Jim

I've been gaining a lot of respect for Tabata over the past few months. He just seems like a really open, humble, and honest guy who is trying his best to give us a genuinely great product. I didn't always get that vibe from Nomura (probably because he's more of an introvert), and I NEVER got that vibe from Toriyama.

Nice going, SquareEnixPresents.

Not meaning to be rude, but I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here. If you're saying that the linearity was a problem with the engine which they later figured out, then I retract my statement that they listened to the fans there. And that's really not a point in Toriyama's favor. I didn't mind the story when I played the original XIII, but I haven't played it in a while. I wonder if I'd have the same reaction as you if I played it again. Also do you happen to have a link to the interview where Toriyama said he doesn't listen to critics? I kinda want to read it now

Well, in terms of size of the world and the battle system, sure. They did learn from their mistakes. But the problem was that they kept treating Lightning like the second coming of Christ (in fact, she essentially was in LR), and made unnecessary sacrifices to story and other elements because they wanted all the focus to be on her. Like don't get me wrong, I don't dislike the XIII series. Heck, I think XIII-2 has some really great elements in it and was overall a decent game (with a frickin' sweet final boss I might add). But the XIII series was pretty much the only FF continuity that I walked away from feeling like it could have been so much better.

That's because FF9 was good Quoting two of your posts because I'm cool like that Well, the thing is, notice how this whole "decline in quality" started happening after Toriyama started putting his grubby mitts on the series. Like FF10 and 12 were good (I hear 11 and 14 are too) but any game that Toriyama's team is associated with (X-2, XIII, XIII-2 [which I like, but it wasn't perfect], and LR) since 10 have been rather lackluster compared to their predecessors. And when he's told that people don't like his games, he says "oh people's opinions lighten with time." But on the other hand, look at Tabata with XV now. He knows the fans want it. He knows and respects that Nomura had a vision for the title, but wasn't the best at following through with it. And in all his interviews, he is honest and humble, and he even says how he makes an effort to listen to fans responses (like with his recent Kotaku interview). He realizes his mistakes when he makes them (i.e. the screw up with the "hold button to attack" feature that he didn't advertise very well at first). And he's trying to be as open with us as possible without completely spoiling the game. If nothing else, I have faith that this title will be decent at the very least, because the dudes working on it seem more competent than Toriyama. They clearly actually want to make a good game, and not just use it to advertise their waifu raituningu<333333334333w42refdv Sorry that was kinda off-topic

I'm sorry for your loss, my friend.

Enjoy! Don't set your expectations too high though. It's pretty fun, but there's a lot of wasted potential there

I've always thought it was a little corny, with a bit of Deus Ex Machina thrown in there. But even so, it wraps up the story quite nicely and gives good closure.

I mean, that's fine. The difference is that you're not buying a crapload of limited edition stuff in bulk for the sole purpose of making a profit. You're getting something that you like, and knowing that you might sell it when you're done with it. You're fine in my book. That gold coin was a freebie with the game?

Exactly. It really makes me sick that people do that. It's so selfish.

I hate the fact that so many people do that e-bay thing. Like they're depriving other people of the special editions just so that they can make unearned cash.

Oh yeah, that's the one. I love the violin bit in that track ^_^

Oh I haven't played that haha

You know, I always poked fun at Terra's VA in BBS, but all things considered, he's not actually *that* bad. Like he delivers the important lines pretty well. He's just more hit or miss than some of the other VAs. His battle cries are on point though.

What game are you talking about?

Yeah, I agree- that is a good track.The same goes for Desire for All that is Lost and that track that plays during the 1000 heartless battle, whose name escapes me at the moment. In my humble opinion, of course I think it's for the best that we haven't heard it since KH2. Like if you overuse a song in the series it kinda loses it's power (Simple and Clean, for example, but that's kind of a different context), but this song's lack of use helps the feeling that when you do hear it, it actually means something. I see what you mean about nobody talking about it though.

I dunno, I doubt a Frozen world would be like that. I'd be fine with the world if it plays like a normal level, and it seems like the kind of story line that would work fine in KH. Heck I'd be happy if they give us a boss fight with that Snow Monster

In the name of King Robert of the House Baratheon, first of his name, king of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realms, I- Jim of the house KH13 and Bandicoot of the North sentence you all to a righteous dance-off!

Xehanort and Young Xehanort

A couple days ago. And by a couple, I mean 1,009.

Very true. But still, they don't need to hate on it if that's the case. Like I don't know if I'd like X-2 or not (I probably wouldn't), but I'm not gonna hate on it. I'm just not gonna buy it. I don't know about X-2, but X is solid. Still, when I play it nowadays, I can almost smell the faint whiff of Toriyama's diarrhea of mediocrity in the game. It's very faint compared to the XIII series (as well as X-2, so I'm told), but you can pick up on his crap ideas in it if you look closely enough. Even so, I still quite like X. I'd recommend it if you get a chance to play it.

Yeah, XIII-2 was better than the original in almost every way, in my opinion. I think people just assumed that it's terrible because they were peeved that 13 got a sequel while vsXIII still hadn't seen the light of day yet. I've played all the XIII games, but I admit I don't know (or care enough to learn) what X-2 is about. The sad thing is, there's a lot of stuff to like in the XIII games, but XIII and LR both have enough poorly placed elements in them that drag them down into the "mediocre" range. That being said, it still annoys me how people always blindly hated on the games without even playing them. They're just complaining because they're entitled, in many cases.

oh, I actually didn't know that. Yeah, I could see it being problematic O-o