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Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII |OT| Toriyama's Bizarre Adventure

Yoshichan

And they made him a Lord of Cinder. Not for virtue, but for might. Such is a lord, I suppose. But here I ask. Do we have a sodding chance?
Hype reaching insane levels...
 

Toth

Member
I don't measure the fps on for ARR PS3, but it's not "20 fps if you're lucky". Rather, it's faster than that barring some intense battles. Considering that it is an MMO, it runs fantastically.

If a single player game on an engine that should have been optimized over the course of six years is running poorly even with shoddy graphics for an end-of-generation game, however, then you have to question the technical competency of the game.


What you said in the spoiler
about going to a wedding
was a mistranslation, because that content/dialogue never existed even in the Japanese version. I believe I made a comment about how that was incorrect before.

Oh okay, thanks for clarifying.
 
Jeez. So what I'm gathering from this thread is the game doesn't look that good, nor does it run that well, and it's mostly garbage outside of the combat, which itself could still be better anyway. Man, probably gonna stick that pre-order money on something else. :/
 

Nohar

Member
Jeez. So what I'm gathering from this thread is the game doesn't look that good, nor does it run that well, and it's mostly garbage outside of the combat, which itself could still be better anyway. Man, probably gonna stick that pre-order money on something else. :/

Truth to be told, I'm hesitating to do just that. With Dark Souls II not that far away, it may be a better thing to do.
Hmmm, how much time did it take to FFXIII-2 to have good price drops?
 

dan2026

Member
Jeez. So what I'm gathering from this thread is the game doesn't look that good, nor does it run that well, and it's mostly garbage outside of the combat, which itself could still be better anyway. Man, probably gonna stick that pre-order money on something else. :/

Why did you preorder in the first place?

If there is any doubt on the quality of a game, that seems daft.
 

Zafir

Member
Truth to be told, I'm hesitating to do just that. With Dark Souls II not that far away, it may be a better thing to do.
Hmmm, how much time did it take to FFXIII-2 to have good price drops?
Where do you live?

In the UK it dropped like two weeks after launch or something crazy like that, lol.
 

Nohar

Member
Where do you live?

In the UK it dropped like two weeks after launch or something crazy like that, lol.

Wow. I heard that the price dropped quickly, but 2 weeks? That's insane.
France here. I may be able to get a good deal in one shop in particular. I'll ponder over what to do.
 

Zafir

Member
Wow. I heard that the price dropped quickly, but 2 weeks? That's insane.
France here. I may be able to get a good deal in one shop in particular. I'll ponder over what to do.
You may be cheaper just importing from the UK if you aren't fussed on getting a FR copy. I don't really check FR prices, but I know the rest of the European prices are rather high in comparison to the UK.
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
Jeez. So what I'm gathering from this thread is the game doesn't look that good, nor does it run that well, and it's mostly garbage outside of the combat, which itself could still be better anyway. Man, probably gonna stick that pre-order money on something else. :/

Beware getting influenced by only two-three opinions of the usual two-three importers that made it clear many times they didn't like XIII, nor XIII-2, nor this one. Before deciding - if u really want to listen to others and not yourself and your personal tastes - wait for other people to join this discussion. I personally know more people that loved the game between here, gamefaqs, squareportal and few other fansites than people that disliked it. Also keep in mind that japanese audience prefers this game over the previous two (mk2 and amazon the sources). That tells alot.
 

Tathanen

Get Inside Her!
Jeez. So what I'm gathering from this thread is the game doesn't look that good, nor does it run that well, and it's mostly garbage outside of the combat, which itself could still be better anyway. Man, probably gonna stick that pre-order money on something else. :/

Honestly I'd think twice before putting too much stock in anything GAF says about this game, to either extreme. It's been comical Capulet vs Montague infighting since the game was announced, with hyperbole spouting non-stop. I've honestly never seen anything quite like it, outside of threads about "how to fix Nintendo."

I suspect the game has its fair share of issues, but might still be plenty fun. Really depends where you set your expectations.
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Jeez. So what I'm gathering from this thread is the game doesn't look that good, nor does it run that well, and it's mostly garbage outside of the combat, which itself could still be better anyway. Man, probably gonna stick that pre-order money on something else. :/

If you can look back on your experiences with the previous too games and feel "yeah I enjoyed that" then get it. If not then ignored. Simple as that.
 
