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[HeelPower]

Point based Lightning Returns Review : Spent 46 hours with the game. Completed both Normal and Easy modes.

Positives

(+)Truly Non-Linear.Quests can be tackled at any order at your preference.Actually accomplishing things can be governed by time restrictions ,however.

(+)Truly Deep Customization.Abilities ,garb ,weapons and even cosmetics are customizable to a very large extent.

(+)Enemy variety is intriguing and allows for different approaches.

(+)Nice Art direction overall, despite very poor graphics.

(+)Great new music.Nice track re usage from XIII series can be awkward in some areas but overall enjoyable

(+)NPCs can have some charming stories here and there and react to what happens in the world.Adds life to the game.

(+)Some charming legacy moments both from XIII series and FF series as a whole.You can find Battle on Big Bridge being played by an NPC while roaming a city.Lightning has nice moments and a good VA

(+) Responsive controls, smooth outfit switching in the battles is satisfying.

The Negatives.

(-)Balancing issues with enemies.Finding the right setup can be exceedingly difficult with some enemies.Quitting a battle in Normal mode costs an hour of in-game time.So trial and error isnot feasible on Normal mode.

(-)Leveling only done through quests can lead to big problems in the finale of the game.I couldn't beat the final boss because I didn't do enough quests on Normal mode.Easy mode recommended.

(-)Arbitrary time restricted zones can be very frustrating when trying to complete menial quests.

(-)Quests can be exceedingly time consuming and are mainly composed of fetch quests that are extremely time consuming the first time around.

(-)No Quest tracking system on the map in a time constricted game can be very frustrating.Especially when you are given little to no direction.

(-)Exceedingly poor graphics in many areas.

(-)Very Disappointing ending.Unsatisfying story.

(-)Block Mechanic is unnecessarily punishing.You have to perform Just frame execution or you will take massive damage either way.

(-)Enemies do not always telegraph their attacks properly.You CAN get hit offscreen when there are a lot of enemies.

(-) Travel is not always well designed around the world.Dead dunes has teleport points that greatly aid in traversing the land, why not the rest ?

(-)Passage of time can be pressing and frustrating.Chronostasis effect is insufficientand on Normal will be very hard to use as it requires alot of EP points.They can be acquired from monsters but at very slow rates.So constant grinding can be painful for a first time player.

 

[adamsapple]

There's a time limit?
Hmm..

You can freeze time quite a bit and finish everything in the first 3~ days, lol.

^ true.

Chapter 1 is just about the only chapter which requires you to be present on certain places in certain times to trigger necessary story events, the rest can be done any time in a single stretch. Just keep spamming time freeze and you'll be done in less than 3 days in-game time.

 

[zeopower6]

The one time I wanted a stupid statue and couldn't get one.
I did buy the collectors edition of the guide which looks gorgeous.

Boom head shots!

You could buy the LIGHTNING BOX... but that's like several hundred dollars in Japan. x_x So pretty though.

http://www.nin-nin-game.com/lang-en...ning-ultimate-box-limited-edition-ps3-en.html
http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/speedwagon/item/10000145/

 

[Carbonox]

Wanted to make something new to replace my Electronica setup where magic is concerned so I made a Danse Macabre setup. Research tells me this is arguably the most powerful magic setup in terms of strength when set correctly but damn it feels so underwhelming compared to my Electronica's -ga spells.

Basically I want something other than the Electronica garb cos it wastes a slot with a pansy Thunder spell and frankly the costume looks as intimidating as a sponge.

I heard the following is extremely powerful too but its focus on one element puts me off big time:

Fire Wizard
Garb - Shadow Trooper
Weapon - Chaos's Revenge (maxed magic)
Shield - Mystic shield
Accessories - Coldflame drop or any icy inferno/Sniper's gloves or Firewyrm bracelet
Abilities - Beatdown, Fire, Firaga, Flare
Note: Use after getting a stagger for high fire damage. Best if enemy had deshell and imperil inflicted on them.

I don't want to have to give up magic altogether to find something suitable...

My main setup:

Paladin - Saboteur/Tank
Electonica - Magic
Soldier of Peace - Attack

Paladin and Soldier of Peace work perfectly fine. Just need something top quality for magic otherwise I'll ditch it for something stagger-based.

 

[Rizzi]

I'm even more confused now. Seems like some good and some bad.

