Final Fantasy XIII - Lightning Returns

[vectordream]

 

I was not overly impressed with the first two games in the series. Mainly because the battle system does everything for you. The games basically just ran themselves. 

 

I tried the demo for this game and wow was I impressed! The battle system is actually fun now. Completely redone. I like how you can switch outfits with allow different powers to be used instantly. Each suit has its own ATB gauge so you can't just spam the same attack. I love the look of the different outfits Lightning can get. I am now interested in this game!

[Kevnvek]

I actually liked the combat system in 13.  It reminded me a bit of 12's, but not as in depth.  There's less micromanaging than the usual FF combat system, and you're basically just telling your characters what stance/role to play while they have a bit of autonomy, and you have to switch them often to suit the situation.  The fights certainly don't win themselves, the last parts of 13-2 got hard fast.

[vectordream]

I actually liked the combat system in 13.  It reminded me a bit of 12's, but not as in depth.  There's less micromanaging than the usual FF combat system, and you're basically just telling your characters what stance/role to play while they have a bit of autonomy, and you have to switch them often to suit the situation.  The fights certainly don't win themselves, the last parts of 13-2 got hard fast.

Yeah I guess I said that because I honestly never got that far in and it just seemed like the only thing I could really do is change stances. Something about it just turned me off and other games stole my attention. To be fair I shouldn't of said that it plays itself.

 

That said, I did pickup XIII-2 recently on xbox live for under $10 on some sale. Figured it was worth it to try one more time since it looks like I might be getting Lightning Returns. Maybe I just need to get part way in to get into the game more. I do like the universe.

 

If you play the demo for Lightning Returns I think you will see how much better the combat system feels. It seems like an evolution over what they were trying to do with the last two games. Even the devs were saying they could not really do exactly what they wanted since they had so many characters involved. Streamlining it down to just Lightning allowed the combat to evolve. It is definitely more hands on.

 

Changing stances (now called schemata) is still sort of there with the different outfits but now you have more control with the abilities. You want certain attacks in a row instead of just hitting auto attack? You can do it with all the different schemata very quickly and the way she moves is just awesome. The outfits look cool when they switch out.

[vectordream]

Just saw some reviews for Lightning Returns and yikes it is getting hammered hard for many reasons. I will wait for a price drop on this and will get it eventually. I got a little excited because I really like the new combat system but it sounds like they failed on other fronts. I did not play the first two in the series so I am not invested into the story too much.

 

I gotta be honest though as a whole it appears the XIII series is the weakest of all. I do enjoy turn-based the most and wish they would of never dropped that with Final Fantasy. Bravely Default has my full attention. The combat in XIII and XIII-2 is just not fun but I could get used to the Lightning Returns combat style.

[Faperture]

I miss the old style Final Fantasy games. Can't get into the new ones.

[dvdabc]

I bought lightning Returns, i like the new combat system but hated it at the same time. It feels like a totally different game and i really don't know how i feel about it right now. I also don't know if i like or hate the time system that they added, since i don't know if you will be able to travel back in time to day 1 like they allowed you to do in Orcarina of time (Zelda). Overall its still too early for me to decide how i truly feel about it, but one thing is for sure, it really does feel like a different game.