Reviews

[Madame Adequate]

But from a story point of view, having towns or NPCs to talk to would not make sense. (SPOILER)The world hates you. =/

That isn't the reason why there aren't NPC. The decision had nothing to do with the story. In the same way Avalanche members can talk to Shin-Ra soldiers and Shin-Ra's mayor, and even Palmer.

There are no NPC because the game designers chose not to have them, same way they chose not to have towns because "It was too hard to do in HD"

This whole "the story doesn't permit it" is largely a cop out to try and excuse what they did.

Or maybe they're now better at writing stories.

[Loony BoB]

I'm kind of baffled about the "no towns" "no shops" and "no NPCs" because this game has all three of them. There are towns - admittedly not as many as usual, but that is predominantly due to the nature of the story and the worlds, and it's all reasonable from what I can see.

No shops? Uhm, yes there are. Not physically visitable ones, no, but really - who cares? I honestly can't imagine a reason to be annoyed at the lack of physically visitable stores because, well, what's the point? If there are online stores then there isn't a place to stop into, and you need that... because... why, again? When has there been an FF where the physical store was so amazing? It was just a place to go to buy stuff. You still have places to go to buy stuff, so there shouldn't be a problem.

No NPCs? I'm sorry, are you playing a different game? There are loads of them... maybe you're in a specific area of the game where you don't see them, but last I checked, they're in the first chapter and continue to exist throughout other chapters in this game. I can think of at least... four 'areas' with them. If not more. And again, for the areas without them, that suits the area and suits the nature of the story.

Darn Square Enix for having the settings and style of their story make sense?

[Raistlin]

I think a more valid criticism than "no shops" is how forgettable most of the shops are for the majority of the game. I haven't bought a single weapon or item from a shop. I've bought a bunch of certain types of components and a couple of accessories, and I'm in chapter 11.

Again, a more valid criticism than "no NPCs" is how insignificant every NPC is. The only way to learn stuff is through cutscenes and the Datalog, and the only way to do sidequests is wait until chapter 11 to accept them from crystals; similarly, the only way to shop is by going to a save point. It's like the world does not really exist outside of the six party members.

[Loony BoB]

I'm the same, admittedly, with what I've actually bothered to purchase. But I suppose that's more to do with the lack of need for items than anything.

I see what you mean with the second part, although I still think that's largely due to the nature of the story more than anything else. There are indirect things you can do for the people, though. I remember I reunited two people by winning a battle at one point. Before I beat the enemy, they were looking for each other, once I beat them, they were all "oh yay there you are". No reward and no conversation with my characters, mind you. I do miss that end of things, I suppose, but at the same time it's only now that I consider it. I mean, it's no fault of the game that I've been so swept up in things that I didn't think about the lack of direct interactions with NPCs 'til now.

[Raistlin]

I noticed it quite early on. It's more of a problem with immersion than with the story or characters; I feel connected to the characters, but I don't feel at all connected with the world. The only thing I know about the different people or cultures is from reading the Datalog. As I said, it's like the world and everyone in it does not really exist outside of the six party members. This is mostly a problem of the severe linearity of the first 10 chapters along with a complete lack of substantive interaction outside of the six main characters. Who are the minor characters in the game? You could argue for a couple, but they're very weak.

That being said, I think the game has taken strides in certain other areas (battle system, especially, and I also like the Mark system and pretty much everything else introduced by chapter 11).

[Loony BoB]

Fair enough. I agree they could have done immersion better, making you feel like you had a bit more control of the character and interacting with the world and it's people.

[ANGRYWOLF]

I noticed it quite early on. It's more of a problem with immersion than with the story or characters; I feel connected to the characters, but I don't feel at all connected with the world. The only thing I know about the different people or cultures is from reading the Datalog. As I said, it's like the world and everyone in it does not really exist outside of the six party members. This is mostly a problem of the severe linearity of the first 10 chapters along with a complete lack of substantive interaction outside of the six main characters. Who are the minor characters in the game? You could argue for a couple, but they're very weak.

