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[Dedication Through Light]

afaik, none of those characters were designed by Nomura. He only designed the main 6.

someone correct me if I'm wrong though

With his name prominently displayed on the opening screen and menu, I would think he did all the character designs, lol.

I think Dysley, Barthandulus, and the bird had an intriguing design though. Some of the monsters as well (mainly militarized units too except for the Vernal Bulbasaur machine). Protoclod was my favorite boss design as well and fight.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Played the first five hours of the game yesterday and all I could think about was this:

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1268918218136RA74

(Maybe old if there are swedish on this forum)

Hadn't seen this yet. Awesome. Just awesome. I love that it's the picture from the status screen with his stupid smile.

 

[7Th]

Yeah, she's integral to the story, but the hyperbole I've heard on the podcast lead me to believe that the game was going to be called Vanille's Final Fantasy by the end of the game and that never happens.

I wouldn't call it Vanille's Final Fantasy, but Vanille is still clearly the main character in the sense that

Spoiler

the game is told from her point-of-view and she and Fang are pretty much the only relevant characters in the second half of the game.

Sazh said it best in the cutscene before the final battle,

Spoiler

the Cocoon side of the cast was really just worm bait to lure Vanille and Fang into Orphan's Craddle.

That definitely could be the case, though I can't imagine that he didn't have any role whatsoever in designing the game's primary antagonists.

Nomura designed

Spoiler

Galeth Dylsey.

 

[Tideas]

Spoiler

You're seeing the other side of Cocoon. The "sky" is just the space between one side to the other.

I don't get it. So is cocoon sphericle in that. Look at the letter "O"

Instead of existing on the outside of the "O", it exists on the inside of the black lines? how does gravity exists then? The city on the top part of the "O" is held there through some kinda gravity even though its' facing down relative to pulse?

 

[dofry]

Hadn't seen this yet. Awesome. Just awesome. I love that it's the picture from the status screen with his stupid smile.

Easy to plaster anyones face in there and I chose some random photo I got from the net so it was pure luck from my part that you liked it. I got the link earlier from a friend with a photo of a friend, but it hit me to use this frame when I first met that character in the game. Perfect fit.

 

[BertramCooper]

I don't get it. So is cocoon sphericle in that. Look at the letter "O"

Instead of existing on the outside of the "O", it exists on the inside of the black lines? how does gravity exists then? The city on the top part of the "O" is held there through some kinda gravity even though its' facing down relative to pulse?

Well, it's good to know that I'm not the only one having a hard time picturing Cocoon's geography. :lol

 

[commish]

Yeah I found myself liking her design and model a lot. There is unfortunately one angle where she looks kind of weird (its in an ending cutscene) however other than that, awesome. I found myself caring about her character throughout the game as well. I like her battle quotes to Hope, lol.

Spoiler

well i now know lightning doesn't die at the end >.>

 

[Fimbulvetr]

I don't get it. So is cocoon sphericle in that. Look at the letter "O"

Instead of existing on the outside of the "O", it exists on the inside of the black lines? how does gravity exists then? The city on the top part of the "O" is held there through some kinda gravity even though its' facing down relative to pulse?

I always thought the cities were layered on top of each other with fake skies or that the cities are all one the same flat place but Eden just floats above them.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

I wouldn't call it Vanille's Final Fantasy, but Vanille is still clearly the main character in the sense that

Spoiler

the game is told from her point-of-view and she and Fang are pretty much the only relevant characters in the second half of the game.

Sazh said it best in the cutscene before the final battle,

Spoiler

the Cocoon side of the cast was really just worm bait to lure Vanille and Fang into Orphan's Craddle.

Nomura designed

Spoiler

Galeth Dylsey.

I was torn that the final fight was between

Spoiler

L'cie and Ragnarok

. I thought that would have been more interesting, at least rather than how it played out. What I didnt understand was how did

Spoiler

Orpah even appear? Was Barthandulus's defeat the cause for the awakening of Orphan?

