Why would there be Items / Save Points in the game?

[Kuja Las Vegas]

Rumor has it that ITEMS might yet make it into the release version of the game. I am asking why? After playing FF12, I felt that ITEMS were a thing of the past, as are random encounters where you can't see the enemy coming, also a thing of the past.

In FF12, I hardly ever used ITEMS because you could just touch a Save Crystal and it would restore all your HP. The only ITEMS I ever used were Phoenix Downs because they were insta-fast, and maybe elixers and ethers during the final battle.

In fact, we may as well ask why in FF13 the game even needs SAVE POINTS any more? I regard those to be things of the past as well. Just have a save anywhere feature.

I see how there could be "battle-only" items, but still, why would those even be necessary? Just take a turn to cast Esuna/ga or Cure/a/ga/ja.

Reasons why FF13 has evolved beyond these RPG conventions of the past:
1. There is no MP or Mana system. Everything costs ATB time bars.
2. All HP and presumably status effects are restored after each battle.
3. Due to #2, we don't need TENTS to use at SAVE POINTS.
4. Due to #2, we don't need potions and the like outside of battle.

Due to the present information we have on the existing no MP and auto-heal after battle mechanisms, I conclude the following items are not needed in FF13:

• Any Potion or variant, including tonics, Hi-Potions, Mid-Potions, X-Potions or Mega-Potions, etc.
• Any Ether or variant, including tinctures, Hi-Ethers, Mid-Ethers, Full Ethers, etc.
• Any Elixer or variant, including elixers, mega-elixers, etc.
• Any Tents/Cottages/Sleeping Bags.
• MOST status restorative items (why MOST - see below)

As for status restoration in battle, the main question becomes what to do if you're silenced (if you're mute you cannot cast Esuana, so the traditional way to cure that was to use the Echo Screen item). Maybe the status effect known as silence or mute takes on new meaning in FF13, or is altered to some kind of "Tech Lock" like from Chrono Trigger.

But aside from the silence status effect which prevents spellcasting, most status effects will result in the player queuing Esuna. But I believe this game is perfect to include Pre-Esuna spells like Poisona and Blindna. Once you get Esuna, you can just use Esuna, but until you have Esuna, specific spells like Poisona or Blindna would be useful.

[Kitmitsu]

Rumor has it that ITEMS might yet make it into the release version of the game.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa....whoa.......whoa.......whoa.......this isn't my batman glass.

That has to be the most boring "rumor" I've ever heard. There will be items and there should be. As for save points, it should have them too. Play a game like The Last Remnant and you'll miss them. I constantly forget to save all the time because there aren't any save points. You get paranoid and save it constantly while you can remember as well. So for my sanity, Square, please add save points.

[doomed_soul89]

We don't know that all characters can use all kinds of magic, maybe you'll only have one or two support characters, who can cast ensuana and the rest can't, so if your separated from those characters or they were knocked out, or wouldn't last one round then you might need the items, also items are just faster in X-2 I used items all the time rather then using the alchemist skills because items took less then a sec, where the skill took like 10 seconds

as for save points, they could be used for things other then saving, like FFX did with blitz ball, so keep them in but with more then just save, also it would make it so you can't just save every battle, or screw up your file because you saved in a spot you can't get out of because your too weak

[Ordella]

And who would want to forget to save before an important event? And during battles, I'm sure you will need those items for those difficult enemies. I also had times where I forgot to save and where I thought I saved,but didn't. It irked me because battles in TLR had continuous enemies coming in as backup and it sucked doing the battles ALL OVER AGAIN. So yes,save points would be necessary.

[Falsate]

Most of the items listed will have it's use unless the character is sort of self-dependent. Good example would be Cure, that's a self-dependent technique that you can continue to keep using over and over! I think I'm probably going to like the Battle System than any other.

[Astrozombie]

I think Items being in the final release is confirmed, and it's a good thing too. Items do more than just heal.

As for the save anywhere idea, I'm not sure. I'd like to be able to save anywhere, but I liked the traditional idea too.

