XIII's Linear Design - Thoughts

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Harlequin

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So I was surfing the web in eager anticipation of the release of Final Fantasy XIII when I stumbled upon an article detailing the linear design of FF13.

Put simply, there'll be no cities, no towns, no villages, not even those tiny settlements that prop up from time to time.

Its also been reported that there'll be no World Map to trawl and a considerable limitation on side quests.

Being a dedicated, long time fan of the series I felt rather betrayed by this decision, especially since I feel these aspects played a crucial role in the identity of the series (Narshe, Midgar, Esther, Alexandria, Lindblum, Bhujerba, etc..).

I also miss traversing the world of other more illustrious installments which hasn't been a feature since FF9 and felt the side quests separated the dedicated from the casual player.

Naturally, I flinched in horror at this latest revelation.

I suppose only time will tell, but I feel FF is losing it's identity and Square are beginning to rest on their laurels.

Your thoughts?
 
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I read the same. Being a linear game does bother me because being a huge fan of 7, 11 and 12 all of which allowed sidetracking and going back, etc.

Thinking about it now makes me more upset. But Squareenix has always found a way to turn it around. Even though the game doesn't suggest any world map it may pick it up in other means. I'm happy that they are releasing 13 but I honestly believe it will be somewhat half assed, specially with the even more anticipated release of 14.

This being said its true that the game's linear design doesn't follow its history as a FF game, but it may deliver in other ways that we'll only discover once we play it. Like you said, we can only wait and see.
 
I don't like the decisions either. But I am trying to think positive that this will be a great game. I heard that the game loses it's linearity about half way through and the world opens up more. Open so much that you can even get lost in the terrain... we shall see. But I will definitely miss the towns and hate the fact that you can't talk to people you come across. I loved talking to "the locals" and hearing what they had to say to you, relevant or not. I also heard that game's producer said that this game is going to be "the end of an era." That statement makes me even more worried about FF XV and up. So I hope the series doesn't continue to go down from here.
 
I agree. Apparently though, as wehttamrd says, the game suddenly opens up about 30 hours in once you escape Cocoon, but 30 hours is still a depressingly long time to be following a largely restrictive path without much detour or distractions. It does worry me that the game doesn't have hardly any mini-games or side-quests, too, since those are usually fun to do once you've gotten bored of fighting. Up until about two weeks ago I was definitely going to buy FFXIII, but now, after reading a handful of scornful reviews, I'll probably just rent it instead.
 
FFX was extremely linear as well, but not to the extent of there being no towns.

And yes, from what I hear the gameplay opens up at about the halfway point. Then you have loads of side-quests, however, so i wouldn't say the side-quests are "limited". Whether or not the first half of the game will be enjoyable will basically be dependant on how good the story is for that half. After that you start grinding and such, so the story isn't QUITE as important.
 
I heard that the sidequests and mini games allows up to endless hours of play, allowing the game to basically go on forever.
 
CHIP said:
I agree. Apparently though, as wehttamrd says, the game suddenly opens up about 30 hours in once you escape Cocoon, but 30 hours is still a depressingly long time to be following a largely restrictive path without much detour or distractions. It does worry me that the game doesn't have hardly any mini-games or side-quests, too, since those are usually fun to do once you've gotten bored of fighting. Up until about two weeks ago I was definitely going to buy FFXIII, but now, after reading a handful of scornful reviews, I'll probably just rent it instead.
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Since my first post ive read a few more reviews, some still damning the linearity of the game, others easing my fears. Its not so much the linearity of the tasks and storytelling that gets to me, its the fact that ive heard u cant even change your party till 20+ hours in and similar constraints that have me dreading the experience (or lack of).

:rage:
 
I do not have a problem with the linear design that has been described by the reviews all over. I usually get so into the story in these games that I find myself ignoring all the side quests and optional things saving them to make the second play through of the game a more fun experience. So far most of the "negative" things found in reviews of the game thus far have been pluses in my book.
 
Well technically speaking, every FF game has been linear in some way shape or form, even right back at the beginning.

The difference with the older FF's is you were given the feel that it was not linear due to being presented with a world map, however for the most part you are restricted in the areas you can go and the places you can visit until much much later in each FF game.

