FFXIII

[Merri]

So, who's excited about FFXIII this Tuesday?

 

I, for one, am slowly going insane. Not only am I psyched to finally get my hands on FFXIII, but when it was released over in Japan, the pre-orders came with some bonus for FFXIV.

 

I really hope we have that same luxury here for our release. Or at least something FFXIV related, like maybe a sneak peek at some content.

[Klare]

I'm definitely excited. ^^ Already have my pre-sale ready for when it's released.

It be awesome if SQ did have some bonus ffXIV stuff with the package!

 

FFXIII will be a nice distraction for many of us, until FFXIV actually comes out :3.

[Merri]

Definantly. I'm also kind of excited to be able to see SE's Crystal Tools first hand. Seeing as that's what they used to make FFXIV. Will give me something to look forward to with FFXIV's cutscenes.

 

I mean, FFXI had some epic storylines, and the cutscenes were awesome for their time. They've said the cutscenes in FFXIV will be rendered with Crystal Tools and full voice acting! So, we'll have more life-like characters without heavily restricted animations, and voices to go along with it.

 

And with that doubled up with SE's knack for impressive plots has me pretty damn excited. Of course, i'm not going to hold my breath just yet.

 

Anywho... getting back on track.

 

Can't wait to try out this new battle system with FFXIII. Looks like it will either be a ton of fun, or a complete bust.

[Zane]

I doubt it comes with any thing for FF XIV, sadly. We got the games in at work on Friday, and I curiously turned the packaging every which way to look inside and didn't see any additional inserts other than the instruction manual. Unless the Code is on the back of the instruction manual, I believe we're out of luck.

 

I, however, am really excited. I'm going to be picking it up tomorrow at midnight, and no one will see me until I beat the game.

[Merri]

Yeah. I'll most likely end up hitting the midnight release where I pre-ordered. But, if I don't, i'll just pick up my copy later on in the day. Not really in that big of a rush.

 

I acctually could have already been playing if I had really felt like it, but I wasn't up for the two hour drive back home. A close friend of mine runs a gaming store back near my home town, and with that he gets access to games before their commercial release date whenever the shipments end up comming in. Family owned, so he's fairly laid-back when it comes to giving his best bud a little headstart.

 

He got his copy the other day, and said I could bum at his place if I wanted to check it out while he's at work. Didn't even think to ask him if it came with anything FFXIV related. I'll have to try and give him a ring later, see if I can't get any details. Apparently people who pre-ordered over in Japan got a code for some bonus item in FFXIV. Since they're doing a world-wide release with FFXIV, I think i'de be pretty lame for them to give Japanese players a little something extra, and leave the rest of us in the dark.

 

...Then again, I wouldn't put it past them to do something like that. Afterall, all the Vanafest 2010 attendees got a sneak peek at some FFXIV stuff and free access to the Alpha/Beta, and that was more or less a japanese-only event, aside from the few major fansite admins and what not that were able to attend.

[Kylin]

Just picked up my copy today so I'll be glued to that for awhile. There is indeed a promotional code for a special FF14 in game item, though no details on that special item are known yet. You first have to register FF13 to your SE Members account and then it gives you the promotional code. At least it did this for me.

[Smiling River]

All of this just makes me wanna pick up a PS3 or a 360. >_<;

 

Isn't there a special PS3 deal w/ the FFXIII? I've heard something about that, but the FFXIII that comes with it isn't the special box set which doesn't make any sense. If a person is willing to buy a PS3 to play FFXIII, I'd think it'd come with extra stuff.

[Nomine]

Just spent all night (well like 3 hours then I had to get some sleep for work today) playing FFXIII and I'm really really enjoying it so far.

 

Visually it's absolutely incredible, from the cutsenes to the combat everything looks amazing.

 

The combat itself is definately something I'm having to get used to but the fast-paced nature of it makes it alot more dynamic and exciting than some of the classic styles have been just from a controlling standpoint. Even got me a bit frantic in some fights! Hehehe.

 

Like I said I'm really enjoying it so far, and I'm definately looking forward to everyone else's opinion as well.

[Merri]

Yeah, i'm absolutely loving this new combat system. It can be a bit tricky at times, though.

 

Something that really caught my eye, though, was how the combat system works. It dawned on me almost immediately. Does anyone else remember how they mentioned that you basically have to gain TP before you can use attacks? And that you can queue up attacks and they'll go off as you gain TP?

 

...It seems like FFXIII's combat system is really close to what FFXIV's combat system was proclaimed to be like. We haven't exactly seen in-depth videos of how it's working, but, i'm acctually really kind of excited to see if it works somewhat closely. They themselves have said it won't be nearly as faced paced combat as FFXI, but I still think it'l be a ton of fun if they share similiar elements. Even more so in a group element. Honestly, with FFXI, it didn't really "Feel" like a final fantasy title. I have a feeling FFXIV is really going to strike home on it, though. Combat seems like it'd be a ton of fun with a group. The world itself seems alot easier to sort of align with what we're used to in Final Fantasy titles. Though, alot of that is because of the graphics. Seems like FFXIV is going to have alot of those "Wow, that's absolutely breathtaking" enviroments. Something that we sort of lacked in FFXI due to graphical limitations.

