Will Final Fantasy XIII go the way of VII or X-2?

[Tedius Zanarukando]

Final Fantasy XIII looks promising. I hope it goes the way of Final Fantasy VII (having a near fully positive reception) and not Final Fantasy X-2 (having a rather negative reception).

 

[Rockman X]

FF7 really only had a largely positive reception due to it being groundbreaking technology at the time (and the large amount of kids who have no idea what a good storyline and good character development are). Looking back at it from an objective stance, it's really not that great and hasn't stood up that well to the test of time like other Square games (FF6, Chrono Trigger, to name a couple).

X-2 had good reason to be received negatively. It ruined X's perfect ending, it was so over the top with crappy pop that it was sickening, the sudoku tournament that replaced blitzball was terrible, and it just plain sucked.

And honestly, it's way to early to even start comparing XIII to VII and X-2. Plus, you seem to be forgetting that XIII has quite a few games under its name, it's not just one single game. But I'm sure that regardless it'll have positive reception. After all, Famitsu was idiotic enough to give XII a perfect score.

 

[Donald Trump]

i think it will be even worse than X-2, if possible.
Square are just getting worse. XII had such an unoriginal story line and boring characters.
they are achieving financial success at the cost of having creative bankrupucy. apparently they are going to pretty much reuse old character's personalities.
I'd like square to prove me wrong and FFXIII be really good but i cant see that happening

 

[Tielknight]

Major reason FF7 was a success was because of it's break into 3D graphics, same goes with FFX, which appeared on PS2, with yet another upgrade in graphics (Smexy Yuna, rawr )

So, i'm saying with yet another graphical upgrade and how uber FFXII was IMO, it will do ok.

 

[Rockman X]

i think it will be even worse than X-2, if possible.
Square are just getting worse. XII had such an unoriginal story line and boring characters.
they are achieving financial success at the cost of having creative bankrupucy. apparently they are going to pretty much reuse old character's personalities.
I'd like square to prove me wrong and FFXIII be really good but i cant see that happening

Ya know...for once I agree with you. Except on that part about reusing old personalities. The characters in XII had no personality at all, I've had more attachment playing with Tamagotchis.

Nomura is leading the helm and he rather...fails at character design. He's already said he's designing Lightning to be a female Cloud, which means:
1. He's relying even more on fanboys/fangirls to make sales
2. He's running out of ideas

 

[Reality.Fantasy]

Major reason FF7 was a success was because of it's break into 3D graphics, same goes with FFX, which appeared on PS2, with yet another upgrade in graphics (Smexy Yuna, rawr )

So, i'm saying with yet another graphical upgrade and how uber FFXII was IMO, it will do ok.

That is a very good point. FF7 has so many fanbois (and girls) because of how innovative it was, same with FFX with the introduction of amazing graphics and voice actors. Thus, I think FF13 will do very well, as long as it has a good storyline at least. FF12 was slacking, but then again, we had to compare it to FFX. If FF12 was the debut PS2 game, would we have thought higher of it? Who knows.

Regardless, FFXIII should do well in the eyes of young gamers, and hopefully us experienced gamers.

 

[Misty]

I'm sorry, but unoriginal storyline for FFXII? Maybe we should all take a look at past Final Fantasy storylines before saying that about XII

 

[Jack's Smirking Revenge]

Agreed. XII's great storyline is its only redeeming factor.

I'm not expecting anything at all from FFXIII. So far, it looks mildly interesting at best. The graphics look nice, and that's about it.

 

[Daenerys]

Theres not enough information about FFXIII yet, but they've never made a bad game in the numbered series - XI excluded - regardless of whether or not you personally like it, there's always loads of people who love it.

So, I think XIII will be a success, like all the other numbered ones, but it'll be like VIII and XII - you'll either love it, or hate it.

 

[Gingerbread Lesbian]

I have a feeling that like Aerith said, you will either love it or hate it. Graphically XIII looks stunning but as we found out with XII graphics don't make a game. But I think Versus stands out from most other FF's by a country mile due to the darkness of the extended trailer and also because it will have a KH battle system.

I also agree with VengefulRonin about Famitsu were 'idiotic enough to give XII a perfect score' there were a number of flaws with the game, I disliked the battle system, the charcter depth was abominable and the storyline was weak (its not the worst) but it was far from being the best.

 

[Golbez]

I have a bad feeling about XIII. And not just because it's an unlucky number. On the trailers, it doesn't look right to me. It doesn't look Final Fantasy.

Shiva is a motorcycle?!
I hope I read that wrong.

 

[Rockman X]

I'm sorry, but unoriginal storyline for FFXII? Maybe we should all take a look at past Final Fantasy storylines before saying that about XII

Agreed. XII's great storyline is its only redeeming factor.

