Final Fantasy XIII.

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leahzero

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Please mark your spoilers!

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What are your thoughts on Final Fantasy XIII?

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Got my copy for XBox 360 late last night (damn UPS) and am around the end of chapter 7/beginning of 8. Still in the introductory "linear" portion of the game.

Even so, I absolutely love it. So glad I avoided reading others' opinions before I played.

The battle system is incredible--I love the idea of switching "roles" instead of having to manually input commands. No more Attack, Attack, Cure, Attack. The Paradigm Shift system actually makes combat a lot faster-paced, as well as more tactical and challenging. You feel more like a commander issuing orders to your squad than someone micromanaging each move. It's going to be difficult to go back to other RPGs that use the traditional command input system. If FFXIII will change the RPG industry in any way, I hope it's in the modernization of combat, as brilliantly realized here.

Also loving the characterization. S-E made a bold move by having a small, tight-knit main cast, and it pays off tremendously. The characters feel believable, likable, and it's satisfying to watch them grow and change as the plot moves forward.

I feel like the opening section of the game may linger in the linear phase a bit too long (I'll be skipping a lot of cutscenes and battles on my second playthrough, certainly), but it's still top-notch.

Pleasantly surprised with this title--and love the subtle homages to other Final Fantasies.
 

jckkeith

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Yeah, that's what I miss about the FF games. An in-depth story around all the characters. It seems like they haven't really attempted it well since FF10. I loved the plots of FF7, FF8 and FF10. Remember when each character had their own theme? The little things like that were the things that made Final Fantasy what it was. And now, it seems that this concept isn't really something they pay attention to. Rather, they focus more on the action.

I was rather happy with FF12 though, even though it lacked plot. The music, monsters and massive run-around map just made it for me. But, having said that, I still don't think I'll enjoy FF13 as much as I did the other games. I'll just have to wait and see like everyone else though.
 

Cath

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I'm really enjoying it so far. The graphics are wonderful, and the characters engaging. I care about it much more than I did about XII. It still suffers from the 'I just finished a boss fight, where the heck is the save point so I can go to bed?' but that's normal.

Initially I was annoyed because it seemed to regurgitate old characters, visually at least, but in reality they're strong enough to stand along. Some of the usual types are in there, but I'm not minding.

The linear goes on past C7? - I'm only on 3 and already wondering where it ends....
 

FebruaryStars

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I'm so excited about this game! I said I was going to buy it for my boyf for his birthday... but that's not until April... so he might be getting it early :)
 

LOG

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Dude in my gaming club had it rented last night, I had to leave so I wouldn't be exposed...

The advisor for the club had to leave too because he had the sealed package sitting on his coffee table for the past several hours and couldn't take it anymore.
 

darkprincealain

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I'm finding some of the characters highly visually reminiscent of some from FF8, X, and the Bouncer. I think they learned with XII that six characters seems to feel right, in terms of not having too many or too few.

I'm only up to chapter four so I think I'll reserve further impressions for later. The chapters seem to be flying by at a pretty fast clip.
 

LOG

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Seen a few chars.
Gotta say, quite a few characters look like they were ripped straight out of previous FF games.
MC looks like a cross of Aerith and Tifa.
And for a second I swore I saw Tidus as well.
 

DragonHeart

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I absolutely love it. I've finished the main story and now I'm working on the Cie'th missions and all that. I'm also glad that I went out of my way to not look at anything XIII related beyond a couple of the early early trailers. Went in without any expectations or anyone else's opinions influencing me. Not that it would have made a difference but for the first time since I first played a Final Fantasy, everything was completely new to me. Made it that much better.

I'm surprised at the difficulty level, the game makes you work for the wins a lot of the time. The Eidolon fights were pretty brutal and some of the bosses...ugh. Even postgame there are a lot of monsters out there that can and will eat my face if I run into them. The battle system is a lot of fun though.

Fang is awesome. <3 I do like the way the characters and the story are more connected. It seems like in every FF there are at least two throwaway characters who only exist to fill slots in a party. Not so with this one. Everyone's relevant, even Hope. I actually don't actively dislike any of them either, a first. Once Hope got over his issues he's quite tolerable, and Vanille is bubbly in a non-obnoxious way.

They did particularly well with working the flashbacks in, too.

I do kind of wish there were more sidequest-type things, not because there isn't enough to do already but because I want to spend more time with the characters. I already plan on playing it through again to see what new things I can pick up on now that I've got the story down.
 

darkprincealain

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Working on Cie'th missions because I'm not yet strong enough to handle the Hecatonchier battle. Which is kind of too bad, Hecatonchieres was one of my favorite Shadow Hearts II attacks, because of the crazy name. Since the names are so similar there must be a fable or myth I'm missing out on. Research time, I guess.
 
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