Will FFXIII break tradition?

[Khisanth]

I'm not sure if anyone has really breached this topic or not, but is it possible that FFXIII will be a single character game, breaking the series-long tradition of multi-character parties?
I submit the following information as evidence for this argument:
Exhibit I) In Scan 4 from the foreign language expose on the front page:
(http://www.eyesonff.com/images/news/ffxiiiscan4.jpg),
at the top right is an inset table listing the number of characters allowed in a party since the first FF. For example, in FFI, four characters are allowed, while in FFXI, six characters may fight simultaneously. I believe the authors of this article then are commenting on the likliehood of FFXIII's heroine going at it alone throughout the game!
Exhibit II) On the same scan, and many of the others displaying battle scenes, the "radar" box at the top left of every scan shows the heroine's position in relation to her enemies. If there were ever to be more than one character in the party, where would their position be displayed? Unless they occupied the same exact space, it would make the radar box somewhat difficult to comprehend. Also, the heroine's position always remains in the center of the box in every shot, again supporting the fact that she may be your only playable character.
Exhibit III) The heroine's mastery of many different weapons may be another clue. Traditionally, each character had their weapon, be it sword, spear or staff; those weapons may change in appearance, but characters rarely traded in one genre of weapon for another. Yet, here we have a heroine that in the few glimpses we have wields both sword and firearm, with perhaps more options forthcoming. Granted, the gunblade has appeared before, but not in this capacity (Squall and Seifer utilized the gunblade, but I can't recall them ever taking shots with it). While my FF knowledge is not all-encompassing, I cannot recall a major playable character with the ability to switch their weapon type. Therefore, it may be that our heroine will be the only character available, with her ability to change weapons making up for the lack of other characters.
Anywayz, I'm done with the soapbox ~ if anyone else has an opinion on this subject or other conjecture...

EDIT: Since this post, I have discovered that LunarWeaver has previously proposed the possibility of a single playable character... Just wanted to give credit where it was due...

[Zeromus_X]

FF has always been about being experimental. Though if anything, FFX, XI, and XII broke many traditions, so I don't think this one will top anything.

As for this, you never know. Though I'd doubt they'd have you solo a character, I guess we won't know until we get more information on the game, won't we?

[Rostum]

I don't think enough has been revealed to come to the conclusion that there will only be one character playable. I don't see why they would make it with just one party member.

[Khisanth]

I completely agree that not enough information is known as of yet ~ my guesswork is just that... guesswork. However, as Zeromus_X aptly stated, Square has been known to break tradition before ~ could this be their next innovation?
I guess we must wait to find out...

[DeathKnight]

tradition? what tradition? FF keeps evolving and engaging their fans in NEW ways with major twists here and there. Each FF MUST be SPECIAL in some way, if not it'll get boring and bashed to death.

[Markus. D]

there is no "tradition" being broken.

I remember a past game of FF that had a single player hack and slash.

[Moon Rabbits]

Exhibit I) In Scan 4 from the foreign language expose on the front page:
(http://www.eyesonff.com/images/news/ffxiiiscan4.jpg),
at the top right is an inset table listing the number of characters allowed in a party since the first FF. For example, in FFI, four characters are allowed, while in FFXI, six characters may fight simultaneously. I believe the authors of this article then are commenting on the likliehood of FFXIII's heroine going at it alone throughout the game!


Link is broken, so I can't say anything about this.



Exhibit II) On the same scan, and many of the others displaying battle scenes, the "radar" box at the top left of every scan shows the heroine's position in relation to her enemies. If there were ever to be more than one character in the party, where would their position be displayed? Unless they occupied the same exact space, it would make the radar box somewhat difficult to comprehend. Also, the heroine's position always remains in the center of the box in every shot, again supporting the fact that she may be your only playable character.


The radar may not be centered on her, or may be centered on her only when it is just her in the party. The radar may zoom out when more than one playable character is in the party so that it has the ability to display all of their positions.