 

Plus, the graphical engine alone is getting me excited. I figure it's safe to assume FFXIV will have more or less the same quality of graphics that FFXIII has (Outside of cutscenes, of course.). What i'm really looking forward too is the spells, as right now, i'm absolutely in love with the way magic looks in FFXIII.

 

 

But, sadly, all of this is just speculation until we see some solid evidence.

[Keir]

I'm having a little trouble with the camera angle, it makes me a little seasick if I move around too fast, but I'll probably be glued to it all tonight.

[Kylin]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the camera control. I also had to set the atb to "slow" because battles were -way- too fast paced for me . I didn't even know what was happening half the time and I'm still getting used to it all. Seems good so far overall though. I can see what people meant by the game seeming overly linear but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[Nomine]

I've just gotten into the point now where it's starting to really flesh out the characters and show alot of the backstory that's led everything to where it was and while at first I was a little frustrated (i'm sorry but lightning is a gigantic a-hole. lmao, and Hope was really starting to bug me about his thing with snow......although I might just be a snow fanboy now that I think about it..>.>) it's got to the point where the very characters I was getting frustrated with are comming into there own and starting to become my favorites. Which I totally wasn't expecting, so Kudos to you FFXIII!

 

Although I will agree that the camera is a little wonky and I have died more in this Final fantasy than I have in any other. LoL so I feel you about the battle thing. I'm starting to get the hang of it now but even still!

[Klare]

Anyone else seeing a lot of references or personalities that match eariler final fantasies and characters? Or is it just me? o_O

 

Example/spiolers: [hide]First scene- Makes me think of FF7 with the train assault opening.

 

Gadot- Looks like a mixture of Wakka and Zell put togeather.

 

Lightning- Could possibly be a female squall.

 

Hope- Looks and somewhat reminds me of a younger Tidus from ff10 who also lost his mom and didn't care to much his dad. (course Tidus hated his dad vs Hope only disliking)

 

Final Fantasy 6 Terra's riding machine- During the mini-game in "Chapter 4 The Vile Peaks" Hope takes control of a machine and rides around in it for awhile. I couldn't help but to think of Final Fantasy's 6's mechas that they had Terra riding around on.

 

Vanille- Reminds me of how Selphie may have acted if she was younger from FF8.

 

[/hide]

 

There was a few other things but I can't remember them anymore and I haven't gotten much further then that in FFXIII.

By no means am I saying that this is a bad thing, as I always enjoy little Easter like eggs, but I was just wondering if anyone else is seeing these familiar things as well. :cat:

 

Edit:

Oh yeah! Cid being in every final fantasy is another example, as well as Biggs and Wedge who even though they are not in every final fantasy they are familiar names within the final fantasy series.

[Merri]

Well, i've managed to dig myself pretty deep into the game. Gotta say, i'm loving every last bit. The story is just awesome and has had me wondering what was going to happen next the entire time. I acctually ended up squirming my way through a few boss fights I shouldn't have been able to complete at my current CP state, just so I could see the following cutscenes and watch the story unfold even more.

 

Major Spoilers. Highlight for easier reading.

 

So, i'm already on Chapter 13. Haven't really started it, though. I got through the first fight with all the Cie'ths, and ran up to the platform where the fal'Cie inside Orphan's Cradle create the gateways back to Gran Pulse and Cocoon. Ended up heading back to Gran Pulse to do the Cie'th statue missions, and Titan's missions. (As it turns out, that absolutely /huge/ fal'Cie wandering around out of reach in Gran Pulse is named Titan.)

 

On that note, i've seen many of the other trademark Final Fantasy summons so far. For example, when Sazh and Vanille go to that parade in Nautilus. When the Cocoon l'Cie and Pulse l'Cie are fighting and summon their Eidolons, the Cocoon l'Cie summons Ramuh, and the Pulse l'Cie summons Ramuh. Plus all the vendors in the Chocobo area have little Carbuncle plushies. And that little girl in Palumpolum has one when Snow and Hope get confronted by the civilians.

 

Anyways, right now i'm just kinda grinding in Gran Pulse. Going to max out all of my CP before I try and push deeper into Orphan's Cradle. Definantly had one hell of a time getting here. Fighting through the Sanctum was hell on earth. All of the King Behemoths and other hard hitting mobs were giving me alot of trouble. Though, I didn't find a nice place to grind on some mobs. Ended up having to stack HP on Snow and have him tank, though, since he was the only one out of all my characters that could survive the heavy blows some of the mobs delivered with his 6k+ HP.