Final Fantasy XIII

[GaryyC]

lightnings hot ... in a slightly anorexic way ... :|

I never paid attention to her until i got the game and my view for her totally changed. That blaze edge thing of hers...i do want quite badly.

She's been my wallpaper for a good week and a half now since owning the game

Man do i miss my PS3

 

[Tired Tyres]

She is something of a ravager, and occassionally goes commando too! (and don't try and tell me that you too haven't tried to confirm this visually )

I was going to trade this game in today but I think I'll keep it now.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Stevisiov,
I did some more grinding and took your advice above to set up my characters for the chapter 11 boss battle 3rd attempt. The wicked fang multiplier advice was killer. It helped me upgrade quite a few of the accessories last night with a x3 multiplier.

Here is my current setup for the chapter 11 boss battle.

Spoiler

Right now Lightning has 5,000hp, Fang has 4,800hp, and Hope also has around 4,800 hp. I put 1 generals belt on Lightning and 1 generals belt on Fang. Hope has 3 accessory slots all for extra hp. I saved right by the boss, so tonight I think I am ready to take him on.

 

[Calcifer12]

Gonna buy this game for sure. I fancy easy gameplay and nice graphics. Although I liked FF8 and FF9 best. The others are still above average games for me.

 

[[empty space]]

i must admit, im disappointed. i dont like combat and i dont like the characters except lightning and vanile.

im not far enough in to it to really comment on the storyline (chapter 1 ~7 hours) im just really tired of my characters splitting up or getting split up.

 

[725]

Well bought the game today will try to give a good run tomorrow, hopefully it will be enjoyable, I'm not expecting anything like 7 or 8. Curious to see the changes for myself 👍

 

[Golfman]

I hope the battle system has improved since FF12 on PS2. Felt like i had no control, and the loss of random battles(with monsters wandering around for you to see) just seemed wrong. Dunno about anybody else, but since FF10 and its sequel, i wanted every FF game to be set in Spira. That world was so beautifully designed, and over the two games i got to know it's locations and characters so well.

 

[[empty space]]

did you turn try turning off the gambits in FFXII?

but, back to the question - you have less control in XIII than you do XII because you control only one person. the only control you have over your ai team mates is what paradigms they use.

 

[Touring Mars]

As a matter of interest, what sort of HP are you supposed to have by the time you finish Chapter X? I can see Camaroboy's HP levels for the end of Chapter XI, and I'm nowhere near that... I'm not sure I will have spent nearly enough time 'grinding'...

My current status:

Spoiler

Chp. X, Pt. 2 (The Power Within)

Lightning - 1630 HP
No Hope - 1289 HP
Fang - 1590 HP
Sazh - 1611 HP
Snow - 1880 HP
Fannille - 1418 HP

And what amount of CP is considered a decent grinding session??

 

[[empty space]]

i should grind more, but, theres no where to do so yet ... unless i want to go from the first save point to the last, save, die, and then back track to the last save point and repeat.

im kind of disappointed at how quickly im going through. im ~12 hours in and im already at chapter 6 though it still feels like chapter 1 since they never tell me when i change chapters.

 

[G.T]

I can't remember the HP amount at the end of Chapter 10, but it's on Chapter 11 where you can properly grind. Your HP rises significantly from there forward, even if it seems like you have very little.

 

[Stevisiov]

As a matter of interest, what sort of HP are you supposed to have by the time you finish Chapter X? I can see Camaroboy's HP levels for the end of Chapter XI, and I'm nowhere near that... I'm not sure I will have spent nearly enough time 'grinding'...

My current status:

Spoiler

Chp. X, Pt. 2 (The Power Within)

Lightning - 1630 HP
No Hope - 1289 HP
Fang - 1590 HP
Sazh - 1611 HP
Snow - 1880 HP
Fannille - 1418 HP

And what amount of CP is considered a decent grinding session??

Spoiler

Well I did a lot of grinding in chapter 11, and maxed out all my characters, in fact I finished the chapter with an alarming 500,000CP left over.

