I can cross "Pre-order a game and stand in line at midnight to pick it up" off my bucket list. I know geeky, right?
At least I was second in line
Anyway, what do you guys think of the game? I think XIII is going to be the new FF staple. VII will always have it's place, VIII will always touch me the most, but XIII is perfection on so many levels.
1) The battle engine. Genius. It's quick, it's easy to use and battles aren't annoying getting into or getting out of. They are actually pretty entertaining too. And they go by QUICK. If you have the battle speed set on normal, don't expect to be in a battle with 4 enemies longer than 15-30 seconds tops, if that (if you are getting 5 stars). The fact you automatically heal up after every fight is a blessing.
My biggest love about the engine is way your party fights and the paradigm system. Let me outline this:
Enter into a battle with a new enemy type.
Fight
Your allies and your auto-battle attack it with an INTELLIGENT
strategy.
You realize your damage is getting reduced somehow.
You cast Libra to analyze the foe
Your party, AI and all, now BETTER knows how to defeat the enemy. All scanned weaknesses are now being exploited and a noticeable strategy is put into play. For instance, in my fight with Shiva I was just auto attacking in the Commando paradigm mode and wasn't getting anywhere close to harnessing her (you have to beat the summons to use them). I scanned her to learn that she warms up to those that can take a beating. Still using auto attack (a mode that lets the computer compute the best string of attacks will be, and it does an AWESOME job), I switched to Solidarity mode (defense) and it switched up the strategy to cast steel something on me so I can take a good beating.
I cannot comment enough on how well done the battle engine in this game is. I feel like my party and I are one. And you can customize your own paradigms as well. Paradigms are basically who is playing what role in your party btw.
2) The cast of characters is brilliant. Looking at the different arch types and how they all were brought together by the plot and how they interact with each other is amazing. My only two complaints are Vanille and Hope. Hope is more annoying that Tidus and Vaan put together for me right now. Vanille is like the annoying Japanese girl you don't want to be stuck in a room with for hours. Her character get's better every hour into the story, but her happy-go-lucky needs could used to be toned down a few notches.
If you get lost in the story, or walk away for a few weeks, the game keeps a very excellent datalog of what all is going on in the plot and what things means so you can reference it. It tells you some small additional details too, so they are fun to read.
3) The story progress = FINALLY. MAKES. SENSE. Okay, I'm an FF nut, but I still got lost in where to go in earlier games. The fact that you never return to a place twice in XIII, or don't have to worry about going into towns to buy items, is brilliant. It keeps you in character, in the story, and on your development. THAT is an RPG. I honestly cannot wait to play next. That's just good game design right there! You want to keep the players coming back. And knowing that I don't have to spend an hour equipping/junctioning/stocking up on magics, items or weapons before venturing out is a huge relief. Also, if you die in a battle, you literally get respawned a few steps from where that battle started. No having to play from the last save point.
4) Save points. They are frequent and they provide the shop in this game. Haven't much explored the shops yet, but they look easy to use.
So what do you guys think? Questions? Concerns?
"If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants" - Isaac Newton
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