Topic: Final Fantasy

[Peachylala]

Exactly what it says on the topic link. A thread about Final Fantasy and the good/mediocre/bad spin-offs it seems to produce. Also would be a good thread for Final Fantasy XIII and wonder how stupid it will be since Tetsuya Nomura is on the project.

I also think FFIX is the most under-rated game ever. Flawed? Yes. But it had the same charm that the SNES games had. And Vivi. Gotta love Vivi.

[Dirk Temporo]

I wish Final Fantasy was interesting.

[Peachylala]

Depends, how interesting do you find melodramatic soap operas told through text boxes?

You should play FFVI.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Well I love FFIV, it is one of my favorite games period. Beyond that though I can't get into any other FF game. FFVI was OK but I didn't care much for the sci-fi esque setting. The 3D ones seemed to take that setting and run with it which meant (and does mean) I have zero interest in playing them. FF9 is one that I am interested in picking up though, never played it and I like that they went back to the old style in many ways.

[Peachylala]

Do what you can to pick up FF IX. It's not perfect, but it's my favorite out of Square's PSX games, next to Parasyte Eve 1 and 2.

And GP, do you mean FFVI or FFVII. FFVII I found to be more sci-fi/steampunk then anything.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Do what you can to pick up FF IX. It's not perfect, but it's my favorite out of Square's PSX games, next to Parasyte Eve 1 and 2.

And GP, do you mean FFVI or FFVII. FFVII I found to be more sci-fi/steampunk then anything.

FFVI (FF3 when it came out in the U.S.) it had too many sci-fi elements in it

[Ymeegod]

I'm a big fan of most FF games and yeah I did love FFIX though I found it alot shorter than most FF games.  Logged in less than 40 hours I believed and did just about all the side quests to boot. 

It didn't offer any depth to gameplay--in FFVIII you had the draw system which I hated BTW and in FFX you had the sphere system but in FFIX you didn't get much options to change much which made it alot easier to play but lacked any type of depth.

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I'm really looking forward to FFXIII since so far this generationL Square-enix hasn't had one RPG that stood out and I've played them all. The Last Remnant was just a mess around--bleh.

[Ymeegod]

As for PE, I think I read where Square was making a remake of the orginal but I havn't heard much since.

[ThePerm]

i liked FFIV too, but can't say i like the other ones too much. IX too i guess(i didn't play it, my brother did and i liked the characters...but im not much for that style of RPG)

[broodwars]

As I said in another topic, FF X is my favorite in the series, followed by probably FF VI and then FF VII.  I just thought that FF X had the best story in the series, as not only is Yuna's story well-told but all her companions actually have stories that complement hers.  Yes, Tidus is annoying early on and the game is very linear until near the end, but I found that the trade-off for that linearity is that the story got solid focus.  There was little, if any, filler and the game kept a constant momentum.  I also find Spira as a world incredibly interesting and beautiful, like it has a history.  Pity FF X-2 had to take everything I liked about FF X and chuck it out a window.

I actually prefer the Sci-Fi RPG setting these days, so I'm especially looking forward to FF XIII.  After all, just about every other JRPG these days is using the traditional fantasy setting in some form or fashion so it's a good change of pace.  I know it's a low bar to clear, but at the very least it can't possibly be worse than FF XII, which had an interesting world that had nothing interesting happen in it.

As for FF IX, GP, I will say this: Zidane is awesome, but he's wasted on that game.  It's a solid game, but it just felt incredibly bland to me.  Especially after playing FF X, the game world just felt incredibly artificial and contrived like it was assembled from some traditional RPG cookbook.  FF IX also suffers from an abundance of useless and/or filler characters, as only Zidane; Dagger; Vivi; and Eiko actually matter in the story.  You could cut Quina; Amarant; and Freya out of the story and miss nothing, not that there's much to cut since those 3 are barely even in the game.  Granted, FF VI had this problem even worse, but at least that game didn't try and pretend that its extraneous characters mattered.  Steiner's amusing, but his one-note gag gets old fast.  I also found the plot rather loose and not terribly interesting.  It's not a bad game by any means, but it's nothing special either.   And after all these years, those PS1-era 3D graphics are ugly as sin (IMO, Chrono Cross is the only good-looking 3D PS1 game, and that game has a host of its own issues).

