my only hopes are that the game is amazing and that the ps3 version will be different from the 360, since all the multi platform games are relatively the same

thebulletneverlies

@otakujpop: considering many long term fans of the series were starting to find the straight turn based mechanic dated, i think it was a bold move and an ultimately successful one.

funny you mention it- i enjoyed the sand-sea area and found the world appealing- i grinded (ground?) there for hours. the story wasn't my favourite in the series, but i found it far more interesting than, say, 8- which put me to sleep every time.

i think it is all a matter of opinion. to me, i really missed uematsu's music, but that's my only complaint. i loved the game, it felt like a final fantasy, but it also felt really fresh. it was a solid rpg. don't forget, final fantasy has always been whatever square wants it to be.

bialia

FFXIII won't be generic because there's a 360, no, no.

It'll be generic because it's a Final Fantasy game.

RedRaptor

@Maj1nX:
Hasn't this already been pretty much confirmed?

Frologic

Final Fantasy died half-way through FF VII.

magictroll

Well maybe the 360 version will be compressed to hell and back or it may run at a Halo 3 esque 640p...who knows.

I just don't buy the part about the 360's storage limitations not changing the PS3 version of the game...I mean, a DVD holds like 9GB and a Blu ray disc holds 25. With a difference that big, how can you say that the game is NOT being made under the pressure of squeezing it onto a DVD disc?

fenderfuel08

I hope SE sees it fit to put in a proper overworld like in the old FF's.I miss exploring and driving my airship.

On a different note, I doubt I'll ever understand why people hate FFX so much but like FFXII...I mean one game had actually likeable characters, beautiful settings, great music and a good battle system while the other game's only good point was that Fran was hot.

Xideo

@TheIrishNinja:

The shitty story that was potentially phenomenal but disappeared after about 30 hours. The combat system which was good, but could have been much better. The lack of character development from anyone. The boring as tacks antagonist who's evil because . . . he is.

Now don't get it twisted, 12 wasn't horrible or bad. It was good, but it wasn't as amazing as it could have been.

Frologic

@Nexus6: Also i'm a 360 owner and just like PS3 owners who will get to play Bioshock I think its a good thing that some exclusives are branching out so that people who aren't rich enough to own all 3 consoles get to play superbly crafted games no matter what side of the fence you think they should be on.

Nexus6

Are they sure? Cause this guy on the internet said it would be.

Frologic

@TheIrishNinja: When I played the FFXII demo that came with Dragon Quest VIII, I absolutely hated it and had no faith in the direction the combat system was going. It wasn't until after the full game came out and several positive impressions from others that I gave it another chance, and my opinion of the game has completely flipped. FFXII is a joy to play, though I will say that its pacing does feel a bit on the long side.

Lezard

The one game that I bought a PS3 for and they have to export it to failbox360(not that bad) but when the PS3 version has to suffer because xbox decided to load their games onto DVDs pisses me off.

Why can't they just do multi-DVDs like with the previous versions(FF7, FF8, FF9): Please insert DISK 2.....
Man they aren't very imaginative are they? I've found the solution in about 2 secs....

James2432

Wasn't FF originally a PC "exclusive" - then Nintendo - it's just a giant wheel spinning around really - chill.

Trencher-1

@Ad-hominem:[kotaku.com]

Funny! I adore that scene.

I like Tidus the least of all main characters in FF and my favourite was probably Squall (unless you consider Terra to be a lead character, in which case it was her).

I think people who enjoyed Vagrant Story and Tactics Ogre are the ones who appreaciate the scenario of 12 and its political machinations the most. It was in my eyes far superior to FFX (in part because I loath Tidus, Rikku, Wakka, and Yuna).

After having finished FF12 however, I must admit it is full of faults: undeveloped characters, lack of character interaction, nearly absent nemesis (judges), very simplistic system where all the characters end up resembling each other, easy game.

But then FFX suffered from being extremely linear, an unrealistic world (as all Final Fantasy games except for 12), and unlikeable characters.

FF9 suffered from a too strong focus on its 2 main characters (and not enough Vivi).

FF8 suffered from a story full of holes (and many people dislike Squall) and not enough villain presence (not enough encounters and clashes between Seifer and Squall), as well as a terribly boring battle and magic system (I resorted to using my shoe as a lever on my controler to absorb magic and did my dishes...).

FF7 had its faults as well. I always felt that the characters did not behave in a friendly enough manner towards each other and I have trouble cerning Cloud's true personality.

FF6 however has a strong cast of characters, spells, a good battle system, a great story, great music...By today's standards, the characters probably lacked in lines of dialogue, but even with the few lines they had, they were very well defined and all of them were likeable. Enough that I leveled and played with all of them.

So in short, what I am trying to say, is that for such a huge franchise, the FF series is very full of problems and none of its games are perfect. Each one of them has something to hate and love. Individual tastes do the rest.

I love FF12 and I hate FF10. I adore FF8 and I am bored of FF7. This puts me in a minority.

One thing all FF fans can likely agree on however, is that FF6 is a wonderful game.

Thriceborn

@bialia: It's because it wasn't a "final fantasy" game. Being one of the founding games for turn-based rpgs for consoles it was a betrayal of all final fantasy was. For nearly 20 titles final fantasy was turn based, why change the franchise? Would oreo suddenly change the recipe for oreo?

Second, the story was desperately boring compared to previous stories. Sure it was more involved, but still boring and generic (evil twin brothers, civil war, children with enormous inner strength, not to mention weak played conspiracies).

Finally, the art direction in design. Many parts of the game were beautiful, Dalmasca and the forest where Fran lived for example. The rest of game mostly took place in tundra, or desert, both of which are boring to look at. Getting through the Sand-Sea was one of the most boring times I've ever had playing a game.

otakujpop

The Irish Ninja - you are right, FFXII was great. I personally preferred 7,8 & 10 storywise, but gameplay wise it was my favourite.

valleyshrew

@Maestar: No, it's going to sit on store shelves and in the hands of gamers in Japan while the English translation and 360 port are worked on simultaneously.

Torgen got his apology faceplate but not his fixed GH3 disc

@Alex_Mexico: Double A? Be real. The only two categories of game quality are triple A and shovelware. Lost Odyssey is clearly triple A because it costs $60.

