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What's the exploration like in FFXIII?
Stellos
Member UncommonPosts: 1,491
I'd like to get Final Fantasy XIII, but I hear the exploration is non-existent. I enjoy being able to travel the world and do whatever I want in between main parts of the story. Is this game strickly linear, or can I explore the world?
Comments
I hear it is mostly linear,but Square claims there is some areas that are open ended.They intended it to be story driven therefore linear,and it really is a single player game ,meant to drive you in a direction,it is not a mmo so i think people have the wrong expectations from it.
FFX was pretty much the same,eventually you got an Airship and could go anywhere but in reality it was a story of getting back to Spira and meeting his dad Jecht ,Yuna fulfilling her pilgrimage ect ect.
I would buy FFXIII in a heart beat ,if i actually owned a PS3 but i don't ,because i don't like consoles nor do i like controllers.I basically don't liek anythign that may involve lots of button mashing on a controller,so i only buy one if for a slowish game or a Fantasy such as FFX or FFXII.I may still go out and buy a PS3 if i decide to play FFXIV on a PS3,in that case i willbuy FFXIII.
Thing is this,even if Square's games don't quite meet your expectations,it will still be a very good game and easily playable,i know some games from other developers have been so bad,i bought them and filed them after 15 minutes.I ALWAYS feel like completing a FF game.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I just got it yesterday, and love it. I read that the game world opens up at chapter 11, making it possible to do side quests, and other open ended stuff, outside of the main storyline. So far the story is pretty kickass. I'd recommend any fan of FF to buy it.
Well I don't mind a game that has one story/quest to it. In fact I hate having to juggle multiple quests and tasks! However, I don't like to feel like I'm on one of those old NES games where you can't go back once the screen pans to the right, you know what I mean?
Most of the time you cannot go back.Witch i also did not like.I can also see why so many early complaints about LINEAR game play,so far it is incredibly linear.I am spending 99% of the time wandering long narrow paths that are no more than 5 blocks wide.
The graphics although hi end are not that impressive,everything is repeated.There is a TON of animation in the game,this alone takes a lot of work.
Healing is cheap,as long you have potions,you can pop them anytime and heal all your party with one potion.
I don't really like the combat ,gives me a bit of a headache lol.The whole purpose is to see how fast yo ucan kill,nothing strategic what so ever.99% of the time you will just be using auto combat,the game does it all for you ,sad really.
With the cheesy storyline "everyone is out to sacrifice themselves to save the world mentality"a lil love affair here and there ,witch can get quite korny the way they talk sometimes,it gives the whole game a sort of VERY young feel.A little too simple like it was made for 10-18 year olds.
The chocobo is kind of cute but why they decided to put him in dude's affro head i have no idea at all and so far he serves no purpose outside of looking cute
.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Its Final Fantasy dude. Just wait until Disc 3 as usual and then you can hop on your airship and go anywhere. That has been my experience with FFs.
Or get a PS3, changing discs died with the PS1
(\ /) ?
( . .)
c('')('')
Or get a PS3, changing discs died with the PS1
I was making a joke. Apparently it failed.
You bastard.
=P
If you're one of those "freedom is the evolution of RPG's, linearity is a thing of the past and should be exiled from the gaming industry!" people like most gaming magazines and sites are, you won't like the game.
If you're one of those people who think story matters more than freedom in gameplay, you Will like this game. The gameplay is top notch after the first few hours, the audiovisuals are awesome, and it will get you hooked.
But only if you rank story above freedom. What Elder Scrolls lacks in story, it gains in freedom. What FFXIII lacks in freedom, it gains in story. It's not for everyone, like ES is not for everyone. Is it for you? We cannot answer that question.
From what I have read the first 10 or 11 chapters are just walking down shafts.
There are 13 chapters so that leads 2 or 3 chapters or exploration.
Apparently, the first 25 hours of game play kind of stink but that after that the game gets good.
If you are willing to play for a day to get to the exploration I would say get the game.
If not, well you know.
--John Ruskin
It's been amazing so far. First few hours were boring, but when the combat system picks up... dayum.
well it doesnt stick its enjoyable but it could have been better if not for wasted 2-3 years on the ps2 version and making of the engine
It's been amazing so far. First few hours were boring, but when the combat system picks up... dayum.
The "stink" revers to exploration--which is what the treat is about.
I am sure the story and combat pick up, but apparently the exploration is extremely limited until about 24 hours of game play.
--John Ruskin
It is. Whether it stinks or smells good is up to you though. I certainly prefer it the way it is, but as for OP, I can not know. It's not automatically a bad thing however.
It is. Whether it stinks or smells good is up to you though. I certainly prefer it the way it is, but as for OP, I can not know. It's not automatically a bad thing however.
We get it......you are a fanboi. Yeah for you.
My post was in reference to the op and exploration. It has nothing to do with you or what you think is good.
--John Ruskin
Forget about Final Fantasy then, if it's too hard for you to understand. Take Resident Evil 5 or Metal Gear Solid 4 for example. I certainly prefer the way those are played. Might I be a Capcom and Konami fanboy too?
