Final Fantasy 13 - What the hell happened ?

Games4M: In this video we take a look at Final Fantasy 13 and compare it against the innovation and diversity of what many people consider the greatest JRPG ever - Final Fantasy 7.

*Warning: adult humour and language

[Godmars290]

1) No central Villain. One half decent bad guy, not just some smoe doing the wrong job for the right reasons, would make everyone forget all of the main character's flaws.

2) Should have taken tips from MH and MGS: give monsters sensory/detection cones so players could figure out ways to sneak up on them. Also since they did away with tons and shops, why not give characters weapon/accessory making skills? Give them 1-2 weapons for the whole game that they build up by salvaging materials from monsters, as well as find around the world. Learning new methods by hacking into computers, finding data files or just observing certain events.

As for Versus, I'm really having my doubts because of #1. The series started to loose its mojo with XII, and that's when they stopped having good villains.

[Games4M - Rob]

I totally agree. I think 10 was the last one i actually enjoyed playing and even then i was thinking it was losing steam.

The weapon upgrade thing sounds like a good idea. The whole shop thing in 13 sucked, it just seemed tacked on at the last minute with its basic menu system.

I kind of imagine that they got to a point in the game and just thought "CRAP! how do the characters get better weapons???" and so someone came up with and implemented the floaty shop hologram one lunchtime.

[DannyVenom]

I like the weapon upgrading system. I have seen others, but they are pretty plain, like adding 'gems' and other goofy stuff which just basically gives a +1 to some stat.

A really good weapon upgrading system would be the nads.

[Godmars290]

A lot of the problem is that a year and half of development had been wasted on the PS2. That they still had the mindset of working on DVDs and felt generally burnt on the reaction of FFXII. Still tried to make an MMO but ignored games like GTA and MH.

[f789790]

How would it being multiplat affect the game mechanics?

Square Enix just needs to make a FF7 remake (it would be stupidly huge) then die.

[Celeras]

Usually, this is the point where I'd point out that while not a masterpiece.. FF13 is still a perfectly serviceable JRPG.

However, after watching that video, this comment is now reserved for ripping the fgts in front of the camera. Seriously, 'fking awful' doesn't even begin to describe it. Don't quit your day job fellas..

[Natsu X FairyTail]

smh @ sage kin blaiming this on the fact the game is multiplatform.

S-E fell off A long time ago. When's the last time you've played a good S-E game these past years?

All they do is Milk the Series and give us half the product they used to give us back in the days and people still buy it.

[Godmars290]

The whole thing is a question of Square knowing what they knew when they knew it.

For all anyone on the outside is aware, Square could have begun dealing with MS to put it on the 360 within the lost year and a half the game was going to be a PS2 title. The devs are halfway through making a custom PS3 game engine when management orders them to stop, make it multi, and in the ensuing argument its the PS2 engine that goes into FFXIII so it will fit on a DVD. Meanwhile the PS3 still gets Versus all to itself which happens to have the "new" game engine.

@1.7:
yeah, you got a point too... :(

[soxfan2005]

It doesn't fit on a DVD - it needs three DVD's. It's a 25gb game that fits on one Blu-ray - meaning it's still optimized for PS3, and then scaled back to fit on 360.

The theory that producing a 360 version led to FF13's drawbacks is full of holes.

[RememberThe357]

I love it. It's beautiful to look at and it's fun to play. I know different people have different taste but the hate being directed toward FF13 is misguided. I love being able to upgrade my weapons and accessories and I love the new skill-tree-thing. The story is compelling even thought it's vague and at times a little too splintered.

The only gripe I have so far is with Hope. I hate that kid.

[iamtehpwn]

NO. TOWNS.

[jadenkorri]

cloud, Squall, and Tidus..... Ok, you left out Zidane, FF9 was a great FF game, better than 12 and 13 combined

[KiRBY3000]

7 -> lucky number -> success
13 -> bad bad number -> fail

Versus got "13" slapped on its tittle but its gonna be a new FF game, so i consider it to be the 14th entry in the franchise.

