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[CrimsonCrescendo]

I can't help but think they should have used that one guy's video as a battle system trailer.

The video sped up the combat from what I hear. Awesome video, but even if they wanted to contact the guy/gal who made it, they couldn't use it as advertisement because of that. Then again, it may not be sped up at all and then that would be fine.

 

[RapidCancel]

the combat walk speed is very slow. hitting the attack button puts you into melee/combat range pretty quickly which is fine but just walking around in combat was super slow.

as bad as the dialogue and characters are, the fact that the little coms conversations with people don't pause or get stopped by combat is the stupidest thing I've ever seen in a game

Like, Hope is talking about some bullshit, and then I enter combat, and the dialogue fades out but still continues in some manner

so when I exit combat I've missed dialogue. that's pretty dumb.

I feel like walking is only used for small adjustments, maybe being able to step out of a line of fire or something. Other than that, it seems like guard, evade, counter etc. should be your main line of defense.

This is something that concerns me for the final game. In a normal game, I would just stop moving my character and listen to the com convo before getting in a battle or whatever, but since this game has a time limit, I feel like I should be constantly moving and progressing. So... standing around doing nothing every time Hope starts yammering on (which I've heard he does constantly) doesn't really seem very viable. But if I don't, I'll miss part of the conversation. D:

Regarding the conversations with Hope, it's pretty annoying, but at least all the text from the conversation appears on the left. It's easy to catch back up after battles.

 

[Falk]

The video sped up the combat from what I hear. Awesome video, but even if they wanted to contact the guy/gal who made it, they couldn't use it as advertisement because of that. Then again, it may not be sped up at all and then that would be fine.

And the trailer itself has slowed-down dramatic rotating bullshots, etc... that's trailers for you.

 

[shiftplusone]

I feel like walking is only used for small adjustments, maybe being able to step out of a line of fire or something. Other than that, it seems like guard, evade, counter etc. should be your main line of defense.



Regarding the conversations with Hope, it's pretty annoying, but at least all the text from the conversation appears on the left. It's easy to catch back up after battles.

its not even for moving or evading attacks

maybe its my fault for playing this in between sessions of xillia which is different

regarding The conversation stuff, its not even that the text appears on the left. It keeps only 2-3 lines of dialogue at a time and I know for a fact that I'd miss most of the voiced part, and at least 1-2 lines of what I missed would have been cleared off the screen. If there is a log of the whole conversation that would be really annoying but at least I'd get to see the dialogue

 

[CrimsonCrescendo]

And the trailer itself has slowed-down dramatic rotating bullshots, etc... that's trailers for you.

True.

 

[Falk]

From my plat in Japanese, cutting off dialogue didn't really seem to be a problem. It could be a combination of different line lengths, a much more relaxed non-"holy shit i need to get into the next battle now" pace and maybe subconsciously beginning to tune them out after one section of nonstop "LAITO-SAN DAIJOBU!?" every 10 seconds, but yeah.

In the full game the tutorial section ending with Zaltys isn't on a clock, so there's that.

 

[Adaren]

The video sped up the combat from what I hear. Awesome video, but even if they wanted to contact the guy/gal who made it, they couldn't use it as advertisement because of that. Then again, it may not be sped up at all and then that would be fine.

I remember the post that said this, and I have the same unanswered question now that I did then:

Evidence?

 

[Nocturno999]

I had fun playing the demo. May buy it day one.

 

[rataven]

This is something that concerns me for the final game. In a normal game, I would just stop moving my character and listen to the com convo before getting in a battle or whatever, but since this game has a time limit, I feel like I should be constantly moving and progressing. So... standing around doing nothing every time Hope starts yammering on (which I've heard he does constantly) doesn't really seem very viable. But if I don't, I'll miss part of the conversation. D:

This was a big nitpick of mine from the demo as well. I generally try to take in as much of the story as I can, so the constant interrupts and skipped lines was making this form of delivery very aggravating. I actually like Hope quite a bit too, so I wanted to hear what he had to say. On my second run through the demo, I just brought Lightning to a full stop in order to hear the audio, but yeah, it's not efficient if we're on the clock. And I suppose the argument could be made that if the story isn't very good to begin with, no harm no foul, but I'd still like to be able to hear it all in order to make that judgement.

 

[Gestault]

Most promising hopefully means "most improved."

 

[Lain]

My impressions from the Demo:

The opening CG is awesome.
The switch from when the CG ends and the real time graphics start is quite jarring. The disconnect didn't appear so big to me before now.
Being able to move the camera while watching the cutscene is cool.

The gameplay is pretty awesome. Switching dresses to keep the action going requires a bit of getting used for me, mainly to notice the action bar is almost or totally empty but other than that, I've had so much fun.

Hope talking to me while I have a timer going and I have to run so I can't read the subtitles and watch the minimap and look at where I'm going all at the same time is somewhat annoying.

