General Games Discussion

[sohadow_swordsman]

Well, I guess I won't pick it up then... In fact, from what I've heard from all of you guys, XIII-2 is starting to sound more or less like Tales of Symphonia 2: Dawn of a New World. 

[sohadow_swordsman]

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DreamTheater2112 wrote:

Pretty much what Harry said, we share about the exact same opinion of the game, but the thing was we both liked XIII quite a bit. The fact that you didn't even say you liked XIII probably means you should steer away. Also really you don't know what a Fal'cie or l'cie is, not to be douchy but that really wasn't...hard to follow and you could say any FF terms are words that are spit out that mean nothing, I mean they gotta make up terms to define their universe, and I don't think they did a bad job explaining what the two actually were...

But basically, the battle system is watered down and not nearly as good as XIII and if you thought XIII story's was bad....lololol this is easily the worst they've ever done.

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I do enjoy FFXIII, I just have a problem with the story and the characters. I'm not saying it's the worst, but it isn't the greatest. And as for the terms, I know some of them. I do know the basics of what a L'cie is but I have no #### clue what a Fal'cie is or what other terms such as the Purge mean. I honestly don't think they do a good job at explaining things and yet they say them so much throughout the entire story...ironic. Either they did a bad job or I'm just a complete idiot, though I doubt it's the latter. Maybe it's just different for everyone.  

Considering I quit after chapter 1 in X-2, I probably won't like this game at all...since Final Fantasy X was actually a good game, while FFXIII on the other-hand is just straight up decent. Not good, not bad, just bleh. 

[DragonDaime]

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sohadow_swordsman wrote:

XIII-2 is starting to sound more or less like Tales of Symphonia 2: Dawn of a New World. 

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Which part?

[DreamTheater2112]

End of game spoilers ahoy

I think the thing that's causing the rift between opinions is the fact this: everyone is admitting there are flaws, and pretty similar flaws, I just couldn't get over them to enjoy the game, when the game became so easy that I, as Harry said, only used 2 real roles, because Sential wasn't necessary because no one hit hard enough, and then Syn and Sab didn't seem necessary (and both the party members kinda sucked at it) It became a leave Reletnless assault on and let the game play itself, which is just...boring. I don't necessarily mind that it was a copy/paste job from XIII in a lot of aspects but i did get annoyed that it was watered down, that the accessories were worthless and you were overall just straight up significantly weaker. When I'm annoyed with the actual battle mechanics this much, I just won't enjoy the game. The game did some things right, things were ret-conned in rather well, even tho I thought most of it was just an unecessary filler to carry on a story. Noel and Hope were pretty good characters, but this couldn't overcome the mechanics, the fact that serah was a weak main character, and with no other main characters to pick up the slack, the entire story just rang hollow for me, I had no connection and really couldn't care less about what happended.

As for Serah I honestly think she was almost a lesser Yuna. I felt Yuna knowing her faith, and you not knowing until the end was handled a lot better in the end, and a lot more emotionally. For Serah it was literally like "yuno you're gonna die if you keep changing time" and she was like "that's okay because it's for the greater good" There really wasn't a struggle or show of strength or anything. And I just won't get how you enjoyed Caius and Noel so much. Not enough time was devoted to really get the bond or feel betrayal, yuno Caius betrays him in the end, and when you get the flashback it's just there. There wasn't any big lead up to it, it was pretty much exactly what you already knew was going to happen without any real fleshing out. Now I do enjoy that Caius had twisted logic rather than rawr destory the world, but his logic was about on par with a 1st graders or a blunt rawr destroy the world anyways. Maybe if we got more fleshing out of Caius himself, actually saw him bond and get fleshed out with Yuel only to see her die and die again and see him get emotional, but we don't. And when we do see her die Caius is always so indifferent, it doesn't even pack a punch, I can't feel sympahtic for him, he just seems like an idiot who can't see that the entire human race outweighs one person, which is just retarded to think otherwise and WANT to end the world over it. I mean I love villains especially ones that dislay twisted logic well, but I honestly don't know how you thought that was a shining example that "delivered" or was developed well at all.

