• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII DEMO - OUT NOW* -

Flarin

Member
Question about the doomsday clock (I know it's not a big thing in the demo, but it will be in the actual game) : Does it force you to play through the game quickly, or is there enough leeway to explore and do side quests? I hate games that have a time restriction, so I'm really hoping this game isn't too restrictive.
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
Question about the doomsday clock (I know it's not a big thing in the demo, but it will be in the actual game) : Does it force you to play through the game quickly, or is there enough leeway to explore and do side quests? I hate games that have a time restriction, so I'm really hoping this game isn't too restrictive.

You can extend the time for so long that you'll end up completing most of the game with days still left to use. That is... time should not be a concern.
 

Flarin

Member
You can extend the time for so long that you'll end up completing most of the game with days still left to use. That is... time should not be a concern.

Awesome, thanks for the info. That makes me feel a lot better about getting this game now.
 
Combat seems pretty fun...still not totally used to it and I find it tough without the stagger bar...or maybe it was there and I just couldn't see very well. Graphically, it looks rough and choppy in a lot of places, not the kind of thing you expect for a game at the end of a systems life. Will buy when dirt cheap, which shouldn't take that long.
 
Just played through the 360 demo. Enjoyable battle system. Free movement does make a difference at times, such as moving aside can avoid some melee attacks. And being on the periphery of Zaltys' fire-spread attack seemed to minimize damage compared to being centered.

Lightning looked good, fiddled with the garb colors for the hell of it. More importantly, looks like a lot of equip effects/parameter changes to fiddle with in the full game. I liked the demo and ultimately look forward to some entertaining boss battles, but not really itching to pre-order. We'll see.
 

Lain

Member
Are you italian too? Cool! Btw I used gamestop to make sure I get it on day one with the DLCs promoted on their site. Even if I hate GS.

Yep. I went with Amazon because it usually lets me pay a bit less (I was able to preorder LR for 46€) and the free shipping sometimes is the same as next day delivery.
 
Just played through the 360 demo. Enjoyable battle system. Free movement does make a difference at times, such as moving aside can avoid some melee attacks. And being on the periphery of Zaltys' fire-spread attack seemed to minimize damage compared to being centered.

Lightning looked good, fiddled with the garb colors for the hell of it. More importantly, looks like a lot of equip effects/parameter changes to fiddle with in the full game. I liked the demo and ultimately look forward to some entertaining boss battles, but not really itching to pre-order. We'll see.

Also, if you move behind Zaltys after knocking it down you can cut off its tail.
 

Westraid

Member
Tried it yesterday regardless of my hatred for XIII (never finished it and didn't even glance at XIII-2). Looks absolutely gorgeous, but honestly I didn't expect anything less on that department. After the intro I really wanted to like this game.

But that combat system. I find it atrocious and I wish they never strayed from the good old FF combat menus. Switching between stances and bars that run empty and to be fast enough to make that stupid mob stagger pissed me off and left me frustrated. I hate the system with a passion, especially because I really wanted to forget that initial XIII experience and get back to the franchise that I counted amongst my favourites years ago.

I'll give it another go this evening but I don't think it'll make a difference.
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
Man, I liked the DEMO so much I went and bought FFXIII and FFXIII-2.

Still need to upload a score and get me some sick Siegfried threads.
 

Zomba13

Member
Graphically, it looks rough and choppy in a lot of places, not the kind of thing you expect for a game at the end of a systems life. Will buy when dirt cheap, which shouldn't take that long.

Favourite bit about the graphics is looking out of the windows at the last corridor. Super low poly city XD Looks like Snow is the ruler of a box fort.
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
Favourite bit about the graphics is looking out of the windows at the last corridor. Super low poly city XD Looks like Snow is the ruler of a box fort.

Yeah, I wonder why they didn't go for a bitmap background like they always did.

That said, for people that finished the game already, is the background of Novus Partus/nova Chrysalia equally detailed like Pulse/Cocoon? One thing FFXIII did always right was creating a realistic universe with lots of stories and background details. What about this new world?
 

xion4360

Member
the "Outerworld Services" stuff doesnt work... for me at least. Just says submitting information forever, sometimes something gets through but its mostly crap.
 

mpgeist

Member
I haven't played either XIII or XIII-2 but tried the demo on a whim and actually enjoyed my time. I talked to my friend who imported it and he says the combat does get more challenging and deeper, which was my concern. I decided to take a chance and pre-ordered it.
 

