[Multi] Final Fantasy XIII Release info.

[SinisterDeath]

Some of you care, most of you don't, but Final Fantasy 13 release in Japan, December 17th, 2009. And it has sold over a 1.5M copies thus far.

 

March 9th, 2010 we will see an international Release of Final Fantasy XIII, on both 360, and the PS3.

 

Instead of trying to describe the story to you, or post an excerpt of one here, I'll just toss you all a gametrailer. ;)

 

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/international-trailer-final-fantasy/60730

And some token Screenshots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Silver]

What's Final Fantasy? Don't think I've ever heard of it.

[Adella]

What's Final Fantasy? Don't think I've ever heard of it.

 

:o It's only the BEST game EVER!!! Try it...

[Spiffiness]

Who's getting it? I'm sure I'll get it eventually, but I'm less convinced that I ought to spend $70 on it. Especially considering the way Vanille runs (ugh). The story seems interesting, though, and it's nice to see a strong, non-ditzy female character as the lead. 

[SinisterDeath]

Without a doubt I'll be purchasing it. Its unlikely to be on release day unfortunately. But I hope to get it before the end of march.

[Adella]

Me and my sister pooled our money on reserved a copy and the guide (just in case) and I'm picking it up on the 9th.. SO EXCITED!

[Spiffiness]

I guess another reason for my reluctance to get it ASAP is the fact that it takes me longer and longer to finish FFs. I only finished FF12 last year after leaving it on the shelf for a few years ha ha and I still haven't finished FFX-2 plus a backlog of remakes and compilations. 

 

Have you guys read any info on FF13? Apparently you can only control one party member at a time and there's a distinct lack of towns. Still, I watched the first 10 minutes of the game and it seems ok...

[Adella]

I've been stalking their main website for it for a while, it all seems pretty great so far. The Aeons (whatever they're called now) seem pretty cool with how they mixed it up, and they seem like your fighting buddies rather than having multiple chars in the battles. But the storyline looks GREAT this time around.

 

I regretfully have yet to play 12, but it is on my list of games to play when I find time :P

[Spiffiness]

I'm mostly intrigued by the Cid character and Yaag Rosch because he seems like a conflicted antagonist. (I love that archetype!) I wonder if the Eidolons will be more useful this time around. In 12, I never used them.

 

FF12 is great once you get used to the battle system. It's actually very similar to Dragon Age except that I found the Gambit system in 12 more straightforward and consistent compared to Tactics. The characters and story are not as strong, though.

[Adella]

Cid interests me, as does Snow a bit, but I have a feeling I'm just reading too much into what might happen to him and his fiancee.. Or maybe just what I think will happen to his fiancee. >.<

[Imperium]

Been on pre order for months for me this has. I expect to spend hours and hours and hours playing this game.

[SinisterDeath]

I found the story and characters of FF12 to be annoying and weak.

I hope your not saying FF13 is going to be even weaker..

 

Btw, one of the reasons I hated FFXII, is the 'main character' 'you' play as. He's practically a side-character. They litterally could have cut that entire character out of the game, and it would have been better for it.

I never used summons in FFXII, I found melee methods, with a lil magic dabbled in, with Gil-tossing to do far more than summoning... Course I didn't go for 100% completion so I'm sure I missed 'some uber-summon'.

 

From what i've seen of the gameplay of FFXIII, the combat seems far more Fluid, the action is more real-time, and less wait for button-press for-either-person-to-go type combat. Fact that you can only control 1 character at a time doesn't bother me that much, gives it a bit more 'realism' to it. But I have to wonder if you can 'program' the characters similar to FFXII so they dont' just rush in head first and die. :P

I've been doing what I did for Uncharted 2.

Keeping a long pole between us, as to not spoil anything about the game.

[Krakalakachkn]

Game Informer Magazine gave it a 9.25/10 and said:

 

One of the best looking games ever made

 

Soundtrack is only decent, but the voice actors are excellent

 

Awkward dialogue and character interactions make it less fun

 

Replay value is moderately high

 

The fighting mechanic seems like a really fun idea to me.  You only have direct control over your party leader and there are two other members of your party that act according to roles you have assigned them.  You can switch characters out at any point in battle, and often times are forced to change your strategy mid-battle.  Here's a quote:

 

"The idea seems simple at first, but the game gradually builds the complexity until you feel like a strategic powerhouse, creating and exploiting weaknesses by switching your paradigms (characters) every few seconds.  It's fun, easy to use, and a refreshing departure from the RPG norm."

 

Game Informer also said that the biggest problem with the game is the story; it's character driven and the background plots are kind of lame and feel forced.

 

Overall it sounds like an interesting game, and while I've never gotten into the whole Final Fantasy thing, I probably will check this game out eventually...when prices go down considerably

[Spiffiness]

I found the story and characters of FF12 to be annoying and weak.

I hope your not saying FF13 is going to be even weaker..

 

Btw, one of the reasons I hated FFXII, is the 'main character' 'you' play as. He's practically a side-character. They litterally could have cut that entire character out of the game, and it would have been better for it.

I never used summons in FFXII, I found melee methods, with a lil magic dabbled in, with Gil-tossing to do far more than summoning... Course I didn't go for 100% completion so I'm sure I missed 'some uber-summon'.

 

 

Yes, that's what I meant. The gameplay in FF12 was good, the story and characters not so much. Vaan was annoying and pathetic with weird painted-on abs. The main character should've been Balthier or Basch, but they did some kind of survey where the target demographic apparently liked young boy main characters (was probably focused on teenagers in Japan or something) and they ended up changing it.

 

From the above post, I'm a little worried about the story, but it still seems to be getting good scores.

 

[SinisterDeath]

To be fair, most of them think Mass Effect 2, and Dragon Age Origins are the second Coming. ;)

[Locke]

Oooh, FFXIII!!!  I love the Final Fantasy series, though I still think XI is the best. :D

 

The pictures look a lot like XII.  

 

I want to get it, but I don't want to pay too much money so I think I'll wait a bit.  Although, I have neither the PS3 or the 360. :(

[SinisterDeath]

Pfft,

FF6 is the best FF game of all time. ;)

[SinisterDeath]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-final-fantasy-xiii-face-off?page=1

 

Comparison shots between 360 and PS3 versions of FFXIII.

Guess which one looks better? ;)

[Spiffiness]

IGN UK = 8.3/10

Gamespot = 8.5/10

Gametrailers = 8.6/10

 

Summary of:

Pros:

Beautiful graphics

Engaging Battle system

 

Cons:

Very linear for the first 25-30 hours, including rigid levelling

Some annoying characters (Hope or Vanille)

Story is not that good

 

Overall:

Good entry in FF series, but not the best

[Locke]

Pfft,

FF6 is the best FF game of all time. ;)

 

That's what I meant!  I just accidentally put XI instead of VI.  FF6 was absolutely epic. :D