Final Fantasy dying more and more.

Syferus · 08-01-2011 12:06am

How many times do we need to have the same conversation?

This has been a topic on peoples' minds since at least Final Fantasy VII, but the ultimate point to be made is that we've all grew older and coming at the games with different mindsets. In most cases our connection to this series, just like many others, has weakened over time as we've changed as much (or as little) as the games have, but not particularly in the same direction.

There's more choice, more exposure to different experiences and less time to tolerate things we didn't even notice ten year ago; FF4 to 9 were pretty much as linear as FF 13, but the illusion of the world map and towns made you think there was more to it than there ever really was. Evidently it was a worthwhile puppet show, given the negative reaction to FF 13's format for most of the game. I try not to judge FF 13 simply against my childhood memories but admittedly it's hard not to so on an emotional level as some of the most vivid pieces of my childhood involved the Final Fantasy series.

That doesn't mean we should negate the fact the change is mostly in us, not the games.

Syferus · 08-01-2011 12:28am

Mark Hamill wrote: »

Incidently, thespoonyexperiment has finally finished his decimating review of FFX, if anyone has been following him. His review of FF8 is good too.

One of the best internet comedians - a loaded term if ever there was one - and almost all of his solo reviews/creations are alot of fun. Incidently, his first claim to fame was an 11-part scathing review (don't take it too seriously, guys!) of Final Fantasy VIII.

Groinshot · 08-01-2011 12:34am

I'd rather watch a movie than walk up a corridor, trigger a battle scene, press the button, walk back down the corridor cos I forgot something, trigger a battle scene... rinse repeat. Sorry, but a game has to be fun to PLAY rather than tell a good story...

K.O.Kiki · 08-01-2011 1:06am

Icyseanfitz · 08-01-2011 1:16am

last FF i could finish and actually enjoy was 10 and the reason for that was because it had a very good story just like 9 and 7 (the gameplay never really bothered me so much in ff games as its not why i played them i played them to be sucked into a different world) ff 12 had a useless story as far as im concerned and 13 did my head in with vanelle hope snow and afro dude (although at least he had some good back story with his son) and their constant whining

pablomakaveli · 08-01-2011 3:24pm

I thought Vanille was kind of hot. Is there something wrong with me?:o

noodler · 08-01-2011 4:12pm

10 was amazing - I hope it finds its way to the HD remake.

landsleaving · 08-01-2011 5:03pm

pablomakaveli wrote: »

I thought Vanille was kind of hot. Is there something wrong with me?:o

It's not your fault they over-sexualised a 14-year old. I think.

Just make sure whatever girl you get to dress up as her is over the age of consent... and agrees to it. And you post pics

pablomakaveli · 08-01-2011 5:10pm

landsleaving wrote: »

It's not your fault they over-sexualised a 14-year old. I think.

Just make sure whatever girl you get to dress up as her is over the age of consent... and agrees to it. And you post pics

I thought she was a few hundred years old in the game.

I never bothered finishing it though, so im not too sure.

It's hard enough to tell what age some of the characters are in those games.

Mr. K · 08-01-2011 9:22pm

pablomakaveli wrote: »

I thought she was a few hundred years old in the game. I never bothered finishing it though, so im not too sure.

It's hard enough to tell what age some of the characters are in those games.

Vanille is 19, but

was frozen for 500 years

. So looking at her is fine!

seraphimvc · 08-01-2011 9:30pm

this remind me of that 'erase 1 game from your memory' thread - i honestly would love to forget that i played ff13. FF12 was a half-product that i have always imagined how awesome the game would turn out if it is totally developed under sakaguchi. but there is simply no excuse for ff13. i'd really rather SE disappear on earth than giving me the worst FF in the history.

i finished the game in so much pain(non stop complaining all the stuffs that i dont like throughout the game) and if it wasnt it has a name of FF (and admittedly gran pulse is such a wonderful HD experience), i'd never be able to finish this game and probably will trade in this game immediately after about 5hours play.

none of the characters in ff13 are likable, Lightning is probably the least annoying character in the whole game. i mean, jeez, look at all the previous (good)FFs, no matter how many times i replay them i still fcking LOVE some of the characters -
Terra/Edgar/Shadow/Sabin, Cloud/Aeris/tifa/RED XIII/barret/cid,rinoa/edia/Quitis, Zidane/VIVI/Garnet......the list goes on......there is always 3+ characters from every FF, heck, even in FF12 i love baltheir and Fran so much (and Basch). story failed in ff13 so hard. ok i admit that i might like Fang (but not vanille,vanille MUST die!!!!) more if they elaborate more of their lesbo stories. Story telling of ff13 simply failed so hard.

i had such a big hope for ff13 since it is like 10+years since the last proper FF (FFX). and ff13 failed me big time. SE is pretty much failing me on all its products since Squaresoft becomes SE.

