What do you think of the new Final Fantasy?

[pontius-ft]

What does everyone think about the new final fantasy? It's release date is March 9th, for the UK and the US, I believe. Now that the game has been out for a while in Japan, and is almost released in the US and UK, there is a lot more info about it. From what I hear, it will be a relatively stripped FF game. As in, no side quests and limited/no exploration. Not sure if they'll have "ultimate weapons" like in FF10, probably not.

Also, you will only be able to control one character at a time in battle. Pretty much the same as 12 except the battles don't take place on the map and instead of Gambits there is a Paradigm Shift system that lets you decide what general strategy the others in battle should take. So far, going just on reading about it and not playing it, I don't like the sound of this. I like controlling ALL of the characters. I feel that there is more depth, more strategy, to the combat that way. I feel they're going for more of a ADD approach to attract younger (i.e. less patient) players. I hear lots of complaints about "waiting turns". I'll stop there as to avoid nerd ranting any further.

On the plus, I'm excited about the Eidolons. I just hope they're upgradeable, like in 8, 10, and to an extent 7.

The story seems great as usual. I didn't read too much, as to avoid spoilers. So far so good.

The graphics look as great as one would expect. I really like the futuristic style.

I'll try it. I wont buy it unless it's truly great.

One would think that Square + Enix + Developers of 7 and 10 would be able to make a practically orgasmic FF game. We'll see.

[Mac_Guffin]

You know, I never even played the 1st one. The only RPGs I've played were Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, and Zelda... if that counts.

[Animavore]

You know, I never even played the 1st one. The only RPGs I've played were Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, and Zelda... if that counts.

I bought Super Mario RPG thinking he was going to have a big, fuck-off, rocket launcher

Damn you Nintendo.

[pontius-ft]

You know, I never even played the 1st one. The only RPGs I've played were Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, and Zelda... if that counts.

The first one is good. Did you play it on the original NES? The series has evolved beautifully over time, until, in my opinion, FF12. (12 was alright, but if you wanted to play a MMORPG style game, why not just play a real MMORPG? Or the developers should have made it a spin off, like the FF saga series. Jebus knows they've made enough spin offs as it is, why stop now?) It's harder on the NES. Earthbound, SMRPG, and Zelda are all top picks for SNES RPGS. If you enjoyed them you may like FF 6 and maybe 4 and 7.

Edit: Sorry I misread your text. I thought you said you only played the first one.

[pontius-ft]

You know, I never even played the 1st one. The only RPGs I've played were Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, and Zelda... if that counts.

I bought Super Mario RPG thinking he was going to have a big, fuck-off, rocket launcher

Damn you Nintendo.

Geno had a "rocket launcher" of sorts...

[Ironclad]

I still play FF7 from time to time. The following games in the series didn't entertain me, FF8 being the worst.

[pcCoder]

I've played all except the ones for PS2/PS3. I like them pretty good, but one thing I don't think I'd like about the newer ones are how long the game play is. I could beat any of the earlier ones in ~25 hours game time or less, a little longer if I did the side quests. But the later ones seem to take much longer (My brother has XII, and has played +100 hours )

On similar topic, I noticed an advertisement about a new FF movie, based on FFVIII. I wonder if it will be any good.

[pontius-ft]

I've played all except the ones for PS2/PS3. I like them pretty good, but one thing I don't think I'd like about the newer ones are how long the game play is. I could beat any of the earlier ones in ~25 hours game time or less, a little longer if I did the side quests. But the later ones seem to take much longer (My brother has XII, and has played +100 hours )

On similar topic, I noticed an advertisement about a new FF movie, based on FFVIII. I wonder if it will be any good.

I sure hope it's not another "Spirits Within" fiasco.

[Mac_Guffin]

You know, I never even played the 1st one. The only RPGs I've played were Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, and Zelda... if that counts.

I bought Super Mario RPG thinking he was going to have a big, fuck-off, rocket launcher

Damn you Nintendo.

Geno had a "rocket launcher" of sorts...

I was like 10 when I played it, so I only got up to the crocodile guy. What makes it more embarassing, is that it wasn't just me, but me and a friend taking turns.
I'd like to give another crack at it now... whenever I feel like dropping forty dollars. ...400 if I want a new copy.
Earthbound's another one that runs high... like at 90.

Speaking of difficult games, I've also been wanting to buy Battletoads and Ninja Gaiden on NES. I heard that those are good, but impossible games... but I heard that Megaman X on SNES was hard, and I usually beat that in one sitting.

Anyway, back to your topic that I derailed a bit...