I finished the boss with only 2 stars, so I'll have to retry once my gamepad is fully charged (after such a long time it was completely empty lol).

 

[Gambit]

the strangest thing has happened to me. After successfully ignoring XIII-2, I had absolutely no interest in the game. That's why I've also spoiled myself on the story already and know to ignore it.

Despite all that, I just played the demo. Turns out, I really enjoy the battle system! I am actually considering buying now. This is quite a turnaround. I was sure I'd hate it.

 

[HeelPower]

what do you guys think of the Title screen ?

One of the hypest Title screens.

 

[Esura]

what do you guys think of the Title screen ?

One of the hypest Title screens.

It is pretty damn cool. A lot of the menu designs and whatnot are pretty snazzy.

 

[Ermac]

Pretty sure I spent over an hour customizing costumes in the demo, I can't wait for them all in the full game.

 

[WickedLaharl]

I really enjoyed the demo the combat was very DMCish.

 

[Neolith]

I think the demo persuaded me to buy at launch even if it will be ten dollars In a few months. Fun gameplay, ridiculous dialogue. I also uploaded my battle score with the dragon via outer world, is there some sort of indication as to whether I received the sigfried garb?

 

[Ermac]

I think the demo persuaded me to buy at launch even if it will be ten dollars In a few months. Fun gameplay, ridiculous dialogue. I also uploaded my battle score with the dragon via outer world, is there some sort of indication as to whether I received the sigfried garb?

Nope, no indication.

 

[Zonic]

The Ugly

For a game where a big focus is on outfits this really is hit or miss. I looked them up on the FF Wiki and the range from cool to terrible and even downright embarrassing is simply staggering. I guess it doesn't help that Lightning has the body of a 12 year old with C-cup boobs and looks terrible in anything that doesn't hide that fact. Garb spoilers: This is good. This is not, and possibly NSFW.

I was looking through most of the outfits & while some are decent looking, any outfit that tries to be "sexy" just clashes with Lightning. It's not the outfit themselves that I have an issue with, it's the fact they're on Lightning herself, a character I don't really associate with trying to show off her body or trying to act sexy. She doesn't seem like a character that would wear that stuff. Seriously, look at Nightmare (obvious skimpy costume warning). If that was on a female from, say, Dead or Alive, it would feel more in place because I associate them with trying to be sexy while wearing bikinis and all that. Here, it conflicts with her (dull) personality/attitude and previous outfits and doesn't fit with the rest of the game.

 

[Perfo]

Hope talking to me while I have a timer going and I have to run so I can't read the subtitles and watch the minimap and look at where I'm going all at the same time is somewhat annoying.

Stop being concerned about the time everyone... it's a no-concern. 60hrs are more than enough to do everything like ur standard RPG. Take ur time, enjoy!

 

[RPGCrazied]

How long is the game basically? I mean story wise, other than the needed quests to do to level up high enough to finish the game.

 

[Esura]

Stop being concerned about the time everyone... it's a no-concern. 60hrs are more than enough to do everything like ur standard RPG. Take ur time, enjoy!

To be fair, that's kinda hard to do with a timer on the screen.

Even though I know you can cheese it after watching some streams and from what importers said, it will still concern me to some degree.

 

[Perfo]

How long is the game basically? I mean story wise, other than the needed quests to do to level up high enough to finish the game.

I think like XIII-2, 20-25hrs for story, 40-60hrs for the rest.

 

[TGO]

So this is basically Ligthing Returns Final Fantasy X-2 with the outfits
Not too sure how I feel about that, I mean I have to change into a witches outfit to do black magic when she has been fully capable of doing it and any other magic with the outfit change before in previous games.

I recently started FFXIII again to finishmit up before this hits and I have to say the battles in FFXIII is still untouched by XIII-2 and this so far
The music is also fantastic, don't know what happened with XIII-2

 

[Falk]

don't know what happened with XIII-2

HEATHEN, BEGONE

 

[brandonh83]

Demo was okay, I had a hard time wrapping my head around the battle system though. It seems to be like a reworking of the mechanics in the other games, but with things like stagger I've been thrown a curve ball because I can't really tell how close I am to staggering enemies and with how fast paced the combat is (which is good) I'm having a hard time keeping track of what's going on. I'm sure that will smooth out the more I play the game. Also confusing is the fact that you can assign actions to whichever buttons you like, and you kind of have to assign similar actions for each of the three schema you have. Like you don't want to have guard actions on different buttons between schema and such.

That being said, it was pretty fun and I can see myself enjoying it after the learning curve.

 

[TheGreatLugia]

I just finished the demo. As someone who could never get into the battle systems in the previous XIII games, I enjoyed the new combat system. The timing in battle and the fluid transitions between jobs were pretty neat. I didn't really care about anything else, though, so I'm not planning to get the game.

