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[panda21]

is it really as linear as Brad said on giant bombcast? like literally every area is almost just running straight ahead down a path of enemies, no overworld etc. sounds kind of dull :S

 

[Durante]

is it really as linear as Brad said on giant bombcast? like literally every area is almost just running straight ahead down a path of enemies, no overworld etc. sounds kind of dull :S

No.

 

[dramatis]

is it really as linear as Brad said on giant bombcast? like literally every area is almost just running straight ahead down a path of enemies, no overworld etc. sounds kind of dull :S

That is what the game reduces down to, yes. There's no puzzles, no side distractions, no optional material until 25-30 hours into the game. You have cutscenes.

On the other hand, I guess the areas are beautiful, so you can add "sightseeing" to the list of things to do.

 

[lorddarkflare]

That is what the game reduces down to, yes. There's no puzzles, no side distractions, no optional material until 25-30 hours into the game. You have cutscenes.

On the other hand, I guess the areas are beautiful, so you can add "sightseeing" to the list of things to do.

FF13 is a tourism sim: confirmed!

 

[panda21]

but there is some openness to the areas? is there a field or anything like that?

he did say he hadnt got far but it was basically a CoD style corridor of enemies with no branches or anything at all. might be a very pretty corridor but the idea of a corridor RPG sounds weird to me

 

[Deleted member 30609]

developing on something I briefly mentioned over in the EDGE thread, it would be kind of cool if I could hit R1 and scroll over to a party screen as well the enemy screens just for a quick status-check to see whether or not they've been buffed or debuffed.

hmm... I was going to go to bed, but I think I might just play some more of this.

 

[Amir0x]

is it really as linear as Brad said on giant bombcast? like literally every area is almost just running straight ahead down a path of enemies, no overworld etc. sounds kind of dull :S

Yup, with the lone exception of a single area very late in the game (this one area is comparable to a zone in FFXII, and it's where you do absolutely all of your sidequest mob hunting.)

Areas will have little "juts" along your hallway, alcoves if you would, wherein you automatically know a treasure chest is there since it's the only even remote deviation from the hallway paths.

That's the breakdown. Like it or hate it.

 

[Dead]

but there is some openness to the areas? is there a field or anything like that?

he did say he hadnt got far but it was basically a CoD style corridor of enemies with no branches or anything at all. might be a very pretty corridor but the idea of a corridor RPG sounds weird to me

Most maps have branches here and there, and a lot of them are way more than just a straight line. However they are still linear.

To be honest, just turning off the mini-map does a lot to make you forget how linear the game is since you'll be looking at the amazing environments rather than the linear map at the top of the screen.

 

[Windom Earle]

Just beat Odin (I wish I had more time to play this ) and I'm still enjoying this greatly! Story is much better than the horrible FFX and the characters are better as well.

Linearity might annoy some people, but so far it's a plus for me. Can't wait get to Pulse though

But the animations... Dear god, Sazhs running animation, what a joke!

Also the Datalog makes the cutscenes much less annoying, god job!

 

[mjemirzian]

Just watched the opening CG to chapter

Spoiler

11

:OOOOOO

Having so much fun with the hunts right now. Lightning/Vanille/Snow is my ideal party for now. Awesome synergy between them.

Unless you need a sentinel or saboteur (two of the least useful classes for most fights in the game), Lightning/Sahz/Hope is the best and most versatile combo. Double heals, double buffs with haste, triple ravager, etc. The game is much easier with offense/buffs instead of defense/debuffs.

 

[Fuu]

During the chapters where you only play with two people, for a long while I was overusing the Commando + Ravager combo when it's way more efficient to just land a few hits with a Commando so the chain doesn't go down quickly and Paradigm Shift both characters to Ravager. Staggering got much faster after I realized that.

I just fought against the

Spoiler

Ushumgal Subjugator at Palumpolum

, I haven't been having much time to play. I wish the game would let me use 3 characters already though.

 

[ZeoVGM]

Just finish crystal lake area and not seeing anything worth playing. Don't care for story, characters and combat system. Graphics look nice, but its design all comes down to variations of long corridors. Don't understand how Square could mess up such a great franchise. I'll have to force myself to finish this game. Thought I'll never had to say that with main FF game. GoW3 & DA: Awakening can't come soon enough.

You feel the franchise has now been messed up just because you don't like FF13 and will continue to play it despite the fact?

 

[lorddarkflare]

Yup, with the lone exception of a single area very late in the game (this one area is comparable to a zone in FFXII, and it's where you do absolutely all of your sidequest mob hunting.)

Areas will have little "juts" along your hallway, alcoves if you would, wherein you automatically know a treasure chest is there since it's the only even remote deviation from the hallway paths.