 

[Ponn]

Spoiler

well i now know lightning doesn't die at the end >.>

Spoiler

not necessarily, it could be her from a weird angle dying or dead

 

[polyh3dron]

Why does Hope have blonde hair in the ingame-graphics, but silver hair in the cgi cinematics?

hey hey it's an improvement over changing ethnicities

 

[Tideas]

I always thought the cities were layered on top of each other with fake skies or that the cities are all one the same flat place but Eden just floats above them.

cocoon is spiral though...lol. either the cities exist on the inside edge or the outside edge. I'm thinking of something along the linse of Gundam space colonies.

Btw, Hope's hair is actually more platinum blonde really.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

cocoon is spiral though...lol. either the cities exist on the inside edge or the outside edge. I'm thinking of something along the linse of Gundam space colonies.

Btw, Hope's hair is actually more platinum blonde really.

Spiral?

 

[Zoe]

I don't get it. So is cocoon sphericle in that. Look at the letter "O"

Instead of existing on the outside of the "O", it exists on the inside of the black lines? how does gravity exists then? The city on the top part of the "O" is held there through some kinda gravity even though its' facing down relative to pulse?

Yes, things are messed weird up in Cocoon.

Read the Episode Zero translations when you're close to finishing the game. One of the chapters in there goes over this, but it wasn't released prior to the game's release because it contains spoilers.

 

[Ricker]

Played the first five hours of the game yesterday and all I could think about was this:

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1268918218136RA74

(Maybe old if there are swedish on this forum)

EDIT: Be patient and wait for it to load.

:lol ...That speaker is one tough Mom I bet

 

[kilongs]

I don't get it. So is cocoon sphericle in that. Look at the letter "O"

Instead of existing on the outside of the "O", it exists on the inside of the black lines? how does gravity exists then? The city on the top part of the "O" is held there through some kinda gravity even though its' facing down relative to pulse?

I'm at Ch 6, and I finally just got a glimpse of the geography of Cacoon:

Spoiler

Theres a part where Sazh and Vanille take a moment to appreciate the view, you can see the landscape curving upwards like in Halo.

My theory but spoilered just in case:

Spoiler

Cacoon (like the name suggests) is a large sphere with a hard shell on the outside and hollow on the inside. The landscape/cities line the innar wall with "sky/atmosphere" in the middle...if that makes any sense. Everything works due to the power of the Sanctum l'Cies. Pulse is the real world and Cacoon is like a big moon that kinda just floats around in Pulse's sky/atmosphere.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Played the first five hours of the game yesterday and all I could think about was this:

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1268918218136RA74

(Maybe old if there are swedish on this forum)

EDIT: Be patient and wait for it to load.

That is the greatest thing ever. :lol

 

[survivor]

Played the first five hours of the game yesterday and all I could think about was this:

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1268918218136RA74

(Maybe old if there are swedish on this forum)

EDIT: Be patient and wait for it to load.

Really worth the long wait for the thing to load. It just came out nowhere too.

 

[K' Dash]

The best place I found, is on the way to Mah'habra (sp?) there is a Behemoth and a Megisthorian (big ass wolf) fighting. It is a guaranteed preemptive strike and an easy 6600 cp. Before I went on with Chapter 11 after being introduced to the Archelyte Steppe I was able to kill them in about 40 seconds which gave 5 stars. Always kill the Behemoth first and fast because he will stand up if you don't get him staggered ASAP.

Long answer I know, but that place rocks.

Gran Pulse - Near a save point, down a ramp (on your way to ouerba) you find a Behemoth fighting another thing. That fight is always a pre-emptive battle and gives 6600 CP normally and is easily re-spawnable (just run 2 feet past the save point). The fight lasts 6 seconds for me.

edit: beaten lol

Thank you.

 

[Celcius]

I killed neochu and got the growth egg
Now I just need to get about 990,000 gil to buy a trapehedron :lol

 

[Almighty_Chocobo]

Finally made it to Chapter 11 yesterday. I've done several of the side missions and now find myself weaving through and around monsters just to hurry up and progress through the rest of the game. I like the combat and paradigm system well enough, but the party's AI is just ridiculously stupid. For example, I can't count the number of times that I've died because my characters just HAVE to huddle when I get jumped by a pack of 5 mobs hell-bent on all casting Fira at the same time. The monsters wander all over the battlefield, why the hell does my party have to spoon?

