Heath
01-13-2013, 10:48 AM
As I'm on the cutting edge of gaming, I've finally got around to playing FFXIII. I'm about 12 hours in having just gone through the Palumporom sequence, and am just with Sazh and Vanille in Nautilius Park. I've found the game to be quite a difficult one to have an opinion on so far. Not because I find it dull necessarily, but I've found that different aspects have both frustrated and pleased me at various points.
The battle system is one that I actually have to praise. I initially thought this was a bit of a step back from the more seamless approach of FFXII, but this has grown on me. It's been a long time since I've found myself having to really think so tactically and strategically about what I do in a Final Fantasy battle - what paradigms I use, whether I choose to execute just one command in a turn to eke out a Cure spell to keep a character alive. I was initially frustrated only being able to control one character, and getting Game Over if that one character happened to perish, but I find that that all adds to a more intense game.
The Crystarium I think I could probably take or leave. I think it serves a purpose, but it just feels like a rehash of the Sphere Grid from FFX. It does a job, but I wouldn't say I'm particularly impressed.
The locations is something I've been less enraptured by. One of the criticisms I heard of this game before I played was that it could essentially be summed up in the sentence 'you run a long a corridor, have some fights, fight a boss, watch an FMV, run along another corridor, have some fights, etc, etc.' I don't know if it's because I heard that criticism that my experience of the game has felt framed by that, but slightly feel this is a bit of a stepback from XII. One of the elements of that game I really enjoyed was the exploration aspect - something I've found almost wholly absent in XIII. I can understand if this was a deliberate choice to keep the game fast-paced, but I have found it slightly repetitive. It just feels a pity as some of the locations are wonderfully vivid and visually impressive and I feel like I'd get to get more out of them.
Characters and story is something I'm prevaricating on. Initially I wasn't hugely sold on the story, which seemed to go out of its way to be confusing from the off (l'Cie, fal'Cie, etc, etc) but I've found that I've got more into that as I go along. Likewise with the characters - some that I didn't particularly like initially (e.g. Hope) I've found that they've started to grow on me. I've also particularly liked the fact that each character really is pursuing their own agenda and has their own motivation, aside from the obvious 'let's stop the baddies.' The flashback sequences have been quite good too.
Oh and that battle music was incredibly annoying at first but now I rather like it
Overall, I've found it to be a real mixed bag. The battle system I initially wasn't that sold out, but I'm definitely a convert to that. I think I need a little bit more convincing on the characters and the story as of yet. It has grown on me as a game. I must admit that if it weren't for the fact I had been told the game got better (and that I'm a fan of the series more generally), I might have been less motivated to continue.
Did anybody find they felt the same about FFXIII? If you could keep things reasonably spoiler free for now, that'd be much appreciated.
The battle system is one that I actually have to praise. I initially thought this was a bit of a step back from the more seamless approach of FFXII, but this has grown on me. It's been a long time since I've found myself having to really think so tactically and strategically about what I do in a Final Fantasy battle - what paradigms I use, whether I choose to execute just one command in a turn to eke out a Cure spell to keep a character alive. I was initially frustrated only being able to control one character, and getting Game Over if that one character happened to perish, but I find that that all adds to a more intense game.
The Crystarium I think I could probably take or leave. I think it serves a purpose, but it just feels like a rehash of the Sphere Grid from FFX. It does a job, but I wouldn't say I'm particularly impressed.
The locations is something I've been less enraptured by. One of the criticisms I heard of this game before I played was that it could essentially be summed up in the sentence 'you run a long a corridor, have some fights, fight a boss, watch an FMV, run along another corridor, have some fights, etc, etc.' I don't know if it's because I heard that criticism that my experience of the game has felt framed by that, but slightly feel this is a bit of a stepback from XII. One of the elements of that game I really enjoyed was the exploration aspect - something I've found almost wholly absent in XIII. I can understand if this was a deliberate choice to keep the game fast-paced, but I have found it slightly repetitive. It just feels a pity as some of the locations are wonderfully vivid and visually impressive and I feel like I'd get to get more out of them.
Characters and story is something I'm prevaricating on. Initially I wasn't hugely sold on the story, which seemed to go out of its way to be confusing from the off (l'Cie, fal'Cie, etc, etc) but I've found that I've got more into that as I go along. Likewise with the characters - some that I didn't particularly like initially (e.g. Hope) I've found that they've started to grow on me. I've also particularly liked the fact that each character really is pursuing their own agenda and has their own motivation, aside from the obvious 'let's stop the baddies.' The flashback sequences have been quite good too.
Oh and that battle music was incredibly annoying at first but now I rather like it
Overall, I've found it to be a real mixed bag. The battle system I initially wasn't that sold out, but I'm definitely a convert to that. I think I need a little bit more convincing on the characters and the story as of yet. It has grown on me as a game. I must admit that if it weren't for the fact I had been told the game got better (and that I'm a fan of the series more generally), I might have been less motivated to continue.
Did anybody find they felt the same about FFXIII? If you could keep things reasonably spoiler free for now, that'd be much appreciated.