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Final Fantasy XIII |OT|

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duckroll

Member
Look guys, arguing with Amir0x will only shit up the thread further for people interested in discussing the game itself. You know this.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
j-wood said:
Just picked this up :D

I'm on break for 1 week though for spring break...is this playable on an SDTV?
Assuming you mean in terms of text?

Haven't tried it, but the subtitles (if you turn them on) are massive. Although, the actual dialogue is usually pretty clear, unlike some other games where I can't understand what's being said.
 

Darkatomz

Member
Well, I got to the part in ch1 where Hope and Vanille steal the hovercraft yesterday, and my SE guide came in the mail today. It's WAY nicer than I ever thought it would be, so nice!

#182,975/210,000
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
duckroll said:
Look guys, arguing with Amir0x will only shit up the thread further for people interested in discussing the game itself. You know this.
sorry sir. It won't happen again.
 
duckroll said:
Look guys, arguing with Amir0x will only shit up the thread further for people interested in discussing the game itself. You know this.

I honestly shouldn't even be in here. The music is calling me and all I need to do is switch over to HDMI mode (I play on my comp monitor). I need to stop switching over every few minutes just to tell everyone that I thought something Sazh said was funny :lol
 

avatar299

Banned
Amir0x said:
But it's massively different from FFXII and FFXI, and the soon to release FFXIV. Really, it's only similar to FFX!

I am not even trying to claim that the formula is inherently bad; only that it's not good FOR ME. But this revisionist history where we act like this FF series has been one huge, homogeneous franchise, where if you like one, you like them all... it's just silly. And wrong. The series is so diverse and has so many distinctive games because each installment they try something radically different.

And that's a positive thing! It's good that they try new things.

In this installment, they tried something I didn't like and so it is what it is. In the next installment, you might be the one that feels isolated from the title. I loved FFXII, but it isolated a lot of other FF fans.

That's the FF series. I just wish people would stop acting like all FF is even close to the same.
Where did I say all FF are alike and if you like one, you like them all? If anything it's the people bitching about towns and other changes that have a problem with FF not having a singular formula

edit: duckrolls right. I'm done
 

Peff

Member
Angry Grimace said:
Assuming you mean in terms of text?

Haven't tried it, but the subtitles (if you turn them on) are massive. Although, the actual dialogue is usually pretty clear, unlike some other games where I can't understand what's being said.

The cutscenes may be clear, but I think the battles could be a horrible mess... depends on how big the SD TV is, I guess.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
cosmicblizzard said:
I honestly shouldn't even be in here. The music is calling me and all I need to do is switch over to HDMI mode (I play on my comp monitor). I need to stop switching over every few minutes just to tell everyone that I thought something Sazh said was funny :lol
Exact same setup here. Last time Sazh "sonned" Snow I paused and switched over to GAF it.
 

survivor

Banned
So I think I'm almost done chapter 3 since I have been playing it for around 2 hours. I like the way you level up your characters so far.

A question regarding Libra. Should I be using it on every new enemy even the useless soldiers or will normal attacking still reveal some info too? Also should I be selling anything right now or keep holding on to my items?
 

Coxswain

Member
I'm a few hours into this now (maybe half an hour after you get the ability to upgrade your shit), and I'm liking it about as much as I expected to (ie: I am definitely not the Final Fantasy target audience, but it's the first decent one since I was, like nine years ago). It's a lot of fun, which is kind of a relief because every previous Final Fantasy game that tried to blend menu-based and realtime combat has been an unmitigated disaster of a game.

There's a few total amateur problems with the UI that prevent it from being as fun as it should be, though. Mostly - who the fuck decided that it would be a good idea for there to be an unskippable, 1/2~1 second long animation of the menu items spinning around and shit in combat when you select Abilities (or move between any other two levels of menu)? That shit should be completely instant, so you don't have to worry about whether you can mash X quickly enough to keep your attack chain going, and can devote your time to thinking and queueing up the right actions.
Similarly, why do you have to watch a shitty animation of everybody posing and being surrounded by colours whenever you change everybody's class? It's a system that's this close to working perfectly, except you can't smoothly transition from selecting commands with one class set to another. What's worse is, it seems like sometimes it just takes longer than usual for no reason; the first time I really made use of it in a boss fight, I swear it was working perfectly without any delay, and now, most of the time I've gotta watch the party leader being a Power Ranger for a second before I can do anything, and every now and again I have to wait even longer while they show every single party member doing it before giving my control back.

It's frustrating as hell, because it is a really fun system that allows for a lot more nuance in combat than probably any other game in the series (FFX being the only other one in the running), and these are such obvious mistakes that somebody must have noticed in the eon or so it spent in development. They hardly ruin my enjoyment of the game, but it would be nice if I didn't have to add a "but..." to the end of "This is a really fun game".
 

Relix

he's Virgin Tight™
Oooh! I just noticed why I had been having severe problems with bosses and all! I hadn't bothered to "level up" with Crystallium at all! Fucking great! :lol Just did, now it all feels better and fairer XD
 

Chamber

love on your sleeve
Skel said:
What do you guys think of the Sazh/Vanille only segments? Primarily in Chapter 4. I found them pretty tedious, probably the only part of the game I have disliked so far.

