I dont mind Saz's goofy side. He's a dad. But more importantly, I think his soft goofy dad side is something that he desperately doesnt want to lose despite the combat overcoming his life. He clearly cherishes his son, and wouldn't want his daily life to change his personality for his son.
I will stick up for Sahz's character because he's the only person in that game written as a likeable human being. Dude comes across as a regular dad trying to protect his family and keep his cool amidst all the anime bullshit he's being dragged into. Everyone else was either an active drain on my brain to watch, or so dull and annoying that I just didn't care. Give Sahz and his son their own game and get someone actually talented to direct it this time instead of the conceited hack who made FF13.
FF13 trilogy is the only game I revisited/played from start every year. I love the music, and how beautiful it is. And I really love the battle systems.
Me too! I know people complain about auto battle, but I feel they’re missing the point. It’s about the paradigms! And knowing when to switch and what roles to put together!
@@mhiggs8001 you can turn autobattle off by default in settings, why are there so many people so dumb that don't even kmow that? You people clearly never truly played this game, I mean who never open up there settings menu, basically no ome, ssttings menus have been around in videogames for basically ever and almost every single person pulls it up, heck I pulled it up when I first started pokemom games with pokemon yellow on the game boy color when I was 6 years old so don't give me this fake autonattle being on crap as that's a complete lie or a false rumor some nut made up.
It was a lot of “hallways” as people claim, but the world was incredibly well done visually. It really was a stunning, visually appealing world and the music was great as well. When playing FFXV I frequently run around with Sunleth Waterscape music playing in the background. My youngest daughter will go around humming it to herself as well. 😂🙈🙊
We've had a decade of open worlds flooding the market, a good chunk of them so bloated with pointless side quests no one wants to do. I think maybe the hallway complaint was a bit premature.
Yes but thats the only saving grace of the game is the visuals and animation but you strip those away and the story is at best concepts and at worst. Barely fit together for the final conclusion. Like I love the game but even I can take the nostalgic googles off and see what this title is truely.
I think the problem the hallway critique attempts to bring up is how much of a slog the game feels due to there being little to no respite, exploration, and the whole party being broken up for half of the total playtime. That and Hanging Edge has an awful design, both in how it affects gameplay and lore. I mean, it makes no sense to have hanging highways leading nowhere. The skybox is visually striking, but that's just about all that area has to offer. I enjoyed FFXIII for what it is. Played it multiple times, actually. However, when compared to other entries in the series, even the more linear ones, it does feel very claustrophobic until maybe Palamecia, as the level design is more open there, as is Gran Pulse and I'd even say the final stretch of the game back in Eden. It does drag on much longer than it should've, the 5th Ark being a perfect example of an area that could've been much shorter. I think this is why XIII-2 opted for open areas tied together by a time travel plot, and why Lightning Returns ended up having very open areas, for better or worse. Heck, the backlash to XIII's hallway-like level design led to the beautiful but blend first half of XV, where not only does the open world serves little purpose to the story, but it's also very shallow if you look at it close enough.
OK, but there are literally no people to interact with. It's empty in every sense of the word. XIII-2 shows how much improvement can be made by having other people to interact with.
I really liked 13 & 13-2. Lightning Returns is on my list of games to play one day. Maybe we will get a nice little collection at some point. They could clean up & streamline a few things (specifically I would like it if they let us do more than one open world quest at a time when we get to that point in the game). Rebalance and refine a couple of things. I would absolutely pick it up again (even though it is all perfectly playable on Xbox).
@@Coreisus No you actually change it to manual battle by default im settings options. Idk why so many people can't use their brain back then and open up the freaking optioms menu, like they claim they played the ga,e but never opened up the options menu before getting frustrated and quitting a game. I feel bad for the developers for this game not selling as well because people were wuite braim dead back then to be quite honest.
It's refreshing to hear from someone who does like FFXIII, I agree whole heartedly that it's an excellent game. It's my favorite combat system in the main series by far, and I love the story and characters. Great video!
The reason I love the combat system is that it’s not as easy as people try and make it. You need to constantly swap your paradigm to fit any situations. There are many different things to pay attention to. I also have played ff8 so I know how that is, and the junction thing I don’t hate, it is pretty fun for me, but I can say it’s too complicated for most people. This one doesn’t have near as much complexity to the startup, but requires more so flexibility. You need to try new things. If you’re dying to a boss, try switching around paradigms. If you’re dying in one hit, that’s your fault for probably skipping a lot of enemies lol. I’ve done that, it makes it a lot harder haha
@@deadfall3223let set aside combat mechanic for a moment and lets take a look at other thing around combat. 1. Character progression, is very linear. Basically hold button to progress. No decision and no build type. And the gear upgrade is super grindy at late game 2. Since the game split your party most of the time until chapter 11, the game basically *CHOSEN* the party member for you. You can't even switch Party Leader (before Chapter 11) and control other character beside Party Leader in combat. And if Party Leader is dead, it is GAME OVER 3. Gameplay Loop, since there is no exploration, side quest, side activity, or mini games. the gameplay loop from Chapter 1 to Chapter 11 is basically move forward, fight, move forward fight, cutscene, move forward, fight. At this point, people already tired of the combat bcs the gameplay loop itself is very repetitive. Even at Grand Pulse, most of side quest is Combat. Now with all other aspect I stated above. Even if combat mechanic is great, it is still feel very unsatisfying and repetitive.
1. Character progression has optional nodes? Disingenous comment. Gear upgrade is grindy, that I give. 2. OK fair, but I'd wager that Chapter 11 is the halfway point of the game. I do agree holding the player back from exploration and adjustment/free buildpathing until halfway through the game is iffy, but as long as you're not randomly collecting nodes and picking nodes you feel are important, and/or not grinding to the point where you dont need to choose between levelling up one role or another, there is some flexibility. 3. I think the game benefits from a lack of a gameplay loop. Things you do feel pointed and have a terminus. The combat itself is the highlight of the game, I'd mention. It's one of the best combat in the series because of the details - using an item right before getting hit cancels that knockback effect you get. Switching to a paradigm every 12s allows for a full ATB refresh. Due to this, some advanced players put double of the same paradigm to take advantage of this. Buffs and debuffs, and chain are extremely important, and due to the sheer number of multipliers, it is important to stack as many of these buffs/debuffs as you can while managing the rest of the battle. When you're not ridiculously overlevelled, FF13 is a pretty fun, high skill game, as long as you're not overlevelled. Most people don't do this, of course. I strongly recommend watching some FF13 speedruns, where the combat becomes so much more fun to watch. On another note, linear isn't bad. I understand "hallway simulator" is a disparaging comment used against FF13 pretty often. But it's much better than bloated open worlds like god awful starfield.
3:05 FF7 Remake has actually reused this style of battle gameplay but changed it to a much better version. I think the inability to really move around and dodge actively was the major thing that was missing and destroyed the feel for me. But then again it's an old title.
A huge diffence is if im controling Cloud and Cloud dies, I don't get a god damned game over, lol. Such a dumb setup when the bosses have instakill abilities. Remove one of them, and it would have worked. Dont get me wrong, i dont hate 13. It was a good game overall, but it had some issues, like the point above.
Oldee FF gamss were made more challenging because the gamers back then enjoyed more of a challenge and that made the game more fun. Btw this game is a cake walk if you use rpcs3 and your own owned copy of the game and use a save editor and add in accessories that have a 100% chamve to stop all status affects or add 3000% strength or def 300% or so forth.
The 13 trilogy absolutely deserves a next-gen remaster. I love all three games. I've played the entire trilogy multiple times. It's the main reason I still have my old PS3.
I think I pretty much agree with everything you say in this video. Finding a positive video on XIII is really refreshing, and lovely to see especially on 2022. Earned a like and sub from me homie
@@TheGameCupboard Do you plan to cover the story? If not, do you mind if I ask what is your opinion on it and the characters? I know that's a very, very divisive topic especially in today's times where people don't understand the meaning of opinions, but I'm just curious. Thanks for the response in advance
Refreshing? Every video on FF13 is positive these days. You'll struggle to find a video that talks about how trash the game truly is. I think there's something in the water
the thing that bothers me is there is no real explenation and background to pulse all of a sudden everyones dead no human alive on pulse also pulse fal cie having no inteligence seems weird like i would have liked to known more about fangs and vanilles past like what fal cie made them into l'cie in the first place
Late, but I have been playing Final Fantasy games since FF1 on the NES and I enjoyed the first two games in the trilogy. I haven't played Lightning Returns because I don't like the idea of a time limit. In 13, there are grind spots that I have created separate save files so that I can load them up during replays so I can avoid the grind. One is the part where you just have Hope an Vanille, when they are chasing after Snow and just after Vanille gets her first weapon. It is the best place in the game to farm Deceptisols and Fortisols. Every mob can drop one or the other, and there is a handy save point so you can save and restart, which re-spawns the mob. The new save file is at the point where you have 99 of each. Another spot is later, when you are in an area where the enemies can drop Aegisols. Same deal with a different save file where you have accumulated 99 of them. Saves a lot of time during replays. One note though. If you do this make sure that when you, for example, load the save file that has the 99 Deceptisols and Fortisols (which for me is save file 2), make sure to immediately save again in the save file 1 slot. When the new save file is loaded, future saves will be in that slot, so if you don't save it as save file 1, then save file 2 will become your default save, and the next time you play you will have to do the grind again.
Funny tip, once u learned lightning returns the time limit is never an issue, also there's a skill to stop it that can be spammed so u can enjoy it and depending on how much time it has passed bosses have variables forms
the XIII story line is absolutely beautiful. the graphics are stunning, the characters are easy to love and emphasize with. i just got stuck on the lightning hope boss fight and couldnt complete it so went to youtube to finnish the story
The music is AWESOME! I really enjoyed the game (I was a mere child of 55 when I first played it) though it isn't one of my all-time favourites. Saz is perhaps the most subtle character of the game: when he learns who is responsible for the fate of his son I reach for my hankie every time. Thanks for speaking up for this flawed but good FF game.
Yeah, so-this was my proper introduction to Final Fantasy and I still adore it to this day. I truly don’t get why it’s apparently so unpopular. More than anything, the idea of the story being incomprehensible is a goddamn zombie lie. People talk about “magibabble” and what they mean is lingo intrinsic to the story, because no shit. The game literally tells you what everything means in crazy detail. Just because you don’t have the attention span to take advantage of it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Game’s gorgeous, characters are great, combat’s fun, even just to watch, and the story’s not nearly as riddled with metaphor-speech as, say, Kingdom Hearts. And I love that too. 😝
The critic score is mostly positive because critics fall for the hype more than anybody especially back then that’s why every Zelda is damn Mary perfect 10 when we know that’s not true
Started my first playthrough a few weeks ago on my steamdeck, and with the negatively surrounding the game I went in with low expectations. About 40 hours in and I'm having a great time. I'm at the cradle & decided to go back to gran pulse and work through the missions since I basically just grinded the bohemoth/Dog thing on the northern highplain and moved on without really exploring GP. Ocerall this is a really fun Final Fantasy and most of the criticisms are a bit over-blown. 7/10 from me
FF13 is a C- game in a series that usually ranges between B- and A+. It's not a bad game. It's only bad when compared to the rest of the games in the series. Interestingly, for me, I had kind of the reverse levels of enjoyment with the 13 series. I liked 13 the least and enjoyed the sequels more. I don't mean this as a brag... but I didn't understand the difficulty complaints at all. I never got stuck. There are flat out overpowered paradigm combinations that can get you through the vast majority of encounters, only needing to switch it up when a boss or baddie is weak to something specific (and strong against everything else). Those mentioned overpowered combinations usually make the fights last a long time, and you usually get a low star rating, but who cares? The star rewards are never anything special (usually potions and the like) and the game IIRC doesn't keep a running total of your star ratings. The overall experience of 13, for me, was a "sigh" fest, bored out of my mind for huge sections of the game. But, as you said in your video, the story is pretty good. The characterization is good enough. I particularly like Lightning as a character. It's interesting to see how she develops over the entire series. All that said, I did "barely" manage to make myself finish it. It's not my least favorite in the series (that goes to FFX-2, which I couldn't finish), but it definitely does deserve the criticism, imo. Good game with many many flaws in a series full of great games.