[Mephistopheles]

Okay, without spoiling the story and focusing on it as a game:

Story-wise, the villains are disappointingly bland, supporting characters are a bit skimpy, and the plot is a little short. But the setting is nice and there's a ton of character development among the main party members. And Lightning is NOT the main hero (if indeed there is one ), which is in and of itself a reason to get the game simply because of how well SE's PR team kept story details under wraps. It's a satisfying ending.

Gameplay: the battle system is a lot like FF X-2 in that it relies on chaining combos to break opponents, and includes "paradigm shifts" which are sort of like mid-battle class changes only with more generalized roles. It's like FFXII in that there are no random battles; you can avoid them by avoiding enemies, though in many cases enemy battles will be forced due to the linearity of the map. Though, like every other FF, once you enter battle with an enemy, the screen flashes and you're transferred to a more open map used solely for battles. Also like in FFXII, you mainly only control one party member, except instead of using gambits to control the other party members' actions, you can predefine teams of paradigm roles and quickly cycle through them mid-battle, sort of like garment grids from FFX-2, I suppose.

Like FFVIII, there is no magic. Both magic and abilities are performed by expending ability points. The number of ability points available for a particular move/combo is determined by the amount of the ATB meter filled up at that time. If you expend less ability points than are currently in the ATB meter, then the rest of the ATB meter carries over to the next turn. It fills up pretty quickly, think the "fast" mode speed in FFX or X-2. Anyway, simple spells and attacks can be combined to perform stronger attacks, and those in turn can be combo'd with other members attacks. Most enemies have a "break" bar which you much fill up by racking up the combos. This will often involve a bit of a puzzle; some combos will work better than others to break a specific enemy. And it can be noted, that in most cases, breaking an enemy results in a quick battle (or in the case of timed boss battles, a necessary action to complete the objective), while not breaking enemies, even minor ones, takes much more time.

All in all, the paradigm shifts combined with the atb meter results in a fairly fast-paced battle. Many people comment on how fun it is, and the only real criticism is that it isn't the traditional final fantasy battle setup--which, let's face it, we haven't had since FF9. It does come dangerously close to being categorized as an action game. The general consensus of informed gamers is that it is Final Fantasy evolved, an RPG for the next gen systems with a next gen mentality. Which might lose some of its fanbase, but may be necessary for FF to survive in the current gaming market. I'm not a genre-whore so as long as a game is good I don't care whether it straddles genres, but to some people it's a big deal.

Oh, also, regarding weapons. It's kind of like FFVIII, in that you start with a basic weapon and can upgrade it with items. The difference is (and don't quote me on this), it looks like it's a sort of mini-leveling system in and of itself, where different items give different amounts of points to a weapon when added to them. When a quota is reached, the weapon levels up. I think there are multiple base weapons to be found throughout the game, and they can all be leveled up to some degree.

Regarding your question about eidolons, it doesn't look like they level up to any more degree than previous summons. They get stronger, but no new abilities. I could be wrong about that, though. Each party member has a single eidolon, and each character must best their eidolon in a battle before they can use them. So you don't start out with summons.

Art direction is beautiful, as usual. World map is very linear. Sure, the stages are very detailed and diverse and look expansive, but it's like travelling in tunnel vision a la FFX. Which I didn't mind before, but it's probably something you should know. And apart from the story and battles, there isn't much to do. There's a theme park area sort of like FFVII's Golden Saucer, but there's nothing to do there. In fact, apart from a set of creature-hunting side quests like in FFXII, the only minigame is a chocobo digging game. So if you hated FFXII for having no mini games, you probably won't like FFXIII for the same reason.

Ummmmmmmmm...let's see, what else...nope, that's pretty much everything. Ultimately, the only way to find out if it's amazing is to play it. Even the worst sounding ideas can end up working really well for a game. Or, the reverse, in the case of Dante's Inferno.

[pontius-ft]

You know, I never even played the 1st one. The only RPGs I've played were Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, and Zelda... if that counts.

I bought Super Mario RPG thinking he was going to have a big, fuck-off, rocket launcher

Damn you Nintendo.

Geno had a "rocket launcher" of sorts...

I was like 10 when I played it, so I only got up to the crocodile guy. What makes it more embarassing, is that it wasn't just me, but me and a friend taking turns.
I'd like to give another crack at it now... whenever I feel like dropping forty dollars. ...400 if I want a new copy.
Earthbound's another one that runs high... like at 90.

Speaking of difficult games, I've also been wanting to buy Battletoads and Ninja Gaiden on NES. I heard that those are good, but impossible games... but I heard that Megaman X on SNES was hard, and I usually beat that in one sitting.

Anyway, back to your topic that I derailed a bit...

