True. Even if FFXIII is a bit worse than most FF games, it probably is much better than most JRPGs we've gotten lately. It would be nice to play just for the production values alone (hopefully there are other good parts to the game as well). I did enjoy 12 quite a bit, and was hoping Square-Enix would incorporate some of its features into future games. But seems like they went in several opposite directions with 13...and generally, not for the better. Maybe they felt 12 was a bit of a disappointment sales-wise or something, although at least it still was received well by critics. Going a bit backwards now. Be interesting to see how Versus 13 and Final Fantasy 15 go (probably will take 5-7 years to actually get the answer to that statement though). Square-Enix always seems to act like it would be too difficult and costly to remake FF7, though I'd have to think it would be better than spending 4+ years (and who knows how much money) like they did on FF13. Maybe towns really are too difficult to make in HD.
God of War 3 looks amazing and I am currently playing through GoW1 and 2 right now in anticipation of it. If you are at all interested in picking up God of War 3 and have not played the previous two games, I IMPLORE you to pick up the God of War Collection and play through it. It is a collection of the first two games remastered in high-def for the PS3, and it can be purchased for $30-40. The first two GoW games are two of the most fun games I have ever played. Though the GoW games do not have a long-winded, complex story, God of War 2 does end on a cliffhanger and God of War 3 starts right were it left off, so playing the first two would definitely improve your experience playing the third in that regard.
I've begun to realize that the Final Fantasy series of games isn't really that good. It seems SE has been riding their hype ever since their Squaresoft days when they produced FF4, FF6, and FF7. After playing through all the FF games, I can look back and say the only ones that have made a lasting impression on me are FF6, FF7 and parts of FF9 (Vivi's story is so well done, but many other parts of the game are mediocre). I have not played through FF12 yet, but I do plan on beating it before I pick up FF13. I just beat FF10 for the first time in January and found it to be a pretty average experience. If many of the fan reviews of FF13 are true, it seems as if the FF series is basically running on name recognition alone at this point.
Most of the FF13 reviews average around around 8-9 (pro and fan) which is around the average for a FF game. Some fans are going to like the new style, and some are going to hate it (like every other FF game) I still need to get a HDTV, PS3, and FF13 soon =(.
Average for mainline offline Final Fantasy games seem closer to 90+ glancing at Metacritic/Gamerankings (FFXII, FFX, and FFIX all did 90+). FFXIII is in the 80-84 range, closer to games like Final Fantasy X-2 and Crisis Core. Not bad games (I enjoyed them all, and will probably enjoy XIII), but just a notch below the high standards of the main FF games. Of course, beyond just review scores (review scores and I have had some history ), just seems like the impressions in general are not quite as positive as you'd expect, even from big FF fans.
It just seems that FF13 is getting worse than usual reviews because all these game reviewers have suddenly got a raging obsession with "freedom" and "originality" in the past year or two. Then they go and forget the fact that they gave GTA4 and Halo 3, both are sequels with marginal improvements over their predecessors, near 10's. That's not to say that FF13 isn't linear though. Looking at those minimaps, I can't help but chuckle...
I don't doubt that. The 5-7 scores are probably a bit harsh. Of course, I think some reviews were a bit generous in their scores too. I forget which one it was (maybe GameInformer), but it read as a somewhat negative review, but it ended up getting 9+ (sound familiar?). But even then, that wouldn't really explain why some jRPG/FF fans seemed somewhat disappointed with it. The linearity wouldn't really bother me, but the fact that the story apparently isn't all that great (nor the characters), combined with a few other things, kind of makes it hurt. If you could do a bunch of sidequests every 5-10 hours, enjoying more of the (enjoyable?) battle system, probably wouldn't be so bad. But I'm probably making too many assumptions for not having played it...or even done much research (I was on a media blackout). Will have to revisit this 6 months later or so to get an idea of the "legacy" of Final Fantasy XIII I guess.
RC I've seen a lot of the things you apparently have so I would say your concerns are legit even without playing it. I'm really not looking forward to the no towns thing. I think that bugs me the most. Also sounds like there's not a whole lot of side stuff, at least not until you get deep in the game. A weaker than usual story and/or characters is a major downfall too. XII didn't have very memorable characters, though I did like Fran. I'll still be getting it, but am hoping it lives up to all the years of waiting.
I look at Gamefaqs fans/pro review averages. FF12 got low averages from readers but high from pros. FF8 got lowest reviews and of course anything 7 and under is worshiped as the greatest games of the series. Most of the major complaints don't really bug me. Linear - FFX was pretty linear and I liked it. I kind of like not having to go in the wrong direction and end up wasting my time fighting weaker monsters to get back on the right track. No towns - Don't care. Battle system - I see a lot of positive reviews about it. I don't know if I'm going to like it or not and that's how every FF game is for me but I do like how S.E actually tries to re invent itself with every number.
