tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553633213256417629.post4880230344638569464..comments2024-03-25T19:43:11.027-04:00Comments on Planet Blue: Final Fantasy XIIIEric Fuchs (BlueHighwind)http://www.blogger.com/profile/10520427554161808399noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553633213256417629.post-90773511060495670492013-10-18T23:30:04.220-04:002013-10-18T23:30:04.220-04:00As someone who entered the Final Fantasy series th...As someone who entered the Final Fantasy series through XIII (and as someone who just finished your VII walkthrough, at least the main part), this isn't really surprising to me. I enjoyed it, though. I don't know, I think I "bonded" with Lightning, that's why.<br /><br />And, coming from Western RPGs where you actually role-play (like Dragon Age Origins), I wasn't under any impression that this would be a role-playing game. I sat back and enjoyed it as a cinematic experience.<br /><br />I found the scene with Lightning watching Hope sleep touching as well.<br /><br />I'll point something out--I hated Vanille too, initially, until I found out her story. The first part of it, with Sazh, and then the her complete backstory, with Fang. I felt it gave her quite a bit of depth--she isn't simply a quirky, cheery girl, but a girl that is hiding dark secrets by being quirky and cheery.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553633213256417629.post-84177429369768178912013-08-29T21:18:50.459-04:002013-08-29T21:18:50.459-04:00Vanille being the main character kinda killed it f...Vanille being the main character kinda killed it for me. But your changes essentially turn FFXIII into a Final Fantasy game, which is fine. That's what it should have been.<br /><br />But I feel like maybe someplace in that dream of turning Final Fantasy into a more action-based title, there might be something to be said.Eric Fuchs (BlueHighwind)https://www.blogger.com/profile/10520427554161808399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553633213256417629.post-11914327050891860682013-07-20T00:27:13.520-04:002013-07-20T00:27:13.520-04:00Hey there! Reading your list of improvements to th...Hey there! Reading your list of improvements to this potentially good trainwreck has inspired me to make a list of my own. Would you like to see it? I made 13 changes in total!<br /><br />Here it is!<br /><br />Change #1: The Battle System is no longer full of paradigms and staggering; instead it requires you to pick the party members' actions and attack monsters until their HP goes down to zero without having to juggle them like a fool.<br /><br />Change #2: MP is back, and you will have to keep track of the party's HP and MP after battle with ethers, potions, and white magic.<br /><br />Change #3: No more Game Overs if your "party leader" dies. Getting a Game Over will require you to reload the game from your last save point.<br /><br />Change #4: Vanille's the main character and she uses a machine gun instead of that weird fishing pole. Also, less moaning in battle. (She IS the game's narrator, and it has been stated by the game's creators that she isn't the main character only because Lightning was in the tech demo trailer. Like if Tidus wasn't the main character of FFX because Lulu was shown first or something like that. She may be annoying, but she does have more to do with the story than Ms. Punches People.)<br /><br />Change #5: Conversations between party members are now confined in the same scene instead of Sazh asking Vanille a question and then Vanille answering him 15 minutes later.<br /><br />Change #6: Summons are useful again, and do a quick and powerful attack on all of your enemies. If the stagger system is still around, they immediately stagger all the monsters and then disappear.<br /><br />Change #7: A world map that has towns on it. The townspeople won't mind the L'Cie, they're all hiding their tattoos in their gloves and cleavage and thighs and whatnot. You'll also get an airship when Cid lets you on the Lindblum.<br /><br />Change #8: If the areas the party walks through are still tubular, the player will have the choice to ride an Eidolon in vehicle mode down the Tube.<br /><br />Change #9: More gil and better shops. You can also find better weapons in treasure chests instead of buying them with your behemoth claws and microchips.<br /><br />Change #10: The twist at Chapter 9 isn't, "Hey, you're actually supposed to destroy Cocoon, and also I'm here to help you grind so you're strong enough," it's actually, "Hey, you're actually supposed to destroy Cocoon, and I'm not cool with that."<br /><br />Change #11: Lightning has a much less serious personality and uses more of those gravity devices to reach places with treasure chests in them.<br /><br />Change #12: Fighting monsters at the beginning actually gives you experience points as opposed to not getting them (If you don't have a "Crystarium" they'll still be there to spend when you finally do get it), and the story is presented to us from the beginning as opposed to starting in media res and being told to us in flashbacks (I got it from you, I'm not at all original).<br /><br />Change #13: FFXIII's original ending has Deus Ex Machina in it, literally, a goddess comes by and solves every problem the main characters possibly have. The new ending will not have that; instead, the main characters either fight Ragnarok to prevent it from killing Orphan and Cocoon (becoming crystals because Serah could also do that after she chose to disobey her Fal'Cie), or the main characters kill Orphan and have to fight off that Creator thingy the Fal'Cie are so hyped about.<br /><br />Ah, how despair-inducingly good these ideas are. Your thoughts on them?