Exhibit III) The heroine's mastery of many different weapons may be another clue. Traditionally, each character had their weapon, be it sword, spear or staff; those weapons may change in appearance, but characters rarely traded in one genre of weapon for another. Yet, here we have a heroine that in the few glimpses we have wields both sword and firearm, with perhaps more options forthcoming. Granted, the gunblade has appeared before, but not in this capacity (Squall and Seifer utilized the gunblade, but I can't recall them ever taking shots with it). While my FF knowledge is not all-encompassing, I cannot recall a major playable character with the ability to switch their weapon type. Therefore, it may be that our heroine will be the only character available, with her ability to change weapons making up for the lack of other characters.


Earlier FFs had the characters use many different weapons. Job systems aside, FFVI had many different types of weapons the characters could utilize. While some used specific weapons (ie. Relm uses brushes), Lock could use daggers (and some swords I think) as well as full moons and other weapons along those lines.

[Juniper Jade]

Perhaps the screenshots are just of a specefic event in the game where she is alone. I hope there will be more than one part member. I'd still buy it/ play it if it was just one person, but i do like the variety of characters.

[Mirage]

I think they just rushed to make a character design and a setting to put the character in, so that they would give an illusion of having gotten pretty far in the development of the game :p.

[<<MiKo BaHaMuT>>]

tradition? what tradition? FF keeps evolving and engaging their fans in NEW ways with major twists here and there. Each FF MUST be SPECIAL in some way, if not it'll get boring and bashed to death.

But you see... From the previous FFs we've played, the characters are "neatly" lined up during battles (haha), but in FFX-2, they aren't...
And also there are summons in previous FFs but FFX-2 broke it...
There are a lot of changes starting from FF X...

Not sure if those changes are bad or good for the gamers..?

But if Square really break the traditions of FF, I don't think they should even call that game Final Fantasy?

[Zeromus_X]

FF started breaking whatever tradition they had with FFVI, and it got progressively more experimental from that point. (I think it's a good and bad thing.)

Anyway, we really don't know enough about the game yet, and I wouldn't think they'd eliminate having more than one person in a party. :cat:

[ljkkjlcm9]

I don't get your radar argument. In FPS games you can have teams, your character is at the center of the radar, enemies are a certain color, and teamates are another. SO in this game the main character could be at the center of the radar, your teamates in another color, and then the enemies in another.

As for multiweapons, that's great if characters can use multiple weapons. Other FF games have had that possible, but it'd be great if they truly developed it, maybe a system like FFII where you use certain weapons and become better with them, or certain characters are better with certain weapons, but it still doesn't show that there is only one character. It'd honestly be a pretty boring game if you only ever had one character in your party and you went through the whole game by yourself. It'd take the LoneWolf idea of Squall to an extreme.

THE JACKEL

[~Megalixir~]

I'm starting to hate SE now. Why? These new 'inovations' and 'ideas' dont do what there supposed to. I think it is very likely that they begin branching away from Final Fantasy, traditionally. You say theres no proof? Look at FFX-2, Before Crisis, Dirge of Cerebus, and FFXI. All new, and all reasonalbly diffent. Though Before Crisis and Dirge are only pieces of the FFVII Compilation, they differ greatly. Cell Phones? Third-Person Shooters? WTF?!?

What I'm saying is that Square-Enix will suprise people, and when it does, they will rise, or they will go down in flames. Look out for games on other consoles, too.

[Zeromus_X]

They've already began being innovative a very long time ago.

[Rogue]

as long the battle are fun who cares what tradition its breakes
and as long if it as a good story to

[Moon Rabbits]

They've already began being innovative a very long time ago.

As in FFI.

[ljkkjlcm9]

you ever think they're getting tired of always doing RPGs, because that's honestly what's happening, so they're trying to do different things. I mean they're working with Nintendo on Mario 3v3 basketball for the DS

THE JACKEL

[Zeromus_X]

They've already began being innovative a very long time ago.

As in FFI.
Pretty much. Although I was talking more FFVI-wise, for the series itself.

