Impressions of FFXIII (Spoilers somewhat)

[MVP]

My very early impressions of Final Fantasy XIII.
I have only about a little over an hour in gameplay time, so I am not very far. But in this post I am not really going into the story, maybe just a tiny bit.

Battle System:

The battle system is extremely easy to use so far, and I really haven't had a challenge so far at all in the hour of gameplay that I have had. I've fought probably over 20+ battles, and the only time I came close to dying was one of the boss fights, which still seemed easy. I am usually eating with one hand while just tapping X/A button. So far, very easy, I am sure it will get a little more complicated. I also like the "stagger" feature.

The characters:

Lightning - She's very strong willed, and has a troubled past.

Snow - Is tough and confident, and wants to help people. And wants to find his lover (Sarah)

Hope - He's not confident at all, shy.

Vanille - She is soooo hot! lol, but apart from that she's very upbeat and sincere/nice. She also has an accent. Her personality is very similar to Rikku.

Sazh - He gets stuck with Lightning and tags along, hes the funniest character and I love the fact he has a chocobo in his afro.


So far it seems like there is no leveling system in this game. You also fully heal after every battle, which some will like and some will dislike.
It's been good so far, not great, but its early so I am sure it will pick up.

[Sephiroth]

Tomorrow in the evening one of my shops will have it. Then I buy the german version. I already know Final Fantasy XIII and have it but of course I do understand my native language better than japanese, but my opinion about the characters is almost the same as yours except Vanille and Sazh who are not so funny everytime because they have to worry about enough things - Vanille more than Rikku and what Dia Vanille and Yun Fang do is sad and heroic, not to forget I know the rest of them (Yun, Serah, Dajh, Cid, Yaag, Jill, Dysley) but with my new version I will write a lot more here, so I will edit this post tomorrow and add some screenshots as well.

[Rad Bromance]

Battle System:

The battle system is extremely easy to use so far, and I really haven't had a challenge so far at all in the hour of gameplay that I have had. I've fought probably over 20+ battles, and the only time I came close to dying was one of the boss fights, which still seemed easy. I am usually eating with one hand while just tapping X/A button. So far, very easy, I am sure it will get a little more complicated. I also like the "stagger" feature.
Yeah, the developers said they made the fights early on easy and they gradually get more difficult, to let players get used to the battle system.

[Silvercry]

Battle System:

The battle system is extremely easy to use so far, and I really haven't had a challenge so far at all in the hour of gameplay that I have had. I've fought probably over 20+ battles, and the only time I came close to dying was one of the boss fights, which still seemed easy. I am usually eating with one hand while just tapping X/A button. So far, very easy, I am sure it will get a little more complicated. I also like the "stagger" feature.
Yeah, the developers said they made the fights early on easy and they gradually get more difficult, to let players get used to the battle system.

Wow, a video game that starts of easy and slowly adds complexity and/or challenge as it goes on. REVOLUTIONARY!

Are they seriously taking credit for this as some kind of unique idea? Games have been doing that since Space Invaders.

[cloud21zidane16]

Battle System:

The battle system is extremely easy to use so far, and I really haven't had a challenge so far at all in the hour of gameplay that I have had. I've fought probably over 20+ battles, and the only time I came close to dying was one of the boss fights, which still seemed easy. I am usually eating with one hand while just tapping X/A button. So far, very easy, I am sure it will get a little more complicated. I also like the "stagger" feature.
Yeah, the developers said they made the fights early on easy and they gradually get more difficult, to let players get used to the battle system.

Wow, a video game that starts of easy and slowly adds complexity and/or challenge as it goes on. REVOLUTIONARY!

Are they seriously taking credit for this as some kind of unique idea? Games have been doing that since Space Invaders.

I literally LOL'D:p
But it sounds pretty decent so far, cant wait to be playing it soon.

[Loony BoB]

Rather than saying "spoilers somewhat" in your title, please use spoiler tags to avoid any major problems with the revealing of storylines. This is imperative for the next few months while people are playing the game.

[Rad Bromance]

Battle System:

The battle system is extremely easy to use so far, and I really haven't had a challenge so far at all in the hour of gameplay that I have had. I've fought probably over 20+ battles, and the only time I came close to dying was one of the boss fights, which still seemed easy. I am usually eating with one hand while just tapping X/A button. So far, very easy, I am sure it will get a little more complicated. I also like the "stagger" feature.
Yeah, the developers said they made the fights early on easy and they gradually get more difficult, to let players get used to the battle system.

Wow, a video game that starts of easy and slowly adds complexity and/or challenge as it goes on. REVOLUTIONARY!

Are they seriously taking credit for this as some kind of unique idea? Games have been doing that since Space Invaders.
Have you ever played an FF game?

