Why do people hate Final Fantasy XIII so much?

Playing through the game right now, and while it isn't the best Final fantasy, it's really not the worst. Does the linearity kill it for most people? (It's my main pet peeve with the game.) Or is it something more? I like the battle system and story, for the most part. Again, I don't like the extreme linearity, or those damned hunt missions.

It's the linearity, yeah. Really rubbed people the wrong way.

I didn't mind it that much, honestly. The slow start was the game's real problem.

It's the linearity, yeah. Really rubbed people the wrong way.

I didn't mind it that much, honestly. The slow start was the game's real problem.

c_rake

I really want to go on an endless rant about my deep hatred for Final Fantasy XIII and its sequel. Instead, I'll direct any of you to my blog and leave it at that. I will say that both the linearity and the slow start are more reasoning to not even enjoy FFXIII. There's more to it than that...

Probably for the same reason people don't like the latest Zelda; they're just not up to standard with previous entries.

-The war against linear games

-Huge, spoiled fanbase

-Unrealstic expectations

Those 3 are the biggest reasons, so many people to try and please, and they all want something different. Regardless, 13 was a critical and financial success.

The same reasons why people hate Final Fantasies VIII, IX, XI, and XII; it's not Final Fantasy VII or X.

I love me some Final Fantasy XIII

Nostalgia goggles and Vanille.

Only thing I really hated was Hope since he was so weak and kept on dying repeatedly *sigh*, the rest of the game was fine though

It's the only Final Fantasy I haven't finished. I couldn't get through the boring battles, the boring story, and the boring characters. I really hope they do something special with FFXV, because Blue Dragon is a much better RPG at this point.

1. The linear crapness

2. The characters

3. Boring/horrible combat system--you can master it if you want and claim its greatness--all i'm saying is: why would you? attack/stagger/end stagger/attack/stagger/end stagger/rinse and repeat

4. crap story.

I've listed evidence/proof/other reasons/etc for it being such a dissapointment before but not this time, don't feel like it.

This isn't a ranking--they're all the reasons why the game was so dissapointing.

what i didnt like about it was the lack of gameplay pacing. it seemed like SE worked so hard on controlling the pace of the story that they neglected the need to support the combat so its not just battle after battle (and i did like the combat system). there needs to be more of a system to let player rest. it was done in the past through menu fiddling (not ideal, but at least it's something), towns, and mini games, but none of those were really there in force. that's not to say that the story even ended up being any good, but i wasnt disappointed because i dont associate the series with good storytelling to begin with and SE has been going in the wrong direction for a long time.

beyond that, the other big thing was the overworld. it was always midday, the creatures ran in visibly set loops, and the weather changed only on obvious stimuli rather than something that resembled nature. it made the whole thing feel static and plastic-like instead of alive. exploration of it wasnt really done well either. i mean, there was a waypoint for navigation to the next quest point, but no visible landmarks to use in the gameworld. for example, im playing xenoblade chronicles right now and the current goal is to reach a tower of ice which the player can pretty much always see instead of just following the waypoint. it's doubley disappointing for ffxiii because the side areas tend to look very beautiful.

I liked FF13 but it sure didn't hold up as a Final Fantasy game. The reason for that is because it didn't stay true to the series, for example we all love towns in jrpgs and Final Fantasy has had great towns. Running around talking to npcs, finding some chests, doing some side quests. Fans liked the series because it had "THIS" and instead of delivering "THIS" they developed something completely different to "THIS". Like super linear and no towns, no proper caves and no sidequests except the hunt-this-guy-down quests.

As a game, it's great... As a Final Fantasy title, it's... I don't know what the **** they were thinking when they decided to replace everything we came to expect from a FF title.

I came into it with middling expectations, having not played a full FF game since FF6...and I didn't hate it, but I didn't think it was great either.
Random thoughts:

- The combat system was actually pretty good, but took way too long to show its strengths. For every clever/strategic battle, there were another 30 mindless filler fights where you just tapped a button or two until you won. They were unneccessary, and made the combat very uninteresting early on in the game.

- The cast were intolerable. Seriously, they're the most annoying cast of characters I've ever encountered in a game. Vanille alone would be enough to make me lose any interest in a game, but when combined with the whiny Hope, the very slappable Lightning, and the dumb-as-rocks Snow...it was a struggle to keep playing.

- The story was a mess. Sure, the ideas were there and this universe has a genuinely cool concept...but they did a terrible job of introducing it to the players. Players shouldn't have to consult the glossary every few hours just to keep track of the various places/names/beings.

