Final Fantasy XIII Lightning Saga

[pppp]

Hey guys, remember that coliseum in XIII-2 where you could fight enemies from much better games like Ultros and Gilgamesh? Well Square is bringing it back for Lightning Returns.....Yay? :

 

http://www.gamingunion.net/news/lightning-returns-final-fantasy-xiii-will-feature-the-coliseum--9126.html

[Teoskaven]

Well, it makes sense since technically speaking, Snow is stuck there and it was confirmed his appereance in this game.

On the other hand, it was confirmed that there will be no DLC for this game: so they have to include eventually stuff directly there.

[KrazyBean]

Well, it makes sense since technically speaking, Snow is stuck there and it was confirmed his appereance in this game.

On the other hand, it was confirmed that there will be no DLC for this game: so they have to include eventually stuff directly there.

 

I think that they said that there will be no DLC ending.

[pppp]

You know watching this video makes me sad that the talent of such great voice actors keeps being wasted on these games:

 

 

Honestly this moment felt more genuine than everything in the 13 games. Why can't the games have some of this sense of fun?

[Balding Spider]

Okay that was funny.

[Sami]

STEELGUARD!

[Teoskaven]

You know, thanks to this games i started to hate the voice of Troy Baker. And you know what? I shouldn't, since he's a great voice actor.

I'm just sad he's confined to voice that brainless bully that is Snow.

 

Also, am i the only one who though the worst performance of Ali Hills as Lightning has been in Dissidia 012? Geez, that game tends to ruin the american VA in general.

Edited April 27, 2013 by Teoskaven

[Emmett L. Brown]

I've watched some cutscenes from Final Fantasy XIII, and my first reaction of Lightning's voice was "Good grief, Liara, what happened to your range?"

 

But then I've never been a fan of the stoic unemotional hero archetype. I remember the pre-release info deliberately described Lightning as a female Squall. I saw that as a warning sign right away. Why go out of your way to redo the most boring awkward personality in the series? Even Tidus, as annoying as he was, was preferable to the cardboard personalities of Cloud and Squall*

 

*I am fully aware that they actually have really interesting personalities underneath their shells, but for 75% of the story and the bulk of the experience they are boring.

[pppp]

You know, thanks to this games i started to hate the voice of Troy Baker. And you know what? I shouldn't, since he's a great voice actor.

I'm just sad he's confined to voice that brainless bully that is Snow.

 

Troy has been voicing alot of great characters, he was Vincent in Catherine, Kanji in Persona 4, Pyrrhon in Kid Icarus Uprising, Yuri in Tales of Vesperia and he's also in Tales of Xillia. He's been doing alot of stuff aside from Snow.

 

 

 

I've watched some cutscenes from Final Fantasy XIII, and my first reaction of Lightning's voice was "Good grief, Liara, what happened to your range?"

 

I think Ali Hillis is a great actress, she's just stuck in a poorly written role. She was great as Palutena in Uprising and of course in Mass Effect like you said.

Edited April 27, 2013 by pppp

[MegasonicZX]

Troy has been voicing alot of great characters, he was Vincent in Catherine, Kanji in Persona 4, Pyrrhon in Kid Icarus Uprising, Yuri in Tales of Vesperia and he's also in Tales of Xillia. He's been doing alot of stuff aside from Snow.

 

 

 

 

I think Ali Hillis is a great actress, she's just stuck in a poorly written role. She was great as Palutena in Uprising and of course in Mass Effect like you said.

Troy also voiced Arlon in Kid Icarus Uprising too.

[JaidynReiman]

I've watched some cutscenes from Final Fantasy XIII, and my first reaction of Lightning's voice was "Good grief, Liara, what happened to your range?"

 

But then I've never been a fan of the stoic unemotional hero archetype. I remember the pre-release info deliberately described Lightning as a female Squall. I saw that as a warning sign right away. Why go out of your way to redo the most boring awkward personality in the series? Even Tidus, as annoying as he was, was preferable to the cardboard personalities of Cloud and Squall*

 

*I am fully aware that they actually have really interesting personalities underneath their shells, but for 75% of the story and the bulk of the experience they are boring.

I'm pretty sure you actually mean Cloud. That's what I read; she was described as a female Cloud.

 

On that note I've finally got a chance to play XIII (in-laws bought it for Christmas two years ago but we only just got a 360 last week) and I'm enjoying it so far. Yeah, kinda linear, but meh, its still interesting. I hate the fact that I can't control my party members, though.

 

I realized later than the same thing happened in XII (which I also enjoyed, though Vaan really fails as a main protagonist), but at least in XII you can set up gambits to more directly control what they do, and in XII you can also directly control allies if you need to.

 

Still, honestly, its just a new type of gameplay for the series, which happens in pretty much every game, so for me its nothing new. But I can understand why other people hate it.