[Caelignis]

you might be right about the items, whats the need for them? In ffxii i rarely ever used them exept for ethers and remedies but if the next game doesn't need mp whats the point? As far as save points go, i don't see a reason for them to take it away, for as long as anyone has played the ff titles they know they need a save point, it's like second nature to save and taking that away would be ruining our cycle and force us to commite suicide. Personaly i think getting paranoid over saving is a sexy feeling that makes me cum a little so i need it, and if you say it doesn't then gtfo

[doomed_soul89]

you might be right about the items, whats the need for them? In ffxii i rarely ever used them exept for ethers and remedies but if the next game doesn't need mp whats the point? As far as save points go, i don't see a reason for them to take it away, for as long as anyone has played the ff titles they know they need a save point, it's like second nature to save and taking that away would be ruining our cycle and force us to commite suicide. Personaly i think getting paranoid over saving is a sexy feeling that makes me cum a little so i need it, and if you say it doesn't then gtfo

I think the main thing with items is it's faster, cuz curaga would probably take atleast 3 bars, where items would take 0-1

[Astrozombie]

Also, don't say items are useless because there were useless in FF12. Everything was useless in FF12, because it was a hugely flawed game.

As for other Final Fantasies, you frequently needed items.

[doomed_soul89]

Also, don't say items are useless because there were useless in FF12. Everything was useless in FF12, because it was a hugely flawed game.

As for other Final Fantasies, you frequently needed items.

that's true, the only things you used in XII is cure, buff spells, shades of black, attack and mist chains, and maybe, maybe 1000 needles

[Caelignis]

that's true, the only things you used in XII is cure, buff spells, shades of black, attack and mist chains, and maybe, maybe 1000 needles
did you play the game past like...10 hours?

[Plastic74]

did my question just get jacked? i remember posting about items and weapons.. oh well.. beat me to the punch. many of u ppl are comparing XIII with XII.. XIII might be completely different than XII. maybe you will need items. save points.. i say keep them.

[Falsate]

I'm not speaking about all items in general, I was making only one example which would be a Potion.

[doomed_soul89]

did you play the game past like...10 hours?

beat it, the game doesn't take much skill, and my characters leveled fast as hell cuz i jused used the double xp item for the active ones and the double liscense points for the inactive ones, you really don't need to use much of anything, I could probably beat it with just attacks and mist chains on a rush oh wait i forgot about steal, you used steal alot

[Caelignis]

beat it, the game doesn't take much skill, and my characters leveled fast as hell cuz i jused used the double xp item for the active ones and the double liscense points for the inactive ones, you really don't need to use much of anything, I could probably beat it with just attacks and mist chains on a rush oh wait i forgot about steal, you used steal alot
use mug rofl

[doomed_soul89]

use mug rofl

FFXII didn't have mug... did you play it like at all

[Caelignis]

FFXII didn't have mug... did you play it like at all
rofl i walked into that one... god i feel like a dumbass

[DrStein]

never used steal sept to get deathbringer early in the game ... also .. LEAVE SAVE POINTS IN n ITEMS aswell .... and that point on auto healing after each battle ... i recon thats gona FAIL somthign bad

[cheesepizza]

Yea auto heal after every battle... But it's not like every battle is like in XII.... fleeting lil things... if they keep coming at you or if they're tough as hell... you're gonna need items woo~~

O hell, save points and items are.... if you don't have them this isn't considered an FF... and having them in there doesn't actually kill the game =3=... and how do you suggest the game is saved for the night if there are no save points (I probably missed something in my brain so er)?

Besides, maybe the items don't require ATB cost :O Which means you don't have to wait for a whole damn bar or more to charge up to use restorative magics and what not... yadayada

O and for teh save point thing (again), seriously.... game like this is gonna have loads of hidden little things you probably have to do at a certain time in order ot unlock w/e.... erm what am I getting at... well SAVE POINTS OMG

EDIT: Didn't you have to steal like 50 times to get Vaan in the Pirate's Den? Though I don't know why getting those are useful.... ._. I just wanted to get everything and do everything you possibly could.. otherwise i consider a portion of my money wasted lol

[doeman]

hmm... all this arguing about having save points and not having save points... i thought the answer would've been easy ---> not having save points!

i guess i'm a bit different from everyone else. there might be a couple of save freaks in here like me (people who like to save constantly), but if there's one thing i hate doing, its running back to a save point or trying to find a new one, when i NEED to save.
take Bioshock or Fallout 3 for example. press start, select save, wait 2-3 seconds and walla! the game saves instantly at that exact place and point in time. personally, i think this way of saving games is superior than to having to run to a save point each and every time...

lets say you're playing an rpg, and you're in the middle of a dungeon right? you've been playing for 10 hours straight and you wanna get some sleep, but the last save point you saw was all the way at the beginning of the dungeon.. you'd have to run all the way back in order to save. but what if you're in a position where you can't go back to the previous save point? you are forced to progress through the game until you find one.
with the ability to save whenever you want, these problems are averted. all it does, is make it *that much easier* on the player, and i prefer it this way.

now... i don't hate save points, as long as they're not scarce. i'd rather the creators spam save points all over the place than worry about having to find one.
here's a quick example of why i wish menu saving was in every game.

