39/40 by Famitsu
Edit: disregard. See my post below
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39/40 by Famitsu
Edit: disregard. See my post below
Good news. I'm glad XIII got such a high score.
Turns out the reviews posted on that site are actually fake, altho they did manage to guess the scores correctly.
Here is a rough translation of the actual reviews. Its more glowing than even the fake ones:
Sounds like the two complaints are 1. lack of gimmicks in the middle of the game (?; I don't understand this) and 2. Its very linear until the middle.Quote:
10: "Although the game is linear until the midway point, the story is substantial, like no FF before it, with its own distinctive appeal. The battles based around changing characters' roles are fresh and highly strategic. The tempo is speedy and you get very excited when fighting strong enemies. Being able to restart battles is a user-friendly feature I'm happy about.
9: "Unquestionably the highest echelon of event and movie scenes. Moreover, changing Optimas on a dime, the varied abilities and being able to use multiple magics at once bring real exhilaration to the battles. That high quality is unfortunately offset by a story that stays linear until the midway point. The lack of gimmicks during the middle of the game also worried me."
10: "The overwhelming graphics expressing every nook and cranny of this unique world, along with the praiseworthy direction, moved me!! The battle system is applicable both to beginners and micro-managers. The fights progress quickly, and have ratings, so you never grow tired and can always battle with a feeling of urgency. The melancholic story is also so dramatic, you can't tear your eyes away from it."
10: "I doff my hat to the overwhelming graphics and story. Since the game's various systems become denser as the story progresses, you find yourself pulled ever deeper into the experience. The summon battles take careful planning and strategy, so I was frustrated a few times, but the feeling of achievement when you win is something special. You'll be sorry if you don't play this!"
Quite frankly, #2 doesn't bother me because every FF before this has been like that. My favorite, X, is that way maybe more than any other.
I can't wait! :love:
Why is lacking gimmicks a complaint? I'm not getting that one. Maybe the meaning is lost in translation or something.
Sounds good overall, though. I don't mind linear. Was already excited and it only fuels my fire.
I'm so excited! Not that I wasn't, but this...is just awesome news! :D
I read somewhere else that they criticised it lacking mini games and sidequests during the middle section of the game, so I assume that's what they mean by "gimmicks".
I never bother with that kind of thing until the end anyway, as it messes with the flow of the story.
Agreed! I always wait until end-game time to tie everything up and do all the extra stuff. I'm too eager to see what happens next before that! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Psychotic
Side quests do matter for me so I am a little sad it might be going the X route as I genuinely don't like linear RPGs unless the story is strong enough to hold my attention.
I'll wait until I play it to make a real judgment, I never trust reviews.
Glad for the score, but losing its linear quality bothers me. Linear games are my favorites. If they mean no subquests until the midpoint, then okay. I can handle that. I don't really look to do those until my party's strong enough, anyway. You know, in case of strong monsters/fiends.
Still, I'm eager awaiting the release. Three months and a day to go!
Apparently it got a 100/100 from Dengeki, with them saying its worth a 120/100.
No official source or confirmation yet. Will post it when I get it.
http://blog.livedoor.jp/gaem_newsz/archives/51333490.htmlQuote:
FF XIII two page Dengeki Review
(no score but a detailed review by 11 reviewers)
- absolutely no load times before and after battles
- The character faces on the status screen move
- most exciting battles in FF history
- movie scenes have an appropriate length as to not interfere with the gameplay
- Editor M: "Let alone 100 points, this deserves 120 points!"
- Earning trophies also earns you custom themes
- Dual-layer blu-ray (50gb)
Review with score will follow December 17.
FF13¥ì¥Ó¥å¡¼ ¥Õ¥¡¥ßÄÌ¡Ö39ÅÀ¡× ÅÅ·â¡Ö100ÅÀ¤É¤³¤í¤«120ÅÀ¡×¢ª¿À¥²¡¼³ÎÄê ËâË¡ÀèÀ¸¥ê¥ê¥«¥ë¡ù¥Ï¥®¤Þ¡ª
Its going to be weird getting trophies for a Final Fantasy game....
