“Why Final Fantasy XIII is a Bad Game”
- Categories: Games, News
- Date: Dec 20, 2009 02:40 JST
- Tags: 2ch, Final Fantasy, Production Controversy, PS3, RPG, Square Enix
Criticism of blockbuster RPG Final Fantasy XIII has rapidly mounted, with the initial observation that the game is almost comically linear giving way to a litany of further dissatisfactions, many quite unavoidable even for the game’s many staunch defenders.
A digest of criticism from 2ch:
The whole game is completely linear until halfway through [approximately 20 hours].
There are hardly any towns.
The party is always fixed. The whole game just repeats the movie-battle sequence over and over [In fact the progression is closer to movie-run-battle-run-movie-boss-movie-run-battle…].
There are rather a lot of movies.
Moving around is like a long marathon.
The whole game system is just a clone of FF10.
You can’t flee battles [You can’t avoid most battles either as there is no sneaking past enemies, including weak ones].
Your party is completely healed after each battle.
If the main character in your party dies it is game over [There are only ever 3 characters in battle, often less, and often fixed].
The best tactic is almost always endlessly attacking. There is next to no strategy or skill involved.
The summons’ transformation scenes are a joke [i.e. Odin turning into a horse].
The story is rubbish… [Spoilers omitted, but complaints centre on Snow’s constant and cringe inducing insistence that he is a hero and will “protect” whatever it is the antagonists are menacing this time]
Shopping is only done at “online” shops on save points, with no proper shops to be found.
However, this doesn’t matter as you hardly ever get any money [and you can never buy anything more powerful than what you already looted].
There have been next to no changes from the demo.
The status screen displays no real information.
There are only 8 items usable in combat [For that matter, there are hardly any weapons or accessories, and the “crafting” system mostly consists of spending drops to upgrade their 2 stats].
There are no levels.
With all their advertising money, just how was it they failed even to get Famitsu to give full points?
Some of these criticisms are exaggerated or require further qualification, but on the whole they are fair, and any review which does not dwell long and hard on some of these design choices is certainly suspect.
It already seems clear the game is far from the dramatic step forward it was supposed to be, though whether these issues make the whole game “bad” is certainly open to question. However, it does seem something went very wrong with the game’s development all the same…
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What's worst than a linear exploration RPG?
In the early FF series (1-4), you can wondering around into the wrong territory... ambushed by overpower enemies, which you can't possibly defeat until much later in the game... Try to escape but failed & get your entire team wipe-out - you just lost hours of progressions & levels.
Repeat that a few more times, & your interest to continue the game will diminished to ZERO.
Well, maybe you could try not being stupid. Like, saving your game often, or not wandering off into the unknown like a dumbass.
Basically, 13 eschews challenge in favor of coddling the players and guiding them along, so that the kiddies and casuals will enjoy it(seeing as that's the biggest demographic. No wonder this piece of shit sold so well).
Here: People who are susceptible to 2ch's and 2chan's trolling and people who haven't played the game.
I mean, so what if a handful of faggots in the internet say that this game sucks, would you outright believe it even if you haven't played it yet. This is what I was trying to say in the last FFXIII article:
NOTHING CAN SATISFY YOU GAMING CONSUMERS.
Squeenix cannot just give in to what you want. If they gave in to what fans of older FF series want, the franchise would die off easily. The franchise would be much boring. This is why FFX onwards were attempts to break FF. They wanted to appeal to a wider audience now, not just a handful of fans who rant for shit in the internet and who don't know two cents about the game and only hate it to join the bandwagon.
I say you wait for March and play it.
As for me, I'm enjoying every bit and piece of this game.
18:45 here
Also, don't give me that VERSUS XIII IS THE REAL XIII shit. It just won't work.
you're a fucking bigoted idiot. FFXIII fucking blows. Its plot is shallow and confusing. I could shit a better plot out of my ass. Yea the gameplay was mildly entertaining but thats about it. And what made final fantasy into a great franchise was games like FFVI,VII, and X. Interesting and dynamic characters with understandable plot and conflict.
I bet you just loved X-2. Id call you a faggot but I have more respect for gay people in that. In stead I'll just call you a n00b bitch because thats what you are.
To me nothing can top FF5 =D.
