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250°

Was All That Final Fantasy XIII Fuss Worth It?

Kotaku: In one word, "no".

When Final Fantasy XIII was originally revealed, it was slated as a PS3 exclusive. Square Enix was adamant about it. Incredibly adamant.

Then, at the E3 gaming expo in July 2008, the inevitable happened: Final Fantasy XIII was coming to the Xbox 360, but only in Western markets. The game was getting a PS3-only release in Japan. Gamers were sent into a tailspin, with players in Japan wondering if the game was in fact truly a PS3 exclusive.

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stonecold34863d ago

the game was over hype but failed since it went multi and delaying the ps3 version should not had been accepted and content taking away ruined this game for me and ff13 failed. square have backed the wrong console and since it didnt do huge number for 360 . there ffvs 13 will not even come out on 360 .after this version flop there .? peace out

Eamon4862d ago

stonecold3, while you're probably a kid who won't really care what I say..

Square have already admitted their mistakes.
FF13 flopped not because of console format but because of development hell. 5 years in the making but they were not managed properly and there was no clear image of what they wanted to make.

The port to Xbox 360 was a financial decision. They spent too many years of development with a huge cash spending that they need surety that they would not make a huge loss.

If Final Fantasy XIII had a clear development vision and plan from the start and had not gone back to the drawing board too many times, it would have most likely come out sooner and release only on PS3.

So it's not any console's fault. It's entirely S-E's fault.

rockleex4862d ago

No wandering around towns
No conversating with NPCs, you just hear them talk as you pass by
No places to explore, you're always just going from point A to point B with nothing in between but battles
No gameplay outside of the battle system
No sidequests, the extra "quests" at the end of the game consist of nothing but MORE battles
Etc.

How can you even call this an RPG? All you do is battle battle battle, then watch a 20 minute cutscene of pointless arguments between each other.

It doesn't help that the battle system was SO simplified and the Crystarium was so linear that you couldn't progress at your own rate. You were always limited at a certain point until you beat the next boss.

They had to do that because the battle system is so simple and easy that people would easily beat the game within a few hours if they didn't limit the Crystarium.

Gothdom4862d ago

"They had to do that because the battle system is so simple and easy that people would easily beat the game within a few hours if they didn't limit the Crystarium. "

I heard the japanese 360 version contains an "easy mode".... I think the game plays by itself at that point.

TheDivine4862d ago

It was a bad ff but i stil loved it. If you want a real next gen ff see lost odyssey from the man who created ff 1-x. Square is still good they just started this on ps2, switched gens, engines exc. It was still beautiful, great story and world/characters, and the battle sysem was fun, but it needed npcs and towns. They made like 4 other great games this gen. One game you dont like and you hate them, you are a fair weather fan, i have faith they can make good games still. Loved star ocen 4, in undiscovery, last remnant, nier, birth by sleep, crisis core, and parasite eve 3, ff13vs, and agito 13 look sooo dope.

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Zir04863d ago

It sold over 1ml copies on the 360 (the highest selling JRPG on the system) which guarantees FFVSXIII will come to the 360 at least in the west.

dericb114863d ago (Edited 4863d ago )

You would think. But the royalty fees and normal fees Square Enix has to pay to MS means they more then likely lost money. 1 Million is not a lot these day for games with budgets so large. We can't even get a Tales game because no one bought it.

Here is a good example. Heavenly Sword sold over a million unit and the devs said they have make no money out of it.

xX-PEIN-Xx4863d ago

actually that guarantees nothing. Tetsuya Nomura has said on record that he has no plans to port the game to the 360 and that he will not be forced to port it. He has threatened to leave Square Enix which is something they don't want.

Chris3994862d ago (Edited 4862d ago )

Proportionately, if we look at the advertising and success of Lost Odyssey, it was FAR more successful. LO had a moderate ad campaign, sold 850K and was released in 2008. FFXIII had an enormous amount of hype and marketing, and 1 million (10 weeks since launch) in 2010. Worth noting is that the 360 install base was more than double in 2010. One is a new IP, the other is a decade old franchise with tremendous pull. I'd say Lost Odyssey was a greater success on the 360.

And do you remember this:

http://finalfantasy-xiii.ne...

