Crow taste surprisingly a lot like gatorade

[Ayen]

So, over the weekend I was abducted by a group of Italian Midgets and taken to a basement in an undisclosed location and forced to play Final Fantasy XIII at gunpoint. Luckily for me it was the PS3 version and not the X360 because even Italian Midgets aren't that cruel.

I don't know if it's the lack of oxygen, or the gun to my head, but... the game isn't as bad as I remember it being.

Maybe it's because I'm older, was in a better mindset to focus and turn into a crystal for eternal life, or maybe it's just because I had the PS3 version and HD, but pretty much everything I remember being terrible was inaccurate.

Snow didn't make me want to rip off my ears and throw them into a garbage disposer, and the voice acting so far is solid, and maybe even an improvement on the last game. Even if the writing isn't the best. But it says a lot about the cast that they're able to overcome the weakness in the writing. Except all the hero lines, those are just cheesy. They don't waste time with the melodramatics, but I thought they balanced it out just fine with some humorous moments, too. Sazh is hilarious, and Snow's back and forth with his buddies at the start were genuinely funny.

The beginning reminds me a lot of FFVII. A lot. Lightning whole backstory right now sounds like they checked off the Cloud checklist as quickly as they could. You're riding on the train, and there's even a metal scorpion running around. Though there's also some specs of IX thrown in there too with all the jumping around between main characters until they unite towards the end of the chapter. Though the city itself with the streets in the sky reminds me more of Zanarkand than anything. If Zanarkand had a green tint and felt like you were in the Matrix.

Battle System keeps the more fast-pace approach that was first established in X-2, but is a bit more faster than what I remember X-2 being. The tutorial seems to be the only time you get a chance to take everything in. After that you're either quick on your feet or you're dead. Potions being able to cure all party members at the same time is a godsend! So, yeah, if you're more into the slower turn-based types the game's not for you. There's more to it than the popular 'press X to win' method of older games, and a lot to remember at the get-go. I still haven't fully mastered Staggering yet, and I'm gonna have to if I want to get anywhere.

I'm only on Chapter 3 right now, so I haven't played enough of the game to have a full concrete opinion on it just yet, but I'll play what I can when I have time. I'm about to try to beat Manasavin Warmech again. Does the Paradigm system become more varied later? Because right now I get the sense I'm going to find it annoying after a while. It's basically just,

Switch!
Switch!
Switch!
Switch!
Switch!
Switch!
Me: HEAL! HEAL! HEAL!
Vanille: I AM HEALING!
Me: HEAL FASTER DAMN YOU! -use potion-
Manasavin Warmech: -kills you before you can use it-
Me: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Smurfing asshole.
......
......
......
......
-laughs nervously- Why do you guys look so eager for your ATB gauges to fill up?

[Fynn]

You're dead to me

Seriously though, the paradigms open up way too late and the game wouldn't be half as bad if it didn't just force you to play it the way it wants you to. The rubbish story and terrible characters are just nails to the coffin, really. XIII fails as a game because it refuses to let you do your own thing at all.

[fat_moogle]

FFXIII isn't as bad as a lot of people make it out to be. I'm glad you're enjoying it this time

[Ayen]

You're dead to me

Good. I don't have to listen to you whine about X anymore.

[Fynn]

You're dead to me

Good. I don't have to listen to you whine about X anymore.

I'm not whining. It's the gospel truth

[Ayen]

If it makes you feel any better, Manasavin Warmech (lol that is such a dumn name) hates Snow about as much as you do.

Finally beat that asshole, btw.

[Karifean]

There is variety to be had in the jobs, but the game is easy enough that you can get by doing the same monotonous thing over and over again. So you have to actively seek it out. I'd almost recommend banning Auto-Battle just to encourage playing around with all the options you get more. Makes your battling more effective too and might help you keep your five stars up all the way.

[Ayen]

I just got my ass handed to me by some random enemies after the group separated and it was just Lightning and Hope hanging around. They keep doing a charge attack that sucks away all my HP in one go so it doesn't matter what I do. Every time I get used to a new style they switch it up again to where I'm back to not knowing what I'm doing.

Edit: Forgot to enhance them. Oops.

