Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

[JeffMD]

Well after playing the demo.. my interest is pretty high in this game. I was thinking it was just going to be an expansion pack to either the first or second game but when i heard lightning was going at it solo, it really left me scratching my head.

http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/q31mur/lightning-returns--final-fantasy-xiii-preview explains pretty much everything on the new system, and I think it's something I can handle. Definitely something new for the people crying about how final fantasy has been getting so stale (and how 13-2 went in the wrong direction). I feel however that it will shut out those who prefer the time-turn based element of typical final fantasy.

Story wise I haven't seen anything epic. The demo is really sweet but the gametrailers vid didn't show anything interesting. I am REALLY hoping for something good here, although I could find my self waiting for this one to go on sale. I was disappointed and felt burned by how fast 13-2 hit the discount bin.

 

[fr]

I enjoyed the first two games and I'm looking forward to this one too. Early impressions have panned it, but I plan on putting a few dozen hours into finishing it the first week or two.

 

[exdeath]

I just finished XIII-2 100% last night, followed by Lightning Returns demo, followed by 100% completion of the Bravely Default demo to get the 7 bonus sets and 20 villagers that transfer to the full game.

The Diablo 2 style hot swap multiple item sets has my attention. Going to be a lot of fun exploiting and abusing this system with OP builds.

I'm a traditionalist when it comes to JRPGs and I much prefer the classic style of Ni no Kuni, but playing XIII a second time and being more invested in the fabula nova crystallis canon, its grown on me quite a bit in its own right. As much as I criticize XIII for being a hallway simulator, the paradigm system is top notch.

Still hope we go back to world maps and airships some day with multi path dungeons with secret walls and all that.

 

[IGemini]

Lightning Returns looks even more interesting now with that system. I still have yet to get into XIII-2 that much...too invested in playing Xenogears right now to jump back in.

...
I'm a traditionalist when it comes to JRPGs and I much prefer the classic style of Ni no Kuni, but playing XIII a second time and being more invested in the fabula nova crystallis canon, its grown on me quite a bit in its own right. As much as I criticize XIII for being a hallway simulator, the paradigm system is top notch.
...

I...never expected you to say something like that.

 

[exdeath]

Lightning Returns looks even more interesting now with that system. I still have yet to get into XIII-2 that much...too invested in playing Xenogears right now to jump back in.



I...never expected you to say something like that.

Me either. I still prefer old classic JRPG, but XIII has its upsides despite the tunnel runner aspect. Dunno. Its wierd. Im not sure if I should hate myself for starting to like XIII. Its not that I ever disliked it, its just that its such a departure from all that is FF. Tunnels and QTEs at not FF staples. If it was called something else like Uncharted XIII it might not even be an issue.

Sadly though I had to learn the deeper back story outside the game. At least most of Xenogears being unraveled by Perfect Works is justified by the immense scope of the story. XIIIs universe is nowhere near that scale to have to fill it in outside the game.

End game of XIII is where its at. 1 minute no summon no death turtle kills with Fang Light Snow. Stagger stagger shift highwind highwind shift buff/debuff shift chain to 999 shift com com sab with daze up on every hit and a 3x999999 highwind at 30% = done. With ATB cancels and overlapping shift animations while the final spell to stagger is still in flight etc its a thing of beauty.

 

[gothamhunter]

Me either. I still prefer old classic JRPG, but XIII has its upsides despite the tunnel runner aspect. Dunno. Its wierd. Im not sure if I should hate myself for starting to like XIII. Its not that I ever disliked it, its just that its such a departure from all that is FF. Tunnels and QTEs at not FF staples. If it was called something else like Uncharted XIII it might not even be an issue.

Sadly though I had to learn the deeper back story outside the game. At least most of Xenogears being unraveled by Perfect Works is justified by the immense scope of the story. XIIIs universe is nowhere near that scale to have to fill it in outside the game.

End game of XIII is where its at. 1 minute no summon no death turtle kills with Fang Light Snow. Stagger stagger shift highwind highwind shift buff/debuff shift chain to 999 shift com com sab with daze up on every hit and a 3x999999 highwind at 30% = done. With ATB cancels and overlapping shift animations while the final spell to stagger is still in flight etc its a thing of beauty.

Yes.

