FFXIII-2

[Scrav]

Still waiting for the Xbox demo to come out. I guess its coming out in the evening when they do their usual updates.

[Cyph]

I'm looking forward to it too, didn't mind FFXIII at all.

[Luketheman5]

Finished the demo
I'm not disappointed....but I'm not blown away either. Probably a stupid complaint because its an RPG but I'm not really a fan of the whole "find two lost capsules in these ruins" sidequests.

The graphics seem a little worse then FFXIII too but that's to be expected as its only one disc this time. The battle system is still awesome though.
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Now playing: Binary Domain
Now Replaying: Mass Effect 2

[admeister]

Yeah, the graphics seem to have taken a little hit, still a good looking game though. I think it's partly because the game's environments are a lot more open this time, the console has to render more at once.

I just finished the demo, it's a pretty substantial demo indeed. You get to do two (small) boss fights, capture and use some monsters in your party, check out one of the games puzzles, and make a choice about how you want to approach a fight. The battle system has been improved a little, you can now change your player character at any time during battle, which is great. Paradigms can be customised to target either groups or single enemies, and the Crystarium has been simplified and streamlined. You have a little more choice in how your character levels up too. I found myself really enjoying the demo, I can't wait to sink my teeth into the full game.
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"The first person to prove that cow's milk is drinkable was very, very thirsty." - Fact Sphere.

[ZeroX03]

Why do the graphics look worse. Goddammit....
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b+2,1 mindgames

[Luketheman5]

That's what you get when you want a more open world I suppose. Trade beauty for size.
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Now playing: Binary Domain
Now Replaying: Mass Effect 2

[Benza]

[Cro]

Does the demo give anything away about the story in XIII? I haven't finished it, but want to try this to see if I would want it and need to go on and finish the first.
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[fatpizza]

[Scrav]

As long as the content is engaging, I couldn't give a damn about a downgrade in graphics.

[admeister]

[byrnezy]

[Cro]

[Scrav]

Oh bugger, you need Xbox gold to get the demo on the 360 this week. Guess I'll have to wait another 6 and a bit days.

[bobboblaw]

Mighty Ape are selling UK imports of this for only $49.99 (plus $4.90 delivery), which is cheaper than Ozgameshop.

PS3
360

I was just going to wait until it dropped in price, but this is bloody cheap, and I surprisingly enjoyed the demo, seems they took a lot of the complaints on board.

EDIT: What are the ethics on cancelling an EB preorder, and keeping the Steelbook case? They gave me the case like 3-4 weeks ago, but fuck paying more than double the price.
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Steam: bobboblaw

[Cro]

Okay, so I just beat the boss in the demo, didn't really bother with the side missions.

Now I only got maybe 10-15 hours into XIII and that was approx 18 months ago. The battle system seems to be the same, with the paradigms, the addition of switching characters will probably be useful, although I didn't use it.
I would say I like the battle system, but can probably only play for an hour or so, it's hard to just sit there and grind with it for whatever reason.
I can't remember the level up system, and only discovered it right at the end of the demo.
The final battle was pretty good, enjoyed having to be ready for attacks to switch to sentinel and then unload some quick ravager attacks.
Not sure about QTEs, think they could get a bit annoying.
The gem collecting puzzle was pretty good.

Demo has kept me interested, it's probably a wait till its cheaper game.
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[topaz]

Demo impressions...

Pros:
* If you liked 13, chances are you'll like this too. They didn't change the formula that much, unlike 10 & 10-2.
* The battle system is still a lot of fun and require some strategy.
* Having monsters fighting alongside you was quite interesting, I can imagine this being a lot of fun in the full game.
* The two boss fights were great and SotC-esque.
* Graphics looked nice.

Cons:
* The characters you control still feel like they have no weight. Something just feels off when you're moving around the map.
* The puzzle sequence really broke up the flow of the game and not in a good way.
* The quasi-random battles.
* Ugh @ the QTEs. I purposely didn't complete some of them to see what was gonna happen, seems like they only affect the battle score.
* Voiceovers for NPCs got really annoying, not a fan.
* Cringe-worthy dialogue returns.
* WTF @ that Chocobo lady.
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[Luketheman5]

[admeister]

I did both of the demo side quests. One of the capsules is in a hidden chest (you have to use Mog's search ability to find and open it) and the other is inside the underground area, you just have to make sure you search everywhere. The Ci'eth is in the same place as the second capsule.
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"The first person to prove that cow's milk is drinkable was very, very thirsty." - Fact Sphere.

[Soap of Death]

The QTE's feel unnecessary. Knowing about them beforehand, I expected to see them in boss fights but they feel pointless for feral link attacks. Chocolina, the chocobo lady/vendor NPC has horrible dialogue and an equally annoying voice. I couldn't figure out how to view which attribute stats would increase as I level up in the crystarium. While aware of when I'd get a new ability, I didn't know if I'd get an increase to my HP, MP, STR or MAG.

As for the puzzle sequence, I didn't mind it. I actually felt it was a nice and brief change of pace. Overall, I think the demo did a good job of covering the basics of what to expect from the gameplay without spoiling anything.
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[OropherX]

the QTE is pathetic. If you're going to use QTE then it should be like Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 at least. During the demo you only had to press 1 button and had like 5 seconds to press it -_-
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[Stoneroth]

[Cro]

[admeister]

[Soap of Death]

My monsters did crap damage even with 250%+ synch. I would imagine that as they level up and get stronger, it'll be more worthwhile. Still, I'd even prefer a trigger pull, similar to what Lost Odyssey used to increase chances of a critical hit.
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