Started a replay of Final Fantasy 13. Boards consensus on this installment?

I’ve always been a PS guy. I didn’t enjoy 13 until picking it up again years later. I think the same will go for 15 as well.

Have you played Lost Odyssey on 360? Same creators as FF. Heard it was just as good maybe better than 13.

FF13 is alright in my book. The battle system is a lot of fun, especially with all of the different combinations you can create with the paradigm system. The music is also probably top 2 or 3 for me in the series.

I personally don't mind linearity in JRPGs so long as the story and characters keep me going throughout the experience. I completed FF13 twice, but it wasn't because of the characters and story. I feel those are the two areas the game really suffers in. Besides Sazh, the main cast is kinda 'bleh' to me. Also, the game is so damn confusing with its terminology with stuff like L'Cie, Fal'Cie, etc. It's a headache to keep track of, and in all honesty it's not very interesting to warrant said confusion.

I also feel like the game is too cutscene heavy at times, but I suppose that, coming from a generation of JRPGs before that where cutscenes were far more scarce, it may not be the best criticism to give. This problem may be moreso related to my issues with the characters and story I guess. A game like Kingdom Hearts 3, with just as much frequency of cutscenes, is a little more bearable given how much better the characters are in that game, but I digress.

As you mentioned, the game looks fantastic and still holds up a decade later. They did such a good job with the graphics, especially early on in the game with the ice area (name is slipping my mind).

I have heard 13-2 is the better game, although I cannot confirm that. It feels like every time I want to complete the trilogy, I play the first game and never have any desire to play the other two. In all honesty, I just can't get into the world or the characters that inhabit it. Overall though, the game is still a lot of fun with the battle system and music. I just wish everything else was a little more polished.

it held my attention long enough for me to beat it. ill consider that a positive.

Gran Pulse was neat. fun battle system

no idea what was happening in the story. people are turning to crystals and I had to save them. idk.

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Boards consensus on this installment

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There isn't one. I hope you have fun with it.

13-2 and LR are both fun, but I'd wait to see if you like the first game. 13-2 does have some improvements, but I enjoyed the story better in the first game. Lightning Returns has a very unique battle system, but it's definitely more for hardcore fans of the series and/or fans of Lightning.

It's not a bad game it is just decent though. Hope is the worst video game character in history and I'm not being hyperbolic.

13-2 is better overall but I just want FF games to go back to turn based combat where I control all of the party members. I pray every morning for another FF game like 9 - the greatest game of all time.

I kept waiting for FF 13 to start getting good after numerous hours of playing time, and it never did.

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I know what you mean but turn based was a product of limitations for the hardware of the time

Has there been an AAA RPG recently that give you complete control of the party?

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Persona 5 which is an amazing game.

Octopath Traveler

I feel like the voice actress for Vanille can’t decide between an English accent or an Australian accent

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Also, I never played 13-2 and Lightning Returns and see they’re also backwards compatible. Are those worth playing? 

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Depends on if you like the story. I played all 3 games and my consensus is that FF13 in and of itself is enough of a story. The other games happen only because they retcon the end of the first game since they wanted to make a series of games nobody asked for. I'll explain in more detail if needed because I'm very familiar with Fabula Nova Chrystalis.

FF13 gets hate for being too linear, but as a long time fan I've never understood that. All of the FF games are linear in storytelling. It's just a matter of how much window dressing the developers put in to make you think it's a vast world. The closet thing we have ever had to a real open world final fantasy game was FF7 and FF15. And even then, the story is linear, the maps themselves are just vast.

Look at map of the FF10 and FF12 games. Like an actual walkthrough map. They are linear with certain paths staying away for treasure. And in both cases those games dont give you full access to the airship for fast travel until your 75% though the storyline. Could day the same about thr first Nintendo FF games as well.