Why Final Fantasy XIII is a Bad Game [NSFW]

Criticism of blockbuster RPG Final Fantasy XIII has rapidly mounted, with the initial observation that the game is almost comically linear giving way to a litany of further dissatisfaction, many quite unavoidable even for the game's many staunch defenders.

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[BadboyCivic360]

here comes all the Final fantasy hate now...let me guess FFv13 is better rite?
No reviewer will sway me from renting the game...i will be the only judge of its quality

[ClownBelt]

Here comes the swarm of hate.

[Chris Hansen]

Im still buying it on launch day but these points really worry me about the game:

1. There are hardly any towns.

2. Moving around is like a long marathon.

3. You can’t flee battles

4. Your party is completely healed after each battle.

5. The best tactic is almost always endlessly attacking. There is next to no strategy or skill involved.

6. Shopping is only done at “online” shops on save points, with no proper shops to be found. However, this doesn’t matter as you hardly ever get any money [and you can never buy anything more powerful than what you already looted].

7. There have been next to no changes from the demo.

[Cold 2000]

Yeah the FF13 hate is getting out of hand.

Som people are going to be pissed in March when they'll actually enjoy the heck out of it lol.

[ClownBelt]

The only way to experience this is to actually play it. Just watching or reading won't justify the experience you will get.

If you're on the fence because of what you've read which I can't blame you, rent the game first.

[Bodyboarder_VGamer]

But did you even read the complains?

All of the complains are exactly what I thought when watching the stream on justintv... You basically don't need to play the game because it plays itself. This is the most restricted FF game ever made and on top of that it's divided into chapters... This FF game was made for the casual gamers.

[gaffyh]

3. You can’t flee battles

4. Your party is completely healed after each battle.

^WTF? Being completely healed makes the game too easy, and not being able to flee a battle makes the game annoying.

I want to get this game, but the more I hear about it, the more worried I am.

[THE MAX SPEED 21]

On an earlier article some guys were already calling the game a FLop because the game had an 3.5/5 Average on the Japanese Amazon page when the game just came out. While they were had it somebody pointed out that MGS4 also had an 3.5/5 Average on the same site. So I guess that game is a Flop to right? SMH.

the hate is big this time because the game is not PS3 exclusive. "FF13Versus is better even though no Gameplay element has been released."

and I agree with BadyBoy's comment

[qface64]

damn i already didn't really want this game it was a 50/50 thing
but hearing things like that and hearing the merit behind these complaints
wow im put off the game even more now

[CrazzyMan]

There are people, who love MGS4 and there are who hate MGS4.
There are people, who love Demon Soul and there are who hate Demon Soul.
There are people, who love FFXII and there are who hate FFXII.
I`m lucky, as i can enjoy with all these games. Some people can`t, BUT that doesn`t make these games Bad.

There will be people, who will love FFXIII and who will hate FFXIII.
But i`m pretty sure, that i will enjoy FFXIII. For me there is Final Fantasy(EPICNESS!) and there are all other RPGs.

[specialguest]

It sounds like this won't be one of the greatest FF games in the series. I'll have to wait for more reviews.

[baum]

No rebuttal, just crying about "but teh hate". These seem to be legitimate points. Why is anyone surprised? FF has been going downhill starting with FFX. The last FF with a soul was FFIX and even then, 7, 8 & 9 lost some of it when compared to the 2D FFs.

[Redempteur]

so what if it's linear ? as long as the story is well made and well presented i don't care ..

All ff were linear ..so what ? people need to understand the différence between jrpgs and wrpgs once and for all .

You are healed after each battle ff13 is not the first game to do this ...what matters is that the battles themselves are fun ..AND/OR challenging ...

Some of you are critizing the game when each FF do things différently .and try to innovate a little ...what is the next complain ? no classes ?
Come on .!!

No stratégy ? SO WHAT AGAIN ? FF games were always the most easy rpgs released ...

all these points doesn't make FF13 a bad game.. however it show without a doubt that the writter of this "article" doesn't know s h * t about rpgs

[thehitman]

is not the type of game you rent too much hours you spend into it to rent it. Just buy it.

[Yarite]

-The party is fully healed because this is the hardest FF to date.

-The game is much more open then Final Fantasy 10, you just need to get halfway in to the game. The people saying it's linear are literally at max 15 hours in to the game. Probably less since importers only got it yesterday.

- You can flee battles however you can just run around the enemies on the field, also if you die theres a battle restart option and before you restart the battle you can re-arrange equipment and several other stats

- The character development so far is absolutely amazing with lots of backstory and flashbacks. The only people that will complain about it are non-ff fans who will buy this game

-There are minor to noticeable graphical improvements over the demo + huge gameplay improvements

-There aren't many towns at first but there are 3 large cities and 1-2 smaller towns

-The main character dying in battle is a lot like the other best RPG series ever which is called Persona

-There are levels, you level up and synthesis your weapons and your optima roles. Your main character is strengthened via a Sphere grid type system.

-The game is a lot more similar to FF10 then FF12....WHICH IS A GOOD THING

-Later in to the game you unlock more accessory slots

-Summon transformations are awesome

A lot of these aren't even legitimate complaints...

[MmaFanQc]

haters hate....

[Bigpappy]

If the game had changed since the early 90's then that would be news. This is the RPG Madden (Same every time with a new coat of paint). Have fun you guys that try to make this game of the year. May be it will win, but I will be playing ME2 and even 2worlds over this.
The kicker here is the criticism is coming from Japan itself, not western reviews. So I am not alone. Even some in Japan need a new game to seem ............New.

[Sarcasm]

Haters wanna hate, lovers wanna love, I don't even want, none of the above I want God of War... Yes I do... God of Warrrr...

I'm still getting FFXIII on the PS3 regardless. It's still going to be better than 95% of the JRPGs already out this generation.

[Venomish]

nice. the points makes me more excited for the game to be honest.
except the point "the best tactic is almost always endlessly attacking. There is next to no strategy or skill involved."
sounds like ffx, the only ff game i actually liked

[Redempteur]

@Bigpappy

OPEN ZONE IS the other way!!

What you're doing is ignorance at his best ...

EACH ff not only has a différent , story , battle system , always on the top graphics when released with kick ass sound .

EACH final fantasy is différent ..for you to call it a madden rpg just show that you don't know what you're talking about and thus should stop polluting this comment area with these pseudo comment that shame anyone with half a brain .

GIVE ME THE COMMON POINTS BETWEEN FF12 and FF13 ..

i DARE YOU !

The hate for this game coming from people who HAVEN'T PLAYED IT
is ridiculous ..

[Myze]

Most of these complaints are completely dependent on how long the person saying them has played the game. All FF games are VERY VERY linear for the first 1/4-1/5 of the game. FFVII, the first big chunk, you are stuck in Midgar. Almost all FF have a very linear path early on, because they are building the story. Later one they introduce new aspects to the story and gameplay mechanics, and allow you to move around and do stuff more freely.

Honestly, what this whole thing sounds like to me is someone played the game for a day, got frustrated because early on he was scared it might be linear, got 1/10 of the way through it, then decided to vent on a webpage, being completely ignorant about the full extent of the game. All from what seems like someone who isn't a big fan of FF or RPGs in the first place (no matter what they say).

