This or That: Final Fantasy Series

[BreakABone]

Just gonna say off the bat, this is only for the core 12 games so far, so no X-2, no Tactics or any of those things.

With that said, This or That Presents The Final Fantasy Series.

Final Fantasy
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d8/FF1_USA_boxart.jpg

Final Fantasy 2
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/Ff2cover.jpg

Final Fantasy 3
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/Ff3cover.jpg

4
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/90/Final_Fantasy_IV.jpg

5
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/00/Final_Fantasy_V_Box_JAP.jpg

6
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bb/Final_Fantasy_VI_Japanese_box.png

7
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c7/Ffviibox.jpg

8
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5d/Final_Fantasy_8_ntsc-front.jpg

9
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/51/Ffixbox.jpg

10
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/Ffxbox.jpg

11
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/74/FFXI_2008.jpg

12
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cc/Final_Fantasy_XII.jpg

The usual applies
Favorite game in the series? Favorite characteR? Favorite boss? Class? Boxart? Battle system?

[BlueFire]

FFIX, by far. Didn't take itself too seriously, was still fun and brought back old school classes.

[Xantar]

Here, I'll liven up the discussion.

Final Fantasy VII is way overrated. And it isn't really that good a game.

Have at it, people!

[BlueFire]

Final Fantasy VII is way overrated. And it isn't really that good a game.

Truth.

[Typhoid]

My three favourites are 8, 10 and 12.

I reall. really liked 10. I'm not too sure why. Maybe because it was the first for the PS2, and I felt really immersed in a giant world and story - same with 12, despite the hate everyone has on for it, I really enjoy it. I'm playing through it again, actually - trying to complete all of the side quests and hunts.

And I just really like 8 for no apparent reason.

[Swan]

Really like 9. The characters and everything.


And 12 was fun.




And 7 is one of the games that got me really into video games.

[TheSlyMoogle]

Here, I'll liven up the discussion.

Final Fantasy VII is way overrated. And it isn't really that good a game.

Have at it, people!

Agreed.


Favorite game in the series: Final Fantasy 6.


http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh33/terrorfromabove/Final%20Fantasy/FinalFantasy6.jpg

It was probably the first game in the series to get a good balance of a good story, character backgrounds and story lines, a fun battle system (Well assuming you didn't know about vanish/doom), and just was overall the first game to finally get it right for what the FF series has become, however it could be argued that 4 and 5 did those things, but think ff6 was the first shining example.


Favorite character: Does this mean from the game I just picked or of all time?

If we're talking FF6, the game I picked, I'm going to go with Setzer Garabini.

http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/snes/ff6/images/characters/setzer2.jpg

Who doesn't love a gambler who left every decision up to the flip of a coin or a roll of the dice. Too bad battle system wise he was probably the worst character in the game... But meh. He was awesome.

http://th05.deviantart.com/fs10/300W/i/2006/095/3/a/Pimpin_Moogle_by_ccWildcard.jpg

As far as my favorite character in the series, well that would have to be just Moogles in general. Especially moogles from FF9. THEY SAVED YOUR GAME! How cool is that?


Favorite Boss: Do you mean like my favorite "Big Bad" or like just favorite boss?

Favorite Boss: Ultros

http://www.deviantart.com/download/55947781/Uncle_Ulty_by_haikuninja.png

You had to fight this guy so much and he's the coolest evil octopus. "Seafood soup is not on the menu" WHAT?

Favorite "Big Bad": Kefka

http://www.gamerdna.com/uimage/large/kefka-dissidia-jpg.jpg

Basically he's the bad guy you love to hate. He's a total jerk and unlike other FF games you never get that "Oh he's really a nice guy who got twisted by dark energies or the loss of his father or mother or some other gay bullshit" He's just a power hungry douche for no reason. The type of guy you love to hate and destroy. He's the only bad guy who actually managed to destroy the world. That's pretty evil right there.


Favorite class: Mage Knight(Sorcerer depending on game) - FF5

http://www.ffcompendium.com/jobimages/5-sorcerer-a.jpg

These guys introduced the almighty magic sword. Not only that but they were more balanced that a red mage in terms of stats and look at the sexy headgear. How can you not fucking love them? FLARE SWORD GO!

Favorite Box art: Final Fantasy 12. Yeah. It's good. Very simple and not chock full of the main characters. I like that.

