, even though I'm not nearly as hardcore as you when it comes to the carefully planning battle tactics =P.
Either way, I can't wait to play it and find out in 38 days.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
lol, I've noticed that I like playing RPGs moreso for the systems involved these days, so that's why I try to explore and exhaust the systems I come across.
Maybe it's possible to play with a Serah/Noel-exclusive party (even if I have to kill off all the monsters that they want me to use in a party), and if that's the case, I can have lots of fun with it. The lack of difficulty is a disappointment, though. :/
CosmicGroinPull
Member
Ugh..... . Maybe Square should go back to making FF with sprite graphics, then they'd remember how to write a decent story.
There is one part in the story where I had a brief sliver of hope that it might turn out good... but I was wrong!
And I'd rather be honest than lead people to disappointment
ZephyrFate
Banned
525k first week.
brandonh83
Banned
*downgrades pre-order to regular edition*
As nice as the LE stuff is, I honestly don't care for all the shitty vocal songs on the soundtrack and Kagari's impressions has left my excitement for the game threadbare at best.
Just not sure why they felt the need to fuck all of this up so bad. Maybe Versus will get things back on track. At any rate I can no longer justify paying $80 for this.
As nice as the LE stuff is, I honestly don't care for all the shitty vocal songs on the soundtrack and Kagari's impressions has left my excitement for the game threadbare at best.
Just not sure why they felt the need to fuck all of this up so bad. Maybe Versus will get things back on track. At any rate I can no longer justify paying $80 for this.
FateBreaker
Member
There is one part in the story where I had a brief sliver of hope that it might turn out good... but I was wrong!
And I'd rather be honest than lead people to disappointment
Just curious...since we all have opinions differently...what FF stories did you like or thought were the best? I don't want to re-route the thread, but I was just wondering on your perspective on the series in that regard. Did you like FFXIII's story?
ZephyrFate
Banned
The vocal tracks really do grow on you.
brandonh83
Banned
I've listened to the soundtrack quite a bit and they just get worse for me. However some are better than others, certainly.
I know for some they're good, and some people enjoy that kind of thing but it's really not for me.
So bomba for a FF title but not an overall bomba.
ZephyrFate
Banned
Exactly.
brandon: I normally hate vocal tracks, too, but for some reason Invisible Invaders, Worlds Collide, Archylte Steppe, Ruined Hometown, and Starting Over just became so much better to me after repeat listens.
True, but it does kinda sting that Tales of Xillia managed to do better than XIII-2.
Also, for people who have gone through most of XIII-2, how bad are we talking on the Toriyama scale? Are we talking 3rd Birthday-bad or just FFXIII-bad?
brandonh83
Banned
I think Worlds Collide is one of the worst ones for me but I don't recall the others bothering me as much.
ZephyrFate
Banned
I think the context is what will really help a lot of these tracks. But then again, this is quickly becoming my favorite FF soundtrack.
brandonh83
Banned
Yeah like I said, some people really get into vocal tracks and that's cool. But I'm definitely a more instrumental kind of guy. I think a lot of the non-vocal tracks are really good though.
XIII's story had some good ideas, but the ultimate execution of them was poor. As for FFs with good stories... IV, VI, VII, IX and XII (up until the last 1/4 of the game) come to mind.
XIII-2 suffers from a lot of problems XIII had. They needed to change writers for sure.
On another note, I agree with miladesn... I think the western press will score the game in the 7-8.5 range... at least the honest ones anyway. I also agree with all the points he made in his post.
So it really is Versus or nothing it seems.
ZephyrFate
Banned
All I hope for with the series is that they retain the same soundtrack style with these composers. They communicate with each other so freakin' well. If Versus/XV keeps this same level of quality, I'll be fine with anything they put out.
Edit: After spoiling myself about huge parts of the plot, I have to say it's not close to garbage, but it is convoluted.
Edit: After spoiling myself about huge parts of the plot, I have to say it's not close to garbage, but it is convoluted.
Electivirus
Member
No way in hell a Shimomura soundtrack will be anything other than phenomenal. =3=
ZephyrFate
Banned
I haven't been impressed by a Shimomura soundtrack since Legend of Mana. I didn't enjoy the KH soundtracks. Nor Sakimoto, FFXII put me to sleep aurally.
I haven't played Xenoblade, but here I am, peddling Xenoblade...soundtrack. Go have a listen.
I feel some of the tracks in 13-2 would be better without the vocals. Historia Crux is one, Groovy Chocobo is another.
CosmicGroinPull
Member
ZephyrFate
Banned
Those are probably the weakest of the vocal tracks. The ones I mentioned a bit back all work fine with vocals. I think the only vocal tracks that just do not work are Yuel's Theme, Historia Crux, Groovy Chocobo, Limit Break!, and Crazy Chocobo. The rest are saved by absolutely stellar instrumentation.