Torgen got his apology faceplate but not his fixed GH3 disc

@TheIrishNinja: I preferred Squall to either Tidus or Vaan by quite a margin. That alone was not enough to make me dislike the latter games though. I disliked Zidane in FF IX too, but still liked the game overall. With FF X and FF XII it was all the little niggles combined that made the games unappealing to me. In FF X for example even the user interface was quite a downgrade from FF IX.

MattB

@TheIrishNinja: That was certaining a refreshingly pleasant exchange of views! Maybe im just a sucker for grind. I know i'm going to be going to attempting Uber Prinny Baal in Disgaea 3 eventually and the amount of grind, when I think about it makes me sad.

Chronixal

I just want this game to come out already. I'm still a little confused. Are they letting the PS3 one wait for the 360 one to be finished? I hope not because that would suck....

TwilightKing

@Nirolak: The difference is that Oblivion was on the 360 first, there are optimizations that truly can not be made or emulated on the 360, Squnix tends to be able to take advantage of every ounce of unexplored territory.

Wii-Tard

@Ad-hominem: Yeah, totally agree, did anyone else nearly stop playing 5 minutes in with the jaw droppingly awful plot thickening ingredient of Captain Basch's evil twin brother?

otakujpop

@FrigidAir44: good calls all around, i agree with this comment.

TheIrishNinja

@Chronixal: indeed we are. very well, agree to disagree.

TheIrishNinja

@TheIrishNinja: exactly, he said it is being tailored just for the PS3 before being ported to the 360, which it will then be optimized for. Sounds good for everyone as long as the port process doesn't take too long. Thats still a really lame deal for PS3 owners out there.

DrunkRaba

If a double-A JRPG like Lost Odyssey took up 4 freakin' DVD9s, this hyped triple-A JRPG with a colossal budget better take up at least 4 DVD9s on the 360... only there will I feel they really did NOT cut any corners on the PS3 version in order for the game to fit the 360's media limitations.

Alex_Mexico

@TheIrishNinja: Because gambits took control away from the player; a key issue in an RPG. I can't speak for everyone but when playing an FF, I like to control EVERY action a character makes so the battle is on my terms. Plus the hateful Vaan.

But I personally found Squall endearing, so we're on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Chronixal

**understanding

Maestar

@Zeag: We would it contain extras when they're being released at the same time?

Đipic

So basicly, from my understand is that my PS3 version of FFXIII is going to sit in a warehouse until the Xbox version is finished and then burnt to "X" amount of CD's? Lame.

Maestar

Final fantasy games have always been epic, including the wait.

So is this saying that the 360 version wont come until long after the PS3 one?

Also, if this game runs in full HD with full surround sound, are 360 gamers going to have to buy a 10 disk box set to play this game?

Wii-Tard

@djricekcn: fair enough, but uh, why? i know im hitting everyone up here, but im really trying to find out what it was you kids liked about previous FF games that wasnt improved upon in XII.

TheIrishNinja

@Vecha: damn man, fanboy harder and it turns into parody.

1) if by "horrible characters" you mean they actually had character, as opposed to uh, Zell, Quistis, Selphie, half of VIII and all the other throwaway groupies from the last few FF games, then yes. horrible.
2) if you want archaic grindfests, go play an older FF. plain and simple. your mentality is what helped put DQ IX where it is now, and has the western industry running circles around jrpg makers torn between making the same shit over and over and trying something new.
3) i dont think you have any real concept of how businesses operate.

TheIrishNinja

@Balius: ah, you're one of those, saying it wasnt fighting 'cause you had to level/design gambits instead of relying on AI and such. again, if that's atrocious? picture instead, the grindfest weve had for so long: take 5-10 steps, the map goes hazy & spins in circles, same battle theme, enemies load, your party loads, hit X a few times, listen to victory music, walk a few steps, etc.
how is that not atrocious?

TheIrishNinja

@TheIrishNinja: I have to disagree on XII being good, it was one of the worst (personally)...but hey, we each have our own likes and dislikes ;)

djricekcn

As someone who never played a Final Fantasy game for one reason or another I find that i'm really looking forward to trying XIII. Personally I prefer something like Deus Ex but i'm intrigued enough to buy this game day 1.

Nexus6

@Ad-hominem:

The last few FF had crap stories IMO, XII was no exception. XII was Ashe's story but they seem to have lost focus completely in the game and didn't know which way to go, actually write a compelling plot involving Vann or just start off with Ashe. I'm not surprised frankly, since it looks like they shafted Matsuno part way through and had another hack writer to take over. It doesn't feel like a Matsuno game at all.

Sheky

@EvilMetsFan: wait, didnt they say they were still building it around the PS3's strengths? that sounded to me like they were doing just that. or at least, i hope.

TheIrishNinja

@Ravaged:

Does it bother you they are "selling out"?

Vecha

@Ad-hominem: I think this game ended the whole exclusive war. Besides 1st party stuff... the age of exclusives are over.

As for the series... the game is past its prime. I couldn't really get into any games past 7. And 7 was overly convoluted to me (and melodramatic).

FrigidAir44

@EvilMetsFan: ah, fair enough. i dug the map world thing, but then i found it odd that while i enjoyed X like most others, no one else seemed to miss having an overworld of any kind.

Ashe & basch were great, but for me, it was Baltheir's show. such a pimp.
as for your wanting to play as a villain, that'd be awesome too but such a break from the series...i dunno. im looking at the FF XIII combat engine (how its supposedly similar to XII's) and im happy theyre letting the series try to evolve that way, but what youre asking plot/story wise, that'd be huge! and id love to see it, but i doubt itd happen anytime soon. you already see how much the fans divide whenever simpler things like combat get tweaked. I mean shit, look at Dragon Quest IX.

TheIrishNinja

This is good news for a gamer. At least I know that I will enjoy the version that is NOT dumbdowned due to financial reasons.
It's like dumbing down Gears of War for Wii or something.

eternalsunshineofcoralfang

It is hardly convincing of this damage control bile when it clearly seems the port is not a simple gorilla glue job.