That's the breakdown. Like it or hate it.

One correction, this area is more like calm lands X10. Not that it necessarily contradicts your argument as what you can do there is extremely limited, I just wanted to correct this inaccuracy.

 

[Durante]

he did say he hadnt got far but it was basically a CoD style corridor of enemies with no branches or anything at all. might be a very pretty corridor but the idea of a corridor RPG sounds weird to me

You probably shouldn't play Final Fantasy 13 (or, for that matter, Mass Effect 2) then. Which would be a shame since they are both fantastic.

Speaking of ME2, when playing that I wondered why they didn't have any kind of map for any of the actual combat levels. Now I know.

 

[dollartaco]

You probably shouldn't play Final Fantasy 13 (or, for that matter, Mass Effect 2) then. Which would be a shame since they are both fantastic.

Speaking of ME2, when playing that I wondered why they didn't have any kind of map for any of the actual combat levels. Now I know.

ME2 isn't just a battle system. Most people talk about it because of its other features.

 

[Durante]

ME2 isn't just a battle system. Most people talk about it because of its other features.

We were talking about level design in RPGs. If anything, FF13's levels, even in the linear parts, are less linear than ME2's.

(Also, it's no wonder that people aren't talking about ME2's battle system -- it's just an average cover based shooter after all. Did I mention that I love the game?)

 

[lorddarkflare]

You probably shouldn't play Final Fantasy 13 (or, for that matter, Mass Effect 2) then. Which would be a shame since they are both fantastic.

Speaking of ME2, when playing that I wondered why they didn't have any kind of map for any of the actual combat levels. Now I know.

Yeah, I figured this out pretty quickly when I was playing the game.

The presence of a map could only hurt them. The level structures were such that you could not get loss and a simple radar could be used to spot enemies.

Wish SE had that much foresight.

We were talking about level design in RPGs. If anything, FF13's levels, even in the linear parts, are less linear than ME2's.

(Also, it's no wonder that people aren't talking about ME2's battle system -- it's just an average cover based shooter after all. Did I mention that I love the game?)

I think it is a little better than average (only two are better), but here is not the place for this.

 

[dollartaco]

We were talking about level design in RPGs. If anything, FF13's levels, even in the linear parts, are less linear than ME2's.

(Also, it's no wonder that people aren't talking about ME2's battle system -- it's just an average cover based shooter after all. Did I mention that I love the game?)

I know what you're saying. It's just that ME2 is a lot more than its linear loyalty missions. But this isn't about ME2. FFXIII seems to have stripped out all of my favorite parts of RPGs.

 

[Mandoric]

One correction, this area is more like calm lands X10. Not that it necessarily contradicts your argument as what you can do there is extremely limited, I just wanted to correct this inaccuracy.

Scalewise, it's more like one of the smaller FF11 regions; there's a main zone of Grand Pulse that's about as big as a big FF12 or good-sized FF11 zone, surrounded by three branching tendrils each about the size and complexity of an FFXI tunnel zone. Each one leads to another decently-sized zone:

Spoiler

One leads to a tower dungeon that works like effectively all tower dungeons, one leads to a variety of smaller forking tendrils in the same zone, and one leads to a boss rush dungeon.

 

[Amir0x]

You probably shouldn't play Final Fantasy 13 (or, for that matter, Mass Effect 2) then. Which would be a shame since they are both fantastic.

Speaking of ME2, when playing that I wondered why they didn't have any kind of map for any of the actual combat levels. Now I know.

From what I've seen, in fairness to FFXIII, it seems bigger than FFX's calm lands.

 

[Durante]

I think it is a little better than average (only two are better), but here is not the place for this.

I disagree, but it really doesn't matter in the context of the argument. The main point is that it's another iteration of a principle that has been extremely well explored this gen -- FF13's battle system is certainly not that.

 

[Amir0x]

The thing about Mass Effect is that you can select which missions you want to go on and which time, and on top of that you had "towns" and nonlinear dialogue.

As a result, its 'linear' level design was mitigated in some major sense because you had things which broke up the tedium, and other aspects which provided that sense of nonlinearity.

But this is a FFXIII thread. Just wanted to explain why this comparison falls flat.

 

[lorddarkflare]

I disagree, but it really doesn't matter in the context of the argument. The main point is that it's another iteration of a principle that has been extremely well explored this gen -- FF13's battle system is certainly not that.

Agreed, not sure why I even bothered since I knew what you meant.

 

[dollartaco]

I disagree, but it really doesn't matter in the context of the argument. The main point is that it's another iteration of a principle that has been extremely well explored this gen -- FF13's battle system is certainly not that.

