"Why Final Fantasy XIII is a Bad Game"

[moogling]

Criticism of blockbuster RPG Final Fantasy XIII has rapidly mounted, with the initial observation that the game is almost comically linear giving way to a litany of further dissatisfactions, many quite unavoidable even for the game’s many staunch defenders.

A digest of criticism from 2ch:

The whole game is completely linear until halfway through [approximately 20 hours].​

There are hardly any towns.​

The party is always fixed.​

The whole game just repeats the movie-battle sequence over and over [In fact the progression is closer to movie-run-battle-run-movie-boss-movie-run-battle…].​

There are rather a lot of movies.​

Moving around is like a long marathon.​

The whole game system is just a clone of FF10.​

You can’t flee battles [You can’t avoid most battles either as there is no sneaking past enemies, including weak ones].​

Your party is completely healed after each battle.​

If the main character in your party dies it is game over [There are only ever 3 characters in battle, often less, and often fixed].​

The best tactic is almost always endlessly attacking. There is next to no strategy or skill involved.​

The summons’ transformation scenes are a joke [i.e. Odin turning into a horse].​

The story is rubbish… [Spoilers omitted, but complaints centre on Snow’s constant and cringe inducing insistence that he is a hero and will “protect” whatever it is the antagonists are menacing this time]​

Shopping is only done at “online” shops on save points, with no proper shops to be found.​

However, this doesn’t matter as you hardly ever get any money [and you can never buy anything more powerful than what you already looted].​

There have been next to no changes from the demo.​

The status screen displays no real information.​

There are only 8 items usable in combat [For that matter, there are hardly any weapons or accessories, and the “crafting” system mostly consists of spending drops to upgrade their 2 stats].​

There are no levels.​

With all their advertising money, just how was it they failed even to get Famitsu to give full points?​

Some of these criticisms are exaggerated or require further qualification, but on the whole they are fair, and any review which does not dwell long and hard on some of these design choices is certainly suspect.

It already seems clear the game is far from the dramatic step forward it was supposed to be, though whether these issues make the whole game “bad” is certainly open to question. However, it does seem something went very wrong with the game’s development all the same…

 

[Fusionist]

Some points were kind of based on opinion (the story, summon transformations, etc), but a couple of the points made me kind of face-palm at the frivolousness of them. Too many movies? That's really a horrible thing? >_>

But there were a few that piqued my interest and gaming concern. Not being able to run from battle and having a game over if the "main" character dies does seem like it would make me pouty >.<

I half feel like I've been spoiled too, so I'm already a little pouty Dx

 

[Bambi]

The whole game is completely linear until halfway through [approximately 20 hours].

20 hours better not be half way...

There are hardly any towns.

not sure whether im arsed about that ornot....

The party is always fixed.

how do you train members not in your party?!

The whole game just repeats the movie-battle sequence over and over [In fact the progression is closer to movie-run-battle-run-movie-boss-movie-run-battle…].

eh?

There are rather a lot of movies.

Im alright with that, there wasnt enough in xii

Moving around is like a long marathon.

The whole game system is just a clone of FF10.

i loved the way you 'leveled' on X anyway

Your party is completely healed after each battle.

WHAT?!

You can’t flee battles [You can’t avoid most battles either as there is no sneaking past enemies, including weak ones].

Thats reallyshit

If the main character in your party dies it is game over [There are only ever 3 characters in battle, often less, and often fixed].

not into that at all

The best tactic is almost always endlessly attacking. There is next to no strategy or skill involved.

that suits me xD

The summons’ transformation scenes are a joke [i.e. Odin turning into a horse].

*shrug*

The story is rubbish… [Spoilers omitted, but complaints centre on Snow’s constant and cringe inducing insistence that he is a hero and will “protect” whatever it is the antagonists are menacing this time]

it cant be any worse than XII's story...

