Getting a PS3 Thread

[Inbred Chocobo]

So I am aquiring a PS3. Its a slim, 250GB harddrive. I am getting the man's account with FF7, FF8, and a few other games. I am also getting Uncharted 2, so I should have a few things to play. I plan on getting Disgaea 3, and Demon Soul, but beside that I don't really know what I should get.

Truthfully, my tastes are wide, and vary greatly, the only games I shy away from are sports games (though a good racing game could be in order.) Basically NPF, I need to know what to get for the PS3, and what to shy away from.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Solid Snake asked the same thing a while back. Thread is here. (http://www.nuklearforums.com/showthread.php?t=37710)

Personally, I stand by what I said here. (http://www.nuklearforums.com/showpost.php?p=1032694&postcount=4)

[greed]

Well some PS3 games I've really enjoyed have been

Katamari Forever - It's a Katamari game with a lot of content, both new and HD versions of old levels.
inFamous or Prototype They're both good, inFamous is easier to get into and is probably better for just random fun, but Prototype gives you cooler abilities(it's harder to master them though) and a better storyline(though neither are that good really).
Valkyria Chronicles Fun unique SRPG/third person shooter hybrid. Beautiful to look at too.
Saints Row 2 - This game is just fun. It's everything that is good in crime sims, and is everything that made GTA3/VC and SA fun, with the elements that GTA4 threw out for some stupid reason turned up to 11. I have this for the 360 though, so don't know the quality of the port, haven't heard anything bad about the PS3 port though (PC version should be avoided like the plague however).


Stay the hell away from FFXIII, Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope (for the love of god stay away from Star Ocean 4) and Magna Carta 2 (think there is a PS3 version, not sure though, got it on the 360 and it is abysmal).

Also assuming it's possible you may want to look into creating a second PSN account tied to Europe, so you can download Vagrant Story, I heard it's not available in the old NTSC regions.

[Daimo Mac, The Blue Light of Hope]

inFamous
Assassin's Creed 2
Dragon Age
3D Dot Game Heroes

/edit: Sorry Greed but I think the story and characters are much better then Prototype. I loathed Alex Mercer

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

.
inFamous or Prototype They're both good, inFamous is easier to get into and is probably better for just random fun, but Prototype gives you cooler abilities(it's harder to master them though) and a better storyline(though neither are that good really).

Excuse me, what?? That's the first time I've ever seen someone say Prototypes story was better than anything. Protos story was crap/non-existant, and I think some of it was missing (how the hell did you end up meeting the dude on the phone anyway?)

InFamous had the better story, Proto had the better gameplay.

[bluestarultor]

Stay the hell away from FFXIII

I think that's a bit strong. It's a definite rent-before-you-buy, but there's a good game in there.


I'm just going to throw down the ones I always do with the requisite warnings and recommendations:


Folklore: If you can find it, it'll be dirt cheap at this point. Rent before you buy, though. It's not for everyone.
Flower: Yes, I know, but it's still worth a mention. Worth the price, at least.
Mega Man 9/10: I can vouch for 9. It's good. 10 I have not done anything but the demo, as I went on to other things, but it should be just as good.
Resi 5: Good, but short. Unless you're going to unlock everything, just rent.
FF9: If you're getting 7 and 8, may as well get 9. None of them have aged well, but they're still worth the price.
Assassin's Creed 2: Like AC1, only with 99% of the problems fixed.
White Knight Chronicles: I don't get the hate for it. It's not bad so much as mostly standard. The day Level 5 actually does bad the world will probably collapse in on itself.
Little Big Planet 2: I know it's not out yet, but you may as well wait on it instead of buying LBP1 and then getting a $60 upgrade.

[greed]

Re: Prototype vs inFamous

Well okay, what story was there was mostly hidden in sidequests, which I don't mind, not for everyone though. Eh there's not much difference really, neither have anything that great or memorable.

I think that's a bit strong. It's a definite rent-before-you-buy, but there's a good game in there.

Honestly it's not strong enough, I'd advocate burning copies in the store, but that's likely to get him in trouble, because holy shit was that game utterly mediocre and boring on every level (and I did beat it, so don't say "it gets better" cause it doesn't. It is pure distilled disappointment in digital form).


