wiggyrichard Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Cheers lads, much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogso Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 Academia 500AF in FFXIII-2, complete **** tedium. Such an annoying level - and it really is a 'level', ala Mario. Ruined the pace of the story for me, which had really picked up around the 20 hour mark (it was that far in time wise for me anyway) with events taking a decidely interesting turn. I hadn't really been that much into it before, but recent happenings really piqued my interest and I wanted to get on with the story - only to be confronted by this horrible newly unlocked world. Merhhh...I think it's the penultimate place though, and given the fact I only have ~70/160 fragments, I'm going to work on getting more of them, unlocking some more monsters and building them up to make my paradigms stronger, and I want to get into the Chocobo racing too, which so far I have been terrible at. Spoilers for those who are playing and have not unlocked Academia 500AF yet, also FFVII spoilers for Stevo I really appreciated the inclusion of the 'paradox ending' during the segment with Serah being whisked off into that dream limbo world of 'eternal happiness', and you actually having the option to continue your quest or actually, yeh, **** it, I like it here in paradise, everything is nice. Think I might stay here forever Imagine in FFVII if, during the reconstruction of Cloud's psyche, he said 'Hang on a minute. I like being mental. **** saving the world, leave me alone in my wheelchair plz.' - it would have been a wonderful moment. Of course it's only a minor distraction in the case of FFXIII-2; the game goes back to the the part you were at before choosing to end your quest, if that's what you choose to do, so you can carry on as before but take the other option. It does intrigue me as to what the other 'paradox endings' are though, as I believe there are 7 or 8 in total. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggyrichard Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Guys, quick question. You know when you go into the in game menu and select (cant remember but it beigins with 'C' and you can use your points to unlock new attacks etc.) do you have any control over that or do you just have to go in order? It looks like a constilation and i didnt really have a clue what i was clicking on until all my points (not gill) were used up?!?! Ta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante_Lockhart Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Crystarium? In FFXIII you had to go in order (although you could occasionally branch off to get a few other unlocks but you would have to come back to the same path at the end) so I will assume FFXIII-2 is the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggyrichard Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Crystarium? In FFXIII you had to go in order (although you could occasionally branch off to get a few other unlocks but you would have to come back to the same path at the end) so I will assume FFXIII-2 is the same. Thats it mate, didnt have a clue what was going on!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante_Lockhart Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 It's pretty simple, but pretty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginko Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I remember seeing the Sphere Grid on Final Fantasy X for the very first time and getting confused, but it really was very simple. FFX gave you the option of having a simplified version just in case too, but really it looked harder than it was and the other version gave you a lot more freedom. I played FFXIII when it first came out but I can't remember if the Crystarium had a similar feature, but it seemed quite simple to me since to begin with there aren't many branching paths you can go down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogso Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 Yeh the FFXIII crystarium is very simple, just go into it and spend your points whenever you have a sizeable chunk of them, pretty much. It was rightly criticised for being too simple though. The FFXIII-2 system is very similar but different in quite a subtle way that makes it alot better and more flexible. I ended up looking up a guide for the part of FFXIII-2 I was on, and got through it ok. Turns out that is pretty much the end, so I thought I'd go on and finish it off. Made a save before hand so I could go back and that. In typical Final Fantasy fashion you face a myriad of final bosses, some of which appear to have no relevance to the plot at all The ending can be quite simply summed up thusly :shock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginko Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Assuming I finish Catherine and Mass Effect, I'm totally starting a really detailed playthrough of FFVII this weekend. I can't wait. I'm going to follow a guide this time and get a lot of stuff I've missed on normal playthroughs. Can't wait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacketspuds Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Assuming I finish Catherine and Mass Effect, I'm totally starting a really detailed playthrough of FFVII this weekend. I can't wait. I'm going to follow a guide this time and get a lot of stuff I've missed on normal playthroughs. Can't wait! I'm doing that right now. It does feel like cheating on a loved one but I just want to see and do everything this great game has to offer...including beating those bastard weapons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginko Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Yeah, if it was the first time I'd played it then I wouldn't use a guide but since I've played it a fair few times over the years I've never once gone for a 100% playthrough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggyrichard Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 Well, i played 7 hours of XIII-2...got bored and went and brought MW3. What a bag of shite! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethRDR Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 What was the problem? Just curious, as XIII was terrible and I was under the impression that the developers had changed things for the sequel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggyrichard Posted February 29, 2012 Share Posted February 29, 2012 What was the problem? Just curious, as XIII was terrible and I was under the impression that the developers had changed things for the sequel? Just didnt enjoy it mate. I found it really slow paced and tedious. I just didnt feel like a FF game to me. It was just really slow and didnt feel like it was going anywhere. Boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogso Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Well, i played 7 hours of XIII-2...got bored and went and brought MW3. What a bag of shite! Oh dear! I thought it was XIII you got? And of all the criticisms of XIII and 2 I would gladly accept, being slow paced is not one of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggyrichard Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Everything just seemed so long winded, after 7 hours i felt like i had got nowhere! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethRDR Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Sounds quite similar to XIII, then. Was there any exploration at all, or did it just feel like you were going from A to B ad infinitum? Were there any speech/decision choices with notable outcomes? Any control of the battles beyond just changing paradigms? If you're going to scale back on gameplay to the point where you rely on the power of the story, it'd better be a damn good story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiggyrichard Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 Sounds quite similar to XIII, then. Was there any exploration at all, or did it just feel like you were going from A to B ad infinitum? Were there any speech/decision choices with notable outcomes? Any control of the battles beyond just changing paradigms? If you're going to scale back on gameplay to the point where you rely on the power of the story, it'd better be a damn good story. Pretty much mate. Just felt like i was walking from here to there with a couple of fights inbetween! I had to search round for some artifacts which bored the shit out of me. The decision/speech making thing just baffled me! It was tho regardless of how i answered it didnt change a thing (i know it does, but still). Battles, to fast paced, didnt really know what was going on and there didnt seem a structure to them. Change paradigms and hit 'A'...Change paradigms and hit 'A'...Change paradigms and hit 'A'...repeat till 'orrible beasty dies. If it's not broke (VII)...dont **** fix it!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hogso Posted March 1, 2012 Author Share Posted March 1, 2012 Was there any exploration at all, or did it just feel like you were going from A to B ad infinitum? Were there any speech/decision choices with notable outcomes? As I mentioned in a spoiler a few pages back, some of the decision choices you have can make pretty massive differences - for example, you can 'end' the game about 3/4 of the way through if you'd like. As for exploration, naw, I think those days and gone and are never to return. They made alot of the maps larger with more open spaces which creates some illusion of non-linearality (in fact probably the largest and prettiest city in any FF game is in XIII-2, but it isn't exactly bursting with things to do (but has any FF city ever been?)). I read with interest on another forum a guy defending XIII in regards to it being too linear - In VII, for example, all you really do is go from A to B, the world map is just a distraction, giving an illusion of freedom. It's not exactly something I agree with, the world map added alot to the feel, atmosphere, and mythos of the world too - after all, the game is about saving the world so it's nice to actually see it. I appreciate the point that was trying to be made. MAN is there any better group of gamers than FF fans? I think not It really amused me recently on GameFAQs how a light hearted discussion about hypthetical Cloud XIII-2 DLC turned into proper serious debate about which Cloud it would be, and why AC Cloud sucks, and how Dissidia Cloud is the best... wonderful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laivasse Posted March 1, 2012 Share Posted March 1, 2012 I read with interest on another forum a guy defending XIII in regards to it being too linear - In VII, for example, all you really do is go from A to B, the world map is just a distraction, giving an illusion of freedom. It's not exactly something I agree with, the world map added alot to the feel, atmosphere, and mythos of the world too - after all, the game is about saving the world so it's nice to actually see it. I appreciate the point that was trying to be made.I don't like to put FF7 on a pedestal and I haven't played XIII, but I find the 'A to B' thing about VII to be unfair, certainly in comparison to what I've read about XIII. Aside for the arguments you mention in favour of VII's map, there are points where the game world opens up and gives you multiple choices of location - including optional sidequests/characters, locations which only become quest-critical later on and easter eggs for visiting old locations. Even in the moments when the world map is just a corridor from A to B in disguise, part of the fun is plugging around, let's say in the Tiny bronco, and discovering exactly where 'B' is for the first time. Certainly FF7&onward weren't exactly the first port of call for players seeking non-linearity, but while not exactly Fallout or Baldur's Gate, they weren't like HL2 either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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