I don't really think a lot of movies is a bad thing. I'm confident I'll like this game. Everybody seemed to hate ff12 but I loved it. I also liked ff10. I think maybe people are expecting too much?
omaigot, no town exploration? i tot towns r the elements of RPG, especially JRPG!? No lvl up? wtf?!?!
i think the battle system like FFX-2 is the best yet... why, oh why they killed old turn-base system?
No, just no. Crisis core's battle system was the best since you could actually DODGE instead of just standing there like an idiot.
Completely missing the point.
TURN-BASED.
Whats the problem with linear? I like it, not too much hassle.. not waste time running around headless. I dont have that time anymore. Just want to enjoy, quick, have fun, enjoy a great story, great music, great visuals, great experience, a great game. FFXIII has everything. I'll save the endless grinds and exploring for XIV MMORPG, where you need to know things, FFXIII.. just want to enjoy and be over with. Glad i can save energy for XIV. Thank you SE.
Enjoy your FF, fanboy.
Meanwhile I'll go back to playing Megaten games on the ps2 while I wait for Atelier Rorona to come to the west.
he's no fanboy, sounds ridiculously casual to me.
Interesting to see.
That people love to hate. And that SquareEnix failed such a easy one-shot win that FF usually is.
I can just laugh at it all and wonder how the journalists will try to cover it up and how they will motivate a good grade.
With this being a single line game, makes one wonder: Is this the result of FFXIII going multi instead of being exclusive to the PS3?
All in all. With this new info I´ve been less and less interested in getting this game.
This is because of failbox aka rrodbox they degrade the game because of gaybox.
STOP FUCKING ARGUING ABOUT WHICH CONSOLE IS BETTER YOU FUCKTARDS.
Just how the suckstation made the N64 look like crap when the N64 could do better 3D with the ZBuffer.
No. What made the N64 suck was that it used carts instead of discs.
Ugh, this is just pitiful. It seems as if Square REALLY dumbed this game down in order to appeal to a wider variety of people...not surprising, though.
This game, more than any FF game since VII, seems really desperate to be the next Final Fantasy VII and recapture that huge franchise appeal. You could see it in the art design and the sci-fi world, and now you see it with how they've oversimplified the gameplay. While it's true that VII simplified some things when compared to the SNES titles, those were small changes. This game goes overboard with the simplification. Instead of just streamlining things, it went full retard.
What's really sad is that after the huge leaps forward made by XII (smooth integration between battle and field, a unique fast-paced combat system, a story written above a 6th grade level...) ALL of its innovations have been shitcanned in favor of this crap.
Seriously I still don't see the problem with the game.
So, they finally released a game so bad it can actually kill the franchise? That's about time!!! I mean, F.F. games were out on the NES even before I got pubes, so for god's sake, it is just about time for this to finally stop.
Why not start from scrach and create something new? Yes, I know F.F games are supossed to be different from each other, but... really why not just let the "F.F." tittle go?
Because it's a series most every gamer is familiar with. Meaning it's too popular for square to "Just let die." When FF hits rock bottom is when they'll let the series go.
Sankaku Complex, the site to read if you can't be bothered going all the way to the GameFAQs forums.
Yes, somehow copying and pasting forum posts counts as news here.
yes of course Sankaku complex it's not the NYT
I just want good old FF back. they were masterpieces from I do X and since that fusion with enix their games are getting crapier and crapier.... SQARESOFT COME BACK PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO SMTH FOR FANS< NOT FOR MONEY!!!!!!!!!
They can't come back, they can't afford it, also FFX-2 was a great game.
Except that Enix has a grand total of about nine freaking games and hasn't influenced anything, negative aspects all come from Square.
...FFVII wasn't great. In fact, it's overrated. Final Fantasy VI is where it's at.
And Final Fantasy IX
That's beside the point; I never gave an opinion, one way or the other, regarding VII. A lot more people out there are clamoring for a FFVII remake than FFXIII. If you think XIII hate is bad, wait till square mishandles VII. If Square Enix can't produce a great remake, I'll be sure to avoid the internet for a month after its release.
They won't care, they only care about the name. Advent children, Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core, and Before Crisis all show this. None of them I would call good, okay, playable/watchable maybe, but not good, and yet the 7 fan boys lapped it up like milk. If it's called FFVII everyone will fool themselves into thinking it was good.
