DigitalDevil
Member
Zoe said:
thanks!!!
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Final Fantasy XIII |OT|
- Thread starter Kagari
- Start date
- Status
thanks!!!
Mission 51 is such BS.
I'm using Lightning/Fang/Hope and I just cant get this fool down quick enough. I can get his stagger up to about 700%+ when he hits about 75% hp. I figure I could hit 800% stagger and swap between Com/Com/Rav and Com/Sen/Med to DPS him down. However, before I ever get to that point he casts Doom on my main character. Strats have said he does this at 25% hps not 75%. Not sure what I'm doing wrong but I have a feeling I will have to come back in Ch. 13. I just cant wittle down that 9 million fast enough before the Doom happens. Such BS! :lol
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
How much do you have to/should you pay attention to upgrades at the beginning?
On chapter 8, and I've just been randomly upgrading weapons I have, not really doing items.
There aren't a ton of upgradeable items you get at this point, not sure if there's any particular strategy to use till later on. I haven't maxed out or broken down any particular item.
On chapter 8, and I've just been randomly upgrading weapons I have, not really doing items.
There aren't a ton of upgradeable items you get at this point, not sure if there's any particular strategy to use till later on. I haven't maxed out or broken down any particular item.
Exhumed said:
you can't stagger Attacus, his stagger limit is 999% IIRC, you need a SEN to keep him busy and use the others in COM/COM or COM/RAV to attack, make sure to use deprotect and deshell and slow on him (use Fang), I recommend Snow as the SEN. just keep the chain around 400-500 and use COM/COM and COM/RAV to attack him, don't waste your time on increasing the chain, I recommend using Fang/Sazh/Snow, you don't need a medic for this fight if you know what you're doing, switch Sazh to SYN whenever needed to buff the SEN, equip Snow with physical resistannce accessories, use Strength and Magic improvement accessories on Fang and Sazh for maximum damage, if you keep the SEN he will cast doom on the SEN so that will be no problem, I got him before he could switch to his third sword.
DigitalDevil
Member
John Harker said:
I would highly recommend waiting until Chapter 11 to start upgrading weapons, and I wouldn't really upgrade any accessories unless you're weapons are already maxed at their current level. Each weapon has specific benefits/drawbacks for each character, so the weapon you are using now may not be the same weapon you want to fully upgrade. I would recommend checking the wepons section in the guide (it is very good, and will allow you to determine which weapon would be best for how YOU are using your characters). If you don't have the guide, I'm sure the same info is available online at this point, maybe on gamefaqs.
brandonh83
Banned
After taking a month... vacation... I can finally share my thoughts on FFXIII, one of the biggest games of the gen for me, if not the biggest, and one I've discussed at length for years here on GAF.
I'm going to spoiler tag a majority of this because I accidentally posted without being able to put up the tags in appropriate areas, so bear with it.
Hold on. What you are about to read might surprise some here, who have known me to "love everything" and take whatever I get. Especially Amir0x. :lol
The best things about FFXIII are pretty much limited to the following: visuals, battle system, music, Pulse. I try really hard, but beyond these things I can't think of another component about the game that I would call above mediocre. I defended the linearity, but little did I know how bad it was going to be. I thought, well FFX was linear and I loved that game, so what's the problem here? Oh, boy. While many of the vistas were breathtaking, such as Sunleth, we also have... Gapra Whitewood, which is the worst environmental design and layout I think I've ever come across in a videogame. The kitchens in Cooking Mama are more diverse and interesting than that piece of shit. Thankfully there are a fair few environments that are much better, but that one just made my jaw drop. I can't believe that talented game designers thought that was okay. And it's been mentioned before, but it's fucking hilarious how there are light beacons to help "guide" you through it.
Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately the game keeps this up for about 25 hours. By the time I got to the end of chapter 9, I was like, okay there's 13 chapters, so have I seen the majority of the game? And all it's been is... this? A rush of disappointment pulsed through my body, a feeling akin to high blood pressure, but replace my blood with acid. I'd say that's a good way to put it. Yes, after this, the game opens up considerably as you get to explore the jaw-dropping vistas of Pulse. I really, really, really loved Pulse. At this point I pretty much forgave everything and finally fell in love with the game. 30 hours after I started my file. And since there's another side to every coin, there's a flipside to Pulse that I did not like and it has to do with the story. I thought, well, okay the first half of the game was extremely miserable, but now they can really make the story something here and let me discover things about the fal'Cie from the "Pulse point of view"-- it was the perfect opportunity to delve into the past history, to throw in some twists, to turn this into an honest to god adventure. Six refugees struggling to break themselves free from a curse, thrust down to this huge new world (to some of them). The answers, mythologies, so much of this could be awesome. I felt like the trek to Oerba was fantastic because I felt like it was leading up to something grand and I thought it would take a long time to get there.
Beyond that the storytelling is just fucking atrocious. I don't care to sound stupid for making this public, but I had absolutely no clue what was going on in the game. The villain changed his mind about 8 times, none of the backstory made a lick of sense to me at all, and in the end I had no idea was I was trying to accomplish other than "get these damn tattoos off, don't turn to crystal, don't let bad shit happen, and save Serah." It was just horribly written and there was no sense of pacing, even though it seems clear to me that they tried to make it more straightforward but in the end I found it to be the most convoluted plot in an FF game. Even moreso than FFVIII. That's my favorite, but I wouldn't disagree with those who think the storytelling is a bit... off. And as off as it may be, FFXIII makes it look like the most coherent story ever told.
I hate doing this. I don't want to do this. It tears me apart to do this, but Kitase and co. leave me with little choice: this is without question the worst "mainline" Final Fantasy game since II. Now, when I've shared my impressions elsewhere; chatrooms, Facebook, etc. I've claimed that I love the game. Well, I love some of it and I think it's a good RPG. The battle system, the visuals, music, Sazh, Gran Pulse... I think there are plenty of things to love here. However. When I think back on practically every single other installment in the series, I just don't think FFXIII is even remotely as good. It barely even feels like an FF game to me. There are series staples all over the place. Chocobos, cactuars, Tonberries, summons, it's all pretty much there. The problem is that they feel forcibly there. Just for the sake of being there, like they thought well this barely resembles Final Fantasy so we should throw the fans some fanboy things here and there and call it a day.
To me it's a great game here and there but a largely mediocre FF installment. It saddens me, but I still got plenty of fun out of it, when I wasn't having to kill 400 giant turtles just to get some fucking weapon catalyst. That's pretty much the point where I said, screw this, I believe I am finally done with this game. Either kill giant turtles, to get a Trapeszxoznd per week, get enough Platinum Ingots to afford a 2,000,000 gil item just to make one ultimate weapon, or spam Sacrifices for Perfumes which are worth 12,500 gil. Who thought that was a good idea? Let's just say I'm very much looking forward to FFXIV after this, hell, I don't see how Versus XIII could be worse. Good game overall, but very lackluster FF installment. Oh well. At least it wasn't God of War III bad.
I'm going to spoiler tag a majority of this because I accidentally posted without being able to put up the tags in appropriate areas, so bear with it.
Hold on. What you are about to read might surprise some here, who have known me to "love everything" and take whatever I get. Especially Amir0x. :lol
The best things about FFXIII are pretty much limited to the following: visuals, battle system, music, Pulse. I try really hard, but beyond these things I can't think of another component about the game that I would call above mediocre. I defended the linearity, but little did I know how bad it was going to be. I thought, well FFX was linear and I loved that game, so what's the problem here? Oh, boy. While many of the vistas were breathtaking, such as Sunleth, we also have... Gapra Whitewood, which is the worst environmental design and layout I think I've ever come across in a videogame. The kitchens in Cooking Mama are more diverse and interesting than that piece of shit. Thankfully there are a fair few environments that are much better, but that one just made my jaw drop. I can't believe that talented game designers thought that was okay. And it's been mentioned before, but it's fucking hilarious how there are light beacons to help "guide" you through it.
Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately the game keeps this up for about 25 hours. By the time I got to the end of chapter 9, I was like, okay there's 13 chapters, so have I seen the majority of the game? And all it's been is... this? A rush of disappointment pulsed through my body, a feeling akin to high blood pressure, but replace my blood with acid. I'd say that's a good way to put it. Yes, after this, the game opens up considerably as you get to explore the jaw-dropping vistas of Pulse. I really, really, really loved Pulse. At this point I pretty much forgave everything and finally fell in love with the game. 30 hours after I started my file. And since there's another side to every coin, there's a flipside to Pulse that I did not like and it has to do with the story. I thought, well, okay the first half of the game was extremely miserable, but now they can really make the story something here and let me discover things about the fal'Cie from the "Pulse point of view"-- it was the perfect opportunity to delve into the past history, to throw in some twists, to turn this into an honest to god adventure. Six refugees struggling to break themselves free from a curse, thrust down to this huge new world (to some of them). The answers, mythologies, so much of this could be awesome. I felt like the trek to Oerba was fantastic because I felt like it was leading up to something grand and I thought it would take a long time to get there.
Instead, you get there, find a deserted village, and fight Barthandelus. Again. And then you go back to Cocoon, fight a bunch, take on a (pretty great IMO) final battle, and watch a shitty. Fucking. Ending. Pulse is huge, but story wise extremely boring and uneventful. I just had this huge feeling that they were going to get down there, find shit out, deeper purposes bestowed upon them by the gods, things of that sort. But, no. Aside from the breath of fresh air environments, there aren't many of them, and the story barely starts to do anything before you're back on Cocoon again for the finale. They could have really expanded the storytelling, have more places like Teijin's Tower which I thought was fantastic, because I thought it actually felt like an honest to god "Final Fantasy" dungeon, but that's about it.
Finally, the ending. Just, fuck me. Okay. They set up this... well I won't say emotional story, because it doesn't really work, but to the characters it's something meaningful. So when Serah and Dahj come forward after being saved, I was fully hoping, and expecting, to be really moved by it. And then, My Hands. My God. They come walking forward and Snow may have well just said "hey welcome back" and walked off. There was no grand emotional response to it. It was just like "we did it!" and a quick pat on the back. I haven't been more disappointed in an FF ending since VII. It lacked any sort of impact.
Finally, the ending. Just, fuck me. Okay. They set up this... well I won't say emotional story, because it doesn't really work, but to the characters it's something meaningful. So when Serah and Dahj come forward after being saved, I was fully hoping, and expecting, to be really moved by it. And then, My Hands. My God. They come walking forward and Snow may have well just said "hey welcome back" and walked off. There was no grand emotional response to it. It was just like "we did it!" and a quick pat on the back. I haven't been more disappointed in an FF ending since VII. It lacked any sort of impact.
Beyond that the storytelling is just fucking atrocious. I don't care to sound stupid for making this public, but I had absolutely no clue what was going on in the game. The villain changed his mind about 8 times, none of the backstory made a lick of sense to me at all, and in the end I had no idea was I was trying to accomplish other than "get these damn tattoos off, don't turn to crystal, don't let bad shit happen, and save Serah." It was just horribly written and there was no sense of pacing, even though it seems clear to me that they tried to make it more straightforward but in the end I found it to be the most convoluted plot in an FF game. Even moreso than FFVIII. That's my favorite, but I wouldn't disagree with those who think the storytelling is a bit... off. And as off as it may be, FFXIII makes it look like the most coherent story ever told.
