Because of the stat boost that Sazh gets from his weapons, he will have competitive stats all the time, combine this with the fact that he gets haste WAY before anyone else and he is awesome midgame as well, imo anyway.
He's still not good enough for me party though. My main gripe with him is his lack of movement and his actions take too long. He's also a crappy Rav outside of Cold Blood.
Absolutely. I just watched it yesterday and made a seperate save on my HD just so I could watch it again. I actually think that is the first movie sequence that has even tapped ever milisecond of my 60Hz Samsung. I think I actually saw pixalation.. Was definately teh most beautiful picture even generated on a console game to date...
I finally finished the game today after having to put it on hold for a while. Going on to FFXIII after playing XII for nostaligia's sake kind of made me appreciate xii a lot more than I had done before.
Things I liked about the game: Graphics: I'm sure a lot of people have already said it but the graphics are just stunning.
Story: Personally I really liked it. Bordering slightly on being overcooked at points but overall pretty good. I thought the dynamics between the characters were great and the world as well as the people within it seemed pretty well thought out. I didn't notice many holes if any.
Data-log: It was so helpful having this to go over some things that were either missed or ignored for whatever reason. They should have had something similar for the cutscenes I think. Anyway a data-log for some other games in the series would have been helpful.
The main Characters: I started off really disliking a lot of the voices (Snow and Vanille to be specific) though I learned to liked them as the game continued. I still didn't like Snow by the end both voice and the ''hero'' thing got boring fast. Vanille started off quite annoying, peaking when she got
seperated with Sazh
but that was also where I started liking her more. Lightning I thought would be completely emotionally detatched from the group until the end but glad she wasn't and showed some human emotions. Also I thought her name was going to be a major plot device but... aparently she just doesn't like the name
claire
Enemy design: Roaming around on
pulse
in particular made me want to pick a fight with some enemies just for the sake of it.
Half and Half
Battle system: Sometimes it was really fun switching in between paradgims and other times it was just repetitive and lost the spark. Probably more due to the boss than the system as well as trying to fight under the set time. Also don't quite understand why some attacks are either missing from some character's skill set or much further away on their crystal. It would have been so much easier for me if Hope had the bravera, faithra and some other spells that I only noticed on Fang's crystal. Then Sazh had certain spells that were only accessible to Hope until much later on. That kind of set up almost foced me to use people that I just found awkward settling into a comfortable team otherwise.
Things I didn't like so much:
Shopping & Items: I didn't even notice that some of the things in my inventory were actually good for something till well into the game. To me there's just too much of an online shop focus in terms of finding and getting things you need. Towards the end of the game I was left wondering how come I got so few potions etc throughout the journey, almost all are dropped/given in the beginning. Not just that but money seems so unnecessary and scarce in this entry into the series than any other to me. Kind of made the world feel dead, despite there being many people around (well cocoon anyway).
Repeat Bosses: I don't like spending a long time on a boss only to have them eject from the field and run off somewhere etc. It's not even the first time a FF game has done that, although I don't think it's annoyed me as much in any other game. The boss with the ''Retaliation'' attack ... I just never wanted to see him ever again after the first battle.
Overall though it was a pretty rewarding journey. Ii probably helped that I stopped myself learning too much about the game running up to it's release so it felt ''new'' going into it.
Strings of near unavoidable enemies: There were some points where I just found myself having to weed through a couple enemies just to get to another section on the same map or something silly like that. Some were avoidable with aegisol but even then sometimes the space was so limited I would end up fighting anyway because of that or a character running into my way out. Then there are enemies that run about 5 times faster than you can. Whats even more strange is that some of these enemies I found harder fighting than bosses that are supposed to be a bigger deal example
the cieth enemy in the last chapter with the big sword I found harder than the last bosses
The beginning stage: Felt really claustrophobic to me and just the overall aesthetic felt dull to play through for some reason. Plus it didn't help that you had some pretty awkward scenes like ''moms are tough'' and the ''nora'' chanting and stuff.
