FFXIII-3 Announced

[Brandon Strader]

If you go maybe half a year and you still don't have a chance to get into it, shoot me a message and I should have the finances to set you up with something.

While I appreciate the very generous offer, there's no way I would ever feel comfortable with that kind of thing unless your studies somehow lead you to become a millionaire. In which case I'd hope you would buy a PSP for EVERYONE!

But yeah I won't buy a PSP and Crisis Core unless I find a ridiculously low-priced bundle of them for like... $20 or something.. it could happen.

[EC2151]

It's a wonder they keep on investing in a world and universe and set of characters that are in no way interesting or compelling.

[Dexie]

It's a wonder they keep on investing in a world and universe and set of characters that are in no way interesting or compelling.

My guess is, FFXIII was so expensive to make, that they're wanting to reuse it's assets as much as possible.

I didn't bother with XIII-2 personally, not after getting so burnt with the first game. Did it reuse a lot of assets from the first? As much as FFX-2 did?

[Fishy]

Personally, I thought CC was cheap/not too good. It reminds me of numerous other 3rd party action/RPGs with one controllable character, but with boring rehashes of dungeons. Excepting its tagging on of the FF7 plotline, it is worse than many other similar cheap games.

I'm probably in the minority there though.

^Dis.

I think it was around the time they tried to convince me that Nemesis was present at Nibel and had a ridiculous battle with Zack in the middle of the reactor incident that I gave up on the story being canon. There is absolutely no way this was planned from the original and its just obvious shoehorning of characters and plots and in around the original plot without due care.

The ending scene may have been very good, but a good game that does not make.

[Thin Crust]

While I appreciate the very generous offer, there's no way I would ever feel comfortable with that kind of thing unless your studies somehow lead you to become a millionaire. In which case I'd hope you would buy a PSP for EVERYONE!

But yeah I won't buy a PSP and Crisis Core unless I find a ridiculously low-priced bundle of them for like... $20 or something.. it could happen.

Right now I'm making more money than I know what to do with. The only thing stopping me from spending like crazy is my debt and the fact that my employment is only temporary. But with my experience from the last 2 temporary positions, I shouldn't have a problem getting some full time employment. Hopefully in someplace cold.

This is why I asked to wait half a year. Your music is worth more than what I'm offering.

[Avatar of Justice]

The thing that really pisses me off with Square's marketing with this game is that they keep talking about Lightning as if anyone cared about her. No, I didn't hate her or the cast of FF13 like some people (although I never bothered to beat the game once I got to Pulse), but she was never charismatic enough for me to care about what happened to her. Stop trying to pretend like we give a shit about Lightning Square-Enix.

[Soma]

The thing that really pisses me off with Square's marketing with this game is that they keep talking about Lightning as if anyone cared about her. No, I didn't hate her or the cast of FF13 like some people (although I never bothered to beat the game once I got to Pulse), but she was never charismatic enough for me to care about what happened to her. Stop trying to pretend like we give a shit about Lightning Square-Enix.

THIS.

I also never bothered once I got to Pulse. Lightning is not a good character, is she? Does she even have any character development? I'm one to talk, never beating either game, but playing both. Seriously though, does something interesting with Lightning ever happen?

[Magnetic Ether]

On a slightly offtopic note, can someone tell me why exactly everyone hated XIII?

I haven't played it, and the complaint that I've heard most often is that it was too linear, but wasn't that the case with X as well? You know, the one that (for some reason) everyone loved?

From what I've seen of it, the battle system, and for that matter just about everything else, looked pretty damn good...

[Bleck]

I haven't played it, and the complaint that I've heard most often is that it was too linear, but wasn't that the case with X as well?

X was linear in storytelling, which is not a bad thing. XIII was physically linear, as in dungeons and areas are all long featureless straight lines.

The battle system being good is one of those things where it doesn't really matter at all, I think. If you think any Final Fantasy game is good particularly because of the battle system, I don't think you're really paying attention to what makes these games go from good to great.

That being said, FFXIII's battle system is pretty good; it just doesn't make up for how pretentious and boring the rest of the game is. Even the music, arguably the most popular part of the series, kind of just straight up sucks.

