Ben-DutkaHey, there's nothing wrong with the Dark Souls games. They're pretty damn good, in fact.
But I don't think anybody expected any semblance of Dark Souls to be found in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII . According to what producer Yoshinori Kitase said, though (via Kotaku ), there will be some "elements" of the new FF that are akin to the "severity of a game like Dark Souls .
And I echo the author's sentiment- "Oh, crap…" We know the game is drastically different than any past FF entry, as it's open-world, the combat is performed solo (and in real-time), and players will have to deal with a 13-day time limit. Now we learn three more troubling pieces of information: First, it actually isn't 13 days…it's 7. Yeah, 7. You can only expand it to 13 by completing certain side-quests. Secondly, you will have a limited number of inventory slots for items . Thirdly and lastly, combat doesn't grant you experience or money.
I have no idea what sort of game this is, but I know this- I don't care .
Related Game(s): Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Don't buy it. Problem solved. Money talks and it's all SquareEnix will hear.
Uh no, catastrophic losses haven't taught them anything.
Sad but true, World.
in fact if history teaches us anything it's that by us not buying this game, the game having terrible sales equating to a huge loss, SE will essentially take that to mean that they need to make it even less like FF of old.
Jesus Christ. This just gets worse and worse. I don't even know if I will bother getting it used at this rate. What are they trying to do kill us? Why would you want gamers to hate your games?
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
+1
I think the only thing that's missing in this game is a tacked-on Multiplayer mode, and then the disintegration of any meaning that the Final Fantasy name once held will be complete.
I think the only reason we won't see multiplayer is because they don't have time. You can probably expect a significant portion of the game to be DLC though.
"I have no idea what sort of game this is, but I know this- I don't care."
My reaction to Final Fantasy XIII-2 as well. Don't like this series.
……………………
I don't know what to say anymore..
Hell, even Dark Souls had a level up system and you got money/experience from fighting in the way of souls.
What exactly is FFXII-LR? It surely isn't an RPG of any sorts.
Lol, and I actually thought it couldn't get any worse. Apparently, I've been proved wrong.
Oh come now… I know it is hardly up to the 'FF standard' but comparing it to Dark Souls is a bit much… This title will certainly not be as overrated I can assure you…
Last edited by Vivi_Gamer on 6/20/2013 2:16:27 PM
WE didn't compare it to Dark Souls. The PRODUCERS did.
There comes a point where you simply can't defend it anymore.
This game doesn't even deserve to be mentioned on the same breath as Demon's/Dark Souls. The latter are real RPGs while Lightning Returns is a game that doesn't even know what it is supposed to be.
lol
In XIII it FELT like there was no purpose to fighting because you got all your health back afterward, almost never got paid, and the abilities you gained became a part of a hardly noticeable autobattle mechanic… but now the battles won't just feel pointless they will actually BE pointless.
Call me bitter, call me anything you want but I want this game to fail so hard that it physically makes people sick.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 6/20/2013 2:33:11 PM
Same here, World. I did not even bother buying FF XIII-2 even if I've seen brand new copies for less than $20.
Final Fantasy like Dark Souls?…lol sorry but not the core of Dark Souls is the methodical combat/strategy this games doesn't look like that.
I must agree with World's sentiments that this game NEEDS to fail. Honestly, this is on par with turning Star Fox into an adventure game hero. Next we'll see, what, a Final Fantasy shooter? Wait… oops… *cough* dirgeofcerberus *cough*
I think I spent a total of 15 minutes with Dirge.
i actually thoroughly enjoyed DOC, it was fun and well thought out, even if it didn't match the MO.
Have you seen how awesome the kick combo is for Turk Vincient, that was some BA stuff.
Well I don't think people really gave Dirge the praise it deserved.
It was a spin-off, I mean it wasn't a direct FF entry. Just like Versus was a spin-off, and no one cared about the gameplay of that.
Dirge fit the brief for a game featuring Vincent Valentine, and it all tied nicely into the FFVII world.
Hell, it was a FFVII game though, so who cares what the gameplay is, if it shows me more of that awesome. It could have been a puzzle game and I still would have played it.
I enjoyed DoC a lot… but probably because my expectations weren't high. I knew exactly what it was before I got it. I didn't have any expectation at all that it played like FF nor that it was replacing the gameplay of FF.
