Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
That little coffee makes me feel good all over!
Where am I going to put it down?
Right here's good.
Hi everybody, this is Hooper!
We're back for the 2nd video of the FXIII review.
This time we won't ramble on for 1 1/2 hour like in the last video!
We'll get straight to the heart of the matter, answering your questions.
However, before we start,
I remind you there'll be some visual spoiling.
In the previous video,
I showed you most of the environments of the beginning of the game,
that is from chapter 1 to 5.
We'll start with the cinematic you're probably seeing right now,
a real computer graphics cinematic.
Then I'll show chapter 6 to 12.
Not the last level, chapter 13,
because I keep it for the boss+ending video.
So you'll see about all the environments, chronologically,
like in the previous video,
that is chapter 6, then 7, 8, 9...
So the longer you'll watch the video,
the more you'll be spoiled.
That being said, I won't really spoil much with the cinematics either,
I won't show the big bosses,
I won't reveal the twists and turns.
No.
Again, there'll be mostly visual spoiling.
That being said, let's start.
No, another thing,
something I just saw.
Did you know FFXIII was rated "not suitable for under 16's"?
That's right, it's absolutely incredible, incomprehensible and flabbergasting.
Again: PEGI standard!
Honestly, who has the ability to understand these people??!
FFXIII is forbbiden to the under 16's!!
I mean, it's so exaggerated...
It's so far-fetched no one will ever believe it!!
This game isn't gory at all, there's no single drop of blood,
there's just a tiny kiss, which is nothing!
Tell a guy "Know what, the game's forbidden to the under 16's, I swear man!"
He will never buy such a nonsense!
Incredible, this PEGI standard.
Something like that should no longer exist!
I don't get why the general magazines don't mention it,
some even promote it!
They say it's good, that standards are necessary.
Alright, but not like that!!
Not putting -16, -12, -18 to each game that comes out!
Make a comparison with movies and books, *** it!
That's nonsense, really!!
FFXIII is neither violent, nor ***,
Absolutely nothing justifies the PEGI 16 rating!
Even PEGI 12 would be incomprehensible!
Frankly, everyone, even 8 years olds can play FFXIII.
I really don't get what the problem is!
That's really the kind of things...
I don't know.
Maybe I'm the only one to think that!
Tell me your opinion!
But I find the PEGI -standard totally flabbergasting.
I said earlier I wouldn't ramble on and directly start answering you questions
and what am I doing?
Anyway...
So!!
First question...
Just to remind you,
I've already answered questions about the linearity, the scenario and the OST.
So I won't get back to that or maybe just sometimes.
So, a question from Mr. Arnaudino,
asking my opinion about the evolution of RPGs.
My answer will probably be very brief.
Well I don't know,
because first, I didn't play that much new-gen RPGs.
That's the first point.
So, I can't really pronounce myself.
I didn't play Lost Odyssey or other games that came out recently, so...
I can't talk about things I don't know.
Yet I can talk about FFXIII.
First of all, I don't want to believe FFXIII is an evolution,
because for me, it isn't.
They can make us believe it is,
because we are explained that, sure, it's linear,
BUT it's highly scenarized.
The scenario is really believable all along,
very well- rythmed,
and we don't get bored, there's always something going on.
And that's true!
It's incontestably one of the plus points of FFXIII!
But to get this, they supposedly had to cut out all the fondaments of a RPG,
like the exploration, the gameplay?
I don't understand that.
Apparently, people are ready to accept that.
To get a more dynamic scenario,
they're ready to play only in corridors.
Well, I'm not.
Actually, a lot of games follow this path!
Look.
Let's take 3 of the big blockbusters, licensed super-killer-games:
Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy,
the 3 big licenses lasting over the years
10 years and for some even more.
By the way, I showed these 3 games in a video.
Actually, these games are similar,
be it MGS4, RE5 or FFXIII!
These 3 games are similar!
How can I say...
MGS4, RE5 and FFXIII, which are perfectly alright...
Simply saying they were "casualized" would be a bit easy,
"Yeah, they got "casualized" for the wide audience!".
But actually, all the video games of all times were thought this way:
reach the widest public possible in order to sell more!
So even it it's true, it's a bit a stupid to say:
"they're casualizing it for the wide audience to sell more!"
Sorry but, also was it 10, 20 years ago!
It has always been the case, actually!
They always tried to sell to fo a widest public possible!
And it's normal!
But the problem is the content!
I truly think MGS4, as excellent as it is,
is less good than MGS1!
I truly think RE5 is less good than the first RE of 1996!
Even if we can't really compare them,
because, of course,
RE5 is more of an action game than a survival horror.
We all agree on that.
But even if we compare with RE4,
which is one of the last gen games for Gamecube,
well RE4 blasts RE5!
It's an incontestable fact,
everyone agrees on that!
Well FFXIII followed the same path as these licenses.
The same happened!
Honestly, who would say FFXIII is better than FFVI, FFVII or even FFIX?
Who can say such a thing looking into their interlocutor's eyes?
Impossible!
That's impossible!
Because that's absolutely untrue!
Nobody can possibly say such a thing!
So finally, that means everybody's well-aware about the fact these games,
even if they're very good,
that they're inferior to their forerunners,
but, despite this,
these games are acclaimed, get great critics
and everybody buys them.
Where's the logic in this?
How can they say it's an evolution like they said for FFXIII?
We hear quite often:
"FFXIII is an evolution, yes, of course thanks to the linearity, the corridors,
It is an evolution!
There's no exploration, no cities or NPC anymore!
Evidently it's an evolution!!"
The guy tells you that looking straight into your eyes!!
"Yes, yes, it's an evolution!"
Unbelievable.
There are no world map, no ship, no airship anymore,
"It's an evolution, guys, yes, yes!!"
This really cracks me up!
From A to Z!
The only evolution is the scenario,
- and I admit it to 100% -
it's better rythmed, more interesting and dynamic.
Finally, everything flows, is coherent, the combat system,
the narration's good between the fights and the cutscenes.
There isn't even no loading time sometimes,
the combat starts directly with the previous, correlated cutscene.
It was a difficult thing to do in games back then,
at least for the FFs, the RPGs.
But here, you can feel how the thing's totally mastered.
THIS is an evolution.
But frankly,
it's a small evolution which costs a regression on all the other points!!
Open you eyes, goddamit!
How long is the video already ...
Fantastic, already more than 10 min (ironic)!
So, next question, this time from Mr. "Alestordim",
asking if there's a visual difference when we carry this or that costume or weapon.
Well, for the weapons, yes!
Each of the 6 playable fighters is specialized in one type of weapon,
Hope, for instance, it's the boomerangs,
for Lightning, some sort of a gunblade,
Fang, some kind of a lance,
Vanille, "wizard rods"...
They can't exchange their weapons.
But visually, yes, the weapons do all have a speficic skin,
which is appreciable.
The costume, the "armors" however, doesn't change.
It didn't surprise me,
since it's rather something we see in "american-styled" rpg's,
such as Bioware, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, stuff like that.
Clearly, this can be shocking,
like for someone who doesn't know "Japanese-style" Rpgs at all,
but only American-style ones, again, such as Bioware.
Imagine him thinking: "I heard FFXIII is the best Rpg lately, let's give it a shot"
Poor guy, he's going to wonder "what is that?! What the?"
"Pathetic!!"
which is totally normal, because when you see this...
But at the same time, it's different, it's another culture,
it's the Japanese/asiatic culture, got to deal with it.
So costume-wise, no, they'll be wearing the same from the beginning to the end.
Did you have another question?
Are the maps as linear as I heard they'd be?
I've already answered that: yes, again,
be it the maps, the dungeons, or the cities, it's very linear.
Sometimes there are little treasures to discover,
these small spheres I've shown you earlier.
You go near them, push X and it'll give you a treasure
it can be money or items...
And sometimes they're well hidden, like in a tiny nook of a map,
turning to the right or left,
basically, these will be the only little side roads we'll find at all,
that's it.
So yes, globally, we can say the game has an absolutely suffocating linearity!
Now we have Mr. Euzéblague asking:
"Testing the demo, you said that if the game would be like this,
you'd knock it down.
And as we all could see, the final game is indeed like the demo.
So is Square Enix kidding us?"
For me, clearly, yes, they are kidding us.