Also definitely rent RE5 if you don't have easy access to it's co-op mode, it's AI infuriates a lot of people. Others are totally fine with it though, so it seems to either be a personality thing or some people are just liked by the AI.

[Daimo Mac, The Blue Light of Hope]

InFamous had the better story, Proto had the better gameplay.

I preferred the electric powers from inFamous then the whatever powers you had Prototype.

Plus I liked the Karma meter and the comic style movie clips in game.

[Kim]

Mega Man 9/10: I can vouch for 9. It's good. 10 I have not done anything but the demo, as I went on to other things, but it should be just as good.

10 is good, and is certainly more challenging, but I have more complaints about it than I do 9. Levels are too long, in my opinion, would be one such complaint.

Resi 5: Good, but short. Unless you're going to unlock everything, just rent.

Only check out if you have someone to play it with. Playing it with the AI makes it frustrating as hell.

[bluestarultor]

Personally, I'd recommend Prototype over inFamous. Just because inFamous had a more coherent story doesn't actually make it a good one. Regardless of which path you choose, you deal with relatively equal amounts of utter bullshit from the people who matter, and with the people who don't, it's just a choice between whether they call you an asshole and throw rocks at you or call you an asshole because you're not catering to their every whim fast enough.

Also, bad karma is ridiculously hard to earn, so the devs both knew which route people would want to take and made all the stuff for it better, but also decided to make you work for it just to thumb their noses at you.



Prototype's story is one that you spend the entire course of the game piecing together, but the play is more varied and the twist ending is actually one you probably won't see coming, and even if you do, it's better than most twists. People also are a lot more straightforward with you for the most part, so you're not constantly getting stabbed in the back by your "best friend" or dealing with drama with your ex that would make a daytime soap opera shrivel in impotence. As terrible as it sounds, the game is actually better off in terms of plot frustration because you're almost totally alone.

[Daimo Mac, The Blue Light of Hope]

Also, bad karma is ridiculously hard to earn, so the devs both knew which route people would want to take and made all the stuff for it better, but also decided to make you work for it just to thumb their noses at you.


How is Bad Karma hard to get? You hurt people, do the evil things (horde food let people die etc etc) Bio Leech people, buy negative upgrades. I found it equal to get both good and bad.

Prototype I would call it a wannabe. I would sooner take the Trope-ridden "soap opera" storyline over the sociopathic, boring story that was Prototype. I mean seriously, everything felt like a jumbled mess.

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Oh don't get me wrong guys, I liked both games, I just found Protos plot to be nearly unbearable and instantly forgettable. None of the characters were interesting, or had anything resembling personalities and most of the backstory came from absorbing random people on the street, which while interesting, still left you with no kind of connection to the characters, seeing as you neither knew or cared about the people you had just absorbed.

Fortunately the gameplay made up for the rest of the game and was enought to keep me playing.

InFamous on the other hand, had a good selection of powers AND a good story which made it more fun to play through. With inFamous I actually wanted to play till the end and find out how everything turned out. With Proto I was just playing because I could murder this shit out of millions of people in interesting ways.


Personally, I'd recommend Prototype over inFamous. Just because inFamous had a more coherent story doesn't actually make it a good one. Regardless of which path you choose, you deal with relatively equal amounts of utter bullshit from the people who matter, and with the people who don't, it's just a choice between whether they call you an asshole and throw rocks at you or call you an asshole because you're not catering to their every whim fast enough.

Actually they either throw rocks at you and call you an asshole, or they all stand around gawping at your magnificence while taking photos and NOT throwing rocks at you. So erm, no, there's no bullshit there really.

an karma is ridiculously hard to earn, so the devs both knew which route people would want to take and made all the stuff for it better, but also decided to make you work for it just to thumb their noses at you.

