Visiting classic Final Fantasy worlds in FFXIV

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Originally Posted by MysteriousRonin

Or maybe Vana'diel is in FFXIV but on a continent on the other side of the world. How great would that be?!

There is actually a timeline somewhere that shows that some of the FF games take place in the same worlds but in the past and future, and shows that some of the worlds have crossed dimensions before and affected each other.

I saw it in a gaming magazine around when FFXII came out.

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I know Ivalice is pretty much like that, considering all the games centered around it. Well for the most part anyway.

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Originally Posted by MysteriousRonin

Or maybe Vana'diel is in FFXIV but on a continent on the other side of the world. How great would that be?!

There is actually a timeline somewhere that shows that some of the FF games take place in the same worlds but in the past and future, and shows that some of the worlds have crossed dimensions before and affected each other.

I saw it in a gaming magazine around when FFXII came out.

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Ala Turn A Gundam.

You might be referring to the "void" which apparently is the sources of a good number of FF baddies.

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Originally Posted by MysteriousRonin

Or maybe Vana'diel is in FFXIV but on a continent on the other side of the world. How great would that be?!

There is actually a timeline somewhere that shows that some of the FF games take place in the same worlds but in the past and future, and shows that some of the worlds have crossed dimensions before and affected each other.

I saw it in a gaming magazine around when FFXII came out.

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If you're referring to how FFVII and FFX/X-2 take place in the same universe, that was denied by the producers of FFVII. The guys who worked on X-2 WANTED that to be canon, or at least hinted for it to be. It's not though.

Also FF elements like enemies, summons, mascots, and whatnot are completely okay, but adding characters/villains/cities from previous games is a terrible idea. Crystal Tower isn't bad because that's so vague that it could pass as a legitimate thing. I'd like to see more original content, more of Akihiko Yoshida's work, and more tie ins to the original FFXIV, rather than shoehorning other games into it.

I want to see more of Hydaelyn, not of Spira/Gaia/Gaea/every other FF world that I've been to already.

@OP
I like this idea very much. I say bring the concept of classic Final Fantasy content into this new generation, because not everyone has played FFI through FFIX in this day in age of HD gaming. It does not have to be a splitting image of the original, but for the name sake lets have it.

Biggs, and Wedge where are you? Cid is here already, and there is room for more classic and new content too.

Interesting indeed.
If we think that every FF world is a parallel or different world of the same universe, we could also think about some sort of future merging between worlds (because of a magical or space/time phenomenon).. ala Fringe lol. Only an idea (not really original i know) i have in mind now.

Or maybe they are thinking on a total different basic idea about names. I any case, i'm very curious now to see what they have in their mind.

FF IX online.....do want

I really hope they wont play the nostalgia card too much. Gold saucer is cute, but if a new city would pop up named Cosmo Canyon (for example), and design it after the FFVII one, I'd just think it'd be lazy.

Who am I kidding. I would drown in my own fountain of fan-boy tears and take the first best choco caravan out there and relive EVERYTHING!!!
Still, it's better to pump new and fresh content into Eorzea, since that is what it's primarily lacking.

What I wouldn't mind at all, however, would be if the end game bosses from the old games were introduced gradually into the future colosseum. Let you fight them with FFXIV mechanics and graphics, and now with friends that aren't just pixels!

Just gimme a great Crystal Tower (there was one of sorts in almost every FF game pre VI) with decent levels, and one or two balcony sections overlooking Eorzea.

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Originally Posted by Ruisu

If you're referring to how FFVII and FFX/X-2 take place in the same universe, that was denied by the producers of FFVII. The guys who worked on X-2 WANTED that to be canon, or at least hinted for it to be. It's not though.

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He mean the world Ivalice. You know, FF XII, FF XII: Revenant Wings, FF Tactics, FF Tactics Advance, FF Tactics A2, Vagrant Story

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Originally Posted by MysteriousRonin

Or maybe Vana'diel is in FFXIV but on a continent on the other side of the world. How great would that be?!

