" @haggis:  Pedophilia is being attracted to pre-pubescent children. Vanille does not look like a little child. She acts more cutesy at the beginning of the game more than later in the game. Besides, even though her voice is cute it is also not that of a child. So everything you've said makes no sense. "

  @Ace829: With regards to not caring about the universe, I thought FFXIII was less concerned with a strong narrative thread than the main party's emotional reaction to the fairly basic "l'Cie" dilemma. It's a story really about the interpersonal dynamic within your group-not unlike Mass Effect 2, now that I think about it. I guess that's the benefit of being a sequel: the lore is already established. ME also has a lot of expository dialogue behind that "Investigate" tab, so there's more opportunity to learn if you're curious.
 
Anyway, yeah, I can definitely sympathize with your not caring about Cocoon. It's not the most impressive bit of world building I've ever seen, and while it's clear to me their goals were elsewhere, they still could have done more. I want to blame it on the lack of a supporting cast, but maybe it's the game's relentless forward momentum that makes the world so forgettable. Hopefully, Pulse will be more of a presence in the sequel.

" I am at the 23 hour mark, this game feels like a endurance test, it just gets harder and harder. But eventually it surely has to become the greatest game ever made right?   ...  ...Right? "

I am at the 23 hour mark, this game feels like a endurance test, it just gets harder and harder. But eventually it surely has to become the greatest game ever made right? 
 
...
 
...Right?

" @McGhee_the_Insomniac said:

"Vanille is cute and her voice works perfectly. The crazed hatred for her always seems strange to me."

Vanille is the chief reason why I can't bring myself to go back and play more. Her voice, her behavior ... it's like she was designed for Japanese pedophiles to drool over. I can't imagine why anyone would like her character. When I hit hour fifteen, it was her cutscenes that were the first I just absolutely had to skip. "

I just started playing it yesterday. I like it more than I thought I would, actually, I like everything about it... Except the characters. I haven't played a jrpg in a long-ass time, so I'm playing it for what it is, not what my nostalgic opinion of what a JRPG should be, I really don't give a shit if there aren't conventional towns. Of course, I'm only 5 hours deep, so we'll se how that changes.

Welcome to 7 months ago. I didn't make it past 4 hours. 

I didn't have any problem with the first twenty hours.  The story was moving along at a good pace.  Things were happening.  New abilities were becoming available as I progressed.  It's hardly the bland tutorial people claim it is.

" @Ace829: I also thought the story wasn't very gripping, but at the risk of spoiling the ending, it's basically a "hey, we're in a whole new world!" situation. So the sequel could springboard into literally anything, bringing in as much-or as little-baggage from the prequel as the writers see fit. I don't know if that's a point in its favor, though. We'll see. "

" I'm still gonna try it at some point "

" Yup,Sazh was the only reason I kept playing. "

Yup,Sazh was the only reason I kept playing.

"Vanille is cute and her voice works perfectly. The crazed hatred for her always seems strange to me."

The game is a paradox but I feel it gets a much rouger time than it deserves, it's weighed down by expectation of the franchise, but I guess that it partly it's own fault.

" One of the reasons why I haven't bothered to even give it a chance yet is the characters all look so fucking annoying to me, and with all the blogs/reviews/ect I've read from all directions isn't proving me wrong all that much. I mean any character in a game called 'Hope' makes me gag. Is that some another stylised JRPG character name or does it is literally supposed act as a sign for hope?  "

Everyone saying that the game gets better 20 hours in - how?  I beat Barthandelus, made my way through the shitty forced grinding tower of repetitive enemies, and the world opened up... into a barren, lifeless wasteland with nothing waiting for me but more random battles and some new annoying as hell and overpowered bosses?  Speaking as an actual masochist, that game does not become 'fun' when you hit pulse, it just shows you how much the towns, NPCs, and the trimming between the combat in the old games added.  Their absence is palpable.