No, it isn't.



rototype's story is one that you spend the entire course of the game piecing together, but the play is more varied and the twist ending is actually one you probably won't see coming, and even if you do, it's better than most twists. People also are a lot more straightforward with you for the most part, so you're not constantly getting stabbed in the back by your "best friend" or dealing with drama with your ex that would make a daytime soap opera shrivel in impotence. As terrible as it sounds, the game is actually better off in terms of plot frustration because you're almost totally alone.

Thing is, by the time the twist came, I just didn't care. At all. Also, your ex DOES stab you in the back, so I guess that kills 2 birds with one stone there. But even when that happened I still didn't care, I was just thinking to myself, "Wait, what? Why the hell, that doesn't even.. ah fuck it, I'm just gona go shoulder drop that tank."

[Nikose Tyris]

I have to agree with Mac. Prototype and inFamous, played through on both of them, multiple times and Prototype didn't feel replayable to me. I got sick of it before beating it, and I'm a sidequest whore. I beat it anyway, and beat it again a couple times, trying new things later.

The story in both games was pretty predictable, but for a 'superhero'/'supervillian'/'superpower' game I think inFamous not only sold it better but made a main character that wasn't fucking awful all the time. (Actually one of the few 'accidental superhero' stories where he doesn't CONSTANTLY REGRET getting superpowers. Mercer was just a whiny bitch. "I don't want to kill anyone!" *CARVE CARVE* "WHYYYYY")

Also, Prototype was much more buggy. I got console crashes, and had a lot of issues with just failure for enemies to register being hit, or register getting killed.

Infamous had it's issues but I never saw "Oh this guy isn't being hit anymore for some reason and is now invulnerable", unless he was stuck clipped to an object and then he was just frozen in space-time. (I have some cute screenshots from this.)

Basically inFamous is a great game and it's surprisingly easy to put the game down, walk away and do other things, come back and unpause and just pick right back up where you were.

Even two months after having last played, I picked it up today, threw it in, and had no idea where I was in the story, and the story just picked me up and put me back in track.



Also I really want Red Dead Redemption and Transformers War for Cybertron, I've just seen nothing but good reviews for those and I'm desperate to try them, so they come with an internet money back garuntee.


Edit: also agreeing with Hawk. There were some fun moments of gameplay but I can only shoulderdrop a tank so many times before that gets boring.

Now, Thunderdropping a 12 car pileup and causing an explosion to kill a horde of enemies, some of which clip the cars in mid-air and get stuck infini-falling? That's magnificent. Especially walking up to the not-quite-dead infinifallers and taking each one out however you feel most comfortable. Sometimes melee, sometimes I sticky-grenade them, sometimes I summon lightning from the sky to obliterate everything around me.

It's fun!

[krogothwolf]

Infamous was awesome, and Karma was easy as hell to get. I was full evil or full good before the 3rd island part. You could pin people down as oppose to killing them and revive them as well pretty easy considering how many morons are just laying there dieing on the street.

Are you sure you actually played Infamous Blues? Or did you just stick with evil cause evil is awesome?

[The Artist Formerly Known as Hawk]

Also I really want Red Dead Redemption and Transformers War for Cybertron, I've just seen nothing but good reviews for those and I'm desperate to try them, so they come with an internet money back garuntee.


Oh yes, these too. I have been playing the hell out of WfC and loving it, although the multiplayer does get seriously laggy at times. When it doesn't lag though, it is brilliant and the campaign modes are also really awesome. This game is everything the films weren't.

On Red Dead, I played it breifly, story mode seems to be just GTA; Wild West and probably wouldn't interest me much personally, but the online stuff is really good. During the few hours I spent playing it I started off doing some gang hideout missions (basically go to location, slaughter npcs, earn xp for it), then teamed up with another player who I ran into randomly in the world, did some more missions with him, then we all (as in everyone else who was playing in this game who had previously been off doing their own things) all went and had a free for all shoot-out in one of the towns, which was fairly epic.

So yeah, fun game.

[Melfice]

Re: Blues' opinion on LBP(2).
I would just like to mention that anything you unlock in LBP carries over to LBP2, last I heard. So it pays to actually play the first one.

[bluestarultor]

To answer questions, yes, I played both of them. I'm not talking out my ass here, although I could have explained better.


