#please i just want to play ff13-2

[danaris112]

When will I have time to play video games

[todayimgonnaplay]

Today I'm gonna play: Final Fantasy XIII-2

This is my first post! I don't have a format on how I'm going to discuss games, so I'm just going to rant out whatever comes to mind I guess! I'm putting an apostrophe for terms exclusive to the game and will detail them at the end.

I've recently finished FF13, which...wasn't the most enjoyable FF I've played. Although its level design was linear, and the characters can be a little tropey, I had more issues with the lack of party customization that only gets unlocked later on in the game, and the general difficulty as well as its expensive economy, it had some very impressive art direction and music that still holds up to this day! I've jumped on to its sequel to see how it fares.

I'm currently on episode 4, and I've seen some nice improvements so far! The Paradigm Shift* system is a lot faster and responsive, and the game allows you to do Preemptive Strikes* which gives you an advantage with the Stagger Bar*, as well as grant Haste* temporarily which is a nice tactical advantage. Your additional party members now consist of up to 3 monsters you capture and equip, who each have their own paradigm class. Overall this makes the combat very fun and customizable!

The first game also constantly focused on combat. This time, I'm seeing puzzle segments, which are somewhat confusing, and some options to dress up monsters you catch. Not perfect systems, but it's nice to see some downtime. I do find the Mog Throw* funny though.

Levels this time are larger and non-linear, giving more replayability as well as a sense of exploration. This exploration is linked to the main story too, so it doesn't feel too much like a chore. I'd say it's somewhat of an improvement.

The graphics are still the same, but I'm enjoying one area in particular for its futuristic aesthetic, so it still has some nice artistic direction going on. I would say the character designs are a hit or miss compared to the first game. Serah's outfit in XIII-2 seems...odd despite looking more battle-ready. Her gloves and weapon are the only pluses, but it looks like they're more keen on showing more skin for some reason (with her having a swimsuit outfit too apparently). Noel on the other hand has a more appealing design! His head gives me Squall Leonhart vibes but with the hair grown a little.

I also like the characterization more than the first game. Noel is really smart and capable, and even shows a side of impatience so he's not perfect. Serah is also interesting as she journeys from being a girl that couldn't do anything to being a courageous heroine. The duo's dynamics are more pleasing to watch compared to where the first game had a larger cast that was constantly at odds with each other but awkwardly come together at some point.

The story is also easier to follow as there's not a lot of weird terminology anymore that doesn't explain itself. Even though it's about time travel, I haven't seen anything crazy yet.

One detail I really like is that it reminds you of previous events. Every time you get back into the game, it has a ''story so far'' segment that pops up before entering a world to catch you up to speed, and for those that have not played 13, there's a whole summary section available in the menu. This may be annoying for people who have been continuously playing the game (like me) and don't need to be reminded, but there are times where we drop a game because life happens, or another game catches our attention and we wander off to playing that. But having a reminder is a nice touch for a positive experience. Perhaps this feature could have a toggled off option in the settings.

One detail I dislike is the pacing of the extra dialogue that plays in the overworld. The first game paced this well, but this sequel seems to have longer dialogue that could potentially pressure you to stop and listen if you want to hear the extra details, otherwise interacting with anything else risks you from skipping them. Grand Theft Auto also has this issue, when you're driving during a story mission and you cannot hit the destination marker yet because the characters are still talking. The only solution I can see to amending this would be to allow the player to see/hear the next dialogue by pressing a button. NEO: The World Ends With You has (non-voiced) dialogue pop up in the overworld, which you can interact with to see the rest of it while still on the go.

Overall, I'm looking forward to what the rest of the game has in store! The music is as great, if not even better than the first! I have listened to some of the tracks long before getting on this game, but I've heard some new ones that are absolute bangers! 13 made me a fan of Masashi Hamauzu, but 13-2 is now making me a fan of Naoshi Mizuta too! I'm gonna put a link to my current favourite track.

Terms exclusive to the game: Paradigm shift - Strategic set of roles your characters can have which you can switch around during combat. Preemptive strike - Allows you to strike an enemy first to gain an advantage. Similar to Player Advantage/Ambush in the Persona/Shin Megami Tensei games. Stagger bar - A gauge the player fillswhen fighting (best by casting magic) which allows the enemy to be vulernable to more damage Haste - An effect (or spell) common in FF games that makes you act faster Mog Throw - An ability that allows you to throw Mog (Moogle, a creature in FF games) to inaccessible/far places and give you treasure in return

[secret-engima]

I know you probably had too many bastard LC AU OC, but I can't help but entertain with the idea of Lightning Farron as one of them. Light probably not interest of being royalty and just being her lone wolf self and do whatever she please. Then the knowledge of what the prophecy entail come up and when 'no.' Like this is someone who sister being turn into crystal and decide 'let fight god then'. Or maybe I just like the idea bahamut realize who Light is and just 'oh no, not her' XD

I don’t have near as many as I COULD so sure let’s open a slot for one more. Also-

Ohhhhhhh.

OOHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I am not particularly “Up” on anything FF13 since I never finished the first game let alone played the other two but like- I LOVE HER. I love her from what I’ve seen in Dissidia NT and what I know from the game before I quit playing.

ohhhhhhhhhhh. I need to think about this one.

Some initial thoughts-

-This is a world after … whatever went down in FF13-2 and FF13-3 which I’m fuzzy on the details but I know it led to the making of a new world and stuff so we’ll all pretend that world was Eos.

-Regis’s road trip Oops Bby. Born to Altissian mom, doesn’t know about her magic or remembers her past until an accident nearly killed her when she was …. let’s say 8. Her magic reacted to the danger and saved her (probably the incident was a fall and her magic reacted on instinct to do that lightning float thing Lightning can do in the beginning of the first game). After that, she passed out for about three days while all her memories loaded. Woke up and freaked out over having magic because, you know, LC magic looks A LOT like l’Cie magic and for a while she was super paranoid about being saddled with a Focus. But the world she’s woken up in is … not like her old one. Not really. There are similarities but not ENOUGH.

-Starts training because she’s not an idiot, magic wants to be used and if it isn’t it will react Badly™. That, and she knows the bedtime stories of this world, the only two lines with magic are LCs and Oracles and while she’s blond, she REALLY doesn’t think this is Oracle magic.

-Weskham finds her about a month into her training, catches her trying to figure out how to use tiny bursts of ice to cross a body of water and goes “Oh dear”. Takes her under his wing and finds her … worryingly mature and paranoid. Lightning’s mom is a “lady of the night” to use the more polite Alitissian term and isn’t really … a bad mom, but is busy a lot and tired a lot and doesn’t have time to spend on Lightning more than necessary. Considering Lightning is so self-sufficient, that means Lightning is on her own a lot of the time. It makes Weskham angry.

-Weskham contacts Regis. He HAS TO. It’s his duty and this child needs a proper guardian. Lightning just about runs away into the hills, but Weskham HAD warned her beforehand and Lightning knew that she … probably wouldn’t get very far if she tried to survive in the wilds as a “wayward LC”. She knows about the Empire, she can put pieces together. Especially since she’s physically EIGHT and it would be impossible to get around without a “guardian” of some kind.

-Of course, to make it a little easier on her (and funnier for him) Weskham doesn’t CALL Regis when he contacts him, no, Weskham packs his bags and carts Lightning all the way to Insomnia to meet her dad in person (Lightning does take time to say goodbye to her mother in person, her mother is … understanding and kind, but doesn’t fight it, Lightning isn’t sure how that makes her feel).

-Weskham takes her to Insomnia and because Lightning is only 8 rn that means Aulea is still alive and Gladiolus is just born (I think). On the way to Insomnia, Weskham stops in Hammerhead to say hi to Cid. Cid takes one really long look at the pasty blond 8 yr old at Weskham’s heels with piercing armiger blue eyes and sighs. Because there’s no way that kid is Weskham’s, but something is clearly going on and Cid isn’t stupid.

-Cid: “Reggie’s kid?”

-Weskham, smiling serenely: “I’m on my way to introduce them now. Care to come?”

-Lightning, watching the unholy gleam in Weskham’s eyes and the protective, righteous wrath blooming in Cid’s: “You did this on purpose.”

-Anyway yes much drama ensues and Regis needs to sit down with a tall glass of water. Lightning is unsympathetic (Lightning in all her deadpan eight year old glory: “It’s called protection, idiot. Maybe use it next time.” Regis *chokes and sputters that an eight year old KNOWS THAT*. Aulea *coos over the sarcastic snarky bby*). Weskham is enjoying this PROBABLY too much as Cid delivers a blistering lecture and Cor smothers his snickers in the background.

-Cor and Lightning get along like a house on fire. They are fellow Murder Children. Cor can feel it in his bones.

-Aulea doesn’t die in this au because Lightning is there and she doesn’t treat LC magic the same way other LCs do so if she wants to use a healing spell to fix Aulea post Noctis being born then SHE’S GOING TO FIX AULEA. This is the woman who threw hands with multiple so-called gods. Mere post-preganacy complications are no match for her sheer levels of Stubborn.