Shopping is only done at “online” shops on save points, with no proper shops to be found.

aw that sucks...and you can shop at save points..? f ucking hell, its onlya matteroftime before you can save freely EVERYWHERE and have constant access to items andshit....makingitFAR too easy

However, this doesn’t matter as you hardly ever get any money [and you can never buy anything more powerful than what you already looted].

typical xD

There have been next to no changes from the demo.

cant comment,neverplayed it

The status screen displays no real information.

well, that'sabit stupid

There are only 8 items usable in combat [For that matter, there are hardly any weapons or accessories, and the “crafting” system mostly consists of spending drops to upgrade their 2 stats]

8 items....?! i dont likehavingtoo much choiceon weps and accessories anyway, it getsannoying

There are no levels

it worked for X

 

[Rorolina Frixell]

Tbh my only real complaints, from those complaints is the complete heal after a battle, status screen fail, the lack of items (I wonder if you have to set them, sorta like 8?) and lack of escaping monsters (I wonder if they have items to ward off enemies?)

The main character dying leading to game over thing reminds me FAR too much of Persona 3 and 4 tbqh

 

[Martel]

Meh, complaints like these were bound to pop up. A lot of the flaws listed up there are present in any number of other RPGs, so I don't see what the big issue is.
In the same way I ignore the praise of FF games, I also ignore the criticisms. Because the series is so highly thought of, both are meaningless and subject to bias. I'll judge it for myself when I play it...the only thing I have found to criticise so far is the absolutely terrible english voice acting.
Although not being able to flee battles is going to result in a lot of very cautious power-levelling on my part...

 

[Piratewink]

Those points seem valid, and seeing some videos I can agree with certain points. Though I have to say, even though it may drag on because things seem repeated, it's their first step into the 7th Generation of Gaming, and I'm sure they'll take the points into consideration when developing their other console games.

However, as seen with other first games of its generation (FF1 on NES, FF7 on PS1, FF10 on PS2), it'll perhaps be the best game you'll get in the series of the current generation. Plus, they put in a good amount of work into this, and there have been reports of gaming getting better after half-way through, so enjoy it!

 

[Linnaete]

The whole game is completely linear until halfway through [approximately 20 hours].

I must admit- that is a significant chunk of the main game- but thankfully it isn't halfway through. There's nothing bad about the linearity- like I said in another thread, if the areas are done right, linearity doesn't kill it.

There are hardly any towns.

I didn't think that would be a surprise seeing as though FFX had very few places I would call a town- FFXII's Ivalice seemed rather sparse, and Pulse in this game is mostly uninhabited. Again- nothing bad is it?

The whole game just repeats the movie-battle sequence over and over [In fact the progression is closer to movie-run-battle-run-movie-boss-movie-run-battle…].

That sounds rather normal to me- especially in FFX. Was this guy hoping for some open world gameplay or something?

There are rather a lot of movies.

WELCOME TO FINAL FANTASY YOU GENIUS!! Did this person forget that there is supposed to have a lot of movies? I'm starting to wonder who actually said this.

The whole game system is just a clone of FF10.

The Crystallium system is similar to Sphere Grid yes- so why is that bad?

Your party is completely healed after each battle.

And that amounts to the game being too easy I assume? I can't say anything about this yet until I play it...

If the main character in your party dies it is game over [There are only ever 3 characters in battle, often less, and often fixed].

And this amounts to the game being too hard? Make up your mind!! Are you assuming it's too easy or hard?

The story is rubbish…

I wonder how far he got. If he found Snow annoying at first- there's something called character development!

There have been next to no changes from the demo.

Bullc**p. What position is he in to decide that? I highly doubt it.

There are no levels.

Nor did FFII and FFX. Did it make FFX a bad game? Why is this a criticism? Levelling is basically a set method of character development. I would much rather have a more flexible system.

 

[Bambi]

Those points seem valid, and seeing some videos I can agree with certain points. Though I have to say, even though it may drag on because things seem repeated, it's their first step into the 7th Generation of Gaming, and I'm sure they'll take the points into consideration when developing their other console games.

i dont thinkthat is a valid excuse at all - if that was the case the general public shouldnt be expected t pay full whack for it. they have a bucket load of money, the consoles hardly new anymore, they could have doneloads of research, tested loads of shit . i tire of the 'new system ' excuse.

 

[Piratewink]

i dont thinkthat is a valid excuse at all - if that was the case the general public shouldnt be expected t pay full whack for it. they have a bucket load of money, the consoles hardly new anymore, they could have doneloads of research, tested loads of shit . i tire of the 'new system ' excuse.

That's a fair point, but then it could have been delayed even further, and I'm sure after 3-5 years (whichever way you look at it), they would be happy to get it out in the first place. And, who knows? They probably have done a lot more research since they started on the PS2 first, but some of the points are opinions, and so not every game is going to please all audiences.

