RPG Genre Discussion Thread

[lestatdark]

mjk45 said:
Impressions of FF13 Part 2.
I forgot to mention the battle system and upgrade paths earlier
I thought the battle system was okay but i like old school turned based systems where your tactics can play more of a part, but for a real time system it's pretty good way better than FF12.
FF13 item/weapon upgrading is needlessly convoluted you have items that grant a multiplier to the exp of an upgraded item these are mainly creature parts,like barbed tail or vibrant ooze and items that grant you exp points these tend to be mechanical like perfect conductor,ring joint etc, so you end up with along list of both these item types and then have to work out for your self whats the most cost effective way of upgrading and upgrade values change as your item levels up, because you are better off using just a handful of all those items if you don't want to waste millions of gill.

I just want to correct you in the last part of your FFXIII review

True, the system is extremely convoluted and most people get lost in it, but there's a formula to it. As you said, there are two type of parts, the Organical ones (which give you xEXP bonuses) and the Inorganical ones (which give you high EXP).

The formula to it, is to use between 32 of the Organical parts, that are worth 80 gil on the shops (that will boost the xEXP immediatly to x3) and after that, and this is important, use a Single type of Inorganical parts only. If you start using multiple Inorganical parts, each time you stop using an individual part, you'll lose the xEXP bonus. Instead, you'll have to use any individual part as a bulk. For example, imagine that you have Perfect Conductor x5 and randomly dispersed Inorganical parts. It's much better to use only the 5 Perfect Conductors in a row or buy more Perfect Conductors (before you use them), than just using the 5 Perfect Conductors and the rest of the Inorganical parts. 

That way, you'll guarantee that the 5 or more Perfect Conductors are all under the effect of the x3 Bonus, which will go down after you use them. 

Plus, it's true that upgrade values change for items, as you level up. But Weapons follow a strict formula to it:

- 50.000 exp for Tier 1 weapons to go from Lvl 1 to Lvl *
- 450.000 exp for Tier 2 weapons to go from Lvl 1 to Lvl *
- 1.500.000 exp for Tier 3 weapons to go from Lvl 1 to Lvl * 

As for accessories, each one has it's own individual value for going Lvl 1 to Lvl *, but there's a formula to it as well:

- Whenever you go to Lvl 2, you'll notice a slight increment to the next Lvl EXP. The difference between the Lvl 2 EXP and the Lvl 1 EXP gives you the amount of EXP increment for each subsequential Lvl.

- I'm going to use the Silver Bangle as an example. For Lvl 1 to Lvl 2, a Silver Bangle requires 200 EXP. For Lvl 2 to Lvl 3, it requires 256 EXP, which gives you 56 EXP increment. That increment is the same for LVL 2 to LVL 3, as you'll need 312 EXP for that level up.

As you can see, the system is complex and no where in the game it's explained, which is a shame, as most players get lost in it, and just approach it randomly, wasting tons of resources and much hard earned Gil (which in this FFXIII is extremely rare to get in high quantities, unless you farm for Platinum Ingots from Adamantoises or Perfumes from Sacrifices).