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[AwakenedCloud]

Is unlocking Long Guis tied with trophies?

Last weekend I though it'd be smart to go ahead and get the trophy for completing all the missions. I wanted to farm Adamantoises for gil later so I decided to complete missions 51 & 64 then turn off the game without saving. Today, I wanted to start farming gil again so I run up to an Adamantoise and prepare to take it down in roughly two minutes. It casts ultima; my jaw drops. I go back to my saves to make sure that I didn't accidentally save over my game last weekend. Alas, both missions 51 and 64 were not listed as I expected. Am I screwed or am I screwed?

 

[mjemirzian]

I actually have already read that article and very much agree with most of your points (if not completely with the tone).

It can be a little abrasive at times, but I'm glad it does its job of bringing a little bit of insight into a misunderstood niche genre.

The idea is to stop with the artificial reactionary combat and move on to genuine reactionary combat that takes advantage of your ability to react to various things a near-infinite number of times.

There are a few instances of this in the game already. The velocycles machine gun attack, mostly. When you see it charging you have to react by going sentinel or someone's dying (unless you did some brain melting amount of grinding). The best reactionary action game I've seen recently has been Bayonetta. Enemy patterns are random and it's all up to your trigger finger on the dodge button.

 

[Cep]

The best reactionary action game I've seen recently has been Bayonetta. Enemy patterns are random and it's all up to your trigger finger on the dodge button.

I <3 Bayonetta because of this.

So good.

 

[ZephyrFate]

Bayonetta has, without a doubt, the best gameplay of the generation. Or, of all time.

No game I've ever played has allowed for completely fluid gameplay with no breaks... ever. Thank you, Dodge Offset.

 

[Crash Station]

As much as I love this game, I don't really want reactionary combat to be common in RPGs. We have action games for that.

 

[Cornbread78]

As much as I love this game, I don't really want reactionary combat to be common in RPGs. We have action games for that.

SO true, LOL.

Action Games - RPGs, or it could be an ARPG, which Bay was not.

 

[Mooreberg]

Picked this up last week. I think I am just about to hit the part where the game "opens up" so my only question is what is the quickest/easiest way to beat Bahamut? Every time I switch out of having Fang in a Sentinel role everybody gets wiped out in two hits. Also, are you better off in the long run keeping the characters along the skills they started with (ie: Commando, Ravger, Sentinel for Snow) or making them more well rounded? I'm at the the point where a single upgrade on the Chrystarium (sp?) is 4,000 CP for the skills I've been developing on each character.

 

[Maleficence]

Been playing this since Last night, holy shit Vanille is by far the most annoying character ever. Mostly the voice and retarded demeanour, but still.

Love the battle system most of the time (now that I seem to have gone through the 5 hour tutorial). I'm liking the story so far, the graphics are very good, with some of the environments being stunning to look at. The VA overall is decent to good. I like Sazh but he talks way too much. It's like they looked at Nathan Drake and said lets do that x10. Hope is also annoying in the stupid way he blames Snow for everything. Waaah waah QQ cry more etc. Snow's devoption to Serah is also annoying, and some of the things he says like a love sick puppy make me cringe. But again, overall it's not so bad it's stopping me from playing, and some of the writing I actually like, so it kind of balances.

 

[Fourth Storm]

I'm pretty early in the game and just got the ability to upgrade weapons. I'm kind of concerned that I'm going to waste all my materials upgrading the wrong things and then be pissed that I can't get the best weapons/accessories later on. Am I just being paranoid or should I go out and get the strategy guide?

I have to admit, I'm not a fan of blindly experimenting around when the resources are so limited. Strikes me as more frustration than fun.

 

[Maleficence]

I'm pretty early in the game and just got the ability to upgrade weapons. I'm kind of concerned that I'm going to waste all my materials upgrading the wrong things and then be pissed that I can't get the best weapons/accessories later on. Am I just being paranoid or should I go out and get the strategy guide?

I have to admit, I'm not a fan of blindly experimenting around when the resources are so limited. Strikes me as more frustration than fun.