- i'm about 25 hours into Tales of the Abyss right now, and one of the biggest problems i have with this game so far is that its VERY easy to run into a cutscene that will progress the story. if anyone here has played a tales game before, they'll know what i'm talking about.
lets say i walk into a town and i wanna explore it first right? BAM! i walk into the wrong part of town and a cutscene leads me out of it and i can't go back. wtf.
or lets say i'm in the middle of a dungeon and come to a fork in the road. one path leads to a cutscene and the other to a chest. "hmmm... i know if i choose the wrong road, there's i chance that i'll hit a cutscene and i probably won't be able to travel back and get whatever's in that chest... then i'll have to restart the damn game, re-travel to that area, and THEN take the correct path"

i can't even tell you how many times i've accidentally run into a cutscene in TotA. half of the time, the cutscenes screw me over and i end up restarting the game to check areas that i missed.

ok, i'm done rambling here. i think i've made my point. menu saving > save points

[DrStein]

nope save points needed ... how about make it like ff8 were anywere on the main map u can save but when ya in a town or other places u have to find the save point .. and serius if ya in a dungeon for like 10hrs and u cant find a save spot ... DONT GO IN THERE TILL U CAN DOIT IN 10 MINUTES xD

[Sanji]

WTF :wtf:

there'll be save points and items like in any FF game :wtf:

[ExodusVII]

Removing save points alleviates too much difficulty from a game. Not to mention how hard it is to balance a game when you can save at will. If you get into a horrible situation, get stuck and save, you may have to restart the game. No benefit to removing save points, from a playing or a developing standpoint.

As for items? lol wut... Have you ever played an RPG? Ever?

[Falsate]

I agree with you doeman, that's one thing that is unattractive for me is inefficiency to be a save point at the right time. That really bites that you walk into cut scenes and it messes up the whole exploration.

[Sabin]

Not using items in FFXII?? That's a load of bullcrap.

I know at least 3-4 story bosses that is next to unbeatable without items. The bomb boss in (Salika?) woods, the Elder Dragon and Demon Wall raped me when I was not using items. I guess you guys were overleveled or had some supertactics that no one else would ever think of.

EDIT:
The Last Remnant lets you save evertwhere and that was not an easy game. They also said that the final product would have a higher difficulty, making items more useful.

[Sanji]

lets say you're playing an rpg, and you're in the middle of a dungeon right? you've been playing for 10 hours straight and you wanna get some sleep, but the last save point you saw was all the way at the beginning of the dungeon.. you'd have to run all the way back in order to save. but what if you're in a position where you can't go back to the previous save point? you are forced to progress through the game until you find one.
with the ability to save whenever you want, these problems are averted. all it does, is make it *that much easier* on the player, and i prefer it this way.


In FFXII they've alwyas warned you when you couldn't go back to the save point and had to go on with the story, so you know it'll take you some time. If you don't, why even bother?

Instead, if you can't go back to the save point cuz your PGs are too weak then that's your fault, not the game's. Next time you'll use a different strategy, or level up more before exploring the dungeon.

[Falsate]

Generally I make sure I'm always 10-15 levels above the average level. Usually I like to unlock the High Tier abilities early in the game so I won't have a problem.

[Zeta_Stryker]

- Um, we're talkin' about major events. YOU do not want to start the major event again right? That's what the S.P's are there for

- You've heard of optional bosses right? You do not want to trek all through the dungeon just to find the special boss.

- Items are useful. Don't say "why do we need them".

*sighs* FFx13Fantatic, your topic that you made. It's complete B.S.

1 - You NEED items, in and out of battle
2- You NEED Save Points. Save Points are practically in every Final Fantasy (except Dissidia where you just save manually after a battle)
3 - You USE items when casting a curative spell isn't available to your character. Only ones that have casting abilities are those of the L'Cie's
4 - Save Points; you'll need it when you're about to go through an event scene, major boss battle or optional boss.

