FF-13-2 is out todayFollow

so, ff13-2 is finally out and i must say it is a HUGE improvement over 13. i think the single greatest improvement is that when the leader dies it isn't game over!

the one thing though, that really REALLY anoys me, is how many different pre-order bonuses they gave to so many different companies. i can't get any of them, even the one that sounds super awesome which is the omega boss battle. seriously i hate it when companies give exclusive content, especially extra content such as an optional boss battle.

besides this dick move, the game is good! i recomend at least giving it a try.

If this is the single greatest improvement from FFXIII to FFXIII-2, you'll excuse me if I pass this one over. Fool me once ...

I never claimed FFXIV is a high quality game, where did you infer that from?

Perhaps, and my apologies if taken wrongly. I just was making sure there was not some sort of FFXIV bias being perceived on behalf of my post in regard to the newest FF launch and the discussion of its merits.

Edited, Jan 31st 2012 12:27pm by Whales

I loved XIII. I was disappointed that it lacked the exploration and gear customization of previous FF games, but I thought on its own merits it was brilliant (and I put something like 100 hours into it). I'm pretty stoked to pick up XIII-2 later today.

I never finished FF 13 now my FF 13 X 2 preorder is coming on the 1st or 2nd and the reviews I glanced by said this might have a set up for a FF 13 X 3 it sucks when game rewiews come out before a game is released.

The game was already released in japan, so the reviews are based on the actual game, not in conjucture or imagination or anything like that :/

ok ive just been playing for a good few hours, and here is what the game has going for it basically:

leveling up:

1) done with an improved crystarium. every space on the crystarium has a blank space which you can then use to level up one of your roles. you can level up any role you have unlocked whenever you want. each level gives stat bonuses, as well as new abilities every few levels. when you reach the end of a "crystarium grid" your role level goes up, which lets you choose between a few different bonuses (ATB gauge bar, new roles, etc.)

2) monsters also use the crystarium grid, however use certain items to level them up. every now and then the further they progress it requires more items to level them up. This is NOT like leveling up weapons in 13. it's very simple, and the game tells you what items raise what stats. they also receive bonuses for leveling up roles.

party:

party members for the game is always Serah + Noel + monster. as you fight new monsters you get to use them in battle afterwards. not all monsters can be used to fight with, but not long into the game you get like 5-7 monsters from the first couple of battles. each monster has a certain role they do which can't be changed. changing paradigms changes the current monster your using.

weapons and armor:

you can now buy new weapons from stores! i don't know if they can be upgraded or not yet. they raise stats and may have different abilities that go with them. as for armor, the same system is used from 13 but with a twist. you start with 4 slots to equip stuff, but your limited to a slot cost. this cost can be raised by raising role levels.

battles and paradigms:

the battle system is essentially the same, but tweaked so the flow of battle is better. paradigm shifts are instant so there is no waiting to watch everyone change. when the leader dies the next party member receives leader automatically. leader can be switched whenever you want during battle or outside the fight. paradigms are better in this game. AI is smarter when it comes to what they should be doing, however for healing its still a good idea to have the leader with medic role since the AI sometimes can be a little slow. Battles also seem more difficult, even a little early in the game. for monster paradigms, the third slot for the monster is the monsters name in the color of his role, so you know how your setting up your paradigms.

exploration:

no more long hallways. there is often different paths that can be taken to reach the end goal. there is also many chests to be discovered with usefull or key items in them, so for those who want completon you will need to look around. there is always reason to go re-visit an area because often times you can't go everywhere right away. it just might be confusing to get around since one area might not link directly to another. you basically warp around time to get around so there is no real chronological order for zones.

jumping:

you can jump, lol.

menu:

lots of tutorials as well as backstory for people who have not played 13. tons of lore with a bestiary and all that jazz. there is also outfits you can change into when you unlock them for aesthetics only.

well thats basically what ive found by playing so far. this game is much improved. for those skeptical about buying, rent it first if you want. i'm liking it, although i must admit id rather play AS lightning. oh well, serah is still hot though.



Edited, Jan 31st 2012 7:33pm by Keysofgaruda

Played the demo, the game seemed ok not amazing but ok. I might get it if its in the sale bin for under 20 bucks.

Bought it today, I'm looking forward to play it, if only for academic reasons.

Sadly, I have lots of other games competing for my time, so I don't know when I'll actually get to play it!

If by risky you meant "purposely put a cliffhanger so people would have to pay to see the ending" sure.

My PS3 is broke >.>

*pat pat*

I think I'll wait for a used copy at GS. However, so far so good people seem more optimistic about this... Still interested in hearing players views after completing XIII-2 cOmpletely.

Docent about the backstory comment...OUch :/ How would you compare character back story to say my two favorites FF games...FFVII and FFX? I really do enjoy character back story. Loved Kimari Ronso, in X's back story to him and really enjoyed Vincent's back story, especially in Dirge of Cerberus.

Ahh. Understood. Yeah ever since I came across DAO last year, I salivate over it. They really did a wonderful job with their characters and stories of each of them. However, I don't expect FF to ummmm what's the word...be as creatively involved? with the developement of their characters. With that said, I'm happy to hear that.

Did anyone else get the collectors edition? I'm living overseas so I just got it the other day, but Disc 1 is FFXI soundtrack, Disc 2 doesn't have that much and it's in Japanese, and I haven't checked the other 2 discs.

The book says all 4 discs are XIII-2 songs, but obviously mine aren't even though they have XIII-2 printed on them.

I haven't seen anyone else on the net complaining about this issue.

