I'm so ashamed...is it just me??

Hopeless

The first final fantasy I played was FFX and I was absolutely glued to it. Loved the battle system, loved the way things worked, had most of the best weapons and so on.
Picked up FFVII becuase according to pretty much everyone I know it's the best and greatest of them all and I'm really not impressed...
Apart from the storyline which is good indeed, I'm finding it impossible to get use to the battle system, having to swap the materia around, the fact that it's active time as well.
It's really annoying, feels like I can't give my characters defined abilities, during battles I don't know the order in which turns will be taken (which was in FFX the major aid in battles!).
Just really frustrated with the whole thing. Im I just not far enough into it??
Any advice?? I want to enjoy this game dammit..:(

Crucifix

The games always have somewhat different systems, so for your enjoyment of the series as a whole, I suppose you'll just have to get used to that.
I'm afraid I can't really offer any advice, as I played FF7 first and found the battle system and materia system just fine. It's definitely worth trying to get to like it though.

Retr0gamer

Unfortunately FFX has by far the best battle system of any FF game and proabably any RPG. Any other FF battle system is going to be disappointing. Was never a fan of ATB either but it's just something you have to put up with. If I were you I wouldn't be swapping materia around at all. The characters don't have any defined abilities except limit breaks which you won't see much of and are fully customisable. I just slapped whatever materia I found on what ever character seemed to need it and if a character was lacking in some department I would give them materia to compensate. Also don't be afraid to swap characters around. You will have more than enough materia for them all shortly into the game and characters out of battle automatically level up anyway. You also shouldn't have any trouble with any fights in the game if you don't take time to level up characters. It's a very easy game and only the last boss should trouble you (easily remedied by doing the side quests). FFVII doesn't have the best battle and magic system, in fact it's the worst other than FFVIII imo. However the story and characters really are what makes the game one of favourites. It's also a lot of fun. Just stop fretting over micro managing your party. It's a japanese RPG or RPG-lite if you will not a stat heavy western dungeon slog or brainmelting multitasking RTS. The game shouldn't trouble you at all. (Just make sure you keep a note of what materia you have on what characters especially if you are happy with the configuration, you'll end up hating Yuffie later on in the game otherwise).

grimloch

It takes a bit of getting used to but you'll get used to it no bother as you move through the game.

I loved the X battle system too. The whole thing was great, for example the way certain moves influenced it and there was delays involved and all that was a fantastic piece of imagination altogether.

It brought in a new planning angle to the game and although it wasn't used to its full effect it was certainly a good addition.

In conclusion just keep playing VII and you'll get used to it quick enough.

Retr0gamer

I you think FFVII is bad you should try FFVIII and FF tactics advance and the confusing mess of a system they have.

Iofur

Hopeless wrote:

The first final fantasy I played was FFX and I was absolutely glued to it. Loved the battle system, loved the way things worked, had most of the best weapons and so on.
Picked up FFVII becuase according to pretty much everyone I know it's the best and greatest of them all and I'm really not impressed...
Apart from the storyline which is good indeed, I'm finding it impossible to get use to the battle system, having to swap the materia around, the fact that it's active time as well.
It's really annoying, feels like I can't give my characters defined abilities, during battles I don't know the order in which turns will be taken (which was in FFX the major aid in battles!).
Just really frustrated with the whole thing. Im I just not far enough into it??
Any advice?? I want to enjoy this game dammit..:(

If you want I can glue the PS controller to your hands! Dammit man...its a crime against the gods of final fantasy!

I never thought I would hear anyone say that...please leave! :cool: lol

RiotSirC

10, imo was crap in comparison to some previous games. when u hit high level in 10 the batles are so pathetic and repetative. even during lower levels i got bored of it pretty quick. 7 was pretty good imo, and by far the best overall game of the series. actually i think the best levellin/combat system was final fantasy 5. it was a mix of ATB and CTB (or whatever they called 10's system). it was what X-2's system was based on, i.e. classes which u level up and any character can be any class. worked really well and was by far the most fun to play.

btw, in FF7 you can switch between ATB and Wait mode in the config, means when a players ATB bar fills up the whole battle pauses for you to enter your next move. once u get used to 7's battles in ATB mode though u'll realize how crap 10 is

where are u in the game by the way? man i wish i could erase that game from my memory just so i could play it all again for the first time....

Nov

I found the FFX battle system to easy since it told me when my enemy was going to attack, so I could just switch to Yuna and heal before a boss or something would have the chance to kill me.

I started with the ATB battle system and maybe thats why i find FFX easy.
You can slow the ATB down in the options for FFVII and im sure most other FF games that have ATB...

VII is my the best in the series with IX a close second. Try IX, that wont punish u as much for being slow with the ATB, plus your chars have class, unlike VII where you can switch em about by messing with the Materia

Cosine

X's battle system is deff the most beginner friendly sytem there is. It also alows you to use big high-faluten strategies to kick some serious booty!

X was the third game I played but deff the quickest one I picked up, usually it takes a few battles to get used to a system but with X it was almost straight away since there was no worries over time and you could think things through

The Free Man

RiotSirC wrote:

man i wish i could erase that game from my memory just so i could play it all again for the first time....

thats one of my 3 wishes...


but yeah, keep playing VII and you'll get used to it. as somebaody here said, if you want to play all of the FF series, they're all different battle systems.


a tip would be to only put purple and yellow materia on cloud eg, cover, hp plus, counter, dblow, eskill and stuff like that. try not to take stats away from his HP or strength. you'll be kicking ass with him in no time.