[CeruleanGriever]

i agree with Zeta_Stryker
Square hasn't announced if all the main characters you play with are all L'Cie
what if the ones they haven't introduced are Fal'Cie, that means they can't use any magic so they're gonna have to use items.

[Kuja Las Vegas]

i agree with Zeta_Stryker
Square hasn't announced if all the main characters you play with are all L'Cie
what if the ones they haven't introduced are Fal'Cie, that means they can't use any magic so they're gonna have to use items.

You mean L'Cie and regular human, right? Fal'Cie is like a machine demi-god thing (seen in the screenshots). L'Cie is a magic using human (Lightning and Snow), and a regular human (Sazh) I assume cannot use magic.

Anyhoo, to the posters above, I actually put 100 hours into FF12, and indeed I used items on occassion, but perhaps I'm missing the whole point when I attempt to compare FF12 to FF13. FF12 being more like an off-line MMO, it seemed items were secondary or not that useful (except for those bosses who outlaw the usage of magic and techs of course). In FF12 you could just run around, regain MP, cast Cure, and repeat. Or just touch a save crystal. I remember in oldschool FFs like FF7, when I was in the middle of a field or dungeon and really weak, I'd wind up going into the menu and using up a whole bunch of potions.

But FF13 will be far different, it is not like oldschool or even like FF12. There is no MP system, thus no need to use items outside of battle. That is why I question the need for items to be present in this game.

People, perhaps this should be considered as an analogy: why the hell are there INNS in FF10? Why would you pay GIL to sleep at an INN when you could touch the save sphere OUTSIDE the inn and restore all your HP? I'm glad they got rid of INNS in FF12.

Consider the existence of INNS in FF10. Redundant, unnecessary, and seldom used. That is the point I'm trying to drive home: ITEMS will be similarly redundant unless they're battle-only items. Forget the save points issue, I concede that to y'all, but consider items.

[DrStein]

LOL I BEAT ALL OF SABINS BOSSES WITH JUST ATTACKING :D and mayb healing a few times ... i hardly ever used items in FF12 but they were still usefull and i want them to stay in same as save spheres

[Zeta_Stryker]

Well, you were just overleveled lol. But regardless these items and S.P's will be in EVERY Final Fantasy game. Even in Versus XIII. It's inevitable FFx13Fanatic and you of all people should know this fact by now.

[DrStein]

lol i wasnt over levled well mayb as every new area id make sure id kill enough creatures to get all the info for em xD ... that and by around most of these i had high lvled weapons :P

[Lady~Vengeance]

no S.P. in FFXIII? That's like Thelma without Louise

it's not happening

[stalemate666]

Wouldn't items take little or no action points, that would make them useful, as for save points, there probably gonna keep a teleportation thing in, might be an access to a mini game like in 10, plus it reminds you to save, there probably be in it

[doeman]

first of all, "LoL". didn't think so many people would be so touchy about this subject. just in case some of you are misunderstanding me, having menu saving instead of save points, is something that i personally want in every game because it makes it easier on me in several ways. if you were to ask me, "do you think FF13 will have save points or not", i'd laugh in your face and say, "that's a stupid question. OF COURSE they're going to have save points."

nope save points needed ... how about make it like ff8 were anywere on the main map u can save but when ya in a town or other places u have to find the save point .. and serius if ya in a dungeon for like 10hrs and u cant find a save spot ... DONT GO IN THERE TILL U CAN DOIT IN 10 MINUTES xD sorry, i typed my example in a weird way. i didn't mean for it to sound like i was spending 10 hours in a dungeon, but 10 hours playing the game, and then when you're ready to save and quit, you'd have the rotten luck of being in the middle of a dungeon.
i've never played ff8, but tales of the abyss works the exact same way. the abilty to save anywhere on the world map is great, but..... will ff13 have a "world map" similar to TotA and FF8? or will it be like ff12? hmm...

Removing save points alleviates too much difficulty from a game. Not to mention how hard it is to balance a game when you can save at will. If you get into a horrible situation, get stuck and save, you may have to restart the game. No benefit to removing save points, from a playing or a developing standpoint.