PsycheE

I can't believe there are people on here defending the Crap that was FFXII. I've heard rumor that they're going back to a triditional battle system thank god. Now just don't reapeat the gambit system and horrific characters. Oh, and when a company takes a bribe (Square-E) from another company (MS) to put the product on their system, that's called SELLING OUT, since some people seem confused on that.

Ravaged

Well, I'm glad it's not going to suffer along the lines of system specifics. No sir, I believe it will be generic of it's own accord... I miss the good JRPGs... no wait! I own most of them, I think I'll go replay some masterful games now.

LionheartAce

@EvilMetsFan: I believe that would be when the PS3 holds a Market share large enough to justify the extra expenses developers would have to invest into the game. This will happen at some point, but not yet.

Wii-Tard

@Ad-hominem: I'm with you, but I'd argue the series jumped the shark with FF X. I had been hoping X was an anomaly and played about 30 hours in to FF XII as well only to come out with the same feeling that the series was well past it's use-by date.

MattB

@markusdragon: I wish FFXII had "same-as-the-last-three gameplay"... I'm all for dynamic RPGs, but so far, the move towards real-time, action-oriented combat is taking control away from the gamer and replacing it with boring repetition. But hey, at least it's in real time!
Latest case in point: Infinite Undiscovery and its laughable button-mashing combat. Wow, THREE whole combos? Yeah, that's sure gonna carry me through the entire game and never get repetitive...

Antiterra

I personally cant wait for this.

psn:finder39

finder39

@Đipic: I was referring just to Vaan being stale, I thought everyone else was pretty great. I would have much preferred playing as Ashe or Basch the whole time. I think they just needed to fill the role of an "Annoying teenager as your lead". Also, I like a more open world like you have say in FFVII or VIII where you can see the land marks. Instead of just going on a map. Also as for XIII, I was referring to their looks from the screens. I just don't think they look interesting at all. I'd love to be able to play as a villain in a FF Series. Just a real bad person who's only out for her/himself. I would find that quite enjoyable. I'm tired of always being some goody two shoes trying to save the world all the time. Also, I'm much more impressed by the little bit of VS XIII than I am with regular XIII.

EvilMetsFan

I wouldn't buy a console to play a Final Fantasy game. FFXII didn't lose me, though I thought it was an atrocious game it made a pretty compelling movie if you muscle through the parts that have the player interact(minimally, as it happens, since the only input the game needed from me was walking close enough to an enemy to start a fight). The problem I have with looking forward to a Final Fantasy game is that they've almost entirely abandoned anything I found compelling. I couldn't even stomach FFX long enough to complete the game, never got into VIII at all, and didn't really like VII.

Going multi-console is probably the most-likely way to get someone like me to even try FFXIII. The series doesn't compel me to buy it, and I certainly won't buy a console just for the game, but if it comes out on a system I have I may look into testing the waters, and IF there's quality to be found there I may buy a copy.

Balius

@Ad-hominem: I'm not saying that True Final Fantasy fans have to love every final fantasy. There are a lot of them, and there are several that were horrible.

You don't need to confine being a fan of a series to buying and loving all of it's offerings :)

Aex

@Joneildu:
It's not like 360 owners have never had to wait for a game while developers work out the difficulties of developing for the PS3. GTA IV anyone?

robinandtami

@Ad-hominem: again, cmon, you cant be serious. Vaan was no worse than Tidus and certainly not as bad as Squall. the "im captain bash" scene was late in the game, and not that long either.
if youre telling me you had a better plot in the mess that was VIII or the throwback of IX, that's cool but youre gonna have to actually point to something, cause again, XII's plot was the most solid ive seen since VI, sir.

TheIrishNinja

@Joneildu: Yes they are. The 360 version won't be coming out in Japan. So what's gonna' happen, apparently, is the PS3 Japanese version comes out in Asia. However many months later, once they're finished the 360 version, the 360 and PS3 English versions get a simultaneous worldwide release.

It makes so much sense it seems retarded.

Chances

@TheIrishNinja: lmao okay, you may have a point there...

shatteredhalo

@markusdragon: I think you might be being a tad cynical considering the last 3 games in the series had completely different gameplay.

Đipic

@EvilMetsFan: see, i didnt mind the license board, but i had the list of it opened on gamefaqs so that might be why. but you cant tell me FF games of late havent been designed without a "fuck you if you didnt buy the guide, completist." mentality, anyway.

Vaan wasnt wholly interesting but wasnt as bland (for me) as Tidus, and honestly, anyone was better than whiny emo-bitch Squall. that guy made me wish he was gordon fucking freeman.

the zodiac spear trick of not opening certain chests was utter bullshit though, you're right. i had to just let go of that one once id realized how you could get it.

TheIrishNinja

I have to think he's... not lying on this. Content will likely be exactly the same - even if 360 owners need to have twice as many disks as PS3 owners.

I'm more interested to see, since FFXIII was a PS3 exclusive - was developed for years dealing with the unique architecture of the PS3 - what the graphical / performance differences will be.

Chances

No, it'll be generic due to the series having been so extremely stretched thin, long HD cutscenes, and uninspired same-as-the-last-three gameplay.

Or maybe I'm just being cynical.

markusdragon

It better not be genetric man I was mad when they took this off as an exclusive. You can't completly use a consoles full potential if it's multiplat. But they say they are only working on PS3 first then port what ever they can to the 360 well sounds good to me so far.

Ryosukekun

@EvilMetsFan: Aren't completely different people working on XIII than the ones who worked on XII? And didn't a high up exec make a remark like "the team that worked on XII lacked creativity".

I still have pretty high hopes for this one. Besides how can you say that the characters look stale? There is practically zero information known about them... unless you're referring to their designs, which I guess is just personal taste because I think they look wonderful.

Đipic

Another thing I took from this is that this is ANOTHER game thats not using the full power of the PS3. When are developers going to start to take advantage of the PS3's power?

EvilMetsFan

@Zeag: bwa ha ha ha!

do you really want to start this? ;)

bialia

Yes, by harnessing the Xbox360's ability to play DVDs, we will now provide you with multiple DVDs to swap.

Additionally, we will downgrade sound and pre-rendered CG files to be further compressed and lower in quality. This will ensure we don't have to exceed more than two DVD-Roms and avoid paying M$ additional funds to get a third or fourth DVD.

