Final Fantasy

[Fortune86]

I would totally wear that hat to work.

[AutumnStars]

XIII Was the first I ever played, and I love it, but VIII is my favorite.

[Kaini]

I would totally wear that hat to work.

I made this and wear it around quite a bit~ For the lulz

 

moogle hat

[Fortune86]

I made this and wear it around quite a bit~ For the lulz

 

moogle hat

You made that? Really? Wow. I'd totally buy that and wear it.

[LocaRoca]

Type-0 just came out yesterday in Japan and it seems Famitsu has already reviewed it. Of the 4 reviewers only one gave it a 9 instead of a 10 so their total score for Type-0 is 39/40.

 

Note however that this is the exact same score they gave Final Fantasy XIII so... yeah.

 

On another note here are some quotes from an interview that covers one of the most important if not THE most important characteristic of any game:

 

Sayoko Hoshino was in charge of character texturing on Final Fantasy Type-0. For her contribution to Square Enix's ongoing "Creator's Message" series at the game's official blog, Hoshino decided to share details about her work on the game's panties.

 

Originally, the game was set to have black voids for the insides of the characters' skirts. This decision was made due to the system's specs limiting the amount of resources they could devote to the characters. However, the staff felt that because players would spend most of their time viewing the backs of the characters, the feeling of excitement would be much greater if there was more than just a black void inside the skirts.

 

As you might expect, adding in the panties wasn't a straightforward task. First off, the characters' legs were directly connected to the skirt, so there was actually little space for the panties. However, Hoshino feels that she and her staff were able to bring out uniqueness for each character.

 

Hoshino went character by character detailing the panties and undergarments, but I have to admit that I'm all panited out for the day, so if you want the details you're going to have to read it at the official blog.

 

Incidentally, Hoshino's favorite panties are Seven's.

 

She who draws pantsu for a living

 

PANTSU!

 

Edit because I fail at grammar.

Edited October 19, 2011 by LocaRoca

[Fortune86]

 

That is brilliant!

[LocaRoca]

It was posted yesterday on the official japanese website but I got it from adriasang.

 

I guess that must have been what the players who bought the game on release day most chatted about on the web. Not sure that's a good sign. The game's best feature is that you can see what's under the girls' skirts?

 

Hmm... I wonder if it would be ok to post samples

[Fortune86]

Square seem to be pulling the 'guess who is the main character' trick again, which I personally dislike. It won't put me off getting the game though (if it is ever release in English).

[LocaRoca]

I'll definitely get it too if it is released in the West, if anything just to summon an ice skate dancing shiva onto my PSP screen .

 

Yes they do seem to be doing their thing again. At some point they said the MAIN main characters would be Rem and Machina and the main ones would be the rest of Class 13 (the decked ones), but a trailer released some time ago shows Rem dying.

 

I don't think Square-Enix would show a trailer with a main character dying some time before a game release so they wanted to make fun of us one last time (with this game), she doesn't actually die or they lied about she being a main character. That or the reason there are so many main characters is that most of them die throughout the game

 

As a side note, I really really really want more info on Versus XIII

It obviously won't be released back to back with XIII-2 since that game was made really just to try to patch up the fail that was XIII and it would be bad if Versus eclipsed XIII-2 but the sheer lack of info isn't really marketing strategy anymore. It's just making people wonder whether the game actually exists >_>.

 

EDIT:

 

Here's some good news! Type-0 has already started recording with English voice actors! A voice actor tweeted this.

 

This happening right on the day after Type-0's release doesn't seem like a coincidence even without an official announcement.

 

Good going SE, good going .

Edited October 20, 2011 by LocaRoca

[Fortune86]

I still don't get all the hate for FFXIII, I loved it. Oh well, each to their own I guess.

 

Did Rem die die? There are so many false deaths in games/other media that you can never be sure these days. And of course, there are always Phoenix Downs...

 

I'm looking at you Cloud.

 

Yay for English Type-0!

 

As long as it makes it to Europe. I don't want to have to deal with all the faff of ordering it from America/Canada again.

[LocaRoca]

Here's the trailer in question. It's right before the end around 5:38. Seems like a real character death to me. But yeah phoenix down makes everything better

 

Also my mistake before. The game will be released on the 27th in Japan. It's the gaming magazines and the like that have received pre-release copies for evaluation.

 

About FF XIII, I'm not sure how I'd compare it to other games but it's way below the kind of quality one expects from a FF game. As the people at IGN put it:

Final Fantasy XIII strips away so much of what we've come to expect of a Japanese RPG that it puts forward a strong case for not being considered as one at all.

 

You know something's wrong with a FF game when it takes almost 6 years to make and doesn't even look like a RPG.

 

 

[Fortune86]

The only thing I disliked about FFXIII was the timed battles and the star rating system (which was linked to how long it took to kill things).

 

I loved the battle system, I had favourite characters, I thought the visuals were amazing, I liked the story and enjoyed most of the boss battles (SCREW YOU BARTY!).

 

Perhaps it's not what some people wanted or expected, but I really enoyed it.

 

I will admit that I didn't spend much time upgrading my weapons or items though. I just couldn't get into it.