Yeah this annoys me, there should be some sort of system where you can make some kind of educated guess as to which items are better for upgrading what. ATM, it seems pretty random. (Though I've noticed some patterns)

 

[flyover]

I'm pretty early in the game and just got the ability to upgrade weapons. I'm kind of concerned that I'm going to waste all my materials upgrading the wrong things and then be pissed that I can't get the best weapons/accessories later on. Am I just being paranoid or should I go out and get the strategy guide?

I have to admit, I'm not a fan of blindly experimenting around when the resources are so limited. Strikes me as more frustration than fun.

For most of the game, resources and money are at a premium. And the game's not very helpful in giving you hints about what you should upgrade. Fortunately, to get through most of the main game, the Crystarium is much more important than item upgrades.

For the first 6-10 chapters of the game, I'd be pretty stingy about upgrading. Maybe upgrade your favorite weapons (especially for your main party characters) and that's it. If you come across an item that reduces all damage (not just fire or ice or whatever), that might be worth upgrading, too. The default weapons for most of the characters are good enough to get you through the game, though if you want characters to specialize (e.g., I only had Hope using magic throughout the game), use and upgrade a weapon that plays to that strength.

Whatever you do, don't bother upgrading items that add hit points, unless you're absolutely stuck at a particular area. Those items become less and less important as you fill up the crystarium.

Good luck!

 

[BocoDragon]

It's true. They even admitted it.

It didn't take five years to make a no town, no mini-game version of FFX. At first they wanted it on PS2, then changed to PS3, then took their time with that white engine, then changed it to crystal tools, then announced "The Port", then gave us something that would take two years or less to pump out. Unless someone at SE wants to counter the interview bit that (unintentionally?) revealed the 2008 "bombshell."

^ more people need to understand this.

It explains a lot.

 

[Crash Station]

Picked this up last week. I think I am just about to hit the part where the game "opens up" so my only question is what is the quickest/easiest way to beat Bahamut? Every time I switch out of having Fang in a Sentinel role everybody gets wiped out in two hits. Also, are you better off in the long run keeping the characters along the skills they started with (ie: Commando, Ravger, Sentinel for Snow) or making them more well rounded? I'm at the the point where a single upgrade on the Chrystarium (sp?) is 4,000 CP for the skills I've been developing on each character.

Stick to the 3 main roles with everyone. You shouldn't be worrying about the other ones until the post game.

 

[flyover]

Stick to the 3 main goals with everyone. You shouldn't be worrying about the other ones until the post game.

Good advice. Master each character's main roles, first. Adjust the members of your party, if you need to beat a certain encounter/area, but don't worry about making anyone a jack-of-all-trades until the end -- unless you really want to!

 

[Beatbox]

I assume it isn't normal for the cutscenes to have both the audio and video skipping like crazy? This is the PS3 version on a 60GB refurb/replacement. The disc does look like it may be a bad pressing...wavy lines all over it. None of my other 27 discs look like that.

Shitty part is that I bought it on launch day and just popped it in today. If it's the disc I guess I'm fucked?

 

[Cep]

I have heard of similar things happening to others.

I believe that this means that your PS3 is dying.

 

[Kagari]

I assume it isn't normal for the cutscenes to have both the audio and video skipping like crazy? This is the PS3 version on a 60GB refurb/replacement. The disc does look like it may be a bad pressing...wavy lines all over it. None of my other 27 discs look like that.

Shitty part is that I bought it on launch day and just popped it in today. If it's the disc I guess I'm fucked?

Do other games cause the same issue?

 

[Beatbox]

I have heard of similar things happening to others.

I believe that this means that your PS3 is dying.

I sure hope not.

Do other games cause the same issue?

I haven't noticed anything in other games. Gonna test a few others to be sure.


Edit - well this could go either way - so my PS3 is making a slight 'whirring sound' when a disc is inside. I thought the sound was from my DVR - and I just noticed it a few days ago. The sound isn't continous but could be the sign of an upcoming failure On the other hand - I realized I was background DLing a few demos when I had the skipping earlier. I was just able to watch the opening movie with no hiccups (and also it played smoothly while downloading PSN videos). I tested a dozen other games without any problems. I'll pop in tomorrow with an update when i get a chance to play some more.