Anyway, I don't care what anyone says or anyone else thinks, there is no way in hell I would pass up a numbered iteration of FF, even if everything they say is completely present in the entire game (highly doubtful). The reason is simple: FF's strongest point by FAR has always been the story, and none of the problems mentioned affect that in any way.

[Jinxstar]

The FF series is not what it once was and hasn't been for a long time ... looking much more forward to other RPG's next year myself. If it pulls a hat trick then great but with the amount of "Fail" coming from everywhere it's probably got some truth behind it. I expected nothing but universal praise for this game like Halo or LBP received.

However if FF is a must buy for you then you will get it. I think there are only a very select few who are on the fence about FF13. Those on the fence will have to see through the hype and make a choice. To me the "Fantasy" is long gone and replaced with much more "Sci Fi' which... For the most part... I detest in games. However if robots are your thing over magic and crazy cat-elf-midgets then rock on.

[ceedubya9]

But man, I loved that game. Probably my favorite FF game to date.

[morganfell]

PS3 fans aren't the ones with a reason to dislike this game. The more news that arrives, the more it solidifies the PS3 as the only next generation console.

There are however a group of individuals with a reason to dislike the game and play down the fact the PS3 version is far and away the one to own.

[sikbeta]

Its to soon for this kind of articles, I'll listen to someone that actually Complete the game

[Godmars290]

Unfortunately CrazzyMan you're making the mistake of lumping the people who hate those games with the ones who have never played them and hate them. Say that they hate them when they've never played them.

That's what this gaming generation seems to be about: going into public forums and saying you hate a game you have no intention of playing simply because its on a gaming platform that you also hate. Going to the length of saying you've played.

Meanwhile you brainlessly hype games that you "like" knowing you have no intention of buying it.

[GameGambits]

My copy is in Alaska right now and should arrive Monday morning. It's getting absolutely torturing to not try to get a fix of some new FFXIII footage and screenies to hold me over.

The complaints and the hate I've read from across the net has dismayed me not even a bit. The ONE thing and the ONE thing only that in my opinion was a mistake so far for this game is the elimination of exploring towns. Towns give the world life, and adding characters into them gives them personality. Odds are the game will play out that you save the world like most RPGs do, but if you can't have some connection to the planet you are saving it's a little wishy washy. Also from a gameplay aspect, the towns can also add side quests, places to revisit for later events, and more to explore.

I just keep thinking of FF9 which is my favorite FF. While some aren't fans of it, I do give the game props for making the whole world worth exploring. I looked in every knook and cranny for treasures, and the amount of side quests scattered about everywhere was staggering. :)

For people still on the fence then wait for the review in March from some of your own trusted sources. For the haters, go be more productive and get ready for Sunday when HHG shows up with some ridiculous article about "FF13 USA version gets extra character-Master Chief?" or some crap like that.

[FamilyGuy]

That this Final Fantasy is linear because of the 360 version right? It's right back to the PS1 days of mulitple disc where all exploration is done at the end and %50 of where you've been is inaccessible because the disc space couldn't handle it. The excuse was usually some cgi scene of past cities or areas being destroyed and this was the main reason why I love Final Fantasy 10 over all the other Final Fantasy's.

In Final Fantasy 10 you could re-explore ALL areas you had been to with no BS cutscene showing *Place was destroyed by giant monster/fire/bomb/main evil boss so far*

I'm still getting FF13 and I think it looks awesome, they just did what they had to do because they wanted to maximize profits. The overall outcome is still amazing from what I've seen so far so it's not really that big of an issue for me.

[Pozzle]

I don't see the problem with linearity. FFX was ridiculously linear and it was still a great game. Even when you got the airship, there were still only two directions you could go in: Forward and backwards.

[Skip_Bayless]

You don't get to level up by numbers. THat's it im going to rent this game and I don't even care if I get this game at launch day. I hate the new things they put in this game and I just hate Square Enix now. I do like Leona Lewis though.

[vhero]

You can bet your bottom the haters are 360 fanboys now they know they getting a crappier version.

[ChrisW]

A traditional JRPG at its finest!

[gaffyh]

@Yarite - Thanks for the info, that is comforting to hear.

[Marceles]

Yarite just owned the whole article, bubbles man

[Commander TK]

SE screwed us back at E3 2008, I knew that the game would b weak and not as good as it was suppossed to b.

[indysurfn]

But first, I have to get this off my chest:

If they had said in the 1up preview that the part they took from FF X-2 was NOT the battle system, I would have been glad to hear it. But did you guys see the 1up preview also? Last time I checked people liked the girls in x-2, but NOT the battle system (at least not traditional final fantasy people). Some how 1up is trying to pass the lie that people liked the hoky, dorky, clumsy, slap stick, 3 stoges battel system from the game. NO IT WAS THE FEMALES!
http://www.1up.com/do/previ...

Why is it that Square is on a one way tract to make Western Style rpg's? Do one, or the other, and you will please more people. I hope FFvs13 is a turn based, summon spell drenched traditional RPG. For a FF RPG whore like myself. I mean these non traditional RPG fans are not buying the game! Look at the sales in Japan! FF7 sold 6 times that amount on day one! I mean come on 5 million is a bad sales number for a turn based FF game. Find me one turn based FF game that is not a hand held remake that sold under 5 million. Or under 3 million in Japan. YOU CAN'T! This game only sold 1 million on day one? Alert!

I think we know why FFX13 came out first. One it takes longer for a turn based game to get produced, and two quality. This is the second article about the game to be negative. But I have to say one thing, American reviewers of JRPG's should not review JRPG's 99% of the time, because they don't like traditional rpg's. They can't hide it even during the review. They will complain about traditional things like, it being turn based, story line being cookie cutter, teenage heroes, story being over the top, music not being heavy metal, or pop, or rap, or r&b in other words being more classical, they will complain about too many cut scenes, having to power up, having to manage resources, being inmature (but they really mean not being dark and demented enough), the game being linear.

So at least rent the game for a few hours before you believe them. I don't give much credit to western jrpg reviewers.

I personally think Microsoft is using them to HELP Microsoft kill the Turn based JRPG. Because that is the biggest thing keeping Microsoft out of Japan - that they can control.

By killing sales of the JRPG worldwide you can make it something that Square will not want to make (for financial reasons).

[ThanatosDMC]

I wish they'll have a game like Blitzball in the game. I spent a lot of time refining my team and strategy in FFX in Blitzball. A card game is fine and all but Blitzball was unique and competitive. FFX-2 Blitzball from what i've seen sucked though.

Guierra Guado FTW! Also, my catcher guy. It wasnt Keepa. Yes, my eyes wondered too at the bewbs on this website.

[shawnsl65]

I'm still going to get this day 1. If it turns out mediocre, then there's always white knight chronicles I and II to play.

[Light Yagami]

FFXIII is a step backward. this game is too linear.

[blitz0623]

so you expect it to be like those Sandbox games? GTA-like? I'm fine with its linearity since its only until halfway. Most optional quests are sometimes better done when you're used to the game and its system anyway. Besides, most people will replay the game, so just blazing through the game is fine on your first playthrough.

[Yarite]

FFX is all linear.

XIII is linear until halfway.

[Light Yagami]

I wanted it to be like FFXII, open world. This is why many people call JRPGs outdated.

[stb]

@ light

WEll let go back to its predecessor.

it is already told that ffxiii is half linear...and that may be great for me...since i enjoyed TO MUCH ffx and in top of it...ff vii...u believe it or no though.

