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[ca_jas]

It's out today! Has anyone else bought it? I actually got it at the midnight release and have been playing it quite a bit since then. Here's my first impression without spoiling anything, actually I don't think I've made much of a dent in the plot yet:

Love the game so far. The game is absolutely gorgeous, I just run around in awe of the scenery and looking at the detail in the characters themselves. Not only are the visuals amazing but I find the music to be especially awesome. Usually I am a little wary of a FF soundtrack without Nobuo Uematsu, but this one is definitely a treat to listen to. Several of the tracks have this weird vocal/piano synth sound that I completely love! Sets the mood completely.

I have noticed the game is quite linear in the beginning. I mean literally running in a straight line and just doing auto battle for the first few chapters. It has started branching off where I'm at now, so it's not as easy (I died about 4 times on one boss battle). But linear gameplay never bothered me anyways so I'm still having fun.

Oh which brings me to combat. Combat will probably piss off some people because the whole goal is speed, to kill fast and rack up points. I am used to the slow process of kicking back and plotting the strategy or trying to steal items for 10 minutes or so, but this game is like, knock em out or die fool. Eventually you gotta pay attention to 5+ different gauges to make sure everything isn't gonna fall apart and so far I can keep up with it. It's definitely fun when things get hectic.

Lastly, the story: I have no clue what is going on. Actually, I'm joking but in the beginning you're seriously dropped in a warzone and you have no idea what the heck is happening but you're just going with the flow. Throughout the plot developement though there's flashbacks here and there of the previous 13 days from when you started playing that reveal exactly what is going on. And I like so far what is happening.

Overall the game so far is intense! Whether it's the crazy visuals, the lush music, the fast combat, or the hectic plot, it's a lot of information to take in at once so I have to take breaks haha. I hope you guys can enjoy as much as I am!

*Oh and if you're wondering, there are achievements/trophies... a lot.
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"Beat your best time, and steal your shoes from you..."

http://ca-jas.deviantart.com/

[Aldric]

I also picked it up, but got it through amazon so I didn't star playing until after work

I've logged about 4 hours so far and I also like it. I agree that the combat is pretty fast paced, it might get better with more ATB bars (some attacks take more bars etc) so it might take more time to fill up and you have time to pick your attacks. However, early on playing hasted you barely have enough time to hit auto attack and pick your target before your bars fill!

It's also hella pretty. The voice acting of some character(s) (*ahem* Vanille *ahem*) leaves a lot to be desired, and it makes me wish the Japanese track had come with the game. Although I would want English for in game voices and Japanese for the cinematics, and that would almost assuredly not be an option. Maybe the voice will grow on me but I doubt it.
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Ben in real life

[ca_jas]

Yeah, the cool thing about the extended ATBs is you can let it fill up or use it partways, so it saves time if one guy have little health to kill him with one hit instead of filling the whole thing.

I actually thought it was coming with the Japanese track, in fact, it was one of the selling points for users to get the PS3 version instead because it had more room to include the japanese track. Oh well. I have to say that the dubbing is quite amazing to me, particularly Lightning and Sazh. Although Vanille has a stange voice (like a foggy British accent?), I really like it, maybe because it is so weird.

I think I'm around 15 hours in.
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"Beat your best time, and steal your shoes from you..."

http://ca-jas.deviantart.com/