 

[Garland7G]

You could buy the LIGHTNING BOX... but that's like several hundred dollars in Japan. x_x So pretty though.

http://www.nin-nin-game.com/lang-en...ning-ultimate-box-limited-edition-ps3-en.html
http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/speedwagon/item/10000145/

There are some nice ones out there, most notably

but not 80$ worth to me lol.

 

[zeopower6]

I'm even more confused now. Seems like some good and some bad.

It's fairly mixed, lol. I liked it a lot though but I had zero expectations from the start so I was just like... whatever.

Try the demo. It's pretty much the entire first 10-20 minutes of the game.

 

[May16]

I'm even more confused now. Seems like some good and some bad.

Some people like things. Other people hate those same things. Still other people think those things are just kind of okay. It's people. It's how we do.

 

[Adaren]

There's a time limit?
Hmm..

You have 13 days to complete 5 main story questlines. However, I haven't been rushed in the slightest. Current status:

• 37 hours played.
• 6 hours from the end of Day 5.
• 4/5 main story questlines done. At the mouth of the final dungeon for the last one.
• Done a ton of side quests, talking to people, and general running around.

As the above poster mentioned, you have an ability that freezes time. The ability consumes points that you get from killing monsters, so you can basically chain freeze it if you want. I plan to spend the last 8 days of the end of the world hunting monsters, finishing side quests, and generally taking it easy.

Like pretty much everyone else in the world, I hate time limits, but this one isn't stressing me out. It's kind of a metagame to optimize the order you do your tasks in and I find it pretty rewarding. It also makes me interact with time based events in a more realistic way (e.g. If I were playing Skyrim and had to meet someone somewhere at noon, I would just use the Wait key until it was noon the next day. In LR, I'll keep doing tasks and quests until that time rolls around).

As for the rest, I like the story so far. It's more focused than XIII-2 and more explicit than XIII-1. If you're a fan of the XIII characters, there's a lot of moments that will make you smile and get the nostalgia flowing. Main questlines are dark and serious, but side quests often (but not always) have a self-aware sense of humor about them. Writing isn't nearly as much of a disaster as some reviews make it seem. Voice acting on the main characters ranges from good to excellent; Lightning's at her best, and Lumina might have some of my favorite voice acting ever. Side quest characters are hit and miss voice-wise, but most of them fall on the above-average side of things.

If there's one thing that (most) people agree on with this game, it's that the battle system kicks ass. The game isn't easy, but it hasn't yet been unfair to me. The combat is real-time, so awareness and timing play a bigger role than ever before. You can customize how you fight to an awesome degree. Even 37 hours in, I still find the combat exciting and rewarding, and I still have plenty more combat styles to explore.

Music is awesome. It brings back a lot of tracks from the previous two games (which is good) and adds tons of its own great tracks.

Graphics are hit-and-miss. Lightning and her garbs look fantastic. Main story characters likewise look really good, and two of the zones are stunningly beautiful. Minor NPCs are pretty stale looking, and there is pretty constant lag in a large section of one of the major zones. Texture work is, once again, inconsistent. Most of it is actually pretty good, but there're a few places where its noticably subpar. Thankfully, the game runs smoothly in all but the most chaotic of combat scenarios, so the gameplay itself doesn't suffer.

Overall impression: I'm loving it. Awesome combat system with endless gameplay and visual customization. This game will carry me all the way to the Dark Souls II PC release and I'll probably still be replaying it years from now.

 

[Rizzi]

I guess I'll download the demo after I finish downloading Catherine.

 

[HeelPower]

You have 13 days to complete 5 main story questlines. However, I haven't been rushed in the slightest. Current status:

you don't start with 13 days and the game can very well end before that if you mess up.

Its gameover and you have to repeat the game.

 

[zeopower6]

you don't start with 13 days and the game can very well end before that if you mess up.

Its gameover and you have to repeat the game.

Well yeah, if you completely avoid doing anything and only really do Main+Canvas quests, you're not going to get those 13 days... but I'd hope some people would do a few subquests at least, lol.

 

[HeelPower]

Well yeah, if you completely avoid doing anything and only really do Main+Canvas quests, you're not going to get those 13 days... but I'd hope some people would do a few subquests at least, lol.

Well sidequests can be huge time sinks trying to run around the area ten times to find a simple item you missed.

