FF XIII

[SSINTENSE]

Apparantly it's the bastard child of FFX. I think Squaresoft may have lost its magic. IX was the last GREAT Final Fantasy. Not saying that recent ones have been terrible, they were just not the magic that FF used to be.

[Kosko]

I'd love to see this post fleshed out some more. Sure you're not thinking of X-II? This was the all female cast FF game.

I believe XIII will be much different than X, well at least not the same "world". Except there will probably be a guy named Cid.

Interesting that XIII will be released no XBox as well, works for me!

[Darkstrike]

First time I've not been the least bit excited about a Final Fantasy release.

XII just didn't jive with me at all, no turn based combat, me no likey. Felt like they were trying to make a one player MMORPG.

[Sonic_Death]

XII wasn't anything special. I still haven't even beaten it yet, which says a lot since I always make it a point to beat every FF game I get.

Nothing will match VII and X in my book.

[SSINTENSE]

X and XII were all pretty good but not masterful like IX and everyone before that was. Each game was very memorable but since the PS2 generation FF has been good but forgettable.

I read early reviews about thirteen and many people are saying it falls flat in many of the same aspects that X did. Apparantly its alot of fun and strategic but the characters are unlikeable for the most part and the plot isn't classic squaresoft good.

I guess they are keeping a VII remake on the back of their minds just to revive the series incase XIII is average.

[tplyons]

I can't wait for it to come out. I'm entirely excited about this, just like every release since VIII.

[ProgRapture]

XIII looks disappointing, just like XII was, but XIII Versus looks pretty cool.

But if there is any ONE thing that Square has F-ed up big on in my opinion is Final Fantasy XIV, essentially a remake of XI. I hate MMORPG's, I think that they have essentially ruined Blizzard, and if Square keeps this crap up I'm gonna stay with Bethesda games.

I've been a Square fan my entire life but this recent shoveling of mediocre games is crap compared to the golden games of the PS1 era.

[Sizlack]

I'll play it as I have all the others, but I'm not as excited about it as I usually get.
In the mean time, if you havn't already play Dragon Age. I just finished it off sunday night, an awesome game.

[jmattbassplaya]

Meh, who cares anymore about that series. Everyone knows FFVI(American III) was the best.

[Kwesi]

Lol I've liked every Final Fantasy since VIII (I liked VII too but I could never really get into it) including X-2 (it had it's merits) and XI so needless to say, I'm looking forward to this one .

[Ben Lesser]

I'm pumped for this one. They've all been good. People who whine about Square not having made a good FF since (insert your favorite game of the series) would complain if Square just kept making the same game over and over. That's the lovely thing about the FF series: they keep changing, sometimes quite radically, from game to game. With the exception of X-2 and XI, there really haven't been any bad games in the series.

X and XII are in my top 5 of the series, and I've played all of them to completion except for VIII (which I am going to start soon). I was raised on IV and VI, so it's not like I'm just jumping on the bandwagon here, either.

It kind of reminds me of the '4 string P/J' versus 'ERB' discussion, sometimes. :P

[Ben Lesser]

Originally Posted by Darkstrike

First time I've not been the least bit excited about a Final Fantasy release.

XII just didn't jive with me at all, no turn based combat, me no likey. Felt like they were trying to make a one player MMORPG.

It was turn-based, though. It was just executed real-time. You still have the turn meter building up, faster characters go first, certain actions take longer, etc. Conversely, you can also keep pausing the game and selecting your commands from the menus, if you want to play it more traditionally. If the game had automatically paused at the start of each character's turn, as opposed to enacting their gambits, you probably wouldn't be lobbying this criticism.

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by Ben Lesser

It was turn-based, though. It was just executed real-time. You still have the turn meter building up, faster characters go first, certain actions take longer, etc. Conversely, you can also keep pausing the game and selecting your commands from the menus, if you want to play it more traditionally. If the game had automatically paused at the start of each character's turn, as opposed to enacting their gambits, you probably wouldn't be lobbying this criticism.

Naw, it wasn't just that, but the fact that your team had to actually run in range of the opponents, to finalize a commad, not to mention having full control over all the team, espcially during boss fights, was really finnicky. Like I said, whole thing felt like a bad attempt at making a one player MMORPG, if I wanted that, I would have bought XI, the *only* one of the main series I don't own. Have most of the offshoots, as well.