The premise seems very interesting. Definitely a day one purchase for me. If the gameplay is solid, I'll have absolutely no complaints. I'm looking forward to seeing how Lightning is sent off. I like that character. As far as the name on the box, I really don't give a care. It boggles the mind that so many people talk more about games(and systems) they don't intend to buy then those They do. Too much negativity in my hobby.
Well, you know, some people actually care about franchises they grew up with actively being destroyed.
A bit melodramatic there. I care about good games.Period. If it's in an existing franchise or new IP, doesn't matter. I loved Phantasy Star on the Genesis especially 3, but I didn't cry and moan when they made it an online game. I bought it and enjoyed it. Still got my RPG fill with Skies of Acadia, too. The FF13 experiment is interesting to me. You rarely see games try different gameplay types in the same universe. Each game brings an entirely different experience. For me as a gamer, I like that. Some people like franchises to change slightly, but in essence be the same exact game. I like change..
Then obviously, you'd have no trouble with Final Fantasy being an FPS.
Well, fine. Just don't act like everyone else is wrong because you care nothing for the integrity and identity of an established IP.
@KidP:
"I like change! You people are stuck in the past!" That's a disingenuous position (and melodramatic).
Final Fantasy fans LOVE change. It was a point of pride for many years that each iteration of the series explored a completely new world, with a new cast of characters, focused on a new grand theme. We loved it when the series took big risks in storytelling (like killing off the love interest in the middle of the tale) or branched out in new gameplay directions (Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the most beloved FF games of all time). These games were not all "in essence the same exact games," as you contend.
The Final Fantasies of this gen have been shadows of their predecessors. I didn't find FFXIII to be as absolutely terrible as some, but there's no question it is a huge step back from its predecessors. The qualities that I cherished most in Final Fantasy games have been further marginalized with each iteration of the FFXIII series, and Lightning Returns looks to continue that trend.
It's fine to claim that you want great games and don't care about the name. That argument might hold some water if this generation's Final Fantasy games were great. They're not. They've been adequate-to-disastrous, depending on the title. The past Final Fantasy games WERE great, and the loss of the series' greatness is a tragedy to fans who actually care.
You can sneer all you like from your pedestal and bemoan the negativity of your hobby, but if there is any chance at all of Square reversing course and actually remembering the things that once made Final Fantasy the gold standard of RPGs, it will happen because fans speak up–with their voices and their money.
I didn't have an issue with Metroid being an FPS nor did I have a problem with Red Faction becoming a TPS. Of course those genres are a bit more interchangeable than RPG to FPS but if there was an FF off shoot done in the first person and it was good, I'd definitely buy it. I think wishing a game to fail because a person doesn't. like it is incredibly stupid and wrong
Keeping this succinct. You have enough verbosity for the both of us They don't like change. FF13 is a great game. Negativity stretches far beyond the FF series, I just mentioned it here.
Done..
I'm with you, KP
I think it will be interesting to see how they experimented with this one and I honestly cannot wait to see how the gameplay system works!
I think at the end of the day, it's the players individual choice as to how they receive the franchise. I'm totally ready to hop on and have a blast playing!
Final Fantasy is a series that a lot of gamers grew up with and enjoyed.
I was too young at the time, but I spent a LOT of time playing all the original FF titles on SNES emulators when I was a young lad. They saved me from a rather grim existence at times, and hold a place in my heart, I'm not alone in this, a lot of people feel the same.
FFVII was sort of a life changing event. Only those that experienced it at the time can ever truly understand it.
During the current generation, Squeenix has been seeking ways to increase it's sales throughout the world, because apparently FF was a failing franchise in it's old form? Anyway, during it's analysis of the success of Western titles, they decided to make the game more fast paced an intense. This was the beginning of the end for FF. FFXII featured some big changes, and FFXIII was a huge departure, and ever since then, every single FF game they have released is more and more based on the gameplay of action adventure games.
They aren't 'trying different gameplay types' they are simply trying to emulate something else. Monkey see monkey do. You know what though? it's NOT working, international sales of FF games has decreased dramatically, and what was their answer? "That FF game didn't do well, it mustn't have been fast, dumb, and easy enough for Westerners to enjoy! Let's try again, and THIS time, make it Western!". Then the next one fails more.