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12468796116665526173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553633213256417629.post-70644166879378723772013-07-02T18:00:26.430-04:002013-07-02T18:00:26.430-04:00I heard that a ton of content from FFXIII apparent...I heard that a ton of content from FFXIII apparently had to be removed in order to stay as three discs for the Xbox 360 version. Whatever the case, I remember them saying that it was enough stuff make a whole other game with. I like to think that this game really was once open-world, with towns and everything and hell maybe even a clearly developed story, but all of that was lost (or ignorantly thrown out) along the way. Then again, I do like to blame the Xbox consoles for the silliest things.Axel Wolfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06428244257428681717noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553633213256417629.post-39180544583064500402013-07-01T15:25:31.162-04:002013-07-01T15:25:31.162-04:00I also bought this full price when it came out. It...I also bought this full price when it came out. It was boring but I managed to play it until I got to Pulse. Once I realized there were no towns or people to interact with I just lost my sh*t and stopped playing for good. This was my first FF since the PSONE age and I was left completely disappointed. If it weren't for Skyrim I would've probably divorced from RPGs forever. <br />The biggest problem I have with the game is that it has really weak characters. Fang, Sazh and even Cid are ok, like you said, but they aren't great. The rest are too cartoonish and angsty for my liking and the villain sucks balls. FF never did have good antagonists but this one is just really forgettable. The only ones I liked were nihilist psyco Kefka and Mamma's boy Sephiroth, who's only redeemable trait was that he was so goddamn badass.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553633213256417629.post-43534438728952359572013-07-01T13:41:21.644-04:002013-07-01T13:41:21.644-04:00You disliked two games that were hailed as being t...You disliked two games that were hailed as being the best RPGS had to offer at the time (by that I mean this current Gen)?<br /><br />Oi, that gives me mixed emotions.MasterThiefnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553633213256417629.post-50048727599865895012013-07-01T11:58:25.190-04:002013-07-01T11:58:25.190-04:00I really do miss turn-based battles in JRPG's,...I really do miss turn-based battles in JRPG's, I prefer it to almost every turn-based action MMO style combat. Hopefully one day Final Fantasy returns to this system, maybe XVI will do it. But on the point of FFXIII, I agree wholeheartedly with your points of improvement, if it had some exploration, anything at all, I could overlook the stupid story, just give me something interesting to do when I'm not battling, it's a bad sign when I wish for FFVII style mini-games just to escape from battling. Good Review BlueEricnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553633213256417629.post-29243671523810786472013-07-01T05:52:06.612-04:002013-07-01T05:52:06.612-04:00I was cringing so hard while I read the part about...I was cringing so hard while I read the part about there being people in the room during the cutscenes in this game. Fuck that, man. I have pretty much avoided this game like the plague, so I haven't even seen the cutscenes, but I have experienced enough Japanese melodrama in bad anime and even other games in this series to know how painful it can be to watch. It must have been embarrassing to have people standing around in the room, not really knowing what they're seeing.<br /><br />Sorry you had to suffer through this game, but thanks for doing it so you could write this review. I enjoy reading your opinions.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06178069933039840290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553633213256417629.post-52955855916252010652013-07-01T00:03:16.869-04:002013-07-01T00:03:16.869-04:00I remember that you saying you didn't like Fin...I remember that you saying you didn't like Final Fantasy IV either, I'm just wondering how that compares to XIII?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553633213256417629.post-26776679883670196412013-06-30T09:36:14.653-04:002013-06-30T09:36:14.653-04:00I played about an hour of The Last Story and simpl...I played about an hour of The Last Story and simply hated it. I pretty much had the same feeling when I played the demo for Ni No Kuni. I simply disliked them so much that it didn't seem worthy of even writing about, it was more depressing than anything else.Eric Fuchs (BlueHighwind)https://www.blogger.com/profile/10520427554161808399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5553633213256417629.post-1692514936953595332013-06-30T05:22:34.930-04:002013-06-30T05:22:34.930-04:00" "The Last Story", which I found t..." "The Last Story", which I found to be simply disgusting from the outset, " O_O I never expected you to think that. Any chance for a full review?<br /><br />Ugh Final Fantasy XIII. I remember how hyped I got for that game and how massively disappointed I was when I actually played it. Paid full price for the thing too. I think the thing I hated the most about it was how the one game gave the entire JRPG-genre a bad name. I remember reading articles about the 'death of the JRPG' despite there having been plenty of good ones out since then.<br /><br />At least I think Square have learned some lessons in game-design and what not to do from this saga. Like you, I have my hopes up for Final Fantasy Versu- I mean XV... though not too high.Erunoreply@blogger.com