 

[Fulle]

I thought the Paradigm Shift system was actually pretty clever, and I liked Lightning a lot. I even had her as my desktop background for a bit, and I'm not that ashamed of it.

 

[SandEagle]

loved the first FFXIII, couldn't get into the 2nd one. would i be able to pick up on this?

 

[JeffMD]

exdeath, you are.. the biggest ff13 nerd I know. Id prolly play end game in 13 and 13-2 more but I'm also currently playing other games, really, I don't have time of all these.

 

[007ELmO]

why play ff13 that much, is it really one of the best in the series

 

[exdeath]

exdeath, you are.. the biggest ff13 nerd I know. Id prolly play end game in 13 and 13-2 more but I'm also currently playing other games, really, I don't have time of all these.

No not really. Im an extreme critic of it NOT being Final Fantasy or a proper JRPG.

FFIV and VI are still my favorites.

But XIII is still worth playing on its own. I didn't warm up to it until the second play. And that was because I borrowed the 360 version the first time and picked it up for $5 for PS3.

I did preorder Lightning Returns CE though just because. First time I've preordered or bought a FF game at launch since VII. It looks fun on its own but I'm honestly looking forward to Bravely Default more for my JRPG fix.

 

[007ELmO]

FF4 is the best, unbeatable. Followed very closely by FF6, but the music/story in FF4 is untouched to this day.

 

[Aikouka]

FF4 is the best, unbeatable. Followed very closely by FF6, but the music/story in FF4 is untouched to this day.

Mmm I've always thought that Final Fantasy VI had a strong advantage over IV when it came to the music. The music in IV sounds far more simplistic to the point where you might suspect that VI came out on a different, more advanced console!

 

[exdeath]

VI OST is definitely superior in composition quality, but IV is where many classic FF themes began (NES isn't exactly a mystic making machine). But IV has a certain artistic direction about it. Its more somber and cloudy than many of VIs playful tunes.

I like the more epic legendary serious feeling of IVs prologue/title music than VIs softer stylized version for example.

And tunes like the the

Spoiler

lunar whale and the two lunar underground themes of the final area

are just so climatic.

Then you have stuff like Forever Racheal and the opera that are masterpieces in VI. Its hard to decide.

I do favor IV for its non distracting straight forward Shakespeare tragedy style story experience, with no mini games or convoluted battle systems or any dressing getting in the way of the main course.

IV shaped my tastes and expectations as a gamer. It was the game that cemented my love affair with JRPGs. Its still my gold standard for RPGs. Ni no Kuni is a rare example of copy pasting that gold standard template of classic JRPG in a modern gen game that is far too rare. Its so easy to tell when the developers put so much love and care into a game like that vs. a cold dead business just looking for the next AAA red carpet walk and quarterly statement to brag about.

IV long stood as my #1 favorite game until challenged only very recently by Xenogears which for some reason I missed and didn't play until what 15 years later? Xenogears delivered for me and I played it in the 360/PS3 era, ignoring its graphics and platform limitations. The story revelations are near life changing. No nostalgia glasses about it. I was happy to find playing an old PS1 game for the first time in this modern age affected me as profoundly as they once did in the 16/32 bit age. Confirmed for me that my expectations haven't changed and nostalgia isn't a factor. 16/32 bit RPGs really were a renaissance of sorts.

 

[007ELmO]

I will try ni no kuni based on your recommendation now, is this an English-text game I hope?

I will likely be going back to Dragon Quest 8 and Final Fantasy 9, as I didn't get anywhere near to finishing those, but they were a lot of fun.

 

[exdeath]

Its a throw back to old school RPGs with treasure chests and a world map and a simple non convoluted heartwarming story in that regard, but with a modern gen presentation which is absolutely breathtaking.

Just when you think it can't possibly get any more beautiful, you get to the next area and are stunned again. Or you'll spend 10 minutes hopping across logs and watching your character hold his arms out and just generally acting curious and playful and random like turning his head and eyes as a bug flies by or something. Every blade of grass in that game is alive.

The music is epic inspiring and warm fuzzy inducing too, the kind that you'll catch yourself randomly whistling the main theme months later. Like I've said its classic JRPG.

Only real complaints is that the in game tutorials and hand holding is excessive, emotional scenes that should be voiced are not, AI can act stupid in battle if you don't hold their hand, things like that are rough. But it was worth $60 let alone $20.

