-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 is so underrated and unfairly forgotten
- Thread starter Ignis
- Start date
the fuck did you do that for then
short of being a tester on the game itself, nobody is forcing you to 100% games
Half the budget, a third of the development time, half the sales. Pretty simple. Lightning Returns got halved again.
I thought the sequels were made because FFXIV failed miserably, not because people didn't like XIII?
And I thought it was Noel who made Serah go on the journey, not her deciding to go?
I recently played this trilogy and my take away was that the sequels were just bad. I ended up liking the original FFXIII this time though. Has its issues but way better than the sequels, which just retconned everything. The combat and music was the best in the original as well.
I did like Caius though, I'll give it that.
And I thought it was Noel who made Serah go on the journey, not her deciding to go?
I recently played this trilogy and my take away was that the sequels were just bad. I ended up liking the original FFXIII this time though. Has its issues but way better than the sequels, which just retconned everything. The combat and music was the best in the original as well.
I did like Caius though, I'll give it that.
I really enjoyed FFXIII-2, especially the monster collecting and the soundtrack. And Yeul. ❤️
But I would argue that XIII is actually better. Better overall story, higher production values, larger cast of characters, and better version of the battle system and character leveling systems.
But I would argue that XIII is actually better. Better overall story, higher production values, larger cast of characters, and better version of the battle system and character leveling systems.
I just played through all 3 FFXIII games in 4K 60 on PC. And I hear they run great on Xbox BC as well.
Unfortunately, the PC versions of FFXIII and especially XIII-2 are extremely poorly done; they're a very minimal port from consoles, meaning the games only use a single CPU core [!!], and resolutions other than 720p don't always draw everything correctly. FF13 is also about 20GB bigger than it should be, because it contains two copies of all the CG movies; one for English and one for Japanese.
Fortunately — this being PC gaming — there are fan fixes. In particular: FF13Fix is an absolutely essential utility, fixing a ton of issues with the two games. The difference on a lot of PCs is night and day with this thing. As for the duplicate movies: they ones for the language you don't wish to play the games in can simply be deleted. (The English versions of the cutscenes have an "en" prefix.)
Lightning Returns, no the other hand, is an excellent port, because they actually took their time with it. (Of note: between the time the PC ports for XIII-2 and LR came out, Steam implemented their game-refund policy. Hmmm...) The only bad thing about it is that there's no mouse support, so a controller comes recommended. Other than that, it's great; the game runs extremely smooth without the need for external fixes.
That doesn't really explain why outside the obvious of less budget. But the answer is Final Fantasy XIV. A game that financially crippled Square Enix. A game no one ever wants to bring up during this trilogy era. I'd like to say the XIII sequels helped SE keep the lights on while still being pretty fun games.
The sequels also we're not likely half the budget for half the sales. It probably cost them way less than half to make for a good amount of sales. Unless I'm completely wrong and there's some definitive info on this.
Last edited:
It's the best game of that XIII Trilogy.
It's the only one I genuinely think of fondly. XIII is average with sparks of greatness, Lightning Returns just didn't do it for me at all. It was just make Lightning a waifu goddess we can dress up.
XIII-2 is a nice blend of serious, fun, and time travel. It's amazing they made Serah an actual character. And Caius is a fantastic villain. Thank you FFXIII-2 for being a great game.
It's the only one I genuinely think of fondly. XIII is average with sparks of greatness, Lightning Returns just didn't do it for me at all. It was just make Lightning a waifu goddess we can dress up.
XIII-2 is a nice blend of serious, fun, and time travel. It's amazing they made Serah an actual character. And Caius is a fantastic villain. Thank you FFXIII-2 for being a great game.
I still liked XIII a lot more than XIII-2. I overall did like it and enjoyed the whole time travel aspect but I wasn't that engaged in its ATB compared to XIII's despite its improvements. I enjoyed playing as Lightning more than as Serah. However, trying to catch the whole set of colored Chocobos is one of my favorite FF gameplay moments ever.
I still maintain that FFXIII is a great final fantasy, and despite some shortcomings in the story, it had a satisfying ending that can be easily explained by reading the datalog or just accepting it for what it is (if only it ended with the scene where the 4 party members were crystal statues..)
FFXIII-2 and LR then manage to improve on the world, lore, and the gameplay while slaughtering the characters and the story. I still love those games for their strong points and will always prefer them over the laughable mess that was FFXV.
