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[Bauer91]

Don't look at the weapons simply based on their starting stats. They mean nothing in the long run.

For example Lightning, would you rather develop her a weapon that is much stronger in attack than in magic, or go for a more balanced one.

Depending on who you choose as your team, you might need Lightning to have a proficiency in both or perhaps one that consentrates on physical attacks.

Or perhaps you use Lightning as a medic very frequently, so maybe the Lifesaver sword might be a perfect fit for the character.

The weapons you choose to use are pretty much dependent on your playstyle. Its not a thing where each weapon is gradually better than the one before it.

That makes sense. I can't choose my team yet (I'm in Chapter 7 I think), so I guess I should stick with whatever I'm using now and switch to new weapons and upgrade them then.

 

[thefil]

20 hours in and I've finally gotten to Chapter 11 and the open area of the game. Unfortunately, after playing a bit I've realized that maybe it wasn't the structure of the game that was bothering me but other aspects. Not sure I'm going to be able to finish this one.

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

Early impressions:

I'm shocked to say that I'm really quite enjoying this - and let me qualify that by saying I've only just reached chapter 4. I should also say I've tapered my expections from early impressions of others.

Pros:
The battle system is quick, brutal and shows a lot of potential. Paradigms is a smart way of augmenting FFXII's gambit system to be more useable and keep the feeling like you're in control.
Enemy design is pure FF and generally as good as I've seen in an FF game.
Pacing is fairly decent too.
Environments are pleasant to look at if not a little self-contained and illogical. Geographically I don't understand where I am sometimes. Particularly now at the Vile Peaks.
Story just about does enough to keep you interested. For now at least.

Cons:
The protagonist visual character design feels particularly run-of-the-mill. Although perhaps no more than any other FF.
Not sure if I'm warming to some of the characters - particularly Hope and Snow (twats). Surprisingly I'm not irritated by Vanille yet.
The fact that I'd have fuck all idea about what's going on without the datalog does not say many positive things about the writing.
Which brings me to the character dialougue which is your default Japanime garbage consisting largley of over-expressive "uhs", "uguus", "hhmmphs" and "huhs".
I think the linearity thing would be slighty more galling if i'd not mentally prepared myself for it before playing.

 

[DMeisterJ]

Holy Crap.

Chapter 9 boss DOES NOT PLAY.

First boss that a lot of strategy is needed in order for success...

Might have to swap out Vanille so Snow/Fang can draw all his fire as sentinels, and I can rely on Hope to ravage/protect/shell, and snow to ravage while not in sentinel mode.

So much fun!

 

[Future PhaZe]

Ok just got Crystarium game is opening up a bit

 

[B-Rad Lascelle]

No. You won't get experience until you unlock the crystarium. Much better to run past monsters until you get it.

There were a couple things I concentrated on in the first two chapters apart from getting used to the battle system:

1) Made a point of getting every common & rare component item drop (I have no doubt this will prove to be a waste of time as these things get more plentiful & upgrades actually open up.)

2) Made a point of getting a checkmark beside every critter by fighting it often (due to the absence of Libra). This "may" have been a waste of time... I'm not sure if "all" of the common enemies in the first two chapters make a reappearance later on.

 

[scotcheggz]

Please vote on a scale of 1-10 how depressed you were in chapter 9 when you switched from three awesome party members to Sahz and Vanille.

I hope it doesn't last too long, I thought my duo days were over at last!

 

[DMeisterJ]

Please vote on a scale of 1-10 how depressed you were in chapter 9 when you switched from three awesome party members to Sahz and Vanille.

I hope it doesn't last too long, I thought my duo days were over at last!

Level 10 depression.

But it's over really soon! Really, really soon!

 

[rainer516]

There were a couple things I concentrated on in the first two chapters apart from getting used to the battle system:

1) Made a point of getting every common & rare component item drop (I have no doubt this will prove to be a waste of time as these things get more plentiful & upgrades actually open up.)

2) Made a point of getting a checkmark beside every critter by fighting it often (due to the absence of Libra). This "may" have been a waste of time... I'm not sure if "all" of the common enemies in the first two chapters make a reappearance later on.

1) just hoard them up and sell them later to buy cheaper but more effective materials.

2) this gets you a trophy with a cool installable background theme.

 

[ElFly]

Holy crap, chapter's 9 boss doesn't fuck around.

Please vote on a scale of 1-10 how depressed you were in chapter 9 when you switched from three awesome party members to Sahz and Vanille.

I hope it doesn't last too long, I thought my duo days were over at last!