To say that ME2's battle system comes down to a single element like a cover mechanic is really selling it short. You don't need a cover mechanic in a game like FFXII because you can take x000 damage.

 

[Durante]

To say that ME2's battle system comes down to a single element like a cover mechanic is really selling it short. You don't need a cover mechanic in a game like FFXII because you can take x000 damage.

I didn't actually say that. I said that its battle system is another iteration of "cover based 3rd person shooter", while FF13's is something more novel. Do you disagree with that?

Amir0x, I think you meant to say linear in that second sentence.

 

[dollartaco]

I didn't actually say that. I said that it's battle system is another iteration of "cover based 3rd person shooter", while FF13's is something more novel. Do you disagree with that?

Amir0x, I think you meant to say linear in that second sentence.

Yes, I disagree that FFXIII's is something more novel.

 

[Durante]

Yes, I disagree that FFXIII's is something more novel.

So, which other games have a battle system that is as similar to FF13's in gameplay as many cover based shooters are to ME2? I'd like to play them since I love FF13's battle system.

 

[lorddarkflare]

Yes, I disagree that FFXIII's is something more novel.

You are not standing on the most solid of grounds right now.

 

[bryehn]

It was 10 hours in by the time I learned how to use Eidelons in combat

How do I do this? Just started chapter 6 (I think). I'm Vanille/Sazh right now.

 

[Ricker]

I`m getting a bunch of 0 stars battles now with Sazh and Vanille...sometimes they last 5 minutes,not sure what I did or doing wrong with these 2...oh well hopefully I can fix that later on...

 

[Zoe]

Ruin is basically a long range "attack". Don't think of it as magic.

It effectively is magic. The AI will use it when physical attacks are non-effective.

 

[Ricker]

How do I do this? Just started chapter 6 (I think). I'm Vanille/Sazh right now.

Soon you will actually get to use one in battle,unlike the one you got with Snow.

 

[Peff]

How do I do this? Just started chapter 6 (I think). I'm Vanille/Sazh right now.

You have a forced tutorial once you get the second Eidolon (which you should have gotten a while ago if you're really on chapter 6) but basically

Spoiler

it's a TP ability like Libra

I`m getting a bunch of 0 stars battles now with Sazh and Vanille...sometimes they last 5 minutes,not sure what I did or doing wrong with these 2...oh well hopefully I can fix that later on...

Use COM/RAV to build the meter then RAV/RAV to stagger enemies.

 

[LiK]

If it takes 25 hours to flesh out all gameplay aspects of your game, something is wrong. Most games don't even take 25 hours to complete nowadays.

Played ToV? it also kept teaching you new combat moves/mechanics even after 25 hours. I liked that cuz it showed my characters were getting stronger.

FFXIII doesn't do it quite as well but a JRPG is always a slow burn.

 

[Durante]

I`m getting a bunch of 0 stars battles now with Sazh and Vanille...sometimes they last 5 minutes,not sure what I did or doing wrong with these 2...oh well hopefully I can fix that later on...

Are you using Ravager/Ravager after building up enough Commando hits? It will allow you to stagger much sooner. Also don't forget to Libra all enemies for their weaknesses.

 

[Castor Krieg]

Decided to come back to hunts later, all weapons upgraded to Tier 2.

Spoiler

Eden

here we come!

Btw,

Spoiler

Gran Pulse

is dying for some sort of vehicle to move around. (yes I know about Chocobo, but still).

 

[dollartaco]

So, which other games have a battle system that is as similar to FF13's in gameplay as many cover based shooters are to ME2? I'd like to play them since I love FF13's battle system.

See, you're not even making an appropriate analogy. If we're playing by your rules, FFXIII is a third-person, quasi real-time battle system. It's just a new look on a battle system that is, what, 20+ years old? Only the paradigms are really new. Without them, it's the same game as it has always been. Without towns.

 

[dollartaco]

Played ToV? it also kept teaching you new combat moves/mechanics even after 25 hours. I liked that cuz it showed my characters were getting stronger.

FFXIII doesn't do it quite as well but a JRPG is always a slow burn.

Speaking for ToV, you were playing the "real game" just an hour or two in.

 

[Widge]

Really enjoying this, liking it better than my playthroughs of the PS2 iterations even. Like the fact I can't just X mash through fights unless I want to die. Kind of went off the boil playing through FF7 recently as all I am doing is physical attacking my way through fights without any real threat to my team.

Fantastic. Not missing towns, not missing the interlinking grid structure of FFXII.

 

[jjasper]

Use COM/RAV to build the meter then RAV/RAV to stagger enemies.