There is actually a timeline somewhere that shows that some of the FF games take place in the same worlds but in the past and future, and shows that some of the worlds have crossed dimensions before and affected each other.

I saw it in a gaming magazine around when FFXII came out.

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Yes! Eorzea is but ONE continent of this vast world in which we adventure. Surely SE will add exapnsions that give meaning to the rest of the remaining land mass to be explored. It doesn't have to be Vana'diel but something else! Maybe once they increase level caps they will add these new areas...

All he said is content "based" on previous FF games. Yes a casino, a game card (that actually can be played in game not separate) or a sports game ala blitz. Not recreating cities from previous titles (1 to 1 recreation).

Maybe same enemies? hell, we have that already, but expect an ultima weapon or something of sorts. We have materia already, it's based on FF7, but tweaked somewhat. I think he meant stuff like that.

ITT: People thinking they will just recreate the Gold Saucer instead of making a casino and name it Gold Saucer, then maaaybe putting something like Chocobo Racing in there..



Come on, they're probably just do stuff like make a place called Oeilvert where you can't use magic, but with a layout, purpose and storyline completely different from the FFIX counterpart. Just like FFIX itself had Castle Pandemonium and the Mount Gulug, complete with remixed version of the original area themes for these places.

I'd love to see stuff from old games in XIV!

I want them to make the environments look like their corresponding game though. I want my super detailed character to run around an 8-bit town. I think stuff like that is awesome!

I have mixed feelings about being able to visit other Final Fantasy worlds @_@ I'm a bit excited, but also don't want XIV to become a messy patchwork of previous FF-exclusive concepts, ideas and names.

I still have a bit of a grudge against materia in XIV being called that, and those two worlds (FFVII and FFXIV) are dimensions apart. They could have given it any other silly name for all I care, it's the direct association with FFVII in my mind that's making a clash. Now there's mention of Gold Saucer. . .
As much as I still hold FFVII as my fav FF game so far, I don't want some of its (or any other FF game) specific concepts just thrown into XIV "just like that", without any apparent reason other than a cheap appeal to the masses. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the concept itself, but recycling a name just seems.... well, cheap. Do we really have to call it Gold Saucer so that fanboys can wet their pants? If they can create a believable enough explanation/lore behind it and seamlessly merge it with the world of Eorzea, then I guess I really wouldn't mind.

Bottom line is; general FF staples all the way - game specific feats if they can fit it into Eorzea in an "organic" way.

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Originally Posted by Nuinn

I have mixed feelings about being able to visit other Final Fantasy worlds @_@ I'm a bit excited, but also don't want XIV to become a messy patchwork of previous FF-exclusive concepts, ideas and names.

I still have a bit of a grudge against materia in XIV being called that, and those two worlds (FFVII and FFXIV) are dimensions apart. They could have given it any other silly name for all I care, it's the direct association with FFVII in my mind that's making a clash.

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Simple naming nods have always existed on the series, don't see materia being named "materia" so much of a big deal.

Same way the term "magitek" comes from FFVI, "Artifact Armor" comes from XI and Black Mage hails all the way back from I, yet I don't see anyone ever saying those feel weird.

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Originally Posted by AdvancedWind

Simple naming nods have always existed on the series, don't see materia being named "materia" so much of a big deal.

Same way the term "magitek" comes from FFVI, "Artifact Armor" comes from XI and Black Mage hails all the way back from I, yet I don't see anyone ever saying those feel weird.

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Maybe I didn't explain myself well enough in my previous post, or maybe you missed my point, but the Black Mage in particular, or Chocobos, Cid, Gil etc. is part what FF games are known for, whereas Magitek or Materia is something what's specific to those two games (FFVI & FFVII) and when you mention Magitek in a sentence, you're reffering to or talking about a specific FF game. Let's say that all of that doesn't really matter, that names don't matter, and if that's the case, then there's no reason they should't bring a Sephiroth into XIV, a villain type NPC/mob, that has the same name, cause there are so many fans out there who are horny for him. . . . to put it really bluntly :p

It's more along the lines of Summons/Eidolons/Espers/Guardian Force/Aeon/Avatar/(Primal?). Basically all have the same concept but they bothered enough to do the simplest thing they could, which is to change the name (and a bit of mechanic behind it) to make it at least more per-game-specific and not feel like a totally recycled thing.