 

[007ELmO]

You should be a videogame reviewer or write novels!

 

[exdeath]

You should be a videogame reviewer or write novels!

I'm far too biased for RPGs and resentful of modern cookie cutter Michael Bay flashy military shooters with online versus focus and no substance to be a fair or entertaining game reviewer in today's environment.

 

[exdeath]

Bravely Default is turning out to be looking really good. Hard to believe its the same company that puts out junk like X-2.

Not sure why Square can't just take their good games like that, release it on PS3/4 with FF XIII quality assets in 1080p instead of DS hardware limited cardboard cutouts, call it Final Fantasy, and wed all be proclaiming the Second Coming of Squaresoft.

Instead we just keep getting tunnel restricted QTE movies on the big gun home consoles. What gives? Ni no Kuni and Tales prove modern HD assets in the form of 360 degree world maps don't inherently require tunnels and restricted movement and limited viewing angle fixed "set pieces" to be implemented correctly.

 

[007ELmO]

Bring squaresoft back to Nintendo to revive Nintendo.

 

[exdeath]

Square has their own problems. Like games that sell 4 million+ copies and are still supposedly not profitable when they became what they are today by selling some of their most praised masterpieces that only did 100ks of units.

Like most game studios today, you have too much bureaucratic bloat and excess fat at the top licking their 100s at the thought of another mainstream AAA release with mass market appeal.

Time to cut out the useless fat and get back to basics again. Gamers making games for gamers instead of investors and quarterly statements.

 

[exdeath]

The original Chrono Trigger everyone raves about and that was a whopping success only sold 290,000 units in NA. About 2 million total world wide lifetime.

Just remember that next time they say they need to sell 6+ million copies on launch day alone of a generic franchise reboot of something to break even.

I don't know any texture artists that make $100k let alone $360+ million.

Follow the money trail. $1 million pinstripe suits, penthouse suites with indoor pools and limo parties and billion dollar corporate headquarters campuses don't add anything to the product development costs...

Trim. The. Fat. Eliminate the leeches.

This "break lasts years records", every year, Hollywood budget business model the obese publishers got themselves into is not sustainable.

Meanwhile small companies that found a niche for themselves like NIS and Namco seem to be doing just fine because they set their sights a bit more realistically and aren't run by investors chasing call of duty figures with inherently niche genres. Ni no Kuni is what a 1 million seller and Namco boasted 5 year high profits. And you know that Tokyo Philharmonic and Studio Ghibli collaboration was not cheap. Diversification. Lots of quality low sales games across many platforms and genres. Not putting your eggs in one basket and blowing your wad all at once on hoping to have the next call of duty.

 

[artemicion]

The last FF I played all the way through was 12. Bought FF13, but couldn't get into it.

I personally didn't care for the futuristic or realistic trend that started around 7-8, skipped 9, but was in full swing starting from FF10. Some of the futuristic/realistic games were good, but I really prefer the style of 1-6 and 9.

Personally, I hope Square does another throwback JRPG FF like 4, 5, 6, or 9, with a simple high fantasy setting, more cartoonish sprites, and an old school ATB battle system. Simple level up system, simple equipment system. No bizarre license boards, sphere grid systems, etc. Maybe they should do a spinoff FF series for throwback games.

It'd be nice to have a JRPG that isn't geared toward kids (Ni No Kuni), doesn't have character designs that are one step away from anime pornos (Tales series, Bravely Default, etc.) or eccentrically super weird (SMT/Persona) (no offense to any of those games, which were otherwise fine games).

 

[cmdrdredd]

The only pretty recent JRPG I like is Persona myself. I've tried a whole heap of others and none of them kept my interest. There was always an annoyance that I didn't like. Usually I wanted it to be a little more Mature.

Why can't someone make JRPG games like Xenogears with complex themes and less cutesy stuff?

 

[chimaxi83]

I will try ni no kuni based on your recommendation now, is this an English-text game I hope?

I will likely be going back to Dragon Quest 8 and Final Fantasy 9, as I didn't get anywhere near to finishing those, but they were a lot of fun.

I started playing Ni No Kuni based on exdeath talking about the game, and I'm only 10 hours in, but it's definitely worth it. Absolutely recommended!