[Garnie]

well im 6-7 hours in and im still a little confused with the battle system. i kinda got the jist but it seems a little out of sorts if im being honest. The paragrim idea is ok but i think its a little unnecessary. I also hate the fact that if yah main character dies its game over. thats just annoying. Iv been stuck twice on the robot scorpion thing in the crystal river and the shiva twins. But i managed it. Defo need to get used to the bits and bobs as i go along though.

Snow annoys the hell out of means sazh is awesome!!! a bo in mah fro ;)

[MVP]

Garnie I know what you mean, same here. Its getting more clearer though hah. Rad Bromance, I'm just giving my early impressions, thats how the game is fool.

[Silvercry]

Battle System:

The battle system is extremely easy to use so far, and I really haven't had a challenge so far at all in the hour of gameplay that I have had. I've fought probably over 20+ battles, and the only time I came close to dying was one of the boss fights, which still seemed easy. I am usually eating with one hand while just tapping X/A button. So far, very easy, I am sure it will get a little more complicated. I also like the "stagger" feature.
Yeah, the developers said they made the fights early on easy and they gradually get more difficult, to let players get used to the battle system.

Wow, a video game that starts of easy and slowly adds complexity and/or challenge as it goes on. REVOLUTIONARY!

Are they seriously taking credit for this as some kind of unique idea? Games have been doing that since Space Invaders.
Have you ever played an FF game?

I've played them all, and finished them all save for 2, which i couldn't stand, and three, which I just got on DS a month ago. And you know what? They all start of with easy fights in the beginning and ramp up the difficulty as they go along like every other game in existence. Except for maybe 2, cause the leveling system was f-ed up, and 8, as the enemies leveled with you and clever Junctioning could make you a god before the end of disc one.

VIII was my second favorite for that exact reason. :D

[Omni-Odin]

I really like this game. I'm around the 6th chapter, but the battle system rocks, music is ehh, but I extremely enjoy actually getting to know the characters again (unlike FFXII). Once you master the Paradigm system, it's smooth sailin.

[Skyblade]

I admit I am not far in, but so far, my impressions are bad.

The characters are the one good thing the game has going for it. The dialogue is well written, and the characters are interesting and likeable.

The plot, thus far, is predictable, slow moving, and generally unimpressive. It will probably pick up, but it is not an effective draw in at the beginning, and, given the way the combat and level layout has gone, it really needs to be.

Combat is way too simple. Starting easy is fine, but they need to introduce more abilities much faster, or it stagnates into a pathetic button masher that gets dull after the first few fights. I mean, plenty of FF games started simple, but they unlocked new combat options and customizibility far faster than XIII has.

I didn't think the linearity would bug me, but it really has. The game is so straight line that I find myself wondering why the game bothered to let me control my character's movements out of combat. A simple battle montage would give the exact same result and would be over faster, and it is not as though you have any exploration options at all, or interesting NPCs to make the journey meaningful.

I'm expecting a lot of this to pull together, but it serves as a very poor intro. The combat starts out as boring and lackluster, and will remain so until they give us some degree of control over how the battles flow. The plot is also slow moving, and disjointed enough that it is not serving as a good way to lure you in. And the straight line design offers nothing to engage your interest.

Personally, I wish they had continued character dialogue and Vanille's narrations during combat. Give us something to occupy us and keep us interested until they can pick up the combat system. Because, right now, I am not enjoying it, and not really feeling like I am playing it. I'd be happier to skip the interactive parts and just watch it as a movie.

Overall, it's the worst, and the longest, intro sequence to any Final Fantasy game thus far.

[arcanedude34]

I hate Vanille and Hope. Sazh's constant whining is rather funny. Snow should've been the main character. Lightning is a bitch. The story seems to be a weak excuse to move you from place to place, but the characters are well-written. The linearity is crippling. Overall, it seems to be a much weaker game than XII.

Also, I can guarantee that half the guys who play this game will instantly try to look up Lightning's skirt the moment they get control of the camera. Just saying.

[seiferalmasy2]

haha I wouldn't but out of curiosity can you?

[Rye]

The more I play this game, the more I absolutely love it. This isn't FFXII for me - for any short comings (only I can think of is missing towns, a bit), it makes up with all the heart put into it. I absolutely love it. I'm up to chapter 7th, close to chapter 8 I think.

[arcanedude34]

haha I wouldn't but out of curiosity can you?
No :(

[Silvercry]

No impressions, I just wnated to say that I hate you all. You get to play this game whenever you want. I have to wait 8-10 business days for my PS3 to come back with a repaired blu-ray laser/drive/whatever.

So, in conclusion: Hate you and all the fun you're having. That is all.