Lack of random battles

[Miriel]

Ok, now that a bunch of people have played the demo, what are your thoughts on the lack of random battles? I know that a lot of people had beef about this before they knew how it would exactly play out, but from playing the demo, the number of battles I ran into were just about the same (if not more) as the number of battles I would run into in the other FF games.

I really enjoyed the mix of suddenly being attacked by a monster and me running up to an unsuspecting creature and just start beating it up. Plus, I really liked the fact that unlike in FFXI, even when you get attacked by aggressive monsters, it didn't mean instant death for your party.

I don't think it's something that will take a lot of getting used to by people who are used to the traditional random battles, or who have never played FFXI before.

Overall, I really liked it.

[Kyuu]

I haven't played the demo..but I do heard about the lack of random battles thingie. I don't really understand how it works. Is it that you can avoid fighting monsters you don't want to in the world map? How?

[Setzer Gabianni]

I won't be liking the system. I loved random battles, it's a part of FF which means a lot to me - why wait until now to put in this "new" battle system?

[Miriel]

I won't be liking the system. I loved random battles, it's a part of FF which means a lot to me - why wait until now to put in this "new" battle system?

Have you even played the demo? Don't knock it til you've tried it.

[Little Blue]

I won't be liking the system. I loved random battles, it's a part of FF which means a lot to me - why wait until now to put in this "new" battle system?

I agree with this. I havent played the demo yet, so I wont say whether I like or dislike the new system yet, but I dislike the concept of it and I personally believe it has no place in an FF game. Random battles are as much a part of FF as summons, cheesy love stories, and characters called Cid (some of these are more recent concepts, but the point still stands). I'll miss the randomness of the battles and pray that XIII has the return of randomness.

As for whether I like the system, I'll say when I get the game when its released here...

[sub zero]

the new system is something like...

stage 1 find/be attacked by monster
stage 2 auto target
stage 3 decide to fight or RUN FOR IT
stage 4 the fight is dont with an atb bar and the char either auto attack at full or you tell em to do something
stage 5 victory dance or not and recive exp from dead monster.


i think this is it ive seen loads of screen shots and brif explanations online and in offical playstation 2 magasine for october last year i think.

[a nirvana fan]

Hmm maybe it's just that part of the game.

[Miriel]

See, the thing I was trying to point out about the lack of random battles, is that it's not THAT different from the previous FF games. If you play the demo, you'll see that it really works well for the game.

[Winter Nights]

Every time the specifics of a new FF game is announced, people complain that certain changes ruin the staples of FF. 9 times out of 10, it's these same people that praise these changes when the game comes out. It's nothing new.

[Markus. D]

Have you even played the demo? Don't knock it til you've tried it.

you cant even knock it if youve played the demo, its a demo.

judge it once you have played through the full thing peoples.

[Ouch!]

Tsukasa, I really doubt that at this point they're going to so drastically change the system used in the demo that we won't be able to use the demo as a basis for opinion.

I liked the new system. Random battles ticked me off if only because they took so freakin' long. Staying on the same screen without initiating the battle and then wading through exp., gil, and items gained (even if the process wasn't that long) is a big relief to me. I disliked the first part of the demo where the game paused whenever you selected an option on the menu. It made the system feel disjointed and choppy. The second part where everything kept going was lots better. I had a lot of fun playing the demo. That's all that really matters to me.

[a nirvana fan]

Either way, it's going to be a very good game.

[Slothy]

I'll just say this about random battles; I've put up with them for about 13 years now in games and I'm sick of it. This system is much more enjoyable since you avoid that transition between a field map and battle screen, and I can choose to avoid fighting at all, which from what I played in the demo is a lot easier than trying to run has traditionally been. And if you're near death with no MP trying desperately to get to a save point or out of the dungeon to restock, it'll be really nice to not have to pray to whatever god you believe in you escape the battle without being wiped out.

Sorry if I sound a bit bitter, but it's about time we had a little change in this area. Now in Squares defence, they wanted to put in enemies you could see and avoid in FFX, and when I found that out I was very dissapointed it didn't make it into the game. I still enjoy random battles sometimes (or more accurately, don't mind them), as proven by the fact that I'm greatly enjoying playing through DQVIII at the moment, but it's about time we had a little change.

[boys from the dwarf]

this will be a bit more sophisticated and although i enjoy the turn based ATB systems i welcome this new one and want to try it A.S.A.P.

[Cathyrine Tyrn]

I've played the Demo and i enjoyed the new battle system. The way it is set up Random battles would be totally out of place.

You could be thrust into battle in the middle of a town! It makes the whole thing exciting. Not like other RPGS where you see the monsters on the field, run into them *whooshy sound and visual effects* battle starts. Instead: Your walking along, theres and enemy, you can avoid it, or run right up and kill 'em before they know what hit 'em! The only whooshy-ness in the Demo was when the boss battle start, and only to show where the boss monster is. You can still run from it too! (If its giving you an incredibly hard time.)