FF13 kisses levels goodbye - what does this mean for gameplay?

AP - 38 days 4 hours ago

Well, once you've read into it a bit, FF13 has pretty similar systems to FF10 and FF12 in terms of character growth. 10 was alright but I felt 12 was weak in that area and evidently so did Square as they completely gutted the system and redid it for the International version.

I hope it's good. Both of those systems needed work. Best FF growth systems are still 3/5's job system, 7's Materia and 9's equipment skills.

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SpoonyRedMage - 38 days 2 hours ago

I like IX's the best(well it was Tactic's originally). I also like the fact that everyone had a preset job. Twas great.

I think getting rid of levels can be beneficial from a narrative standpoint as well, no need to explain how a hardened warrior is only level 1 now!

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Slacker_Mum-5 - 37 days 22 hours ago

FFX had no leveling. UFF and APzone from GAF just chasing for hits.

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AP - 37 days 22 hours ago

Hey, it's acknowledged the system is likely to be very similar to FFX in the piece. It's just a speculative article about what the lack of levels could mean for what we've seen of FF13's gameplay based on the videos and the various hands-on experiences we've had.

Curious though; who are you on GAF?

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Saaking - 37 days 22 hours ago

Why? Limitations?

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villiers - 37 days 21 hours ago

Actually it's very similar to FFX.

Crystal Points = The new EXP.

Also the Weapons, Summon attacks and the Paradigim Shifts can be leveled up so there IS leveling.

Using a board to power your characters is a lot more engaging then auto levels.....

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dgroundwater - 37 days 21 hours ago

Of course FFXIII will have the best gameplay. You collect CP, what could possibly be better than that?

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Yarite - 37 days 21 hours ago

Actually agree with Sakura 2009. The battle system looks like it's gonna be one of the most fun JRPG battle systems to date.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Looks so good and thats just a cam recording of a TV....

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darkpower - 37 days 21 hours ago

The best system was 6's and 10's. 6's left all kinds of room for customization (equip certain Espers, and get stat bonuses for leveling up), and every single character could learn every single magic spell. That's one of the many reasons why I think FF6 is one of the best FF's out there.

10's was awesome. I had one time in which, by the time I finished the game, my Yuna was so overpowered because I unlocked the key to what I think was Auron's area of the grid, and she had Holy with a bunch of strong physical attacks which just made her plow through everything in the world.

Personally, I didn't like 9's (sorry, Spoony). It was too restrictive. Yeah, you had the specific jobs, but one of the main reasons why the job system (that became one of the best things about FF5), was the changing of jobs at any time, something that became a staple of the FF series. Don't get me wrong, FF9 was a good game, but the system had its drawbacks. Not only was there no room for customization, but you also had to know what weapon taught what, and you're options as to who could heal were severely limited. There was no character that could just be balanced, or have a physical player that could heal if your main healer got killed during a tough fight.

As for this one, I'm going to be really loving this for 13.

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thor - 37 days 21 hours ago

I think differently - I think if you give every character the ability to use every spell or skill, they lose their uniqueness. FF9 was good because each character had their own advantages and disadvantages. In other games where you can train anyone up to be anything the characters lose their identity. There is then no point in even having all those characters.

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skv007 - 37 days 21 hours ago

FFX was my second favourite system.

I just liked the Junction system soo much more coz it was badass from FFVIII lol

But either way, FFX is still a nice lvl-up system

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TheTwelve - 37 days 20 hours ago

Uh, no Sakura. It will make the game too light and abstract and too much like an action. We don't want action games, we want RPGs. But it will still sell well, I'm sure. I'm not buying it though, and this is just another reason why.

12

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Arsenal4Ever - 37 days 20 hours ago

Sorry Sakura but I don't believe anything you say after what you did last week =[

http://www.onemanga.com/Nar...

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darkpower - 37 days 20 hours ago

I understand what you mean by that (though, at the same time, you don't want to have too LIMITED options, then you not only make it too restrictive to the player, but you also leave them as a huge disadvantage to the enemies that would be overpowered without even doing anything else to them).