Yeah, that's a downer. It's also showing how weak are the enemies sahz and vanille face compared to the others.

 

[ZeoVGM]

The whole sequence in the second half of chapter 6 is the best part in the game so far. That

Spoiler

Shiva CG scene

was amazing and the battling after is exciting too. Loved Lightning trying to tell Snow what was up over the phone but failing. Perhaps she should have mentioned it sooner? :lol

Fucking hell, this game is awesome. Cool story (though nothing too epic yet -- mainly just the character's individual stories), fantastic battle system, mostly great characters (even Vanille is growing on me), and the music/voice acting is mostly top notch.

And now I'm controlling

Spoiler

Fang

for the first time.

 

[dramatis]

First reports from the FFXIII developer panels at GDC are surfacing now: http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/03/final-fantasy-gdc/

I want Wada to fire this man.

 

[Flipside]

I read somewhere (this thread) that you shouldn't start upgrading weapons untill chapter 3. Can anyone confirm/explain this (without spoilers ).

I just learned about upgrading so I was wondering why I should wait with it so long.

 

[ACE 1991]

Must... Keep... Pushing forward....

(3 hours in)


This game's combat better stop being so one-dimensional.

 

[abq]

I read somewhere (this thread) that you shouldn't start upgrading weapons untill chapter 3. Can anyone confirm/explain this (without spoilers ).

I just learned about upgrading so I was wondering why I should wait with it so long.

Could be because of multipliers. Certain items (usually low exp) raises the exp multiplier while high exp items lower it. The best thing to do is to get the multiplier high and then use as many high exp items as possible. I beat the game without upgrading a single item, though...

 

[desu]

I read somewhere (this thread) that you shouldn't start upgrading weapons untill chapter 3. Can anyone confirm/explain this (without spoilers ).

I just learned about upgrading so I was wondering why I should wait with it so long.

Chapter 3? Do you mean

Spoiler

13

? If I remember correctly you get Upgrading in the 4th chapter, wasnt it like that?

 

[Ricker]

I think the most hate for this game comes from people who gave up after the overly long chapter 5 and 6,with the forced 2 character teams...just finished 6 and yeah,I was kinda glad that stretch was over...

 

[Castor Krieg]

I think the most hate for this game comes from people who gave up after the overly long chapter 5 and 6,with the forced 2 character teams...just finished 6 and yeah,I was kinda glad that stretch was over...

These chapters are not long by any means. The real drag starts by

Spoiler

Chapter 9

 

[Flipside]

Chapter 3? Do you mean

Spoiler

13

? If I remember correctly you get Upgrading in the 4th chapter, wasnt it like that?

11 I mean, typo Upgrading gets introduced somewhere in chapter 4 indeed.

@abq, thanks I read stuff about the multipliers indeed but didn't dare to experiment yet

 

[Dra-Q]

Ya it can be tough until you master switching between Med/Med and Com/Rav fluidly, but by forcing you to learn how to use paradigm shifts properly, it prepares you for the rest of the game.

Yeah, I beat him at last but man, he was strong. Chapter 5 now with Light/Hope, can't wait for Fang

 

[Windom Earle]

Chapter 3? Do you mean

Spoiler

13

? If I remember correctly you get Upgrading in the 4th chapter, wasnt it like that?

Seriously? Not before

Spoiler

13

? Well, I guess I'll wait then. Don't want to ruin my weapons

 

[Thrakier]

What do the highscores do again?

 

[Zoe]

Wait, how do you waste CP? I mean you can always just go get more, right?

Level 5 costs tens of thousands of points. Even with Pulse monsters, that takes a while.

And what do you mean by "it will cause the game to fill out your team set-up page with low-level roles"? I mean you can just edit that yourself.

It's very annoying, especially if you've been switching out characters frequently. It's very easy to leave one in there by accident if you're used to using that setup for another team.

When he casts Doom, it means you've almost beat him.

Nah, it means you're taking too long. It can happen in missions as well.

 

[Windom Earle]

I really hate walking around with any other character than Lightning. Especially Sazh feels so "off"! His animation sucks balls compared to Lightning.

Also I've read in this thread that class-lv.up fields do not have any effect and are just arbitrary. According to the almighty strategy guide, this is wrong!

 

[Durante]

What do the highscores do again?

If you mean the battle ratings, they increase the amount of TP you get. They are also supposed to improve your chances at getting rare drops.

This game is amazing. I've been playing for 16 hours, and it's been great from the beginning. The graphics are awesome (even on 360) and the battle system is so much fun.