FFVII was very linear too. spoilers

all that stuff in Midgar,
straight to Kalm,
then the super linear flashback sequence,
then Chocobo ranch,
then the cave,
then there was Junon,
then taking the ship to Costa de Sol,
then through the
path towards Corel,
then straight to Gold Saucer.
then right into desert prison,
then traveling towards Cosmo Canyon (gongaga was along the way, but still.)
from there, straight to Nibelheim, then no place to go except through the mountains
which then leads right towards Rocket Town..
after you get the tiny bronco, you could do to Wutai or other places, but no doubt the
next part was going back to that hermit guy and then
Gold Saucer for the stone, which leads to Temple of Ancients.
And from there it's time to go all the way through City of Ancients, and that's just Disk 1.
then you have the most linear travels through the mountains in the beginning of Disc 2, etc.

overall people shouldn't be surprised by FFXIII's linear start. it will open up later for sure.
It may not be as immediately open like FFXII, but it will be much bigger and less linear later on.

so yea, whoever havent played the lastest installments..may say so, but those who have THERE ISNT NO PROBLEM FOR...so xtard or no, this game keep appealing and still till i get it and i kno i will enjoy it as well as more than ff xii(regarding pipor...was the worst, but for me was one of the best of all ff that i had play)

here a review for a guy who already complete the game.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/con...

it seem that he says lot of stuff already and these about healing the party at end of each fight is fine since square said, it will be the most hardest ff ever...so IM HOPING FOR THAT.

[GrandDragon]

Haven't you guys noticed the blatant hate this particular website has against FF13?

All the negative hype has been coming form the same source!! Take this with a pinch of salt

[Blaster_Master]

Ill be so damn happy even if its a fraction as good as FFX.

[GrandDragon]

I am currently viewing a Full walk through by a guy who lives in Japan over on Youtube. His user is TokyoDomeSF4

Current impressions: AWESOME Game and the fighting system is incredible.

[Baba1906]

crazy talk linear games can be awesome. i love ff games so ill enjoy it for sure. its no ff7 or ff9 but who cares. =D

[GameGambits]

This is an impression by a user named duckroll over at NeoGaf that I think is worth reading over if you want some first hand knowledge of what the game is like by an actually non retarded person.

THIS IS NOT A REVIEW, I'M ONLY 10 HOURS INTO THE GAME.

FFXIII is a really interesting game. No doubt it is the HD successor to the FFX/FFX-2 school of design in terms of many things, but what is surprising is that it doesn't really throw away the concepts pushed forward by FFXII. At the same time, the game itself is a whole new beast. There has never been a FF like this before, and it is a very bold new step for the series. Some fans will almost certainly like it more than others, depending on what your stake in the series is, and what is important to you in a RPG. Either way, I think it is very refreshing to have a game which breaks down barriers while erecting other new boundaries in defining what constitutes a "Final Fantasy" mainline game.

The first thing I noticed about the game was how uncompromising it was in letting the narrative dictate the entire direction of the game. Right from the start, the game starts with a bang. There has never been a FF game or a RPG as cinematic driven as FFXIII. I don't mean it uses a ton of cutscenes (lots of games do) during the game, but rather the entire experience feels like you are playing a part in a film instead of a game which uses a lot of cinematic sequences to tell the story. The best comparison would be with action games, where not only are the levels linear, but everything is designed around the narrative itself which you play through. The game doesn't consider the player's needs or wants in relation to what they want out of a RPG, but instead strives to deliver a very specific experience.

Now that could be pretty bad if the story and characters are terrible and no one cares. Thankfully, I think this is one of the strongest FF games in terms of narrative and characters. It's definitely up there with FFVI. The style of the scenario is such that the player is thrown into the world at a crucial period, and experiences several events unfold which don't quite make complete sense immediately. The game also throws the characters all out at once, without wasting time with detailed introductions or the standard form of character building.

Instead, you learn what each character is like and what they're each about as you play, and as you see them react to situations and discuss their own desires, fears, dreams and experiences. Much of what they have done in the days leading up to the game are vital to developing their characteristics and for the player to understand them, and these events are slowly unraveled through flashbacks as you play the game. This method of narrative means the game pretty much never slows down. The characters are always on the move, and with their lives all in peril there is no time to waste. Yet it also allows the game to slow down for some short moments along the way to build up on the characters and to let their various layers unfold.

All in all the narrative is very strong, the characters are extremely likable, and the plot keeps pushing players forward with the motivation to learn more about everything - the world, the characters, and the crux of what is happening in the world that allowed the events at the start of the game to occur. The sense of mystery is a high point of the storyline, and definitely a driving force for players to keep playing.

Gameplay-wise, the game is also very different from anything before. The battles are faster than ever before, but also more different than ever before. The Optima system is often mistaken for a sort of Job system, and a passive option in battles which allow you to change your Roles. It couldn't be further from the truth. The Optima system is in fact simply another way to input commands.
Because of the speed of the battles, even if the game gave the player the option of inputting commands for each character separately, and toggling using L1/R1, it would be unplayable. No human player would be able to keep up with the battles and to select AND input commands for different characters at the same time.

What the Optima and Role system does is to define 6 very specific type of roles, and limit what each role can do down to their core usage. Hence by changing the Optima of the party in battle, you are essentially specifically changing the commands each party member can make, and hence giving them near-specific orders until you change the Optima again. It is not a passive command, it is something you will have to use in almost every battle.

The game is NOT being played by "AI" so much as command input being aided by AI, and instructed by the player. Due to how battles are designed, and what the player is required to do to win battles, the emphasis is still on strategy and tactics determined by the player. Anyone who claims that the AI party members in the game are "auto play", is probably a person who has previously complained that the Gambit system is "auto play" and so we can know to safely ignore them.

Outside of the battle system, the game actually features some pretty interesting forms of character customization. Gone are character levels, just like in FFX. Instead, in it's place are various systems which break the core meaning of "leveling up" down into different bite pieces to make the player more proactive in considering how to strengthen any given character. Each character starts off with access to a limited selection of Roles. Each character's Crystarium (think simplified Sphere Grid or License Board) for each Role is different. So even between say Lightning as a Blaster and Snow as a Blaster, the abilities they can learn and the stat boosts they can gain from putting in CP is different.

Aside from stats and abilities gained from Crystarium, the game also features a pretty interesting Weapon and Accessory system. Fans of weapons will be happy to learn that unlike FFX, the weapons in FFXIII have stats again. Each weapon has a Physical Attack and Magical Attack stat, and some weapons have an ability attached. Weapons also have levels, which starts at level 1. Using materials gained from defeating enemies, you can pump them into weapons to give the weapon experience, and level it up. Each weapon has a different sort of balance for the stats, so leveling up the initial weapon is just as viable as changing to a new weapon each time you can buy or find a better one, and leveling that up for a little bit before the next one.

In some cases, specializing on a certain weapon and leveling it up over and over might be a much better option, depending on how you plan on using the character it's equipped on. Different weapons gain different amounts of exp from different materials, and using a bunch of materials which give a small bit of exp might sometimes trigger an exp bonus chain for the next set of materials you put in. There's a bit a experimentation involved, although with how limited some materials are earlier in the game, it might be wise not to waste too many on trial on error too soon.