Final Fantasy was supposed to sell MORE according to Greenburg (banking on that was their at the time bosom-buddy Square Enix too, I'm sure) on the 360. How'd that turn out? Have you noticed, that there isn't a SINGLE JRPG exclusive announced for the 360 for any of the coming calendar years? Not a one since Magna Carta 2. Kingdom Under Fire 2 went multi and that has forever been an Xbox (console) exclusive franchise.

It's clear that MS has ditched the JRPG after a failed attempt to court the genre while Sony picked up steam. So I wouldn't expect any more cheques in Square Enix's account any time soon. In delaying the development (which costs lots of money), advertising the crap out of it (ALL I saw were ads for the 360 version) and the abortion that just happened in Japan, even Square must be paying attention to the average performance of XIII - their flagship series (dismal in Japan) on the 360, and the shift in the market by now.

I don't even know if MS gave them a cheque as much as they appealed to Wada's hard-on for Westernization. They probably promised him the MOON in 360 SKU sales, and the reality was quite different.

RedDead4862d ago (Edited 4862d ago )

Pein, Link? I highly doubt Nomura would leave over something that's not his desicion to make. Shi* he's lucky he even got to make a final fantasy. Not that he hasn't proven himself worthy, he's been the most capable person at S-e since Squaresoft joined with enix.

Nomura want's Versus to stay exclusive, but it's not his desicion, for all we know EA could port the damn thing to 360, Nomura doesn't have to be there, his job is to make FF versus on Ps3, after that S-e can do with it what they want.

Now here's to hoping it stays exclusive atleast until it's release on Ps3, I wouldn't mind a timed exclusive if they start porting after they release, but it will just take more time if they start porting it before it's out, i've been waiing long enough for the game damn it.

SaiyanFury4862d ago

@Chris399

I couldn't have said it better bud. Wada's hardon for westernisation is exactly right. They should keep JRPGs Japanese and leave the WRPGs to the west. Don't sell out your cultural identity to the world. Do that, and what do you have left? Mediocrity.

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edgeofblade4862d ago

Sure. Microsoft caused FF13 to fail.

How do you figure? No really. Put together a reasoned and intelligent argument and convinces me that going multiplat was what killed this already-trash game. Tell me how splitting into 3 disks destroyed the flow of FF13 and forced it into one long corridor of "Mash A", when several RPGs on 360 never suffered from that problem.

Gamer1124862d ago

It failed since it went multi plat? funny you said that i played me2 demo on ps3 and i noticed frame rate drops..

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MaideninBlack4863d ago

They'll be asking the same thing when Versus hits.

dorron4863d ago

It failed for me. It was a nice game but nothing especial.

Roper3164863d ago

It was an excellent action/adventure game but horrible as a RPG. I really enjoyed it because I took it for what it was a action game and not a RPG.

Hopefully Vs XII will be more RPG then action game.

Simco8764863d ago

Xbox ruined FFXIII for Playstation supporters that have been backing the game since VII. But the game was horrible anyways, so it wouldn't have mattered.

I hope they learn from their mistakes with XIII and make a better XV!

By the way... FFXIII is $14 bucks now....sad

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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.

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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."

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Einhander1972115d 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.

Nyxus115d ago

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

Shane Kim114d ago (Edited 114d ago )

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

Elda114d 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_B113d ago

*One of the 3 equally bad FF's

DivineHand125114d ago (Edited 114d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic114d ago (Edited 114d 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.

FinalFantasyFanatic114d ago (Edited 114d 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.

Gamingsince1981113d ago

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

-Foxtrot113d 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.

Elda113d 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.

-Foxtrot113d ago

Elda

Not just mine mate

A large majority

So….

Traecy113d ago

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

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gold_drake115d ago (Edited 115d 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

Eonjay113d ago

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

Snookies12115d 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!

Eonjay113d ago

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

shinoff2183115d ago (Edited 115d 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

KillerB114d ago

my favorite jrpg trilogy ever

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70°

Interview: Making music with Masashi Hamauzu

Square Enix Blog: "How do you compose iconic songs that help define a legacy? We speak to legendary composer Masashi Hamauzu about his work on Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XIII, and Final Fantasy VII Remake, and how to make unforgettable music."

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