So Lightning has no emotions, but she gets emotional several times (inconsistency to the max). She shouldn't have any motivation since she feels nothing at all, but "NO ONE WILL STOP ME FROM GETTING SERAH! Even if it means I have to kill you". The game was supposed to make her "more human", but so far she's a extremely distant (and quite frankly, she doesn't give a shit about her "humanity" as she says she's willing to throw it away to do what she has to do). She's not so much a character anymore as she is a force of nature who sometimes gets melodramatic.


How did we get from XIII Lightning to LR Lightning? I liked XIII Lightning, but LR Lightning is dreadfully boring and inconsistent.
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
If you can look back on your experiences with the previous too games and feel "yeah I enjoyed that" then get it. If not then ignored. Simple as that.

Yeah actually it's all about this, especially when we're talking of a THIRD title in THE SAME trilogy. I mean it sounds obvious to me that if you liked the previous two chances are HUGE for this to be the same. On the other hand if you absolutely didn't like the first two, I don't think that's going to change. Even if I know people that don't like FF and are absolutely in love with this game and the way it handle JRPGs tropes in a new refreshing way, gameplay-wise. Someone was even going so far saying this should be the base for a next zelda ahah. Crazy but it tells alot about the potential of the title :p
Unfortunately I think this title will be judged more for the XIII and the FF in the title than not for its true merits. Maybe with a different title on the cover reception would've been very different. The game really tries hard to move the genre on a different direction and you know how loud can be old-fans and nostalgics when you try something like that. Look at Bravely Default, a copy and paste of an old game getting praised for being... something we already played tons of times. It's like they're stuck in a loop they don't wanna leave. I'm glad that even if with some shortcomings, LR: FFXIII tries at least and at last to break these boundaries. The genre needs courage, and LR got plenty of it.
 
Well, I'm down. I think it looks fun and I want to see how the series ends, plus it's FF innit? Even the lesser games in the series usually have many good points. Come Friday though, Left Behind takes vast priority.
 
Why did you preorder in the first place?

If there is any doubt on the quality of a game, that seems daft.

Because, by now I'd figured they reigned in some of the more technical issues after XIII-2. As for the gameplay, I pretty much liked the XIII series for the reverse reasons I liked anything before it(grinding the combat and sprinting through every else vs. speeding through to combat just so I could get back to wandering around, story, minigames, etc.)
 
Still bummed the CE is through SE's shop only, hopefully that doesn't become a constant(niche Drakengard aside). Was tempted to grab it but when I saw the added 9 dollars in shipping for 5-7 days I said never mind. Too many games coming out and I have too little money :D
 
This is one of those games where the fps didn't bother me much as say a game like Ratchet and Clank...but man did XIII-2 run choppy in that rainy area.
 

Zafir

Member
Incidentally, does Lightning Returns have "random" mobs like XIII-2 or are they part of the world like XIII?

Didn't particularly like the way it was handled in XIII-2.
 
Beware getting influenced by only two-three opinions of the usual two-three importers that made it clear many times they didn't like XIII, nor XIII-2, nor this one. Before deciding - if u really want to listen to others and not yourself and your personal tastes - wait for other people to join this discussion. I personally know more people that loved the game between here, gamefaqs, squareportal and few other fansites than people that disliked it. Also keep in mind that japanese audience prefers this game over the previous two (mk2 and amazon the sources). That tells alot.

Honestly I'd think twice before putting too much stock in anything GAF says about this game, to either extreme. It's been comical Capulet vs Montague infighting since the game was announced, with hyperbole spouting non-stop. I've honestly never seen anything quite like it, outside of threads about "how to fix Nintendo."

I suspect the game has its fair share of issues, but might still be plenty fun. Really depends where you set your expectations.

If you can look back on your experiences with the previous too games and feel "yeah I enjoyed that" then get it. If not then ignored. Simple as that.

I'll put it like this then: If I thought XIII was aight, and I thought XIII-2 was aight, will I also believe LR is aight? I ask because the impressions I'm getting is that it's actually worse.
 

