Conspiracy_Victim said:
Eh no problem Kageho. I just try to keep what I read on the internet to 200 words or less. After that my attention starts wandering.
As Andrew said, if you actually skip the non-FF stuff, the article Tim wrote actually was a good thing.
In a nut shell, FFXIII does a lot of things right or so he says. It streamlines the process, in which you are always going forward, never looking back. While the linear progression is a bit of a downer to those who like the free style of say GTA, it allowed them to make it possible to strengthen the storyline and characterization. The problem though is you never get to actually see the wonderful world Square built for the game. Which sounds like a drag, because I like exploring the worlds that people create.
Tim goes on to say that its probably the strongest characterization of the entire series. Lightning is apparently the hero we've always wanted. She's got all the good parts of the best characters in the series, yet none of the down side. Which is awesome for me, because I've been wanting that for a very long time. I want a hero who's a fucking hero. Snow comes off as a naive, "I will protect you" but the longer you go, the more he becomes well, likeable. Shit, I forgot the guy's name, but the fellow with the chocobo in his hair is actually us, if you will. He's the only normal guy amongst the cast, so you'll relate with him easily.
He does say though that the story is different than it actually doesn't explain anything. Like you'll be tossed phrases and words at the beginning of the game without any explanation, only for it to be explained later in the story and you are going "ok... Why is this guy worried about it?" till you get to the point that its explained. Its sorta hit or miss with what works, but I hate having everything explained right at the beginning or having a character explain it to someone who should know what the fuck it is, ya know?
Battles are interesting because of the Phantasm Shift (I think I got the word wrong but screw it). Basically anyone can do any job, but you need to shift them from one to the other. And battles aren't really that easy. Sure, they are when you know what you are doing, but still you can't putz around. And its still the same ol' ATB, just fancied up. The only downside is that you don't get access to all the battle mechanics right away, because Square's afraid you won't know what to do.
That's more or less it in a nut shell. He went on to say that there are times that you get to watch them do something cool but you can't do that, but other than that, that's about it. Well that and the graphics are probably still some of the best he's seen out of any game.
So overall, its got some interesting stuff, but probably be one of the middle packed liked games.
However, you're "missing" Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine. You can either a) buy them as separate discs, or b) buy the Game of the Year edition Oblivion, load the expansion content onto the hard drive from the disc, and trade in your original Oblivion.