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Originally Posted by Nuinn

It's more along the lines of Summons/Eidolons/Espers/Guardian Force/Aeon/Avatar/(Primal?). Basically all have the same concept but they bothered enough to do the simplest thing they could, which is to change the name (and a bit of mechanic behind it) to make it at least more per-game-specific and not feel like a totally recycled thing.

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Sephiroth example is pretty exaggerated, but even that has already been done, see Garland in IX.

Also, didn't they do exactly that with Materia and Magitek in this game? They retain a certain similarity to their inspiration, but are ultimately pretty different from what it was on the original, just keeping the name as a nod. I still fail to see much problem with that, and this game is not the first game to do something like that. I agree that plainly lifting stuff from the other games and calling it a day is a terrible idea, but simple name nods are a cool little fanservice thing to do. I'm surely disappointed that there's no pirate named Faris in this game.

Also, the summon names have been reused over the series, they don't come up with a new name every iteration.

Guess who somehow managed to miss the mention of Oeilvert sealing all magic when putting together their party! :cool:

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Originally Posted by AdvancedWind

Sephiroth example is pretty exaggerated, but even that has already been done, see Garland in IX.

Also, didn't they do exactly that with Materia and Magitek in this game? They retain a certain similarity to their inspiration, but are ultimately pretty different from what it was on the original, just keeping the name as a nod. I still fail to see much problem with that, and this game is not the first game to do something like that. I agree that plainly lifting stuff from the other games and calling it a day is a terrible idea, but simple name nods are a cool little fanservice thing to do. I'm surely disappointed that there's no pirate named Faris in this game.

Also, the summon names have been reused over the series, they don't come up with a new name every iteration.

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I can't go on to produce a full list of FF staples >.< too much work :P but I'd argue Summon names fall under the same category as job names along with some other recognisable names, as previously mentioned Cid or even music scores which are a recurring theme with a variation. Sephiroth and Garland don't fall under it, imo.

Materia FFVII and Materia FFVIII aren't as similar really :x If you recall, in FFVII materia basically means skills/spells and in XIV it's just stats. The similarity is in both being called the same and they do alter your char, but in a completely different way/mechanic. I dunno, just feels like a cheap way to go to me. . . . Let's give them stat modifying options with a name that'll make most people go 'squee'. Behind the Materia in FFVII there was a whole elaborate backstory, while behind FFXIV materia I feel like the only reason for calling it that is fan service. Oh well, I might be too nitpicky and overthingking it ._.

Personally I have no idea what they are talking about but if they want to take things from the past...and make a bright future my advice is this stop letting people in the 1st production team get tied down by so many projects and get some of the core developers for platform gaming into the mix of online gaming...cough cough Tetsuya Nomura...( absolutely brilliant and could bring a lot to an online game I bet ) buy out mistwalker productions so you can have Hironobu Sakaguchi... ( yet another brilliant mind of the RPG ) keep Nobuo Uematsu for the music ( i dont think he could ever fail at making music ) and combine them with the current talent that is being used on the game... if it is one thing that I have noticed while playing this series as soon as these three split paths the FF series has never been the same...If you take the old successful minds of Square and combine them with the new ambitious talent of Square-Enix I doubt anything horrible could come to any aspect of a video game be it online or offline...

PS: I am in no way shape or form saying that the current production team is doing a bad job they are putting their heart and soul into salvaging this game my main point is if you want to draw from the past and add it to the future why not seek those who helped craft staples in the series...

In FFVII there is HP Plus Materia, MP Plus Materia, and materia like Cover that boost DEF etc. The materia we have now in XIV is similar to that extent, but not a splitting image of VII. There maybe more in the future.


