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Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII DEMO - OUT NOW* -
- Thread starter Perfo
- Start date
You won't understand the story anyways, just jump in
You don't need to have played XIII-2, but a lot of things will probably make more sense if you have already played it. If not, you can always read the datalog, and Hope's comments also help since they serve as a reminder of what has happened between the characters, though I'd suggest playing XIII-2 anyway, it's pretty good I think.
BigBadShamoo
Banned
This demo is so awesome. Seems like Square Enix is really trying a lot of new things with this RPG :O
SoraanTribal
Member
More good news.
I'm not sure if I'll be doing every sidequest either if the quality is the same as what I saw in some streams. Herding sheep, picking up flowers... quality stuff, eh? I'm sure it's possible to go from XIII to LR, but I'd still recommend playing XIII-2 if you care about the story at all. I mean, if you liked XIII somewhat, anyways.
RPGCrazied
Member
Might not have a choice, its the only way to raise level/stats in the game is by doing quests.
RPGCrazied
Member
I think you do get a game over screen.
You definitely don't need to do everything to beat the game, but I'm not sure what the minimum number of side quests you have to do to reach the 13th day is, but it'd be interesting to see someone beat the boss with the minimum stats possible.
I mean like they entire game, no the demo really, the whole game.
That timer bothers me a bit,however i didn't bother to look up if it actually ended your game and made you start completley fresh again.
Even if it does give you just a game over screen, when you reload wont you just have the same swindled time left, inevitably getting another game over, forcing you to start a new game?
Pretty much my only hesitation so far.
SoraanTribal
Member
From everything I've heard, you do start the game over when you run out of time. But you keep your stats ("levels"). I'm not sure if you keep items/sidequest completion or anything like that, though.
Oh, that doesn't sound entirely horrible.. If you could just steamroll through the game up until where you were previously, although for a 35+ hour rpg, that timer is scary as fuck.
RPGCrazied
Member
Can you imagine being 25 hours in, and you running out of time. I might play on Easy just to get even more time.
I didn't give a shit about it in majoras mask, as it wasn't very long, but for an RPG.. Thats a serious mechanic lol.
SoraanTribal
Member
I'm torn because I want to play on Normal for more of a challenge in battles/bosses, but I want the time limit to be easier, lol. I kind of wish they had two separate difficulty settings - one for battles and one for the time limit. Hell, I wish there was an option to just turn that off completely.
I'm torn because I want to play on Normal for more of a challenge in battles/bosses, but I want the time limit to be easier, lol. I kind of wish they had two separate difficulty settings - one for battles and one for the time limit. Hell, I wish there was an option to just turn that off completely.
I would love that.
GeorgiousGeorge
Member
I haven't even beaten XIII yet - love the gameplay, but the story is completely absurd even for a Final Fantasy game. This game looks terrific as well - will I have any issues keeping up with Lightning Returns?
Mitochondrion
Member
Could someone explain about the nickname related with Outerworld Services? It says you cannot change it. Does the nickname you create in this demo carry over to the full game? What exactly is it used for? I know it will appear in other player's demo and game as NPC name. What else?
SoraanTribal
Member
Well, you will likely have no clue what is going on in the story if you don't beat XIII or play XIII-2, but you'd probably be confused regardless.
disastermouse
Banned
I just played the demo and all I can say is:
I can't believe this is a Final fantasy game. I only wish that the action was less meter-based. Other than that...just...wow!
Perfo
Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
I got one question for the people that finished the game already. I know that if 13 days pass,
you'll be taken immediately to face the last boss or something like that. What I don't get... you can basically SKIP every major event and finish the game without knowing any major plot point? I wonder if in that case the ending will be any different or what.
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
WOAH. Thanks for the spoiler, dude!
You guys are honestly overthinking the time mechanic.
Let me put it in a way that's as spoiler-free as possible. (Spoilered anyway for game mechanics, but this is for people who really really want to know how the doomsday clock works)
Let me put it in a way that's as spoiler-free as possible. (Spoilered anyway for game mechanics, but this is for people who really really want to know how the doomsday clock works)
To get to the final boss, you need to do five main quests, which accounts for about 60% of your power level since these are the ones that give you more EP and inventory slots and some of the better items. They are very clearly marked out and considering each main quest adds a day to your time, if you ever find out that you're running out of time latching on to one and finishing it should keep you safe.
In the meantime, you have a whole bunch of sidequests/fetch quests that are peppered all over and send you to different places on the world map. Notwithstanding that alot of them are pretty bland, my point here is that if you're going to explore, you're going to run into ways to continually power up. Also completing 40 (I think? not sure on the exact number) gives you an extra day.