As for items? lol wut... Have you ever played an RPG? Ever? YES! yes it does alleviate difficulty from the game, and that's why i like it ;-D. call me cheap and lazy, i don't care!
like i said before, i'm a save freak. in games like bioshock and fallout 3, i save almost everytime i enter a new room or area. believe it... i have hundreds of saves on one file. but have i ever saved at a point where i might "get stuck" or be in a "horrible situation" where i can't outrun death? sadly yes..
example: saving in the middle of a battle in bioshock (some games allow you to do this, some don't). lets say i have 1% health left and i just can't win the rest of the battle without getting hit again. IF i die, the game won't force me to restart from the beginning. it automatically loads up the last "Auto Save File". those are save files that save the game every time you enter a new area or do something significant (story wise?). they're never far off from where i am, so if i ever have to resort to relying on an auto save file, i don't mind it. shit, it's my fault for manually saving in a bad position in the first place right?
as long as games that support menu saving, also include an auto save feature, there's no need to worry about anything imo ;-D

In FFXII they've alwyas warned you when you couldn't go back to the save point and had to go on with the story, so you know it'll take you some time. If you don't, why even bother?

Instead, if you can't go back to the save point cuz your PGs are too weak then that's your fault, not the game's. Next time you'll use a different strategy, or level up more before exploring the dungeon. ff12 did NOT "warn" you every time before heading into an area where the story would progress. sometimes you'd have to actually walk into the area to find out if that's where your "supposed" to go in order to trigger a cutscene or something. and in any case, even if you did trigger a cutscene in ff12 and progress the story, most of the time you'd remain in that area and you'd be responsible for moving to the next location. if didn't visit a certain area before that cutscene, then you can go ahead a check it out afterwards. compare that to what i said about tales of the abyss. in that game, more than half of the time, the cutscenes progress the story to a whole new area and that makes it impossible for you to check out an area you missed... unless you reset the game and check it out before triggering the cutscene.

and you're misunderstanding my whole point about wanting "menu saving" over "save points". it's not that "my characters are too weak" to run back to a save point, i just don't want to. that's why i prefer menu saving. it's easier on the player imo.

***

now....... i'll say it again.... do i think ff13 will have menu saving? NO. i can't imagine a ff game without save points. it would feel weird. but then again, at the same time, i know its possible to accomplish. as long as the game has an "Auto Save" feature (which appears as its own separate save file), then menu saving is invincible. any negative feedback against this idea lies in the difference of our opinions =/

[Zeta_Stryker]

This topic is brought to you by the word; FAIL, let's all say that this topic starter failed :P.

[Hopang]

Even if we don't use the items for beneficial purpose, we need items to sell and make money to upgrade that weapon/armor/???

I mean rpg without item is just weird....

[DrStein]

hya atleast hes consented to the save points :D for that im happy ... now lets work on him till HE WANTS ITEMS

[stalemate666]

You mean L'Cie and regular human, right? Fal'Cie is like a machine demi-god thing (seen in the screenshots). L'Cie is a magic using human (Lightning and Snow), and a regular human (Sazh) I assume cannot use magic.

Anyhoo, to the posters above, I actually put 100 hours into FF12, and indeed I used items on occassion, but perhaps I'm missing the whole point when I attempt to compare FF12 to FF13. FF12 being more like an off-line MMO, it seemed items were secondary or not that useful (except for those bosses who outlaw the usage of magic and techs of course). In FF12 you could just run around, regain MP, cast Cure, and repeat. Or just touch a save crystal. I remember in oldschool FFs like FF7, when I was in the middle of a field or dungeon and really weak, I'd wind up going into the menu and using up a whole bunch of potions.

But FF13 will be far different, it is not like oldschool or even like FF12. There is no MP system, thus no need to use items outside of battle. That is why I question the need for items to be present in this game.

People, perhaps this should be considered as an analogy: why the hell are there INNS in FF10? Why would you pay GIL to sleep at an INN when you could touch the save sphere OUTSIDE the inn and restore all your HP? I'm glad they got rid of INNS in FF12.

Consider the existence of INNS in FF10. Redundant, unnecessary, and seldom used. That is the point I'm trying to drive home: ITEMS will be similarly redundant unless they're battle-only items. Forget the save points issue, I concede that to y'all, but consider items.

your forgetting how much faster items will likely be, say your in a boss fight the boss just nailed your entire party with a massive attack your low hp, but you just used all your action point bars, so instead of waiting for them to get to like 3 to cast cura you use 1 bar and throw a x-potion or whatever, also now we know not all chracters can use magic, and we don't know that the ones that can will be able to use all magic so you could find yourself without a white magic possibly, as for inns in X they were pointless because of the free heals, but they were there for story purposes mostly

[Falsate]

I have more of a feeling tha Pulse has advanced technology for the use of some sort of energy manipulation or artificial magic. Could be possible that there will be an item of some sort available later. Just an idea.