Also I'll like to note that they may not be a Sephiroth in here but there is a meteor falling down on us. There is an empire with advance weapons and technology, and its not called Midgar.

I don't have much examples to show but hopefully people may understand. Perhaps it'll stop the paranoid and over-thinking this thread posters may have.

I would have to say that I (in some way) agree with everyone here. I loved all the things that were put into the past games and would love to see them put into XIV but not at the expense of where the current game is going. Even though it was short the story in XIV is going in a good direction. Using past names in current games i like to see because they put a different spin on them all. I so pose only time will tell what they really plan on doing with this.

What I think would be a great idea is if they made special dungeons that don't conflict with the main storyline of the game. Similar to how Final Fantasy 1 had special dungeons in the GBA/PSP version.

There would be a dungeon you go in, and fight mobs and special bosses from Final Fantasy's before it, set in that area. It can work in the lore also if you use the Rift (The one Gilgamesh goes through to get to other FF worlds).

For example:

Go through a floor that looks like an area from FFIV and fight the Elemental Fiends inside. (Scarmiglione, Cagnazzo, Barbariccia, and Rubicante)

Next floor can be a surprise visit from Gilgamesh and you fight him, and he has his own little comical cut scene.

It is just throwing ideas out there, but I think this would not only be fun, but great fan service to Final Fantasy fans. Not only that, you could drop weapons/armor that would give you a feeling of nostalgia.

being able to travel to a previous time frame would be amazing... i would love nothing more then to go to zanarkand with my character right now

I know its been said, but its pretty obvious that they mean more stuff like "The Crystal Tower" or "Materia". Names that are synonymous with a specific characteristic or event from a previous Final Fantasy game that gives the game nostalgia from past Final Fantasy, but also gives them the freedom to do their own unique spin on it. A Casino called the Golden Saucer but has only has unique mini games and content specific to FFXIV including lore. I think this 'freedom' to name things is mostly going to be dungeons or enemies. We already have new worlds and continents being explored in game that are clearly new so its not like Yoshida wants to make "World of Final Fantasy" where each continent could be based on previous FF's, nor does that mean using an echo to visit previous game locales. Its all about giving Yoshida the freedom to use that nostalgia whenever he feels like it and to not tie that nostalgia only to the server names. The real reason he changed the server names seems to be more based around getting the names away from favoritism and specific Final Fantasy Titles and the memories the towns made while playing the game (He referenced Midgard as having way too much of an impact if it were to be added in the future).

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Originally Posted by Croy

I know its been said, but its pretty obvious that they mean more stuff like "The Crystal Tower" or "Materia". Names that are synonymous with a specific characteristic or event from a previous Final Fantasy game that gives the game nostalgia from past Final Fantasy, but also gives them the freedom to do their own unique spin on it. A Casino called the Golden Saucer but has only has unique mini games and content specific to FFXIV including lore. I think this 'freedom' to name things is mostly going to be dungeons or enemies. We already have new worlds and continents being explored in game that are clearly new so its not like Yoshida wants to make "World of Final Fantasy" where each continent could be based on previous FF's, nor does that mean using an echo to visit previous game locales. Its all about giving Yoshida the freedom to use that nostalgia whenever he feels like it and to not tie that nostalgia only to the server names. The real reason he changed the server names seems to be more based around getting the names away from favoritism and specific Final Fantasy Titles and the memories the towns made while playing the game (He referenced Midgard as having way too much of an impact if it were to be added in the future).

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This sums it up.

I kind of disagree with the notion that yoshi-p was just referring to future content being based on other FFs. (materia, crystal tower etc) He said he wanted to change the server names because he wants to give those names to actual cities in the future. This seems to suggest that we will in fact be visiting those cities from other worlds.