I could just farm endless amounts of CP to get all of the +HP enhancements in the Crystarium, but I really don't have the patience for that (I guess years of WoW destroyed my ability to partake in monotonous task after monotonous task). As I progress further into the game, it seems like a lot off the enemies' HP has increased by a drastic margin, which drags the fights out even longer.

I will probably get flamed for saying this, but Square should really consider implementing some sort of Tactics system such as the one found in Dragon Age for their next FF. If you're going to take away control of 2/3 of the party, at least give us a means by which to control what exactly they do in each situation. I don't need my Sentinel spamming Mediguard while I have a pack of monsters running wild on the rest of my team.

 

[zoukka]

If you're going to take away control of 2/3 of the party, at least give us a means by which to control what exactly they do in each situation..

You're bringing the Persona 3 nightmares back to me

 

[Kyoufu]

I killed neochu and got the growth egg
Now I just need to get about 990,000 gil to buy a trapehedron :lol

Did you do the Death strategy for Neochu? You can do the same thing on Adamantortoise for a trap too.

I agree with party members huddling, its annoying, but I've never had a problem with party AI at all in terms of abilities being used.

 

[Almighty_Chocobo]

You're bringing the Persona 3 nightmares back to me

Haven't touched the Persona series, but at the very least, we should be able to switch control between party members at will (meaning IN a battle).

 

[Kyoufu]

I would like a party member switch too. That and the removal of party leader KO ending a battle.

I'm guessing this will come in the International version or DLC.

 

[Castor Krieg]

I was torn that the final fight was between

Spoiler

L'cie and Ragnarok

. I thought that would have been more interesting, at least rather than how it played out. What I didnt understand was how did

Spoiler

Orpah even appear? Was Barthandulus's defeat the cause for the awakening of Orphan?

(Spoilers to the end-game) Nope, he just chose this moment to

Spoiler

reveal himself. The whole time heroes tried to prevent Barthandelus from killing Orphan, thinking of him as some helpless child. At the end Orphan turned out to be the same as Barthandelus - wanting to die, and be reunited with the Maker.

 

[Kagari]

I would like a party member switch too. That and the removal of party leader KO ending a battle.

I'm guessing this will come in the International version or DLC.

I sure hope so, because those two things definitely lead to some frustrating moments for me...

 

[Zalasta]

I will probably get flamed for saying this, but Square should really consider implementing some sort of Tactics system such as the one found in Dragon Age for their next FF.

Heh, I would argue that DA's party A.I. is still pretty bad even with its extensive tactics system. I felt the need to micromanage each character in that game because they would often go after the wrong target or use the wrong spell/ability. On the other hand, I think FF13 has been pretty reliable so far, my only complaint would be limited to the rare case when the A.I. would put resurrecting fallen ally at the bottom of the queue, same with curing status effects (with silence being the most frustrating one, I hate being silent on Hope and my ally doesn't get rid of it immediately).

 

[badcrumble]

I killed neochu and got the growth egg
Now I just need to get about 990,000 gil to buy a trapehedron :lol

Best way to get that gil, ironically, is to death-farm Adamantoises anyway :lol

 

[badcrumble]

Heh, I would argue that DA's party A.I. is still pretty bad even with its extensive tactics system. I felt the need to micromanage each character in that game because they would often go after the wrong target or use the wrong spell/ability. On the other hand, I think FF13 has been pretty reliable so far, my only complaint would be limited to the rare case when the A.I. would put resurrecting fallen ally at the bottom of the queue, same with curing status effects (with silence being the most frustrating one, I hate being silent on Hope and my ally doesn't get rid of it immediately).

That's why it's actually good to keep a small supply of status-effect curing items on you! Especially for Daze, ugh.

 

[forgrim]

Best way to get that gil, ironically, is to death-farm Adamantoises anyway :lol

I found it easier to farm Adamantoises by using Fang and her Bahamut summon, then going nuts on the fallen turtle with 3 commandos (obviously, you have to be a little stronger to do this). Its much more reliable tho compared to death. I recommend you do this only after getting your first genji glove so you can highwind at the end for 1/5 of his lifebar. Also, at this point, you're probably strong enough to use shrouds to just take down the turtle regularly, so every 1 fight you kill it with shrouds, and the other you use the bahamut summon.