The two extremes here are:
1) that you complete a few main quests, run out of time, restart, and you wouldn't have had that much to replay through anyway and you'll do so with a 'handicap' in the form of your stats and items accumulated.
2) you blow through all the main quests, use the remaining time going on a jolly old scavenger hunt till all 13 days run out, powering up in the meantime.
Most likely you'd fall somewhere in between, get tired of the sidequests and speed your way to the end like Goli.
One of the bosses in the main quest (no spoilers etc) is pretty ridiculous compared to the others, so if you can beat all the main quests you -shouldn't- have much problem with the final boss, as in you won't save your way into a corner by running out of time and going into the last day underpowered.
In the meantime, you have a whole bunch of sidequests/fetch quests that are peppered all over and send you to different places on the world map. Notwithstanding that alot of them are pretty bland, my point here is that if you're going to explore, you're going to run into ways to continually power up. Also completing 40 (I think? not sure on the exact number) gives you an extra day.
The two extremes here are:
1) that you complete a few main quests, run out of time, restart, and you wouldn't have had that much to replay through anyway and you'll do so with a 'handicap' in the form of your stats and items accumulated.
2) you blow through all the main quests, use the remaining time going on a jolly old scavenger hunt till all 13 days run out, powering up in the meantime.
Most likely you'd fall somewhere in between, get tired of the sidequests and speed your way to the end like Goli.
One of the bosses in the main quest (no spoilers etc) is pretty ridiculous compared to the others, so if you can beat all the main quests you -shouldn't- have much problem with the final boss, as in you won't save your way into a corner by running out of time and going into the last day underpowered.
PIMPBYBLUD
Member
Is there a way to reset the running timer in this game? I'm confused as to how this mechanic works in this game. Am I going to have to rush through before it runs out?
EDIT:Nevermind just read post above
EDIT:Nevermind just read post above
No, I don't think you can skip the major events, you have to do the main quests to reach the end of the game.
Perfo
Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
This is not a spoiler and was never supposed to be, relax. In every interview with the developers that's what is stated everytime from 2012. Myself don't know what happens exactly, I just know the time runs out and the game ends with it. I'll spoiler-tag it anyway, but really it's something you should know already because initially the idea of the devs was for u to face the ending multiple times untill u can succeed with newgameplus+ over and over.
And so what happens if I start the game and never move for 13 days?
?Archer Mac
Neo Member
You still seem to think they're releasing the old version. They're not. You can't skip to the final boss, you can't beat the game without fighting, it's not "hard", it's not meant to last 7-8 hours, all of the things they were saying in the beginning before the sudden shift. You can't extended the world to 13 days if you don't do the main quests. If you manage to suck so much to run out of time you'll start again in a ng+ kind of way. There's an hourglass thing in the Ark which allows you to restart manually into a ng+ but I'm only 100% sure it appears after beating the game, probably after failing it too but I personally didn't fail. It's a nice way to catch up on things you may have missed when used together with the sleep option....or to farm a specific monster group for money until they get extinct, then restart and do it again?
The timer is now derped down and most competent players are going to "finish" it in 6-7 days, 10-11 days for extra stuff until it gets boring or completely done, but you must reach-wait for the end in order to start the finale while in 13-2 you could finish the story in 25h and then go and do the extra stuff for another 30h.
Each of the main missions can be comfortably done one per day with some sidequests along the way to increase the count. It will be harder to do everything on the first run on normal difficulty but not everyone is a completionist,...and there are one or two things which can't be done on the first playthrought so there's little point in pursuing such a goal from the start. Hard mode is good but not available from the start, seems to have some leftover elements of the original idea they planned.
tl;dr
The timer is now derped down and most competent players are going to "finish" it in 6-7 days, 10-11 days for extra stuff until it gets boring or completely done, but you must reach-wait for the end in order to start the finale while in 13-2 you could finish the story in 25h and then go and do the extra stuff for another 30h.
Each of the main missions can be comfortably done one per day with some sidequests along the way to increase the count. It will be harder to do everything on the first run on normal difficulty but not everyone is a completionist,...and there are one or two things which can't be done on the first playthrought so there's little point in pursuing such a goal from the start. Hard mode is good but not available from the start, seems to have some leftover elements of the original idea they planned.
tl;dr
Screaming Meat
Unconfirmed Member
I've not seen or read a single interview. It's not that I'm a rabid fan or even that I'm on media blackout or anything (I've still got to start the other two games yet!), but I would've liked to have found something as cool and unusual as that out myself rather than in a demo thread. If it was the OT or a thread about one of those an interviews, then I'd only have myself to blame.