At chapter 11 the increase in CP points significantly increases, so I wouldn't be too concerned if you current stats seem a little puny. As a general rule of thumb, if your not dying every other battle, then your doing okay. Grinding however is somewhat self reinforcing, as your abilities increase, the time it takes to do the same battle decreases, so grinding becomes easier and easier and the CP points/time increases exponentially. I wouldn't bother grinding until chapter 11 though.

 

[Touring Mars]

Thanks 👍

I am finding the baddies in Chp. X more taxing that previously, but it usually doesn't take long to figure out what I'm doing catastrophically wrong.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

I finally beat the level 11 boss!!! 👍

The opening cinema for level 12 is just simply incredible. This level is easily one of the most beautiful levels of the game so far. I must say level 12 is no joke at all. Lucky for me I have been grinding enough an I have been doing very well with most of the enemies. I have also been upgrading my characters and their weapons like crazy. I now have 61 hours into the game and just cant get enough of it.

 

[Touring Mars]

Congrats I just started Chapter XI last night, but literally have done one mission and that's all - I'm really enjoying the balance between character development, battle group strategy, fighting, storyline and amazing cut scenes. As such, I disagree with those who believe that the game is not FF-like... my only gripe is that it takes so long to get to this point, but I have enjoyed it all so far, even if I've needed to occasional hint from the internets.

 

[Calcifer12]

Wows. All the negativity haha. But you all do seem to keep playing it straight to the end somehow haha!

For a non-rpg games, but graphics hoe. This game is my wet dream (this and the jp censo.... nevermind).

I am absolutely STAGGERED by the graphics. The worlds are so rich and so sharp. I spend most time just looking around and wow. Simply the best graphics I have ever seen in any game so far. It is as the limits of the PS3 hardware are simply ignored! Would have been nice if there was more walk around freedom though.

As for the gameplay, I admit. It's just not very demanding. A lower school student would probably be able to finish this game without too much trouble. Though I like the fighting system itself. Offering plenty of options through the chains, the enemies are so weak you can just auto your way through. I hope to die some more later in the game. I haven't even upgraded my weapons yet.

Can't really judge on the story, as I haven't finished the game yet. So far it's a little emo, but not in a bad way. I like all the characters, except Vanille, who talks like a canary (English version) with an anomaly.

I'd buy this game again without doubt (even though Square-Enix whored themselves with Xbox).

As for my progress. Im at the part where this guy just shot himself.

Cheers.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

^ easy with the spoilers. And dont worry, the game gets much more open and much more complicated especially around the end of chapter 10.

 

[[empty space]]

it shouldnt take that long to get there though ... which, oddly enough, it feels like im burning through the game too quickly. im in chapter 7 now with less than 20 hours of game time.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

it shouldnt take that long to get there though ... which, oddly enough, it feels like im burning through the game too quickly. im in chapter 7 now with less than 20 hours of game time.

I am on level 12 with 61 hours. 5 or 6 hours of that is grinding for exp. Trust me, it gets MUCH more difficult and the pace will get much slower. To put it into perspective, there are enemies everywhere in this level with over 1 million health. The first 9 levels are very easy and basically a tutorial. Level 10 is where it really starts to get crazy and difficult.

 

[[empty space]]

well, once i get to a place where i can grind ...

 

[Touring Mars]

it shouldnt take that long to get there though ... which, oddly enough, it feels like im burning through the game too quickly. im in chapter 7 now with less than 20 hours of game time.

I reached Chp 7 in 18 hours, and reached Chp 11 in 41 hours...

 

[Icarus25]

I finished the story last night. Game gets an A+ in my book. I really enjoyed the battle system, even with its flaws. Sure you can just auto-battle your way through, but it's not always the best. The final boss kept destroying me, so I actually had to switch from my standard party setup. The final chapter is one of my favorite in terms of design, but one of my least favorite when dealing with enemies. Could be that I was getting tired but just couldn't get myself to stop (a sure sign that I'm really enjoying a game) so I just kept avoiding as many battles as I could. My time to end of story was ~75 hours, and that was with a couple hours of grinding, 30 hunts, and probably an hour or 2 spent messing around with upgrading and buying/selling stuff. Now to just finish up everything else and get me a Platinum trophy.

