What if XIII-2 turns out to be a *good* game?

[Elpizo]

Well, just a theoretical question. Seeing the negative reception of XIII, and the less than hopeful expectations for XIII-2 by our more vocal members (not looking at anybody in particular, I swear! ), I was wondering... Ehm, what if XIII-2 turns out to be a good game? Not even great or earthshakingly fantastic, but just a good, fun RPG. What then? How will it affect your view of SE, if it will at all? Will such an achievement bring forth the apocalypse, the armageddon of the gaming world? Will SE get some more credit again, or is the damage done too great to be repaired by one good game?

I'm curious! bounce1a.gif

[Old Manus]

What if XIII-2 turns out to be a *good* game?

[Elpizo]

I did say in theory, Old Manus.

[ShinGundam]

I think FFXIII-2 is already a legendary FF, BEHEMOTHS WITH BOWTIES.

[Slothy]

The battle system is almost unchanged so I think I have to go with Old Manus on this one.

But in theory, even if it turned out to be a legitimately good game, I'd look to see what SE's western developers are doing with a lot more interest. Eidos Montreal has my attention now, and there's a new Hitman game in the works, so I find it harder to care about what comes from their Japanese teams these days. It would take a lot more than one good game to change that too.

[Jessweeee♪]

I don't care what anybody says, FFXIII was already a good game

[Mirage]

man does this thread stink of prejudice.

[Del Murder]

I think FFXIII sort of ruined FFXIII-2 to be a 'great' game for me. But if the improvements are substantial and I enjoy it a lot more then it would give me more confidence that SE does listen to its fans and may try to incorporate more feedback into its games, which can only be a good thing.

[Elpizo]

man does this thread stink of prejudice.

Not really, but XIII-2 has been surrounded by negativity since it was first announced. Of course the dislikers will always be louder than those who do like it, and there are many people out there who liked XIII. Just not on eyesonff, it would seem. ^^" So I'm simply asking those naysayers: what if XIII-2 does turn out to be a good game?

Fail to see the prejudice in that. A recent batch of screenshots succeeded in making me personally looking forward to it, being generally positive.

[Wolf Kanno]

I can't fathom the thought of the game not doing well. The FF brand name alone will get it pretty big numbers and actually putting real gameplay into alone is going to put it on a higher standard than its predecessor. I fully expect this game to eclipse the original with the middle crowd of FF fans who liked XIII, but had legitimate complaints about its piss poor design. Lovers probably already have their pre-order receipts and haters will avoid it, but I feel SE has done a good job addressing the complaints with XIII and they've been doing heavy PR for the game like hell, I mean they let Del and Schlup take a crack at it for a publicity stunt, SE knows damn well this game needs to succeed. I'm pretty confident it will not only turn a decent profit for SE, but will most likely be hailed as "the game XIII should have been".

As for the issue of this game reversing the negative view of SE's ability to make great AAA titles, I don't think this will help. This was SE literally apologizing for a game that should have been done right the first time and all they really did was listen to feedback and implement it. It doesn't really prove the core FF team know what they are doing anymore, and I feel it will take the success of later FF titles like Type-0, Versus XIII, and FFXV to finally regain consumer confidence.

[Shlup]

I think it will be a good game. I enjoyed the first three hours very much.

[Elpizo]

I think it'll be a good game, too, I really liked the screenshots shown here:

New Final Fantasy XIII-2 Screenshots - FinalFantasy-XIII.net

I mean, it has a whore in it who doesn't hide the fact that she's fanservice (Chocolina), but instead flaunts it with all she has, what's not to love?

It's kind of hard to imagine SE screwing this one up, like Wolf said. And the impressions of those who have played it seem to mostly lean towards the positive side, too. So those are all good signs. But again, I kinda agree with Wolf in that it won't be enough to convince the naysayers that SE can still do it. Maybe if XIII-2 had been XIII, people wouldn't be so negative towards SE today.

We need a historia crux to go back in time and fix that paradox.

[DMKA]

I think it's going to be good, personally, but I doubt anyone who hated FFXIII is going to have a change of heart with FFXIII-2.

Then again, I remember a handful of people here who hated FFX but loved FFX-2, so you never know really.

[TrollHunter]

I think it's going to be good, personally, but I doubt anyone who hated FFXIII is going to have a change of heart with FFXIII-2.

Then again, I remember a handful of people here who hated FFX but loved FFX-2, so you never know really.

Pretty much this.
Though you have to remember, XIII-2 is more of a revamp of the original, whereas X-2 was done entirely different than it's predecessor. The 2 aren't really comparable at all as they are entirely different except for the dash and 2 in their name.

[Bolivar]

Not even great or earthshakingly fantastic, but just a good, fun RPG. What then?

You know, this is EXACTLY how I'd describe FFXIII. While I'm totally expecting FFXIII to be a lot better based on Del's impressions with the first three hours, I actually can't see myself getting it, despite liking XIII a lot. I already know what's there and I can't say it can compete with exploring more of the Dragon Quest series, discovering what Arc the Lad is all about, or re-playing the first Valkyria Chronicles.

So Jess put it best:

I don't care what anybody says, FFXIII was already a good game