Support NeoGAF

[Papercuts]

It depends.

Spoiler

Raines would cast deprotect on me, perform one of his powerful attacking combos, and I would go from full life to nearly dead and I was almost always under negative status effects. My strategy sucked though, because I couldn't break this guy at all and I know many who have.

Chapter 9 boss

Spoiler

Take out the heads ASAP, ensure you are under protect status, keep your HP above half, and I was virtually never in danger of dying

If anything, I had more trouble with the normal enemies in the room before the boss fight.

Oh,

Spoiler

I thought by Chapter 10 boss you meant Bahamut, who gave me a hell of a time along with the Chapter 9 boss. I found Cid easy though, all it took was one good rav/rav/rav after buffing and I managed to kill him during the stagger in a launch, never even saw his other form when I did it...also only took around 2 minutes!

 

[Jet Grind Radio!]

I love how I'm playing this game through twice. At the same time. :lol

 

[Einbroch]

I'm starting to like Fang in combat more than Lightning. What is wrong with me.

 

[elbkhm]

It's become the slowest for me
I'm still at Chapter 9 & fighting those mechs with 140,000 hp. 3 of them = one long ass fight.
I have not upgraded my weapon or my accessories AT ALL.
I keep hearing, wait till chapter 11, but would upgrading now give me an edge at all?

Is there a quide for dummies on upgrading, as I have no clue on where to start. Some things give multipliers, some things downgrade your stats etc?

I don't know where this "don't upgrade your weapons until chapter 11" thing came from. My opinion? Sell off the weapons/accessories you're not using, and buy a whole bunch of any one non-natural component (insulated cabling, or turbo jets, or whatever). Keep using natural components (natural components have a different icon from non-natural) on the weapon you want to upgrade until you get the multiplier up to 3x, then dump all the non-natural components you bought into it.

Keep in mind, the first tier of weapons only goes up to about level 26 or so, so you might have to save and load a bit to determine the optimal number of components you'd have to use to level up a weapon, without going over it's max level.

I wouldn't bother upgrading your weapons to their 2nd tier until chapter 11 though.

This will make your fights a lot faster, but probably won't help your ratings much, since they are based on your characters power versus the enemy's, so if you have a lot more power you get less time. Not that it really matters, rating doesn't mean shit.

 

[rainer516]

I's at Chapter 7 currently i would like to know if it's possible later in the game to travel back to all the different area's you've been previously or it's not possible?

Nope, not possible. But why would you want to? They're all linear romps for a reason, it's really hard to miss the stuff.

 

[Pappasman]

Spoiler

Sazh just shot himself.

what the fuck?

That was the strangest moment of the entire game. My brother and I just looked at each other in complete surprise.

 

[Fun Factor]

Spoiler

Sazh just shot himself.

what the fuck?

That was the strangest moment of the entire game. My brother and I just looked at each other in complete surprise.

A turrible tragedy.

 

[FateBreaker]

damnit, a "reply" to a FFXIII news-related on some other website said "man this game is disappointing so far because I am at *********, which is the last area of the game btw, before the final boss, and...."

Why would you say that so randomly. I hate you! Gahrhgrjb.

 

[Jeels]

I love how some believe to be the best and some the worst RPG of the generation. I see some over exaggeration in here.

I hope this is the direction RPG's take. (Just with towns and minigames). There, I said it. Screw the haters. This game deserves all the love it can get.

 

[Pachinko]

Well I'm at 15.5 hours or so and I just completed chapter 7.

FFXIII is exactly what I expected it would be so far, it's like marathoning through a season or 2 of a halfway decent anime , it just happens that instead of still shots and filler the episodes are padded with lots of fighting that I guide, kind of like steering a car. You basically tell the game when togas up or brake or turn but the car is always moving.

By my estimation , the end of chapter 9 will signal the point of no return for me. I'm not sure what happens storywise or gameplay wise there but I figure I will have eclipsed 20 hours by then, or I will have come very close. The significance of this is that FFXII , a game that I actually very much loved was placed on the shelf ... well so far for 4 years. I kept getting caught up in other games and just never felt like going back to it, dunno if I'll ever finish it off. The reasons I enjoyed it were the reasons many probably hated it, auto-combat, total grind-an adventure , huge open environments, a story that wasn't completely focused on adrogynous teens saving the world, just the plight of 2 countries.

But FFXIII, despite being marketdly weaker, gets a free pass from me simply because it's a ride- I want to see the last episode of the show. FFXII I was enjoying grind'an more then then anything else and when I got a bit bored of that I had to stop. So weeaboo plotline wins out over good game design where game completion probability is concerned I guess.