Still, the demo was fun.

 

[SoraanTribal]

Stop being concerned about the time everyone... it's a no-concern. 60hrs are more than enough to do everything like ur standard RPG. Take ur time, enjoy!

Some of the impressions from gaming websites (in particular Destructoid) had me a little bit concerned about the time limit. He mentioned how he was goofing off a lot, exploring, doing sidequests, but eventually had to stop exploring so much because he noticed his time was getting low and he had to focus on the main story. That sounds exactly how I play.

I plan on playing on Normal because I want a good challenge with battles/bosses, but I've also heard Normal gives you less.. uh.. points (whatever they are called) to use chronostasis (I think that's the name), so you have less time than on Easy. I dunno.

Maybe it isn't so bad. Games focused on time limits as a main mechanic always annoy me.

 

[Toth]

Some of the impressions from gaming websites (in particular Destructoid) had me a little bit concerned about the time limit. He mentioned how he was goofing off a lot, exploring, doing sidequests, but eventually had to stop exploring so much because he noticed his time was getting low and he had to focus on the main story. That sounds exactly how I play.

I plan on playing on Normal because I want a good challenge with battles/bosses, but I've also heard Normal gives you less.. uh.. points (whatever they are called) to use chronostasis (I think that's the name), so you have less time than on Easy. I dunno.

Maybe it isn't so bad. Games focused on time limits as a main mechanic always annoy me.

In a way though, you aren't that penalized. You may run out of time or get close to the limit but you can always reset with all your stats, plow through the storyline quests quickly, and explore more. I don't believe that the importers had this problem though. I believe that doing quests and exploring gives you more time too?

 

[brandonh83]

Maybe it isn't so bad. Games focused on time limits as a main mechanic always annoy me.

Largely why I don't love Majora's Mask for example. It just seems like an incredibly unnecessary thing to put in a game, especially a fucking adventure game or RPG. The jury is still out about it in relation to Lightning Returns, but I am a bit worried. Being rushed or having to think about managing time in an adventure/RPG is the same to me as having a time limit to reading a book. Just... no.

 

[Adaren]

Demo was okay, I had a hard time wrapping my head around the battle system though. It seems to be like a reworking of the mechanics in the other games, but with things like stagger I've been thrown a curve ball because I can't really tell how close I am to staggering enemies and with how fast paced the combat is (which is good) I'm having a hard time keeping track of what's going on. I'm sure that will smooth out the more I play the game. Also confusing is the fact that you can assign actions to whichever buttons you like, and you kind of have to assign similar actions for each of the three schema you have. Like you don't want to have guard actions on different buttons between schema and such.

That being said, it was pretty fun and I can see myself enjoying it after the learning curve.

I had a lot of the same reservations/issues as you. Give it another go and spend more time setting up the schema in ways that are intuitive for you. It really clicked with me after that.

 

[SoraanTribal]

In a way though, you aren't that penalized. You may run out of time or get close to the limit but you can always reset with all your stats, plow through the storyline quests quickly, and explore more. I don't believe that the importers had this problem though. I believe that doing quests and exploring gives you more time too?

Do you keep your items/gear and side-quest completion when you have to start over if you run out of time? If not, I doubt I'd wanna restart the game immediately if I failed (even if you kept your levels). I guess you could just skip all the sidequests on the repeat playthrough, but still... bleh time limits! Bleh, I say!

I'm not 100% certain about ways to extend the time. I know completing sidequests has some effect - you take something back to Hope after each day and it adds more time.

Largely why I don't love Majora's Mask for example. It just seems like an incredibly unnecessary thing to put in a game, especially a fucking adventure game or RPG. The jury is still out about it in relation to Lightning Returns, but I am a bit worried. Being rushed or having to think about managing time in an adventure/RPG is the same to me as having a time limit to reading a book. Just... no.

Yep, that's the same reason why I didn't like Majora's Mask (even though I know it is beloved by some people on GAF). When I play RPGs or adventure games (Zelda), I want to take my time and relax while exploring and goofing off. Adding a time limit prevents that, and I feel like I have to be doing something productive at all times. ;/

 

[TGO]

HEATHEN, BEGONE

The music I mean

 

[SoraanTribal]

The music I mean

He knows what you mean.

The XIII-2 soundtrack was quite popular on GAF (It was voted #5 best soundtrack in 2012.) Some people love it. xD

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

I played PS3 demo but how is the 360 ver?

Same in game quality except for the compressed cut scenes?

 

[Esura]

He knows what you mean.

The XIII-2 soundtrack was quite popular on GAF (It was voted #5 best soundtrack in 2012.) Some people love it. xD

Freaking New Bodhum theme mang....

Wish Origa was in more games.

 

[Lain]

Freaking New Bodhum theme mang....

Wish Origa was in more games.