They see each failure, as the product not being something the world can enjoy.
Sure, the quality of their games is generally top notch. But they are missing the point, and always have. So you see, they aren't trying something new, they are deliberately butt f**king a franchise. They should have made it a spin-off franchise, or a new IP, and told whatever stories they wanted, while trying something COMPLETELY new for FF by going back to its roots.
Last edited by Akuma_ on 6/20/2013 9:38:05 PM
It's really too bad that you're dead flat wrong, Kid. If we all hated change, you would've seen this rebellion for Final Fantasy XII. Didn't happen. A few people, myself included, were a little suspicious at first, but then we realized that it was still an RPG. Maybe it wasn't the kind of RPG we expected from Final Fantasy, but it was still role-playing. And it was still great.
You really think people should stick their heads in the sand when it's not even in the same GENRE? And when the quality has CONSIDERABLY declined? That's the epitome of narrow-minded, my friend.
Not everyone liked XII Ben… As for myself and some other friends that are huge FF fans we actually liked XIII way more than XII, which is still the only FF(main series or spinoff) that I've only played once, and that didn't motivate me to get 100%.
The problem with XII was the story and the uninteresting characters, which FFXIII didn't have. I really liked Lightning, Sazh and Fang, Vanille would have been a great character if it weren't for the VA, Noel was a really pleasant surprise and I still think Caius is one of the most convincing and well thought villains in all of the franchise. That's the reason I'm getting this game, Cause I wan't to know how the story ends and what happens to the characters.
In my view, FF was never about mechanics, the great Hironobu Sakaguchi said himself that they always did the best they could with the technology they had, and that he would have loved to make FF more action oriented from the beginning. FF was an always has been about the story and the characters and in that respect, XIII was more of an FF than XII.
/rant
Never said anything about mechanics.
FFXII was an RPG. FFXIII was much less of an RPG, and Lightning Returns isn't an RPG at all.
That's the only point I'm trying to make.
@Kip
I posted a similar comment on negative before reading yours… since I'm not alone in this world after all… I'm pretty intrigued by this game, and I'm hopeful It'll turn out a good game. More than anything, I'm really looking forward to the conclusion of the story of the FFXIII characters, as I've come to like them quite a bit.
Ugh… how do people misuse the term "melodrama" so often? Why can't you just say, "Over dramatic". It is not the same as melodrama…. geeze…. (Sorry… theatre major in me is freaking out.)
I actually am really looking forward to this. the graphics looks good, combat isnt as boring as the ff13 and of all the ff13 characters i liked lightning the best. i just hope the story doesnt suck or gets too confusing and stuff!
Hey Ben how about posting an article on our PS3's bricking from this update so it won't happen to others instead of another final fantasy is going to sh*t article? I think that's more important right now.
Over-exaggerated and not much of an issue, as far as I've heard from Sony. Didn't happen to me or anyone else I know, either.
And this is news. From Kotaku. Has nothing to do with me.
@ImTheMan
"instead of another final fantasy is going to sh*t article?"
No kidding :/
lol Gungrave, how do you miss what Ben just said?
I'm sorry, but I -need- this site to report on what major producers of video games say. it's sort of the point of video game journalism and gaming news…
hopefully it won't be as bad as it seems. I still applaud square for trying to go so far out of what is considered their comfort zone. Or I could just say "something something something positive thinking. something something something progressive."
Seriously though, I remain hopeful.
i actually don't mind this. if anything it means i'll have to play harder on a final fantasy then i have in the past. and since it's the first "part 3" of a final fantasy, i have to play it, even if i wait for the price drop.
As long as they have an extensive skill and equipment system we'll see some good.
And if they do the stupid CP points for accessories i'll hex edit that up past 300-500 and play the game fairly.
any word on if it'll be looped? like if i die, i start the days over? because i can deal with that.
And i bet post game will be the best part.
I'd prefer not to have to start a whole game over and over because of an artificial time clock meant to make a 10 hour game into a 30 hour game because you're forced to keep replaying it.
nah, i mean like breath of fire dragon quarter. building up and going all out only to try again and be better and stronger.
This is like if PopCap would turn Plants vs Zombies into a 3rd person action game.. oh wait..
Sigh! What has the world come to.
What FF 1-10 wasn't open world? All of them were unless I'm misunderstanding "open-world"