[Thin Crust]

I also had to struggle to finish the game. The problem wasn't so much with linearity for me so much as it was for story. You have been branded by the devil and unless you complete your demonic mission, you will turn to a mindless ghoul. If you do complete your mission, you turn into a crystal. The whole game is just one long question of what should you do when any choice you make is going to make you suffer forever. The ending couldn't even resolve this without a deus ex machina.

[Magnetic Ether]

X was linear in storytelling, which is not a bad thing. XIII was physically linear, as in dungeons and areas are all long featureless straight lines.

The battle system being good is one of those things where it doesn't really matter at all, I think. If you think any Final Fantasy game is good particularly because of the battle system, I don't think you're really paying attention to what makes these games go from good to great.

That being said, FFXIII's battle system is pretty good; it just doesn't make up for how pretentious and boring the rest of the game is. Even the music, arguably the most popular part of the series, kind of just straight up sucks.

Maybe it's just me, but I found X to be pretty physically linear too, apart from the occasional open space (and even then there wasn't much to do but get to the other side).

As for the battle system...that's kind of why I play games. I can enjoy a game with not so great gameplay if the story is really good, but it works the other way too (FFXII).

As for the music, I haven't listened to the entire soundtrack, but I've enjoyed pretty much all of what I've heard (The battle themes, main menu theme, and a few others).

Sorry, I know it's stupid that I'm arguing the merits of a game I haven't even played, and it really just comes down to personal preference, but it just doesn't seem like such a bad game to me.

Edit: I really don't know too much about the plot aspects, and those could absolutely be terrible, the other stuff doesn't seem so bad though.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

Final Fantasy X WAS pretty damn linear, both "physically" and... however the fuck else linear something can be(what?), so I don't know where Bleck is coming from there.I guess the complaint about linearity has more to do with the pacing when compared with FFX; there are hardly any "lulls" in the action for example. The biggest problem that FFXIII DOES have in that regard is ALL the hand holding it does until you get to around chapter 9 and have access to a full party. THAT'S annoying.

I won't argue that the story, while having an interesting concept, needed some drastic help with adding exposition to certain situations/characters, and the character dialogue really drew a lot from bad anime cliches sometimes in my opinion.

The battle system was pretty great, though. I also don't understand where Bleck comes from with the whole "you're not paying attention to what makes Final Fantasy games great". If people didn't give 3 squats about the battle system or thought it was great, then we wouldn't have throngs of 'em clamoring for a return to the traditional ATB system. People play whatever game for plenty of reasons. I can't think of any game in the series that had a plot was better than any fun anime/manga personally.

I WILL play an RPG mostly for the battle system(since I'm you know, playing a game), and because of that, the graphics, the audio, and yes, I do like Lightning(and Serah in FFXIII-2), the Final Fantasy XIII series ranks on my favorite list flaws and all, and I'm eagerly anticipating FFXIII-3(refuse to call it that other thing).

Of course different strokes for different folks.

[Bleck]

Final Fantasy X WAS pretty damn linear, both "physically" and... however the fuck else linear something can be(what?), so I don't know where Bleck is coming from there.

Here's a map from FFX. Here's a map from FFXIII.

If you're interpreting linearity as how straight your story's path is from one story event to another, yes, FFX is linear - and so is literally every other JRPG ever made. It's a stupid criticism.

[Magnetic Ether]

Here's a map from FFX. Here's a map from FFXIII.

If you're interpreting linearity as how straight your story's path is from one story event to another, yes, FFX is linear - and so is literally every other JRPG ever made. It's a stupid criticism.

Most of X felt like that XIII map. Yes occasionally you'd be able to walk around a town or something, but as soon as you left you were put right back on the path again. Those temples were small exceptions I suppose.

[EC2151]

The thing that really pisses me off with Square's marketing with this game is that they keep talking about Lightning as if anyone cared about her. No, I didn't hate her or the cast of FF13 like some people (although I never bothered to beat the game once I got to Pulse), but she was never charismatic enough for me to care about what happened to her. Stop trying to pretend like we give a shit about Lightning Square-Enix.

It's hard to care about Lightning when the only reason she exists is to make people mistake her for Cloud.

The opening of XIII aped off of VII's opening so hard, it's like they wanted it to be the new VII. Except where at least they told you what the hell was going on (Ok so I'm this ex-SOLDIER guy going to SHINRA or something to help these tree-hugging eco-terrorists ok), they don't do any of that in XIII so you're just kind of wondering what the fuck is going on. And the director whose name I can't recall can't direct a game worth for shit and expects you to figure things out by reading a fucking menu.