See, my foray into evil in inFamous consisted of starting a new game, going around doing asshole things, and taking on evil missions. The only issue is that all of the red-marked missions, ostensibly the "evil" ones in opposition to the blue markers for good (such as "take out the cops" rather than the "help the cops" five feet away), gave me no evil karma. The only decision I made that actually mattered was the food one. I ended up dicking around for a while, but since none of the missions were actually having any effect, I eventually gave up rather than waste my time killing people. Maybe it was a bug, but if so, it's a pretty unforgivable one and really killed the experience for me.

On the "asshole" comment, I guess I should say it's less people call you an asshole and more that they get annoyingly needy. By the time I decided to try an evil file, I couldn't walk two steps without getting mobbed by people trying to drag me off to heal someone or incessantly wailing things like "WHY AREN'T YOU HELPING HIM!?" while I was in the middle of healing a bunch of people. Wait in line, here, I'll do it in like two seconds, geez! It just got annoying and intrusive after a while, and with all the named characters treating me like jerks (Voice of Reason demonizing me, Zeke running off in hopes of getting superpowers or making a name for himself or whatever else he does every ten minutes or so, drama with the little lady, and my handler being a bitch every time she needed surveillance devices fried), it felt like I'd taken the evil route anyway and had very little influence on the actual game past which coat of paint it was wearing.




I guess what I should say is that Prototype (which for reference I had no bug issues with) made it much easier to go around just destroying things, eating people, and doing whatever I wanted. The story is atrocious, but I was simply more entertained with breaking out the shield and bulldozing through innocent bystanders without worrying about what they thought of me. And while you do get stabbed in the back, I guess it's just part of what Hawk said where you don't care by that point, due in part to the fact that being alone is pretty much what you do, further in part because the threat of betrayal feels a lot more like a part of life in that game given your abilities and the danger you pose.




Basically, both are decent games. Not amazing, and if you have to choose only one, you could decide by coin toss, but I just found Prototype less frustrating.

[Krylo]

The problem with InFamous is that Karma is easy to get IF YOU DO ALL THE SIDEQUESTS. If you don't, you can still max evil very easily at one point in the story, but without doing sidequests you'll basically never get caught up until then.

Which, itself, wouldn't be an issue, except for the goddamn bug hunting sidequests. Does climbing around the side of a building for 15 minutes looking for tiny little flashing lights that are hidden all over sound like fun to you? No? Well how about doing it 10 times? How about needing to do it in order to have enough Karma to unlock the sidequests in the next area? (Though, admittedly, the evil sidequests weren't this terrible)

And all of THAT wouldn't be a problem, except all your best powers are tied to your karma.

I'll say what I always say when this comes up: InFamous > Prototype as per story, Prototype > InFamous as per gameplay.

That's not to say Prototype had a bad story, it was just poorly paced and had trouble keeping my interest. Most of it was also entirely optional, and even when you have all of it you're still not completely sure what the fuck happened. In the meantime, playing InFamous feels like you're playing a well written Comic Book. Even the art direction and style for the cut scenes drives this home. It's pretty great in all ways.

It's also not to say that InFamous's gameplay was bad. It was really fun, most of the time, but they made you take time outs to go and do completely goddamn shitty and repetitive side missions that were basically mandatory if you didn't want to completely suck ass. Meanwhile, Prototype gave you even more openess and awesomeness in your powers (which is pretty hard considering InFamous was pretty great here, too--but jump kicking helicopters), and its side missions were entirely 100% optional. Infact the first time I beat the game I didn't do a single one. However, when you DO get around to them, they are less repetitive than InFamous's (though still repetitive, having a limited number of types, that merely increase in difficulty/alter landscapes, etc.). This is mainly because while InFamous has you very slowly walking around behind a bunch of prisoners and occasionally zapping one every fifteen minutes, or searching for bugs on a building, Prototype has you murdering hordes of enemies as quickly as you can, or racing across rooftops, or jumping from exceedingly high places and trying to land just right.

Also, in Prototype you can shapeshift into an old lady and throw tanks at helicopters.

