FFXIII-2

For all your playstation needs.
Post Reply
Tivia
Irrepressible Kitteh
Posts: 1347
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 7:55 pm

FFXIII-2

Post by Tivia »

The very name inspires fear in most Final Fantasy fans. The memory of the last direct sequel is still pretty freshly burned into our minds and its resale value reflects this.

http://www.ign.com/videos/2011/06/08/e3 ... ctid=97872

However, thus far things are looking extremely positive.

1) Larger more open maps
2) More traditional FF city type stuff
3) Virtually the same combat as XIII which was utterly fantastic.
4) A continuation of the storyline within another very applicable storyline instead of some just made up bullshit like X-2.
5) Welcome back Kupo!
6) Some new Twists that look very interesting.

Not enough for me to run out and be foaming at the mouth for it, but enough to solidly keep my interest now. I want to see a bit more before I willingly buy it on launch, but I am not writing off the possibility either. I likewise appreciate the new SE where steady info is being released instead of the information blackout of the past.
Image
User avatar
Karou Ariyen
Rampageing Lunatic
Posts: 2851
Joined: Wed Dec 01, 2004 7:38 pm
Location: San d'Oria
Contact:

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Karou Ariyen »

A Snake that sheds it's skin is still a snake. Only Time shall tell. Remember, SE Tends to pull the wool over our eyes a lot. Point in Case; Dungeon Seige III
Image
Warrior 81/Ninja 37 | Samurai 85/Warrior 40 | Puppetmaster 76/Warrior 37 | Dancer 41/Ninja 16
Solo WS=Raging Rush 2282 vs Boreal Hound | Salaheem's Sentinal's <> SECOND LIEUTENANT
Swift Illusion - Black Female Chocobo |Sahyu - Level 60 Soothing Healer |
Tivia
Irrepressible Kitteh
Posts: 1347
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 7:55 pm

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Tivia »

Karou Ariyen wrote:A Snake that sheds it's skin is still a snake. Only Time shall tell. Remember, SE Tends to pull the wool over our eyes a lot. Point in Case; Dungeon Seige III
Yep, which is why I am still maintaining a critical eye on this.

To be fair though my beef with SE largely revolves around XIV. I honestly felt that FFXIII was a really great step in the single player games and certainly a huge improvement over X-2 and XII. It clearly wasn't up to the standards of FF of the past in freedom and depth though.
Image
Tivia
Irrepressible Kitteh
Posts: 1347
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 7:55 pm

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Tivia »

So...I bought it and have played it..so what is the final verdict? For not I will keep this short and sweet.

Well, first unlike X-2 I was actually able to play without wanting to fly to japan and firebomb someone.

Combat system - Generally speaking just as good as 13 with some improvements. Now instead of 3 party members you get a monster added too your party. It is a little like pokemon in that you have to catch them and then effectively level them up and build their crystarium. It is an interesting change of style and fun for a change, but it isn't something I want to see become a regular feature. If you played 13 then you know how combat works, it isn't changed much just refined to where using auto battle isn't always the best option. So while you can still use it and do well in fights paradigm shifting, if you want to 5 star fights you are going to have to learn to quickly select skills in certain situations. Not a requirement to win, just a requirement to 5 star for those of us who are anal.

Crystarium - Simplified and everyone gets access to everything. I have mixed feelings about this to be honest. I like that everyone gets access to everything and you can make your characters into what you want. However I dislike the simplification. I want to be able to view the entire thing like we did in 13 and be able to plan accordingly.

Music - Jpop..nothing new here. About middle of the road, not the best SE sound track but far from the worst. I didn't expect a ton from a non mainline title anyhow.

Plot - Fairly solid and interesting. Again not the deepest plot, but not a main line title either. I think criticisms of the plot are honestly overblown. The story is coherent and flows fairly smoothly. It ties in well with the previous title and doesn't make any major missteps. I suspect that most bitching likely never finished the first one and honestly didn't have a damn clue what was going on.

