I was initially feeling positive about FF 13-2 then I read the following.
David Wolinsky: I think the problem is just that Final Fantasy is on autopilot. I saw a ton of random battles in the demo, which seemed weird, since the game assumes you want to switch on "auto battle." With that on, your characters use their best judgment in determining what enemy to attack, what sort of attack to use (magic/physical), and whether to use a defensive item. We're conditioned to embrace level-grinding in RPGs, but something seems loose when you're getting dragged into fights but not expected to deal with them personally. Just to make sure you're awake, you're occasionally thrown a couple of quick-time events mid-fight, but let's just back up here a moment and reiterate: This is Final Fantasy. Why is Square Enix intent on trying to make it anything but that?
Eric Neigher: That's a really good adjective to use: "automatic." Nobody's flying the damn plane anymore -- not even you. You just watch the game pass before your eyes and stare in wild wonder at the feat of boredom before you. The quick-time events are just included so that Square Enix can put "video game" on the box and not "cut-scene factory." The story, as always, made no sense whatsoever. Some girl named Lightning, who is very serious and not all that hot, is on a quest to find happiness by fighting a big tough guy of some sort. Really, next to what brand of bottled water I'm going to drink next, I can think of almost nothing that I am less interested in than FFXIII-2's story. Let's say we were living in a perfect world, where Square Enix was actually going to make changes to the series and this game in particular. What changes would you like to see? What would make you sit up and take an interest in FFXIII-2?
From <a href='http://ps3.gamespy.com/playstation-3/final-fantasy-xiii-2/1171708p1.html' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>here</a>
Now I know some of you are going to say that the solution is to turn auto-pilot off, but I think this hints at a more disturbing mentality from the games designers. The idea that the players input isn't really necassary to the expierence. It feels like I'm being tossed a bone, like the designers are saying 'Oh here, you can do something...now! Had fun? Good now sit down and watch.'
I was initially feeling good about this game when I saw that I could take enemy monsters for my own (Fly my pretties fly!) and that I'd be able to make some choices about how my character reacts to things. Now...I wonder if it'll all be just another illusion.
On the plu side Deus Ex Human Revolution looks like fun.
David Wolinsky: I think the problem is just that Final Fantasy is on autopilot. I saw a ton of random battles in the demo, which seemed weird, since the game assumes you want to switch on "auto battle." With that on, your characters use their best judgment in determining what enemy to attack, what sort of attack to use (magic/physical), and whether to use a defensive item. We're conditioned to embrace level-grinding in RPGs, but something seems loose when you're getting dragged into fights but not expected to deal with them personally. Just to make sure you're awake, you're occasionally thrown a couple of quick-time events mid-fight, but let's just back up here a moment and reiterate: This is Final Fantasy. Why is Square Enix intent on trying to make it anything but that?
Eric Neigher: That's a really good adjective to use: "automatic." Nobody's flying the damn plane anymore -- not even you. You just watch the game pass before your eyes and stare in wild wonder at the feat of boredom before you. The quick-time events are just included so that Square Enix can put "video game" on the box and not "cut-scene factory." The story, as always, made no sense whatsoever. Some girl named Lightning, who is very serious and not all that hot, is on a quest to find happiness by fighting a big tough guy of some sort. Really, next to what brand of bottled water I'm going to drink next, I can think of almost nothing that I am less interested in than FFXIII-2's story. Let's say we were living in a perfect world, where Square Enix was actually going to make changes to the series and this game in particular. What changes would you like to see? What would make you sit up and take an interest in FFXIII-2?
From <a href='http://ps3.gamespy.com/playstation-3/final-fantasy-xiii-2/1171708p1.html' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>here</a>
Now I know some of you are going to say that the solution is to turn auto-pilot off, but I think this hints at a more disturbing mentality from the games designers. The idea that the players input isn't really necassary to the expierence. It feels like I'm being tossed a bone, like the designers are saying 'Oh here, you can do something...now! Had fun? Good now sit down and watch.'
I was initially feeling good about this game when I saw that I could take enemy monsters for my own (Fly my pretties fly!) and that I'd be able to make some choices about how my character reacts to things. Now...I wonder if it'll all be just another illusion.
On the plu side Deus Ex Human Revolution looks like fun.