You're doing this wrong. You're supposed to hate the game, or at the very least the first 20 hours :lol

 

[Bauer91]

You're doing this wrong. You're supposed to hate the game, or at the very least the first 20 hours :lol

Well, as I was playing I thought about how the first few hours were probably going to be hated here, but I still had fun.

 

[deathberry]

41 hours and 53 mins in, just met

Spoiler

Barthandelus for the 3rd time who invited me to the top of the tower of Eden and enjoy Cocoon's destruction

*sigh* Fatigue starting to set in now.

 

[ZeoVGM]

Good lord, chapter 6 keeps kicking more ass.

 

[Dead]

Good lord, chapter 6 keeps kicking more ass.

Going by your posts, are you sure you're not talking about chapter 7?

 

[Majmun]

I'm loving the game so far. Currently at chapter 5. It has been pretty easy up unitl now, though.

The battle system is sex. The paradigm shift system works so well.

 

[McNum]

I just hit chapter 6, but I've noticed something odd about the battle system.

When doing a Paradigm Shift, some times I get a free refill of the ATB bar, and some times I don't. Anyone know what's going on? I have an idea that I have to shift during the execution of the commands, but I haven't been able to get it consistently. For instance, queue up four Attack commands and switch when the fourth strike is animating will get me an empty bar. Switching while the third is animating gets me a full bar, most of the time.

Can you Paradigm Shift cancel in the game or something? I can't help but think that this could be terribly useful in some fights. Especially if works while switching to the same role, such as Commando -> Commando. Or for needing healing NOW, then going Medic with a full bar would be awesome.

 

[Einbroch]

I just hit chapter 6, but I've noticed something odd about the battle system.

When doing a Paradigm Shift, some times I get a free refill of the ATB bar, and some times I don't. Anyone know what's going on? I have an idea that I have to shift during the execution of the commands, but I haven't been able to get it consistently. For instance, queue up four Attack commands and switch when the fourth strike is animating will get me an empty bar. Switching while the third is animating gets me a full bar, most of the time.

Can you Paradigm Shift cancel in the game or something? I can't help but think that this could be terribly useful in some fights. Especially if works while switching to the same role, such as Commando -> Commando. Or for needing healing NOW, then going Medic with a full bar would be awesome.

1. Start battle with whatever Paradigm you want.
2. Let ATB charge and execute commands.
3. During the final animation of your attack (final bar), switch to another Paradigm.
4. Viola! Fully charged ATB. Execute commands.
5. Let the ATB slowly charge, execute commands.
6. Repeat steps 3-5.

Basically, you can switch Paradigms and get a full ATB bar as long as you let the ATB bar charge normally in between each switch.

It's very useful. I go COM/RAV/RAV ==> RAV/RAV/RAV ==> COM/RAV/RAV, etc. You can use whatever combo you want, including COM/COM/COM ===> COM/COM/COM. They do not have to be different.

 

[DMeisterJ]

Wow, that Chapter 9 boss is not hard, but bullshit.

It's amazing how he can one hit kill my lightning with full health (over 1200) and protect and shell on with that move after you kill the four smaller parts.

Definitely going to give this game a time-out cause that boss is stupidly hard.

 

[Jrmint]

So the credit and incentive chips are only for selling right? I do not need to hang on them?

 

[McNum]

1. Start battle with whatever Paradigm you want.
2. Let ATB charge and execute commands.
3. During the final animation of your attack (final bar), switch to another Paradigm.
4. Viola! Fully charged ATB. Execute commands.
5. Let the ATB slowly charge, execute commands.
6. Repeat steps 3-5.

Basically, you can switch Paradigms and get a full ATB bar as long as you let the ATB bar charge normally in between each switch.

It's very useful. I go COM/RAV/RAV ==> RAV/RAV/RAV ==> COM/RAV/RAV, etc. You can use whatever combo you want, including COM/COM/COM ===> COM/COM/COM. They do not have to be different.

Ah, I can only use the same charge twice? That's still pretty useful. It's about as fast as Haste, then. I suppose in boss fights, it'd be prudent to keep this ability in reserve for Medic use, though. I'll play around with it and find out.

You know, it's kind of refreshing to have the game the same time as the US version. There are no spoiler laden English guides to tempt me. Only good old fashioned trial and error.

 

[Bob White]

Ok, can someone who beat the game point me to a full end game/side quest/optional bosses faq? I've decided that I won't play through a second time and now need to 100% it in this first go around.

22 hours in.....and I'm still in :/ mode for the most part.