Favorite Battle system: Fuck you earl. I guess I will say Final Fantasy 8. Just frame attacks were so cool for added damage and interactive limit breaks were awesome. However if Tactics was on this list it would win hands down. Over every game in the original series for me. Tactics was amazing. I still find reasons to play that game.

[BlueFire]

I loved FF6 as well. Nothing beats the first time you face Kefka at the end of the game, especially his final "fallen angel" form. The music, the background.. everything was just superb. Who was your final team, Moogle?

[Ginkasa]

Here, I'll liven up the discussion.

Final Fantasy VII is way overrated. And it isn't really that good a game.

Have at it, people!



Once upon a time that would have been pretty controversial, but I think a lot of people have moved on and grown up and realized the flaws. I think that's why there's such a demand for a remake of VII. People want to play the game they "remember" rather than one that is available, if that makes sense.

Anyway...

My favorite FF changes depending on my mood. My rotating favorites are (in order): IV, VI, IX, and X.

IV: I've actually begun to rethink my original opinions of this game. I used to really enjoy it because its very simple in a lot of ways. It makes a lot of "customization" choices for you while still being varied and whatnot. When I played through the remake a year and a half ago or so, though, I was really turned off by the multiple "fake deaths" in the story and I got pretty annoyed when all these characters I just spent time levelling up would disappear only to reappear later apparently no better for my previous efforts.

VI: I don't think there's a whole lot to say about this one that doesn't generally get said. Its probably currently my favorite. He didn't expand on his opinion, but I've seen it before and pretty everything that causes Xantar to think VII is overrated is the opposite for VI, which makes it one of the best games ever.

IX: I enjoyed it for a lot of the same reasons as IV. It does have a more customization, but you still go really far in the game before you get to pick and choose wh you play as.

X: I think that this game has one of the best stories. People pick on the voice acting and such, but I think otherwise its really pulled off well. I feel the more fo a connections to X's characters than almost any game's besides maybe VI's. I also really love the Sphere Grid. It guides the characters down predetermined routes, which helps me during the initial playthrough, but also allows for customization if the player chooses.

As for the games I dislike: II, III, V, and XII for various reasons.

II is bad just due the awful levelling system. It sounds great on paper, but I think I decided I hated it when I wanted to make one of them an archer, but their accuracy would only go up if I hit anything, but I couldn't ever hit anything because their accuracy was so low. It was broken.

III and V I dislike just due to the job system. I was actaually doing alright in III when it told me I had to be a full party fo dragoons or I couldn't beat a certain boss. Sure enough, I tried and couldn't beat the boss and all the FAQs advised switching to dragoons. Of course, you have to level that job up otherwise you're not strong enough, but its doubtful a full party of dragoons would be useful later in the game. Broken. V I just decided wasn't worth it.

I could go on and on about XII, but I won't. Maybe later.

[thatmariolover]

As a gamer, I am ashamed at my unfamiliarity with the Final Fantasy franchise.

I've played the SNES titles, and I've got FF1 and FF2 on my iPhone that I'm playing through now. But I've never completed a 3D Final Fantasy, namely due to the fact that I've never owned a Sony console.

At this point, I plan on purchasing a PS3, which will take care of the latest. I would ideally just emulate the older titles since my computer can render them better.

[TheSlyMoogle]

I loved FF6 as well. Nothing beats the first time you face Kefka at the end of the game, especially his final "fallen angel" form. The music, the background.. everything was just superb. Who was your final team, Moogle?

My final team first playthrough was I do believe:

Edgar, Sabin, Celes and Terra. With Terra and Celes both having Gold Hairpins and Terra having Gem Box. Ultima Spam, Bum Rush and I think Edgar healed and ultima when needed.

When I did a speed run of the game I did Celes, Terra, Sabin and Locke. Locke, Terra and Celes have the highest innate matk in the game and Sabin could 9999 off of a free move.

Ended up beating the game in a little under 6 hours.

Uhm I did a single character run of the game using only Mog after I got him. That was hilarious and also hard as fuck.

But yeah I definitely played that game at least 25ish times now.

I'm actually going to try to break the record for the speed run, as I didn't know my run was so close to the record which is 4:48. My run is around 5:57.

I'm excited.

[TheGame]

I'm glad to see FFX getting some love in this thread. That's my favorite normal FF game.. Unfortunately, I got caught up into the MMORPG FFXI pretty hardcore. I hope that at some point there's a normal FF game made that's based in vana'diel. It's a very cool/complex world.

[Dylflon]

I really like 9 and 7.

