[QUOTE="Khadaj32"]
Lot of talk about towns.
I haven't cared about towns since FFVI (III for NA). The steampunk atmosphere of Narshe, the ragged and occupied South Figaro, the shady atmosphere of Zozo. All of the towns had their own personalities, you really remembered them when you moved on with the story (and, in FFVI's case, revisited them in the second half where they had completely changed, which was awesome.)
FFVII, VIII, and IX's towns were fine and all, but forgettable. X's Luca was pretty awesome, but deceptively small, with nothing really to do except serve as a Blitzball hub (which didn't really matter as you could access Blitzball from most save spheres.) FFXII's world was massive, but if you notice, had very few actual towns, which I quite liked. The massive hubs of Bhujerba and Rabanastre were great, then there was the brief visit to Archadia, but that was really it, besides a few small and forgettable villages. Point is, towns have slowly been phased out as the series has matured. While I do hope that Square Enix will really revisit its routes and make an FF with IV, V, and VI's atmosphere, I welcome the phasing out of towns with open arms. They've been mostly used as rest spots anyways, and haven't really played a pivotal part of the story since the SNES days. Sure, you start in Midgar in VII, have to deal withDeling City and Estharin VIII, and revisit Lindblum many times in IX, they never felt like a part of the story as the SNES towns did. Same goes with X, you basically just pass through as you progress through your pilgrimage, and FFXII's few locations, while more relevant than the others, weren't exactly centered around the story. Though I really liked Bhujerba.
So I'm not too bothered by the omission of towns in FFXIII. I'm sure there are many NPC's to interact with in Cocoon, and that's good enough for me. I've never been the kind of guy to speak with every single NPC anyways. So I suppose it's just a personal preference, but I can't see how people justify condemning the game (not accusing anyone in this thread of doing that) just because of the lack of towns. Or the linearity, as FFX was one of the best in the series, yet was as linear as it gets. It's gonna be awesome, let's just bask in its awesomeness.
jrm180
I enjoyed FFXII so much! I really don't know what all the hatin' was all about. I put about 140 hours in over the span of 3 games. There were only a couple of things that I didn't like about the game. The license system just didn't work for me. And I also didn't enjoy the city of Archades (don't ask). But these two minor opinionated setbacks are far outweighed by what the game accomplished. The graphics are just amazing for a PS2 game. And it had Balthier.
Now back on topic. I really enjoyed the linearity of FFX, and I think this will really help FFXIII. FFX was the game that got me started in the series, and have since gone back and played FFVII, which I also enjoyed once I got past the outdated graphics. If a game is too open-world-oriented, I find it tough for the game to hook me initially. This occurred to me when I started playing Fallout 3. However, after giving the game another chance, it became my favorite game (soon to change after the release of this game!). Open-world is a bit of a double-edged sword: the game sacrifices depth for more options.
Just wanna be clear, I loved FFXII. The battle system, the license system, the side quests, everything. As such, it had a very open ended feel, inspired by MMO's. I'm happy they're taking a different direction with FFXIII, going back to a more character driven story based on emotional linearity. Such was FFX, and it was fantastic. And let's not all forget that it's Final Fantasy tradition to almost completely change everything from title to title. SE hasn't let me down yet when it comes to FF, I really don't see the need to question them because of a few questionable choices, like some are doing.
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