Overall though it was a pretty rewarding journey. It probably helped that I stopped myself learning too much about the game running up to it's release so it felt more new going into it. I know some people made a huge fuss over how linear it is and I didn't mind that personally until some points in the game I really longed to just wander into a village somewhere and hunt stuff down etc. It wasn't a big deal to the story but for adventuring sake it was a hole that was hugely felt. The ending was slightly confusing
like what the heck the Orphan was talking about and how they overcame being ceith and why Fang and Vanille had to end up saving it on their own and are they dead or just in crystal stasis...
but really touching, wouldn't mind taking a visit to that world again so good stuff overall.
I didn't think it was that hard at all to be honest, a bit annoying at points but wouldn't say hard, I'd say just make sure you have a sab in your party paridgm and you should be fine. I had planned on buffing later but just going to the last boss and see how much of a difference in powere there was so I could be prepared. I ended up beating the game without meaning to, plus on your way there are a lot of enemies to help buff (I avoided them because of how long it felt).
I don't get to play games as much anymore and as a result, I just beat the game this weekend. I've read back a quite a few pages and have found discussion on end game plot. I'm still confused though:
The way I understand a focus is the "damned if you do damned if you don't" approach. I understand the smoke and mirrors thing where Light and the rest all turned to Cieth only to come back normal and help in Orphans defeat. I understand that Fang and Vanille's focus was to summon Ragnarok and kill Orphan. They did so and thus turned into crystal. They just used Ragnarok as a means to save Cocoon rather then destroy it.
Why didn't the rest of the clan stay Crystal then? If they're focus was to save Cocoon, they did. How did they get out of being Crystal when Fang and Vanille couldn't? Why did Sahz's kid come back? Why did Serah come back? Am I missing something?
I know Fang and Vanille came back from Crystal stasis. I thought that was because the fal'cie let them come back to full fill their original focus though.
All in all I enjoyed the game. I "kinda liked" the first 10 chapters and loved the rest. The story was good. The characters were kinda meh, some more so then others. The game-play was what kept me going and still keeps me going. I'm doing the rest of the missions now and getting a couple more of the weapons/fully upgraded my cystarium. Pulse was reason enough for me to feel my purchase was worth it.
I won't be grinding my way to the "treasure hunter" trophy though. Fuck that shit. I just want a couple fully upgraded weapons before the finals missions.
Dahj and Serah come back because the Cocoon fal'Cie are powerless, effectively dead, without Orphan as their power source. Since they hold no power anymore, Dajh and Serah come back from stasis.
Same goes for Lightning and the gang. Having completed their focus, they turn to crystal only to be released immediately after as all trace of the Cocoon fal'Cie are wiped out.
Somehow Fang and Vanille had the power to free them completely from being l'Cie. If they had just woken in the same manner that those two had, they would have still had the marks.
@CruxisMana
Only Cocoon-related stuff died out. There's no indication that the Pulse fal'Cie wouldn't still be around.
Dahj and Serah come back because the fal'Cie are powerless, effectively dead, without Orphan as their power source. Since the fal'Cie hold no power anymore, Dajh and Serah come back from stasis.
Same goes for Lightning and the gang. Having completed their focus, they turn to crystal only to be released immediately after as all trace of the fal'Cie are wiped out.
So then why are Fang and Vanille stuck in stasis? If the rest of them are released from crystal stasis because the fal'Cie are powerless/dead, why did their focus stick through out the game. I thought the fal'Cie that gave them their focus had died at the begining.
Zoe said:
@FenderPutty
Somehow Fang and Vanille had the power to free them completely from being l'Cie. If they had just woken in the same manner that those two had, they would have still had the marks.
@CruxisMana
Only Cocoon-related stuff died out. There's no indication that the Pulse fal'Cie wouldn't still be around.
Regarding your reply to cruxis, could that be why fang and vanille are stuck in crystal. The fal'Cie that gave them their was a pulse fal'cie and therefore one that isn't dead?