 

[NeoUltima]

Beat it an hour ago...Question on ending

Spoiler

Why kill Orphan if they knew doing so would destroy Cocoon? As far as I know the party had no idea F&V were going to turn to Ragnarok to save the day.
I guess I can kinda see the reasoning("We promise to save Cocoon!" "Have hope!") behind it...even if its not totally logical.

 

[Zoe]

Beat it an hour ago...Question on ending

Spoiler

Why kill Orphan if they knew doing so would destroy Cocoon? As far as I know the party had no idea F&V were going to turn to Ragnarok to save the day.
I guess I can kinda see the reasoning("We promise to save Cocoon!" "Have hope!") behind it...even if its not totally logical.

Spoiler

That's pretty much it. Bart/Orphan said that if the party wasn't the one to do it, they'd just keep trying and trying with other people until it finally works.

 

[NeoUltima]

Spoiler

That's pretty much it. Bart/Orphan said that if the party wasn't the one to do it, they'd just keep trying and trying with other people until it finally works.

Ah true missed that. Thanks, my head is cleared now.

 

[Rpgmonkey]

There are a few instances of this in the game already. The velocycles machine gun attack, mostly. When you see it charging you have to react by going sentinel or someone's dying (unless you did some brain melting amount of grinding). The best reactionary action game I've seen recently has been Bayonetta. Enemy patterns are random and it's all up to your trigger finger on the dodge button.

Yeah, more stuff like that. They have this system set up where you have to choose quickly and consistently change roles, but the enemy patterns usually don't make it as interesting as it could've been. A number of enemy patterns are set up so your choices/changes are basically a repeated cycle until you win, and battles with certain enemy types all work in the same process besides maybe being a little longer.

Like the fights with the armored lizard enemies could've been more interesting (and less tedious) if they could activate and deactivate the armor whenever they felt like it, with the armor giving higher defense but lower attack and speed, and they hit much harder and get a lot faster without it on, and it's up to you to be fast enough to react accordingly. Not a shining example, but it is the kind of stuff that comes to mind.

As much as I love this game, I don't really want reactionary combat to be common in RPGs. We have action games for that.

I don't know if anyone was really trying to say that, or at least, I wasn't.

But I feel in FFXIII's case, combat based on fairly random enemy patterns and more dynamic situations is a more effective use of what they created than premade enemy patterns and battles that move in a constantly repeated cycle.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Spoiler

That's pretty much it. Bart/Orphan said that if the party wasn't the one to do it, they'd just keep trying and trying with other people until it finally works.

Spoiler

Which is a crock of shit since only Pulse fal'Cie can give focuses like that. And the one that gave them their focus in the first place is a little busy being dead.

 

[Diablos]

Is the Lionheart worth using? I don't wanna ditch my Axis Blade. Seems like stagger isn't triggered that much faster.

I really should have completed FFXIII, like, a month ago.

 

[jiggle]

Beat it an hour ago...Question on ending

Spoiler

Why kill Orphan if they knew doing so would destroy Cocoon? As far as I know the party had no idea F&V were going to turn to Ragnarok to save the day.
I guess I can kinda see the reasoning("We promise to save Cocoon!" "Have hope!") behind it...even if its not totally logical.

Spoiler

They were tasked by the maker to kill orphan. Probably assume he'll create some "miracle" afterward to save them.

Spoiler

Which is a crock of shit since only Pulse fal'Cie can give focuses like that.

Spoiler

Pulse fal'cie and Cocoon fal'cie are not different beings.

Is the Lionheart worth using?

Of course. It's her best weapon. Pair it with the right accessories, and she can even randomly instant chain the mobs.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Spoiler

Pulse fal'cie and Cocoon fal'cie are not different beings.

Spoiler

Never said they were, they do have different jobs though; fal'Cie cannot give focuses that contradict their given role(i.e. a Cocoon fal'Cie can't give a focus to destroy Orphan).