14 = 7x2

so, the only rational conclusion is that Versus is going to rock twice as much as FF7.

you cant disagree with MATHS!

[SaiyanFury]

There's a lot of reasons why I, as a traditional RPGamer didn't buy FF13. I was on the sidelines for a longtime, but I constantly kept my eye on the game. But after I learned that S-E removed just about every component that made a game an RPG, I decided not to get it. A few points include:

No towns: This equates to exploration in RPGs. Nothing to search, no one to talk to. This removes an organic part of the RPG experience that I couldn't resonate with.

Completely linear: again, this ties in with nothing to explore.

The removal of EXP: I've not played the game so I don't know how you advance your party. I've read that both EXP and MP better knows as magic points were taken out of the game. In the video the guy just mashing the X button to win a battle against several foes really turns me off as it has no strategy, and no thought about battles.

From what I've seen, S-E (the corporation) made FF13 to appeal to the masses that don't typically play RPGs, and not to those of us who relish a good RPG. What went wrong? S-E's bottom profit-line. They were more concerned with it than making a good game.

For the record I'm one of the few that loved FF12. FF Tactics on the original PS is and will always be one of my favourite games. The same people made FF12 and I have to say I loved it. It has a huge world map to explore, people to interact with, and goals to accomplish. From what I've read, the same cannot be said of FF13. I must ultimately agree with the video, how far has the FF series fallen since the days of the revolutionary games on the original PS? These days it's merely about name recognition, and not about true innovation. Personal opinion here.

[Nicaragua]

Final Fantasy 7 rocks
Final Fantasy 13 sucks sweaty bums

[DannyVenom]

Pretty much summed it up. Better graphics does not mean a better game, FFXII is the greatest proof of that.

Kind of sad really, hopefully they realise what they are doing wrong and will continue the series with something more like FF:VII/X.

[Colonel-Killzone]

I will say this battle system fantastic story boring as hell was not interested for the most part and i thought they wanted to make it so complicated for no damn reason. But the battle system is fantastic thats at least one thing they did not screw up but i was disappointed thank god i only borrowed the game and did not buy it im gonna wait for ff13versus ^_^ nomura <3.

[120FPS]

I think Japan is playing catch up to western devs when it comes to game development for this current Gen, its only these past 8 months that the ps3 has started to really take off, the x360 is selling as well as a packet of condoms in a nunnary.

The Japs are still too much into their DS', PSP'S AND WIIS , all last gen

[Son_Lee]

It just doesn't feel like a Final Fantasy game. The classic sounds aren't there. No mini-games, no shops, and it actually is too linear. Or more precisely, it doesn't open up enough. Cocoon had enormous potential for exploration, but to no avail.

As much as I like the characters, I didn't feel a strong connectivity to them, maybe with the exception of Sazh and Vanille. Snow is cool, but a Zell + Seifer hybrid. And Lightning I find quite awesome all-around, they did her right.

Music was great, but lacked melody-driven pieces in the places that matter.

I want exploration. I want to accidentally venture off and get my ass kicked by monsters that are 10x stronger than me. I like the cone field of vision idea for monsters, I would include that. Also, keep the datalog system and the overall menu design. That was fantastic!

Some things should never change. Bring back the feel of FF, and you don't need the original developers to do that. Come on Square Enix, I know you can do it.

[Godmars290]

You mean because they substituted the J-POP specifically made for the game for American pop that wasn't?

Go figure...

[Redempteur]

"I want exploration. I want to accidentally venture off and get my ass kicked by monsters that are 10x stronger than me."

Happenned to me ..i wanted to explore gran pulse and i stumbled on some pretty huge monsters .. didn't you see them ?

[Son_Lee]

Well yeah, I ran into them on Gran Pulse too, of course. But I'm talking about freedom, venturing off somewhere that you don't know you're not supposed to be and get destroyed. Or just fight creatures somewhat stronger than you. Bottom line: let me walk where I want, not on a Fallout level, but echoing previous Final Fantasies.

