Final Fantasy

Game
Artbook
Mini OST with composer notes on each track
Character+Eidolon artwork cards
L'Cie brand decals

Well worth 15 quid anyway.

XIII grew on me. it started off slow storywise(& confusing with all the terms used) but after awhile it turned out fairly interesting.

XIII-2 looks excellent so far.

That's great to hear Boshi! Even after beating it the story seems quite confusing, and some scenes in the game didn't really make sense.

Like when Vanille gets her eidolon:

I don't know if XIII-2 is going to clear anything up. If anything, I think things are going to get even more confusing with this game. But tbh, I don't care; I enjoyed the story for what it was, and I just wanna play as Lightning again.

Although I'm not totally set on the monsters in your party thing so far. Monster capturing in FFX was great, but in this one they replace the third character in battle? Personally, I'd rather fight with a proper character. Hopefully that will still be the case. I'm not a fan of these bloody QTE things either, and the way you get into battles at the moment looks a bit iffy. Should be cleared up in time, but I'm definitely hyped for it.

Three games I want right now are Zelda Skyward Sword, Uncharted 3 and FFXIII-2. Shame they're all so far away

( Edited 15.06.2011 01:32 by Azuardo )

I just finished recording this. There's a lot of mistakes, for which I apologise, but I hope some of you enjoy it. It seems like the right thread for it.

Nice Angus! What did you use to make that?

I inherited a guitar a long time ago and have yet to bother learning it. Yet I know I'd definitely be trying to learn FF songs all the time if I could play it XD

Thanks. It's just 4 different guitar tracks (one very brief and emulating a bass). I used a BR800 8 track recording system to record it all. I used the inbuilt effects, 2 clean guitars and one slightly distorted with stereo chorus.

You should definitely learn it. It's so worth it. Here actually, if you want some game music to get you started: GameTabs

Is it possible to just learn how to play online? I still know naff all about guitars but don't know anyone who can teach me either. I'll try and get around to it some time.

Yeah, it's completely possible. I've only had a few lessons, but lessons are the best way to go. But with that said, I've a friend who learned completely online and he's better then me. Just start off with some basic tutorials on Youtube or something, then learn how to read tabs. Once you can read tabs you can start with some easy ones then work your way up.

FXIII-2 info.

Art director Isamu Kamikokuryo shares new insights into the sequel.

Noel and Serah in this FFXIII-2 screenshot that was distributed at E3. It looks like Noel won't be the only new major addition to the cast.

Noel joins the Final Fantasy XIII cast as the main character of Final Fantasy XIII-2. But he won't be the only major new character in the game.

In an interview in this week's Famitsu (summed up at Sokuho), art director Isamu Kamikokuryo reveals that there will be other new "main characters" besides Noel.

It's unclear what Kamikokuryo means by "main" characters, as the game's producer and director have said that the story will center on Noel and Serah, the two characters who were playable in the E3 demo. At the very least, it looks like we can expect some additional major additions to the cast.

• Characters from the original FFXIII will be returning as well, of course. Kamikokuryo said that players will be able to see slightly grown up versions of the past characters, and how they're now living.
• Kamikokuryo's discussion also shed a few additional details on who's working on FFXIII-2, along with some additional hints about the game:
• The staff remains mostly the same from the original.
• Tetsuya Nomura handled designs for the characters' faces while the bodies and clothing were handled by other FF series art directors.
• The character shown standing back-to-back with Lightning in the game's original January trailer was designed by Yusuke Naora.
• The enemies that appear in the Neo Bodham area are a new category of enemy that are neither from Cocoon nor Pulse. They're designed by lead art designer Toshitaka Matsuda.
• There is a common pattern that appears on Lightning's shield and Serah's clothing. When playing the game, you'll find out why the pattern is the same.
• A number of people submitted Moogle designs, but in the end they went with Matsuda's design. Matsuda also designed Lightning's sword, NPCs, new monsters, backgrounds, and the summons which appear in a different form from the original.
• Similar to the original, Lightning's sword can transform between gun and sword.
• The game's maps weren't finalized from the start this time. Instead, they're letting the staff fill the maps with ideas for things like short-cuts and so-forth. They're letting the staff be free to do trial and error in this area.
• Because of the tight production schedule, they didn't have much time for pre production. They didn't even have enough time to do much in the way of setting drawings. In some cases, they used photographs and other resources to explain things. Looking at the bright side, Kamikokuryo said that this actually made it easier to get the point across, and allowed them to change their approach to direction.

I'm guessing Noel and Serah will be the focus for most of the story chapters until the later, more free part of the game (i.e. the original's chapter 11), where you will have Lightning and other old chars in your party. Just a guess though. I'm already fuming at the prospect of less Lightning. Just hope we get more of her than it seems to imply right now.