Characters - Serah isn't annoying and neither is Noel, sadly the moogle is a little irritating at times. Not bad bad characters by any stretch but certainly not fantastic. Generally speaking solidly written and voice, just not special. At least they aren't Pain, Snow, Hope, Wakka or any other make you want to stab something types.

In general, this has restored my faith someone in SE being able to do a direct sequel and it not be god awful. It is a solid play and was enjoyable. I won't give it a number rating as those are really largely irrelevant, but I would rate this better than quite a few games that have come out in recent years that got high ratings (bought).
Image
User avatar
Sugami
Anime cat
Posts: 3850
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:29 pm
Location: England
Contact:

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Sugami »

I like it :)

Did the first game allow for upgrading of weapons and accessories or am I thinking of something else?

I really like how you can now change leader mid-battle and having the leader getting KO'd isn't game over. I thought that was pretty daft in the original so it's good they finally fixed that annoyance. Staggering seems less effective, I storm around with Commandox2 and Ravager and kill everything before they get Staggered in a few seconds, it might be because I took a wrong turn and seem to be pretty buff now but with random battles you can power level pretty easily.

Just because both characters can use any job doesn't mean they're equally good at them, Serah is better as a Saboteur and Noel is better as a Synergist. You can also see what abilities/traits are available for each job and it'll tell you what job level you'll acquire the next one. Took me a while to work that out :P

Gotta say though, the time travel gets a bit confusing :P When done badly or lazily time travel is just a lazy plot mechanism but I think they've worked it in quite well, it also allows for more freedom and being able to revisit past areas easily.

P.S. don't fight the Tonberry, dang :oops:
Image
Tivia
Irrepressible Kitteh
Posts: 1347
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 7:55 pm

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Tivia »

Sugami wrote:I like it :)

Did the first game allow for upgrading of weapons and accessories or am I thinking of something else?

I really like how you can now change leader mid-battle and having the leader getting KO'd isn't game over. I thought that was pretty daft in the original so it's good they finally fixed that annoyance. Staggering seems less effective, I storm around with Commandox2 and Ravager and kill everything before they get Staggered in a few seconds, it might be because I took a wrong turn and seem to be pretty buff now but with random battles you can power level pretty easily.

Just because both characters can use any job doesn't mean they're equally good at them, Serah is better as a Saboteur and Noel is better as a Synergist. You can also see what abilities/traits are available for each job and it'll tell you what job level you'll acquire the next one. Took me a while to work that out :P

Gotta say though, the time travel gets a bit confusing :P When done badly or lazily time travel is just a lazy plot mechanism but I think they've worked it in quite well, it also allows for more freedom and being able to revisit past areas easily.

P.S. don't fight the Tonberry, dang :oops:
Yes the party leader switch is a great change. I didn't mention it as when I wrote that first post I honestly hadn't died yet, that quickly changed after that post. :rofl:

Staggering is certainly not as effective on boss mobs as it was, but seems just as effective on most trash to me. I find that a setup of 2 triple threat paras (Ravx3) outright wipes out weak enemies and quickly staggers single tough enemies so I can switch to com, com, rav and launch them. Of course it may depend on how you invested your cp as I almost instantly dumped everything into Rav until level 30 or so based on my experience with the first game.

I will say the one change that I LOVE and hope to see more of is the mog clock. Being involved in achieving pre-emptive strikes vs relying on luck is a huge deal to me. As to your question on weapon modification, yes that was in the first one. That is how you got ultima weapon and such for your party members as there was absolutely no way to fight the hardest things in the game without heavily upgraded weapons and accessories.
Image
User avatar
Sugami
Anime cat
Posts: 3850
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:29 pm
Location: England
Contact:

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Sugami »

No more upgrading stuff is a bit annoying and they've gone and changed it so you have to buy equipment slots basically with the Crystarium upgrade, though seems to be less emphasis on having good gear now.

Pre-emptive attack also gives you Haste :) The new "wounding" is annoying, just a way to stop endless battles I suppose but it makes some stuff impossible (Boss Flan Fights) :x
Image
Tivia
Irrepressible Kitteh
Posts: 1347
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 7:55 pm

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Tivia »

Sugami wrote:No more upgrading stuff is a bit annoying and they've gone and changed it so you have to buy equipment slots basically with the Crystarium upgrade, though seems to be less emphasis on having good gear now.