HTupolev

Member
I'll put it like this then: If I thought XIII was aight, and I thought XIII-2 was aight, will I also believe LR is aight? I ask because the impressions I'm getting is that it's actually worse.
Nobody is going to be able to give a totally solid answer, because they're fairly different games.

What can be said about LR is that it has extremely ambitious design goals alongside a small budget, and as a result it is quite sketchy in many ways. And average ratings will almost certainly be lower for LR than for XIII and XIII-2.
 

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
I'll put it like this then: If I thought XIII was aight, and I thought XIII-2 was aight, will I also believe LR is aight? I ask because the impressions I'm getting is that it's actually worse.

What about those two games did you find alright? Being specific will definitely bring up better conversations and help people help you.
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
It also had a considerable amount of people (if not more) praising it. Don't skew history.

That was long after released and people started getting interested. The start was all about a bashing review by famitsu, bashing importer reviews by big names here and there, that's all. Things changed slowly. I also made it clear that the japanese fanbase mostly rated LR a superior product than both XIII and XIII-2.

Also I absolutely dislike Souls' series. Lmao.
 
Demon's Souls was out in Japan too back in the time. Talked like shit. History changed.

Is that what you're hoping for with LRFFXIII?

Because quite a few people here have the English copy and are saying exactly the same thing importers said.
 
That was long after released and people started getting interested. The start was all about a bashing review by famitsu, bashing importer reviews by big names here and that's all.

And in any case, I don't like demon souls, ahah.


What do you like besides the XIII trilogy, if you don't mind my asking?
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
Is that what you're hoping for with LRFFXIII?

Because quite a few people here have the English copy and are saying exactly the same thing importers said.

I' m just saying you should not trust anyone. Just yourself and people that are closer to your way of thinking :p
 
I' m just saying you should not trust anyone. Just yourself and people that are closer to your way of thinking :p

If you do don't mind me asking, who do you trust then? Because you seem to be all over when comes to those reviewers and outlets you trust.

Do you literally trust no one? I want to know how you tick Perfo.
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
What do you like besides the XIII trilogy, if you don't mind my asking?

To different degrees I like many games. You're asking me a series that I love as much as FF, thus XIII trilogy too? There's none. Other series I like though, to a lower degree, are things like Metal Gear Solid, Mass Effect, Bioshock, Kingdom Hearts, Matsuno's games ect. to name some recent's ones.
 

kayos90

Tragic victim of fan death
That was long after released and people started getting interested. The start was all about a bashing review by famitsu, bashing importer reviews by big names here and there, that's all. Things changed slowly. I also made it clear that the japanese fanbase mostly rated LR a superior product than both XIII and XIII-2.

Also I absolutely dislike Souls' series. Lmao.

Famitsu was the loudest negative voice but there was a considerable amount of hype and acclaim for the game before it came out stateside. Once again, stop skewing history.
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
If you do don't mind me asking, who do you trust then? Because you seem to be all over when comes to those reviewers and outlets you trust.

Do you literally trust no one? I want to know how you tick Perfo.

I perfectly know what I like, I don't need others suggesting me what I should like or could like. I have age, experience, taste to pick each and every time the game I like. It's very, very easy. When I - by mistake - listen to someone's suggestion, 99% of the times I get to play a bad game or watch a bad movie. I'm the only Judge. And I rate everything perfectly to my taste. I'm self-sufficient.
 
Nobody is going to be able to give a totally solid answer, because they're fairly different games.

What can be said about LR is that it has extremely ambitious design goals alongside a small budget, and as a result it is quite sketchy in many ways. And average ratings will almost certainly be lower for LR than for XIII and XIII-2.
It's too different to try to quantify in that way, then. Seems fair given the attempt at more open design I suppose.
What about those two games did you find alright? Being specific will definitely bring up better conversations and help people help you.
The combat. Pretty much just the combat. I really enjoyed frolicking(I quite like that word) about in Gran Pulse, but I never cared to explore in XIII-2 however. Progressing straight through in the sequel felt like enough, outside of trying to cause paradox endings.

And let's agree to not mention the story in either, k? K.

Except Sazh. I like that guy for some reason.
 

