I think I've resolved my issue with #FinalFantasyXIII failing to launch! I guess I just needed to update my GPU driver. Not sure why that fixed it but I'm very happy about it.
It hasn't been easy, mainly due to technical difficulties beyond just FFXIII, but I've now been playing only #FinalFantasy games for the last 12 days (besides some Minecraft and Mario with my kids).
We finished Final Fantasy 12: Zodiac Age on Twitch last night, another game from the ALLYthology on the record. Next is Final Fantasy XIII and its brilliant OST (my favorite of all time in video games!)
I'm not one for "New Year's resolutions", but I am one for overly ambitious projects.
For 2023, Project365 is "One New Game Per Day".
Given that I have 634 unplayed games in my Steam account and {mumble} unredeemed bundle Steam keys, there's a reason my unplayed collection is tagged "Pile of Shame".
I'll pin this to my profile, and give a brief summary here each day (or x, if I miss x days due to work or stuff).
I'll play 15-30 minutes of (at least) one new game I've never played before (or played less than 15 minutes of). I'll give every game at least 15 minutes, even if I hate every minute of it.
I'm also open to suggestions; if you reply to this thread with a game, I'll schedule it, or tell you what I thought of it.
One of the things that's come up is that I have a bunch of games that I've played once, and not touched again.
March 19, 2024 - Day 444 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 479
Game: Final Fantasy XIII
Platform: Steam
Released: Oct 9, 2014
Installed: Jan 1, 2016
Unplayed: 3000d (8y2m18d)
Playtime: 19m
Final Fantasy XIII is third-person RPG set in a scifi/fantasy dystopia. I think.
I have an odd relationship with the Final Fantasy series. I did not come to it via console.
I came to it via World of Warcraft. Back in the day, when WoW was pretty much the only game in (my) town, I was part of a WoW guild with some workmates. Our east-coast guild merged with a west-coast guild that we raided with regularly, and we now kind of roam from game to game like a band of Ronin-nerds.
At some point, I got a free thirty days FF XIV game time card in a bundle, and decided to give FF XIV a go.
I didn't get it. It felt bizarre, a mash of things that didn't really seem to mesh., but I spent a month levelling a character before deciding not to subscribe. Then Square-Enix made it free to play to level 60. Unless you'd previously had a subscription (Allie wept).
I did end up playing again many years later, and it was this experience that I brought to Final Fantasy XIII.
FF XIV is a fairly typical third-person (MMO)RPG.
FF XIII... is not.
While it IS a third-person RPG, the battle mechanics are unlike anything I've experienced before. It uses an "auto-battle" system with no direct control of the character during fights.
The other thing that the Final Fantasy games have in common is... almost nothing.
While there are some games in the series that lead on from the previous game, it seems to be more of a "Part 2" than any direct continuity.
At least as far as I can work out.
Final Fantasy XIII is (at least I think... maybe?):