[Moon Rabbits]

They've already began being innovative a very long time ago.

As in FFI.
Pretty much. Although I was talking more FFVI-wise, for the series itself.

Well they kinda started with FFII series wise. The level system, then the job system, etc.

[sexymonkey]

its official, you fight in a party

heres loads of new bits of info!

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/710/710761p1.html

[Dreddz]

I'd say it was broken since FFVI.

[Dragoon Kain]

i already don't think i'll like FFXII. i played the demo and could hardly even stand to play it. so far this game seems even worse. it seems like they're trying to make all of their new FF's to be like MMORPGS and i hate it. i mean FFX-2 for example, although not a MMORPG the game has the same type of feel and fast paced battles as them. FFXII you only get control of one of your characters although you can switch, it's just not the same. FFXIII appears like it will be a hack and slash game. GREAT!:rolleyes2

[a nirvana fan]

FF always changes.

[Zeromus_X]

FFXIII appears like it will be a hack and slash game. GREAT!:rolleyes2
FFXIII will have a variant of the ATB system. (With a 'penalty system' like FFX.) Of course, that's all the info regarding that we have so far.

[DeathKnight]

FF always changes.

[Mirage]

tradition? what tradition? FF keeps evolving and engaging their fans in NEW ways with major twists here and there. Each FF MUST be SPECIAL in some way, if not it'll get boring and bashed to death.

But you see... From the previous FFs we've played, the characters are "neatly" lined up during battles (haha), but in FFX-2, they aren't...
And also there are summons in previous FFs but FFX-2 broke it...
There are a lot of changes starting from FF X...

Not sure if those changes are bad or good for the gamers..?

But if Square really break the traditions of FF, I don't think they should even call that game Final Fantasy?
FFX-2 didn't have summons because you killed them in the prequel... Also, FF hasn't had linear battle setups since FFX, there has been 3 games after that.
I think change is good and necessarily. Without it, Final Fantasy games would turn out like Electronic Arts games. The same crap over and over again, just with better graphics. This is especially true for all the sports games they spew out.

[BustaMo]

its official, you fight in a party

heres loads of new bits of info!

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/710/710761p1.html
Yeah, sexymonkey is correct. Square announced that they are only showing just the female right now, but will reveal the rest of the party later. Why release all the info at once? Square has to keep some things secret for a while.

Party's are going to play a big role in FFXIII just as they have in every other FF game to date. It's also been said that the female supposedly named "Lightning" may or may not be the lead character of the game, but a female lead for FFXIII is almost a sure bet.

This is kind of controversial on Square's move here, but like previous posters have stated, Square Enix is about experimenting at times.

[XxSephirothxX]

I think change is good and necessarily. Without it, Final Fantasy games would turn out like Electronic Arts games. The same crap over and over again, just with better graphics. This is especially true for all the sports games they spew out.
Exactly. Faster paced battles are better; they're more engaging, more challenging, and more fun.

Square has confirmed there will be a traditional party setup in the game. It's stupid to judge what it will be like from a trailer, and considering they're implementing the ATB in some form, those of you who are intent on disliking anything that isn't like the rest of the Final Fantasy series probably shouldn't worry.

[Mirage]

Azar knows it.
I too prefer action-packed battles to traditional turn-based, static setups. SO3 and ToS are excellent when it comes to fighting. Good AIs are very important in such systems though, and I must admit SO3 lacks a bit in that department, while ToS is probably the best RPG AI i've ever seen. This might change when I get FFXII though, if it's as customisable as the rumous claim.

[Jessweeee♪]

Whatever. Not like I have $500 after spending on ps2 games anyway...

[Dell]

FF make changes to see the reaction,
if they like the change, then they continue with that, they will try to add new system along the way.
if they don't, they will try to do new change.

