Final Fantasy XIII Series?

Discussion in 'Gaming' started by LadyAzura, May 10, 2017.

  1. LadyAzura Hollow Bastion Committee

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    Just wanted to make a small thread! Don't know if anyone is actually going to respond but I'm gonna do it anyway!

    So I was looking through what games to play on my ps3 and I stumbled upon my copy of FFXIII-2 and it got me thinking: "This series had me on a roller coaster of shenanigans". There were so many moments that had me go "WOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" and then moments where I was like "Really Square? Really brah?". I wanna know what you think of the series or if you have an opinion on a particular game in the XIII series!! Thank you!!
     
  2. DigitalAtlas Don't wake me from the dream.

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    I actually really like XIII, and XIII-2 is a lot of fun. I liked XIII-2 and its combat so much I bought all the coliseum dlc...

    Haven't played LR yet.
     
  3. LadyAzura Hollow Bastion Committee

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    Lightning Returns is not bad but i can't say it's good either. The gameplay was just too weird for me. Surprisingly enough, i only bought 3 dlcs for the colliseum. Out of the three, xiii-2 has to be my absolute favorite!! The combat is awesome as well as the leveling system!!
     
  4. Arch Mana Knight

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    Lightning Returns pretends to be an ARPG only to fail miserably at being one. You can inch your way across the battlefield to rarely get out of the area of effect of certain attacks but unless you're using up a valuable attack slot to specifically have a dodge, you're more than likely not getting out of range. Blocking and dodging shouldn't both be abilities that keep you from having more offensive options and yet LR chooses to do this without giving the player a reasonable alternative such as just moving out of the way of attacks consistently. And the story of Lightning Returns is just an awful mess that undoes a lot of character development in XIII-2 for "reasons". Ugh.

    XIII-2 was fun and probably the best mechanically. It had some good story moments and Caius was certainly interesting but...the story was already getting pretty bad. As for XIII? It was okay. It had its moments. Lightning became likable at the end(which didn't last long as XIII-2 and LR then ruined that). Snow was a breath of fresh air to me in a time where I felt overwhelmed by annoying broody characters who moped about(and had a sick theme song). XIII played fine but it wasn't exactly the most fun game ever. Its story was just kind of...meh overall but wasn't too awful.
     
  5. LadyAzura Hollow Bastion Committee

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    XIII was pretty okay in terms of story. XIII-2 was also okay in the story department. When I got my hands on LR, everything went up in flames. The story was uninteresting in my opinion, it felt like they kind of half-a**ed it to be honest. The only thing I will defend the series on is its music, its visuals, and some of its characters. I can listen to some, if not all, of its tracks from the entire XIII series. The visuals are so beautiful for the levels and even when they go into the CGI scenes. It's so beautiful throughout the series! I loved Lightning in XIII and XIII-2 but as soon as I played LR, I began to dislike further and further, I can still tolerate her but I can't defend Lightning as much as I did when XIII and XIII-2 came out. I can continue this rant but I think you get the picture lol!
     
  6. DigitalAtlas Don't wake me from the dream.

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    [​IMG]
     
  7. libregkd -

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  8. Arch Mana Knight

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    That's why I phrased it as "shouldn't both be abilities that keep you from having more offensive options" because it isn't true for Kingdom Hearts. Equipping Dodge Roll or Quick Run or Aerial Dodge or etc doesn't keep you from having more offensive options. Even in KH2 where the square button is used for attacks you can have every square ability equipped without any side-effects(unless you're panicking and accidentally find yourself quick running instead of guarding or dodge rolling). With Lightning Returns, if you want to be able to dodge or block you have to give up a slot that could be used for offensive or curative abilities in order to do so.
     
  9. DigitalAtlas Don't wake me from the dream.

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    ..It takes up AP so yes it does. Since defensive options and offensive options both require AP, you can say that putting AP into defense takes from offense potential.
     
  10. Arch Mana Knight

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    Not nearly enough AP to reduce damage potential. Unless you're silly and equipping abilities like Treasure Magnet. And if you're still having AP troubles you can just boost your AP permanently with items or temporarily with accessories(in KH2 at least). Honestly, AP management has never been an issue in Kingdom Hearts considering how many bad abilities there are relative to great ones.
     
  11. DigitalAtlas Don't wake me from the dream.

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    Okay, but in one instance you're saying you're silly for equipping some things and that's the player's fault, but in the case of LR you're like GAME'S FAULT. In both situations it's either the player's fault or the game's fault. I'm not going to fault a game for providing me with options.

    In Nier Automata I can unequip HUD elements so I can do more damage. This is basic risk and reward. I get where the frustration is because CAN'T HAVE ALL but LR is not doing anything new here.
     
  12. Cloud3514 Kingdom Keeper

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  13. Pinekaboo Chaser

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    I was quite a big fan of the games when they were new, bearing in mind that it was my first experience with a Final Fantasy game, period. The first game had a good story and setting (the whole sci-fi/fantasy crossover really appeals), had a valid moral behind it, and had a good cast of varied characters, each of which I was able to care about to some degree.

    I never finished the first game, however, because I found that by the time grinding had become a necessity for me to continue, there was no longer anywhere to grind, and I essentially found myself stuck.

    The second game I had a much better time with, and was equally good. Even though it undid some of the happy part of the bittersweet note the first game ended on, I felt the time travel story element was used well and made for a rewarding experience when a paradox was solved and you were able to explore the "good" version of the time that you created. In addition, the focus on Serah after her being such a plot device in the previous game was nice, and Noel made for a good counterpart for her. I also found the monster taming mechanic quite fun, because it offered a touch of variety to an otherwise static party, but as a fan of Pokémon as well, that's probably no surprise.

    LR was kind of a gut punch to me in a way, as the whole "time-limited open-world" thing didn't work for me in Majora's Mask either. The fact that they'd also gone from six party members, to two, to a single playable character also bothered me, since Lightning in my eyes was always presented as a counterpoint to the other characters rather than a great thing by herself. I never played the game myself, but watched a playthrough of it a while later instead, because those things had put me off of it so much. The plot of LR was also very lacking, and was essentially just a bunch of disjointed sidequests with a few cameo appearances from old characters to rub in that you aren't playing as any of them anymore.

    With that said, there were a few parts I enjoyed. The section where Lightning is joined by Fang and the entire final boss section were really interesting and good, and had the rest of the game presented itself in the same way I would have been much more interested in it as a whole.

    I suppose if I were to really point at where the series went wrong, it was simply the shovelling in sequels. Had the first game been presented as its own thing to never be continued, I think it would be more fondly remembered, but because they undid some of the ending there, and made the second game end on such a cliffhanger rather than reaching a true conclusion by itself, and because all three games are so different to each other, it's hard for any one person to like all three games in the series.

    /overshare