Ever heard of console emulators? They're free. And if you have a gamepad that works with your computer you won't have to use a cumbersome keyboard. (Trying to play Megaman, or Ninja Gaiden with a keyboard makes them twice as difficult). PM if you want to know more.


P.S. And I believe the crocodile guy's name was Croco.

[Mac_Guffin]

You know, I never even played the 1st one. The only RPGs I've played were Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, and Zelda... if that counts.

I bought Super Mario RPG thinking he was going to have a big, fuck-off, rocket launcher

Damn you Nintendo.

Geno had a "rocket launcher" of sorts...

I was like 10 when I played it, so I only got up to the crocodile guy. What makes it more embarassing, is that it wasn't just me, but me and a friend taking turns.
I'd like to give another crack at it now... whenever I feel like dropping forty dollars. ...400 if I want a new copy.
Earthbound's another one that runs high... like at 90.

Speaking of difficult games, I've also been wanting to buy Battletoads and Ninja Gaiden on NES. I heard that those are good, but impossible games... but I heard that Megaman X on SNES was hard, and I usually beat that in one sitting.

Anyway, back to your topic that I derailed a bit...

Ever heard of console emulators? They're free. And if you have a gamepad that works with your computer you won't have to use a cumbersome keyboard. (Trying to play Megaman, or Ninja Gaiden with a keyboard makes them twice as difficult). PM if you want to know more.

I know about emulators, but I'm too anachronistic for those things... but I do want to use an emulator to get games like the Simpsons arcade game I used to play all the time (that isn't available on consoles).


BTW, you're in my state. Do you know of any arcades still open? I miss the atmosphere of those places... and I'm talking decent arcades. There are places like the video game store in the mall that have racing games, but no Street Fighter or any of the other classics.

[pontius-ft]

I know about emulators, but I'm too anachronistic for those things... but I do want to use an emulator to get games like the Simpsons arcade game I used to play all the time (that isn't available on consoles).


BTW, you're in my state. Do you know of any arcades still open? I miss the atmosphere of those places... and I'm talking decent arcades. There are places like the video game store in the mall that have racing games, but no Street Fighter or any of the other classics.

Are you saying emulators are too "new" for you? If you can work a computer, an emulator should be no prob (that's if I understood you correctly of course). Just saying.

If you scroll down to the bottom of the following link, you will see instructions on how to be able to play The Simpsons Arcade game other than finding it in an arcade somewhere. Simpsons Arcade

There is a place called "Dibbz" in Metarie (not very close to you I know ) It's sorta like an internet cafe except it's focused on games. They have about 35-45 computers on a LAN network, all with about 30 games (such as Left 4 Dead, Counter Strike, Fallout 3, World of Warcraft, Half-Life, Unreal Tournament, etc). But they also have console and arcade style games, such as Marvel vs. Capcom.

[Mac_Guffin]

I know about emulators, but I'm too anachronistic for those things... but I do want to use an emulator to get games like the Simpsons arcade game I used to play all the time (that isn't available on consoles).


BTW, you're in my state. Do you know of any arcades still open? I miss the atmosphere of those places... and I'm talking decent arcades. There are places like the video game store in the mall that have racing games, but no Street Fighter or any of the other classics.

Are you saying emulators are too "new" for you? If you can work a computer, an emulator should be no prob (that's if I understood you correctly of course). Just saying.

If you scroll down to the bottom of the following link, you will see instructions on how to be able to play The Simpsons Arcade game other than finding it in an arcade somewhere. Simpsons Arcade

There is a place called "Dibbz" in Metarie (not very close to you I know ) It's sorta like an internet cafe except it's focused on games. They have about 35-45 computers on a LAN network, all with about 30 games (such as Left 4 Dead, Counter Strike, Fallout 3, World of Warcraft, Half-Life, Unreal Tournament, etc). But they also have console and arcade style games, such as Marvel vs. Capcom.

I'm not too anachronistic with everything, but when I play old games, I like the organic feel of a cartridge, the smell of heated plastic, etc. I'm the same way with books. I will not read a downloaded or online book unless it's not at the library and it's a book I know I'll only read once.

Metarie's not incredibly far. It's only about an hour away... but my no car situation doesn't help that... but at least I know one's out there.

Thanks for the Simpsons arcade link.

[Skylarking]

Ah... I can't wait for Xiii- though I'm reserving judgement until I've actually played it.


As an aside, someone mentioned Xii. A lot of people seem to think the story shit, but I really enjoyed the political side of it. A little different, and somewhat more complex then some of the other titles. I hope Xiii will involve some of these facets.



Anyone heard news about Versus? That looks like pure kick arsery.