 

[Falk]

I could be wrong but I'm almost certain that on top of the main quest, the compulsory sidequests alone (e.g.

Spoiler

heal the chocobo or get the Grand Finale dress being sidequests

) already add up to almost the amount of Eradia you need for the 13th day. That first sidequest boost requires a hilariously low number. It's the

Spoiler

14th day and bonus dungeon

that require a much higher number (still uncertain but 40-50 seems to be quoted as far as the reports in this thread go, out of 63 in the game)

edit: clarity: start with 7, add 5 from main quests, add 1 more day at 5-8 sidequests for 13 days

Spoiler

and add 1 more day at 40-50 sidequests for 14 days

 

[Garland7G]

you don't start with 13 days and the game can very well end before that if you mess up.

Its gameover and you have to repeat the game.

Well yeah, if you completely avoid doing anything and only really do Main+Canvas quests, you're not going to get those 13 days... but I'd hope some people would do a few subquests at least, lol.

Hmm I'm on like day 4 and I really can't recall any extra days being added yet. It seems like the only thing that makes the

Spoiler

tree grow new limbs is the MQ how exactly do you get extra days?

 

[Adaren]

(-)Block Mechanic is unnecessarily punishing.You have to perform Just frame execution or you will take massive damage either way.

(-)Enemies do not always telegraph their attacks properly.You CAN get hit offscreen when there are a lot of enemies.

(-)Passage of time can be pressing and frustrating.Chronostasis effect is insufficientand on Normal will be very hard to use as it requires alot of EP points.They can be acquired from monsters but at very slow rates.So constant grinding can be painful for a first time player.

I realize these are your impressions and accurate for your experience, but I also feel obligated to point out they don't align with my own. Granted I haven't finished the game yet, but in my experience:

• If you're taking excessive damage even while blocking, its likely a problem with your defensive setup.
• If an enemy does anything besides a basic swipe, the name of the attack will appear in a box above the enemy (similar to XIII/XIII-2). This appears on-screen even if the enemy is outside your field of view. Furthermore, you can zoom the camera out a very large distance so that you can see the entire battlefield.
• There's definitely enough EP to use Chronostasis on Normal. Calling it "grinding" is also weird, because you can maintain your EP by just killing the monsters that get in your way while you travel to your destination. It's frequent battling, but there isn't anything "grindy" about it.

you don't start with 13 days and the game can very well end before that if you mess up.

Its gameover and you have to repeat the game.

Yeah, I skipped that part for simplicity. You start with (I believe) 6 days remaining and, if you complete at least a few side quests each day, earn an extra day up to a max of 13. I haven't yet had a day where I didn't complete enough side quests to get an extension (I actually got two extensions from yesterday, I believe!), so I can't comment on what the cutoff is. That said, it would be inaccurate to say I'm feeling pressured by this game.

I could be wrong but I'm almost certain that on top of the main quest, the compulsory sidequests alone (e.g.

Spoiler

heal the chocobo or get the Grand Finale dress being sidequests

) already add up to almost the amount of Eradia you need for the 13th day. That first sidequest boost requires a hilariously low number. It's the

Spoiler

14th day and bonus dungeon

that require a much higher number (still uncertain but 40-50 seems to be quoted as far as the reports in this thread go, out of 63 in the game)

edit: clarity: start with 7, add 5 from main quests, add 1 more day at 5-8 sidequests for 13 days

Spoiler

and add 1 more day at 40-50 sidequests for 14 days

I looked it up because I was curious and doubting myself. The only walkthrough on GameFAQs (which is quite complete, it seems) says:

1. By completing six main quests and subquests, which HAVE to be completed as
part of main quests, you can accumulate enough Eradia for Yggdrasil to bloom
six times (equals six additional days) in order for Light to reach Day 13.

So at least one person agrees with you. Getting the extra days isn't very demanding. Internet sources also say that Side Quests contribute to getting more days, but Canvas of Prayers quests do not.

 

[MilkBeard]

I guess I'll download the demo after I finish downloading Catherine.

The demo will definitely give you an idea. I downloaded it, thought it was good enough for a purchase and then I ended up really enjoying the game. It would be hard to tell if you are going to like it until you try it. It's hard to recommend, but at the same time, you may end up loving it. The gameplay is fun.