Origa is pretty good. I wish KOKIA was in more games too (read: I want KOKIA in every game).

 

[Falk]

The music I mean

The soundtrack had a lot of musical equivalents of Serah shouting at flanlings. Essentially "holy shit did that actually happen, what were they thinking lol" in aural form which I find hilarious.

After the amusement wore off though, XIII-2's soundtrack is far enough outside the norm that I find myself listening to it outside of game context moreso than anything in recent years. Of course, that alone is probably up to personal musical taste, and if you don't like the style of music you're not going to like it period.

 

[brandonh83]

XIII-2's soundtrack is fucking godlike. So is FFXIII's and Lighting Returns'. Those composers are just on fire with this series. I can't wait to hear more of what Shimomura has for Final Fantasy XVersus XIII-15.

 

[McKeeverFever]

Can anyone tell me how to evade attacks. I mean can you dodge? I think I pressed square right before impact and dodged but not sure if I pressed something else.

 

[abrack08]

Liked the demo. The opening CG was awesome. I liked the new battle system, maybe not quite as much as XIII or XIII-2, but I'll give it more time. It does suck barely being able to tell how close the enemy is to staggering and some of the costumes look weird/out of place on Lightning, but I'll probably buy it. I liked XIII and XIII-2 ok (more than most here), and I'm interested in seeing (and not understanding) how it all ends.

 

[Baliis]

XIII-2's soundtrack is fucking godlike. So is FFXIII's and Lighting Returns'. Those composers are just on fire with this series. I can't wait to hear more of what Shimomura has for Final Fantasy XVersus XIII-15.

Only like 9 hours into XIII right now, but the sound track is pretty awesome, much better than I was expecting.

 

[Korezo]

I really enjoyed the demo the combat was very DMCish.

I don't understand. Did I play the demo wrong or something? Can you actually move around in real time? I was still playing it as a turn based game and just mashing like XIII and XIII-2, got a 5 star on the boss that way to. I did skip all tutorials.

 

[Perfo]

Some of the impressions from gaming websites (in particular Destructoid) had me a little bit concerned about the time limit. He mentioned how he was goofing off a lot, exploring, doing sidequests, but eventually had to stop exploring so much because he noticed his time was getting low and he had to focus on the main story. That sounds exactly how I play.

I plan on playing on Normal because I want a good challenge with battles/bosses, but I've also heard Normal gives you less.. uh.. points (whatever they are called) to use chronostasis (I think that's the name), so you have less time than on Easy. I dunno.

Maybe it isn't so bad. Games focused on time limits as a main mechanic always annoy me.

No importer here ever had any problem with the amount of time given. All of them actually completed 100% of the game with 3 days more left before the end and nothing to do with it. You can extend time for so long that it'll never be a concern. I intend to play the game at my own pace, like any other rpg taking enjoyment in exploring the world. The time – if you intend to 100% the game – is not going to be an issue if you stick with the game's rules, that is... the more you do, the more you play to put it simple. The game actually invites you to explore and solve quests, take on battles and so on by rewarding you in return with certain points through which you go on extending the time ~ YOU HAVE to do everything to keep playing. And I think that's really a cool idea to invite players getting more from the game instead of rushing through it like most of the times.

 

[creid]

Can anyone tell me how to evade attacks. I mean can you dodge? I think I pressed square right before impact and dodged but not sure if I pressed something else.

Some of the schema have an "evade" move mapped to square/X instead of guard. You can also walk around with the left stick, but it's slow.

 

[SoraanTribal]

No importer here ever had any problem with the amount of time given. All of them actually completed 100% of the game with 3 days more left before the end and nothing to do with it. You can extend time for so long that it'll never be a concern. I intend to play the game at my own pace, like any other rpg taking enjoyment in exploring the world. The time – if you intend to 100% the game – is not going to be an issue if you stick with the game's rules, that is... the more you do, the more you play to put it simple. The game actually invites you to explore and solve quests, take on battles and so on by rewarding you in return with certain points through which you go on extending the time ~ YOU HAVE to do everything to keep playing. And I think that's really a cool idea to invite players getting more from the game instead of rushing through it like most of the times.

Did anyone of the importers here play on Normal? I know some of them played on Easy.

 

[Asd202]

Sounds like this time mechanic is useless.

 

[Goli]

Did anyone of the importers here play on Normal? I know some of them played on Easy.

I played on Normal and didn't have much problems with the time limit.

 

[SoraanTribal]

I played on Normal and didn't have much problems with the time limit.

That's good to hear. Did you have extra time left over at the end of the game?

 

[Goli]

That's good to hear. Did you have extra time left over at the end of the game?

I did, I actually skipped the last few days. Though I didn't do EVERYTHING like Perfo said, but I did most, probably like 90% of the quests. I could have done more but I just wanted to finish it already by that point.