Ben-DutkaReady for some fun Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII details? I know I am!
No, seriously. I'm totally jazzing myself up for this. It is not delusional. It is not denial. I'm just being…you know…optimistic…….
Whatever. Here are some of the leaked game details courtesy of Andriasang . After first confirming that the game is 30% complete and that this will be Lightning's last game (which will have a happy ending, by the way), they got into some gameplay info. First is the fact that the game is "world-driven," which means the world will change depending on our actions. And as for the timed part, one day will pass in 1-2 real-time hours and there will be increases and decreases in how fast time passes.
Here's some more:
— The game is meant to be played and cleared multiple times. The volume is not such that it will take many tens of hours to clear once.
— Depending on your actions, the remaining life of the world could decrease, and the game could end before the 13 day limit.
— There are some times when helping someone will decrease the life of the world, while defeating some enemies and clearing some quests will increase the life of the world.
— Lightning is all by herself in battle, allowing you to concentrate more than when you had to control a party.
— You can freely move around during battle. Some elements of the battle system are timing-based.
— The battle system is close to action. There's an ATB gauge but during battle, you don't select menu commands. Instead, you select abilities which have been assigned to buttons.
— The city has clocks everywhere showing the constant progression of time.
There you are. Per my previous article , I will not offer further comment.
Related Game(s): Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/09/05/podcast-beyond-the-final-fantasy-argument-2
I haven't actually watched this but it seems related to the ire.
Seems to me the game was given a very constrained production budget. What better way to synthesize more game play than to recycle assets over and over again on multiple play throughs 😉
My instincts told me as much. What better way than to recycle? Well, add a stupid clock too!
hmm, well, the ign guys seem optimistic about XIII-3, one editor even believes it'll be the highest rated of the XIII trilogy. They definetly do lament about S-E's business decisions. Interestingly, only one IGN guy in the podcast laments S-E's exit from "old school" jrpg design.
Anyway, 'nuff said about IGN. I just saw a headline their that appeared to match the tone of this editorial.
IGN isn't very smart anymore. Who would think that a rush job corner cutting anti-FF cash grab entry would be a great FF?
Well IGN would because they hate everything FF and JRPGs are about. They want simple, short button mashers and that's what we're gonna get.
The silly thing is there is only one ending from what I have read. So why play it again? How do you get people to play a 20 hour game dozens of times unless it is like NIER where things change a bit.
Also apparently 1 day is 1-2 hours in real time. So the game max can be 26 hours apparently. That is something I saw online not sure how true it is.
"How do you get people to play a 20 hour game dozens of times unless it is like NIER where things change a bit."
By making a good game. There are a ton of games that change very little if there is any change at all that are worth playing a dozen or more times. MGS, Zelda, the old Final Fantasies, God of War, Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, Metroid, and so on.
Not much chance of that Jawknee
I get where your coming from Jawknee, I just don't think this is going to be a good game lol. I know that is a big assumption as we have seen nothing on the game, but the bits I have learned just depress me.
I know some games have great replay value and the story never changes, however more and more gamers seem to want a carrot to chase. I personally only playthrough a game several times on different difficulty modes for a challenge. I guess if this has difficulty modes people will chase after the trophies and such.
But like World said, what are the chances of this being as stellar as that fine list of games you hammered out?
While I expect the game to be good, I think the issue with this time lapse stuff is that it's an excuse not to create an epic. Sure, games have worked recycled levels well(Castlevania Sotn) but RPG's, namely FF, are supposed to be grandiose in design spanning many wonderous locations. It's not just a change in genre. It's a complete change in design. I pretty much have this game pegged as a quick cash-in that was never intended to be an epic. I pretty much think open world style games are generally cheaper to produce than linear epics. A linear epic has a lot more production overhead to deal with. A "sandbox" is exactly that. Design the parameters of your box and fill it in, and the character largely hangs out in the same one area the entire game, reducing the need to constantly generate more assets. It seems high production JRPG's were going to be doomed one way or another. FF or not, because I see it being more a question of scaling back the quality for quantity. But S-E just isn't going to ease off the art and beauty thing.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 9/5/2012 11:27:14 PM
and wasn't that S-E's reason for avoiding FFVII? The first response was something like, well how are we going to get all of those artists back and take forever recreating that game. Which also converts to it being massively expensive. I think that right there suggests the orientation of their values and could explain their aversion to producing the PSX style jRPG everyone seems to want. Also, it's cheaper for them to layout and design one universe of characters and recycle it 3 times opposed to completely new self contained stories and characters as they were on PSX.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 9/5/2012 11:31:44 PM
Wow. 0_0'
Well the concept sounds interesting, but it sure as hell doesn't sound like a Final Fantasy game. :/
To me, even without the FF name it doesn't seem any good because you've got a time limiter that only serves a single purpose: to lengthen the time spent in a game without much content.
