Okay, 2010 is moving along at whatever speed relativity sees fit, and games are being played. My aim is to actually complete the damn things, something I've singularly managed to not do these past few years. So with this new single-minded spirit I've been giving Final Fantasy XIII a good going-over.
I have to say Final Fantasy XII is probably my mumber one PS2 game. Forget what the "it's not as good as VII" people say, taken as a game in its own right Final Fantasy XII is superb. It looks good, the battle system is brilliant, the Gambit and LIcense systems are deep and satisfying. Okay so the story is basically Star Wars, and the politics is a bit confusing, and a couple of the characters are not particularly engaging, but generally the game is a joy to play.
I really need to get back to it. I put a good 51 hours in so far.
So I was very much looking forward to XIII, surely they couldn't mess this up?
I'm 24 hours in and I am sorry to say it really isn't as engaging or enjoyable as XII. It is very linear, which frankly defeats the object of "adventure", not only in the story but the character development. Okay so you can assign points to improve characters' attributes in each of the 6 classes, but it's clear that they expect you to be at certain levels at certain points in the game, there are glass cielings in that regard.
The battle system is a step back, using an Active Time Bar-type affair, but because you only control one character you don't really feel as involved. You can change the Paradigm (combination of character classes) but it's just a bit too 'global' for my taste.
What cannot be faulted are the production values. The cutscenes are generally breathtaking, and everything is generally slick and gorgeous. Sasz is a really likeable character, and whoever does his voice acting deserves a medal.
It's not an awful game by any stretch of the imagination, but it really isn't grabbing me like its predecessor. A vital part of any RPG is managing your party, developing characters, and here it feels as though most of that is hard-wired into the game, which rather takes away from the overall experience.
PS: i'm reliablyinformed it's not Dodge but Dahj, or something like that. Fantasy names eh.
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I'm trying my best to avoid FFXIII, such is my amazing ineptitude when it comes to playing RPGs generally. I know that Final Fantasy is a big franchise and a new instalment (rather than a spin-off) is always something of an event in gaming, but the mixed feedback hasn't helped...
ReplyDeleteThe game is so pared down compared to previous FFs your ineptitude may not matter. Someone described the battle system as being like "Final Fantasy Manager", you change the roles of characters rather than what they do exactly. This may suit players who hate the micro-management associated with RPGs, but I crave that extra control.
ReplyDeleteTried as hard as I could with FF13, but I've just completely lost interest might be more to do with me having less time for Final Fantasy than I once did but its just so unforgiving and expecting people to sit through 24 odd hours of learning before it "gets better' it a stretch.
ReplyDeleteAlso I think he's called Dajh not Dodge, impossible to realise I know, just like it's Sereh and not Sarah - I dislike SE using lots of apostrophes and consonants to make simple names for things even more complicated.
Agreed. FF12 didn't need to spend hours and hours easing you in. You did that tutorial at the start, it brought the big stuff in like the Gambits soon after. Within 3 hours you were up to speed with the vast majority of things and were having an explore.
ReplyDeleteNice for trying something new and getting more people in on what is seen asa hardcore genre but to me it is a failed experiment.