-Regis has a minor crisis when he realizes his daughter can basically use Oracle magic without being an Oracle.

-Queen Sylva probably comes to visit because WHAT. What is going on.

-Lighting, unimpressed: “Magic is will. I wanted to heal. It’s not that hard.”

-Is the most Doting Big Sister Ever to Noctis. Her bby sibling. HERS.

-When Lightning is 14 and Noctis is 4, Regis comes back from communing with the Crystal, shaken and near tears. Lightning eavesdrops on the adults and learns that her brother is the fabled Chosen King and will have to DIE for his cause (Focus, her mind hisses, this is a FOCUS JUST LIKE L’CIE HOW dArE baHAmUt-).

-Regis and Aulea and Cor and Clarus all have joint heart attacks when a guard rushes in to say the Princess just BROKE INTO the Crystal chamber and DISAPPEARED INTO THE CRYSTAL.

-Lighting, in the blue void of the Crystal, chasing a terrified Bahamut around with her sword and all her l’Cie powers of old because SHE was the one who helped rewrite the world and now Bahamut’s gone and done the very thing she sought to wipe out: “I DID NOT SUFFER A LIFETIME OF THIS NONSENSE AND NEARLY KILL MYSELF FELLING AN ENTIRE PANTHEON JUST SO YOU COULD BRING BACK FOCUSES AGAIN.”

-Bahamut, only Just Now realizing that the legendary Lightning has been reborn and he just GAVE A FOCUS of sorts to her BABY BROTHER: “I’M SORRY I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO. THE SCOURGE IS TOO GREAT FOR US TO CURE ALONE.”

-Lightning: “GET BACK HERE YOU SCALY LIZARD AND LET ME GUT YOU.”

-Ramuh in the background: *passes astral popcorn to Odin, who is very Pleased and Smug to see his former mistress still kicking butt and taking names* “Bet she gets him to finally listen to our alternate plan.”

-Odin: “Bet she comes up with an even better one and browbeats him into it.”

-Ramuh: “Deal.”

-Six hours of angry chasing, much groveling from Bahamut, and much PANIC™ from the adults who have no idea where Lightning went other than into the CRYSTAL SOMEHOW and Lightning reemerges looking irritated and smug at the same time.

-Regis: “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN???”

-Lightning, calmly putting away her sword: “Fighting the Draconian over the Prophecy.”

-Regis and Co, all having simultaneous heart attacks again: “YOU WHAT.”

-Lightning, unfazed: “Well he was being an idiot. And threatening my baby brother. So I fought him.”

-Cor, in the back, mentally: Is this what it felt like for the others when I ran off to fight Gilgamesh oh Regis I’m SO SORRY-.

-Lightning, misinterpreting the horrified looks on everyone’s faces: “Don’t worry, I won. He’s been demoted and Odin’s in charge of the Astrals now because he actually has some common sense. We’re working on an alternate plan. Noctis will be fine. I just need to go fight the Accursed now and fix him.”

-Regis, still having a heart attack: You what. They WHAT. BAHAMUT’S BEEN WHAT. YoU neEd tO WhaT-.

(pssst @oliverslewty any ideas on what to call this shiny new AU?)

[thegeminisage]

sorry but i have been thinking about this for ages and it’s time 2 get it off my chest

kind of wild to be a gamer & a lady & engaging in fandom in 2020 because in my social circles/life in general there is a HUUUGE disconnect (long post goes behind a cut)

growing up, Games Were Only For Boys. my first interactions with games in a sense where i was actually engaging with the story of them did not involve me at the controller, it involved me watching my brother play

in my late teens and early adulthood up til now, Fandom And Especially Fan Fiction Is For Women - obviously there are exceptions to this, but in this post i am speaking in a very broad, general, stereotyped sense

which is wild because when i began writing fanfiction (for video games, in 2003) there were a LOT of guys who also wrote fanfiction that usually just involved action/adventure plots and little to no romance and i think that stopped because the stigma of fanfiction is that it’s romance/erotica aimed towards the ladies

the Fandom That’s For Women is very very VERY focused on shipping, romance, and sex

games, especially story-heavy games, can often also be full of sex shoved in your face - but that’s sex aimed at men, not women - women in skimpy outfits, jiggly boob physics, etc

true irony is that nowadays in fandom if you DON’T write the slash or you ship m/f characters you’re more likely to get hate for being homophobic or whatever but in 2006 when i was writing fma and ff6 slash i got shit on ALL THE TIME for publishing “that gay shit” and while i’m well aware slash as it exists today existed also way before 2003-2006 i wasn’t in those spaces i was in video game spaces and They Were For Men

