Will XIII-2 become even less of an RPG?

[ScottyRedXIII]

There is speculation around the web that XIII-2 is gunna have even less RPG traits to it then XIII. Altho 13 had many aspects of an RPG so were they got that idea from is confusing.

Final Fantasy XIII-2: Is It An RPG? - PS3 News

this is the artical in question.

So what do we think, will it be more action based or will we get are usuall dose of RPG joy?

[DMKA]

Seeing as they've already said it's going to be more like the other FF games (towns, NPCs that matter, etc) that article is pretty retarded.

Personally, I don't care, since no one seems to know what the hell "RPG" describes anyway.

I remember when Mass Effect came out everyone going on about how it's one of the "best RPGs ever", and I'm finally getting around to playing it now...

And if that's really the case, a game like Mass Effect or Fallout 3, is what people mean when they said a "real RPG"? Then I don't want FFXIII-2 to be a "real RPG", or any other future FF game for that matter.

[ScottyRedXIII]

When when i Think of "real RPG" usually games like Final Fantasy, WOW and others which are similar. So if Square have allready confirmed it will be like the older games in the series, then i cant wait for winter.

[Jessweeee♪]

From FFXIII-2's Wikipedia Page:

The principal setting of the game will be different from the original game but the original game's world will still be in the game. The game's battle system will be a further evolution of the "Command Synergy Battle" (CSB) system first used in the original game. It will fix and address issues and make areas that were already considered good even better. There will be a feature that allows the player to control the difficulty of battles.

The development team is also investigating the possibility of giving something to players who have save data from Final Fantasy XIII.

FFXIII ending spoilers

The story of the game takes place directly after Final Fantasy XIII and follows on from the -Episode i- novel which was released with the international version of Final Fantasy XIII. Unlike Final Fantasy X-2, which had a more cheerful and humorous feel than Final Fantasy X, the overall tone of the story of Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be darker and more mysterious than the original. Director Motomu Toriyama said that considering Vanille and Fang are gone and the world is in a state where Cocoon had fallen, there's no way for the new story to be totally peaceful. Yoshinori Kitase, the producer, has said the story will have the serious feel of a true numbered entry in the Final Fantasy series.

[Kaie]

Seeing as they've already said it's going to be more like the other FF games (towns, NPCs that matter, etc)

That's why I'm getting more and more excited about this game. I hope they will have the same in FFXIII-2

[*Devore*]

If its more open like the older games, then I'll be happy with it. But can someone define RPG for me. Cause all I think of is single/group of customizable characters who are on some kind of fantasy quest thats 40+ hours long. With large maps and loads of monsters.....Thats all I want from a game.

[Roogle]

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FFXIII ending spoilers

The story of the game takes place directly after Final Fantasy XIII and follows on from the -Episode i- novel which was released with the international version of Final Fantasy XIII. Unlike Final Fantasy X-2, which had a more cheerful and humorous feel than Final Fantasy X, the overall tone of the story of Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be darker and more mysterious than the original. Director Motomu Toriyama said that considering Vanille and Fang are gone and the world is in a state where Cocoon had fallen, there's no way for the new story to be totally peaceful. Yoshinori Kitase, the producer, has said the story will have the serious feel of a true numbered entry in the Final Fantasy series.

That is a good announcement. I am glad that they will be taking the storyline of the sequel seriously as opposed to frivolously like what they did with Final Fantasy X-2. I hope that this game makes up for what I felt were shortcomings in the original game.

[Del Murder]

I remember when Mass Effect came out everyone going on about how it's one of the "best RPGs ever", and I'm finally getting around to playing it now...

And if that's really the case, a game like Mass Effect or Fallout 3, is what people mean when they said a "real RPG"? Then I don't want FFXIII-2 to be a "real RPG", or any other future FF game for that matter.

I could not agree with you more. It is hard for me to understand why Mass Effect and Fallout are called RPGs. I've been wanting to play one of them to see for myself but from everything I have seen or read about these games they are more like action games to me.

It seems that what used to be called 'RPG' is now 'JRPG' and 'RPG' means something completely different. I want RPGs with menus, combat turns, equipment slots, party members, experience levels, and statistical based combat, with a variety of treasure to find and mini-quests to enjoy.

[Jessweeee♪]

Yeah, Mass Effect is awesome and all, and by definition it is an RPG, but when I'm in an RPG mood, it's not the game I reach for.

[SkieDragon]

Fallout in its own right it a RPG. If you played the classics 1&2 you can see that.

[Mirage]

It doesn't matter, because every game nowadays is an RPG, yet none of them are really RPGs.

Is mass effect a RPG? Is Mass effect 2 a RPG?

If you answered yes to the second of those, there is no way you can logically conclude that God of War and Infamous aren't RPGs. Or Zelda for that matter because at this point (after accepting that ME2 is an RPG), it is accepted that you don't need "character stats" to make an RPG because the stats of your equipment can fill the same role that character stats had before. So therefore, all games where one piece of equipment is better than an older piece of equipment must be a RPG, right?

Or is RPG about "involving storyline? Nope, not really. Any game can have an involving storyline. It is certainly not about branching story paths either, because any game can have that without any sort of other "RPG elements".

So in reality, RPG is an obsolete genre that fails to describe any sort of game, because any game can be an RPG, and still play completely different from a different game that also is labeled "RPG". This is especially true for action RPGs (which very many RPGs these days are). I can't find any sort of logical and objective way to put an action RPG and an action game with RPG elements (every one of them today) in two separate categories, those two are in fact the exact same. As for the rest of RPGs on the market today, I'm having a hard time even thinking of one that isn't significantly action-oriented.

So that's a ton of text, what I'm really trying to say is (this is the tl;dr i guess):

FF13-2 can't become less of an RPG, because RPG doesn't mean anything.
Play the game for what it's worth, don't get hung up in pointless and inconsistent classifications.

[Del Murder]

I agree with what you're saying. I find the line between 'action RPG' and 'action game with RPG elements' to be so completely blurred these days that it has lost meaning.

However, I do think it is important to discuss the use of more 'traditional' RPG elements in FFXIII-2 since if they do exist it will make me want to play the game more, and if it continues to stray away from 'traditional' RPGs then I will want to play it less.

[Silent Warrior]

The only RPG with japanese origin I ever played that could pass as an RPG in the commonly established sense were Persona 3 and 4 - 'nuff said. For roleplaying goodness, go Bioware. That article is just so far from making any sense to me to begin with; I'd have to rant for days before I even get to what I think about this particular article... *Snore*

[Laddy]

Bioware has taken a seriously dip in quality, IMO.

This sounds good, I just don't like I can get around this new guy. He irks me for some reason.

[Suikojowy]

I'm kind of hoping there'll be more playable characters and it isn't just those two characters + two random monsters. I hated that in ToS 2