tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post3523785318204238265..comments2024-03-18T10:07:15.814-07:00Comments on Experience Points: Final Fantasy XIII 's Casualty of CasualJorge Alborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04857765716032886965noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-52944142726158276962010-05-25T20:32:14.306-07:002010-05-25T20:32:14.306-07:00@ Jorge
Thanks for the reply! Was very thoughtfu...@ Jorge <br />Thanks for the reply! Was very thoughtful. I agree - I feel like I've played the longest introduction, like the characters are talking but pretty much saying nothing and I keep thinking "....and?" but nothing happens. It's odd to me that for the first time I don't have a "Final Fantasy boner" as my friend puts it... It definitely does not have the draw that other FFs have managed to do within the first several hours (some within the first several minutes!). But I did begin to enjoy battle (as frustrating and sometimes nonsensical as it was). Even so, not a reason to like a game, especially an RPG.<br /><br />Thanks dude!Auilixhttp://glassurchin.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-27284265522520192322010-05-25T11:00:04.328-07:002010-05-25T11:00:04.328-07:00@ Auilix
You are absolutely right, for full discl...@ Auilix<br /><br />You are absolutely right, for full disclosure I should have been more clear. My purpose was more to explore the sense of loss I had from this game. After 23 hours, I can't really judge it anyway thus far. Suffice to say, if it picks up the pace come Pulse, as I hear it has, I doubt very much my opinion would change. However, I will make some quick edits in the post to make that more clear. Thanks!Jorge Alborhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04857765716032886965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-24400896145711960772010-05-25T09:47:10.149-07:002010-05-25T09:47:10.149-07:00@ Jorge - But if you didn't make it to Pulse y...@ Jorge - But if you didn't make it to Pulse you didn't make it through half the game... So I wouldn't consider that you can be a judge of how hard the game is. Surely you will get game overs at Vanille's Eidolon... <br /><br />Just saying that most video game reporters and reviewers beat the game before they lay down their judgement - Not that you are a reviewer, but I don't know if you can judge a whole game by playing its initial parts. It's a little misleading, you know? For example, you say "However, the vast majority of my time is spent hitting the "auto-battle" button while I wait for the next cut scene.", but you will find if you play the game that way, especially around the time you get to Gran Pulse, you will easily get Game Overs a lot of time. While the inital sequences are very easy, this game gets Brutal quickly. For that reason I would say it is much much easier for a casual fan to get into a generic RPG (like FFVII or Pokemon or something) than it is to get into a game like FFXIII. Unless you are constantly monitoring your stats, crystarium, equipment, and battle setup, it can get difficult, and that is something you rarely had to do in old RPGs - making it the least friendly to a new audience of any Final Fantasy I've played in my opinion. At least the other ones had a sort of accessible plot in the beginning. <br /><br />So in other words I agree with a lot of your previous assertions in other articles, but I think you really should play the game before calling the shot on this one. By no means do I think FFXIII is a good game - I'm not defending it or anything, I'm just saying the methodology on this article is weird to me.Auilixhttp://glassurchin.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-26323679375204767662010-05-22T12:25:52.977-07:002010-05-22T12:25:52.977-07:00@ Auilix
Admittedly, I did not even make it to Pu...@ Auilix<br /><br />Admittedly, I did not even make it to Pulse. Although spending so many hours doing so seems, to me, pointless. The Eidolon battles were hard, but once you figure out the dominant strategy, they tend become surprisingly easy. You're right about the corridor to corridor feel. If they had made my actions seem more important within the story, instead of just wandering around a forest on the way to somewhere unknown, then perhaps I would have been more inspired to continue.Jorge Alborhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04857765716032886965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-5067640024455027442010-05-19T14:11:29.973-07:002010-05-19T14:11:29.973-07:00However, the vast majority of my time is spent hit...<i>However, the vast majority of my time is spent hitting the "auto-battle" button while I wait for the next cut scene.