As for the ending itself, it wasn't that bad as much as it was an exclaimation point of my disdain for the game. After what i thought was a pretty weak story in general, instead of coming to any resolution, they smacked us with a "haha no matter what you would have done the world's gonna end anyways" which makes the whole story seem like one big filler set up for what XIII-3. I will admit I would be potentially excited for XIII-3 if they did it right and actually took advantage of XIII-2 being one big filler lead up to XIII-3, but the fact that they made a whole game as one big stepping stone, annoys me.

[sohadow_swordsman]

Two main characters (male, female) with a sidekick not of their race (Mog, Tenebrae), Monster recruiting, the fact they're both sequels and not as good as their predecessors, and they both have similar endings (I spoiled myself, also there are three endings for ToS2, and one of them [SPOILERS the ending where Emil dies END SPOILERS] is almost similar to the FFXIII-2's ending). From what I've gathered, the games are KIND OF a like...

[PenguinBoss]

I liked the ending so much, I wouldn't mind it just ending there with no true ending DLC or XIII-3.

It was something different and fresh compared to XIII and almost every other FF, and what I'm sure the real ending to the story will look like.

[half-demon89]

I agree with just about everything you said. The game was good and the story kept me wanting to keep playing. I saw how the ending was going to be about halfway through, but the almost happy ending threw me off for a little.

I don't like the idea of DLC if they're going to make a game they should make everything in the game. Not come up with stuff later and charge you more for it. Not saying that the DLC for this game costs money, because I don't know if it's free or not. But it seems like a rip off to me.

[half-demon89]

Lightnings role in XIII-2 reminded me of dissidia in that she got taken to some other world and is fighting for the goddess and against chaos... I was thinking that they might try to tie the two games together in this one. Don't know how I would feel about that...

[Blah_canbespanish]

Yes and no. I would of preferred the two's stories be already there in the game, but I wouldn't of wanted a game based around either. What stories do either character have to tell without this game's plot as framework?

Sazh's DLC is just supposed to be about how he ended up in Serendipity, and how he subsequently "won" his way out. It's very much just a side tale.

I guess this sort of goes back to the fact that XIII wrapped nearly everything up so there was never any need for a sequel to begin with.

[Blah_canbespanish]

You didn't think the "fake" Bodhum sequence was Serah's show of strength? She starts out in the story essentially wiling away the days hoping that everyone else fixes her problems so she can live happily ever after. Admiring her friend's strengths she decides to change things with her own hands. She does acquire her own strength, eventually choosing to throw away her original goal (a simple life of happiness in Bodhum) in order to ensure not just her's, but everyone's happiness.

Caius rarely showed any emotion, but that played into just how long he's been at this. His plan is also already in motion at this point. I remember in one scene he laments "How many more times must I endure this..." as he carries off another dead Yeul. He's not overly emotional because it would be pointless to be, his heart has already hardened quite a bit. He definitely felt attachment to Yeul though, you can see this in his anger near the end over Noel's focus on a single Yeul while Caius remembers - and is fighting for - many, each unique in their own way.

I didn't have any problems with them not explicitly showing his backstory as I thought it was easy to imagine. Spending centuries with the sole goal of protecting a single person, despite knowing that no matter what you do she is doomed to die before she can ever really live. How would that not drive a person crazy? Especially when he possesses the knowledge of how to stop such a cycle.

Oh and I keep seeing people bring this up; the reason the accessory system is set up the way it is is because of a feature they don't ever explain to you(nice job SE). Each weapon/accessory belongs to a certain "group", when you equip enough of a certain one you gain a special buff. Noel's ultimate weapon plus 4 of the Delicate Iron Bangles give him +25% damage when he has 70% or more HP for instance.

