shadowgoten Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 I got my copy at the midnight release and have been playing the everliving shit out of the game. Thoughts so far: The battle system is fast paced and frantic, and I FUCKING LOVE IT. Yes, you only control 1 character which I thought was going to be a bad thing, but with the paradigm shifts, you basically dictate who's doing what. If you need heals, you switch to a paradigm that has a medic on the team and they literally don't do anything but heal, once healed up you switch back to your rape paradigm. And for once, I find a final fantasy challenging, the battle system's fast pacedness brings about the fact that you have to keep on your toes and do the right things at the right time. The soundtrack to this game is amazing, it reminds me of all the phantasy star online soundtracks, which is a great thing. The battle music can and WILL get stuck in your head. The characters, only 5 hours deep into the game, I actually give a fuck about, which hasn't happened since like...9 (10 had auron, and that's about it), and they're all brought to life in amazingly done cutscenes and dialogue, I very much enjoy the amount of detail and effort square has put into this game. Now with that out of the way, there are somethings people have already been bitching about. The developers have decided that they want to make this game an extremely story heavy game, so for the first 20~30 hours you're going to be going through a lot of story and linear locations, there's no running off and side questing till after you hit chapter 10, but when it happens you got a HUGE amount of shit to chase after, which will make you sink tons of hours after that. Though I gotta say, the environments you do make your way through in the first portion of the game are HUGE in scope, and you feel like you really are trudging through a gigantic world rather than a small map of one. Final fantasy 12 left such a bad taste in my mouth, I honestly can't pinpoint what I hated about that game, but I just cannot play that game for long (trust me I've tried several times over the past years). I hated most of the characters, I'm sick of the vana'diel setting, and the battle system was way too slow for my tastes. Plus grinding felt like a chore. Now this isn't me saying that it was a terrible game per say, it just wasn't my cup of tea, and I felt that it strayed waaay too far from what I love about final fantasy. Others consider 12 their all time favorite. It just makes me glad that Square decided not to keep going down that path and made this game instead, it's quite a relief after this long wait. So anyone else get the game yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ila Posted March 9, 2010 Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 Grabbed it at the midnight. About 4 hours in. Calling it a night but I do have to agree on your points. Yes, the game does take a very linear path right from the start, but it's helped the narrative along. I love the presentation and small touches like listening to your party as you travel along between battles. Battle system is everything I could have hoped and dreamed for realistically. (sure the very first trailer was amazing, but we knew that wouldn't happen) And yes, 12 was incredibly disappointing for me. The last FF I actually enjoyed was X/X-2. So this feels like a return to form, even if it does seem a little abridged in a few areas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowgoten Posted March 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2010 I agree with you scooter, I am completely fine with the linearity, the story takes front seat in this game, and I like that. I just wanted to make sure people don't post the same thing about this topic, since it's such a huge thing on the internet right now. What gets me is that people that complain about it haven't put their time into the game either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ila Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Man, I LOVE the difficulty that this game provides. Battles may be fewer, but they are far more meaningful this time around. It really does feel like there's a great deal of strategy rather, rather than just spamming fight like I've done in other FFs. When I defeated my first Scalebeast (which the tutorial recommended I avoid) I just felt awesome. It was a long and rewarding battle. Speaking of which, I also like that the chatter during battle is much more direct and meaningful than it was in 12. The pacing of the storyline is wonderful. Rather than shoving backstory in your face right away, I like how each character's motivation is revealed a little bit at a time. I love this game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowgoten Posted March 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 I'm right there with you, the battle system actually provides quite a challenge. I've now switched to a strategy involving hitting an enemy a few times with a rav/com until their combo gauge is sufficiently high enough to handle a paradigm shift to a rav/rav/rav combo where I just pump their combo gauge to stagger point. BAM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pheonix Gamma Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 FFX was a straight line. How come no one complains about that? Fucking Tidus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowgoten Posted March 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 FFX was a straight line. How come no one complains about that?Fucking Tidus. Honestly you're fucking right, personally I had a gripe with that. This one though the linear environments are fucking HUUUUUGE, you tend to forget everything is linear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serephim Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Grabbed it at the midnight. About 4 hours in. Calling it a night but I do have to agree on your points. Yes, the game does take a very linear path right from the start, but it's helped the narrative along. I love the presentation and small touches like listening to your party as you travel along between battles.Battle system is everything I could have hoped and dreamed for realistically. (sure the very first trailer was amazing, but we knew that wouldn't happen) And yes, 12 was incredibly disappointing for me. The last FF I actually enjoyed was X/X-2. So this feels like a return to form, even if it does seem a little abridged in a few areas. everything except the last portion. Final Fantasy 12 was an amazing game, just not an amazing Final Fantasy game. Specifically, the game's story was just not worth caring very much about. Its a pity too, because the game itself was fun as fuck. Tons of sidequests and such. Only issue is the sidequests are the only reason i played the game -- even when sticking to the story i had no idea what the fuck was going on. Im about 6 hours 10 minutes in. Honestly, i dont know what all the fuss about linearity is about. Ive never had so much fun simply running around and having my eyes and ears spoonfed candy all day. Seriously, this game is fucking beautiful, and the music is amazing too. Yeah you have no branching storypaths or rooms or anything, but the environments are so fun to navigate its all just worth it to me. Right now its all about showing you the ropes and telling you the story, and letting you not get lost in a bunch of random shit does a good job of keeping you interested. Besides, the one-line maps they have given you have enough variety in the terrain and stuff that it really doesn't matter. Speaking on the battle system, yeah its the best one any FF game has ever