So, FFXIII-2

[Serephim]

Last one i played was Jihl. I never beat her, but i only fought her once.

Im not really excited for the DLC anymore because it's obvious we're going to have to wait a good minute before an actual story expansion.

The secret battles are really fun and all, but after i finally beat them, a wave of emptiness returns when i go back to the historia crux and i realize that im just that much more OP than i was before.

[DimensionWarped]

So I got this game a few weeks ago and beat it today...

I just want you all to know I hate pretty much 70% of everything about it. Mostly the plot, but also mostly the horrible dialogue. I'm sorry, I mean the horrible monologue since most of it was monologue.

[Serephim]

I dont get what people hate about the dialogue so much. I could feel no difference enough in it to even notice, honestly. Most of the dialogue in the game comes from Serah and Noel, but i honestly cant find anything wrong or even different about it. And i'm pretty positive im not blind to bad dialogue.

Its like, every criticism i DO have for FFXIII-2, the general opinion focuses on something that i found completely irrelevant the whole time i played the game. Serah and Noel were pretty likable characters to me, which i did not expect. Square went completely out of their way to give Serah the most superkawaii face they could have possibly thought of, so she seems incapable of any expression that actually involves emotion. Which sucks because i actually liked Serah. She's like Ashe from XII, except without the bitch.

As for the story....the plot isn't BAD, it just handwaves the fuck out of itself. It's like this funny dream, where the characters' deductions about the situations of the game collapse into reality after they've finished deducting it. But i really didnt give two shits because i actually really enjoyed entering new time periods. I didn't really mind the ending either. It's only just now starting to bother me since it's been months and we havent had a single expansion to the storyline.

[ila]

Sereph: Lightning's DLC is out tomorrow.

[DimensionWarped]

I dont get what people hate about the dialogue so much. I could feel no difference enough in it to even notice, honestly. Most of the dialogue in the game comes from Serah and Noel, but i honestly cant find anything wrong or even different about it. And i'm pretty positive im not blind to bad dialogue.

Did you seriously not notice how the dialog consists of basically 5 or so different sentiments that just get repeated over and over and over again Ad nauseam and then maybe 2 or 3 plot points that also get similar repeated to the point of stupidity? I think I heard some variant of the phrase "We can change history!/the future!" nearly 50 times, and I'm certainly not counting crap said during boss fights.

Oh sure, there was some of that in the original FFXIII as well, but there was a certain variety in the delivery and the characters actually had some degree of dynamism to them that made it worthwhile... even if many of their interactions made no sense. It also helps that there were more than two of them of course.

[luksamuk]

Sorry for interrupting the discussion apparently out of nowhere, but I've never been a big fan of RPGs (seriously, I'm a bigger fan of platformers and action games), and I've never had the curiosity to play Final Fantasy, just because it seemed like the characters always had a stronger attack than the previous one (I mean, from what I saw on gameplays; it almost feels like a kid playing Dragon Ball with his neighbor).

Still, should I get it? And if I should, which one should I get?

[DimensionWarped]

No idea what you are really referring to. Most Final Fantasy games have you using primarily the basic attack for most of your characters from beginning to end with a little elemental rps via spells between them. The more recent ones add ore significant buffing to the mix. There was never really a sense of continual power creep in FF games with the exception of a few broken items and maybe the progression of things like summon magic in the PS1 FF games.

[Serephim]

DW that shit is so rampant in Japanese stuff that i think i've effectively learned to tune it out. It was not nearly bad enough to ruin anything for me.

In fact im thinking over it more, i still can't really think of any specific times where the dialogue ever got on my nerves.

Edit:

Sorry, i DID get pretty fucking annoyed with the whole Caius/Yeul thing. Like i said, everyone seems to have drastically different opinions on XIII-2's story. Most review sites said they enjoyed Caius' motives, while i personally found them too irrational to take seriously. I think they could have played on something else, really.

Sorry for interrupting the discussion apparently out of nowhere, but I've never been a big fan of RPGs (seriously, I'm a bigger fan of platformers and action games), and I've never had the curiosity to play Final Fantasy, just because it seemed like the characters always had a stronger attack than the previous one (I mean, from what I saw on gameplays; it almost feels like a kid playing Dragon Ball with his neighbor).

Still, should I get it? And if I should, which one should I get?