Yeah, that could easily be. I stand by what I said above, about it not being "Final Fantasy," but I guess the entertainment and content value of the game is going to really depend on the game variations for each decision you make. If it makes a significant change to the game each time you play, offering a different experience, it could work. However, it is Sqaure-Enix we're talking about here… shame that has a negative connotation now.
Last edited by 556pineapple on 9/5/2012 11:33:37 AM
RIP Final Fantasy
Holy sh*t. World's gettin' upset. Anger rising…rising.
AAAGGGHHHHH!!!!!!
Who the sh*t wants to play a FF game that's meant to be played multiple times for any reason other than because it was so great?
It can end at any time and at most (before gay clock quests) it comes in at 26 hours?
No damn party!
<s> Oooooo the world changes, wow that's amazing</s> Big f*cking deal.
Seriously even doubting the used game buy now with this info that you have to play it a bunch of times. I seriously hate these pukes.
*flips over table* *Throws controller at Wada's head*
I feel you. I'm personally at lost for words. Everything I read about it, it's just… eh..
Even if I were to platinum this game, I doubt I would ever play through it as many times as I have played ffvii nor would I have put as many hours into it as even 2 ffvii play throughs. The same could be said for a few other ff's. That says something.
I plan to have only one response to this catastrophe.
WHATEVER.
…better for the blood pressure.
As I have mentioned before, the concept doe the game is not bad. Had this been a spin off like Crisis Core, I would feel more positive about it. But as this is the conclusion to the Final Fantasy XIII series, it just doesn't live up to the RPG Final Fantasy XIII-3 should be. I would have been happy if they just kept the battle system of XIII in this game instead of this action oriented combat.
Trying to look past that massive barrier… I really like the art design of the town. The interior design on the exterior buildings looks bizzare but certainly interesting. I like the idea of exploring the areas and it changing. I like the monorail system too. I just hope it doesn't become over loaded with pointless sidequests and is able to maintain a focus on the main story.
I'm not even opposed to the clock system… yet. It sounds like an interesting mechanic, I have yet to try out Zelda Majora's Mask, which of course has a similar doomsday feautre. But I have started playing Ocarina again so I can find out. (Don't want to start it before completing Ocarina.)
But even with the interesting features, this does not live up to the RPG I wanted to conclude the series on, this is Not Final Fantasy XIII-3. I really want to see some footage, The official website was hinting at something on the 4th, but they just reformated the website rather than adding anything new… I want this trailer now.
I admire your slight optimism. No joke.
I admire your optimisim as well, as a born FF fan I see all of the "features" you mentioned as drawbacks and shortcuts. And you're going to have to do those sidequests to keep the clock from winding down.
Well as I said, had this not been the conclusion and just an FF spin off, I'd be very excited for it. As was I for Crisis Core, which is a Final Fantasy action game, where you play as one character – & it was a brilliant game. But I just cannot accept this action game for Final Fantasy XIII-3. I wanted a full on JRPG, say what you like about XIII-1 or XIII-2 they were still JRPG's.
Now that you have said that World, I am picturing a similar experience I had with GTA: Vice City Stories for the PSP/PS2. It had all the fundamentals of a GTA. But it had one massive problem – Rackets. As you played the game, you have to take over businesses and maintain them. I found this to just get in the way of enjoying all the missions as every time I completed one I'd get updates on my businesses and you'd have to go defend them. I can see some of these tasks/side missions getting in the way just like that game, especially if you have to manage time by doing fetch quests or saving civilians all the time.
I really need to see this gameplay trailer before my mind is set.
It looks like it might be fun, if they just didn't put Final Fantasy in the title. I will play it but i'm getting it used or very cheap.
But… Shouldn't we just pretend this game didn't exist?
😉
That's why I thought these would come from John Shepard 🙂
From a PSXE standpoint, it obviously has to.
From mine, it really, really doesn't.
Where does PSXE end and Ben Dutka begin?
Hard to say.
I've really had it. I let FFXIII-2 occupy a spot in my collection because it had "Final Fantasy" in the name but never mind all that. I'm selling it to recoup what I can from that wastrel. Maybe I can locate Xenosaga 2&3 somewhere or some more Dreamcast stuff.
Just get skies of arcadia for the DC. That will make you happy. Or grandia 2, or 3 for the PS2. Remember what RPGs can be 🙂
Lol sounds like a crock to me. Oh well each to the own im sure someone out there will like it.It's not like your forced to purchase the game buy something else or read a book 🙂
Last edited by tlpn99 on 9/5/2012 12:17:46 PM
I'm happy this what FFXIII deserves a nonsensical sequel, I hope the end is a big troll.
Plenty of other games to occupy my time now that I won't have to bother with another FF for at least another year or two or ten.
Last edited by cLoudou on 9/5/2012 12:28:45 PM
Congrats FF…you chased me away to gaming on the PC for my RPG fix. What a pathetic generation for RPG lovers.
No sh*t.
How do you know you've failed?