If the OP is like me, he will like the game. That's what I'm saying. It's not about me, it's about him.
Forget about Final Fantasy then, if it's too hard for you to understand. Take Resident Evil 5 or Metal Gear Solid 4 for example. I certainly prefer the way those are played. Might I be a Capcom and Konami fanboy too?
If the OP is like me, he will like the game. That's what I'm saying. It's not about me, it's about him.
Are you illiterare?
OP "I enjoy being able to travel the world and do whatever I want in between main parts of the story.""
My response was simple. A majority of the game is very linear and it does not open up until much later on.
I get it, I get it. You love the game. You have to defend it. Anyone who does not agree with you just does not understand. You are so smart you have the reading comprehension of a third grader.
I never said I like or dislike the game. I only talked about the games linear vs open ended nature.
My suggestion to you is; put on a bib before you come to the forums because you obviously do not have the intellectual ability to type and control your salivary glands.
--John Ruskin
Read the Edge magazine review. Its the most straight review there is. 25 hours of complete linearity to reach a little open area and do some quests. Throw out of the window controlling characters in fights, throw in some random cliche and generic characters, some I am the hero and I will save everything without anyone dying mentality and you have FF13.
Graphics: Sure thats all FF has really, they make it as supremely good looking as possible so you can't see the game play or anything else.
Most of the time you cannot go back.Witch i also did not like.I can also see why so many early complaints about LINEAR game play,so far it is incredibly linear.I am spending 99% of the time wandering long narrow paths that are no more than 5 blocks wide.
The graphics although hi end are not that impressive,everything is repeated.There is a TON of animation in the game,this alone takes a lot of work.
Healing is cheap,as long you have potions,you can pop them anytime and heal all your party with one potion.
I don't really like the combat ,gives me a bit of a headache lol.The whole purpose is to see how fast yo ucan kill,nothing strategic what so ever.99% of the time you will just be using auto combat,the game does it all for you ,sad really.
With the cheesy storyline "everyone is out to sacrifice themselves to save the world mentality"a lil love affair here and there ,witch can get quite korny the way they talk sometimes,it gives the whole game a sort of VERY young feel.A little too simple like it was made for 10-18 year olds.
The chocobo is kind of cute but why they decided to put him in dude's affro head i have no idea at all and so far he serves no purpose outside of looking cute
.
Did you even play the game or just read some review somewhere and then fill in the blanks. Let me correct several things you have wrong in the above.
First its near impossible to heal your entire party with one health potion. Maybe right at the very start of the game when all you have is 100-200 health. But toward the end of the game when your dealing with 1.5k + health a healing pot doesnt make a dent in your health. Having someone dedicated to healing is paramont for most of the fights and for EVERY boss fight.
Second, If all you do is auto combat during a boss fight you will lose. Period. Chapter 9's boss fight is impossible to win with nothing more then auto combat. You clearly leave out that switching Paradigms is paramont to winning any boss battle and everything from Chapter 10 onward requires you to make switch's back and forth in order to gain any type of reward and speed within the combat.
Third, there is ALOT of strategy in planning out your character and what roles you want them to play. Heck even during combat you are going to be planning strategies on when you switch Paradigms to best fit the situation. Most boss fights requires planning and watching what is going on the screen. Miss a huge attack powerup that the enemy preforms and you can be toast in one shot.
Forth, All Eidolon fights require more then just auto attacking in order to make it through the fight. If all you did was auto attack you would lose the fight and have to redo it until you figured out what is required in order to beat the Eidolon.
Fitfth, the graphics are top notch. Heck compared to most console games out there your not going to find a better graphics setup. That combined with the very small load times and no load times going in and out of combat is always a plus.
Sixth, "everyone is out to sacrifice themselves to save the world mentality" ? Where did you get this. Heck the start of the story has everyone at odds ageanst each other. A good porition of the story has Lighting and Snow just waiting to rip each other apart. And that is just one example of members of the party wanting to kill each other. The only real love side of the story involves Lighting's Sister and Snow and thats already played out within 6 hours into the game. If anything the story revolves around two sides fighting it out with our heroes being pawns in the battle trying to find there way.
Aparently you haven't played much of the game if all you think the chocobo is there for is for looks. He played a importent part in the story and even more so towards the end of the game.
Yes half of the game is linear. But once you hit chapter 11 the game opens up and your really free to explore wherever you want. Theres 64 Side missions you can pickup and do as you wish with some opening up new zones for you to explorer. There's Treasure Hunting missions, theres several minigames like Vile Peaks minigame where you fight several waves of enemys each getting harder and requireing a different tactic to get past.
The Role-based system in the game makes your characters unique in there actions. Each has three main roles and later on in the game you can pick a secondary role for the character to take on. Every character has 8 different weapons they can find in the game. All weapons can be leveled up and even upgraded (upto 3 times) making for alot of options in this department. Final upgraded items are akin to epic items and require a fair amount of work to achieve. You have to level up the base weapon to max level and then find the right component to upgrade it to its second form. Where you will then level up the weak to the new forms max level ( every weapon and upgrade has a different max level). Then on top of that you can even level up accessories to increase there effectiviveness and abilities.
