Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Demo)


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Nemingway

-Ecchi Elitist
Sempai
As some of you may know, the demo of Final Fantasy XIII-2 is now available on the PSN since yesterday for the US and since today for the Europe. For those who played it, what are your feelings ? Is it a success or a big fail ?

For the moment I'm downloading the demo so in one hour or so the download will be finished ! I'm very excited xD
 
Wait is this something simliar to what X-2 was in the franchise here?

I mean XIII felt more like playing a linear storyline, almost kind of like posting a movie without having anything to side trak you at all, let alone having the chance to side track.
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Pretty much I kind of look forward to XIII VS or at least XIII Agito over a continuation of a linear storyline. Although if this time the fixed up the mess they caused with XIII pretty much I'm sure that some of the hardcore FF Fans will blindly pay for it even if it turns out bad if you ask me.

I mean they haven't done anything right since VII put this series on the map, and it feels like things were going downhill from there, save for maybe Tatics Advance and Crystal Cronicals fro the GBA and GCN respectively. I'd thorw in XII, but I heard the gasmeplay wasn't all that great, but the bunnygirls were amasing.
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No its not like X-2. Its a direct sequel without looking like a giant troll.

But it will be nonlinear with towns and what not just like a lot of fans wished. To be honest I liked it linear since it helped move the story on which was great. And Im not really a fan of Open World games.
And the fights will be different because you can summan monsters you caught and other stuff was changed.

Im not gonna get the Demo since I already reserved myself the limited edition since I loved FFXIII.
 
Kid-Wolf> Well I played the demo a few hours ago. The demo is 1h long if you take your time and it show a lot of new features and Square Enix changed some things the players reproached them !

First, you only play with two characters which means you'll not recruit a humanoid person. BUT you can have some guests fighter with you like FF12 did. You also have the possibility of "capturing" a monster. I put some " " cause the capturing system is quite random. In fact, when you finish a battle you have a possibility to gain a crystal representing the monster(s) you battled.

Those monsters are REALLY important ! Each monster has a predefined job so you can arrange your paradigm shift as you want to match your job with the monster you want to use. You can carry 3 monsters with you and each monster also has a crystarium (a sphere grid like FFX). So you can power up your monsters by spending CP in the crystarium.

Talkng about the crystarium, it is completely changed ! Every time you want to validate a cell of the grid, you have to choose which paradigm shift will benefit the bonus of the cell ! Also when your job gain one level, you can choose some bonus (a new job, some bonus, and so on) so you can obtain all the job pretty early in the game if you want.

The battle system is pretty much the same with the exception of two major improvement compared to FF13.

First, if your leader died in FF13 it was directly a game over ! Now, it's not the case ! If your leader die, you'll control your other character immediately ! And second, it appears that you can switch who is the leader in a battle. After that, some features are added like specials attacks for the monsters you use or some random QTE in boss battle.

Overall, even if it is only a demo, I have the feeling that FF13-2 is way better than FF13 and it isn't a troll like FF10-2 was in the past.

I think you should give this demo a try =)


Killer_Ossi> Yeah ! The linearity of the game wasn't that bad. As you said, it helps more to concentrate yourself into the story and enjoy the story. But FF13-2 isn't really that non-linear (according to a Sankaku Complex article that I can' find ^^'). It's just a single corridor with a lot of dead ends having sometimes a chest...
 
Well I know that on Sankaku Complex they did complain that XIII was pretty much what you shouldn't do for an RPG series to begin with.

Also, from what you're telling me Nemi-san it sound slike it's more along the line of Final Fantasy XIII: Monster Hunt to me now. I mean there's nothing wrong with it, but I feel that this idea was done int eh Dragon Quest side games once before with the useage of mosters and all.
 
Well personally I didn't find FFXIII Appealing though I don't hate it, Id just put it somewhere average yet entertaining at based on the playthrough videos I have seen, and personally FFXIII Ironically resembled FFVII(Being called the so called best) more in terms of ambience and overall feel of the game.

Though Lightning is one things though
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.

