60°

Shift to Sentinel: In Defense of Final Fantasy XIII – Part 2

Jacob Ross at Save/Continue writes:

"One of the more enduring criticisms of Final Fantasy XIII is summed up by three words I’m sure most of you have heard before: twenty hour tutorial.

Its meaning is simple: Final Fantasy XIII doesn’t get off the starting block until the ability to fully rearrange your battle team is unlocked just prior to fighting Barthandelus on the Palamecia. That always seemed to me a very strange and narrow way to define “tutorial”; a more traditional interpretation would peg the end of Final Fantasy XIII’s tutorial about 17 hours earlier, after defeating Anima. Just because you aren’t given access to the full array of features straight from the get-go doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all bibs and hand-holds."

Read Full Story >>
savecontinue.com
Godmars2904045d ago

There is no defending FF13: Square put emphasis on graphics over and presentation with little to no concern towards story and character development.

You can like the game as much as you want, but you can't justify what it was, which was pretentious and nonsensical crap.

Zotaku874045d ago

No, of course not. There's absolutely no way anybody could possibly enjoy a game that you so obviously hate. Man alive, my eyes are open! Thank you, my brother, for showing me the way!

Godmars2904045d ago

Didn't say someone can't like much less enjoy the game, but I am say that you can't convince someone else to enjoy it after they've found it unrewarding.

You're not doing yourself any favors by defending it, by failing to listen to what I am saying, but then that's on you.

Zotaku874045d ago

To Godmars290:

From Part 1 of the series:
"Before we get started, I want to make one thing clear: I’m not going to convince you that Final Fantasy XIII is a good game; I assume you’ve played it and managed to form your own opinion just fine. What I would like to do is convince you that such a position can be justified."

He's not *trying* to convince people to like the game. He's just explaining why *he* likes it, and that such a stance can be merited. Just because you think it's pretentious and nonsensical crap, that doesn't mean it is to everyone. And if you're not interested in seeing someone else's side of the argument, why bother reading/clicking/commenting on this piece in the first place? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Godmars2904045d ago

Something about being tired of people trying to defend this game, as well as the way Square has come to make games in general. That Square is repeatedly making errors in game design, leaning on graphics and cutscenes as well as past nostalgia while having "We Can Do No wrong" attitude just speaks of bad things. And fans defending them aren't to them or those fans any good.

And I don't care what you say, anyone who writes a multi-part article of "Why I Like FF13" is defending both the game and the methods behind making it. Either that or echoing to others of like mind that its okay to like the game.

I'm saying, trying to say, while it is okay to like the game its faults need to be recognized. Because Square is listening - and likely getting their wrong message.

Show all comments (11)
120°

Final Fantasy and SaGa series veteran Kazuyuki Shindo leaves Square Enix after 27 years

Kazuyuki Shindo, who worked on games including Legend of Mana, Final Fantasy XIII, and SaGa: Emerald Beyond, has left Square Enix.

Read Full Story >>
automaton-media.com
70°

The 7 Best Final Fantasy Characters: Unveiling the Legends

While FFVII ranks highly, there's more to the series than one game. Here's Chit Hot's picks for the seven best Final Fantasy characters.

220°

The older it gets, the more I respect Final Fantasy XIII

Alex Donaldson: "Hindsight is a hell of a thing, however, and in the years since Final Fantasy XIII, my respect for the decisions its developers made has skyrocketed. In the two Final Fantasy titles since we see both the brilliance and the folly in alternative approaches - and in Final Fantasy VII Remake, we get a more nuanced understanding of what FF13 was trying to accomplish from many of the same development leads."

Einhander1972557d ago

FFXIII is actually one of the best Final Fantasy games.

I also sort of was disappointed at the time, never as much as the bandwagon. But really all the fantastic 3D rendered cutscenes and I actually liked the characters and the story though convoluted was actually fantastic and the ending was extremely emotional. So much budget and time were put into that game Square had such big plans, I actually have always felt kind of bad for how things played out.