They might have compromised some stuff to get the game out in the market quicker, and although some believe that insufficient research into current gen consoles or first step into current gen isn't an excuse, many games generally benefit from the research and opinions they get AFTER their games are released, and therefore the sequel is usually better. This is because most of the feedback comes in when the game isn't on paper, and rather in the hands of the customers.

 

[VegaNovus]

The whole game is completely linear until halfway through [approximately 20 hours].

Alot of Final Fantasy games are completely linear up until a set point, most of Disc 3 on Lost Odyssey is linear, it's just how things are on RPG's, I suppose SE did this to keep players interested.
​

There are hardly any towns.

Hm, this seems a little bit of a let down, but if there were towns dotted everywhere it would make the game seem like, run, defeat boss, get to town, defeat boss, run... etc etc
​

The party is always fixed.

This also seems a little strange, but I don't know, maybe the party is fixed because of the storyline or events happening within the game, maybe the party isn't fixed at the end of the game?
​

The whole game just repeats the movie-battle sequence over and over [In fact the progression is closer to movie-run-battle-run-movie-boss-movie-run-battle…].

It's an RPG... come on 2ch... use your noodles here...
​

There are rather a lot of movies.

Again... it's an RPG, beautiful FMV's is what we like.
​

Moving around is like a long marathon.

Hm this is what worries me the most, running around fields and stuff usually bores me, but if theres a good storyline, I guess reaching a critical point in the game is what keeps the game going, excitement.
​

The whole game system is just a clone of FF10.

FFXII's grid was hugely similiar to FFX, apart from there was less options, im pretty sure out of all my friends, most of them prefer 7 or 10's battle systems...
​

You can’t flee battles [You can’t avoid most battles either as there is no sneaking past enemies, including weak ones].

This also goddamn bugs me.... I have nothing to defend this point, its just VERY annoying.
​

Your party is completely healed after each battle.

Hm, this is another rather strange one, i'd love it to completely max out my characters health and be able to go into lots of fights and boast about how I hardly took any damage... but meh, I guess i'll survive.
​

If the main character in your party dies it is game over [There are only ever 3 characters in battle, often less, and often fixed].

This also makes it seem ridiculously annoying, I guess i'll just get my main character tanked up haha.
​

The best tactic is almost always endlessly attacking. There is next to no strategy or skill involved.

BUTTON MASHING?! :hi5:
​

The summons’ transformation scenes are a joke [i.e. Odin turning into a horse].

Correct me but game is called Final FANTASY, a fantasy world involves ridiculously magic transformations tyvm.
​

The story is rubbish…

Spoiler

[Spoilers omitted, but complaints centre on Snow’s constant and cringe inducing insistence that he is a hero and will “protect” whatever it is the antagonists are menacing this time]

We can decide this for ourselves, I guess it will be like marmite...
​

Shopping is only done at “online” shops on save points, with no proper shops to be found.

I guess it's hard to open up a shop in the middle of a war and s$@t, but I dunno, it seemed possible in previous Final Fantasy games...
​

However, this doesn’t matter as you hardly ever get any money [and you can never buy anything more powerful than what you already looted].

I hope there is like a special final weapon for every character or im'a not gonna be happy... and I also hope they are hard to get, looting weapons from enemies just seems a bit too easy.
​

There have been next to no changes from the demo.

The demo seemed pretty fly to me...
​

The status screen displays no real information.

I guess that's gonna take some getting used to but i'll have to see myself
​

There are only 8 items usable in combat [For that matter, there are hardly any weapons or accessories, and the “crafting” system mostly consists of spending drops to upgrade their 2 stats].

Hm, annoying, very annoying.
​

There are no levels.

Neither did FFX
​

 

[Sir Kenneth]

A lot of those complaints kind of makes me anxious that I was right about my concerns for this game. A linear game a la Final Fantasy X, carried mostly by numerous overblown CGI sequences, is exactly the opposite of what I was hoping for.

I see that a lot of people here don't get the complaints about the FMVs, but I think I'll join the choir and say that I'm not overly fond of excessive use of pre-rendered CGI either. Every time you include a FMV in a videogame, you are interrupting the gameplay of the videogame. If I wanted to lean back and just look at pretty pictures, I'd put on a movie. When I put a game in my console, I damn well expect to be able to play it.