 

[MilkBeard]

I realize these are your impressions and accurate for your experience, but I also feel obligated to point out they don't align with my own. Granted I haven't finished the game yet, but in my experience:

• If you're taking excessive damage even while blocking, its likely a problem with your defensive setup.
• If an enemy does anything besides a basic swipe, the name of the attack will appear in a box above the enemy (similar to XIII/XIII-2). This appears on-screen even if the enemy is outside your field of view. Furthermore, you can zoom the camera out a very large distance so that you can see the entire battlefield.
  
  
  

• 
  
  I agree, and I personally find the block mechanic to be incredibly satisfying. It really shows its depth when you are in a tough fight. I was locked in with the Chaos Chocobo Eater, which was a really tough battle, and there is a move he does later in the fight where he punches you like 5 times in a row. If you don't guard them it's almost humiliating because you can't really do anything while he just pounds you. You are a sitting duck. At a certain point I just memorized his pattern and I was able to do perfect guards on all his hits. This is one of the reasons that this battle system has a lot of depth, in that it takes some skill to learn, and when you learn it you can pull off those timed hits and blocks it feels very rewarding. I wouldn't have it any other way, personally.

 

[Garland7G]

The demo will definitely give you an idea. I downloaded it, thought it was good enough for a purchase and then I ended up really enjoying the game. It would be hard to tell if you are going to like it until you try it. It's hard to recommend, but at the same time, you may end up loving it. The gameplay is fun.

To me the demo was ehh, but the game itself is way more fun.

 

[HeelPower]

I realize these are your impressions and accurate for your experience, but I also feel obligated to point out they don't align with my own. Granted I haven't finished the game yet, but in my experience:

• If you're taking excessive damage even while blocking, its likely a problem with your defensive setup.
• If an enemy does anything besides a basic swipe, the name of the attack will appear in a box above the enemy (similar to XIII/XIII-2). This appears on-screen even if the enemy is outside your field of view. Furthermore, you can zoom the camera out a very large distance so that you can see the entire battlefield.
• There's definitely enough EP to use Chronostasis on Normal. Calling it "grinding" is also weird, because you can maintain your EP by just killing the monsters that get in your way while you travel to your destination. It's frequent battling, but there isn't anything "grindy" about it.

Some enemy enemy attacks WILL do massive damage unless its a perfect gaurd.Reading the pattern needs trial and error.The game doesn't allow that on normal mode.Takes off an hour of your time if you quite a battle.I don't like the guard mechanic because its do or die.


Zooming out the camera isn't necessarily a solution to the problem.The cinematic battle camera constantly moves around as time passes and enemies move around.XIII battles are extremely flashy its very hard to keep track of everything that's going on and know exactly when to attack vs not to attack.

Attacks do appear but the time interval between an attack name appearance and launching the attack varies greatly from enemy to enemy.Its not really a reliable cue to follow.The more enemies there are the bigger the problem this becomes.Some enemy regular moves are dangerous and need to guarded against.you can easily get hit while attempting to capitalize off of a successful stagger or guard you performed by another enemy.

Also movement is limited and useless...some attacks will track no matter what.You wont be able to reliable strafe or position yourself.

Keeping the flashy, hectic XIII battle formula in this kind of a very timing sensitive combat didn't work for me.There are many problems with the combat.

Regarding EP : It depends on the encounter.EP can be as low as 0.04 or it can be high.Battles that reward you with decent EP can be very taxing if you use items(EP) so its not always a good idea to randomly engage a fight especially early in the game.It does require you to grind and chronostasis only freezes time for an hour in-game.You can waste that time trying to replenish EP by fighting monsters.An average easy battle probably rewards you with only 0.2X EP.Not economical.

Overall I find the best combat in the trilogy to be easily FFXIII-1 then XIII-2 then LR.

 

[Adaren]

Wanted to make something new to replace my Electronica setup where magic is concerned so I made a Danse Macabre setup. Research tells me this is arguably the most powerful magic setup in terms of strength when set correctly but damn it feels so underwhelming compared to my Electronica's -ga spells.

Basically I want something other than the Electronica garb cos it wastes a slot with a pansy Thunder spell and frankly the costume looks as intimidating as a sponge.

I haven't actually used Electronica so I'm not 100% sure, but I think the Thunder on that garb might actually be Thunder+, which has Thundara as a finale. This actually makes it a very ATB efficient attack if you have enough to pull off the finale, especially if you have a +Finale trinket equipped.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

Overall I find the best combat in the trilogy to be easily FFXIII-1 then XIII-2 then LR.

