Time investment? Or waste of time?

[Gaige]

I'm not gonna argue with the above. The game never truly opens up. It becomes a round, circular corridor that's less pinned in rather than more open. After all the narrow corridors, I suppose you could be forgiven for seeing Gran Pulse as a huge open world, and the snaking areas as divergence points. The gameplay becomes more open via the Cieth Stones and Titan's Trials, but the exploration aspect simply becomes less pinned in.

Of course, it's more down to a method of perception than anything else. Final Fantasy XII offered several divergence points, and multiple snaking ways of getting from one area to another. There were around three or four ways to enter each new location, and the Great Crystal in particular was incredibly diverse and complex, something which made many players happy.

Final Fantasy X on the other hand is rather linear in itself, and it's a game close to the classics in terms of popularity. You were just led down a linear path that disguised itself as something more. The Mi'hen and Djose Highroads and the Omega Ruins were big offenders here, and the Calm Lands is comparable to Gran Pulse in its just being a less pinned in area.

Frankly this is down to a lack of world maps in newer games, and newer JRPGs in general. Whether they're having trouble programming this into the new generation of consoles or whether it's a case of laziness in keeping the incredibly good looking graphics running across an entire multifaceted world map, it has a big part to play in the recent constriction of exploration and diverse paths in the Final Fantasy series and RPGs as a whole. Final Fantasy XII came close to recapturing them but for whatever reason, they chose not to pursue that in Final Fantasy XIII, perhaps because Final Fantasy XII as a whole wasn't incredibly successful as a singular completed product.

I've gotten off topic a bit, but there it is.

The characters themselves I found compelling enough but if you've finished Chapter Eight and still feel nothing for the characters and the story in general, then you won't find satisfaction in continued play. Chapters Seven and Eight and to an extent Nine are incredibly climactic story wise, while Twelve is more climactic gameplay wise.

I will say though, the shift in tone is rather...disconcerting. The first eight chapters have their lighthearted moments, but at their core is an aspect of cynicism and the impending danger towards the main characters in a world that despises them.

Come nine, when for the first time you have all six party members, well things suddenly shift towards optimism so quickly my neck hurt from the whiplash. Chapter Nine, the first half of Chapters 10, 11, 12 and most of 13 are just coated in so much sugar I was diabetic by the end. The cynicism returns here and there, such as with Cid's fight, Hecatonacheir, Oerba, Yaag's death and the ending, but the feeling of a sudden shift in ideology lingered still. It was and remains my biggest complaint about the game.

[Lord_Jaroh]

I'd say go play FF XII again (or for the first time if you haven't). It's a better way to spend your time. Or play any of the earlier ones. One thing is true about FFXIII: it makes any other Final Fantasy look like gold next to it!

[NeoTesseract]

I'd say go play FF XII again (or for the first time if you haven't). It's a better way to spend your time. Or play any of the earlier ones. One thing is true about FFXIII: it makes any other Final Fantasy look like gold next to it!

Oh my friend, I have played FFXII before, it is one of my favorite Final Fantasy games in the entire series.

I do not own a PS2 at the moment.

[Lord_Jaroh]

Oh my friend, I have played FFXII before, it is one of my favorite Final Fantasy games in the entire series.

I do not own a PS2 at the moment.

Then I would play Final Fantasy Tactics or Final Fantasy Origins/Anthology/etc. if you have a PS3. If you have an XBox360...trade it up for a PS2.

[BustaMo]

I originally bought it when it first came out, but only made it to CHapter 11 in 40 hours and then left it once I got stuck at the Boss on the top of the tower.

Here I am 2 years later, poppin in the disk and starting over. I want to get the story fresh in my mind, and now I am 30 hours in, Chapter 11, about to hit the Tower up again. I'm actually mainly just curious to see how the story ends. The story overall isn't tooo bad that it will prevent me from finishing the game, but I have def played more interesting one's from the past games in the series. I say stick with it though just so you can put it behind you and say you completed it.

[Maru]

I’m 59 hours in and about to go into chapter 12 of the game. I’d like to say it gets better gameplay wise but it really doesn’t. All the areas are pretty linear. Though I think the Steppe is probably the biggest location in the entire game. It’s also where you can kind of freeplay for the first time ever in the game.

If it’s a waste of time or not I think that depends on your preferences. I actually only got into the game after watching an entire walkthrough of it and then decided to play it for myself. I personally enjoy it, just because I like the overall story.

Though there are some things I wish SE had done differently – battle team being one of them (I miss the swapping people out that was in X – especially since there’s so many main characters) and then the linear locations.

[jarthur7]

That tunnel/linear sense of the game never broke for me, but I'm the type of gamer that will finish a game regardless (especially an FF game).

Chapter 11's openness does create some freshness (as well as some sudden gameovers if you're not careful) that may be enough to push you to the end, but if you're not enjoying it, don't be a masochist! Game for enjoyment!

[PhoenyxAngel]

Honestly? If you didn't like the game so far playing the rest would be considered a waste of time, technically.....but if you're already a good portion of the way through the game just try to finish it as quickly as possible. That way you can add it to your list of games played.

Since this thread is a couple of months old I am wondering if you ended up finishing it or not? I don't think anyone would blame you for not finishing it. lol.

[Gabe]

I liked the game. It wasn't the best FF game but as an experience I really enjoyed it. It was a good story/journey to play through, and I was glad I got to the end, even if it was mashing X and walking forward. It still delivers a story and something worthwhile, but it's not a game you'll be really wanting to Platinum/get max gamerscore on.

If you have some spare time, go ahead and finish it. If you honestly regret it, (which I find rare when playing a videogame) then I guess that's too bad. At least you can criticize it and discuss it from the most possibly valid perspective.

[klauss]

A lot of people seem to be disappointed in FF13 due to the linearity of the game, however, I ask of you, how has the linearity of the game affected your experience of the game? I mean I understand it being change from FF's traditional non-linear base, but did that element really detract from the overall experience?

I personally, was disappointed in the character development. All the characters lacked depth in their personality, nothing that really drew me to them. It was so dull, especially Lightning. I mean, you'd think she'd have a little fire in her, a little passion, seeing as how she's on a journey to save her sister. The mythos wasn't too likable, I really didn't give a toss about the La'cie mythology etc. I pretty much played the game because it was 'pretty', and the battle system was interesting and fun. I wasn't completely mesmerized, I just 'PLAYED' the game. I guess that's probably why I wasn't so phased by the linearity of the game, In fact, I don't think I paid too much attention to the story. LOL!