Mirage, all Tales Series are like Tales of Symphonia. :)

[Setzer Gabianni]

i already don't think i'll like FFXII. i played the demo and could hardly even stand to play it. so far this game seems even worse. it seems like they're trying to make all of their new FF's to be like MMORPGS and i hate it. i mean FFX-2 for example, although not a MMORPG the game has the same type of feel and fast paced battles as them. FFXII you only get control of one of your characters although you can switch, it's just not the same. FFXIII appears like it will be a hack and slash game. GREAT!:rolleyes2

It was a demo you played, something not finished. Play the actual game first, makes sense, doesn't it? Do people seriously wanna stick with the tacky random battles, and wait a turn before you attack gameplay? FF is trying to become somewhat realistic - seriously, do you expect monsters to sit there and wait for your turn to attack, or do you want to see something which makes sense, like the battle system of XII/XIII.

~Setzer Gabianni

[DeathKnight]

i already don't think i'll like FFXII. i played the demo and could hardly even stand to play it. so far this game seems even worse. it seems like they're trying to make all of their new FF's to be like MMORPGS and i hate it. i mean FFX-2 for example, although not a MMORPG the game has the same type of feel and fast paced battles as them. FFXII you only get control of one of your characters although you can switch, it's just not the same. FFXIII appears like it will be a hack and slash game. GREAT!:rolleyes2

It was a demo you played, something not finished. Play the actual game first, makes sense, doesn't it? Do people seriously wanna stick with the tacky random battles, and wait a turn before you attack gameplay? FF is trying to become somewhat realistic - seriously, do you expect monsters to sit there and wait for your turn to attack, or do you want to see something which makes sense, like the battle system of XII/XIII.

~Setzer Gabianni

Yes

[Marly]

its official, you fight in a party

heres loads of new bits of info!

http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/710/710761p1.html
Yeah, sexymonkey is correct. Square announced that they are only showing just the female right now, but will reveal the rest of the party later. Why release all the info at once? Square has to keep some things secret for a while.

Party's are going to play a big role in FFXIII just as they have in every other FF game to date. It's also been said that the female supposedly named "Lightning" may or may not be the lead character of the game, but a female lead for FFXIII is almost a sure bet.

This is kind of controversial on Square's move here, but like previous posters have stated, Square Enix is about experimenting at times.

That's interesting, always just assumed that that character would be the main. Looking forward to seeing the rest if the party, I'm glad its not just one person the whole way through.

And change is a good thing. But sometimes too much change means you lose what was originally so great in teh first place.

[MageLuingil]

i already don't think i'll like FFXII. i played the demo and could hardly even stand to play it. so far this game seems even worse. it seems like they're trying to make all of their new FF's to be like MMORPGS and i hate it. i mean FFX-2 for example, although not a MMORPG the game has the same type of feel and fast paced battles as them. FFXII you only get control of one of your characters although you can switch, it's just not the same. FFXIII appears like it will be a hack and slash game. GREAT!:rolleyes2
The demo doesn't tell absolutely everything about how the finished product will be. From what I've heard, the final game is much better than the demo made it out to be. Then again, you could be right too, we won't know 'til we play the game.

As for FFXIII, I personally like the faster paced battles. The new battle system introduced in X-2 was awesome imo, and I'm glad they're adding something similar again. If you don't like that, it's fine too. I for one am very excited for FFXIII.

[DJZen]

Final Fantasy's only real tradition is how much it breaks tradition. Observe:

FFI: First game, no tradition at this point.
FFII: OMG the party changes and there's characters who die and they completely changed the level up system!
FFIII: Whew, much more like the first one!
FFIV: OMG five character parties and fixed jobs! OUTRAGE!
FFV: What? Mixing jobs? That's just weird!
FFVI: OMG Esper and Relic system! And you can swap party members! SOOOOO NOT FINAL FANTASY!!!11
FFVII: OMG Three person Cyberpunk Materia Sephiroth Limit Breaks FMVs! NOT FINAL FANTASY AT ALL!!!!!!11
FFVIII: OMG Junction system! OMG sci-fi setting!
FFIX: Hey! Traditional! Right? RIGHT? Medieval = traditional! IT'S TRADITIONAL DAMNIT!
FFX: OMG Blitzball & Sphere grid!
FFX-2: OMG real time battle system! OMG Dresspheres! WHERE IS OUR FINAL FANTASY?!?!
FFXI: ZOMG ONLINE?!?!?!?! HOW CAN IT BE FINAL FANTASY IF IT'S ONLINE?!?!?!?!
FFXII: YOUR BATTLE SYSTEM IS SILLY! THIS IS NOT A FINAL FANTASY GAME! IT ISN'T TRADITIONAL!