Question for those far into the game: How many hours until you choose whatever party you want?
Painful. Especially coming off the awesome Chapter 3.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
cosmicblizzard said:
I honestly shouldn't even be in here. The music is calling me and all I need to do is switch over to HDMI mode (I play on my comp monitor). I need to stop switching over every few minutes just to tell everyone that I thought something Sazh said was funny :lol
Isn't that usually any time Sazh says anything? :lol

Sazh is like Alf that way. :lol

Chamber said:
Painful. Especially coming off the awesome Chapter 3.

No kidding. It was crazy coming off of the pace you were previously on only to find out that you'd be stuck with a team that's basically incapable of doing "real" combat, especially against the high HP/stagger dependant foes you're being forced to fight.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
Pein said:
Fucking hell! I can't beat the boss at chapter 5. Any tips?
He's basically an HP sponge

Start the battle with Commando/Synergist so Hope can protect the party

Switch to Medic/Synergist in case you need to heal hope while he is casting his spells

Cast Libra

Constantly check up on stats to see what he is currently weak too

Switch between Commando/Ravager and Ravager/Ravager and Commando/Medic (when you nead to heal) in order to build up his stagger

Youll have to stagger him a couple of times, once isnt enough to kill him.

Also, when he is weak to Ligtening, go ahead and cast Odin to do some extra damage.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
Angry Grimace said:
No kidding. It was crazy coming off of the pace you were previously on only to find out that you'd be stuck with a team that's basically incapable of doing "real" combat, especially against the high HP/stagger dependant foes you're being forced to fight.
Didn't have any problem with the Vanille/Sazh fights

Ravager/Saboteur was pretty effective for staggering pretty much all the enemies
 
ejiy54.jpg


Damnit guys, I thought this fight was gonna be super hard. :lol
 

Pein

Banned
Dead said:
He's basically an HP sponge

Start the battle with Commando/Synergist so Hope can protect the party

Switch to Medic/Synergist in case you need to heal hope while he is casting his spells

Cast Libra

Constantly check up on stats to see what he is currently weak too

Switch between Commando/Ravager and Ravager/Ravager and Commando/Medic (when you nead to heal) in order to build up his stagger

Youll have to stagger him a couple of times, once isnt enough to kill him.

Also, when he is weak to Ligtening, go ahead and cast Odin to do some extra damage.
awesome, thanks!
 

RPGCrazied

Member
omg.. I was crusing thru the game, til this boss in chapter 7.

please tell me this is a survive type battle?
fucking skytank, has a gazillion hp an constantly firing missles at me
 

Amir0x

Banned
cosmicblizzard said:
But for a long time, it was the same. The only thing that changed from FF4-9 was atmosphere and battle content. The battle system was the same and 10 wasn't radically different from its predecessors either.

The battle system was the same? Looks like we've played different games forever!

avatar299 said:
Where did I say all FF are alike and if you like one, you like them all? If anything it's the people bitching about towns and other changes that have a problem with FF not having a singular formula

-> here. In that post, you implied that those features I mentioned were staples of ALL FF games (as if the series is one big homogeneous mass), and therefore I had no reason to play any.

That was the annoying thing. Every FF comes out, and different segments of the FF-playing population descend and complain about this or that. This time, it's our turn. I've played and enjoyed many FF games in the past.
 

Shouta

Member
Amir0x said:
The battle system was the same? Looks like we've played different games forever!

The core element of the battle system have stayed the same for FF4 through FF9. ATB didn't change much between them. Customization changed between the games though.
 

Coxswain

Member
Amir0x said:
The battle system was the same? Looks like we've played different games forever!
FF4-FF9 ATB was pretty much identical in each of those games. The only significant differentiation between the gameplay of any of them was the character advancement/customization system, which is pretty different from the combat system itself.
 

Amir0x

Banned
Shouta said:
The core element of the battle system have stayed the same for FF4 through FF9. ATB didn't change much between them. Customization changed between the games though.

They had ATB (even this game does), but they all drastically changed up the subsystems in each incarnation. Which are a major part of the battles, because they factor in directly to how your strategy plays out.

Each element is a piece of the pie, and trying to isolate one thing that is consistent in the series is a crapshoot (besides Chocobo, Moogles and Cid)`
 

Alex

Member
Are there even Moogles in this game? Moogles never seem to get more than a passing glance in the Nomura drawn games. Barely in VII and VIII, big part in IX, barely in X, big parts in XI and XII, no sign in XIII so far, will probably be a big part again in XIV.
 
Coxswain said:
FF4-FF9 ATB was pretty much identical in each of those games. The only significant differentiation between the gameplay of any of them was the character advancement/customization system, which is pretty different from the combat system itself.

I know what you are saying, but that does not quite fly, especially when you factor 9 into it.

4-7 makes a lot more sense.

But even then, the customizations and other subsystems were often extremely intrusive, so much so that they changed face of the combat each time significantly.

