Final Fantasy Discussion Thread

[j]

What didn't you like about the gameplay?

It's abysmally boring and really, really grind-heavy.

If I recall, the part you're at is actually the only part of the game where grinding could be considered "necessary."  The game as a whole isn't grind-heavy at all IMO.  I abhor grinding, but like FF1 (nostalgia is likely a factor, however).

FF1 - Played it on the NES as a kid.  I still like it, it's not that great but offers some replay value with class challenges if you're into that.
FF2 - Played it once, on PS1 I think.  Not a fan.
FF3 - Never played it.
FF4 - Played it on the SNES as a kid.  Absolutely loved it back then, now it's near the bottom of my list.
FF5 - Played it on an SNES emulator and more recently on GBA.  Story, etc is garbage but the job system is a lot of fun and makes for some varied gameplay.
FF6 - Played it on the SNES as a kid.  Remains one of my favorite video games of all time.
FF7 - Played it on the PC as a kid, because I never had a PS1.  Loved it back then, still think it's probably in the top quarter of the series.
FF8 - Played it on the PC as a kid.  Liked it, but I don't think I've felt compelled to play it since.
FF9 - Played it when I got a PS2 in high school.  Liked it and have played it since then at the urging of my brother; it's his favorite game.  I've enjoyed it more on subsequent play throughs.
FF10 - Played it when I got a PS2 in high school.  Liked the story, but found the gameplay shallow, dull, and repetitive, the battle system tedious, and exploration and progression unsatisfying, among other things.  And the voice acting was terrible.  My overall impression was good, but anytime I've tried to pick it up since, I've immediately become bored and disinterested with it.
FF12 - Played my roommate's copy in college, probably a year or so after it came out.  Vaan is terrible, but I had a blast with the game and find a lot to appreciate about it.  I consider it one of the best in the series.
FF13 - Played my brother's copy a couple years ago.  Pretty fun one time through and I applaud the innovative battle system (even though it turned out to have some big flaws), unlikely that I'd play it again, especially now that I spend so little time with video games.

-J

[yorost]

I've beaten all of the main title single player games (plus quite a few others which I won't comment on).

I - It is what it is. I enjoyed it, but it's too much of a grind and doesn't have much for story for it to be one of the best in the series.
II - Loved it. Level up system is confusing, but it's best to avoid grinding if you can and is better experienced not abusing self attacks. I like the system, oh well. Has some of the most memorable music in the series and one of the better stories. PSP version made some great adds that explain the world's back story, too, while also including the great addition from Dawn of Souls.
III - Enjoyable game, but characters aren't as well done as in II. Party chat is the best development in the DS version. My favourite class system in the series, too, I don't understand the complaints about the 'learning curve' and needing to stick choices out. Felt like a nice challenge to make things work and have to think about your party choices before trying any combo. Loved Cloud of Darkness for some reason, albeit a bit out of the blue. If there was one big change I would make, it would be adding a save point at the point of no return. That last dungeon is cruel if you loos to the last boss.
IV - Great game, though Kain starts to drag on the story and some of the characters get annoying. Feels a little more directed than the first III, though, which I don't like. ...not sure it's true, either, though.
V - Ugh, find a mode of transportation, find the one path it can take, wreck it, repeat. Terrible characters, weak villain, silliness abound, but at least it got better as the game progressed. Class system was a joke compared to III's. You could instant switch any character to suit your needs, use an ability from mastered classes... at the final boss I think I had all four of my characters in brand new classes. There just wasn't any need for foresight, here, bleh and cheap.
VI - Loved it. the game just hits a fantastic spot when you get to the open world part, but this game was great start to finish. Final boss is probably my most memorable in the series. Ultros was a little off putting, but I think more fond of him now, and will probably appreciate him when I replay this game.
VII - Disc 1: Ugh, so much annoying content, some of the worst in the series. Disc 2&3: Great time, some of the best in the series. Yeah, that sums it up, game didn't live up to the hype but I can see why so many people love it. For me, it's just not one of the great ones, but for all those that aren't, it leads the way because so much of it was a great game.
VIII - Ugh, so many annoying characters, a terrible story, and an awful implementation for battle. It says something that I though the 'no encounter' buff was a fabulous addition to the game since you could get it so early. Battles were for farming, otherwise you're just making the game harder by leveling up your enemies, silliness. I felt stuck, damned if I battle normal and damned if I don't, I just saw it as taking the lesser of two poor choices. At least it had some of the best music in the series.
IX - Great game. Too bad some of it got a little annoying, and I'd have liked it a little more open. The core characters, Zidane, Dagger, Steiner, and Vivi were all fantastic.
X - Ugh. Annoying characters, terrible world design, linear and random battles mesh for a dreadful walk, eliminated active battles, stupid sphere grid they pretend is open, and a superb story somehow mixed into some downright awful elements like blitzball. I had an ok time with it, but I don't think I will ever understand the love this gets as a game.
XII - Loved it. Felt so open even in the times it wasn't so much so, loved the side quests, loved the characters and their development (yes, even Vaan and Penelo). Gambits were a lot of fun to play with, but also optional so I don't get the complaints about them. The one drawback is length, I'd love to replay this game but it's a huge undertaking for a story based game.
XIII - Well, they were clearly trying to repeat X, but it went a little better this time. Battles were active again, they didn't try to hide how directed leveling up is, linear path was so much more tolerable with visible enemies, and, finally, something like Gran Pulse with some real exploration showed up. Still has many of the faults of X, but Gran Pulse ensured this game was one I ultimately enjoyed, overall.