As far as the music goes, I don't care that they substituted Kimi ga Iru Kara for My Hands. I actually really like My Hands as a song, and Leona Lewis in general, but besides songs like Dust To Dust and obviously the main theme throughout, I didn't hear many strong melodies. That being said, I still love the music and applaud Hamauzu for taking a new approach, especially with the vocal tracks. Loved those. And best battle theme in history.

[Hotel_Moscow]

if you look at it as a game its one of the best but people keep on comparing it to others in the series

[MGS_fanatico_]

4 things happened.

1. MicroSoft
2. The Xbox 360
3. The humongous paycheck
4. And last but not least, Square-Enix greed and ignorance!

[Tdmd]

Micro$oft happened. Oversimplification, I know, but I really do think that's where everything started to go down the river.

[ThatCanadianGuy]

360 gimped it.

[ELite_Ghost]

I find the game wayyy too ez compared to other games... I keep getting 5 stars and rarely 4 LOL

must be cause they wanted to attract those lil 360 boys

[AliTheBrit19]

You realise 13 wasn't the first Final Fantasy on the Xbox 360 right?

[Thoreau]

i realize how superior the ff12 is to ff13. on ff13 i am on chapter 10 and it is boring. your teammates basically are AI bots and you just switch your paradigm to boost your ATB, on every enemy....boring. ff12 gave us an open world. i am level 39 in ff12 and
i have not even started the first mission with penelo to make the sunstones. in ff13 you cant even control some of your actions your character takes within the heat of battle, in commando mode try to use siphon or blindside, it is all automatic.

hopefully ffvs13 will go back to the series roots...

[midgard227]

regardless of what haters believe ff13 was awesome besides not having more limit breaks or a better main villain i think it was fun. far better than the garbage that was ff12

wtf was ff12 anyway? it rewarded u for not playing (gambit system)

i cud put the controller down and win even boss fights, aswell as 12 having a main character who wasnt the main character, lame baddie, lame cast besides basch, lame battle system, everyone was the same character with different skin. (everyone cud use the same gun)

13 isnt bad, not the best but not bad

tho cant wait for ffV13.

while V13 has world maps etc, it also has KH style gameplay. cannot wait! nomura is the man!

[RememberThe357]

FF13 is better than FF12 in nearly every aspect. FF12 had a better story, that's about it. I'm damn near finished with FF12 and I love it but it is not a "better game." FF13 has a vastly superior battle system as well as as better, easier to understand leveling system.

But these are just my opinions. With so much hate I feel like I gotta show this game some love. I'm having fun with it so I feel like it deserves it.

[foxxy]

My favorite final fantasy I really got into the database i know everything about cocoon and pluse I really enjoyed the game I'm sorry if you didn't but I understand what people expected but I got something different that I liked.

[Dsnyder]

Right when Microsoft wrote thier check I knew this game was going downhill. This game looked great when it was exclusive. The graphics were unbelieveable at the time (many games equal or surpass it now due to the long delays) and it looked like a FF game that I would like. Unfortunatly, with limited deveopment options that come with mulitiplatform games, the FF13 we were first introduced to is now a shadow if its former self. Hopefully versus 13 will take full advantage of being exclusive. That game did have the better art direction anyway.

[midgard227]

huuuh.

what game besides a ps3 exclusive looks better than ff13??????

if u played 13 on the ps3 on a 1080p tv u know its one of the most gorgeous games this gen, while it was dumbed down because of the 360 it still looks amazing...well on ps3 atleast ;p

cant wait for versus!

[bjornbear]

live with it. its purely business.

[ClownBelt]

I love the game, so screw ya haters.

[cmrbe]

its a bad game. What people are saying like myself is that it could have been alot better. An average FF is still bettter than most JRPGS out.

[Tunerboy8732]

I think miley has some sand in her vagina.

[cmrbe]

because it went multi. Argue all you want but deep down everyone knows that this is true.

[NMC2007]

I am still on the fence about this game, it looks kinda boring from the gameplay I have watched on Game Anyone?.

[swiftshot93]

Its not even the mechanics or the tech, its simply the design. There are fundamental design choices that Square made for this game that are either plain annoying or outdated, I seriously dont understand where the hell this company went after FFX.

