Final Fantasy XIII-2

Where is the cheapest place to get it, Im thinking of getting it in smyths

played through the start of the game and the framerate is really iffy in places, Im playing on the ps3 too which is supposed to have better performance than the 360 god help those on the m60 . Its a shame that the quality of Square has been reduced to this >.<

The reviews I've read seem to say the gameplay is better but the story and characters are poor. Given that the story and characters in 13 were a total let down this is very worrying. I'm a huge FF fan but 'my story' ends here until this series delivers on the pillars that once made it king.

I cannot believe that these games are scoring so highly although edge seems to have grown man parts these days. honesty isn't a characteristic were used to seeing in mainstream game reviews but without it whats the point.

FF has become the phantom menace. crammed to the gills with FX, wonder and pizzaze but lacking in basic compelling story telling that just leaves you empty and underwhelmed.

The 'Twilight' of JRPGs?

I'm about 14 hours into the game now and all I can say is it's distinctly underwhelming.

Gameplay: This was a lot of fun at first and I liked the tweaks as well as the paradigm system which I enjoyed a lot in FFXIII. But now, only about a third of the way into the game, (based on the destinations I've unlocked so far) I'm finding the shine has worn off. I'm playing at normal difficulty and the challenge isn't really there. In the last area, most of the fights I did little else apart from hitting X and then X again and I was getting five stars in every fight, no need to even change paradigms. I haven't really powerleveled or anything, just explored a couple of optional areas but my characters are already very overpowered.

On top of the that character development (in terms of gameplay) is useless too. Serah is already a level 96 ravager and a level 30+ something medic. There are no new skills to learn and no where really for the character to go apart from uping stats. Yes, I can unlock a few other roles and level them up but it's totally pointless since the game is already too easy. I don't know, maybe the next area will prove more challenging but I'm not holding out much hope.

Story: Also started out as promising but has quickly generated into a convoluted mess. It wasn't as bad as 13 at the first as I was actually enjoying the cutscenes but now I have reached the point where I'm just waiting for them to end and am getting very close to even skipping them the first time around if it wasn't for the fact that I might miss information that is required to clear the area (though I doubt that would be the case.)

Characters: This ties in to the above. Initially they seemed a lot better and mature. But they are back to being superficial and paper thin and I find the a lot of the dialogue really cheesy and puke worthy. Like I said, my patience with the cutscenes is wearing thin.

Bottom line 14 hours in and I'm bored and not sure I have the drive to bother finishing the game.

I've always been a fan of the FF series and the JRPgs. I think the people who talk about the stories being a mess in other games have it wrong. They weren't perfect, but the story in 7 felt very authentic to me and 10 had one of the best and most affecting stories I've seen in video games.

The problem with the story in 13-2 isn't that it's a mess it's that the whole thing, the story, the characters, the dialogue feel utterly phony, contrived and formulaic in the most obvious and superficial way. I have no attachment to any of the characters and I don't care what happens to them or if they win or lose.

Contrast this to Skyrim where I logged in almost 200 hours of gameplay on the ps3 and to me that says it all. And once upon a time I used to decry 'western,' RPGs. What a shame that FF has come to this.

Yeah your first fight with him is the first one you really have to think about how you've set up your paradigms.

Lantus wrote: »

totally agree about reviews and the forces that push and pull them in different directions. That was my point (I'm not saying that Edge was entirley right in this one case!) Just that they did produce a review that deviated from the norm.

X was a cracking game and the story was immense. I played the entire thing again last year and it was just as good (if not better) than the first time I played it.

In this case, though, I would say that Edge did go with the whole 'no one asked for this, it's SE and FF that we all love to hate nowadays so let's give it a bad score'. To be honest the most honest review I've found on the game is at RPGSite (both the import and the localised version reviews actually tell you everything about the game, about every aspect of it as I know the person who did the import review actually 100% the game before she wrote the review).

I completely agree on X, it's my favourite in the series and I am so happy that we're getting a HD remaster for it soon. To me, X is the perfect Final Fantasy as it has an epic and yet simple story, a protagonist who actually develops during the game, a very nice love story (which I actually consider to be a staple of FF and am disappointed that XII and XIII, to an extent, didn't include one), a great world with brilliant mythology and likeable characters all around. Also the fact that it has a nice tie to VII is a nice Easter egg.
This is partly why I am excited for Versus as that has Nojima also as the writer.

This is a good game. Stories a bit lacking but the characters imho are the best since 10. Both are interesting. Lots of nice little bits here and their and theres 1 point that made me happy only for it to be taken away.

elekid wrote: »

For anyone concerned about the difficulty, there are some really tough enemies and boss battles towards the end of the game. I'm currently stuck on

Proto-Behemoth in Academia 500AF

and although my party is level 99 in 5/6 of the Crystarium roles and level 50 in the final one, I'm still being destroyed. Some of the random battles in that area can be tough going as well.

Complete crystarium here, 3 top monsters as support and its 50/50 whether I win or lose. Bascially if I get on top of him early I'll win, If he gets health down on one party member early and I have to switch to defensive paradigms I'll inevitably fail.