I truly would like to see a 7 remake because that was my favourite story in the series. And it's the game that got me into RPGs at the age of 10.

[Acebot44]

FFX

It had one of the best mini games I've every played, Blitzball! Loved the recruitment aspect of it as well, getting Biggs and Wedge on your team was killer.

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/thumb/a/a6/Biggs_Wedge_FFX.png/180px-Biggs_Wedge_FFX.png

Honestly though, I liked both games of the Chrono series more than any FF's.

[Vampyr]

Final Fantasy VIII for me. Loved the characters, and the gunblade was an awesome weapon.

[Xantar]

No love for Final Fantasy XII? Let me advocate for it a little bit in another lame attempt to stir controversy.

First of all, I don't think you can argue that the Final Fantasy formula needed to change. At a fundamental level. Any kind of combat that looks even vaguely turn based just doesn't fly any more.

The story had to change, too. I've read a lot of complaints about how Vaan is a largely inconsequential character (the story arguably centers around Ashe) and how the stakes for the game are mostly about the politics of two kingdoms. But to me, those were good things. It was nice to be controlling a character who had a normal perspective on things and wasn't overly angsty. And it was nice to have a story where you weren't saving the world. Because that meant anything could happen. When you have a saving the world plot, the only thing that can happen is you kill the bad guy and the world doesn't get destroyed. But if instead it's just about a princess trying to get back on the throne, all kinds of things can happen. She doesn't even have to succeed.

Ok, so the story does pretty much unfold the way you expect it to. It was still a good idea. Just like the Gambit system was a good idea that was imperfectly implemented. Come to think of it, it's kind of analogous to the materia system in Final Fantasy VII: it was a good idea in principal taken WAY too far. Having materia slots on your weapons which affect your spells and abilities is good. Having materia for what should normally be unique character actions (like Steal) is bad.

So I'm hoping that in FF XIII Square builds on the ideas they had and refines them. Alas, I do not have a PS3 or Xbox 360 nor the time to play a 100 hour game any more. But I do hope they pull it off.

[DarkMaster]

FFXII was awesome.


Here's something mildly fun to think about. People are currently bitching about FFXIII being linear. 4 years ago, people were bitching about FFXII being too open world.

[TheSlyMoogle]

No love for Final Fantasy XII? Let me advocate for it a little bit in another lame attempt to stir controversy.

First of all, I don't think you can argue that the Final Fantasy formula needed to change. At a fundamental level. Any kind of combat that looks even vaguely turn based just doesn't fly any more.

The story had to change, too. I've read a lot of complaints about how Vaan is a largely inconsequential character (the story arguably centers around Ashe) and how the stakes for the game are mostly about the politics of two kingdoms. But to me, those were good things. It was nice to be controlling a character who had a normal perspective on things and wasn't overly angsty. And it was nice to have a story where you weren't saving the world. Because that meant anything could happen. When you have a saving the world plot, the only thing that can happen is you kill the bad guy and the world doesn't get destroyed. But if instead it's just about a princess trying to get back on the throne, all kinds of things can happen. She doesn't even have to succeed.

Ok, so the story does pretty much unfold the way you expect it to. It was still a good idea. Just like the Gambit system was a good idea that was imperfectly implemented. Come to think of it, it's kind of analogous to the materia system in Final Fantasy VII: it was a good idea in principal taken WAY too far. Having materia slots on your weapons which affect your spells and abilities is good. Having materia for what should normally be unique character actions (like Steal) is bad.

So I'm hoping that in FF XIII Square builds on the ideas they had and refines them. Alas, I do not have a PS3 or Xbox 360 nor the time to play a 100 hour game any more. But I do hope they pull it off.

While I didn't play FF12 I was there the entire time my roommate did (I was actually running through FF8 again on the TV beside him. We had 3 tvs, 3 PS2s, a 360, a wii and a ps3. It was a good place to live for sure)

Anyway, I watched him run through it. There wasn't anything really amazing about it, and there really wasn't anything bad about it either. Characters were ok, story was...eh to say the least, and the whole thing felt like I was watching someone run through Final Fantasy Tactics with a really similar story and an MMO battle system. Surprise, set in the same universe as FFT(loosely, the world was still called Ivalice and it's presumed that the video game that the kids talk about in FFTA is FFT), FFTA and FFTA2. The Ivalice Alliance strikes again. Honestly you know what was really fun? FFXII Revenant Wings. Like if FFXII had played like that, it would have been a much better game. Seriously.