All good points. I definitely do wish some aspects of the battle system were a little less flashy, and there definitely is a timing aspect to enemy attacks that can only be learned through practice and cautious play. I tend to like that in a game because it forms a nice link between awareness/knowledge and success, but it's understandable that it can sometimes come off as just being cheap and unfair.

 

[Koozek]

Do I keep Items, too, on NG+? Like the collectable stuff for the Canvas of Prayer quests?

 

[Pooya]

I'm still super early in the game, is there any point in moving in battles, like hitting them in the back for extra damage or something? doesn't look like it and you move very slow anyway.

 

[Carbonox]

I haven't actually used Electronica so I'm not 100% sure, but I think the Thunder on that garb might actually be Thunder+, which has Thundara as a finale. This actually makes it a very ATB efficient attack if you have enough to pull off the finale, especially if you have a +Finale trinket equipped.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

So THAT'S why the final hit of Thunder+ hits multiple times in one shot. :lol

Thanks for the explanation, it makes sense. Guess there is value to that after all. Would be much better if I could change the Electronica's entire colouration rather than just half of it. Some of the colouration change limits are grating when customizing your appearance.

I'm still super early in the game, is there any point in moving in battles, like hitting them in the back for extra damage or something? doesn't look like it and you move very slow anyway.

I think a handful of enemies actually have parts you can cut off if you move to their weak area. For example the Zomok/Zaltys - their tail can be cut off I believe.

 

[Replicant]

Really early in the game. I actually like the idea of the changing garb but oh wow, the story.....it'd have been better if everyone stop talking. The lore has become so convoluted and for some reason the characters seem to have forgotten who or what they were. Also, I'm tired of keeping tracks of the number of Gods in this game. I can no longer tell which ones are legit Gods and which ones are under which commands, how are they related to each other, etc.

 

[MilkBeard]

I haven't actually used Electronica so I'm not 100% sure, but I think the Thunder on that garb might actually be Thunder+, which has Thundara as a finale. This actually makes it a very ATB efficient attack if you have enough to pull off the finale, especially if you have a +Finale trinket equipped.

Correct me if I'm wrong.


.

Yeah, those garbs that have the + spells are good and I still use them late in the game, because those spells do strong damage, and having the group hit finale is nice. I usually switch out between the fire/ice/lightning versions depending on the monsters in the area. They all have the same stats.

 

[Carbonox]

Really early in the game. I actually like the idea of the changing garb but oh wow, the story.....it'd have been better if everyone stop talking. The lore has become so convoluted and for some reason the characters seem to have forgotten who or what they were. Also, I'm tired of keeping tracks of the number of Gods in this game. I can no longer tell which ones are legit Gods and which ones are under which commands, how are they related to each other, etc.

Yeah the shift in focus to Gods and stuff confused me a bit. I love the idea but the execution is pretty bad

My understanding of the hierarchy is:

1. Gods (Bhunivelze and Mwynn)
2. God Fal'Cie (Pulse, Etro and Lindzei)
3. Regular Fal'Cie (Folks like Orphan, Barthandelus, Titan, Atomos, etc.)
3. L'Cie
4. Everyone else

 

[HeelPower]

Yeah the shift in focus to Gods and stuff confused me a bit. I love the idea but the execution is pretty bad

My understanding of the hierarchy is:

1. Gods (Bhunivelze and Mwynn)
2. God Fal'Cie (Pulse, Etro and Lindzei)
3. Regular Fal'Cie (Folks like Orphan, Barthandelus, Titan, Atomos, etc.)
3. L'Cie
4. Everyone else

there is no purpose to this hierarchy in LR. It really doesn't matter who you are anything can happen in the game :s

there are also yeuls, saviors, serahs, fake people who are real people, sacred ones , normal chaoses, abnormal chaoses , souls blah blah doesn't matter in the end....

 

[Falk]

Do I keep Items, too, on NG+? Like the collectable stuff for the Canvas of Prayer quests?

You keep equipment. Quest items reset to zero.

On the bright side quest items could have been random drops. Imagine the agony.

 

[zeopower6]

Really early in the game. I actually like the idea of the changing garb but oh wow, the story.....it'd have been better if everyone stop talking. The lore has become so convoluted and for some reason the characters seem to have forgotten who or what they were. Also, I'm tired of keeping tracks of the number of Gods in this game. I can no longer tell which ones are legit Gods and which ones are under which commands, how are they related to each other, etc.

