Final Fantasy XIII demo is out...

[MasterDias]

...in Japan.

Watch it here.

I haven't looked at the whole thing, but it appears they are going for a much, more traditional (albeit still fast-paced) battle system than XII was. Battle screen transitions are back. If I understood what I was watching, it looks like you can perform combos.

Also, the chocobo in that guy's hair looked completely out of place in that setting.

[Bobtheduck]

12's battle system wasn't fast paced. FFX had a more fast paced system than any MMO style battle sytem (such as 12) ever was.

The game looks nice, though. I just hope the story is interesting and... they have a proper airship.

You can't diss chocobro with his chocofro, though.

[Bobtheduck]

That vid doesn't seem to work now... Is it just me?

It seems to be missing from much of the internet, now... All the ones on youtube were taken down for "copyright violation" (Complete and utter... yeah...)

but it's still here http://www.gametrailers.com/game/final-fantasy-xiii/2649 for now.

[MasterDias]

?

It's still working for me. Perhaps there is a problem on your end?

[Mithrandir]

12's battle system wasn't fast paced. FFX had a more fast paced system than any MMO style battle sytem (such as 12) ever was.

The system from 12 reminded me a great deal of the old Lunar games - more so than, say, an MMORPG. The fact that I could choose the encounter most of the time was awesome, and I really enjoyed not having to wait while the screen transitioned both INTO and OUT OF each and every fight.

In terms of overall time a battle required, I'm afraid I'm not in agreement with you on this point. I've just replayed both of them (kinda going back and forth between them over the last two months polishing up my walkthrough), and the gambits for FF12 made walking through the vast majority of the system a completely enjoyable experience. While my MAIN character was wandering around, the other guys were getting in battles and racking up points, etc. I guess it seemed much more fast paced to me.

To the OP, I think this looks great, if maybe a little too much in the mood of FF7 DOC for that first vid. The animation style and mood, reminds me of Xenosaga II. I'm looking forward to it.

[Bobtheduck]

The system from 12 reminded me a great deal of the old Lunar games - more so than, say, an MMORPG. The fact that I could choose the encounter most of the time was awesome, and I really enjoyed not having to wait while the screen transitioned both INTO and OUT OF each and every fight.

In terms of overall time a battle required, I'm afraid I'm not in agreement with you on this point.

I just feel weird that I'm able to move around, but not control when my character attacks (once I'm already in a battle, I mean), that's all... In FFX it paused to let me control, but it attacked as soon as I was done chosing, and I got it down so I could get through many battles quickly. Provided there was no complicated magic used, battles in FFX are much quicker than battles in FFXII. Then there's bosses... Boss battles, particularly when gambits are set up properly, seem to be a lot of... watching. In FFX I was actively engaged in boss battles, particularly the last 3 before Sin and the Monster Arena.

The active time battle was supposed to make things faster, but it meant WAITING for your turn to come up, and the system in FFXII means the same thing, with the differences being you don't get into random battles (perhaps a good thing) but you also don't really control the battle most of the time (gambits...) With FFX, there was no waiting on arbitrary time, because the order was defined by the action you took, and instead of saying "ok, I know I'm next because I've got THIS much time until I attack" it says "I'm next because all that crap was pre-calculated and you don't have to wait"

The not having to fight thing is nice, but it very rarely applies in the long run. I'm nearly certain the vast majority of mobs are aggro in FFXII, so the likelihood of avoiding battle is just about the same as avoiding it in Earthbound or Chrono Trigger, which is more than with random battles but not enough for the difference to matter.

[Mithrandir]

...which is more than with random battles but not enough for the difference to matter.

Huh. This disagreement may be directly related to my Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. I found not having to repeatedly press the buttons ("watching" as you called it) to be wonderful - in direct contrast to what you said. For the times I wanted to run, I used the "flee" buttons, and didn't get into any battles unless I really wanted to. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

The REAL question is, when will games reach the point where they can't really improve the quality much anymore, and they start adding features like letting you choose which of the above two styles you would prefer. That'll be a cool day.

[Nate]

The fact that I could choose the encounter most of the time was awesome, and I really enjoyed not having to wait while the screen transitioned both INTO and OUT OF each and every fight.

Yeah but Chrono Trigger did it better, at least in Chrono Trigger you could flee the fight and the enemies would vanish, but in FFXII it's like "Run away, this guy is too strong! Oh crap he keeps hitting me while I'm trying to run!"

the gambits for FF12 made walking through the vast majority of the system a completely enjoyable experience.

I would agree with you except for the fact that the Gambit system was too much of a hassle when it came to one thing: stealing. Oh I stole an item, rad! Wait why is Vaan still trying to steal, I already stole that guy's item! Oh you've gotta be kidding me, why does he keep stealing from an enemy that's already been stolen from?

Then I put it on Steal HP=100%, but of course when you fail to steal and then your party members have already hit the enemy, it causes you to not try anymore, and setting Steal at an HP level lower than 100% has the same problem I mentioned earlier.

Of course, I hear FFXII International Version had a Gambit called "Enemy With Item." :|

the likelihood of avoiding battle is just about the same as avoiding it in Earthbound or Chrono Trigger

Not really, I was able to run through areas in XII without "getting in" a single battle (depending on how you define that). In Chrono Trigger there were quite a few maps with forced encounters.

Argh this thread is horribly off-topic. >< *attempts to bring it back on track*

I've lost a lot of interest in Final Fantasy lately, I don't know if it's the setting that doesn't appeal to me or the ridiculous Transformers concept. I might check this out if I hear good things about the story, but I have a feeling the story will be "Ragtag group of good guys versus evil empire, fight evil empire, find out something greater is behind it." That's basically been the story of every Final Fantasy game since...IV.

[Fish and Chips]

Maybe the empire is here to help us this time.

[Bobtheduck]

Maybe the empire is here to help us this time.

That would be an interesting twist.