Final Fantasy
- Thread starter Nobodyman
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For its time, it was incredible. The story is straight up bad by today's standards and it was hardly brilliant when compared to other media but prior to that we hadn't seen something like it in games. And just because the genre has stagnated since then it doesn't mean there's something wrong with FFIV; it was a step forward. That Japanese developers have had problems taking another step forward is an entirely different issue.LordNue said:
I love the DQ series. Both VIII and IX are fantastic in my opinion. The series hasn't changed much but it's always kept its charm and it's never tried to be something it isn't. Normally I'd rag on a series for doing the same thing over and over but DQ games always manage to evoke the sense of wonder I had when exploring those big, open worlds back in the SNES and PSone era. There's still a place for that kind of game when it's done well.
Exactly, everyone has their own opinion on which FF they think was best. I personally didn't think FF6 (or whichever number the one had Kefka in it is) was as great as everyone said it was either. I liked it, but I still don't think it was that great. My personal favorite was FF9, probably because the main protagonist wasn't some angsty, scowling, pretty boy and the whole game had more of a lighthearted feel to it.Legion IV said:
Although as for them making more, I can go with or without. I'm STILL waiting for my KH3 SE!!!
Last 2 games especially? So you're saying XII was great, but XIII was a disaster? I have nothing to say about XIV, 'cause I haven't played it, but by what standard is XII better than XIII?
Anyway, it's true they've lost sight of what they should be focusing on. I would love to see them remake their older games, like VII, VIII, and IX, take that time to refocus, then make a new one.
Anyway, it's true they've lost sight of what they should be focusing on. I would love to see them remake their older games, like VII, VIII, and IX, take that time to refocus, then make a new one.
The series has steadily been getting rid of all its redeeming features since PS1 to the point where there's now none left. I used to count myself as a FF fan, but now I'm waiting for FFXV with sick curiosity at most, although honestly I doubt even Square can manage to lower the bar any further.
I mean seriously, the only criticism against FFXIII I am willing to refute is that FFXIII is indeed a game. Still, it should be rather telling when that's a bigger argument than whether it is a good game.
I mean seriously, the only criticism against FFXIII I am willing to refute is that FFXIII is indeed a game. Still, it should be rather telling when that's a bigger argument than whether it is a good game.
Erm...I should probably point out that I haven't played any Final Fantasy games. I was merely stating I can't predict when or if the series will ever end.Legion IV said:
I did get my hands on FF I, II, IV, V and VI though, so I will be playing them once I beat Chrono Trigger.
That's the way it always worked for video games. Now it doesn't hold up because we've come a long way since then. We don't have the memory constraints we had with cartridges, graphics have improved, we can include voice acting when appropriate, etc. FFIV came about when the medium was much younger and early attempts at anything are going to be pretty clumsy. It doesn't hold up at all today-its only merit is nostalgia-but for the time it wasn't that bad. Standards evolve with a medium.LordNue said:
And note that every game had a shitty story compared to other media back then, which is the only thing I made a direct comparison to. Even classics like Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger would belong square in the kid's aisle if they made a novelization (without drastically expanding on the premise). It really wasn't until the PSone era that we got jrpgs with some really deep and engaging storylines, like Vagrant Story and Chrono Cross. Those could easily stack up against novels and films. (And Chrono Cross would make a fantastic novel with a little re-working.)
Regarding DQ, to each his own. At least the DQ series hasn't put out an abomination like FFVIII. I know FF games are all different from one another but that felt like it belonged to a different IP.
Meh, have you played the old final fantasies recently?
I have been working my way through them recently and just hit x-2 (I've already palmed it off on the wife, who seems to like it). my opinion?
short version.
The series has never had an overall best period. I love these games but they aren't as good as we make out. The biggest achievements were technical, not as games. Honestly the best JRPG's I've played are (predictably) chrono trigger and star ocean 2 , the only final fantasies on par are, I think, 6 and 12.
longer but concise version.
The first four games haven't aged well at all and the stories are poor. As significant and impressive as they were at the time all the context that culture at the time granted them is gone. Replaying those four was a blow, like watching eighties children's TV today as an adult it just ruined the memories gained from my bootleg translations.
5 has solid gameplay but really weak plot
6 had a fantastic plot, fantastic characters and really solid gameplay
7's made out it was a political storyline but was just a standard big monster hunt and quite badly told (very enjoyable mind) I love it but find it hard to justify to anyone.