 

[scotcheggz]

damnit, a "reply" to a FFXIII news-related on some other website said "man this game is disappointing so far because I am at *********, which is the last area of the game btw, before the final boss, and...."

Why would you say that so randomly. I hate you! Gahrhgrjb.

This is the reason I haven't been looking at FFXIII information anywhere else on the internet. I had a brief look at GameFAQS whilst I was looking for weapon upgrade information and one of the thread titles was a pretty big spoiler for anyone <Chapter 10...

Which is why I need to ask questions here! In Chapter 11, should I go on to 12, or is it worth it to pull back and do the rest of the missions, or are they not possible until I return? I've done 1-27 so far, but there is 60-something right?

 

[hateradio]

But FFXIII, despite being marketdly weaker, gets a free pass from me simply because it's a ride- I want to see the last episode of the show. FFXII I was enjoying grind'an more then then anything else and when I got a bit bored of that I had to stop. So weeaboo plotline wins out over good game design where game completion probability is concerned I guess.

FFXII is still at the level of godly to me (though I do admit that it could be absolutely perfect if the originally intended plot was materialized), but I do hope that SE can merge wonderful art and design with some of these new-found plot devices for the Versus XIII.

edit:
I just feel XIII is a mediocre looking game at certain areas, with horrible color theory and lighting :/ so much washed out blandness. Hope they fix that w/Versus.

 

[Dresden]

Paradigm Shifts would be perfect if you could customize each role. Set gambits for Ravager, Medic, Synergist? Awesome. It'd be customization+the awesome fast pace of XIII's combat.

And get rid of the crystarium and bring back the license board, but take out the slots for equipping items and crap. Or use a Diablo-style talent tree.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

"No breaks" as a weapon ability just means the bar cant be broken by the character right? The stagger bar can still move up by it correct?

 

[Jet Grind Radio!]

Damn.

Spoiler

Odin

is being a little bitch. I don't even remember how I beat him the first time. D=

 

[Dark Octave]

Okay if I had to rate the stories of the FFs I've played immediately after finishing the game it would be:

Tactics > VI > XII > VII > IX > IV > V > X > XIII > VIII > III > I

BECAUSE THAT'S HOW WE ROLL IN HERE

II, V and of course XIII were the only FF titles that I haven't fully played yet. I mostly agree with this, only I'd drop XII to right in front of X and see if we can get Mystic Quest (and everything else) and place it in front of VIII.

 

[DY_nasty]

I'm starting to like Fang in combat more than Lightning. What is wrong with me.

Fang is capable in each of her roles. Unlike Lightning, who's a complete joke as a Medic.

 

[hateradio]

Damn.

Spoiler

Odin

is being a little bitch. I don't even remember how I beat him the first time. D=

I believe you just have to

Spoiler

switch from rav/rav (or is it com for lightning) to med/com

, when he's

Spoiler

using Ultir's shield or something, you attack, when he's attacking you heal

.

Spoiler

He'll mostly attack Lightning, so cure her when that happens.

 

[Jet Grind Radio!]

Fuck you, douche. 50 left on the Doommeter.

I believe you just have to

Spoiler

switch from rav/rav (or is it com for lightning) to med/com

, when he's

Spoiler

using Ultir's shield or something, you attack, when he's attacking you heal

.

I basically used Rav/Med for a while, and as soon as I almost got the bar filled. Then I switched to Rav/Rav to finish off his bar. Cut it damn close.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

I believe you just have to

Spoiler

switch from rav/rav (or is it com for lightning) to med/com

, when he's

Spoiler

using Ultir's shield or something, you attack, when he's attacking you heal

.

I actually failed this twice because i stupidly thought the gesalt bar filled up past the letters.

 

[Dresden]

I actually failed this twice because i stupidly thought the gesalt bar filled up past the letters.

Happened to me with the first eidolon,

Spoiler

Shiva.

I actually did it three times before realizing that the Gestalt button had popped up.

 

[grumble]

Anyone have any tips on Ch. 9? I'm at the very beginning

Spoiler

of the big ship you're going into to kill the sanctum, when you first get the ability to switch characters

, and finding it really tough for some reason. Any tips on who to use? It's driving me crazy.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

Anyone have any tips on Ch. 9? I'm at the very beginning

Spoiler

of the big ship you're going into to kill the sanctum, when you first get the ability to switch characters

, and finding it really tough for some reason. Any tips on who to use? It's driving me crazy.

Are you desperately trying to 5 star every battle? If your having alot of trouble, slow things down a bit and just use a sentinel that can counter with two attackers and rotate that with another attacker/sentinel/and healer and play it cool until you power up and learn what works.

