It's just not about the game anymore

[Cain Highwind]

Seems to me like you don't want to like it, and/or you are growing out of the series. You're older now and wouldn't have liked the old ones either, except you've hung onto the experience you had playing them when you were younger.

Yeah, that could be it. Recently turning 26 I think I'm going through some kind of early mid-life crisis or something. I'm just not the gamer I used to be and that makes me sad. If there's any good, non-critical reason I can't play XIII right now, is because I still have a whole TRUCKLOAD of games that I usually buy in quick limited sales and then never getting around to playing.

That's why you should look at it as Final (Non)Fantasy XIII; aka, strip it of all actual links to the series and look at it from another perspective. Is it a good game were it not a FF game? If you don't like it for what it is (as I believe you do), then you have a much solid reason; you don't like the game, period.

In either case, at least it is a much more solid reason than why I even refuse to consider shelling some of my bucks on the 360 version, let alone buy a brand new PS3 just for it. That means my earlier post was somehow a "devil's advocate" approach, since I have no intention of even considering it, but I still feel that not everybody has to agree with me on whether the game is good or not. It depends on whether they like the game for what it is, and not because it has the Final Fantasy label.

Hence, the reference to Dungeons & Dragons. 4th Edition is a good game. But to me, it's not the D&D I know, and I basically only know more about 3.5 than OD&D, AD&D 2nd Edition or D&D 4E. There are some aspects that I find bizarre to even link to the image I have cultivated of the series, but when I see it stripped of the title, it is a pretty exciting system.

To most of you people, the fact that you see the game and see a "this is not the Final Fantasy I know" may serve as a deterrent. It may help to see it as an independent-existing entity, and measure the worth of the game for what it is, not for what the label says. However, if you don't like the game itself, no matter of convincing will do, not even with solid facts.

But see, the thing is, it's NOT just a matter of "Oh this FF looks alien to me, and I don't want to play it." I'm just saying GAMEPLAY wise, it sounds very unappealing to me. It seems more people care about the story and characters (something that strikes me as something aimed at a Tween audience) FAR MORE than an enjoyable Gameplay experience. Not that that's the worst thing in the world or anything. It's just not my cup of tea.

But I secretly hope that by the time I do get my hands on the game I'll have a completely opposite experience than I did FFX (instead of all the hype and anticipation leading to disappointment, all the negativity and criticism will lead to fun and enjoyment)