But one thing above all I loved is FFXIII's Soundtrack, and FFXIII-2, although FFXIII-2 Composer is a different one I personally love the more modern feel of the composer handling it. Many hate it because of the aforementioned interpretation yet ironically the music resembles Persona 3 and 4's music, which some of them actually like. Talk about double standards.

That being said FFXIII's Blinded by Light is still one of the Best of Battle theme's I've heard.

However FFXIII-2 seems to be Fantastic as the developers actually did take note of their mistake. Rather than Monster Hunter The capture system reminds me more of Pokemon

And Oh FFXIII Agito is no longer that game's name its been changed to Final Fantasy Type-0 Completely separate from the Fabula Nova Crystalis Series (FFXIII, FFXIIIVS) (Type-1, Type-2, etc. has been patented by SquareEnix so far so Its probably Type-0 may be a Spinoff Final Fantasy)

And speaking of FFXIII VS they only just started Pre-production for it Last year
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meaning it may "probably" take about another 2 yrs or maybe even more for it to see daylight


Im more practically Excited for Type-0 as ironically being the most ignored of the next Gen FF's became the most anticipated as for a fact it was originally set to be a phone game in Japan, However due to limitations it was moved onto PSP and it is likely we wont get to see a Type-0 NA release in the PSP as they would wait out on PSP Vita which has more better capabilities.

Personally I loved FFXII the battle system was just fine more better than the turn based actually the only problem was actually the level up and skill system, Which could be abused since every character could attain every magic/skill and mastery of weapons, which would render the diversity of the party and made practically even secret bosses easy. It was Remedied in FFXII: Zodiac Job International system, There is already a translation patch for it since one could easily make a homebrewed PS2 game unlike the next gen's
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not to mention Added Cutscenes/storylines to give more sense to the game were included. The Job system limited the characters ability (not taking a job would just be much worse)and it was irreversible which made the gameplay more challenging and more diverse.
 
I must say that the only thing I didnt like, even hated, in XIII was Lightning. Sure gameplaywise she was the best leader, but personalitywise I got sick of her attitude after 5 min. All her depressive and courageless talking was annoying me without end.

And the thing I already dislike in XIII-2 is how the characters changed. Snow was really coollooking in XIII but now he looks like a bum and Hope ... I dont even want to talk about him. Alien-looking is the best description I guess.

Never played XII because I dont have a PS2 but since I only heard bad things about it and the videos never looked good and the fighting system sounded crap I never even wanted to.
 
Kid-Wolf> Wel you know the Shin Megami Tensei series (Persona 3, 4, Lucifer's Call, ...) has a monster hunter system which is really important and add something in the overall gameplay of the franchise. I think Square Enix wanted to add something very new to this franchise. I mean turn based rpg was overused, action rpg looks like the same (Star Ocean 3 & 4, Tales Of...) but now we have the possibility to add monsters. Sure, not everybody will like it and will compare it to Persona or Pokemon but this capture system is totally different compared to Persona or Pokemon.

For example a monster you possess can cannibalize another one you own so you can inherit some skills and stat point which is (I think) totally new ! I never saw that type of management monster.

Lavi-san> Honestly, I don't even pay attention to OST and BGM while playing xDD But from what I heard, FF13-2 will have a pop-ish sound like FFX-2 had (with the amazing OP sung by Jade from Sweetbox). And as you said, it really sound like Persona 3 & 4 but as you may know, haters gonna hate xD

FF12 is, IMO, the best FF ever after FFVIII ! I finished it more than ten times (with different restrictions to have a harder playthrough and experience while playing) so I think it's one of my favorite. I agree with you when you're saying everybody can learn every spell so there's no variety in the team but nothing forbid you to have this variety by learning specific skills and spells for each characters. Sure, it sounds like you have to force yourself to do it and it would have been better if this variety was already implemented in the gameplay like FF12 Zodiac Job but doing it in FF12 can totally change your play style.

As for FF Type-0 I tried the demo (JP version) this past summer and it is...awesome ! I need this game xD I think I read somewhere that the game will be released this year ?

Killer_Ossi > AH ! Someone who doesn't like Lightning like me ! I HATE her ! She really break the mood with her depressed attitude... Snow was also kinda annoying for always moaning about "ooh Serah ! I need to save you" and then he makes some silly mistakes...