Hm. I think I'll pick up the PS3 version and save my 360 for Gears 2 and Fable 2.

sascha23

@Ad-hominem: I am a Sony fanboy. I was a little upset over the move to 360. I will still be in line for this the night it comes out. I still cant wait.

Plus, PS3 still has MGS4 and MGO.

I didn't like the setting in 10. I'm a much bigger fan of the cyberpunk/steampunk elements of FFVI and FFVII. XII was too much of a Star Wars rip off. That's why I -cant- wait for this one.

Wii-Tard

@Spoony:

I can see where you're coming from with the story - and I agree, there aren't that many great videogame stories.

The only ones I can think of that immediately spring to mind are Ico and SotC. What particularly struck me about those two titles was the austerity of the narrative. Neither were convoluted, verbose or obfuscated - criticism that I'm afraid do tend to mire FF titles.

Ordinarily, this might not matter, but for a genre and series that places gaming narrative so central to the experience, I can't help but feel they've dropped the ball. This was forgivable ten years ago, but now there are a lot of FF fans in their late twenties and early thirties - such adolescent story telling just doesn't wash anymore.

I do, however, concede that FFXII did have some interesting gameplay additions.

Luckyjim

@Joneildu:

i believe they are going to sit on the ps3 version till the 360 version is done then release both at the same time.

Maj1nX

@VakeroRokero: Yes, but SE has said they want to increase their global presence. I can't see how 8 month delays between JP and NA releases help towards that goal.

Sure it may be that every previous entry in the series has followed the tradition of JP first then the NA release months (or years) later. But this isn't 1997 anymore. Gaming has become a global industry. The JP console market is stalling and NA and EU markets are booming. From a business perspective, there's no better time than now to take the FF series to the next step with worldwide releases. Screw tradition, there's money to be made!

Lixie

@TheIrishNinja: XII was truly a piece of art. The setting seemed almost believable, and it was so deep. The combat system was beautiful. Forgot Vaan, and it was nigh perfect.

ZeroBlade

Hopefully this leads to an interesting turn around. A role reversal, if you will. Maybe PS3 owners will get FFXIII first and the XBox 360 owner will have to wait 6 months to a year for their port. I would love to see that, and would utterly hate it if square held the finished PS3 version until both versions were done.

*goes back to sitting quietly and waiting for Eternal Sonata on PS3 T_T*

psycoking

I was one of the few that loved Final Fantasy 8. After all the heat that game received in the following of 7, I've stopped caring what "fans" say. My RPG basket is not filled yet, so bring on the RPG, S.E. Please.

And I can say this until I'm blue in the face, but please be open-minded guys. The genre changes, and if you just want to play the old games again, then do that. Don't bring the rest of us down constantly with, "This will never be better than ____." or "God you're a loser for liking _____."

proghuman

@Aex: Sorry, but I was a true Final Fantasy fan. I bought and played them all near-religiously. Slowly, I think about halfway through X, I started to realize I wasn't having fun anymore.
By XII, I just couldn't bring myself to care at all. I'm not sure if it was the "I'm Captain Basch Scene" or the fact that Vaan was the Main Character instead of Basch. The stories stopped intriguing me. And, since I played them for the stories, not the combat, not even the admittedly fun combat system couldn't redeem it.

Ad-hominem

@Ad-hominem: I disagree. XIII looks great and I'm truly looking forward to it.

Đipic

@TheIrishNinja: Me neither, I thought it was great. It was like the series finally matured a little. It wasn't perfect, but definitely was one of my favorites. After 6...and 10 (my first FF)

smuckers is good

@Acklan: I thought we went over this already. Making a decision to bring your product to a wider audience isn't "selling out".

But I guess you can believe whatever you like. Doesn't really matter to me much.

Cloral

Great... if he's telling the truth. I mean, who would expect him to say otherwise. "Yes, of course the quality of the PS3 version will affected. Ho ho ho."

Đipic

@Joneildu: All the reports seem to be the order is
1. Finish PS3 version. Release in Japan. Japanese language only.
2. Start 360 port and localizations.
3. Release simultaneously on the PS3 and 360 in North America.
4. Release simultaneously on the PS3 and 360 in Europe.

SquareEnix has been kind of vague on whether 3 and 4 are simultaneous or not. And there is the release to other Asian territories that has also been vague.

waywardchemist

knowing M$ they'll probably drop piles of money ino Square Enix's lap to secure exclusive DLC or something like that to sway people to the 360 version of the game

Fstrike

@Ad-hominem: i have to take issue with you there. xii was a brilliant game, and if it didn't have final fantasy in the title and the usual ff trappings, people would have been pissing their pants over it in joy.

me, despite my apprehensions before the game's release, i loved xii, and i've been playing final fantasy since the snes days. i suspect i'm not alone.

i get your point, but there is no need to piss all over xii. and do you really think that xiii is gonna do as poorly as you're predicting?

ff games have often had imperfections- but they have never been anywhere close to as terrible as you're saying.

bialia

@TheIrishNinja: Heh, indeed. I enjoyed XII a whole lot. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of the Ivalice setting, but XII wasn't a bad game at all. It was way better than II, in my opinion.

Saint Anima

@Lixie: Final Fantasy will always be a japanese game first. if it got a international release, it might get the japanese fans angry and jump in rage. translation is not that long, and if they were done at the same time the quality would drop a lot.

VakeroRokero

@TheHeeyyy: No he's saying that the 360 version will contain "extras" because it came out later than the PS3 version.

I'd be pissed if that was actually true. So many people bought a PS3 for that single game...

Zeag

Lol, those FF fans don't actually read the news do they? They just read what they want...

"It's STILL not TRUE PS3 exclusive!!!"

Ultrasinc

@Ad-hominem: No way. I think true Final Fantasy fans accepted 12 for what it was. They realize that each game is different from the last and going into a new one they expect something different.

That doesn't mean that they all loved FF12, but there is no way a true Final Fantasy fan left after 12, especially considering how good it was :p

Aex

As long as he's telling the truth I'm happy.

Rinaldus

@TheIrishNinja: The license board for one is horrible. The espers are neigh usless. And Vaan is the most uninteresting stale MC I have ever seen in a FF series. I think Ashe would have been the best choice. Also if you don't spoil yourself and find out about the Zodiac spear early on, you're fucked out of it. I put 110 hours into FFXII and found out the Zodiac Spear. I dropped it like a bad habit after that.