Accessories also have levels, and each accessory has an ability tied to it. By leveling it up, you increase the effectiveness of the accessory. For example, a Silver Bangle Lvl1 would give HP+100, and putting in enough materials to get it to Lvl2 will change it to HP+116 instead. What I've also noticed is that there are synergy abilities as well. Hope had a weapon which had no abilities on its own, but when equipped with that weapon AND a certain accessory, it gave him an ability which boosted Physical damage. The ability is not listed on either accessory, and is essentially hidden. As such, it reasons that there are many more of this sort of secret combinations of weapon+accessory which when equipped grant bonuses.

/End Wall of Text

[Redempteur]

finally someone who has played the game and a a normal opinion , instead of the pure fanboyism present here ...

THANKS for the quote

[rextyrann]

its unfortunate that its not somekind of an official blogg. first useful "hands-on" of ff13 game ive read so far. and i did read all which was linked on n4g...

regarding the topic of the actual news:
whats striking me is that its only liniar up til 20h into the game? so what does that mean? you get more towns and "unlinear" paths after that?
2nd why is it "bad" to have a linear gameplay and lots of cgi movies in the beginning or at all in a ff game? for me that is one of the main reasons i play the ff series since ff7 O_o.
in the end its up to personal taste whichever u like imo. theres is plenty possibility to screw up an "open world" kind of rpg too if its too empty/boring for a player...

[spectyre]

Thanks for the mini/partial review. +bubbles.

I have thoroughly enjoyed every FF proper since VII, with the exception of XI. I will pick this one up day one. Haters be damned.

The FF series has yet to let me down and warrants a day one purchase for me until I come across a severe disappointment.

[WildArmed]

Wow. I had really high hopes for FFXIII until i read this.
I guess I'm buying White Knight Chronicles first, then pick up FFXIII in summer.
Never the less, I bet this game is gonna be better then 90% of the JRPGs this gen
I really dont like where they went with FFXII.. (didnt finish FFXII, though tit was crap)

[Mikeyy]

Congratulations, you took the bait, hook, line, and Sinker.

You are doing what the person who wrote the article wants you to do, loose faith in Final Fantasy 13, and possibly not even try it.

[kraze07]

Yep. Fell right into their trap.

[GrandDragon]

Let me just point something out

So far ALL the negative articles on FF13 have come from the same website

[vhero]

nobody took the bait only people who were never gonna get it or 360 fanboys who are jealous of ps3 superior version are saying thanks to reviews they are not getting it. Famitsu dont give 39/40 to just any game you know!

[Man_of_the_year]

Confirmed: Mass Effect 2 2010 RPG of the year.

[ZombieAutopsy]

Nah that games all hype

[_vx]

both are fails ...fin

[radzy]

on the other hand final fantasy looks soooo linear , the battle system is beyond vintage , its too old . it needs real time fighting like oblivion and mass effect.
WE ARE NOW APPROACHING YEAR 2010 !!!!!
cmon square , its not 1995.

[PopEmUp]

"ffxiii a 5 of 10"

Did that score come out of your @ss?

[Man_of_the_year]

LOL and FFXIII isn't all hype?

Come on.

[v1c1ous]

not to put your hopes up after the boring as heck ff12. but nooooooooooo......

[gamingisnotacrime]

but SE has done very poor jobs on their games since FF XII, and because of this i did not expect FF XIII to deliver the goods. I want it to be good, so i can have a blast playing it, but gotta be careful, this is the present day SE that sucks at making good games

[Godmars290]

"SE" didn't exist until X-2. And maybe Dirge of Cerberus. That's when Squaresoft became Square-Enix.

Also when they seem to have lost their soul.

[gamingisnotacrime]

White Knight Chronicles or FF XIII?
or both! lol

[Rocket Sauce]

I always thought this game looked retarded. Let's go back to having characters who don't fly.

And yeah, Square Enix sucks. FFX was good, everything since then has been pretty bad.

[Mikeyy]

"4 - i warned everyone
not to put your hopes up after the boring as heck ff12. but nooooooooooo...... "

Because you played FF13 and beat it?

AMIRITE?

[Godmars290]

I'm actually still more worried about WKC than XIII. It has MMO style gameplay just like FFXII. And from what I've seen of the "mech" combat its not what I was hoping for. So says a Xenogears fan anyway.

As for XIII, I'm finding it more an more annoying that criticisms of it are focusing on it linear maps, with no mention of an afore mentioned open overworld, while any mention of the story is to call it convoluted.

It should be obvious to any JRPG fan that anyone who says this has never touched a JRPG. Never seen an anime unless its been edited and dubbed.

[GrandDragon]

Well I have played FF12 and interestingly that game was the opposite of being too linear and yet some hated it for other reasons, so for you now to assume this Game is just like FF12 (therefore calling it a flop) is faults.

Credible reviews and impressions such as the one pose above (from NeoGaff) are interesting and paint a positive picture for FF13

[DeadlyAnGeL91792]

i loved ffx and if this is anything like 10 ill definitely be buying it idc what the hate is about doesn't a 39/40 mean AAA quality or is japan that upside down?

EDIT:wasn't half life 2 painfully linear and still ended up badass? just because a game is linear does not mean its bad i think people are to spoiled by western RPG's like fallout3,oblivion,and borderlands.

[JonnyBigBoss]

Disappointing, but thank god for White Knight Chronicles!

[spunnups]

Judging this game prematurely based what i've read around the internet, SE focused too much on the graphics and how it looks more so than gameplay, depth, etc. I find this has happened with a lot of games this generation. Never have we have had consoles powerful enough to provide this much realism so developers seem to take advantage of that and completely forget about what makes a game great, the gameplay, story, and fun factor.

[Aceluffy]

I hope it's only linear in the beginning. Midway through the game you should be able to explore most of the world freely, that's the formula of every FF games I believe.
Will hold my judgment until I actually play the game.

[_vx]

wow wat an epic fail so basically u make your way in almost straight line where the environment changes in each chapter ,, no major cities no shops and an auto healing system ,,,final boss is a circle thing ...

E P I C-F A I L L 13

[Mikeyy]

Learn to READ. Gawd you people are tools. The article Trolled you into Oblivion.

Just like Final Fantasy SEVEN, the beggining is linear, the rest is more open.

[fm81]

well mates,FF13 av been label by some japs as a sorry game,they say its too linear n combat get pretty boring after a couple of hrs,plus if the main character die,its game over,so laddies,you can explore space,sex up some alien chick n kill some more aliens in MASS EFFECT 2 eh.to me a better game than gay FF13.

[Knightofelemia]

I'll rent it if I like it I will buy it no reviewer will sway me away just because he cannot beat a boss as for it being a FFx clone who cares I like FFX and if I am up to it I will rent it for my 360 aswell I want to see how the game runs on that system aswell.

[Solans Scott]

I have played a few Final Fantasy games in the past and I don't mind the game being linear at all since almost all of them were, to some degree. These other criticisms do worry me a bit and this has nothing to do with the game being exclusive. However judgment should be reserved until the game is made available worldwide. Who knows, we all might even enjoy the changes Square-Enix have made.

[Advari]

A nerd behind a computer acting as a reviewer does not count when it comes down to it me the consumer will decide wether i think the game is crap or not not him.

[TapiocaMilkTea]

Looks like they got rid of a lot of the core JRPG elements and try to "westernize" the game with a lot of actions and stuff blowing up, but all the while keeping FF's traditional command based system and movies overload. The game looks very pretty overall, but I have a feeling that in the process, there's a sacrifice of depth to the game.