Edit: And still, I say that the game is good, because the world they build would be fantastic if you got to see more of it.  Cocoon sounds like a genuinely interesting place, but all you do there is fight enemies- hell, it's all you do anywhere.  I sincerely hope that XIII-2 lets you visit the places that XIII forced you to read about to enjoy.

Actually when I got to the open area I lost interest. 
The story is not hard to follow at all. I don't know why so many people keep saying this. To put it simply. A "god" from pulse grabs the main characters and marks them, giving them a mission that is believed to be detrimental to Cacoon. If they do not complete this mission they will be turned into monsters. If they do they will be turned into crystal and supposedly gain eternal life. 
Lightning is an awesome main character. She not just another obnoxious young boy. 
Vanille is cute and her voice works perfectly. The crazed hatred for her always seems strange to me. 
If you're having trouble with Barthandelus that means you're not using the right paradigms and you're not switching them when you should. 
All of this to say that I just started replaying this game and I completely disagree with you. :)

One of the reasons why I haven't bothered to even give it a chance yet is the characters all look so fucking annoying to me, and with all the blogs/reviews/ect I've read from all directions isn't proving me wrong all that much. I mean any character in a game called 'Hope' makes me gag. Is that some another stylised JRPG character name or does it is literally supposed act as a sign for hope? 

You know what sucks? Being stuck with Kain in your group at the end of FFIV. Rosa should have taken out a restraining order on that treacherous bastard. Bring back Tellah! He woulda gone up to Zeromus and been all like, "To hell with you, you spoony bard!" and then cast Meteo and died... again. Or hell, Yang's wife shoulda come along. She hits things like a truck with her frying pan!

For a game that you have already played 20 hours of this will sound stupid, but you should give it more time if you saw things that you like.
 
The game is a paradox but I feel it gets a much rouger time than it deserves, it's weighed down by expectation of the franchise, but I guess that it partly it's own fault.
 
I can understand if you are finished with it now though, it's a commitment more so than most other games especially if you are unsure about it.
 
I really enjoyed but I didn't like it as much as XII and that was a game that split opinion to begin with.

I'm still gonna try it at some point

Here's how I describe this game from now on:
 
"God these first 20 hours suck, but it gets better when I get to that open area right?"
~gets to whatever that place is called~
"...well...this is better I guess, but I realize I hate this game now."
 
@Pinworm45 said:

" I love how people always refer to "the first 20 hours of this game". It's twenty fucking hours. TWENTY. HOURS. That's not a prologue or even an act 1, I don't give a shit how good the finale is or how long the game is. That's not worth it. I'd tolerate maybe an hour or two of a game being shit if I really, really think it can get better. But 20 hours? come on. I'm convinced that everyone saying it gets decent after that is just lying to themselves so they feel like their time wasn't wasted. That or get so used to the badness that it stops bothering them after 20 hours. "

" Insert opinionated one-liner here. "

20 hours is too much of a wait. I barely made it to 10.

God, there is nothing more aggravating than watching your party leader be cut down by an insta-kill. I definitely would've liked to be able to switch party leaders if my current leader died. Bosses in that game, after a certain point, stopped being fun. But I really enjoyed normal battles, so it's kind of opposite of most other RPGs for me. I think these are all things Square can address in a sequel, maybe.

I keep thinking about borrowing my friend's copy as I'd love to see what the combat system is all about (the one aspect I've heard non-stop good things about) but man, I just can't bring myself to start a game that's still presenting tutorial material and gameplay feature introductions 15-20 hours in.

I love how people always refer to "the first 20 hours of this game". It's twenty fucking hours. TWENTY. HOURS. That's not a prologue or even an act 1, I don't give a shit how good the finale is or how long the game is. That's not worth it. I'd tolerate maybe an hour or two of a game being shit if I really, really think it can get better. But 20 hours? come on. I'm convinced that everyone saying it gets decent after that is just lying to themselves so they feel like their time wasn't wasted. That or get so used to the badness that it stops bothering them after 20 hours.

" It sucks in general. "

Insert opinionated one-liner here.