[midgard227]

i personally didnt like X at all. whiny characters, boring gameplay, tidus cries more than his girl, blitzball and wakka.

only redeeming thing in the game to me was jecht, and he was a giant whale for most of the game

i can see where some people liked it tho, but me personally. nuh uh lol.

i havent really liked an ff since 7 and 8 :/ tho i have played them all haha

[A change in the wind]

The 360, that`s what happened. I really wish MS and their damn shooterbox360 would mind their own business, and butt out of me trying to enjoy one of my favorite franchises ever. Please, just stick with your mediocre and boring shooters MS, let us true gamers game in peace.

[Allowen]

I played FFXIII on my PS3 and I loved this game !

The story us uber fantasy as always(since FF7) but I liked it even i the main Boss of this game is a bit dump.

Forget about other FF games you have played and see this FF13 as a new game.

It has a very similar game play like Mass Effect 2 that is also linear but without making it become boring at any moment and it has the best graphics and fight system then ANY other JRPG game with brilhant AI.

For me the best RPGs of the year will be MAss Effect 2, Final Fantasy 13 and Fallout New Vegas.

[Sigh]

not that bad of a game, could've had potential to be better. But still, not bad, pretty fun. The beginning was a damn drag though.

[Figboy]

i'm a big Final Fantasy fan, but in truth, FFVII is not as good as our nostalgia is making us think it is.

it most certainly is an amazing RPG in that it was the first of it's kind for the PlayStation generation of consoles, and it altered how people thought of, and created RPGs, but if you actually play the game now, and try and make the story make ANY semblance of sense, or try and relate to ANY of the characters in the game, you'll see that, while the world and story isn't exactly bad, it's REALLY lacking cohesion and direction. it's kind of all over the place.

i still hold the game fondly in my heart, but it's not the best of the Final Fantasy's by a long shot.

as for Final Fantasy XIII, i don't get the hate for it, honestly. whenever you compare something to things that are considered the best in it's class, it will almost always come up short.

look at Darksiders. it has a lot in common with Zelda, but it is NOT Zelda. it never will be. does that make Darksiders a bad game, because it doesn't live up to the standard set by Zelda?

for Final Fantasy, there is no way ANY sequel will ever match up to your trumped up expectations of what the franchise is.

Final Fantasy VI is probably the best FF out of the entire series in terms of characters and plot, but there have been MANY Final Fantasies after it that have improved the franchise on a game play level.

I think FFXII and FFXIII added some much welcome refinements to the formula that the FF series was falling victim to.

You can't have it both ways. You can't have Final Fantasy stick to tradition and adhere to all those standards set with 9 other titles, and yet ALSO expect it to redefine the RPG genre, and bring you something never before seen or experienced in the franchise. You're asking for the impossible.

Square-Enix, as much as they've dropped the ball this generation, didn't drop the ball with FFXIII. I think they took some risky actions with the franchise, changed up the tried and true structure of an FF (removed towns, made the opening extremely linear, thus suiting telling a story better).

Alan Wake was supposed to be open world, but Remedy removed that element to focus on making sure that the pacing of the game didn't affect the narrative they were trying to tell. No one outside of fanboys really made a huge deal about this.

Square-Enix decides to make FFXIII more linear to suit the story, which, last I checked, was THE most important aspect of an RPG next to the Battle System, and people blow a gasket.

I find FFXIII to be the most structured and followable FF in the series. The first 10 chapters of the game are better than the whole of most RPGs that follow the traditional route.

Out of all of the JRPGs released this generation, how many of them are genuinely memorable? Blue Dragon? Eternal Sonata? Lost Odyssey? They are solid RPGs, with well done stories and narratives, but they are so mired in the traditions, cliches, and formulas of the JRPG genre that, in the end, they are utterly forgettable games (although I do think that, out of the bunch, Eternal Sonata has a lot more going for it).