MrDenny

Member
Also keep in mind that japanese audience prefers this game over the previous two (mk2 and amazon the sources). That tells alot.
Not necessarily true.
On amazon jp, XIII has six times more reviews and XIII-2 has twice as much reviews as LR.
Just look at the sales, people arent buying LR as much as the previous two installments.
So I wouldn't use that as an indication that the Japanese audience prefers LR.
The people buying LR are prob the people who still buy the game just on the name alone and the hardcore audience.
 
It's too different to try to quantify in that way, then. Seems fair given the attempt at more open design I suppose.

The combat. Pretty much just the combat. I really enjoyed frolicking(I quite like that word) about in Gran Pulse, but I never cared to explore in XIII-2 however. Progressing straight through in the sequel felt like enough, outside of trying to cause paradox endings.

And let's agree to not mention the story in either, k? K.

Except Sazh. I like that guy for some reason.

Okay. Then you will find LR to be "aight".
 

dramatis

Member
Incidentally, does Lightning Returns have "random" mobs like XIII-2 or are they part of the world like XIII?

Didn't particularly like the way it was handled in XIII-2.
Some mobs are on the field, but I think in the weird chaos areas they appear after you enter the area? The encounters are less like 13-2.
 

Toth

Member
Some mobs are on the field, but I think in the weird chaos areas they appear after you enter the area? The encounters are less like 13-2.

Yes and those mobs that appear in those fields are much stronger versions of mobs that you may want to avoid if your gear or abilities are not up to par.
 
Still bummed the CE is through SE's shop only, hopefully that doesn't become a constant(niche Drakengard aside). Was tempted to grab it but when I saw the added 9 dollars in shipping for 5-7 days I said never mind. Too many games coming out and I have too little money :D

Yeah I went to buy it until I saw those shipping fees yesterday. If it was on Amazon it would be mine.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
The day the game releases, that Japanese voice track DLC should be on PSN, right?

I won't need to actually have the disc to download it, right? It's just possible my game won't arrive until after the two weeks it is free.
 

Adaren

Member
I ended up playing the demo for a few more hours last night. I'm absolutely in love with the combat system. Strategy for Zaltys was to poke him with Thunder x4, animation cancel to Dragoon to Stagger him with Beat Down/Jump, then swap to Heartstealer to deal damage with Deprotect+Froststrike. Time was consistently around 2 minutes, which I was pretty content with. I'll probably end up playing more tonight and trying out new strategies.

Yet another amazing battle system blending thought and timing; I hope future Final Fantasies meet these same standards.
 
After Yusnaan, I think I'm done for a while.


Lightning snaps Snow out of being a C'ieth BY PUNCHING AND HUGGING HIM AND THROUGH THE POWER OF LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP, BY GOD IT WORKS! I lost my shit after that.


Just... why?


So much about this game is full of "why".

This game just shits over all of Lightning's previous character development (it does for all the characters, but Lightning especially). I guess that Lightning's XIII character arc never happened and Lightning never had her epiphany that "I grew up to fast, I was just a kid, I'm not the person I want to be" since LR basically rehashes all of this via Lumina and other ways.

And the whole "I have no emotions" thing is just so flipping stupid since she flys into hysterics with Snow, sounds like she's about to cry when she talks about Serah in her monologues, and is extremely sarcastic with everyone around her. Well, half the time. See, the script is very inconsistent with this whole plot thread. Half the time she goes around as cold hearted as can be talking about how weak willed Noel is and how she'll kill him if it means saving Serah or about how "if this doesn't work, Snow is beyond saving" (meaning she'll just kill him and be done with it) and sounds as monotone as possible while about 25% of the time she's in emotional hysterics. The final 25% of it is a weird mixture. Honestly, it creates an almost hilarious dissonance. One moment Lightning can be talking about killing someone close to her like she was talking about sports and then moments later she's in hysterics with the guy. Or she can sound like she's about to cry before monologuing "even though I should be pissed about Bhuni taunting me with Serah, I feel nothing".

And then there's the stuff like Lightning stopping C'iethification through the power of love and friendship (TOTALLY DEVOID OF EMOTION!)

Yeah, I'm taking a break. Maybe after taking a step back for a while and then coming back I'll be less critical.
 
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