[davethorp]

It's less than a week away and whilst there has been the odd thread discussing the demo and other elements of the build up to release I felt it was best to start a new thread to discuss the game itself once it lands in people's hands some point between now and next Friday

As a major fan of Final Fantasy XIII, something I know I may be in the minority for, I am really looking forward to getting my hand on this when Game post my pre order out

The DS review is at HERE and gives it a respectable 4* rating (the same as the original)

[thomas2400]

My thoughts so far with this game a week away are

i loved the demo but stopped playing after a little while so i could keep as much of the game as possible fresh

there has been way to many new trailers lately

I'm worried about whether i'll have time to complete it before i get the Vita what with there being 9 possible endings

And i can't wait for my crystal edition to arrive

[2Dshmuplover]

I didn't think I would be but after playing the demo I came away impressed. Probably will hold off buying it for a while as A) I have a large backlog I'm currently working though, B) there's quite a few games coming out over the next month I'm slightly more interested in.

[Bester]

I've got a huge backlog of games awaiting to be played/finished as well - Arkham City, Skyrim, Uncharted 3, Skyrim, Halo CE Anniversary - all getting brushed aside for FFXIII-2.

Can. Not. Wait!

[Speedloafer]

Does anybody kow if this is linear or open world, FF 7,8,9, were my favourite games of all time. The series was ruined for me after that. No interest in a whole world that I can't explore

[davethorp]

Originally Posted by Speedloafer

Does anybody kow if this is linear or open world, FF 7,8,9, were my favourite games of all time. The series was ruined for me after that. No interest in a whole world that I can't explore

It is supposed to be a lot more open world than XIII which didn't really open up until chapter 11. From what I gather from the trailers, reviews and other titbits of info is that you will be free to visit anywhere or indeed anywhen from an early point in the game

[davethorp]

Originally Posted by Bester

I've got a huge backlog of games awaiting to be played/finished as well - Arkham City, Skyrim, Uncharted 3, Skyrim, Halo CE Anniversary - all getting brushed aside for FFXIII-2.

Can. Not. Wait!

Yeah I have Arkham City/Asylum, Skyrim and I was trying to sneak a 5th playthrough of FFXIII in before this is released though I'll have to speed up somewhat if I want to do that as I'm only up to chapter 9

[Bester]

Based on what we've heard so far, and what we've seen from the trailers - it feels very much like it's going to be a FF game of old. All the key core elements seem to be there.

Think I'm gonna grab FFVI later to tide me over until Friday.

[RedSnapper]

Originally Posted by davethorp

It is supposed to be a lot more open world than XIII which didn't really open up until chapter 11. From what I gather from the trailers, reviews and other titbits of info is that you will be free to visit anywhere or indeed anywhen from an early point in the game

Its not linear - but nor is it one open world. Lots of smaller "worlds" set in differnt times/places - clear one then move onto the next.

[Bester]

Picked up V and VI earlier from the store. Great value, £7.98 for the pair. To my dismay I realised that whilst I already have VIII and IX, I don't have VII yet so I'm going to have to get that as well.

In one guise or another they have almost all FFs between I and IX, with the exception being III which appears to be absent. Anyone know why?

[sheep88]

There was never any doubt i was going to pre-order XIII-2 loved XIII despite it being different to other FF's and bought my PS3 mostly for XIII then had to wait 3 years for it. Does anyone know how the Game pre-orders work in terms of how long they take to send them out. Also were there a variety of postage options on the pre-orders or not because i only recall being able to click one and was wondering whether it was standard practice for Game to give one postage option on all pre-orders.
Sorry for all the questions one place i have never pre-ordered from is Game.

[davethorp]

I had skyrim pre ordered from game. Received it the day before release. FFXIII-2 is also pre ordered with them

[sheep88]

Originally Posted by davethorp

I had skyrim pre ordered from game. Received it the day before release. FFXIII-2 is also pre ordered with them

Thanks for the reply now i know what sort of time frame i can expect my order, couldn't pass up pre-ordering XIII-2 from Game with all of the bonuses on top of a Crystal Edition.

[KillerCloud]

I preordered this from play.com today and can't wait for it!!!! Just got to finish arkham city within the next week because I know I won't be able to go back to it for a long while lol

[Nedubiz]

Looking forward to this - after loving XIII. Not getting it at launch, as I still have AC: Revelations and Arkham City to complete, but hopefully will pick it up in March.