[Bigpappy]

How is keeping it linear and turnbase unavoidable fighting westernizing. This is going back to its root not change. That is what the whole article is about numb nutts.

[TiberusX87]

Square always does things differently each game, I watched the stream aswell and thought it looked great and am still buying day 1.

I play most good RPG's, and I have all my wrpg's for non-liniarity, in which i can loot as much as I want and steal as many candle sticks and peices of cheese as I want.

In terms of FFXIII, its about the story, and I know it will be absolutely great. I read the prequel novel and have seen enough to know it is awesome. FFvXIII will be different as will XIV and XV...

In the words of the Japanese from south park... "F**K YOU COW AND F**K YOU CHICKEN!!!"

Cry me a river folks. :)

[navin21]

the scenery of movie look good..the game play look like ps2 graphic..pop up to the eye.

[Samk18]

You know what the main problem with the development of this game? Going Multiplatform. There was a lot of compromises they had to deal with to make it work on the xbox360 and thats where it went wrong. Blame it on square-enix for wanting more profit. So they were lying about how the PS3 can make them realize their dream of a fantastic final fantasy experience. Just watch when they come out with an article stating they only used 60-80% of the cell. Cause im pretty sure thats how much of the cell they used. Hopefully ffv13 doesn't go multiplatform.

[tripewire]

I agree. That will obviously make me a fanboy, but at least im not delusional.

[MajestieBeast]

Ohh damn you pulled the 360 card. I blame SE trying to appeal to the western audience to much. It seems like the quality of their games is going down ever since the merger i still dont get how 2 companies that have made amazing games now make mediocre rehashes and mediocre new ip's except for the world ends with you. I guess its true level 5 really is the new squaresoft.

[WIIIS1]

I think you're obviously a moron 'cos all the reportedly bad things about FFXIII are related to gameplay design, which are very traditionally JRPG, and nothing to do with technical problems, so it really must take a complete tool to try to pin those faults on a game going multiplatform or trying to appeal to the west.

[thehitman]

Comment that he wrote that I think probably is bad is the getting healed after each battle. Unless the battles are extremely hard that will take out a lot of strategy when playing the game. I vaguely remember but i think only way to fully heal in FF10 is either by healing w/ spell or elixers or reaching a save point.

[Goldenarmz]

healing after each battle was done in Last Remnant and that didnt help much, they had some tough battles on there. So i dont see how much that is a problem, im kinda glad. I hated fighting a boss get whooped nad escape with a inch of ur life left, just to walk a few feet...start a Movie scene, follow by another boss battle.

[TwistedMetal]

This game has been masacred in order to be able to fit on 3 dvds. No towns is so x360 owners wouldnt have to keep swapping discs for each town. Linear path and chapters is so x360 owners wouldnt have to keep swaping discs and to cut down on amount of discs because they wouldnt need to have to much reused dialog from npc on each disc. Buying equipment at save points means less towns, means less disc swapping. moveing around is a marathon like mass effects elevators because the data on x360 version is so compressed it takes forever to load. they had to make both identicle and this is what happens. open your eyes and point the finger at the x360. also how is this game 38GB when MGS4 is 50GB?

[raztad]

I had to agree and it makes a lot of sense.

Even ME2 is going to need some linearity in order to swap discs once.

[Bigpappy]

Me is an open universe where you go to any planet you discover or skip those side missions if you just want the main story. Don't compare this old school game to a modern gem like ME2. There have nothing in common.

[thehitman]

FF is like the same thing u can skip side missions and go to any where u want after u discover enough areas (or at least in 10 was like that), and since its a "10 Clone" pretty sure u can do the same in 13.

[Godmars290]

Though I've been b*tching about it since day-one it was announced as multiplatform. Only to be called a whiny butthurt fanboy.

vsXIII is the only thing now that's going to a give hint that such was the case with FFXIII, but only if it remains exclusive.

[raztad]

@Bigpa

Where is the comparison you are talking about?

I'm too lazy to look the interview where ME devels said they designed the game in a specific way so you only need to swap discs once. You wont notice it because it happens at some point in the story where it actually makes sense no to return (hence the linearity, you probably wont be visiting those planets again). It's just a little trick to minimize the problem of disc swapping.

I dont see the big deal about visiting planets BTW. In ME1 most of those planets were empty, and you, as in any story driven game, need to follow a linear path regardless how many side missions you choose to complete.

[happy_gilmore]

why are this guys complaining about minor stuff. instead, you should complain that dragon age was crap and the media gave it a free pass. it was so boring, graphics were last-gen, combat system was so bad, and the story was so-so. oh yeah, biowhore ripped you off by selling a (rpg standard) storage chest for 7 bucks. i spent 20 hours trying to like it. but now i'm trading it in.

demon's souls was robbed of RPG of the Year.

as for FFXIII, it will be a good game. SE always delivery the best rpg of the year in the FF series but also gets robbed of the award by some overrated glitch-fest wrpg.

[Bobbykotickrulesz]

I would rather play a good linear story, over some sh*tty full control story that I created while playing the game.

I'm not a f*cking writer. I'm not some Hollywood movie maker. Put me in charge of how the story plays out, and it's going to turn into a complete piece of sh*t that makes no sense at all.

I say a game that's mostly linear has the best kind of story telling. Games like Mass Effect, Fable, etc etc? The stories in those games are complete garbage in comparison to games like Bioshock, or FF7. Which are both linear.

[kneon]

But perhaps the linearity of the game play is required to prevent excessive disk swapping on the XBox version. If the player had too much freedom of movement then they could move out of the areas contained on the current disk.

That doesn't explain all the other problems mentioned though.

[madmonkey0]

i think the game was far enough into development when they decided to make an xbox360 version for that not to be the case.

we will see when versus comes out, if that game is alot better then we can all blame the xbox 360,

[Unicron]

I'm far more worried about titles going more and more casual/mainstream, as evidenced by healing after every battle and the "restart" option....

You guys can whine about Sony vs MS all you want, as the REAL problem starts tearing down games as we know them.

[MajestieBeast]

Who the hell came up with auto heal how casual can we get, keep the casual crap for modern warfare 2 please. The last final fantasies already werent hard more like a cakewalk but this takes the crown. Whats next auto save after every battle...

[Ps_alm3k]

it's just what not people expected it to be...

[Samk18]

Your right this game is not bad but it wont live up to its potential. A lot of ff fants will still buy it for the experience but will come out of it a little dissapointed because it doesnt offer many new inovations or gameplay experience that will set it apart from the past final fantasy game. Thats what i fear i will be dissapointed with most.

[Rocco Siffredi]

Square enix is the worst developer this gen after Guerilla games.

They just bring bad games.

[SiteNblog Defender]

Bioware was right. JRPGs never evolve.

[madmonkey0]

i will judge the game myself when i get it.

Judging by the last few SE games i wouldnt be to suprised if this isnt as good as it should be.

but i really hope it is a masterpiece.

[MajestieBeast]

Look rocco is still butthurt.

[Platinum_k]

...just like you aint got good games with the ladies
BOOM!

You are a reeeeetard. You have the worse opinions ever you dumbass!
Get a life and stop you hating homo!

Those 2 dev redefined the gaming industry you loser.

