And I'm like: Meh


So this Monday I finally got the Platinum trophy for my Rayman Legends. It took Valentine and me some half a year, but when that plat plinged, it was a celebration. So after that being out of the way, I could turn my attention to other games I had waiting to be played. I quickly did one playthrough of Beyond Two Souls and started a campaign of Dark Souls just for the laughs for Valentine (but I actually did ok) so that I could then give my full attention to the long awaited FFXIII: Lightning Returns. And after a few days of playing it, I'm getting a bit disheartened :(

What I love about FFs, and JRPGs in general, is that I can roam around and grind to my heart's extent. It's what makes me good at those games: my patience to just hunt for those beasts time and time again to get the ultimate prize. And seriously, since I'm not that good a player, the grinding of my characters to top levels is the only way I'll beat the bosses...

Now with Lighting Returns, that has been taken away. You have seven days in game time, which wither away in a minute to second ratio, so just running from one end of a city to the other takes a few hours, to level yourself up to beat at least some of the main quest bosses to buy yourself more time, up to thirteen days. And if you don't push back the time limit to thirteen? It's fucking game over.

So you should carefully plan ahead where to go and what to do so you don't waste precious minutes. And this includes not going to places and fighting enemies that you can't beat since dyind in battle depletes one hour of game time. And in the spirit of Dark Souls (which I'm now conspiring is influencing this game...) you can actually go to any place at the start of the game. Which means that you can go way over your head right away.

And since Lightning already is a saviour, it would be pretty awkward if she started at level 1, so guess what? There are no levels to level up! The only way to increase your stats is by completing side quests, which give you boosts as a reward. And then you have to think if you have time for actual side quests... Although many of them are "get me X amount of this enemy drop that you're going to get just by playing the main quests". But some "fetch me this object that I lost somewhere in the desert".... I don't have time to find your bloody spectacles! I'm  pretty busy getting my ass kicked by the final bosses.

Well, truth be told, I'm also not making this easy for myself, wanting to make one playthrough on my own. Valentine is constantly egging me to just check online which boss I should go after first. But since I already know I have to go to New Game+ to get the plat, I wanted to just try it on my own first. For that second playthrough I have the manual to tell me everything I need and I'll be doing the second playthrough with my nose in that book. And I have to. I just can't let there be a FF where I haven't achieved everything :D

And there are some very nice things about this game. The battle gameplay is actually pretty cool, once I got used to it. And switching garments was my favourite thing about FFX-2, so it's no wonder I'm crazy about it in this one as well. And here you can even customise them with your own colourways!

And speaking of outfits, the one I had to have was the one they gave to everyone who preordered this game: The FFVII Cloud Strife outfit. Not only is that Buster sword a killer, and the outfit so damn funny in pink XD But also, the game plays the FFVII fanfare if you finish a battle wearing that SOLDIER unform!! When I first heard it, I had to laugh out loud. Even by the fifth time, I was still grinning like a maniac. That fanfare is just so nostalgic to me. FFVII was the first game I had for PS, the first FF I've played and the one I most probably have spent most time with. So maybe that little thing alone makes Lightning Returns bearable for me. XD Now I saw that they're also selling Yuna's outfit (looked like the FFX-2 version), maybe I should shell out the cash and see if that too comes with an alternate fanfare.

Kommentit

Suositut tekstit