What are your thoughts on the FFXIII series?

[Hannibal_Khan]

I thought XIII was pretty bad. I remember being about 25 hrs into the game and just quit playing. Data logs? "Hallways"? No exploration or towns? smh ... XIII just did not feel like a true Final Fantasy experience. In regards to the writing and story, i think chionos said it best with "melodrama". The summons were turrible. The music was mostly bad, while some was just horrible. That main song with the repeating 'melody' was like nails on a chalkboard after a while. The battle system was lousy.

I actually thought XIII-2 was OK, or maybe just meh, idk. I had low expectations when i played it so maybe that curved my judgement. The story was forgettable, the chocobo racing got boring real fast, and it still had Hope(although alot less of him). But the time travel was interesting, and those clock puzzle things i actually kinda enjoyed, and i thought the jump button was sorta novel for FF and i enjoyed jumping my way along the whole game, although yeah it was very limited in what you could use the jump for. And it kinda felt less "hallway-e". But my overall grade for the game would be: Meh, or maybe +Meh. Mostly, its just forgettable.

I might get LR if I happened to see it for a bargain($10 or less), as i hear thy improved things in regards to exploration and battle system, but ultimately i think i might avoid buying it, as any revenue generated form this game might... might...... in some way encourage SE to make another mediocre FF game into an expansion of sequels that last an entire console generation!

FFs have been getting progressively less funny over the years. What happened to SE's sense of humor? Was that all Sakaguchi? Or maybe Uematsu? When did FF stop being fun? These games have no soul. The characters have no soul, no real warmth, no depth.

I couldn't agree more with this. Zidane always breaking Steiner's balls, or giving vivi advice about women.... that was all gold, imo. And i believe thats why IX is my favorite, too me its just the funniest. XIII seemed to be completely divorced of comedic relief. FF desperately needs some humor back in the series.

[Formalhaut]

Oh you guys should listen to some of the funny responses to dialogue in FFXIII-2. It has a heavy plot, but really know how to take itself lightly sometimes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hz3LoiAFtQ

[chionos]

Okay, fluffy bunny, this is a thread of hate. You don't belong here.

[fat_moogle]

Does anyone else think that entirely removing the fanfare theme from the game was a stupid decision? A simple " duh duh duh duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duuuuhhhhh!", even if only after a boss fight as FFXII did, would have injected more of a Final Fantasy feel in to the game.

[metagloria]

All three XIII games are better than IV and VI.

[Ayen]

All three XIII games are better than IV and VI.

Yeah, that's why XIII is facing VII for a spot in the semi finals--

Oh, wait. No it isn't

[Loony BoB]

Yeah, XIII had decent humour, probably on par with the rest of the series (I don't think any FF has been that high on the comedy scale overall, but most of them have their moments).

[Mirage]

I might get LR if I happened to see it for a bargain($10 or less), as i hear thy improved things in regards to exploration and battle system, but ultimately i think i might avoid buying it, as any revenue generated form this game might... might...... in some way encourage SE to make another mediocre FF game into an expansion of sequels that last an entire console generation!

Easily solved by buying it second hand. It's what I did, and for that exact reason.

[Masamunemaster]

Honestly, I love Fang. Her voice acting is probably the best in a while.

[Egami]

I already said my piece about XIII in another post. Simply put, it is the worst FF game and one of the worst RPGs in general I have ever played. I am replaying XII at the moment and looking at XIII as the follow up to that game it is amazing how much XIII fails at every level and I wonder what SE were thinking when they made it. The two follow up games were SE basically backpedaling and being defensive due to the criticisms XIII received.

So, XIII-2 gave you a bit more freedom to jump around the different areas, gave you a bit more to do than just running forward in narrow corridors fighting monsters, included npcs, made some adjustments to the battle system such as you being gable to change the party leader (which XII had already implemented years before and XIII took away for no reason), etc. But it still inherited a lot of the things that made XIII bad and added a few of it's own bad things along the way.

