Final Fantasy XIII-2 Early Impressions

[darko]

So I haven't bitten the bullet and purchased FFXIII-2 yet. To be honest, I really, really disliked the direction the game went with XIII. Having said that, if you are in the same boat as myself, or even if you're not, you should watch this video.

Early Impressions: Final Fantasy XIII-2

IMO he makes several good points about the direction of RPGs in general.

At any rate, it's a great vid to stimulate a discussion.

[jobocan]

I haven't watched the video, but I will say that I'm quite liking FFXIII-2 so far (I'm not terribly far yet). Though that's coming from someone who really liked FFXIII (the battle system and the leveling system were really good and the plot was coherent and mostly not crap (minus Hope and Sazh), I don't really ask for more from an RPG frankly).

The story is a bit weird due to the time travel, with some moments where I think "huh, guys, you already know that...", but overall it's fine.
The battle system is just as solid as it was in XIII, but with the added bonus of extra attacks from monsters as you fill up a meter (it works as a QTE-ish element, but it's actually well implemented since you have control of when you want to activate it), and the fact that you don't lose a battle if your leader dies (only if both leaders die, which makes sense).
The Paradigm system was changed a bit due to the use of monsters, here you only have 3 possible roles at a time in the third party position since you can only set 3 monsters in there at all, but I think it adds a bit of strategizing to your party building.
The leveling system was changed completely, and I think it's pretty good. You use CP to open the next "node" in the crystarium, each of which gives a level to one of your roles (which you choose, so you can decide which roles you want to be good). You learn abilities once any given role reaches a certain level, and reaching certain parts of the crystarium gives you a choice of bonuses (ATB boosts, stat boost, role boost, new roles, more capacity to equip accessories). It's pretty solid overall.

Overall it's very much like FFXIII, but there's a few really interesting modifications and it feels like a very good sequel. I think it's very solid, I'm loving it.
The only down point for now is the QTEs during boss battles, but they're better than in most other games that use QTEs (since the game tells you when to expect them and when they end), and you have actual in-game rewards for getting them right beyond the usual "you can advance through the game now". A bit annoying, but not game-breaking.

[madmax]

I haven't played the game yet because I haven't gotten it in the mail yet and i don't have a working PS3. So far from what I've heard it's just cool to hate on Final Fantasy these days XIII wasn't the worse in the series, nor was it as bad as people say it was. The story line was actually pretty good if you paid attention to it. I stand by my idea that the xbox crowd don't play games like Final Fantasy and releasing it on the 360 made a lot of people go "That's gay", "For faggots" .etc and gave it a bad stigma.

The xbox crowd play multiplayer online games that involve swearing at each others like kids. Yeah this is a generalization but I think an important majority of them are like that. They don't really have it in them to play and understand a game like Final Fantasy.

[darko]

I haven't played the game yet because I haven't gotten it in the mail yet and i don't have a working PS3. So far from what I've heard it's just cool to hate on Final Fantasy these days XIII wasn't the worse in the series, nor was it as bad as people say it was. The story line was actually pretty good if you paid attention to it. I stand by my idea that the xbox crowd don't play games like Final Fantasy and releasing it on the 360 made a lot of people go "That's gay", "For faggots" .etc and gave it a bad stigma.

Seriously?

The reason FFXIII receives so much hate is because it deviated so greatly from the previous installments. One of the essential variables of the FF equation has always been exploration in a semi-open world. The exclusion of that coupled with a new, semi-active battle system destroyed many, many people's expectations regardless of which platform they purchased the game for. The game wouldn't get hated on nearly as much if it was called something other than Final Fantasy. I'll never say the game is bad, I was just disappointed in the changes like almost everyone else who dislikes it and bought it because of their experiences with previous FF games. There's a lot of hate out there for XII for similar reasons.

The xbox crowd play multiplayer online games that involve swearing at each others like kids. Yeah this is a generalization but I think an important majority of them are like that. They don't really have it in them to play and understand a game like Final Fantasy.

Not only is that statement a generalization, but it's extremely arrogant and ignorant. I would write a lengthy rebuttal but I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're joking. Even if you're not, I'm sure "an important majority" of the people who play games on the 360 would completely disagree with you.

[madmax]

It's half serious, mostly i didn't word that properly/ I'm not saying all xbox players are like that. I'm saying that games that are "usually" (important word here) marketed towards the "general" xbox crowd are not of the final fantasy genre. It's a generalization, yes, but different consoles have different kinds of games and audiences. I've encountered so many people who have said "Final Fantasy is gay, get an xbox and get a real game like call of duty". The older much more mature people in the gaming community wouldn't say things like that but It seems that the more immature side of the gaming community who yell obscenities when online gaming stick to the xbox for some reason and they are a majority of purchasers unfortunately. They have a lot of purchasing power. With such amount of power, also comes the power to criticize and be heard.