Oh, and turn-based, excecuted real-time, thats not possible, the whole idea of turn-based is that its not real time.

[ADbassman]

They're still going with that series? Wow.

[CrispyDelicious]

Originally Posted by jmattbassplaya

Meh, who cares anymore about that series. Everyone knows FFVI(American III) was the best.

This man knows what he's talking about. VI was GOD TIER. Everything else has paled in comparison. I'd love to see VI re-released with up-to date graphics. That's the only thing Square could possibly do to get me to buy from them again.

[CrispyDelicious]

Originally Posted by Ben Lesser

I'm pumped for this one. They've all been good. People who whine about Square not having made a good FF since (insert your favorite game of the series) would complain if Square just kept making the same game over and over. That's the lovely thing about the FF series: they keep changing, sometimes quite radically, from game to game. With the exception of X-2 and XI, there really haven't been any bad games in the series.

X and XII are in my top 5 of the series, and I've played all of them to completion except for VIII (which I am going to start soon). I was raised on IV and VI, so it's not like I'm just jumping on the bandwagon here, either.

It kind of reminds me of the '4 string P/J' versus 'ERB' discussion, sometimes. :P

I'll just throw in my 2cents here Ben. My complaint is that the series went from a dark, at times even disturbing atmosphere, into an obscenely teen-oriented J-Pop theme. Excellent stories were told without the need for poorly written scenes between hero and lover. And there's a cutsey element to the whole thing that wasn't there before. Don't get me wrong, moogles were always cute but it feels as if the entire story has a sickly-sweet sugar coating on the new releases.

Not to mention, Square has become OBSESSED with putting in meaningless side-quests. A game with 120 hours of playability is pointless if more than half of that 120 hours has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the storyline of the game! With XII I found myself doing so much crap in between story events that I literally forgot what the hell was going on.

Square needs to drop the kiddy-coating, for one thing. But more importantly, they need to trim the fat and focus on GOOD storytelling.

IMHO.

[Sonic_Death]

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

Square needs to drop the kiddy-coating, for one thing. But more importantly, they need to trim the fat and focus on GOOD storytelling.

Amen to that my friend.

Personally, I am really digging Assassin's Creed II right now. Everything from the dynamic gameplay, to the historical content, to the great story... can't beat it.

I do hope that the FF series can put out some better games, but lets face it, it'll never be like it used to.

[Darkstrike]

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

This man knows what he's talking about. VI was GOD TIER. Everything else has paled in comparison. I'd love to see VI re-released with up-to date graphics. That's the only thing Square could possibly do to get me to buy from them again.

I dunno, while VI was a materful game, and one I did truly love, it didn't hook me in as much as VII(my fave/first), VIII, IV, or even I.

Originally Posted by Sonic_Death

Personally, I am really digging Assassin's Creed II right now. Everything from the dynamic gameplay, to the historical content, to the great story... can't beat it.

Brilliant game, in every way.

Originally Posted by Sonic_Death

I do hope that the FF series can put out some better games, but lets face it, it'll never be like it used to.

A true fact, one none of us wish to admit, I bet.

[Ben Lesser]

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

I'll just throw in my 2cents here Ben. My complaint is that the series went from a dark, at times even disturbing atmosphere, into an obscenely teen-oriented J-Pop theme. Excellent stories were told without the need for poorly written scenes between hero and lover. And there's a cutsey element to the whole thing that wasn't there before. Don't get me wrong, moogles were always cute but it feels as if the entire story has a sickly-sweet sugar coating on the new releases.

Not to mention, Square has become OBSESSED with putting in meaningless side-quests. A game with 120 hours of playability is pointless if more than half of that 120 hours has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the storyline of the game! With XII I found myself doing so much crap in between story events that I literally forgot what the hell was going on.

Square needs to drop the kiddy-coating, for one thing. But more importantly, they need to trim the fat and focus on GOOD storytelling.

IMHO.

I definitely do not disagree with the last couple of points you brought up, there. I think I clocked 110 hours playing FFXII. Mostly doing stupid stuff like quests, or grinding (that was my biggest beef with the game...having to grind for items to sell for money).

XIII seems like it's going to be a darker game, though.

[afinalfantasy]

I'm super excited for FF13. The Final Fantasy series ties with Legend of Zelda for my favorite series of all time. I enjoy all the games in the series, minus Crystal Chronicles, which I find to be trash.