The worst part of XIII is you run out of things to do after you FINALLY start to master and understand the paradigm shift mechanic and battle system. I remember saying "ohhhh" after completing all the missions on Gran Pulse and it all finally clicking together... but there's literally nothing else to do or fight after those. Except grind on the huge turtles for crafting materials to max out your weapons. This is a game that would of benefited greatly from DLC, specially considering that around this era, episodic DLC was a trending thing for many games.
@@RazuX5 no, I listened. I just thought they never made sense since they could be applied to other games in the series. “It’s too linear!” So was 10 “The characters are annoying!” I’ve heard the same about 12 and feel the same about 10-2 “The story is convoluted!” That’s been a thing since FF1 and isn’t exclusive to the FF series
I think Gran Pulse should have had regular NPC’s in various remote settlements. It would have made the world feel more realized. I mean people lived there before the Cieth stuff, obviously Vanille and Fang are examples. Should have had other survivors as well.
Target times are based on players magic/str stats so if you have a bunch of warriors wristbands / magicians marks etc and maxed T2 weapons it lowers the target times. However you are right that there are inconsistencies because for example an adamantoise gave me a target time of 10 mins (completed in 1 min 40) with 5 stars, and a bunch of low level enemies on the plains of pulse have a 10 second target time onced maxed crystarium. So unless the AI uses blitz/ruinga and you have haste+first strike its impossible to one shot them fast enough so you can easily get 3 stars against enemies you are way stronger than
It was ambitious and bold, but lacked cohesion on a dev level. Japanese studios are notorious for this. The game was trying to flagship a fully realized world with multiple followup titles. It showcased a complex, fast paced new battle system that required a lot of changes in the established formula. Sadly after the backlash they faced over, what was overall a fantastic demonstration of what was possible and what square could achieve, they were scared off the "13" brand. Looking back, it seems tragic to me that they not only 'cut' an entire games worth of content from FF13, but that they didn't feel comfortable addressing some of the flaws the community brought to their attention. Especially considering how common we see that in the industry just a few years later, with DLC, add ons and patches. FF13 asked a lot from the community, and we couldn't deliver. This game was plagued from the beginning in that it wasn't FF7R.
I actually think XIII had pretty decent combat. It was such a weird but satisfying mechanic. (That said, I'm not a big fan of stagger). The music is not my favorite, but it is definitely one of the most iconic soundtracks of FF imo. Whenever you hear FFXIII music, you can immediately identify it as FFXIII. It's so unique to the series. The only problem I really had with it was the difficult to follow plot. It was kind of esoteric, and I had a hard time understanding the villains or the character's motivations.
I’ve just played XIII and XIII-2 for the first time last month and honestly I’ve really enjoyed it. Kinda lukewarm on LR so far but overall I’m really on board with these. I regret that I fed into the negativity back when these came out and didn’t play them back then.
I had a lot of fun with it as well. Haters be damned, I liked the game and everyone is allowed their own opinion. I wanted to edit and add that I’m with you about the narrative reflecting the linearity of the game. I liked the sense of urgency I felt because we were supposed to be on the run! Idk I just really have a huge soft spot for this game and I absolutely love it.
As you said, ff7 remake has some points in common with ff13 But it does everything you mentioned much better -The upgrade system is so much better cause it gives you agency and you have to think about what you're going to unlock and use -The combat system while different is certainly more varied -The level design is far better, only few areas are overly long -There are actual things to do beside fighting constantly And i'm not saying ff7 remake is perfect either... I think it's an 8.5 out of 10... and if that is true, then ff13 is a 7 - 7.5 out of 10 at best
This game is one of my favourite games of all time! I remember seeing the trailers on tv and knew I had to play it. I believe I just started high school when it released and every day I couldn’t wait to get home just to sink into my chair and be fascinated by the graphics and gameplay. I’m still in awe because of this 💜 sure it does have its flaws and moans and groans, but I would play this FF game over all of them hahaha anyways great video on breaking it down 🔥🔥
I actually love 13 and 13-2. The combat system was my favorite in the series before ff7R. Hot swapping between paradigms, manipulating the ai's action by changes their stats, building up that stagger bar and swapping to cerberus for a massive damage dump. Timing ultimates to land right before staggers ends. I love it. My biggest complaint of ff7R was the poor implementation of the stagger system and the cutscenes that make bosses invincible mid combo. And 13-2 is just a blast for min maxing and monster customization.
Honestly, 13 has one of my favorite combat systems, probably why I enjoyed FF7R so much, as it's the spiritual successor to the Paradigm System. You can see traces of the Crystarium in the Weapon/Skill unlocks in FF7R, the way combat is handled and flows. Also, for those that don't know best Paradigm Decks always consist of all three party members as the same role. 3x Commandos, 3x Ravagers, etc. You only have to hit w/ a Commando once every few seconds to maintain your stagger gauge. Can quickly buff/debuff/heal etc. Stacking Classes is almost always superior to mixing classes in your Paradigm Deck. Also, timing your Paradigm Shift correctly can generate extra attacks or "interrupt" enemy actions. There's a lot of depth to the system that I appreciated over the argument of "Letting the game play itself". Especially for return playthroughs or enemies you have already fought, if you already know weaknesses, you can queue up spells you already know will work. I found myself only using Auto Battle for quick and easy fights/grinding, as selecting abilities/spells is almost always superior. Case in point, as Commando if you Autobattle, you can almost always notice the AI will select Ruin then Attack...Attack...etc. Blitz is almost always your highest single target AND multi target option, so selecting it is advantageous.
FF13 is one of my favorite FF series, but FF13-2 is even better. All the negatives you said about ff13 do get fixed in ff13-2 like saving the paradigms and the crystarium is quicker to level up and your leader dying doesnt end the game
The game has a good battle system, graphics, and decent characters. I think the hallways sometimes just go on way too long. I often found myself getting tired of how long I had to walk and just wanting to get to the next cut scene. Mainly because the story is intriguing. However, I don't think it does world building very well. If you really want to know what's going on you DO have to read. I think no matter what game that's bad design. Tell the story and the backstory in various ways IN THE GAME. A lot of people complain about it being linear. But really it's just boring level design. You don't need an open world. Final Fantasy 10 doesn't have an open world. But it does it's level design a lot better. Basically I don't think the game is as bad as SOME say it is. But it's eh in my opinion. Some of my favorite music in the series though.
That's funny that everyone always says 13 has great music, for me its always annoyed me how we went from a wide array of styles and songs, each one thematically appropriate to its FF's themes. Then comes 13 with literally 3 unique songs. 1 of which gets recreated into "different" songs over n over again. Like, we get the battle-theme song. We get the epic reveal song, which is just orchestral strings and sounds like that of FFX but they removed some of the layers and 2 of the notes at the end of every bar. And then the main theme song, which is recycled over n over just with drums this time or guitars in this version or vocals this time, or slower this time. I do enjoy 13, but I've always felt like the soundtrack was lame. Which was then jarring to see ppl defending the soundtrack.
I loved this video so much! Your opinions really resonated with me and are in line with the things I've been trying to tell FF fans who are harsh on 13 for years! I laughed a lot too, so thanks for that. You lifted my mental health immensely
Caccoon is beautiful. Defi open world FF13 trilogy remakes or Maybe just semi open world idk but the world of FF13 is so beautiful, that includes FF13 2 as well especially where lightning resides and I wanna know what happens after the ending of FF 13 2 not just an explanation I'm 13 3. SEMI OPEN WORLD
Really enjoyed the video and FF13 while very flawed is a beautiful game to me especially artistically also 2nd form Orphan took me a good few tries too my first time then once finished I had a 20 minute battle but found out later that he's weak to Vanile's poison and it melts his HP in about 4 minutes on its own it's crazy 😅 also I agree about opening chests whenever we want but my guess is devs lock it off so you defeat the enemy guarding it and "earn it"
Honestly? I actually prefer the corridors and smaller areas to huge empty open world games where you spend 90% of the time just running aorund with nothing to do. Star Ocean 6 was a good example of being too big for its own good. Sometimes smaller is better, when it comes to map design. Not every game needs to be Breath of the Wild or Genshin Impact big. Especially if the dev team fails to actually fill that void with life and things to do. Because then its just a massive waste of travel time.
It’s an RPG though, it’s expected and if you don’t like that then you might as well play a different genre that suits your tastes. That would be like me saying I hate fast paced 1st person shooters then a popular franchise like COD for example decides to make a game where it’s not a shooter at all but a strategy type of game that requires tactical thinking and then acting surprised when the general fanbase hates it because it’s not what they wanted or like to play. Now that’s not to say franchises shouldn’t do spin offs that do things a little differently cause it can work and some have been successful but however when you are making a Mainline title game that isn’t a spin off then people are generally gonna expect the traditional features that normally come with it otherwise when you don’t then then it might as well be a completely different game altogether.
@@RazuX5 Well linearity isn't the issue here, after all FFX was just as linear as FFXIII, and just like FFXIII most area in FFX were just corridors yet FFX is considere one of the best in the series. I think the problem with XIII is on top of being linear the area are long VERY long, and this area really drags on some are worst than other (looking at you Chapter 10), but yeah I think this is an even bigger problem than the linearity itself, it's the fact each area in XIII drag longer than necessary.
It's an absolutely amazing game. I did need help from my friend to actually TEACH me how to properly play the game as far as combat was concerned. but now it's my favorite go to final fantasy game. I love the story and it's character developments
I love gran pulse so much. Post game and grinding crystarium at the caverns or adamantoise is unmatched. I know it sounds lousy but the game is at its peak when you have all the skill trees maxed.
