Sunday, 27 December 2009

  • Final Fantasy XIII: Worst Final Fantasy Game Ever?

    FFXIII, the latest installment in the ever-popular series from Square-Enix, was released in Japan on the 17th to widespread disappointment and criticism from Japanese gamers. Complaints range from incredibly linear and unvaried gameplay, to cliche story, to an overabundance of cutscenes. Ironically, the big Japanese gaming publication Famitsu came close to giving it a perfect score.

    I don't know what to think, and I'll personally reserve opinions till after I play the game. Yet there is mounting evidence that these flaws could be true. It isn't just Japanese fans, but American ones too who share these opinions. Moreover, have a look at the in-game maps, and you'll see that FFXIII flows in an almost completely straight line, much like Final Fantasy X before it.

    At most, FFXIII is supposedly the worst of Xenosaga and Final Fantasy X in a single game, formulaic in a way that the original Final Fantasy looks innovative by comparison. For those who were planning to, are you still going to buy FFXIII? Or have the mass of skeptics already swayed your opinion?

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Comments (56)

  • SlackerSociety@xanga

    Nothing was worse than FFIX.
    Okay, FFX-2, my bad.
  • DrAgoNTorrent_265@xanga

    @Gerald_Washington@xanga - FFIX was awesome!  XII, on the other hand, was probably the worst one so far after X.
  • SlackerSociety@xanga

    @DrAgoNTorrent_265@xanga - I still havent beat it, and I like to brag that I've beat all of them too (FFXI included)
    At least the music wont suck anymore,
    Uematsu Nobuo is doing the scores.
  • nickichica@xanga

    I'll still buy it no matter what. When FFXIII Versus comes out, I might even buy a PS3 to play it haha. 
  • canicus@xanga

    I disliked FFVIII, liked IX, but when I got X, with its super-linear gameplay I all-but abandoned the series. I had some hope for this one, but it looks like I'm getting more of what I disliked in X: a movie with a little bit of linear gameplay. I will not be wasting my money on this. I hope Square-Enix loses a lot of money on it to force them to start designing good FFs again.
  • Endrath@xanga

    Nothing can possibly be as bad as X-2.  I swear that game was for 8 year old girls who like to play dress-up.

    I'm not sure what the complaint about "linear" storyline is... most FF titles have a pretty linear line, then about 75% of the way through you get some vehicle (usually an airship) that lets you go do sidequests... however, if the game contains no sidequests, I will be majorly disappointed.  Monster Arena in X and the Hunting in XII were some of my favourite bits of the entire series... and oh yea, Chocobo HnC!

    Lots of cutscenes would be a detriment for me, so that may be a deal-killer if its really really bad.  I'm going to stay optomistic until I get some quality reviews from people I trust... there's always a lot of negative stigma around new titles in old series (and the fact that one magazine loved it means that... well, some people like it!)
  • SimpleLocket@xanga

    Final Fantasy XII was the most boring. Final Fantasy XI was the worst >_>, ugh I hate online games.


     But I loved Final Fantasy VIII to X-2. To me it seems that Square Enix focus mostly on graphics than storyline and/or gameplay lately. I love graphics but it would be nice to have a decent storyline or gameplay.


    But I'm still gonna buy Final Fantasy XIII for the PS3 ^_^
  • ChaoyD@xanga

    I never planned on getting FFXIII because I only had a 360, but now that I got a PS3 for Christmas I'll probably pick up XIII Versus, regardless of whatever the popular consensus may be at the time. I should be done with Dragon Age Origins by then..

  • Icecold4u@xanga

    Seriously..can everybody just...shut-up with all thei FF hate.
    Final Fantasy was not made for western gamers..this is the first game where they're trying to somewhat am for us.
    Every other FF Game is made for everybody else, this is the first one that is..somewhat made for everybody.

    And saying FFX-2 is a bad game is like...calling a child for double dribble; Ruins the fun you should be having, the kid is sad, and now everybody complains. Everybody knows, the game came out too soon, and was skimpy. The only reason its called so horrible, is because we had greatest before it..and everybody complains about those too.


    Jesus Christ people, can we all accept the point that the one genre that can not be perfected, and will always have flaws in our heads, is JRPGs. That simple. Everybody can agree on amazing FPS games, Music games, etc....JRPGs, never.


