FFXIII-2 Demo: Thoughts?

[Griever]

Thread contains minor spoilers from the FFXIII-2 demo.

So the demo is up for free on the PSN and Xbox Live now, in case anyone didn't know! I'm sure I'm not the only one who's played it, so opinions?

Personally, I loved it, and my only real complaint was that it was too short. I started playing it a second time to explore a little more thoroughly and use Mog's treasure-finding ability some more, since I discovered it late in the demo the first time, and I keep finding things I didn't catch before. Piggy Kitty? Probably one of my new favorite lines ever. It seems like they improved on what XIII already established, in the battle system and graphics - seriously, take a good look at Serah's hair and the look of the rain. Characters actually interact with their environment, which I didn't expect at all. Leave your party leader standing still in the rain, and they'll reach out to catch it, or brush it off. Even the raindrops on the camera lens reflect any light around - they really outdid themselves with the detail. If the first area is any indication, they've fixed the issue of lack of exploration and conversation and expanded on it beyond what I expected. Almost everyone has something to say, and there's a LOT of people around to talk to. I can only imagine what the cities are like. I never had a problem with XIII's format, because the story didn't have room for that sort of freedom, but it's definitely going to be fun to get to explore the world in that much detail.

[Bharune]

I agree xD I haven't completed the demo -- so far I've only done a few battles after the town -- but I'm very interested. I like that they took fan complaints and suggestions to improve on FFXIII's formula, it really shows their receptiveness to critical views. I wasn't too bothered by FFXIII's linearity either, though I was definitely disappointed by the lack of minigames to break up the ritual -- especially in Nautilus and the several instances of flying crafts, where it would've been so easy to implement. Still, my biggest complaints about FFXIII are still in the story and character develop, so I can't know if FFXIII-2 will be more satisfying in that regard until it comes out.

Still! I'm very hopeful, as always xD I was very happy with what I did see in the demo, and I thought the addition of monsters in battle would be something fun to play around with. I like that the basic mechanisms stayed the same, they just added and improved upon it. And even with what I felt were shortcomings in FFXIII, I still enjoyed the game immensely, and I know I'll enjoy XIII-2 as well. Hopefully it won't be as....bright? as FFXIII was xD There were a few emotionally-charged scenes early in FFXIII, but overall Kingdom Hearts had darker undertones...

I'm really excited for Versus, though, even if it does look like it's going to be awhile yet...

[Griever]

I'm still surprised you see XIII as "bright", when I look at it and see one of the darkest games in the series. I'm not criticizing your view, it's just...interesting to see how different people look at the same story.

I'm hoping that Versus will get a release date, at least, with KH3D coming out in March in Japan. Sharing the development team between the games really slowed down the development, and it's got to be far along if the voice acting is done, so hopefully now that they can throw everything they've got at it it won't be too much longer? That'd be nice.

[Bharune]

I don't see it as dark at all xD It had all the potential to be dark, and there were a few moments...I was particularly impressed by the scene with Vanille and Sazh. But it just felt like all the emotional weight dissipated after a certain point in the game, especially with everything that was going on...it didn't seem very taxing on the cast. I dunno, when I think of FFXIII it calls to mind bright scenery and chipper banter/music, and even though I know it wasn't all like that, it still seems to be the general feeling. FFX, which had a lot of bright scenery as well, but it still had a very melancholic feeling overall.

Maybe, in terms of story, games like FF8 probably wasn't as dark, but...for one, the environment and music was more subdued in terms of colors and whatnot, if that makes sense? Secondly, you can see the weight of the whole...potential death and saving the world...taking it's toll on the cast. Usually by the last disc of the multi-disc games the whole feeling is very ominous and foreboding, and I think that's what I felt was lacking in FFXIII.

But anyway! I still enjoy it very much xD