- The linearity. The whole game didn't need to be like Gran Pulse, but seriously, the vast majority of the game felt more like a rail shooter than an RPG. The worst part was that the narrow paths made it difficult to avoid the endless filler battles mentioned above. FF13-2 was a vast improvement in this regard - it was still linear, but at least there was some scope for exploration.

- The pacing. The game was way too long, with far too much down-time between major story events. It felt like 40% of the game was filler fights, and 40% of the game involved characters standing around whining about their fates. Perhaps the latter would have been more appealing had the characters been remotely interesting.

Because I sat there for 15 hours pressing X until I'd nearly lapsed into a monotony-induced coma. There was no gameplay, which I consider to be a rather important part of a game. I've seen DVD menus with more interactivity.

After I played it for 15 hours, my daughter asked if she could give it a try. After about 2 minutes of instruction, she was "playing" it in an identical manner to how I was "playing" it. My daughter plays Mario on the Wii for maybe two evenings a year. When a non-gamer can pick up a game, 15 hours into it, and within a minute or two be playing it in an identical fashion to someone who's been playing it for 15 hours, what you've got there is even WORSE than a casual game. For pete's sake, if somebody played Wii Sports for 15 hours they'd be MUCH better at it than someone who just picked it up for the first time.

On top of that, the characters were the shallowest of JRPG cliches, the story was completely uninteresting, the levelling up consisted of going to the levelling up menu and holding down X until the little line had gone as far as it could, etc. etc. etc.

I'll be honest, i remember buying it a few days after it came out and being utterly blown away by the graphics, the music and the ambience.

It actually isn't that bad, but its just so linear and turn based fighting isn't amazing to me.

I'm cnsidering rebuying it though.

The main problem that Final fantasy XIII is a unfair bias against JRPG. They will scream and rant about part of JRPG while overlooking the negative in WRPG.

Many have come up with the ideals that because it is a JRPG then they character muct be cliche. I hate the cast from Mass Effect 2 so much more than the cast of Final fantasy XIII. Final Fantasy XIII chracters have much more depth than Mass Effect 2's cliche characters.

Some say that Final Fantasy XIII can be won by just pressing the same button over and over again. I am playing Witcher 2 and to win combat I am just pressing the same button again and again. The same was true for Skyrim, Two World 1 and 2, Risen, Venetica, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and many more WRPG.

for me, it didn't feel like final fantasy, the characters were so boring and dull expect for Sazh, and besides him there was just no one i could connect with, i thought snow was going to be a interesting character but he was your typical i wanna be a hero archetype. The game story was weak and had way to much going on, my cd broke and i just never got around to getting a new one because i just don't care for it. I do wanna play ff 13-2 though so when that drops in price i'll give it another shot

The main problem that Final fantasy XIII is a unfair bias against JRPG. They will scream and rant about part of JRPG while overlooking the negative in WRPG.

Many have come up with the ideals that because it is a JRPG then they character muct be cliche. I hate the cast from Mass Effect 2 so much more than the cast of Final fantasy XIII. Final Fantasy XIII chracters have much more depth than Mass Effect 2's cliche characters.

Some say that Final Fantasy XIII can be won by just pressing the same button over and over again. I am playing Witcher 2 and to win combat I am just pressing the same button again and again. The same was true for Skyrim, Two World 1 and 2, Risen, Venetica, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and many more WRPG.

wiouds

I just hated all the characters except Lightning and Sazh.

The linearity..

[QUOTE="wiouds"]

The main problem that Final fantasy XIII is a unfair bias against JRPG. They will scream and rant about part of JRPG while overlooking the negative in WRPG.

Many have come up with the ideals that because it is a JRPG then they character muct be cliche. I hate the cast from Mass Effect 2 so much more than the cast of Final fantasy XIII. Final Fantasy XIII chracters have much more depth than Mass Effect 2's cliche characters.

Some say that Final Fantasy XIII can be won by just pressing the same button over and over again. I am playing Witcher 2 and to win combat I am just pressing the same button again and again. The same was true for Skyrim, Two World 1 and 2, Risen, Venetica, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and many more WRPG.

GodModeEnabled

Lost Odyssey and Tales Of Vesperia are definitely part of the cream of the crop when it comes to XBox 360 RPGs. Star Ocean: The Last Hope is not really something home to write about, but at least the battle system is interesting. And good lord does the voice actor suck in that game...a lot of cringe-worthy moments in that department!