So to say the game doesn't have any type of strategy or depth to it is just a lie. I don't believe it was ever claimed by the dev's that the game was a open world sandbox. What it does do is tell a great story and provides loads of ways for you to customize your character but still keep him effective within the game.
Are You illiterate? In his second post, he said that he also enjoys a good story. That makes things more complicated than simply saying that the game stinks for the first 25 hours. This is what I am referring to. If he's like me, and his second post points to that, he will enjoy the game regardless of being able to travel the world. Your response was simple, and so is mine: depending on what you like, the game can either stink or smell good for the first 25 hours and beyond.
And yes, you don't understand why I think like I do because you simply didn't bother. Instead you resorted to calling me a fanboy, because thinking is clearly an unknown concept to you. Not every gamer is the same, but to you there's only "those who agree with me" and "fanboys". If you understood me, you'd agree that you can like a linear game because of it's merits without being a fanboy. But clearly you don't understand.
I don't care if you dislike the game or not. This topic is not about you.
"Read the Edge review: It's the one review that agrees with me, so it's the best. I have always disliked Final Fantasies, so I only read up on things that prove I'm right."
Got it. OP, this man is right, because a reviewer agreed with him.
I put it all together for you so you will have a change at understanding.
He wants to know if there is freedom.
I posted that there was freedom but not until about 25 hours of game play.
The highlighted red portion breaks it down into simple terms for him. Although he puts a caveat onto that he does not like not having the ability to go back--highlighted in green.
You are a fanboi, because you do not read what people type and go off with misinformation.
You should really take a deep breath.
--John Ruskin
And I told him another PoV, and that is wrong because?
You said that the gameplay stinks for the first 25 hours. I gave my opinion, and instead of letting the OP decide which is best for him to do, you started an argument with me, that consists of not much more than meaningless insults starting with calling me a fanboy based on the fact that I happen to like the game because of a feature the OP finds good/important as well.
I did not try to argue against you, just gave another view on the subject. Clearly that is unacceptable.
"The game system itself actually changes between these two worlds, with the first half of the game taking place in Cocoon being a very story driven experience, whereas the second half in Gran Pulse is an open world design with a more free style of gameplay," Toriyama explained.
"In order to allow the player to become absorbed in the drama of the storytelling and the new and exciting world of Cocoon and be drawn to the characters without getting distracted or lost we have deliberately used a linear game design for the introduction sections so they can be enjoyed in the same manner as watching a film."
Toriyama explained part of the linear design choice also allows players to learn the new paradigm shift battle system more easily.
"I make a promise that even if you have never played a Final Fantasy game, or even an RPG before then you will still be able to appreciate FFXIII with no difficulty," he added.
quoted from uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/107/1070753p1.html
anyway, in my opinion, I was hoping for something like FF12, im only at the part where Hope meet his dad, so I dont know yet if it get any better, actually it does, I dont hate Hope anymore lol.
In FF12 you had to hunt, explore, talk to different npc for summon, awesome weapon, accessory....etc. in 13 everything is handed to you, I dont even see the point of those accessory that gives % damage reduction, I didnt need any so far. I dont know if i should keep all that junk or just sell it or use it for upgrades.
I hope Versus is not going to be the same.
And I told him another PoV, and that is wrong because?
You said that the gameplay stinks for the first 25 hours. I gave my opinion, and instead of letting the OP decide which is best for him to do, you started an argument with me, that consists of not much more than meaningless insults starting with calling me a fanboy based on the fact that I happen to like the game because of a feature the OP finds good/important as well.
I did not try to argue against you, just gave another view on the subject. Clearly that is unacceptable.
I feel bad for you. At first I thought you were a person of average intelligence who was blinded by his emotions for a game. I know realize you do read at at third grade level. It is a kin to asking if a person is retarded and then finding out that they are. Boy do I have mud on my face.
I already explained that if a person is looking for exploration and the ability to go back to previous zones; the first 25 hours of the game would stink for them.
If he can get through the first 25 hours he will get to what he is looking for. It is up to him if that is acceptable or not. I did not put any evaluation on it at all. I used his criteria and related to him the facts.
It is simple. I do not know how to get you to understand this. Good luck to you.
--John Ruskin
I decided to purchase it based on the amazing trailers and Final Fantasy name. I've decided that this is more of an action RPG then anything else. I love the visuals and music, find the combat fun and innovative. I love how you automatically heal after a fight and the loot (like in previous FFs) is automatically looted for you. I how Final Fantasy cuts out a lot of the boring crap like healing and looting after battle. The story is what I'd expect from Final Fantasy, a bit cheesy but still compelling.
As far as the exploration, it is extremely linear so far. I am on chapter 6 and I have just been following the narrow path the entire game. Do I notice this fact? Yes, but it isn't enough for me to regret my purchase. I wish it would open up and allow me to grind or choose different paths at this point though. Don't get me wrong, I like this style much more than the multiple quest style seen in dragon age and other games. I hate having tons of petty quests to finish so in that sense I would rather have this narrow path. I also wish there were a few more characters to play, but all in all I am enjoying FFXIII and don't regret buying it.