I hate doing this. I don't want to do this. It tears me apart to do this, but Kitase and co. leave me with little choice: this is without question the worst "mainline" Final Fantasy game since II. Now, when I've shared my impressions elsewhere; chatrooms, Facebook, etc. I've claimed that I love the game. Well, I love some of it and I think it's a good RPG. The battle system, the visuals, music, Sazh, Gran Pulse... I think there are plenty of things to love here. However. When I think back on practically every single other installment in the series, I just don't think FFXIII is even remotely as good. It barely even feels like an FF game to me. There are series staples all over the place. Chocobos, cactuars, Tonberries, summons, it's all pretty much there. The problem is that they feel forcibly there. Just for the sake of being there, like they thought well this barely resembles Final Fantasy so we should throw the fans some fanboy things here and there and call it a day.
To me it's a great game here and there but a largely mediocre FF installment. It saddens me, but I still got plenty of fun out of it, when I wasn't having to kill 400 giant turtles just to get some fucking weapon catalyst. That's pretty much the point where I said, screw this, I believe I am finally done with this game. Either kill giant turtles, to get a Trapeszxoznd per week, get enough Platinum Ingots to afford a 2,000,000 gil item just to make one ultimate weapon, or spam Sacrifices for Perfumes which are worth 12,500 gil. Who thought that was a good idea? Let's just say I'm very much looking forward to FFXIV after this, hell, I don't see how Versus XIII could be worse. Good game overall, but very lackluster FF installment. Oh well. At least it wasn't God of War III bad.
badcrumble
Member
That's similar to how I feel - I had a blast with the battle system, and I definitely had fun with the game, but in terms of exploring a deep and interesting world and getting to know a cool new mythology or generally having a sense of adventure, it utterly failed to scratch my FF itch, and that saddens me. Looking forward to Versus, because I love Kingdom Hearts and feel like that formula at least will have a tough time going wrong.
brandonh83
Banned
badcrumble said:
Kagari kept saying that she thought FFXIII's biggest problem is that there's so much wasted opportunity and I would agree with that by and large. Other than the horrible game design in a lot of places and annoying character antics, what bugs me about FFXIII is simply what isn't there.
ZephyrFate
Banned
The Gapra Whitewood may have had pretty dull platform design but the background in that place is absolutely incredible and breathtaking.
badcrumble
Member
The thing about FFXIII is that it has the most polished difficulty/power curve that I've seen in a game this side of Resident Evil 4 - and it's no accident, that stuff is polished to a perfect shine and it's CLEAR that a ton of thought went into making the curve so smooth. BUT. That curve TOTALLY breaks down in the postgame, when there's a certain upper tier of missions (51, 55, 62, 64, whichever one is the Jumbo Cactuar, and Adamantoise/Adamantortoise) that are ridiculously hard to beat without spamming Death or hoping for a lucky Instant Chain - BUT - once you've successfully broken into that higher tier, you can pretty much handle the rest of them (due to Genji Glove, or CPx2, or grinding Platinum Ingots to power up your accessories and weapons, or whatever). It's like a ladder with a rung missing, or like FFX without the Omega Dungeon to transition your party into the super-tough Monster Arena bosses. And it stands out precisely because every other element of the difficulty curve is so perfect - it really does feel like something is missing. I suspect that if there's any DLC for the game, its primary purpose will be to fill in that missing rung on the ladder.brandonh83 said:
Oh, yeah.ZephyrFate said:
The really incredible part is when you get out of the forest and get on to the cliff's edge. I don't know if the forest view that stretched on for miles into the horizon was pre-rendered, but the fucking VIEW. It was so gorgeous.
So long as you didn't look down at the ground, that is.
brandonh83
Banned
ZephyrFate said:
I agree completely and that goes along the lines with my compliment to the visuals. FFXIII was a consistently gorgeous game with some of the most jaw-dropping landscapes I've seen. I think my favorite location was Sulyya Springs and the western-y looking cliffs outside of Teijin's Tower. That shit was unreal. Seeing Cocoon suspended above Pulse most of the time was a great touch as well. I just can't help feeling though that while the visuals and art direction was definitely there, it was just held back by the layout, is all.