 

[Piratewink]

There are some interesting points that I'd add on to.

Sure, the party is healed, but that's because there is no MP, which is strangely a good thing because that means I can cast lots of my favourite spells without having to worry about running out of MP, meaning I can have more fun!

You die if your main character dies? Well, there is an option asking if you want to restart the battle or go from a save point, plus it adds strategy and a sense of realism, I mean SE are trying to attract wider audiences and if you die in non-RPG games, it's Game Over no matter if you have a party member who can take the mob out himself. It'll really make you think of your moves though, and not have to fall back on Lifes and Phoenix Downs.

I love movies, and FF ones are far more interesting and I could handle even a one hour long movie, because I know it'll be captivating and not something out of Metal Gear Solid cutscenes (note: I love that game). I also don't mind paths being linear, it doesn't confuse you by opening a whole lot of options and generally it's telling a story, and it'll be linear in someway than not anyway.

As for it being similar to FF10, I loved that game and I don't mind if they use the same (more advanced) system because it was succesful (not like FF2's leveling system) and it gives for a far more advanced gameplay and level of choice. Plus, it is a fantasy and an RPG, so I'm happy for the exaggerated summons, you don't get that often in games, now do you?

Plus, the other points mentioned about difficulties actually make you think, right? They don't want to give away everything? Although, I do wish for more towns, but as long as they are big and the other areas aren't as empty (I for one am not a fan of the green lands with lots of empty spaces and less detail, like the Calm Lands from FF10), as long as it's very detailed, I'm happy for a game I know I'm going to love!

 

[Linnaete]

(Just to expand on some points I made in my last post)

Some complaints seem a little contradictory- it's probably because more than one person may have compiled the list. There's this complaint:

Your party is completely healed after each battle.

and this:

If the main character in your party dies it is game over

One complaint makes it sound like it's too easy- the other seems to suggest the system is harsh and unforgiving.

I say that it will be a good thing if there is some challenge especially as the party are given the free gift of being healed instantly following battles. Of course, if it's too ridiculously difficult, I would complain and I will reserve any judgement until the game is released.

There are only 8 items usable in combat [For that matter, there are hardly any weapons or accessories, and the “crafting” system mostly consists of spending drops to upgrade their 2 stats].

Even I must admit this sounds rather annoying- and another strange limitation strategy SE has implemented to challenge the player.

With all their advertising money, just how was it they failed even to get Famitsu to give full points?

Because Famitsu does not consist entirely of money grabbing whores willing to let some developers move the strings for them. And SE does not need to push Famitsu to give a perfect score, FFXIII will sell itself due to the name alone. Also, 39/40 is rather amazing anyway.

 

[Eight]

The whole game is completely linear until halfway through [approximately 20 hours].

I ain't complaining about it that, I like choice, but in dungeons, choice of paths can get annoying ​

There are hardly any towns.

A bit annoying, but FFX made it work.​

The party is always fixed.

Good to an extent, that means all characters in party will be more involved in whats going on, don't get me wrong, I like choice, but it feels like characters you put in your party just get blanked by characters who are set to be involved in a scenario.​

The whole game just repeats the movie-battle sequence over and over [In fact the progression is closer to movie-run-battle-run-movie-boss-movie-run-battle…].

Oh, awesome, that'll make the battles feel more special, give it something to stand out.​

There are rather a lot of movies.

That's FF for you. If you don't like it, don't play.​

Moving around is like a long marathon.

That thought made me cringe =/ I'm hoping this guy is just being dramatic.​

The whole game system is just a clone of FF10.

Battle clips have proven otherwise.​

You can’t flee battles [You can’t avoid most battles either as there is no sneaking past enemies, including weak ones].

I only found myself fleeing battles because I didn't have enough HP and MP to handle more rounds plus a boss fight (more often than not) So I guess with the HP being healed after battle thing, that's worry is out. Plus, if you find yourself not being able to handle the battles and fleeing, then that means you need to do some leveling ​

Your party is completely healed after each battle.

That's quite a relief actually after seeing how much damage we've seen being dealt from gameplay footage. If they wanna play with big numbers, then we may need to it.​

If the main character in your party dies it is game over [There are only ever 3 characters in battle, often less, and often fixed].