With the combat be "automated" and people saying the game plays itself? Clearly didn't do shit in Gran Pulse and I did ALL that craziness and can definitely say in confidence they played the game lazy and actively chose not to engage with it in a deeper level. In GP on the later Cieth missions maaaaan I was paradigm shifting like CRAZY just to survive all the bullshit they throw at you! I damn near had the crystarium maxed out in all Jobs for everyone...idt I've ever grinded that much in any FF and I was still getting damn near one shot. I do not recommend anyone do that but it has been done lol I had like a month to myself and the only game I could play at the time and was depressed so I definitely needed that extra "thing" to keep my mind off shit. I liked it okay before but haven't played it since. Good video man
FF13 is my third favorite FF after FF7 and FF8! Hell, Lightning Returns is easily my favorite PS3 game due to the focus on my favorite character of the series, Lightning, the battle system, the music, the outfits, the replayability, etc. I loved the story of FF13, how it deals about a bunch of outcasts who still fight for the people who misunderstand and exclude them because the greater good is what is important. I never understood the hate for the linearity when FF10 was praised and is also linear. Played the game many times and I hope for a remaster with a few tweaks to enhance it.
I will say, I’ve tried playing 10, I just can’t get into it. I don’t know, Tidus irritates me, mostly just because I know the dreaded Scene exists, his laugh. Otherwise the story just doesn’t catch me, the pacing feels way too slow then too fast, it’s like pick a pacing lol. It’s just my opinion and how it feels to me, but I am happy people can enjoy it. Everyone has their own preferences. I also played ff7 and found it felt overhyped. It’s good, Cloud actually kinda pissed me off after he was lost to the party, since getting him back, he’s simply been deluding himself? It was essentially “he was there and simply placed himself where zack was” it just ruined him for me, until then I liked him so much. That said, it was a really good game, even if I felt it received too much love. As in people constantly hyped up the game so much that it’s like it’s on a pedestal. I also never really cared about Aerith, until remake. That’s the only Aerith I really care about, otherwise she felt blank, just the personality of a paper bag haha. I understand people love it, people like Aerith, but it just didn’t feel great to me. Again, I’m happy people enjoyed it but that’s how it felt to me.
Side note on ff10, I haven’t done enough to truly be able to say if it’s great or not, mostly because I couldn’t bring myself to continue when I Troyes it, and I don’t actually own the game now.
Platinum trophy achiever in the game here. Confusing story (poorly presented). I couldn't stand most of the characters (Fang is the only one I liked). Hallway simulator. Boring paradigm system of combat. One of the few FFs I never played twice and sold when I was done. No regrets in getting rid of that disc.
FFXIII was good but the fighting system took up to 20 hours to fully unlock and wrap your head around. By then, some ppl gave up on the title. Once you understand the "stick shift" and paradigm shifting fighting system, it becomes a joy! You must have patience with this title.
It was mostly the shock of it at the time. The visuals were toptier that still hold up today. 12 was so open and customizable right from the start that a new entry that follows the theme of slaves to fate right down to its progression systems was offensive. It seemed like a step back in every way, and the economy and weapon upgrade systems made no sense whatsoever- exactly how many shattered bones and particle accelerators can you attach to a sword? Why are these shopping points everywhere in places the government says fugitives are? Who installed them on pulse and why do the shops work during the climactic invasion? It was development-hell: the game. Some good ideas that suffered from bad management.
@@TheGameCupboard im replaying a second time now myself and both times it's way better than I remembered the first time. Snow is still an idiot, Sazh is more reasonable, Hope is more relateable and Lightning is as awesome and funny as ever. You just have to roll with a lot of ridiculous things for the spectacle. I think its valuable to acknowledge what went wrong with it- and that list isnt short.
FFX was pinnacle of summon, both big damage attacks and bye and fully controllable. It really went downhill from there like you said, especially in FFXII and XIII.
I bought FF XIII for PS3 two weeks after its release in 2010, but I didn´t play it until summer of 2020. during that 10 years I hear a lot of shit about this game, almost everyone hates this title, for one reason or another. I´m a huge FF fan and XIII was meant to be my last main new entry in the series so it was a special game to me even before playing it, so 10 years after it release and with the shit storm about this title been left behind I just play it without any preset mind state, ignoring everything people said about it during the last 10 years.....and I truly love it, the combat system is one of the best among all FFs, it is fast, spectacular and stunning enemies is always a pleasure, the level of strategy that some battles require surpasses any other FF main title by far, it is a challenging game that demands your 5 senses but really makes the effort worthwhile, it is linear, but FF X is linear too and no one complains about it, and at least FF XIII has a true open world huge area in Gran Pulse and I enjoy it a lot. The main characters are great, and like true people, they are not likeable in the beggining because they had a lot of stress and anxiety over their shoulders but the more you go on with them, the more you like them. As a huge FFVII, FFVIII and FFX fan i´ve never understand how a fan of those 3 titles would not enjoy FFXIII, because its main source of inspiration are clearly those 3 FFs. There is (at least for me) just one huge mistake in this game conception or structure: there is a huge lack of NPCs to interact with, just 3 or 4 places in Cocoon where you can hear NPCs talking between them or saying something, no one to talk to in Gran Pulse.....that makes the game a little hollow in the interaction aspect , and there should have been more moments like when you stopped at Hope´s house and you can check photos or objetcs in his house......but for anything else this game is a master piece of JRPG
I had loads of fun with the first and second game in this trilogy. Snow was actually my favourite character which often gets me some side eye but oh well. Haha.
Just started playing it for the very first time few days ago, I'm really enjoying it, sure the story and the writing are messy and can be cringe sometimes, but the gameplay is very addictive, it's genuinely fun.
Great review and fair criticism. The trilogy is my favorite FF games of the franchise. The combat system for all three games are the best in the franchise. Flaws I'd agree with are the map being confusing to read, accepting only one cieth mission at a time (this was really annoying, but the combat and strategies I had to come up with to beat some of them kept me interested in completing all of them), of course the party leader dead game over mechanical. In addition, a few more issues I had that u didn't mention: long pose animation when shifting paradigm for the first time in a battle(really hate this lol), no running animation to help speed up the pace especially on Gran Pulse. For the summons, they are apparently really effective but only if u know how to use them in combat, so the game I'd say didn't explain how to use eidolons properly or they could have made it simpler, it was by watching a speed runner that I understood how they should be used to totally destroy enemies very quickly. Great game I tell u. I got xiii2 last year and enjoyed it , then xiii3 right after and boy I tell u....I never expected that I'd like lightning returns over the original xiii. The combat is perfect in xiii3 and the new approach to have open world zones was refreshing and welcomed, the links between the past games and xiii3 in each environment was breath taking to see. Of course it's not perfect but it's a really good rpg game if not ff and trust me that combat system is the peak of ff games in my opinion, I don't think there'll ever be another one as good. Lol I never liked dressing up lightning this much n xiii3 made it excellent. Only the story was kinda not to my taste but hey its fiction n fantasy. You should review xiii3 one day. Currently I want the trilogy to come to ps4 n 5 now 🥺
Best combat in the franchise? Have you played this amazing gameplay called FF7R? I actually dislike LR gameplay....I just don't understand the praise. It made me not play the game. I liked 13-2s.
@@delsingray5923 Yes I've played FF7R twice and I can declare that all FF13s combat mechanics where better....they r the perfect hybrid giving both strategy in turn base and real time action. And I also thought I'd not like LR combat but it blew my mind how addicted I got to it , changing my schematas and putting on different abilities to suit the battle situation. 7R took most inspiration from LR and the other 2 13 games.....but people still choose to be hypocritical and not give the game its praise.
13 was the beginning of the end for me.... 12 was the last good game...the series is unrecognizable now...The only good things recently have been the pixel remasters, and Zodiac Age... and the cleaned up ports. Beyond that... I consider the series to be dead. And I can't get into the FF7 remake.. it's beautiful... butI hate the gameplay.
I'm just up to gran pulse right now and I'll be damned if your spoilers are going to ruin this for me! Bummed though I really wanted to hear your matured thoughts I'll revisit after I'm done, hard to believe that the video description that reads is ffxiii worth playing in 2022 but still contains spoilers. I'll see you in 20-30 hours
I loved FFXIII and XIII-2 (haven't played XIII-3) and never really understood why they got so much hate. Solid games with nice visuals, good combat and great music.
I remember not hating XIII for the most part, I had my gripes with it but I enjoyed the story for sure...XIII-2 however...I just didn't like, I thought the story as well as the characters were pretty boring and most of the dungeon were tedious. I never played XIII-3 for that reason :thinking: I didn't even bother looking at gameplay, I was just so done with XIII after 2.
For a little while, Squaresoft/SE was releasing international versions of their games. The original Japanese FFVII didn't have Ruby, Emerald, or a fightable Diamond Weapon. FFX had the Dark Aeons, FFX2 had new dress spheres and FFXII had a revised Zodiac license board. Sad that they ended it at XII because XIII may have been the one that most needed it. It has a very good foundation but needed some small tweaks to work out a number of the issues with this game. Its currently the only one other than XI that isnt playable on PS5 now so maybe there's hope for an improved remaster trilogy.
Fun fact, you do NOT need to grind in CH11, so long as you kill every enemy at least once and do the ceith missions you can easily get to the final boss without fighting an enemy multiple times, I did this with sazh, vanille, and snow and never had to grind against enemies once, even killing king behemoths right when I got to gran pulse, though prime cactaurs took giving sazh cure and upgrading his deneb duelers to the canopus amps before having enough magic to be able to outheal the damage and dish it back with his commando role, the only time grinding is even a little necessary is post game and getting your final weapons
i think the reason why grand pulse seems either great or terrible to people is because you either like the on rails design of the first half of the game, with it's fast paced action, cutscenes and boss fights, or you dislike it because theirs no open exploration like with other ff games, and depending on how you feel about the first half will directly effect how you feel about the second half of the game
You can turn auto battle off by default in settings, anyone who mentioms auto battle being a problem didn't even play the game and check the settings, they just hated it for the sake of hating it for who kmows why stupidity maybe? I play this game evsry year alomg with Tales of symphonia and graces f and never gets old always so much fun :).
Lightning ditching Sazh earlier was because she knew he would want to kill Sarah if he found out lightning was looking for the le cie that got them all purged in the first place.
This is a great, and positive review. I always found it weird that many of the most hated things of 13 (linearity/hallways, game playing itself, crystarium) were used in games that people love- specifically 10 & 7R. I have been defending this title since those two games don’t get hate for using the same setup. Recently played 16, and the whole time was thinking how much I’d rather be playing 13. Revisiting 13 for the first time since launch is a trip and an absolute delight. Since 2010, I played 13-2 and LR at launch, as well as read the novels and played Type 0 (uses worldbuilding concepts but not in quite the same way). Besides Pulse, which kind of destroyed my will to live due to it annihilating the pace of the game, I enjoyed the heck out of my replay. Game still looks incredible, paradigms are a blast, music is phenomenal, plot is much more enjoyable already having familiarity with the concepts. I wasn’t enamored of this game when I first played it, but it’s aged well enough to now be counted among my favorites in the series. Plus, it was exactly the title I needed to cleanse the disappointment of 16 from my mind.
No idea how anyone could find XVI disappointing, but then I'm also firmly in the "XIII was a slap in the face" camp, so different strokes for different folks or something I guess ...
@@FelixS. oh, IX is in the top 5 as well, most definitely. First FF I ever played back in 99. Although I may have enjoyed X just a tiny smidge more. Or maybe that was just the novelty of it.
