Topic: Final Fantasy XIII/Fabula Novus Chrystallis Discussion Thread

I found those guys fairly easy - give them fire resistance accessories, and make sure Vanille starts the battle out as a synergist.

Yeah, I guess that would get you through the battle alive. I'm usually the type to power through fights, meaning I'd rather actually kill the enemies, but it just doesn't seem like that's going to happen. An RPG without sufficient opportunity to grind is a real bummer to me. That is, when the game could benefit from some grinding. Chrono Cross did just fine without a grinding option, but that's a VERY unusual example.

EDIT: Hang on, I think you confused something. Vanille doesn't HAVE Synergist yet! That would be Sazh. And I hate playing supporting roles as the lead character. It really annoys me that I have no choice since I can't choose who's the leader yet.

I really like that there is minimal grinding in FFXIII - it puts the focus back on the strategy of the combat. Contrary to what Adam said I rarely find a "all out assult" combination effective - I typically like to start the battle out with a Commando, Synergist or Sabateur (oI anticipate using all three in the event I have a full party again), and then switch to Commando, Ravager combinations once I'm properly buffed, and they're not. And I make use of medic roles when need be.

I still usually end up with 3-4 stars from each battle, which is enough.

EDIT: Hang on, I think you confused something. Vanille doesn't HAVE Synergist yet! That would be Sazh. And I hate playing supporting roles as the lead character. It really annoys me that I have no choice since I can't choose who's the leader yet.

Does she have saboteur? I tend to have Vanille as the supporting role, either way.

Yes, she's the Saboteur. Not very helpful against the Bombs, since they like to go off so quickly.

After a little grinding (found it to be possible at the tail end of Chapter 4, where the Bombs were), I earned Blitz for Sezh. I found this to be INVALUABLE for taking down groups of Bombs easily. Now I'm moving ahead and saved at the start of Chapter 5.

I'm confused - I wasn't ever grinding - literally just taking enemies as they came as I walked down the corridor - and all my characters were completely levelled through to the end of Chapter 6 - I had more CP than stuff to unlock.

I'm not sure how you were underlevelled :-/

I had just barely gained the third stage of the Crystarium. I may well wind up with an excess before I gain stage four now, I don't know.

Beat the bombs by attacking all out right away. Otherwise they explode before any other strategy has time to work out.

The avatar is a Whatever, Stuff. It's one of the many bizarre enemies of Mother 3. If you walk up to it and try to talk instead of attacking, it waits a moment and then a heart appears above its head. The Pork Army does not always create the most fearsome baddies.

Got my copy in the mail today. Unfortunately, I won't have time to play it until Friday.
Sigh...

@Adam: Y'know, I was starting to think it looked kinda familiar...that'd be why. I didn't know you could talk to them, though. Weird.

I finally died for the first time And then retried, and beat the boss easily.

That's... something new for Final Fantasy. Previous games, if the boss was too high level, you were dead. This game, clever use of job roles and tactics will get you through many otherwise difficult fights.

Love it. Gogo Square Enix. Make that FFXIII-2

though you can "cheat" with deceptisol, if you got the launch skill on one of the commandos. The boss won't be able to do anything at all

I'm at the last boss in chapter 9 and I keep dying! Can anyone spare me some advice?

I don't remember which boss was in Chapter 9, but the key for all of them is to buff yourself and de-buff the enemy.

Yeess! I finally beat him!!

I revive this thread to say that this game is easily my favorite console game of this generation. It takes out everything I never liked about RPGs and makes everything I did like better.

I love it so much I changed my name.

Yeah, it's a pinnacle of everything the JRPG should strive to be, I agree. It makes no pretentions about being anything but a story-based, linear, RPG, and it's better for it.

The sooner JRPGs give up on trying to outdo Elder Scrolls or Bioware at open-world sandbox western RPGs, the better. Having two distinct genres of RPG is great, and I hope FFXIII proves to be influential in the shaping of the genre.

I really wish Japanese developers would just give up on trying to compromise JRPGs with WRPGs. No good has ever come from this. While perhaps they went overboard, the linearity of FF13 was the best thing about it. I do like the semblance of a connected world though, as long as it doesn't result in invisible walls and ridiculously pathetic barriers, like a stack of crates that could easily be smashed or jumped over.

Personally, I was fairly disappointed with Final Fantasy XIII. The story was good, and I loved the characters, but the game was terribly paced, despite the linearity. The battle system really wasn't much fun until a few chapters in, and then by Chapter 11 the difficulty jumped so high that battles just became a pain. Thankfully the weapon and character customization were interesting enough, but they didn't offer as many options as they could've. After sacrificing exploration, relying on such weak legs made the whole game fall apart on me. I got to chapter 12 and just handed it over to my brother to finish, and now that it's finished, I doubt I'll ever go back. It was all in the story and the spectacle, and neither left a truly lasting impression. I did like the wolrd Square-Enix set up, and I sure hope they continue with it, but they better not make another game like it.

I personally disagree. I've got no problem with the opposite style of RPG - the sandbox open world of an Oblivion, but FFXIII holds a special place for me because it is focused, linear, and all about the spectacle and storytelling.

I just wanted to say that I just now have FFXIII in my hands, it being my first PS3 game. I won't be able to play it until I actually get my PS3 later today, but I can't wait! I even read the entire instruction booklet!