Oh and - LOL at the thread name BTW

[Wayne321]

Just pre-ordered it... cant wait!

[smcbeath]

I am looking forward to this game as well, but i am going to play the waiting game and hopefully it will be sub £25 within 4-6 weeks I think 13 will have damaged the series enough for the casual players to be put off a day 1 purchase.

[thomas2400]

Originally Posted by smcbeath

I am looking forward to this game as well, but i am going to play the waiting game and hopefully it will be sub £25 within 4-6 weeks I think 13 will have damaged the series enough for the casual players to be put off a day 1 purchase.

i think the reason it is underselling isn't because of XIII which was great, its because of X-2 which is pretty much universally hated by FF fans, so people are thing twice about getting another direct sequel

[sheep88]

Originally Posted by thomas2400

i think the reason it is underselling isn't because of XIII which was great, its because of X-2 which is pretty much universally hated by FF fans, so people are thing twice about getting another direct sequel

I liked X-2 it was granted completely different to X and the story was a damp squib in places. It was like someone had gone a bit crazy with the new YRP stuff but there were some quite interesting bits of gameplay. Can understand someone being quite apprehensive about XIII-2 as comparisons can be drawn e.g. the theme park thing in the Calm Lands in X-2 and the casino in XIII-2, also alterations to the battle system in each game respectively and also drastic changes with the environments and some element of the past being involved as well and the ability to travel where you want (and when with regard to XIII-2). Its only fair to say people would come to the same conclusion that the game may not live up to their expectations and could be similar to X-2. XIII-2 doesn't look too OTT so should be ok i think if they had picked Vanille as the main character for XIII-2 it would have been too much for anyone to stomach though.

[Yuffie]

[quote=Bester;56255311]Picked up V and VI earlier from the store. Great value, £7.98 for the pair. To my dismay I realised that whilst I already have VIII and IX, I don't have VII yet so I'm going to have to get that as well.

In one guise or another they have almost all FFs between I and IX, with the exception being III which appears to be absent. Anyone know why?[/QUOTE]

I remember looking into this before ... and instead of trying to explain it, I'll let Wikipedia do what it does best.

The game was released in Japan on April 27, 1990. It had never been released outside of Japan until a remake was released on the Nintendo DS on August 24, 2006. At that time, it was the only Final Fantasy game not previously released in North America or Europe.
The Famicom version of the game was released on the Wii Virtual Console service in Japan on July 21, 2009. An iOS port of the Nintendo DS remake was released on March 24, 2011.

I know the numbering was different in the regions for some of them. But I think they have all been released somewhere on something ...

[Wayne321]

Anyone had their pre-order despatched yet?

[davethorp]

Originally Posted by sheep88

if they had picked Vanille as the main character for XIII-2 it would have been too much for anyone to stomach though.

It would also be the first final fantasy game to be X rated due to the amount of sex noises the game would feature

Originally Posted by Wayne321

Anyone had their pre-order despatched yet?

not yet. Not had card charged yet either. I'm expecting game to dispatch mine on Wednesday. Amazon will likely dispatch as late as possible on Thursday evening. Can't speak for the other stores

[Wayne321]

Originally Posted by davethorp

not yet. Not had card charged yet either. I'm expecting game to dispatch mine on Wednesday. Amazon will likely dispatch as late as possible on Thursday evening. Can't speak for the other stores

I've pre-ordered with Gameplay, currently the estimated despatch date is 1st feb - 2nd feb.

Apparently Play.com have them in stock now as their status for XIII-2 is "Despatched within 24 hours"

I dont know about Amazon or the others...

[Bester]

Originally Posted by Yuffie

I remember looking into this before ... and instead of trying to explain it, I'll let Wikipedia do what it does best.

I know the numbering was different in the regions for some of them. But I think they have all been released somewhere on something ...

Ah. Cheers.

Oh well, it was only the completest in me wondering where it was. I'm happy enough, I've got V-IX sitting on the PS3's HD now. With the X Remaster coming at some point I think I'll have pretty much everything I want at that point!

[BuddhaSkinny]

Has anyone found any good comparisons between the 360 and PS3 versions of this game?

I'd rather play on my 360, but I'll go for the PS3 if the 360 gets the worse end of the stick again.