Overall decent game, Fran was cool, Gilgamesh was awesome. Other than that it was forgettable.

[Xantar]

Overall decent game, Fran was cool

Ok, actually you just reminded me of something else I wanted to say about FF XII: Fran is ridiculous. Her character and storyline were ok, I guess. But she's a bunny woman in a stripperific outfit made out of holes (and a piece of sheer cloth across her stomach for some reason) with stiletto heels. Just try showing her picture to anybody not familiar with Final Fantasy and dare them not to crack up.

She's like a fan service Frankenstein. The character designers apparently pulled five or six fetishes together and threw them all into one character with no regard to whether it would actually work.

[TheSlyMoogle]

well she's a viera.

Don't know if you played FFTA or A2, but they pretty much all look like that except for the mage classes of viera.

http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-02/art/ff12-fran.jpg

[Xantar]

I know all that. It's still bad character design.

[Angrist]

FFV is the only FF game I played for a few hours. It was a ROM and I got stuck on a misty ship.
I didn't like it anyway.

[TheSlyMoogle]

FFV is the only FF game I played for a few hours. It was a ROM and I got stuck on a misty ship.
I didn't like it anyway.

Haha. There was a glitch due to the rom that screwed with the graphics, but on the offhand thanks to the emulator you could turn off the graphical layer that was glitched and see the whole path no problem.

I know all that. It's still bad character design.

In comparison to all the other scantily clad females in FF games I would say Fran Fran was fine. So she had bunny ears and leather? She also had small tits which might be a first for a sexy bunny girl.

[Vampyr]

After this thread I'm thinking about getting FF VI, VIII, and IX to play this summer on my trusty PS2.

edit: And by summer I mean however long it takes me to beat them. I can't get used to the idea I won't be coming back to school in the fall.

[TheGame]

After this thread I'm thinking about getting FF VI, VIII, and IX to play this summer on my trusty PS2.

edit: And by summer I mean however long it takes me to beat them. I can't get used to the idea I won't be coming back to school in the fall.

You're going to look for the actual games for Psx? I think FFVIII is available for download on the PS store for Ps3. IX is available in Japan, but not in America yet.

I'm waiting for them to bring IX and Xenogears to the american PS store.

[Vampyr]

I don't have a PS3 though.

I'd probably just get them on amazon - I'll buy FFVIII and FFIX, then get FF Anthology.

edit: Actually I'm not sure if the FFVI on anthology is the real FFVI or not.

[Vampyr]

Could someone help me out on this? I'm a little confused as to which Final Fantasy VI everyone is saying is great. I think the real FFVI as released in Japan was released as FFIII on the SNES.

This is FFVI which is on Anthology. Is this the same one people are saying is really good?

[BreakABone]

Could someone help me out on this? I'm a little confused as to which Final Fantasy VI everyone is saying is great. I think the real FFVI as released in Japan was released as FFIII on the SNES.

This is FFVI which is on Anthology. Is this the same one people are saying is really good?

Based on my experience, FFVI is the FF VI in Japan with Kefka as the villain or FF 3 in the States.

[BlueFire]

FF3 was an NES title which wasn't released in the States. FF4 for the SNES was our FF2. FF5 wasn't released in the States. FF6 was released as FF3 in the states. Same thing. Only difference in a special FMV opening sequence in the PSX Anthology

[Xantar]

In comparison to all the other scantily clad females in FF games I would say Fran Fran was fine. So she had bunny ears and leather? She also had small tits which might be a first for a sexy bunny girl.

No, my point isn't that Fran was sexy and scantily clad. My point is that her character design is bad and does not work. If she was just a woman wearing that outfit, I would think she's kind of silly looking but then move on. But she's not a woman wearing a stripper outfit. She's a BUNNY wearing a stripper outfit. She's a bunny whom the designers are trying to make sexy for humans.

And if you actually are turned on by her, then what the hell is wrong with you?

Oh wait, I just remember one other problem I had with FF XII. I will describe it in the form of a dialogue.

Penelo: Hey Vaan?

*pause*

Vaan: Yeah, Penelo?

*pause*

Penelo: We're in a cutscene, right?

*pause*

Vaan: Yeah. Why?

*pause*

Penelo: It's pre-recorded, right?

*pause*

Vaan: Yeah, I believe so. The graphics are rendered in real time, but the sound is pre-recorded.

*pause*

Penelo: Then how come there's a one second pause between lines whenever it's time for the next character to speak?