RAGE RAGE RAGE RAGE....

hahaha.... Im so ANGRY... RAWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRR

you guys...
wouldn't you laugh til you cried if you were out farming sheep in Coerthas when all of a sudden you heard some latin choir singing the Sephiroth "One Winged Angel" shit and then a long ass sword comes out of no where and splits you down the middle?

That should be the new banhammer.

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Originally Posted by Zetsumei_Tsunarashi

I kind of disagree with the notion that yoshi-p was just referring to future content being based on other FFs. (materia, crystal tower etc) He said he wanted to change the server names because he wants to give those names to actual cities in the future. This seems to suggest that we will in fact be visiting those cities from other worlds.

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yes because the English updates we get are always clear and concise and are never misinterpreted

oh wait....

Easter Eggs and legacy are the very nature of Final Fantasy. Period.

Originally, it was a conglomerationary blend of mythologies, histories, and stories from a number of cultures. Deities and creatures both from history as well as fantasy spring to life. In Final Fantasy I a grave stone lies in the elfin village of Elfheim, in the NES version it said, "Here lies Erdrick," which is a complete Easter Egg reference to Dragon Warrior.

I had this discussion with an LS mate the other evening who was insistent that this game be nothing like Final Fantasy XI. He was terrified it was becoming a clone. Just because a game makes reference to its predecessors or utilizes a dynamic that worked, does not make it a, "clone."

The quote from Yoshi is vague at best, and thus any and all knee-jerk reaction-ism out of people is misplaced. But let their be no doubt if it lacks reference, legacy, harkening, hinting, pointing to, repeating, and mimicking its not truly Final Fantasy.

Also, just because I know it will make you anti-reference people's heads explode I present a link to images of a character who appears in both FFXIV and FFXI - may God have mercy on your souls.

http://bandofthewhitehawk.enjin.com/...88/album/37643

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Originally Posted by RolandDebreton

Also, just because I know it will make you anti-reference people's heads explode I present a link to images of a character who appears in both FFXIV and FFXI - may God have mercy on your souls.

http://bandofthewhitehawk.enjin.com/...88/album/37643

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Right on.

There have been many lesser characters (Biggs and Wedge, Montblanc), monsters (Demon Wall, The four fiends, Chaos), items (Dark Matter, Rat's Tail, Orichalcum) and other things that by nature of their repetition in the series have become part of the general FF mythos.

We don't really have anything to worry about at this point. We don't even know for sure what Yoshi-P meant.

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Originally Posted by RolandDebreton

Also, just because I know it will make you anti-reference people's heads explode I present a link to images of a character who appears in both FFXIV and FFXI - may God have mercy on your souls.

http://bandofthewhitehawk.enjin.com/...88/album/37643

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Oh snap!
/10char

Never understood how a few of you allow your emotions to get the best of you. Are you that irrational IRL or does the security and privacy of the internet allow you to blow things completely out of proportion?

It's cool to speculate, discuss, imagine, whatever. But maybe it's best not to get angry until there's at least a bit more info?

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Originally Posted by RedAffinity

It's cool to speculate, discuss, imagine, whatever. But maybe it's best not to get angry until there's at least a bit more info?

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People like you need to stop assuming anger from peoples posts. Just because a person writes passionately about a topic does not mean they are angry. Strong language is necessarily when discussing things in text because you cannot use voice inflection.

That being said, Nostalgic names and Locations inspired by previous games would be fine. But if you take the statement as it is literally posted, it is saying they would take literal chunks of previous Final Fantasies and place them into this game. That is entirely unacceptable and a complete violation of the fundamental principles of the series that the Fan Base has come to expect.

This game paired with XII and XIII has, by SE's own admission, done significant harm to the series reputation. This Series Most Significant Principles are that every Numeric Iteration of Final Fantasy will have an Original World, with Original Characters, in and Original Story. To violate these principles would serve only to do further damage to the series.

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Originally Posted by Kiote

People like you need to stop assuming anger from peoples posts. Just because a person writes passionately about a topic does not mean they are angry. Strong language is necessarily when discussing things in text because you cannot use voice inflection.