And the battle system wasn't great either. It's picking the exact correct combinations at the correct time during a boss fight to avoid instant death. That's not role-playing. That's that game you play as a kid where you hold out your hands and try to pull them away before someone hits them.

This is XIII. Never gave a damn looking into XIII-2. But I can't imagine the vaunted "Lightning saga" getting any better.

[GSO]

FFXIII-3? nuuuuuuuu.....

[Ptazza]

Personally I wasn't a fan of XIII's gameplay OR story.

I'll admit, mashing X is something I tend to do in FF games eventually, but normally I do it near end-game to grind when I just slam on attack. It's not something I want for my entire game.

In XIII battles are won and lost pre-battle where if you have the wrong paradigms you'll just lose and the rest is mashing X. Sure you can input attacks one by one, but the game was designed arounf autobattle and I feel I get outpaced quickly if I try and think about it. Literally the only time I did is when I was synergising because the synergist AI doesn't have a clue what is good for party members.

When I simply mash a button or two for an entire game it just gets dull. FFXIII-2's final boss was beat almost exclusively with X since I went Medic Rav Commando.

It's not that I hate all the characters of XIII neither, on reflection most of them are ok, I like Vanille, Sazh, Fang and Snow. It's just the game focuses so hard on Lightning who I hated that it just gets dull. The game also hardly explains who anyone is unless you are willing to stop and read the codec every 5 minutes. The first time I found out Jill's name is in the cutscene where she's mentioned by name and killed and yet the flashbacks kept trying to make her out like a big character.

The plot also suffers yes, so they want us to destroy this thing but we have no choice because we'll become monsters so lets just shout and bawl until it seems like we are rebelling but in the end we'll just destroy that thing anyway and then everyone will survive despite everything being coated in fire and then crystallised.

So yes XIII I felt was a bit awful, X on the otherhand is amazing. It's linear to the point that it tells the story but it gives you optional dungeons and areas and a proper craft system and a minigame that compels you to travel the world looking for players. It's sidequests involve going over the world and to revisit temples, it's secrets are off the beaten path and reward you handsomely. Remember the Calm Lands? It has TWO secret temples with sidequests and rewards branching off of them and a whole racing minigame AND a Capture outpost with a monster arena!

A more direct comparison is Gran Pulse, a big field with branching areas (granted the only bit in the game) but the difference is in the content. For it's sheer size there's just not much worthwhile to do. You can go about treasure hunting on a chocobo or you can complete a bunch of battle-missions in the same few areas for limited rewards. There's not enough reason to engage with the world in XIII. Endgame in X you can go anywhere, and even unlock new places and the game gives you good reason to go to these places.

That's probably why X feels so much less linear than XIII. At the end of it we feel compelled to explore the world because there is more to find. With XIII by the time you've reached Eden you are more or less done.

[-Dan]

I want a free-walk world map back!

[Modus]

FFXIII-3? nuuuuuuuu.....

FFXIII-3? nuuuuuuuu.....

FFXIII-3? nuuuuuuuu.....

nuuuuuuu.....

[Thin Crust]

I want a free-walk world map back!

That's supposedly what this one will be. Along with the new Metal Gear Solid game announced and Versus XIII

[-Dan]

That's supposedly what this one will be. Along with the new Metal Gear Solid game announced and Versus XIII

Hmmm.. One day I'll buy a PS3 to check this.

[quintin3265]

I would agree with your dislike of mashing "X," but I don't agree that Final Fantasy XIII-2 involved much mashing of X because it was more difficult than the first installment.

I think you mistake "mashing X" with being "too easy." Games that are too easy often have great battle systems, but the player just ignores all that great stuff because it's so complicated and unnecessary to win such an easy game. The first Final Fantasy XIII was too easy, and so you could win most battles by mashing X even if you didn't really know how to play the game.

By the way, if you think that these games are too easy, play Tales of Graces f, and set the difficulty to Chaos mode. It's the only RPG I've ever played where the game is actually difficult enough that you need to use every last bit of the battle system to win battles. I had to replay some battles 30 or 40 times, and have gotten to the point where the boss needs one hit to die after an hour of battling, but I have all life bottles used up, one character alive, a huge attack on the way, and less than 100HP remaining.