EvilMetsFan

@TheIrishNinja: I'm with you, man. I LOVED XII, in ways I didn't think would be possible after 10 left me...well, short of my hopes would be the safest way to put it (as I'm sure someone out there thinks 10 was the bees knees).

TitillatedOcelot

I must say that it still frustrates me that SE isn't even bothering with an international version of the game until after they've finished the domestic version, with usual wait of 4-8 months (if not more) between the JP and NA releases.

Lixie

@EvilMetsFan: you people clearly played a different FF XII.
please say you're knocking something other than the gambit system, in some horrid defense of all things being ATB/Active Time Battle for like 20 years now and not being allowed to evolve.

TheIrishNinja

Kotaku should have a contest for how many DVD's the xbox360 version is going to fill...

denebola

@Nirolak:
I can't say I ever think more dev time is always bad, but there's no reason to spend 5-7 years on a game (see: Too Human).

ZinkO: preferred the old theme AND comment system

@Ad-hominem: Agreed 100% after the travesty that was FFXII, they lost a lot of first day buyers. While I certainly don't think XII was the worst game I've ever played. It damn sure is the worst FF I've ever played. And after seeing mainly stale characters out of FFXIII it doesn't seem to have improved. I still hold high hopes that I'm wrong about 13 and it will be a blockbuster... but it doesn't look like it. We shall see when its released on the PS4 and the X-Box 720.

EvilMetsFan

Something I'm confused about, are they going to release the PS3 version when finished, or are they going to finish it, sit on it til the 360 is complete, then simultaneously launch both? It the latter, I will be unbelievably pissed that the game will now be getting delayed even longer.

Joneildu

@Luckyjim: Actually i feel the games have been doing some interesting game designs as far as changing Rpgs. With 12 the macro system by far is leaps and bounds better then any of the other computer ai driven parties.

Storyline i completely agree while their game play team has stepped up to the plate and is trying new things, yea sometimes it doesn't work, their storyboard writers just haven't quite stepped up and brought back the story to rpgs.

Though to be quite fair can you really fault them much for it? Name me any game that has came out with a story that floored you This generation, hell even the last generation too. I bet you're hard pressed to even find 10-20 titles with an amazing story. At least you know with the FF series the story might not floor you but it's at least good enough to push the game along with top production values.

Spoony

Oh the times they are a changin

Orionsaint

@Mister_Jack: If you can afford the extra Gigawatts, pick me up on the way there, would ya? ;)

Candlejack

@Candlejack: And I'm gonna enjoy Duke Nukem forever just as soon as I can get my hands on the DeLorean!

Mister_Jack

@Acklan: STOP IT. STOP HATIN ON MAH XII. game was grand.

TheIrishNinja

Something I'm confused on. Are they going to go ahead and release the PS3 version before they finish the 360 version? They aren't going to wrap it up on PS3 then sit on it until the 360 is done for a simultaneous launch are they?

Joneildu

@subterfunk: that sounded very ff fanboyish. dammit.

subterfunk

@TheHeeyyy: Well, the 360 version of Oblivion was finished first but the PS3 version ended up with higher textures and more bug fixes due to the fact it had about six more months of development time.

I'm in no way saying the same thing will happen here for the 360, but you never know because more development time is usually never a bad thing for a game.

Nirolak

@Ad-hominem: aw, bullshit. XII was the best FF since VI, my man: good characters (main one aside, heh), good plot, solid voiceovers & music, and a combat system that didnt bore the piss out of me.
C'mon, what was wrong with XII? i never understand the hate for it.

TheIrishNinja

@TheIrishNinja: new comment system save us!!!

subterfunk

The new comment system scares and confuses me. Much like this crazy world full of non-exclusive exclusives and puppies.

Revenge_of_Nekojin

@Mr_D: I noticed that too.

Desmondia

@Nobuyuki: Haha. Classic.

Also true. I will be enjoying FF13 in 2011 and Versus in 2014.

Candlejack

@shatteredhalo: LAWL GET A JOB, SON.

no i know, im just saying; the game's not gonna be out till q3 of 2011, and the ps3 oughta be like $35 with shipping by then, so you know, put a little aside, itll work out.

TheIrishNinja

@Ad-hominem: how do you really feel?

this is the first final fantasy on a newerish console. i'm a fan of gaming and i am very excited for this. i really don't care how long i have to wait.

subterfunk

Yeah, he forgot to mention it will be "generic" because it's a Final Fantasy title.

Mr_D

If I were in his place I'd say anything to keep the fans happy and promising to buy the game I'm making, afterall, I already sold out and had M$ pay so I can port it to their console as well, what's a few white lies here and there.

Lulz. I loved FFX, I hated it's 3 followers, X-2, XI, XII. I just hope XIII turns out to the good game it promises to be, then I don't really care about graphics or whatnot.

Acklan

Considering they haven't started porting I'm absolutely sure it'll go quickly and smoothly, with no unforseen problems. I'm also glad a finished game will have to sit for the port, even after it's been released in Japan. Yes sir, 2011 is gonna be a great year!

Nobuyuki

@TheIrishNinja: because not all of us have the native system?

shatteredhalo

@TheHeeyyy: oh, eggnog007. dont look now, but the party's starting.

TheIrishNinja

@eggnog007:
>_> they changed the posting mode but they didn't put an edit/delete button

eggnog007

Seriously though, this is why i dont like buying ports - try to get a game on its native system if you can. I hope the differences are minute, but even so, why play such a great looking game on a system it wasnt engineered around, if you have the option?
thats why im going for left 4 dead on 360 and uh, mega man 9 onna wii. yes.

TheIrishNinja

So he's pretty-much conforming that the PS3 version will be better than the 360 version right?

TheHeeyyy

if i see that screenshot one more time i am going to snap

subterfunk

@eggnog007: sir, you wound this community, with your talk of flames. no doubt we'll all rise above all that.

TheIrishNinja

But they're ignoring the fact that so many Final Fantasy fans don't actually care about the games anymore.

Being a "fan" of Final Fantasy now consists of a way to measure your love of either the 360 or the Ps3.