[KDR_11k]

There was little, if any, filler and the game kept a constant momentum.

I object to that after having given up after traversing a narrow path with no interesting features for over an hour because there was a random encounter every three steps and at some point I got so tired of that "match attack to enemy" combat system that I just escaped from every battle only to be left underlevelled at a boss that has a 15 minute introduction cutscene if you skip every line of dialog as fast as possible.

[broodwars]

There was little, if any, filler and the game kept a constant momentum.

I object to that after having given up after traversing a narrow path with no interesting features for over an hour because there was a random encounter every three steps and at some point I got so tired of that "match attack to enemy" combat system that I just escaped from every battle only to be left underlevelled at a boss that has a 15 minute introduction cutscene if you skip every line of dialog as fast as possible.

I was referring more to the story momentum than general gameplay, which leans towards the slow and strategic side.  Still, yes the random encounter rate is on the high side, but considering it was just as bad if not worse in the pre-FF VII days it didn't bother me too much.  As for the combat system, I appreciated the highly-strategic side of it since it gives every character a purpose in battle if you choose to use them: Wakka to hit flying enemies; Lulu to hit flying enemies and those with high physical resistance; Tidus for Time magic and general-purpose offense; Yuna for White magic and heavy offense with her Aeons; Rikku for stealing; and Kimarhi and Auron for heavily-armored enemies.  It's not the fastest battle system in execution, but I like it.

[Stratos]

A co-worker lent me FFVIII but I've yet to start playing it. I only played a little of VII and he seemed convinced that I'd like VIII because of my love for Chrono Trigger.

Any thought's on it before I dive in from people who played it?

[GoldenPhoenix]

A co-worker lent me FFVIII but I've yet to start playing it. I only played a little of VII and he seemed convinced that I'd like VIII because of my love for Chrono Trigger.

Any thought's on it before I dive in from people who played it?

No and no

[broodwars]

A co-worker lent me FFVIII but I've yet to start playing it. I only played a little of VII and he seemed convinced that I'd like VIII because of my love for Chrono Trigger.

Any thought's on it before I dive in from people who played it?

Yes: it sucks.  Don't play it.  I haven't the foggiest idea why he'd think that you'd like FF 8 if you liked Chrono Trigger, because they are completely opposite experiences.

FF 8's problem is that it's just boring, with an emphasis on grinding magic from enemies and "draw points" to increase the stats of your characters.  The story is...confusing, often stupid, and not particularly interesting.  The game does have a couple really good RPG set pieces, though: such as the introductory sequence and the Garden battle around the middle of the game.  The love story would be more interesting if any of the characters were likeable, though at least Quistis shows some life once in a while.  But as for the others, well... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWPQ6t4uQXw .    The graphics are quite good, though, and the music is very well-done.

[Stratos]

Are the load times bearable considering the console and era? I really hate long load screens.

I was afraid it was going to be a grind fest. I'll still try and make a run through it but we'll see. He seemed to prefer it over VII.

[broodwars]

Are the load times bearable considering the console and era? I really hate long load screens.

I was afraid it was going to be a grind fest. I'll still try and make a run through it but we'll see. He seemed to prefer it over VII.

I don't remember having any problem with the load times, as they're fairly typical of Square-Enix RPGs of the time.  Hell, I'd say they're fairly typical of Square-Enix RPGs now, now that I think about it.

[Peachylala]

Load times are not bad at all, and the memory card saving is quite fast. Square was basically the one developer that worked around the PS1's strengths and weaknesses. In fact, some of their best games did not have the Final Fantasy name (Parasite Eve 1/2, Brave Fence Musashi).

There was little, if any, filler and the game kept a constant momentum.

I object to that after having given up after traversing a narrow path with no interesting features for over an hour because there was a random encounter every three steps and at some point I got so tired of that "match attack to enemy" combat system that I just escaped from every battle only to be left underlevelled at a boss that has a 15 minute introduction cutscene if you skip every line of dialog as fast as possible.

I completely agree with KDR on this one. FFX was very linear, and overall was a bland experience. Square obviously rushed this game in order to get money back from the tragedy that was The Spirits Within.