Final Fantasy XIII-2 Trailer

[D-Man]

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It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the Final Fantasy franchise. As far as I'm concerned, besides staples like Zelda and Super Mario, they are the greatest games to ever be created. I've played and beaten all but two of them. It just so happens that Final Fantasy XIII was one of the games in the series that I did NOT finish... and now, just the same as they did for Final Fantasy X, they're making a sequel.

After the abomination that was X-2, I wondered why a "sequel" to a game was necessary. To me, it was a bit lazy; you keep the same characters and just extend an already-existing storyline. I felt that X-2 was a major failure, and it was the second Final Fantasy game that I still haven't beaten (FFIX is the third). Now, I feel as if I need to go through the original Final Fantasy XIII and beat it so I can prepare for this new one to come out. Needless to say, I'm a bit annoyed about it.

I wasn't a HUGE fan of FFXIII's linear gameplay. The graphic enhancements were spectacular and the storyline was very intense but there's more to a game than just being visually stunning. I felt that XIII dragged on quite a bit and it just, well, BORED me after a while. So it doesn't leave me with vry positive thoughts about the upcoming new addition to the franchise.

What do you all think? Will FFXIII-2 live up to the hype? Did you guys enjoy playing FFXIII? Do you think you're going to enjoy the sequel?

 

[Sheamus' Suntan]

I don't get why they're doing XIII-2 when XIII was already meant to be a 2 part series, one part from Lightning's point of view and the other from a darker perspective. It's like they scrapped the other half of the game and went "fuck it, we have the characters lets just do this how we want."

It's lazy and being truthful, this will bomb. X-2 was horrible. XIII-2 will suck. Square fails to learn from it's past mistakes, it made mistakes with XI so relaunched XIV with no difference, just better graphics. X wasn't great, XIII was pretty bad. X-2 was the abomination of the Final Fantasy range...I dread to think of what XIII-2 will be like.

 

[Good Golly It's Ollie]

To be frank I think this could be a rare case of the strangely improved sequel. Obviously I can't be sure until I've played it but it seems as though Square, having gotten complacent in the last couple of releases, are now trying to address their fanbase directly with this. Not only did the gameplay suffer in XIII, the characters were mostly expies of previous characters in the series, save Vanille who is batshit-crazy but also loveable. I did like Snow as well in fairness; I thought the really well-done bit of XIII was the way they deconstructed the concept of what typical RPG leads are like, within both Snow and Lightning - the two basic lead types for these sort of games.

I'm glad the plot seems more about Serah. She was very important in XIII yet we didn't learn very much about her. It'll also make a change from having things told from the icy viewpoint of Lightning, whom I like nonetheless, but is sometimes unnecessarily cold. These have usually been character-based games and a return to the personality-oriented form shown in VII-VIII-IX-X would be preferable for me

 

[The Hardcore Kid]

To be honest I'm surprised you guys hated X-2 that much. I thought it was pretty fun, and it was universally loved by critics; I remember it getting like a high 9 from IGN. I mean, I was against the IDEA of a direct sequel to a Final Fantasy game, but it was derivative enough and entertaining enough to where I enjoyed it. It was a lighter game that still somehow had a good job system (even if it was disguised as the stupid "Dress" system).

That said, I'm not sure what to think about XIII-2. Like you, D-Man, I just didn't have it in me to finish XIII. I got probably 2/3rds of the way through it before I just honestly couldn't take it anymore. It was a great story, great characters, great graphics, but the fighting system had to be one of the most boring and unrewarding of the entire series. You could fairly easily go through most of the game just spamming Auto Attack. Where's the fun in that? If XIII-2 is a different fighting system (Which is seems it is from that trailer, I haven't read anything about it), then it could be fun.

 

[Mr. HD]

I personally couldn't stand that FF X-2 game. The way it played, the characters, the new gameplay, and how Yuna's character did a complete 360, but that's another story for another time.

The FF XIII-2 sequel, while it looks intriguing, doesn't excite me like FF XIII did. FF XIII was great. I'd put it in my Top 5 FF series. The gameplay, the story, the graphics, the characters and their attitudes, and I even loved the gameplay and how the fighting system was. From staggering your opponent to knock off some more health, changing your fighting mechanics so they relate to the current situation. I liked it and the enemies kept you on your toes. You couldn't just sit back and think about your next move.

I got a little annoyed that it was too long, but I never got bored with it. It made me wanna play it more and more to see where everything was headed. It was like a long buildup to the climax of the story. I liked it and didn't at the same time, but meh I liked it nonetheless cause the way they kept the story flowing kept my attention so I never got bored.

That being said, FF XIII-2 looks to be in a different ball park. Now, I don't know much about the new story, but what I see is that:

Lighting is now a Knight of some sort.

Serah and Snow seem to have split up and she looks like she has a new love interest in this purple haired Hope look alike.

