Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

[Nazo]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

Something about that quote doesn't ring true. I can't see SE basically saying "we fail" like that, especially given the level of detail they've managed to put into the environments.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

I just put this in another thread but I'll repeat it here...

FFXIII was first developed for the PS2 and, of course, that didn't happen. They wasted a year and a half of development time and let's not forget the budget too. Something had to give and apparently it did. I think its bullshit since its a company like SE and not some start up or small independent.

[DakAttack]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

Linear experiences aren't that bad. It's how it's been since forever, and nobody died because of it. I don't see what the big deal is.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

The issue is that most of the FF's have had town access in some form or the other. At the beginning of FFXIII, you fight a monster that attacks the train and then you walk along a bridge. On the bridge there is a kiosk to purchase stuff.... conveniently....on the bridge....ya.... I haven't played much more than that since I didn't want to ruin the experience for when the US version is released but I did think it was odd. When I found out that this is the way it is through the game because there are no towns well then I thought it was a damn shame to be honest. A town immerses me into an RPG, its part of what alot of RPGs are about..especially FF's.

I'll buy it when its released here and I even have a JP copy that was purchased when they were first released in Japan. I'm a huge fanboy of the series but not including towns was a mistake, imo. When you tweak a game, you leave the fundamentals alone because they've worked for you so far. You tweak battle dynamics, story, etc but leave the basics alone.

[Lmnop]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

Was I the only person awed by how large and detailed some of the towns were in FF9? K, just asking.

[Mhurron]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

I wouldn't say awed, but in just about every aspect 9 is under appreciated. The towns and cities did seem less like places put there just for the main characters and more like real towns in 9 though.

[Malacite]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

The other thing they said in their review by Invisible Walls was you don't actually get to explore the overworld until very late in the game, and despite the fact that it's supposed to be some huge expanse, it's actually quite small. And all people do is farm turtles for 15,000 gil drops and they're really hard to kill...

[Cheezeman3000]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

I'm going to take the game for what it is. I already know it has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard in a game, so my expectations for the music have been met. I also already know it has some of the best visuals I've ever seen in a game, so my expectations for the graphics have been met as well. All we have left to critique after those are a good story and fun gameplay. If it does not have a good story it will be a disappointment. If it does not have fun gameplay it will be a dissapointment. I'm hoping they are both good.

Expanding from that, I have no expectations for anything else related to the game world. If towns do no service to the story, then why have them? In our world there are many places where cities are few and far between. If this game was based in our world I could imagine an entire adventure where you only run into one huge town or two, and from what I understand this game has at least one "town" already.

Also, I don't think I'll be complaining if the end-game content isn't as robust as we're used to. To be quite honest the thing I enjoy the absolute most with Final Fantasy games, hands-down, is the story. Once the story is over, I do love running around and powering up with the characters I love, but usually after grinding 100+ hours of sidequest material I get quite tired of the game. It becomes more of a chore to get everything in the game done, and while I'll do it because I like the sense of accomplishment, I still don't have nearly as much fun as I did with the story.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I'd rather have less sidequests, more story, and if this game is mostly story, then heck yes. I'm all for it.

[Malacite]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

I'm going to take the game for what it is. I already know it has one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard in a game, so my expectations for the music have been met.

Oh rly? I haven't heard much of it's music so I can't honestly comment, but Nobuo won an award for FF8's musical score.

Far as I'm concerned 8's sound track > everything. I especially love Eyes on Me by Faye Wong ^^

[Coinspinner]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

Anyway. Wasn't some of the cut material... towns?

[Nazo]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

The DLC thing sounds bad but as they haven't announced what it is yet or how much it will be I'll reserve judgement on that. It's not like this is unprecedented though, Japan inevitably gets an 'international' version after the Western release with a few extra features and that gets a full-price release so DLC has to be better than that.

I do kinda miss towns though, it adds a sense of accomplishment, like getting to the town is your reward for battling through the last few hours. It does feel a bit relentless without them.

For those who haven't already made up their minds to hate the game no matter what,Destructiod have a 10 things I loved about FFXIII article up that highlights some of the positives really well. I really can't wait to get to the part where it opens up more now.

[Cheezeman3000]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

Oh rly? I haven't heard much of it's music so I can't honestly comment, but Nobuo won an award for FF8's musical score.

Far as I'm concerned 8's sound track > everything. I especially love Eyes on Me by Faye Wong ^^

Oh, I agree, FFVIII has an amazing soundtrack. I think FFXIII is different enough that you can't really compare the two, but they're on pretty similar levels when it comes to complete awesome.

The thing I love most about the XIII soundtrack is I can play it for some of my music-snobbish friends and they actually like it. A lot of the orchestra stuff is incredibly well-composed, and there's even some Uematsu-esque piano/string/guitar combinations that are just heavenly (i.e. the 'memories' song on disc 4 ).

[Malacite]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

Also hasn't the guy who did 13's track left SE? I saw an article a short while back saying they'd lost another composer (but Nobuo is back, at least for 14, so YAY)

[Cheezeman3000]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

Also hasn't the guy who did 13's track left SE? I saw an article a short while back saying they'd lost another composer (but Nobuo is back, at least for 14, so YAY)

Yeah Hamauzu left after finishing the international edits for FFXIII's music. But he's not gone for good... he's just a private contractor now, same as Uematsu. Speaking of Uematsu, he's technically never going to be "back" with SE (he doesn't like how the company is run), they just hired him under a contract deal to write specifically for FFXIV.

[Malacite]

Re: Square Enix cut a game's worth of content from Final Fantasy XIII

he doesn't like how the company is run

Isn't that how most people feel about a lot of developers these days? We love their works but hate how they operate.