Final Fantasy XIII-2 “Now Too Non-Linear”
- Categories: Games, News
- Date: Dec 16, 2011 17:06 JST
- Tags: Comparison, Final Fantasy, Production Controversy, PS3, RPG, Square Enix, Xbox 360
For Final Fantasy XIII-2, Square Enix seems to have been busy correcting the extreme linearity and general absence of RPG-ness which caused so much criticism of Final Fantasy XIII, with some maps looking distinctly complex – although this has immediately prompted complaints that they “will be a complete hassle to navigate.”
Some of the maps:
Towns and other crucial RPG elements were also promised, so it would appear Square Enix is attempting to address some of the major complaints levelled against the original.
In fact it may have achieved the ironic position of being less linear (at least in terms of dungeon design) than the latest paragon of open-world RPGs, Skyrim – a game in which almost all dungeons consist of a corridor to the boss followed by a convenient one-way shortcut back to the entrance or surface.
The original, by way of comparison:
However, the online reaction still seems to be demonstrating that, for some at least, Square Enix can do no right:
“I hope you guys are happy – after you complained about it being non-linear it is now a total bitch to navigate.”
“ヽ(´･д･｀)ﾉ”
“It’s super-complex now. This game is godly!”
“It’s more complex than I expected.”
“They should have done the first like this.”
“Nobody really wants non-linearity with such small maps in any case.”
“They’ve just piled in pointless forks so much it’ll be a total hassle. Damn idiots moaning about linearity.”
The game’s international release is due in January, although the Japanese version is available now.
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I don't see a problem here.
Me neither, looks like the expected map of an RPG.
first time i saw it reminds me of ff12's map. XD
The biggest problem with FFXII was making Vaan the main character. Hes a worse cardboard cutout than Assassin in Carnival Phantasm.
EXACTLY! FF12 was a BEAUTIFUL game, I don't understand why they choosed to throw all of that structural work to the garbage. The problem with FF12 was the total lack of evolution in the characters, the result was like a one an a half hour movie, but the structure of the game was suitable for a story of epic proportions. The problem was the CGI movies, they should had used the game engine for all the cinematics, that way they could show a development in the character's physichal appereance adding the player customizations along the game. It's so simple to do a successful product doing just a couple of changes, yet E-ENIX manages to do it wrong again and again.
First few images look EXACTLY like FF 12..
I don't understand this at all, lol...
ever since Saguchi(the original creator) left...Square just can't do final fantasy right anymore...
Otaku mind duration. Anything released more than two years ago is forgotten.
You arent supposed to see Vaan as a main character. He's just a bystander, the eyes in which you view the whole story.
And I like that. Because you are just a kid, knowing nothing about the outside world, still full of dreams. It makes that wonder of discovery feel much better.
The new map looks exactly as it should. Nice, big, like a city. >.> If dumbasses can't find their way around in a city, then they shouldn't live in one ether. Besides, there is always the map option in the game.
don't just equate character development and evolution to physical appearance. More so, it would be odd for them to change much over a short period of time and adding minor changes would have had no impact. Also, since when do you change the appearance of a character in a final fantasy game in a way that isn't based on the plot? That's an entirely different style of game your talking about.
Looks like regular RPG maps to me. #1 is a bit complicated, but the rest could easily have come from any FF game. The first thing I thought of was Borderlands, actually.
They look like rehashed maps from FF11 MMORPG ><;
The first map does remind me slightly of Castle Zvahl, but not enough that it looks like a 'rehash' of it. The rest, not even close.
Nah, Zvahl was kinda hard to navigate w/o map, but this is kinda easy to remember.
FF13's linearity wasn't its only problem. What about the horribly crippled combat system. It's like they merged ff12's with some sort of ATB system and it is extremely boring.
Mash X button;
switch to medic when need healing;
switch back to aggro;
repeat
It sounds like you took the easy way out instead of trying for speed kills to get five stars every battle. The combat system in FFXIII can be very boring or very fast paced depending on how challenging you wanted to make the fights, especially some boss battles.
So you mean I have to make the game more challenging by myself instead of S-E making a challenging game... That's a problem imo...
@Kohaku
For me, its part of the fun ^.^ Choosing how you want to play, setting yourself limits...all good :) Emergent gameplay FTW
I hope Square DOESN'T scrap that system. It was a fantastic evolution on turn-based battle and if you wanted to do well, you HAD to constantly switch the party's roles in a fight.
Sure, you COULD go the herp-a-derp route and eventually get through every fight, but that's like going to a water park and only playing in the wave pool.