Go back to school KID, and FINISH IT!

[jeseth]

He is so pathetic I actually feel sorry for him! And look, Man of the Year crawled out of his hole too.

Now we have two of the biggest 360 fanboys in the same thread. Perfect. If anyone is feeling bad for themselves, just read what these guys post and then you'll suddenly feel better about yourself!

Because these guys are so sad!

[IntelligentAj]

Now i'm seeing all these comments about the how the game is Fail and everything but I have one question: How many people have actually played the game?

[Digitaldude]

I played the demo and didnt even finish it, it was that boring.

[ChickeyCantor]

OOOOOOOO Snap

[Bigpappy]

But the girls and guys are hard to tell apart in their faces, the travel and fight system is the same concept. Even when they tried to do real time combat it felt turn based. When madden added the cone for QB's and hot routes, that did not change the feel of the game much either. The core feel is the same in both of them. Sorry that hurts but those are the facts.

[djtek184]

With the game being made on multi discs, SquareEnix had no choice but to make it linear. Thanks a lot M$, you've ruin the game from what it could have been.

[Bigpappy]

Do you mean to say this is the first linear FF game? What the heck have you been playing? ME2 will have 2 disk and is as open as they come. PS3 fanboys defend bad news by attacking 360. This game would not even be a big seller on 360. Square made the game for PS3 then started on 360. 360 is the port here numb nutts.

[RROD4yearsstrongnow]

The writer of this article is just a 360 troll.

[TwistedMetal]

Also being to far into the development would lead to all the quick fixes and subtractions makeing it a dumbed down version. I still cant believe MGS4 takes up more blueray space then this. In FF10 you could go back to any place. also most games that give you full health at the start of each battle only do it at the start of the game or have dangerous areas where you have to heal yourself like every othere rpg. This game has no lvling system either? They trying to be the CoD of rpgs. I swear FFvs13 better be good.

[sleepyazn]

Seriously how the f*ck do you bash something you HAVEN'T EVEN PLAYED YET? Seriously you ppl must be really effing desperate for attention or something when you bash something that haven't even been played by many of you. And the the fact you automatically believe that w/e a reviewers say is true. What the hell is wrong with you? Do you play GAMES or REVIEWS? Also how do you automatically translate this into the Xbox360 fault? God the fanboyism, if this was still exclusive i bet none of you would be complaning jeez...

[Fade_Walker]

I'll rent it first, and if I like it then I'll buy it.

[Omega Zues]

If Square-Enix finally brought the demo over to America. I mean seriously its already been freakin made. It just astounds me that SE has done nothing to bring the demo over here.

[exnihilonihilfit]

Or does this site seem to have a real problem with Square Enix. This isn't the only article they have about FFXIII and all the ones that I've found are negative. Not only that, but the guy says clearly that a lot of his points need qualification, yet he doesn't give any. Allow me to list my problems with this guys list.

What does "comically" linear even mean? Very few games are nonlinear, and final fantasy has never been very open except until you obtain the ability to travel the world map which is usually kind of late in the game. Besides, this game clearly has to be more linear because of the fact that it has to be released on multiple discs.

Auto heal is no big deal since you should be healing yourself after every battle anyway, unless you know you're gonna be up against an easy enemy. Thank you for saving me the time of having to open up the menu after every battle to heal. As long as the battles are hard, this should be perfect.

Game over at the loss of your main character just means the game will be harder, so keep your eyes on your main character's health.

I never buy crap anyway because loot is always better except for rare items that you can only get in stores and that's true of almost every RPG. I'd rather play the game and do a hard challenge to get the best possible item, than save up money so I can just go some place and buy it. Who cares about the stores.

There's no Leveling??? That doesn't even make sense. This is the only place I've heard that claim. It clearly needs to be qualified but isn't. Perhaps the game doesn't list when you are at Level 1, 2 or 22 but in the very least there is an experience system, and you use points obtained from experience to advance your character, in other words, there are levels.

Tell me in what game the best tactic is not to attack? When is standing there and looking like a fool ever a better tactic? As long as there is more than one way to attack, then there's strategy involved in how you coordinate those attacks.

This claim that there are only 8 items that can be used in combat is very questionable, that sounds like something someone who only played the game for like 2 hours might say.

If battles aren't random, you don't need to be able to flee.

Really I could go on, but I have better things to do. Don't take this article seriously, think for yourself.

[sashimi]

the only thing i hate about FFXIII is it's going to be released in march instead of now :(

[mrmikew2018]

How is Final Fantasy XIII messed up because of the 360? Sigh.....can we wait to play the game and make a decision for ourselves. Besides, FF VII and FF X were linear, so what's the problem?

[mrmikew2018]

oh boy I should've known better, this homicide guy had something to do with posting this article

[Digitaldude]

From what Ive seen and heard it is not a good game.
I was watching a live stream on justin.tv and DAMN is it linear, not to say thats bad but it was ants on a shoelace.
Customization looked in depth and fantastic but by some points on this article, Wow it took a turn for the worst.
Game over when protagonist dies WTF?

[sleepyazn]

yes a game that ends when the protaganist dies doesn't make any sense at all, it is a freaken crime against humanity. Jeez ppl uses just about everything they can to bash a game they have't even played yet.

[Digitaldude]

Ive played the demo.
Im not bashing the game, only that aspect of it.
Seems like someone is a Final Fantasy Fanboy.

[Redempteur]

sooryy but when your MAIN character dies in other games it's game over, right ?

Same thing here ..

Persona 3 & 4 did it ..and they were great games ..

[DJ]

Frickin' avatar on this site.

[hyderide]

FF13=jrpg=crap

[Mikeyy]

Is that what the MS fanboys have been telling you?

Learn to think for yourself. You must be like 12, and GTA4 was your first video game.

10 years ago, Japanese RPG's ran this shi*. Im 23, so I remember all this. You people havent played good games, None of you probally even own a PS1, Let alone even touched a SNES and Genesis.

[bjornbear]

you win the award for most ignorant gamer of 2009 =) keep it up =)

now go play Halo and insult minorities.

@Mikeyy:

Don't bother, they'll never understand

[Subzero200x]

Because all final fantasy is now is a game filled with transsexual characters with a non existent story.

"Still getting the limited edition on day one. It just sounds like FF is evolving and changing for the better. Nothing more nothing less. I remember people said the same for FFX and it's the best FF still to this day."

It's definitely no dragon age that's for sure.

[bjornbear]

not a fair comparison =/ but preferences obviously =) I also prefer wrpg to jrpg's, but i can respect a good jrpg when i see one

this sounds bad but i'll wait considering many people couldn't have played the whole game by the time this article was written =)

[NotSoSilentBob]

I haven't played a FF game all the way threw since FF6/3. I tried to get into 7 but it was to much effort to follow along. 8 was once again something that just took to much effort to like. 9 was a step backwards for RPGs 10/10II maybe 45mins into each and it just didn't hook me. I never tried 11 cause it is more of a redheaded step child then an actual FF game. Never tried 12 as I didn't like that last 5 and I doubt that 13 is going to go back to what made 1/2/3/4/5/6 so worth it to play.

[Son_Lee]

People listen to me here.

The game ends when the protagonist dies. Duh! If Lightning (or just one party member) is all you can control because of the nature of the battle system, you would have to die as soon as the one character you get to control dies. If you could play as the other members when the one you're controlling dies, you would all be complaining about "Oh why couldn't I just control them all from the start!?" The construction of the gameplay calls for such rules. Don't get pissy just yet, especially since you haven't seen it and lived it for yourself.