[LocaRoca]

I'm not saying the game was 100% awful nor was I trying to offend the people who like it. I didn't explain myself well and it came out a bit rude. I apologise for that.

 

I have indeed played worst games but it is just like you said. It was totally not what people were expecting and that was mirrored in what were some of the worst scores and sales of an offline Final Fantasy game, despite it being the first to be released on a next gen console, having the best graphics yet and not being exclusive to one platform. That was the fail I was referring to. SE couldn't just take this lying down or it would affect every single Final Fantasy they released after that.

 

I can't compare it to other games because I don't know what games to compare it to. I feel it wouldn't be fair for me to compare it to other RPGs because SE cut out too much of what makes a game an RPG so I'd always say that XIII is worse.

 

Yet with RPG being my favorite genre of game It wouldn't be fair for me to compare it to other genres because with it being closer to an RPG I'd always say it's better. So you see my dilemma.

 

For me it was basically too little too late.

 

By the way which characters were your favorites? Mine was Snow. I'm not sure I like his new look on XIII-2 though.

[Fortune86]

I understand that you weren't trying to attack me or anything, I was just expressing my own thoughts on the game.

 

Lightning and Hope were my favourites. Vanille annoyed the hell out of me. In fact the only time I willingly had her in my party was when I needed her death spell to take down the 'toises.

[LocaRoca]

I think that's the only thing most people used her for

 

No doubt you've seen Lightning's new shiny piece of armor, but have you seen 24 years old Hope? He looks amazing!

[Fortune86]

Holy Chocobos!

 

But wait....I thought Hope was about 14 in he first game? If the second one is set three years later then he should only be about 17ish?

[LocaRoca]

Well, since the game will revolve around Serah and Noel's time travelling it's not so strange. I bet we'll even see some characters at several different times of their lives.

 

Can you image a granny Vanille waving a cane at some tortoises?

 

Also, bad news. The tweet from the voice actor about type-0's localization was just a photoshopped image . Here's a place where you can check it out, with a good pic to show how I felt when I read about it.

[Fortune86]

Oh time travel?

 

>.> <.< >.>

 

I totally knew that....

 

D:

 

But that doesn't mean they aren't working on a English version...right?

[LocaRoca]

They have been working on the English version and the voice recording was finished around September. Actually many of the trailers released so far were released in English first. They're just not releasing both versions at the same time like before.

 

The Japanese version will be released on the 15th of December and the English version on the 31st of January in NA and on the 3rd of February in EU.

 

 

For those of you who don't mind SPOILERS here's some official info:

 

 

Noel Kreiss is from the future where he’s the last surviving human of his time (how he managed to pull THAT off is beyond me) and Lightning is a knight for the goddess Etro who’s tasked with protecting her temple in Valhalla hence the armor and why she can't leave. It seems everyone thinks she's dead.

 

Nevertheless Snow suposedly went on a journey to find her and isn't with Serah in the beginning of the game (we later get to meet him though).

 

Here's how Serah and Noel meet and decide to travel together: Serah and company are being attacked by a giant monster called Atlas and Noel has to jump in and save the day. He tells her he's looking for Lightning so he can change the future so she goes with him to find her sister ( yet she didn't offer to go with her fiancé ). Noel also brings along a moogle companion called Mog. He can, probably among other things, transform into a weapon for Serah and be thrown to reach otherwise unreachable items.

 

They travel through time with a machine called Historia Crux and end up in the Breshka Ruins in a different time (as a side note it seems this will be Noel's first time inside Cocoon). All indicates this will be where they will meet 24 years old Hope since official info says he's the head of some sort of cientific research team working alongside the reformed PSICOM and we know from available game footage that there's a cientific investigation team researching Atlas there. They will also meet who seems to be one of the new main characters, a boy... excuse me girl called Alyssa ( those lines in the image are rain. In xiii-2 when it rains the view we have will also have water drops on it as if we were seeing everything through a camera lens ). It seems she belongs to the same research team as Hope since she's wearing a similar uniform.

 

 

On Lightning's side we know she'll be fighting a monster called Chaos Bahamut in Valhalla which is the main antagonist's, Caius', Eidolon. Caius apparently acts as an overseer of the timeline and is an important figure both in Noel's past and Serah's future. He sees Serah and Noel as enemies or 'contradictions' to the timeline, and so he pursues them, believing that they should pay for their crimes with their lives. He also has a travelling female companion called Paddra Nsu-Yeul who is a seeress from the past.

 

 

You can imagine the type of rumors that have sprung up on the internet about Noel being either Serah's and Snow's son or Caiu's and Lightning's

 

 

Main plot SPOILERS end here.

 

 

I think those are the most important parts of the plot that we know so far.

 

Aside from this we know that all 6 main playable characters and team NORA from xiii will be present in the game but not if they will be playable, that we'll be able to catch monsters and have them fight in our party and that the game will have multiple endings.

Edited October 29, 2011 by LocaRoca

[Fortune86]

I was talking about Type-0 with the english thing but...