[Blah_canbespanish]

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DarkKingSilvers wrote:

I also felt that Square really missed the mark regarding the world they created in XIII. It really was very much "convenient" for them to introduce stuff like Etro and such, and literally forgetting about half the base they used for XIII. They could have definitely weaved in the whole Etro thing with the Fal'cie, L'cie stuff. And they really did leave a lot of loose ends (Snow's L'cie mark, Alyssa, etc.), but I wonder if that was intentional to set up for DLC/XIII-3 or what.

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IIRC in FFXIII it was said that most Fal'cie living in Pulse want nothing to do with humans, it was just a select few vying for control that we fought. Them showing up wouldn't of made much sense.

There were a tons of hints that Etro has a connection with the fal'cie though; the original Guardians of the Seeress were all L'cie(including Caius), becoming a L'cie allows you to travel through her gates - something that only those blessed by her are supposed to be capable of, she has the power to "free" L'cie's from their crystal/charge.

Snow's mark was sort of explained in fragments, but his original quest to meet a Fal'cie so he could become a L'cie again was apparently addressed in a novel released in Japan. Not sure if it's the same BB pre-orders got, but if not it's something we'll probably never see over here...

Alyssa is covered in a paradox ending.

I really hope the Lightning DLC sheds some more light on just what the hell is Etro trying to accomplish. Everything she does seems to have small immediate benefits, then terrible long lasting consequences for everyone involved.

[PenguinBoss]

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Blah_canbespanish wrote:

Alyssa is covered in a paradox ending.

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I didn't really care too much for her character, but her story was great. You just have to put the pieces together.

[DreamTheater2112]

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Blah_canbespanish wrote:
You didn't think the "fake" Bodhum sequence was Serah's show of strength? She starts out in the story essentially wiling away the days hoping that everyone else fixes her problems so she can live happily ever after. Admiring her friend's strengths she decides to change things with her own hands. She does acquire her own strength, eventually choosing to throw away her original goal (a simple life of happiness in Bodhum) in order to ensure not just her's, but everyone's happiness.

Caius rarely showed any emotion, but that played into just how long he's been at this. His plan is also already in motion at this point. I remember in one scene he laments "How many more times must I endure this..." as he carries off another dead Yeul. He's not overly emotional because it would be pointless to be, his heart has already hardened quite a bit. He definitely felt attachment to Yeul though, you can see this in his anger near the end over Noel's focus on a single Yeul while Caius remembers - and is fighting for - many, each unique in their own way.

I didn't have any problems with them not explicitly showing his backstory as I thought it was easy to imagine. Spending centuries with the sole goal of protecting a single person, despite knowing that no matter what you do she is doomed to die before she can ever really live. How would that not drive a person crazy? Especially when he possesses the knowledge of how to stop such a cycle.


Oh and I keep seeing people bring this up; the reason the accessory system is set up the way it is is because of a feature they don't ever explain to you(nice job SE). Each weapon/accessory belongs to a certain "group", when you equip enough of a certain one you gain a special buff. Noel's ultimate weapon plus 4 of the Delicate Iron Bangles give him +25% damage when he has 70% or more HP for instance.

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That's still my problem with it, it's all insuiated but it's hard to feel sympathetic to him because you don't actually see him mentally break, so I find it hard to relate to him, you see him already broken and as a douche with twisted stupid logic. If we would have seen his entire evolution I think it would have been a lot more rewarding, and then yes I would think Caius would have been one of the best villains, because I did like the concept, but I need to have the emotional attachment/sympathy for that type of villain to work.

The "fake" Bodhum sequence didn't do much for me either, because she knew going in it was going to be fake, she was warned it was fake and that by staying there should be letting the whole world down...I suppose I'm not giving her enough credit, but I don't think it was that tempting of a choice given how strongly she was aware of how fake it was, it seemed like any easy decision, if she ever cared about the REAL lightning and everyone else, it would be an obvious choice to not stay there and be selfish and to actually help them.

They had the same thing in XIII too tho, the synthesis groups.

[Judge_Gabranth]

I just got the platinum trophy.

