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GOOD DESIGN CHOICES IN LIGHTNING RETURNS: FF13
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Decky
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CloseI've only played a couple hours due to being busy and all, but so far I can say with confidence that Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is the best game of the trilogy from a gameplay perspective.
One of my favorite design choices is a limit on the number of potions/phoenix downs you can carry into battle. The limit starts at six, though I think it gradually increases. Why is this awesome?
Well, first of all, it helps balance the game. Final Fantasy 13 battles are all about attrition, and LR is no exception. Enemies have high HP and defense and you have to identify weak points. Sometimes an enemy will be susceptible to massive damage while they're charging up an attack; other enemies may be really weak after you block one of their moves. Still, it can take quite a while to figure this out. And if you don't? Well, get ready for some nasty attrition.
Attrition in RPGs can suck because restoratives, healing moves, etc. are usually plentiful, and enemies never really get harder as the battles progress. Basically most RPGs are just delaying the inevitable so they can post their shiny 40-hour completion times. Lightning Returns fixes this issue with the aforementioned limit on recovery items. If you try to outlast an enemy in a battle of attrition, you will fail. You'll either burn through all your potions (and they're quite expensive relative to an enemy's gil drop) or die before you can deplete a strong enemy's HP bar. This FORCES you to master the system, use strategy, and put though into when and how you heal.
I actually enjoyed going into battles in this game because I knew the enemies would put up a fight. I wouldn't just need fire-all materia linked on my bangle or whatever.
One minor gripe I have is that I'd like to be able to buy more than 6 restoratives at any given time. This way, if there's a long dungeon I can just replenish my six slots from my larger inventory selection. As it stands, I have to keep running back to town if I want to progress deep into a hostile area.
I love this system so much. This game is outstanding. It's hard and rewarding.
Too bad the story and characters aren't up to par (as has been the trend in Final Fantasy for the last 12 years).
One of my favorite design choices is a limit on the number of potions/phoenix downs you can carry into battle. The limit starts at six, though I think it gradually increases. Why is this awesome?
Well, first of all, it helps balance the game. Final Fantasy 13 battles are all about attrition, and LR is no exception. Enemies have high HP and defense and you have to identify weak points. Sometimes an enemy will be susceptible to massive damage while they're charging up an attack; other enemies may be really weak after you block one of their moves. Still, it can take quite a while to figure this out. And if you don't? Well, get ready for some nasty attrition.
Attrition in RPGs can suck because restoratives, healing moves, etc. are usually plentiful, and enemies never really get harder as the battles progress. Basically most RPGs are just delaying the inevitable so they can post their shiny 40-hour completion times. Lightning Returns fixes this issue with the aforementioned limit on recovery items. If you try to outlast an enemy in a battle of attrition, you will fail. You'll either burn through all your potions (and they're quite expensive relative to an enemy's gil drop) or die before you can deplete a strong enemy's HP bar. This FORCES you to master the system, use strategy, and put though into when and how you heal.
I actually enjoyed going into battles in this game because I knew the enemies would put up a fight. I wouldn't just need fire-all materia linked on my bangle or whatever.
One minor gripe I have is that I'd like to be able to buy more than 6 restoratives at any given time. This way, if there's a long dungeon I can just replenish my six slots from my larger inventory selection. As it stands, I have to keep running back to town if I want to progress deep into a hostile area.
I love this system so much. This game is outstanding. It's hard and rewarding.
Too bad the story and characters aren't up to par (as has been the trend in Final Fantasy for the last 12 years).
I agree. I'm only a couple hours in so far (just started day 2) and wow, I'm blown away by how fantastic the game design is. It's a blast to play. There's so much depth to the schemata customization. I actually just bought a new garb that I didn't need just because I liked the look of it (Nocturne).
There are a couple design choices that I really don't like, though. I hate that you take damage if you botch the encounter trigger, as healing is very precious now. So far, in day 2, the only damage I've taken is from messed up encounter triggers. I also really don't like that you burn time by retrying a battle. I really liked the no-risk retry system from XIII and XIII-2.
There are a couple design choices that I really don't like, though. I hate that you take damage if you botch the encounter trigger, as healing is very precious now. So far, in day 2, the only damage I've taken is from messed up encounter triggers. I also really don't like that you burn time by retrying a battle. I really liked the no-risk retry system from XIII and XIII-2.
Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of either of those. BTW, I hear this game gets extremely challenging later on, and that it's fairly short at around ~25 hours for the main quest.
i think i prefer xiii-2's ost but i've been listening to LR's and it's pretty good!. I don't really like the vocal tracks anywhere near as much as I did in the first two, though.
still i loop this forever when doing the gam mak and it is the best
still i loop this forever when doing the gam mak and it is the best
Ok, admittedly I can't stand Final Fantasy XIII, but this games gameplay and overall design has me intrigued. I mean the huge sprawling areas, The art direction and that battle system looks amazing!
But I hated XIII, literally could only play it for like two-three hours before wanting my money back, seeing as I bought that game day one. Sadly my brother wanted it so I never did get my $120 back.
So yeah, would I still enjoy it despite my hatred for XIII?
But I hated XIII, literally could only play it for like two-three hours before wanting my money back, seeing as I bought that game day one. Sadly my brother wanted it so I never did get my $120 back.
So yeah, would I still enjoy it despite my hatred for XIII?
LockeZ
I'd really like to get rid of LockeZ. His play style is way too unpredictable. He's always like this too. If he ran a country, he'd just kill and imprison people at random until crime stopped.
5958
If you only played it for 2-3 hours and think the battle system in this looks good, I think there's a reasonably decent chance you would enjoy XIII despite your hatred for XIII. Just sayin'. Since about 5 or 6 hours into FF13, the job system unlocks. There's the same amount of gameplay you have to slog through before the job system unlocks in FF13 as there is in FF5, but FF13's opening has a lot more cut scenes - as many cut scenes as battles. So it's several extra hours of real time.
If you just can't enjoy games unless they have nonlinearity, then you would definitely like this one a lot better than the ultra-linear FF13. FF13 is about as linear as Contra until you're at the end, while this game at least offers something closer to a traditional JRPG amount of choice and exploration.
If you just can't enjoy games unless they have nonlinearity, then you would definitely like this one a lot better than the ultra-linear FF13. FF13 is about as linear as Contra until you're at the end, while this game at least offers something closer to a traditional JRPG amount of choice and exploration.
Antilurker77
871
Unfortunately once you figure out the optimal way to beat a monster it can start to feel rather monotonous. This is the type of battle system that needs a constant stream of new monsters for to fight, but there's only like 5 monsters per area. I hope that SE revisits this battle system one day, hopefully with a larger budget (or an indie dev can steal it).
My biggest gripe with this game is the whole limit on the number of days. I don't really like the idea of having to repeat quests over and over again. Majora's Mask did a great job at avoiding this by letting you do the game in "chunks" as it were; each of the four main quests carries over into subsequent playthroughs. Here, none of the quests carry over - just your stats.
Luckily it seems that it will be winnable in the 13 days you get.
Luckily it seems that it will be winnable in the 13 days you get.
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