Enjoying FFXIII

[Big D]

I recently picked up a PS3, so naturally I'm a little curious about FFXIII. A lot of people I know online and in reality were disappointed with the game; I understand this is far from uncommon.

What I'm wondering is this:
If I trim my expectations off at the knees, and approach FFXIII expecting nothing more than a diverting action RPG with lively combat and quirky characters, am I likely to find it worthwhile and enjoyable?

[Mirage]

If you don't like any sort of exploration, this is the game for you.

[Wolf Kanno]

I actually went into the game with abysmal expectation and it still found ways to utterly disappoint me. I blame it on the fact that there are moments in the game that hint to good things to come, only to watch the game either wave hand it, ignore it, or utterly fumble it. So it's pretty disappointing cause it actually had a lot of potential to be a very strong story but pretty much squanders it to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

In terms of gameplay, as long as you don't give a damn about exploration, control, deep customization, variety, and getting access to new parts of gameplay but prefer getting it piece meal style over the course of 40 hours, then its adequate.

[Del Murder]

If I trim my expectations off at the knees, and approach FFXIII expecting nothing more than a diverting action RPG with lively combat and quirky characters, am I likely to find it worthwhile and enjoyable?
Yes I think so. 'Enjoyable' is the right word to use for FFXIII. It was not a great game, but I did enjoy my time playing it and did not feel my time was wasted.

[Hollycat]

I recently picked up a PS3, so naturally I'm a little curious about FFXIII. A lot of people I know online and in reality were disappointed with the game; I understand this is far from uncommon.

What I'm wondering is this:
If I trim my expectations off at the knees, and approach FFXIII expecting nothing more than a diverting action RPG with lively combat and quirky characters, am I likely to find it worthwhile and enjoyable?

take out lively combat and quirky characters and insert mindless repetition then yes

[Crop]

Enjoying FFXIII

I don't understand.

[Slothy]

I'm of the firm belief that the best way to enjoy FFXIII is to not play it at all. That said, some people (emphasis on some) seem to at least think it's all right or even good. If you happen to be someone who is also in need of, but currently refusing, mental help and any form of medication then you can give it a try, and maybe if you go in expecting utter crap you may find some glimmer of something resembling a thing you could learn to like. If not, then just try it to see how much of a train wreck it is and don't feel the least bit obligated to waste hours playing it.

[Del Murder]

Did you beat the game, Vivi?

[Slothy]

No I didn't. I was a good chunk of the way through Gran Pulse when my original PS3 died and my save file was lost forever. Before that I was intent on beating it simply so I could say I did and know the full extent of how bad the game is, but once the save file was gone there was no way I was going to bother. I really do believe it may be one of the worst games I've ever played, no matter how much they may have tried to polish it up. Certainly one of the worst titles I've seen on the PS3.

[Mirage]

haters gonna hate!

[Jessweeee♪]

Don't go into it a critic. Just play it as a means to entertain yourself and you'll enjoy it just fine :p

[Laddy]

I liked it quite a bit.

[Bolivar]

I think those are the right expectations to have. Prepare to be entertained, because it's absolutely one of the most impressive forays into graphics and sound this generation. Instead of worrying about the linearity and repetition, just buckle up and enjoy the ride. It's not a bad one to take at all, the story's pretty good, the characters are well fleshed out, and everything looks awesome while this is all going on.

[TrollHunter]

I think those are the right expectations to have. Prepare to be entertained, because it's absolutely one of the most impressive forays into graphics and sound this generation. Instead of worrying about the linearity and repetition, just buckle up and enjoy the ride. It's not a bad one to take at all, the story's pretty good, the characters are well fleshed out, and everything looks awesome while this is all going on.

I agree with this, it has little to no replay value though so get as much as possible done so you don't need to do it again.

[Rostum]

Overall I didn't enjoy it, but it had its moments (like first seeing Gran Pulse and pretty much anything involving Sazh). For me the main reason I didn't enjoy it wasn't so much because of the linearity, but because over the over-melodramatic dialogue and fairly bland characters (well, I still think Sazh was awesome).

I'm still glad I played through it, and I say at least give it a good go. It really did not take me that long to complete either.

[Jessweeee♪]

One thing about FFXIII is that it seems like they went out of their way to really pack a punch into that first play through. (Obviously replay value suffered for this, but I really loved that first run though the game!)

[Jiro]

It was more an interactive movie than anything. At least that's what I tell people, it's the easiest way for them to judge whether or not they will like it :p

[Loony BoB]

I liked it well enough. I think Mirage actually summed it up nicely, to be honest - people who don't like the game simply will not suggest this game to anyone. It's a fairly obvious reaction.

The average modern Final Fantasy game would score around 90 on MetaCritic. FFXIII scored about 83 (going by Wikipedia). Is that terrible? No, no it's not. So as much as "haters gonna hate", if you get past the notably outspoken individuals that really found the game to be the worst thing they've ever played (or at least they come across that way), you'll find a large number of people who still enjoyed the game to a notable enough degree to balance that overall scoring to 83.

Just play the game and make up your own mind, that's the best way. I mean, I respect WK's opinion pretty highly when it comes to a lot of things and even a bunch of games, but he can't stand FFXIII while I found the game to be entertaining and enjoyable. It does lack in replay value, though, and it does feel marginally less "FF" than most of the other modern games in the series. But the characters are very FF (I'd say that as a "you are no stronger than your weakest link" train of thought, the playable cast is the best so far), the battle system is smooth and flows very nicely, the mythology is very well done and while the ending wasn't the best (but then, I rarely like FF endings), it's okay.

[Wolf Kanno]

I love how you people act like my opinion actually accounts for something beyond crazy ramblings and inept trolling :p

[Arylett Dawnsborough]

I went into it with absolutely /no/ expectations. I had NO idea what I was going to get. Didn't read any reviews, didn't ask anybody how it was. I just went out there and got it to see what it was all about. And well, I mostly enjoyed it. (What I've played of it thus far. Haven't finished.) Sure, the gameplay's repetitive and not nice to play in long amounts of time, but I personally thought every single character was absolutely fantastic. (Like LoonyBob said, very FF.) But the only way to know is to just go in there with no expectations whatsoever and see what happens. At least, that's what I think. Just don't think or worry about it so much, and experience.

[Big D]

Cool, thanks for everyone's opinions, either in favour of the game or against it. I'm thinking I'd probably find a bit to enjoy in it, especially since work and life don't leave me as much time for vast, exploration-heavy games anymore.
FFXIII's got pretty cheap lately, so I'll probably pick it up in due course when I've run out of other gaming to occupy my free minutes :D

[Bolivar]

Looks like you got your answers BUT one last thing I would want to say is that a lot of people on this site hated it and believed it would be a complete and utter failure before there were even any details on the game.

Basically, if you're not one of the people who has to argue that Square has released a lot of FF entries that were absolutely garbage, you'll probably enjoy it for what it is :).

[Wolf Kanno]

^ I can't imagine which upstanding EoFF members you are referring to.;)