Again, that doesn't mean the game is messed up or uninteresting,
let me be clear about this.
But, for me, yes, they're kidding us,
partly also because Square Enix never ever said what FFXIII would be like.
If only they would've told us not to expect something like FFXII,
which they never did!
So actually, they made us believe it'd be like FFXII,
always showing us trailers with Grand Pulse, the Chocobos, or cutscenes,
which aren't reprensentative at all of what the game actually is!
So it's almost a swindle from Square Enix!
So yes, they're playing us for fools.
A question from Mr. Jamibegood07:
"Being disappointed with FFXII,
amongst others, because of the emptiness of its story..."
That is true!
Well, mostly because the characters aren't involved in the scenario.
"I'd like to know if the story's complex enough
and if the characters are sufficiently developed (their pasts, etc...)?
That was it. Keep up the good work!"
Yes, the story is complex and the characters are developed.
How can I explain that better...
First, we'd think the scenario is a bit cheap,
but in the second half of the game, it does get better.
Sometimes it's even hard to understand the characters reactions, the scenario,
really, it's not that easy!
You've got to think hard to understand how our characters "work".
It's not that easy!
But at the end of the game, we clearly realize there was a lot of work behind this,
it was deeper than it looked.
Actually, I almost would like to play FFXIII once again,
to really understand the scenario 100%.
Because now, I get the impression I didn't understand 100%.
Well, it's not a Xenogears nor a Chrono Cross either!!
We're far away from that!
But, it's complex, yes.
We have to reflect on it to understand everything.
The characters have been worked on, yes,
even it didn't really interest me,
but yes, they've been worked on.
Saying the opposite would be wrong.
Then we have Mr. Manikeup asking:
"Doesn't the serie tend to repeat itself after 13 opus?"
No, of course not, since all the FFs are totally different from each other.
The only thing they have in common is the fact they're RPGs
and that we live an adventure.
So you can make 200 episodes...
It's as you'd say the action movies are all the same, see?
Or that romantic movies are all the same,
although there are thousands of them.
So no, the serie doesn't tend to repeat itself
and I hope there'll be a lot of another FFs in the future.
Sorakingdom3 asks:
"Hi Hooper, I'd like to know how the Crystarium work
(the growth system, if I wrote it wrong)?
This system seems interesting to me."
Ok then, I'll try to show a little montage while explaining what it is.
The Crystarium replaces the Sphere Grid,
- we often compare it to the Sphere Grid from FFX,
because it's true they share the same basis-
but it's much easier, because, basically,
in FFXIII, there is no Levelling-up.
The characters won't get to Level 3, 10, 50 or 100.
There are no levels.
But we'll win some sort of experience points after each combat
and this, gradually: at the beginning we'll gain little,
classic stuff,
and the further we'll get in the game, the more experience points we'll gain.
But those points won't automatically be dispatched in categories, no,
they'll accumulate.
When a combat ends, they add to the already accumulated experience points.
And we can then use them to make the Crystarium evolve.
In the Crystarium, there are some sort of Gems
which cost a certain amount of experience points
and when we unlock them, we get life points, magic
and new abilities for the combat system.
That's it.
And this, for each character and class of the game.
There are 6 classes:
Commando, Medic, Sentinel, Ravager (Magic), Synergist and Saboteur.
The Synergist takes care of the buffs ("beneficial" buffs)
while the Saboteur debuffs the enemies,
the maleficent buffs (even if the term doesn't exist).
You need to know that at the beginning,
each character accesses only 1 class
and gradually, depending on the scenario,
we'll unlock other classes for each character.
And at the very end of the game,
the 6 job classes will be unlocked for the 6 characters of the game.
That means that any character will be able to do any job.
Even Snow, who fits the best as a defender or an attacker,
because of his high Life point capacity,
he'll be able to be the healer for example,
even if, of course, he'll be way less efficient than Vanille or Hope in that role,
who have much more Magic points.
See what I mean?
So, basically, that's what the Crystarium is.
But unlike the Sphere Grid, the Crystarium is, just like the game, very linear.
It's like a corridor, a dirigist line.
It's appearence is a bit weird, with cubes like that, like an genealogical tree,
but actually, it's just a stylistic effect,
it visually looks like it's complex, but it's not,
it's even extremely simplistic.
You push X, it unlocks the Gem,
for example, a Gem that unlocks 20 life points will cost 100 experience points.
We unlock it, we lost 100 experience points.
Another Gem, let's take an ability for the combat system...
Hop, we lose the amount of the required experience points.
That's it.
it works stage-wise.
The first stage won't cost much experience points,
second, third, fourth, fifth,... to the tenth stage.
We can't level-up like crazy in FFXIII,
because everything's crippled:
the stages progressively unlock, along with the scenario,
which means that at the beginning,
all the stages will be locked at stage 1,
so even if we continue levelling-up,
we'll be able to keep increasing our experience,
but we won't be able to upgrade our abilities , Life Points, etc...
That's the reason why the game's a bit hard, with the bosses and everything,
because we can't level-up,
which is also interesting, because everyone's set on an equal footing
at some moments of the game and for some bosses.
That's something I really liked,
because it makes some bosses really interesting to kill.
We CAN'T level-up, so we have to kill them as it is
and so we really HAVE TO find THE strategy.
We can't, as in the older FFs, level-up to level 10
and atomize even the strongest boss of the game!
This you can't do in FFXIII.
And this time, I found this was rather an evolution than a regression.
That was it for your question....
Where were you already?...
...Sorakingdom.
I hope I answered your question about the Crystarium.
It's a nice system, it's not complicated,
we make our character evolve...
Don't search complication, there is no strategy in the character evolution system.
It's totally.... Well, just like the game actually.
You go on and play, depending on what the Crystarium offers.
Once again, you won't be able to choose an ability over another.
You'll take what will come to you and that's the way it is.
Again, it's ultra-simplistic.
There is nothing to worry about concerning this.
Question from Pierrot11810:
I'll never get the usernames that have so many numbers at the end...
"I'd like to know which FF you liked the most,
the one you'd love to play all over again?"
I'd say FFVI and FFVII.
Question from Rastafari25:
"Weren't you disappointed by the low number of side quests,
basically, by only killing mob after mob?"
Yes, of course I was disappointed by the side quests,
because it's very repetitive, it's always the same and it's uninteresting.
As I've already said, the only interest of the side quests is to kill the mob in front of us.
There is nothing else.
So yes, disappointment concerning the side quests.
Vivelle77 asks:
"Are the characters the same as in FFX?"
Vivelle, all the FFs are totally different.
It's easy, each FF, from the 1st to the 13th,
the characters will always be brand-new,
with different universes, worlds and backgrounds.
Everything's different!
The only similarity between the FFs is the fact they're a RPG,
an adventure game.
And generally, we have to save the world!
See?
We generally play characters who have to save the world.
But beyond this, there are only nods to the previous FFs:
like the Chocobos, some music themes, some characters like Cid,
things like that.
But this aside, all the FFs are completely distinguishable the ones from the others.
Even concerning the combat system,
each FF has its own, fundamentally, modified system.
I always had a true respect for that,
but I won't start on this, because I talk about it in my upcoming FF2 video.
I have a big respect for this towards Square Soft, now Square Enix,
because everytime, they completely changed their combat system.
even when they invent an excellent, flawless one,
they fundamentally change it anyway.
And for this: Respect and applause.
That was for your question Vivelle77.
Ah, you have another question:
"Is the system still turn-based?"
Yes Vivelle, it is still turn-based.
Still quite classic, but much more dynamic and interesting than what we had before,
well at least, than I had seen before,
thanks little subtilities that were added here and there,
such as the strategies and other things
like the shock system to shock the ennemy, the break gauge...
Those are excellent innovations,
we really have fun with them.
And there is no loading time anymore like there was in the older RPGs.
THIS clearly is an evolution,
because we never spend more than 2 s without moving.
There's always something to do.
There's always something to look at:
on the top right or left, on the bottom...
You always have to really look around you,
otherwise, you can die within 10s in the combat!
You really have to be on the watch,
always ready to fight and aware of everything.
But yes, it's still classic turn-based,
and not in real-time, like in FFXII,
but it's much more interesting.
And you have another question!
That isn't nice of you, you know that?