*pause*

Vaan: Huh. I don't know. Technical issues?

*pause*

Penelo: No, that can't be it. People have been doing free-flowing dialogue with realistic pauses for years. Just look at any Disney movie.

*pause*

Vaan: Yeah, I guess that's true. I wouldn't worry about it, though. Since our acting isn't nail-on-chalkboard awful, all the videogame reviewers will claim that we have awesome voice actors. People won't notice a problem until that Xantar guy points it out, and nobody cares what he says anyway.

[TheSlyMoogle]

Haha so here is how the FF thing works to clear up confusion:

Final Fantasy 1 - This is the same game in the US and Japan.

Final Fantasy 2 - This game was unreleased in the US in its NES iteration. Eventually remakes of both 1 and 2 would be released on the gameboy advance (Do believe was just called final fantasy 1 and 2, and do believe they were ports of the wonderswan remakes), and also as Final Fantasy Origins for the PSx. Both were remakes graphically with slight system changes (Basically making them much easier, which wasn't a bad thing for those 2 games because they were pretty dumb in terms of difficulty thanks to the equations used for damage calc and the like. The updates basically made them playable) Speaking of games that weren't standard level up procedure, let's talk about this game. When you performed an action in FFII you gained exp, so doing a certain action would make you more adept at that action. Of course you could abuse the hell out of it, like attacking each other and healing off the damage etc. This game also introduced us to... CID, and also the Chocobo.

Final Fantasy 3 - This game was unreleased in the US, but would eventually get a DS remake and overhaul, which would make its way to our shores. This game introduces the job change system, and it wasn't implemented very well. Unfortunately the remake didn't help much, as they didn't tweak the game system too much, and the game was still retarded. Characters didn't have separate levels from their job levels, so if you needed to change a job for some reason, it was a pain in the ass. Basically it made grinding all jobs for all characters a really good idea. Hey, this game introduced Moogles though. Moogles + Job System = Badass already.

Final Fantasy 4 - This was released as 2 in the US and 4 in Japan. Since the release of the original 3 here it was changed to 4 here. It was also released as part of Final Fantasy Chronicles on the PSx, which bundled Chrono Trigger together with 4. Again it was remade graphically, and released on the DS as final fantasy 4 ds. It was the first final fantasy game released on the SNES, and as such set sorta set the standards not just for FF games, but also for RPGs in general. It had a really fleshed out story, and a pretty awesome battle system and the characters were pretty awesome. This is really where things started to be amazing.

Final Fantasy 5 - This game wasn't released originally in the US. Since that though it was released alongside Final Fantasy 6, in Final Fantasy Anthologies. For the US it was made easier, but overall not a lot of changes. However due to the fact that SNES roms and emulators blew the fuck up about 2 years before Anthologies was released, there was a very well done fan translation of the Japanese ROM that spread like wildfire on the internet. This game returned to the Job system, but pretty much managed to do it right. Honestly the story for the game is nothing to write home about, and it's a relatively short game, but the battle system was amazing for its time. This is the game where you really started having to think about battles. It was a great game. This game also introduced a little chocobo by the name of Boco. In following FF games there has been a Boco in pretty much every game.

Final Fantasy 6 -This was released as Final Fantasy 3 in the US, then later changed to Final Fantasy 6 when it was released in Anthologies. It was ported to the game boy advance later on with added content. This game was basically the cake. This is pretty much the game where Square actually got it right finally. Before I played this game, I had beaten 7 and was looking for a way to kill time until 8. Heard about this, and rom-ed it up. I was super impressed, and not just because you could play as a moogle. There basically wasn't a whole lot of difference between 6 and 7 except characters and story, and for me 6 won in both of those. Oh also the game was a bit more complex in terms of battles and such. Maxing stats in that game was so cool, and it took so much awareness. Truly a stellar game.

Final Fantasy 7 - This is the game that started the confusion. Basically it came out in the US as 7, it got all this press before it was even decided the game would drop on our shores, and people were all "WHAT THE FUCK? THIS GAME IS SWEET BUT ISN'T IT FF 4?" There were a bunch of articles at the time about it, people got pissed that FF games weren't released here, they got over it and spent countless hours with 7 instead. This game was a big deal because A.) It was basically the first 3D RPG. B.) It had all these beautiful cutscenes. C.) You had a character that was totally sweet and wonderful and all things pure and good die right in front of you, and for some fucking reason Phoenix down didn't work. You grew to love Aeris, and Square murdered that bitch. D.) It was set in a futuristic location, and all kinds of crazy shit was mixed in with magic it was totally baller, no RPG had ever done that b... wait a minute Chrono Trigger. Basically 7 got a lot of hype for mixing up a bunch of stuff that like 4 different RPGs had going for them on the SNES, and also because it somehow reached the masses. I knew shit was fucked when the rednecks in my classes were talking about how sweet cloud was. I mean... I didn't even like cloud, so I knew some shit was up. Anyway it is what it is, and the majority of people will still say this is the best RPG EVAR MADE!