That's relatively annoying =.= But I dealt with it in Persona 3 and 4 so I guess I could cope again .​

The best tactic is almost always endlessly attacking. There is next to no strategy or skill involved.

I see...that sounds quite a disappointment. ​

The summons’ transformation scenes are a joke [i.e. Odin turning into a horse].

That sounds more of an opinion than a fact. An opinion that needs elaborating on. ​

The story is rubbish… [Spoilers omitted, but complaints centre on Snow’s constant and cringe inducing insistence that he is a hero and will “protect” whatever it is the antagonists are menacing this time]

See comment above.​

Shopping is only done at “online” shops on save points, with no proper shops to be found.

Hmm, that sounds annoying =/​

However, this doesn’t matter as you hardly ever get any money [and you can never buy anything more powerful than what you already looted].

​

There have been next to no changes from the demo.

There's Paradigm Shift, and it will have quite a huge impact on battle if it gives party members their roles. And let's not forget Summoning and that Scene Drive.​

The status screen displays no real information.

Sounds disappointing. =/​

There are only 8 items usable in combat [For that matter, there are hardly any weapons or accessories, and the “crafting” system mostly consists of spending drops to upgrade their 2 stats].

I coped in Kingdom Hearts 2.​

There are no levels.

But there still is development, The Crystarium System.​

 

[Abstract Debauchery]

The whole game is completely linear until halfway through [approximately 20 hours].

Oh yeah, just like FFX... Which I hate. Way too short, and way too linear.
​

There are hardly any towns.

I'mma bout to rage...
​

The party is always fixed.

Don't mind all that much. However, I can't deny that it doesn't sound too good.
​

The whole game just repeats the movie-battle sequence over and over [In fact the progression is closer to movie-run-battle-run-movie-boss-movie-run-battle…].

Oh, you mean almost exactly like FFX?
​

There are rather a lot of movies.

Metal Gear Solid 4 had this problem. I rather enjoy gameplay. Sure movies scenes are great, but too much of a good thing is a bad thing.
​

Moving around is like a long marathon.

Not quite sure what that's supposed to mean. Seeing as that it (like FFX) has taken out the exploration of the game...
​

The whole game system is just a clone of FF10.

Guess who just canceled their pre-order? I did.
​

You can’t flee battles [You can’t avoid most battles either as there is no sneaking past enemies, including weak ones].

I don't have a problem with fleeing battles, but knowing I can't avoid complete wastes of time by avoiding weak enemies sucks.
​

Your party is completely healed after each battle.

That's just Square's way of holding your hand and making the game appeal to a casual audience. Way to go SE, you fucked up FFX and now this.
​

If the main character in your party dies it is game over [There are only ever 3 characters in battle, often less, and often fixed].

That's actually not all that bad. However, because of the retry option, that isn't a fucking problem. (Too damned easy).
​

The best tactic is almost always endlessly attacking. There is next to no strategy or skill involved.

LESS STRATEGY THAN FFX?! HOLY SHIT!
​

The summons’ transformation scenes are a joke [i.e. Odin turning into a horse].

Just like FFX...
​

The story is rubbish… [Spoilers omitted, but complaints centre on Snow’s constant and cringe inducing insistence that he is a hero and will “protect” whatever it is the antagonists are menacing this time]

A personally opinion at its finest. Although, I'm not a big fan of the story myself.
​

Shopping is only done at “online” shops on save points, with no proper shops to be found.

What a joke.
​

However, this doesn’t matter as you hardly ever get any money [and you can never buy anything more powerful than what you already looted].

Just like most MMO's! I'm actually pretty used to this by now.
​

There have been next to no changes from the demo.

*Facepalm*
​

The status screen displays no real information.

But it has such a pretty picture when you look at it to distract the casual audience.
​

There are only 8 items usable in combat [For that matter, there are hardly any weapons or accessories, and the “crafting” system mostly consists of spending drops to upgrade their 2 stats].

Bloody fucking hell. That's boring as shit.
​

There are no levels.

JUST LIKE FFX! YAY! Instead, we get an even SHITTIER version of the Sphere Grid. Way to go SE, way to go.
​

Yep, I'm not buying this game. If I want to play it, I'll go over to a friends house, play it, see if I like it, and if I do, then I'll buy it. However, true to my word, besides FFXIV, I'll never play a main FF title again.

