So, a lot of people don't like the linearity in Final Fantasy XIII. The complete lack of bustling towns, world maps, and other such expected RPG traits is leaving some gamers sour, and Square Enix has taken notice. Director Motomu Toriyama has explained why making a nonlinear Final Fantasy was so difficult, and why it might not be so hard the next time around.
"Personally, the Final Fantasies that I have worked on have been very story-driven, so in terms of the development I wanted to, of course, use my personal strengths which where those," he says. "I call it a bento box system, where you have all of the different little things in there. So we had minigames or towns were you were able to talk to all of the townspeople. But with the HD console you’re not really able to do that because it takes so long to develop.
"Now that we have that base technology… The next time you see a Final Fantasy, we might be able to pack in more of those elements that existed in the past. And I also think that a game doesn’t need to have all of those items in the future. We can create additional downloadable content for people to add, too. It doesn’t have to come with that game itself."
The thing is, maybe Final Fantasy XIII wouldn't have taken so long if Square Enix wasn't obsessed with graphics and building a new engine from scratch. Sure, XIII looks amazing, but looks are no substitute for gameplay, and the idea that gameplay took a hit just because Square Enix wanted everything to look pretty is rather dismaying. In any case, once XIII's stopped playing itself for us, we'll have our review up.
FF XIII Director - Production Drove Content Decisions, Elements Will Return [Gamasutra]
Contest:
9:00 AM on 03.11.2010
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I hate you.
Love Gatsby
And the fact that there is no towns, I guess that works fine with the storyline. even though that is a bullshit excuse. Bottom point is that I'm having fun with it. I think they faced the same problems with FFX, but that was more 'exploration', towns and minigames.
The combat system is insane and well worth any amount of missingtown syndrome
Personally, it doesn't really phase me that their hasn't been any towns yet in the game because it works in the context of the world and narrative they have created.
If you come into FFXIII expecting a dungeon crawler, you'll love it.
The finally get a combat system that would be excellent for exploration, and they make it linear as hell, and the lack of towns hurt as well. 1 step foward,2 steps back.
B and S.
what a crappy excuse, "we didn't have time" you had years too put towns in. every other jrpg this gen managed to put in side quests and some form of exploration.
square enix, go fuck a fuck, who's sitting on a fuck while being fucked by a equally uncreative company.
Also, (slight SPOILERS, but i imagine you're a few hours in, you should be safe) when everyone shows of their l'cie marking, look for Vanille's, i know what my final fantasy is ho ho ho!
And I can completely understand the need for the linearity, for example I boght GTA IV, three times on two different systems, and the complete openness of it turned me off, I couldn't get into it. Now I understand that most people loved the game, So thank you Square-Enix for making a game for me.
That is one loonngg tutorial though. Hell 8 hours in and I'm just starting to feel like I have some control over the battles.
"OH NOEZ WE HAVE TO DEFEAT EVIL VON EVILSWORTH IN HIS MEGASPIRE OF EVIL but before we do that let's stop in this charming hamlet and have a nap."
To me, they certainly do look fantastic. However, I can't help but notice that other games recently look much better in different aspects, such as Uncharted and God of War 3, and I can't help but feel that this game would have fared better a year or two ago.
Asians are the worst.
The linearity really isn't an issue whatsoever, in fact I really like the direction they have taken. The pacing is about as perfect as any game I have ever played regarding the story and combat. The graphics are amazing, the soundtrack is equally amazing, and the combat is nothing less than... amazing.
If you are complaining or generally dislike this game after playing it, I challenge wether you actually are or ever were a true Final Fantasy fan. This delivers the next gen Final Fantasy experience as good if not better than I could have expected.
thats a whole lot of derp and butthurt.
I was totally about to back you up on how NPC conversations and town fetch quest were shitty but then I saw you took the Japanese hate seriously. I dunno if your sarcasm meter is broken or if you're just crazy.
But yeah. The linearity kinda makes me want the game more. Hate town fetchquest and NPCs.
Make up your fucking minds, people.
You can move your character. What drugs are you on? Not to defend crazy people or anything but even I know that.
@SquawkDerby
I know I'm not qualified to complain about FFXIII, but from the way you speak about linearity,let me put this in perspective to you: previous Final Fantasies gave us towns and people to talk to and somewhat get a feel of it(aided by wonderful music, I might add). To me, saying that "trimming the fat" as in complete linearity in an JRPG could lead to a very, very boring dungeon crawling experiance(oh god Nocturne). In FFXII, even though the story was full of shit and crap, its presentation in sidequests and N.P.C.s made me enjoy the surroundings. I'm pretty sure the combat system is going to be bloody great and all, but pure linearity is not what I want to see in a Final Fantasy. That's reserved exclusively for the S.M.T. series.
If I sound drunk/stupid, then ignore what I said. I might say something better later, but I'm just sleepy now.
i know right. just the other day someone was telling me that apples were better than oranges.
i slapped the taste out of his mouth for saying such a stupid thing.
Why not just make it a turn-based fighting game where you just progress from one fight to the next via a menu? FFXIII, or at least the first 25 hours, is a straight path and encounters are unavoidable, so its the same gameplay experience.
Also, whats the point of spending 8 years building a game engine when the gameplay itself could be replicated on a graphing calculator? An iphone for sure.
Also, its pretty.... well, the character models are nice. But the wasteland you end up exploring looks like a default terrain you get in a 3d modeler before you start the actual modeling process. Just grass texture for eternity. Its Bullshit.
To be clear, I think the gameplay is semi-decent, but I'm 10 hours in. And the first three hours were as bad as the first hour of Heavy Rain (replace 'JASON! JASON!' with SERAH! SERAH!').
I'm also fine with the lack of towns and NPC conversations so long as it makes sense for the world. It's a staple of the FF structure but there's no point in constantly whining about any and every ounce of change.
Also Jim, don't forget, fans should shut the fuck up.
XII may have broken that because it was more of a single player XI. FF fans need to find something else to complain about.