Final Fantasy 8 - This is the game that when people are like "Is there no bad FF game?" that gets shouted out first. Highly underrated. You know why? Because there are few people out there in RPG land who were smart enough to fucking understand it. That's right I just called a lot of you idiots. I'm not talking about story, that shit was ok. I'm talking about battle mechanics. This game was so beautiful in the way that it worked mechanically that people were like "DURR! I R LEVEL 900, YET I R DIE IN 1 HIT TO MONSTAR?!" Straight up, leveling up in this game was something drastically different from previous FF games. It was implemented beautifully as well. Junction system, I'm sorry that the US was too stupid to understand you. The Japanese got it just fine, and it's still like up there on the JP list of goodness.

Final Fantasy 9 - Nine was basically a throwback to the older games, notably 4ish type of games. It had the kinda medieval thing going for it that the older games had. To be really honest, it was tons of fun. I would also it has hands down the best soundtrack of the series. Not much more to say about this one, except it was the first game to kinda teach you skills dependent on the equipment you had on. That was annoying and neat at the same time. Not using a better equipment because you hadn't learned a previous skill yet blew ass. Especially in Mage land because those skills took forever to learn and mages are 10 different kinds of weak/fucked.

Final Fantasy 10 - This game has FF7 syndrome. First big RPG of a new gen. It was pretty, really pretty. Unique battle system with the ability to change characters in the battles, and also the elimination of Active Time Battles basically. Thanks to delay sword or whatever, I beat that games so hella underleveled. Oh that and the sweetness that was Valefor. Sphere grid was a new (And shitty) way to level up, which included such fun ventures as playing a board game with your levels and hoping you had the right spheres to set so you actually benefited from moving around on that board. Lame ass Characters and lame ass story. Really people. Oh and possibly the worst voice acting I've ever heard in any game to date. At least any game that was considered good.

Final Fantasy 11 - Basically Square tried to jump on the MMO train thanks to Everquest, and they succeeded in creating the worst Pay-to-Play MMO ever. People were like "OMG FF ONLINE" and that's what kept it going. Also because they probably never touched WoW which was far superior in every aspect. I love FF universe and all that, but please don't make shitty games that cost 14.99 a month. Kthnx.

Final Fantasy 12 - So Square tried to do something different here, AI controlled characters, Free range type battles, kinda like an MMO. A pretty decent story that was all too similar to Final Fantasy Tactics.

While we're on the subject though, I would say if you're looking for good RPGs, most of these games aren't really worth playing.

1,2 and 3 are highly skippable. 4 brings fond memories, but by today's standards I would say skip it. 5 is all skip. I would suggest skipping 10 and 12 as well.

There were so many great RPGs for the SNES and PSx that don't start with the words Final Fantasy. Play them instead.

Also Vampyr, if you've never played Chrono Trigger, now is the time. Going to make a bold statement and say it's probably the best RPG ever. Hope someone argues that one with me ;)






Penelo: No, that can't be it. People have been doing free-flowing dialogue with realistic pauses for years. Just look at any Disney movie.

*pause*

Vaan: Yeah, I guess that's true. I wouldn't worry about it, though. Since our acting isn't nail-on-chalkboard awful, all the videogame reviewers will claim that we have awesome voice actors. People won't notice a problem until that Xantar guy points it out, and nobody cares what he says anyway.

Uh... Not trying to defend a mediocre game, but this was done to help with localization to prevent the lameness that was FFX voice acting. Don't know if you remember, but in 10 the lips were so out of sync and everything was really fucked up. Yeah it was a shortcut way to fix that stupid shit, but I guess it kinda worked.

[magus113]

As far as playing FFVI, the Game Boy Advance version is supposed to be the one with the most additions and it's got completely rewritten dialogue.

Sorry about the wall of text with my answer.