[pppp]

So Kitase and Toriyama had another interview where they said certain curious things:

 

In this game, we focus attention on Lightning because we want players to understand and appreciate this character.

 

Well, guess Wraith was right. We really are getting these games because they want us to like Lightning as much as they do.

 

Toriyama: Yes, the story will end with this new game. FF XIII-2 left stuff open for the player to imagine his/her own end of the game, whereas this time you will be entitled to a specific purpose, which will be understood by everyone.

 

Really? Cause i didn't really understand the previous 2 endings. This one however can be understood by everyone. We shall see i guess.

 

http://translate.google.pt/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=pt-PT&ie=UTF-8&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ffdream.com%2Fnews-14755.html&act=url

[pppp]

So here's this preview with some new info:

 

The booth reps were surprisingly forthcoming about story details. The end of Final Fantasy XIII-2 has you facing off with Caius Ballad, a man who seeks to cause an end to time and space as we know it. After defeating him, the game heavily alludes to his survival and continued role as antagonist in the next entry of the series. Yeah, forget all that, Caius Ballad is dead. Somehow his death also kills the time-goddess Etro.

 

So basically the post credits scene that if i remember correctly had to be unlocked by 100%ing it with Caius monologuing random shit was was just to waste a ton of your time....Why do people like XIII-2 again?

 

 

The stagger system from previous Final Fantasy XIII titles returns, once again rewarding you with extra damage if you manage to hit the opponent with successive magical attacks.

 

 

 

 

IMO the stagger system is one of the most insulting things programmed into a game. All it does make battles last much longer than needed. I... i thought i was free....but no.....

 

http://www.cheatcc.com/ps3/rev/lightningreturnsfinalfantasyxiiipreview.html#.UYLOf4aqZ-x

Edited May 2, 2013 by Hershel Layton

[Teoskaven]

So basically the post credits scene that if i remember correctly had to be unlocked by 100%ing it with Caius monologuing random shit was was just to waste a ton of your time....Why do people like XIII-2 again?

 

 

 

Sorry, felt the necessity to put this.

[Badnik Mechanic]

The booth reps were surprisingly forthcoming about story details. The end of Final Fantasy XIII-2 has you facing off with Caius Ballad, a man who seeks to cause an end to time and space as we know it. After defeating him, the game heavily alludes to his survival and continued role as antagonist in the next entry of the series. Yeah, forget all that, Caius Ballad is dead. Somehow his death also kills the time-goddess Etro.

 

Why isn't this spinoff series dead yet?

[JaidynReiman]

Well, it is dead. Returns is the official end, so yeah.

[KrazyBean]

XIII-2 improved many things about XIII...the story was not one of them. What a mindf**k.

[pppp]

XIII-2 improved many things about XIII

 

 

Don't say that in here. T-Man will murder you out of rage

[Balding Spider]

 

So basically the post credits scene that if i remember correctly had to be unlocked by 100%ing it with Caius monologuing random shit was was just to waste a ton of your time....Why do people like XIII-2 again?

 

 

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! This series *sniff* this fuckin' series man!

Edited May 3, 2013 by Balding Spider

[KrazyBean]

Don't say that in here. T-Man will murder you out of rage

 

Why? It's not like I'm lying or being a "blind fanboy" of the games. If you compare them side by side, there are improvements.

• 13-2 is nowhere near as linear as 13
• The battle system was refined (Paradigm Shifting was instant, the Auto-Battle option was nowhere near as accurate in choosing the right moves as it was in 13, you can't use Libra during battle to get intel on the enemy unless you stockpile on Librascopes, when the character you're using is down it doesn't result in a game over and you can switch between the two characters during battle.)
• The Crystarium was simplified but also gained depth. You can upgrade Serah or Noel to have extremely high stats on their beneficial attributes (Strength for Noel, Magic for Serah), balance them out or upgrade their weaker attributes more. Both of them can't be exactly the same.
• You had a lot more side quests.
• You gain money (Gil) after every battle! You don't have to stockpile on valuable items to sell them for money like you do in 13.
• The game didn't hold your hand nowhere as long as 13 did. In 13 you would have to play until you got to Gran Pulse (Chapter 9!) before the game gave you choice...in 13-2, you can manage and do everything quite early in the game.
• The soundtrack was more memorable and varied IMO... although it does have its fair share of crappy tunes.

And...that's all I've got right now. Oh well, if someone didn't like the first game then the second game will ALWAYS be crap in their eyes due to having similar concepts (it is a sequel, this is to be expected). "A polished turd is still a turd" as they say. I would be surprised if someone says "I really enjoyed Galaxy 2 even though I absolutely loathe the first one" since, their are pretty much the same game.