A lot more people is quite an 'overstatement'. But these people are the same one who need to realise that it's 2009/2010. Not 1997. FFVII been released, everyone. Whilst it's nice to go back to the classics, we all need to realise that FF needs to change from time to time.
And also, 'these people who want a FFVII' remake are rabid fanboys/fangirls that really need a permanent ban from the internet.
No, actually. Final fantasy VII was the game that re-immersed rpg's in the U.S and defined quite a few things about them. Not to mention VII STILL has the best story out of any of the final fantasy's. It brought in new things such as the "Limit Break" System which was copied in thousands of other RPG's and turn based games. as well as many other things. Honestly Square needs to just go back to what worked instead of forcing crap like this down our throats.
Yes, VII was great. Yes, it was overrated.
My Point? FFs 1-10 were good, and it sucked balls after that.
take at 9 and add 5 then we can agree with each other k
FFVI was the absolute *BEST* FF game period.
7 and 9 were acceptable.
Screw 8, and especially BIG Screw and FU to 10 & 12!
FF13
No open World Map?
No LVLs?
No Shops?
Full heal after each battle? **WTF!!**
This easily qualifies for AUTO-FAIL without
even needing to play this crap. Add on top
of that, the whiny reports of Snow's character,
and this game is just too much to take.
10 wasn't that bad. Sure it was a lot easier than the previous entries but still the story was compelling and the removal of the traditional leveling system made it more interesting. And at least it wasn't like 12 where the main character didn't even seem like the main character.
13, for all its flaws, still is a good game. Granted the world is smaller, there are no real shops(its what I liked in RPGs). The leveling system was good. Crystarium made it feel like every character has their own uniqueness in battle unlike in 12 where the characters were essentially the same with the same abilities only with different stats. Also the full heal after each battle made it seem so easy. I really didn't like Lightning as a MC because she just seemed so dull. Vanille was more of the MC than her given that she gets a lot more voice overs than lightning. If people didn't like snow, then they'd hate hope a lot more. For a guy named hope, he really seemed like a wuss for the most part of the game. :)
It's one thing to say YOU don't like it, but another to attack it.
"Traditional". You want traditional? Go play DRAGON QUEST because this is —FINAL FANTASY—. God, people are stuck in the 90s and can't get over the fact that things CHANGE.
Lol, weaaboo fags whining over FF.
"I want another FF just like FFVII". Yeah.. no. GTFO over that game. And for all those dickheads clinging to a reviewer's nutsack, uhh, how about you play the actual fuckin game before jumping down Square's throat?
"LINEAR GAMEPLAY...BOO HOO"—Man, I'd like to see half the trollcracks on here come up with THE "Brilliant" plot, world, and character design for a game*.
Don't like it, don't play it. They don't need your shitty cash to make them feel any better. FFI-FFIX had it's time and now they must cater to a ever changing audience in our time.
*Yeah, an unsuccessful execution of cliche elements comes to mind undoubtedly..
Shit stays shit regardless of the audience, fanboyfag. Nobody stops them to make an pretty looking mouthgaping-CG filled RPG WITH the gameplay of FFI-FFIX. I'm sure even today's audience would rather appreciate that rather than an ACTION-ADVENTURE game with a few rpg elements. But you won't listen to reason anyway, so go ahead and throw your money away for MOAR maintream shit, don't blame anyone for pointing out the obvious.
I'd like to see half the nutcases on here whining about FF and jumping down Square's throat to go and make a better fuckin game. As if they could do any better with their shitty as cliche ideas (more than likely).
Half the faggots posting on her are just incredibly pickyass teenagers who can't get over their weirdass homones. BOO HOO SQUARE ISN'T MAKING 'FFVII'-like games anymore.
GTFO and on with the past.
"LINEAR GAMEPLAY..FAIL"— No stfu and gtfo. Go play one of those lameass FPS if you want freedom. It's a fuckin RPG which SHOULD focus on Story and Character Development. FFS. Whiny hellholes on here.
LOL did somebody just insult your grandmother?
Grow the fuck up.
I read these 'criticism' over on another forum and suffice to say, it was the usual typical fanboy whining.
Oh, but I won't know until I play the game. But until then, I'll use my instinct and I've watched quite a lot of video. I can't comment on the story, but the gameplay is fucking easier.
If it anything when I watched that certain boss battle from a guy who broadcast it live on JustinTV, it's that 'endlessly attacking' gets you nowhere. It even applies to normal battle.