 

[Cloudy]

I'm on Chapter 9 (25 hours in and I can finally pick my team lol) and I don't think I've ever played through any game this fast. This is due to the linearity -- which doesn't really bother me cos I don't typically do sidequests in RPGs -- and the fun battles. I'm also eager to see what happens next. However, I can understand why some folks wouldn't be satisfied. If you like exploring and random sidequests, there's NOTHING like that 25 hours in. That is pretty shocking for an RPG

Even Xenosaga had mini-games and stuff if you wanted to take a break from the main story for a while. Apparently, there's sidequests (missions) later but for folks who don't like the plot or characters, there isn't much else so far except the battle system.

It hasn't hooked me like X, VII or VIII but I like it better than IX and XII. I'll keep going tomorrow

If I had to grade it now, I'd say 8/10. Score could go higher but not much lower unless something drastic happens. I am pretty pleased with the game up to this point..

 

[Fun Factor]

If I had to grade it now, I'd say 8/10. Score could go higher but not much lower unless something drastic happens. I am pretty pleased with the game up to this point..

Yeah, the game is definitely hovering around 8-ish game to for me as well.
Not terrible or even bad, just way below exceptions in every way outside of story & combat.

 

[burgerdog]

Any items that increase the rare drop percentage?

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

After moving through such gorgeous areas every 2.5 hours for the past 25 hours of gametime, running through gran pulse over and over again is starting to bore me out despite my obsession to 5 star those fucking quests.

Also, are shrouds purchasable? I havent checked in my limited time in the store and i could desperately use them to 5 star some of these fuckers.

 

[Rpgmonkey]

I never knew how much I relied on something as simple as a compass before using this game's terrible map...

 

[cutebabyelephant]

Thoughts on the game as whole now that i've finished it. This will be rambly

Spoiler

Beginning of the game was too long. They should have cut out basically the entirety of the fal'cie area.

I couldn't ever bring myself to like Vanille or Fang. The ending of the game was rather awful; but I was happy that they died. I'm not sure what percentage of Vanille's irritation was her voice actor and what was her script; but both were horrible for sure. Fang didn't have a bad voice actor; but you could tell her character was written as a guy and her association with Vanille bugged me.

On that topic I felt it was annoying that Sazh got bogged down by Vanille so much also.

I liked the game's story and characters with the exception of Vanille until Super Pope. From then onwards it was just bad. The combat stepped up and continued to keep the game afloat though.

I didn't get all the hate for Hope. I guess I don't mind that character archetype very much. It was lame how he sort of devolved as a character after Chapter 7 though.

Snow was lame, but I couldn't bring myself to hate him. I guess i'm a sucker for that type of Shonen hero.

One review of the game mentioned that Vanille became much more than a Selphie clone and I totally disagree with that. Can't express how much I disliked her.

Linearity only disappointed me in the chapter with Hope and Lightning where you just walked across a bunch of platforms with no real scenery; perhaps the one that was concurrent to that with Sazh and Vanille; and maybe a bit in Chapter 9 aswell. The walking through platforms in that Hope and Lightning chapter puzzled me on how it made it into the game with the amount of art they said they cut.

Battle System is the best out of any final fantasy; but it definitely had some issues. I wish it was a bit more complex and that there were an AI gambit system for your partners. Also; paradigm saving would have been nice.

I liked the flash backs; was disappointed when they stopped happening. The game's story wasn't anything amazing or really all that well done; but it was enjoyable until Super Pope.

Already mentioned how I felt about the game's opening.
I felt like 3-6 were fine. I think they should have been shortened in enemy count though.
Chapter 7 was great. 8 is too short to really comment on, but it was enjoyable.
9 is where the game's story died; but the combat got good then.
10 was awful. I understand those type of dungeons; but there should have been more character development in it. Also while the Cid fight was cool from a gameplay standpoint it was the signaling moment of the story dying.
Chapter 11 was nice gameplaywise and really made me wish that there a similar chapter between 8 and 9 on Cocoon with a city hub in it.
Chapter 12 was really nice. Not really sure how to express how I liked it; but it definitely was neat.
Chapter 13 was ugh though. I hate how JRPGs always have this sort of final dungeon.

I never felt that the game got super difficult at any point. It definitely stopped being auto-attack the game; but I never died more than twice on any pull or boss; and one shot all of the bosses the people seemed to be having trouble with. I switched between Lightning Hope Snow and Lightning Hope Sazh for my party when you got the option.

The last boss though; was retarded. I died 10 times at lease to his second form from him instant killing my main character. Eventually one time he just didn't cast it on my main character and I killed him.