It happens. I'll live. I appreciate the retroactive spoiler tagging it, though!
This is not a spoiler and was never supposed to be, relax. In every interview with the developers that's what is stated everytime from 2012. Myself don't know what happens exactly, I just know the time runs out and the game ends with it. I'll spoiler-tag it anyway, but really it's something you should know already because initially the idea of the devs was for u to face the ending multiple times untill u can succeed with newgameplus+ over and over.
And so what happens if I start the game and never move for 13 days?
You can't not move for 13 days since you only begin with a week. If you don't do anything for a week then it's probably a game over, you have to earn the rest of the days by questing, and if you do a certain amount of quests you get access to a 14th one, but no more than that.
King_Richard
Member
I just finished playing the demo, and I found it very "meh", I loved FFXIII and FFXIII-2 (at least gameplay-wise), but I got bored with LR. It took me more than 6 minutes to fight the end boss, but I think the demo just left you under leveled as a challenge (also I didn't realize what the bars do until I almost killed the boss).
I think I'll wait and gauge the reaction when the game launches.
I think I'll wait and gauge the reaction when the game launches.
If it took you more than 6 minutes you're doing it wrong.
rocketskates
Member
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
this song.
caius da GOAT.
You are overpowered in the demo!
rocketskates
Member
ugh, the more i keep looking at the LE the more i want it.
especially this unboxing
but that price tag + digital river......fajv;dfbvjiopgmadfg
especially this unboxing
but that price tag + digital river......fajv;dfbvjiopgmadfg
SoraanTribal
Member
Yeah, that is a great theme.
Also Heart of Chaos is awesome.
----
I had pretty much talked myself out of buying LR at launch because I know it's gonna get a price drop fast (probably within like 2 months like XIII-2 did), but at the same time... I kind of want to finish the saga. I dunno.. :/
Iorv3th
Member
I really liked the gameplay of the demo.
So i put in ffxiii-2 after not finishing xiii and I remember why, this battle system is terrible. It would probably be okay if they didn't give you an option to just press 'auto battle' and mash x to get through the game. I am so glad they changed the battle system for lightning returns.
So i put in ffxiii-2 after not finishing xiii and I remember why, this battle system is terrible. It would probably be okay if they didn't give you an option to just press 'auto battle' and mash x to get through the game. I am so glad they changed the battle system for lightning returns.
It's not like you were forced to auto battle, in fact, manual input makes battles a lot better, auto battle selections in XIII and XIII-2 are super dumb.
HawthorneKitty
Sgt. 2nd Class in the Creep Battalion, Waifu Wars
I think you should look at it more.
Well, if you already thought the story in the first game was absurd then XIII-2 and Lightning Returns will probably be off the charts. I feel that the first game was actually the most coherent and everything after was crazy fan fiction.
rocketskates
Member
Yeah, that is a great theme.
Also Heart of Chaos is awesome.
----
I had pretty much talked myself out of buying LR at launch because I know it's gonna get a price drop fast (probably within like 2 months like XIII-2 did), but at the same time... I kind of want to finish the saga. I dunno.. :/
ah yessss that song too! caius is legitimately my favorite villain in FF history which feels weird to say since he's so new, but the dude was a straight monster. he is easily my most looked forward to part of LR.
but yeah, i know what you mean. i waited until XII-2 dropped in price and ended up purchasing both LEs for under $40. but i really want to finish the saga too.
dat pocketwatch tho!
nah, i actually like the box cover and the artbook though. lightning <3
So I finally got around to doing the demo, and it seems to basically have all the same strengths and weaknesses as Final Fantasy XIII proper from what I can tell.
First off, seeing the opening cut scene reminds me of how Squaresoft's production values used to get me really hyped up back in the day. I don't know why they have basically the same FMV scene twice in this demo, but man are they really trying to get you to be excited for all the lights and sparkles Square Enix puts on these games. It also solidifies my opinion that JRPGs basically take the design philosophy of board games (as opposed to WRPGs which try to simulate increasingly complex fantasy worlds). Seeing this cut scene is like looking at the front of the box of a board game -- an artist's dramatization of what the actual gameplay is supposed to represent.
Anyway, I know people have said this game looks horrible from the videos, and in many places the environments in this demo do have horrendously low polygon counts, but overall I think it looks nice enough considering it's a PS3 game in 2014. The character designs are take-it-or-leave-it I guess. The story so far though is pretty much everything I've come to disdain about JRPGs these days. Like, they're still trying to get you caught up on re-purposed phrases like "chaos" and "savior." I've noticed a lot of JRPGs and anime do this to seemingly make their plots look more complex than they really are by having their own entire jargon. And that antagonist character in the demo? Jesus.
