Well, I gather God Of War III will be out in April. Just a hunch, plus that doesn't have a solid release date, and he excused games that don't have a solid release date yet.
Well yeah, no game is perfect. Assassin's Creed II has a myriad of problems like it being way too easy, combat mechanics, and it should of made you feel more like an assassin. Everything on the map is spoonfed to you, you're supposed to be an assassin, find these things out for yourself. But I disregarded those flaws and as is it's one of my favorite games of 2009. I'm sure FFXIII will be quite similar in my book.
Hmm...his cons are plot and soundtrack? Those seem to be my two favorite things based off what I'm hearing. If that's the case, I'll love this game. Good review, too. Glad to see FFXIII finally get a good review!
As someone who beat the game, the best thing about it is the gameplay. Story is too confusing to even care, it's over the top, I didn't like the film strip style cutscenes. Nothing felt like it had a purpose. It did keep me surprised and had some of the best boss battles I ever fought in, though.
I think MGS won't be as good as it's been, anyway. Snake's story is complete, and while I think Raiden's can be amazing, eventually Kojima will take a backseat permanently like Sakaguchi did with FF. Kojima needs to try a new IP in my opinion. Here's my main point. Best games of 2009 were linear:
1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (highly linear = best single player campaign on PS3)
2. Modern Warfare 2 (say what you want about this game, but the campaign is a thrill-a-minute adv...
Final Fantasy HAD to be #1. If it wasn't, this list would've had no credibility. Gotta admit, I'm surprised Dragon Quest didn't sneak on there.
I love your points. Completely agree about a super-dense 40-hour adventure as compared to 20 hours with another 20 of sidequests. What could be better than an MGS-experience that is longer but just as thrilling? No towns (or lack of interactivity in those towns) is definitely due to the story, and I'm starting to think the developers took their sweet time making this game. There are some people that love XII, but the majority hated it, so Square reassembled the team behind the two greatest FF...
If you look at the translated comments from all of Japan's users, you'll see the complaints are mainly linearity and less RPGness. MGS4 got a 3 general score? Probably too many cutscenes. I think MGS4 is the 2nd greatest PS3 game so far behind Uncharted 2. Guess what? Both games are highly linear to enhance story and characters. And FFXIII's cutscenes are shorter. I hate all the "fat" of an RPG, I play games now to have a thrill-ride. I could not be more excited about FFXIII and the...
I never left Sony. They had to get their act together eventually. With a new marketing campaign, enormous amounts of exclusives, and a lower price, Sony gained the heart of gamers and now the blind shield is coming off Microsoft's console and is revealing its glaring problems. Sony isn't perfect, but it's clearly showing why it's better.
Day one purchase. This is epicness! The ultras are sooo much better and I'm loving the new stages. Fei Long 1-inch punch is amazing, new costumes, no unlocking of characters? Hell yes. I am curious to see the new trophies, though. Capcom, good on ya.
Interested about Vanille. I'd rather find that out for myself. It's pretty evident you can judge some parts of the story based on how emotional the characters get. I like Sazh the more I see him, same goes for Snow. On first read, I thought the preview said the story was cliche, but he was talking about the characters. I don't really have any doubts, man. Just wish they would invent that time machine so I can FF (pun intended) to March 9.
The only thing I'm still worried about is the story. I mean, I think it's going to be good, but I just hope it doesn't let me down. Then again, I still may have negative aftertaste in my mouth after what FFXII did to me.
Slim Pickings for me. But it's growing more and more apparent I need to pick up Borderlands. Gonna rent it after I beat Bayonetta.
Playing it now, and while the PS3 port has its clear problems (load times, minor frame rate issues), the game is magnificent. Really, you owe it to yourself to play this game. The combat system is insane, the music is enormously beautiful, and the story so far is better than I expected. Definitely play it. You shan't be disappointed.
I'm going to go rent it within the next hour. Will give you my review if any of you care, I'm extremely fair.
While a Western developed FF COULD be a good idea, don't take that risk. SE could make it less Japanese if they wanted, they've been around the world several times over. The only thing they should do is fire Wada. That guy bit into one too many Cactuars.
@fallingdove
In that case, it would be no different than the pre-rendered graphics of FFVII-FFIX. I'm sure there is some interaction with Pulse and Cocoon, and the monsters interact with each other. The game might be static when the game is in its linear sections. Who knows, I don't worry about such things as that, but if they are there I enjoy them.
I'm still on the fence about this one. It will be a rental either way. I enjoyed the demo, but I'm worried the game is repetitive, and lack of story would throw this title off a bit for me. Still, if it stays fresh throughout, count me in. I just don't want this to be a "better" version of Wet.
@GrandDragon
Sloppy is the word of the day, my friend. Review was amateur at best. If you criticize something, at least elaborate in detail of how you came to that conclusion. The 8.1 for sound threw me off, as well, as I know the voice acting will be superb and the soundtrack just knocks your socks off ridiculously good.
I see the blind hatred for Square Enix ever since they merged. Star Ocean: Til the End of Time and Kingdom Hearts 2 were under SE, so people need ...
FFXII was terrible beyond belief. I don't remember one thing from my playthrough. Battle system was horrendously awful, Ashe was the only character with a purpose in the story, and the story sucked. FFX was great, the story was fantastic, every character had meaning, and the battle system - while standard - had its unique qualities such as seeing the order of your party attacking and swapping members freely.
It's all matter of opinion, bottom line.