I have been thinking for years how great it would be to get all three games on one disk for PS4 or 5.

Nyxus557d ago

I always liked this game, and I agree, a rerelease for current gen would be nice.

Shane Kim556d ago (Edited 556d ago )

Gotta take off the nostalgia glasses. It's the worst FF. Shiva as a bike, I mean come on.

Elda556d ago

Shiva as a bike is strange but saying FFXIII is the worst FF is not at all a fact, that's simply your opinion.

Terry_B555d ago

*One of the 3 equally bad FF's

DivineHand125556d ago (Edited 556d ago )

When I got my series X a year ago, I bought FF13 for nostalgia reasons but ended up being disappointed. When I first played it around the time it launched, I didn't have a lot of experience with final fantasy games, so I enjoyed it. Fast forward to when I played it again, I found that the game had many unnecessary filler moments instead of just giving us meaningful content.

The game is also very linear and a quote on the article said it best. "It is like a sewage pipe that leads to the ocean until it opens up on Grand Pulse."

The story didn't make much sense either and I believe it is my mistake as I played the FF7 remake on PS5 prior which is a night and day difference in terms of pacing, storytelling and likeable characters even though cloud is aloof.

FinalFantasyFanatic555d ago (Edited 555d ago )

Probably was a mistake to play any of the golden era FFs first (e.g. FF6 through FF10), it makes it harder to enjoy some of the FFs that aren't as good. I think FF12 was where major issues with the series started becoming apparent, and it just got worse from there.

FinalFantasyFanatic555d ago (Edited 555d ago )

I didn't really care for it that much, the only saving grace was that it had a better story than 15 (overall it was better than 15) and possibly 12, and even then, you had to read some of it through primers, like reading a book. Plus the battle system was reasonably fun for what it was, even if it was more the spectacle that was exciting for me (e.g. summoning). And to be fair, the 13 trilogy got better with every games, I still don't like Snow though.

Gamingsince1981555d ago

Ff13 is only good if you haven't played a ff before, or any other games that are decent for that matter.

-Foxtrot555d ago

It is in fact no way the best Final Fantasy game, it's one of the worst

Linear corridors, Cutscene, Fight, Cutscene...rinse and repeat

Dialogue and characters are pretty bad, especially Lightning as the main FF hero, they literally said they tried to make a "Female Cloud" and they failed.

Story was pretty awful

I could go on

I think the only alright thing that came from the game was the music.

Elda555d ago

That's not a fact that's your personal opinion. The game sold 11 million copies between its 2009 release up until 2014 including critically reviewed as an 8 out of 10 or an 80 out of 100. The game does have some issues but it's not at all a fact as one of the worst FF games.

-Foxtrot555d ago

Elda

Not just mine mate

A large majority

So….

Traecy555d ago

N4G commenters such as yourself aren't the majority. The game was well received.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 555d ago
+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 555d ago
gold_drake557d ago (Edited 557d ago )

i liked the game alot but i didnt like how they handled the terminology.

i dont mind reading data logs but it had soo many.

but i always loved the music and how it looked. the battle system wasnt too bad either.

but i like 13-2 more :)

i still dont understand why we never got a remaster of the trilogy

Eonjay555d ago

Xbox kinda did. Besides the video files of course which are still best on PS3 due to bluray.

Snookies12557d ago

XIII is a pretty solid game, but XIII-2 is WAY better. XIII-2 was one of the few games I decided to go for a Platinum trophy in, early on. Had so much fun the entire way through getting it too!

Eonjay555d ago

Totally agree. FF 13 was okay but 13-2 is my favorite FF game ever.

shinoff2183557d ago (Edited 557d ago )

I hated this to when it released. I haven't much liked a ff game since ff10 as much , aside from ff7remake. I decided to give it another shot on my series x since it's not on a current ps and was liking it quite a bit(just takes me some time to get over things ) until star ocean 2 remake came out I was all over that.

Square should definitely remaster it or something for ps4 ps5

KillerB556d ago

my favorite jrpg trilogy ever

Show all comments (44)