Final Fantasy XIII Impressions

[TheSlyMoogle]

So just started chapter 9 and here's what I have to say:

The AI is fucking dumb when it comes to spellcaster classes. Just fucking dumb.

And at the same time it's dumb to make your party leader one of the main spellcasters because of their low hp values, but at the same time you can't stop them from doing dumb shit like casting thunder on monsters when they're weak to fire, or like the ra spells do slightly more chain gauge add on, but instead they'll cast 3 fires instead of a fira and a fire for like 2 more percentage points on the stagger meter. Fucking shitty AI ravagers.

Also synergist pisses me off in the same sense. For example Hope:

He had shell and protect. Well eventually he moved up and got barfire and barfrost(fire and ice resist of a pretty small percent), well I ran into a soldier who had a pretty crappy fire attack that did like 50 damage, well after being barfired it did 49 damage and Hope wouldn't do the one thing I needed him to which was cast protect because the soldiers rarely do the fire thing. But the entire battle he just stood there and cast barfire over and over. This has happened several times since and it almost makes the synergist useless if the enemy has an elemental attack. Seriously.

I mean it's not like the game is that hard anyway, but it would be nice if there had been an option for me push a button and make my AI cast a spell or something. Or that you could control the way they generally flowed (Like setting them to do the most damaging option.)

[Typhoid]

The AI is fucking dumb when it comes to spellcaster classes. Just fucking dumb.

Dude, use Libra.
If you libra an enemy once, every other time you fight that enemy they'll cast on it's weaknesses.
Reading the manual is for winners.


All this thread tells me is that you like to find things to complain about.
I've had no problems with the battle system, nor with the way people cast things.
I find synergists highly useful, as well as Sabateurs.
As long as you have your enemies intel, they won't cast random shit on it, or you.


If I was Earl, this game would be my Nintendo.


Also:

Dear the end of Chapter 9: What the fuck?

[TheSlyMoogle]

Originally Posted by Typhoid

Dude, use Libra.
If you libra an enemy once, every other time you fight that enemy they'll cast on it's weaknesses.
Reading the manual is for winners.


All this thread tells me is that you like to find things to complain about.
I've had no problems with the battle system, nor with the way people cast things.
I find synergists highly useful, as well as Sabateurs.
As long as you have your enemies intel, they won't cast random shit on it, or you.


If I was Earl, this game would be my Nintendo.


Also:

Dear the end of Chapter 9: What the fuck?

Actually whether you libra or whether you defeat an enemy 1 time will gather you the enemy intel. Which is a nice way to save your tp for bosses. Also pretty much every enemy has a hidden libra point which only shows up after you defeat it. In effect making Libra basically useless.

Also ravager just is something I would rather control, but not have to worry about the fact that the death hammer is going to drop every 5 seconds.

And Zephyr, I'm now 20 hours into the game, in chapter 10, and the battle system still lacks anything complex or interesting. Mash attacks until stagger, heal hps when low, repeat. The only difference is now I start battles with a synergist in my starting paradigm. Although will say game got a hell of a lot better once you weren't stuck in 2 person parties with the game telling you who the party leader was.

Also Sazh is da man. As well as snow. Oh and Fang is badass too. Oh hey, what do you know, that's my final party. FUCKING YEAR!

Also Shiva is a total whore in this game, and I enjoy how when you summon shiva, snow pops up between the 2 like a pimp and he's all "Sup"

[ZephyrFate]

Every game has you mash x... i don't see how that's a complaint. EVERY FINAL FANTASY GAME HAS DONE THIS. If you're not using Saboteur with your Synergist, or changing up Paradigms, then you're willfully ignoring most of the strategy of the game.

[TheSlyMoogle]

Originally Posted by ZephyrFate

Every game has you mash x... i don't see how that's a complaint. EVERY FINAL FANTASY GAME HAS DONE THIS. If you're not using Saboteur with your Synergist, or changing up Paradigms, then you're willfully ignoring most of the strategy of the game.

Lol you have to change paradigms to heal. Also didn't complain about mashing x, complained about mashing attacks. I'm just finding this game takes less thought than previous FF installments.

It would be slightly different if the game didn't reward you for doing things as fast as possible for better drops.

The fastest way to do things is to start the battle casting haste and then Relentless Assault paradigm to build a fast attack chain. You're also rewarded with that thanks to launch which takes 1 enemy out of the battle, thus reducing the damage dealt to you.

I did start the battle with synergist, saboteur and commando for a while, but found there were too many enemies who either negated status effects, or midway through battle would change and negate status effects plus get a buff.

The only time I switch to saboteur now is for dispel, or for the few enemies that seriously need to be poisoned or slowed in order to get 5 stars.

Other than that subbing out other classes just takes away from the precious time you have to get 5 stars, which is about the only thing that makes battles in this game challenging. I mean you could slowly beat the game very easily with 2 medics and a commando. You would never die, but you also would never 5 star a battle.

[Typhoid]

I'm just finding this game takes less thought than previous FF installments.

If you stick to the given path and just follow that - then yes, you can just mash away most of the time given you level up accordingly to your mash-tactics.

However once you (This part doesnt need to be read to get what I'm saying)get to Pulse and feel like battling tough enemies - then good luck just mashing attacks. It takes actual strategy and timing, as well as a lot of shit inside your pants.

[ZephyrFate]

I switch between Relentless Assault, Combat Medic, and Bully. Synergist-Saboteur-Commando is a damn good combo. But there are others. You don't have to restrict yourself and many of the combos out there can still net you five stars. Plus, even with five stars you can still get terrible drops, or none at all.

[TheSlyMoogle]

Originally Posted by ZephyrFate

I switch between Relentless Assault, Combat Medic, and Bully. Synergist-Saboteur-Commando is a damn good combo. But there are others. You don't have to restrict yourself and many of the combos out there can still net you five stars. Plus, even with five stars you can still get terrible drops, or none at all.

yeah but you really don't get drops with below 3 stars, and 5 stars usually nets a rare drop for me.

Also I finally upgraded my weapons during chapter 11, and figured out the most cost effective way to do so thus far in the game with the spoils available to me. So I max upgraded my best weapons, and lol did the game get hella easy. Upgrading essentially doubled my damage output (In the case of Snow it almost tripled it.)

Also, Exp multipliers for weapons and accessories don't go over x3 btw.

I spent about 2 and a half hours messing around with different stuff, taking notes and reloading the game. So if anyone wants to know anything, I guess ask, and I'll tell you if I know.

Originally Posted by Bond

Am I the only one who actually enjoyed changing discs during the FF Playstation days? It gave me a physical sense of accomplishment.

No I totally enjoy it. In fact I haven't had to do it since skies of arcadia on the gamecube, so when I did it with FF13 I was pretty pumped. Brings back old memories *tear*