[G SpOtZ]

Final Fantasy's only real tradition is how much it breaks tradition. Observe:

FFI: First game, no tradition at this point.
FFII: OMG the party changes and there's characters who die and they completely changed the level up system!
FFIII: Whew, much more like the first one!
FFIV: OMG five character parties and fixed jobs! OUTRAGE!
FFV: What? Mixing jobs? That's just weird!
FFVI: OMG Esper and Relic system! And you can swap party members! SOOOOO NOT FINAL FANTASY!!!11
FFVII: OMG Three person Cyberpunk Materia Sephiroth Limit Breaks FMVs! NOT FINAL FANTASY AT ALL!!!!!!11
FFVIII: OMG Junction system! OMG sci-fi setting! OMFG EMO PROTAGONIST! WITH BROWN HAIR! AND FEATHER COLLAR!
FFIX: Hey! Traditional! Right? RIGHT? Medieval = traditional! IT'S TRADITIONAL DAMNIT! ESPECIALLY WITH THE INVINCIBLE!
FFX: OMG Blitzball & Sphere grid! AND A HOMOSEXUAL MAIN CHARACTER!!! WTF?!
FFX-2: OMG real time battle system! OMG Dresspheres! WHERE IS OUR FINAL FANTASY?!?! AND A LESBIAN PROTAGONIST PAIN!!
FFXI: ZOMG ONLINE?!?!?!?! HOW CAN IT BE FINAL FANTASY IF IT'S ONLINE?!?!?!?!
FFXII: YOUR BATTLE SYSTEM IS SILLY! THIS IS NOT A FINAL FANTASY GAME! IT ISN'T TRADITIONAL! MAIN CHARACTER STILL LOOKS LIKE A FAG LIKE IN FFX THOUGH!!

[Dragoon Kain]

i already don't think i'll like FFXII. i played the demo and could hardly even stand to play it. so far this game seems even worse. it seems like they're trying to make all of their new FF's to be like MMORPGS and i hate it. i mean FFX-2 for example, although not a MMORPG the game has the same type of feel and fast paced battles as them. FFXII you only get control of one of your characters although you can switch, it's just not the same. FFXIII appears like it will be a hack and slash game. GREAT!:rolleyes2
The demo doesn't tell absolutely everything about how the finished product will be. From what I've heard, the final game is much better than the demo made it out to be. Then again, you could be right too, we won't know 'til we play the game.

As for FFXIII, I personally like the faster paced battles. The new battle system introduced in X-2 was awesome imo, and I'm glad they're adding something similar again. If you don't like that, it's fine too. I for one am very excited for FFXIII.


i hope you are right about the finished product being way better than the demo. i understand that it was just a demo and it could be better but if it doesnt i dont even think i will be able to stand playing this game. i like the characters but the battle system and the FREAKING HORRIBLE CAMERA ANGLES just turn me off from the game.

[Namouri]

Final fantasy games are always good - no one can deny that, but the big question is this (for me at least)

Should I buy the PS3 now, and wait for FFXIII to come out (Since it probably won't come out for like 3 years) or buy 360 now, and have loads of fun --- so ultimately my question is, when is FFXIII going to come out, because if I buy my 360, and then it comes out next year, I won't have enough for PS3! IM SO CONFUSED! PLEASE HELP! just tell me your opinions!!!

[MageLuingil]

From what I understand, FFXIII is supposed to come out some time around the end of next year. I don't have any definitive sources for this though...