 

[vr6wantsr20det]

i only played a little this weekend, got a bit further in chapter 9, just did a boss battle where you face the same monster/creature twice one after the other and saved it. I would say i'm in chapter 9 (hopefully atleast half way through) about 22-24hrs at the point i saved it. Really looking forward to this chapter 11 game opening up everyone has been mentioning. I really do like the game so far, the graphics as mentioned really are great (ps3 version). I like stopping for a minute here and there to really take in the settings. The story is good, i like the characters, but it is very EMO, but you expect that in a story driven game. 👍

 

[NapoleonMikey]

Has anyone gotten the platinum trophy on this game yet? I'm about 90 hours in and the only trophy I still need is the Treasure Hunter. Though getting all the materials to upgrade the stuff is quite a hassle. Also a tip for anyone going for it don't get rid of the elemental rings you get at the beginning of the game you only get a few of them and cant buy them again so if you sell them you cant get the trophy.

 

[Stevisiov]

Has anyone gotten the platinum trophy on this game yet? I'm about 90 hours in and the only trophy I still need is the Treasure Hunter. Though getting all the materials to upgrade the stuff is quite a hassle. Also a tip for anyone going for it don't get rid of the elemental rings you get at the beginning of the game you only get a few of them and cant buy them again so if you sell them you cant get the trophy.

I don't know how to look at my trophies, I'm not entirely sure what they are for, I see the occasional sign popping up in the corner saying I have achieved one. I would imagine I am getting close, if a platinum represents 100% complete, then I can't be that far off. I've finished the story, I've done a fair few of the mark missions and scavenger hunts. I don't know my play time, but I would be surprised if its not pushing the 100 mark.

On a sort of mini-review

For me its a really great game, it has a few short falls which prevent it being a massive game. The linearity of the first chapters I didn't mind so much, but while the chapter 11 landscape is vast, its really only the one chapter in which you can explore. As such the mini-games and side quests are significantly limited, far fewer than the available side quests of say FFX, The crystlerium doesn't offer a great deal of expansion after the story is complete. These factors ultimately shorten the overall play time of the game.

I enjoyed the relentless pace at which the game progresses, it really sucked me in, hence hours of play in one sessions (or should I say days). The number of cut scenes and character development is much greater than previous games, which is a good thing because the graphics are stunning. Previous FF's have had a mixture of what I like to call 'in-game' and 'Hi-resolution' cut scene's. The Hi-resolution cut scenes are specially rendered scene which don't work of the game engine. This new game is no different, and while the Hi-res cut-scenes look stunning as usual, the in-game cut scenes are so good, that I occasionally think that I am watching a high res cut scene, only to later realise is running off the game engine.

I wouldn't like to think that this is just a good game because of its graphics though, although I've always maintained FF's are like movies that you play. The gameplay is really quite addictive, it plays with much greater pace and flow than any previous game. While there is slight trade off in technical play due to a reduced level of control over your team-mates, there is an enhanced feeling of working as team, and ultimately you are in control of the team dynamic. You are forced to think on your feet for many of the later battles in the game. While I do miss the Gambits from the previous games, I certainly grew to like the paradigm system a whole lot. In fact, I think its the best battle system in the final fantasy series so far, the whole sneaking up on enemies, the use of technical points etc.

All in all, the game is a little short in comparison to the vastness of previous games, but while this may seem like a bad thing, what it lacks in depth it certainly makes up for in beauty and excitement. It's worth remembering that even if comparatively short, the story lasts a good 60 hours which is impressive for a game which moves at such a frantic pace. All in all I didn't really mind about the linearity for the early part of the game, because the story helped carry it on, and all the time it felt like you were building up to a big event.

I am going to make an effort not to spoil anything here.

The story was a fairly good one, it took a while to work out what on earth was going on, other than the fact some people are trying to kill you(usually a good plot for this sort of game). While I'm not convinced the 'bad guys' were really all that interesting or developed properly, which somewhat disengages you from an inconsolable desire to kill them off and the sense of achievement you feel from conquering them, I enjoy having a clear enemy at the start something which is missing from FFXIII.

