selnor said:
FF12 had love story but it didnt do anything with it. As for gameplay being dumbed down. Yes it is. For a start in FF13 there is absolutely no punishment for dying. You revert back to right before the battle you dies in and not your last save. That is dumbed down to the highest degree. And well most of the reports I have read say the combat is excruciatingly easy as is the game itself. Even heard reports of 30 hours to finish the game. Almost no bosses providing a challenge, and barely no grinding needed. That unfortunately is dumbed down. No exploration at all. Even 12 had exploration. That was 12's saving grace. I hope I enjoy it. But all the reports of missing gameplay, no overworld at all, no villages to stumble upon, no NPC's, no shops etc are all what made FF back in the day. My following comment is not a console war one, but a JRPG saving one. I am thankful that Mistwalker exist. They have kept the traditional combat as well as fantastic storytelling. How much of that is down to Hironobu is up to you. But the fact that FF was entirely his creation in the beginning and almost every FF from 1 - 9 had him create the story and game design is quite big. It's like having someone else take over Star Wars and making another 3 of them. Look at what happened to Rare. All I'm saying is it's obvious when you play through FF10 or 12 that they are vastly different to previous FF's. Some people are fine with that. But know loads that aren't. And m,any forums are full with long serving fans that aren't. Although they readily admit they still buy the next installment with hope. But it seems FF13 has taken an even further step away from it's roots. I would even say Lost Odyssey itself has more in common with the FF's of Snes and Ps1 days than FF10-13 does. |
1. Yeah so what, you said FF's since 10 put HUGE focus on love story, yet they really haven't. FF4, , FF8, FF9 had more of a love story than FF12
2. Punishment for dying? no wait you actually ENJOYED wasting time going back to the main menu, clicking load game & load file, waiting to load & then seeing the LOOOOONG cut scene before the boss battles........oooookay. I DO NOT see this as dumbed down at all.
3. 30 hours to finish the game.....have you heard more reports from proffessional reviewers & many more gamers saying its very hard? Ok lets leave that, MGS4 can apprently be finished in 2 hours too. All I know is that challenge is in the end relative, many many more people said its hard than easy.
4. Exploration....hmmmmm....in story mode you always have to go from point A to point B....yes there is no world map, that is what makes it seem very linear. I do not mind there being no exploration, as apart from pokemon I haven't bothered to explore in JRPG's, I usually go & do what the story tells me to do, or in the case of FF7 back then I got lost. YES its a negative to some.
5. No villages & town......the story of the game doesn't allow you to sit 7 have a nice chat with people in random towns. The world of FFXIII doesn't have many towns at all, pulse from the "pre release info from square is inhabited".
no NPC's is a downright lie, there are NPC's
no shops.....everything is done through online things as cocoon is big on online shopping, its the future deal with it 
. But TBH this is the only aspect where I'll agree they probably "dumbed down" the game. But seriously having no shops is no dealbreaker at all & if people are whining about it the games gotta be amazing as "no shops" atleast in my eyes is no biggie
FF 1 - 10 were with sakaguchi. He was very much involved with FFX too.
And lost oddesy....yes it may have more in common with FF than FF12 & posibly FF10 did...but so what, thats why it got lower review scores, it was been there done that.
Times change, accept it, I welcome change with FFXIII