so if you’re not in the engaging in fandom in the Stereotypical Dude Way (no gays, only boobs & violence against women, fanfic is stupid) or the Stereotypical Lady Way (ship everyone with everyone, romance is the focus, obligatory sex scenes) you can like sometimes find this section of fandom (SOMETIMES) that’s like...all gen only gen 110% of the time ONLY wholesome content ONLY fluff canon romances get a pass but nothing else and it’s like you’d write your mom and dad, not like, Romantic, it’s innocent in an almost childlike way, because there is also the stereotype that games are Only For Children

which is fine but it’s like...a lil boring...sometimes...not that i don’t have my “gen and fluff ONLY” days/fandoms because we do get tired of pointless sex & romance - i also definitely have my “oh they are ALL fuckin” days/fandoms...experiences are fluid...

anyway much more women play games and engage in fandoms for games now & thats dope as hell but for me personally there’s still this weird disconnect of like...i want to enjoy fandom (maybe especially game fandom bc fandoms for games are almost always very small) in a way that’s adult and explores the depth of the stories available to us but i don’t want to do it in a “obligatory bikini-clad woman and blood & guts scene” way or a “obligatory sex scene & everybody’s shipped with everybody” way either so like......idk. i’m not wording this very well i don’t think

i guess i miss how game fandom was in the early/mid 00s...despite the sexism and homophobia and etc...obviously all that is bad

but i think it’s harder these days to find good solid adventure/action fics these days ESPECIALLY for video games 

bc 1. most men don’t typically write fanfiction anymore and they are less likely to write romance 2. there’s this unspoken pressure that if you ARE writing fanfiction they Gotta smooch (or do more than smooch) & if you don’t stick it in there your fic falls anywhere on a scale of “boring” to “problematic” - there’s a huge focus on romance especially between same-sex characters - and i think PART of it is because we staaaarving for seeing those sorts of relationships written BY women and queer people in proper mainstream media which is valid but also partly that it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy - everybody thinks fanfic is for romance so it continues to be about romance

i just want like a middle ground...is that too much to ask...especially in game fandoms...

ok for an example...ff13 is the WORST offender re: fandom stuff 

what little fic there is is like focused on shipping fang/vanille which i dont like bc i see her as fang’s lil sister or hope/lightning or hope/snow which is like ?!?!?! because he’s like 14 or hope/noel because they’re literally the only 2 dudes who are in their early 20s and romantically available even though they BARELY speak to one another...like half the appeal of 13 to me was the very limited romance and YEAH i love me some fang/lightning but where’s the gen?! there isn’t any because gen’s too boring!!! men would write gen but they don’t write fanfiction!!! (or there would be needless sexualizing of/violence against women. i’m not going to sit here and say i actively want to read stuff written by men more than i want to read stuff written by women when i know that’s usually how that goes lol) and when you do find gen it’s like...VERY wholesome and thats great sometimes i have written that tooth-rotting fluff but ff13 is a dark game that deals with dark stuff sometimes... you see what i mean?? 

anyway. drives me batty

and it’s wild too that the PEOPLE in my life who engage with fandom all distinctly fit into Guy Fandom or Girl Fandom or Gen Only Fandom...i rarely ever see crossovers...my brother is the first most of my friends from tumblr are the second and a lot of people i met thru undertale are the third...Girl Fandom does not engage in game fandom much, most of game fandom is Gen Only Fandom or Guy Fandom...but i want the lessened romance/sex of Gen Only and Guy Fandom, the adultness of Guy Fandom and Girl Fandom, and the “please stop objectifying and victimizing women” of Girl Fandom and Gen Only Fandom...HOW do i get this...i don’t...i can’t...Gen Only Fandom tends to stay so far away from heavier darker stuff too and i like my heavy shit...it’s a Problem...

again there are obvious exceptions to these generalizations...these are just personal observations...nobody send me mean anons...i just had to get that out there

this isn’t very well worded if you made it to the bottom thank you for indulging me

[jessjustplay]

I finished Final Fantasy XIII and it was EPIC!

November 12, 2022

Game: Final Fantasy XIII First Time/Replaying: First Time Game Time: 64.3 hours Console: PC/Steam Started: October 1, 2022 Finished: November 11, 2022

I finished the game yesterday and I wrote a lot about my ending stats & strategies in Update 1.13.

So for this finished post, I'm just going to give a few thoughts about the game.

In the fewest words possible: I absolutely loved it!

