All Entries Tagged With: "Final Fantasy XIII"

Why Final Fantasy XIII Should Be Co-Op

Final Fantasy XIII is the type of game you either love or you hate. I am one of the people that love the game. I have heard that this game has too much hand-holding but as a hardcore RPG fan I found it lengthy and complex to explain this game to a newcomer to the genre who was bewildered and not able to play the game by “just pressing x over and over” as many others have claimed can be done. But never-mind my thoughts on the previously discussed design issues, because as I began to lay out the fundamentals to playing FFXIII to my non-RPG seasoned friend, he asked me “does this have co-op?” and brought me to a startling revelation. Many of the changes made to FF’s overall formula with this title seemed to pave the way for co-operative play, yet it was never implemented. I think it should have been the focus of the entire game. With such a controversial game and such a heavyweight franchise known for its single player I know that this article will immediately be the subject of much doubt and disagreement, but hear me out before deciding how you feel about this proposition.

Square Enix Fans, Check Your Mailbox for Free Goodies

If you are a fan of Square Enix and have ever registered one of their titles in the Square Enix Members community then you definitely want to check your mailbox this week as you may be receiving a little special surprise. I was admittedly expecting perhaps something more when the envelope arrived first class from the RPG and game publishing giant, but maybe that is a bit of my “gamer entitlement” bleeding through.

Click here to see at full size the three postcards S.E. is currently sending out to Bronze level members (and I’m assuming higher levels as well) including individually themed images for Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Final Fantasy XIII, and Star Ocean: The Last Hope International. Although it surely is no Final Fantasy XIV beta, I am impressed at the exquisite quality of the postcards and the very nostalgic aura they hold means I probably won’t be sending them to anyone anytime soon.

Wada: “Difficult to Determine” Which Direction to Take Final Fantasy

Square-Enix president Yoichi Wada was recently interviewed by Gamasutra and, among other things, talked at length about the company’s flagship franchise and its future. To start with, he’s very happy with the amount of units Final Fantasy XIII moved. I mean, who can complain with over 5.5 million sold worldwide since launch? But, he does also recognize that some people (okay, a lot of people) didn’t care much for that installment of the franchise.

“Looking at the numbers alone, it is pretty good, because we were able to release the latest Final Fantasy in all three markets of Japan, United States, and Europe in a very short period of time, and we were able to reach 5 million units rapidly — and I think this product will grow further. But when it comes to the customers’ reaction to the quality of the game, some value it highly and some are not very happy with it.”

Then he makes this rather bold statement, apparently not worried about all the nerd rage that may be directed toward him once the Interweb gets hold of this information.

“I think this is a product that was able to meet the expectations for those who know Final Fantasy. There are all kinds of games around in the market today. Should Final Fantasy become a new type of the game or should Final Fantasy not become a new type of game? The customers have different opinions. It’s very difficult to determine which way it should go.”

Mr. Wada, I’ll tell you exactly which direction the franchise should go – right back to 1997, that’s where. Not visually-speaking, of course, but in terms of game design, you can’t beat the oldies but goodies. Okay, okay, I did not hate Final Fantasy XIII like many others, in fact I gave the game a rather glowing and unusual review, praising things about it that most other reviewers complained about. That does not mean, however, that I can’t understand the direction they are coming from, and I in no way am saying the latest installment of the franchise is better than earlier iterations.

I think Square-Enix should take a lesson from their earlier works in terms of game design, characters and writing. Bring back that magic that we so desperately want to see again. Don’t create an entirely new genre, or “new type of game”, as Mr. Wada puts it. Stop looking for the new and take a lesson from what made the older Final Fantasy games so great. What say you, Mr. Wada?

That “Chore” Feeling… When Fun Factors are Questionable

Greetings, I’ve invited you all here today to talk about what I consider a very important element of a good game. That would be the desire to play it. Yes, obviously there should always be a want to play a game but perhaps my explanation would benefit from an example of my experience with that “Chore” feeling.