That being said, I think the game has taken strides in certain other areas (battle system, especially, and I also like the Mark system and pretty much everything else introduced by chapter 11).

that's why you need towns and npcs. To connect to the world and to its people.

shrugs.

For an rpg to be "deep" you really need that.

Maybe the producers will realize that at some future point.

[Meat Puppet]

contributing to an old thread because starting a new one would be twice as redundant

The Escapist : Video Galleries : Zero Punctuation : Final Fantasy XIII

[Croyles]

contributing to an old thread because starting a new one would be twice as redundant

The Escapist : Video Galleries : Zero Punctuation : Final Fantasy XIII

Aaahhhh good old Yahtzee
Well before even watching it I can tell you that his review is pointless as
1. He probably only played around 6 hours
2. He hates all Jrpgs anyway.
3. The only games he has ever said he liked are God of War and Sands of Time

I'll check it out later for giggles

[Meat Puppet]

your first point is dangerously close to the truth!

[Rase]

Aaahhhh good old Yahtzee
Well before even watching it I can tell you that his review is pointless

His review is hardly pointless; it's point is just to stir up the fanboys and humor the rest (I'm assuming, if FFXIII's review is like any other high-profile ones he's slammed).

3. The only games he has ever said he liked are God of War and Sands of Time

He's said positive things about plenty of games though. Off the top of my head he liked Silent Hill 2, the Thief series (these two really just makes him awesome in my book), Left 4 Dead, Saints Row 2, Beyond Good & Evil, Fallout 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, No More Heroes, Call of Duty 4, Psychonauts, Resident Evil 4 , and The Orange Box (particularly Portal). Based on those I'd say his tastes are for a lot of good games (but again, he gave props to the Thief series, so I'm already on board with him. Those games need more love).

I look forward to watching the video after classes get out.

[seiferalmasy2]

contributing to an old thread because starting a new one would be twice as redundant

The Escapist : Video Galleries : Zero Punctuation : Final Fantasy XIII

Did you see me link that at tls? Anyway it is hilarious and mostly true imho!

[Croyles]

Aaahhhh good old Yahtzee
Well before even watching it I can tell you that his review is pointless

His review is hardly pointless; it's point is just to stir up the fanboys and humor the rest (I'm assuming, if FFXIII's review is like any other high-profile ones he's slammed).

3. The only games he has ever said he liked are God of War and Sands of Time

He's said positive things about plenty of games though. Off the top of my head he liked Silent Hill 2, the Thief series (these two really just makes him awesome in my book), Left 4 Dead, Saints Row 2, Beyond Good & Evil, Fallout 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, No More Heroes, Call of Duty 4, Psychonauts, Resident Evil 4 , and The Orange Box (particularly Portal). Based on those I'd say his tastes are for a lot of good games (but again, he gave props to the Thief series, so I'm already on board with him. Those games need more love).

I look forward to watching the video after classes get out.

He likes ELEMENTS from those games. The only games he likes overall really are God of War, Sands of Time, and maybe even that one Spider-Man game. But again, thats just his online persona.

He reviews games to slam them for comedic purposes, I doubt you'll argue against that...

When I said pointless, i meant irrelevant. I love watching his videos, but if I took him seriously, I would pretty much be hating my whole catalogue of games.

[Flying Arrow]

He knocks games and seems to have great fun doing it, but I don't think he's completely un-serious about what he says. A lot of his criticisms of games are pretty spot-on and he has a habit of mentioning flaws that big name websites seem to skip over in lieu of their Graphics/Sound/Control templates.

Say what you will about his nitpicking and JRPG-bashing tendencies, but he is right about one thing: this game is terrible. I just wish he'd played it more so he could really rip into why it sucks.

[Croyles]

The game is awesome, so hes not spot on....