At this stage in the gaming industry's growth, i CAN'T let my nostalgia get in the way of enjoying the games that ARE. i grew up during the NES era. I've played every gaming platform released since then, and yet, if i were to let nostalgia dictate my views of modern day gaming, i'd never play much of ANYTHING these days, because very few games released this generation will EVER make me feel that same sense of wonder and joy i felt when i was 6 years old, gazing at Super Mario Bros, or Zelda, or Contra, or Castlevania, or Ninja Gaiden, for the first time.

it's something that many long time gamers have to accept with this current generation.

there are still games that can wow us (and MANY games this generation have), but it's because we have to turn off that jaded, cynical, skeptical view of the industry that's been encouraged by the gaming media since this generation began.

console preferences aside, we are ALL gamers, we all want this industry to succeed, even when we bicker about who we think should be heading that charge.

all 3 platforms have done some remarkable things this generation, whether through hardware, software, or creativity and innovation in various gaming services.

even with my fond memories of gaming since 1985, i have no reservations about saying that i think THIS generation, in terms of game quality and pushing the industry forward, has been the BEST in my longtime gaming life. if i let nostalgia rule me, then i'd have never unplugged my NES from the TV.

[IrishAssa]

First of all. I agree, FF6 is the best IMO. Then 8 to me, then 10, then 7. I have 9 and will play it in July. Played 4 aswell and it is just a step toward 6 I thought.

second. It's not the linearity of it. I don't mind a corridor. It's just during the whole game you do nothing but battles. Every few steps. which take longer than they should. Just plain boring and you don't have to do anything in particular, just scan(libra I think?) change paradigm's at the right moment and Auto battle. There's nothing else to do whatso ever.

Let me give you a few example's, FF10 had Blitzball so when you get bored of the battles, you could take a break from fighting and do that, it also had temples/puzzles which split up the battles to.

FF7 had fights for about 15 minutes at the start, then a big enough break just walking around in the little slum, then battles, then aerith and possible battles or you could beat the shinra troops through a mini game(barrels) the you went to her house, the escort her(battles) then try to find cloths for cloud and stuff for a good while.
There is alot to break up combat in those games.

But FFXIII you have at chapter 4 or 5 you get on a robot for 30 secs, then chapter 7 where you run through a corridor without battles and run around a few circles after the little chocobo. Then there's just fighting. Even on Pulse it's ust the same except your no longer in a corridor if you stay out in the big area

[anonymouse111335]

Basically, your point is people need to take their nostalgia glasses off.

http://img205.imageshack.us...

[Games4M - Rob]

I dont think its nostalgi why people rate FF7 so highly - we actually cover this in the video but for those who didnt watch and who just prefer to comment then i'll elaborate.

FF7 had loads of stuff to do and a massive world to do it in. It had different mini-games (snowboarding, chocobo racing, chocobo breeding), and it had interesting locations you could interact with - ie towns.

FF13 has walking along linear corridors and then combat, THATS IT. Its a huge step backwards for the series in terms of content, gameplay and fun.

Nostalgia isnt the reason people talk agout FF7, nostalgia is the reason people BUY FF13 because as a stand alone game it sucks.

[Redempteur]

all you wanted was mini games ??
because that's the only thing missing ...

[miyakoS]

um... you don't have to fight battles if you don't want to. It's called run past the creatures and push the plot forward. And do you really think the l'Cie have time to snowboard or chocobo race or play blitzball when they might turn to crystal at any moment? Honestly... and people complain about the first few chapters but those were the best mood-making parts of the game before the plot got tangled up in itself like the typical FF. I have my problems with FFXIII, especially with the end in which it doesn't seem as if turning into Ragnarok and killing the last boss is much different from not turning into Ragnarok and killing him anyways, since Cocoon seems to have been pretty much destroyed anyways. But the things people complain about in FFXIII can be really stupid sometimes.

[IrishAssa]

So what? You want to do nothing but run by the monsters now?

Also, no not mini-games. Somethng to break up the battles, anything, people complain about there being no towns. Towns are a way to break up the battle.

Square statement, "Towns are too hard to do in HD"

What?

It doesn't make sense with the story? the story is just an excuse, they could have and should have added more in in chapter 7. You know the city renowned for shopping...

Even Pulse should have had something. But no.