There's a new villain and completely new story (I think) from FF XIII.


It all seems too brand new. Perhaps I should do some research on what this story is really about.

 

[Dagger Dias]

D-Man, if you haven't finished FF9 yet, then speaking as someone who's played every game in the series.... You really should finish it, or even start a new run in it to beat it. It's one of the better titles in the series.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about another sequel either, but we cannot judge all Final Fantasy sequels by the horrible standard that FFX-2 set. I enjoyed FF13, it was a step up from FF12 in my opinion and will at the very least give the game a chance. While FFX-2 did suck (2nd only to FF2 for the worst in the series) it did give an 11th game in the series to the fans who refuse to be a part of the online gaming scene in FF11. The same can now be done with FFXIII-2 providing a 14th game for those of us who do not wish to be a part of the MMORPG titles now that FF14 has been out for a year. I can see how the news might bring out a groan in some people who may want to try it but have not finished FF13 yet. That's just how it works sometimes and sequels are more enjoyable if you play the prequel first so I do recommend people try to complete FF13 before they play this sequel. Will it be awesome? Who knows, maybe. I'm not going into it expecting the next FF7 but I surely am not going to immediately expect another disaster like FFX-2 either because it deserves a chance from fans before anyone bashes it.

 

[Fizzy]

Final Hallway 13 you mean. Seriously, I don't know what Square Enix was thinking. I don't know if they felt a need to release it quickly or what, but it was one of the most linear games I have ever played. What's sad is that it had so much potential. I loved the battle system and the story was fantastic, the graphics and sound were top notch and Lightning was a very interesting protagonist, but they made the game SO god damn linear it killed me. The entire game consisted of running down a certain hallway and fighting a few enemies on the way. Maybe a turn here and there to find a chest, but nothing else. You had no freedom which is usually a huge selling point in the Final Fantasy series. As a huge fan of the series, I hope they fix that with this game and go back to more open world gameplay because 13 was unacceptable.

 

[Dutchboy241]

I'm not to sure how to feel about this one, but I do have a very open mind. I've played the majority of the series and even when you get a bad one (FF2)... in comparison to bad games in other franchises, FF still holds up well. FFX-2 wasn't great, parts just sucked. However neither do I regret playing. I had more fun playing it than eye roll worthy moments so I can't really complain.

FFXIII was a pretty great game in my mind, just not all it could have been. No towns being the the first problem. The story once it picked up was great, but for a while it seemed so dragged out. It wasn't one of the best but in no way shape the worst. I do think the hate is a bit harsh but every game has it's haters (I will not tolerate any FF9 bashing though!).
I thought Lightning was a great protagonist so actually just seeing more of her (besides Dissidia) is fine with me

As far as how FFXIII-2 is looking... doesn't bother me. I thought FFXIII battle system had a lot of potential and am curious to sees what they do with it (really I'm hoping if the player dies, you assume control of another, but I don't know what they're doing with it). Noel and Serah leading seems fine with me. Actually I quite like Hope's new design (I gotta get use to the tie though). Caius looks interesting. The last few games had villains with roles on the more crazed prophet side. Spewing off theories that weren't entirely wrong, but just cold. So Caius being more physically intimidating is a welcome change of pace.

I'll going to buy it but I'm not sure if I'll really enjoy it as much as would like too. The FF fan base is pretty harsh sometimes but when your games go down in quality it makes sense. Do I think it will be the best? No. Do I think it has the chance to surprise me? maybe or rather hopefully. In the end I don't want to look badly on FFXIII universe because of bad sequel because I do really like it.

 

[Sean Valjean]

I have a love/hate relationship with Final Fantasy XIII. One one hand, I loved the battle system, the graphics were gorgeous, and the story had me engaged all the way through. One the other, the linear style grew tiresome after a while and though the story was interesting enough, the payoff was so weak and nonsensical that I was practically groaning when the credits rolled.

That said, I'm extremely excited for XIII-2. It's retaining all the things I loved about the original while addressing all the major complaints. The game is open for exploration so no more running down endless corridors. The time-traveling mechanic allows for non-linear progression, allowing you to visit any location/time period and alter events to reshape other events. The already stellar combat system will have some new features such as quick-time events.

The Bioware-esque dialog options will let me shape the story the way I want and I can't wait to unlock each of the game's multiple endings. Hopefully this story doesn't get too bogged down in it's own fiction again and will actually make sense.

Overall, this is one of the most exciting sequels out there. Hopefully Square will be able to pull it all together into something truly amazing.

 

[Viggo]

Wow. I thought I was one of the few people that hated FF 13, but I guess I'm not. I too hated the battle system and the linear gameplay. If FF 13-2 is more of the same, I'm not interested either. Bethesda is kicking Square Enix's ass right now with the Elder Scrolls and it's sandbox gameplay. I hope Square gets back to the sandbox gameplay with FF 14.