They hate it because it's too linear, has no sidequests and you can't control all characters directly in combat. That's the official version: I personally think fanboys really hate it because the main character is a battle-scarred badass like Lightning instead of the usual whiney spiky-haired JRPG teen imbecil.Black_Knight_00

Lightning is a badass?

:lol:

I came into it with middling expectations, having not played a full FF game since FF6...and I didn't hate it, but I didn't think it was great either.
Random thoughts:

- The combat system was actually pretty good, but took way too long to show its strengths. For every clever/strategic battle, there were another 30 mindless filler fights where you just tapped a button or two until you won. They were unneccessary, and made the combat very uninteresting early on in the game.

- The cast were intolerable. Seriously, they're the most annoying cast of characters I've ever encountered in a game. Vanille alone would be enough to make me lose any interest in a game, but when combined with the whiny Hope, the very slappable Lightning, and the dumb-as-rocks Snow...it was a struggle to keep playing.

- The story was a mess. Sure, the ideas were there and this universe has a genuinely cool concept...but they did a terrible job of introducing it to the players. Players shouldn't have to consult the glossary every few hours just to keep track of the various places/names/beings.

- The linearity. The whole game didn't need to be like Gran Pulse, but seriously, the vast majority of the game felt more like a rail shooter than an RPG. The worst part was that the narrow paths made it difficult to avoid the endless filler battles mentioned above. FF13-2 was a vast improvement in this regard - it was still linear, but at least there was some scope for exploration.

- The pacing. The game was way too long, with far too much down-time between major story events. It felt like 40% of the game was filler fights, and 40% of the game involved characters standing around whining about their fates. Perhaps the latter would have been more appealing had the characters been remotely interesting.

Planeforger

all of this.

The main problem that Final fantasy XIII is a unfair bias against JRPG. They will scream and rant about part of JRPG while overlooking the negative in WRPG.

Many have come up with the ideals that because it is a JRPG then they character muct be cliche. I hate the cast from Mass Effect 2 so much more than the cast of Final fantasy XIII. Final Fantasy XIII chracters have much more depth than Mass Effect 2's cliche characters.

Some say that Final Fantasy XIII can be won by just pressing the same button over and over again. I am playing Witcher 2 and to win combat I am just pressing the same button again and again. The same was true for Skyrim, Two World 1 and 2, Risen, Venetica, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and many more WRPG.

wiouds

This . . . I liked FF13 it wasn't like a AAA title but it was pretty enjoyable alot complained about the mashing X and you can already win . . . I can do the same **** eith FF7, 8, and 9 and still win but somehow alot seem to hate it . . .

Now the first thing a person who hates FF13 would say is . . . "FF13 is a horrible game because just look at how awesome its predecessors are" . . .

So it's like saying . . . "Coke is a great drink, Coke is better than rootbeer which makes rootbeer the WORST drink ever!!!"

I liked it alot. I like the story and characters (even Vanille has a good story) and the battle system is fun. All the linearity does is strip away the illusion of freedom other JRPG's have.

- Boring automated combat that encourages the use of auto battle and button mashing(even worse in FFXIII-2)

- Summons are no where near as satisfying or useful as previous FF titles.(even worse in FFXIII-2, there are no summons.) :(

- Toriyama'd (a storyline that doesn't make any sense(even worse in FFXIII-2))

- A storyline that relies heavily on you reading book long datalogs and yet still doesn't make sense.

- Long linear tube like areas that feel like they go on forever.

- No RPG elements outside, run, cutscene, battle, run, cutscene, battle, etc.. Entire game in a nutshell.

- Linear pointless crystarium system.

-Leona Lewis singing a completely irrelevantsong

- Air head-like characters like Vanille and Snow that completely ruin the experience.(even worse in FFXIII-2x9999, lol Serah.)

- A villian that not only looks stupid but also has a stupid motive.

- Some of the music is decent, a lot of the tracks are meh at best.. Nothing that beats older FFs.

I'm sure there are lots more to add to this list.. Seriously though, this was the worst FF next to FFX-2. The game is graphical eye candy, and not much else.

-The war against linear games

-Huge, spoiled fanbase

-Unrealstic expectations

Those 3 are the biggest reasons, so many people to try and please, and they all want something different. Regardless, 13 was a critical and financial success.

crimsonman1245

The last FF I played was the one with Sephiroth, FF7 I believe, so I can't comment too much on that but I do think devs should start making more new IP's, focus on a particular fanbase with each new IP and build from the ground up instead of adjusting a current franchise to appease newcomers while screwing over a dedicated fanbase. Makes more sense to leave FF the way it used to be and make a new jrpg that is more linear based for people who want that instead of trying to please everybody with one game.