I said max. 2 questions per character...
Character!!!
That's a good one!
Max. 2 questions per character, see?!
I consider you as video game characters!
"Character"!! Not bad!
"Person" of course!
Well anyway, you've asked a third question and it's bad.
Are the Eidolons still there?
At least it's not a *** question.
Yes, they are.
I hadn't told you about them yet,
but yes, the Eidolons are present in FFXIII
the summons, the Eidolons, one of the emblematic elements of FF,
which first appeared in FFIII and then in all the other FFs...
I think...
Wait...
Yes yes, in all the other FFs till the 13th I think.
So no, they're not missing in FFXIII.
But! Clearly, the developers have had trouble integrating them in the fights.
And this can only be a disappointment.
Even more, considering the time and money they must've invested
to create and make these Eidolons move,
because they're really well made.
They can do a lot of different attacks in the fights
it's very stylish, we can feel it's a well-polished work.
But I can't help but think of the guy who has done the job,
as he realized it was all for nothing, in the fights.
So again, something's wrong here.
First of all, you can only summon them once within a fight.
Then, you need to know there are 6 Eidolon, one per character.
6 playables characters, 6 Eidolons.
By the way, the series most emblematic Eidolons are missing here,
such as Ifrit and Leviathan.
Among the most famous ones, there's Shiva, Odin and Bahamut.
Others like Alexander, etc.. are not that great.
So, they're stylish, but their skin is a bit weird,
a bit Transformers-like.
First, they're not organic beings anymore, but mechanical beings,
which is comprehensible knowing the story of FFXIII.
It's logical,
since these Eidolons are completely integrated in the scenario.
I'm spoiling a bit, but at some point,
the characters, because of the mark, the L'Cie curse on their bodies,
at some point something happens, after a strong emotion, for example,
it'll make their eidelons come out of their sleeping phase, see?
I'm inventing a bit here, but basically, that's what it is.
Their eidelons will wake up to help them,
but before that, we'll have to prove them our value.
Each time, each character will have to beat his own Eidolon,
to tame it and finally be able to use it in future fights.
So, it's a good idea! Scenaristically, it's credible.
But in the fights, frankly, they're practically useless,
because their attacks are really weak!
Plus, they won't level-up in the game.
It's incomprehensible.
From the half of the game, it'll be almost pointless to use the summons.
Except if we want to regenerate our Life Points and resuscitate our team.
It's about the only reason to summon them in the 2nd half of the game.
That is, when we're in a *** situation,
when we see some characters have died, or that we have a lot of malus, debuffs,
we then call our Eidolon so it helps us resuscitate our characters, regenerate our Life,
well, to give us a brand-new team back.
But don't expect more than that,
because concerning the damages,
honestly, our team makes more damages as the Eidolon.
So really, something has been messed up here.
It's really a shame.
About their design, they're stylish, but it won't be everybody's taste.
Honestly, some look like nothing on earth,
it's true, some Eidolons look really bad.
There has been work, yes but I'd say: it was for nothing.
Concerning this, yes, it's a disappointment.
The summons in FFXIII can only be a disappointment.
Especially when we see the work that has been done for so little results in the end.
But it's well done!
For example in the fight,
- I explain 2s -
we use them, they appear, they hit,
at some point, we enter in symbiosis with them, meaning we fuse with our Eidolon,
- I'll show you several Eidolons in the montage anyway-
and we'll sit astrid them.
Each character will sit astride his Eidolon.
For Odin since it's a horse, we'll logically sit astride Odin,
but some others, honestly,
you need to see how they look like and the way we sit astride them!
Something went wrong here!
See, there are some weird stuff like that.
Once the symbiosis phase is over, there are a lot of techniques,
like "Right", "Left" + button...
There are a lot of attacks we can do, very stylish ones,
when we fuse with our Eidolons.
It's extremely well done, the animation is perfect and very fluid
but again, it's useless.
It is absolutely useless.
So that's it for the summons.
So, little disappointment about those summons,
and there are only 6 by the way
AND they're specific to each characters
AND only the leader can use them.
And as generally, in the 2nd half of the game, we'll always take the same leader,
it means we'll always see the same summon.
I think there are 1 or 2 I've never seen, never used.
So that really means something's wrong with the summons system.
That's it. Problem concerning the summons!
So! I think I've answered your question, Vivelle77.
Next question from Eggslestyle.
"I wanted to know if you had the feeling, sometimes,
that some monsters were way too strong comparing to our progression in the story?"
No, not at all.
I know several persons said that, but I don't agree with that.
It's challenging and as I explained, we can't level-up or very little,
- except of course near the end of the game, in the side quests,
but I'm talking about the 50 hours of main quest here -
we can barely level-up and we do meet some recalcitrant bosses,
with whom we'll have to find THE right technique,
otherwise we won't be able to kill them.
Sometimes we even have to die once or even twice
to understand when they're throwing their super attack which could kill our entire team.
So obviously, we need to see that a first time,
to then be able to prepare for this attack.
So evidently, we'll die several times in front of the bosses.
But that's ok, because the deaths aren't penalizing in FFXIII.
I haven't told you about that yet, but it's very important.
Explanation: in FFXIII,
for any fight, be it against a trash mob or a boss,
if we lose, we'll always get asked if we want to retry this same fight,
without losing anything, the XP, etc...
So actually, when I hear the game is difficult...
It's just a bit difficult sometimes with some bosses,
but it's not a difficult game, because unlike the old RPGs,
we won't have to go all the way down back to the boss like we did then,
because we couldn't save where we wanted to.
In FFXIII, there are checkpoints, save points every 50m, everywhere,
we can save anytime we want.
AND plus, as I just told you, when we lose a fight,
we'll always get asked, and this, endlessly,
if we want to start the fight over.
So dying isn't penalizing at all,
which is something we could wonder about if it's an evolution or a regression.
I'd say, considering the combat system of FFXIII,
for FFXIII, it's a very good thing, almost an evolution.
They were right to do this.
BUT, if the combat system would've been different,
I maybe wouldn't have said that.
But for FFXIII, that's quite alright.
The fact we never have to do everything all over again,
because as soon as we die, we start again right before we died,
well finally, it's almost a plus point.
And the game doesn't get boring.
It's also a way to casualize the game,
because it's never really fun having to play 30min/1 hour all over again,
because we died stupidly in front of a trash mob or a boss
and there was no checkpoint before.
We all experienced that in former RPGs!
And often, we'd think:
"Heck, forget it, I stop the game,
I don't want to play this 1 or 2 hours of dungeon all over again!!
I just lost all of my XP!!"
Well that won't happen in FFXIII,
because we can save anytime, anywhere
and again, because the deaths are "almost not" penalizing.
This way, the game, the fights are more dynamic, harder,
and when we kill the bosses we're proud we did it.
But it's not laborious, because the deaths aren't penalizing.
I hope I made myself understood.
Besides, talking about the deaths,
you need to know our team only dies if the leader dies.
If the leader dies, even if the two remaining characters are still living,
it'll be the death, it'll be a game over.
We'll then get asked if we want start the fight over again.
BUT, if the 2 A.I. controlled characters die,
we can try to resuscitate them with the summons or a Phoenix Down,
or if I put myself as the Healer.
We can try to heal them, but generally, if both my team-mates have died,
it means we're in a really *** situation.
Even in front of the boss, the chances to survive will be really slim
if both our partners die.
BUT If WE die, it'll be a game over,
even if our two partners are alive.
It's something to know.
I know some people were disturbed by that,
for my part, it didn't really bother me.
It's true it's a bit strange,
maybe it would've been better, when the leader dies,
to be able to switch to another, A.I. controlled character.
It's not the case here.
Let's say it's a bit weird regarding the role play,
the leader dies, so it's a game over...
While till then, the whole team had to be killed to have a game over.
Here it's different, but it didn't really disturb me.
For me, it's not a flaw.
That's it for the combat system.
I don't even remember the question.
Yes, if the Eidolons are still there...
No, that was Vivelle's question.
The question was if I didn't find some bosses too hard compared to our progression.
My answer is no.
It's challenging and so much the better!
And again, you know me, I'm not a champion for my skills,
and still, I reached the end of the game quite easily.
Even with the bosses,
I never had to retry more than 4-5 times max.