There is strategy, and quite a lot of it, especially with the Optima Change.
The Persona Syndrome. The leader dies, then you all die. I liked that <3
With a difference. It applies differently to each character. Some cost more for one character, another character can do it for a whole lot less.
Hey, it's better than Keyblades transforming into fucking motorbikes.
Optima Change, Improving Framerate, Changing the commands so that 'launch' is automatic, making sure when a enemy dies, your character doesn't hit thin air.
There's a fuck ton of changes in small aspects. What kind of changes did you expect? Serah in a bondage suit as a playable character?
However, this doesn’t matter as you hardly ever get any money [and you can never buy anything more powerful than what you already looted].
If there anything that Fallout did right, it's that you can find strong weapons if you can find it. I never really understood why the next town over have a 'stronger list of weapons' than the last one.
Fucking hell, is this guy getting on about FFXIII or is he moaning that about an RPG FUCKING CLICHE not being in it?
How did Final Fantasy XII get full score? I'm not hating FFXII for the hell of it, but FFXII had some nice changes, but it brought out some hideous flaws with it that was resolved in the Zodiac System version. My moral: Never listen to Famitsu. EVER.
This what I summed up when I saw the criticism on another forum and I feel the need to 'write it'. Oh, I hope my opinion is justified when I play it, but until then...
I treat this as a dramatisation from a 2channer who's upset because it broke the RPG clichés and there's no loli in it.
If it anything when I watched that certain boss battle from a guy who broadcast it live on JustinTV, it's that 'endlessly attacking' gets you nowhere. It even applies to normal battle.
There is strategy, and quite a lot of it, especially with the Optima Change.
The Persona Syndrome. The leader dies, then you all die. I liked that <3
With a difference. It applies differently to each character. Some cost more for one character, another character can do it for a whole lot less.
Hey, it's better than Keyblades transforming into fucking motorbikes.
Optima Change, Improving Framerate, Changing the commands so that 'launch' is automatic, making sure when a enemy dies, your character doesn't hit thin air.
There's a fuck ton of changes in small aspects. What kind of changes did you expect? Serah in a bondage suit as a playable character?
If there anything that Fallout did right, it's that you can find strong weapons if you can find it. I never really understood why the next town over have a 'stronger list of weapons' than the last one.
Fucking hell, is this guy getting on about FFXIII or is he moaning that about an RPG FUCKING CLICHE not being in it?
How did Final Fantasy XII get full score? I'm not hating FFXII for the hell of it, but FFXII had some nice changes, but it brought out some hideous flaws with it that was resolved in the Zodiac System version. My moral: Never listen to Famitsu. EVER.
Want real RPG? Try games like Planescape: Torment, Baldur's Gate, Fallout or The Elder Scrolls.
jRPGs stopped in the time, they are the same since 80s.
You missed Neverwinters Nights and Arcanum. Also Elder Scrolls aren't that RPG really, since you basically have to save the world, and always in the exact same way; I guess you can define your character in side-quests, but since there's no incentive to most people don't and just do all of them... Oh well, the days of RPGs are slowly going, video-game and paper, and this makes me sad.
this article is classic fanboy whining. I notice almost all the critism is about something not being the way it is in the "real" FF-games. There being no levels doesnt make it a bad game. Just different from what youre used to. Same goes for almost everything you pointed out. Sorry, but you guys need to accept the fact that Square Enix isnt interested in making identical games forever. That they try to do something else (even if you think it goes towards simplifying. which they may be doing. but FF has always been a mainstream genre, so cant really complain about that either) isnt a bad thing in any way whatsoever. Its really subjective, actually. If you arent happy with the decisions Square Enix make, thats too bad. but you cant judge them for it, and you cant call the game bad for it either. but you shouldnt even be upset about it in the first place, so i dont really see the issue. Grow up, fanboys...
I agree... Ar TOnelico III will be so MUCH better!
This.
Can't wait! Ar tonelico changes it up with every installment, I think the battle system and character designs for III look super interesting. Since they added music crafting as well as bringing over the item crafting (I assume they're bringing it over anyway) there'll be a whole new element to fighting. Not to mention that each Reyvateil now has three other personas with their own names and strengths, it'll be like having your own bishoujo army... so yeah, I'm really really looking forward to it!