I sometimes wonder how JRPG fans would react if each Final Fantasy game wasn't a part of the same series.

Atfer all, it is a series where very few games actually have any continuity with each other. The only things that have been a constant throughout the years are Chocobos, Moogles, Cid, and a few monsters like Malboros.

[QUOTE="crimsonman1245"]

-The war against linear games

-Huge, spoiled fanbase

-Unrealstic expectations

Those 3 are the biggest reasons, so many people to try and please, and they all want something different. Regardless, 13 was a critical and financial success.

HipHopBeats

The last FF I played was the one with Sephiroth, FF7 I believe, so I can't comment too much on that but I do think devs should start making more new IP's, focus on a particular fanbase with each new IP and build from the ground up instead of adjusting a current franchise to appease newcomers while screwing over a dedicated fanbase. Makes more sense to leave FF the way it used to be and make a new jrpg that is more linear based for people who want that instead of trying to please everybody with one game.

The thing is that every FF is wildly different from the last; they usually have their own battle system, styIe of universe, type of mythology, etc... Take, for instance, Final fantasy IV versus Final fantasy VI. FFIV was a more traditional RPG setting; castles, monsters everywhere, sword and sorcery battles, etc. The most unique thing about it were the airships. (Whic I'm glad have been a constant since they're so cool.) The battle system was pretty linear, with characters learning new moves as the game dictated. The biggest surprise was the last chunk of the game, where you... well, traveled to a new type of world. Then, with FFVI, you have a much more steampunk type setting. There are mechs, trains, more industrial airships, etc. There are still kingdoms and swords and magic, but there are more "modern" weapons as well, and magic plays a huge role in the story, as well as the open ended Esper system.

Final Fantasys are wildly different from one game to the next, so much so that they may as well be new IPs. Like an above poster said, they don't have much in common, usually just sharing Chocobos, a character named Cid and a few other enemies.

i hated it because my disc didn't work and square told me i was SOL. xbox version. i had a slim xbox at the time.

They hate it because it's too linear, has no sidequests and you can't control all characters directly in combat. That's the official version: I personally think fanboys really hate it because the main character is a battle-scarred badass like Lightning instead of the usual whiney spiky-haired JRPG teen imbecil.Black_Knight_00

[QUOTE="Black_Knight_00"]They hate it because it's too linear, has no sidequests and you can't control all characters directly in combat. That's the official version: I personally think fanboys really hate it because the main character is a battle-scarred badass like Lightning instead of the usual whiney spiky-haired JRPG teen imbecil.ispeakfact

Seriously though, this was the worst FF next to FFX-2. The game is graphical eye candy, and not much else.Crossel777

My peeves with the game: -Too linear. You follow a path, fight enemies, hit a cutscene, and rinse and repeat. -Too tutorialized. The game spends a good 20 hours treating you like an idiot and overexplains all of the game's simple concepts (but never properly explains the ridiculous weapon upgrade system). -Awful story. It's paced poorly in the beginning, contains some of the worst fake fantasy names in any game (L'Cie, Fal'cie, etc), and is just dull when it's not being insulting. -Awful characters. The game has one of the worst casts this side of...actually, I can't think of a Final Fantasy game with a worst cast, even if you hate Final Fantasy VIII. Thirteen makes Selphie and Zell look like world class characters. And to top it off the battle system isn't really all that great either. It doesn't remove the monotony of a regular ATB Final Fantasy battle, and it doesn't inject much strategy either. You pound on an enemy until they get staggered, unleash your attacks when they do, and swap to healing when you need it. Whee. The game's best qualities are its graphics and (some of its) music, and that's not what should define an RPG in any way.DJ_Lae

Zell is one of the best FF characters out of the bunch.

Fvck you.

You basically answered it with the opening post.

Whilst I did enjoy the game myself, the extreme linearity was what I had the biggest problem with.

Zell is one of the best FF characters out of the bunch.Ilovegames1992

[QUOTE="Ilovegames1992"]Zell is one of the best FF characters out of the bunch.Black_Knight_00

Yes. Not being a whiney emo douche in an FF game is a rarity. And i like Zell. The lancer to Squall and the comic relief.