LingeringSoul Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Not sure how many people here are still looking forward to Final Fantasy XIII, but one of the Destructoid editors finished the Japanese version of the game, and he wrote two really good spoiler-free articles discussing some of the things that he liked and didn't like about the game: Ten Things I Loved About Final Fantasy XIII (link) Ten Things I Didn't Love About Final Fantasy XIII (link) Some of the highlights from the articles for me: Final Fantasy XIII stands out as the most difficult of any in the series for me... Even beyond boss battles, there are regular enemy encounters that are so punishing that I found that i had to take a "calm down" break. The editor listed this as a thing he didn't like, but personally, I couldn't be happier. I think it's universally agreed upon that FFVIII, IX, and X were all on the easy side. It sounds like this game is going to go back to the difficulty level of FFIV. I'm looking forward to some fights that I'll actually have to use strategy for, instead of just grinding until my characters are strong, and overpowering bosses with my best attacks. We're talking the kind of battles of the RPGs of days gone by, where you'd have to mentally prepare for difficult, involved clashes that take you to wits end. You will die. You will have to try multiple strategies... I've never continued so many times in an RPG. Along the same lines as the previous quote, but again, I breathed a sigh of relief when I read this. It's been a while since I played a really challenging RPG. I have never heard a Final Fantasy score better than this. To me, this score tops Final Fantasy VI, VII and VIII in both quality of composition and range of style. Pretty strong statement, especially considering how great the score was in FFVII and FFVIII. This is something I'll definitely have to hear to believe. As far as epic boss battle music is concerned, One Winged Angel is tough to beat ;). Final Fantasy XIII is also jam-packed with optional missions. It's easy to walk past the opportunity to perform most of these missions, which is a shame, because they're incredibly satisfying. This isn't something that's going to appeal to everyone, but it's a huge plus for me. I'm a huge fan of massive RPGs that you can get lost in (Oblivion and Fallout 3 being two somewhat recent examples), and I'm glad to see that this game is going to have its fair share of sidequests. If there's one part of the game they just flat-out messed up on, it's the camera and hit point display in battle... Final Fantasy XIII's battle camera, while excellent on zooming in on the action, is really bad about clipping your view of the hit point damage counts. That's pretty inexcusable. How hard is it to get the camera right in a JRPG? But the biggest offender for me was the next point: There are no towns or villages or cities other than ones that serve as a backdrop to the action... there are no NPCs you can walk up to to get those optional little story bites that make your typical role-playing game that much richer and deeper. and... There's no warm and safe inn to rest up in and save your game. You walk up to a floating panel that does it all digitally. There's no busty shopkeeper there to sell her wares. Again, its the same floating panel that you also save at. You purchase things at a menu, like a futuristic all-in-one vending machine. Again, I suppose that this ties into the story line (you'll see), but sometimes it felt a bit discouraging and less involving. I'm not going to lie, that really hurts the game for me already. One of the things that makes RPGs amazing in my books is having a living, breathing world that I can get lost in. Some of the best game environments for me are the ones that feel alive, like the Citadel in Mass Effect, Balamb Garden in FFVIII (I think that's what it's called, it's been a while), or even Megaton from Fallout 3. Not having anything like that is a major downside for sure. I think I recall reading somewhere that it was a consequence of the amount of time it takes to create each environment these days. Still disappointing nonetheless. Anyways, cool articles for those of you who are still looking forward to the game, and they're both spoiler-free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo2008jedi Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I've got the game pre-ordred and still awaiting patiently for it :D I enjoy FF series for its story, not for the RPG content. Good read though, but still excited ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lingwo Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I'm still going to buy it but the lack of towns is pretty much inexcusable. Nothing better than having a dungeon crawl then finishing a massive boss then going to a new town to rest and get some more story. Hopefully the game will still be good. I was disappointed with XII. I don't want to be disappointed with two Final Fantasy games in a row. Black Flash 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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