Final Fantasy XIII-2

01/19/12 3:47 am | #1

For those that don't know, the demo for FF13-2 is available for download:
http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/FINAL-FANTASY-XIII-2-Demo/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80253518810?cid=SLink

It's a nicely long demo too, does a good job showing the minor updates they made to XIII's combat & Paradigm systems. Also, you can "tune" specific Paradigm formations to focus on multiple enemies / area-of-effect abilities, single enemy, or mixed/normal.

You now have 2 party members and the 3rd slot is occupied by a monster you have fought & tamed before. Different monsters have different abilities so the Paradigms are even more dynamic now. Battles are generated 'randomly' on the field like past FF games, and there is a "mog clock" feature that puts you in control of whether you get a pre-emptive strike or not.

The game seems to focus on Serah, Lightning's sister, as the main protagonist. She is joined by this new guy named Noel who is a bit less petulant and annoying than Hope. Supposedly, Fang, Vanille and Snow will also show up in the game but as cameos and not party members.

So far XIII-2 has been getting great reviews with most calling the story the weakest part. Due to the many complaints of the overly-linear nature of XIII and how it took 30 hours to get to the "world map", XIII-2 opens up much sooner.

The game is set to release Tuesday, January 31 here in the US.

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII-2

01/19/12 1:31 pm | #2

I personally liked the demo and look forward to playing the full game.

My Game Informer came in the mail today with the review to Final Fantasy XIII-2. They gave it a 8 out of 10, then went on bashing the game.

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Re: Re: Final Fantasy XIII-2

01/19/12 3:22 pm | #3

Quote by Wrothgar2009:

My Game Informer came in the mail today with the review to Final Fantasy XIII-2. They gave it a 8 out of 10, then went on bashing the game.

Yeah, I didn't understand what that reviewer was trying to do. He kept saying everything in the game is great except the story, and he kept bashing it because it's so absurd.

I've played almost all the Final Fantasy games and they all had absurd stories. That's probably why they call them Final Fantasy. I can't fathom why people suddenly took offense to the story telling in the XIII games.

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Re: Re: Final Fantasy XIII-2

01/24/12 4:45 pm | #4

Quote by Wrothgar2009:

I personally liked the demo and look forward to playing the full game.

My Game Informer came in the mail today with the review to Final Fantasy XIII-2. They gave it a 8 out of 10, then went on bashing the game.

Because video game ratings scales now start at 8. Clearly giving an 8 is how he shows that he doesn't like the game...

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII-2

01/24/12 4:53 pm | #5

I loved the demo. I can't wait for the actual game to come out...on Justin Timberlake's b-day...Jan 31! lol

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII-2

01/24/12 7:11 pm | #6

Whine. I haven't finished 13 yet... but I really want to get the collector's edition of this one on day one.

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Re: Re: Final Fantasy XIII-2

01/25/12 12:53 am | #7

Quote by Ashley:

...on Justin Timberlake's b-day...Jan 31! lol

Banned.

Quote by kroberts11:

Whine. I haven't finished 13 yet...

Banned.

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Re: Re: Final Fantasy XIII-2

01/25/12 1:07 am | #8

Quote by kroberts11:

Whine. I haven't finished 13 yet... but I really want to get the collector's edition of this one on day one.

I am in the same boat. 13 has been sitting in my shelf collecting dust. I have 13-2 on pre-order, but I'm sure it is going to be sharing the same fate as 13 until after Mass Effect 3.

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII-2

01/25/12 1:14 am | #9

I bought XIII when it first came out, played about 3 hours of it, let a friend borrow it, haven't gone back to it, another of those games just sitting in my drawer on life support.

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII-2

01/26/12 9:18 am | #10

I can confidently say XIII is/was a good game. The biggest problem with it? It takes roughly 20 gameplay hours to get to the "good."

All the time before that is vague story, linear corridors, dodgy & unlikeable characters, and the longest RPG tutorial you've ever played.

But once you get those 20 or so hours in and the world "opens up," it becomes a fucking great game and a worthy successor to the Final Fantasy series' pedigree.

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII-2

01/26/12 10:10 am | #11

XIII is one of those unfinished games that is gathering dust on my shelf. It's also one of those games that I should finish and trade in for ME3. Then, I might think about XIII-2.

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Re: Final Fantasy XIII-2

01/26/12 10:58 am | #12

If you have to slog through 20 hours of putrid gaming sewage just to get to the tolerable home stretch of what the entire game should have been like. Simply to get some vague sense of nostalgia of what Final Fantasy's used to stand for before they tossed a decade of proven formula into the toilet (Seriously FFX was good and engaging after 20 minutes). I would just move on to a new series and save myself the heartbreak. Game Informer gave XIII-2 a 8/10. Which means it's somehow worse to them then the previous sequel attempt X-2 which got a inflated 8.8./10.

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