I don't know why but I've been pretty excited for this game. I really haven't liked any of the past Final Fantasy games since VII. X was a good game but I wasn't really into the character design. Famitsu, a Japanese game magazine, gave it a 39 out of 40. Which I think is really good. I might try to post a review but I think I should beat the game first before I give it a review. Beating this game might take me a while for two reason. It's a 40+ hour game and plus I'm reading it in another language. I'll rant about that a little more later. I'll try not to write any spoilers but be warned.
Story: So far the story has me interested in it enough to want to keep playing. The way the story unfolds I think is very similar to FFXII. You don't follow the lead character, Lighting, around the first part of the story. Instead like in the demo packed with FFVII: Advent Children Blu Ray, you switch between Lighting and Snow once you reach a certain point to each characters story. I still haven't decided if I love or hate the way they're telling the story. Interesting approach to say the least.
Game play: The game seems to be really linear right now. That of course might change like most FF games after the first major boss battle. The save points have a new function that I'm not sure was in FFXII. There's a shop available at each save point which is kind of convenient. I haven't bought anything yet but I'm sure this will come in handy later in the game.
Interactions with non-playable characters, NPC, are different now. Instead of walking up to them and pressing action button to talk with them. Now when you get close enough to them, the NPC's line will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. I like this a lot better.
In this game like FFXII you control only one character and you have support members. While walking around with the support members you have small converstations with them. Kind of helps develop the characters a little bit I think. Just by playing as Lighting for 5 minutes you realize that she's a very strong woman and kind of has a lone wolf attitude to her. Kind of fun to hear them rant to each other.
The new battle system, which I love, is very similar to "Legend of Legia"'s battle system. (I probably should have taken notes when I played last night.) You an action gauge that fills up over time during the battle. As you level this gauge gets larger and larger. Before or after the gauge gets full you can assign action to the bar. Right now, Lighting only has attack(1 bar) and special spin attack(2bars). You have two options to choose your actions, you can either press the auto button or manually choose what combo you want. Right now I'm at a low level so there really isn't any combo outside of two attacks right now. Your non-playable member, NPM, attacks and supports you through out the battle. What's really cool is that using a potion now heals all members and it doesn't take up any of your action gauge so you can have Lighting attack the enemy right away. Which brings me to why I like the new battle system, it's fast compared to most RPGs. The game awards you for being fast. Some normal attacks can even attack multiple enemies at the same time which I think is just awesome. Always disliked how a super move with high destructive power on seemed to hit your target opponent. Haven't unlocked magic yet so maybe I'll explain that and summoning later.
Dislikes: This really hasn't changed from most FF games but I wish there was a little blood. There are some scenes in the game where I am wondering why this character isn't bleeding. There doesn't have to be a lot of blood just enough for me to believe they're are somewhat humanoid. Really a small complaint. I mean young children do play this game but the two people I was waiting in line with to buy the game didn't seem like they had children. They also looked a little older than me.
This is just for me, but when I pause cut scenes to try and catch that one kanji, Japanese character, that I couldn't read the whole screen grows blurry. Which makes it hard to look up. I haven't had too many instances like that one but I'm sure there will be more in the future. So far I'm keeping up with the story and I can understand each of the tutorials they throw at me.
I feel like this game is really fun and I'm sure the story won't disappoint. Looking forward to winter break so I can hopefully get through a big chunk of the game.
4 comments:
Combat without blood... *sigh*
Do you remember entering the blood code on Mortal Kombat, Sega version? SNES didn't support the blood code, I was so disappointed. It was so viscous, like gallons of strawberry jam pouring from the characters' heads, lol.
Yeah I remember that. I was so glad to have a sega back in the day.
The cut scenes is where I feel like a little blood would make the story a little more believable.
Thanks for being the only guy that reads my blog Jordan. *sigh*
He's not the only one, Wade. I just didn't know you had this. I enjoy reading your thoughts, and I too, am into games, so I can always blog with you about that. I'm head deep into Dragon Age: Origins right now. The graphics are only so-so, sort of like Oblivion from three years ago, so a little disappointed there, but the game play is DEEP! I mean, it is every bit as deep as LOTR. Maybe you, me, and Floyd, and your friends should start a gaming blog.
By the way, I'm sort of pumped about FFXIII, and sort of not. I've played all but the online XI, and I did enjoy X (played a ton of that mini-game blitzball), but got bored with XII when I was right at the end. I should have beat it, but I wanted to do all the side missions first, and after 150+ hours in that game, I just lost interest. Also, I was well into my PS3 and Computer HD games, so the graphics were a major turn off. I figure the gameplay of this one, and the story will be like recent FF installments, but with better graphics. I'm hoping that the graphics are so good that they make up for the usual wooden dialogue and weak male characters. And I should know, I played and beat every FF game there was until 12 (or 11, didn't want to pay for online).
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