Final Fantasy XIII Catch-All

Even though my first FF game was FFVII, I always preferred the 2D FFs over the 3D ones. FFVII is the only one I can tolerate. FFVIII was terrible overall, I never made it past the 2nd disc of FFXI, I stopped playing FFX right before the final battle and I haven't touch FFXII because it's a grindfest. I just hope they change FFXIII enough for me to care about it.

@Grenn, I felt the same way. I really did love the combat system, and hope (and it looks to be true) a lot of those elements will be in XIII. The story just didn't engage me the same way as II, or VII, or X did (my 3 personal faves)

And in that sense, I'm on my 4th or so play through of Chrono Trigger, so good.

Chrono Trigger is SO GOOD... I think FFVI is my fav followed by Chrono and then FFVII. I dunno I really loved X but hated XII. I think its just differant strokes for differant folks. I am hoping to love XIII after hearing most of the people who liked the same ones I did are enjoying this one so much.

2 more months... ouch.

I liked X despite the main characters - it was the game that got me to buy a PS2 along with the Suikodens, and broke me from being a PC-only gamer. I had played VI and Chronotrigger at my wife's, and had very fond feelings for both of them as well. XII had more appealing characters, but I lost interest around the 20 hour mark.

I don't see how anyone can hate that theme song, and it is as far from my musical tastes as a song can get. It's got a hopeful tone. I dunno.

I have played through literally every main-series entry (barring the mmo) in the Final Fantasy franchise. I've tried a couple times to play through FFX-2, but the tedium of the mini-games and random battles just got to me each time.

My two favorites of the franchise are FFVI and FFXII. I've played and thoroughly enjoyed every single franchise entry, though some are more replayable (FFXII) and others far less so (FFVIII). Since FFIV, they've almost all had strong stories (V and VIII having the weakest stories IMO, though VIII's ending sequence in particular is a high point of the series, and it had some great set-pieces), some focusing more on the events of the plot and others focusing more on the characters.

I have every confidence that FFXIII will be thoroughly enjoyable. Square-Enix takes time to craft their flagship franchise properly. I'm now in blackout until release, just like I was in the final run up to release for every FF before it.

Farscry wrote:

I have played through literally every main-series entry (barring the mmo) in the Final Fantasy franchise. I've tried a couple times to play through FFX-2, but the tedium of the mini-games and random battles just got to me each time.

My two favorites of the franchise are FFVI and FFXII. I've played and thoroughly enjoyed every single franchise entry, though some are more replayable (FFXII) and others far less so (FFVIII). Since FFIV, they've almost all had strong stories (V and VIII having the weakest stories IMO, though VIII's ending sequence in particular is a high point of the series, and it had some great set-pieces), some focusing more on the events of the plot and others focusing more on the characters.

I have every confidence that FFXIII will be thoroughly enjoyable. Square-Enix takes time to craft their flagship franchise properly. I'm now in blackout until release, just like I was in the final run up to release for every FF before it. :)

VI is definitely my favorite too, I've played it at least a dozen times to completion, and owned it on 3 separate systems. Ever since VII, I no longer read any information about any FF game that isn't out. VII was ruined for me, I won't have it happen again.

VIII was very nearly ruined for me by some independent previews I read after its Japanese release, so I've done blackout since then for the same reason!

trueheart78 wrote:

See, that's the thing. I loved the 16-bit games, and have made it 30hrs into #10 but just got tired of the battle system. I have X-2 and XII, should I attempt those instead?

X-2 and XII are significantly different from X in both tone and battle system, so I wouldn't count them out. I enjoyed both more than X, but of course these things are subjective.

X-2 is the only entry in the series I can think of that has a New Game+ option, and the dressphere leveling system was very addictive to me. The incredible amount of freedom given to the player (you have an airship from the start) is unusual for a JRPG. As I'm sure you know, the goofy tone ruins it for some people. I admire the courage involved, though: besides the nonlinear design, there were a ton of little choices (like giving you an unchanging party of three women) that were very bold in the tradition-bound JRPG world.