Regarding your reply to cruxis, could that be why fang and vanille are stuck in crystal. The fal'Cie that gave them their was a pulse fal'cie and therefore one that isn't dead?
:lol Yeah ... I"m not really any better off either.
It's almost like the writers wanted a specific end to the story regardless of what ending the story would actually imply. Did they want us to not think about this and just accept that they came back? Like I said, that was like 13 chapters of "you're damned if you do or don't" only to find out that's not the case with light and the gang, just fang and vanille.
Zoe said:
My theory is
they were completely happy spending the rest of eternity with just each other. That's certainly what Fang wanted at least :lol
My take is that they are in crystal form because they wished so, just like the kids that become stone in Final Fantasy 4, whom wouldn't be affected by Soft because they wanted to be in stone form
Dahl and Serah's got freed when their l'Cie died. The rest of the gang got freed after they became Cie'th, and before the final defeat of Orphan, because they failed their focus. Although technically Vanille also became a Cie'th, THEN became a crystal, so dunno.
Dahl and Serah's got freed when their l'Cie died. The rest of the gang got freed after they became Cie'th, and before the final defeat of Orphan, because they failed their focus. Although technically Vanille also became a Cie'th, THEN became a crystal, so dunno.
They can't be free because they are encased in crystal, if they were to wake up they would have no way out and would surely starve to death. Even if they started digging the place would be full of shit and piss before they made it out.
My take is that they are in crystal form because they wished so, just like the kids that become stone in Final Fantasy 4, whom wouldn't be affected by Soft because they wanted to be in stone form
Dahl and Serah's got freed when their l'Cie died. The rest of the gang got freed after they became Cie'th, and before the final defeat of Orphan, because they failed their focus. Although technically Vanille also became a Cie'th, THEN became a crystal, so dunno.
Turning Cieth was part of the "smoke and mirrors though". It was used to enrage fang and make her feel hopeless. the idea was that she'D turn into Ragnarok and fulfill Bart's vision of killing Orphan. Of course that isn't what happened. They killed Orphan but used Ragnarok to save Cocoon.
As far as them not becoming crystal because of their dead fal'Cie, we just discussed that. Everyone shared the same fal'Cie except for Dahj, who came back so ....
the falcie that branded the party was in Cocoon. Maybe it died along with the rest of the Cocoon falcie during the crash. Of course this theory only works if it survived the Vestige collapsing.
the falcie that branded the party was in Cocoon. Maybe it died along with the rest of the Cocoon falcie during the crash. Of course this theory only works if it survived the Vestige collapsing.
So I just started Chapter 11, and I have a few questions.
So Chapter 11 is equivalent to the first 6 chapters as far as the amount of things to do to and how time consuming this one chapter is? There's only a few chapters left, but it seems like now the game is starting. Then with the amount it takes to level up each character's roles and how expensive it is to level up their added roles later on in the game, it's just insane on the amount of time it will take to do all of this. I don't understand how you completionists manage to get the treasure hunter achievement. This is more of just a rant, but whatever.
So I just started Chapter 11, and I have a few questions.
So Chapter 11 is equivalent to the first 6 chapters as far as the amount of things to do to and how time consuming this one chapter is? There's only a few chapters left, but it seems like now the game is starting. Then with the amount it takes to level up each character's roles and how expensive it is to level up their added roles later on in the game, it's just insane on the amount of time it will take to do all of this. I don't understand how you completionists manage to get the treasure hunter achievement. This is more of just a rant, but whatever.
Don't get that trophy. Pretty simple. I'm not getting it either. I would level up my characters while doing at least up until mission 14 or 15 or 16 before progressing. One of those missions gets you the chocobo. You can do the side quest with the chocobo, and get some of the treasures on the map and move on. By the time you get the missions done, you'll be ready to advance to the boss, or at least pretty close. If you have to grind for some CP, do so in the caves. Fast kills/good CP/decent drops for upgrading weapons. Also ... once you advance out of the main area of Pulse, you'll get into more linear chapter 11 area's. Make sure you do ALL the missions along the way here. I didn't and had to go back through the linear hell to do these. They're also needed so that later you can transport easily from one area of pulse to another.