There's SO much more under the surface that can make your characters incredibly powerful, and produce so many 5 and 6 digit numbers that bosses tremble in your presence.
But, if you're having fun just mashing a button, then by all means, have at it. Me? I'm gonna see how big my combo count will go on this mecha-demon... thing I just found.
I like the system too, its just that there werent classes, like mages or swordsman. The characters could do anything, be a white or black mage (Synergist and medic for white, saboteur and ravager for black), the 'standard' class (just hitting with a melee or ranged weapon, commander role) and the saboteur (the only new thing... tanks).
It was because of that that people didnt like it, it wasnt the traditional Final Fantasy.
for those who complains : you guys sure thing haven't tried other rpgs compared to this. If you're a real RPG lover, you know this ain't the most complex that had been out there and this one just looks casual for a standard play game.
Neither do I, but then I started playing RPGs on PC back in the 1980s...
Looks no more complicated than most of the games I've played lately. Not even much more complicated than FFXII.
Lol, thie maps look just like the FF12 maps in terms of complexity. Too hard? Yeah right.
Anyway Im really glad now, I loved FF12. And this game also got a 40/40 from Famitsu, like 12. Me very happy. Im so going to get this now.
This game looks awesome now. At the start when we heard that 13 would be getting a sequel, we all were very skeptical, seeing as how 13 disapointed many.
But now, a 40/40 score from Famitsu, and all the problems from 13 seem to have been fixed. Now we all are really hyped up for this game.
the problem here is called "bad design". Exploration becomes a hassle when there are so many dead ends and just on the first map there are more than 12 corridors that lead to nothing. These new maps are more like a maze than an actual stage if you ask me, just like in White Knight Chronicles and I hated the maps on that game with a passion.
The linear vs. open is kind of an annoying issue, because often people wrongly see this as very black and white, as two extremes. Either
1. it's a completely walled-in, linear, almost on-rails game, that doesn't feel like a world at all, merely a bunch of non-interactive flat pictures that pass you by
or
2. it's a game with a huge open sandbox terrain with random similar looking places everywhere that feel completely meaningless, useless and soulless.
But, just because I hate FFXIII doesn't mean I want FF to become a sandbox game, which is what people seem to think.
I would like to see a return to what many games used to be: a hybrid of the best parts of both. Tightly and clearly structured, but not afraid to let you explore and find things by yourself.
But that seems like a game we're just not going to get anymore. Too difficult to develop?
Thats actually what I like. Sometimes they lead to treasure anyway. I just can't stand of finishing a game before looking everywhere in the world the developers made, I just have to see everything, every little piece of detail SquareEnix put in the game. Thats how I play FF, and RPG's in general.
Unless they would f*ck up one of this: navigation and map view, camera control.
"will be a complete hassle to navigate."
They look like maps from previous FF games and other games. They don't look all that complex in the least.
I had seen more complex maps in FPS. Namely the old Castlevania. This is nothing. Whoever complains about all those twist and turns need to stop playing interactive cutscenes and play an actual game!
In FPS, you don't get random encounters every 15 seconds which force you to stop whatever you were doing and mash buttons in a pointlessly trivial encounter that adds nothing to the game.
Then stop playing japanese rpgs and come back to Tamriel. The emperor of cyrodiil needs you!
i used to play RPG's, then i took an arrow to the knee...
Screw the Emperor of Tamriel! I shall fight for Skyrim's independence!
Actually in FFXIII you don't have random encounters, get your facts right you igiot
True, FFXIII you dont get random encounters.
I used to take a arrow to the knee, then I got a life..
The metroid games are more complicated then that.
Then don't play RPGs
Sorry, I really screwed up. I meant Wolfenstein.
isnt that want jap gamers do? play those click-a-long hentai games that wears out the left mouse button on dialogues for a cartoon porn pic.
"stop playing interactive cutscenes and play an actual game!"
Total Bump man, this nails how i feel on the head.
lazy japs obviously don't want to play games anymore, they want to watch them
@Anon10:55 What, you mean games like Uncharted?
@Anon10:55 so you judge a whole race of being lazy because of one game in a series? Also i'm not sure if your talking about Final Fantasy or Uncharted?
Then explain why most of the great action games come from Japan. Maybe even most of the greatest games OF ALL TIME.
Jap racist jokes are getting old. We should've figured out not to judge an entire race based on what *this* website says.
I think this looks amazing.
yeah, dunno what people have against playing the game themselves and not just follow it around on a leash like a dog