I've only completed FF3(Japan), FF7, FF9, and FF10. I can personally say FF9 is probably my favorite. FF3 was great, but I'm not too big on games with job systems, considering I'm not that good at managing my parties that way. FF9 was pretty old school and it brought the series back from it's roots, which it didn't return to until I'd have to say FF11 or 12. I've never played FF11 because MMOs really aren't my thing after a while. My issue with 12 was that the battle system was just BORING. Ugh, I don't think I could imagine playing through a 35+ hour game with that kind of battle system.

Straying from my point here. The music in FF9 was fantastic, the characters were all actually pretty enjoyable, my personal favorites being Freya, Amarant, and Steiner. All of the characters have their uses (yes even Quina), and they all add humor and more character to the game. The plot progression was fantastic. It was everything FF used to be and more.

FF8 is the one I'm trying to trek though now, and I do enjoy that game although I feel sometimes the narrative between Laguna/Squall and how they're connected can get a little convoluted. The junction system is cool, but I also think it makes the game way too easy if you do like I do and make for some pretty serious level grinding when it's possible. The magic system is fine, it's the organization and distribution of magic that makes things tedious. Yes you can transfer all junctioned magic and all of that goodness easily, but divvying it up makes for a little too much time in the menus if you ask me. The SeeD ranks are a joke, because the answers to the tests are always super simple and you receive a ridiculous amount of money on a regular basis.

FF7? Ugh. I don't know. When I finally beat it start to finish two years ago, I wasn't left with a bad taste in my mouth, but I don't think there's much for me to remember. Mind you, it brought about some pretty decent material as far as the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII stuff goes (Crisis Core is actually a pretty cool game, and Advent Children, while campy and a cash cow has it's replay value). But yeah. It's definitely overrated.

FFX for me was cool when I started getting into it, but I think my biggest issue was that I found it very difficult at some points because I wasn't accustomed to level grinding when I first got the game, which would have helped me and my sphere grid progression a whole bunch. The whole keeping-your-entire-party-with-you-when-you-battle system was cool but I don't think I was able to fully get the most out of everyone because I was trying to make sure they all got in to battles at once, which is the wrong way to approach things, I know but I didn't know any better.

The first Final Fantasy is a great game, and I still strive to beat it. I have the 20th anniversary edition for the PSP, which while toned down in difficulty, I think is the best version of the game. I still plan to beat it one day.

I've played the beginning of FF2 and I can't say that I really enjoy it to be honest. I think it's the leveling system. I dunno. I'll give it another shot.

FF4, I got all the way to when you first get the Lunar Whale, and I started to struggle a little after that. Eventually due to a mishap of my own fault, my save was deleted and I have yet to pick it up again. But I want to.

FF5 I played and I've actually gotten all the way to the end but I have not beaten Exdeath. The difficulty is pretty up there. And I'm gonna attribute it to me not being able to manage my party properly with the job system. It requires me going back to level grinding which I guess I can try, but I don't know if I could.

[Angrist]

I think FFIX is the only one my brother doesn't own. That one even interests me, because of the classical medieval style.
He started FFXII, but never finished it.

[TheSlyMoogle]

The music in FF9 was fantastic, the characters were all actually pretty enjoyable, my personal favorites being Freya, Amarant, and Steiner. All of the characters have their uses (yes even Quina), and they all add humor and more character to the game. The plot progression was fantastic. It was everything FF used to be and more.

This game has the best music. Also Quina was highly useful, white wind was the best healing spell in the game for a long time, and mighty guard is top tier magicks. Always has been.

My favorite characters were Freya and Amarant, but sadly didn't use them much thanks to the broken goodness that was Zidane, Eiko, Vivi and Steiner. I'm soooo sorry Garnet didn't get Holy or a decent summon like Eiko did. She had access to Holy and the best Summon, Maduin (Forgot what they called him in 9)

FF8 is the one I'm trying to trek though now, and I do enjoy that game although I feel sometimes the narrative between Laguna/Squall and how they're connected can get a little convoluted. The junction system is cool, but I also think it makes the game way too easy if you do like I do and make for some pretty serious level grinding when it's possible. The magic system is fine, it's the organization and distribution of magic that makes things tedious. Yes you can transfer all junctioned magic and all of that goodness easily, but divvying it up makes for a little too much time in the menus if you ask me. The SeeD ranks are a joke, because the answers to the tests are always super simple and you receive a ridiculous amount of money on a regular basis.