I actually owned the PS3 version of this game and I played it when it was first released. However, I was stuck in a mindset of only wanting to play games that had similar battle systems/vibes to Final Fantasy IX and X (turn-based and where you control all party members.)

I'm so glad I got rid of that mindset because this game was so much fun. I had recently finished Final Fantasy II, so jumping from 2 to 13 was a huge leap but in all the best ways.

I wished FF2 let us save more, and FF13 gives us plenty of save points. I wished FF2 had healed our status ailments, and FF13 did that PLUS MORE by healing our entire party back to full health. UMM, EXCUSE ME?? WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT???

The entire game was pure fun. Towards the end, it got more challenging, and therefore, more stressful, but it was STILL FUN, and because of that, it's honestly one of the best FF games in the series. I am 10000000% looking forward to replaying this!

A proper game review is coming, eventually! Please read Update 1.13 and my How To Beat Final Fantasy XIII Final Boss for more info on how I beat the game!

[miiraculeuxbelle]

ROLEPLAYING HISTORY.

the rules are simple! post ten characters you’d like to role play as, have role played as, & might bring back. then tag ten people to do the same (if you can’t think of ten characters, just write down however many you can & tag the same amount of people). aside from that, please repost instead of reblog!

CURRENTLY PLAYING:

Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug (Miraculous Ladybug)

Queen Elsa of Arendelle (Frozen)

Carmelita Montoya Fox (Sly Cooper)

Princess Elise the Third (Sonic 06)

Moana Waialiki (Moana)

 Anastasia Romanov (Anastasia)

WANT TO PLAY:

Giselle (Enchanted)

London Tipton (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody)

Retsuko (Sanrio’s Aggretsuko)

Constance/Melanie (Haunted Mansion/Phantom Manor)

Princess Auriana of Volta (Lolirock)

Ulala (Space Channel 5)

Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

Princess Allura (Voltron)

Lila/Volpina (Miraculous Ladybug)

Kairi (Kingdom Hearts)

Most Danganronpa characters (lol)

...and counting? there are also some I’d like to bring back.

HAVE PLAYED:

Stocking Anarchy (Panty & Stocking)

Melody (The Little Mermaid 2)

Aquata Triton (The Little Mermaid)

Jane Darling (Peter Pan 2)

Oerba dia Vanille (FF13)

Shahra the Ring Genie & Merlina the Wizard (Sonic storybook series)

Sora (Kingdom Hearts)

Star Butterfly (Star vs. the Forces of Evil)

Kiki (Kiki’s Delivery Service)

Amy Rose (Sonic Boom) (my very first rp blog!)

Hungary (Hetalia)

Self insert Rp 

Xion (Kingdom Hearts)

Starlight the hedgehog (Sonic OC)

HAVE PLAYED BUT DIDN’T LAST/WORK

Sharpay Evans (HSM)

Evie Grimhilde (Descendants)

Veronica Lodge (Riverdale)

Veronica (Heathers)

Michael Mell (Be More Chill musical)

Raquelle (Barbie)

Gamora (Marvel/Guardians of the Galaxy)

Abbey Bominable (Monster High)

Circus Baby (Five Nights at Freddy’s)

Brittnay Matthews (Most Popular Girls in School)

Alice Liddel (Alice in Wonderland)

Aisaka Taiga (Toradora!)

Nonon Jakuzure (Kill la Kill)

Rosalina (Super Mario Galaxy)

Juliet Starling (Lolipop Chainsaw)

Gratuity Tucci (Home)

Max Goof (Goofy Movie)

Haru (The Cat Returns)

tagged by: @bestofmayhem

tagging: @memoire, @lawain-dimensional-heroes, @snattched, @spiidcr, @purrfectcatalyst, @oroanillado, @isxhoolxdyxu, @the-silversaber, @peachypessa, (but steal all you like if I didn’t tag you :3)

[tearasshouse]

Attack on Backlog 2017 - No. 9 

Final Fantasy XV

Breakdown: PS4 version at 80ish hrs for the Platinum. Plenty of post-game content left undone; plenty of pre-timeskip content left untouched; figure I’ll go back to the game someday (ha ha, not likely) and be like, oh wow, this single-player MMO still has a lot of questing left for me to do, cool (but that won’t happen).

Final Fantasy 15 is a big, beautiful, incomplete, incoherent but ultimately fulfilling and worthwhile experience that won’t disappoint if you have realistic expectations. So, it’s kind of like being in a relationship! Hah. Speaking of relationships, like the ones depicted in this game, and also like my own with the FF series...