XII of course also has a story that turns some people off, and the infamous gambit system, which is love-it-or-hate-it.

If I lost my job and couldn't afford any new games, replaying either would offer suitable consolation, despite already having save files that show three digits for "time played." I'm not sure I'd especially care to replay FFX. Your mileage may vary.

beeporama wrote:

X-2 is the only entry in the series I can think of that has a New Game+ option

This was true until the recent DS remake of FFIV, which has a New Game + option.

I'm totally looking forward to XIII and I can't wait for March.

I just recently replayed FFXII on my PC using the PCSX2 emulator, at a higher resolution and AA on and it's incredible how beautiful the game is, considering it is many years old. It is my favorite FF in the series and I think that's because it has some heavy influence from MMOs, open world to explore, the hunts and I love the setting a lot more than FFX. To me it felt like playing FFXI offline with bots.

The new Active Time Babble (1up's RPG podcast, hosted by Jeremy Parish) is all about FFXIII. If you're interested in hearing people that really know their JRPG stuff, it's a pretty good listen. Some light, early game spoilers, I guess. Nothing I mind, though.

Blind_Evil wrote:

The new Active Time Babble (1up's RPG podcast, hosted by Jeremy Parish) is all about FFXIII. If you're interested in hearing people that really know their JRPG stuff, it's a pretty good listen. Some light, early game spoilers, I guess. Nothing I mind, though.

I said trailers only, you heartless bastard!

ahrezmendi wrote:
beeporama wrote:

X-2 is the only entry in the series I can think of that has a New Game+ option

This was true until the recent DS remake of FFIV, which has a New Game + option.

How exactly does the New Game+ work? I almost grabbed that for the DS, and probably will when it drops below $20

KillTrash wrote:

I'm totally looking forward to XIII and I can't wait for March.

I just recently replayed FFXII on my PC using the PCSX2 emulator, at a higher resolution and AA on and it's incredible how beautiful the game is, considering it is many years old. It is my favorite FF in the series and I think that's because it has some heavy influence from MMOs, open world to explore, the hunts and I love the setting a lot more than FFX. To me it felt like playing FFXI offline with bots.

Sorry for the (temporary, I assure you!) derail, but what is this PCSX2 you speak of? Playing FFXII on my pc would be fantastic! Tell me more! Do I need a controller, or will mouse and keyboard do? And AA works you say? Does that mean it could look better on my pc than it does on the TV?

chajjar wrote:
ahrezmendi wrote:
beeporama wrote:

X-2 is the only entry in the series I can think of that has a New Game+ option

This was true until the recent DS remake of FFIV, which has a New Game + option.

How exactly does the New Game+ work? I almost grabbed that for the DS, and probably will when it drops below $20

I'm don't quite remember. I just wanted to push you in the direction of purchasing, because that really is an amazing version of ff4.

You get items from departing characters (usually) that teach people new skills. You retain the skills and lose the levels, i think.

I don't get you guys who actually enjoyed X-2.

But then again, I didn't really get to play it much. Every time I gave it a shot, one of my roommates would wander through and ask why the hell I would purchase Playstation Barbie. Kind of ruined it.

IX, on the other hand, got sold short in my opinion. I love this one, yet have never beat it (two failed memory sticks, one dead PS disc drive, one PSP glitch-up).

Clemenstation wrote:

I don't get you guys who actually enjoyed X-2.

But then again, I didn't really get to play it much. Every time I gave it a shot, one of my roommates would wander through and ask why the hell I would purchase Playstation Barbie. Kind of ruined it.

IX, on the other hand, got sold short in my opinion. I love this one, yet have never beat it (two failed memory sticks, one dead PS disc drive, one PSP glitch-up).

I am with you 100%. I beat IX, though.