The combat system though actually feels like a pretty smart action RPG-ish take on normal Final Fantasy gameplay. I appreciate how they took all the traditional actions and assigned them to buttons, making things more fluid while working under generally the same rules. The demo gives no indication of whether the full game has actual towns or an explorable world or anything like that, but from videos I've seen I think it does right? That's one improvement over FFXIII (that I really appreciated in XIII-2's demo as well).
Contrast this all with the Bravely Default demo. That demo immediately put you in a fairly-sized world map with multiple locations and quests. It gave you a tutorial version of a customizable battle system. What narrative was there was pretty much just dialogue text after which the game let you go on your way without the story being so full of itself. Maybe I should just stick to JRPGs that are made on weaker hardware. It seems whenever JRPG developers have access to anything that can run modern 3D graphics they feel the need to basically print an overwrought attempt at a drama movie on the game disc. At least older and today's low-end hardware forces them to into more efficient storytelling which leaves you more time to focus on playing the game.
First off, seeing the opening cut scene reminds me of how Squaresoft's production values used to get me really hyped up back in the day. I don't know why they have basically the same FMV scene twice in this demo, but man are they really trying to get you to be excited for all the lights and sparkles Square Enix puts on these games. It also solidifies my opinion that JRPGs basically take the design philosophy of board games (as opposed to WRPGs which try to simulate increasingly complex fantasy worlds). Seeing this cut scene is like looking at the front of the box of a board game -- an artist's dramatization of what the actual gameplay is supposed to represent.
Anyway, I know people have said this game looks horrible from the videos, and in many places the environments in this demo do have horrendously low polygon counts, but overall I think it looks nice enough considering it's a PS3 game in 2014. The character designs are take-it-or-leave-it I guess. The story so far though is pretty much everything I've come to disdain about JRPGs these days. Like, they're still trying to get you caught up on re-purposed phrases like "chaos" and "savior." I've noticed a lot of JRPGs and anime do this to seemingly make their plots look more complex than they really are by having their own entire jargon. And that antagonist character in the demo? Jesus.
The combat system though actually feels like a pretty smart action RPG-ish take on normal Final Fantasy gameplay. I appreciate how they took all the traditional actions and assigned them to buttons, making things more fluid while working under generally the same rules. The demo gives no indication of whether the full game has actual towns or an explorable world or anything like that, but from videos I've seen I think it does right? That's one improvement over FFXIII (that I really appreciated in XIII-2's demo as well).
Contrast this all with the Bravely Default demo. That demo immediately put you in a fairly-sized world map with multiple locations and quests. It gave you a tutorial version of a customizable battle system. What narrative was there was pretty much just dialogue text after which the game let you go on your way without the story being so full of itself. Maybe I should just stick to JRPGs that are made on weaker hardware. It seems whenever JRPG developers have access to anything that can run modern 3D graphics they feel the need to basically print an overwrought attempt at a drama movie on the game disc. At least older and today's low-end hardware forces them to into more efficient storytelling which leaves you more time to focus on playing the game.
SoraanTribal
Member
I actually agree with you on Caius. I'm not really what you'd call a big fan of the XIII saga (I had some fun with them despite their many many flaws), but I really did like Caius as a villain. He had a pretty cool design with an awesome weapon, an interesting backstory and motivations, and best of all - great themes and music surrounding his appearances in the story. Oh and dat voice... xD I'm not sure if he's my favorite villain in the series, but he's way up there - easily top 3.
I am looking forward to seeing the story of Caius/Yeul/Noel play out in LR - that's probably what I'm looking forward to the most. I'm not getting my hopes up because this game seems to be focused on Lightning, but I want some closure for those 3 characters in particular.
I still have a few weeks to think about if I wanna buy it at launch or hold off for the price drops. I just dunno yet.. D:
I kind of wish they had two separate difficulty settings - one for battles and one for the time limit. Hell, I wish there was an option to just turn that off completely.
The timer won't give you any problems. Seriously. You'll probably be sleeping through days just to make them pass, because you will run out of things to do. Sad truth.
Ganon Dragmire
Member
You might be upset to know about this:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=98394737#post98394737
Man, just wanted to say I saw the opening cutscene to this game, some battle footage, read about the Majora's Mask-like premise and I read Sakurai's comments in Famitsu praising this game's mechanics, and... Well, I think it looks awesome. I didn't play FFXIII or FFXIII-2, though...