Items can be faster and can be something to ponder about when it comes down to the Time Gauge.

[stalemate666]

I have more of a feeling tha Pulse has advanced technology for the use of some sort of energy manipulation or artificial magic. Could be possible that there will be an item of some sort available later. Just an idea.

Items can be faster and can be something to ponder about when it comes down to the Time Gauge.

A lot of games did the magic in a box kind of thing, FF might just pick it up, and as for the items being faster, the closet thing we have to compare it to is X-2 and XII in both those items were faster then most spells, in X-2 especially, using an item was faster then the potion skill with a fully trained alchemist, I honestly can't see items being more then 1 time gauge, I can even see them being 0 depending on how rare and expensive they are in the game

[Sanji]

Cure is one, so they should really make it 0 for items if they want to make it faster

[Lady~Vengeance]

A lot of games did the magic in a box kind of thing, FF might just pick it up, and as for the items being faster, the closet thing we have to compare it to is X-2 and XII in both those items were faster then most spells, in X-2 especially, using an item was faster then the potion skill with a fully trained alchemist, I honestly can't see items being more then 1 time gauge, I can even see them being 0 depending on how rare and expensive they are in the game

I agree, in FFX-2 using items was a heck of a lot faster than casting spells, that's why I barely let my white mage cast cure and the latter. I mainly used my alchemists to get the job done. But then again that's X-2. Knowing S-E they might change it up a bit to fit the battle system a little better.

[stalemate666]

I agree, in FFX-2 using items was a heck of a lot faster than casting spells, that's why I barely let my white mage cast cure and the latter. I mainly used my alchemists to get the job done. But then again that's X-2. Knowing S-E they might change it up a bit to fit the battle system a little better.

I think they'd want to keep the item system as simple and old school as they can, I mean there radically changing both the battle and growth systems, probably the summon one too, try to change to much at once isn't a good idea, I know what your saying though but X-2 is the closest one to this system, it had different spells take different amount of times and such and it was turn based

[Sabin]

The use of items in Final Fantasy XIII makes perfect sense.

I'll use the demo as an example:
In the demo your party members heals you as soon as your HP gets lower. They use magic for this. No problems, right?

But how will you survive this in the final game? At this point in the game magic is not yet accesible. The use of items is your only option. If this does not justify the use of items in this game, I don't know what to say to convince you.

You might ask why we do not have magic available at this time, and my guess is that it is story related.

[Neal]

Rumor has it that ITEMS might yet make it into the release version of the game. I am asking why? After playing FF12, I felt that ITEMS were a thing of the past, as are random encounters where you can't see the enemy coming, also a thing of the past.

In FF12, I hardly ever used ITEMS because you could just touch a Save Crystal and it would restore all your HP. The only ITEMS I ever used were Phoenix Downs because they were insta-fast, and maybe elixers and ethers during the final battle.

In fact, we may as well ask why in FF13 the game even needs SAVE POINTS any more? I regard those to be things of the past as well. Just have a save anywhere feature.

I see how there could be "battle-only" items, but still, why would those even be necessary? Just take a turn to cast Esuna/ga or Cure/a/ga/ja.

Reasons why FF13 has evolved beyond these RPG conventions of the past:
1. There is no MP or Mana system. Everything costs ATB time bars.
2. All HP and presumably status effects are restored after each battle.
3. Due to #2, we don't need TENTS to use at SAVE POINTS.
4. Due to #2, we don't need potions and the like outside of battle.

Due to the present information we have on the existing no MP and auto-heal after battle mechanisms, I conclude the following items are not needed in FF13:

• Any Potion or variant, including tonics, Hi-Potions, Mid-Potions, X-Potions or Mega-Potions, etc.
• Any Ether or variant, including tinctures, Hi-Ethers, Mid-Ethers, Full Ethers, etc.
• Any Elixer or variant, including elixers, mega-elixers, etc.
• Any Tents/Cottages/Sleeping Bags.
• MOST status restorative items (why MOST - see below)

As for status restoration in battle, the main question becomes what to do if you're silenced (if you're mute you cannot cast Esuana, so the traditional way to cure that was to use the Echo Screen item). Maybe the status effect known as silence or mute takes on new meaning in FF13, or is altered to some kind of "Tech Lock" like from Chrono Trigger.