[Kotowboy]

7 9 and 10 are my favourite ones.

I remember enjoying 6 until I got stuck on it.

8 was good but really different to someone who experienced 7 first. No materia was just odd and the junctioning system was confusing. Thankfully they were smart enough to include an "automatic" junctioning whereby it would choose the best combo for your character - i seem to recall i didn't really figure out how to junction properly until disc 3. Really boring story overall though. Hated it each and every time you would pass out and become the other characters.

9 was a return to the fun. Loved the characters and the world and the old style magic system was a lot better than the Junction system in 8.

I do love 10. Prefer it to 8. Just didn't need the voices. Mostly played it for Blitzball because I had the Jecht shot and nobody could beat me

10-2 is not worth mentioning and I haven't played one since then.

[Ultimetalhead]

This is going to be short for most of the games since I haven't really dug deep into many of them.

I - Playing it again right now. Honestly, I quite like it. It's simple, grindy fun and god dammit there ain't nothin' wrong wit dat.
II - Will play after I. The leveling system makes me nervous because of how easily it can be abused and a lot of people I know hate it.
III - The job system scares me because I've never used a job system before and I have no idea how they work. Stupid, I know.
IV - Bought it on PSP and was really enjoying it, but I stopped for some reason (probably because I wasn't as into handheld gaming as I am now)
V - Same as III.
VI - Played the first 5 hours or so, and enjoyed it, but so many of the characters have these bizarre-ass gimmicks to them that really rub me the wrong way. The characters themselves seem extremely varied and interesting though, so I need to try again.
VII - Amazing, holy shit what a game, etc.
VIII - Played the first 5 minutes on an emulator and decided I wanted to dedicate more attention to it on a real system eventually.
IX - Got it on my Vita. Really fucking fun game, though I got stuck one time getting utterly gangraped after it really opens up for the first time and I couldn't even grind to raise my level without dying. I have no idea what even happened, but I'll start it over and try again eventually.
X - Best in the series, far and away. Love the story, love the characters, love the battle system, sphere grid is Jesus.
XI - MMOs suck
XII - Utterly terrible. Not engaging at all and the battle system sucks. Furthermore, the story's bogged down by SO MUCH LORE. GOD.
XIII - Awesome. Shit tons of lore, but it's in a setting that I can appreciate more (I generally dislike medieval type stuff and much prefer the cyberpunk thing that XIII has). Everything else is basically X, so yay.
XIII-2 - Even better than XIII, but I never finished it for some weird reason.
XIV - No.
XV - Nervous about this one. So much hype, and I'm not too thrilled with how the battle system looks like it's going to be.

