[Multiplatform] Official Final Fantasy XIII Thread

Originally Posted by Tsunade

Dunno if anyone mentioned this... but this is so retarded.... ahmmm english translation for one part of the demo

YouTube - Final Fantasy XIII DEMO in English!!!!!!!


Was kinda amusing... but bleh

That vid was indeed retarded, but not as retarded as the guy in the comments trying to convince everyone that it's not an official dub. Gee, you think?

Still I laughed a bit while watching it. "Maybe if you spent less time unzipping all your shirts..." Old, nameless, fan-dubbed guy FTW!

Anyway, having played through the demo several times now, here are my thoughts:

1) Loved the opening sequence with the scorpion boss. Even though the CG opening has plenty of action, it's still good to start gameplay off with a bang.

2) I like Sazh and his baby chocobo (so cute), and I'm interested to see how his character develops. His battle stance, however, needs to be changed. I don't care if he's supposed to come off as the comic relief character, his battle stance is ridiculous. Also, his guns are remarkably weak, so much so that I'm hoping it was an intentional move to make the player, as Lightning, do most of the work since we have no choice but to control her.

3) I have mixed feelings about the battle system. I like that the system is fast paced and easy to pick up, but on the flip side I'm concerned about battles getting too hectic because of the lack of a wait mode or something similar. I'll admit that I've probably been spoiled by previous entries in the series giving the option to pause time while going through menus, and it's not like FFXIII will be unbearably harder without a similar offering. It'll just be more challenging, which could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. Also, I like how characters can move around in battle ala FFXII, but I really hope that we can control that movement in the final build. The demo shows that it's possible to avoid close range attacks and enemies can avoid area magic attacks as long as they're not the target, so it would add a nice strategic element if you could control your lead character's movement.

4) Despite his cliched lines and stealing Seifer's trenchcoat (jk ), I still love Snow. Given his personality, it will be really interesting to see how he interacts with Lightning when they eventually meet up.

5) I really hope the Behemoth boss isn't such a cheap bastard in the final build of the game. Either that, or I hope I can level enough to soften the blow of his horn uppercut move. Ouch!

6) I'm loving the music so far. The boss theme is one of my favorites in the series, the battle theme is great too (love the violin), and I love the piece that plays when we're introduced to Snow. I'm looking forward to hearing more of what Hamauzu has composed for this game. Speaking of which, I've made a rip of the demo if anyone is interested. Grab it here.

All in all, it's going to be a long wait for even the Japanese release. I'm probably going to import it, seeing as I didn't have too much trouble getting through the demo even though I'm about two years out of practice when it comes to Japanese.

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Originally Posted by Shin

Do you get to actually go into the menu during the demo? From what you're saying about positioning being relevant in battles, I would guess that there'll be some form of formation option available, either something meaty like Last Remnant where different formations have different bonuses and weaknesses or something simpler like the old front/back row mechanic they've pretty much always had. Either that or perhaps a command that makes them move around to where you want, I'd be amazed if they allow free movement of any of the characters.

You can't access the menu in the demo, so no idea what kind of formation options (if any) we'll have. As for movement in battle, I agree that it's probably a long shot that we'll be able to control it, but it just feels kind of unnatural to see the characters walking around every now and then with no input from the player, particularly when it could affect whether or not they get hit with an enemy attack. If area white magic works the same way area black magic does, imagine the frustration of trying to cast Curaga or Hastega on your entire party, only to hit one or two characters out of three because you have no control over their positioning.

Still, it remains to be seen how the battle system will turn out in the end. They did specifically say that the demo only included the basics of the battle system, so the final build should hopefully see a more complex and customizable setup.

There's nowhere I can't reach.