[CC-Kallen]

Credits are rolling as I type. 8F

I even 5-starred the final boss. =)

Completely awesome game, story, and characters, imo. I even loved the ending. Although it kind of shocked me when you know what happened. D:

Major spoilers:

Spoiler

Hopefully Serah will be revived next game. I love her. D: And I think we've got enough confirmation for FFXIII-3 already. >_> My God, and that last boss, I could not beat him for the life of me with even an hour going at it, so when I rechallenged them today and ended up 5-starring it at 8 minutes, I could not have been happier. 8F The ending was awesome, I don't get the hate. Maybe it's the cliffhanger, but I really liked the ending. X_X

[half-demon89]

I'm down to just one fragment left. The bestiary. It took about 30 minutes of auto-playing and starting with about 5,000 casino coins to get the slots fragment. I just held in the button while watching tv.

[half-demon89]

Finally, those last couple of monsters were jerks to find... Watching the secret ending as I type.

[DragonDaime]

Sorry, it's been a while since I have last played it (plus, I have played several games since), and I never finished it (borrowed).  But, I definitely see it now.

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Also, I did finish up XIII-2.  I was disappointed with the ending, at first. But, I didn't see it coming and it was plausible.

[KnightStar]

From everything you have been saying about FF-XIII-2 I'm so glad I stayed away from it as if it had been dipped in the Ebola virus.

I didn't and still have not finished XIII because of how full of b.s it is and how bad the game in general was, (but I won't go into that) all I want to say is.

Good job SquareEnix keep up the good work, I might come back to the franchise if you make another FF game again.

[crapshot2]

I thought the voice over for caius was pretty awesome. he had a lot of really good tonality in his voice. the problem was is that particular voice actor can only do the melodramatic villain. when you see the cutscene at the end of the world with him just talking it's not very convincing. but when he is talking about yeul and that is the only thing he cares about he is spot on, I loved their little monolouges at the end cause his voice just matched the emotion so well.

Spoiler

spoilery

also, I think etro wanted to die. there was absolutely no way she couldn't have died and ciaus was the one that started everything. when he first disapeared was when the first yuel died that started everything. makes you wonder how much ciaus actually care about yeul when he knew that him trying to change the future was what started(ended, both are kind of the same in this game)the chain.

but remember when yuel told serah about the different realms. the world of time is in the world of chaos and that is a dream of the overrealm... or whatever, and that even the gods wanted to reach the overrealm(or whatever they called it). I think the only way to reach that realm is for a god to die in the dream realm and etro found a way to die.

[DragonDaime]

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crapshot2 wrote:

I thought the voice over for caius was pretty awesome. he had a lot of really good tonality in his voice. the problem was is that particular voice actor can only do the melodramatic villain. when you see the cutscene at the end of the world with him just talking it's not very convincing. but when he is talking about yeul and that is the only thing he cares about he is spot on, I loved their little monolouges at the end cause his voice just matched the emotion so well. 

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From what I found out, the guy who does the voice of Caius does the voice of Fenris in DA2.

How did I look this up?  Well, the voice of Caius made me curious; it sounded very familliar (in a generic way).  Load and behold, he did the voice of my least favorite "protagonist" from Dragon Age.  His voice acting was TERRIBLE in that game.  I felt like bringing that up since you thought he did a really good job.  I thought of other male voice actors that would have had that same voice - sound - other than Liam O'Brien.

[CC-Kallen]

Just got Platinum! =)

65 hours to do it.

This and XIII are my favorite Platinum trophies... I just love these games. X_X

Oh and pretty awesome, I beat the final boss in 2 minutes, 46 seconds, lol.

[crapshot2]

he does sound very familear.

and ya, he sounds like he does a great melodramatic villain and thats it. I wish he was better at just being normal because his villain is just amazing.

[capt_taco]

I pretty much decided not to get this game as soon as I heard the paradigm system was still in effect. Yay, auto-combat or mashing X, those are my two combat options. I really hope they don't decide to keep it for all FF titles in the future, because then they've wrecked one of the greatest RPGs of all time by dumbing it down. Although it sure sounds like they intend to do exactly that.

[crapshot2]

auto combat was really the most ineffective way to play either game no matter what the booklet said.