[sneakyblueberry]

On a whim i decided to play VII again, really enjoying it, although VIII will forever be my favourite shit right dere.

[Jaq]

Haven't finished a FF game since FFX. Which given how much I love the series is a surprise, but FFXII was just too grind heavy and FFXIII-well, supposedly it gets good, but like 20 hours in, and I ain't got time for a game to grab me like that.

FFVII and FFVIII are the shit, though. Two of my favorite games ever. 

[Lynxo]

I hope we can get a good leveling system again. 7 and 9 got it right. I HATE the Crystarium and the Sphere Board. Is it really too much to ask for a system where you don't pick predetermined stats upgrades? What's even the point in doing that, the game could easily just do it for me. Just as the battles themselves in XII and XII are largely self-playing.

I want to choose a spell when I level up and then be excited about using it in battle. Just like finding a new Materia in FFVII, or drawing a new magic in FFVIII (even if the drawing system sucked, it was way better than what was to come).

And don't even get me started on the story and the characters. FFXIII is one of the worst told stories I've ever encountered in a video game. The setting makes no sense, the characters are the most unlikeable bunch you could ever imagine and YOU HAVE TO READ THE DATALOGS TO GET EXPLAINATIONS TO THE CHARACTERS, FACTIONS AND STUPID WORDS! No one explains anything! But then again, maybe it's because it would sound too stupid so they stick it in the fucking menu. I mean, how much sense does it make for the all powerful god-like being fal'Cie to brand someone with an allimportant mission BUT NOT TELL YOU WHAT THE MISSION IS?! Isn't it in their best interest? God of Wars? More like Raw Dogs!

Is there any way to get the story of FFVII, the characters of FFVI, the battle system of X and the leveling system of VII? Square-Enix? Pretty please? You know, I'll buy your damn games out of obligation at this point, so you might as well just use that money somehow. Please, please, stop earfucking me and just please me, like you used to?

[ariich]

The story in XIII was great, and the datalog detail is there because many players couldn't give a shit about any of that. I think it's a really good idea (like when you play Skyrim and there is SO MUCH STUFF written in books). If you're interested in the depth and history, you can geek out on it, otherwise you can just ignore it.

The problem that XIII had was the linearity. Until the latter stages it was the most linear RPG I've ever played, even more so that X. It opened up more later on though, which was great.

[Lynxo]

The story in XIII was great, and the datalog detail is there because many players couldn't give a shit about any of that. I think it's a really good idea (like when you play Skyrim and there is SO MUCH STUFF written in books). If you're interested in the depth and history, you can geek out on it, otherwise you can just ignore it.

The problem that XIII had was the linearity. Until the latter stages it was the most linear RPG I've ever played, even more so that X. It opened up more later on though, which was great.

Except it's not details in the datalog, it's essential to read to even understand character motivations. I would hardly even know what a fal'Cie was if I didn't have the datalog. Why couldn't the characters explain that on their own to me?
I'm all for a in-game wiki of sort, I love the books in Skyrim. But I shouldn't be confused by the story because I forgot to read up on it.

Also, is there anyone out there who actually liked Snow, Hope or Vanille? Damn, I just wanted to throw my controller at the screen most of the time. 

[yorost]

Didn't care for Hope or Snow, but I liked their relationship quite a bit.

[j]

I HATE the Crystarium and the Sphere Board. Is it really too much to ask for a system where you don't pick predetermined stats upgrades? What's even the point in doing that, the game could easily just do it for me.