Didn't do too many side missions. I did up to the Chocobo. Ran around on the chocobo a bit and then moved on and never went back.

If this game didn't have Vanille; had a Chapter 11 like chapter between 8 and 9; and if the story and characterization didn't die after 9 I think this would be my favorite Final Fantasy.

I don't think you can compare the 2D and 3D FFs, but in terms of 3D ones i think 10 and 7 are better. I'd say it's about equal quality wise to 9. 12 is a better made game; but wasn't my cup of tea.

 

[Cloudy]

Yeah, the game is definitely hovering around 8-ish game to for me as well.
Not terrible or even bad, just way below exceptions in every way outside of story & combat.

My description of FF13 after 25hrs = RPG without any "filler". Thing is, I rarely do mini-games or sidequests but to not have ANYTHING like that 25 hrs in makes me want to bash SE just because lol. It's pretty arrogant of them to think the plot and battles with nothing in-between can carry an RPG. Not everyone plays games for the plot like I do.

That said, most of us are still playing (and enjoying) the game so maybe they know what their doing :lol

 

[Truelize]

Does the Sentinel role ever get enjoyable?

I just stand there. He doesn't even counter attack like he is supposed to. Well sometimes he does but it's not until after all 4 of his ATB bars have been used and then it's usually nothing special. I'm doing better with Snow and Hope just using the normal commando/ravenger roles.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

Does the Sentinel role ever get enjoyable?

I just stand there. He doesn't even counter attack like he is supposed to. Well sometimes he does but it's not until after all 4 of his ATB bars have been used and then it's usually nothing special. I'm doing better with Snow and Hope just using the normal commando/ravenger roles.

I dont see how it could ever be enjoyable to play, but it is really really useful to have in a pinch.

 

[Einbroch]

I don't know why a lot of people are saying this game is easy. End-game is far from easy, at least for me.

But I think I found a trick: control the medic.

 

[jhenedo]

I have never finished a final fantasy game but always admired its presentation. I think they are too hard and monotonous for the main reason of extending length. Anyway, after hearing all this talk about simplicity and linearity of 13, i decided to jump. Unfortunately, same result as before presentation is so awesome and am loving the story but boss fights are HARD. Someone please help? Need to finish for story but i don't know what am doing wrong in fights? Am dying alot.

 

[Cloudy]

I have never finished a final fantasy game but always admired its presentation. I think they are too hard and monotonous for the main reason of extending length. Anyway, after hearing all this talk about simplicity and linearity of 13, i decided to jump. Unfortunately, same result as before presentation is so awesome and am loving the story but boss fights are HARD. Someone please help? Need to finish for story but i don't know what am doing wrong in fights? Am dying alot.

Use Libra/Librascope to see enemy weaknesses. The bosses aren't really hard IMO. Most of them just require a certain strategy and if you deviate from that, you get pwned

 

[Rpgmonkey]

I don't know why a lot of people are saying this game is easy. End-game is far from easy, at least for me.

But I think I found a trick: control the medic.

I thought the end-game was pretty easy aside from the encounter setups being as long-winded and annoying as possible. I ended up skipping most stuff because it started to get annoying and tedious.

I was also disappointed by this. Usually end-game monster groups are enemies that play tricks on you (Tonberries, Behemoth Kings that cast Meteor after dying, etc.). The stuff they used in the final dungeon just had higher damage potential than what I fought before.

And yeah, medics are way better if you use them yourself. AI sucks.

 

[PumpkinPie]

I have never finished a final fantasy game but always admired its presentation. I think they are too hard and monotonous for the main reason of extending length. Anyway, after hearing all this talk about simplicity and linearity of 13, i decided to jump. Unfortunately, same result as before presentation is so awesome and am loving the story but boss fights are HARD. Someone please help? Need to finish for story but i don't know what am doing wrong in fights? Am dying alot.

Are you switching paradigms often? You should be.

 

[grumble]

Use Libra/Librascope to see enemy weaknesses. The bosses aren't really hard IMO. Most of them just require a certain strategy and if you deviate from that, you get pwned

Yeah libra's essential. The AI characters won't use the right attacks unless it's libra'd. Most bosses up to Ch. 9 are RAV/COM then once you've got a stagger base, go RAV/RAV to stagger, then RAV/COM for the win. Switch out with SYN/SAB at the beginning if you have it, and COM/MED if you need to heal. Without buffs, some bosses aren't beatable. Get Launch ASAP.