Still, it's gonna be awesome.

Been going through 13 at a steady pace, am now at that ship that reunites all of the six characters. Buuuut, I need help with this Patriarch guy, as he is an absolute bitch.
As far as I can see, whenever he does that magic boost move, the spell strength of his heads increases, and it happens far quicker than I can destroy them before they devastate me, is there a way to distrupt that? Any advice in general would be tops. ^^

( Edited 22.06.2011 21:33 by Phoenixus )

He was always a fucking bitch. Don't know how much I can help you but when he's building up his special (Destructo or something?) ATTACK HIM. Go nuts - attack like fucking crazy. If you attack him enough, he'll stop briefly and charge up again. ATTACK. He should stop again. The more you attack him and get him to pause during this stage, the less damage his ultimate move will do. I don't think you can stop him entirely from doing this move, and I think you can only stun him twice max when he's charging. You might feel safer just stunning him once, then when you think he's about to let loose, switch to a SEN MED MED. Hopefully you'll not take so much damage.

It might be a consideration to ALWAYS have one MED in every paradigm you use, maybe saving one full on attacking paradigm as either a COM RAV RAV or COM COM RAV. I think I used a MED constantly against him in my second playthru, saving my attacking paradigm for unleashing on him during his special and if I got the chance to inflict as much damage as poss, and it helped a lot more.

Obviously try to go into the battle with buffs, and it might be handy to at least keep a SYN in your team who can provide you with Haste (Sazh?). You can do it without haste, but it can help greatly.

As for each individual head, I believe each one has a weakness to a certain element, but you might already know that. I'm sure there are more tips than I can think of, but all I can think from the top of my head is to use a MED at all times, and SEN when he does Destructo. You may also want a SAB or two whilst Light attacks/cures to bring his defences down. You'll wanna debuff him as much as poss when the heads are gone. So your best choices in terms of chars are Light, Vanille, Fang and Sazh.

It's definitely one of the harder battles in the game; you're not the only one who has trouble with this. So good luck, and I hope I've helped :L

( Edited 24.06.2011 13:52 by Azuardo )

I don't usually find the time to play RPGs. I tried playing Persona 4, was really enjoying it and then stopped. The only Final Fantasy game I've ever played was VII, last summer, and really enjoyed it. Is there another anyone could recommend? The early ones seem to Tolkien-esque for me. I have VII and XIII in my house if they're any use.

I started at VII and got hooked and carried on from there. Delved into the earlier games randomly and completed V and VI for the first time this year, but unfortunately, they just don't have the same effect as the 3D games I grew up on.

FF8 is one of the more modern/futuristic ones of the series, like FF7, if that interests you more. FF9 I would definitely recommend because, while it is old school in terms of locales, it is very much a fantasy magical type game with all sorts of weird characters. Definitely 10 too (I loved the battle system in this one). And seeing as you have FF13, why not give it a go? It's simple and easy to get to grips with.

( Edited 24.06.2011 13:55 by Azuardo )

FF8 does really interest me. It has amazing graphics for a PS1 game. it's just the 4 disc length that is putting me off. How long does 13 go on for? My nephew gave up on it, saying that the battle system was useless, but I thought it looked quite interesting.

With FF in particular it's more about playing it yourself. People will say they don't like 13's battle system, perhaps because if your leader dies it's game over and you can only control one char in battle, but personally I like it a lot. FF changes with each game, and I welcome the latest style. 13 is fast, simple to get the hang of, looks good, but also damn hard sometimes. Has it all.

The game itself took me 60 hours first time through. But you could maybe do it in about 40-50. I spent a good while doing monster hunts. I personally found I needed to grind a little bit to get the job done, but you never know, you know might find it easier. There are a couple of difficult bosses late on though, and I've known people to give up in common places.

If this helps any, in FF8 you don't need to grind at all. Enemy levels are proportionate to your own levels. That is, if you level up, the enemies level up too. So it makes no difference if you grind to level 100 - the enemies will be the same. But the Junction character system allows you to become overpowered right from the early stages of the game - it's just a case of finding the more powerful magic. Again, the game probably lasts about 30-50 hours.

I don't normally suggest it, but what if you tried using a guide to help you make your way through? You'd get through easier and quicker, and you can then at least experience the game without getting frustrated with tough parts. Or not, of course. In games I like to replay, I use a guide second time around to learn new and better ways of doing things. But as I make my way through my backlog of games, I use a guide for a couple of them if I just want to get through and experience the story. I'd say try not to do it for FF, but it's an option. Depends how you want to experience the games.