I agree with this.  The popularity of the sphere grid baffles me; it combines the worst aspects of "rigid roles for each character" and "customizability to the point that every character just becomes the same."  You have the illusion of control of their development, but you really can't mix it up much at all in the early game.  Then when you can access other parts of the grid far later on, everybody just blends together.  Not to mention that I recall it being an enormous grind to get anywhere past the characters' primary areas on the sphere grid, and grinding is even more intolerable in X than in most of the other games, thanks in large part to...

Is there any way to get the story of FFVII, the characters of FFVI, the battle system of X and the leveling system of VII? Square-Enix?

The battle system in X is probably it's other huge failure; I'd be massively disappointed if it made a return.

-J

[yorost]

Agreed with all of that, though X-2's battle system returning would be fine with me.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

I: Classic. Fun but painfully easy.
II: Least favourite. Ruined by garbage leveling system.
III: One of the tougher ones. A couple parts irked me but I like job system.
IV: One of the best. Really fun and challenging.
V: So long since I played but I remember loving it.
VI: Seems to be the favourite amongst diehards. Likely the best plotwise. Gameplay is neat.
VII: Amazing game. Not sure what else to say.
VIII: My favourite game of all time. Both for nostalgia and the fact I'm just in love with everything about it aside from that one horrible twist.
IX: Good game, but overrated. Gameplay is fairly lacklustre.
X: Neat game albeit a bit easy. I love blitzball though.
XI: Never played. Don't intend to.
XII: This game is cool as hell even if it's polarizing and Vaan is a boring main character. I adore the gameplay and the overalĺ feel of the game. Second favourite.
XIII: Yeah it being mostly linear is unfortunate. Regardless, the gameplay is some of the better gameplay of the series. Me likey.

[Outcrier]

VIII: My favourite game of all time. Both for nostalgia and the fact I'm just in love with everything about it aside from that one horrible twist.

[Edan the Man]

Agreed with all of that, though X-2's battle system returning would be fine with me.

X-2's battle system was amazing!

Too bad the story was a huge letdown following the awesomeness of X

[bout to crash]

IV (II) is the only one I've ever played, and I love it! I actually just ordered it on eBay because I now have an SNES again. PUMPED to kick some Zeromus ass again, though it will probably take me forever as it's been a loooong time.

[Kotowboy]

VIII: My favourite game of all time. Both for nostalgia and the fact I'm just in love with everything about it aside from that one horrible twist.

Can someone remind me of the magic system for X ? I remember it being better than 8 but ...oh wait - wasn't it some sort of grid like thing where you have to apply abilities in order to create a path to the ability you want ?

I vaguely remember

[Perpetual Change]

IV (II) is the only one I've ever played, and I love it! I actually just ordered it on eBay because I now have an SNES again. PUMPED to kick some Zeromus ass again, though it will probably take me forever as it's been a loooong time.

FYI, SNES Zeromus was dumbed down for America. He even looks different.

[bout to crash]

Doesn't surprise me!

[npiazza91]

Any fans here?  I didn't find any active FF topics, so I thought I'd make one.  I'm currently playing through Final Fantasy IV DS right now, stuck on Cagnazzo.  I also started IX recently, it's just taking some time to get started.

My favorites are X, XII, IV (loving it so far), III and XIII.  Can't stand VIII, though.  The only ones I haven't played are II, V and VI (I don't count XI and XIV).  The only one I have beaten was X.  I usually screw up my characters somewhere along the line.  It takes me a while to get accustomed to how a certain RPG works, so I usually get about halfway, realize that I've been upgrading/leveling up all wrong, then start over.  This pattern usually repeats until I know basically everything about the game...in which case I get bored playing it so I never beat it.  It's a vicious cycle, but I have to get around to beating more of the FF games.  The only thing I hate about XII (besides the story) is the 100% free reign to develop every character however you want.  I like it when each character has a specific role.  This system forces me to play "Enforced Class Challenges" in XII, which makes the game much harder than it has to be.  Not to mention I get distracted all the time doing Hunts and side quests.