Yeah their design in FFXIII-2 is totally.....I don't even have a word to describe it... I mean Snow with a Choboco hair style ? Really xD?

Too bad you don't like FFXII cause it's really a good game.


Anyway, I'm going to order FFXIII-2 tomorrow =p
 
I never said I dont like FFXII I only said it didnt sound great, neither what I could see from the official material nor what poeple who played it told me. Honestly you are the first person ever so say something good about it.

Hmm Snow was accaptable at least he did things instead of just whining and he had a goal while Lighning was only running around aimlessly.
I couldnt really understand people raging about Hope since for me he was just what he should be. I mean he was a little kid getting kicked into this crazy story after his mother died. Sorry but who doesnt get his desperate must be totally clueless of life.

Already ordered myself the Limited Collector's Edition ^^
 
QUOTE (Killer_Ossi @ Jan 12 2012, 05:44 PM) I never said I dont like FFXII I only said it didnt sound great, neither what I could see from the official material nor what poeple who played it told me. Honestly you are the first person ever so say something good about it.

I'm sorry for misunderstanding you ^^' But yeah, I really like FFXII. For me this game is a mix of Star Ocean 4 (for the a-rpg aspect) and FFX (for the sphere grid) so it can only be good for me. I mean, I never ever pay a slight attention to the story in the rpg ! The story is always very cliché.

Right now I'm playing White Knight Chronicles (which is a good game by the way) but the story was sooooo easy to predict ! It's nearly the same as Suikoden 5 (for those who played this game) so there isn't really any surprise... just some "oh this ! I knew it he was the real bad guy" and so on... So the only things I'm paying attention to is the gameplay and then the graphics.


Oh and what kind of bonus do you have in the Limited Collector Edition of FFXIII-2 ?
 
In the limited one you get:
- "Composer Selected Soundtrack"-CD
- Artbook "The Art of Final Fantasy XIII-2"
- 6 high-quality collectionpostcard (dont know if thats the right word, found no better for Sammelpostkarte ^^)
- high-quality art print of Lightning

It costs 65€.

I havent played much other Japan- RPGs except for FFVII, VIII, IX, X and XIII. The only others I can remember are Legend of Dragoon, Grandia 2 and Terranigma (if that counts as one).
White Knight Chronicles is something I wanna try too but I have enough games lying around currently and my times spent with Star Wars The Old Republic ^^
 
QUOTE (Nemingway @ Jan 13 2012, 10:51 PM) I'm sorry for misunderstanding you ^^' But yeah, I really like FFXII. For me this game is a mix of Star Ocean 4 (for the a-rpg aspect) and FFX (for the sphere grid) so it can only be good for me. I mean, I never ever pay a slight attention to the story in the rpg ! The story is always very cliché.

Well the moment the idea was first conceived then it is also the moment it will become cliche, no matter how you look at it idea's will be always be recycled in the end so its a matter of connecting ideas to see if it makes something completely "new". As a student of animation I know all the troubles of cliche, that's why my literature told me a secret is that over her reading of stories and what not, is that ask yourself, "did you enjoy the story?" may it be a boy meets girl or a hero against odds. If you did then well that's what it means to have read a good story.

Besides if RPG stories are cliche then it goes all the same for all games then
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what matters is the inner core of the story, Its characters and how much it conviced you all to be real
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basically the depth and strength of the story's suspension of belief. The part where you get to the credits and say "What? Im back in the real world?"
 
I almost completely forgot that we had a games section here on FTV. Okay I just did a two day (12 hr each) marathon of FF XIII-2 and I'm my brained is completely fried. Don't get me wrong I thought this second game was so much better than what I had anticipated. I wondered if I could wrap my arms around Serah as the main character (besides Noel) and just accept that Lightning was just going to play a supporting role. But as they game progresses and she toughens up I had nothing to complain about. All in all I will say that the Serah and Noel combo was a success. I know a lot of critics were complaining about the story but in all honestly I didn't find it that confusing. It was based on time travel and they explained their theories reasonable well (they were easy to follow) in my opinion.