 

[IronFistedChampion]

Haven't been here in a while lol.

I was finally able to get through Taejin's Tower in Chap. 11 even though I accidently skipped all the missions (except for the ones needed to get through the tower) and did absolutely no grinding whatsoever. >_<

I tried doing Mission 27 and I got my ass handed to me pretty badly. :lol 3000HP isn't helping at all. Should I just skip this mission and keep going with the story?

 

[Mooreberg]

Are you able to go back and do those Cie'th stone missions later on? I've done about ten of them so far. And as mentioned, the game does get considerably better at the 25 hour mark. :lol

I don't know why it had to take so long for the game to open up but at least the battle system is quite fun. Made going through the ultra linear parts bearable.

 

[Giolon]

May have been posted before, but I'm not about to search through 370 pages of posts.

It's an interview w/ Vanille's VA, and it actually explains a lot about her bizarro "australian" accent. Her VA sounds exactly the same (about an octave or two lower though):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0YaQnUOu4k

 

[Darthdevidem01]

This might be the only game I'll ever attempt to platinum, but I'm loosing the motivation when I heard you need to have every weapon & item to get a certain trophy

Bye bye FF13 plat

 

[BocoDragon]

May have been posted before, but I'm not about to search through 370 pages of posts.

It's an interview w/ Vanille's VA, and it actually explains a lot about her bizarro "australian" accent. Her VA sounds exactly the same (about an octave or two lower though):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0YaQnUOu4k

Yeah.. that's what everyone kept saying: She's wasn't trying to do a cutesy Australian voice... she HAS a cutesy Australian accent. (for better or for worse)

 

[Crash Station]

May have been posted before, but I'm not about to search through 370 pages of posts.

It's an interview w/ Vanille's VA, and it actually explains a lot about her bizarro "australian" accent. Her VA sounds exactly the same (about an octave or two lower though):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0YaQnUOu4k

"The biggest anime...video game on...PS3?"

She looks older than she really is. Isn't she supposed to be 22 or something?

Edit: 23. Damn, she's a month older than me.

 

[BocoDragon]

Haven't posted in here since I beat this game and I still have the highest post count in this thread.

I'm ashamed.

You missed the part when we all came to a conclusion about the true meaning of XIII... everyone hugged and we may have come to a solution for lasting world peace. Ditcher.


EDIT: Jesus... how did you post almost double what I did??? XD

 

[Darthdevidem01]

Yes damn the platinum I'm starting my replay through now, I want to get to the epicness of Chapter 7 & just be in that chapter forever!

 

[RevenantKioku]

So I'm starting to think ignoring the upgrade system entirely was a poorly thought out idea on my part. (I hate item creation though.)

Someone bottom line it for me. I've got a stupid amount of money, and I'm willing to sell all the weapons/accessories I don't have equipped.

What is the easiest way to level up my weapons/accessories?

I'm on Chapter 13, so I can do nothing but buy, it seems.

 

[BocoDragon]

Cliffnotes plz

It turns out Ahmadinejad, Putin, Kim Jong Il, Netanyahu and Obama all have GAF accounts.... and the one thing they had in common was that they all thought Vanille's voice acting was terrible.

 

[Blader]

The upgrade system has me really nervous, because I keep thinking I'm gonna come across something better after using up all my components on the stuff I currently have.

Like, someone just said Lionheart is Lightning's best weapon. I have no idea what Lionheart is. :lol I currently have her using a level 6 Gladius (on chapter 9 right now). Is this stupid?

 

[BocoDragon]

The upgrade system has me really nervous, because I keep thinking I'm gonna come across something better after using up all my components on the stuff I currently have.

Like, someone just said Lionheart is Lightning's best weapon. I have no idea what Lionheart is. :lol I currently have her using a level 6 Gladius (on chapter 9 right now). Is this stupid?

Level 6 isn't very high.. don't worry about it. You haven't "wasted" your materials yet.