Finally the Databook thing?? If I wanted to read a book I would do so. I play games because they are games.

[JonnyBigBoss]

Over-linearity plus no variety spells no good for an RPG. Good thing it had excellent audio and visuals, but that still wasn't enough imo.

[Blaster_Master]

i miss my old school jrpgs. What ever happened to huge worlds like in Dragon Warrior 7? Killer story lines like Chrono Trigger and FFX? Even Kingdom Hearts was better then FF13. Nomura and the FFXI guys seem to be the only ones that is gonna keep the faith in the series, I wish both teams the best.

[anonymouse111335]

FF12 was the most boring, not 13, talk about pressing x all the way through XIII in XII you just moved your character around, hell I beat the last boss without pushing any buttons, you could even use the neglamurr trick to auto-level yourself. You don't have to keep pushing X it's you saying you're too lazy to use the abilities command.

And I see all these people talking about how great FF7 was, but in the next breath they go on about how they can't stand turn based combat: pro tip dude, not everyone likes RPG's, I find action based combat systems to be less fun in the long run.

As far as the voice acting being terrible it's far better than most voice acting for anime, you know I bet the same people I see whining about hope being whiny are the same people that hate eva because shinji whines in eva, think about what they're through and how would you react? Snow deludes himself into something he isn't, hope is depressed as is sazh, but sazh has prettymuch given up, lightning doesn't want to bog down the others and do it on her own, fang has things she wants to protect and vanille wants everyone to be happy, thing is, unless your character is a macho man people tend to not warm up to him anymore, and in anime if your character has any sort of depth and thought put into him hes a pretentious emo whiny b!tch.

It's all really subjective when it comes down to it, some people here watch anime and I thought tengen toppa gurren lagann was for the most part some stupid kids screaming about piercing the heavens with drills, if you enjoyed it good for you, but I'll be over here discussing eva with fellow eva fans instead of trying to make everyone conform to my opinion.

People talk about XIII being crap on this site and it being a bad game and only having amazing visuals yet they talk about how great avatar is despite admitting it has a bad plot and excellent visuals.

If you think FF13 is bad you should remember it was originally planned for the PS2 and it took a year and a half, at which point most of the game was already planned out, I finished XIII in around 40-50 hours, and am at 110 hours now with post game stuff, no side quests? I don't think so, probably not the sidequests you're looking for but sidequests none the less.

[Games4M - Rob]

Dude, I love Evangelion and I say that Hope is annoying as hell.

Shinji kicks ass once in a while and cracks one off over Ayanami’s tits. Hope spends half the entire game whining about killing snow and then dosn’t even have the balls to kill him – I’d label that as a spoiler but im actually doing people a favour by revealing the plot so that they don’t need to play through this crap of a game.

[zatrox]

What happened to FFXIII? It wasn't a cool JRPG.
Those who are saying it's "good" or "awesome" or whatever, the game doesn't deserves even an 8 (wich for games of that caliber is "average").
No towns, no world map, no exploration, no thrill, just a tunnel with auto battles and crappy storyline that even SE doesn't knows what the hell they did there. Also pretty bland characters, and overall, just a BAD game.
Before you start saying: LOLZ U DIDN'T PLAYED TEH GEIMZ, actually I did. Goddamit it was even worse than Eternal Sonata.
You know what? They should actually just let FF die. For once SE focused on a new IP, TWEWY, and look at how it turned out. Just awesomeness.

[zatrox]

Also to all the dumbass fanboys saying "LOL IT'S TEH 360 FAULT" if it WAS the 360 fault, then howcome the port for the 360 sucks?
Seriously, the game sucked because it sucked. It was designed for the PS3 that way anyways, and it wouldn't change.

[Jihaad_cpt]

There is exploration fool just after Chapter 13. Also you could blame that particular issue on the Xbox 360 and it's storage medium. The liked the story and like the battle system for 13

[zatrox]

Yeah, well...actually the exploration is nothing like exploring a big world. It's just a few areas that are fields, nothing too great TBH. I kept playing because people was like "ZOMG U MUST PLAY DIS TILL CHAPTER 13 CUZ DEN DERE'S FREEDOM!" But...nothing too special...
Seriously, this game sucks.