Chapter 10 boss, and the CGI movie set up that started the fight, was cool as shit though. Huge shout out to old school FFs.

 

[Einbroch]

Wow, that Chapter 9 boss is not hard, but bullshit.

It's amazing how he can one hit kill my lightning with full health (over 1200) and protect and shell on with that move after you kill the four smaller parts.

Definitely going to give this game a time-out cause that boss is stupidly hard.

You know that you have to

Spoiler

beat the shit out of him as he charges that attack, right? If you do enough damage, he'll go "ugh!" and then you'll know you hurt him enough. This reduces the attack to like 600 damage. I usually got it with like 8-9 seconds to spare. Just make sure everyone is either a Ravager or Commander and it should be cake.

So the credit and incentive chips are only for selling right? I do not need to hang on them?

Correct. Sell, sell, sell. Anything that says "Sold for a premium" should be sold.

 

[survivor]

1. Start battle with whatever Paradigm you want.
2. Let ATB charge and execute commands.
3. During the final animation of your attack (final bar), switch to another Paradigm.
4. Viola! Fully charged ATB. Execute commands.
5. Let the ATB slowly charge, execute commands.
6. Repeat steps 3-5.

Basically, you can switch Paradigms and get a full ATB bar as long as you let the ATB bar charge normally in between each switch.

It's very useful. I go COM/RAV/RAV ==> RAV/RAV/RAV ==> COM/RAV/RAV, etc. You can use whatever combo you want, including COM/COM/COM ===> COM/COM/COM. They do not have to be different.

So basically as long as I switch Paradigms at the animations of my last attack, I will always get a full ATB bar when the switch is complete? This will be really helpful when I want to switch to Saboteur or Medic and need them to use their ability quickly.

 

[Einbroch]

Ah, I can only use the same charge twice? That's still pretty useful. It's about as fast as Haste, then. I suppose in boss fights, it'd be prudent to keep this ability in reserve for Medic use, though. I'll play around with it and find out.

You know, it's kind of refreshing to have the game the same time as the US version. There are no spoiler laden English guides to tempt me. Only good old fashioned trial and error.

You can do it everytime. Perhaps I should have said repeat steps 3-6. You can do it as often as you want as long as you let the ATB charge once in between.

So basically as long as I switch Paradigms at the animations of my last attack, I will always get a full ATB bar when the switch is complete?

As long as in between the switches you let your ATB bar charge normally. Of course you can execute these commands during your "normal" phase and switch as the final attack goes off.

 

[Einbroch]

To clarify any confusion, I found a video on ATB Canceling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kw76CV4wh8U

 

[Darktails]

So, I'm really into good story lines and I'm currently in the mood for a new RPG.
Is FFXIII recomendable for the story alone?
I'm basically torn over the question if I should just get Lost Odyssey instead because I was told that its script would be pretty well written.

 

[JudgeN]

Question, so I don't want to sell any materials or weapons for money till chapter 11 correct? Don't want to screw myself out of the ultimate weapons :lol

 

[Zoe]

So, I'm really into good story lines and I'm currently in the mood for a new RPG.
Is FFXIII recomendable for the story alone?
I'm basically torn over the question if I should just get Lost Odyssey instead because I was told that its script would be pretty well written.

People are divided on the story. I liked it.

Question, so I don't want to sell any materials or weapons for money till chapter 11 correct? Don't want to screw myself out of the ultimate weapons :lol

If you're interested in collecting all items and weapons, don't sell anything except for stuff designed to be sold.

 

[survivor]

Alright looked at the video. So I begin the battle, I will attack using the current Paradigm I have, and I switch Paradigms at the last attack. When I switch I will have full ATB bar. So I use those. Then I wait for the ATB bar to fully charge, attack, and then change Paradigms at final attack and I will have full ATB bar again?

 

[Castor Krieg]

Finished (got the Superstar trophy - yes, I'm this pro), couple of things gameplay-wise, couple of things concerning the story:

(END-GAME SPOILER INCLUDING FINAL BOSS AND LAST FMV! DON'T HIGHLIGHT UNLESS YOU BEAT THE GAME!)

First gameplay:

Spoiler

1. The pacing is great till Chapter 9, since then S-E went with "let's make enemies fewer in numbers but tougher". Battles become more and more of a drag. Most of the time (I grinded a bit, and it wasn't enough) you cannot just go RAV/RAV/RAV or COM/RAV/RAV, you need to buff/debuff first or enemies will kill you. I don't like this kind of gameplay. This is evident in Chapter 13, where each battle is 2-3 minutes easily. Give me more enemies but weaker. Pairings at the very end are crazy - Sanctum Sentinel + tank? WTF.