However FF stories are about far more than murdering dangerous and evil monsters hell-bent on total annihilation (that's the usual one), it also focus on a group of people usually brought together by fate, and this for me, represented the far more interesting side of the FXIII plot. It's clear from very early on, that this unfortunate group of people are on the run and running out of time, how they cope and ultimately try to overturn their bleak fate was something I enjoyed seeing play out. The characters on the whole where a fairly likeable bunch, with sazh, snow and especially Lightening being my favourite. Lightening whilst being the best looking of the bunch also takes a leading role and benefits from having one of the coolest pieces of weaponry in any game I have played. It's a rather large looking sword, which also happens to be nicely collapsible, and if that's not enough, it also doubles as a gun. That's right, its a sword that doubles as a gun. Her character initially seemed brutal and her callous attitude towards her fellow accomplices made her difficult to like at the start, but as things went on, I grew to like this mysterious and slightly volatile but determined character. I think Lightening is one of the best characters from a FF game. I found the characters much more interesting than the previous game.

I will definitely be playing through the game again, there are quite a few aspects of the story that I need piecing together. I am certainly looking forward to doing so, I won't be making the same mistakes as I did last time either.

 

[[empty space]]

should i spoil tag?

i have to agree, i like the storyline ... but, i really dont like the combat. specially the bit about youre ai team mates not being able to use items and use a phoenix down on you instead of game over screen. i prefer gambits over paradigms as gambits were more useful over all and you didnt need to change paradigms to need to buff or heal just to change back to resume attacking. the perk of paradigms is that you didnt need to find/buy new gambits as they have them and cannot be added onto except at storyline points. on the other hand, once gambits were set up, they would exactly what you programed them to do when you wanted them to do it.

another thing to note is that gambits would give them access to every thing available to them as long as they had enough mp/etc instead of you needing to paradigm shift.

i really wish they had kept the world style of fighting in the game world instead of a mini arena based on the area.

i found a nice grind spot in chapter 7. once hopes home is invaded, just run around in circles and they keep respawning

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

wow just wow just wow. I am now around 65 hours. I finished off chapter 12 last night and entered chapter 13. Holy crap just jaw dropping incredible graphics on chapter 13. I sat and stared at this level for a good 15-20 minutes and pulled out my camera for pics. I am not even joking at all. Just stunning in HD!!

Spoiler

How many total chapters are there in this game? I dont want it to end.

 

[Touring Mars]

It took me a few game saves to notice that I maxed out the amount of game saves you can have for FF13 at 99

I now need to go back and delete all those ones I don't need - i.e. pretty much all of 'em!

[PARADIGM SHIFT --> Pessimist]

Unfortunately, I want to keep the main ones so I can return to those points in the game, and so my game saves will now be all mixed up, which will be a bit of a pain!

[PARADIGM SHIFT --> Optimist]

Atleast the game saves are easily identifiable, so it shouldn't make too much of a problem.

 

[vr6wantsr20det]

It took me a few game saves to notice that I maxed out the amount of game saves you can have for FF13 at 99

I now need to go back and delete all those ones I don't need - i.e. pretty much all of 'em!

[PARADIGM SHIFT --> Pessimist]

Unfortunately, I want to keep the main ones so I can return to those points in the game, and so my game saves will now be all mixed up, which will be a bit of a pain!

[PARADIGM SHIFT --> Optimist]

Atleast the game saves are easily identifiable, so it shouldn't make too much of a problem.

hahaha wow i never would have figured that, would think you would be limited to the amount of HD space. Although i dont have multiple saves, i just keep saving over the same one as i go along. I can see though saving at certain points of the game in case you have to go back to a previous section/chapter. Smart, but i'm lazy.... I may consider doing something like that on my next play-through. Just so i am sure, you have 99 separate saves correct? Not just saving 99 times over the same file? Imagine that, if even copying over the previous save you only had 99 chances to save the game? They would probably put in a Save counter if that was the case, or a Save count-down.

 

[Icarus25]

99 saves holy jeebus! I'm all for multiple saves but that's a bit excessive lol. I had 11 different saves when I finished the story. Now it's time to grind and farm and do everything to finish up the trophies. Managed to get all the trophies for maxing out each role. Maxing out each character is going to take a lonnnng time.

To Camaro:

Spoiler

Prepare to be disappointed as Chapter 13 is the final chapter of the story.