Now I'm not saying that Final Fantasy XIII failed because of this, I believe that it was a helping hand in creating the stigma that the game has such a terrible name. Yeah it's not the best Final Fantasy game out there but it's not as bad as people make it out to be.

[scott]

I'd like to point out that my cousin is a ps3 player and he vehemently hated xiii. This from a guy who has loved the series since FFII.

[darko]

@madmax

The 360 is more accessible to many due to its price point and availability on the used market. Most of the community that is responsible for the stigma regarding the 360's user base stems from the adolescent user base. There is a big draw to games like Call of Duty to people in this age range due to it's very competitive atmosphere and the older, more mature audience the game is targeted towards. When you're 10 you want to be 13, when you're 13 you want to be 16, when you're 16 you want to be 18, etc. The game allows an interaction between all of these age ranges. The younger try to fit in with the older by over exaggerating an attempt at imitation. They do this to mask their age because they are afraid of being rejected by their older peers in the game.

The fact that the "general" 360 population gets this rap is completely incidental. Had the PS3's initial price point been less prohibitive or, if the price had fallen more quickly, the PSN community would have most likely fallen victim to the same stigma. Call of Duty (one of the most popular franchises ever) is, in fact, multi-platform. Most of the other best selling titles this generation are as well.

[madmax]

I am in no way blaming the Xbox. I am saying that that section of people (which seems more.prominent on the Xbox) had a helping hand in putting the stigma that ffxiii was the worse ff game with the ff title.

The game was good, not the best and many elements of the game should have been truer to the ff series. ffxiii-2 is being shit on because of ffxiii. Not because of what it is.

I just believe that releasing an ff game on the Xbox was not a good move and it has not aided the situation at all.

edit: Basically they catered to the wrong audience when they decided to offer the game over serveral consoles and I believe the results helped give ffxiii the bad name it has right now.

[darko]

You can blame it on the 360 community, you can blame it on hate mongering juveniles, you can really blame it on anything. The real issue is that JRPGs don't sell well in the US or Europe anymore. Bringing FFXIII to the 360 was actually a brilliant, if not a necessary, move. They took a franchise that would sell and made it available for a much wider audience than would have been available had they kept it strictly on the PS3. The direction they took the game is questionable to those of us who have been playing the series for years, but it is very accessible to those people who have either had bad experiences with JRPGs in the past or have never even considered the genre. Some people loved it, some people hated it. Either way, the game sold which is really the most important thing.

Square Enix took a necessary risk trying to bring some life back into the genre. If FFXIII-2 sells well then they succeeded. If not, then it proves that the changes they made did more harm than good to the series.

The wider your audience, the more susceptible you are to criticism. The more you change a series that people love, the more susceptible you are to criticism. The 360 has a wider user base so you're going to get more criticism from the 360 side of things. If more people had a PS3 than a 360 you'd be getting more hate from the PS3 side.

Opinions on JRPGs have always been mostly love or hate. It's nothing new.

[andrew]

I never finished FFXIII. (I still want to go back and complete it, like many other games.) I'm really excited to pick up FFXIII-2, but should I complete FFXIII first?

[madmax]

What you're misunderstanding is that I don't place 100% of the blame there. I just think it hurt a lot and helped bring the situation over proportion.

Either way, I'm looking forward to trying the game. If the gameplay has improved. I just hope that the story is as good or better than the first. I really don't want better gameplay but a worse story.

[andrew]

@madmax
The fact that the "general" 360 population gets this rap is completely incidental. Had the PS3's initial price point been less prohibitive or, if the price had fallen more quickly, the PSN community would have most likely fallen victim to the same stigma.

Another factor is the success of the original Xbox's online network. This combined with the 360 releasing 1 year before the PS3, quickly established the 360's online network, while it seemed like PlayStation really didn't have one. I think the success could have initially gone either way, but it's likely that the western Microsoft knew their western audience quite well. I primarily think the bad rep somehow comes from playing the shooter genre online. The is exactly the genre that made the original Xbox's Xbox Live and helped establish the 360's Xbox Live 1 year before PSN. However, I don't play shooters online and I don't own a 360, so I'm mostly guessing. Don't get me wrong, I like the 360 and for the most part I like shooters.

[darko]

@andrew

I agree.

I use my 360 more than my PS3 partially because of Live and partially because I prefer the controller.

@madmax

Either way I'm probably going to go pick the game up today

 

[jobocan]

I never finished FFXIII. (I still want to go back and complete it, like many other games.) I'm really excited to pick up FFXIII-2, but should I complete FFXIII first?

I would say that you should finish FFXIII if you're not too far from finishing it, since the ending of FFXIII is pretty important to the overall plot of XIII-2, but it's pretty easy to follow if you didn't finish it, they do mention some details from time to time.

[darko]

@andrew

If you pick it up at Best Buy look for one that includes their exclusive pack-in. It's a book that bridges to two games. You don't have to get the CE to get the book. They have a special boxed version that includes the game and pack-in. I was going to buy it but they had one more 360 CE so I went with that The boxed version is the same price as the standard.