As far as enemies go Square went the cheap route - enemies stun you and delay your actions. This is crazy, it's not really fun fighting 5 fish-birds that Rush you all the time.

2. Related to previous point - this FF is hard. I mean, really hard. Chapter 12 and 13 regular enemies are packing quite a punch. I don't understand how S-E thought they were making "accessible" FF, if majority of casual gamers will not reach the end! I guess they thought "ok, we showed them all the details of the battle system, now let's rock!" but that doesn't really work, does it? Eidolon fights, Chapter 9 boss, Chapter 13 mobs, etc.

3. Related to previous point - FINAL BOSS HAS THE ABILITY TO KO A LEADER??? WTF SQUARE!!!

Now we go for story:

(SPOILERS TO THE WHOLE GAME!)

Spoiler

The story was very precise till Chapter 11 - Cocoon Fal'Cie, Barthandelus chief among them, want to destroy Orphan, which will murder all people of Coccon and summon back the Maker. That's why they cared for and nurtured humans - mass murder requires a lot of humans. Because Cocoon Fal'Cie cannot hurt Orphan themselves they need to use Pulse L'Cie. Pulse L'Cie try to escape their focus (which they think is to destroy Cocoon by killing Orphan) so they flee to Pulse where they hope to find answers of how to lose the damn marks!

-first wtf - why do they thing they will find it in Oerba?


However Barthandelus figured out a way to destroy Cocoon without the L'Cie, by throwing its inhabitants into panic - massacres, etc. Is this why Fal'Cie took one of the Pulse Arks to Eden? So one day they can use it to cause a mass panic?

People will kill themselves, which is just as good, etc. Our heroes come back to try and save Cocoon - they want to kill Barthandelus. We also discover Orphan wants the same as Barthendelus - he's bored with his life and thinks all will be good when the Maker comes.

Ok, till then it was all nice. Chapter 13 starts and things get fucked up lightspeed:

1. Why did the Cavalry get turned into Cie'th? Shouldn't Fal'Cie make sure that the Cavalry reaches Orphan and kills him?

2. WTF with the "Three Ladies", let's call them that. Who are they, why do they prevent heroes from reaching Orphan? Is this the moment when jRPGs start throwing at you completely unrelated enemies? Why is the Sanctum even there? I thought humans were not aware of Orphan.

3. This is the biggest BS for me - complete absence of anything on Pulse Fal'Cie. From the game I got the feeling they oppose Cocoon Fal'Cie. Fang's and Vanille's focus was not destroy Cocoon, it was to kill Orphan and destroy Cocoon Fal'Cie, and then save Cocoon by doing the thing they did in the last cutscene. Why did Fal'Cie become divided and two groups became enemies of each other? Could it be that some Fal'Cie opposed the idea of killing all the humans to bring back the Maker? Sure looks this way.

4. Same with Focus - also little info. Fal'Cie brand humans to carry out their tasks. From Pulse we learn that a lot of humans were tasked with slaying of a specific monster by Pulse Fal'Cie. So what, is it like a clean-up crew?



Unrelated, but just watched credits - "and other Instrumentalists...", "and other QA testers..." - fuck you Nomura, you egomaniac.

I hope somebody who finished the game can answer my questions regarding the story.

 

[dreamer3kx]

For those complaining about how CP is too easy to get, if you look at the system, most of the most of the points go into the larger abilities, the others (hp+10 etc) are the same thing as gaining a level in any rpg, its fine to me at least.

 

[Zoe]

We need a story discussion thread

 

[dramatis]

We need a story discussion thread

Yup, we do, but should probably wait a little longer for people to actually finish the game.

It's difficult to answer a wall of spoiler text. Hope Castor Krieg can ferment in his curiosity a bit longer :lol

 

[DMeisterJ]

You know that you have to

Spoiler

beat the shit out of him as he charges that attack, right? If you do enough damage, he'll go "ugh!" and then you'll know you hurt him enough. This reduces the attack to like 600 damage. I usually got it with like 8-9 seconds to spare. Just make sure everyone is either a Ravager or Commander and it should be cake.

Okay, I'll try that next time I play.

 

[Y2Kev]

I like Snow. He's just a cool bro. He's a good guy to the core. He has a good heart and nice hair. Don't see what else you need to be a good character really. I think Lightning is a good character, though her development is too sudden and forced. Sazh is great. Hope is good. Fang...well I'd brand Fang myself IFUNOWHATIMEAN.