    With all that said, the only FF that comes close to being perfect, is probably the most underrated, the Tactics series. Love it the most.

    I will be getting FFXIII, just like every single other FF.
  • folk91@xanga

    i will play it..even everybody critics the game..FF is my Favourite series game..
    Forex
    Learn Forex
  • Phoenix_Fire86@xanga

    @Gerald_Washington@xanga - FFIX was awesome especially if you grew up on the old ones. It was more a tribute final fantasy then anything

    IMO Final Fantasy series went downhill starting with FFX
  • Phoenix_Fire86@xanga

    @Endrath@xanga - Only thing i actually enjoyed a little bit in the 30 minutes i had with FFX2 was just the battle system. I didn't play more it more than that because i didn't enjoy FFX to begin so wasn't really motivated to finish well in this case "start" the game
  • anonymous

    I'll still buy it because its final fantasy, besides linearity means i might just have a chance of completing it between uni hand ins. an expansive world tends to me i just dont have the time to sit down and play
  • Nattifaux@xanga

    FFXII was so boring, with the whiny main character. He sounded/looked like/might of been a girl! -___- They should've made Basch the main charrie. He was all manly and whatnot. 
  • KefkaJ@xanga

    Every one of those complaints could be attributed to any other Final Fantasy, really. This sounds like when everyone complained that Kingdom Hearts 2 had a shallow combat system, plain level design and a senseless story; I was just like, "Uh, guys, you just described Kingdom Hearts 1."

    I see Final Fantasy as a series constantly trying to gain perfection through a lot of experimentation. I appreciate what they were doing with X, XI and XII - they were exploring the extremes of design, taking the series in directions it hadn't gone before. It didn't always work out, but hey! At least they tried. Other developers would've taken the easy road and never have changed a thing, staying afloat thanks to a legions of adoring zealots.

    I've been hard on Square and Testuya Nomura before - especially in regards to Kingdom Hearts and the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. But this time around I can see a lot of really interesting ideas coming out of this, and I JUST WANT TO BELIEEEEVE.
  • SlackerSociety@xanga

    @Nattifaux@xanga - also, a bunny lady for main female lead wouldve been more interesting instead of princess jailbait. :P
  • SlackerSociety@xanga

    @KefkaJ@xanga - You have a point, the JRPG genre is a bit stagnant to most american gamers ("Why cant I dodge attacks and I just stand there and get hit?") -____- ,so them trying something new may bring in new blood.
  • ashlyinwonderland@xanga

    I don't believe any Final Fantasy game can be worse than X-2 or XII. However, I will reserve my opinion until I get the game.
  • MiladyMasked@xanga

    Apparently I'm the only one who actually liked FFX...  X-2 was horrible, though.  Willing to try this new one, if I find a free PS3 on the side of the road-- they're awfully expensive for no backwards-compatibility.
  • ThisUserNameIsAvaliable@xanga

    more linear than a piece of string =] 
  • bludrgn72@xanga

    like someone else said, I want to believe that it will be a good game, but I haven't played part of the main series since IX. I simply cannot get into X, while XI and XII hold no interest for me. I'm a dinosaur when it comes to a lot of things, and Final Fantasy is one of them. I don't mind innovation and I understand that the old crystals storyline of the old final fantasy games is tired, but I simply don't like the direction of these new FF games.

  • Eyes_as_Red@xanga

    I always look forward to the fact that each Final Fantasy is different from the others, so I don't really care if it's more linear.  I haven't heard anything all that bad about it, though.  At least not from anyone who doesn't normally rag on the series, anyway.

    My least favorite is VIII, because the story really sucked compared to the others.  It's still better than most games, though.  Just didn't hold up to my standards.
  • nooitzben@xanga

    the game can't be judged till I play it!
  • JaydenWolf@xanga

    I love linear gameplay. I love games that are more story than play.


    So boom!! Instant fan! I haven't played it yet though :)


    I loved ten, cringed at X-2, liked XII but never got to finish it.

  • The_James_Blog@xanga

    A LOT of games today are still very linear and are great. Uncharted, Call of Duty, God of War, Gears of War, just to name a few of the chart toppers. While I do prefer open world games, I can still appreciate linear games when done right.

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