Why does everyone say XII has a great storyline? o__O And please, none of those stupid excuses I've heard before like "WELL IT R POLITICAL STORY IT DOESNT NEED CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT" cuz that's a load of crap. Tactics had a political storyline, and not only was it more engaging but it managed to have some great character development.

Seriously, I want to know why people think it's such a fantastic political storyline. Most of the time I even forgot wtf was going on in the story because the pacing was so bad and I'd have to force myself to play. That never happened once in Tactics.

I have a feeling that like Aerith said, you will either love it or hate it. Graphically XIII looks stunning but as we found out with XII graphics don't make a game. But I think Versus stands out from most other FF's by a country mile due to the darkness of the extended trailer and also because it will have a KH battle system.

I hope it doesn't end up like KH. The first KH was great, but the second KH2 added so much to combat but didn't make any of it useless. Given all the acrobatics in the trailer, I wouldn't be surprised if the combat was similar. If it is, I hope they make all the flashy moves useful battle so there'd be a bit of strategy. At any rate, XIII ought to be much more well received than X-2 since it's not an abysmal sequel to anything.

I also agree with VengefulRonin about Famitsu were 'idiotic enough to give XII a perfect score' there were a number of flaws with the game, I disliked the battle system, the charcter depth was abominable and the storyline was weak (its not the worst) but it was far from being the best.

Yep XII is a good game, but it certainly wasn't deserving of a 40/40. IMO it was the long wait for the next numbered FF and all the hype around it that blinded them to XII's many faults, since the same thing happened with practically every gaming magazine/website here too.

I have a bad feeling about XIII. And not just because it's an unlucky number. On the trailers, it doesn't look right to me. It doesn't look Final Fantasy.

Nope, not at all. They're going back to uber future-y stuff with brooding characters. And allow me to say it again: SHIVA. IS. A MOTORCYCLE. That's wrong. And Lightning's sword/gun weapon looks like a bloody Swiss Army Knife.

Sadly, you read it correctly. These are some new scans of the PS magazine:

http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/media/scans/opmuk/07.jpg

http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/media/scans/opmuk/08.jpg

So Shiva = biker/goddess thing
Versus = PAIN (i.e. ultimate emo game)

However, Versus does have a bit of hope, seeing as how they've brought back world maps.

 

[Misty]

People like different things, they see different things. Learn to accept that. I think it's got a great storyline for several reasons, but I really don't think it's worth telling me them to someone who steadfastly hate's XII's plot

I've accepted that people think FFXII is a big pile of shite, and if I feel like arguing a point I will do, but reasonably.

Versus with World Maps? How were World Maps any good I don't know. Didn't make exploration that much fun, but hey, if someone wants to tell me why they liked them, go right on.

 

[Lady Mjrn]

I'm not REALLY sure if XIII is going to be my cup of tea, which is why I'm not rushing out to buy a PS3 so I can have it.. maybe in a few years, but I don't know.

 

[Rockman X]

People like different things, they see different things. Learn to accept that. I think it's got a great storyline for several reasons, but I really don't think it's worth telling me them to someone who steadfastly hate's XII's plot

Haha, alrighty then. I'll just revel in Tactic's story then xD

I've accepted that people think FFXII is a big pile of shite, and if I feel like arguing a point I will do, but reasonably.

Now now, I never called the game a pile of shite, just the story. I actually do somewhat enjoy XII.

Versus with World Maps? How were World Maps any good I don't know. Didn't make exploration that much fun, but hey, if someone wants to tell me why they liked them, go right on.

I liked them It was nice being able to see the places you were running to and not getting lost quite so badly. Plus they had neat effects, especially IX's. It impressed me alot my first time through when I got out of the Evil Forest and saw the mist covering everything, or how the sky went from being daytime to twilight then night around Treno.

Besides, I'd much rather walk a world map than spend hours hiking to my next destination like in XII. Keep the MMO elements out, I say. It sucked having to walk so much for the storyline or for sidequests that I'd forget where I was even supposed to be going. And yes, I realize there are teleport crystals, I used them constantly. They still didn't help cover large distances like the Sandsea.

 

[Shu]

40/40 - Maybe they gave it this because it was the greatest rpg of that "era" and the most revolutionary.

As far as Final Fantasies go this used an entirely new system as far as Materia, FMVS, Limit Breakers, Gold Chocobo Breeding, Emerald Weapon, Ruby Weapon, Summons .. etc.

The story line was by far the best in my opinion. It took that Childish crap out of the games finally. All the characters where older at the exception of Yuffee but hey I didn't see much of her so I wasn't annoyed.