Final Fantasy XIII – What the Hell Happened?

Final Fantasy XIII is a game that has polarised RPG fans between those who believe it is oustanding piece of well crafted story telling, and those who think its is nothing more than a tedious corridor simulator.

We at Games4M are in the latter camp and in this video we explain why we think this is the worst Final Fantasy game ever and put the question to Square-Enix – What the hell happened?

Final Fantasy XIII Piano Collections Forthcoming

One of my favorite Final Fantasy albums ever is the piano collections from FFX. I loved that stuff. It probably stems back to the fact that I took piano lessons for 12 years when I was younger, but I just love piano music. Now comes pretty solid confirmation that Masashi Hamauzu and Aki Koruda are reprising their rolls from the FFX piano collections, as arranger and performer respectively, for the FFXIII Piano Collections album. You can check it out now on the Japanese Amazon.com site, where it is available to pre-order for 2800 yen ($30 US).

It’s pretty likely that you’ll be able to import it from sites like Play Asia pretty easily once it is released on July 21.

[Nobuooo]

Final Fantasy XIII Sales Break 5.5 Million Mark

For a game that a lot of people weren’t too fond of, Final Fantasy XIII has been selling pretty well. So well, in fact, that is has broken the 5.5 million sales mark, with an even spread across North America, Japan and Europe. This isn’t too much of a surprise being that not only does the franchise name carry more weight that Jon Ireson’s backpack, but it was the very first of the series to make its way onto next-gen platforms PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Imagine that, folks. Final Fantasy selling a crap ton. Who on in this world could have seen this coming? Everyone. The franchise has grown on us like a colony of E.Coli, and we were room-temperature Canadian beef.

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Bioware: You Stab Me Through the Heart

Dear Bioware,

Honestly, you’re one of my favorite developers. Why must you go around spouting nonsense like you’re some elitest RPG god, assuming that only your brand of RPG is the only way RPGs can be done? I loved both Mass Effect titles, I loved Dragon Age: Origins, I’m looking forward to your upcoming Star Wars MMO. These are all awesome games in their own right, why must you go around shooting your mouth off willy-nilly? It makes you look like a bunch of jerks.

PlayStation Home Gets Final Fantasy XIII Costumes

PlayStation Home recently grew with the addition of the Final Fantasy XIII Home space. Now Square Enix and Sony have sweetened the deal for those of you who are addicted to Home costumes. Players will now be able to dress up as Snow, Vanille, Lightning, and Sazh as well as access new items for their personal space such as gun-blades and airships. Next all we need is a Final Fantasy XIV Home space, right?

FFXIII DualShock 3 Controller to Go With Your PS3

What would be really slick, is if you already had the FFXIII-themed PS3 that came out along with the Japanese release of the game back in December, then you can put the controller with the system and, by their power combined….er, well…it would just look cool. The Asian relaunch of FFXIII is approaching, so Square-Enix and Sony have come up with another bundle for the game, which should come as no surprise to anyone. This time, though, the bundle includes a controller styled after the original FFXIII PS3.

Final Fantasy Distant Worlds Tour

For fans of not only the Final Fantasy series from Square Enix, but the epic soundtracks as well, are in for a treat. Not only will fans be able to purchase the much anticipated CD by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Arnie Roth, fans can also celebrate this release by attending one of the stops for the Distant Worlds Tour featuring the works from this new CD.

Can Game Development Take TOO Long?

Starcraft II, Diablo III, Gran Turismo 5, Final Fantasy XIII – what do all these games have in common? I feel the development and/or release of these game have taken way too long. Now, before you jump to conclusions about what I just said, let’s clear something up – I’m not a fanboy; I don’t feel they’ve taken too long because I want the game now and nothing later than now will suffice. No, I feel games like these take more time than is really needed in development or in the release process. Let me tell you a little story.