Final Fantasy XIII was held with a lot of mix reviews. People either loved it or hated it. One thing is for sure it didn't set any new standards for RPGs. I'm actually a fan of the game myself but I can still see the many flaws that probably brought the game down. Let's crack FFXIII open and dissect what could have made this game better.
What did Square-Enix do right?
The battle system was done really well in FFXIII. It pretty much took away the grind work that even most of today's Western RPGs still have. This could be a bad thing if you're the type that actually enjoys killing the same monster over and over again. I for one am not one of those people. On top of cutting the fat, they implemented strategy a little more with the Paradigm system. I like how the battles were fast but your only concern was not to just wail and wail away at a single enemy until the fall over. I like how each character class was implemented and important for each battle.
The visuals in JRPGs are still more pleasing to my eyes than those from the west. I like brightly lite games and characters that don't look like they are all hiked up on steroids. The worlds are amazing and well imagined.
What the hell went wrong?
The lack of exploration was probably one of the most disappointing parts of the game. I don't mind exploring new areas as long as I don't have to fight a monster every two steps. Eliminating that problem actually makes exploring fun. Especially, if you reward players with awesome loot for the exploring.
The story wasn't horrible but it's definitely forgettable. The cast wasn't anything to brag about either. I do like Lighting and Snow though. Their relationship and the small bond that they shared with Lighting sister made parts of the story interesting but after reaching one point in the game they kind of dropped that development.
The weapons system in the game just sucked. There was no incentive to invest in any other weapon but the one you started out with. I like upgrading weapons in games but I felt like there was no point in FFXIII because the new weapon you picked up never was as good as the one you upgraded. You kind of waste all these decent parts into on one weapon only to find out that it might be possible to have a better only if you had held out until the end to spend your parts.
I think one thing that FF series hasn't done well since FFVII is they haven't created a bad ass antagonist since then. What makes a good story for most RPGs is having a great villain. Look at Sephroth that dude killed your girlfriend. I remember that being one of the biggest holy shit moments for me in gaming. They need to make someone not like Sephroth but they need to make a villain remember able like Sephroth. I'm sorry Orphan was one of the most shitiest villains of all time. Bring back the badass.
Haven't gotten to play this yet, and frankly, may not ever. I already have one time sink. Although I'm still looking forward to XIV.
ReplyDeleteYou're points are all in line with my thinking. Especially exploration. Why can't developers figure out that adventurers and explorers like to....explore and adventure! I don't always want to kill stuff. I do, however, enjoy the thrill of finding something, like an easter egg hunt or something. Reward the gamer for going out on quests to find stuff, and don't throw an enemy in their face all the time. Jus tlet them find the stuff you know, like make it hard to find, not hard to get to. Especially compass / treasure map. LIke give you a map that says you need to find a particular tree, then head NNW for to find the next fork which is a boulder with moss on the east side, etc. And don't give me little compass dots on a minimap to find it. Just let me freaking explore!