Both games are very good and worth getting in their own right. They also don't deserve to be compared, as that they aren't even really the same genre. Calling Prototype a superhero game is missing the entire point of superhero games, however as that you're a ridiculously powerful mutant freak in both games with open world gameplay, and they were released at about the same time, they are doomed to be compared.

It's unfair, though, because they are entirely different games with entirely different gameplay--in practice, with entirely different focuses (storytelling/making open world destruction fun), that both do what they set out to do very well and are going to appeal more to different people.

[Kim]

They also don't deserve to be compared

But then how would we get to feel smugly superior to everyone who liked that other game?

[bluestarultor]

But then how would we get to feel smugly superior to everyone who liked that other game?

Obviously by holding an art contest.

[mudah.swf]

Karma in Infamous seems to be more affected by what you DO in missions rather than what missions you take. You'd only get Evil karma in a mission if you actively kill random people and blow things up and use the bio leech move during a mission.

Anyway, Wipeout HD is one of the best racers on the system, make sure to grab the expansion pack with it. If you want a fighting game I suggest either Blazblue Continuum Shift, Super Street Fighter 4 or Tekken 6. All of those are good, they have players online and are worth your while if you're into fighters.

[Krylo]

Karma in Infamous seems to be more affected by what you DO in missions rather than what missions you take. You'd only get Evil karma in a mission if you actively kill random people and blow things up and use the bio leech move during a mission.

Side missions, Mud. Evil Side missions give Evil Karma. Good Side missions give good karma. They also have minimum entry karma, so you can't just skip the side missions you don't like unless you grind karma by killing/bioleeching innocents (or being very careful not to kill any enemies and use the shackles to hold them all down/heal all innocents).

[mudah.swf]

As an aside the evil powers in infamous are all worse than the good powers, except for the force lightning.

[Daimo Mac, The Blue Light of Hope]

As an aside the evil powers in infamous are all worse than the good powers, except for the force lightning.

That I can agree with. I mean hell, the lightning bolt attack (the basic one) recharges your battery meter and health with every enemy attack.

[Seil]

'M having a lot of fun with The Orange Box.

Oh, and something interesting I've learned about the PS3 headset. It doesn't have to be a PS3 headset per se, it just has to be Bluetooth. I got mine (http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/lg-bluetooth-headset-hbm-210/10125100.aspx?path=406568372c0ed3c676dda76dea7b91b een02) $20 or so cheaper because of that fact, and it works out great!

[Krylo]

Nah, the evil ones are better. Good ones give you more staying power, but good ones are things like "oh hey, my missiles home now" while evil ones are like "Oh hey, now I fire twenty missiles instead of one."

[mudah.swf]

Twenty missiles of which only 2 actually hit anything.

[Nikose Tyris]

Good guys get homing hammer bolts. I enjoyed blasting off a couple dozen into the air and emptying my meter, then zapping one guy and watching them all fall from space and obliterate him.

Actually I lost a lot of karma on civilians that way. It felt good.

[Krylo]

Twenty missiles of which only 2 actually hit anything.

Firstly: Yeah, if you can't aim, I guess. I never had a problem hitting people with the spread.

Secondly: The vast majority of enemies only needed to be hit by one or two.

Thirdly: The ones who needed to be hit by more were massive. Massive enough to hit them with nearly the entire volley. And you were putting out more fire power with your spread of rockets.

The good guy ones were better for good guys (less collateral damage), the bad guy ones were better for bad guys (just pepper the area with death and let god sort it out). Given the choice, I'd rather pepper an area with death.

[Daimo Mac, The Blue Light of Hope]

I think inFamous bests Prototype skillwise.

In Prototype, you can ninja kick a helicopter. In inFamous, you can create a lightning storm.

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

I think inFamous bests Prototype skillwise.

In Prototype, you can ninja kick a helicopter. In inFamous, you can create a lightning storm.

What, are we talking which character would win in a fight?
Cause Alex survives a nuclear explosion at the end, I don't think Cole can generate that much energy.

[Daimo Mac, The Blue Light of Hope]

What, are we talking which character would win in a fight?
Cause Alex survives a nuclear explosion at the end, I don't think Cole can generate that much energy.