That being said, Nostalgic names and Locations inspired by previous games would be fine. But if you take the statement as it is literally posted, it is saying they would take literal chunks of previous Final Fantasies and place them into this game. That is entirely unacceptable and a complete violation of the fundamental principles of the series that the Fan Base has come to expect.

This game paired with XII and XIII has, by SE's own admission, done significant harm to the series reputation. This Series Most Significant Principles are that every Numeric Iteration of Final Fantasy will have an Original World, with Original Characters, in and Original Story. To violate these principles would serve only to do further damage to the series.

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Do you speak for every subscriber? You'd make for a good game critic, you treat you own opinion as objective fact.

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Originally Posted by Kiote

This game paired with XII and XIII has, by SE's own admission, done significant harm to the series reputation. .

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SE admitted to FFXIV doing harm to the series, and they have recognized that FFXIII has - considering the bad reviews and negative impressions - but I have yet to hear SE claiming there was anything wrong with FFXII which sold more than FFIX and was better received by the JP press than FFX.

I'd be hard pressed to lump FFXII in with the last two games - It was really a masterpiece with a slightly flawed combat system and a somewhat rushed ending.

-- back on topic.

I'm certainly not in favor of taking chunks of landscape from other FF games and shoe-horning them into Hydaelyn. But I don't think that is at all what he was talking about.

Wait and see. There's no point in getting all worked up when we don't have all the facts. (Japanese to English is never a perfect translation)

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Originally Posted by Kiote

People like you need to stop assuming anger from peoples posts. Just because a person writes passionately about a topic does not mean they are angry. Strong language is necessarily when discussing things in text because you cannot use voice inflection.

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I understand what you're saying... but the internet isn't the first iteration of text-only communication
Truth is... A LOT can be inferred from word choice and context.
When you read Shakespeare... He doesn't use emoticons to express Hamlet's anger at Gertrude marrying Claudius. That is derived specifically from the text relative to the context of the situation.
All I'm saying is you don't necessarily have to imply something for people to infer meaning in it.
Its the burden of the writer to make sure his point comes across clearly
If everyone takes it the wrong way... then maybe that's how you wrote it

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SE admitted to FFXIV doing harm to the series, and they have recognized that FFXIII has - considering the bad reviews and negative impressions - but I have yet to hear SE claiming there was anything wrong with FFXII which sold more than FFIX and was better received by the JP press than FFX.

I'd be hard pressed to lump FFXII in with the last two games - It was really a masterpiece with a slightly flawed combat system and a somewhat rushed ending.

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Video game press have absolutely no credibility... (The Japanese press is significantly worse though. Famitsu's ratings are laughable) but IGN called XIII-2 a big improvement over XIII and gave it an 8 but they had originally given XIII a 9 or something, you know it's all bogus at that point.

There were a lot of positives about 12 though, I just found it incredibly boring. Graphics were sick and environment was more lively than I've ever seen in an RPG but the overall game play was lacking. The story could not draw me in either, the 10/10 stories was something they lost when Sakaguchi left, without him it's like SE tries force drama out of their stories that isn't there. It's like in 13 you have everybody running around whining about how bad they feel but there's really no reason for us the player to care about it. It was hard to play 12 without getting that tired feeling the whole way.

Vaan was the only thing wrong with XII imho. He wasnt even an original idea. But nooooo we had to have a character to experience the world through like Tidus, said the SE higher ups....

Should have just followed Balthier and started with his escape from being a Judge to everything else, leaving out the child.

And as a side note, I personally feel that it is a mistake for SE to make these international versions of games and not put them out outside of JP. XII izjs was amazing. X inter was fantastic (though finally getting that one in a hd port from what I hear)

Yeah basing somebody off tidus was the first mistake, if anybody from FFX they should have based vaan off of Auron. Overall I enjoyed X but playing it now and it's like all I want are for Tidus and Rikku to stop talking, they were both so annoying. And not getting the whole pro athlete thing out of Tidus, he seems like he would belong more in a boy band.