I personally don't care, I'm quite happy with the XI OST ^.^

As to the game itself, you can tell they are overcompensating. HOWEVER, it's still pretty damn good 12 hours in. I didn't get into XIII until around 20 hours, BUT I'm into this abit different. I like it, I'm not hooked, and I'm almost not sure what I'm supposed to be doing (I know, but I don't know if I care). So far, I feel like I have a really good chance of getting REALLY into this game, I might actually fully complete it for trophies and such.

I'm at 20 or so hours in at the moment and still loving almost every moment of it. The best Square-Enyx game in a good number of years, although that's more unfortunate than a real compliment.

I haven't had that much fun playing a RPG since Star Ocean 4 (Which I adore -- I bought both the 360 and ps3 version)

That said, I enjoyed X-2 a lot, and I get strange stares whenever I admit to that.

I've never played SO1, but I liked SO4 a lot more than the 2nd and 3rd. I suppose it depends what you're looking for in an RPG. As a game designer, I tend to overlook a lot of flaws, as long as I'm interested in the systems and mechanics. For example, Blindside was one of my favourite feature in the series.

Oh, and Meracle. <3 <3

The battle system ? Well SO4 Battle system was interesting, i really liked 3rd's more, but i can see where 4 was more polished, but everything else in the game was a step backwards, except maybe in graphics, in my opinion they could have gone so many places with a prequel, given all the lore, the 3 previous games had :/

I had a chance to play through FFXIII-2 finally.

TL;DR: Overall, it's a good game. The story struggles in places, however. But if you liked FF13, you can't pass this up.

As far as the mechanics go, you can tell they put a lot of effort in including the things that 13 lacked. There's less linearity, there's mini-games, and there's people you can stop to talk to. Contributing to the freedom of exploration is the addition of both time-traveling and even travel to parallel universes. But more on that later.

The game still relies on 13's iconic Paradigm Shift battle system where the focus is on shifting your team's jobs at strategic moments during combat. A new addition to this is the Tune option where you can configure your battle line-up to focus on a single target, multiple foes, or use their default judgement.

I felt the pacing of combat itself could have used some fine tuning. The bulk of random encounters are battles that are over too quick with little strategic consideration (sometimes you can literally do nothing while your companions auto-kill all your opponents and still get a perfect 5-star rating). I think this leaves you ill-prepared for some particularly brutal fights you occasionally get yourself into along the way, where having a good grasp of using Paradigm Shift teams is essential. If most fights are over before a Saboteur can land a single debuff or before you'll be hurt enough to even consider a Shell from a Synergist useful, you probably aren't going to see the value in these jobs until it's too late. That aside, the big fights are very engaging, and if you get lulled by the seemingly easy-mode encounters up until you hit them, you will get "pantsed."

The real weakness in FFXIII-2, however, is the story. What really irked me the most was when the obvious shortcuts turned up. Right in the beginning, for example, the story requires Noel to do something heroic for NORA so that they'll trust him enough to whisk Serah away on their little adventure to save all of existence. So they do this by having him carry NORA-girl Lebreau, who was injured in a battle he participated in, back to her house. But rather than have him carry her directly to a bed inside the house (the beds you see inside the house when you first start playing as Serah), Noel dumps her behind the staircase in front of her house, saying she just needs to sleep off her injuries and she'll be fine. And then he and Serah have a pleasant conversation as though leaving her injured companion lying on the ground unconscious outside their house was perfectly normal. Gah!

But it's more than just that. There seems to be a ludicrous amount of bizarre explanations used to have supporting characters re-appear in different time periods centuries apart (not having aged a day) to mask the fact they obviously didn't want to make any more characters. The result is more fish tale than epic adventure, ruining what could have easily been a great story with just a little more effort. One only needs to glance at Square's notoriously good time/dimensional traveling Chrono series to see how a proper RPG of this caliber should be made.

And it's really sad, because the beginning and ending (especially) are riveting, unique, daring. How the game ends should upset you for all the right reasons, and I like that it challenges me that way. I just wish I could have been as drawn in for the generous middle of the story instead of grappling with my disbelief.

That said, the game does pretty well overall. The mechanics are sound, you have a lot of freedom to explore, build up monsters for your team, play games, collect treasures to enhance your party, and even take in a few alternate endings or challenge yourself to some optional "mega-bosses." There's something for almost anyone if you can overlook a somewhat shaky story.

Heh, I'm easy to please in many ways *LOL that does not sound right, get your minds out of the gutter*, however gaming just isn't one of them, unfortunately :/ However, it really does sound many people from the forums are having an awesome time with it.

Perrin, maybe you got a lement?

Nah just default media player.

I like the moogle...

You even start XIII-2 in a city..how are cities gone? lol. Guessing you never touched XIII-2 which I suppose makes sense.

"Depth of story is gone."

FFI - Bad guy on the loose
FFII - empire etc etc
FFIII - vanguard cloud etc etc
FFIV - empire, brainwashed brother etc etc.
FFV - vanguard tree etc etc
FFVI - vanguard court jester etc etc.
FFVII - mama's boy seeking the promised land finds out said mama is an alien and not his real mother and lead character has memories of another as he's damn well a puppet.
FFVIII - there's no explaining this.
FFIX - vanguard elephant lady to unconfirmed gender antaganist that leads to fighting for all life..
FFX - listen to my story.
FFXI - mix
FFX-2 - continuing said listen to my story
FFXII - star wars
FFXIII - intertwined storylines that you had to read, rather than been shown.
FFXIII-2 - vanguard time traveller.

FF Spinoffs - Respective battle system changes.

So realistically, none of the FF games have had depth to their storylines, when you're young you didn't understand sh*t, if you've played em as an adult or early adult you understood them and realized they were just any other storyline that's been done before in various other media.