8's plot was utter nonsense and the junction system was so very,very broken.
9 was a nice whimsical game with a solid storyline and nice levelling system, I'd use it as the benchmark for final fantasy average. It just felt a bit old somehow.
I think 10's plot was a wasted opportunity. such a fantastic opening. Such a lame mid section.
x-2 was an abomination, less said the better.
12 is just brilliant I'm sure some people ***** about the story simply because it's not typical JRPG fodder. Not being the lead man probably put a lot of people off it too but I think playing a boy being swept along by politics made the story better. the only issue is that it should have had internationals grid system from the start.
13? I dunno, it's good but I just haven't given it the time it needs.
FF doesn't need a rest, we just need to stop holding up unreasonable expectations for it. It's square's platform for experimenting and it's not always successful.
I have been working my way through them recently and just hit x-2 (I've already palmed it off on the wife, who seems to like it). my opinion?
short version.
The series has never had an overall best period. I love these games but they aren't as good as we make out. The biggest achievements were technical, not as games. Honestly the best JRPG's I've played are (predictably) chrono trigger and star ocean 2 , the only final fantasies on par are, I think, 6 and 12.
longer but concise version.
The first four games haven't aged well at all and the stories are poor. As significant and impressive as they were at the time all the context that culture at the time granted them is gone. Replaying those four was a blow, like watching eighties children's TV today as an adult it just ruined the memories gained from my bootleg translations.
5 has solid gameplay but really weak plot
6 had a fantastic plot, fantastic characters and really solid gameplay
7's made out it was a political storyline but was just a standard big monster hunt and quite badly told (very enjoyable mind) I love it but find it hard to justify to anyone.
8's plot was utter nonsense and the junction system was so very,very broken.
9 was a nice whimsical game with a solid storyline and nice levelling system, I'd use it as the benchmark for final fantasy average. It just felt a bit old somehow.
I think 10's plot was a wasted opportunity. such a fantastic opening. Such a lame mid section.
x-2 was an abomination, less said the better.
12 is just brilliant I'm sure some people ***** about the story simply because it's not typical JRPG fodder. Not being the lead man probably put a lot of people off it too but I think playing a boy being swept along by politics made the story better. the only issue is that it should have had internationals grid system from the start.
13? I dunno, it's good but I just haven't given it the time it needs.
FF doesn't need a rest, we just need to stop holding up unreasonable expectations for it. It's square's platform for experimenting and it's not always successful.
wholeheartedlyBlueberryMUNCH said:
wait... apart from throwing you in the deep end and the subscription fees, what's so bad about Final Fantasy XIV?Nobodyman said:
I doubt you've even played it. Give it a chance before you judge something.
-Tabs<3-
I went to E3 a few years ago, probably 2006 after the Treasures expansion for FFXI, and I was at the SE booth. They were doing trivia for the games to win raffle tickets to get free stuff and everything. I remember clearly that a guy from the SE booth said "well we like to forget FFX-2 existed." Granted it was just a guy running the booth, I don't know if he was an actual employee, but they knew that the series started to jump the shark even back then.
At the same time, however, I don't think XII or XIII have been as memorable for me. I played XI for years so I guess I didn't dislike it or anything. Like most people I just never really thought of it as a final fantasy. The XIV beta I was in was horrendous though. It was nothing but server issues and horrid bugs. There was a point where beta testers were emailing patches to each other because the client was so bad. If your beta testers have to do that then you're doing it wrong SE.
I'll still enjoy the games and I'll still play them just because I do like the series so much but at the same time I think SE should shift it's focus to other things. The World Ends With You was amazing and deserved much more time in the spotlight. Releasing information on more Kingdom Hearts games. Jumping into the Chrono worlds again. They have other material they could work on as well as doing the final fantasy games.
Oh and releasing XIII-versus since it was revealed at that last E3 I went to in 2006.
At the same time, however, I don't think XII or XIII have been as memorable for me. I played XI for years so I guess I didn't dislike it or anything. Like most people I just never really thought of it as a final fantasy. The XIV beta I was in was horrendous though. It was nothing but server issues and horrid bugs. There was a point where beta testers were emailing patches to each other because the client was so bad. If your beta testers have to do that then you're doing it wrong SE.
I'll still enjoy the games and I'll still play them just because I do like the series so much but at the same time I think SE should shift it's focus to other things. The World Ends With You was amazing and deserved much more time in the spotlight. Releasing information on more Kingdom Hearts games. Jumping into the Chrono worlds again. They have other material they could work on as well as doing the final fantasy games.