Is Lightning the main character for sure in this, or is she the main like Terra was in VI? The trailer seems to focus more on others.

Clemenstation wrote:

I don't get you guys who actually enjoyed X-2.

It took some effort. But, fundamentally, X-2 is an FF Job game, and I love the FF Jobs. They're all so much better than my job.

Rallick wrote:
KillTrash wrote:

I'm totally looking forward to XIII and I can't wait for March.

I just recently replayed FFXII on my PC using the PCSX2 emulator, at a higher resolution and AA on and it's incredible how beautiful the game is, considering it is many years old. It is my favorite FF in the series and I think that's because it has some heavy influence from MMOs, open world to explore, the hunts and I love the setting a lot more than FFX. To me it felt like playing FFXI offline with bots.

Sorry for the (temporary, I assure you!) derail, but what is this PCSX2 you speak of? Playing FFXII on my pc would be fantastic! Tell me more! Do I need a controller, or will mouse and keyboard do? And AA works you say? Does that mean it could look better on my pc than it does on the TV?

PCSX2 is a PS2 emulator for Mac and Windows (Linux too I think) and it has a very big compatibility list. There are several plugins for audio, video and controllers, so the games get improved a lot. I was running FFXII at 1680x1050 4AA DX10. It looks great and it was running at full speed too. I understand you need a good PC to run it smoothly though. I have a Core i7 920 (@3.2ghz) and a 8800GTX and so far I've tested FFX, FFX-2 and FFXII. All 3 of them worked perfectly.

You would need to download the emulator from the link above and their Guides section explains how to get it working quite well. You would need to have the original games and also to dump the Bios from your PS2 to a bin file, since the emulator itself doesn't have any of that (that would be considered piracy in some cases I guess). I took me a couple hours to set it up and find out what kind of Video plugins would work better for me, but once I did, everything works like a charm. I was able to set up my 360 controller and it worked great, but I know you can also set up a keyboard as well. You can search on Youtube for some videos of people running the emulator at high settings, so you can have an idea of how good it looks compared to the regular 480P resolution on a TV.

FFIX was a homage to the squat cartoonish characters in NES and SNES games and I loved that. Especially since the story had a lot of heart. I feel FFVIII gets sold short due to emo and draw. I really enjoyed skipping back and forth through time with color commentary from the future. I just didn't like drawing magic all the time. Thank god for the memory cursor option.

I don't get you guys who actually enjoyed X-2.

But then again, I didn't really get to play it much.

You just answered your own question.

Like many JRPGs, you had to give it a few hours to kick into gear. Unlike many RPGs, those first few hours were just jam packed with crap that might annoy you and turn you off. After that, though, it featured some of the best gameplay of any Final Fantasy, and a throughly enjoyable story populated by interesting and relatable characters, particularly if you were a big fan of FF10.

SpacePPoliceman wrote:

No, I saw it, and I agree, bad song. But that's a trope of the genre. I think the last JRPG I played that didn't have some awful song in it may have been FF7.

Actually, I don't think the Suikodens had any.

I'm jonesing for another good Suikoden. Still need to play #2.

I think I might try to find FF X on the cheap, play the games on my pile, and leave FFXIII for later. This thread has got me excited for the final fantasy series again, but now I remember all the stuff from the series I need to catch up on. The fact that you can still get an incredible amount of enjoyment off of the older games in the series makes this less of a day one purchase for me.

p.s. (FF VI for the win!)

I was replaying FFIX a little while ago. Hit the spot of the original stories with newer gameplay.

Bullion Cube wrote:
SpacePPoliceman wrote:

No, I saw it, and I agree, bad song. But that's a trope of the genre. I think the last JRPG I played that didn't have some awful song in it may have been FF7.

Actually, I don't think the Suikodens had any.

I'm jonesing for another good Suikoden. Still need to play #2.