The battle system was based off turn basis in which could be altered by spells such as Haste/Slow/Stop/Petrify/Death. At the time the game came out you couldn't get your eyes away from it, and yes if you were to play it now it isn't as "pretty" and the game play can't be appreciated.

But the reason these people gave these high/perfect ratings is because now many games try aspire to drive further and on because of this game, they try to break the mold. It is verrry hard to do when FFVII vertually had everything at it's arsenal including an incredible story line. True it didn't focus on everybody (vincent, Yuffee, RedXiii, Mog) But it did quite a bit more for the main characters. Intrigued, definetly, what an amazing game for it's time.

And also someone actually dies in an rpg for once... thank god, not the hollywood story that we always run into in RPGS.

So do I hope FFXIII can finally be a groundbreaking rpg, i freaking hopeso or japanese rpgs as a whole might soon go down the toilet.

 

[Tedius Zanarukando]

Final Fantasy XII is not lacking in gameplay in anyway, at least in my opinion. Like in many cases, I disagree with VengefulRonin about Final Fantasy XII's battle system. I really love the battle system. Also, Final Fantasy XII does not have random encounters. I also like the License System, because it erases class restrictions and allows us to customize gameplay. I alternate between male and female characters as they level up, thus having the male side (Vaan, Balthier, and Basch) and the female side (Ashe, Fran, and Penello) parallel with each other. I have the male side be three levels higher than the female side, and each take turns leveling up. That is how I play it. In my game, Vaan would be in the lead level wise, being at least five levels ahead.

 

[Rockman X]

40/40 - Maybe they gave it this because it was the greatest rpg of that "era" and the most revolutionary.

Wait, are you talking about VII or XII? It looks like from your post that you're referring the 40/40 to VII...but I was talking about XII.

But the reason these people gave these high/perfect ratings is because now many games try aspire to drive further and on because of this game, they try to break the mold. It is verrry hard to do when FFVII vertually had everything at it's arsenal including an incredible story line. True it didn't focus on everybody (vincent, Yuffee, RedXiii, Mog) But it did quite a bit more for the main characters. Intrigued, definetly, what an amazing game for it's time.

If you'd done the Wutai sidequest, Yuffie actually had a pretty good story behind her. That's obviously focus when they gave an optional character a decent backstory and challenging sidequest. Red XIII was probably one of the best characters in the game too, he was certainly the smartest character in Cloud's group and he had a fairly good bit of story.

And uh........Mog is from FF6. I think you're getting really confused here.

And also someone actually dies in an rpg for once... thank god, not the hollywood story that we always run into in RPGS.

There were more deaths in IX.

So do I hope FFXIII can finally be a groundbreaking rpg, i freaking hopeso or japanese rpgs as a whole might soon go down the toilet.

You forget about Sakaguchi's new company Mistwalker. I'm looking to them for hope in the RPG genre.

 

[Shu]

oops, yep that was all inferred for VII, jumped to the gun on that one. Misread it by just a small bit, and although more people died in IX, it didn't have as much impact as Aerith (aeries to some).

As for XII well the gameplay was about it for me. I'm sad to say but the Characters go it was a big let down. With XII you have the kind of a main character vaan (to childish as usual) and his little side kick Penelo who doesn't interact with the party till 2/5th the way through. You also have Ashe, who everyone seemed to fall in love with, but she actually was very very masculine. I assumed she had to be since she was the "queen type" of the game, but still it was a crappy throw in. Fran talked like a robot mostly with her Roguish "abandon her race" ways and her "Nature" talk. I couldn't fully appreciate the characters as I have in the past, they were a big bust. Basche was not so bad but you can not put in characters like Balthier to bring him down.

As far as the story goes this was the biggest let down. The kingdom thing has been done, it's time to move on now. We need something unique finally. I'm so tired of predicting a game straight from the get go. It's all cliche.

As far as the gameplay goes, yea it was very unique. It basically bottomed out once everyone had their "SP" or "JP" pallet filled up. I mean I like my characters to have some variety, not to be able to be a warrior/mage/ranger/ninja all the way accross.

The FMVS were not to bad, but the lack of depth in the plot really killed it for me. I beat it, but played it for the thrill of the combat system. I just hope FFXIII can aspire to more.

And oh yea, sorry about the FFVII stuff - lol, I could defend that game to the end it was so beautiful.

 

[Tedius Zanarukando]

Final Fantasy XIII is being developed by the Final Fantasy X staff. Masashi Hamauzu will score the game. According to what I have heard from you, Final Fantasy XIII might get a mixed reception. I am sure Final Fantasy XIII will become worthy of a seat in the Square Enix hall of fame (like Final Fantasy VI and VII), and not in the Square Enix hall of shame (like Final Fantasy X-2 and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest) .