Just finished this for the first time. I’m 41, and I loved it so I couldn’t wait to finally watch all the reviews (mostly bad) about this game. Thank you for highlighting what makes it awesome. No game is perfect, but this one is ranking really high up there now for me. Then again, I’m one who loves FF8 too - maybe I have soft spot for black sheep, lol
No it doesn't. The game is awesome The score on metacritic has gone up over the years because a) neutral people playing it who dont know about the hate / aren't sheeps, and b) some that hate it replay it and realise they were wrong It has some of the best combat / gameplay in the entire history of Final Fantasy. Essentially it's a job/class FF where you can switch instantly on the fly to any combination. This is why I also love the online shopping feature at save points because its essentially being able to buy/upgrade on the fly via save points. There are enough save points in the game to be almost as good as the manual saving anywhere in other videogames With regards to autobattle vs selecting abilities you are correct. The AI is very intelligent (for the most part) so it's selecting what you would have done just faster because if you select abilities manually it's obviously slower than them already being there. Its like a robotic version of you lol. Postgame though selecting manually is optimal against the optional content that's hard (manually selecting certain buffs and debuffs first because the AI sometimes prioritises ones you don't want). Also the player might want to queue up 6 different abilities (deprotect/deshell/imperil/poison/slow/curse) than 6 identical ones that the AI does (deprotect x6). However you can cancel that string as soon as one lands so this isnt too much of an issue However the thing that the haters don't understand about the battle system in this game is that the true battle system is paradigm switching, staggering, debuffing/buffing, and equipment upgrade maxing etc. Autobattle cannot replicate a human paradigm switching intelligently in reaction to the battle. The downside is that you have to wait until chapter 10 for this because before that it is mainly forced two person parties, a forced leader, and not much paradigm switching / staggering With regards to random battles vs seeing enemies on screen, again I agree random battles are just a chore (even in FF13-2 where they can be avoided to a degree) With regards to linearity I don't mind it because in general with open world games like Skyrim I just end up sidequesting for 40 hours and forget about the story, and just end up trivialising the difficulty. This can't be done on FF13 because of the reason you mentioned...crystarium caps at carious points of the story. Also it makes the reward mean more. There is something very cathartic about seeing "crystarium expanded" or "Atb Gauge +1" Okay now for the downsides of FF13: Party Leader dying Forced parties until chapter 10 Gil is hard to come by Summons (outside of blocking attacks or downing turtles they are fairly weak) Paradigms resetting when editing battle team (I think it would have been awesome if they let you have say 5 palettes of Paradigms. Something similar to say the reserve schemata in LR). They could do this with equipment too as some videogames have a "switch gear" option to just transfer everything instantly Chests being locked if enemies are alerted to your presence (some of these are impossible to avoid). For the same reasons you gave I 100% agree. It's in other videogames and I too dislike it No fixed mini-map (it rotates based on your direction) The camera in general is fairly annoying as it tried to hard to be bothered cinematic and player controlled making it virtually impossible to pre empt some enemies because the camera does everything to make it impossible to see the enemy ^most of this are just minor annoyances at best though. The only thing I disagree with in your video is that Pulse is bad. I really loved how the crystarium and battle team opens up, and the postgame but this video was really good 👍 Earned a subscriber 🎉 PS: I also agree about FF12's gambit system being full on awesome sauce.
Even if you're forced with some party and leaders until the last part of chapter 9, there are many way to enjoy the Battle System in earlier chapters. For example, Ravageur VS Commando. When you don't have access to Sazh, it's better to actually attack enemies on their elemental weakness(es). Lightning does more damage in Ravageur than in Commando (against Aster Protoflorian for example). This mechanic is very interesting to do, but completely useless in later chapters because you have access to Sazh's En-Spells. About money, you can easily get money in earlier chapters by just selling the weapons and accessories you don't use. Everything can be bought later in the game (except elemental Rings, but you can get some by dismantling Elemental Charms, only obtainable in chapter 11). So money is not a problem at all in this game.
@@groudonvert7286the things I listed I don't care about but they are objective negatives about the game that affect the majority. Its obviously better if you can play whoever you want from the start but I still don't mind the dual character arcs because it gets you invested in the characters As for the gil comment not everyone is farming incentive chips on the ship. Before and after this point there isn't really anything better until you grind a lot to beat turtles. I did farm incentive chips but I am not the average player.
@@nezkeys79 You don't need to farm in the ship (or in Hope's house) either. Selling what you get from the chests is more than enough. Especially early game to get strong equipments and weapons as earlier as after Dreadnought. It's stupid how much the game becomes trivial with the right party just with the stuff you get from the Chests. But it's a thing that Casual Plavers don't know.
@groudonvert7286 nah. The gil casual people find just as they go is not enough to upgrade to OP stuff. You need to farm the ship for chips, or farm something on pulse (which won't happen consistently for a long time after arriving on pulse). Unless they abuse summon sazh method or summon death method. Most casuals won't do either method You also said the same thing I said again. Casual players aren't speedrunners who know exactly what is worth upgrading and exactly what the best party is. They just use Lightning Fang Hope cause they read it in a forum and have no clue about the gil. I'm pretty sure I have spoken with you before on other videos about this so why have you replied to me 4 months later on a different video to "flex" your speedrunner nonsense again 😅
Yeah, no... The poor level design can't be excused by simply saying "well, we are constantly forced to run toward the goal" It's not a metaphor, it's bad... and it is bad in both the linear areas of cocoon and pulse open field Both approachs are equally badly executed for different reasons
@@TheGameCupboard I actually felt you didn't go too much into the story and focusing more on the gameplay after the initial part of the story so I (personally) don't feel much has been spoiled in that respect.
Its a great game but not a great Final Fantasy. Square could have called something other than Final Fantasy and fans would not have been mad. I think its a great story with some great philosophical themes with a really engaging battle system tied to the unfortunately bad that is the hallway simulator and an unoptimized menu.
13 would be better if the cutscenes took place where the characters are, and then we the player moved the party to the next area. Like FFX. But instead, every major cutscene leads to a new area. Which makes it feel like a series of disconnected hallways. And also jarring. Compared to FFX where we always know where we are cuz we're the reason the party is traveling. That little change would've made all the difference in FFXIII's perception.
For me personally. Yes. Its still one of my least favorite FF in the series. The lore and world building is interesting but the way its told is my biggest problem. I didn't remember the story until you talked about. So I didn't like or understand the story the first time. Characters are ok but don't really like any of them. Combat is ok but not my favorite. Also not a fan of the over dramatic drama with the characters. Its the first FF in the series where I spent 80hrs and felt like it wasn't worth it... FF series has so many games and each one going to hit harder for others. I can respect people that like this game. It does have some wonderful things to love. It just never clicked or stayed with me after I beat it. I never any bothered to play the expansion to this game. Nice video. I like hearing people different views on games I didn't enjoy to see if it changes my views or challenges me try again (Sadly. I still don't want to give it another try).
I'm in the middle of the video so idk if you address this later, but each eidolins gauge fills up by using the primary roles of the character they represent. Odin is a breeze if you take advantage of the fact that lightning and hope share 2 roles
XIII is my favorite mainline game, deserving of criticism sure, but the amount of hate it got was way overblown. It's a shame really, a trilogy remaster on modern consoles and PC with some minor tweaks (like a chapter select in the first game so you can go back and grab any missing bestiary logs or explore old favorite areas) and a consistent 60fps would be incredible but it seems like Square isn't willing to give these games another chance to shine. Regardless of my (or anyone else's) opinion(s) on the matter is, it does NOT deserve to be forgotten. I will stan this game and it's sequels til the day I die.
It's so funny that you loved the jacket patches. I absolutely hated it.. and it was kinda the final nail in the coffin for me. Like... they couldn't give him and actual weapon to swap out? It's absurd.
I dont mind Saz's goofy side. He's a dad. But more importantly, I think his soft goofy dad side is something that he desperately doesnt want to lose despite the combat overcoming his life. He clearly cherishes his son, and wouldn't want his daily life to change his personality for his son.
Yeah that's a good point to be fair
Sazh was one of the better characters in the party.
Sazh was the only character i liked.
Agreed, Sazh was the most likeable character. And he got Haste first
I will stick up for Sahz's character because he's the only person in that game written as a likeable human being. Dude comes across as a regular dad trying to protect his family and keep his cool amidst all the anime bullshit he's being dragged into.
Everyone else was either an active drain on my brain to watch, or so dull and annoying that I just didn't care.
Give Sahz and his son their own game and get someone actually talented to direct it this time instead of the conceited hack who made FF13.
FF13 trilogy is the only game I revisited/played from start every year. I love the music, and how beautiful it is. And I really love the battle systems.
Me too! I know people complain about auto battle, but I feel they’re missing the point. It’s about the paradigms! And knowing when to switch and what roles to put together!
@@mhiggs8001 the third one bugs me because a couple of dlc outfits makes the game super easy
Agree and that music is top notch
@@mhiggs8001 you can turn autobattle off by default in settings, why are there so many people so dumb that don't even kmow that? You people clearly never truly played this game, I mean who never open up there settings menu, basically no ome, ssttings menus have been around in videogames for basically ever and almost every single person pulls it up, heck I pulled it up when I first started pokemom games with pokemon yellow on the game boy color when I was 6 years old so don't give me this fake autonattle being on crap as that's a complete lie or a false rumor some nut made up.
It was a lot of “hallways” as people claim, but the world was incredibly well done visually. It really was a stunning, visually appealing world and the music was great as well.
When playing FFXV I frequently run around with Sunleth Waterscape music playing in the background. My youngest daughter will go around humming it to herself as well. 😂🙈🙊
We've had a decade of open worlds flooding the market, a good chunk of them so bloated with pointless side quests no one wants to do. I think maybe the hallway complaint was a bit premature.
Yes but thats the only saving grace of the game is the visuals and animation but you strip those away and the story is at best concepts and at worst. Barely fit together for the final conclusion. Like I love the game but even I can take the nostalgic googles off and see what this title is truely.
It is as „hallway“ as Final Overrated X.
I think the problem the hallway critique attempts to bring up is how much of a slog the game feels due to there being little to no respite, exploration, and the whole party being broken up for half of the total playtime. That and Hanging Edge has an awful design, both in how it affects gameplay and lore. I mean, it makes no sense to have hanging highways leading nowhere. The skybox is visually striking, but that's just about all that area has to offer.
I enjoyed FFXIII for what it is. Played it multiple times, actually. However, when compared to other entries in the series, even the more linear ones, it does feel very claustrophobic until maybe Palamecia, as the level design is more open there, as is Gran Pulse and I'd even say the final stretch of the game back in Eden. It does drag on much longer than it should've, the 5th Ark being a perfect example of an area that could've been much shorter.
I think this is why XIII-2 opted for open areas tied together by a time travel plot, and why Lightning Returns ended up having very open areas, for better or worse. Heck, the backlash to XIII's hallway-like level design led to the beautiful but blend first half of XV, where not only does the open world serves little purpose to the story, but it's also very shallow if you look at it close enough.
OK, but there are literally no people to interact with. It's empty in every sense of the word. XIII-2 shows how much improvement can be made by having other people to interact with.