I for one love me a JRPG. Mainly because I detest aimlessly wandering around and level grinding. I'll level grind for fun in a game like FF7 after I've beaten it 25 times. Then again, it's been years (yes years) since I played a new RPG, so I could forget how fun it could be. I just want the battles to be tough, I hate punk ass boss fights.

Regarding the linear "problem", I love linear games. Cause once you get to a certain point, you can do what you want. That's why I didn't like inFamous and I'm not a huge fan of GTA, I just don't care for sandbox-style games. Although I do like GTA IV and I love Assassin's Creed II, so those are exceptions. But as far as RPGs go, no sandbox for me.

Shopping at save points is interesting to me. But I'll stop right here because I want to play the game for myself before I cast anymore judgment on it that may not be entirely correct. But I hope you people get my point on the battle system. They could've taken a page from Star Ocean's book and let you swap characters whenever you wanted to

[LeonhartX]

People who imported it thinks it's short because they skip dialogs and stories obviously

[bunfighterii]

looks crap. another overrated game from an overrated franchise.

[Silly gameAr]

Do people even enjoy games anymore? I wish people would stop judging games by the console and play the game for the game. Gamers now in days are f....ing disgraceful. The console matters more then the games.

[silverchode]

Kanokon Breast Sucking Carnival Uncensored

[Claudinho69]

I blame bill gates

[kewlkat007]

You better find the nearest save point after grinding

[kraze07]

I could care less about fleeing battles in FF games. The only RPGs I flee battles in are the pokemon games.

[silkrevolver]

Fleeing is for pussies.

[silkrevolver]

... but then again, I don't care what this one person thinks. Sure, the first hours are very linear, and the battles are like Final Fantasy 10 and you get to choose your own attributes instead of leveling up... sounds fine to me. Besides, it won't be linear the whole time, we have seen footage of that giant, wide-open plane. Now I'm just curious how the battle system for FFXV will work...

[iceman2885]

Why is it such a bad thing that a game is "linear"? If they use a linear style to create a fully effective story/plot I see no problem with a game being 'linear" (which is now negative context for some reason).

I feel like everyone has become too infatuated with western RPG's. Now a days people feel like we should have a choice about every little thing and that is what makes a game. I remember the best thing I loved about playing jRPG's when I grew up was that I was taking part in unlocking an interactive story. I loved it, I can't stand this I have a choice at every possible second to be evil or good. I just want a good plot that may already be planned out for me that the author/creator is just having me play out in order for them to tell the story.

P.S. I have no idea what FF13 is like, I just wanted to get this off my chest now that it appears everyone in the US hates jRPG's and only give love to western style RPG's.

[GrandDragon]

There has never been anything wrong with a linear game because that is the only way a story can develop meaningful with a purpose...

If you look at almost ALL FPS Games this generation aren't they all Linear?

To criticise this game for being linear is nitpicking at best. Such an irrelevant point especially considering how ALL FF games are linear, in fact this Game opens up half way and lets you explore wide terrains.

Proof:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

http://www.gametrailers.com...

[boJABER]

so we start getting our news from porn sites now....?

[Solotov]

LOL :)

[GrandDragon]

Pros:

-Engaging innovative Battle System
-Gorgeous Graphics (Best in RPG)
-Amazing soundtrack as always
-Mark Hunts!
-Chocobo Mini games :D
-Transformation sequences are awesome

Cons:

-No Mini games in an area where you except them to be (Amusement park)
-Villain is uninteresting
-Which affects the story
-Summons are only used once (not that dramatic)

No doubt the downloadable content will also be sure to add tons of value to an already lengthy game

[stb]

@1.14 -
-The party is fully healed because this is the hardest FF to date.

-The game is much more open then Final Fantasy 10, you just need to get halfway in to the game. The people saying it's linear are literally at max 15 hours in to the game. Probably less since importers only got it yesterday.

- You can flee battles however you can just run around the enemies on the field, also if you die theres a battle restart option and before you restart the battle you can re-arrange equipment and several other stats

- The character development so far is absolutely amazing with lots of backstory and flashbacks. The only people that will complain about it are non-ff fans who will buy this game

-There are minor to noticeable graphical improvements over the demo + huge gameplay improvements

-There aren't many towns at first but there are 3 large cities and 1-2 smaller towns

-The main character dying in battle is a lot like the other best RPG series ever which is called Persona

-There are levels, you level up and synthesis your weapons and your optima roles. Your main character is strengthened via a Sphere grid type system.

-The game is a lot more similar to FF10 then FF12....WHICH IS A GOOD THING

-Later in to the game you unlock more accessory slots

-Summon transformations are awesome

A lot of these aren't even legitimate complaints...

`JUST READ THIS GAME ANSWER...IT IS SOOO MADE OF WIN, concording to it, ff xiii is far better than ff xii and so go with anothers ff...hater doesnt matter what u say ff isnt even as lineal as those bullcraper has state up there, this game is a huge ff franchise, and i have already watched it thankz to a japanga of a friend of mine.

the first hours is ok lineal but it is just that way cus that form u will get more into the characters and what is the purpose and so, anway all ff lover will love it from the very start, no matter what.

[Pricey]

It's bad because it's ps3(Japan) exclusive which will sell at halo numbers. sigh

[ClownBelt]

Just finished watching the whole game through live stream. The game is phenomenal and ridiculously hard. One of the boss in the story got 4m hp. I mean holy crap. Also, I cried on the ending! Here I thought only Persona 4 can make me cry

[Meryl]

thank goodness i never got my hope up too high, at least i won't be as disapointed as some people, oh well i will still try and play this game, i loved FFX so who knows

[Tzuno]

From the first moment i saw the battle system i was sure that final fantasy 13 will be a disappointment for the fans. Square-enix is a joke and so the games that they made. The real rpg games were produced only by SQUARESOFT.FF13 is a joke compared with 10 and 12 ff13 has lost it's way as an rpg game what's with all this robot crap thing get serious man. I will play this game because i love the series but i have to say that final fantasy series has lost the way of an pure and beautiful rpg title. In these days all we se is Robot trash related rpg games get real people look at masterpieces as ff10 and Secret of Mana analyze that and think.

[V8SuperCars]

WOW, reading the article i felt a little cut, i just ordered the game, should arrive 23rd if all goes well, and was thinking damn it so many things wrong, then i read all the comments and now cannot wait for it to arrive, im even more excited to play it now than ever.

Damn them fanboys and haters, long live FF series, by far the best of the best developers in this genre.

[Cobex]

Very mixed opinions here. If i'm honest, i am a little sad about the way this game sounds in comparison to the others. (no world map, liner, emo characters etc). Non the less it sounds like a good rpg. I kinda feel like they should have given it another title instead of branding it a final fantasy.

To me having a world map is a FF trade mark. Having a boat, car then airship to go around and find new towns as ether a side quest or to add to the main story is a given.

Many people have been saying that liner is a good thing but most rpg's has usually been flexible with its charecter development (weapons, magic etc). To me this is a winning feature as it differs from another other normal game.

Sorry squire. To me you died when you became squire enix

[TwistedMetal]

You all know this game is not the full finished product. Square enix in order to make this game multiplat has reduced the game significantly. I just wish more people would see that and not le square get off easy. Let more companies walk all over you then they all will.

