Squeenix

[Inkidu]

I'm going to voice my concerns. I'm worried about Final Fantasy XIII. Terribly horribly worried of absolute disappointment (and the waste of money therein) I got this month's G.I. (Game Informer) and am not particularly pleased with what I have read about the newest installment.

Maybe I'm being a little harsh. Twelve really hurt me. This is my opinion, and I'll save you the full thought-out brunt. I thought twelve was an utter crapcake.

Bullets:

-Sprawling directionless grind.
-Poorly executed combat mechanics
-Having to essentially run back to the beginning of any area to run away from a fight.
-Leaving most of your skill on the floor and trusting a damn computer.

Not only FF12 though but both Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery really disappointed me as well. They generally lacked the polish you'd expect from two of the best JRPG makers in the world.

It was because of games like that in fact that I started using the distinction JRPG and simply RPG.

Sorry to rattle on and now to the main point.

Like I said I was reading and I found a lot of thing I did not like.

-Essentially you control one character, and the rest are AI controlled.
-If that one character dies, it is game over.

There are some things that show promise.

-Summoning mechanics
-Some battle mechanics look tactical and the flow is supposed to be faster paced.
-The leveling system (though they just use interchangeable words for EXP) looks more akin to the sphere grid from 10.

Still. My worries are rooted in mechanical execution and it worries me that the game will fail.
It's not like Squeenix has to worry about it though.

They have die-hard fanboys and girls to buy it up. I guess I'm just looking for some familiarity with the games I grew up on is all.

[Chris Brady]

Uh...  Hate to break it to you, but since about...  Final Fantasy 6, Square, Squaresoft, Square-Enix haven't been making Final Fantasy 'Games' for years.  Interactive movies, maybe, but very little game was involved.  So I don't see what your worry is about...

And no, I'm not being sarcastic, here.

[Inkidu]

Uh...  Hate to break it to you, but since about...  Final Fantasy 6, Square, Squaresoft, Square-Enix haven't been making Final Fantasy 'Games' for years.  Interactive movies, maybe, but very little game was involved.  So I don't see what your worry is about...

And no, I'm not being sarcastic, here.

That's sort of a cynical perspective. I happen to have found the Materia, Junction, Ability-Learn, and Sphere Grid Systems (Seven through Ten respectively) to be very good.

I did not care for the huge sprawl of the License Board, or the Pseudo-real-time combat of twelve or the overly complex or childishly simplistic (Stereotypical even) styles of Last Remnant and Infinite Undsicovery.