TL;DR time! So far I’ve gotten as far as: 

Sephiroth’s fight in FF7 where I parked my characters outside of the crater and went, Nah, putting a stop to that glorious (ly pathetic) summer where I spent my 13th or 14th birthday leveling up Materia or something. Whew. Somehow I just lost the nerve to continue despite grinding for hours upon hours. I didn’t even have KotR, so naturally I skipped Ruby Weapon and that just made defeating Sephiroth kind of... pointless?

disc 3 in FF9, but because I’d neglected and refused to learn Tetra Master up to that point, I pretty much hit a roadblock and could not progress. Thanks a lot! Thanks a fucking lot. I really liked this FF. The soft limits on class specialization, with the way weapons conferred different skills to different party members, but everyone could use pretty much anything, the soundtrack, the characters; a lot of it was great. Ditto about the story tho, wasn’t paying attention ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

fhe first 5 minutes of FFIV on the NDS.

almost 50 hours into Bravely Default, but put it down because the storybeats were just too inconsistently delivered, the grinding, though greatly alleviated with some QoL features, was still a huge grind, and something about the game just... never clicked.

taking a glancing look at copy of FFX/X-2 HD and putting the thing down because I have commitment issues.  

the first 15 minutes of FF Type-0 HD.

and whoa, before I forget, Steam says I have 13.2 hours in FF13. So there’s that. Great music though! Paradigm Shifting is cool in theory too, I guess. But this game is just awful. And now I want to go back and play it. Why do I do this?

All in all a very poor showing from me. FFXV was, comparatively speaking, way easier to dig in. “A Final Fantasy for fans and first-timers” they say. Well, I’m not sure if I fall into either of those camps. I guess I am a fan? Sorta? I couldn’t tell you about the lore, plot or characters of many of the games, but I do own one of these. And I used to listen non-stop to shitty low-bitrate .mp3s of Nobuo Uematsu’s soundtracks on my Walkman. And I had wallpapers of Rinoa and Yuna, and still own a really embarrassing FF8 wallscroll that was gifted to me?

So! As a casual fan then, I found this one... pretty good. I mean, there’s elements of every past Final Fantasy in its DNA. It feels like a Final Fantasy game, which is to say it feels like the ones which came after 12, which did the most to change up the ATB/turn based combat, and perhaps the composition/interaction of the characters, outside of maybe Tactics or 11. 

There’s so much to like here that I’m willing to forgive its shortcomings and missed potential, even if, by the end, the things it gets right is in equal measure to the things it misses the mark on or flat out lacks. It has so much charm and warmth that I’m willing to forgive Square’s misguided reach for critical mass market appeal what with its numerous marketing tie-ins and cross-promotions, or its divvying up of exposition to tie-in films and DLC. At least it gave us that ridiculous Cup Noodle quest line. At least it gave us that. I’m even willing to forgive Chapter 13, and I didn’t even play Verse 2.

I’ve not followed the game at all, so its understandable the ones who clamoured for something like Versus XIII would be a bit irked. All those amazing tech demos and trailers they’ve released over the years? I understand the pain, but ya’ll only have yourself to blame for buying into the pre-release footage. 

Yes, the Insomnia chapter was wholly underwhelming. Yes the pacing is weirdly rushed after you’ve hit Altissia onwards and becomes hyper linear. Yes Lestallum and Altissia are in general hilariously undercooked, non-interactive, tiny and I haven’t encountered something this disappointing since maybe hitting Markarth in Skyrim, where the magic of Skyrim’s first 50 hours really started to wear thin. We’ve truly hit a point where graphics tech has outpaced the ability and feasibility to render more organic, more reactive and believable AI simulation in towns and cities. Maybe all this increased fidelity strikes a dissonance with how we think worlds should be populated and behave? I don’t know. Witcher 3 looks incredible though, and perhaps that’s the game that shows you can have your cake and eat it too. Meaty, meaningful content that isn’t just throwaway Hunt quests, or helping some asshole with his car troubles for the umpteenth time. I’m of the opinion that all sidequests in RPGs devolve into kill or fetch quests, and the rare exception requires you to talk your way to success or solve some kind of puzzle and mechanically speaking there isn’t a whole lot you can do. So, that’s where good writing comes in. Fallout New Vegas, if I recall had fantastic writing in this regard. More recently NieR Automata had really rudimentary sidequests that were carried along with quirky written snippets that expanded upon the world. Then there’s the Witcher games and to a lesser extent the Yakuza series that construct entire stories around side content. Yes FFXV’s sidequests are... uniformly underwhelming. They’re all more or less MMO-like filler content for the sake of inflating the completion time and giving you some kind of incentive for exploring the world. And yes, Luna and Noct’s relationship is hilariously undercooked; she does her Aerith moment and it’s tits up from that point on. It’s a shame you can’t be with Iris though the game teases this; Aranea only shows up to do her thing and disappears; Cor straight up disappears; Gentiana does her thing and disappears, etc. People just disappear, for no apparent reason other than selling you DLC, or they didn’t know what to do with these characters because they are plot movers, nothing more. Sigh.