The linear style of FFXIII does not actually suprise me one bit, as this is the way it has been seen FFX, however there is a big difference between being "sandbox" and being goal driven, hopefully FFXIII will be similar to FFX in the fact that it's more goal driven as sandbox can become very tiring very quickly.
 
FFXIII is considerably more "cinematic", and by that I mean it's scope is very limited, but allows a greater amount of detail and attention payed to the areas it does encompass. Look @ the detailed maps, lightning, cutscenes and game physics and I think the focus of Square Enix was specifically on creating a very visually stunning game.

Think about it like this, if the world were drastically expanded, the release probably would be delayed for a year or two, maybe even more, and the amount of detailed cutscenes and literal art (look @ the frozen waves and ambient lighting in Lake Bresha for instance) would have to be sacrificed to provide a wider scope. Not only that, but it would take away from the sense of urgency the story produces. Ultimately they'd have to work very hard to make sure Sidequests didn't bog the story down. Also, I don't think Cocoon would have many cities, based upon the game lore.

Honestly, I totally get where you guys are coming from, but I personally am too preoccupied with how visually stunning the game is to worry about hunting cactaurs or mining in an excavation camp :D

A hunt system or Gold Saucer would have been nice though :D
 
Final Fantasy 13 too linear?

Hey all! First post here.

So I'm a long time fan of the Final Fantasy series and it seems like every one I play gets better and better. I just picked up my copy of FF13 and I'm excited to really get rolling, as I'm only in chapter 2 at the moment. But, a lot of the reviews I've read say that FF13 is linear to a point that will disappoint long time fans of the series.

But my question is this...haven't some recent installments of the series been a bit linear themselves? Or at least, specifically, FF10? FF10 might actually be my favorite in the series, but it was definitely a linear experience, as it took quite a while before you could go back and reexplore areas from earlier in the game.

For those of you who are farther in FF13 than I am, do you have any thoughts on this? I don't mind being driven towards an ultimate conclusion to the story...as long as I can revisit my favorite places and do side quests after the fact. Is this an aspect of the game that's going to disappoint me?
 
Harlequin said:
Since my first post ive read a few more reviews, some still damning the linearity of the game, others easing my fears. Its not so much the linearity of the tasks and storytelling that gets to me, its the fact that ive heard u cant even change your party till 20+ hours in and similar constraints that have me dreading the experience (or lack of).

:rage:
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I just finished an FF9 playthrough for the first time in like 5 years a couple weeks ago. After my first playthrough, I listed it as my favorite, even higher than FFVII. Since that first playthrough, I've played FF10 3 or 4 times since then and had also done one super-huge full-on playthrough FF12 where I did absolutely everything possible (except get the f*cking Zodiac spear) and what I loved about those games was how you could always customize your party. During my most recent FF9 playthrough though, I remembered how you have almost no control over who is in your party for the vast majority of the game. I prefer to have total control over my characters, but I still love FF9. I'm hoping that in my first playthrough of FF13 I'll feel the same. I would rather be able to control who is in my party, but I do at least have one example of a game that I loved in which I had zero control of that. I think that's important to remember.
 
You'll be fine. The story kind of settles in around Chapter 11 and you'll be free to roam and do sidequests at your leisure by Chapter 12. There's 13 chapters, and after completing the game, you'll be able to go back and do sidequests. Most people who complain about the game just have a different idea of what a Final Fantasy game should be, but regardless of what they think, Final Fantasy XIII is a solid title and does the name justice. Have fun!
 
lionheartcs said:
You'll be fine. The story kind of settles in around Chapter 11 and you'll be free to roam and do sidequests at your leisure by Chapter 12. There's 13 chapters, and after completing the game, you'll be able to go back and do sidequests. Most people who complain about the game just have a different idea of what a Final Fantasy game should be, but regardless of what they think, Final Fantasy XIII is a solid title and does the name justice. Have fun!
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Well said.

FF has brought back some memorable people, items and creatures for legends sake; Cid, Behemoth, Ragnarok, etc. Thought these titles may not show in this one, I still think XIII will be a good one in its differences. I think we're all stuck in the epic FFs that square came out with and we are scared, or maybe biased to witness some change.

Good for SE and I think they did a good job with this one, and to the oncoming XIV
 
Apologies if this post may sound hypocrital to some. I have never played XIII, but I have read numerous reviews and have heard the opinions from some close friends of mine on the subject.