As for FFX, it's probably my favorite game of all time.  Enough said.

Anyway, there's my FF experiences.  Please share.  But please no spoilers for any of the FF games, not only for me, but we don't want to spoil it for someone else.  Just watch what you say.

[Bolsters]

I have played and enjoyed some games in the series, but I haven't really played enough of them that I would call myself an actual "Final Fantasy Fan". I've only ever finished two of them.

Played and finished VI and IV (DS remake). Really enjoyed them both.

Played most of III on DS, but got bored with it. The plot was too thin and the characters had no personality at all. No surprise given how old III is, but the IV was much better. I'd like them to remake V and VI in the same way eventually.

Played a little of VII VIII and X but just couldn't get interested in them.

As for spinoffs, I didn't mind the first Crystal Chronicles on the GCN, but it was just far too repetitive in single player so I never finished it. Love the soundtrack though.

I think that's it.

[Kotowboy]

FINAL FANTASY 7 is the greatest game of all time.

[ariich]

There's already a perfectly good FF discussion thread, so I merged the new one in.

I don't think we need it spoiler-free. Obviously if a new game comes out and anybody wants to start a separate spoiler-free thread about it, that's fine (although I'm not sure how that would work as different people will play it at different speeds and different times), but most of these games have been out for years.

[Kotowboy]

And it's not like the entire FF series has an over arcing theme or plot.

Every game is set in a different time , space and universe with new characters and abilities.

I started with 7 then played 8 and was a bit disappointed with it.

Loved 9 for it's return to basics. Loved 10 also because it was new and different and i LOVED the Blitzball game. I played that more than the proper game.

X-2 was like WTF and I haven't played one since. I enjoyed VI though for the short time that I Played it.

[OpenYourEyes311]

LOVE Final Fantasy!

In the middle of FFX HD right now. So far it's pretty good, the beginning is a little slow as there's WAY too much storyline! But I just opened up the "capturing monsters" quests, so I'm excited to get on that! It's new to me as I missed the PS2 generation. Other than that gen (X-XII), I have played and beaten all but III!

My favorite is XIII by far, with VI, V, and VIII not far behind. Did not like II that much, or IV. I, VII, and IX are in the middle of the pack.

I did have an account for XIV for a few months, but after I beat the storyline I couldn't justify continuing to pay every month. I really enjoyed that game though, and I find myself missing it every once in a while. It was my first go around into MMORPGs and I thought it was pretty cool!

[npiazza91]

What about XIII did you like so much?  I wouldn't say it's bad, but it's in the middle for me.  I hate the fact that the game not only limits you exploration (I can live with that) but that you can't level up past a certain point depending on what part of the game you're on.

[OpenYourEyes311]

Yeah, neither of those things really bothered me at all. I think it's a cliche that people say "it limits exploration" or "it's too linear" because they're all linear up to a point. I'm about 40 hours into X right now, and I've been walking in a straight line to get to Zanarkand since the beginning, which, to me, feels about the time that XIII opened up with Gran Pulse. Even in the first one, you battle the first boss before it lets you across the bridge; then you have to fight the pirates before moving on, then there's only one place you can go to next, and so on and so forth. In VI, the first half of the game is very linear, and it only opens up after the battle with Kefka.

The levelling thing, I guess I could understand that, but it was only there so that you couldn't bully/grind your way through the storyline. I like a challenge, so I liked that I couldn't get some Spells or whatever until I beat the next boss and opened up the next part of the Crystarium.

What I LOVED about this game was the fighting engine. It felt so fresh, so fast, so exciting, SO POWAH! I loved being able to change strategies on the fly, having to figure out which Paradigms worked on which bosses (and which ones didn't). Also, the 60-or-so missions on Gran Pulse were so great. It was like a big scavenger hunt! Had to find the stone, then go find the enemy, then figure out how to BEAT that enemy, some of which were harder than any of the other bosses! I felt like how people must have felt tracking down the Weapons in VII (something I never did). And then on top of all that, trophy hunting at the end of the game was brilliant. It gave me a real sense of accomplishment to get my first platinum.