If you're a Sony Fanboy, FFXIII is going to suck, no matter what, because the quality of the game is based on the fact that it's no longer exclusive.
If you're a 360 Fanboy, it was going to suck, until it was announced that it was coming to the 360, in order to show the Ps3 Fanboys that they're losing all the "great" exclusives that didn't matter until they were no longer exclusive.

Meanwhile, those of us who actually liked the Final Fantasy Series for what it was already left with XII.

Ad-hominem

Gimped or not, this has got to be something really special to get my attention now. As a series, I can't help but feel it's stagnated. Not just in game design, but in narrative and tone.

Luckyjim

I hope that doesn't start a flamewars

eggnog007

Feels good man.

Skeezy

I hope that doesn't start some kind of flame

eggnog007

WHEW THANK GOD.

Now I can sleep at night.

shatteredhalo

That's all I was worried about
Now I can rest easy.

Ahsayuni

Content is going to be the same just the 360 will probably have multiple discs which I don't care about. It never bothered me to get up and swap discs nor it will with this game. Oh and thanks to Square Enix for saving me money by bringing it to the 360.

Evinco

@TheIrishNinja: FF12 is the worst game I have ever played, as far as I did play it that is.

There's no character development outside the first 5 minutes of meeting someone; the story is almost completely non-existent (evil people take over, help Ashe defeat them); the music is absolutely terrible - it's just a constant drone with no memorable melody; the combat is good until you get random encounters that break up your chain level or enemies that follow you through several levels of a dungeon, in some cases actually teleporting ahead of you, making the run feature useless; the dungeons go on for hours with no variation; there is one puzzle repeated about 5 times (switch between opening the red doors or the blue doors); the script is awful and reads harder than Thomas Hobbes, and the license board makes every character outside your favourite 3 useless since you can just give them all the same stats. In fact the only redeeming feature the entire game has is Balthier, who is one of my favourite FF characters, that and the ancient middle-eastern style of the cities.

And all that is the reason I don't really care about FF13.

lordofsword

It's going ot be funny when the 360 version sells the most copies simply because of the install base (even though the majority of the series' fans are either ps3 owners or planning to purchase one). It'll be a sad day for Sony, lol. Too bad they won't just take over square enix or at least hold them under an exclusivity agreement. It's what they really need. If they don't end up doing something like that, (just like many other titles previously exclusive) more and more jrpg's will end up on the 360 and then BANG. 360 is #1 (or most beliveably 2) in Japan.

As for the series is concerned-- it continued to downspiral since 7. 8 and 9 seemed to be insignificant, and seemingly released too close together IMO. Then you get 10. Nothing really amazing about it. Another case of forgettable and annoying characters. FF11. wtf? I'm not even gonna touch that. I don't think many FF fans want to even think about that nor be reminded. FF12. Wasn't final fanatsy. A good game (although the character problem is still there, as well as a story that wasn't all that interesting to follow). 12 was a decent game though, but wasn't final fanatasy.

As for ff13 and the two or three other (spinoff/recycled) titles that are tied to it-- I don't think we know enough about it yet.

Being a huge ff fan I can honestly say that FF6 was by far the best, FF7 was revolutionary, and the rest were just Square just filling their year and a half quota, while churning out handheld shovelware for Ds and Psp. They aren't all about the Final Fantasy series anymore, and it shows. If it isn't repackaging old titles and selling them at full price it's milking ff7. I dunno. This post is way too long, but meh. That's all I have to say really. I'll probably bite the bullet and buy FF13 and Versus because it's prettymuch in my DNA to buy and play games from the series whether they're good or not..

Grandreaper999

@Đipic: I evidently stand corrected. Shows how little I've played Final Fantasy in the last 8 years.

markusdragon

I don't believe him. They already said they wanted to take full advantage of the PS3 hardware. They also said the Xbox 360 version and the PS3 version would be identical. That's contradictory right there.

Roto13

@TheIrishNinja: Yea, I do not understand why FF players were muffed when the "mash X for victory" grinding of games past was made optional with gambits. I never knew so many people relied on such an ancient and used battle system to derive pleasure from a FF game.

Datheron

@TheIrishNinja: Yea, seems like the hardest part of the process, and the most unknown (and hence the part that Square-Enix is waving off) is figuring out how to port the thing to the 360, assuming that they're doing a bunch of PS3-specific optimizations that may be hard to translate to the 360 architecture.

That said, I wonder how much of the code, in the process of going from the PC to the PS3, is written so that they can easily put it on the 360 later? As a developer, if I know that something will have to be ported to another platform down the line, it may change what sort of architecture I'm writing now, and forgo some potentially cool platform-specific optimizations and tricks.

Datheron

I really should get around to playing 12... I hear good and bad about it, so...

10 was neither disappointing or magnanimous, in my opinion. I mean, I loved the soundtrack. Very well done. The concept behind the storyline was good too (But I hated the characters so much...)

I hope 13 is good though, just throw a plot in that doesn't involve "group fights evil corporation"..."then leads to group fights to save the world from one egomaniacal individual"

Also, why have 13 AND "versus 13"? THAT strikes me curious... I understand it'll probably explain a different part of 13 but.... ...well....

Mesren_Makai

@Ad-hominem: That's exactly how I feel! That really was spot on.

Ps3PokemonFanboy

@Frologic: i dunno, for me, the story only started to slip towards the very end-like, which for most FF's since VI has been par for the course.

i thought characters developed, myself, but again, i was watching Baltheir like half the time. what happened around the 30 hour mark that made you feel it fell off?

TheIrishNinja

@formina: i totally havent played Revenant Wings, did the story really carry there?
and FFX2 i keep hearing how i missed out, i just...you know, it felt like j-pop sleepover night edition in the demo.

TheIrishNinja

@Chronixal: see, it still works for some. ive been grinding since at least Phantasy Star II on the genesis, and whereas for years i could push past reptitive grinding for good story - like say, Xenogears - now i find myself almost wanting to youtube cutscenes when the enginge feels so dated. FF XII, Shenmue 2, others showed me that it doesnt have to feel so bogged down, and i was spoiled by that, i think.

now, i can only find myself grinding if a) its portable - disgaea on PSP was a great idea, or b) there's a great plot/balance to it, like, i just put 100+ hours into persona 3 and honestly didnt notice, cause whenever i got tired of dungeon crawling, i was back to building social links. system just worked for me.

but yeah, we can disagree on a system - however optional - without being douches, dont let the internets fool you, heh.

