Looking forward to picking this up tomorrow. Been a fan of the series for yeaaaars!

25ish hours in now; did LOTS of side-questing today (mainline 4xx academia).

Anyone who remotely enjoyed FFXIII, especially the battle system is really missing out by not passing on this game, it's a real gem. Gameplay is a lot smoother and faster-paced, story is engaging, the leveling system is fun, especially collecting and growing monsters, and the structure of the game is really impressive. Revisiting the same locations in different time periods has a great feel, and it really adds depth to the game.

The only negatives so far are that the game seems a little on the easy side, FFXIII seemed a bit more challenging, even after leveling, and the Mog storyline was pretty tilting (aside from the cool clock-number puzzles).

Where did you find level 3 monster upgrades? I'm farming level 4 stuff on the Archlyte Steppe. Also, I just cap'd a cloudburst. Is it worth maxing that out or just waiting for endgame type monsters for a ravager? I've been using Albino Lobo, Pulse Knight(I desperately need a new sentinel but I don't know where to get one) and the Behemoth(in only 1 KILL THEM AS FAST AS **** paradigm I've been using). About to finish Episode 3 Part 2 fwiw, grinding before I go back to deal with (no spoiler) boss man at the end of Sunleth.

At 21+ hours now. Storyline has really grown on me. Really enjoying the game so far. Monster system has been satisfying, though I'm struggling to find level 3 biological upgrades. Had my first trouble spot where I had to go online to figure it out its about the Augusta Tower in case anyone gets stuck:



FWIW the Gold Saucer type place seems to be really awesome. Haven't spent much time in there but once I get a nice solid chocobo I'm gonna be doing the racing.

After all these positive reviews i think im going to give the game another chance. I played it for only two hours and shut it off after another pointless cut scene.

Well...you can skip all the cutscenes by pressing start and then select. To be honest, yeah there are quite a few its a JRPG afterall, there is a lot more roaming around than cutscenes in this than most JRPGs I've played since PS2 or so.

the FF 13 topic ****ing blossomed but this one has been stagnant. Heard a rumor that 500k copies were preordered in the US. not sure how many have been sold so far.

Reviews have actually been positive for the most part. impressive.



I heard how bad or unfufilling the ending is. ( dont know how it ends and dont want to know, just heard the ending is bad) and leave it to square to **** it up nowadays

Thinking of picking this up after enjoying the demo. Should I play the first one or is this one a big enough improvement that I could ignore it. Don't care too much about the story, just want fun and challenging gameplay.

Meh....I really liked the first one and if you want you can probably run through it completely without doing any of the Cieth quests and no grinding at all in about 35 hours? Its been about two years so I can't really remember how long, lol.

With that said, and you did note that you didn't care about the story, this one is better than the original in a number of ways. To keep it challenging though I'd keep the power gaming grind until late in the game as I'm finding that after grinding a bunch in certain areas I was taking down some bosses that should take 5-10 minutes in about 1-3 minutes with no issue.

Beaten the game. About 70 hours in. Gonna reserve any comments about the ending until I get the 100% completion and the "true" ending. I am having flashbacks to the FF13 though. Very minor spoiler imo but still:



FWIW I recommend the game to anyone that got even the slightest bit of enjoyed out of 13. This one is definitely better done and overall better quality and nowhere near as linear. Its story is not as good but I think everything else makes up for it. Monster system ends up being very rewarding especially after doing a couple of sidequests and getting some special monsters.

From Start to finish without any sidequests this game can definitely be done in about 30 hours. I think I hit the 58 hour mark when I beat it. And have put in a good 12 hours post story so far and probably have at least another 10 before I finish everything else. Lots of farming and paradox endings to do. Very interested in the special ending as well.

really? i beat it in about 19 hours and didnt do many sidequests but still feel like my characters were overpowered. does the game get any harder once you use the reset levels option(sorry forgot what it's called).

Well, Long Gui, Yomi, Raspatil(who really gave me hell), and the tonberries are pretty rough even at decently high levels. I'm near 100% completion. Have 160 fragments. Just need to do some of the last few trophies. Currently farming a ton of traps so I can get the 6atb weapon to try for the 99,999 damage trophy. I think I only have that and the 5 star final battle left(which will give me the paradox ending trophy as well).

Also there is a DLC where you can get Lightning. You have to fight her in the coliseum then afterwards she joins your party. She is supposed to be the top Ravager in the game. So theres that.

Just platinum'd it. Comments in spoilers.



Kind of surprised just how dead this topic is though.

Just got a Behemoth with late bloomer and infused it with my Dragoon. ****'s epic yo.

Also, spoiler for those who don't have guides