For the most part in this game, when they talk about "God" they mean the god that created everything aka Bhunivelze. There is also Etro/Lindzei/Pulse but they were created afterward by Bhunivelze and they in turn created their own deities. It's a bit like Greek mythos, I think... :/

The Chaos thing isn't too complicated since I think it was mentioned heavily in XIII-2 that Chaos = hearts/souls... and maybe even in XIII?

I think the expansion of the lore got to be a bit much with the "Unseen Realm" and "Chaos", but the gods that they talk about in this were pretty much there since the beginning.

 

[squall211]

If we're looking at something similar to

Spoiler

Xenoblade's twist

then I will be alright. The problem I had with

Spoiler

Xenoblade,

is that so many people I know were worshipping the game, saying it had the best story ever in a video game, and that 'your mind will be blown!'

When I got to that twist I was like....really? They just pulled another Cloud Strife, in a way, except

Spoiler

Shulk

is a worse developed character. I wasn't impressed.

However, With LR, I am expecting some goofy shit, and will just enjoy the game for what it's worth. I don't really go into video games expecting novel quality story and characters. I got rid of that expectation a long time ago.

I know it wasn't your intention, but I think this post just told me what the plot twist is going to be (without reading the spoiler tags) lol.

 

[squall211]

I'm really loving the game too, more than I expected. I didn't think there was any way I would like it more than the original XIII, but it might be my favorite of the 3. It does so much, so well, that most JRPGs don't even try. I think it really will go down as a cult favorite, like The Last Remnant and NieR.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. I know it's cool and all to shit on this trilogy, but I think SE did an excellent job of at the very least making each installment of the trilogy more fun to play than the last.

 

[MilkBeard]

I know it wasn't your intention, but I think this post just told me what the plot twist is going to be (without reading the spoiler tags) lol.

I don't know what the twist is, but I have an idea what it might be. Your guess may be fairly accurate but the devil lies in the details, as they say. Maybe I should have spoiler tagged Cloud's name, but then again, I'm loosely associating two characters from different games. My association may not be accurate for LR.

 

[Perfo]

Finished the main quest in Dead Dunes.

Spoiler

Is there a way to make it continue in Luxerion or for now it stops here?

. Last boss in there was cool. I failed many times before finding the right way to win and on the last try... I crashed it. Still 0 stars, I'm a noob I guess.

 

[Falk]

Spoiler

Is there a way to make it continue in Luxerion or for now it stops here?

Spoiler

It stops there. I mean, it even hints throughout the dialogue that shit goes down subsequently, but only on the 13th day

 

[RPGCrazied]

Having a hard time playing this game. Now even more so that games are swamping me to play them. For a good month I probably won't play it. If I come back to it I'll just play on easy and plow through the main quest.

 

[frequency]

I beat

Spoiler

______Caius

(Wildlands boss) yesterday in like the cheapest way possible. I ended up with 0 stars and a score of 1 but I don't care about that stuff.

I had Mediguard on all 3 garbs so I just healed up switching between them as ATB filled up then attacked when he was just standing there for a few seconds.

I looked in the trophies list later because I was curious and I see there is one story trophy I missed before that one. It was like

Spoiler

Noel, Snow, ______, Caius

so I must have finished that part earlier than they intended? That would explain the difficulty spike.

 

[Ricker]

I guess I'll download the demo after I finish downloading Catherine.

The demo wont help you decide anything because there is no time limit,the area is easy even on normal,which can be brutal in the real game...let me just put it this way...if you don't like games with a time limit,stay far away from this and if you want to compensate that start the game on easy...unless of course you are a big fan of Lightning and the XIII stuff.

 

[Toth]

Man, I need to catch up with you guys! Thanks to the new FFXI patch, I've been delayed and I just cleared Luxerion (already beat Yusnaan) and about to start Day 6. Loving every minute of course despite those fun textures in certain areas lol.

 

[MissDeviling]

I agree, and I personally find the block mechanic to be incredibly satisfying.

Yeah, perfect guards are fun to pull off, but I find that you need to experiment to find the right timing, which is rather taxing to your ATB bar. Would have preferred if it didn't eat it up, because it slows the battle for me, having to wait for the bars to load after pressing guard a few times, especially for multi-hit moves.