Squaresoft who produced our favourite games are no more. move along people.

on the other hand, LO was a quality project from sakaguchi, i think he did his best since he didnt have full control on every aspect of the project - but The Lost Story is different. man, i cant FCKING wait for The Last Story!!!!!

seraphimvc · 08-01-2011 9:40pm

Mr. K wrote: »

Vanille is 19, but
was frozen for 500 years
. So looking at her is fine!

they changed the age setting from 14 to 19 1hour before they send the game to publish. no surprise there, she talks like a 12years to me.

(Snow is the 14yrs old kid)

Retr0gamer · 09-01-2011 6:58pm

Mr. K wrote: »

Vanille is 19, but
was frozen for 500 years
. So looking at her is fine!

You do know that many japanese 'artists' often draw anime girls to look like underage girls then proclaim them to be of legal age in the story so they can get away with any child porn allegations?

Icyseanfitz · 09-01-2011 7:17pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

You do know that many japanese 'artists' often draw anime girls to look like underage girls then proclaim them to be of legal age in the story so they can get away with any child porn allegations?

strange bunch alright

Retr0gamer · 09-01-2011 7:23pm

They're passing laws at the moment to cut down on it.

K.O.Kiki · 09-01-2011 7:32pm

I believe you don't understand the law being imposed (Tokyo Bill 156), or what it means.

With the passage of Bill 156, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government will have the additional power to restrict any manga, anime and video games (but not live photography works) that feature any sexual acts that would violate criminal codes or Tokyo ordinances OR sexual depictions between close relatives who could not legally get married to be treated as adult material IF they are presented in “unjustifiably glorified or exaggerated manner.”

*source link*

Retr0gamer · 09-01-2011 7:37pm

Yeah it's a lot more severe than I described it. Very Nanny state. They've already got reidiculous laws on censorship in videogames over there recently.

Mr. K · 09-01-2011 8:18pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

You do know that many japanese 'artists' often draw anime girls to look like underage girls then proclaim them to be of legal age in the story so they can get away with any child porn allegations?

I didn't know that! Why is it so prevalent in Japan?

Retr0gamer · 09-01-2011 9:02pm

Mr. K wrote: »

I didn't know that! Why is it so prevalent in Japan?

Only because they could get away with it for so long. The censorship board was really corrupt and a lot of staff where disgraced police officers I remember reading.

Gummy Panda · 10-01-2011 11:04am

I've given up on JRPGs now. FFXIII was fun for a while but got really boring when you got to Pulse. I just stopped caring around there.

I enjoyed Dragon's Age a hell of lot more then FFXIII.

Retr0gamer · 10-01-2011 12:03pm

Gummy Panda wrote: »

I've given up on JRPGs now. FFXIII was fun for a while but got really boring when you got to Pulse. I just stopped caring around there.

I enjoyed Dragon's Age a hell of lot more then FFXIII.

Best cure for JRPG burn out is Shin Megami Tensei and Dragon Quest. FF is far from the pinnacle of JRPGs.

super_furry · 10-01-2011 12:08pm

I've been getting stuck into Golden Sun on the DS recently and it's a breath of fresh air. Great Zelda-esque dungeon design married to a solid combat system and a strong story that isn't too far up it's own arse.

noodler · 10-01-2011 12:08pm

Gummy Panda wrote: »

I've given up on JRPGs now. FFXIII was fun for a while but got really boring when you got to Pulse. I just stopped caring around there.

I enjoyed Dragon's Age a hell of lot more then FFXIII.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Best cure for JRPG burn out is Shin Megami Tensei and Dragon Quest. FF is far from the pinnacle of JRPGs.

Any SMT reccommendations bar Persona? I don't think I am ever going to go back to Persona 3!

Really considering a DS to play DQ9

noodler · 10-01-2011 12:12pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Thought XII was woefully lacking in the gameplay department. The battle system was god awful. Run up to enemies, wait as the CPU takes them out, rinse and repeat until you run out of MP and then run in a circle for 5 minutes to get your MP back. The battle system did work for bosses but during exploration it was terrible. Story was good as well up until the point it was getting interesting and then suddenly jumped to the end game. Voice work was top notch.

NeoKubrick wrote: »

Final Fantasy XII battle system was revolutionary. So, the series has't been dying more and more.

Truth is somewhere in the middle.

Said it before and I'll say it again Retr0 - some of the boss fights (and especially the side hunts) were absolutely epic and you certainly couldn't (or wouldn't) leavt he battle to gambits.

As for the random crap LV1 enemies etc when you are wandering around - I suppose having the cpu characters engage them whilst I raced through an area was far better then the screen changing to a traditional battle mode and eating another 2 minutes of my time.

Retr0gamer · 10-01-2011 12:21pm

noodler wrote: »

Any SMT reccommendations bar Persona? I don't think I am ever going to go back to Persona 3!

Really considering a DS to play DQ9

`
Nocturne/Lucifers Call is the biggie really. Hard to find Lucifers call but if you have a way to play imports I know somewhere still selling Nocturne.

Was going to recommend Devil Survivor and Strange Journey but you've no DS. There's also DQ 4 5 and soon 6 on the DS.

