THE only thing that can make FFXIII better is: (no spoilers)

[Che]

Nobuo.

Where the **** are you in my crucial moments? I needed you to be there to capture my heart in the scenes that were most pertinent, etc.

**** you, Leona. Where are you, :

[Dodie16]

There there, Che. At least he's doing the music for FF XIV! We have that to look forward to, so no worries. I do miss the traditional prelude theme and the victory fanfare though.

I'm pretty happy with the game overall though, so I don't really know what could make it better. Of course, I'm not finished yet, and my opinion could change, but for now I'm satisfied.

[Walter Sobchak]

Uematsu's work ranks alongside some of the best film and general composition of the last few decades. Whoever did XIII's soundtrack is awful. It is so horrendous. XII wasn't as notable, it seems, but neither compare to his body of work. Pay the man whatever he wants.

[Leksandar]

So I'm the only one who feels XIII's soundtrack is just as good as in any other Final Fantasy game? I mean, the battle theme practically has me jumping up and down, the boss tune is really intense and that sad, slow one that plays over some of the flashbacks is beautiful. And you people are aware of the fact that Hamauzu really was the one who did most of Final Fantasy X? No? Well. You do know now.

[Sean]

Nobuo.

Where the **** are you in my crucial moments? I needed you to be there to capture my heart in the scenes that were most pertinent, etc.

**** you, Leona. Where are you, :

Quick note: That song is by an independent remixer named Ailsean, not Black Mages. You can find that on ocremix.

Moving on, I'd agree, I do miss Nobuo in 13, and whoever has been doing the work on the FF series is kinda lacking, but... Lost Odyssey's soundtrack didn't hold a candle to previous works by Nobuo, I mean, I went into the game KNOWING it was Nobuo, and still nothing really grabbed me like, say, Phantom Forest, Terra's Theme, VII's boss theme, even some of X's music which wasn't even done by Nobuo. =\

[Zargabaath]

So I'm the only one who feels XIII's soundtrack is just as good as in any other Final Fantasy game?

I agree with you Leksandar; I've like the music in each main title in the Final Fantasy series as well.

Hamauzu and Sakimoto (FFXII) in their respective Final Fantasy games create music that goes along with the scene or area similiar to how it is done in filmography. Nobuo's songs are more catchy, standing out more than Hamauzu and Sakimoto; Nobuo's songs don't have that "movie nature" to them so that is why they are more easily remembered and liked.

[Andromeda]

I quite enjoyed the music for FFXIII. There are quite a few songs that I found myself really enjoying. I loved the Chocobo theme that they used in Nautilus as well the song that played in the forested area where you're controlling Vanille and Sazh is the only one with you. There is an area off the main area in Gran Pulse that has a Jazz like feel to it was quite fun to listen to as well. I don't think there has been this much variety and diversity in a FF game. Plus there is the battle theme, which I think it is also Lightning theme perhaps. Sazh theme I think is very Jazz like as well.

I just wish that like in FFX that they made all of the FMVs and music available to listen to. But I think FFX is the only game that did that. Which is really disappointing, because it was a really nice feature in the game.

[Zargabaath]

I just wish that like in FFX that they made all of the FMVs and music available to listen to. But I think FFX is the only game that did that. Which is really disappointing, because it was a really nice feature in the game.

I loved that feature as well in FFX and would like to see it again but it wouldn't make sense in any FF game outside of Spira since the music (somehow) and the FMV were captured in the "memory spheres" (?, whatever they were called). Now they could have had a feature in FFXII and FFXIII where once the player beats the game there is a "theater" - to view all cutscenes and FMV, like in Shadow Hearts: Covenant, and to listen to the music. Or they could have had the feature from the beginning and once the player experienced a cutscene or music it would be unlocked in the "theater".

[T.G. Oskar]

Hamauzu and Sakimoto (FFXII) in their respective Final Fantasy games create music that goes along with the scene or area similiar to how it is done in filmography. Nobuo's songs are more catchy, standing out more than Hamauzu and Sakimoto; Nobuo's songs don't have that "movie nature" to them so that is why they are more easily remembered and liked.

Actually, I find it bizarre that you press a claim such as "movie nature" if the whole concept of making a soundtrack for a game is, to an extent, to create suitable battle music to reflect the mood of the situation. In theory, all composers that make music for a game, movie or as background music accompaniment for a video should create a piece that has some relevance to the video in question. In practice, the opposite is also true; the composer creates a piece that effectively defines the mood or the feeling of the story. Say, how a musical piece becomes a piece of the entire puzzle that the video instead of a mere complement to it.

I wouldn't say Hamauzu's music is "movie-natured". I wouldn't compare his work to, say, John Williams or Danny Elfman; they are well-recognized composers, with well-remembered soundtrack music, and their compositions define a scene just as well as the scene itself; the setting and the actors' interpretation of the scene. I don't know about you, but I feel Hamauzu's work has the quality of Muzak; relaxing at times, somewhat fitting at others, but not exactly memorable all of the times. They are interesting pieces, but not something that you'll thoroughly enjoy when compared to other composers in other places.