Whiskeyjack

Hopeless wrote:

The first final fantasy I played was FFX and I was absolutely glued to it. Loved the battle system, loved the way things worked, had most of the best weapons and so on.
Picked up FFVII becuase according to pretty much everyone I know it's the best and greatest of them all and I'm really not impressed...
Apart from the storyline which is good indeed, I'm finding it impossible to get use to the battle system, having to swap the materia around, the fact that it's active time as well.
It's really annoying, feels like I can't give my characters defined abilities, during battles I don't know the order in which turns will be taken (which was in FFX the major aid in battles!).
Just really frustrated with the whole thing. Im I just not far enough into it??
Any advice?? I want to enjoy this game dammit..:(

It's just a different system that takes time to adjust to when you've been playing with another for a long time.It took time for me to fully master ffX's system but once I did it was one of the most enjoyable FF games I had ever played.

RedXIV

We've all been there, trying to adjust to other battle styles takes a while. And i also had trouble with FF7's materia system for the first month or so (being 11 probably had something to do with that), if it hadn't been for the elevator boss in the shinra building, i'd still be trying to sail through the game without touching materia. but i promise ya, it's like a smack in the face how simple it is when it clicks in your head.

chupacabra

Well thats understandable, FFX had the best battle system ive ever played, but If your a fan of FF games you kinda have to get used to having a different battle system for every game. I mean the first FF game i ever played was 7 and I loved the materia system but then playing 8 with the junction I was a bit put off at the start, but once you learn the ropes its a really cool system. So what im saying is dont rely on the fact that one system was better than the other. Square wouldnt put a battle system in unless it was appealing, even in the least.

3C.

I never got a grasp on the junctioning thing in FF8, i did alright....i just didn't understand WHY, lol .... and i found FFX had to grasp aswell.

Now materia, that is a system i can work with.

grimloch

3C. wrote:

I never got a grasp on the junctioning thing in FF8, i did alright....i just didn't understand WHY, lol ....

A good grasp of the junction system made the game ludicrously easy. It's probably better if you don't get it!

Now materia, that is a system i can work with.

I don't really think the materia system is wonderful, it's reasonably easy to equip and all that.

My main problem was that it allowed every character to equip any ability in the game in a matter of seconds thereby removing most unique characteristics of a character.

omegoku

FFX was too easy, unless yo wanted to defeat the dark aeons and the like, you could breexe thru the game without having to go out of your way to level up..
FF7 materia system is not that complex, and the ATB make the battles more interesting as you dont know exactly when the enemy will attack..

FFT system is one of the best systems out there, I cant understand how anyone would have trouble with it

FF8 was redicilously easy once you began junctioning anything.. the game made it impossible to lose even against its ultimate optional bosses..

now FF2 had an awful system, brilliant in theory, but very badly done.. so bad, I only got a couple of hours into it before dropping it forever..

ffx2, while being a terrible game storywise, I reaaly did like the battle system, after xs slow battles, the fast frantic battles of x2 were great

nix

Well to be honest my fav battle system was the FF7 materia system. Yes it was confusing at first, but it was alot better running around and finding the materia. Alot more rewarding than simply unlocking it, i just got so excited when i seen a new materia lying on the ground =D

FF8's system was the most annoying in my opinion, i just hated having to waste turns in battle drawing the **** out of the eneamy instead of attacking.

FF9 was ok i guess, simular to FF7 in a way except change materia with weapons/armor.

FF10 was alot more well put together however i didnt like the way you just gained it when ya leveled up. I would of prefered having to explore to find my powers.

Any news on what FF12's magic set up will be like?

Merrick

nix wrote:

FF8's system was the most annoying in my opinion, i just hated having to waste turns in battle drawing the **** out of the eneamy instead of attacking.

I agree, there's nothing worse than speding ages drawing 100 of whatever only to get killed and have to start all over again. Grr...
I thought FF7 had the best system, ATB is much better than the way the battles were done in FFX.

miss_cheif

Merrick wrote:

I agree, there's nothing worse than speding ages drawing 100 of whatever only to get killed and have to start all over again. Grr...
I thought FF7 had the best system, ATB is much better than the way the battles were done in FFX.

I agree that it's so annoying when you work for so hard and then just die. You'll never get that time back.
But the ATB justs get confusing and frustrating at times, with X you know who was coming up next so you can counter your enemies attacks. But the materia in VII is definetly a better way of upgrading your characters.
Now they're bringing in a system in XII where you move around and can choose your opponents instead of random encounters.

grimloch

nix wrote:

Any news on what FF12's magic set up will be like?

If you're talking about the ability system something this is involved.

Scroll down a bit on:

http://www.forthereunion.com/coverage/ffxii/ for a few details.

I don't too much mind the look of this system as you have to spend a bit of time getting abilities for each character unlike VII where you just whip a few materia out and give anyone whatever you like.

There's also a nice FFXII video on that site.

omegoku

I hope they keep it 'turn based' at least ATB was more fun, but CTB was better tactically.. if its just a hit the square button to attack, circle for magic travesty of a platform game like kingdom hearts ill be very depressed..