I really liked 13 & 13-2. Lightning Returns is on my list of games to play one day.
Maybe we will get a nice little collection at some point. They could clean up & streamline a few things (specifically I would like it if they let us do more than one open world quest at a time when we get to that point in the game). Rebalance and refine a couple of things. I would absolutely pick it up again (even though it is all perfectly playable on Xbox).
Sadly it doesn't seem like that will ever happen. They want us to just forget it exist
Auto-Battle doesn't choose the best options. It chooses the most basic pattern to get you through.
I love the manual options
Not always. It can choose what you were going to choose anyway and it is more optimal to auto (I've done both plays). Its well enough.
@@delsingray5923 oh yea, so you have to do a manual move to switch what the auto does?
Interesting.
@@Coreisus No you actually change it to manual battle by default im settings options. Idk why so many people can't use their brain back then and open up the freaking optioms menu, like they claim they played the ga,e but never opened up the options menu before getting frustrated and quitting a game. I feel bad for the developers for this game not selling as well because people were wuite braim dead back then to be quite honest.
@@StarAce2-n1p I don't think you understood what we were talking about
It's refreshing to hear from someone who does like FFXIII, I agree whole heartedly that it's an excellent game. It's my favorite combat system in the main series by far, and I love the story and characters. Great video!
Agree 😊
lol I think it's the worst combat in the series. Even worst than 8 junction system.
The reason I love the combat system is that it’s not as easy as people try and make it. You need to constantly swap your paradigm to fit any situations. There are many different things to pay attention to. I also have played ff8 so I know how that is, and the junction thing I don’t hate, it is pretty fun for me, but I can say it’s too complicated for most people. This one doesn’t have near as much complexity to the startup, but requires more so flexibility. You need to try new things. If you’re dying to a boss, try switching around paradigms. If you’re dying in one hit, that’s your fault for probably skipping a lot of enemies lol. I’ve done that, it makes it a lot harder haha
@@deadfall3223let set aside combat mechanic for a moment and lets take a look at other thing around combat.
1. Character progression, is very linear. Basically hold button to progress. No decision and no build type. And the gear upgrade is super grindy at late game
2. Since the game split your party most of the time until chapter 11, the game basically *CHOSEN* the party member for you. You can't even switch Party Leader (before Chapter 11) and control other character beside Party Leader in combat. And if Party Leader is dead, it is GAME OVER
3. Gameplay Loop, since there is no exploration, side quest, side activity, or mini games. the gameplay loop from Chapter 1 to Chapter 11 is basically move forward, fight, move forward fight, cutscene, move forward, fight.
At this point, people already tired of the combat bcs the gameplay loop itself is very repetitive. Even at Grand Pulse, most of side quest is Combat.
Now with all other aspect I stated above. Even if combat mechanic is great, it is still feel very unsatisfying and repetitive.
1. Character progression has optional nodes? Disingenous comment. Gear upgrade is grindy, that I give.
2. OK fair, but I'd wager that Chapter 11 is the halfway point of the game. I do agree holding the player back from exploration and adjustment/free buildpathing until halfway through the game is iffy, but as long as you're not randomly collecting nodes and picking nodes you feel are important, and/or not grinding to the point where you dont need to choose between levelling up one role or another, there is some flexibility.
3. I think the game benefits from a lack of a gameplay loop. Things you do feel pointed and have a terminus. The combat itself is the highlight of the game, I'd mention.
It's one of the best combat in the series because of the details - using an item right before getting hit cancels that knockback effect you get. Switching to a paradigm every 12s allows for a full ATB refresh. Due to this, some advanced players put double of the same paradigm to take advantage of this. Buffs and debuffs, and chain are extremely important, and due to the sheer number of multipliers, it is important to stack as many of these buffs/debuffs as you can while managing the rest of the battle. When you're not ridiculously overlevelled, FF13 is a pretty fun, high skill game, as long as you're not overlevelled.
Most people don't do this, of course. I strongly recommend watching some FF13 speedruns, where the combat becomes so much more fun to watch.
On another note, linear isn't bad. I understand "hallway simulator" is a disparaging comment used against FF13 pretty often. But it's much better than bloated open worlds like god awful starfield.
3:05 FF7 Remake has actually reused this style of battle gameplay but changed it to a much better version. I think the inability to really move around and dodge actively was the major thing that was missing and destroyed the feel for me. But then again it's an old title.
A huge diffence is if im controling Cloud and Cloud dies, I don't get a god damned game over, lol. Such a dumb setup when the bosses have instakill abilities. Remove one of them, and it would have worked.
Dont get me wrong, i dont hate 13. It was a good game overall, but it had some issues, like the point above.
well ff7r combat was derived from ff15 in a a lot of ways so if you enjoy ff7r combat you should check out 15
Oldee FF gamss were made more challenging because the gamers back then enjoyed more of a challenge and that made the game more fun. Btw this game is a cake walk if you use rpcs3 and your own owned copy of the game and use a save editor and add in accessories that have a 100% chamve to stop all status affects or add 3000% strength or def 300% or so forth.
The 13 trilogy absolutely deserves a next-gen remaster. I love all three games. I've played the entire trilogy multiple times. It's the main reason I still have my old PS3.
Play it on series X. It is basically a remaster.
I agree!!!
Guys like this: they should remaster every game recurrently after release
@@MrKrewiestop crying
Well you should be happy they are doing it ✌️
I think I pretty much agree with everything you say in this video. Finding a positive video on XIII is really refreshing, and lovely to see especially on 2022. Earned a like and sub from me homie
Thanks man, much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed it.
@@TheGameCupboard Do you plan to cover the story? If not, do you mind if I ask what is your opinion on it and the characters? I know that's a very, very divisive topic especially in today's times where people don't understand the meaning of opinions, but I'm just curious.
Thanks for the response in advance
I like final fantasy 13 it my favorite
Refreshing? Every video on FF13 is positive these days. You'll struggle to find a video that talks about how trash the game truly is. I think there's something in the water
@@FinalFantasyXDen-br4to Or some people just enjoy the game. Doesn't mean you have to. 🤷
It's crazy the different experiences you can have with bosses depending on what party you take in
the thing that bothers me is there is no real explenation and background to pulse all of a sudden everyones dead no human alive on pulse also pulse fal cie having no inteligence seems weird like i would have liked to known more about fangs and vanilles past like what fal cie made them into l'cie in the first place
There is in the lore texts in the menu.
I’m so gratified that someone else didn’t like the big pulse map. I skipped it I wanted to move on. I tried a few, got annoyed, and left
Late, but I have been playing Final Fantasy games since FF1 on the NES and I enjoyed the first two games in the trilogy. I haven't played Lightning Returns because I don't like the idea of a time limit. In 13, there are grind spots that I have created separate save files so that I can load them up during replays so I can avoid the grind. One is the part where you just have Hope an Vanille, when they are chasing after Snow and just after Vanille gets her first weapon. It is the best place in the game to farm Deceptisols and Fortisols. Every mob can drop one or the other, and there is a handy save point so you can save and restart, which re-spawns the mob. The new save file is at the point where you have 99 of each. Another spot is later, when you are in an area where the enemies can drop Aegisols. Same deal with a different save file where you have accumulated 99 of them. Saves a lot of time during replays. One note though. If you do this make sure that when you, for example, load the save file that has the 99 Deceptisols and Fortisols (which for me is save file 2), make sure to immediately save again in the save file 1 slot. When the new save file is loaded, future saves will be in that slot, so if you don't save it as save file 1, then save file 2 will become your default save, and the next time you play you will have to do the grind again.
That's actually a really cool idea, I've never thought about doing that. I bet a similar method would work with the others too
Funny tip, once u learned lightning returns the time limit is never an issue, also there's a skill to stop it that can be spammed so u can enjoy it and depending on how much time it has passed bosses have variables forms
Give lightning returns ago, you can just ignore the time limit, iplay slow and 100% everything and still had stupid amounts of time left.
the XIII story line is absolutely beautiful. the graphics are stunning, the characters are easy to love and emphasize with. i just got stuck on the lightning hope boss fight and couldnt complete it so went to youtube to finnish the story
on chapter 8 of my first playthrough. AMAZING game so far. It's unbelievable
The music is AWESOME! I really enjoyed the game (I was a mere child of 55 when I first played it) though it isn't one of my all-time favourites. Saz is perhaps the most subtle character of the game: when he learns who is responsible for the fate of his son I reach for my hankie every time. Thanks for speaking up for this flawed but good FF game.
Dude the fucking illustrations at 10:00 are giving me LIFE, I love this video. 10/10 sub for life, amazing
Haha, thanks a lot. Appreciate it :)
I’m glad people are revisiting this game because i loved it when i first played it like 10 years ago
Yeah, so-this was my proper introduction to Final Fantasy and I still adore it to this day. I truly don’t get why it’s apparently so unpopular. More than anything, the idea of the story being incomprehensible is a goddamn zombie lie. People talk about “magibabble” and what they mean is lingo intrinsic to the story, because no shit. The game literally tells you what everything means in crazy detail. Just because you don’t have the attention span to take advantage of it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Game’s gorgeous, characters are great, combat’s fun, even just to watch, and the story’s not nearly as riddled with metaphor-speech as, say, Kingdom Hearts. And I love that too. 😝
One of my favourite FF games and yes, I have played them all extensively.
The critic score is mostly positive because critics fall for the hype more than anybody especially back then that’s why every Zelda is damn Mary perfect 10 when we know that’s not true
Started my first playthrough a few weeks ago on my steamdeck, and with the negatively surrounding the game I went in with low expectations.
About 40 hours in and I'm having a great time. I'm at the cradle & decided to go back to gran pulse and work through the missions since I basically just grinded the bohemoth/Dog thing on the northern highplain and moved on without really exploring GP.
Ocerall this is a really fun Final Fantasy and most of the criticisms are a bit over-blown. 7/10 from me
How does it play on the Steam Deck? Had any issues?
FF13 is a C- game in a series that usually ranges between B- and A+. It's not a bad game. It's only bad when compared to the rest of the games in the series.
Interestingly, for me, I had kind of the reverse levels of enjoyment with the 13 series. I liked 13 the least and enjoyed the sequels more.
I don't mean this as a brag... but I didn't understand the difficulty complaints at all. I never got stuck. There are flat out overpowered paradigm combinations that can get you through the vast majority of encounters, only needing to switch it up when a boss or baddie is weak to something specific (and strong against everything else). Those mentioned overpowered combinations usually make the fights last a long time, and you usually get a low star rating, but who cares? The star rewards are never anything special (usually potions and the like) and the game IIRC doesn't keep a running total of your star ratings.
The overall experience of 13, for me, was a "sigh" fest, bored out of my mind for huge sections of the game. But, as you said in your video, the story is pretty good. The characterization is good enough. I particularly like Lightning as a character. It's interesting to see how she develops over the entire series.
All that said, I did "barely" manage to make myself finish it. It's not my least favorite in the series (that goes to FFX-2, which I couldn't finish), but it definitely does deserve the criticism, imo.
Good game with many many flaws in a series full of great games.
This was my first Final Fantasy game! It will always hold place for me.