[Fynn]

It's not that I hate Snow. I just don't like how dumb he is

Though to be fair, I was giving the game a fair go. By chapter 3, I was still enjoying myself. Good luck with the chapters immediately preceding Gran Pulse, as at that point the game's flaws become increasingly noticeable.

Still, it's great that you can get some enjoyment out of it. It was kinda baffling to me that, as a critic, you simply dismissed the game completely without giving it a fair chance. And the voice acting was never terrible, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it's better than XII's

[Ayen]

I had bad experiences with the fanbase and I misplaced my anger towards the game itself, that's all.

I don't like summon battles. Anything with a time limit is annoying. Doesn't help that Odin completely kicked my ass before I could muster up any kind of offense. Maybe I should grind more...

[Mr. Carnelian]

I had bad experiences with the fanbase and I misplaced my anger towards the game itself, that's all.

I don't like summon battles. Anything with a time limit is annoying. Doesn't help that Odin completely kicked my ass before I could muster up any kind of offense. Maybe I should grind more...

The Odin summon battle is smurfing tricky. It's probably because it was earlier on and I hadn't got a full grasp on the gameplay, but I found it the second or third hardest battle in the whole game.

God knows, this game has its flaws. But, so does every game. If you're getting some enjoyment out of it, that's the important thing.

[Fynn]

Well, I'm sure happy that you guys can enjoy this game. I just personally think XIII's flaws go beyond simple flaws and just go into everything-falls-apart-even-though-the-ideas-were-nice territory, which I just like to point out so that people are aware of this, and by extention Square Enix may somehow also be aware of this so that we get better quality games in the future

[Ayen]

I had bad experiences with the fanbase and I misplaced my anger towards the game itself, that's all.

I don't like summon battles. Anything with a time limit is annoying. Doesn't help that Odin completely kicked my ass before I could muster up any kind of offense. Maybe I should grind more...

The Odin summon battle is smurfing tricky. It's probably because it was earlier on and I hadn't got a full grasp on the gameplay, but I found it the second or third hardest battle in the whole game.

God knows, this game has its flaws. But, so does every game. If you're getting some enjoyment out of it, that's the important thing.

Oh, good, it's not just me, then. I'll probably have to look up a guide or something.

The battle right before the Shiva fight pissed me off. I had no idea I was supposed to lose so I wasted all my potions on that one fight.

So far the first four chapters have felt like one very long tutorial.

[Fynn]

Yeah, it's like that until around chapter ten.

[Formalhaut]

I enjoyed FFXIII. Of the trilogy, I would say it had arguably the better contained story, but probably the worst game-play of the three. The system itself isn't bad at all, and it does allow for tactical consideration.

However, the execution was flawed. By the end game, a party of Lightning, Hope and Fang is essentially mandatory due to them three being the best team in the game. Sazh has below average stats, which cripples him. Snow is your best tank (and is worth swapping for the hardest bosses) but his selection of magic is limited. Vanille is also useful at times where de-buffs rule the strategy, but those type of fights are few and far between and Fang is enough of a saboteur to do the job in most respects.

It is a shame, because everyone can learn every job eventually, and they all vary in what moves they can learn in that pool, but ultimately LHF is the best all-round party. Balance issues is a factor hampering the game play.

The crystarium is flashy and cool-looking, if not exactly providing depth. A system that might have been more useful is if there were choices in the crystarium, where you were forced to select one upgrade over another. FFXIII-2 did this to great effect with the role bonuses, and the crystarium, like the game, is linear.

I also feel as if you should have been given greater access earlier on to different paradigms. While I enjoyed the different viewpoints offered by changing teams, I feel as if it came at the cost of experimentation.

Exploration was another issue. Very minor Chapter 8 spoliersNautilus is the worst example. Come! Explore a fantastical theme park! Walk around a constrained path with no diversions, mini-games, side-quests or anything! Most of this is down to the cast being fugitives, which is a valid point, but the sheer lack of exploration was grating.

Again, the story is what saved the game. Minor Chapter 8 spoilersNautilus's story was actually pretty good thematically: the two of them at the end of the road, enjoying a last moment of respite and calm before the storm which occurs at the end of the chapter. It was hard hitting and impactful. But the game play didn't quite live up to it.

Fortunately, I enjoyed the story enough that I played FFXIII-2 and LR, which were much better games to play.