@H_M_1 the Taurus demon is actually not too hard, if you approach him the right way (I was about SL12). 1 etsus flask should get you through OK. There are basically two ways to on this one, but they both start the same way. When you walk out of the door before the Taurus Demon, climb up the ladder and kill the 2 archers. Then climb back down and walk along the bridge until the TD arrives. Immediately run back to the ladder and climb up. Jump off and do a falling attack (hit attack as you fall off) on the TD. This will do good damage. From here you have two choices, either climb up the tower and fight him on the top (good if you are a sorceror or pyro) or just ran away and get the TD to follow you. When he's up the other end, run back past him and climb the ladder for another falling attack. Repeat until dead.

@diegosanchezMMAI just killed those two last night. I found them tough initially until I worked it ou. The trick is to save your spells until the second one arrives. To start with, just get in close and circle to the left (always left), while holding up your shield (heater or Hollow Soldier Shield are best, as they block 100% of damage). Let your stamina recharge by releasing the block between hits. Work him down by hitting in the back (P.S. if you hit the tail a few times, you'll receive a sweet unique axe). Once the second one gets on the scene, there are a few things to remember:

- Now it is tough to get in close without getting flamed up, so use your Fireball or Soul Arrow (pyro or sorc), or throw some firebombs
- When you get pushed up to one end, release lock on and just run up the other end. You'll get another respite to use a flask if needed
- Once one is down, the second one is fairly easy

@AWolfoftheCalla I agree that playing as a pure mage is tough, especially early on. Later on though it appears that it gets much easier... Once you have a few more slots and more spells available. I'm levelling two toons, one pyro hybrid and a pure mage sorc. Pyro much easier at this stage but could be crippled later on, as too diversified.

Hi all,

FWIW I thought I'd weigh in here to give everyone some info / perspective from a long time fan who was disappointed by this game.

I'm a long-time FF lover, having played everything (except 11) through to completion. The 2 things I generally love about FF games are the stories, progression mechanics (levelling, job systems, sphere-grids) and general epic'ness.

I bought FFXIII about 10 days ago after seeing some initial trailers and they delivered exactly what I saw. The game is ridiculously good looking. The graphics are amazing and the cut scenes are top-notch. The game itself though does away with so much of what defines FF that I have given up and returned my copy. FFXIII is very linear and for the first 15-20 hours is quite boring. In most fights for the first 7 hours you simply spam a single command for every fight and there is almost no exploration or interaction of any kind. If you are a huge fan of the series, you may be willing to put in the 20 or so hours required to open up the game, but for me (despite being a huge fan) it just wasn't worth the trade-off.

My bottom line: if you're willing to put in the time, I'm sure you'll find lots to enjoy. If not, buy something else ;-)

Add me on. o mackdaddy o