Edited May 3, 2013 by KrazyBean

[pppp]

Why? It's not like I'm lying or being a "blind fanboy" of the games. If you compare them side by side, there are improvements.

• 13-2 is nowhere near as linear as 13
• The battle system was refined (Paradigm Shifting was instant, the Auto-Battle option was nowhere near as accurate in choosing the right moves as it was in 13, you can't use Libra during battle to get intel on the enemy unless you stockpile on Librascopes, when the character you're using is down it doesn't result in a game over and you can switch between the two characters during battle.)
• The Crystarium was simplified but also gained depth. You can upgrade Serah or Noel to have extremely high stats on their beneficial attributes (Strength for Noel, Magic for Serah), balance them out or upgrade their weaker attributes more. Both of them can't be exactly the same.
• You had a lot more side quests.
• You gain money (Gil) after every battle! You don't have to stockpile on valuable items to sell them for money like you do in 13.
• The game didn't hold your hand nowhere as long as 13 did. In 13 you would have to play until you got to Gran Pulse (Chapter 9!) before the game gave you choice...in 13-2, you can manage and do everything quite early in the game.
• The soundtrack was more memorable and varied IMO... although it does have its fair share of crappy tunes.

And...that's all I've got right now. Oh well, if someone didn't like the first game then the second game will ALWAYS be crap in their eyes due to having similar concepts (it is a sequel, this is to be expected). "A polished turd is still a turd" as they say. I would be surprised if someone says "I really enjoyed Galaxy 2 even though I absolutely loathe the first one" since, their are pretty much the same game.

 

I'm not calling you anything, it's just that T-Man is baffled by how people think that. Allow me to quote part of his review:

 

You know, I was fine with the linearity of XIII. I thought it worked from a storytelling perspective. That said, a lot of people hated it – a lot – and one of Square’s main goals for XIII-2 was to make a more exploration-oriented experience, and, well, while I suppose the game has some “exploration”, none of it feels substantial. The game’s areas from what I’ve played are either collections of straight lines, a single wide straight line with two or three areas branching off that lead to an item or two, or a needlessly large area with precious little to do in it. If someone at Square was feeling really crazy that day, you might actually be required to backtrack once or twice across this world of straight lines. Sorry, Square, but this is not exploration, nor is it at all fun.

Occasionally, you will be given a puzzle or an optional side quest to divert your attention, but these are just as laughably insubstantial as the environments. All of the puzzles so far have been laughably easy, essentially being “connect the dots” with a side of shape and color matching. I don’t know about anyone else, but I went to kindergarten and I don’t think I need Final Fantasy XIII-2 to put me through it again. Then there are the “side quests”, which are essentially tedious, boring fetch quests that make the Tears of Light quests from Twilight Princess look engaging. Yes, you could say that I’m judging these aspects too soon since I have only played ten hours, but hey, let’s be honest, that’s ten freaking hours! This game should really have picked up by now.

Oh, and another thing. Neither Final Fantasy XII nor XIII featured random encounters, which is something that I greatly appreciated. Final Fantasy XIII-2 brings them back. No, as a matter of fact, I am not kidding. Rather than there being a transition between traversing the overworld and fighting a battle, now enemies actually spawn on top of you. While this does give you more of a chance to get away, at the same time it happens a lot more frequently, is twice as obnoxious, and leads to much frustration when you’re trying to “explore”. On top of that, I just cannot for the life of me understand why. Why would you break what you just fixed? Why?! Oh, and there are no new enemies from XIII at all. They’re all exactly the same, right down to the design. Unnacceptable.

 

The reason i bring it up is because i pretty much agree.

[Teoskaven]

The only change in the gameplay mechanic i really didn't like where adding a numeric limit to the accessories you can wear; how in hell noone thought this was a really bad idea? I can't have an useful/satisfying accessory equipment because of that, and most of the time, only 1 or 2 accessory slot will be occupied. I still can't stand even today this change.

[pppp]

So Japan is getting a "All DLC included on disc" version of XIII-2, you know the one that SHOULD have been the original version.

 

So if you still haven't gotten XIII-2 but plan to get it, just wait till this version hits the west.

 

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2013-05-13/final-fantasy-xiii-2-digital-contents-selection-to-ship-in-japan-in-july

[KrazyBean]

So Japan is getting a "All DLC included on disc" version of XIII-2, you know the one that SHOULD have been the original version.

 

So if you still haven't gotten XIII-2 but plan to get it, just wait till this version hits the west.

 

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2013-05-13/final-fantasy-xiii-2-digital-contents-selection-to-ship-in-japan-in-july

 

So, it's like the PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 (that version came with all the DLC packs). Alright then.

[pppp]

So, it's like the PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 (that version came with all the DLC packs). Alright then.

 

Yeah, except Mass Effect 2 didnt ask you to buy DLC to watch the real ending