Final Fantasy XIII Catch-All

I'm still in Chapter 4, but while Snow annoyed the heck out of me, Vanille's voice acting really grates on my nerves.

sometimesdee wrote:

Vanille's voice acting really grates on my nerves.

It never stopped grating on mine. It's a testament to how well she was written (particularly in the second half of the game) that I grew to like her character so much in spite of the earbleed-inducing voice acting.

IMAGE(https://31.media.tumblr.com/07c468f5cd0bf88497f09253e9a4aa91/tumblr_inline_n2rogpA3cr1qdn4tt.gif)

Finally made it to Chapter 9, so Sasz and Vanille have been captured, and the cavalry is on their way to rescue them.

Can I just say that I absolutely hate the Eidolons? I was fairly indifferent to them at first, but Sasz's Eidolon tipped me over into just hating them. It's not the battles I dislike; those are actually kinda fun and provide an interesting framework for combat that isn't just about wearing down your opponent's HP. What I hate is their use in the story.

They're meant to be Persona-like external manifestations of internal conflicts. I get the feeling the storytellers here viewed the Eidolon battles as climactic moments in each character's personal journey where they literally face down their fears and become more powerful by doing so. Which is all well and good, except that the Eidolons, by and large, are silly.

They're silly in a way that jars against the game's generally serious tone and undermines whatever drama may be unfolding. The Final Fantasy series certainly isn't a stranger to silliness, and even this game has its silly parts, but because the eidolon's role is to punctuate a character's lowest moment—their rock bottom—that silliness is a more egregious dissonance than it would be at any other time.

Sasz has discovered that Vanille is responsible for his son's crystalline state. He's confronting her, deciding whether or not to kill her, and instead resolves to kill himself. BUT FIRST, he needs to defeat his inner struggle manifested as a giant robot and then wheel around a bit in a magical go kart. It's slapstick, almost satirical in its tone deafness, and sucks all the air out of the scene so that when Sasz puts a gun to his head and pulls the trigger, there's no impact on the player.

And the Eidolons suck when you summon them, so why are they even there?

Because it wouldn't be Final Fantasy without Bahamut LOLOLOLOLZZORSZ

I know the game came out years ago, but I only reached Chapter 8. I'm trying really hard not to just pore through a FF13 wiki and read the whole story.

sometimesdee wrote:

I know the game came out years ago, but I only reached Chapter 8. I'm trying really hard not to just pore through a FF13 wiki and read the whole story.

I mentioned this in the main Final Fantasy thread, but I actually read the storylines for XIII, XIII-2, and Lightning Returns before I started playing this. I found that knowing where the plot was going, getting a good idea of the relationships between the characters, and getting a firm grasp on all the terminology and nuances of the world, significantly improved my experience playing the game.

I just got to the end of Chapter 8, so I definitely see what you mean.

I just keep thinking of this (NSFW for references to masturbation)

You know you're going through PS3 withdrawal when you see the following headline:

REPORT: PULSE SIGNAL DETECTED

and you think of Cocoon instead of a Malaysian airplane.

Party customization! Woohoo! Bring on the magic lesbian death squad!

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Party customization! Woohoo! Bring on the magic lesbian death squad!

Ha! Magic Lesbian Death Squad is the best anime title ever.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

Party customization! Woohoo! Bring on the magic lesbian death squad!

Ha! Magic Lesbian Death Squad is the best anime title ever.

Then they should have a live-action series, then a band based on the live-action series.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Party customization! Woohoo! Bring on the magic lesbian death squad!

Magic Lesbians + Frocobo = Optimal

Yeah, although I'm too attached to Lightning to take her out of my party. The all-girl group is really lacking a Synergist, Sasz is the best Synergist, and Lightning's abilities are all replicated on one of the other characters, but I like her a lot.

You are allowed to remind me of this in a few weeks when I'm complaining that I can't beat a boss because I really need Haste or Enfire and don't have it.

Yeah, I considered doing an all-woman party but didn't go for it for that reason. Also because Sazh is great.

Never considered swapping in Snow or Hope though, purely because I don't like them.

Vanille is actually the best synergist, IMO, but not until she's fully maxed out, which can't actually happen until well into post-game. She's the only one to get both faithra and bravera, plus enfire and haste. And she's not even a "natural" synergist. Go figure.

At this point, I'm still locked into their base roles, so Vanille is a ravager medic saboteur only.

Demyx wrote:

Sazh

I don't know why I can't spell his name right.

Because it's spelled all silly-like.

Demyx wrote:

Because it's spelled all silly-like.

That's racist.