I guess I could go on and on... oh yeah, not to mention the game is literally the most beautiful game I've ever seen. OMG.

Just writing about it now makes me want to drop X and pick up XIII for my third time through, haha. Absolutely my favorite Final Fantasy.

[npiazza91]

Yeah, neither of those things really bothered me at all. I think it's a cliche that people say "it limits exploration" or "it's too linear" because they're all linear up to a point. I'm about 40 hours into X right now, and I've been walking in a straight line to get to Zanarkand since the beginning, which, to me, feels about the time that XIII opened up with Gran Pulse. Even in the first one, you battle the first boss before it lets you across the bridge; then you have to fight the pirates before moving on, then there's only one place you can go to next, and so on and so forth. In VI, the first half of the game is very linear, and it only opens up after the battle with Kefka.

The levelling thing, I guess I could understand that, but it was only there so that you couldn't bully/grind your way through the storyline. I like a challenge, so I liked that I couldn't get some Spells or whatever until I beat the next boss and opened up the next part of the Crystarium.


Yeah I haven't gotten to Gran Pulse yet, but I think I'm close.  The hunts are what I loved about XII.  And, yes, while X is very linear, at least it has towns and stuff and it's not just from save point to save point in a line.  Also, the story is X is amazing.  I'm liking IX a lot right now, since there's so much to explore.  I explored Lindblum for a few hours before moving on with the story.
What I LOVED about this game was the fighting engine. It felt so fresh, so fast, so exciting, SO POWAH! I loved being able to change strategies on the fly, having to figure out which Paradigms worked on which bosses (and which ones didn't). Also, the 60-or-so missions on Gran Pulse were so great. It was like a big scavenger hunt! Had to find the stone, then go find the enemy, then figure out how to BEAT that enemy, some of which were harder than any of the other bosses! I felt like how people must have felt tracking down the Weapons in VII (something I never did). And then on top of all that, trophy hunting at the end of the game was brilliant. It gave me a real sense of accomplishment to get my first platinum.

I guess I could go on and on... oh yeah, not to mention the game is literally the most beautiful game I've ever seen. OMG.

Just writing about it now makes me want to drop X and pick up XIII for my third time through, haha. Absolutely my favorite Final Fantasy.

[Dublagent66]

Right now I'm playing the iOS remake version of FFIII on my iPad.  Pretty cool.  But, my all time favorite is still FFX.  Loved the sphere grid leveling system and despite the game being rather linear, I still played for massive amounts of hours and the side quests helped to spread it out bit.  Blitzball was ok, but really think they could've done a better job with it.  That was my least favorite part of the game.

[Skeever]

XIII was OK, would have been great with a good story, unfortunately it didn't have one.

[Phoenix87x]

FINAL FANTASY 7 is the greatest game of all time.

Its my favorite game ever made.

[Kotowboy]

Right now I'm playing the iOS remake version of FFIII on my iPad.  Pretty cool.  But, my all time favorite is still FFX.  Loved the sphere grid leveling system and despite the game being rather linear, I still played for massive amounts of hours and the side quests helped to spread it out bit.  Blitzball was ok, but really think they could've done a better job with it.  That was my least favorite part of the game.

Blitzball was my fave. I played that more than the proper game. I had the Jecht shot so i could never lose

I loved the whole vibe of FFX.

[ariich]

I really like the story in XIII. It's one of their best in terms of character interaction and development. Something which is severely lacking in XIII-2!

The gameplay is ok, yeah it's quite linear but that doesn't really bother me too much.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Hi thread. I'm about to buy FFVII in Steam, and I'm excited as hell. The best game I ever played  (With Ocarina of Time coming in a close second, of course)

[Kotowboy]

I loved OOT too until I went back to it after playing Twilight Princess then I realised it was very much a product of it's time and I can't play it now