 

[Impeccable]

I block the shit out of Desert Sahagin. One of the only creatures I can reliably perfect guard.

Game should really be praised more for it's difficulty considering the current trend in gaming is a shift towards punishing the player for making mistakes. I'm currently working on Dead Dunes on Day 6 (I think, or 5).

My fears were alleviated since there is a lot more fighting now and I'm having a great time. PS: Fucking Earth Eaters

 

[Cjdamon042]

I underestimated how difficult this game was going to be on normal difficulty despite the warnings... I have two days until the end of the world (currently on day 7) and I still haven't defeated any of the main bosses. Went back to Noel after leaving him for awhile because of his difficulty and now he's been beefed up even more! I fear Lightning will not be saving the works at this rate... May have to start again on easy mode lol

 

[HeelPower]

I block the shit out of Desert Sahagin. One of the only creatures I can reliably perfect guard.

Game should really be praised more for it's difficulty considering the current trend in gaming is a shift towards punishing the player for making mistakes. I'm currently working on Dead Dunes on Day 6 (I think, or 5).

My fears were alleviated since there is a lot more fighting now and I'm having a great time. PS: Fucking Earth Eaters

LR has the bad kind of difficulty imo the one that's aggravating rather than exciting and some of it feels like it was rushed and not well thought out.

 

[Shahed]

This might be a silly question, but here goes.

Just started the game and got to the Ark and received the bonus garbs. I want to use her XIII and XIII-2 outfits along with Cloud's. But I can't see a way to transfer the 'Attack' command onto these schemata's. Am I missing something or will I have to buy/find these for each garb? I also got the 3 Samurai garbs and was hoping I'd be able to transfer their Lvl 2 Attack/Blitz abilities over

 

[Roxas]

Anyone got any good set ups for clearing the Ultimate Lair?

 

[frequency]

This might be a silly question, but here goes.

Just starTed tbe game and got to the Ark and received the bonus garbs. I want to use her XIII and XIII-2 outfits along with Cloud's. But I can't see a why to transfer the 'Attack' command onto these schemata's. Am I missing something or will I have to buy/find these for each garb? I also got the 3 Samurai garbs and was hoping I'd be able to transfer their Lvl 2 Attack/Blitz abilities over

Most garbs have a locked ability (like the default one has attack locked on O). You can't move/unequip locked abilities. Those 3 garbs don't have attack on them by default. So you need to find an attack "ability" to equip it on the garbs.

 

[Shahed]

Most garbs have a locked ability (like the default one has attack locked on O). You can't move/unequip locked abilities. Those 3 garbs don't have attack on them by default. So you need to find an attack "ability" to equip it on the garbs.

Thanks. Are they easy enough to find or buy early on?

 

[MilkBeard]

LR has the bad kind of difficulty imo the one that's aggravating rather than exciting and some of it feels like it was rushed and not well thought out.

I disagree, the difficulty reminds me of Dark Souls: when it gets hard, you may die and need to replan your strategy, but you can always just load up a save file and go back in with a better strategy. But once you have the right equipment and learn their patterns you can tackle them.

 

[MilkBeard]

Yeah, perfect guards are fun to pull off, but I find that you need to experiment to find the right timing, which is rather taxing to your ATB bar. Would have preferred if it didn't eat it up, because it slows the battle for me, having to wait for the bars to load after pressing guard a few times, especially for multi-hit moves.

That can be alleviated by switching between outfits regularly because they fill faster when you aren't using them. And you can plan ahead and use a particular outfit that refills faster. I've not really had a problem with running out of ATB except for like one battle, and that was against the Chaos Chocobo Eater. Even then, after honing my strategy I was able to perfect guard him a lot and not worry as much.

It's important to accept that some bosses are going to be very challenging and you may need to die a few times to figure out their strategy. But I'm used to that already, as I've played a shit ton of Dark/Demon's Souls. That is basically the mantra of those games.

 

[frequency]

Thanks. Are they easy enough to find or buy early on?

They drop from monsters. You can't buy them but you can buy other garbs that have their own default abilities on them. I had a few "Attack" to equip before the end of the first day. It all depends on your luck with drops I guess.

You don't necessarily need to use "Attack" by the way. I think of my three now, I only have have "Attack" on one of them. I use magic and other offensive abilities for the other two garbs.