This is why FF5 and FF11 did this perfectly. Each character can choose any job, but the job ITSELF was limited to what it could do, and what kind of weapons they could use). However, as you level your jobs, your freelancer became more powerful because they could choose certain commands from any job (up to three or four that could be used in battle), and the stats from the job could be used on the Freelancer when the job was "mastered". You reward the player for the dedication and playing well by giving them that additional option (and you needed it, as FF5 was somewhat tough). FF11 didn't do the Freelancer thing, but you can change the job and do something different at any time (but each had its own level). The weapon and skill level up system is well done on there, too (the more you use a particular weapon or still, the more proficient you get with that particular thing).

But I get what you're saying: too many options could not only lead to a flaw in development, but could make the characters too overpowered and make the game too easy to complete. My point was, though, that too little options hurt the game going the other way. I don't want to be limited to just one person being able to heal without an alternate option I could go to that wouldn't paralyze anyone else's ability (I can't remember any Red Mage character in FF9, for instance).

I think what I'm basically saying is that they need to be able to let you have an alternate option to heal or attack in case your main person gets incapacitated in some way. Not letting you do that is leaving you with too little options (items are good, but you only get the very good items by either luck or by the end of the game). Like the article said: what character is it that is only good at one thing? Probably as lame as whoever it is that keeps taking my bubbles.

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ReservoirDog316 - 37 days 15 hours ago

They're being too dramatic. It's leveling up, just in different words.

I'm really not sure what's better though: XP where only the people fighting gets the points (like FFVII), XP where the whole party gets the points (like ME or KOTOR) or XP where individually you get the points and have to spend them (like this).

They all have their strengths and weaknesses.

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FACTUAL evidence - 37 days 13 hours ago

I agree, But i have to say FF8 GF system was one of the all time greatest...besides that, I already wasn't all that interested in FF13 after i heard it went MP...nt because it's on the other system though, just the fact of them hyping it to be "teh greatest EVAR" taking advantage of "TEH c3ll". I'm still getting this game being a FF fan, but I must truly say the FF series has died.

Final Fantasy
R.I.P
1987-2001

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ThanatosDMC - 37 days 10 hours ago

Versus = Kingdom Hearts open battle gameplay = awesomeness

I hope Versus will trump 13 by leaps and bounds in gameplay, graphics, scope, system, story, etc. I hope magical effects like when Sora in KH summons that protect spells that surrounds is much more awesome in Versus13.

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TheReaper42 - 37 days 8 hours ago

I hope there's no Gambit system that auto plays for you like FFXII. That thing makes the game too easy. FFVII and its material level up system is sooooooo badass!

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vhero - 37 days 7 hours ago

FFX had no levelling and its system was TERRIBLE 12 wasn't as bad so lets hope this one will be better.

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frostypants - 36 days 23 hours ago

At what point is an RPG no longer an RPG? JRPG's have long-ago already nerfed most true RPG concepts (which were invented by those nerdy old pencil-and-paper games), and if they remove leveling, what's really left? Is it not simply just a glorified adventure game at that point?

I want more RPGs like Demon's Souls and Oblivion (minus Bethesda's bad QA habits).

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ReservoirDog316 - 37 days 15 hours ago

Well Demon's Souls is a different kinda game than FFXIII. I personally am taking a break from DS while this All Hallows Eve thing is going on. It's just way too hard.

But back to the point, FFXIII is probably gonna be a fun rpg. DS is just something else entirely. Plus it probably (will) have a better story than DS.

Just get both.

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Noctis Aftermath - 37 days 1 hour ago

I tried to do the man eater boss in 3-2 during the halloween thing(it still going?), i kept getting killed cause i couldn't kill the first one before the second one came :(

This is on my second run through btw.

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frostypants - 36 days 22 hours ago

@2.1: LOL! Try heading to 4.1 when it's pure black. You get jumped immediately by Satsuki's black phantom, who is arguably the wickedest non-friendly NPC in the game. Some guy summoned me to his game and I popped up right into a critical-hit sword swing.

I enjoyed the Halloween gimmick, though. I normally try to keep the game as close to white tendency as possible. It was nice to have an easy way to check out a few levels in black tendency.

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FACTUAL evidence - 37 days 13 hours ago

Actually you're wrong, you gained levels in FF10, you used your levels to move around the sphere grid for node selection.