[Allowen]

The story is as very Linear as Mass Effect 2 and both are amazing games that will keep you drugged on then.

if you want open world, lots of farming and sub quests you can just play FF13 and in around 30-35 hours you will finish it.

After you finish FF13 you can continue playing it to farm better items, skills and be able to fight harder enemies and that is another 70 hours of fun that is some how OPTIONAL !

I loved this gridding thing to be optional because not many players these days can handle this thing and also it drives away from the main story making you forget about what is going on exactelly.

This is the best way to make a JRPG if you ask me since these games loves to focus a lot of time on fighting.

Now with FFXIII anyone will be able to see the ending in 30 or so hours only instead having to do farming for hours to get stronger and only then go finnaly fight the last Boss and have a chance of winning (like in FF6) .

[Godmars290]

I'm talking about the base game mechanic engine. The parts that would have to be on every disc and couldn't be compressed.

Another thing no one - outside of Square - knows is how many discs the now scrapped PS2 version was going to be on. Not that it would have to worry about presenting HD graphics.

[GoodSpeed]

But those guys just seemed to rip up the game for the sake of a blog video. You can't start your argument about a game and how it went down the toilet with "graphics are blah, sausage fingers...". That's a terrible intro to an argument and it got progressively worse from there. It's a superficial facade that covers up the guys love for FF7. Don't derail a good game because you love old-school. Take the new while remembering the old. But gamers do love to complain so I get it...

[Bodyboarder_VGamer]

you know, I bought FFVII and VII. I have a fisical copy of VIII but I never played VII before. After I finished VIII for the first time I was pleased but then I started playing XIII and it was a huge disappointment so I went back to play FFVII for the first time ever so there's no nostalgia here. My nostalgia is with VIII and that's why I have the avatar even though after playing VII I just realise how much superior is VII when compared to VIII but now to my point.

I had more fun breeding and racing chocobos to obtain a gold chocobo than what I had beating the entire FFXIII game. A FFVII mini-game was superior to the main game of FFXIII. Of course this is not a fact. Just my experience and opinion and seeing that you respect opinions pieces then I took the chance. =)

[air1]

all turn based games suck! i want complete control the whole time...

[Bodyboarder_VGamer]

Oh man... I really like to talk trash about this game (not sarcasm). Because it really piss me off when one of my most favorite frachise ever it's turned into a POS for the sake of the masses.

FFXIII has a great style with its fast paced battle system, wonderful graphics and music but that's all this game has to offer, simple and very straight forward. To be honest, everytime I heard the intro song, it was so beautiful that it made me eager to play the game but while playing it I was so bored... The chapters were so straight forward, filled with monsters and stupid cut-scenes with the different characters discussing the same thing over and over again:

"OMG our focus is to become ragnarok and destroy cacoon! Oh noooeeesss!" end of the scene, keep walking the one way corridor (of death) while fighting an enemy every 5 seconds. During the fight simply press the X button like a maniac then BOOM! End o f the corridor and here comes another lame-azz cut-scene:

"I'll become a cieth if that's what it takes to save Cacoon!" end of scene, rinse and repeat. Another cut-scene:

"We will complete our focus and protect Cacoon like Serah said. I don't care if I become a crystal but I'll do like Serah said because she wouldn't lied to us." end of scene, rinse and repeat. Another cut-scene:

"What do we have to do? Destroy Cacoon? Is that really our focus?" ---Me: Oh god dammit! STFU for Christ sake! STFU!

Thanks god it's already over and I just sold the game and the funny thing is that he is loving it even though he never liked any FF game ever and this is the part that annoys me the most. The masses are liking this POS way too much and Square's takind note you know, I mean, what's happening to gaming? I see even more dumbing down in the forecast and I blame "Halo" and "Nintendo" for this.

[GoodSpeed]

I don't really agree that games have become dumbed-down as a whole. I think new genres have emerged with new styles and game-play mechanics. Games are still difficult. Simply ramping up difficulty settings forces you to adapt to smarter, more effective AI that games in the past didn't dream of having.