So no, I never found there was a problem concerning this.
This being said, I never tried to avoid the fights.
If I can give you an advice, if you want to play FFXIII:
Don't avoid the fights.
Because we can avoid the fights, since we can see the monsters coming!
Sometimes we can't of course, when they're right in the middle of our way,
we then have to charge them or they'll touch us and the fight will start.
But often, we'll be able to go around to the left or right
or use a Deceptisol to become undetectable.
But if I had to give you an advice:
don't avoid no or almost no fight.
It's the way I played the game.
First, I didn't see the point avoiding the fights,
since it's the only interesting thing in the game,
so, avoiding the fights would mean depriving ourselves from the plus points of the game,
which is a bit stupid.
So I didn't avoid the fights, I fought all the monsters on my way,
maybe that's the reason I've never had difficulties against the bosses,
because I always managed to keep my Crystarium fully upgraded in the current stage.
That must be the reason, yes,
because if you keep avoiding the enemies,
obviously, you'll never have enough Life, Strength and Magic,
you won't have unlocked all the needed abilities to kill the boss, clearly!
So, my advice: don't run away,
don't avoid the fights, you've got to do them.
I only avoided fights at the end of the game,
with mobs which were a big pain in the *** to kill in the last dungeon.
Otherwise, I've almost never avoided enemies.
That's the way I played.
Holy cow, I realize already 40 min have passed...
40 min of video, I got 40 pages of questions in my hand
and I'm still page 2.
We're in some trouble here,
I really need to answer faster.
From now on, I'll go tac tac tac!
Like a Kalashnikov!
Here we go!
Question from dixout:
"Hi Hooper. The players who liked the old FFs, FF 4,5 till 9,
aren't they going to be disoriented by the new combat system of FFXIII?"
No, not at all, the system rocks, I've already answered that.
We're not disoriented since all the FFs have a different system.
Question from Mr. Rastafari.
Wait, we've already had this Mr. Rastafari,
he was on the bottom, here.
He's trying to trick me, Mr. Rastafari!
Yeah, he's indeed asking another question:
"Have you ever been tempted to beat Vanille?"
You wrote it wrong, man, anyway.
Yes, as I said earlier, she's a pain in the beginning, but finally it's ok.
But her strident little shouts are tiring, yes.
Question from Sheraz57:
"Is FXIII as catchy as FF7 or FF10 concerning the scenario?"
Again, I didn't finish FF10, so I can't pronounce on it.
I finished FF1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
I've never played FF3, I didn't finish FF10 and 12
and I played FF11, which is a MMO, 2 months.
That's it for the informations.
So, to give you an answer,
I don't know,
well no, for my part, it's not as catchy, no,
but clearly, it's far more put forward.
It's far more rythmed and put forward.
But that doesn't mean it's better.
It's different, it's a different approach.
It didn't really caught me, but I'd understand one could.
It's everybody's right to judge for himself.
It's all I can say.
Question from Sharnak:
"Hi Hooper! Do you think that from now on,
the upcoming FFs will all be in that linear style,
so more focused on the storyline?
We get the feeling Square Enix wants to casualize the FFs,
give them a new style, at least that's the feeling I have."
Good God, I need to read your question again...
Basically, you're asking if I think the next FFs will be in the same style.
Frankly, I don't think so.
It's not because FFXIII is like it is that all the next RPGs from Square Enix
or the Japanes- ish RPGs will all be like this.
I'm convinced it's possible to make a game with exploration
but which will also remain well rythmed scenaristically and narratively speaking.
For me, it's possible, difficult, but possible.
Some kind of fusion of FFXII and FFXIII, but even bigger,
with even bigger environments, huge cities!
Godammit, that's what I call a RPG!
Huge cities!
I want exploration, a big world I can explore all along the game
and not following a *** corridor.
It's not dramatic, FFXIII is as it is,
we have fun with it,
but honestly, if all the next FFs or RPGs are like that,
I'm pretty sure I won't buy them.
We already know FFXIV will be a MMO;
so if you like exploration, well, you know, you'll get your fill!!
But FFXV which will be the "real" next FF in solo,
I think there'll be exploration.
They don't necessarily have to do as they did in FFXIII.
Well, we'll see that in the future.
Question from Mr. Flouflou:
"I've noticed in some tests that after each fight,
we get a grade and a ranking.
Do they have a concrete purpose in the game?"
A very relevant question from our friend Flouflou!
Indeed, I didn't talk about it yet,
but yes, after each fight, we get a grade and a ranking,
those little stars that fill from 1 to 5.
It depends on the time you needed to finish a fight.
Because you need to know there's no magic gauge in FFXIII,
which means we can heal ourselves endlessly.
So we just need to put 1 attacker and 2 healers
to make sure you'll never die.
See what I mean?
Or worse, put 1 defender and 2 healers
and you'll be sure you won't die, even in front of the big boss of the game!
So this means the fight can last 30min or 1 hour,
you can be sure you'll beat him.
But of course they put a few things to counter that,
for example, the bosses generally have some kind of a timer,
a bit like in MMOs,
well after like 10min of fighting, a timer will appear above our head
and about 2 min later, it'll be over, the combat will be ended
and we will have failed beating the boss.
The purpose, of course, is to avoid the exploit.
otherwise it'd be too easy.
And frankly, using that kind of flaws is really uninteresting.
It's better to try to finish the fights as fast as possible.
So that's the thing with the rankings:
the less time you'll need to finish the fight, the higher your ranking will be.
Plus, having for example 5 stars
will increase the probability to get a good item at the end of the fight.
Because each boss has a common AND also a rare loot to drop.
Generally, you have a 25% chance of getting the common loot
and rather 5% for the rare loot.
And the more stars you have,
- if you have 5 stars for example -
well, the more chance you'll have to get a common or a rare loot.
If you don't have any, you'll practically have no chance to get any loot.
That's what the ranking are for.
We also get a score, as you said Flouflou...
Yes indeed, we get a grade,
but it's almost of no use, I believe.
It just increases our technique points.
Basically, we have 5 technique points,
which are to be used, amongst others, to summon the Eidolons and other things.
They're special abilities we use
and the only way to regenerate those technique points is to do fights.
And gradually, we'll regenerate them by fighting.
But globally, the score is pointless, just the ranking is useful.
But even the ranking,
I'd say its only interest would be to enjoy the game, trying to get 5 stars at each fight.
That's the only point.
We know getting 5 stars means we've really mastered the combat system,
it's cool,
and when we only get 2-3 stars, it means we messed up at some point,
and we know we could've done way faster.
It's some kind of a personal grading, at least it's the way I saw it.
It's rather personal, yes.
Apart from that, it doesn't do much to the game except for the loots,
but nothing more.
It's more about the personal challenge.
We want to get the 5 stars at each fight.
It's all this is about.
Question from Manureva12:
"Do you find the gameplay as rich as in the former FFs?"
Again, I've already answered that.
Yes, this system is totally different.
You even compare FF5, 6 and 7,
but you can't, since all 3 have a different combat system.
You're asking if the combat system is rich: yes it is, but it's different.
It's much more dynamic, they put everything on the game's dynamism.
Then you're asking me if the heroine of FFXII doesn't remind me of Terra from FFVI.
Are you talking about FFXII or FFXIII here?
I have no idea, I'll say "yes" or "no", you decide.
Seraphine has a question:
"What's your opinion on the FFXIII characters, their looks?
Are their story interesting or not?"
Here again, I've already answered that.
It's weird because I had already sorted the questions,
I had crossed out the ones I had already answered to, about the linearity and the scenario
but I realize there are still questions here I've already answered to...
So Seraphine, I've already said what I think about the characters, etc...
They're interesting...
You asked about their looks, I think.
I liked their style, their look.
There's only Hope I found rather ***,
because of his ugly clothing style.
But the others have nice looks, Vanille, etc...
Lightning's got class...
I liked their look, even if they're a bit Boy band-like,
like I said in the demo.
But in the demo, remember, I mostly talked about this ginger,
this sort of a ginger Rambo, who's ugly as hell
and also about the girl who's with him who's a pure stereotype.
But the good news is we almost never see them,
because they're part of a resistance team called Nora,
that could be likened to the Avalanche team in FFVII.
But we barely see them.
We see them a little at the beginning of the game,
another time again, but I'm not telling when,
but again, we barely see them.
