Final Fantasy XIII-2 is even better than you think it is

[2000cc]

A203D said:

Wagram said:

A203D said:

Wagram said:
I've been playing it for roughly 17 hours or so now, and I must say I liked it even at the start but it keeps getting better, and better. Don't really understand the criticism towards the story or the music myself.

I'm just assuming they would rather rave about mythical creatures coming back from the dead. Hehe.

I havent played it myself, but the chief criticism i read was about how the story is not well written. they cover up inconsistancies with a 'time paradox' wishy washy notion. apparently the characters are also not that good either. these are the same things that were wrong with the story of FF13 so it dosent really supprise me.

Well I disagree with them.

http://www.1up.com/news/op-ed-final-fantasy-xiii-2-end-beginning

http://gamasutra.com/view/news/39921/Questioning_the_vision_behind_Final_Fantasy_XIII2.php

I read bits of these, its a very critical look at Toriyama and Wantabte's writing ability.

would Christopher Nolan ever say: "(Time travel) This is more like a characteristic rather than a 'rule,' but, If you change the future, you change the past." it dosent bear thinking about how relaxed their ethos is to rules in storytelling. did Sakaguchi, Toriyama (Akira) and the other guy ever say this when they created the time travel design in Chrono Trigger...

i dont care if Toriyama or Wantabe need to go on a creative writing course; they have to look at this critically. its fine to have disagree, but there will be no FF series left to save, if this problem is not addressed.

i can understand some disagreements, but these claims are not unfounded. the writing in these games is not as good as when Sakaguchi was in charge. FF8 not included since he wasnt involved in that game, so it does show how this team came from that game into FF10, 10-2, Dirge of Cerberus, The 3rd Birthday and then FF13. (FF10 being the evident exception here because Sakaguchi did produce that game i believe).

it does also show in the juxtaposition of FF12's writing which is done by a completely different team; so by a comparasion i can see that there is a significant difference in the quality of the writing compared to FF13. and FF13-2 is not exempt from these problems according to a lot of reviewers.

I think those articles just highlight the disconnect between eastern writing styles & the average western fantasy fans level of comprehension. 13-2's story is far more intensive than 99% of western fantasy tales (including many western fantasy novels) & while XIII-2's story is at a quite standard level of complexity & 'quirkiness' for an eastern tale, it attracts tags like 'convoluted' or 'unfathomable' ot 'too vague/subtle' in the western worlds perception (just like X, XII & XIII did also). The FF series storytelling is maturing. X, X-2 XIII and the XIII's are far more intensive story & lore wise than earlier FF's like VII (which is basically just a modified space marine (or any genetically enhanced super soldier) story & very western styled overall) VI's (I love VI by the way so not hating on the game at all, but the story is not at the same level of intracacy as modern FF's) or IX (basically a disney level of storytelling & again quite western styled). Sakaguchi, while a great developer, made games with stories aimed at a far less mature portion of the eastern gaming market (and consequently greater accessability to those not used to that style of tale worldwide) than the current FF writers are aiming for. This is obviously just my perception of what is happening but having lived in Japan and having (Japanese) friends over there, this is what I personally have seen. Closing thoughts, I'd recommend playing XIII-2 for yourself & see what you think. I Imported it from Japan AND bought the English language version & don't regret either purchase (though I am yet to begin the english version)