[Namouri]

so then what should I buy?

PS3 - 600 dollars, OUCH! but final fantasy XIII may be coming out soon
or
XBOX360 - 400 dollars, not so bad, but no ffXIII and if I buy it, no PS3 for at least a few years

[MageLuingil]

I don't know about that. I'm probably gonna get a PS3 when XIII comes out, I think that game alone's gonna be worth the mone :D But there's good games on the 360 too, so ... what are you going to want to play more?

[jj984jj]

OMG! BREAKING TRADITION?!?! No FF has done that before. In fact, they are all alike.

Anyway, this topic is pretty pointless now that they've confirmed that there will be multiple party members and that the female in the video might not even be the lead character.

[drunkymonkey]

I hope it will have more than one playable character, because one of the best reasons for playing FF is the characters and how they interact and develop with each other.

[Namouri]

not only that, even though the babe is pretty awesome, it would get very boring if you could only play her, cause she has her own set of abilities. Like if you had a knight, but thats all you could play, no magic, no summons, no anything except swords and other weapons.

[Larahl]

Final Fantasy's only real tradition is how much it breaks tradition. Observe:

FFI: First game, no tradition at this point.
FFII: OMG the party changes and there's characters who die and they completely changed the level up system!
FFIII: Whew, much more like the first one!
FFIV: OMG five character parties and fixed jobs! OUTRAGE!
FFV: What? Mixing jobs? That's just weird!
FFVI: OMG Esper and Relic system! And you can swap party members! SOOOOO NOT FINAL FANTASY!!!11
FFVII: OMG Three person Cyberpunk Materia Sephiroth Limit Breaks FMVs! NOT FINAL FANTASY AT ALL!!!!!!11
FFVIII: OMG Junction system! OMG sci-fi setting!
FFIX: Hey! Traditional! Right? RIGHT? Medieval = traditional! IT'S TRADITIONAL DAMNIT!
FFX: OMG Blitzball & Sphere grid!
FFX-2: OMG real time battle system! OMG Dresspheres! WHERE IS OUR FINAL FANTASY?!?!
FFXI: ZOMG ONLINE?!?!?!?! HOW CAN IT BE FINAL FANTASY IF IT'S ONLINE?!?!?!?!
FFXII: YOUR BATTLE SYSTEM IS SILLY! THIS IS NOT A FINAL FANTASY GAME! IT ISN'T TRADITIONAL!
I've smiled.

[drunkymonkey]

not only that, even though the babe is pretty awesome, it would get very boring if you could only play her, cause she has her own set of abilities. Like if you had a knight, but thats all you could play, no magic, no summons, no anything except swords and other weapons.
Yeah. It just wouldn't feel like Final Fantasy.
I hope there's moogles and chocobos.

[daggertrepe]

I dunno bout anything else, but that chick looks awesome. :)

[blacktrance]

Of course it'll break tradition. FF games have a tradition of not being on the PS3. There hasn't been one yet.

[Lawr]

What tradition?

[DeathKnight]

*laughs at thread starter* :laugh: he only made 1 post in this whole thread.............I think this thread should be locked, I mean it's OBVIOUS he/she doesn't care or doesn't even come to this message board anymore.

Anyway, I just wanna see more characters...I'm getting really bored of this girl "Lightning" quick :nonono: though I'm still in love with her hair

[Lawr]

It broke tradition when they removed Garland.

[Shadow~Dark]

I think that it probably wont be only one person. if you remember at the start of FFX, Tidus was alone for a short while, until he came across his fellow party members. This is probably the same.

I do think it will completely break tradition with the matrix-y battle system which looks Amazing! I really like it.

[boys from the dwarf]

break the tradition? thats seems like paranoia. square develops and changes and one difference wont make it a bad game. in the trailers weve seen it seems to only show the first parts of the game and i think theyll be more playable characters. and if there is only one it wont completely ruin things. there are changes in the battle system but i think it looks great. welcome the changes and only judge the game when youve played it through yourself.