 

[painey]

thanks to that growth egg I got all the level 5 achievements.. but maxing out every character is going to be INSANE..its got to be 50 hours of grinding.. I don't think i'll be getting that

 

[Y2Kev]

I like lightning the best, sometimes I just stop and look at her model for awhile

Lightning is not the most charismatic design in the game I think, but her design will be enduring. Nomura really did design the female Cloud. It's really perfect.

Sometimes when I am playing, I do the same. You get weird facial expressions though. I was totally taken by the detail in Chapter 11, so I took this picture from the Japanese version last year...

The vine detail is nuts! But look at Lightning's eyes :lol

 

[Castor Krieg]

thanks to that growth egg I got all the level 5 achievements.. but maxing out every character is going to be INSANE..its got to be 50 hours of grinding.. I don't think i'll be getting that

Nope, non-base roles are approx. 2mln CP to max. You can farm 1mln CP in one hour on dog vs. behemoth king. I would say the grind will not take more than 5-6 hours.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

(Spoilers to the end-game) Nope, he just chose this moment to

Spoiler

reveal himself. The whole time heroes tried to prevent Barthandelus from killing Orphan, thinking of him as some helpless child. At the end Orphan turned out to be the same as Barthandelus - wanting to die, and be reunited with the Maker.

Wow that actually sounded alright then. That pretty much closes all the gaps I had with the ending then. Though it would have been pretty awesome if they showed how

Spoiler

the Maker looks

. They did a pretty good job of closing this out, which pretty much eliminates any chance of a sequel, I guess.

 

[forgrim]

i'm at 60 hours played and i'm almost done with every crystarium for every character...i managed 6 trapz, and only got dark matter to farm before i can get the achievement for all weapons/accessories. but gd, is money hard to find.

 

[Crash Station]

Played the first five hours of the game yesterday and all I could think about was this:

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1268918218136RA74

(Maybe old if there are swedish on this forum)

EDIT: Be patient and wait for it to load.

W
T
F

:lol

 

[Canti]

Just beat the story today, ten minutes shy of 50 hours.

Was really surprised by the initial difficulty ramp on hitting

Spoiler

Pulse. After being unable to progress beyond the 2nd floor of the tower I went back spent like 6-10 hours grinding and doing some missions,

made the rest of the game much more manageable.

As for post-chapter 13, I guess this has already been discussed to death:

1.

Spoiler

What happened to Cid's Guardian Corps. successor (the name escapes me)? I assume he was turned into a sacrifice but would have been nice to see some closure on him after he killed Cid and took off for Orphan.

2.

Spoiler

The ending with Vanille and Fang in crystal stasis, what she said about a new dawn, and the increasing light before the credits role, is this to suggest they might be revived too? Reminded me of the end of FFX with Tidus swimming to the surface.

3.

Spoiler

Anyone else get Matrix + The Architect vibes from the corridor before Orphan? Although the design seemed shoe-horned in to fit with the initial promo shots of Lightning (as with the landing on Eden near endgame).

4.

Spoiler

When Eden first rose from the pool (for fight 1) was he fused with the Primarch guy? The large face seemed similar, unless it's just a coincidence. Also, he was totally Megatron from Beast Wars XD

It's a real shame you can't revisit areas other than Pulse.

I think it really surpassed my expectations considering all the nay-saying that was going around pre-release. Probably my third favourite FF (behind 9 and 4) which is in no small part due to the excellent battle system. I'll definitely be going back to do the other missions

 

[Paznos]

Chapter 11 boss Help?

 

[badcrumble]

Wow that actually sounded alright then. That pretty much closes all the gaps I had with the ending then. Though it would have been pretty awesome if they showed how

Spoiler

the Maker looks

. They did a pretty good job of closing this out, which pretty much eliminates any chance of a sequel, I guess.

Well, go through a bunch of the hunts and read the Analects and you'll see that the overall mythology is a bit more complex than was initially indicated, though I don't think it necessarily indicates that there'll be a sequel or anything.

 

[hermit7]

How friendly is this for persons that heven't ever played a Final Fantasy? I am looking to pick up a new game, and have looked at this, and while I am intrigued, the only JRPG that I have ever really played are the Pokemon.

Despite that the game looks pretty good, and my interest is peaked.