</i><br /><br />Oh man, this is exactly what I stopped playing <i>Final Fantasy</i> games. <i>FF4</i> and <i>FF6</i> were genuinely formative experiences, but I just can take this style of game anymore. Kudos to you for soldiering on.Nels Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06484436433023780229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-52109526849098409622010-05-19T12:30:01.073-07:002010-05-19T12:30:01.073-07:00How far into it are you? I am finding it extremel...How far into it are you? I am finding it extremely difficult at times, almost dishearteningly so (the Eidolon battles for example...). It could be because I havent used the weapons upgrade system (seems way to nonsensical and random to me) at all, nor do I farm for anything. <br /><br />I wholly agree with your opinions on the storyline - cinematic though it may be, I still feel like all those hours of cutscenes and characters blabbing brings very little actual dialogue... And as pretty as the world is, I feel like I'm getting shunted from mysterious corridor A to mysterious hallway B with no transition or feeling like I accomplished anything besides sporadically wandering around.Auilixhttp://glassurchin.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-40957508202223706872010-05-18T13:07:19.185-07:002010-05-18T13:07:19.185-07:00Hmm... with 7, 10 and 13 being relatively simple i...Hmm... with 7, 10 and 13 being relatively simple iterations of the FF series, might it be worth pointing out that they were the first on their respective consoles? 7 for the PS, 10 for the PS2, 13 for the PS3? The "wave function" or ebb and flow of hardcoreishness seems to work well to get people on board the FF train for the duration of a console's life... and perhaps not coincidentally tracks well with devs getting a handle on the tools for a given platform.<br /><br />Just a thought. I'll readily agree that the series is about reinvention, but it's interesting to see if there are deliberate cycles within that larger wheel.Teshhttp://tishtoshtesh.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-75619474023045962622010-05-18T10:31:48.345-07:002010-05-18T10:31:48.345-07:00@ Tesh
I'm with Julian in saying its a new an...@ Tesh<br /><br />I'm with Julian in saying its a new and non-permanent shift in the series. So yea, a gateway drug I suppose. But I have a hard time thinking they will stick with most of their design decisions any time soon.<br /><br />@ Julian<br /><br />I totally agree there are a lot of differences between all of the entries into the series. Personally, I toss out 11 and X-2, but that's neither here nor there. The direction of the franchise isn't so much an issue as a loss of the grand atmosphere experienced through exploration. I always felt enveloped by the experience a Final Fantasy game, or most JRPGs I've played for that matter. FFXIII is still a lot of fun, but I miss that.Jorge Alborhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04857765716032886965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-72070964864628284012010-05-18T08:45:38.515-07:002010-05-18T08:45:38.515-07:00Talking about the direction of Final Fantasy as a ...Talking about the direction of Final Fantasy as a series is kind of nonsensical. From the beginning, it's always been about prodding at the edges of the genre and mixing things up while keeping enough sense of familiarity to keep those new mechanics palatable. Just look at the last several mainline games: 13 is linear and casual, with a tight fast combat system; 12 is sprawling and arguably the most hardcore of the series, with top-notch exploration but a dry battle system; 11 is an MMO. There's been kind of a 3-game cycle 1, 4, 7, 10, 13 are straightforward, 2, 5(maybe), 8, 11 are off-the-rails experimental, and 3, 6, 9, 12, are hardcore. Though the point here isn't to establish a rigid pattern, it's to illustrate that a core feature of the series is continual reinvention.Julianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05684168826773165763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-1776808411572143152010-05-18T07:32:12.789-07:002010-05-18T07:32:12.789-07:00"I also miss adventuring into new worlds on m..."I also miss adventuring into new worlds on my own"<br /><br />From what I've read, that's sort of the point. SE wanted more authorial control, and less player freedom... for some vague reason.<br /><br />Of course, I feel as you do, and I suspect many veterans of the series do as well. The question then becomes (in my mind, anyway), is FFXIII meant as a gateway drug, er, game for players who *aren't* veterans, or is it the new direction of the series?Teshhttp://tishtoshtesh.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com