The worst part of XIII is you run out of things to do after you FINALLY start to master and understand the paradigm shift mechanic and battle system. I remember saying "ohhhh" after completing all the missions on Gran Pulse and it all finally clicking together... but there's literally nothing else to do or fight after those. Except grind on the huge turtles for crafting materials to max out your weapons. This is a game that would of benefited greatly from DLC, specially considering that around this era, episodic DLC was a trending thing for many games.
Finally a more positive review. I never understood the hate.
Probably because you never bothered to listen to any opposing viewpoint that explains why they dislike FF13 and it’s sequels.
@@RazuX5 no, I listened. I just thought they never made sense since they could be applied to other games in the series.
“It’s too linear!” So was 10
“The characters are annoying!” I’ve heard the same about 12 and feel the same about 10-2
“The story is convoluted!” That’s been a thing since FF1 and isn’t exclusive to the FF series
I think Gran Pulse should have had regular NPC’s in various remote settlements. It would have made the world feel more realized. I mean people lived there before the Cieth stuff, obviously Vanille and Fang are examples. Should have had other survivors as well.
Yeah, they should have done that instead of having Cie'th Stones. Small human villages hidden away from monsters.
@@americasteam2112, that would have definitely been a very interesting idea! It certainly would have given the game a different feel.
If you go to Oerba, you can see that they all turned to C'ieth
@@HeroRaven I get that, but meant more survivors like Vanille and Fang wouldn’t have been entirely unbelievable.
Target times are based on players magic/str stats so if you have a bunch of warriors wristbands / magicians marks etc and maxed T2 weapons it lowers the target times.
However you are right that there are inconsistencies because for example an adamantoise gave me a target time of 10 mins (completed in 1 min 40) with 5 stars, and a bunch of low level enemies on the plains of pulse have a 10 second target time onced maxed crystarium. So unless the AI uses blitz/ruinga and you have haste+first strike its impossible to one shot them fast enough so you can easily get 3 stars against enemies you are way stronger than
It's also based on your Cristarium level. Some enemies (like Neochu, Tombery and Eidolons) have a stupidly high Optimal Time.
@@groudonvert7286your stats come from your crystarium level as well as your accessories so obviously
It was ambitious and bold, but lacked cohesion on a dev level. Japanese studios are notorious for this. The game was trying to flagship a fully realized world with multiple followup titles. It showcased a complex, fast paced new battle system that required a lot of changes in the established formula. Sadly after the backlash they faced over, what was overall a fantastic demonstration of what was possible and what square could achieve, they were scared off the "13" brand. Looking back, it seems tragic to me that they not only 'cut' an entire games worth of content from FF13, but that they didn't feel comfortable addressing some of the flaws the community brought to their attention. Especially considering how common we see that in the industry just a few years later, with DLC, add ons and patches. FF13 asked a lot from the community, and we couldn't deliver. This game was plagued from the beginning in that it wasn't FF7R.
I like the callback to FF7 you made in comparison to how FF13 starts.
Got a good chuckle out of that.
The city is even neon green like Midgar.
I actually think XIII had pretty decent combat. It was such a weird but satisfying mechanic. (That said, I'm not a big fan of stagger). The music is not my favorite, but it is definitely one of the most iconic soundtracks of FF imo. Whenever you hear FFXIII music, you can immediately identify it as FFXIII. It's so unique to the series. The only problem I really had with it was the difficult to follow plot. It was kind of esoteric, and I had a hard time understanding the villains or the character's motivations.
I’ve just played XIII and XIII-2 for the first time last month and honestly I’ve really enjoyed it. Kinda lukewarm on LR so far but overall I’m really on board with these. I regret that I fed into the negativity back when these came out and didn’t play them back then.
I had a lot of fun with it as well. Haters be damned, I liked the game and everyone is allowed their own opinion. I wanted to edit and add that I’m with you about the narrative reflecting the linearity of the game. I liked the sense of urgency I felt because we were supposed to be on the run! Idk I just really have a huge soft spot for this game and I absolutely love it.
As you said, ff7 remake has some points in common with ff13
But it does everything you mentioned much better
-The upgrade system is so much better cause it gives you agency and you have to think about what you're going to unlock and use
-The combat system while different is certainly more varied
-The level design is far better, only few areas are overly long
-There are actual things to do beside fighting constantly
And i'm not saying ff7 remake is perfect either...
I think it's an 8.5 out of 10... and if that is true, then ff13 is a 7 - 7.5 out of 10 at best
This game is one of my favourite games of all time! I remember seeing the trailers on tv and knew I had to play it. I believe I just started high school when it released and every day I couldn’t wait to get home just to sink into my chair and be fascinated by the graphics and gameplay. I’m still in awe because of this 💜 sure it does have its flaws and moans and groans, but I would play this FF game over all of them hahaha anyways great video on breaking it down 🔥🔥
I actually love 13 and 13-2. The combat system was my favorite in the series before ff7R. Hot swapping between paradigms, manipulating the ai's action by changes their stats, building up that stagger bar and swapping to cerberus for a massive damage dump. Timing ultimates to land right before staggers ends. I love it. My biggest complaint of ff7R was the poor implementation of the stagger system and the cutscenes that make bosses invincible mid combo.
And 13-2 is just a blast for min maxing and monster customization.
1:23 every time i see that intro and piano it reminds me how much i loved this game. FFXIII content will always get my respect.
you hearted my comment faster than me watching your video, Respect
I'm playing FF XIII now and it's pretty good.
Honestly, 13 has one of my favorite combat systems, probably why I enjoyed FF7R so much, as it's the spiritual successor to the Paradigm System. You can see traces of the Crystarium in the Weapon/Skill unlocks in FF7R, the way combat is handled and flows. Also, for those that don't know best Paradigm Decks always consist of all three party members as the same role. 3x Commandos, 3x Ravagers, etc. You only have to hit w/ a Commando once every few seconds to maintain your stagger gauge. Can quickly buff/debuff/heal etc. Stacking Classes is almost always superior to mixing classes in your Paradigm Deck. Also, timing your Paradigm Shift correctly can generate extra attacks or "interrupt" enemy actions. There's a lot of depth to the system that I appreciated over the argument of "Letting the game play itself". Especially for return playthroughs or enemies you have already fought, if you already know weaknesses, you can queue up spells you already know will work. I found myself only using Auto Battle for quick and easy fights/grinding, as selecting abilities/spells is almost always superior. Case in point, as Commando if you Autobattle, you can almost always notice the AI will select Ruin then Attack...Attack...etc. Blitz is almost always your highest single target AND multi target option, so selecting it is advantageous.
FF13 is one of my favorite FF series, but FF13-2 is even better. All the negatives you said about ff13 do get fixed in ff13-2 like saving the paradigms and the crystarium is quicker to level up and your leader dying doesnt end the game
That's good! I only played a couple hours of XIII-2 about 10 years ago so I'm excited to play it later this year
The game has a good battle system, graphics, and decent characters. I think the hallways sometimes just go on way too long. I often found myself getting tired of how long I had to walk and just wanting to get to the next cut scene. Mainly because the story is intriguing. However, I don't think it does world building very well. If you really want to know what's going on you DO have to read. I think no matter what game that's bad design. Tell the story and the backstory in various ways IN THE GAME. A lot of people complain about it being linear. But really it's just boring level design. You don't need an open world. Final Fantasy 10 doesn't have an open world. But it does it's level design a lot better. Basically I don't think the game is as bad as SOME say it is. But it's eh in my opinion. Some of my favorite music in the series though.
That's fair
That's funny that everyone always says 13 has great music, for me its always annoyed me how we went from a wide array of styles and songs, each one thematically appropriate to its FF's themes.
Then comes 13 with literally 3 unique songs.
1 of which gets recreated into "different" songs over n over again.
Like, we get the battle-theme song. We get the epic reveal song, which is just orchestral strings and sounds like that of FFX but they removed some of the layers and 2 of the notes at the end of every bar.
And then the main theme song, which is recycled over n over just with drums this time or guitars in this version or vocals this time, or slower this time.
I do enjoy 13, but I've always felt like the soundtrack was lame. Which was then jarring to see ppl defending the soundtrack.
I loved this video so much! Your opinions really resonated with me and are in line with the things I've been trying to tell FF fans who are harsh on 13 for years! I laughed a lot too, so thanks for that. You lifted my mental health immensely
Thank you so much :) It means a lot that you enjoyed it, and I'm glad my dumb jokes made you laugh
Caccoon is beautiful. Defi open world FF13 trilogy remakes or Maybe just semi open world idk but the world of FF13 is so beautiful, that includes FF13 2 as well especially where lightning resides and I wanna know what happens after the ending of FF 13 2 not just an explanation I'm 13 3.
SEMI OPEN WORLD
Re releasing this with some quality of life improvements would be a god send
Really enjoyed the video and FF13 while very flawed is a beautiful game to me especially artistically also 2nd form Orphan took me a good few tries too my first time then once finished I had a 20 minute battle but found out later that he's weak to Vanile's poison and it melts his HP in about 4 minutes on its own it's crazy 😅 also I agree about opening chests whenever we want but my guess is devs lock it off so you defeat the enemy guarding it and "earn it"
Honestly? I actually prefer the corridors and smaller areas to huge empty open world games where you spend 90% of the time just running aorund with nothing to do. Star Ocean 6 was a good example of being too big for its own good. Sometimes smaller is better, when it comes to map design.
Not every game needs to be Breath of the Wild or Genshin Impact big. Especially if the dev team fails to actually fill that void with life and things to do. Because then its just a massive waste of travel time.
It’s an RPG though, it’s expected and if you don’t like that then you might as well play a different genre that suits your tastes. That would be like me saying I hate fast paced 1st person shooters then a popular franchise like COD for example decides to make a game where it’s not a shooter at all but a strategy type of game that requires tactical thinking and then acting surprised when the general fanbase hates it because it’s not what they wanted or like to play.
Now that’s not to say franchises shouldn’t do spin offs that do things a little differently cause it can work and some have been successful but however when you are making a Mainline title game that isn’t a spin off then people are generally gonna expect the traditional features that normally come with it otherwise when you don’t then then it might as well be a completely different game altogether.
@@RazuX5 Well linearity isn't the issue here, after all FFX was just as linear as FFXIII, and just like FFXIII most area in FFX were just corridors yet FFX is considere one of the best in the series. I think the problem with XIII is on top of being linear the area are long VERY long, and this area really drags on some are worst than other (looking at you Chapter 10), but yeah I think this is an even bigger problem than the linearity itself, it's the fact each area in XIII drag longer than necessary.
I wish Square would release 13 trilogy ports. I've only played base 13 and would like a replay.
"I need something to do while my cat is sleeping" is the most crazy cat daddy thing I've ever heard and I totally relate!
It's an absolutely amazing game. I did need help from my friend to actually TEACH me how to properly play the game as far as combat was concerned. but now it's my favorite go to final fantasy game. I love the story and it's character developments
Yeah, the battle system of 13 is by far the hardest to get good with in the series.
I love gran pulse so much. Post game and grinding crystarium at the caverns or adamantoise is unmatched. I know it sounds lousy but the game is at its peak when you have all the skill trees maxed.