I completely disagree, Final Fantasy XII and XIII are most definitely the least over-the-top when it comes to visual effects of character techniques. I would say they have definitely gotten far less ridiculous throughout the years, with Final Fantasy 8 being the most ridiculous in terms of special effects. (I think FF8 had some of the best visual effects of the entire series personally. They were really the most creative to me.)

I really don't know what you're asking. If you're asking if FFXIII-2 / XIII is a good break-in into the series, i'd personally say "not really" because they really don't play anything like the previous titles. XIII is FAR too linear; XIII-2 plays alot more like a real FF game, but as a sequel it doesn't have the same production time as the others, and the story is hit-miss. I'd personally say start with whichever interests you most. Final Fantasy 7, 6, and 10 are my favorites, but 8/9/12 all stand out enough for me to not really rank them above or below themselves. There are things i like and dislike about all of them.

My best advice would be to just play whichever looks the most interesting to you. Seriously. Don't ask advice from other FF fans because they ALL will have different opinions and bias, and will use all sorts of retarded shit to back their opinion. You're better off just playing one and moving on if you dislike it.

About the characters and their relative strengths, it depends entirely on the storyline of the specific FF title.

This didn't really start happening until around FF8.

[luksamuk]

I didn't mean bad effects or whatever; when I say "you playing DBZ with your neighbor" I mean that you'll always block his fucking-tastic attack and have a stronger, bigger one, that's it. That's what I saw from one of the gameplays (I guess it was from XIII-2). And then that was a random guy falling from the sky and merging with the whole cliche thing... Look, although I'm not in position to make a proper criticism because I never played Final Fantasy, simply because, as I said, I don't like RPGs and never got attracted by it, it just seemed odd. But I feel like I say that because I don't really know anything about the story. I just wanted someone to point me if there's a whole story or if each game has a different story so I can really understand what's going on.

[Serephim]

Oh. Well thats the opening sequence to FFXIII-2. I dont even think you can actually lose, it's all eye candy. However that sequence is quite literally a battle between two demigods, so it isn't really supposed to look like much more than an effects-peen fest.

You should know that Final Fantasy XIII/XIII-2 is the only FF game that actually has sequences like this. Pretty much every other FF game carries out all of its battles through regular fight sequences, with CG cutscenes afterwards for all the extra fluff were it important. Older Final Fantasy games worked more like...well RPGs. They were videogames. It never tried to make sense of your hero slaying a giant dragon with their fists because thats what damage numbers were for.

If you look at every Final Fantasy in-game cutscene (CG or otherwise), you will see that the characters are very much affected by gravity and are infact quite mortal. They dont jump off cliffs and live, they can't fly, nor can they cut buildings in half with their weapons. Of course many feats in the game would seem impossible otherwise...but who cares about that, it's a videogame.

And to answer your second question, each and every numbered final fantasy title is only canon to itself. Not only in character and plot; they are all completely different universes. The only FF titles with related stories are ones with sequels, And the only games that have proper sequels right now are 10 (X-2) and obviously 13 (XIII-2). Well, that and the Ivalice titles (Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII) which are only related because they all reuse the same universe. They're on such drastic time skips that all the characters (and probably countries) are long gone by time another ivalice entry comes along.

[luksamuk]

Aah, now I got it.

I might dig more into the franchise... people talk so much about FF that I wonder why I never played any.

Thanks for the explanations.

[TailsSena]

If you look at every Final Fantasy in-game cutscene (CG or otherwise), you will see that the characters are very much affected by gravity and are infact quite mortal. They dont jump off cliffs and live, they can't fly, nor can they cut buildings in half with their weapons. Of course many feats in the game would seem impossible otherwise...but who cares about that, it's a videogame.

Unless you're talking about FFIV... Holy shit the "I survived" excuses are terrible.

Also, IV and VII have proper sequels. (The after years and Crisis Core respectively. Though I guess Crisis Core is really a prequel.)

[FanGameRevolver]

XII also has a sequel on the DS.

If you are interested in trying out other RPG's there's always the the old school Phantasy star games made by sega. They play very similar to the final fantasy games, its just Sega's take on the RPG genre.

I would personally recommend starting with phantasy star IV, even though it references the other 3 games. Mainly because the other 3 haven't aged well at all, and require way too much patience to complete. The 4th one, though moves at a very good pacing, is relatively easy, has a decent story, and is often considered the best sega genesis game, tied with sonic 3&K.