Perfo

Thirteen flew over the cuckoo's nest
I haven't played either XIII or XIII-2 but tried the demo on a whim and actually enjoyed my time. I talked to my friend who imported it and he says the combat does get more challenging and deeper, which was my concern. I decided to take a chance and pre-ordered it.

Yes, difficulty is pretty high at normal mode already. The DEMO is just the tutorial area so it's expected to be easy for you to learn basics.
 

Exentryk

Member
If you're playing the demo, please share Dragoon Gauntlets and Wyvern Lances. These items do not leave your inventory if you share and help the most in achieving higher scores.
 

Jobbs

Banned
Do you need to play the previous two games to bother playing this one? I've been interested in this for some reason, even though I couldn't quite hang with the slow start of the first 13 game.
 

Exentryk

Member
Do you need to play the previous two games to bother playing this one? I've been interested in this for some reason, even though I couldn't quite hang with the slow start of the first 13 game.

Of course it would be better if you played the first two games, but SE has also made a really cool summary video of the first two games; so watch it and jump straight into LR.
 

Esura

Banned
I think I might play on Easy first. Then go to Normal and Hard. You can transfer everything from Easy right in a new game plus on higher difficulty?
 

robot

Member
Finally got around to. playing the demo. Incoherent storyline but fun battle system, just like the first two! Looking forward to playing through it.

Anyone know how long the full game is?
 

Falk

that puzzling face
Yes, difficulty is pretty high at normal mode already. The DEMO is just the tutorial area so it's expected to be easy for you to learn basics.

It's actually balanced pretty differently from the game, most likely due to the additional garbs thrown in. The actual game's Zaltys is a pushover. Just so you aren't drawing super concrete conclusions from 'demo = tutorial area'
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Some screens i took from the demo.

For those saying it looks ugly, the demo does have some hints of good art.

iyb2LrOG2yy0J.png

also, this costume kicks butt.


I found it easiest to beat the boss with this.

aand all the costumes reflect in the cut-scenes, fucking fantastic :D

 
I'm sure it's been asked before, but is there a good, concise recap of the first two games out there? I know there's that awesome retro video, but even that still had me largely going "what the hell is going on."
 

Frumix

Suffering From Success
What are the chances of the Cloud DLC being purchaseable later? That's the only tempting thing for me.

I think it's already purchasable in Japan. A rule of thumb for Ubi and SE is that all their DLC becomes purchaseable after a month or so.
 

kick51

Banned
Combat is okay, I wish moving mattered at all and the actual fighting seems fairly braindead. .


what? moving does matter. that's how you dodge.



i have a feeling LR threads are gonna be shit central with people misunderstanding how the combat works....
 

Nibiru

Banned
I'm sure it's been asked before, but is there a good, concise recap of the first two games out there? I know there's that awesome retro video, but even that still had me largely going "what the hell is going on."

There is no way the story from the first two games can ever make sense this is not an exaggeration either, the ramblings of a mental patient would be easier to understand.. It is literally pure nonsense on every level. Just play the new game for the combat and art design and make up your own narrative, you will have a lot more fun lol.
 
Sorry if this has been asked before, but do we know if the pre-order DLC costumes will be available for purchase to those tho don't preorder? I want the CLoud costume, but want to wait for a price drop on the game.
 

Sora_N

Member
Sorry if this has been asked before, but do we know if the pre-order DLC costumes will be available for purchase to those tho don't preorder? I want the CLoud costume, but want to wait for a price drop on the game.

Lol I asked last night, can just scroll up a bit.

Seems that it's very likely that it will be purchaseable, might already be available in Japan for purchase.
 

ironcreed

Banned
I was starting to lean towards renting, but I played the demo again and decided to go ahead and pre-order. The battle system is just too damn fun and I love how the deep customization ties into it. Playing it again just reconfirmed that this is a buy for me.
 

Gammacide

Member
FFXII was one of my favorites since VI and I absolutely CANNOT STAND this XIII or this demo. The combat seems much clunkier and the bosses are more annoying and the environments are not nearly as exciting or interesting. Had it not been for FFXIV I would have utterly lost faith in the franchise. Good thing Bravely Default is a thing too. At least someone there is doing something right.
 

Grisby

Member
Good thing this thread popped up. Finished the demo the other day. I thought 13-2 was a much better game than 13 but I'm a little iffy on this. The combat was fun enough and that's always been the series's strong suit. It's just a shame that everything else isn't up to snuff. I feel like Lighting and the world of FF13 had such potential.

I'll pick it up on the cheap side. I might as well see the crazy ending of this bat shit insane trilogy.

Oh, Ali Hillis sounded more lively, which cool. Any hint of life from Lightning is a good thing,
 
Top Bottom