That's a game you can win by mashing X in Easy mode. In Chaos mode, there are times like the one above where you pause and spend minutes trying to figure out the exact sequence to save the battle quickly enough before you die. The difference with mashing X is all about difficulty in any game.

Personally I wasn't a fan of XIII's gameplay OR story.

I'll admit, mashing X is something I tend to do in FF games eventually, but normally I do it near end-game to grind when I just slam on attack. It's not something I want for my entire game.

In XIII battles are won and lost pre-battle where if you have the wrong paradigms you'll just lose and the rest is mashing X. Sure you can input attacks one by one, but the game was designed arounf autobattle and I feel I get outpaced quickly if I try and think about it. Literally the only time I did is when I was synergising because the synergist AI doesn't have a clue what is good for party members.

When I simply mash a button or two for an entire game it just gets dull. FFXIII-2's final boss was beat almost exclusively with X since I went Medic Rav Commando.

It's not that I hate all the characters of XIII neither, on reflection most of them are ok, I like Vanille, Sazh, Fang and Snow. It's just the game focuses so hard on Lightning who I hated that it just gets dull. The game also hardly explains who anyone is unless you are willing to stop and read the codec every 5 minutes. The first time I found out Jill's name is in the cutscene where she's mentioned by name and killed and yet the flashbacks kept trying to make her out like a big character.

The plot also suffers yes, so they want us to destroy this thing but we have no choice because we'll become monsters so lets just shout and bawl until it seems like we are rebelling but in the end we'll just destroy that thing anyway and then everyone will survive despite everything being coated in fire and then crystallised.

So yes XIII I felt was a bit awful, X on the otherhand is amazing. It's linear to the point that it tells the story but it gives you optional dungeons and areas and a proper craft system and a minigame that compels you to travel the world looking for players. It's sidequests involve going over the world and to revisit temples, it's secrets are off the beaten path and reward you handsomely. Remember the Calm Lands? It has TWO secret temples with sidequests and rewards branching off of them and a whole racing minigame AND a Capture outpost with a monster arena!

A more direct comparison is Gran Pulse, a big field with branching areas (granted the only bit in the game) but the difference is in the content. For it's sheer size there's just not much worthwhile to do. You can go about treasure hunting on a chocobo or you can complete a bunch of battle-missions in the same few areas for limited rewards. There's not enough reason to engage with the world in XIII. Endgame in X you can go anywhere, and even unlock new places and the game gives you good reason to go to these places.

That's probably why X feels so much less linear than XIII. At the end of it we feel compelled to explore the world because there is more to find. With XIII by the time you've reached Eden you are more or less done.

[Ptazza]

I would agree with your dislike of mashing "X," but I don't agree that Final Fantasy XIII-2 involved much mashing of X because it was more difficult than the first installment.

I think you mistake "mashing X" with being "too easy." Games that are too easy often have great battle systems, but the player just ignores all that great stuff because it's so complicated and unnecessary to win such an easy game. The first Final Fantasy XIII was too easy, and so you could win most battles by mashing X even if you didn't really know how to play the game.

True some folks would say that, but it's actually true in my opinion for XIII-2.

The ability to mash X (meaning 'attack') and win should be a privelige won through levelling and power and used to grind/sidequest in weaker areas unless your party is very physically based, even then a good game will give some 'physical abilities' like armour break or mug to break up the monotony a bit. In the XIII series it is all that the game is.

I didn't mean you could mash X and win all the time no, the game can be difficult and it killed me a couple times (well XIII-2 didn't but XIII did a few times) but that's not because of mashing X, like I said the difficulty is in planning, with the right paradigms you mash X occasionally L1 and win, there's no real depth outside of the planning. You don't stop to think "Right I need to armour break this enemy, that enemy is immune to anything but fire, perhaps I should blind that enemy because his physical attacks really hurt" you just hit X and the computer lines up the weaknesses/strategies/attacks based on the pre-planned battle formation. In a sense the gameplay is like flicking between channels on TV, to whatever you feel the need to watch/in the mood for, and I just found the gameplay really disengaging.

However I did find XIII and XIII-2 especially easy which is in contrast to your findings so *shrug* perhaps it's just a difference of opinion.