Dragon Quest is pretty good too. They still use the old school turn based system and 'meh' stories and characters, so all the entries in the series are largely the exact same game.

There are also many RPG's that don't use a turn based system, and instead play like a fighting game with progressive stats.

Star ocean 3 and Tales of symphonia come to mind, which are probably my favorite RPG's. Both offer great storytelling on top of their great battle systems.

[DimensionWarped]

XII also has a sequel on the DS.

As true a statement as saying E.T. has a sequel on the Atari 2600.

[TailsSena]

XII also has a sequel on the DS.

Unspoken rule: Any games in the series that even resemble Tactics, including Tactics itself... Didn't. Happen.

That are shit. It's one thing being an RPS, but doing it wrong... Ugh.

[ila]

I remember some time ago that you gave me crap for being too negative, yet here you are acting like a little cunt. Hypocrite much? I don't try to hide the fact that I'm a jackass.

[DimensionWarped]

Unspoken rule: Any games in the series that even resemble Tactics, including Tactics itself... Didn't. Happen.

That are shit. It's one thing being an RPS, but doing it wrong... Ugh.

Final Fantasy Tactics is awesome and you have brought dishonor to this forum.

[Serephim]

Unspoken rule: Any games in the series that even resemble Tactics, including Tactics itself... Didn't. Happen.

What the FUCK SENA you are grounded forever. Go wash your mouth out with soap. Tactics was bloody amazing. If FFXII was written like Tactics was it'd have been like, one of the best things ever.

Anyway there actually are alot of FF sequels, but almost all of them stem entirely out of fanservice. Fantasy X had such a wonderful world that I believe it was the best candidate for a sequel, but like every other FF title that recieves a fanservice sequel, the game ended on such a perfect note that the sequels really are just giant excuses. Final Fantasy X-2 was one extremely enjoyable game, it just ultimately felt like a wasted title because although it was a fun videogame, it completely lacked the impact of a genuine Final Fantasy number. XIII did an absolutely horrible job of connecting you with your surroundings or even any people outside of the party members you roll with. XIII-2 gives you the chance to do this, but it only happens with New Bohudm because the game's storyline is so fleeting.

Final Fantasy XII and all the Ivalice titles are allowed to have sequels because the conflicts encountered in the Ivalice storylines function much less like "SAVE THE WORLD" plots and more like real-world issues. If a random party wipe ended up being canon to the story, the world wouldn't slip into hell or anything. You'd just have another title a few years later and it would be another asshole country trying to genghis khan middle earth.

I would love nothing more than for Square to develop a Final Fantasy Tactics title using FFXII's general battle engine. Class System, "Anyone Can Die" (seriously nobody is safe), recruitment, everything. It would be such a fresh feeling again.

[TailsSena]

@ila: Oh, yeah. I did, huh. Sorry.

@DW/Sereph: ...

Tactics just kind of bored me... I liked the depth it tried to give battles, but it was kinda slow and bland. Plus, Isometric game on a D-pad. Oh god no.

If there was a "skip to my next turn" button, I'd have liked it better, let's leave it at that.

Though I will admit that XII-2 was better than plain Tactics because it at least had a sense of pace in battle. But the controls muddled it too much for my liking.

[Serephim]

it didnt try to do anything. You just probably either didn't understand it or simply didn't like it very much. Doesn't make it any less of an awesome game though.

[TailsSena]

it didnt try to do anything. You just probably either didn't understand it or simply didn't like it very much. Doesn't make it any less of an awesome game though.

True enough. I'm more of a Dissidia person, myself.

[Serephim]

Oh, well there we go then lol.

Because i fucking hate that game. After the novelty of using neat moves wears off, you realize how annoying of a game it is. Everyone floats too much and the AI are too godlike.

[TailsSena]

Well, to each his own, I suppose.

By now you've probably realized that no two Final Fantasy fans have the same tastes.

[Serephim]

Well, to each his own, I suppose.

By now you've probably realized that no two Final Fantasy fans have the same tastes.

My best advice would be to just play whichever looks the most interesting to you. Seriously. Don't ask advice from other FF fans because they ALL will have different opinions and bias, and will use all sorts of retarded shit to back their opinion. You're better off just playing one and moving on if you dislike it.

^

[shadowgoten]

Sena how old are you?