Oh and releasing XIII-versus since it was revealed at that last E3 I went to in 2006.
Excellent post. I pretty much completely agree with you. FFXII is the game in the series I had the most enjoyment out of by far and it's still a very flawed game. FFXII wasn't even that different once you know what's going on under the hood of the game; FFXII combat-wise is the exact same thing as its older FFs. In FFXII, instead constantly going through menus to attack, heal, etc., you use the gambit system to stay out of the menus. The gambits are just doing what you would've done anyways. My tank is at <40% of health, so I'm going to heal him or I'm going to raise by dead character. There's no difference except you don't have to go through menus, which is completely outdated now. I tried playing through FFVI way back when it came out but I just couldn't because I HATE HATE HATE random battles; fighting enemies every 3 steps in a burning house is just bullshit. FFX is such an overrated game it's not even funny; no matter how much you like the story or characters, the gameplay is just bad. And, RPGs aren't games that can be carried by story alone like Heavy Rain, there's 50+ hours of GAMEPLAY in a standard JRPG. If the gameplay fails, the game fails no matter if it has the greatest story ever told featuring the greatest characters ever.Unrulyhandbag said:
You know there's a reason that X is the only FF game with a true sequal. Honestly it was my favourite Final Fantasy game, that and Kingdom Hearts are pretty much what my PS2 years consisted of.SirPumpkinLongshanks said:
The thing about the Final Fantasy series that sets apart from other is that each game is completely different. The characters, story, battle system are all overhauled after each game and we are left each time with just Gil, Moogles, Chocobos and Cactaurs to remind us that yes, Square Enix have made XIV other games by this title.
face it; if there was no such thing as the Final Fanasty series but all these games were released regardless yet under a different name we wouldn't even be having this conversation, because half of us wouldn't have played these games. What Square have done was intelligent, each new game in the series gets the hype of being a new FF game, while still being it's own game in itself (X2 excepted - but we don't talk about that).
The Final Fantasy series is by no means done, I think it is just a matter of figuring out where they want the series to go and then you know, making it go there. Oh and they should hurry the fuck up and tell me when KH3 is coming out so I can save up for a PS3 accordingly...
Final Fantasy IV: The After YearsLooK iTz Jinjo said:
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Fortress (FFXII)
(I'm leaving out all those shitty VII Sequel movie/TPS...things)
....................
Fanboyish Douchebaggery aside.
I had typed up a long explanation on my thoughts on all games in the series.
Long story short is that while I love all the Main FF games (Including XII, XIII, and VIII which I had my middle name legally changed to Leonhart, true story) the "True Fans" Won't be happy unless they release a stream of VI and IX clones because it "became too much about substance and no story" and the "Nomura Era Fanboys/Fangirls" won't be happy unless they "Remake teh Fenal Fantasy VII on teh PS3....Sephy is god"
We all need to just play the games for what they are worth and stop holding each individual game that doesn't meet up to whatever impossibly high standards were set by whatever game is your favorite game...There's a reason that none of the sequels are unrelated.
Final Fantasy is at best an anthology, a collection of seemingly unrelated stories that are in fact related by certain underlying currents/plot elements and cliches and the more you ***** about the games you don't like instead of just i don't know....do something more constructive with your time (insert time waster here).
...I've ran out of stuff to say so...i'mma go back to watching some more Zero Punctuation....Bye y'all!
I'm sorry...Resonance of Fate? Better than Final Fantasy? I haven't played persona and I'm willing to admit that TWEWY could possibly be better than FFXIII but RoF really isn't that great, yeah it has some nice little features but as a whole game it's generally bog standard.Jonesy911 said:
In addition, Mistwalker has made 2 games, Blue Dragon was awful and Lost Odyssey, while enjoyable, was still very much just above average.
Also Nobou is nothing to do with Mistwalker, he gets commissioned from his own company now so expect his awesomeness to be doing soundtracks for a lot more games.
Yes I do believe Resonance of Fate is better than all the recent Final Fantasy's, so was Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. I didn't even like Blue Dragon that much at all but at least it was average, Final Fantasy 13 however was far far below average in my opinion.Veldt Falsetto said:
Also play Persona, they're so much better than Final Fantasy its ridiculous. It's good to hear the Uematsu has his own company, I look forward to hearing him in many more games now