I'd also recommend a GBA emulator so you can play the fan translation of Mother 3. Started playing it again at the weekend and it really is good.

noodler wrote: »

Truth is somewhere in the middle.

Said it before and I'll say it again Retr0 - some of the boss fights (and especially the side hunts) were absolutely epic and you certainly couldn't (or wouldn't) leavt he battle to gambits.

I've said before that the boss battles are where the battle system really works. It's the common or garden enemies and fighting them where the gane is just so boring for me.

noodler · 10-01-2011 12:27pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

`
Nocturne/Lucifers Call is the biggie really. Hard to find Lucifers call but if you have a way to play imports I know somewhere still selling Nocturne.

Was going to recommend Devil Survivor and Strange Journey but you've no DS. There's also DQ 4 5 and soon 6 on the DS.

I'd also recommend a GBA emulator so you can play the fan translation of Mother 3. Started playing it again at the weekend and it really is good.

Meh, too much antiquated technology - sorry I asked.

If I ever get tired of New Vegas I'll have to make the decision between a DSi or 3DS

Retr0gamer wrote: »

`I've said before that the boss battles are where the battle system really works. It's the common or garden enemies and fighting them where the gane is just so boring for me.

See I don't get the issue here then.

You had to rethread through areas a bit in FF12 and so you in any other FF game you would be forced in the time wasting random ecnounters to kille some flower with 3HP. This way your peeps just kill them for you as you keep running.

The first time you enter an area (or a tougher area) I would go manually (bar a healer).

seraphimvc · 10-01-2011 12:33pm

super_furry wrote: »

I've been getting stuck into Golden Sun on the DS recently and it's a breath of fresh air. Great Zelda-esque dungeon design married to a solid combat system and a strong story that isn't too far up it's own arse.

Good to hear that!!! Seal of nintendo is still a quality guarantee then!

and retro have you finish the Nocturne/Lucifer call? is it better than persona 4? seeing it is the older game and SMT old games are quite harcore iirc. i have yet dig it up to play and i am quite sure i have this ntsc version(nocturne) somewhere in my storeroom...

Retr0gamer · 10-01-2011 2:34pm

noodler wrote: »

Meh, too much antiquated technology - sorry I asked.

Well if you want to miss out on great games because of old graphics then it's your own fault.

noodler wrote: »

See I don't get the issue here then.

You had to rethread through areas a bit in FF12 and so you in any other FF game you would be forced in the time wasting random ecnounters to kille some flower with 3HP. This way your peeps just kill them for you as you keep running.

The first time you enter an area (or a tougher area) I would go manually (bar a healer).

Well in the old FF games you never had to rethread through old areas since they were all very linear unless you are doing end game sidequests. If there was an backtracking in the old FF games I never found it as tedious as the backtracking in FF12. You can let you characters automatically take out weaker enemies but it doesn't change the fact that I found going through new areas and old ones an absolute chore because the battle system does everything for you. Even stronger enemies in new areas could be taken out automatically. There's very little input from the player needed. I want my RPGs to be a little more involving than just moving the main character from fight to fight. I also never had to use manual during the game although for boss fights I'd set up my gambits beforehand and then do a lot of micromanaging. I only got through the game because at the time I had a broken thumb and it was one of the few games I could play with one hand.

seraphimvc wrote: »

and retro have you finish the Nocturne/Lucifer call? is it better than persona 4? seeing it is the older game and SMT old games are quite harcore iirc. i have yet dig it up to play and i am quite sure i have this ntsc version(nocturne) somewhere in my storeroom...

Nope not beaten it. I got side tracked and must get back to it. It's a very different beast to Persona. It's a real hardcore dungeon crawler and there's not as much plot as in Persona. If you like a challenge, a good battle system and a storyline that is dark and is aimed at a more mature audience instead of angsty impressionable teens then it's well worht playing.

noodler · 10-01-2011 3:05pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well if you want to miss out on great games because of old graphics then it's your own fault.

MEOW!

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well in the old FF games you never had to rethread through old areas since they were all very linear unless you are doing end game sidequests. If there was an backtracking in the old FF games I never found it as tedious as the backtracking in FF12. You can let you characters automatically take out weaker enemies but it doesn't change the fact that I found going through new areas and old ones an absolute chore because the battle system does everything for you. Even stronger enemies in new areas could be taken out automatically. There's very little input from the player needed. I want my RPGs to be a little more involving than just moving the main character from fight to fight. I also never had to use manual during the game although for boss fights I'd set up my gambits beforehand and then do a lot of micromanaging. I only got through the game because at the time I had a broken thumb and it was one of the few games I could play with one hand.

Did you ever consider turning off the gambits?

Retr0gamer · 10-01-2011 3:26pm

noodler wrote: »

MEOW!

I just don't think games should be dismissed on graphics alone.

noodler wrote: »

Did you ever consider turning off the gambits?

Yes and it slows the game down terribly and makes it even moreof a chore since it takes even longer to kill enemies. The battles are designed to make use of the gambit system and without it they get even more drawn out. Turning off Gambits made it even worse.

Final Fantasy dying more and more.

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