 

[jhenedo]

Use Libra/Librascope to see enemy weaknesses. The bosses aren't really hard IMO. Most of them just require a certain strategy and if you deviate from that, you get pwned

PumpkinPie: Are you switching paradigms often? You should be.

Thanks so much guys. I will keep that in mind and give it another go. Right now Im playing the part where light and hope are infiltrating the base.(lol am slow). Am stuck on that jelly thing boss.:lol

 

[grumble]

Are you desperately trying to 5 star every battle? If your having alot of trouble, slow things down a bit and just use a sentinel that can counter with two attackers and rotate that with another attacker/sentinel/and healer and play it cool until you power up and learn what works.

Fuck, I hoped I could avoid SEN. I hate that class, it's boring and they never shield as well as I want them to on AI. I was trying COM/SYN/SAB (initial buff/debuff) to COM/RAV/RAV (stagger fill) with COM/COM/MED as my staggered/heal paradigm, but I was getting killed at that point in the game. Maybe COM/SYN/SAB to COM/RAV/SEN to COM/RAV/COM for stagger and COM/MED/SEN for healing? What do you think?

 

[polyh3dron]

The funny thing is, now that I've become accustomed to these paradigms, it almost makes me want to take a crack at FF12 again which I stopped before due to my hatred for gambits (and my hatred for the inverted camera controls).

 

[jvalioli]

The funny thing is, now that I've become accustomed to these paradigms, it almost makes me want to take a crack at FF12 again which I stopped before due to my hatred for gambits (and my hatred for the inverted camera controls).

Paradigms feel like a dumbed down version of gambits to me. But maybe that is because I love FF12.

 

[qcf x2]

How do I beat

Spoiler

Cid Raines

? I lost like seven times already, and each attempt took at least 10 minutes.

Spoiler

His offense is really messing my game up, as I constantly have to use Cure and his HP is way too high for him to be able to do such devastating attacks.

Thanks.

 

[Toki767]

How do I beat

Spoiler

Cid Raines

? I lost like seven times already, and each attempt took at least 10 minutes.

Spoiler

His offense is really messing my game up, as I constantly have to use Cure and his HP is way too high for him to be able to do such devastating attacks.

Thanks.

I've found that Aerosol and Fortisol make hard battles much much easier.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Paradigms feel like a dumbed down version of gambits to me. But maybe that is because I love FF12.

that's funny, because to me they feel like the next logical step, in a round about sort of way.

it's great that this is so divisive, really.

 

[cutebabyelephant]

How do I beat

Spoiler

Cid Raines

? I lost like seven times already, and each attempt took at least 10 minutes.

Spoiler

His offense is really messing my game up, as I constantly have to use Cure and his HP is way too high for him to be able to do such devastating attacks.

Thanks.

Spoiler

I thought it was rather easy with Lightning Hope and Snow.
Commando Ravager Sentinel
Commando Medic Sentinel
Ravager Ravager Ravager
Commando Ravager Commando
Medic Medic Sentinel
I probably had a 6th one with Hope as a Synergist, but can't remember.

Essentially #1 or #2 depending on if you need to heal or not. When he switches to Defensive go to Ravager Ravager Ravager until he's staggered. Once stagged Commando Ravager Commando. Switch back to 1 or 2 when he goes into offensive switch. #5 is for when he dishes out too much damage when he gets to lower health.
Don't think i'm missing anything that I can remember being important. Using a summon if you're about to die as always helps. If you find him doing too much damage at lower healths to go ravager ravager ravager make your 6th set up lightning and snow ravager's and hope medic

 

[jvalioli]

that's funny, because to me they feel like the next logical step, in a round about sort of way.

it's great that this is so divisive, really.

There is a pretty big trade-off. FFXIII gives you crazy speeds but FFXII gives you more control.

 

[Einbroch]

Okay, I'm in the last boss's dungeon and this is ridiculous. Enemies take way too long to kill and are frustratingly cheap.

When will this be over? It's just wave after wave of enemy, with arena-like boss fights in between. It's like they said "Shit, the story's over but we need to put more stuff do fight. Look at all these cool monster designs! Aw, hell, just have a huge dungeon and throw them in there."

/rantfrustrationgrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[knitoe]

Before getting onto ship (chapter 8 or 9), it looks like Sazh

Spoiler

shoots himself in the head

and I scream out YES. Lol. Didn't want to play him and Vanille anymore. Unfortunately, it was all for not. Don't know why but I hate all the characters, except for maybe lightning. How much longer before misery ends?

 

[Unknown One]

Damn I blew my load on Crystal level 9 tier. Had about 880,000 and all went to drain, maxed out 2 of the main class for each character but half way on the third. I guess it's back to grinding to max out that third.