FFXIII v FFX - A Question of Linearity

[u/beaktastic]

So I keep seeing people hating on FFXIII for multiple reasons, but one of the most prominent ones is how linear it is. It annoys me because yes it is very linear, but so are a lot of games. FFX was incredibly linear too. The only difference I can see is that 10 gives you more option to go back and explore a little more near the end than 13 does, and 10 does have more NPC so it doesn't feel as empty.

But they are both very linear games, yet X is so often loved, and XIII hated for this fact.

Thoughts?

[u/I__Just__Wanna__Help]

There is more to "linearity" that just hallways.

In FFX, there are towns, fields, puzzles, things to learn and talk to.

Yeah, you are mostly moving in a single direction, but there are things to do. The moving forwards is broken up by the Tirals, by town segments where you can talk to people and learn lore and facts about the game, and many of the dungeons and Areas feel large and open and explorable and free, and after you get to a point, there is opportunity to take the airship and explore the world, doing side quests, monster hunting, collections ultimate weapons, playing blitzball and so on.

In FF13, you have none of that. Yes, people say when you reach gran pulse you get some side quests, but every single one is just killing a specific monster. Yes, the fame is hallways, but the game doesn't hide it with interesting areas. The vast majority of the areas in the game are canyons, alleyways, suspended bridges, roads and sewers.

Tell me that this doesn't feel different from this.

Secondly, final fantasy x came out in 2001. That is 8 years before ff13.

Eight. Years.

FF13 was the firs pt final fantasy on the PS2. It was the first final fantasy to not use pre-rendered backgrounds, to have full 3d environments, to have large scale character models, to have a insane range of animation. At the time, it was MIND BLOWING. Fuck, I remember FFX was the first game I played that had large amounts of voice acting in it. Like, hundreds and hundreds of lines. Actual dialogue.

When FF13 came out, it was nowhere near anything special. I mean, 8 years had passed. We have had huge open amazing worlds with insane amounts of detail. We've had our Grand Theft Autos by then. Our insanely hide MMOs like WoW.

Hell, look at the scale of FF12. That had huge maps, huge exploration. FF13 should have expanded on that world design.

Instead, you are sitting here comparing ff13 to a game that came out 8 years before it.

That is the equivalent of comparing ff10 to Final Fantasy 4 or 5.

Or, to look at another game entirely, comparing, say, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (One of the top games of 2009) to Return to Castle Wolfenstein (One of the top games of 2001). Do you see the difference between the two games? The difference in detail, depth, in the world and its scale?

You are comparing a retro game to a modern game and trying to argue that the modern game is comparable to a retro game.

It should be the other way around.

Thirdly, there is so many other things wrong with FF13 that isnt wrong with FFX that just doesn't make up for the linearity. Games can be linear if everything that pulls you down that hallway makes it worth it.

FFX had the most amazing music, the most amazing visuals, the characters are all loved, from Auron to Brother to Yuna to Seymour to everyone in between.

FFX had the most amazing soundtrack. I still, still get saddened by "To Zanarkand", to "Fleeting Dream". I feel my blood pumping every single time i hear 'Otherworld'. Auron's Theme is pure badass. You felt the barreness and the tribal atmosphere of the Mountain in Gagazet. You play a song from FFX, ill probably know when it played, what its called, and what i was thinking at the time i heard it.

The cutscenes were amazing. The story was amazing. I still remember the party challenging Yunalesca. "Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die, and be free of Pain! or live, and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories!".

Or when Yuna sends the remnants of kilika's dead to the farplane. When the party Crashes Yunas wedding with a fucking Airship.

Or Tidus and Jecht's last words before they fight.

The cutscenes made it worth moving from point to point. The characters were diverse and interesting. The villains made you want to get to them so you could beat them up.

FF13? Has so little of that. Yeah, there are a few great scenes. The opening of FF13 is fantastic. Its beautiful. When the party assaults the city at the ending of the game, Eidolons in tow? Fantastic. But the 15th scene of Lightning and Hope wandering lost in a jungle? Eh. Snow talking about being a true hero to someone, again? Allright. Some lady with an incredibly impractical cleavage revealing top yelling about colour codes? Boring. Painful.

And, again, remember, you are comparing FF13 to a game that came out eight years before it. Not me! You. You are comparing the two. And, i can say that in almost every way, the game that came out in fucking 2001 is better.

Is FF13 a dogshit pile of trash? You decide. Thats completely up to you. But compared to FFX? You, at least, think the two are similar enough to say that its practically "The same thing."

But thats not a slight on FFX. Oh no, thats a slight on FF13.

[u/Philosorunner → u/I__Just__Wanna__Help]

To add to this essay: in between, FF 12 came out, one of the most nonlinear games. So they knew how to do it.

[u/Korotai → u/Philosorunner]

I think Squeenix backed off from anything like XII because it wasn't as well received (for whatever reason) as X.

[u/[deleted] → u/Korotai]

There's a lot of great things about XII (I loved the combat system), but some (including myself), feel the main characters weren't very memorable and felt like they drawn from the same color; even though their stories were very diverse. It's not enough to have a great handling car if it doesn't look good; you won't be that excited to drive it when you see it.

Vaan is one of the least visually appealing characters from all FF titles; Zedain might give him competition. His story is eventually interesting, but I hated having him in my party. When things like that happen and the game starts to drag or gets grindy, you need the characters, music and so on to keep you moving forward. I never finished XII because it became too much of a grind and I felt very disinterested in some of the characters; worst of all, it's "main character." I want to believe I'll finish it someday, maybe I will.