had. Ever. Like, seriously, ive been KILLED multiple times already. Yeah, thats right. KILLED. Seriously i didn't think the "you only control one guy" thing would ever feel justified until they gave me the paradigm system. Now i dont see a reason to look back. Hell, in all honesty, the way the enemies on this game are, it'd be almost impossible to control all 3 characters and take down a boss + keep your characters alive. And on top of that, they're just fun to watch. They feel all action-packed and everything. Great thing is, i havent even gotten into the advanced shit yet. Im already 6 hours in, and cant find out how the fuck IGN rated the game lower than FFX, X-2, or even 12. Im supposed to be at the worst part of the game. Edit: the ONLY complaint i could find while playing this game is Vanille's seemingly inconsistent accent. That and on more than one occasion people in my dorm room listening to me play the game (while not watching the screen) occasionally comment on it sounding like shes having sex. Other than that her voice actor is at least not BAD. (Not like it makes a difference, voice acting a character ment to be annoying is a lose-lose.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Napalm Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Those fights where you fight to earn a summon really raped my brain first couple tries. Been a LOOOOOOONG time since any game has done that, feels fantastic. Not that far in yet, will update overall opinion soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowgoten Posted March 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Odin was a dick, had to set up a few paradigms just for that fight. I'm about 9 hours into the game, having a fucking blast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DimensionWarped Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 You lucky bastards. While you sit around playing around with your Fal-cie, I'm stuck having one of the most obnoxiously busy weeks of my life with two simultaneous projects and two tests within a three day period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowgoten Posted March 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Spring break just so happened to be this week for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ila Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Same for me. Granted I only have 1 night class a week right now anyway. Oh man, just got through the longest chapter so far. Strong mecahnical enemies and only 2 party members makes things tricky. And Sazh is awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowgoten Posted March 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Same for me. Granted I only have 1 night class a week right now anyway.Oh man, just got through the longest chapter so far. Strong mecahnical enemies and only 2 party members makes things tricky. And Sazh is awesome. i think i'm right behind you, at the part where sahz partially reveals why he's out here kicking ass. He is quite awesome, for some reason his VA reminds me of Eddy Murphy voicing donkey from shrek. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tentril Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 I've heard people hating this game and loving it. Apparently my girlfriend's friend has the game and when I go up to see her for spring break we're going to try it out. I hope its as good as you guys say. EDIT: I have actually already listened to a lot of the music on youtube. It doesn't really seem anywhere near as good as the old Uematsu days. Its all very background-y and doesn't really hold its own as a song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ila Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 i think i'm right behind you, at the part where sahz partially reveals why he's out here kicking ass. He is quite awesome, for some reason his VA reminds me of Eddy Murphy voicing donkey from shrek. Personally he reminds me of Mulan era Murphy. And I was actually referring to the chapter before. Between the motorcycles and air troopers, I was wondering if the damn chapter would ever end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckboy Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Personally he reminds me of Mulan era Murphy. Wellp. Now I'll be disappointed when I finally play it and there is not a fighting montage set to "be a man" from Mulan. Thanks Ila. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Napalm Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Odin was a dick, had to set up a few paradigms just for that fight. I'm about 9 hours into the game, having a fucking blast! That was the last summon I fought so far, currently in the forrest with Sazh and Vanille, basicly the best and worst voices in game combined. I did like it when Vanille slapped Hope at the start though made me lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 My bro just got it for 360. (Yes... 3 discs stacked ONTOP of each other.) ...Should I play it? XD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streak Thunderstorm Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Lol its funny how this game only attracts the nerds here at SFGHQ. Too bad I just bought it as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ila Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Don't you have some swimming to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streak Thunderstorm Posted March 10, 2010 Report Share Posted March 10, 2010 Yup, at 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyber Rat Posted March 11, 2010 Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 I have to admit that this thread scares me. Like, "Twilight Zone" scary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serephim Posted March 11, 2010 Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 Just fought the turtle thing with the flower on its back that changes elements. (Hope and Lightning). Kicked my ass at least 5 times before i beat it. two things about this game that i love : 1) first Final Fantasy game ive been killed in consecutively. Not only bosses, either -- regular area spawns have managed to best my party on more than one occasion. The bosses actually require more than spamming your strongest spells over and over again. Absolute best battle system for any FF game ever. 2) Now this game is running on no CryEngine 3 or anything, but fuck it. This is by far the PRETTIEST game i have ever played in my life. Hands down. If nothing else this game deserves a fucking 10 across the board for graphics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowgoten Posted March 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2010 Just fought the turtle thing with the flower on its back that changes elements. (Hope and Lightning). Kicked my ass at least 5 times before i beat it.two things about this game that i love : 1) first Final Fantasy game ive been killed in consecutively. Not only bosses, either -- regular area spawns have managed to best my party on more than one occasion. The bosses actually require more than spamming your strongest spells over and over again. Absolute best battle system for any FF game ever. 2) Now this game is running on no CryEngine 3 or anything, but fuck it. This is by far the PRETTIEST game i have ever played in my life. Hands down. If nothing else this game deserves a fucking 10 across the board for graphics. I managed to not die on that boss, but he did take a long fucking time. As for prettiest game, Uncharted and Uncharted 2 still hold that accolade, though this comes very close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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