[UC2GOTY]

who made FFX and X-2 is which made FF13 suck. FFV13 is way more than FF13. why did i say that? because there is a whole different team which were still working on FFV13 and KH 1, 2 were made from that team.

i ll give a rent for ff13.

[Cobex]

amazingly Squaresoft made 10. not sure about 10-2

[hendersonman]

I would like to remind people that FF7, the greatest FF ever, to most people... ugh. The first disc about 10 + hours was all linear. The game did not open until you left Midgar

[Blaster_Master]

How do any of you know its a bad or good game if you haven't even played it yet? Oh and btw, ME2 is gonna be good, but even ME1 didn't have a great story. It only got interesting at the end when the evil man eating robots try to take over the main space station. Over hype things much bots? Just like Halo Reach, let the game speak for itself. I cant wait to play the PC version.

[divideby0]

I have watched a decent amount of live play...graphics look great, combat is fast, seamless and looks fantastic...
cant wait for this game...

[Odin777]

I have realized I despise N4G. Every time a game that I'm really excited for (which is exceptionally rare for me nowadays) is about to come out I start hearing all these out of context points that make me doubt the game. I remember before I looked in to video game news and videos, I would just wait for the game (maybe read about it in Game Informer) and judged the game for myself. But now with freakin N4G games are ruined before I even get a chance to play them ha ha. I'm feeling somewhat nostalgic now...maybe I should just avoid this site from now, it's 95% garbage anyway. heh heh

[mistergaga X]

What a stupid game and what a stupid franchise to begin with !

I remember when I bought the first playstation at Toys 'R' US , back in 98 , I did not have a clue to what game I should have purchased with it ... The toys r us clerk suggested me to buy FF7 as he was describing it as being the 'best game ever' .It aslo came on 4 discs which to me meant '' wow this game much be huge '' Then I got home and when I started playing FF7 I was like '' what the fu*k is this crap !! ?? '' I played the for 1 hour , hated that the monsters would randomly show up out of nowhere with that stupid turn-based combat system !!! I HATED IT and never replayed the game or the FF franchise ever again . The best RPG on the PS1 was '' Parasite Eve'' !!!!!

Anyways, fast forward to 2010 . Wanna play kick-ass RPG ?? I suggest then to all the RPG players in the world , including the brainwashed Playstation Nation (ps3 fanboys) to get Mass Effect 2.

Mass Effec and Mass Effect 2 = Best RPG franchise on the market -

nuff said

[SUPREME RULER]

i tell u, you 360 fanboys will hate or make a story to please youeself. u call final fantasy series crap! the only crap is the 360 console, my sega 32x still works better then the 360! mass effect have nothing, i mean nothing on ff7!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my quss your on your 9th 360, it's ok i dont blame you, ms got u brain wash! i understand halo is ur god the one and only. you sound like a guy who's 30 and have no job and live in your mom basement. Keep posting!!!!!!!!!!

[-Gespenst-]

Yes, in fact most jrpgs are linear, interspersed with occasions of non-linearity.
Final Fantasy has what 60 hours of gameplay for the main story alone? A third of which is linear (Let's get real, that statement wasn't qualified and it's probably a major exaggeration), I have no problem with that anyway.
Getting healed after battle? No problem with that, it compensates for not being able to flee and it's actually more common than you'd think. Attacking as the most effective means of winning has always been the case in final fantasy, no, most rpgs I've actually played.

But these people seem to overlook the quality of design in this game. The game has been arduously crafted and possesses some of the richest music and some the most complex, intricate yet beautiful graphical design. It's a game, but you can't just measure it on the fact that it's a video game. The designers have had to pay attention to a lot more than just the gameplay and this is glaringly evident. I'd say a lot more has gone into artistic design than any game currently on the market. It's simply ignorant to not take this into account when shaping a critique on it.

And some of those criticisms are just clutching at straws, I mean, they really are. The Odin one is just laughable. These haters have some sort of complex wherein it's trendy to hate modern hyped games or some bullshit. It's like this transparent cynicism to try and assume some sort of aloofness and it's just pathetic. They criticise such minor elements without qualification.

@Zlatka: Excellent post by the way.

[sleepyazn]

THIS IS COMING FROM A FREAKEN PORNO SITE! why would you let some rndm guy from a porno site tell you if a game is bad or not?

[Tex117]

"No rebuttal, just crying about "but teh hate". These seem to be legitimate points. Why is anyone surprised? FF has been going downhill starting with FFX. The last FF with a soul was FFIX and even then, 7, 8 & 9 lost some of it when compared to the 2D FFs. "

Bingo, I would only swap FFX for FFXII (I liked FFXII better).

But yeah, as a general rule this is dead on.

[DigitalAnalog]

Is IT really necessary to be cost DOUBLE the average game price??

-End statement

[blackice21]

if you guys like the FF series, I'm sure you'll understand that all of them linear up to a certain point. That is the same for XIII.

Seriously play before you judge a game. Stop reading reviews of people who don't understand Japanese or only played the first hour of the game.

Just because it's not the same system as most previous FFs doesn't make it boring or bad. The character/story development is pretty damn awesome. I believe most people want a good story to go with a FF title? If so you'll be pretty happy with XIII, I know I am :)

[Solotov]

The game just seems to be really boring: It takes no skill or strategy to get through. Just keep spam attacking & use summons (which look really stupid & cheesy, btw). At least with Lost Odyssey there was some sort of challenge. FFXIII's story & cutscenes are a snore. I hope this game fails, so it will force Square to revamp the entire series.

[Ron Zook]

Of course this game is going to stink, its been gimped for DVD 9... right?

[curtis_boy]

A game thats so anticipated and been Throgh long development.
So when it releases it is automatically claimed as an EPIC game. But then you start really playing it and notice how much stuff it is missing. Good thing it will at least offer you amusement to play with the new innovations but deep down inside you know they screwed up but everything could be patched updated and glorified with DLC

[DJ]

'Cause those guys give 8/10s to games that are essentially perfect.

[ExposingLames]

FFX or GTFO.....no really tho thats my fav FF ever made tho, im not the most hardcore FF person but i have played quite a few of them like from 7 on and i do like them

but 10 is by far my fav, and as some of the best music scores on top of decent-good voice acting and a great story + PS2 graphics.....man i wish it was in the PS store it almost makes me want to dust off my PS2 and go get a copy

[finals]

Final Fantasy X was almost completely linear for most the game and Its one of the best in the series

[SUPREME RULER]

people hating on the game because it did well on the ps3, lol man i tell these gamers to day are the worst in gaming history. the fanboys treat these console like it's a religion! or like some baby that they must protect! never seen this during the snes days or sega!

[RedDragan]

Agreed, todays fanboy is responsible for it starting to become violent.

And Greenburg of Microsoft is making the issue worse by the stoking the flames all the time. That man has a responsibility to tell the fanboys to calm down, instead he talks down the competition like a 12 year old fanboy.

Goabe Newell is another person who should be taking a professional approach, but refuses to. To me, these two men should not be allowed to speak to the Media because the fanboysim is getting out if hand, fights are breaking out in the streets of several nations and really if we had to blame anyone, it has to be Microsoft and Valve because employee's within those two companies are publicy taking part in the whole problem and encouraging it.