 

[Mandoric]

How friendly is this for persons that heven't ever played a Final Fantasy? I am looking to pick up a new game, and have looked at this, and while I am intrigued, the only JRPG that I have ever really played are the Pokemon.

Despite that the game looks pretty good, and my interest is peaked.

You'll be fine, the closest any FF comes to requiring playing any of the others is 9 and that's just because it's jampacked with nostalgic nods. Hell, you'll probably enjoy it more than some people who have, a lot of the complaints are "this isn't where I wanted the series to go".

 

[Xpliskin]

Is it just me or the only things you do in this game are:

1. Run through some level with bad collision data
2. Kill monsters
3. Activate stuff
4. Upgrade Crystarium/Weapons
5. Watch awkward cutscenes/Listen to very badly written dialogue
6. Go to 1


I'm 1/4 into disc 2, I'm slowly losing hope.

The game feels like a gigantic grind with cutscenes in-between kills.

 

[Laguna X]

Played the first five hours of the game yesterday and all I could think about was this:

http://en.tackfilm.se/?id=1268918218136RA74

(Maybe old if there are swedish on this forum)

EDIT: Be patient and wait for it to load.

:lol awesome

 

[hermit7]

You'll be fine, the closest any FF comes to requiring playing any of the others is 9 and that's just because it's jampacked with nostalgic nods. Hell, you'll probably enjoy it more than some people who have, a lot of the complaints are "this isn't where I wanted the series to go".

Sweet looking at some gameplay videos, some of the UI looks somewhat confusing. (Leveling up) Is that all explained within the game? That is my only other worry about it.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

How friendly is this for persons that heven't ever played a Final Fantasy? I am looking to pick up a new game, and have looked at this, and while I am intrigued, the only JRPG that I have ever really played are the Pokemon.

Despite that the game looks pretty good, and my interest is peaked.

This was my first Final Fantasy that I beat. I played about 4 hours of FF III DS and gave up cause the game put me to sleep, and I played 20 hours of FF XII before giving it up because it was too much watching the game play itself through contrived gambits.

With how FFXIII is a streamlined experience (run from point A to Point B, cutscene, continue) and no side paths through the story (spare a later chapter), its a pretty simple easy to get into game. So for my first experience of playing an FF game fully (excluding FF Tactics), I would say its pretty easy to get into and go.

Leveling up is easy, you just press B and select the direction you want to get a status boost in, explained in game

 

[jiien]

Sweet looking at some gameplay videos, some of the UI looks somewhat confusing. (Leveling up) Is that all explained within the game? That is my only other worry about it.

UI is really great. No problems at all. Don't worry about it, just dive in. It's a lot less complicated than it looks.

Edit: In fact, one of the complaints about the leveling up system is how simplistic it is

 

[RS4-]

Finished the game around 47 hours or so; doing hunts and the rest of the achievements.

God, so much walking for the hunts. Especially if you fuck up and don't get 5 stars on the first try.

 

[Tideas]

Finally made it to Chapter 11 yesterday. I've done several of the side missions and now find myself weaving through and around monsters just to hurry up and progress through the rest of the game. I like the combat and paradigm system well enough, but the party's AI is just ridiculously stupid. For example, I can't count the number of times that I've died because my characters just HAVE to huddle when I get jumped by a pack of 5 mobs hell-bent on all casting Fira at the same time. The monsters wander all over the battlefield, why the hell does my party have to spoon?

I could just farm endless amounts of CP to get all of the +HP enhancements in the Crystarium, but I really don't have the patience for that (I guess years of WoW destroyed my ability to partake in monotonous task after monotonous task). As I progress further into the game, it seems like a lot off the enemies' HP has increased by a drastic margin, which drags the fights out even longer.

I will probably get flamed for saying this, but Square should really consider implementing some sort of Tactics system such as the one found in Dragon Age for their next FF. If you're going to take away control of 2/3 of the party, at least give us a means by which to control what exactly they do in each situation. I don't need my Sentinel spamming Mediguard while I have a pack of monsters running wild on the rest of my team.

they had one for FF12. That's where DA copied their tactics from.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

The battle music, and victory fanfare is starting to grow on me.

On another note, im in chapter 5 right now...should i be trying to upgrade my weapons or should i save the items im collecting and upgrade them later on?