But 4-8 I will buy.
 

Fun Factor

Formerly FTWer
Amir0x said:
They had ATB (even this game does), but they all drastically changed up the subsystems in each incarnation. Which are a major part of the battles, because they factor in directly to how your strategy plays out.

Each element is a piece of the pie, and trying to isolate one thing that is consistent in the series is a crapshoot (besides Chocobo, Moogles and Cid)`

Really?
Sure they may have changed the way you Summons or what powers you go into battle with, but the core battle mechanics when fighting an enemy were the same.

edit:
add the fact they all were always linear story driven games that had an overworld, but never had any real exploration outside of that.
 

Amir0x

Banned
FTWer said:
Really?
Sure they may have changed the way you Summons or what powers you go into battle with, but the core battle mechanics when fighting an enemy were the same.

I'd say. The way I approached battles in FFVIII was completely different from how I approached battles in FFV or FFVII, for example. What makes up the components of the battle system ultimately decide how I play a game.

Maybe that's just me, but, FF has always been constantly reinventing itself. Each FF to me has been a unique experience that can be taken on its own. This seems to be why one FF can be completely adored by one group, while the next might be despised by this very same set of people.

It's the diversity of the franchise.
 

Coxswain

Member
Amir0x said:
They had ATB (even this game does), but they all drastically changed up the subsystems in each incarnation. Which are a major part of the battles, because they factor in directly to how your strategy plays out.

Each element is a piece of the pie, and trying to isolate one thing that is consistent in the series is a crapshoot (besides Chocobo, Moogles and Cid)`
You can isolate it just fine. Character advancement is separate from core combat mechanics. Your 'strategy' from game to game changes because you're given characters with different abilities in each game, or given learnable abilities in a different order.

That's like saying that every game has a different combat system because you fight different bosses, and that changes "how your strategy plays out". FFVI doesn't have a different combat system from one playthrough to the next because you fought Mage Master before Doom Gaze, or whatever the fuck.
 

Amir0x

Banned
No, it's different because in one game I have to learn a job system, and in another I have to learn the intricacies of drawing and equiping these magics on my character. And in another still yet, I have to learn the details of materia and how it effects my stats. The utilization of this materia literally fundamentally changes all strategy in this "typical" ATB system, as does the utilization of summons in FFVIII or draw equips in the same title.

The subsystems define the battle system. It's a little bizarre to me that there's anyone who thinks otherwise but opinions and all that. They are what they are.
 
I've been playing for 8 hours and I only have $1000 gil. How do I go about making money in this game? It looks like I can get a fair bit of scratch for selling weapons but I'm afraid I'll sell one worth upgrading.
 

Vanille

Member
Alex said:
Are there even Moogles in this game? Moogles never seem to get more than a passing glance in the Nomura drawn games. Barely in VII and VIII, big part in IX, barely in X, big parts in XI and XII, no sign in XIII so far, will probably be a big part again in XIV.

There's a shop called Moogleworks. Sadly, that's it. :(
 

Truelize

Steroid Distributor
Anyone have a link to a good weapon and item upgrade guide? I just opened up the options and it seems pretty deep.
Would like to not waste a bunch of rare items.
 
toasty_T said:
I've been playing for 8 hours and I only have $1000 gil. How do I go about making money in this game? It looks like I can get a fair bit of scratch for selling weapons but I'm afraid I'll sell one worth upgrading.

This is my problem, too. Something tells me I'm going to miss otherwise unobtainable weapons if I start selling weapons as soon as I get a new one. :p
 

RS4-

Member
DimmuBurgerKing said:
This is my problem, too. Something tells me I'm going to miss otherwise unobtainable weapons if I start selling weapons as soon as I get a new one. :p

Sell uhh, credit chips or something you get from the soldiers in the airship. There's a few variations of ____ chip. I think the standard ones sell for about 500 gil each.

About staggering enemies, start off with Commando on one of your dudes, while the others are using Ravager or Saboteur. Land one set of attacks, then switch to all Ravager. If they have high tension or a meter, switch to Commando again just to maintain the slow bleed rate of the meter.
 

dramatis

Member
toasty_T said:
I've been playing for 8 hours and I only have $1000 gil. How do I go about making money in this game? It looks like I can get a fair bit of scratch for selling weapons but I'm afraid I'll sell one worth upgrading.

If you've been fighting soldiers (PSICOM, etc), you'll find an item in your 'materials' that should be called ~~~ Chips, I'm not sure for English version. You can sell those if they tell you in the help that they'll net you money in the shop. Won't lose out on anything from selling those.
 
DimmuBurgerKing said:
This is my problem, too. Something tells me I'm going to miss otherwise unobtainable weapons if I start selling weapons as soon as I get a new one. :p


Also later weapons aren't necessarily better weapons, just different weapons with different stats when leveled up and different bonuses. The weapons you start out with are just as good as any you'll get later in the game.
 
after reviewing the strategy guide, I just dumped every component I had into Lightning's
Gladius
. It seems like the best all around weapon for my play style.... was that a bad decision? :lol

also, I just now got the ability to upgrade.
 
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