Here's hoping for a remastered trilogy!
FFXIII-2 and LR then manage to improve on the world, lore, and the gameplay while slaughtering the characters and the story. I still love those games for their strong points and will always prefer them over the laughable mess that was FFXV.
Here's hoping for a remastered trilogy!
I liked it a lot, but I want super keen on the monster collection aspect. Some of the better abilities required trekking through an entire zone for just one chance at getting them, and you would want them for all your best monsters. But I guess it wouldn't be Final Fantasy without at least some of that.
As someone who genuinely hated everything about XIII :
I love XIII-2.
It addressed literally all my issues.
It gave me exploration, NPCs, towns and cities, time travel that let me guide the narrative instead of being locked on a corridor, cool side content, decent DLC stuff, gorgeous creative environments, crazy OST (mystic timeline <3), Noel and Serah were really cool and felt like normal people for once.
And the best : the story had basically nothing to do with XIII safe from some characters showing up lmao. All about gods and time travels and prophecies. <3
I really enjoyed this.
If you play on PC, make sure to install the mods that restore all the missing SFX from the ps3 version and to remove the ingame frame-limiter that makes it drop to 30 fps whenever it dips to 59fps.
I love XIII-2.
It addressed literally all my issues.
It gave me exploration, NPCs, towns and cities, time travel that let me guide the narrative instead of being locked on a corridor, cool side content, decent DLC stuff, gorgeous creative environments, crazy OST (mystic timeline <3), Noel and Serah were really cool and felt like normal people for once.
And the best : the story had basically nothing to do with XIII safe from some characters showing up lmao. All about gods and time travels and prophecies. <3
I really enjoyed this.
If you play on PC, make sure to install the mods that restore all the missing SFX from the ps3 version and to remove the ingame frame-limiter that makes it drop to 30 fps whenever it dips to 59fps.
I think the game is stuck with the fact that ffxIII just has no story value at all. It is really a seventy hour waste of time with a decent combat system that you get to use after 40 hours. The followups were already at a disadvantage.
couldn't tolerate lightning returns due to screen tearing and complete lack of desire to move the story forward. I was on the side of eff it let the world end.
couldn't tolerate lightning returns due to screen tearing and complete lack of desire to move the story forward. I was on the side of eff it let the world end.
There's a reason this game's story uses like a good 3% of the first game's story lmao.
Let me go further, it's one of the best HD FF. Crazy to see how many solutions to problems Square kept (keeps, you can enjoy FF7R but it's still a straight corridor with awful side content) having this game has.
I don't get this, it's a lot different from XIII. Both don't have very good stories, but they have a lot of differences otherwise. XIII-2 is a like a non-linear monster collecting spin off, with two new main characters, and the full battle system doesn't take half the game to unlock.
It's story is stupid af, some of the gameplay hasn't aged well from the little I replayed via BC, and the ending is meh imo BUT Serah and Noel are really great/fun characters + the OST is one of the best in the series tbh so I enjoyed my time with it.
It's still ugmo but there are various fixes - https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XIII-2
100% agree.
In fact, it's one of my favorite games of all time and I would KILL for a remaster. Yes I know there is a PC version (I own it), but it runs like shit :-(
In fact, it's one of my favorite games of all time and I would KILL for a remaster. Yes I know there is a PC version (I own it), but it runs like shit :-(
I should replay it sometime. I actually enjoyed it the least of the trilogy because the gameplay didn't feel as tightly balanced as the other two (too easy, generally, whereas XIII-1 and LR were both consistently challenging but fair).
But the characters, music, and story (which was just the right amount of zany) were all very strong for me. The game was just fun overall.
But the characters, music, and story (which was just the right amount of zany) were all very strong for me. The game was just fun overall.
I remember when I joked about XIII-3 coming out before Versus XIII when this was annoucned...
FFXIII never deserved two sequels.
FFXIII never deserved two sequels.
I said i here before but i love this game, even though i can acknowledge a lot that's wrong with it it's still one of my favorite FF.
No lie i'd rather play this again than FF15.
No lie i'd rather play this again than FF15.
OP
OP
you should make a LTTP thread. Would love to know your thoughts 🙂
Edit: sorry just saw you REplayed it, not played it for the first time. My mistake!
I bought all the FF XIII games, but after completing the first I just didn't feel like playing the rest, while the game was decent (I liked it more than Resonance of Fate) it didn't grip enough to want to play the sequels.
