I can cuss Final Fantasy out until Square Enix actually make a decent one. But I know I will be buying every new instalment without fail. Regardless of whether it's slated, looks shit or features a ho as the lead character whom I wanted dead in the game which came before. This is a form of scepticism I've taken ever since the series hit that vertical slope into mediocrity. I could stay away, but I know I won't. And Square Enix's tenacity to have this game sell with a large scale promotional campaign which went as far as dominating the entire exit of Earl's court station and making a demo of the game available to download...I find it really admirable. Even if winds up duping me in the process.
I had absolutely no idea what was going on when I booted up the demo, but I knew I liked it. Not even 2 minutes into the demo and I've managed to travel through time, get attacked by a giant hand, see a pet moogle transform into a crossbow and engage in a fight with said hand. This game is already looking more exciting than XIII and Square Enix are so getting a pre-order from me.
XIII-2 gave me more in the space of 45 minutes than XIII gave me in 45 hours. XIII's saving grave which was its battle system fundamentally remains the same, but small additions such as being able to fight alongside monsters add a new dynamic to the battle system. Despite starting the XIII-2 demo in the same place where XIII truly begins, it felt completely new. Area's feature characters you can walk up to and speak with. Characters naturally engage in conversations with other NPC's. Paths branch off and provide more than one route to a destination. The game let's you pick a plan of action on what to do next. XIII-2 feels promising. I feel optimistic that Square Enix can salvage the mess that XIII was (the duping has begun). But also can't help but wonder why XIII ended up the way it did when Square had it in them to not make it suck the first time around.
XIII-2 plays around with the idea of time travel. And even though the surface is only scratched in terms of how it will arc across the whole game, small hints of it are teased at in the demo. To be fair, time travel ends up the same in every game anyway, so we know how this will pan out. What you do in one time will affect it in another. And the whilst you're in one time zone, things are still transpiring in another, and occasionally overlap, blah, blah, blah. There are lots of talks of paradoxes, time gates, realms and time anomaly's - which sounds about as complicated as time travel in a game often is. But it signals something Square failed to show in XIII, which is that they actually give a shit about gameplay and that they do not advocate linearity. Time travel being such a norm thing in this game begs the reasoning that if these characters can jump around time, then the whole of XIII could have been pretty much avoided. This may or may not be the question which is ultimately answered as the adventures of Serah, Noel and her moogle progress. But you don't question it. You don't question why Serah has a moogle which can turn into a crossbow. Or why she's running around with some man who isn't Snow, yet man handles her and throws her around like a 2 gil ho. You just soak in how much more fun XIII-2 to play then its predecessor.
Square Enix has my money for this game. Then again, they always did.
Give 'em a read: First impressions | Final Fantasy XIII review
I had absolutely no idea what was going on when I booted up the demo, but I knew I liked it. Not even 2 minutes into the demo and I've managed to travel through time, get attacked by a giant hand, see a pet moogle transform into a crossbow and engage in a fight with said hand. This game is already looking more exciting than XIII and Square Enix are so getting a pre-order from me.
XIII-2 gave me more in the space of 45 minutes than XIII gave me in 45 hours. XIII's saving grave which was its battle system fundamentally remains the same, but small additions such as being able to fight alongside monsters add a new dynamic to the battle system. Despite starting the XIII-2 demo in the same place where XIII truly begins, it felt completely new. Area's feature characters you can walk up to and speak with. Characters naturally engage in conversations with other NPC's. Paths branch off and provide more than one route to a destination. The game let's you pick a plan of action on what to do next. XIII-2 feels promising. I feel optimistic that Square Enix can salvage the mess that XIII was (the duping has begun). But also can't help but wonder why XIII ended up the way it did when Square had it in them to not make it suck the first time around.
XIII-2 plays around with the idea of time travel. And even though the surface is only scratched in terms of how it will arc across the whole game, small hints of it are teased at in the demo. To be fair, time travel ends up the same in every game anyway, so we know how this will pan out. What you do in one time will affect it in another. And the whilst you're in one time zone, things are still transpiring in another, and occasionally overlap, blah, blah, blah. There are lots of talks of paradoxes, time gates, realms and time anomaly's - which sounds about as complicated as time travel in a game often is. But it signals something Square failed to show in XIII, which is that they actually give a shit about gameplay and that they do not advocate linearity. Time travel being such a norm thing in this game begs the reasoning that if these characters can jump around time, then the whole of XIII could have been pretty much avoided. This may or may not be the question which is ultimately answered as the adventures of Serah, Noel and her moogle progress. But you don't question it. You don't question why Serah has a moogle which can turn into a crossbow. Or why she's running around with some man who isn't Snow, yet man handles her and throws her around like a 2 gil ho. You just soak in how much more fun XIII-2 to play then its predecessor.
Square Enix has my money for this game. Then again, they always did.
Give 'em a read: First impressions | Final Fantasy XIII review
*sigh*
ReplyDeleteAgree.