They didn't put neither this ginger guy in the spotlights,
nor the Nora team.
So when you ask about the characters look,
I understand you're talking about the 6 main characters
and about the few bad guys, villains of the game.
About the villains, be it their look or psychology,
they did the bare minimum.
We have nothing to get our teeth into.
We only see them in a few cutscenes.
Their traits are rather superficially explored.
It's surprising from Square Enix not having put the villains more forward.
This surprises me.
Because it's not their...
I mean, in the older FFS, 16 and 32 bit,
the villains were really deepened,
but here, it's the opposite.
So it did surprise me.
The bad guys are really poorly worked out,
they worked them out just the bare minimum,
a few cutscenes are dedicated to them, but there's very few.
Really, they put everything on the 6 main characters building our team,
the whole scenario is based on them,
don't search for more than that.
To sum up: you asked about their look: I liked them,
about their stories: well it depends.
At the beginning they all have their own objective,
they're all here for a different reason,
they don't know each other,
well actually, some do, some don't.
So they'll learn to know each other
and the story will follow.
I personally find their stories average,
it didn't really caught me,
even if in the second half of the game it gets better,
it gets more interesting.
But globally, I didn't find it neither transcendant nor extraordinary, nor very catchy.
We're done with that,
Let's turn the page.
Wait, because I have a question split on 2 pages.
Question from Killfreeman:
"Hi Hooper, with FFXIII, we can see Square Enix targeted the game at a wider audience.
Do you think they just gave it a try or will this be reiterated and improved?"
Well I believe I just answered to that a few minutes ago.
No, I think FFXV and the next ones can be totally different from FFXIII,
I don't think FFXIII marks a turning point for RPGs.
We can very well go back to exploration
and keep at the same time the scenarized aspect even at the climax of the game.
For me it's possible. We'll see.
Question from Sharnak:
- it's your second question, isn't it? -
"What's your opinion about having 6 Eidolons although we always use the leader's one?"
Well this is in line with what I said before:
it is indeed frustrating having to use the leader's Eidolon.
But at the same time, it's justified by the scenario
Playing, you understand why each character has its own Eidolon.
So, it's comprehensible.
But at the same time,
even if at risk of sacrifiying the scenario a bit,
I really would've preferred that the leader, that is the character we play in all the fights,
could've had the choice to summon any of the 6 Eidolons.
I think it would've been better, but also,
it would've required more work, visually speaking,
because they would've had to combine all the characters with all the Eidolons.
So consequently, it would've been harder to make.
It's probably the reason they didn't do it, choosing ease.
Question from Tonioagain:
"In the demo of FFXIII,
you mentioned the come back of the ATB bar, compared to FFXII.
In other several tests of turn-based RPGs,
you often mention the presence or absence of this ATB bar.
I'd like to know your opinion
about what this bar's bringing to the gameplay during the fights
(strategy, immersion, etc...).
It's a question I'm asking myself, because I don't really adhere to it."
You're talking about the ATB bar,
but actually, this bar means little in the combat system.
The nice thing is that we can break it anytime by pressing the triangle.
This bar is composed of several segments, which will increase in number.
At the beginning, I think we have 2 segments.
At the end of the game, we have 6 segments composing this ATB bar.
The different abilities and spells of each character will require 1 or more ATB segments.
For example the basic Thunder spell will require 1 segment,
but the Thunder spell to be applied to all the enemies on screen will require 3 segments.
Classic stuff.
The interesting thing is that we can break anytime:
for example I throw the basic Thunder spell, followed from the larger Thunder spell,
which will use 4 segments of my gauge.
Then the gauge will fill up, 1 segment, 2, 3, 4,
then I can either wait for the last 2 segments to be filled up to throw the attack,
or I can break just after the 2nd one.
In this case, the two remaining segments will fill up again,
which will allow to optimize the fight and my attacks.
But this is just a tiny detail in the combat system.
What's really relevant in the combat system
is the possibility to change strategy right in the middle of the fight,
that you can do live, in a split second!
THIS is what defines the combat system.
And also to shock the enemy as fast as possible.
Maybe I should explain the combat system in detail later,
because I realize I didn't explain it very well.
So, Tonioagain, what were you asking already...
You asked my opinion on this ATB bar.
Again, yes, I liked it, as I told you earlier.
I liked, I even really liked FFXIII's combat system.
But the ATB bar is only a detail of this system.
There's all the rest else next to this,
it's not only about the ATB bar.
Then, Baptiste2010 asking:
"Hi Hooper, the King of the World.
Good idea on the paper, but at the end of the video,
will we really have your opinion of the game via our questions?"
Yes, you'll have my opinion via your and all the questions.
"For you, is FFXIII the renewal of the serie, or a memorable episode?"
No, it's neither the serie's renewal, nor it is a memorable episode.
But I still consider it as a Final Fantasy because we do live an adventure
with a team trying to save the world, as usual.
But it's all very scenarized
and we're really taken by the hand,
like never before in a FF and generally in a RPG.
"Is it simply a good must have RPG?"
Yes, yes, I recommend FFXIII.
It's a good RPG!
But you need to be aware of what is it you're buying.
Don't expect towns and villages,
don't expect exploration,
but expect some kind of a cinematic RPG,
expect an almost interactive movie,
expect that you'll be told a story
and that we can only play during the fights.
Beyond this, we wander through magnificent universes,
with splendid panoramas,
BUT corridor-like.
If you got that and you're ready to accept that,
you can love FFXIII.
But you got to be aware, to be ready.
MrThomas asked 2 questions, but I already answered them,
about the linearity, etc...
We talked about it a lot already, so I skip, sorry.
This too...
Question from Daeshara:
"Can an old-school FFs fan, let's say such as FFVI,
can he appreciate this episode which tends to be extremely dirigist?"
Yes, anyone can appreciate this episode.
But the guy who plays FFVI,
so who has had strong emotions, of course, with a game like FFVI,
and who hasn't play any other RPGs since then,
so 15 years have passed,
the guy, let's say, has lived an ice age,
so the poor guy is frozen like an old mammoth, ok?
He plays and finish FFVI, then he freezes.
The whole earth is frozen, well no, only HE is frozen.
Otherwise it doesn't make sense, damn me!
So, he wakes up 15 years later and someone hands him FFXIII.
My opinion? He's going to cry.
I think the guy's going to cry,
because the differences are indeed huge between FFVI and FFXIII.
He's going to think: "It's crazy how it regressed!"
I have the feeling it's something we necessarily think.
Because... I don't know.
If he can appreciate...?
Yes he can appreciate, but frankly,
taka guy who just played FFVI and plays FFXIII right after...
Well he'll probably be shocked.
Then you ask: "Are the characters as insipid as their look?
I already made up my mind on this,
but do their personalities make up for this?"
No, no their look match their stereotyped personalities.
Sazh is the token black guy, a funny, Eddie Murphy ersatz,
Snow is the hot guy,
"I save the world!!"
Well you got it.
"Im a hero!"
Alright, alright.
Vanille is the wacky girl
"Yiihi Wahoo!! Let's go!!!"
Hope is the introverted kid
well you know, a kid who gets up your nose!
Lightning is the mysterious girl,
you don't really know her goal,
she's very cold,
we also needed one of this type.
That's it, isn't it?
Don't add anyone else, the equation works!
Obviously, they're very stereotyped,
very japanesque, I'd say.
Question from Princerocksass:
"Is FFXIII a good game to start with the FF series?
In other words, can a beginner play it or is it just for FF fans?"
No, no you can play it as a beginner,
it's probably one of the FFs which addresses the widest audience,
not only because it's linear and dirigist,
but also because the first 20 hours,
whenever there's something new in the game or in the combat system,
we're teached to do them.
There's a written, on-screen tutorial,
which will teach you how to use each thing that just appeared.
Each time.
While back in the day, we had to go through the damn manual,
in which there were things we'd learn after a certain amount of time.
Here, from the beginning, we have an on-screen tutorial,
we don't even need to read the game's manual!
Everything's explained on the screen,
whenever there'll be something new, it'll be explained via a tutorial,
directly, in-game, each time.
So yes, anybody can play FFXIII,
even a guy who never played a RPG.
What I mean is:
someone who has never played a RPG won't understand what a RPG is by playing FFXIII.