Also ... once you leave pulse, you can come back at the end of chapter12/beginning of chapter 13. Then again at the end. You unlock another crystarium upgrade at the end of 12, so portaling back isn't a bad idea. You can fully upgrade your crystarium/more weapons and do some more missions before going to the end boss.Then you can complete your crystarium after the last boss.
Wow, some of these are the most impressive video game music I have ever heard. The compositions are so complex now that they're harder for most people to accurately judge. Honestly, a lot of the older FF games don't have great music; the composers were limited by their hardware so they had to pile on the melody, making older FF music more memorable but very simplistic and nowhere near the musical standards we hear today.
EDIT: Although, I still think nothing in FF13 holds a candle to this
Getting full Crystarium isn't that hard really if you are going to try to get the Treasure Hunter trophy/achievement. Been killing turtles since I beat the game, 1 single Trap so far, and almost max Crystarium for everyone in ever role Seriously thinking about moving on to try and farm Long Gui because they have a better drop rate for Traps :|
If you're going for treasure hunter, you really only need 3 traps (or 2 if you plan to fully upgrade 1 or both and are satisfied with leaving someone in your main team out). Just disassemble the fully upgraded weapon and the 3 fully upgraded genji gloves and there's 4 traps right there.
Well since I still have to get a shitload of Gil, I can't really break down my gloves Once I get one more though to upgrade Fang's weapon, and enough money farmed to upgrade some +str armlets to be able to start killing the turtles without having to summon/spam death with Vanille I'll break down her weapon and get 3 more. Just sucks that I'm at like 25 ingots, 1 traps :lol I hate the tp loop I have to do now in Eden, can't wait for a simple turtle after turtle after turtle circuit
Well since I still have to get a shitload of Gil, I can't really break down my gloves Once I get one more though to upgrade Fang's weapon, and enough money farmed to upgrade some +str armlets to be able to start killing the turtles without having to summon/spam death with Vanille I'll break down her weapon and get 3 more. Just sucks that I'm at like 25 ingots, 1 traps :lol I hate the tp loop I have to do now in Eden, can't wait for a simple turtle after turtle after turtle circuit
25 ingots? If you've done everything else, that should be more than enough to get Treasure Hunter. And you don't need str armlets to beat turtles if you're using Fang with a decently leveled weapon and have a mostly maxed out crystarium. Just stagger the legs with rav/rav/rav after debuffing and wail on the thing when it goes down.
Wow, some of these are the most impressive video game music I have ever heard. The compositions are so complex now that they're harder for most people to accurately judge. Honestly, a lot of the older FF games don't have great music; the composers were limited by their hardware so they had to pile on the melody, making older FF music more memorable but very simplistic and nowhere near the musical standards we hear today.
EDIT: Although, I still think nothing in FF13 holds a candle to this
The soundtrack for this game is amazing. Lightning's Theme is probably my favourite track, so beautiful.
For anyone that bought the OST, are you getting some distortion in Dust to Dust? I've ripped to ALAC coming out of an iPod Touch on some Sennheiser HD650s out of a DV332 tube amp. This is the only track where I get it, and I'm pretty sure its not my equipment. In the actual game I didn't get any distortion so I'm thinking they stuffed the mastering on the CD.
Getting full Crystarium isn't that hard really if you are going to try to get the Treasure Hunter trophy/achievement. Been killing turtles since I beat the game, 1 single Trap so far, and almost max Crystarium for everyone in ever role Seriously thinking about moving on to try and farm Long Gui because they have a better drop rate for Traps :|
Seriously thinking about moving on to try and farm Long Gui because they have a better drop rate for Traps :|