TheIrishNinja

FFX is my favorite Final Fantasy, and I didn't mind XII that much. Although it's amusing, I kind of liked the story in Revenant Wings more than the regular story. But I'm excited for FFXIII. I don't think the series has necessarily gotten worse, I think it's just changed. A lot of people here who say they've lost interest in the series like to call out the older games. Given I started with the newer games, I think the series is doing well.

I kind of hope I don't start disliking the series when FFXXVII comes around. Oh, and FFX-2 rocked. Just wanted to say that.

formina

@otakujpop: people bitched in the day when combat when active time battle, i bet. the series is not made or broken by the same turn-based combat its had since its inception; me, i like it when devs try to evolve things rather than let them stagnate while western devs get to explore new concepts.

true, the civil war thing wasnt fresh, but it hadnt been done in a while in the FF series, and again, its execution was solid. guess we just disagree there.

i see what youre saying, the sand-sea did get repetitive but i again though the art design was a welcome break; which isnt to say that it wasnt great at bits of FF X, but i was honestly worried when i read it was going back to the mediaval lore people'd been begging for, as i thought it done to death, and then this game showed me otherwise. fair points, though.

TheIrishNinja

@TheIrishNinja: You can scream till you turn blue, you are not gonna convince some people. I totally agree with what you said before, FFXII was the best FF since FFVI.

I still don't understand to this day why people bring up the gambit system. It's optional not mandatory, you don't have to use it at all. I hated it at first myself, but then after about 70hrs of gameplay I turned it on and never looked back.

2SBs

I think its funny that if you play ff13 on a xbox 360 and love it what will you do when ff13vs comes out?

97gsx

@Antiterra: IU's combat system could be deeper than the three basic combos, but I really can't deny that one could get through the game without trying to peel a little deeper into things . . .

Messing with the special moves in the right way could effectively lead to a system that was more like a full-real-time Valkyrie Profile 2 system, if one cared enough to set up each party member's special moves in the right order . . .

even so, it was pretty disappointing considering the greatness tri-Ace has managed before.

Rohsiph

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): this comment, it had such potential, but okenny posted it from a wii.
think about how great it'dve been if he'dve used the PS3 browser. the message really wouldve been conveyed, but instead, here it is, all dumbed down and shit.

TheIrishNinja

I really am perplexed how people bitch about this particular issue. I'd bet even if MGS4 was ported to the 360 TODAY, you'd have someone bitching about how MGS4 never lived up to it's full potential because of the port (yes, even though MGS4 was already out for the PS3).

This is the new fanboy rant of this generation... it's fucking annoying. I'd take the pixel buffer counting freaks any day over this new bread of "teh-potential" fanboyism.

okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under)

This is a gentle way of saying that the XBox version of the game is going to be low on quality compared to the Ps3 one! XD

Danilov.-

@TheIrishNinja: Comparing a game you don't play at all to a game with poor mechanics as if those are the only two options is hardly fair. I've played games that you neither program AI to play for you nor breeze through each of the thousands of random encounters. I don't have to choose minimally interactive sections that get in the way of non-interactive sections. I also don't have to choose a minimally interactive random encounter mechanic wherein the player is not engaged due to the repetitive nature and incredible ease of each encounter. I have the option to choose neither, and exercise it freely.

Balius

@magictroll: haha, you so just opened a new can of worms.

i secretly agree

TheIrishNinja

@lordofsword: wow. ok, so:

There's no character development outside the first 5 minutes of meeting someone;

who? freya, balthier, basch, ashe etc all had plot pieces as the game went on, fleshing them out. i agree that vash and penelo or whoever didnt as much. i dont follow here.

the story is almost completely non-existent (evil people take over, help Ashe defeat them);

how far into it did you play? i kept seeing civil turmoil and cutscenes of the judges & such, while trying alliances with different factions caught in the war. you mightve quit too soon.

the music is absolutely terrible - it's just a constant drone with no memorable melody;

its not Mitsuada but i dont see it as terrible at all. I mean, Uematsu wasnt on, as i recall, so some dismissed it cause of that, even though id argue he's past his prime. the only bad thing i recall about the FF XII OST is that i dont believe it got a piano version, which were usually my favorites.

the combat is good until you get random encounters that break up your chain level or enemies that follow you through several levels of a dungeon, in some cases actually teleporting ahead of you, making the run feature useless;

yeah, having your gambit broken up by a wandering elemental, who'd then own you, was mean as shit, but it was part of the gameplay - i had to be smart and not let my characters run rampant, starting fights and dumping magic on anything they saw.
i honestly dont recall the teleporting thing being a problem, and was almost always ok if i ran away, but it sounds like you didnt get the hang of the combat system if that's a big gripe, cause you shoudlntve had to run all the time.

the dungeons go on for hours with no variation; there is one puzzle repeated about 5 times (switch between opening the red doors or the blue doors);

see, i dont recall too many dungeons where they were so long, i was crying for lack of a save area or something. i like big vasts dungeons, and considering the awkward puzzles X had with the light-bright or whatever machines, i guess the red/blue doors didnt feel so horrible, just, you know - theyre dungeon puzzles, theyre the designers' way of making a small dungeon seem larger.

the script is awful and reads harder than Thomas Hobbes,

that's not fair, i had to read hobbes in college. the script wasnt fancy & fun like, say, nietzsche when he got syphillis, but it wasnt nearly that flat. for me, ashe was the only one that came off nearly like that, at times.

and the license board makes every character outside your favourite 3 useless since you can just give them all the same stats.

this is true, but every FF (save IX) that hasnt had a strict job system, this complaint's been true. you could make anyone a summoner, dragoon etc with the right esper/materia/etc most times.

anyway, yeah, i agree with only bits there, but im wondering how far into it you played to have come off as letdown like that.

TheIrishNinja

It seems like every time the team speaks we get little bits of information. They really haven't explained if they planned to do a hold for ps3 they just said their are focusing first on PS3. I would like a chance just to play don't really care which looks better that is a reviewers job to stroke a companies ego.

