Where have you been all my life Final Fantasy XIII? [ March 11th, 2010 ] Posted in » Xbox 360, gaming

I love RPG’s.  They are far and away my favorite genre of games.  To me they are the closest we get to telling a true story in a video game.  That’s why I eagerly look forward to each release of the Final Fantasy series, which are quite possibly the flagship RPG titles.

Well about 5 hours into Final Fantasy XIII I can say that it hasn’t disappointed at all.  In fact, it’s jaw droppingly amazing in many of the same ways that Final Fantasy VII was.

Because Final Fantasy VII has taken on such an epic place in gaming lore, people have been in backlash to it for some time.  But they forget (or never played it when it launched) just how epic a game it was.  Final Fantasy VII changed everything about RPG’s.

Characters became important.  Personalities mattered.  Story telling took a huge leap forward.  We actually cared about those characters in ways that very few games before (or since) have captured.  I will never forget walking into my apartment in college seeing my roommates playing Final Fantasy and being blown away by the graphics.

Why do I tell you all this?  Because Final Fantasy XIII is the first game in the FF series that captures that feel.

The characters are laugh out loud funny.  They each have their own personalities, motives, and attitudes.  They aren’t just cookie cutter characters – they are characters to care about.  Even though I’ve only spent a few hours with them, I like them already.  And in the age of “whiney boy turned manly hero” that’s saying something.

Of course it’s not just characters.  The graphics are astounding.  I’m playing on the 360, so I can only imagine that the PS3 version is even more amazing.  I have never played a game where it’s hard to tell the difference between FMV’s and game play.  Maybe they are out there, but it’s not on my radar.  The only game that really captured that same seamless feeling was Half Life.  Another brilliant game.

I don’t know if Final Fantasy XIII will be as awesome 50 hours in, as it is at 5 hours.  But something tells me I won’t be disappointed.



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First Thoughts on Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII is the first game I have ever preordered. And we can thank my wonderful fiancée for that. So I, like most of the gaming world, is looking forward to the March 9th release date. But what kind of gamer would I be if I wasn’t willing to share my uninformed well thought out views?

After playing Final Fantasy 12 and not liking it very much, I have been very interested to see the latest version of Final Fantasy, specifically around save spots and random encounters. Now unlike most people, I love random encounters. Sure it’s sometimes annoying and frustrating. But most of the time it reminds me of the old NES days of playing Dragon Warrior. Oh how I used to take my little character and walk him back and forth over the same 4 blocks to unleash Goldmen. But I digress.

But I recognize that a lot of people hated the random encounters. So over time those disappeared to make it more “realistic” and “believable.”

So here is my question – why do we get rid of random battles, but keep the same out-dated save point system? For the love of gaming, can we get rid of save spots?!

All of us here on The Save Spot love gaming, but we’ve grown to detest hunting for the next save spot. And while the Final Fantasy XIII guide tells me save spots will be “no more” than 10 minutes apart, in my world 10 minutes is a long time. Anyone who has kids know that within a 10 minute window any number of disasters can strike. Anyone in a relationship knows that within the next 10 minutes it may be time for “talking” (whatever that means!)

Save Spots used to not bother me, because I had hours and hours to game. Now when my gaming is measured by minutes, not hours, risking a 10 or 20 minute search for a save spot is likely to drive me do something else.

Maybe even read a book.

So please future versions of Final Fantasy if you’re going to take away my random encounters, please take away the save spot system! You did it with The Last Remnant. I have confidence you can do it for Final Fantasy.

February 25th, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Console Wars

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Final Fantasy is my favorite gaming franchise.  To me its bigger than Civilization, Half Life, Dragon Quest, and yes, even Diablo.  It’s also the only video game franchise that I would buy a console just to play.  (Actually that’s what I did with the PS2). 

So when it was announced that Final Fantasy would appear on the Xbox I think that’s pretty bad news for Sony.  This move takes away the one thing that made me think about buying a PS3.  Now the last card Sony has to play is the Blu-Ray angle.  Unfortunately for them, I watch very few regular movies at home, so the chances of me wanting to watch HD movies is slim to none.  

Which means I’m only buying a console to play video games.   

Both Microsoft and Sony are in trouble right now (even with Microsoft’s recent price cut).  As much as I hate to admit it, the Wii is dominating both of them.  But I’m a PC gamer first and foremost.  Which means that I’m not really in the market to buy more than one console.   That means I have a tough decision.  I haven’t wanted to buy the 360 because of it’s manufacturing issues.  The PS3 is just really expensive.  And the Wii doesn’t have many games I’m interested in playing.

Apparently my inability to choose sides in this console war makes me Switzerland. 

That’s why Sony losing an exclusive Final Fantasy game is bad for them, but good for me.  I’ll probably end up with a 360.  I’ll take that price cut, the better game library, a more robust online experience and my Final Fantasy.  But that means I’ll probably lose out on the Wii “experience”. 

Who knew staying neutral was such a pain?

 

September 11th, 2008 | 2 Comments

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