LR gave you a more open world feel (again in response to criticism and the demand for such among gamers and again which XII had already done years before and XIII took away for no reason) and more customization with it's schema system; but then it mitigates against the exploration of said world with it's time limit/mechanic making you feel rushed and cutting you off from certain areas at different times of the day. It also has what is perhaps the most annoying aspect in a FF game done no less by who is probably the most annoying character in FF history: Hope. I hate games that treat me as if I am too stupid to figure things out or as if I have a ridiculously short attention span. Hope is nearly always pointing out the obvious or is constantly reminding you of things you already know and he does this over and over again to the point where it becomes annoying and distracting. I already KNOW I will be teleported back at 6:00, I KNOW there is a ladder there I can use or that I only need another number for the passcode, so pretty please...with sugar on top...shut the hell up. It is as if the game doesn't trusts the capability of the player to figure things out on his own and goes out of it's way to hand hold you in a rather abrasive manner. It is really distracting and immersion breaking.

I probably could expand some more on what I said about XIII-2 and LR but I really don't feel up to it and I don't want to ruin the good mood I am in . All in all I think the XIII saga is a massive disappointment that really shouldn't have been the way it was in the first place. Going by what we have seen so far, XV actually seems more like a proper follow up to XII and what SE should have done with XIII in the first place.

[Richard]

Sort of wish Square would go back to making the FF games like they did Final Fantasy 7. It was less complicated.

[Mirage]

I already said my piece about XIII in another post. Simply put, it is the worst FF game and one of the worst RPGs in general I have ever played. I am replaying XII at the moment and looking at XIII as the follow up to that game it is amazing how much XIII fails at every level and I wonder what SE were thinking when they made it. The two follow up games were SE basically backpedaling and being defensive due to the criticisms XIII received.

So, XIII-2 gave you a bit more freedom to jump around the different areas, gave you a bit more to do than just running forward in narrow corridors fighting monsters, included npcs, made some adjustments to the battle system such as you being gable to change the party leader (which XII had already implemented years before and XIII took away for no reason), etc. But it still inherited a lot of the things that made XIII bad and added a few of it's own bad things along the way.

LR gave you a more open world feel (again in response to criticism and the demand for such among gamers and again which XII had already done years before and XIII took away for no reason) and more customization with it's schema system; but then it mitigates against the exploration of said world with it's time limit/mechanic making you feel rushed and cutting you off from certain areas at different times of the day. It also has what is perhaps the most annoying aspect in a FF game done no less by who is probably the most annoying character in FF history: Hope. I hate games that treat me as if I am too stupid to figure things out or as if I have a ridiculously short attention span. Hope is nearly always pointing out the obvious or is constantly reminding you of things you already know and he does this over and over again to the point where it becomes annoying and distracting. I already KNOW I will be teleported back at 6:00, I KNOW there is a ladder there I can use or that I only need another number for the passcode, so pretty please...with sugar on top...shut the hell up. It is as if the game doesn't trusts the capability of the player to figure things out on his own and goes out of it's way to hand hold you in a rather abrasive manner. It is really distracting and immersion breaking.

I probably could expand some more on what I said about XIII-2 and LR but I really don't feel up to it and I don't want to ruin the good mood I am in . All in all I think the XIII saga is a massive disappointment that really shouldn't have been the way it was in the first place. Going by what we have seen so far, XV actually seems more like a proper follow up to XII and what SE should have done with XIII in the first place.

The problem is that in LR, some players might actually not have time to figure these things out on their own. If the game wasn't time limited, it'd be different.

[Ayen]

Sort of wish Square would go back to making the FF games like they did Final Fantasy 7. It was less complicated.

I can't help but respond with this:

[BlackFire]

I enjoyed XIII. Of course there were some difficult fights and boss fights in there. I also liked the main characters. Fang will always be a top favorite of mine, she and Lightning make a good ass kicking team! The music I enjoyed too and the battle system. The linear gameplay I wasn't too much a fan of, but I got used to it.

I haven't played XIII-2 yet, but I have played LR.
That game and the clock and the first time fighting Noel and Caius was HARD.
The final boss was also a bit hard. But the combat system was great, I also liked all the garb options Lightning has. Also, every area was more open than XIII. Some areas felt like Gran Pulse.
The story was one I have heard of before. I liked the side missions and the insane stories that cropped up there. Some of those NPCs were dressed weird. LOL.

The 13 series to me has good replayability. I have beat both.