If it is at the beginning of chapter 4 when you use those 2 alone in the beginning you don't have COM. I was having the same problem at the beginning at that part till I started with a Synergist/Saboteur (or whatever Vanille's 3rd option is) to start and buff/debuff before switching to RAV/RAV

 

[GriffD17]

After falling asleep with the controller in my hands, I don't think I can deny anymore what I had been suspecting for the near 20 hours I've played so far: this game is boring. That in and of itself isn't too bad because I still find myself wanting to play it despite the fact that it makes me super drowsy and want to do something else, but then I think about the gross amount of resources that went into the making of this game and it's almost insulting. The structure of the game is just so monotonous that even though I like the combat, I can't play for very long before I have to turn off my PS3 and look for something else to do. I didn't think the departure from the town-overworld-dungeon formula would have this effect, but I suddenly appreciate what each of these things do to break up and vary gameplay bits much more.

Sorry for the back two page quote, but just reading the responses from overnight. Cannot agree more with this. For the amount of time I've put into the game it's hard to believe I'm playing a Final Fantasy game. It just doesn't feel quite right. I'll still keep playing it, but with the amount of development time I expected something more.

 

[kyo_daikun]

Im near the end of chapter 7 I think, im really enjoying it but I have to confess that im missing mini games and town area's.

Characters are amazing tho, really like these guys whereas I didn't give a rats about the people in FF12 which killed it for me.

Edit: Reading the post above and I have a similar feeling in that there's no "downtime" other than watching an FMV and even then I have to watch them intently to make sure I don't miss any of the plot.

 

[LiK]

Speaking for ToV, you were playing the "real game" just an hour or two in.

Haha, FFXIII takes it's time but it's not too bad so far.

 

[gkryhewy]

I'm really loving this game; semi-addicted. I'm still on the first disc (360 ver). I've heard that there are some framerate issues in certain parts of disc 2. Is there any consensus on whether installing or playing from the disc is the way to go? Right now I'm playing from the disc since load times are not at issue, but I have plenty of HD space.

EDIT: Also, do I have to libra major enemies each time I see them, or will my party remember their information from prior battles?

 

[Ricker]

Are you using Ravager/Ravager after building up enough Commando hits? It will allow you to stagger much sooner. Also don't forget to Libra all enemies for their weaknesses.

I don`t think I have Commando with these 2...I mean I could set it up as one of my Shift sets but I basically levelled Ravager and Synergy with Sazh and Medic/Ravager with Vanille....so it doesn`t matter? I can still use Commando with them...I just noticed last evening that I could edit the Shifts and make sets hehe...

 

[Peff]

If it is at the beginning of chapter 4 when you use those 2 alone in the beginning you don't have COM. I was having the same problem at the beginning at that part till I started with a Synergist/Saboteur (or whatever Vanille's 3rd option is) to start and buff/debuff before switching to RAV/RAV

Yeah, fortunately killing the right enemies makes that part easier, and it's not long before Hope and then Lightning join you. Even with Commando it still takes a while to kill enemies with these two alone

 

[Durante]

I don`t think I have Commando with these 2...I mean I could set it up as one of my Shift sets but I basically levelled Ravager and Synergy with Sazh and Medic/Ravager with Vanille....so it doesn`t matter? I can still use Commando with them...I just noticed last evening that I could edit the Shifts and make sets hehe...

You should still use Commando even if you didn't level it. Without any commando hits slowing down the decrease rate of the stagger bar and only 2 characters it's basically impossible to stagger an enemy -- making your battles take 4 times as long as they should.

 

[jjasper]

You should still use Commando even if you didn't level it. Without any commando hits slowing down the decrease rate of the stagger bar and only 2 characters it's basically impossible to stagger an enemy -- making your battles take 4 times as long as they should.

At that specific part of the game he doesn't have Commando for those 2 yet. He has to buff to start each fight and then switch to RAV, try to preemptive stike, and as Peff said attack the right enemy. Also needs to make sure that you use Libra each time you fight a new enemy.

 

[Widge]

I like it that much that I've been copying my save to stick to play on the work PS3. I'm hoping my lift tonight is working late so I can get some extra time in too!

Feels just like FFX, but with the strategic battlefield setup of FFXII and punch of FFX-2's rapid fights. Pretty much taking everything that was good about all 3 and compiling it into one game.

 

[kyo_daikun]

I'm really loving this game; semi-addicted. I'm still on the first disc (360 ver). I've heard that there are some framerate issues in certain parts of disc 2. Is there any consensus on whether installing or playing from the disc is the way to go? Right now I'm playing from the disc since load times are not at issue, but I have plenty of HD space.

EDIT: Also, do I have to libra major enemies each time I see them, or will my party remember their information from prior battles?

As long as you have beaten the enemy once it should remember the stats, best to use it when you first fight new enemies incase the absorb certain magic or halve its damage.