TheNexusRebound

So in other words, they actually addressed the concerns of the whiny Sony fanboys who are still shedding bitter tears that other people will be playing this game.

You know, the same kind of people who petition Capcom to cancel multi-plat releases for...some...vague reason.

Seriously people, Sony really doesn't care about how much you suck their balls!

Rebochan

So how exactly does this jibe with having both version release simultaneously, so your either telling me your going to purposely delay the release of a game simply so you can have both platforms out at the same time, or you have all ready gone back on that claim and I just haven't been reading kotaku quite as often to know.

Dimipapa

@Balius: yes, other series employ other ways to fight enemies, its been said.
but in FF universe, there's been turn based and there's been gambits (if you dont count Tactics or XI, etc). you can of course not play the series as you're saying, but realistically, i was weighing one available combat mode with the other and simply questioning why you seemed to think the latter was superior.

TheIrishNinja

@TheIrishNinja: I loved the battle system in FFXI, hated the hunts (zoning repeatedly for the right weather was bullshit of the highest degree), and found the story and some of the main characters to be the worst in FF history. Amusingly enough I still enjoyed the game.

Anemone

I like how the companies are beginning to spread the content out. Though I still don't want to see something like a one-console market, this is nice to let everyone share in it. Hopefully the differences from the versions will be very slight, so everyone shares in the experience.

NeonLight

@Evinco:

Not to mention the new update will let you burn discs to the HDD, and I HOPE in multi-disc games you can keep one disc in and not have to switch discs. Then it would be a moot point.

B-Tizo

@magictroll:

ROFL. That made my day

B-Tizo

@thebulletneverlies: Your comment hurts my brain. You do realize multi platform means same game, different platforms right? As in, we're not going to change the game since that would increase costs. As in making the same game on multiple platforms maximizes profit. Don't let me get you down though, keep hope alive.

Sweetsauce

@97gsx: If you really think versus will remain exclusive to ps3 by the time its launched you haven't been paying attention to this generation of gaming. The engine the game is created makes a 360 port a breeze, so its only a matter of time.

Sweetsauce

@B-Tizo: man, that'd better be one big-ass hard drive.

TheIrishNinja

@lordofsword: ah, if youre at that tower, then you got a fairly long stretch into the game, fair enough.
and to be fair, i loved Vagrant Story, FF Tactics etc so that wanky old time talk didnt throw me off, you know? to each their own. I totally felt like saving the world from an evil force, personally.

and yeah, X's license board was a bit more specific, but for most FFs, shit kind of overlaps...anyone can learn most spells, etc. its why i dont make as big a distction...i mean, im here playing FF IV on the DS again, and that's a game where people are 1 class and that class only. everything (for me) past that is just changing hats, you know? there's nothing special about summoning when everyone has bahamut's private # on speed dial.

TheIrishNinja

Factories in China are as we speak producing the millions of extra blanks DVDs it will take to make the 360 version..

GOLD5

@waywardchemist: Companies like SE are utter imbeciles. Why can't they translate the game as they're making it? It's not as though the animators or level designers have to localise the game, they get people in specifically for that reason. There's absolutely no reason any developer should be taking so long to localise games, and even worse if they're waiting until they finish one version to localise another.

MGS4 had a completely separate group for each version - the Japanese actors, directors, recording crew etc, and then Kris Zimmerman, David Hayter etc for the English version. Either way, the English crew would've been hired at some point, so why not when the game is still being made? Of course, that could all be ignored if part of the obvious-but-never-mentioned agreement MS spent millions reaching was to secure a simultaneous release, in which case SE might as well wait, but they and other companies still do this regardless and they have no excuse.

lordofsword

@TheIrishNinja: I don't know how far into the game I am, nothing has happened for hours. I was in some huge tower that apparently is near the end but I haven't played in about a year.

The script was overly complex, exactly like FF:Tactics ('mayhaps bowed heads would less offend'). When they go on and on about aeons and myst and magicks in their olde worlde language it's just impossible to keep up/stay awake. The story itself is basically Vayne taking power, Ashe trying to take it back, and then some stuff about Cid and Dynast Kings thrown in the middle. There's nothing there that keeps you interested, it's not like FF7 or 10 where you feel as though you're on a quest to save the world from some evil force.

About the license board - you could make most people the same with enough experience, but there were always limits at least. In FFX, everyone started on separate parts of the grid, and you needed to get spheres to unlock the other parts, by which time your character had already become fairly specialised.

lordofsword

@Fstrike: Thankfully, Sony already got Versus and Agito as exclusives... screw M$

iam.gmo

@Ad-hominem: I think FF13 is going to suck no matter what because it's by Square-Enix. The other reason is because I don't like the looks of the characters or the environment that was shown in the trailers. Some final fantasy games I like and some I don't. This is one of the games I will be passing on.

DNAgent

@Rebochan: hahaha....sure they do! sure they do.
i love the analogy, though. much of the fanboy exclusive argument really does resemble ballsuckery.

TheIrishNinja

@DNAgent: well, at least you were fair about it and waited for the final product.
wait, how does square-enix making a game = negative?

TheIrishNinja

@Ad-hominem: KH3 will take the sting out of the more obsessed fanboy(and girl) hearts, but the chances of that coming out before the release of the PS4 is slim.

That said, I felt burned by the decision, not because it went multi but by the way that it was done and handled. I also don't like the fact that I should have to wait for the other one to finish before I get to play the English version, but I am importing the Japanese one so I guess I digress. FFXIII is going to epic but not nearly as cool as versusXIII, and I say that as a Nomura fan, and if he was doing XIII I would say the reverse.

This generation will be the last of the great fanboy wars, next-gen this shit won't matter as much as it does now because there won't be too many exclusives, if any at all(except first party obviously)

Makidian

I don't believe it still one bit. To say it's delayed by the xbox announcement and say that they are being worked on separately in the same statement seems ludicrous at best. I'll be absolutely renting this game at best, with every passing day I care about this game less.

Daizaru1

@TheIrishNinja: Revenant Wings was completely different from FFXII in pretty much every way possible. It was a lot more focused on character development, and that helped the story. While i