When i played Final Fantasy Vll for the first time all those years ago, i fell in love with it. It was the first time i had ever played a Final Fantasy game and it was my first RPG that I ever played also. It was something unique to me and fulfilling, being able to explore the world, find treasures, and leveling up before i moved on with the story. It gave me more than just a simple shooter, with enemies to kill as i go through the story with no sense of exploration or replay value.
I can play RPGs for hours after hours, spending 40 plus hours just to beat a game atleast and than go back and do it again trying to find better weapons and such. Thats what made me love RPGs, because it gave me the sense that i could do more than just follow the exact path the developers laid down before me. It let me make the choices if i wanted to level up, loot places and more. I had the power to do what i wanted.
Thats why when i keep reading comment after comment telling how linear Final Fantasy Xlll is, i get a feel that Final Fantasy has lost what made me love it in the first place. While i'll save my judgement for when i play the game myself, its just not going to be the same, loosing the ability to explore areas and find loot.
I dont want to be set on a straight course to my objective. I want to beable to do something different than someone else playing the game. I want to have to kill and loot caves over and over again, just to get enough money to buy a magic spell or new sword. I want to do what im use to doing when i play a Final Fantasy game. I dont want to feel like this is another Killzone 2.
I love the way Final Fantasy is, not that i dont want change, i just dont want Square Enix to ruin what Final Fantasy is just for a bunch of people who like boring, old straight to the point shooters, that dont give you any chance to explore and figure out what to do next. If thats what they want to play, they might as well just stick with their shooters all the time (not that i dont mind shooters, i just enjoy something different).
Theres just too many games coming out next year that i might just pass on Final Fantasy Xlll and get White Knight Chronicles instead. Maybe ill rent it and see if its still fun, but as of right now, my interest has shifted to other games. That and im enjoying Borderlands and Dragon Age (you defiantly need to buy these both if you havent already) way too much too, that i wont have alot of time for many new games for a while.
I can only just hope Square Enix gives us the Final Fantasy we wanted with Final Fantasy Versus Xlll, other wise ill have to just look for other ways to get my RPG dose, with games like Dragon Age 2 and Borderworlds.
Reader Questions: Will you be buying FF Xlll after hearing how linear it is? If so, Why? If not, what game is going to fill you RPG pill bottle until more RPGs come out? What other RPGs have your eye? Have you bought both Borderlands and Dragon Age?
The Honkai Star Rail 2.2 banners introduce Robin and Boothill, alongside returning faces Topaz and Fu Xuan to HoYo's space fantasy RPG on PS5.
Available right now on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and PC is the latest from a prolific KEMCO team - Horrific Xanatorium; a horror Visual Novel
Gary Green said: You’ll be forgiven if you haven’t heard of the Ar Tonelico trilogy. The previous two games arrived so late in the PS2’s life-cycle that they simply went unnoticed. While most were tinkering with their shiny new PS3s, Ar Tonelico: Melody of Elemia and Ar Tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica were being ‘returned to sender’ by your local Game stores. Luckily, you won’t need to have played them to understand and appreciate this third and final chapter, Qoga (pronounced k-yoga) tells the story of a racial war between humans and Reyvateils, a breed of biologically produced female cyborgs capable of reproduction, while still having a digital mind.
Oh my god. I kinda wish this would get a remaster on PS5, it would be awesome. One of my favorite games on PS3.
That and 3D Dot Game Heroes. It's a shame that some stuff is stuck on PS3.
Ar Tonelico 3 is good I still prefer the first AT game. The music is solid in all the games and Akiko Shikata is a very talented singer bringing life to the game. Only annoying part is well I find is Saki I always choose Finnel or Tyria. KOEI so needs to HD remaster the franchise along with Ar Nosurge and Ciel Nosurge since it never came to North America. I would day one the Ar Toneliceo games and Ar Nosurge if they were remastered.
I still have the limited edition of Qoga unopened. Unfortunately it never went up in value like I had hoped all these years.
Used to own all these quirky JRPG on ps3 good times. Wish I would have kept them all
Nah, the game was only good for pissing Ps3 fans off.
I agree completely. I always find myself while playing a RPG going in the opposite direction of where the story tells me to go. Say the world map has 3 cities or towns shown and the story is telling me to visit town A, I will go to B & C 1st and explore there before heading to the town that will advance the story. I also love just venturing out on the world map as far as possible looking for other towns or until I run into enemies I am just to under powered to fight.
I also have Borderlands & Dragon Age. I have my plat for borderlands and have about 42 hours in Dragon Age so far. I will be getting FF XIII, I am hoping for the best and hoping the story fills the void left by the lack of exploration in the game.
I am also getting WKC & SO4 Int'l, I was really liking SO4 last year when I got it for my 360, but once I hit a certain point in the game and had to switch discs just to back track to get some chests I didn't have the right power to open at the time killed it for me and I just stopped playing it and haven't played it again since then.
It is very saddening to see the devs kill the JRPG genre by trying to appease people that don't want the game anyways, while people who love the genre the way it was no longer have their favorite kind of game to play.
I wont be buying FF13.
Not that just cause its linear, cause its screwed up, No towns, party heals after every battle, gameover when main character dies?
Ill pass.