XIII-2 is better gameplay wise and made refinements where it mattered, although I wasn't too into the whole Pokémon aspect of it and wish there was just a regular party. The level design definitely went up a notch too. But the story is where it fell apart for me and the Saturday morning cartoon vibes that it gave off didn't gel with me either. Snow is even more insufferable, but at least he isn't in it too much.
I wish it didn't have time travel shenanigans and instead went for a more grounded approach with everyone dealing with the fallout of what happened, people trying to survive on Pulse, new communities forming and political parties vying for power. Still have some focus on the gods like Etro though. Maybe have the crystal support begin to show cracks or something with the threat of Cocoon falling down as well. I don't know, that possibly may have been way too similar to X-2, but I just didn't really want time travel and weirdness.
Though I will say that Caius is one of my favourite FF villains, so there's that. Noel is also decent.
I wish it didn't have time travel shenanigans and instead went for a more grounded approach with everyone dealing with the fallout of what happened, people trying to survive on Pulse, new communities forming and political parties vying for power. Still have some focus on the gods like Etro though. Maybe have the crystal support begin to show cracks or something with the threat of Cocoon falling down as well. I don't know, that possibly may have been way too similar to X-2, but I just didn't really want time travel and weirdness.
Though I will say that Caius is one of my favourite FF villains, so there's that. Noel is also decent.
I've been replaying it over the past few weeks (on PC) because I've always had a soft spot for it. The port is bad so getting it in shape requires some tinkering but it's so worth it.
Serah and Noel are awesome, the music is incredible, you're always free to jump to any point of the game at will, there are tons of monsters to capture to customize your party and lots of sidequests to discover. It's the antithesis of the prequel. It's still a beautiful game too.
Serah and Noel are awesome, the music is incredible, you're always free to jump to any point of the game at will, there are tons of monsters to capture to customize your party and lots of sidequests to discover. It's the antithesis of the prequel. It's still a beautiful game too.
It's the most fun of the trilogy, but I didn't like too much how it deviated from the original game. FFXIII feels so isolated from both of its sequels in theme, and characters like Lighting are what the plot want them to be.
I remember finishing XIII and actually hoping for a sequel that would deal with the aftermath of Cocoon dropping onto Pulse and the state of the world changing, yet XIII-2 almost starts throwing it all away to focus on whether the ending was real or not, introducing Lighting's disappearance as the main focus, when it wasn't even discussed in the original game.
I do remember liking Noel, Serah, Hope and the forehead girl who kept dying every 20 minutes. Also, the awkard reunion between Serah and Snow with Noel hovering in the distance. I feel like they shied away too much from touching Snow and Serah's relationship because of the feedback from the first game, but I was actually looking forward to playing as the perspective of the wife, who meets a new male companion who appreciates and supports her while the husband is gone. Noel and Serah not being romantically involved was refreshing, but you start thinking and wonder why Serah and Snow are even a couple still since she makes more sense to be with Noel.
Ultimately, my biggest takeaway from this game is that Etro reverting the party's crystal status at the end of XIII caused us 5 more years of XIII related content lol
I remember finishing XIII and actually hoping for a sequel that would deal with the aftermath of Cocoon dropping onto Pulse and the state of the world changing, yet XIII-2 almost starts throwing it all away to focus on whether the ending was real or not, introducing Lighting's disappearance as the main focus, when it wasn't even discussed in the original game.
I do remember liking Noel, Serah, Hope and the forehead girl who kept dying every 20 minutes. Also, the awkard reunion between Serah and Snow with Noel hovering in the distance. I feel like they shied away too much from touching Snow and Serah's relationship because of the feedback from the first game, but I was actually looking forward to playing as the perspective of the wife, who meets a new male companion who appreciates and supports her while the husband is gone. Noel and Serah not being romantically involved was refreshing, but you start thinking and wonder why Serah and Snow are even a couple still since she makes more sense to be with Noel.
Ultimately, my biggest takeaway from this game is that Etro reverting the party's crystal status at the end of XIII caused us 5 more years of XIII related content lol
The best Final Fantasy game in the seventh generation, amazing how much they improved over FFXIII.
And the OST.. still one of the best I've ever heard, the game is REALLY GOOD and considered by many the best in the trilogy.
And the OST.. still one of the best I've ever heard, the game is REALLY GOOD and considered by many the best in the trilogy.