Xenoblade's soundtrack is alright, not spectacular, but alright. I've listened to it.
StunandStab
Member
FFXIII-3, now with Lightning in less clothes. Millions of day 1 sales in Japan.
I kind of expected this. It's a very recent-SE kind of thing to do.
Writers that helped the myth of squaresoft are gone: takahashi and wife, matsuno, masato kato. Nojima ff7 days are gone.
Problem, big one, is people longing for versus since nomura as Director isn't impressive:kh is overrated and It's Game design really forgettable. Many should hope in ito imho
ZephyrFate
Banned
Sakaguchi is the only writer from the series I actually miss/gave a shit about.
RPGCrazied
Member
So, tell me more about this coliseum and side quests. In spoiler tags I guess. Thing I hated about XIII, it only really had the monster hunts as its side quests. Do those return at all, or is there more diverse ones?
Is there a lot of battles / rewards at the coliseum?
Is there a lot of battles / rewards at the coliseum?
But.. but...
Is Lightning happy?
Um... maybe? I couldn't really tell.
Quests are fairly straightforward. A lot of them involve speak to person, go find item and return to get a fragment.
For the coliseum, I only have access to the Omega battle currently.
RPGCrazied
Member
Ok. Thanks. I guess most of that will be DLC? I sure hope costumes are on the store when it comes out.
I really want that red one, does that have a name yet? The one with the pointy shoes.
I really want that red one, does that have a name yet? The one with the pointy shoes.
CosmicGroinPull
Member
Lightning will be a coliseum boss.
The red costume lost... the other one will be available as free DLC.
RPGCrazied
Member
I thought it was called blazing something?
The coliseum has nothing right now in the game? Much as people hated SO4, it had a pretty cool coliseum. You could fight different battles, it had quite a few too. So, nothing like that?
Zoe
Member
Omega Weapon is free for a limited time on J-PSN.
InternHertz
Member
Finished the story 2 minutes ago at 37h25. Guess I'm not that picky because I liked the scenario quite a lot and, yes, also that ending...
Even if it clearly means "see you again in FFXIII-3" it's not that frequent we get games with
, and it pleases me greatly that they took that risk.
Now I really need to get every fragment and trophy...but I think it may take some time, especially for those based on luck (hello casino!).
Even if it clearly means "see you again in FFXIII-3" it's not that frequent we get games with
bad ends (as in "end not well for the "good" guys)
Now I really need to get every fragment and trophy...but I think it may take some time, especially for those based on luck (hello casino!).
fatty
Member
For the most part I agree with your picks. Thinking back to the different stories in FF, and this is only from memory right now without checking, IV's overall story is the only one that really stood out to me.
Even though the game is very old I will still try to skirt around the spoilers. But Kain's betrayal/redemption, the 'burning', Cecil's transformation, "Kung Fu" guy defending the castle (was his name Edgar maybe?), Polam's (sp) and Poram's (sp) sacrifice, the Magus Sisters and going to the moon were all things that have stuck with me, now in my thirties and haven't played the game since the SNES version. The story was simple to understand, far from the convoluted mess that we are getting now a days (though I still think it could have been simplified).
VI was alright, something about Espers, Kefka and the opera scene but I can't remember too much more. Though to this day VI is probably my favorite FF. Started out slow but kept building and ended on a high.
VII was a beautiful game when it came out but the story did nothing for me and for the first time I remember being somewhat disappointed with Final Fantasy. Seemed to be a push for more style over substance and I think it was this one where the story actually started to bore me.
VIII was the worst one (this wasn't mentioned above but I wanted to add my two cents). The first FF where I actually stopped playing until months later when I came back to finish it (XIII is now the second). I was not feeling the whiny teenagers with attitudes at all. I can handle them as secondary characters (to an extent) but as protagonists it was too much.
IX was a return to the "old school" style that I preferred. Zidane was a fun character and I liked the way he would always hit on Garnett and Vivi was cute. Even the Knight was fun. As with the case with VI, VII and VIII, I don't remember much of the story but I enjoyed the cast. And of ALL the Final Fantasies that I played, this had the ending that I remembered the most. Not at all complicated like so many of the others but satisfying. I'm a simple man to please.
XII was decent enough story-wise, until it became really confusing toward the end. I remember in my strategy guide there was a flow chart describing the different relationships between everyone. Not good. But by this point I didn't care anymore. Luckily the combat system was terrific.
And it's not that I prefer the medieval setting, I actually favor the futuristic settings of VII and XIII because the worlds are so beautiful. But it just so happens that I prefer the characters of the other ones.
Ranking of stories for me (haven't played/finished II, III, V, XI, XIV):
IV > IX > XII > VI > X > I > XIII* > VII > VIII
Rating of favorite overall:
VI > IV > XII > IX > I > XIII* > X > VII > VIII
*Currently on chapter 11 of XIII