When you have to tell people "Yes, this is the LAST Lightning game. Oh oh don't worry we have a HAPPY ending for you!"
You don't tell people the ending! It would have made some sense if every one of characters somehow died.
I don't want a happy ending for lightning. She is one of the worst written characters I have ever had the misfortune of watching. I want a terrible ending, where she dies fails and everyone and the world goes kaboom.
And Hope's back. Apparently the ending of FFXIII-2 means that characters don't age. *shrugs*
Also, I told you that Lightning would be alone this time, didn't I? Largely, this is what I expected from the title, so I remain ambivalent. I'll get it at some point 🙂
I did read that and didn't want to post it due to any spoilers, but now as it is up:
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**WARNING THIS POST WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR FINAL FANTASY XIII-2**************************
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Yes I am not happy on this at all, after XIII-2 Fatalistic ending, I was hoping that if they we're going to stay true to this new concept that Lightning would be isolated through out this new land set 100 years or so after XIII-2.
Also, how the does that even work. okay, so Chaos stops all time, so Hope and Noel (were they on top of Sazh's ship?) have been stuck in Chaos for 100 years… That just sounds quite poor. Does Hope's 'Bhunivelze' also effect from this chaos… I'll need to play XIII-2 again as I am now just incredibly confused.************************************
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Last edited by Vivi_Gamer on 9/5/2012 2:34:59 PM
I've only read that they will call Lightning on her cell phone. I assume it is an epic Goddess time travelling cell phone that lets her talk to people long dead.
Sounds about right for this series.
Could this game be a test run for FFvsXIII???
The battle system seems remotely similar to the one they wanted to use in vsXIII. Only because it is very action oriented.
Oh, what am I saying, vsXIII doesnt even exist.
Nooo versus will come out!!!! I dont know why they would test versus using this games combat engine. Honestly everyone waiting for versus knew it was being made by the KH team and that it was being made an action RPG.
Sooooooo if they are SE is double retarded, but I more think they are trying to milk FF13 because for some reason, a lot of people are buying them :
***Lightning is all by herself in battle, allowing you to concentrate more than when you had to control a party.***
LOLLLLLL How did they come to that conclusion:
-Avg American test player on FF XIII: *Omg what the hell I have to decide on the action of 3 people!!! BUT BUT COD! COD is so good and you only control one! What a hassle! AHhhHhH BRAIN FREEZE *Blood oozing out of eyes* *BOOM* *Head exploding*
Square: Geh to get to those million COD players we will have to reduce the required attention spam to only one character… More than that… And… You saw… Shit man those brain bits are going to leave a stain on my suit.
So that's how we got to Lightning returns!!! XD
Afterall… Losing 1-5 million fans to win 50 million isn't a bad economic choice.
RETARDS Feels like Square thinks we are major idiots.
Last edited by Neo_Aeon666 on 9/5/2012 6:22:48 PM
COD fans are, for the majority , going to stay COD fans . If SE wanted that demographic they should've made a shooter IP and left Final Fantasy series as it once was .
I will play this game day 1. Why? To be informed when I trash the game on message boards!
Well, I still have a little bit of hope for this game, but with every news article Square beats my spirit down a little bit more 😉
When I read this info earlier today I actually went to go trade in my copy of FFXIII. The cash I got from the trade in was more nourishing and useful (needed elctricity and could buy sum boneless wings and beer).
Now I had a long history with FFXIII, I played a friends copy for like 6 hours when it first came out, didnt like it really was a bit of a disappointment but thought I would pick it up once it hits bargain bin. So thats what I did, I had to force myself through 15 hours if the game, jus to hav XIII-2 anounced and detailed. The multiple endings (none of them concluding the story) also discouraged me further from forcing myself now through a long ass game, then playing another long ass game multiple times.
Now theres a 3rd one?! Hells no, the story and characters are not worth my valuable time, effort and money. This is Final Fantasy not Kingdom Hearts (I follow KH cause its long, but alteast its an epic story), FF is supposed to end in one game thats the point, that sense of accomplishment at the end of an FF. Theyve robbed us of this now.
My time is vauluable. Im a student thats about to graduate and about to go into the grphics design/game development scene. I dont hav a lot of time, so Im only gonna play the best, And sadly the FFXIII trilogy is not on that list. My backlog is huge and its jus growing.
S-E, wake me up someday when you are either done with FFVersusXIII or KH3.
No matter how much they spin it, I'm not getting this.
No party? No party?!!!! What the F*** do they mean NO PARTY?!!!!
Forget this s***, I WAS planning to purchase this game (used it may have been), but I don't think it's worth my time…
And they expect to me to play within a goddamn TIME-LIMIT!!!
That's it…I'm done with SE. There's so much rage going on right now, I really don't know how to express it T_T
I want to give SE (and this godforsaken game) the benefit of a doubt, but this news is actually making me physically ill….
It sounds interesting and SE are amazing when it comes to making action rpgs. But other than that, yeah. Some FF fans got raped with this one.