With the combat be "automated" and people saying the game plays itself? Clearly didn't do shit in Gran Pulse and I did ALL that craziness and can definitely say in confidence they played the game lazy and actively chose not to engage with it in a deeper level. In GP on the later Cieth missions maaaaan I was paradigm shifting like CRAZY just to survive all the bullshit they throw at you! I damn near had the crystarium maxed out in all Jobs for everyone...idt I've ever grinded that much in any FF and I was still getting damn near one shot. I do not recommend anyone do that but it has been done lol I had like a month to myself and the only game I could play at the time and was depressed so I definitely needed that extra "thing" to keep my mind off shit. I liked it okay before but haven't played it since. Good video man
FF13 is my third favorite FF after FF7 and FF8!
Hell, Lightning Returns is easily my favorite PS3 game due to the focus on my favorite character of the series, Lightning, the battle system, the music, the outfits, the replayability, etc.
I loved the story of FF13, how it deals about a bunch of outcasts who still fight for the people who misunderstand and exclude them because the greater good is what is important. I never understood the hate for the linearity when FF10 was praised and is also linear. Played the game many times and I hope for a remaster with a few tweaks to enhance it.
10's story is more memorable and simple to understand tbh. 13 for first timer is confusing as hell especially when it's throwing flashbacks as well.
I will say, I’ve tried playing 10, I just can’t get into it. I don’t know, Tidus irritates me, mostly just because I know the dreaded Scene exists, his laugh. Otherwise the story just doesn’t catch me, the pacing feels way too slow then too fast, it’s like pick a pacing lol. It’s just my opinion and how it feels to me, but I am happy people can enjoy it. Everyone has their own preferences. I also played ff7 and found it felt overhyped. It’s good, Cloud actually kinda pissed me off after he was lost to the party, since getting him back, he’s simply been deluding himself? It was essentially “he was there and simply placed himself where zack was” it just ruined him for me, until then I liked him so much. That said, it was a really good game, even if I felt it received too much love. As in people constantly hyped up the game so much that it’s like it’s on a pedestal. I also never really cared about Aerith, until remake. That’s the only Aerith I really care about, otherwise she felt blank, just the personality of a paper bag haha. I understand people love it, people like Aerith, but it just didn’t feel great to me. Again, I’m happy people enjoyed it but that’s how it felt to me.
Side note on ff10, I haven’t done enough to truly be able to say if it’s great or not, mostly because I couldn’t bring myself to continue when I Troyes it, and I don’t actually own the game now.
Tried*
Platinum trophy achiever in the game here.
Confusing story (poorly presented).
I couldn't stand most of the characters (Fang is the only one I liked).
Hallway simulator.
Boring paradigm system of combat.
One of the few FFs I never played twice and sold when I was done. No regrets in getting rid of that disc.
FFXIII was good but the fighting system took up to 20 hours to fully unlock and wrap your head around. By then, some ppl gave up on the title. Once you understand the "stick shift" and paradigm shifting fighting system, it becomes a joy! You must have patience with this title.
It was mostly the shock of it at the time. The visuals were toptier that still hold up today.
12 was so open and customizable right from the start that a new entry that follows the theme of slaves to fate right down to its progression systems was offensive. It seemed like a step back in every way, and the economy and weapon upgrade systems made no sense whatsoever- exactly how many shattered bones and particle accelerators can you attach to a sword? Why are these shopping points everywhere in places the government says fugitives are? Who installed them on pulse and why do the shops work during the climactic invasion?
It was development-hell: the game. Some good ideas that suffered from bad management.
All great points to be fair
@@TheGameCupboard im replaying a second time now myself and both times it's way better than I remembered the first time. Snow is still an idiot, Sazh is more reasonable, Hope is more relateable and Lightning is as awesome and funny as ever.
You just have to roll with a lot of ridiculous things for the spectacle. I think its valuable to acknowledge what went wrong with it- and that list isnt short.
FFX was pinnacle of summon, both big damage attacks and bye and fully controllable. It really went downhill from there like you said, especially in FFXII and XIII.
I loved 13 as well, but your also talking to a guy that thinks FF2 (The real one) is the best game since bread lol.
I bought FF XIII for PS3 two weeks after its release in 2010, but I didn´t play it until summer of 2020. during that 10 years I hear a lot of shit about this game, almost everyone hates this title, for one reason or another. I´m a huge FF fan and XIII was meant to be my last main new entry in the series so it was a special game to me even before playing it, so 10 years after it release and with the shit storm about this title been left behind I just play it without any preset mind state, ignoring everything people said about it during the last 10 years.....and I truly love it, the combat system is one of the best among all FFs, it is fast, spectacular and stunning enemies is always a pleasure, the level of strategy that some battles require surpasses any other FF main title by far, it is a challenging game that demands your 5 senses but really makes the effort worthwhile, it is linear, but FF X is linear too and no one complains about it, and at least FF XIII has a true open world huge area in Gran Pulse and I enjoy it a lot. The main characters are great, and like true people, they are not likeable in the beggining because they had a lot of stress and anxiety over their shoulders but the more you go on with them, the more you like them. As a huge FFVII, FFVIII and FFX fan i´ve never understand how a fan of those 3 titles would not enjoy FFXIII, because its main source of inspiration are clearly those 3 FFs. There is (at least for me) just one huge mistake in this game conception or structure: there is a huge lack of NPCs to interact with, just 3 or 4 places in Cocoon where you can hear NPCs talking between them or saying something, no one to talk to in Gran Pulse.....that makes the game a little hollow in the interaction aspect , and there should have been more moments like when you stopped at Hope´s house and you can check photos or objetcs in his house......but for anything else this game is a master piece of JRPG
Your reviews are my favourite things to listen to whilst cooking 🥰
I had loads of fun with the first and second game in this trilogy. Snow was actually my favourite character which often gets me some side eye but oh well. Haha.
XIII is one of my favorites honestly. Never did understand what it was people didn’t like 🤷♂️
It may be a guilty pleasure of mine, but objectively speaking..........the writing is absolutely ABYSMAL.
Just started playing it for the very first time few days ago, I'm really enjoying it, sure the story and the writing are messy and can be cringe sometimes, but the gameplay is very addictive, it's genuinely fun.
Great review and fair criticism. The trilogy is my favorite FF games of the franchise. The combat system for all three games are the best in the franchise. Flaws I'd agree with are the map being confusing to read, accepting only one cieth mission at a time (this was really annoying, but the combat and strategies I had to come up with to beat some of them kept me interested in completing all of them), of course the party leader dead game over mechanical. In addition, a few more issues I had that u didn't mention: long pose animation when shifting paradigm for the first time in a battle(really hate this lol), no running animation to help speed up the pace especially on Gran Pulse. For the summons, they are apparently really effective but only if u know how to use them in combat, so the game I'd say didn't explain how to use eidolons properly or they could have made it simpler, it was by watching a speed runner that I understood how they should be used to totally destroy enemies very quickly. Great game I tell u. I got xiii2 last year and enjoyed it , then xiii3 right after and boy I tell u....I never expected that I'd like lightning returns over the original xiii. The combat is perfect in xiii3 and the new approach to have open world zones was refreshing and welcomed, the links between the past games and xiii3 in each environment was breath taking to see. Of course it's not perfect but it's a really good rpg game if not ff and trust me that combat system is the peak of ff games in my opinion, I don't think there'll ever be another one as good. Lol I never liked dressing up lightning this much n xiii3 made it excellent. Only the story was kinda not to my taste but hey its fiction n fantasy. You should review xiii3 one day. Currently I want the trilogy to come to ps4 n 5 now 🥺
Best combat in the franchise? Have you played this amazing gameplay called FF7R?
I actually dislike LR gameplay....I just don't understand the praise. It made me not play the game. I liked 13-2s.
@@delsingray5923 Yes I've played FF7R twice and I can declare that all FF13s combat mechanics where better....they r the perfect hybrid giving both strategy in turn base and real time action. And I also thought I'd not like LR combat but it blew my mind how addicted I got to it , changing my schematas and putting on different abilities to suit the battle situation. 7R took most inspiration from LR and the other 2 13 games.....but people still choose to be hypocritical and not give the game its praise.
Played 11 FF games in total, FFXIII and FFXII stills as my favorites and more memorable ones, even more than FFVII
Short Answer: YES
LONG ANSWER: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES
13 was the beginning of the end for me.... 12 was the last good game...the series is unrecognizable now...The only good things recently have been the pixel remasters, and Zodiac Age... and the cleaned up ports. Beyond that... I consider the series to be dead. And I can't get into the FF7 remake.. it's beautiful... butI hate the gameplay.
I agree with your take on FF7 remakes. I enjoyed Remake itself quite a lot, but Rebirth has killed the series for me.
I've always loved the Final Fantasy 13 series. I was a super emotional ride but I loved every minute of it!
I loved this game and the stories of all the characters. Vanille was my favorite
I'm just up to gran pulse right now and I'll be damned if your spoilers are going to ruin this for me!
Bummed though I really wanted to hear your matured thoughts I'll revisit after I'm done, hard to believe that the video description that reads is ffxiii worth playing in 2022 but still contains spoilers.
I'll see you in 20-30 hours
I loved FFXIII and XIII-2 (haven't played XIII-3) and never really understood why they got so much hate. Solid games with nice visuals, good combat and great music.
I remember not hating XIII for the most part, I had my gripes with it but I enjoyed the story for sure...XIII-2 however...I just didn't like, I thought the story as well as the characters were pretty boring and most of the dungeon were tedious. I never played XIII-3 for that reason :thinking: I didn't even bother looking at gameplay, I was just so done with XIII after 2.
And wasn't XIII-2 also the one game were the true ending was hidden behind paid DLC? I kinda remember that being the case and I hated it.
It's a gorgeous game... I hope they make a remaster of it so I can finally play it on my PS5.
I didn’t like it when it first came out but it grew on me
For a little while, Squaresoft/SE was releasing international versions of their games. The original Japanese FFVII didn't have Ruby, Emerald, or a fightable Diamond Weapon. FFX had the Dark Aeons, FFX2 had new dress spheres and FFXII had a revised Zodiac license board. Sad that they ended it at XII because XIII may have been the one that most needed it. It has a very good foundation but needed some small tweaks to work out a number of the issues with this game. Its currently the only one other than XI that isnt playable on PS5 now so maybe there's hope for an improved remaster trilogy.
Fun fact, you do NOT need to grind in CH11, so long as you kill every enemy at least once and do the ceith missions you can easily get to the final boss without fighting an enemy multiple times, I did this with sazh, vanille, and snow and never had to grind against enemies once, even killing king behemoths right when I got to gran pulse, though prime cactaurs took giving sazh cure and upgrading his deneb duelers to the canopus amps before having enough magic to be able to outheal the damage and dish it back with his commando role, the only time grinding is even a little necessary is post game and getting your final weapons
i think the reason why grand pulse seems either great or terrible to people is because you either like the on rails design of the first half of the game, with it's fast paced action, cutscenes and boss fights, or you dislike it because theirs no open exploration like with other ff games, and depending on how you feel about the first half will directly effect how you feel about the second half of the game
That pretty much nails it.