badcrumble said:
I never imagined I'd find myself saying something like this, but since so much of the game was a disappointment to me I think I'd be interested in DLC. I'm definitely not getting rid of the game or anything; again I enjoyed it while it lasted unless I was farming turtles for 20 hours or more so depending on what the DLC would encompass I think I'd be game. I don't know that any sort of DLC could possibly fix any of my vast amounts of problems with the game, but I would like more stuff to do that would make the turtle farming pay off more. Sure there are some missions that you need that stuff for but that's about it. I would love new challenges to put my endless and monotonous grinding to some use.
badcrumble said:
Yeah, but it's only so polished (up until Grand Pulse) because they limited how much you can level up per chapter. The designers forced you into a certain level and knew at every intersection how to balance for that. That's why it's balanced so well. And as you said, once you get to the late game, it opens up and the difficulty spikes because there are a lot more variables to levels, etc.
badcrumble
Member
It's balanced well when it comes to stats, yes, but it's also constantly forcing you to get more skilled at the game, whereas most FF games ask less and less of you as the game goes on because you slowly become more and more overpowered. By the end of FF13 you ought to be REALLY good at constantly switching between Paradigms and knowing which ones to use when, or you'll get your ass kicked. Once you get to the late game, even most of the Missions work perfectly well within that framework. It's just five or six really tough battles that break the curve - plenty of the postgame content is just fine. Game designers totally have the ability to smooth those things out - look at FFXII, which wasn't as smooth a curve as FFXIII, but also didn't have any significantly missing 'rungs' the way that FFXIII has - the difficulty spikes in that game were a product of wandering into the wrong area and learning the hard way that it was a bit too dangerous for you to visit just yet.Otheradam said:
I totally agree, I'd buy DLC that smooths out the postgame and adds some further challenges for people who can take on a Long Gui. Maybe a bonus dungeon, some new accessories, an additional Crystarium level, and the ability to fight Titan or something. Some form of new game plus wouldn't hurt either.brandonh83 said:
brandonh83
Banned
badcrumble said:
What I wouldn't give to be able to go back to Sunleth in order to beat those hedgehogs and get the treasures I missed. Oh, and to look at the backgrounds there again.
badcrumble
Member
Exactly - I have no incentive whatsoever to replay this game, but if there were new game+ I would do so repeatedly (because I am a horrible drone).brandonh83 said:
brandonh83
Banned
badcrumble said:
There could have easily been a universal portal that allows you to go back to any location (like the airship function in FFX). That would have been nice. I mean I guess there's a way to beat the hedgehogs, but I didn't know that I wouldn't be able to return to those locations later on. I just figured they were really hard for the sole reason of teasing you with those treasures, making you think oh man I can't wait until I'm strong enough to come back later and beat those things, so it's easy to just keep going under the mentality that you can return. Kind of like the Metroid effect of "can't wait until I can jump high enough to reach that ledge!" only to find out that you can't go back to that particular area after getting the Space Boots.
Some things in this game are just a gigantic clusterfuck :lol
Man, I always seem to get stuck on Eidolon fights. This time I'm stuck on
. Libra says
but no matter how I try or what paradigms I set up I can't beat it, it either kills me or I run out of time. I looked at GameFAQs and it suggested
. Anyone got any tips?
Vanille's Eidolon, and I only get given Vanille and Fang
that debuffs and healing party members are good
a SAB/SAB paradigm in addition to usual ones like RAV/COM and MED/SEN, but I tried that and found that Fang didn't seem to be having any measurable effect
brandonh83
Banned
Danj said:
Buffs/debuffs I think work the best. I had to grind for hours though before I could get past that one. :lol
Just did this last night. Started out with SAB/SEN to get the gestalt gauge going, then switched to MED/SEN for healing, then lastly, whaled away with RAV/COM. I started jamming on the square button with seconds to spare while Vanille and Fang fired off their last round, and made it. It was CLOSE.Danj said:
RedNumberFive
Banned
YagizY said:
I generally never buy guides (outside of ShinMegaTen games), and it is indeed fantastic.
brandonh83
Banned
nubbe said:
When I was killing turtles using Vanille's death spell... well if I was still living with my parents or something I would've had to turn down the volume. Something else that irks me is when she goes
HAWWW YEAH?