But you know what? It’s been awhile since I’ve played something like the first half of the game so yeah, sure, whatever. Throw on a podcast and go about overleveling past the main campaign. Go ahead and throw on that FF13 soundtrack and go pick up nutmeg (such a great soundtrack). 

Speaking of which, I loved the music. I might even call it majestic. I loved oddball world design of mashing what seems to be not-Southwestern & not-Pacific Northwestern USA with not-Venice, briefly not-Rivendell (Tenebrae?) & not-Tokyo. I loved playing grab ass with my boys after camping out in the mornings. I loved Ignis being the mom friend and the my headcanon where the guys store all their cooking and crafting ingredients in the same astral plane where Noctis keeps his weapons. I loved the photography feature and Prompto’s arc. I fucking loved fishing more than I thought would. I loved that there’d always be some kind of incidental dialogue when you’d go exploring or take up a quest. I loved that Bahamut had a creepy human face. I loved how dangerous and crappy the Reglia Type-F is to handle. I loved that Gladio would give Noct shit, even undeservedly at times. I loved that Regis and his crew went on a similar journey all those years ago. I loved that there’d be super high level mobs just chilling in the overworld and that level scaling isn’t a thing, but there would still be things that could one-shot you. I can appreciate a game that helps me with completing its campaign, even if it does so kind of forcibly, since open worlds tend to induce some kind of completion anxiety in me. Will you please go and fucking fight Ardyn already? 

About that fighting: I like it? I briefly tried Kingdom Hearts on 3DS and it was... It was not great. But I like the automation in this that allows for just enough player input where positioning and timing is more important than anything else. It’s not very strategic, and you don’t have much in the way of tactical forethought, but it looks cool! Props to Square’s animation team for blending all of it together into a somewhat coherent whole. It’s mostly flash, with just enough engagement to not be a entirely mindless affair. 

I think at the end of the day we all have some kind of preconception of what we wanted FFXV to be, and we were all left somewhat disappointed that it didn’t turn out to be that figment of our fancy. But it exists, its more than playable, there’s a lot to do and soak in and those post-credits scenes with Noct and the lads, and Noct and Luna with the photo you chose were enough to wash away the cynicism and disappointment. 

It feels like, with the completion of the Episode Ignis campaign and the successful rebirth of A Realm Reborn, Square might finally close the chapter on 13/Versus 13/15 and do things a bit better and more efficiently. Or maybe we’ll be subjected to a mobile hell and more games in 15′s mould, the latter of which wouldn’t be the worst thing? I keep saying it but I never follow through with going back to play the older mainline FF games. Now’s the time! Maybe.

[kazusakai]

I’m trying to forget temporarily through reblogging, but the ending of FF15 still gets to me.

No, scratch that. FF15 still gets to me. And I might need to take a break off from continuing watching the playlist just to take it all in and calm myself down.

The actual ending was shit, tbh. A very anti-climatic boss battle, and even Ifrit before was like a final boss battle than him. But the ‘ending chapter’ kills me. You have to pick one picture of The Chocobros before facing the end and they’re all pictures taken during the entire game.

The interactions of everyone was so good. The voice acting was pretty cool. (though Prompto please stop moaning and groaning every once in a while, I love you but it gets irritating) But the main scenario certainly is lacking.

Then again, this is a Final Fantasy game. The plot is so small but the lore is damn big that we, fans, have to fill in the gaps. Most of the time.

Still, with the announcement of several DLCs, it will be filled in by Square. Much like how they did with FF7, FF10, FF12 (that zodiac update) and FF13 by adding updates and ‘installments’ to the main scenario.

I miss the gameplay done in earlier installments (turn based gameplay) but I found myself enjoying the hack and slash thing they did. Reminds me of FF12, now that I mentioned it earlier, and FF Agito, except we are stuck with Noctis for the entire gameplay. (damn do i want to play as Prompto and have him shoot all the daemons. don’t come near them you squishy bastard)

I want to add more but I’m burned out from marathoning the game (I just watched an entire YouTube playlist of somebody playing it, 27 parts with 1 to 2 hours each video; playlist is 70+ since its 100% completion).

If somebody is reading this, then I thank you for taking your time in reading this rant of mine. I might be not going on the internet for quite some time. I need to take my emotions done by the game to me somewhere and the internet is not a safe place to throw it in.