I'm still stoked to get my copy w/ release day shipping from Amazon + the hardcore CE guide (fangirl checking in). The no towns thing kind of bugs me, but whatever. I think the game has been hyped to death, and some of the reviews are probably unwarranted. I'm still gonna shut myself in for 48-72 hours and avoid human contact for a few days while I play the **** outta this game.
Gametrailers review is up. Seems pretty fair and balanced. =) http://www.gametrailers.com/video/review-final-fantasy/62719
This is basically how I feel. If an RPG has an engrossing story, I can forgive a lot of its shortcomings in other areas. However, I've heard that the FFXIII story isn't that great, which I hope isn't true because I find myself enjoying the futuristic landscape and character designs in FFXIII. I just finished FFX in January and by the end I found myself just wanting the experience to be over. In my opinion, it was a mediocre game, and probably in the bottom quarter percentile of FF games. I thought the story started out great, but then quickly devolved when all the "twists" are narrated to you in a span of 20 minutes in the last 1/5 of the game. I think a lot of my enjoyment in a game's story revolves around how well it is told, and it seems like a lot of the FF games rely on deus ex machina-like plot twists, which is a weak storytelling device.
Uh...yeah. OK, if we're going to use GameFaqs member scores here, then I'll agree with you here...though I'm wondering if it will be different after the game is released. (Also, some of those were reviews for the Japanese version, which didn't have totally random Leona Lewis songs in them . Although on a more serious and related note, they probably didn't have a problem with the localization either, which apparently isn't great). Like I said earlier, some of them don't really bother me too much either. But I'd hope that other parts of the game would more than make up for them. I'm only going on a few reviews and impressions (will need to play the game to find our for sure), but it doesn't sound like there are many great aspects of the game to offset those negative things. Yeah, same here. Maybe Final Fantasy XIII won't be as good as expected, but it certainly wasn't due to lack of innovation. As usual, Square-Enix definitely tried to change things up rather than sticking with the same thing we've all played countless time, and I appreciate that. Still think it is time they improve their localization efforts though. I usually tolerated it in the past, especially since it was by a Japanese developer. But when small Japanese developers have MUCH better localization, and usually in a fraction of the time, I can't really continue to ignore it. I might expect lots of awkward dialogue in small, niche Japanese games, but I don't think that should apply to Final Fantasy anymore. IIRC though, FFXII was pretty good in this area, but it seems like they regressed a bit (don't think they used the same localization team, which would make sense).
lol Leona Lewis and her My Hands song... Should of just dubbed the original jp song. Did FF8's story offset the horrendous gameplay for you? Did FF12's non interactive battle system offset the game for you? The flaws in FF games haven't ruin them for me yet. I still think the worst ff games are more fun than most jrpgs. The game is not for certain types of FF fan and they should know whether to skip this one or not by reading a couple of reviews. Spoony RC Cola, the localization is fine
It has been a while since I played FF8, but I don't remember thinking it had horrendous gameplay. Not my favorite, but far from horrendous. Besides, it had Triple Triad, which pretty much makes it impossible to classify as horrendous. So I guess yes, the story did offset the gameplay. I enjoyed FF12 quite a bit. Don't know if I'm in the minority. Love the battle system, loved the side quests (and grinding in general), localization was great (for a FF game), etc. Characters were hit and miss at times, although I did enjoy Balthier quite a bit. Story was going fine until the last 1/3 of the game or so. Soundtrack wasn't all that great IMO. But positives far outweighed the negatives for me. One thing to point out is that some "negatives" of FF 13 are a bit different. Some of the ones mentioned above are a bit subjective (some people liked ___, while others hated ____). A negative like no towns leads more to: some people hated that there were no towns, while others weren't really bothered by it. Not really any positives gained from these aspects of the game, and potentially quite a bit of negativity. Same here for the most part. I have my doubts that FF13 will be my favorite FF (or even in my top 5), but I'm sure it will still be quality game, and better than pretty much any other jRPG out there right now. I found some enjoyment in Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest, and some parts of Dirge Cerberus seemed OK, so I'm sure FF13 will be a lot of fun in many ways. I do think that all FF fans should play the game though, even if it seems a bit below average. Even the negative reviews by FF fans said something like "It isn't the best FF game by far, but if you're a FF fan, you should definitely check it out." We can debate whether 13 is a fantastic game or just a good/great game, but at worst, it is still likely pretty good and not really something people should skip (although they can certainly wait for some price drops).
Yeah maybe horrendous is pretty strong but the gameplay wasn't that good. I remember drawing magic being pretty stupid and the fact that monsters level up when you level (or something like that )was pretty stupid too.. Near the end of the game I just remember leaving Squall with low health and spamming his special all day long. Surprisingly I never played the min game triple triad but I just started playing FF9 (didn't play it originally because of my bias) and playing Tetra Master. FFX12 took a lot of ideas from FFXI. Too bad you didn't play because you would have a ton of fun in my guild =). Oh well on to FF14! I couldn't even stand playing mystic quest after a couple of hours and I didn't even bother touching Dirge of Ceb. You got Aim or some type of messenger RC?