I think I might try to find FF X on the cheap, play the games on my pile, and leave FFXIII for later. This thread has got me excited for the final fantasy series again, but now I remember all the stuff from the series I need to catch up on. The fact that you can still get an incredible amount of enjoyment off of the older games in the series makes this less of a day one purchase for me.

p.s. (FF VI for the win!)

Suikoden 2 was the best, by far (though I couldn't bring myself to finish 4 or 5 - they might have gotten better). It took the good elements of 1 and refined them to perfection.

Tanglebones wrote:
Bullion Cube wrote:

I'm jonesing for another good Suikoden. Still need to play #2.

Suikoden 2 was the best, by far (though I couldn't bring myself to finish 4 or 5 - they might have gotten better). It took the good elements of 1 and refined them to perfection.

Yeah, good God, man, you're jonesing for another good one and haven't played the best of them all? Madness. Iron Chef mini-game, what more need to be said? Luca Blight, that's what. V, I quite liked because it was very similar to II. IV was a misstep.

I don't have a playstation 3 (I think it's available on PSN) and I've failed at trying to play PS 1 games on my PS 2. I'm looking forward to picking it up someday, but for now Suikoden 3 rocks my world. Any suggestions on alternative ways to experience #2 are highly encouraged.

SpacePPoliceman wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:
Bullion Cube wrote:

I'm jonesing for another good Suikoden. Still need to play #2.

Suikoden 2 was the best, by far (though I couldn't bring myself to finish 4 or 5 - they might have gotten better). It took the good elements of 1 and refined them to perfection.

Yeah, good God, man, you're jonesing for another good one and haven't played the best of them all? Madness. Iron Chef mini-game, what more need to be said? Luca Blight, that's what. V, I quite liked because it was very similar to II. IV was a misstep.

The five main series Suikoden games in five sentences:

Suikoden 1 is a prologue to Suikoden 2, and while it stands on its own as a fun game, it is compulsory for that reason alone.
Suikoden 2 is among my top 5 favorite RPGs ever (and is one of my two favorite games of the PS1 generation), and if if you enjoy JRPGs and haven't played it then you are doing it wrong.
Suikoden 3 is a brilliant game that is maligned simply because it wasn't Suikoden 2, and dared to move forward and try new things (for the most part with great success).
Suikoden 4 is a waste of time.
Suikoden 5 is fun and definitely a return to the spirit of Suikoden 2 but ultimately lacks the freshness and uniqueness that made me love 2 and 3.

zeroKFE wrote:
SpacePPoliceman wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:
Bullion Cube wrote:

I'm jonesing for another good Suikoden. Still need to play #2.

Suikoden 2 was the best, by far (though I couldn't bring myself to finish 4 or 5 - they might have gotten better). It took the good elements of 1 and refined them to perfection.

Yeah, good God, man, you're jonesing for another good one and haven't played the best of them all? Madness. Iron Chef mini-game, what more need to be said? Luca Blight, that's what. V, I quite liked because it was very similar to II. IV was a misstep.

The five main series Suikoden games in five sentences:

Suikoden 1 is a prologue to Suikoden 2, and while it stands on its own as a fun game, it is compulsory for that reason alone.
Suikoden 2 is among my top 5 favorite RPGs ever (and is one of my two favorite games of the PS1 generation), and if if you enjoy JRPGs and haven't played it then you are doing it wrong.
Suikoden 3 is a brilliant game that is maligned simply because it wasn't Suikoden 2, and dared to try to move forward and try new things.
Suikoden 4 is a waste of time.
Suikoden 5 is fun and definitely a return to the spirit of Suikoden 2 but ultimately lacks the freshness and uniqueness that made me love 2 and 3.

I didn't like the chapter system from Suikoden 3. I enjoyed the game overall but I thought Suikoden 5 was the best of the PS2 era games. The DS game is pretty cool.

Im a little ashamed that I never played the Suikoden games. That can be easily solved.