Character faces moving on the status screen is awesome.
I wonder if it will be akin to FFIV for the DS (where they had thought bubbles on the current situation), and their faces will reflect their current mood or whatever.
Sounds like the battles will be epic. :D
Sounds like good news. I think most FFs from the PS1 era did have some gimmick mini game like VII with the chocobo racing, squat competition, VIII I can't quite remember if there was one, but I think there probably was, and IX had a couple, like when swinging back and forth to break out of jail and tbhe Festival of the Hunt. XII had a few that were apart of the story too. Maybe they meant the lack of it meant that tthere was no real break in the gameplay.
Final Fantasy 13 < New Super Mario Bros Wii, Bayonetta and Dragon Quest 9, apparently.
Check out art from Yoshi Amano
http://i49.:bou::bou::bou::bou::bou:...u:/2cdy4he.jpg
If they didn't give it a top score they'd probably be shot by someone anyway ;) Can't wait for the game though!
Great Score, The Lack Of Gimmicks Does Not Bother Me Too Much, Although Side Quests Are Nice To Have. :D
Linear? Practically All FF Games Have Been Linear... :confused:
39/40 And 120/100 Is Good Enough For Me!
A lot have some form of exploration or side quests you can take part of, even VIII has a couple though most never realize it until they use a guide. I'm thinking more of FFX's problem where your literally stuck on a single path with no diversions (except crappy blitzball) for a good 30 hours until you reach the Calm Lands and then you get a minor sense of openness until you get the airship a few hours later at the smurfing end of the game. I think FFV is about the only other FF that was horribly linear (though it hid it really well) the other games had side places and entire towns that served no real story purposes for you to discover and play with.
I will be skeptical to the end.
I love that Amano artwork. Call me an idle speculator, but could her inclusion in that mean Serah is a playable character? Well, it'd break the 3-female rule, so maybe not. But it'd be cool I guess!
I Did'nt Relise There Was A 3 Female Rule. Although I Did Find It Odd That Most FFs Had Less Females Than Males... Mmm.
Sort of unofficial, but yes. At least since 4, there've been three -- one to fill the heroine role, whether damsel-in-distress heroine or (clearly more preferred by players) kick-ass heroine, strong, serious woman, or perky young girl.Quote:
Originally Posted by Balthier Rocks
FF4: Rosa (heroine), Rydia (younger, perky young girl, and older, strong, serious woman), Porom (perky young girl).
FF5: Lenna/Reina (heroine), Faris (strong, serious woman), Krile (perky young girl).
FF6: Terra (heroine), Celes (strong, serious woman), Relm (perky young girl).
FF7: Aerith (heroine), Tifa (strong, serious woman), Yuffie (perky young girl).
FF8: Rinoa (heroine), Quistis (strong, serious woman), Selphie (perky young girl).
FF9*: Garnet/Dagger (heroine), Freya (strong, serious woman), Eiko (perky young girl).
FF10: Yuna (heroine), Lulu (strong, serious woman), Rikku (perky young girl).
FF12: Ashe (heroine), Fran (strong, serious woman), Penelo (perky young girl).
FF13: Lightning (heroine), Fang (strong, serious woman), Vanille (perky young girl).
*Although depending on which translation of the game you're playing, there could be four females. Quina's definitely determined to be male in the German translation, but the French and Spanish translations determine the character to be female.
Don't forget FFX-2. Only 3 characters and they all had to be female!
Eh, I wouldn't lable Penelo as perky. She seemed mostly serious to me.
Linear until the halfway point doesn't sound so bad for my tastes. FFX was my favorite in the serious and it was super linear for an RPG. I did mind it a little bit after my thirteenth playthrough.
I could care less if a game is linear or open world. If it's good, it's good and that's about it.