Scythesurge
Member
:lol I do turn down the volume a bit when I use Vanille cuz I still live with my parents...brandonh83 said:
Dedication Through Light
Member
brandonh83 said:
Thats what makes her such great to use in chapter 6, lol.
B-Rad Lascelle
Banned
I feel your pain.Exhumed said:
This is one of the three missions - along with 62 & 64 - I simply couldn't beat in Chapter 11. It seems like such a tease given that I had everything else 5-starred at this point, you'd think merely beating it would be doable but that Doom counter is just an ultra-cheap move.
AgentOtaku
Member
Just got my copy today
Put about an hour and a half thus far and thoughts:
+ ...it's just ...it's just so insanely gorgeous. (O__o)
+ Battle system is fun and engaging already ...even if I can only do like one damn thing lol
+ Great music
+ Interesting universe (more on this later)
and the "hmm ...okay" bits:
- Good VA is negated by overly japanese mocapping/writing. I understand this can't be helped, but boy does it throw things off.
- ...which way do I go? ...oh wait nevermind lol
- Interesting universe that I'm mostly reading about. I've already read/heard all the arguements defending this, but that still doesn't validate it. It's just fucking off that I'm reading my plot constantly during my playtime rather than seeing/experiencing it ...I have to be careful because when I think about it too hard I get grrr angry
So yeah, that's what I got outta FFXIII thus far!
..oh and for reference, my all time favorite FFs are:
1. FFIV
2. FFVI
3. FFXII
Put about an hour and a half thus far and thoughts:
+ ...it's just ...it's just so insanely gorgeous. (O__o)
+ Battle system is fun and engaging already ...even if I can only do like one damn thing lol
+ Great music
+ Interesting universe (more on this later)
and the "hmm ...okay" bits:
- Good VA is negated by overly japanese mocapping/writing. I understand this can't be helped, but boy does it throw things off.
- ...which way do I go? ...oh wait nevermind lol
- Interesting universe that I'm mostly reading about. I've already read/heard all the arguements defending this, but that still doesn't validate it. It's just fucking off that I'm reading my plot constantly during my playtime rather than seeing/experiencing it ...I have to be careful because when I think about it too hard I get grrr angry
So yeah, that's what I got outta FFXIII thus far!
..oh and for reference, my all time favorite FFs are:
1. FFIV
2. FFVI
3. FFXII
Played a lot yesterday.
Beat Mission 55 before leaving Chapter 11 (major sense of accomplishment!), only to realize that there is no Crystarium expansion until you beat the game. [Face_Plain] Chapter 12 ends with a big fat nothing.
Started Chapter 13 at around 9:30 last night. Thought I'd finally be able to beat the game. Great oogily-moogily! That chapter just drags on, and on, and on. Finally quit at 12:30, after beating the
Who at SE thought this was actually going to be fun!?
Seriously, I can't wait to get back to
and never step foot in
again.
Beat Mission 55 before leaving Chapter 11 (major sense of accomplishment!), only to realize that there is no Crystarium expansion until you beat the game. [Face_Plain] Chapter 12 ends with a big fat nothing.
Started Chapter 13 at around 9:30 last night. Thought I'd finally be able to beat the game. Great oogily-moogily! That chapter just drags on, and on, and on. Finally quit at 12:30, after beating the
3rd (THIRD!) mini-boss. (Fourth if you count Bandersnatch and Jabberwocky as two.)
Seriously, I can't wait to get back to
Pulse
Eden
Dedication Through Light
Member
BeeDog said:
End of Chapter 12 opens teleportation point to base camp vallis media.
brandonh83
Banned
Pimpbaa said:
I thought the first half of GOW3 was fantastic and the second half was terrible. This isn't the thread for that though, but since you asked.
Fimbulvetr
Member
Westonian said:
Eclair.
- Status