[infinitus-amor]

welcome to our page ♡

hello there~ welcome to our final fantasy xv (aka hell) blog ♡

here’s a little about myself: my name is zamary, but you guys can call me admin regina ♛ i am twenty years old, and i reside in the east coast of the usa. i love writing. i love imagining things and being able to write them down as i wish. the best feeling is when someone reads your work and enjoys it, and expresses their joy. this means i love reading what others write as well, because i enjoy all the creativity. i love art. i actually received a graphic arts degree during high school. i have not drawn in such a long time though so my skill went down, but i enjoy doodling and designing my ocs. ღ i love seeing my characters drawn by friends or other artists, and i just simply enjoy seeing art in general. after all: there is no earth without art ❀

how i ended up in the ffxv fandom: Out of all the final fantasy games, I have only played ff13 and ff13-2... And I never finished them either .-. I was really intrigued in it, but the fighting style was just not my thing. I’m used to fighting games such as mortal kombat and naruto, lolololol. Although ever since I saw the previews of this game (especially at work where we sell TVs as well, and the commercial kept re-running) I was intrigued again. Let’s just say that I do not regret getting into this game (*ゝω・)ﾉ

what this blog is for: i have multiple blogs but i just had to create one just for final fantasy 15. A place where I can reblog/post everything and anything related to ffxv like the ffxv trash i am lol. i love writing and this fandom has got my imagination fired up again. i will be writing headcanons (for all or one character), prompts, matchups, and probably random drabbles/rants when i am dying of feels. I’ll also probably upload doodles or actual art related to mm here and there as well. and yes. We will be taking requests on everything i just mentioned above!! *^*

when requests will be open: Requests of any kind will be open once we have the page set up and all that. Aside from that, requests will be open when i have nothing to do. When I have enough requests in, i will close them until further notice. Just keep an eye out for my posts regarding requests ^-^

where to send requests when open and rules: Requests will be requested in the ask box. there will be a few set of rules once i finish organizing everything so please be patient ;;

where to ask for anything else not related to requests: ask box!! just ask me whatever you want to know or whatever!! *^* i’ll answer! want to fan over the game?? cool! happy about something and just want to tell someone?? i’m all ears!! need help or advice?? i am listening~! anything! i am here for you :3

i think this is is for now. i’ll probably create a better faq page later but for now this will do! i hope you guys don’t regret following me, and i do hope you enjoy seeing my posts c: come be mystic messenger trash with me!!

animo,

admin regina  ♛

[tenebrianflower]

All of the muses I have had in my RP career!

I had this idea a few days ago, and while I didn’t put together the graphics as well as I wanted, But since I started rping in 2009, this is all of the muses I’ve written as, both off and on tumblr. feel free to post your own if you want!

Details under the cut!

Top image from Left to right:

Lakuria Lily Syaoran. My longest running and first OC. She is the reason I go by “Kuri”, even though I’ve long since dropped her. 

Saffron I dont actually remember much about her tbh. She was kinda like Lightning. I dont even remember what her last name was loool

Ashtoreth Renae Thea She was an FFXIII OC, L’cie from grant pulse. 

Dallas Also don’t remember his last name.... he had a sword lol I hardly played him. 

Kaidian again... lol He was a magician actually that was cool.

???? I dont actually remember her name and I didnt even remember her existance until I was looking at old art lol

Fiona Syaoran really random plot twist character I added really late in this rp I just... idk man

I don’t remember the twins names either tbh. The girl was a songstress.

Carnation The last OC I made for a forum. She had animal friends.

----

Serah Farron - Final Fantasy XIII ect. (She’s first, because I;ve played her for 5 years. So all the between muses came after lol)

Vanellope - Wreck it ralph. Short lived while I was still on forums.

Yuna Braska - FFX ^ same as Vanellope

Len Kagamine - Synchronocity Series. Also short lived because it was too obscure lol

Noel Kreiss - FF13-2 

Lightning - FF13 ect. Made it for a friend. was not good.

Freya-Claire Kreiss - OC SerahxNoel child. My first OC on tumblr!

Elsa - Frozen. Made it for a Jack Frost.. Also was very bad at Elsa

Dalia Kreiss - OC Noel Kreiss’s mom.

Anne Bonney - Assassin’s Creed 4

Aliyah & Katlynn Kreiss - OC SerahxNoel children, identical twins

Evie Frye - Assassins Creed Syndicate (if you wanna RP with her please tell me)

Lunafreya Nox Fleuret - FF15. Ayyyyeeee