The first few hours...
Stormtroopers 2.0
My biggest problem with the game was the first few hours, which pretty much involve running down linear corridors and pressing X. It’s very very easy to get tired of running down straight metal grey matrix-style corridors and pressing x. I felt it was bad design to have such a long game that doesn’t grab you and pull you in right from the start.
In the beginning there is a distinct lack of challenge to the battle system; the enemies are weak and you hardly have any need to paradigm shift. The Paradigm Shift system lets you assign class roles to each character, putting them in offensive, defensive and healing roles with names like Peacemaker, Medic, Sentinel, and Commando.
You can combine Paradigm Shift with command queuing, letting you own most enemies. Once you get past the initial stages of the game, this system becomes much more exciting and fluid. You start really having to plan your paradigms carefully, which is where you finally get a challenge. As a learning curve this increase in difficulty does make sense, but it makes the beginning of the game slightly tedious.
Usually I love the turn-based system; unfortunately I hated the system in Final Fantasy XII as it was too much like a real time RPG. Final Fantasy XIII creates a happy medium between turn-based and real time, I like the fact that you can see your enemies on the field; pre-emptive strike becomes a really useful tool later in the game.
X marks the shot
Next page: Really great boss fights...
COMMENTS
FF Novice
I haven't played any of the other FF series much to my eternal shame so i purchased this game perhaps with too high expectations given the hype of FF over the years, sadly I was very disappointed.
I haven't played it through to the end but I did keep playing for a while expecting it to get better and whilst I am sure that I am still very much in the beginning sections of the game (well not the beginning but obviously not where it starts to get fun) but I can't bring myself to plough through more tedious hours of linear rubbish.
Sorry but this game has been consigned to my "play when I am retired" section especially as I now have Red Dead in my hands...
final fantasy because...
Final Fantasy I was made by SquareSoft, a company on it's last legs and about to go into administration. this was to be their last game and they decided on a fantasy style role playing game.
final game.
fantasy style rpg.
1+1=?
i have recently played through it on my xbox and not knowing how it looks on the PS3, i was actually quite impressed by the visuals (coming from FF XII on the PS2). the first part of the game is indeed very tedious, i even skipped most of the movies the first 10-15 hours of playthrough (being a seasoned veteran when it comes to FF, i pretty much knew what was coming). after the first 30 hours, i was wondering if this installment could even come close to it's predecessors, i didn't enjoy it all that much, but i have to admit that it turns out to be a fantastic game. Rumors are that FF XIV is going to be PS3 only again, so i may end up getting a PS3 afterall.
You shouldn't be surprised
FFXIII has an enormous amount of full screen video. The PS3 has a lot more storage capacity on a Blu Ray disc than the 360 does on a DVD. It was inevitable that the video would suffer, but people are surprised how much it suffered. At least the style of game made it suitable for splitting over multiple discs. If the game wasn't so horribly linear it would have been a much tougher task to accomplish.
completely crappy game
I have spent more than 90 hours on it. The weapon upgrade system is trash, the linearity makes you wanna punch through the TV and the retarded paradigm shift system will have you using just X and L1 in fights. Forget about strategy and controlling your characters. You cannot even control their level up path. You cannot control all 3 of them in a battle. You only control the lead character and his summon and even then you will use autobattle 99% of the time so the AI does all the work for you and all you do is mash X until your thumb bleeds. I have played almost all the game in the series. This one is horrible not only by FF standards but by any RPG standards. Avoid!
Very poor game
Sorry to say that this game is just aweful. 7, 8, 9 and 12 are so much better.