SeeD ranks are a joke, but if I understand what you're doing with the game in terms of leveling up, then will say the game will get nearly impossible for you around the end of disc 3. I may be wrong about that, because the GFs in the game are pretty sick, but let's just say it will be hard. Probably the funnest thing I've done in a regular FF game (Aside from Tactics which is just amazing), Is a no level up run in FF8. It's impossible not to gain a few levels in the beginning of the game but aside from that, it's a lot of fun, and a great challenge.

I think if you enjoyed 9 you would really like 6 if you haven't played it.


Also, can we please stop considering FFXI as part of the series? It wasn't even originally titled FFXI, but the number was added to boost sales and get more players. Playing FFXI was probably the worst thing I've ever done in an MMO, I played it for 3 hours, looked up and realized I was like level 4 or something. I actually ninja returned it to Wal-Mart saying the game was busted, and they gave me a nice unopened copy that I took to a different wal-mart to get cash for. Wal-mart you're so good to me.

So far the only game I've yet to play in the series is Final Fantasy 12. I just couldn't do it. Reminded me too much of .hack series and I struggled through the last 2 games in that series just to finish the story. Decided it was more fun to watch my roommate do the same stuff in the ff series. Lol. Zodiac Spear.

[magus113]

SeeD ranks are a joke, but if I understand what you're doing with the game in terms of leveling up, then will say the game will get nearly impossible for you around the end of disc 3. I may be wrong about that, because the GFs in the game are pretty sick, but let's just say it will be hard. Probably the funnest thing I've done in a regular FF game (Aside from Tactics which is just amazing), Is a no level up run in FF8. It's impossible not to gain a few levels in the beginning of the game but aside from that, it's a lot of fun, and a great challenge.


Well I'm not ignoring the GFs either, but I am definitely using them to give me some crazy stat boosts, etc. The level grinding is mostly for AP to learn all kinda of stat bonuses and junction abilities. Plus the GFs make the game super easy to grind.


I think if you enjoyed 9 you would really like 6 if you haven't played it.


I've started 6 and haven't finished it sadly. It IS on my list though.

[Vampyr]

Also, can we please stop considering FFXI as part of the series? It wasn't even originally titled FFXI, but the number was added to boost sales and get more players. Playing FFXI was probably the worst thing I've ever done in an MMO, I played it for 3 hours, looked up and realized I was like level 4 or something. I actually ninja returned it to Wal-Mart saying the game was busted, and they gave me a nice unopened copy that I took to a different wal-mart to get cash for. Wal-mart you're so good to me.

I had a similar experience. I bought it for the PS2, but my connection was so slow I couldn't even get the game started.

I took it back to walmart and asked if it could be returned if it was opened, and the person said no. So I walked around for a few minutes and came back and there was a different person working, and I just told her the game didn't work and they gave me my money back, which I used to get a NES themed Gameboy SP.

[Vampyr]

I just remembered my number one gripe with FFXII:

You didn't get a bangaa in your party.

[Ginkasa]

I just remembered my number one gripe with FFXII:

You didn't get a bangaa in your party.



That would have been cool.

So, anyway, I've decided to play through the entire FF series in order. I was just going to play the ones I haven't beaten (II, III, V) but through a series of unfortunate events (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_unfortunate_events) found myself playing the first game instead and inspiring me to play through the first series.

Anyone interested in giving a FF marathon a go? A thread for impressions on each one?

[magus113]

That would have been cool.

So, anyway, I've decided to play through the entire FF series in order. I was just going to play the ones I haven't beaten (II, III, V) but through a series of unfortunate events (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Series_of_unfortunate_events) found myself playing the first game instead and inspiring me to play through the first series.

Anyone interested in giving a FF marathon a go? A thread for impressions on each one?

That sounds like a cool idea. I'm glad I still have the FF Origins copy of FF1/2 because while the engine was kind of broken I felt more accomplished getting as far as I did in the game, although the PSP Anniversary collection remakes were pretty cool. It IS very time consuming however and I'd probably skip playing FF7 again to be honest.

[Typhoid]

I'd be down for doing that, but the only ones I have are 12 and 13. I think I have X-2 tucked away somewhere, aswell.


If I had access to the older games I'd be all over that considering I've never really played them.

[magus113]

I think I have X-2 tucked away somewhere, aswell.

And it's not burned yet because?

[TheSlyMoogle]

And it's not burned yet because?

Story was bad, but the battle system was fun as fuck.

[magus113]

Story was bad, but the battle system was fun as fuck.

I dunno. I've never been able to do well with games that have job systems or anything similar.