That's all on Cat Taber for not nailing what the role was actually supposed to be like. But yeah, Penelo was indeed the Porom/Krile/Relm/Yuffie/Selphie/Eiko/Rikku of the party.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jessweeee♪
Agreed, I enjoy having other things to do. The gameplay, including exploration and sidequests, is what really made FFXII for me. I don't necessarily mind linear, but it has to have a really good story and really engaging characters, and FF just doesn't do that for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno
That doesn't really say anything, since they gave Nintendogs a 40/40, meaning Nintendogs > Every FF game besides XII. :roll2Quote:
Originally Posted by JKTrix
39/40 is good enough for me! :D
Quote:
Originally Posted by Necronopticous
Can't blame you there. I'm still pretty skeptical, but excited at the same time!
You know its true.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rad Bromance
I don't like how nowadays it seems reviewers use 'linear' as a negative term. Personally I find strongly linear games much more enjoyable, as they tend to have much stronger narratives. Linear/Non-linear seems so much like a design choice to me, but from the industry dialog I read/hear it seems linear is regarded as second rate option when developing a non-linear world is too difficult.
I don't really get that either, but for this entire gen, "linear" has been a negative term in reviews and an excuse to give low marks.Quote:
Originally Posted by VeloZer0You know its true.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rad Bromance
I don't like how nowadays it seems reviewers use 'linear' as a negative term. Personally I find strongly linear games much more enjoyable, as they tend to have much stronger narratives. Linear/Non-linear seems so much like a design choice to me, but from the industry dialog I read/hear it seems linear is regarded as second rate option when developing a non-linear world is too difficult.
I think it's because "open world" became this cliche gimmick for games to arbitrarily differentiate themselves in the ensuing years after GTA III. The problem is we've been there, done that, got a couple t-shirts, it's just a different design decision.
A lot of reviewers/media outlets apparently haven't woken up to this fact yet.
Its a problem with RPGs really as it basically defines the difference between a JRPG and any other type of RPG.
A linear game basically means its completely story driven and for the most part removes any choice the player has, it was a major problem I found for lots of early RPGs in the PS2 era. Story driven has the problem of being a really good experience or being a nightmare depending on how you feel about the plot. XIII sounds like it may avoid this so its all good but it makes me sad to realize that exploring for the first half of the game will probably net me a few minor items and be me just looking at the scenery as opposed to finding something new and exciting to divert my attention for a minute. For a genre that started on the foundation of exploration, its really moved far beyond its roots. :(
Linear gameplay and linear story are also two different things. I categorize linear story as including story (obviously), but also subquests as well. This is what I feel is the design decision, and I won't get into a discussion about personal preferences. (Maybe in a few posts :))
What I think about non-linear gameplay is having the world more open to you while you are completing the linear/non-linear story. In some games with 'non-linear' storys you are extremely limited as to what you can do aside from the established areas of 'non-linearilty'. Some games like FFT have strongly linear storylines (i'm not counting propositions), but inside of this linear story the meat of the game is just fighting and leveling your characters, a non-linear activity. Likewise a game like FFX was completely linear in both ways, I will give you that running along a straight path for 40 hours could probably be made into a better game experience.
In FFI there wasn't anything to do outside of the main linear quest, but there was excitement and exploration involved in just finishing the main linear quest. I think the problem now with linearity is that it lays too much out for you. Even if the story line is completely focused with no distractions, you have to feel like you are out exploring something new and exciting. (Something I feel 2d overhead cam/world map does much better then 3d 3rd person/linked areas).
Because lets face it, if your life was on the line in a world destroying chain of events, would you be running around being someones errand boy?
I pretty much agree with you VeloZer0, though I would like to point out that you can actually do stuff out of order in the original FFI (its actually possible to get the Job Class changes before you fight Marilith, if you know how...) but yes, I feel the real problem does come from games and their stories spelling too much out for the player. I kinda learned this with my GF, her experience with the series is with FFX and X-2 but she has been having the hardest time completing FFVI cause she is constantly getting lost and unable to find where to go next despite the game giving her instructions, she has not even gotten to the WoR yet. I sometimes wonder if we take our foresight for granted and quickly forget how taxing some of the early JRPGs really are.