...is it actually a Real Thing and not just a standard Squeenix silly-spelling? :O

I don't know. I was just being facetious.

Here's a funny thing: the original announcement trailer for Final Fantasy XIII.

I hit my first wall with the first fight against Barthandelus. I tried maybe eight or nine times before I decided that I was just too under-leveled.

I died at the same point every time. After you've peeled the extra attackers off his left and right side, any time you stagger him he charges up and uses a really powerful attack called Destro. No matter how much I buffed my party and/or debuffed him, made sure everyone was at full health, and made sure my Sentinel taunted him, his attack would kill my party leader every time.

I tried mixing and matching equipment, like bangles, but still didn't have any luck and was out of gil to upgrade them more. So I ended up running around the area right outside his chambers, which actually turned out to be a pretty good place to grind for cash and CP. Almost everyone drops credit and incentive chips, and none of the fights are difficult to five star with the right setup.

I maxed out a couple paradigms on all my characters and upgraded their equipment, so I'm feeling more prepared to kill Barthandelus the next time I play.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I hit my first wall with the first fight against Barthandelus. I tried maybe eight or nine times before I decided that I was just too under-leveled.

I died at the same point every time. After you've peeled the extra attackers off his left and right side, any time you stagger him he charges up and uses a really powerful attack called Destro. No matter how much I buffed my party and/or debuffed him, made sure everyone was at full health, and made sure my Sentinel taunted him, his attack would kill my party leader every time.

I tried mixing and matching equipment, like bangles, but still didn't have any luck and was out of gil to upgrade them more. So I ended up running around the area right outside his chambers, which actually turned out to be a pretty good place to grind for cash and CP. Almost everyone drops credit and incentive chips, and none of the fights are difficult to five star with the right setup.

I maxed out a couple paradigms on all my characters and upgraded their equipment, so I'm feeling more prepared to kill Barthandelus the next time I play.

I think that fight was where I dropped out of playing the game in my first go-round.

Clocky, are you still using that same party setup? I think you don't have Haste in that setup. Lack of Haste will absolutely screw you at a certain point in the game.

Demyx wrote:

Clocky, are you still using that same party setup? I think you don't have Haste in that setup. Lack of Haste will absolutely screw you at a certain point in the game.

I tried a lot of different parties. Lightning is fixed; if you try to swap her out, you'll get a grumpy message about not being able to change the party leader. I tried her with Vanille and Fang, Hope and Fang, Sazh and Fang, and Sazh and Hope. I actually did worst when I had Sazh in the party because that either shifts healing duties onto Lightning, who isn't good at it, or else leaves me without a Sentinel. At this point, he's the only character with Haste.

I do best with the magic lesbian death squad or the slightly less magic, less lesbian squad of Lightning, Fang, and Hope.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Demyx wrote:

Clocky, are you still using that same party setup? I think you don't have Haste in that setup. Lack of Haste will absolutely screw you at a certain point in the game.

I tried a lot of different parties. Lightning is fixed; if you try to swap her out, you'll get a grumpy message about not being able to change the party leader. I tried her with Vanille and Fang, Hope and Fang, Sazh and Fang, and Sazh and Hope. I actually did worst when I had Sazh in the party because that either shifts healing duties onto Lightning, who isn't good at it, or else leaves me without a Sentinel. At this point, he's the only character with Haste.

I do best with the magic lesbian death squad or the slightly less magic, less lesbian squad of Lightning, Fang, and Hope.

Wait, Hope is a dude?

[size=7]I kid, I kid[/size]

Yeah, as much as Hope sucks it might be worth it to bring him in for Syn and Med. On the other hand, are you using Sen effectively? With Fang and Vanille, using Sen and Sab are key.

Demyx wrote:

Yeah, as much as Hope sucks it might be worth it to bring him in for Syn and Med. On the other hand, are you using Sen effectively? With Fang and Vanille, using Sen and Sab are key.

I recall beating him with Fang, Sazh, and Lightning. Haste was extremely helpful, but I'd also maxed out all available crystarium paths so Sazh was a good enough Med in addition to support.

Demyx wrote:

On the other hand, are you using Sen effectively?

I think so. I'm five-starring all of the other battles using SEN pretty frequently, and I'm able to get through the first 2/3 of the Barthandalus fight just fine. I think I just didn't have enough HP.

ahrezmendi wrote:

I recall beating him with Fang, Sazh, and Lightning. Haste was extremely helpful, but I'd also maxed out all available crystarium paths so Sazh was a good enough Med in addition to support.

This is the first fight against Barthandalus on the airship, so Sazh doesn't have the Medic role yet. He's Commando/Ravager/Synergist only.