Go fry yourself

[tidus_rox]

No, not Square. Even though Wada isn't the smartest guy around, I have still managed to retain my respect for good ol' SE.

Who am I talking about then? People.

How many times in the last month have a I heard "holy :bou::bou::bou::bou:! No more towns!? This isn't an RPG! SE, you deserve to die!"

"WHAT!? You shop at a SAVE point? RIP FF..."

"It's LINEAR?! God forbid a video game be focused on a STORY."

You know what? I am fed up. This is ridiculous. First of all, most (of course, I can't say all) of these people have yet to touch this game. They are passing judgement on a product they know nothing about. People seem to be scared of change nowadays. It is either this, or they are a twitchy gamer who cannot sit still, and has to be killing something 100% of the time.

Listen. FF has always been about the story. in XIII, they decided to make it MOSTLY about the story. We are to be connected with these people, deeply moved. This is what they are focusing on.

I am just so angry right now that I don't even know how to organize my thoughts.

This game needs to be given a chance. Hold your opinions until you have payed the game. I don't judge games before I play them, and I am not going to start now. Of course, I HOPE FF XII will be great, and I am sure it will be... but I am still going in with a completely open mind. If I don't like it, I wont say otherwise.

Embrace change, buy this game and play it thinking "enlighten me, Square. Show me something new. Tell me a story." Because they will. And if you stop caring that 13 installments later, the series has gone away from it's 'roots'... maybe you will see this game for what is really is going to be.

Thank you.

(Jeeze, I feel better now!) :)

Edit: Forgot to say. Must every game be sandbox?? Why is it bad to not have HUGE world filled with pointless things to do, just so a game can say "ha! You can play me for hundreds of hours!!" Cool. Will those hundreds of hours be fun? Probably not. Linear. Does. Not. Equal. Badder. (Lol. badder.)

[VeloZer0]

While I think speculation on the changes is healthy, (mostly because we have nothing better to do), I can agree with your sentiments that anyone who flips out over a game before it even ships is a little off kilter. Even if it does blow it isn't something to pop a gasket over, just don't play it again, and if it ruined your faith in the FF series just put it behind you and move on.

[LunarWeaver]

Some go with the flow and just play them, others bitch about the game (opposing it or supporting it). That's Final Fantasy for you.

[tidus_rox]

*hugs* Thank you so much.
It is awesome to know that someone on the internet has some sense :)

[Vermachtnis]

Some go with the flow and just play them, others bitch about the game (opposing it or supporting it). That's Final Fantasy for you.

Every fandom has those loud dumb bitchy people! The problem is that because they're so loud you'd think they'd be the majority.

[Roogle]

I have avoided much coverage of the game besides initial gameplay reviews from importers because I would like to judge the game myself rather than hear others' partially informed complaints or phrases.

I changed the title of the topic because I thought it sounded awfully vulgar. I apologize for any inconvenience.

[tidus_rox]

No, Roogle, that's fine :) I wanted to put it softer myself but couldn't think of how lol. You're word is much better :)
Also, Vermachtnis, that was an awesome point! I have never thought of it like that before.

[Rad Bromance]

Heh, the same thing happened when FFXII was about to be released.

[AntRid]

Some people don’t like change; unfortunately they seem to be the most vocal. It happens with most franchises.

[Super Christ]

If I may, a lot of those things are what is being said by japanese gamers, who have been playing for over a month, and so I would argue have better than a half-formed opinion.

I'm holding out my final judgment until I play the game, but the comments coming from people who have played it are not confidence building.

[Rad Bromance]

If I may, a lot of those things are what is being said by japanese gamers, who have been playing for over a month, and so I would argue have better than a half-formed opinion.

Umm, source? It's been experiencing high sales, praise, and placement on "best of" lists in Japan. From what I've read, the only negative reviews seem to be from non-Japanese sources who've partially played the import.

Final Fantasy XIII - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oh, and those comments from the handful of people on 2ch/4chan don't count.

[Wolf Kanno]

It's actually difficult to get a hold of accurate scores from Japan as a quick Google search will only talk about how XIII was cheated by Famitsu by a single point, the other site that has been listing the most criticism is Sankoku Complex (sp?) and you can read those reviews on the frontsite.

One import review I read was explaining that the best way to see how the game is doing in Japan is to actually read the Amazon.com reviews for it, which are completely across the board. This of course doesn't surprise me much cause its difficult to read any official review without some hint of bias. These reviews also allow people who seriously could care less about the brand name to get their opinions out. Its obvious from reviews that XIII will be like XII and polarize the fanbase once again.

The sales of a title doesn't necessarily mean a title is good, I mean look at the 50 Cent Games. They are terrible and lauded with bad reviews yet it still sold quite a few units despite all the negativity. On the flip side Okami and Beyond Good and Evil got steller reviews and did terrible at sales.

[Psychotic]

I honestly couldn't give a toss if a few internet users either think it's the worst game ever, or if they think it's better than crack. I know better than to pay attention to dire trolls and obsessed fanboys.

I've read some independent reviews which make the game sound like it will be worth my money and right now, that's all I need to know.

[Yeargdribble]

If I may, a lot of those things are what is being said by japanese gamers, who have been playing for over a month, and so I would argue have better than a half-formed opinion.

Umm, source? It's been experiencing high sales, praise, and placement on "best of" lists in Japan. From what I've read, the only negative reviews seem to be from non-Japanese sources who've partially played the import.

Final Fantasy XIII - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oh, and those comments from the handful of people on 2ch/4chan don't count.

Actually, FFXIIIs NPD numbers were pretty sad for for a FF game. A week after the debut it was in fourth place behind NSMBW, Spirit Tracks and Tomodachi Collection.

From talking to Japanese friends that play FFXI this isn't just a western import thing. A lot of them are overall disgruntled with the direction this title has gone.

Wikipedia isn't necessarily unreliable, but there's nothing requiring people to put in things about bad scores. I doubt every Japanese publication gave it super scores. There's also the issue of hype. Remember when Assassin's Creed got 10/10s? Sorry, it's not a 10/10 game. It's not "perfect" as some had said.

Any main series FF game not only has the hype behind it but also has clout behind it. As a result I'm sure reviewers are more apt to overlook little things and give it a pass for being what it is.... a top end SE product. I'm concerned that people may be being dazzled by the looks and other such things the way people were dazzled by the innovations of AC1 and forgot to notice that it's incredibly repetitive, has a horrible combat system and has almost no replay value.


For me, the jury is still out. I will play FFXIII, though it may have moved off of the release day purchase list. But what I'm feeling in this thread, and in this forum in general is a defensive backlash. No one wants to think that the title they've been drooling over for several years will be less than perfect... but it just might be.

If you want to decide ahead of time that it's perfect then you are no different than the people who decide ahead of time it sucks.

[Roogle]

From talking to Japanese friends that play FFXI this isn't just a western import thing. A lot of them are overall disgruntled with the direction this title has gone.

It is a better idea to ask people that you know that have played the game than seeking out a professional review right now. I know that with large projects like games in the Final Fantasy series that there is a lot of pressure on major gaming magazines and websites to give optimal review scores. I remember hearing something about the incredible pressure for Famitsu to give Final Fantasy XII a similarly high score as this game.