But aside from the silence status effect which prevents spellcasting, most status effects will result in the player queuing Esuna. But I believe this game is perfect to include Pre-Esuna spells like Poisona and Blindna. Once you get Esuna, you can just use Esuna, but until you have Esuna, specific spells like Poisona or Blindna would be useful.

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh50/fenristh/1241051219886.gif

[Sabin]

^The babality still beats this.

[Neal]

4chan is down, my resources are limited.

[Kuja Las Vegas]

Neal if you think that's bad, look at this:
http://finalfantasy-xiii.net/forums/showthread.php?p=171179#post171179

[CeruleanGriever]

didn't square say that magic wont be available in the beginning of FFXIII
meaning that you will have to count on items
so there will be items

[doeman]

A lot of games did the magic in a box kind of thing, FF might just pick it up, and as for the items being faster, the closet thing we have to compare it to is X-2 and XII in both those items were faster then most spells, in X-2 especially, using an item was faster then the potion skill with a fully trained alchemist, I honestly can't see items being more then 1 time gauge, I can even see them being 0 depending on how rare and expensive they are in the game what's the "magic in a box kind of thing"? can anyone give an example please?

didn't square say that magic wont be available in the beginning of FFXIII
meaning that you will have to count on items
so there will be items magic relates to spells like "heal" right? sazh was using that in the demo which is in the beginning of the game, so how can SE say that it won't be available at the start?? O.o
or are they talking about the characters that you (as the player), have under control? if that's true, then gaining control to more than one player won't happen until later on, i assume.

[Daemon]

magic relates to spells like "heal" right? sazh was using that in the demo which is in the beginning of the game, so how can SE say that it won't be available at the start?? O.o
or are they talking about the characters that you (as the player), have under control? if that's true, then gaining control to more than one player won't happen until later on, i assume.

The demo was tweaked to give access to a wider variety of commands to showcase. In reality, the beginning of the game will have a more basic skillset, eg just attack and item.

Yes, items WILL be in the game ... there are treasure chests, and as people have pointed out, magic will be only available to the L-Cie (lightning, Snow), but not ordinary folk who get dragged along (Sazh?), and only later in the game. Until that point, you would have to rely fully on items that would work the way they always have.

it has nothing to do with controlling the whole party or just the leader, and it is entirely possible magic and summons are linked as in FF8.

On the matter of save points, i see no reason for them to not be included.

[stalemate666]

what's the "magic in a box kind of thing"? can anyone give an example please?

Skies of Arcadia had it, it's basically just the spell, but it's an item in Skies of Arcadia the boxes had a random number of charges and using the item was like using the spell, only it didn't cost mp, so if ff did it, it would be like cura box, and using it would cast cura

[Xero]

Without items and save points it would not be a Final Fantasy.
That's all I have to say.

[doeman]

The demo was tweaked to give access to a wider variety of commands to showcase. In reality, the beginning of the game will have a more basic skillset, eg just attack and item.

Yes, items WILL be in the game ... there are treasure chests, and as people have pointed out, magic will be only available to the L-Cie (lightning, Snow), but not ordinary folk who get dragged along (Sazh?) doh! i forgot about that! but, you really think they tweaked the demo to the point where it would be ok for sazh to use magic? (unless he really is a l'cie)
it's that, or heal isn't consider a magic skill... which i find hard to believe.

Skies of Arcadia had it, it's basically just the spell, but it's an item in Skies of Arcadia the boxes had a random number of charges and using the item was like using the spell, only it didn't cost mp, so if ff did it, it would be like cura box, and using it would cast cura does the box have any consequences?

[cheesepizza]

I am reminded of those boxes that appear in battle in X O_O Hit the wrong one and you get a whooping...

[Falsate]

magic relates to spells like "heal" right? sazh was using that in the demo which is in the beginning of the game, so how can SE say that it won't be available at the start?? O.o
or are they talking about the characters that you (as the player), have under control? if that's true, then gaining control to more than one player won't happen until later on, i assume.
That was the demo and we're speaking about the Final version of the game. It'll be different than the demo because the characters could be either weaker or stronger (depends).

[stalemate666]

does the box have any consequences?

no they just generally cost quite a bit