No I am not talking about a Alex vs Cole fight. I am just saying that Alex "badass" factor is limited to ninja kicking a helicopter and doing a 10 story elbow drop. Or Cole who can summon a lightning storm at will and do a 10 story thunder drop.

[Ecks]

Okay, so just what the hell is wrong with Final Fantasy XIII? If it's some bullshit like They Changed It, Now It Sucks you guys can go blow a dolphin. I'm actually enjoying it.

Red Dead Redemption is wicked awesome. If you've ever wanted to do just about anything set in the old west... and have it not suck like other titles' attempts... pick that up.

I also (finally) picked up Metal Gear Solid 4. I'm just a few minutes into Act III, and I've gotta say, HOLY SHIT. We've got to take care to remember there ARE other games for PS3 other than the ones that came out in the last year or so.

On that note, I recently picked up Arkham Asylum. Holy fuck, Batman is officially the coolest DC hero evar. I came buckets when I heard The Animated Series' Kevin Conroy reprising his role as the Dark Knight... and Luke Skywalker being insane six ways to Sunday.

If only Brutal Legend were available for PS3... man oh man, is that game a metalhead's dream.

[mudah.swf]

I can't quite comprehend how anyone got past FFXIII's mindnumbingly dull beginning, but that's just me I suppose.

[Ravashak]

If only Brutal Legend were available for PS3... man oh man, is that game a metalhead's dream.It is available on the PS3.

And in addition to FFXIII, what's wrong with Star Ocean 4 (other than that it can get (a bit) grindy, especially if you want all battle trophies)? Just don't take the char designs seriously, even if the loli redeems herself by having Cerberus as a minion xP

[Nikose Tyris]

Brutal Legend is available for the PS3, Ecks.

[mudah.swf]

It is available on the PS3.

And in addition to FFXIII, what's wrong with Star Ocean 4 (other than that it can get (a bit) grindy, especially if you want all battle trophies)? Just don't take the char designs seriously, even if the loli redeems herself by having Cerberus as a minion xP

From what I gather from internet threads, what was wrong with the game was pretty much everything. Battle mechanics were shaky (at least on the 360 version), voice acting was godawful, characters were mostly unlikeable, dungeons were all far too long and the loli character attracted nothing but hate.

But don't take my word for it.

[Kim]

But don't take my word for it.

Take mine! (http://www.gamepad-dojo.com/?p=197)

And this was back when I was still nice.

Okay, so just what the hell is wrong with Final Fantasy XIII?Very little incentive to like the characters, except Sazh, and since we aren't attached to Serah, her death serves little to motivate us as players. Beyond that, the plot doesn't know where it's going very much of the time, and there is loads of filler. The combat is fantastic, but not being able to move the characters, as well as the inclusion of instant death spells, hurts it. The villain isn't any good, and the dialogue is atrocious.

And now you know... the rest of the story (http://www.gamepad-dojo.com/?p=987).

[bluestarultor]

Very little incentive to like the characters, except Sazh, and since we aren't attached to Serah, her death serves little to motivate us as players. Beyond that, the plot doesn't know where it's going very much of the time, and there is loads of filler. The combat is fantastic, but not being able to move the characters, as well as the inclusion of instant death spells, hurts it. The villain isn't any good, and the dialogue is atrocious.

The dialogue honestly isn't that bad. In fact, it's at worst pretty standard for the genre, and most of it is pretty well-acted. The biggest complaint is that Vanille sounds like she has a fake accent, especially earlier on, because they got an Australian to do an Australian trying to sound American, so in essence, she does, but not for the reasons you initially think. And even then, it progressively gets better up to a point where she mostly DOES sound American except for a few occasional twinges that tell you something is still off, just so that it's still there in time for the big reveal that she's *gasp* AUSTRALIAN!

Basically, if you can sit through it up to the point where the party splits, it'll be less painful, and when her half is in the limelight for the second time, it's up to the "occasional twinge" point.

The rest of the main cast don't suffer from the issue and, even if you hate the characters, are voiced well.