Now for the ending... The only issue I really had was that in the end you get the option of whether or not Noel stabs and kills Caius. But in reality whichever option you choose Caius makes you kill him. The reason I take issue with that is because the story ends with a to be continued. But Motomu Toriyama (the director) says that there is not guarantee that there will be a part three. So basically by killing Caius it triggers a course of events that lead to the absolute worst case scenario. Everything they fought for almost seems pointless if the story ends at that point. Anyways I enjoyed the game although I'm completely burnt out. I'm going to need at least a week long video game break. I hate to be a fanboy but good grief Lightning is still soooooo ridiculously hot
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oh and the soundtrack was pretty awesome.
 
Well I only played 5 hours till now (cause I'm playing another j-rpg for the moment) but I'm planning to play at FFXIII-2 tomorrow and Sunday (12 hours each too if everything goes right) but I can already express my feeling for this game.

First, I think having only two characters playable is too short for a j-rpg... I don't count the monsters that you can "capture" cause there is no obligation to use them (though, it is highly recommended). A totally third character would have been good. But, the monsters capturing/evolving system is very good ! I mean, the fact that you can fused monsters so one of them will inherit some skills and stat point is awesome ! I love that kind of gameplay that reminds me a lot the "Shin Megami Tensei" series by Atlus.

Now for the story, I heard that there is multiple ending depending on how many fragment you have found. So maybe if you have all the fragments, you'll unlock the true ending where everything goes well (I'll try to aim for that anyway, so I'll see what will happen). I haven't traveled that much into the Time but a lot of people were comparing this to Chrono Trigger when the players knew they would be able to do some time travel ? What do you thing of that ?

Oh and between, they will be a special "Lightning Episode" that will be available soon. So maybe we will learn some new things about the story
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QUOTE (Nemingway @ Feb 10 2012, 08:14 PM) Well I only played 5 hours till now (cause I'm playing another j-rpg for the moment) but I'm planning to play at FFXIII-2 tomorrow and Sunday (12 hours each too if everything goes right) but I can already express my feeling for this game.

First, I think having only two characters playable is too short for a j-rpg... I don't count the monsters that you can "capture" cause there is no obligation to use them (though, it is highly recommended). A totally third character would have been good. But, the monsters capturing/evolving system is very good ! I mean, the fact that you can fused monsters so one of them will inherit some skills and stat point is awesome ! I love that kind of gameplay that reminds me a lot the "Shin Megami Tensei" series by Atlus.

Now for the story, I heard that there is multiple ending depending on how many fragment you have found. So maybe if you have all the fragments, you'll unlock the true ending where everything goes well (I'll try to aim for that anyway, so I'll see what will happen). I haven't traveled that much into the Time but a lot of people were comparing this to Chrono Trigger when the players knew they would be able to do some time travel ? What do you thing of that ?

Oh and between, they will be a special "Lightning Episode" that will be available soon. So maybe we will learn some new things about the story
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I think there are eight different "paradox" endings. I've seen a couple already but they don't effect the main ending (the one at the very end of the game when you beat it the first time through). At least that is what others have told me but you maybe right I'm not quite for sure. I totally agree that when I first realized there would only be two playable characters I was also like
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for a jpg? But the monster characters which are essential for battle strategies do make up for that. In all honesty Kupo feels like a main character in the game.

I can see the comparisons to Chrono Trigger because you're constantly moving through time trying to fix paradoxes in order to change the past, present, or future. Some old school rpg people will probably say oh no way this can compare but I don't like getting caught up in all of that. To me the story was well done for the most part; at least I never turned the system off because I got bored playing it. It was more due to the fact that I needed two 6-hour sleep breaks lol. I liked how you could watch the story of the first game just in case you needed a refresher course before you start pt. 2. The monologues by Lightning and Serah between, during, or after main events also gave an overall nice dramatic effect.

Yeah I was reading about the DLC-Lightning Episode and that she will be playable in one of the special areas. It'll be interesting to see if that adds any real significance to the story or gives a more in-depth explanation of what happened to her at the end of the game.
 
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