But I wouldn't pour all my materials into any weapon until Lionheart, because it has "quick stagger" (and I think it gains higher attack stats??)... just upgrade your Gladius if you need to beat a boss or whatever, and save your materials for the Lionheart.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Yeah, I'm fucked on items then, probably.

Goddammit, why can't we just have lots of equipment that costs lots of money. Why we gotta upgrade. It's no fun.

 

[Crash Station]

So I'm replaying the game to keep me busy until SMG2 and noticed it's never explained how Lightning opened the door at the beginning. What was up with that?

 

[Fimbulvetr]

So I'm replaying the game to keep me busy until SMG2 and noticed it's never explained how Lightning opened the door at the beginning. What was up with that?

Which door again?

 

[Crash Station]

Which door again?

At the beginning when Sazh thinks she's going to use a bomb to blow it up so he ducks a few feet away and holds his ears. She just whispers something to the door and it opens.

 

[No_Style]

I "finished" FFXIII. The story was a alright; not great, but not horrid either. Saved the world. Boom. Done.

Loved that battle system. I may dive in and chase after that Platinum since I really did enjoy that battle system and wish fool around with it some more.

Also, credit goes to Square Enix for making characters I actually hate. I usually don't usually hate game characters, but damn Vanille. Hope and Snow were annoying, but the came around in the end -- especially Hope.

I may share a more in-depth "review" later on.

 

[The_Dude]

Yeah, I'm fucked on items then, probably.

Goddammit, why can't we just have lots of equipment that costs lots of money. Why we gotta upgrade. It's no fun.

I finished the game and 5-starred all the missions without upgrading anything, so it's possible to finish it without worrying about the upgrade system.

 

[RevenantKioku]

I finished the game and 5-starred all the missions without upgrading anything, so it's possible to finish it without worrying about the upgrade system.

That's comforting to hear. Wonder what my problem is with what I assume is the final boss, then.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

At the beginning when Sazh thinks she's going to use a bomb to blow it up so he ducks a few feet away and holds his ears. She just whispers something to the door and it opens.

It's explained in the novel.

Spoiler

Anima analyzes people and lets them in if they have good hearts.

It's dumb but eh.

 

[reKon]

10 hours in and this game isn't as bad as half the mods on this thread/others have been making it out to be. I really like the speed and fluidity of the battle system and see how they are letting the player slowly grasp it through forcing you to take control of different party members so you HAVE to try different paradigm set ups. Yes, it's a little slow, but actually don't mind this and the linearity isn't bothering me so far. The story is decent and I am interested in what's going to happen regarding what each of the characters are after/looking for (like their focus, etc). The music has been good for video game standards, and alright for final fantasy standards. The tunes aren't as memorable and melodic as FFX was thus far, but Lightning's Theme is very nice. So far I have to say that FFX had a better opening and was more interesting than this story, but still FFXIII is good so far, and that's it. I know I will be loving the battle system even more later.

In addition, I'm finding that it's pretty pointless to grind and I don't know how I feel about the 5 star system because it's all about speed, which is cool, but it means that there is one main way to do a battle and if you don't know it, you won't get your 5 star. I can see that being an issue later in the game with the bosses.

Also, I don't like the weapon upgrade system. I had to read a guide to figure out what the fuck was going on with the multipliers and such, but it's all clear now. Just use the organic materials like rat feet or w/e to boost the multiplier, then the mechanic parts in bulk for the exp.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Yeah, but what's the best purchasable items for the upgrading?

 

[BocoDragon]

10 hours in and this game isn't as bad as half the mods on this thread/others have been making it out to be.

I do not agree with the hyperbolic loathing this game has gotten. It's a bit disappointing in relative terms... I have expressed a bit of sentiment that it's not "all FF can be". The linearity is not something I accept. But how this is the game that inspires people to drop by with snide snipe comments along the lines of "yeah, this game is SO BAD lol"... I do not agree with at all.

Frankly, I think it's an overdog that certain people love to hate because it isn't A++. I'm certain of that. This is NOT a bad game.

I've put this game to bed, and while I had my issues, I think back fondly of it.

 

[imtehman]

i loved everything about this game except how poorly done the sidequests were.