Anyone really wanting to play a real good old FF should play FFVI or FFVII.
Besides, FFVII isn't that difficult, since it was also made for a wider audience back then.
It was the first FF on 32-bit,
the first FF to be available worldwide,
first FF in Europe and in France.
It had indeed been made for a wide audience.
But between FFVII and FFXIII, FFXIII is even more casualized,
for an even wider audience, everything is explained!
In FFVII, we did have to read the manual to understand the Materia system, etc...
Not everything's explained in-game, unlike FFXIII.
But I still recommend the FFXIII to you,
but also FFVI, FFVII and others!
Anyway, FFXIII IS different, it's one-of-a-kind,
but yes, I still recommend it to you.
Ok, we're done with that...
Next page...
Holy cow, It's going to be though...
I don't think I will reiterate this concept.
Question from Clem225ouigaine:
magnificent usernal, USERNAME!
Damnit, I can't even speak anymore, plus my throat is dry!
Let's drink some water ...
That hits the spot!
My throat really starts to get dry.
I don't think we're going to make it guys.
"Hi Hooper! My big question is if one can play this game,
without ever having played any other FF? Is it a problem?"
Wait a minute, I've just answered that!
Yes, as I just said, you can play this game without having ever played another FF,
since it has nothing to do with the other FFs.
All the FFs are totally different the ones from the others.
So yes.
It's not like Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil or many other series,
which are real sequels.
FFXIII isn't a sequel to any other FF.
The only FFs with sequels are FFX and FFX-2.
That's all!
All the others are independent the ones from the others,
I insist on this.
"Does this game get boring, I mean repetitive?"
Anyway, every and whatever game ends up being repetitive.
Also FFXIII.
Yes it's repetitive, because it's a succesion of corridors, then fights...
There are very few things next to this!
"Yes it's repetitive, well it's a RPG and a RPG shouldn't be repetitive..." (from Hooper)
I don't really want to answer that.
And since the fights get better together with the progression of the adventure,
we start to feel this repetitiveness of the fights only near the end of the game.
Question from LinkiHYsi:
"FFXIII has been anounced a bit as revolutionary,
but is it really so ?
It was about the gameplay and its "spirit" I think."
Yes, it has been anounced to be this way, that's true,
but that kind of making me laugh.
I already expressed myself on this, so I won't repeat myself.
I do not consider it as revolutionary, except maybe the narration
and how the cutscenes were made,
the way they directly merge into the narration and the fights,
well that was well done.
But the rest, no, I don't consider it as a "revolution", not at all.
I've already talked about this, so I won't repeat myself.
Question from: Zacchary... No! ZarrachyleBoloss.
That's a hell of a name.
"Do you think there's a certain balance between the 6 characters,
so that we can form different kind of teams and not always the same,
because we'd find a character's more useful than another?"
Wait, I re-read your question...
Well,... How can I say...
Well first of all, during the first half of the game, the team...
- damn, I can't even find my words anymore -
the team is imposed to us.
We can't choose, till we arrive on Grand Pulse, in the last third of the game
then we can choose 3 characters of 6 who will builds our team,
who "will build" our team, not "will builds" our team,
Damn, I start having trouble talking, I can feel it.
So, yes, all the characters are different concerning the fights.
Yes, they're all different.
Snow for example, is the one with the most HP,
he has at least 5000 Life points more, if not more, at the end of the game.
Of course, some characters are more specialized in certain jobs!
Snow is better at defending and attacking,
Lightning is good as a Commando and Ravager,
Hope is good at healing, as a Ravager and also as a Synergist I think,
Fang, as Commando and Saboteur I think, and a bit as a Defender.
Yes, they all have 2-3 jobs they're specialized in,
and the other jobs are for the other characters.
So yes, they're complementary!
You need to know that it's not because all the characters can learn the same jobs,
that each character can achieve the same abilities.
Let's take the Healer ability for example.
All the characters can heal, but actually, only Hope and Vanille,
I'd even say just Hope, because he's the best Healer of the game,
and he has the best healing abilities.
Hope has the regeneration ability, which allows to regenerate all the Life Points,
well not all of them, but a part of the LP of all the characters at the same time,
so for our 3 characters at the same time.
Ability that the other characters don't have,
even if they have the Healer job.
They only have the classic heal spell usable on 1 character, see?
That's an example.
That means all the job abilities are different for each character!
Don't believe that a character, because he's a Commando,
that he'll have the same skills as any other character with "Commando" as a job.
No!
Some abilities are specific to certain characters, that others won't have,
for example Vanille's Death Spell, it's another example.
And this goes for all the abilities, classes of all the characters.
That's it.
I don't know if I made myself undestood,
but that's my answer anyway.
Then: "Do you find the power of the Eidolons has been lowered in this new opus?"
"For my part, I didn't use a single one for the whole game."
I've already talked about that, yes, the Eidolons are indeed weak
and the further we'll go in the game, the more useless they'll become,
because they do not evolve, which is quite unbelievable.
So the summons are indeed useless,
except for regenerating our team if it's not doing well.
Apart from that: nada.
I've already expressed myself on that.
Question from Ranclanclank!
Rantanplan!
No, Anclanclanck.
This good old Ranclanclank!
Ranclanclank makes me think of Clanker in Banjo Kazooie,
Clanker's Cavern.
Ranclanclank.
Anyway!
"Each FF left its mark on us, for various and varied reasons,
that we've liked or not."
"FFIV, first real scenario in a RPG.."
Yes, I agree with you, but...
I'd say FFII already had a real scenario, you know?
But it's true FFIV went deeper concerning the characters, it's more interesting.
And the story is really interesting in FFIV, it's really its major plus point.
But FFII already had a real scenario.
"FFVI: character's diversity, amazing scenario, the last 2D FF,
FFVII: 3D cutscenes, Cloud, Sephiroth, Aerith,
FFIX: going back to the source,
FFX: dubbing, corridors, the Sphere Grid,
FFXII: real-time fights.
So which mark do you think FFXIII will leave 10 years from now?"
Honestly?
Not a big one, I think.
I think we'll remember FFXIII as an extremely dynamic, rhythmed story,
like no other FF was.
But unfortunately, because of that, it resembles more a cinematic RPG than anything else,
we're at the limit of the interactive movie.
Maybe that's the reason we'll remember it
and also because of the combat sytem,
which practically marks the beginning of a new era.
I think in the future, a lot of of RPGs will reuse this turn-based system
with this strategy system we directly change,
this Stagger Mode to stagger the enemy,
which is really really well thought out.
Maybe I'll explain it to you more in details later.
That's really interesting.
As for the rest, there's NOTHING revolutionary,
it's even rather a regression.
Here's my feeling my dear Ranclanclank!
Then, scenario from Mineleblanc:
not "scenario", "question" from Mineleblanc,
here it goes, I'm getting out of control,
so, question from Mineleblanc:
"Are the voices good and do they suit the characters?"
Good you're asking.
There's a full English dubbing for this French version,
so unfortunately, we can't choose the Japanese voices,
it's quite a shame.
But yes, the voices are okay, they're acceptable,
the lip synchronisation isn't that good sometimes,
- it's not Mass Effect concerning this -
but it's not that bad.
I think it's a shame though they didn't make a French dubbing.
I know we are only a few to think that,
but I'm one of the rare people who likes to have the French dubbing in games.
Here we don't have it,
it's not dramatic,
but still, I consider FFXIII is a big big game,
so yes, I would've liked having a dubbing, a French translation.
I'm sorry.
Of course, it would've probably been lame more than anything else,
just figuring out Vanille's French dubbing!
Well that's the point!
The lame side would've been fun! I love that!
Why do I love Metal Gear Solid 1, amongst others?
Well, because of its dubbings!
The dubbings are awesome!
I'm sad the next MGSs, 2,3,4 didn't have French dubbings.
I'm really sad about this,
it was a big disappointment for me concerning the MGS saga.
Though I know I'm one of the few people saying this.
Everyone would be like "Heretic! Blasphemy!"!
"Let's burn him at the stake!!"
But I do stand by my words, really,
I really would've had French dubbings in FFXIII.
That's it.
Because I think it would've deserved it.
So here we have English voices, but it's not dramatic,
they're fine.
