Trial & Error

[Shinra Executive]

Square-Enix is evolving Final Fantasy.

The traditional gameplay has become obsolete to today's standards. Turn based strategy is going on a sharp decline.
Because of that, they have to introduce something new.

But because of the genre of TBS, there is naturally going to be a bit of trial and error. You can see this at play just by observing part 1 and part 2- they are tinkering with their ideas. If you were ever an Enix fan and enjoyed Star Ocean, for example, you may see similarities in both FFXII and FFXIII.

If you discern what they are doing, you can appreciate the new Final Fantasy games a bit more. They are not going to leave FF to die. In time, they will master what they are trying to accomplish and bring the genre to new heights.

Personally, I like FFXIII. I think it lives up to it's title, contrary to what others may say., and this is coming from someone who has played every FF game to date

 

[.Mosh]

I remember back when I bought FFXIII when it was released. I played it for a few hours and didn't like the linearity of the gameplay and the battle system I really liked even though it was improved upon in the sequel. But what I thought it felt like was one big Tech Demo of what to expect on 'next-gen' FF games. The textures wernt all there, loads of discs on Xbox (better compression for the second installment). And for the third game in this series arriving next year you definitely see their trial and error like you said.

I love the FFXIII but like you said, they are terrible to others. I'll get the new one on day 1 release and probably enjoy it a lot. I feel they have gone for three distinct styles and which one works best they will adapt and improve upon. They won't let the series die I feel whenever Versus13 arrives it will be the revival of Final Fantasy...who knows right?

 

[クラウド・ストライフ]

FF XIII is one of those game which you either hate, either love. I personally loved it, of course it had flaws in gameplay and plot, but every game does. I honestly don't think FF dies, I think it comes with new reinforcements, that it is getting better and what I love is that SE keeps all the traditional elements, like Chocobos, Cactuars, summons and others, but it's still unique. I hate it when ppl bash a game. I mean I didn't like FF10 ( yes I said it ), but I don't spread hate all over the internet. And about gameplay, I found it to be very simple and the Jobs you had were great, I always was confused when playing FF7 because there were too many skills in one panel. And the auto-battle command was a good choice IMO. I'm not always in the mood to think of strategies.

 

[Shinra Executive]

I remember back when I bought FFXIII when it was released. I played it for a few hours and didn't like the linearity of the gameplay and the battle system I really liked even though it was improved upon in the sequel. But what I thought it felt like was one big Tech Demo of what to expect on 'next-gen' FF games. The textures wernt all there, loads of discs on Xbox (better compression for the second installment). And for the third game in this series arriving next year you definitely see their trial and error like you said.

I love the FFXIII but like you said, they are terrible to others. I'll get the new one on day 1 release and probably enjoy it a lot. I feel they have gone for three distinct styles and which one works best they will adapt and improve upon. They won't let the series die I feel whenever Versus13 arrives it will be the revival of Final Fantasy...who knows right?

One thing I picked up on as soon as I popped in part 2 is that part 1 is, in a way, meant to train you on it's 'newness'. It's not really until you are halfway through the 1st that you really get a grip on the battling and whatnot.

The fact that they have broken 13 into 3 parts is tell-tale to that. I'm expecting that part 3 is going to be epic epicness.

 

[Tryst]

The traditional gameplay has become obsolete to today's standards. Turn based strategy is going on a sharp decline.
Because of that, they have to introduce something new.

In my view Final Fantasy XII had it perfect. The battles were as fast as you made them, you could run away from a monster to recuperate and rethink your strategy if needed, and you weren't forced to battle monsters if you didn't want to. It was very loosely turn based strategy. You'd attack and they'd attack back based on ATB charge.

FFXIII's system was good in that you could kinda run away from monsters, but more often than not you had to fight them. You couldn't just steal from a monster without getting engaged in a battle, which involved the game having to load a different field for battle. Final Fantasy XIII would be a perfect game for me if it had a system more similar to XII's where battles occurred there and then.

 

[Infern0]

My main problem with XIII was not the gameplay (although i'll get to that), it was the story.

The characters were good, but the Story was just insane. It took me two playthroughs before I began to understand it, and XIII-2 was even worse. I still don't really know what a Fal'cie is. I mean it was just ridiculous.

The other main problem was that XIII was like a HD version of X, only LESS evolved. X was my favorite in the series, but XIII took the main gameplay aspects and reduced them.

To me it's not difficult what Square Enix needs to do.

Take the basis of XIII, swap the bizarre story for a simpler, tighter story with less of the weird and wonderful. Add in more choice in regards to character progression and battle tactics, add more area exploration. Add side-quests, Add towns with multiple stores, mini games, secrets etc.

Maybe add optional romances, and dual protagonists, where you can be a guy or a girl like Mass Effect has, i'm sure that will be well recieved by certain members of the community who would no doubt love the opportunity to romance Fang or Lightning or Snow or whichever character.

And that's basically it.

It's really not difficult. just evolve on the basic things that make FF what it is, I don't know why they don't get it.

 

[Martel]

Evolution is hardly akin to taking things out. One of the biggest problems of FFXIII was that it lacked any kind of gameplay mechanic that progressed the genre; all it did was take several things out and add absolutely nothing of consequence back in. The same ATB system. The Crystarium System was essentially the Sphere Grid, and the Paradigms were nothing as much as temporary jobs. Most FF games have something new added to their gameplay to differentiate themselves from previous FF games: XII had Gambits, for example. X had the Sphere Grid. XIII had absolutely nothing. It removed things, practically cloned other things, and as for the characters, and story, and soundtrack...well, they speak for themselves in how unbelievably sub-par they are.

If you like the streamlined approach it took, good for you. But please, don't mistake it for an evolution. If anything, it is completely the opposite. Evolution requires actual new content and ideas.