Not being able to move in combat isn't as painful as it could be since very few enemies have area attacks, at least in the beginning, and in general the ones that do are meant to be more difficult anyway. Instant death is a staple of the series and the genre in general, and there are ways to ward it off in most cases through equipment, although certain late-game boss spells ignore this.

The biggest annoyance of battle is probably that the player character is essential, because putting party survival on one member is not, has never been, and never will be a good idea unless you're intentionally doing it for a small escort section for the sole purpose of slowing the player down. If the management insists on the mechanic for some reason, there should at least be a spell or item that lets you continue the fight, like in Persona 3. Although on reflection, it's less of a hindrance than it could be since losing the battle just means you can choose to be plopped roughly ten seconds away from it and retry. Heck, if you're doing poorly, you can even retry the battle from the pause menu BEFORE you die.



That said, Nonsie's right about the story unfolding oddly. You start off literally in the thick of it with no clue what's going on and then learn about what's motivating everyone in flashbacks, which they were at least kind enough to reveal in order of importance to current events. It's true that Serah doesn't mean much to the player at the beginning and doesn't serve to motivate the player when she "dies" right at the start. On the other hand, the flashbacks with her in them quickly characterize her to the point it's safe to call her a main character, which gives her "death" more and more meaning as the game goes on and is closely entwined with the development of Lightning and Snow. She's kind of like Aeris to the extreme in a way, because even after she's gone, she's not out of the picture. The rest of the cast gets off to a rocky start, too. Your first impressions are basically what you see from them during a crisis, which, really, is not a good litmus test for who someone really is. In short order you learn that Snow and Lightning are pretty much what you see regardless, but the biggest shocker is Hope, which is a shame, because by the time you actually see him being relatively happy (relative being the key term here), it's pretty much too little, too late. His mother is actually a better character off the bat than he is and gets more development in her three initial minutes on screen than he does in the first two hours, and gets it before you even see Hope's face. Hope is easily the biggest train wreck of the production. You see that in normal situations, he's not a bad kid, fairly confident, and actually likable despite his issues, where for the lion's share of the game, he's borderline sociopathic, whiny, not very brave, and generally not very redeemable.

To bring this around, the story starts out wire thin and is built up through flashbacks between major gameplay sections that give you relevant info quickly. The characters start off mostly grating for various reasons and it takes a while to see them improve. Not the best model, but if you can sit through the beginning, it comes around.

[Krylo]

How about instead of rehashing the entire argument and derailing this thread we just link on over here (http://www.nuklearforums.com/showthread.php?t=36152&highlight=ffxiii) and anyone who wants to read both sides of it can do so, and this thread can go back to PS3 game recommendations or whatever?

[krogothwolf]

Metal Gear Solid 4! The greatest movie that pretends to be a game ever!

[Inbred Chocobo]

I guess it would help to mention that I already played FFXIII for the 360 as well. I enjoyed it greatly and would like to finish it, but I am distracted by shiny new PS3.

I was also wrong about the games I have on it, no uncharted 2, but this is what I have:

Metal Gear Solid 4 (I can't really get into this)
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (Okay this I like)
GTA4 (Yay!)
Eternal Sonata (Heard good and bad, and playing the first 5 minutes of cutscene assault threw me off. Heard it has good mechanics but really really easy)
Sega Genesis Collection (I was never a Genesis fan, and even though it has all the good Sonic games, I don't know if I'm going to keep it)
FEAR 2 (I bloody loved the first one, but I heard the series sucked balls after that, hadn't fired it up yet.)

[Karrrrrrrrrrrresche]

No I am not talking about a Alex vs Cole fight. I am just saying that Alex "badass" factor is limited to ninja kicking a helicopter and doing a 10 story elbow drop. Or Cole who can summon a lightning storm at will and do a 10 story thunder drop.

Ninja kicking a helicopter, latching onto it and hijacking it then crashing it into another helicopter then diving straight to the ground from the heights of the tallest skyscrapers directly onto a giant monster then changing the structure of his body to create swords, claws, stronger muscles to fight other monsters and the military all at once.



Then he picks up a car and runs down civilians with it.