( Edited 24.06.2011 09:29 by Azuardo )

Update on my end. About 24 hours into FF13 now, am on the third disc, and have arrived at the large open fields of Gran Pulse; ideal for some grinding time as I want to max out each character's 3 main jobs.

Seriously though, fuck those giant dinosaur-like things and Mega Behemoths, they just trample all over me.

Also, one part of the battle system that is really getting on my wick now is the whole 'First character dies, everyone loses'. No doubt there's a large amount of strategy added in keeping your main standing, but it's frustrating that there's no backup (like some kind of phoenix revival or something).

( Edited 25.06.2011 16:59 by Phoenixus )

In Final Fantasy XIII-2, please tell me they've taken out the stupid "game over when the main player dies" crap?

I liked XIII but the battle system was soooo restrictive. Adding the option to summon monsters to fight alongside wasn't what I was hoping for in terms of changes. Have they mentioned any improvements to the battle system?

( Edited 25.06.2011 16:59 by Ifrit XXII )

Did my tips help at all Phoenix? :L You won't stand a chance against the adamantoises yet, but you can actually take on the behemoths pretty soon. Just keep fighting the tiger-like monsters that run around the plains to begin with. After not long, you can take on the behemoths and quickly level up. The best place to level up in the game is in this area too, but I won't share it unless you want :]

That's probably the main gripe everyone has with the battle system though - once party leader dies, game over. Doesn't look like they've changed it for XIII-2. The biggest changes seem to be the capturing of monsters and letting them fight alongside you as the third character, and the addition of QTEs in battle (bullshit). Can't see what else has changed yet, but I'm hoping for more. They said they would be evolving the battle system in XIII-2. I hope by this they didn't mean monsters as allies. I expected what everyone else expected - no game over when leader dies, and more control over other characters. But it doesn't look like this has changed.

However, you learn to adapt to how it works, and I ended up really enjoying the system. So I don't mind, but more freedom would have been nice.

Oh yeah, sorry, they helped a little. Once I realized that each head needed to be scanned individually, it was fairly simple, though a bit drawn out.

I'll probably end up finding that area eventually Azu, I'm going to take care of those C'eith missions while I train, so I'll probably explore every nook and cranny.

Oh yeahhh, forgot about that. The best thing to do in boss battles with multiple targets is to use a librascope which will scan every enemy/target at once - saves you having to use Libra all the time and gets your allies using the right magics from the off without wasting precious time.

Good for you, you'll get through the game much easier and have more fun if you do the hunts available to you.

So far i have play final fantasy 1 and 2 dawn of souls, final fantasy 5 advance,final fantasy 6 advance for the gameboy advance. final fantasy 3 and 4, both crystal choricles, and finally final fantasy the 4 heroes of light all for the ds.

Kitase unsure of Final Fantasy Type-0 Western release.
Holy shit I didn't expect that. I knew people were worried about this game not seeing a Western release, but honestly, it's virtually a main FF title, and I never really thought it wouldn't make its way over. I know the PSP market is poor, especially with the modding scene, but still.

I think if this doesn't happen then it might be a case of Square doing a PS3 HD version eventually, like what Konami have done with Peace Walker. I might just have to get the Jap version myself though.

Angus said:
FF8 does really interest me. It has amazing graphics for a PS1 game. it's just the 4 disc length that is putting me off. How long does 13 go on for? My nephew gave up on it, saying that the battle system was useless, but I thought it looked quite interesting.

FFVIII has an interestingly simple story but as of late many theories has spawned from events that happen in the first disk.

I've always found FFIX to be the most enthralling of the game thanks to Vivi, and X-2 to having the best turn based combat. But alas it's all on personal taste in characters and worlds

Interesting theory. I always wondered just why the fuck Squall was perfectly fine after the events of disc 1, but put it down to perhaps moombas repairing him or something. But I asked the question at GameFAQs once and no one had an answer.

When you mentioned theories though, I almost thought you were gonna bring up the R=U thing again, which I think was quite plausible, even if Square laughed it off.

X-2 does probably have the best ATB system, but I love FFX's CTB system too. IX's battles felt a little slower compared to the other games, but I have a massive soft spot for that game. The chibi characters, the beautiful settings and music, and the story that is pretty damn deep and dark, makes it one of the best in the series. It's hard to tell people where to start or which game is the best because they're all so special in their own ways. All I can say to people is try to play them all.

Yeh when i tell people about the games, i try to sum up what they find interesting in games. Story your favourite point, look towards FFVI and Tactics, Battles look at the newer FF's, then for the well rounded games you look towards the ps1 era games.

On a side note, i found the page where the Squall is Dead theory is raised. Explains quite a bit, even the confusing end sequence; Squall's Dead