XIII is by far the most linear FF to date. And linearity sucks. I don't want to walk down a straight corridor or road for 30+ hours. You fight, then see a cinematic scene. Rinse and repeat. There is only one point in the game you gain any freedom whatsoever with side quests, and the side quests aren't very diverse either (more fighting). Heck, I've even heard the ability system of XIII is fairly linear.

Of course I have no doubt that XIII has a well developed story and characters. I also don't doubt the visuals are top notch. But these are aspects that every Final Fantasy has- a well told story, characters the player can connect with, awesome cinematic scenes, etc. But XIII appears to be lacking in its gameplay compared to the others, thus I'm disappointed.

Final Fantasies have been getting slightly more linear since the end of the PS1 era (lack of world map, for starters). Unfortunately, the level that XIII takes this to is inexcusable. I have higher hopes for Versus though. Hopefully its much better.
 
The reviews were right on about the game being linear. I don't know what the makers of FF XIII was trying to do with the linear theme. It doesn't work, if it was another SE game, it may have worked but not with the FF name.
 
bill114 said:
But XIII appears to be lacking in its gameplay compared to the others, thus I'm disappointed.
Hopefully its much better.
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If there's one thing about XIII that I will fight to the death to defend, it's its gameplay. I think the creators did a fantastic job with the battle system. They somehow managed to make it incredibly intuitive and difficult to master, even though there is an "Auto battle" option. Heck, I find myself using Auto Battle a lot because the battles are so intense that choosing all of my commands is simply too difficult. I'm extremely impressed with the battle system, and I think it surpasses that of past Final Fantasies. Voice acting is great for some characters (Snow, Fang, Sazh) and meh at best for others (Vanille, Hope) but it's still way better than XII and X. Graphics are simply too stunning for words. I cannot express how gorgeous the game is. The story, from what I've experienced thus far, is very well told. This is a solid Final Fantasy title. People just don't get that their idea of "What Final Fantasy should be" is way off. Final Fantasy is unique, each one tells a different story and lets you experience different things. So XIII is linear? Enjoy it for what it is, as I'm sure XV will be much different. Don't settle in on one idea of what makes a Final Fantasy great. It's their originality, their flair, and their epic stories and intense gameplay that make Final Fantasy stand out from the rest.
 
I love that they finally dropped all pretenses of 'role-playing' from the game. Let's face it. Final Fantasy has never been a role-playing game. The only thing you can actually 'control' is some utterly superfluous and has zero impact on the story line. The whole 'RP' of 'RPG' was a generous labeling and nothing more.

FINALLY! They made a FF without and delusions of player-control and just cut straight to the point -- interesting characters, a fascinating setting, and a complex, interesting plot.

Let me compare the predecessor to this newest game. In 12, most of what you do that requires multiple towns and a world map are busy-work quests. You have to traipse across the world about 50 times to find a hunt board, find the petitioner, level grind in some random spot for umptillion hours, then go find the mark and kill it, go back to the petitioner and get you reward.

Now do that about 55 more times, and you get the general drift of what playin FF 12 is like. It's basically summed up here. And that's ONLY the marks. That doesn't include the espers -- which require a lot of level grinding and are a pain to find anyways -- or getting special items off the bazaar. Have you ever tried to get a halcyon gem from an entite before? MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. You waste another 80+ hours just running around killing monsters, moving 2 areas away and moving back and killing more monsters in the hope that one of them will puke up the item you desperately need that has only a 1.5% drop rate.

Yeah, I could actually use those hours in my life doing something that doesn't bore me to tears, thanks. :3

If FF13 streamlines all that crap and gives me a good story and a good show, then I'm happy. There comes a point where -- no matter how get-every-item/esper you are -- you simply stop enjoying mindless running around and decide it isn't worth it.
 
I've never minded the linearity in Final Fantasy X, and now having played Final Fantasy XIII for myself, the linearity really doesn't bother me. I didn't ever think that it would.

I haven't attempted any of the side-quests yet, but inside the guide it seems that there are lots of things to do. This seems to even it out a bit.

While I do greatly miss the world map; I still welcome the change to Final Fantasy. After all, if we kept all Final Fantasys the same, we'd get bored extremely quickly.
 
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