As for side quests being logically silly cause you're trying to save the world, this is only amusing cause the majority of games only open up most sidequests at the end of the game after your party has been swept up in the doomsday scenario. Whereas logically, it would make sense to have a diversion when your still in the first half of the title getting tossed into minor problems that eventually snowball into the Doomsday scenario. V and VII did this beautifully ;)
So I don't see them being terribly silly as much as utilized poorly by designers who feel they need to design for endgame as opposed to fleshing out the whole title.
Not to sound generic and adding little to the conversation, I kind of agree with both of you guys. I loved FFX anyway but I still feel it would have tremendously benefitted if you had a little leeway. But there is a fine line to walk, because opening up too much choice for the player makes me completely lose interest in the game, the only one really like that which I managed to get into, lose myself in, and love was Far Cry 2, weird mentioning that game in this thread, but it was infinitely more like an RPG than most games that claim that title today, if you can believe it.
I was going to throw my own two cents in, but Velo and Wolf have got it covered.
Many, if not all, of the FF games drag the player along a linear path from the beginning to the midway point. A lot of them even take it straight through to the end. X is the most notable example in this case, except, as was already said, the GAMEPLAY was just as linear with world exploration being essentially guiding Tidus down a tunnel. It's not like previous games were Oblivion-like in scope, but it never felt as restrictive as it did in X. VI opened up nicely (in terms of player freedom) in the WoR, so maybe XIII takes a similar strategy? (The review comments are unclear.) XII was completely unlike any other FF in the exploration respect, but XIII seems to be polar opposite of that.
I could rant about why I love XII because of its wide-open world and why I'm so iffy with X because of its tunnel-vision, but in the end it boils down to execution and creativity. VII (my personal favourite) is very linear in the opening Midgar bits, but VII's opening might also be my most fond FFing moments ever. Breaking it down, I find that almost every screen, task or maze in all of FFVII has something interesting or unique about it. The game is linear, but it stays fresh throughout by consistently throwing out something new to pique the player's interest, just like any good action/adventure (God of War or SotC) or platformer (Mario and the original Mega Man series). This is probably the Zelda fan in me who still feels immense satisfaction at figuring things out to progress, but I'm hoping that for all its 'linearity' FFXIII isn't a point-A to point-B title.
If the story is epic, then linearity is awesome.
Games with lots of sidequest, Star Ocean (PS) for example was a game with a good use of side-quests, albeit the private interaction system was overwhelming sometimes.
Actually, the problem ties in with the entire structure of the RPG system. If the side-quests are availible early on, and supposed to be dealt with early on, their rewards must be suited to weaker characters who are just starting out. That being the case, players have less incentive to complete them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno
Let's take FFVII. Say they moved Chocobo Breeding to Disc 1, right after you encountered the Golden Saucer. What reward would be right for that? Anything too powerful would unbalance the rest of the game. But anything too weak would be replaced quickly as you advanced the plot anyway, so people wouldn't bother to get it.
FFVII handled it better than most by having Materia rewards, which grow with the user to retain usefulness as you levelled up, and were extremely useful end-game for getting the Master Materia, but for a lot of games, such things didn't work that way. FFX-2 also did a decent job by having unlockable dressspheres, which also grew with the user, so they could retain their utility throughout the game.
By keeping the sidequests until the end of the game, they can give end-game level rewards, which are enough to offer an incentive to players without completely unbalancing most of the game.
You make an excellent point. This is one of the main reasons I am not interested in doing side quests mid game is (in my mind) I associate side quests with 'ultimate equipment' type stuff, and am always massively disappointed with the rewards.
Of course another reason, which I think is fairly well explained in my previous posts but I haven't explicitly stated yet, is that if the story is sufficiently captivation (as every FF game should be) I am pushing to get to the next plot point to see what happens. What I meant to say with the side quests being at the end of the game, is that it is a better place to insert them story wise not for the characters of the game, but for me, the player; as by that point most everything is explained and only the final confrontation remains. (Also, I can beat the game, and then reload my last save point and start questing from there.)