Pre-emptive attack also gives you Haste :) The new "wounding" is annoying, just a way to stop endless battles I suppose but it makes some stuff impossible (Boss Flan Fights) :x
Yea I am less fond about expanding your accessories through the crystarium, that was a terrible change. Not game changing as accessories without customization are mundane, but not a feature I want to see come back.

I actually like the wounding feature. I thought it added some much needed urgency to the fight vs just turtle fighting. Also Flan are just a cake walk with Ravx3, same as FFXIII. Flan and certain bosses are super easy if your setup is correct and super hard if not. For example, the first time you encounter behemoths. Those should be near impossible to kill for most parties at that level, however due to my setup of 1 really high level rav, 1 medium rav and high level synergist I was able to mitigate Heave damage. So I actually spent time farming the things as they were just crazy good CP. They key to them is having Protectra so it is 1 cast protect for everyone so you can resume Ravager burning until stagger then launch and rape. This method actually applies to a number of the really ugly monsters at least from a 5 star perspective. It is all about being able to quickly drop the buffs you need to not get 1 shot and having a double medic paradigm so you can heal in as short of time as possible if needed.
Image
User avatar
Sugami
Anime cat
Posts: 3850
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:29 pm
Location: England
Contact:

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Sugami »

So err... Bad End? :oops:
Image
Tivia
Irrepressible Kitteh
Posts: 1347
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 7:55 pm

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Tivia »

I dunno..there are multiple endings..but I haven't finished yet. just a ton of stuff going on, very little time to play and generally spend all my time chocobo racing. :rofl:
Image
User avatar
Sugami
Anime cat
Posts: 3850
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:29 pm
Location: England
Contact:

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Sugami »

The paradox endings isn't the "true ending" though I read they plan to "finish the game" with DLC (so FFXIII-3 not happening :P) and are working on a big Lightning episode :D Sazh sucks BTW, spent all morning gambling to complete his chapter then find out he's a sucky Synagist that costs way too much to level up to make not-sucky :(
Image
Tivia
Irrepressible Kitteh
Posts: 1347
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 7:55 pm

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Tivia »

Sugami wrote:The paradox endings isn't the "true ending" though I read they plan to "finish the game" with DLC (so FFXIII-3 not happening :P) and are working on a big Lightning episode :D Sazh sucks BTW, spent all morning gambling to complete his chapter then find out he's a sucky Synagist that costs way too much to level up to make not-sucky :(
Leveling up Sazh! Bs, I did that in the first game, he should be a freaking badass by default. :rofl:
Image
Tivia
Irrepressible Kitteh
Posts: 1347
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 7:55 pm

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Tivia »

Ok..so I admit it..I raged about the ending. To be continued my ass... :x

So really the story wasn't as weak as the naysayers drummed it up to be. Honestly it was fairly decent all things considered. I am a bit miffed at non ending though, but then this kind of thing irritates me in movies as well.
Image
User avatar
Sugami
Anime cat
Posts: 3850
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:29 pm
Location: England
Contact:

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Sugami »

TBH I think the story is better than the first movie. Time travel can be full of easy outs and lazy writing but I think they did a great job with it.

The "To be continued..." is because they plan on finishing it with DLC, like I said before :P I'm happy for this kind of DLC though.
Image
Tivia
Irrepressible Kitteh
Posts: 1347
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 7:55 pm

Re: FFXIII-2

Post by Tivia »

Sugami wrote:TBH I think the story is better than the first movie. Time travel can be full of easy outs and lazy writing but I think they did a great job with it.

The "To be continued..." is because they plan on finishing it with DLC, like I said before :P I'm happy for this kind of DLC though.
Yea I don't get what people were bitching about, the time travel was done really amazingly well. I think it just boils down to bored people hating just to hate.

Oh I know, I appreciate this kind of DLC. But I see "to be continued" and I just rage no matter what. :rofl:
Image
Post Reply