I will agree with you that SOME games have become easier, though it's necessary to achieve more main market success because gaming is a business and companies have to turn a profit with the big budget products they put on the market today. I disagree with your idea that Nintendo has dumbed gaming down. They tried to innovate with motion control and allow for a more intuitive interface and as a result have been on the receiving end of too many party games.

Historically, games were made difficult because of the limits to technology and their simplified structures. Todays games can be multi-faceted with many different ways to approach a certain objective. I think gaming is much better than when I started. Jumping over holes and dodging turtles dropped from floating clouds wasn't the most difficult or entertaining game and yet millions loved Mario. The industry has improved so much that we have more intense stories and better structure to really immerse a player into the world.

[miyakoS]

looks to me like you just didn't like Snow lol. And that's understandable

[stonecold1]

flopbox isnt getting vs and its only on ps3 typical m$ ruined everything what final fantasy had nomura dosent luike the flopbox bot if you want vs grab a ps3 end of statment

[almasy919]

You know what the hell happened? I grew up. Lame semi-philosophical BS storylines got old after I hit 15 when X came out. XII started out strong but they canned the Director and rushed the crap out of it. Square's attempts to make "deep" storylines in recent games always comes out amateurish, especially with XIII thanks to it's godawful script. Here's a novel idea SE, hire a talented scriptwriter cause whoever is writing for you now seems to be stuck on anime cliche mode.

Oh, and the weapon upgrading system. God. Awful. Mess. You didn't even get a sense of satisfaction when you did upgrade them.

[Obama]

FF13 Versus will probably be the real FF this generation. The cg trailer alone is full of awesomeness.

[JoelEH]

I was a early adopter of the PS3 for 1 MGS4 and 2 FF13.. Half of that was great!!! FF13 was garbage. I kept playing the game thinking to myself. "It'll get better" NO! it didn't I got to the point where I didn't wanna play it anymore so all I did was go online and find the easiest way to quickly beat the game and get the pain over with... Fable 2 was better then this game. Fable was actually a RPG. I don't know what you would call FF13??? a action game? why is it advertised as a RPG? if it really is a RPG game then its by far one of the crapiest RPGs I've ever played and if its a action game I would of much rather have spent part of my Unemployment check on God of War 3.. wich I didn't because I have bills to pay and not enough money and this time!!! I won't get VS and I won't purchase another FF game until I know what's up with it first. I will never again reserve another Square Enix game and have it payed weeks before it comes out. I do have one game paid for already which is Fallout New Vegas and I hope they don't change much from the last one. So yes FF13 sucked!!!No need to go pay the 29.99 at Kmart for it. its not worth it.

[Games4M - Rob]

Same here. I bought a PS3 at launch because i wanted a next gen MGS, Wipeout and Final Fantasy.

Good job MGS and Wipeout hit the mark or i would be sulking my ass off right now.

[JoelEH]

They completely screwed up on this game. they sold a lot, but I wonder if they actually think they made a good game because of their sales? I would argue that at least half if not more of the people that bought this game are not happy with it. they are going to loose a lot of sales in their next FF13 game because of this complete F up. I actually seen a interview with the maker of the game. he seemed stocked about the game. what a clown. he should be fired by SE. to take one of the best games of all arguably in 8-9 times and completely try to change what made them good. its a complete and total moranic move. Look at Halo Reach. the game has been the same 4 times and it still sales like hot cakes and has a BIG fan base, why? because they don't touch what made people like the game. they just add new things. Now in the game you can run. solves the "slow game" problem. jet packs and other crap they added but the basics are still there intact. FF should of done the same. BUT NO!!!! lets try something different!!! WHY??? I'm playing Fable 2 again. F=== FF13 I'll waite for New Vegas to come out now.

[hoops]

The game fails not because of this or that....but the Genre is old now.
With games like Mass Effect. Oblivion. Fallout 3 and the likes, JRPG's have to change with the times.
FF series is the same as it was 10 years ago just with prettier graphics. Same "lead me by the carrot" theme as always.
Too old school