You can turn auto battle off by default in settings, anyone who mentioms auto battle being a problem didn't even play the game and check the settings, they just hated it for the sake of hating it for who kmows why stupidity maybe? I play this game evsry year alomg with Tales of symphonia and graces f and never gets old always so much fun :).
Lightning ditching Sazh earlier was because she knew he would want to kill Sarah if he found out lightning was looking for the le cie that got them all purged in the first place.
Ffxiii combat is even better with the difficulty mod. You really need to master the paradigm system to even stand a chance
This is a great, and positive review. I always found it weird that many of the most hated things of 13 (linearity/hallways, game playing itself, crystarium) were used in games that people love- specifically 10 & 7R. I have been defending this title since those two games don’t get hate for using the same setup.
Recently played 16, and the whole time was thinking how much I’d rather be playing 13. Revisiting 13 for the first time since launch is a trip and an absolute delight. Since 2010, I played 13-2 and LR at launch, as well as read the novels and played Type 0 (uses worldbuilding concepts but not in quite the same way). Besides Pulse, which kind of destroyed my will to live due to it annihilating the pace of the game, I enjoyed the heck out of my replay. Game still looks incredible, paradigms are a blast, music is phenomenal, plot is much more enjoyable already having familiarity with the concepts. I wasn’t enamored of this game when I first played it, but it’s aged well enough to now be counted among my favorites in the series. Plus, it was exactly the title I needed to cleanse the disappointment of 16 from my mind.
No idea how anyone could find XVI disappointing, but then I'm also firmly in the "XIII was a slap in the face" camp, so different strokes for different folks or something I guess ...
@@rogthepirate4593XVI easily among the top 5 of the franchise.
@@FelixS. I agree. Probably #2 for me, #1 is still XIV I think.
@@rogthepirate4593 XIV or IX to me ;) 💪
@@FelixS. oh, IX is in the top 5 as well, most definitely. First FF I ever played back in 99. Although I may have enjoyed X just a tiny smidge more. Or maybe that was just the novelty of it.
This video and Jaedyn Unfiltered’s video are like night and day.
Just finished this for the first time. I’m 41, and I loved it so I couldn’t wait to finally watch all the reviews (mostly bad) about this game. Thank you for highlighting what makes it awesome. No game is perfect, but this one is ranking really high up there now for me. Then again, I’m one who loves FF8 too - maybe I have soft spot for black sheep, lol
FFVIII is not that bad, just the draw system is annoying to people, at least the character designs are far less stupid looking than FFIX.
No it doesn't. The game is awesome
The score on metacritic has gone up over the years because a) neutral people playing it who dont know about the hate / aren't sheeps, and b) some that hate it replay it and realise they were wrong
It has some of the best combat / gameplay in the entire history of Final Fantasy. Essentially it's a job/class FF where you can switch instantly on the fly to any combination. This is why I also love the online shopping feature at save points because its essentially being able to buy/upgrade on the fly via save points. There are enough save points in the game to be almost as good as the manual saving anywhere in other videogames
With regards to autobattle vs selecting abilities you are correct. The AI is very intelligent (for the most part) so it's selecting what you would have done just faster because if you select abilities manually it's obviously slower than them already being there. Its like a robotic version of you lol. Postgame though selecting manually is optimal against the optional content that's hard (manually selecting certain buffs and debuffs first because the AI sometimes prioritises ones you don't want). Also the player might want to queue up 6 different abilities (deprotect/deshell/imperil/poison/slow/curse) than 6 identical ones that the AI does (deprotect x6). However you can cancel that string as soon as one lands so this isnt too much of an issue
However the thing that the haters don't understand about the battle system in this game is that the true battle system is paradigm switching, staggering, debuffing/buffing, and equipment upgrade maxing etc. Autobattle cannot replicate a human paradigm switching intelligently in reaction to the battle. The downside is that you have to wait until chapter 10 for this because before that it is mainly forced two person parties, a forced leader, and not much paradigm switching / staggering
With regards to random battles vs seeing enemies on screen, again I agree random battles are just a chore (even in FF13-2 where they can be avoided to a degree)
With regards to linearity I don't mind it because in general with open world games like Skyrim I just end up sidequesting for 40 hours and forget about the story, and just end up trivialising the difficulty. This can't be done on FF13 because of the reason you mentioned...crystarium caps at carious points of the story. Also it makes the reward mean more. There is something very cathartic about seeing "crystarium expanded" or "Atb Gauge +1"
Okay now for the downsides of FF13:
Party Leader dying
Forced parties until chapter 10
Gil is hard to come by
Summons (outside of blocking attacks or downing turtles they are fairly weak)
Paradigms resetting when editing battle team (I think it would have been awesome if they let you have say 5 palettes of Paradigms. Something similar to say the reserve schemata in LR). They could do this with equipment too as some videogames have a "switch gear" option to just transfer everything instantly
Chests being locked if enemies are alerted to your presence (some of these are impossible to avoid). For the same reasons you gave I 100% agree. It's in other videogames and I too dislike it
No fixed mini-map (it rotates based on your direction)
The camera in general is fairly annoying as it tried to hard to be bothered cinematic and player controlled making it virtually impossible to pre empt some enemies because the camera does everything to make it impossible to see the enemy
^most of this are just minor annoyances at best though. The only thing I disagree with in your video is that Pulse is bad. I really loved how the crystarium and battle team opens up, and the postgame but this video was really good 👍 Earned a subscriber 🎉
PS: I also agree about FF12's gambit system being full on awesome sauce.
Hey, thank you :) I'm glad you enjoyed it so much :)
Even if you're forced with some party and leaders until the last part of chapter 9, there are many way to enjoy the Battle System in earlier chapters. For example, Ravageur VS Commando. When you don't have access to Sazh, it's better to actually attack enemies on their elemental weakness(es). Lightning does more damage in Ravageur than in Commando (against Aster Protoflorian for example). This mechanic is very interesting to do, but completely useless in later chapters because you have access to Sazh's En-Spells.
About money, you can easily get money in earlier chapters by just selling the weapons and accessories you don't use. Everything can be bought later in the game (except elemental Rings, but you can get some by dismantling Elemental Charms, only obtainable in chapter 11). So money is not a problem at all in this game.
@@groudonvert7286the things I listed I don't care about but they are objective negatives about the game that affect the majority. Its obviously better if you can play whoever you want from the start but I still don't mind the dual character arcs because it gets you invested in the characters
As for the gil comment not everyone is farming incentive chips on the ship. Before and after this point there isn't really anything better until you grind a lot to beat turtles. I did farm incentive chips but I am not the average player.
@@nezkeys79 You don't need to farm in the ship (or in Hope's house) either. Selling what you get from the chests is more than enough. Especially early game to get strong equipments and weapons as earlier as after Dreadnought. It's stupid how much the game becomes trivial with the right party just with the stuff you get from the Chests.
But it's a thing that Casual Plavers don't know.
@groudonvert7286 nah. The gil casual people find just as they go is not enough to upgrade to OP stuff. You need to farm the ship for chips, or farm something on pulse (which won't happen consistently for a long time after arriving on pulse). Unless they abuse summon sazh method or summon death method. Most casuals won't do either method
You also said the same thing I said again. Casual players aren't speedrunners who know exactly what is worth upgrading and exactly what the best party is. They just use Lightning Fang Hope cause they read it in a forum and have no clue about the gil.
I'm pretty sure I have spoken with you before on other videos about this so why have you replied to me 4 months later on a different video to "flex" your speedrunner nonsense again 😅
Not liking sazh is the worst ff13 take I've ever heard
Everything isn’t for everyone, I feel that. You’re just not a basic bitch, Rik👍🏼♥️
Oh I really am lol
my biggest issue is that the party constantly changes and you dont have access to your full party til around chapter 11 or 12
Yeah, no...
The poor level design can't be excused by simply saying "well, we are constantly forced to run toward the goal"
It's not a metaphor, it's bad... and it is bad in both the linear areas of cocoon and pulse open field
Both approachs are equally badly executed for different reasons
Great breakdown, thanks for taking the time to make this. Always been curious to at least give it a try and may actually give it a whirl now.
Thanks for taking the time to watch it :) Hopefully there weren't too many spoilers for you
@@TheGameCupboard I actually felt you didn't go too much into the story and focusing more on the gameplay after the initial part of the story so I (personally) don't feel much has been spoiled in that respect.
Yeah, even with all the positives - this looks and sounds like my idea of hell.
Aye, I couldn't imagine you playing it to be fair
It had its issues but I enjoyed it. I love Lightning, shes just so fucking cool.❤I had fun.
The short answer is: Yes. There ARE indeed bad Final Fantasy games, despite what people say
Its a great game but not a great Final Fantasy. Square could have called something other than Final Fantasy and fans would not have been mad.
I think its a great story with some great philosophical themes with a really engaging battle system tied to the unfortunately bad that is the hallway simulator and an unoptimized menu.
Its one of the worst ones but after FF15 im a bit more forgiving of 13. It had a pretty good combat and progression system afterall.
I beat this game 5 times and loved every second of it
13 would be better if the cutscenes took place where the characters are, and then we the player moved the party to the next area.
Like FFX. But instead, every major cutscene leads to a new area.
Which makes it feel like a series of disconnected hallways. And also jarring.
Compared to FFX where we always know where we are cuz we're the reason the party is traveling.
That little change would've made all the difference in FFXIII's perception.
Excellent video!!! 👍 😊 Just wondering if you will have similar videos for the sequels? Thank you so much I enjoyed every minute!!
Thank you so much :) I'll be working on a video for XIII-2 next month
For me personally. Yes. Its still one of my least favorite FF in the series. The lore and world building is interesting but the way its told is my biggest problem. I didn't remember the story until you talked about. So I didn't like or understand the story the first time. Characters are ok but don't really like any of them. Combat is ok but not my favorite. Also not a fan of the over dramatic drama with the characters. Its the first FF in the series where I spent 80hrs and felt like it wasn't worth it...
FF series has so many games and each one going to hit harder for others. I can respect people that like this game. It does have some wonderful things to love. It just never clicked or stayed with me after I beat it. I never any bothered to play the expansion to this game.
Nice video. I like hearing people different views on games I didn't enjoy to see if it changes my views or challenges me try again (Sadly. I still don't want to give it another try).
I'm in the middle of the video so idk if you address this later, but each eidolins gauge fills up by using the primary roles of the character they represent. Odin is a breeze if you take advantage of the fact that lightning and hope share 2 roles
XIII is my favorite mainline game, deserving of criticism sure, but the amount of hate it got was way overblown. It's a shame really, a trilogy remaster on modern consoles and PC with some minor tweaks (like a chapter select in the first game so you can go back and grab any missing bestiary logs or explore old favorite areas) and a consistent 60fps would be incredible but it seems like Square isn't willing to give these games another chance to shine. Regardless of my (or anyone else's) opinion(s) on the matter is, it does NOT deserve to be forgotten. I will stan this game and it's sequels til the day I die.
It's so funny that you loved the jacket patches. I absolutely hated it.. and it was kinda the final nail in the coffin for me. Like... they couldn't give him and actual weapon to swap out? It's absurd.
Good game and good review, keep it up man.