What is it you're asking now...
"Does the soundtrack chosen for the European version...
- which is not the original -
does it fit with the game?"
Yes indeed, the European and the American version, I believe,
well actually I'm sure about this,
we got this girl, what's her name already? Leona Lewis,
Leona Lewis, with "My Hands" we hear in all the commercials.
"Your hands My hand!"
Of course, that's some piece of crap,
but we hear it very little, only once or twice in the game,
of course once at the end of the game,
but it's not dramatic either.
Maybe we hear it one more time, but they didn't put it forward,
so it's fine,
even at the end of the game, it's not dramatic.
It didn't bother me more than that,
I don't really care about it.
Still, it's a shame they didn't let the original version,
the Japanese song.
It's probably one more thing they decided to casualize,
so that a wider audience would be able to identify itself,
I don't know, that's probably that.
I don't know who prefers to have this "My hands" song more than the original *** one.
I don't get it, see?
I don't see how this could be an argument to attract more people.
I don't get how it possibly can increase the selling of the game in the US or here.
Because they really put this song forward, you know?!
They made a lot of commercials, "reportage", etc...
although the song is actually nothing in the game.
They made such a fuss about it, for NOTHING!
It's just a *** song we hear at the end of the game for like 3 min,
nothing else, really, it's nothing at all.
It isn't even worth talking about it at all.
So, now..
"Is this game worth the name "Final Fantasy"?"
Yes it's worthy baring the name FF, because it's a great adventure.
Godslave666999,
You've forgotten a "9" haven't you?!
"If you had to recommend a FF to a novice,
who'd be hesitating between FFX and FFXIII,
what would be your answer?"
Like I've said, I didn't finish FFX.
I'll explain why in my future FFX review.
First I intend to finish it.
I suppose you're guessing why I didn't finish it and just played about 15 hours.
I won't tell you more about it.
So I can't answer this question,
but I can say I'd recommend FFXIII.
you're also asking "if the game is as dynamic all along,
or if there's a "slack period" like in Chrono Cross?"
No, the game is dynamic all along, there's no slack period, really,
the game's scenarized the 50 hours of the game.
Only around the end of the game, there are less cutscenes
and a lot more monsters to kill.
So, no, the game's really interesting.
I'm talking about the main quest here.
For the side quests, it's another story.
FlouFlou... Hey you! I got you, ***!
You've already asked questions!!
I realize some of you asked their questions several times these little ***!!
FlouFlou, little ***!
"Can we buy new weapons and accessories and upgrade them?"
You're lucky I haven't talked about that, FlouFlou!
Call yourself lucky!
FlouFlou!!
That's some funky name!
So: "Can we buy new weapons and accessories and upgrade them?"
Let me tell you how it goes:
first of all, there's no shop, no merchant, no NPC in the game.
Which means the shopping will be done at the sort of terminals we see every 100m,
which are at the same time checkpoints, spots you'll be buying and selling stuff,
where you'll upgrade your weapons and accessories,
and there's something else it does, but I don't remember what.
Anyway, that's at those terminals you'll be doing everything.
Some call this a revolution or an evolution,
but seriously, if THAT isn't a regression, I don't know what it is.
So basically, we do everything through those terminals,
a bit like in Resident Evil 5 in which there was no merchant anymore
and everything had to be done before starting to play.
We chose what to put in our inventory.
There was a virtual, imaginary merchant!
Just like MGS4!
See? All those games have a lot more in common than it seems at first sight.
Take MGS4, remember Dreby, we see him only at the beginning,
and then, everything goes directly through the menu,
without any merchant, so, it's only virtually that we can buy weapons.
So, apparently, most of the players like this system,
because more and more games are like this.
I must say I find this weird,
I admit I have trouble getting used to this,
but it's not dramatic either!
Sure it's also boring constantly having to search for the merchant, the NPC.
It's rather useless, sure!
But to me it's important,
important for the immersion.
Here, everything's virtual.
Personally, I don't like it, there's an unpleasant kind of something in it.
But I suppose we're only a few to think that way,
since almost all the games have this system nowadays,
those virtual merchants, and stuff like that.
To me it's really weird.
Anyway, back to FFXIII,
you were asking about the weapons.
I'll explain to you because it's a bit particular.
We won't find more and more powerful weapons as we'll go further in the game.
We'll always find weapons which all are actually about the same.
They just have certain different characteristics.
One of them for instance, is better for the force than for the magic.
since in FFXIII, the both main characteristics are the force and the magic.
So, all the weapons have both force and magic
and sometimes, an extra power,
like the Early Stagger to shock enemies quicker,
or an extra ATB slot to have an already full ATB bar at the beginning of the fight,
that kind of stuff.
Ans so, we'll choose our upgraded weapon depending on that,
because after, we can upgrade them
with different materials we'd have found a bit everywhere, in chests,
from monsters we've killed, etc...
Via these materials, we'll upgrade our weapons.
There's several levels, about, let's say, 100 levels per weapon.
Each time we'll level-up a weapon, it'll increase its force and magic,
more its magic, or more its force.
it depends on the weapon we'd have chosen.
For instance, a weapon which has Force +20 and Magic +20 at the beginning,
well, at Level 100 - which is very tough to reach,
because it requires 2 main upgrades for which we'll need a catalyst,
which is a very rare item we can only find in certain spots in the game -
well, if we succeed in doing all this, we get the Ultimate Weapons
and we'll then get Force +800 and Magic +800.
Its effect will strongly increase.
But in the beginning, all the weapons are very weak!
First, a weapon has Force +20, Magic +20,
another one, Force +10, Magic +30,
another one, +30 for the Force and +10 for the Magic...
See? All the weapons are alike in the beginning, until we upgrade them, ourselves.
It also goes this way for the accessories.
Although some accessories are a little more powerful right from the start.
But, we can also upgrade all the accessories,
a fire-resistant ring for instance,
first it'll be 10-15% efficent,
upgraded: 20, 25, 30, 40% till a maximum of, I believe, 45%.
See now how it goes??
Well that's how it works for the weapons, the accessories and the upgrading,
knowing it's very expensive and not very intuitive,
because we don't necessarily know which material to use to upgrade them correctly,
because also, there's a XP system for the weapons,
with the XP being doubled, even tripled if we use the right materials.
But it's badly explained, and badly done, it's not intuitive
and not interesting upgrading these weapons after all.
I did it because I wanted and needed to, so I had to farm 3 Adamantite,
which is the last must-get catalyst
to be able to upgrade the weapons in their last form.
It's very hard to get the.....
because they're only dropped by very strong bosses in the side quests.
Actually it's classified as a rare drop (1%), so... Crazy stuff!
So! That was my answer about the weapons and accessories upgrading.
Holy cow! I realize we're already at 1h20 of podcast,
although - you won't believe me -
but I wanted to answer your questions in one single video.
Right now, I've answered less than 1/4 of the questions.
Wonderful...
But I realize a lot of questions keep coming back again and again,
so I keep repeating myself a little bit.
Anyway, more than 1h20, 1h23...
What we're going to do,
I'll go on a little bit
then I'll stop and I'll try to condense all that in the next video,
because clearly, it has to be the last video for the questions.
I don't want to do 3 videos of FFXIII, it's going to be indigestible for you, listeners.
Anyway, let's go on now.
Question from Sevensky93:
"Emotionally speaking, will FFXIII's flavour live on in you?"
How beautifully said!
(quoting again) "A game which flavour will live on in you"...
"I mean, does FFXIII deserve its fame like the other FFs you know?"
1- "will the flavour live on in me?" No, cleary, no.
2- "Does it deserve its fame?"
Well... It's always hard to answer that kind of questions.
You do know that all the FFs, from the 4th episode,
so, the first 16-bit one, on SNES,
each FF has its own fans,
each FF is unique and has its own storyline,
each FF has its own OST.
So we can't say "a FF is less good then another one" or whatever.
See what I mean?
My favourite ones are FFVI and FFVII.
FFVIII, I played it back then,
I had been waiting for it like crazy
and I had to force myself to finish it because it was FFVIII, you know?
But I really didn't want to, at the end.
The last 4 hours of the game have been a real ordeal for me.
So, I didn't like it, also for other reasons I'll explain in my review.
But if someone's like: "You know, I did like FFVIII"
I'm not going to tell him: "Have you gone nuts?"