Son, I am disappoint.


​

 

[caucasian-eagle]

tht's a lot of bull!! ff13 is great!

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

The whole game is completely linear until halfway through [approximately 20 hours].

Personal opinion. How does one define "linear" anyway? Just because a map (which was the original moan) is in a long line doesn't make it linear. In fact, as far as FF titles go, most of them point you into a certain direction so couldn't you class all of them as linear too?

There are hardly any towns.

And the point with this is exactly?

The party is always fixed.

Unfortunate, but at the same time, this means you will play as characters you'd most likely neglect normally. Also, from what screenshots I've seen, the main storyline branches off into smaller ones. I've seen shots of where there is just Sazh and Vanille or Lightning and Hope and such like. The complaint is utter bollocks, how do you make it non-fixed when they're not always with each other?

The whole game just repeats the movie-battle sequence over and over [In fact the progression is closer to movie-run-battle-run-movie-boss-movie-run-battle…].

I really don't see where they're going with this. Couldn't it be said for nearly every game anyway?

There are rather a lot of movies.

Again, other than being a personal opinion people are juts LOOKING for things to moan about. IGN scored MGS4 down because it had a lot of movies. The movies might make FFXIII what it is.

Moving around is like a long marathon.

I don't have a clue what this is meant to mean.

The whole game system is just a clone of FF10.

People who liked FFX will be happy.
People who weren't bothered won't care.
People who disliked FFX will hate it.
Personal opinion counts. TRUFACTS.

You can’t flee battles [You can’t avoid most battles either as there is no sneaking past enemies, including weak ones].

Is this not the whole point to being able to restart battles? Yes, you're screwed if you bump into a difficult but are you not in a lot of FF titles? Certainly the older ones like FFI/FFII, if you come across a powerful enemy it'll screw you over before you can run anyway.

Your party is completely healed after each battle.

Not bothered, at all. The Last Remnant was the same I think.

If the main character in your party dies it is game over [There are only ever 3 characters in battle, often less, and often fixed].

People need to get over this. Play a non-RPG and you'll soon find out if your main character dies it's game over then too.

The best tactic is almost always endlessly attacking. There is next to no strategy or skill involved.

Well this is bullshit because I've seen live streams of FFXIII and when people have tried this their ass has been handed to them, quickly.

The summons’ transformation scenes are a joke [i.e. Odin turning into a horse].

This is an opinion that I think has been made before the actual game anyway, the whole summon transformation was touchy anyway.

The story is rubbish… [Spoilers omitted, but complaints centre on Snow’s constant and cringe inducing insistence that he is a hero and will “protect” whatever it is the antagonists are menacing this time]

Opinion. Opinion. Opinion!

Shopping is only done at “online” shops on save points, with no proper shops to be found.

Again, do not care.

However, this doesn’t matter as you hardly ever get any money [and you can never buy anything more powerful than what you already looted].

Is this not going against the point above?

There have been next to no changes from the demo.

Bollocks. There's been significant development.

The status screen displays no real information.

Again, anyone really care all that much?

There are only 8 items usable in combat [For that matter, there are hardly any weapons or accessories, and the “crafting” system mostly consists of spending drops to upgrade their 2 stats].

Good. I never use items anyway.

There are no levels.

This has been balanced.


To be quite honest, the criticisms are a joke, and I can tell you for a fact that the majority of people who are saying this are just passing on the minorities opinion because I've been on Japanese forums and it's highly praised. I've seen live streams and most of the comments are pure bullshit. Also, people need to take in the fact that this is one of the most anticipated games of 2009/2010 so people deliberately look for flaws. I shit you not when I say that if you started praising the game you'd be ignored on the likes of 2ch because it's all about the critics. 2ch opinions aren't exactly worth listening to anyway.

 

[Abstract Debauchery]

I've gone back and I've read a few reviews of FFXIII on a couple of sites. I read many that gave the game a high rating, and then I noticed something... The things that they were praising, I didn't like all that much. From the few reviews that I had read, I could tell that the game is pretty much a straight off clone of FFX.