Sakimoto is another matter. He, much like Iwata, are tied to tactical RPG composition and somehow, their appreciation of their music changes when the sub-genre of the game changes. The best explanation would be; listen to Sakimoto's music in FFT alongside with Iwata, listen to Sakimoto's music in FFXII and those songs transplanted to FFTA2. The entire appreciation toward Sakimoto's work changes almost entirely.

I could say Nobuo could do it well, but I would like other well-known composers to shine as well. I understand Hamauzu and Sakimoto were given their chances, but I feel others could make great interpretations of Final Fantasy music but aren't convinced to do so; for example, while Hamauzu did the main FFXIII score, Yoko Shimomura will do the Versus score. I feel she would do an interesting score were she given the chance. Another person whom I feel should be given the chance, if he wishes to accept, for a FF score would be Motoi Sakuraba. Heck, even Kenji Ito would be a great option; he knows the style of Uematsu well but has created strong compositions of his own; the main qualm is that few people listen to his compositions because he usually goes for the SaGa and Mana series.

I will be fair; I have never had a deep appreciation of Hamauzu's work, and I usually claim his work to be mediocre. This isn't just by listening to a few of FFXIII's songs; this is based on the songs he has done for other games such as SaGa Frontier II, Unlimited Saga and Final Fantasy X. I can't say I loathe him, since he does have great songs; when you have the time, listen to, say, various of the battle themes (Feldschlacht I-IV), or listen IN ORDER the combination of Nachtigall (basically a lullaby) - MiBgestalt (final boss theme part I) - Todesengel (final boss theme part II) for a better judgment of his work (this goes for anyone who desires to get a good grasp of his work). Even then, when I compare to interpretations of other composers, I find him lacking; call it conditioning or the like, but I find some of his compositions to be weak in comparison and when applied in scenes. I'd say Hamauzu's talent can be well measured on how he attempts to tackle Unlimited Saga.

[Che]

Quick note: That song is by an independent remixer named Ailsean, not Black Mages. You can find that on ocremix.

Yep, I realize that. Nobuo's original was great too, but this one was more FFXIII style if it were to be in the game.

A few of the songs from XIII are good. The battle theme, the happy theme (dunno what its called), the Archylte Steppe theme, Sunleth Waterscape, Snow's theme.

But Nobuo.... /cry!

[Ernest]

So I'm the only one who feels XIII's soundtrack is just as good as in any other Final Fantasy game? I mean, the battle theme practically has me jumping up and down, the boss tune is really intense and that sad, slow one that plays over some of the flashbacks is beautiful. And you people are aware of the fact that Hamauzu really was the one who did most of Final Fantasy X? No? Well. You do know now.

I'm with you buddy. I rank XIII's soundtrack above a handful of Nobuo Uematsu's scores. It's a pity some people are so closed-minded to anything that isn't Nobuo.

[Ralz]

2 things:

The first part of the game is a clusterf***. Could've given us a flashback or something to explain, but they wait until chapter 4-5 for that.

I find the constant swapping of party members to be disorienting, but fairly manageable. Still, I'm waiting for my chance to choose my party and leader. (The first part where you THINK you'll be able to swap members is such a tease... >_>)

Beyond that, I haven't found many flaws in the game. The music is great, I think. I love the battle theme, and as long as battles last in this game, I can enjoy the epic part every time.

[theblackmonster]

so far nothing could make this game better for me.


i think my favorite feature right now is the upgrade system.

[Heartless Angel]

Only thing I was really hoping I'd be able to do but can't, is setting different party members to different paradigms. Like, not only changing the classes of the members I have in battle, but being able to switch out the entire party for different guys with different jobs. But, I suppose that'd make it almost too easy...

[nickness89]

The one thing that would make this game better is uncapped experiencing, rather than being told "you can become this experienced in this chapter ... but that's all."

[IdiotWithHair]

The one thing that could've made this game better is a likable main protagonist. I understand that they were trying to bank off the success of Final Fantasy 7 and make a female clone of Cloud, but that idea was terrible. What saved Cloud was that he was not a **** constantly to everyone. Lightning, on the other hand, is a bitch to everyone. She gets better towards the end of the game, but then she doesn't do much at that point anyway; just kinda fades into the background.

Oh, and I thought the music was fairly boring. Liked the battle theme, Sunleth Waterscape, and... I think that might be it. And I haven't played Lost Odyssey, so I can't comment.

[Benthic]

I have seen some info that XIII-2 may have a choice of difficulty settings. That is something that may have made XIII a bit better, esp. after you get to Gran Pulse open areas. Maybe having a better rare drop rate with the higher difficulties. The battle might be harder, longer and your star rating would be average (3 stars), but the rewards would make it worthwhile to tough it out through these battles. And also this way you could fight YFM (your favorite monster) at a higher level and difficulty.

Just thought of something else that I have wished the game had especially during my second playthrough.

In the enemy intel section of the datalog. I would be kinda cool to keep a running tab of the number of each enemy that one has defeated so far.

I started playing Star Ocean The Last Hope and there is a section like that in its enemy data area. Its kinda cool to see how many of each type of monster one has killed so far in the game. Maybe even give you medals for X number of each monster killed. A bit of an incentive and reward for ginding especially after maxing out your crystarium.