No, I totally understand!
So even FFXIII, I mean,
I'm sure FFXIII has its own fans and it's fully understandable!
It's not a bad game at all, far from that!
Some others are cosmic *** next to that!
FFXIII is really a good game.
But...
I'm not going to repeat myself all over again!
For now on, for every question, I'm going to repeat myself!!
So, what was your question already?...
"I mean, does FFXIII deserve its fame like the other FFs you know?"
Yes it does!
But for me, FFXIII is different,
For me, FFXIII is one-of-a-kind.
We could almost say FFXIII is a spin-off.
I wouldn't find it shocking hearing this.
For my part, I almost consider it is.
So, we're done with that...
Next page...
Holy cow, this video is a disaster,
it's catastrophic.
Jejodame asks:
"Seeing in this FFXIII a new FFX, but dirigist and linear,
Is it really justified or is this pushing it a bit?
Or is it even worse than FFX?
It's true FFXIII resembles FFX, clearly,
because of its dirigist/ linear side like you said,
but I'd say it's even worse,
- I repeat myself once again -
FFXIII is even worse because they put everything on the scenario.
Everything is scenarized from A to Z.
So yes, I'd say it's even worse than FFX,
even if I didn't finish it yet.
But I'll get back to that in the FFX review.
Question from 2eyes1mouth:
"Hi Hooper, here's my question:
are there any flaws or annoying bugs harming the fun/the quality of the game?
Like Mass Effect's too long loading times, for instance."
So, let me think about it.
No, no annoying stuff that I can think of right now.
You're mentioning Mass Effect's loading times
which were really a pain.
Here no, there is very few loading times in this FFXIII,
at least, on the PS3 version,
I won't pronounce on the Xbox360 version.
But there are indeed few loading times on the PS3 version,
even the transitions adventure-fight mode,
Frankly, it lasts not longer than...
I think we've rarely had such fast transitions.
It wasn't like that in the past.
Here, I don't think it lasts longer than what... 1,2,3 seconds?
The transition lasts no longer than 3 seconds for us progressing in a dungeon or on the map
- even though there's no map, but anyway -
well, to move from being in a dungeon to a fight.
The transition is very very quick.
This aside, there are almost no loading times,
We visit the dungeons, the whole aera,
without any loading time.
There are only loading times when changing chapters,
or during the big cinematics,
but it's very rare and very quick.
So, no! No loading problems,
or loa- ding, like I used to say back then,
no loa-ding!
Apart from that, I don't recall any annoying bug.
No, really.
For this game, they put everything on the fun anyway,
so no, nothing's really annoying in the game,
nothing which could penalize the progress.
It's fluid.
The game's fluid,
nothing stands in the way of its fluidity.
No, I don't see anything,
right now, I don't see any bug or annoying stuff,
my dear 2eyes1mouth.
Question from Nucleairestorm:
"Is FFXIII's scenario similar to the FFVIII's one,
that is, a love story between one and another hero of the game.
Remember Squall, Rinoa,...
There is a love story in FFXIII,
but I'd say it was not the "heart" of the game,
unlike in FFVIII, in which the main theme was love,
which didn't disturb me,
I didn't consider it as a flaw in FFVIII,
unlike many, it wasn't one of the reasons the game really disappointed me.
I even almost kind of liked this love story.
To go back to FFXIII, there's a love story,
but it's not...
Well it is important,
but it's not the "heart" of the scenario,
clearly not.
Question from TheprofesseurGrant!
From Jurrasic Park, of course.
"Didn't it bother you the characters all are like top models,
super-handsome, flawless guys?
They look like they have no soul."
I've already expressed myself on this.
Yes, it's true, it is a boy band,
it's a Japanese RPG, we've to accept it as it is.
But no, it didn't disturb me after all,
so "no" is my answer,
no, it didn't bother me.
At fist sight, maybe, but finally, no,
the characters are still well-made, so...
"And I'd like to know your feeling about it."
That's the same question, ok.
Let's go on and hurry!
Next page, perfect,
it's going to be quick now.
Question from Returnof:
"Hi Hooper! In your FFI video, you declared you weren't really a FF expert.
I suppose you know other RPGs way better, like the Chronos and Xenogears.
My question would be: what are your thoughts on this saga?
Do you think most of the FFs are part of the best RPGs,
or do you think they're inferior to the Chronos, Seikens, etc...?"
Well, like I've said earlier, I know the FFs a little better now,
since the only ones I didn't finish are FFIII, FFX and FFXII,
so I do know the FFs a little bit now.
The Chronos... But it's different!
What are you asking exactly?
If I think they belong to the Top RPGs?
Yes, definitely,
the FFs belong to the best RPGs, clearly!
I think no one can deny this.
But it's true that... Well, I am very sensitive to the emotions in a game, in any game...
Well, a game like Xenogear or Chrono Trigger gave me a lot more emotions than any FF!
Even FFVI!
And yet, FFVI gave emotions!
But for me, it's a far cry from a Chrono Trigger or a Xenogear!
BUT, they still remain classics, memorable RPGs, of course!
Then, question from: Masterofshadow.
You forgot the "o" of shadow, but It's okay, I forgive you.
"Is this FFXIII a renewal of the FFs,
or is it a RGP..." - You switched the "g" and the "p",
again, I forgive you, but next time, I won't, alright?
So, "Is it a "classic" RGP (a RPG) and should we save ourselves for the older FFs,
like FFVII or FFVIII?"
So basically, you're asking if FFXIII ist the renewal of the FFs.
Well, first of all, it's FFXIII, so inevitably, it's the current FF.
But is it the renewal of the FFs?
I don't think it is, no, it's a FF on its own,
well that's what I think.
And/Or is it a classic?
No, it's not a classic either.
I see, actually, you only give me 2 choices:
either it's the renewal or it's a classic!
But it's neither a classic nor the renewal!
But if I had to choose: it's rather the renewal then.
But I'm convinced the next FFs won't be a copy/paste of this one.
So, see? Neither of the two answers works.
Then, "Should we save ourselves for the older FFs like FFVII or FFVIII?".
No, not necessarily...
Man, I don't know..
I don't know, Mister Shadow, alright?
So, next question!
This video is a real mess!
Question from: Geeks4.
"For you, does FFXIII help Japanese games getting back on track?"
I have no idea, goddammit!
I'd say, concerning the RPG aspect: no,
but concerning the technical aspect: yes.
Because, like I've told you, I really think that with this game,
we can see some Japanese companies like Square Enix
really can make the most of the new gen consoles,
even if we shouldn't call them this way anymore,
but the "current" consoles.
Technically speaking, everything's extremely fluid, the fights, etc...
They handled it successfully.
But will it get them back on track?
No, my answer is no.
Question from: Xkamikage.
"Hi Hooper! Interesting, your new "question-answer" video concept.
Just a simple question which probably will be the test's conclusion.
I don't think so, since I'm answering right now.
Although, I think it's going to be the conclusion of THIS video,
because I mean, we can't go on any longer in this one, really,
it's been 1 1/2 hour and I'll have problems during the montage.
So you were right, it won't be the test's conclusion,
but it'll be this video's conclusion.
And your question is: "Is this FF fun?"...
Okay... I was expecting better than that for a conclusion...
"Is it worth playing compared to other current RPGs
and is it a game for everyone or rather only for a handful of RPGs gamers?"
I've already answered that for ***'s sake!
"Is this FF fun?" YES, with a big Y!
"Is it worth playing it compared to other current RPGs?"
... Let's say yes, with a small Y.
"Is it a game for everyone or rather only for a handful of RPGs gamers?"
Well no, I think it's just the opposite!
It's rather made for the people who are not in this handful of RPGs gamers.
So you should reverse your question, see?
No, it's precisely made for people discovering, who never played a FF,
who know nothing about RPGs, who are afraid of them,
like "I'm afraid, it's super complicated! It's slow! RPGs are boring!
when we're in dungeons, we're lost!"
Well in FFXIII, it's just the opposite.
So, your question should be reversed
and then I'd answer: yes.
So! Video, done.
I'll get back to you very soon in a third and last video.
I don't know how I am going to do,
I'll probably have to cross a lot of questions out,
otherwise, it could take another 10 videos.
Alright. See you!