Needless to say, I'm kind of done. I won't be going out and buying this. I'll just play it over at a friends house and see what I think about it. I'm not going to waste one more $ on a Final Fantasy that isn't any good. Final Fantasy and SE will not be getting my final dollar.

Although a lot of it does boil down to personal opinions, I do find that I agree with the 2channers opinion.

Personal opinion. How does one define "linear" anyway? Just because a map (which was the original moan) is in a long line doesn't make it linear. In fact, as far as FF titles go, most of them point you into a certain direction so couldn't you class all of them as linear too?

No matter what game it is, in terms of story, 99.9% of the time the story will be linear. I believe in this case they would mean that the game has linear gameplay. You go from point a to point b and have any, or all, cases of exloration removed. Which is part of the reason I hate FFX, and is part of the reason I'm not going to was my monies on this game.

I knew this game was going to be linear as hell when I heard it was going to have "chapters".

IGN scored MGS4 down because it had a lot of movies. The movies might make FFXIII what it is.

I couldn't get into MGS4 because it had so many movies. I'm playing a game to play a game. If I want to watch a full feature length film, I'll go to the theater. Movie scenes are great, but too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

People who liked FFX will be happy.
People who weren't bothered won't care.
People who disliked FFX will hate it.
Personal opinion counts. TRUFACTS.

WORD.

Well this is bullshit because I've seen live streams of FFXIII and when people have tried this their ass has been handed to them, quickly.

Actually, I've went and watched a few livestreams as well. What I saw basicly confirmed his point.

A lot of people have simply stated that they do not care. You're lack of caring is essentially what is causing the "de-evolution" of RPG's in the first place.

2ch opinions aren't exactly worth listening to anyway.

Wouldn't that be your opinion as well?

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

I believe in this case they would mean that the game has linear gameplay. You go from point a to point b and have any, or all, cases of exloration removed.

Most games follow a similar trend do they not? FFX may be linear but it's certainly better than most FF titles.

I knew this game was going to be linear as hell when I heard it was going to have "chapters".

By this logic all games that have "chapters" are linear

I couldn't get into MGS4 because it had so many movies. I'm playing a game to play a game. If I want to watch a full feature length film, I'll go to the theater. Movie scenes are great, but too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

It entirely depends on the game, MGS4 was driven by the cutscenes and I expect the same with FFXIII. Cutscenes are there for a reason.

Actually, I've went and watched a few livestreams as well. What I saw basicly confirmed his point.

At the beginning, then yes. As people progress it becomes far more difficult to do so.

A lot of people have simply stated that they do not care. You're lack of caring is essentially what is causing the "de-evolution" of RPG's in the first place.

Ntrly. I don't sit there in the studio designing the game. Square-Enix wants more western influences. Blame the people who design WRPGs then and other Western game companies.

Wouldn't that be your opinion as well?

Yes. But it's also the Japanese equivalent to GameFAQ

 

[Abstract Debauchery]

Holy shit. Upon reading your post I saw my grammar mistakes. I R sad.

Most games follow a similar trend do they not? FFX may be linear but it's certainly better than most FF titles.

Depends on the era of gaming. Stories are always linear. However, gameplay doesn't have to be. (The Elder Scrolls series) And in my humble opinion, FFX is the second worst FF in the series, trumped only by FFX-2. FFX to be quite frank, was the beginning of the end of the FF series. (My opinion however. I mean no disrespect.)

By this logic all games that have "chapters" are linear

Word.

It entirely depends on the game, MGS4 was driven by the cutscenes and I expect the same with FFXIII. Cutscenes are there for a reason.

You have a point. However, when I can't go five minutes in gameplay without tripping over a 30 minute cut scene... Once again: Too much of a good thing, it typically a bad thing.

At the beginning, then yes. As people progress it becomes far more difficult to do so.

The person I saw was owning a mid level boss with that. Who knows, he could have been cheating some how.

Ntrly. I don't sit there in the studio designing the game.

Square-Enix wants more western influences. Blame the people who design WRPGs then and other Western game companies.

Why blame them when I can blame people who just sat aside and ate it all up then sat there and went, "what the hell happened to my FF?". In all honesty, I shouldn't be blaming the consumer either. I should be blaming no one other than SE themselves for not sticking with what was great, and tossing it aside, and giving the finger to the little guy.

Yes. But it's also the Japanese equivalent to GameFAQ

Which is also another opinion.