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El_Colombiano - 37 days 21 hours ago

Thats what I was thinking. Its an action title now... =(

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Noctis Aftermath - 37 days 1 hour ago

@el_colombiano: disagreed by accident so i gave you a bubble to make up for it.

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AP - 37 days 21 hours ago

The term 'RPG' is diversifying, though. Look at Crystal Bearers, that has no levels either. Borderlands has levels, but doesn't have many of the ability-based stuff RPGs like Oblivion have, just a very simple skill tree... yet both are RPGs.

I think it's a good thing tbh. RPGs were often a niche genre, stuff like this makes them more actiony, better to look at and with a wider appeal.

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Redempteur - 37 days 21 hours ago

There are plenty of rpg without levels ...

Putting points into skills and using them to enhance your characters stats is hardly a first ..it's already done by many other rpgs with succès ...

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SpoonyRedMage - 37 days 21 hours ago

You know Final Fantasy II didn't have levelling either so it's not some radical new thing for the franchise, it's actually a really old concept. The concept probably originated with Akitoshi Kawazu because FFII, SaGa, The Last Remnant and The Crystal Chronicles have all lacked level-up systems.

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AP - 37 days 21 hours ago

Methinks you're going to miss out, Ninji. 3D dot heroes is a pretty game, but the gameplay is more stale than FF13 will ever be.

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infamous_27 - 37 days 19 hours ago

why is Square obsessed with westernizing all their games this gen. Its not like their PS2/PS1 games sold like crap

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Noct - 37 days 18 hours ago

How is this game Westernized?

FFX had no Leveling either. The way you Level up in this is the exact same. There are still things you can Level up such as summon attacks, the paradigim job classes and the weapons.

The story is still some crazy plot that only the Japanese could conjure up. The gameplay is still turn-based. The monster designs are still the same as the previous FF's.

If they wanted this game to appeal to Western Audiences then it wouldn't have a female lead. It also wouldn't have a Japanese theme song.

If the game wanted to attract WRPG players the character designs wouldn't be like this.

http://gamzsonev3.files.wor...
http://gamzsonev3.files.wor...
http://gamzsonev3.files.wor...
http://www.ff-xiii.net/imag...
http://www.universoff.es/no...
http://i38.tinypic.com/f3ri...

Instead the character designs would be like this.

http://i34.tinypic.com/2vla...

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Noctis Aftermath - 37 days 1 hour ago

just give us levels to reflect how powerful we are, if i learnt everything i can for the sphere grid clone then give me a stupid number so i can brag how strong i am to my friends.

It's alot easier to say "I'm level 100 /brag"
then to say "I got this move, oh and this move, of course this one aswell, oh i almost forgot this move..." etc etc.

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frostypants - 36 days 22 hours ago

The problem with that "western-friendly" comment is that western RPGs are traditionally far MORE hardcore than JRPGs. JRPGs are nerfed compared to western RPGs.

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Tex117 - 37 days 19 hours ago

Disagree completely. Its higher up on my list than FFX for sure.

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Redempteur - 37 days 21 hours ago

then your prefer action rpg ..

FF13 is a turn based rpg

There are many kind of rpgs ... to each his own ...

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densai - 37 days 22 hours ago

lol, dont worry, ps3 owners still get the AWEOMSE and HARD demons souls which is badass and too difficult for xbox

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tdrules - 37 days 22 hours ago

ah yes all those sqenix jrpgs that have been released this gen on 360 and they only simplified this one.
get real

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Yarite - 37 days 21 hours ago

The devs actually said this will be hardest FF and the bosses will have insane amounts of health. Theres even a system in place so if you constantly achieve high star ranks in battles enemy AI and stats increase. (Lower stars and the reverse happens)

Pretty much all JRPG's aren't made to be as frustrating as Demon Souls. Thats one of the reasons it doesn't sell that well and why I see so many used copies.

Sucks for the people who suck at it.

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Saaking - 37 days 21 hours ago

We're still young? Look who's talking.

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DLA2K9 - 37 days 21 hours ago

i love reading ignorant people's comments, it amuses, keep it up jackasses!!!

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The real killer - 37 days 21 hours ago

You are also a good troll.

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