 

Oh wow. I am so ready for this game. I already have it pre-ordered. I hope someone does a guide for 13-2, if only so I can make sure I don't miss any treasure chests lol.

 

I could totally ship a Lightning/Caius relationship.

 

In the first one I was slightly Lightning/Cid.

 

Edit: I don't really like Snow's new look.

Edited October 24, 2011 by Fortune86

[LocaRoca]

Oh lol . Sorry I just pushed that bit of news to the deeeepest part of my mind when I read it was fake so I didn't quite relate.

 

I surely hope they're working on an English version or at the very least considering it. It wouldn't be the first time the japanese keep the most awesome games to themselves though. I guess some people there love hogging more than they love money.

 

I hate Snow's new look. 'Nuff said. I don't really like Mog's face either. Why couldn't they make him more like Type-o's moogles? They're so huggable

 

 

Edit: Dengeki has released its own review of Type-0. They also had 4 people evaluating it and out of 100 points they gave it 90/90/95/90. Now all that's left is pray/offer living sacrifices to all the gods/saints/angels/devils/whatever is your thing and hope it helps making this game come outside of Japan.

 

Here's some more detailed info:

 

 

Final Fantasy Type-0 ships on two UMDs. Once you've finished the first disc, you'd better hold off on giving it to your little brother (who also for some reason reads Japanese), as you're going to need it to complete the game.

 

Dengeki PlayStation's feature on Type-0 this week reveals that the game has a slightly convoluted disc swap scheme. The first disc contains the prologue, first chapter, last dungeon and final chapter. The second disc consists everything else.

 

For the full Type-0 experience, you'll progress from the first disc to the second disc, then back to the first disc. That means don't do anything silly like burn the first UMD when you're done with it.

 

In an interview with the magazine, director Hajime Tabata admitted that the initial disc swap will feel like it comes quite quickly, but it doesn't mean that the first disc has little volume.

 

The game's multiplayer component will not begin until the second disc. It's unclear if this means that the game's multiplayer code is only on the second disc, or if you can play the last dungeon and chapter with multiplayer enabled.

 

Dengeki also has a few hints at the changes you can expect on your second play though. Tabata previously hinted at some major differences for those who play a second time through. According to Dengeki, the game's story will shine the spotlight on different characters. Also, you can keep your character stats when continuing, making this a new game plus.

 

It had already been revealed before that additional playthroughs would allows us to " experience a different story surrounding Class 0". Hajime Tabata still hasn't been very clear if this means aditional playthroughs will present several possible different stories with the same ending, several possible different stories with different ending (a.k.a multiple endings), just the same story and ending seen from different character's point of view or simply a different story altogether.

 

Also it's been said before but I forgot to mention it when we were talking about possible main characters: Tabata said there will be a thirteenth main character to go with the twelve we already know. This would however exclude Rem and Machina from the main characters list unless Rem really dies early on and they're talking about Machina. But from the way he said it this 13th should only be revealed when the game comes out and we already know about Machina. So maybe both Rem and Machina die in the beginning . I seriously can't see either of them not being main characters.

 

I call a Trollbata on both these points.

Edited October 25, 2011 by LocaRoca

[Fortune86]

I really hope they don't. I alwasy thought FF was more popular outside of Japan anyway? Isn't Dragon Quest their main seller there?

 

My favourite Moogles are in FFXII. So cute!

[LocaRoca]

The impression I get is that both are kind of their flagship there but DQ has less games and its image is more like the traditional RPG and FF always tries to do something new with each game.

 

 

 

It seems they are worried about a western release because the PSP has a much smaller following outside of Japan. I don't see why that should be a problem though. Not only does this game look like it might boost the PSP sales for a last time before Vita but they could also cut the initial costs of producing a different version if they just released it as downloadable instead of in a disc. That should give them some insurance if they're worried about the game not faring well here.

 

They might also just be following with what they said was the problem about xiii. That the reason it had such poor sales outside of Japan was because the westerners are used to different types of games and are worried about how the next installment in the series will turn out outside of Japan since the internet was to the brims with people saying they'd never buy a FF game again.

 

I'm gonna lol so hard if they come up with something like "We won't be releasing this outside of Japan until xiii sells more there and we know it's safe" or "We'll hold for a bit and see how the Vita sells over there then make a port" on the japanese release day.

 

 

Edit: Also forgot to mention this on my previous post's edit but along with their review of Type-0 Dengeki has also released an interview with Tetsuya Nomura (best known for being the series’ main character designer and the head honcho of the Kingdom Hearts series). In it he stated that “I’m a bit excited because once Type-0 is done, it’s finally Versus’ turn.”

 

So I guess we can review the expected release date for Versus for somewhere around 2020 instead of 865287619826587397195687 . But never trusting too much.

 

Edited October 25, 2011 by LocaRoca

[Fortune86]

That would totally suck.

 

I can't download games on my PSP (no internet connection thingy) so I need the discs.

[LocaRoca]

Never tried downloading one so I'm not sure but isn't it possible to download it to your computer, copy it to the memory stick and play? I always thought it was since it's possible to download to the memory stick with the PSP and copy to the computer... right? Or am I just spouting nonsense?