I'm about halfway through Final Fantasy XIII

Halfway? I couldn't even get past the first chapter without trading it back in.

 

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Okay my first thoughts of the game were surprise at the graphics and of course, how a Gunblade could be used efficently.

Characters:

Lighting: Sure she was a angry woman at what happened, Serah engaged to Snow then SNow loses her in the Vestige, Light sees her becoem crystal then be branded a I'Cie, especially sicne Cocoon's citizens were brought up saying I'Cie were like a plague and you just become something that everyone hates but as the game progessed, Light slowly begun to warm up and be more positive with herself, most prime example was actually handing Snow Serah's crystal tear.

Sazh: I absolutely loved this guy to no end he always had a humorous comment whenever it was him kicking ass or telling the monsters to stay away, the tiny afro-ocobo was awesome too, Sazh has hsi reasosn to save his son Dajh from being crystal but he knew much about the world he lived in, becomign a sort of fatherly figure to the group.

Snow: The man who calls himself a hero, this is Zack Fair being blonde and have a trenchcoaat to kick ass, but the drive to complete his Focus and save Cocoon left bv Serah is his pushing point, as wlel as to save his wife-to-be, punches? Kicks? he'll take anythign and still be your favourite.

Hope: I first thought, "Oh god, emo-kid in the group' but Hope was just child and didn't think things as a adult since he considered his mother his family as it's unknown what seperated him and his dad, but as Hope ends his Operation Nora (Which is funny considering SNow's rebel group is called Nora and ssi mother too) but after that, you see Hope struggle to keep up with what Cocoon has lied about and about the truth of their Focus since he couldn't bear the thought of killing so many innocent lives, hsi father included and the stress of keepign up with everyoen else who are used to travelling long adventures.

Vanille: At first, I hated her accent but as the agme continued, I grown to love it and Vanille herself, but ehr character was a complete facade as she was hiding a deep secret.

Fang: I'll be honest, I hated her accent entirely, she sounded like a wannabe pirate and tried to do everything on her own and I'm like "Hello? Believe in possible ways you stupid hag! How else do you think Lighting and co survived? Have a little faith in your friends.", personally, I never played as her except for forced battles.

 

I thought Vanille was ******ed for the first chapters.

 

In FFVII the characters could just ignore the huge meteor hours away from crashing on Midgard and play video games at the Golden Saucer instead. Same deal in FFX. Say what ? Hurry up and defeat Sin before it regenerates itself ? Screw this, Imma gonna ride chocobos.
It didn' t bother anyone because FF are video GAMES, they happen to tell a story but are bound to gameplay mechanics nonetheless. When SE says that FFXIII is purposefully linear to focus on its story I scream bullshit, its piss-poor game design has absolutely NO influence over the story quality or believability, it doesn' t enhance it in any shape or form. Actually, there just isn' t any valid excuse for poor game design, and FFXIII is as bound to gameplay mechanics as any other FF.

The L' Cies are running from the world ? Explain to me then why the hell Vanille and Sazh decided to go to Nautilus (a crowded and high profile town loaded with security cameras) the day of the national party (which is like Cocoon' s July 4), without even changing their damn clothes (which any Cocoon citizen saw them wearing on TV) ? If I was them I would have brought a freaking huge neon "L' Cie" sign, just to be on the safe side.

I agree that if the game gets too large it prevents some people to enjoy the story, FFXII story is just as complex as FFXIII story and yet lots of casual players complained that it was too complex.

There' s a big fracture happening nowadays in video games, some people expect games to be genuine games, filled with real challenges and requiring heavy involvement from the player, while some people just want an interactive experience, borderline passive, just pure entertainment, any hardship, complex puzzle or punishing aspect would just just spoil their fun and they can' t be bothered to not win.

FF was one of those license that happened to appeal to both types of players, but since FFX they slowly slided on the casual side. FFXIII forgot to be a game, it is reduced to an interactive story were players can' t loose, can' t get lost and just switch between pre-set AIs while watching the game playing itself in-between cutscene orgies.
Unfortunately FF is far from being the only license that gets screwed as a consequence of trying to please both types of gamers (and failing to). The sooner some clear distinction between genuine games and interactive experiences happens the better.

 

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You do realise you benched the strongest fighter, aye? xD

 

I always had Fang on my team, always. She was the one who helped me defeat the final boss.