Final Fantasy

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Posted

The first 6 will always be the ones I cherish the most (not so much 2 because of it's weird "use weapons/shields/magic" and "lose X amount of HP/MP" to level up your spells/weapon skills).

I've kinda noticed that ever since after FFVII, the series kinda plummeted. I hated VIII's Draw magic system, and the plot was so boring I could barely stand it. C'mon, all the party members connected because they all lived in the same orphanage growing up? Lame. It was like the didn't even try to give each character their own unique origin; they just threw them all together in the same boat.

FFIX was not bad; the visuals were really nice, battles were fun (Trance ftw), and the sidequests were wicked. So much time spent on Chocobo Hot & Cold... Ozma was a tough little ol' chap :/

FFX I didn't like as much. No wide open world map and the game felt really linear. Walk through area, find temple, kill enemies/solve puzzles/get summon. It was the same formula every time. That works with the Zelda series, it doesn't quite fit too well with Final Fantasy sadly. It was too bad that FFXII kinda had the same feel to it. You'd teleport to areas with a crystal or your airship when you get it; they totally did away with the whole "explore the world map to find towns/hidden areas (like Chocobo Forests, etc). I've owned FFXII since it came out and to be honest I've yet to beat it. Got just about every summon but Ultima and Zodiark, made it to the last boss' area but just never completed it.

But now with FFXIII... I'm on the fence on this one. I wanna check it out but I'm also worried I might be as disappointed with it as I was the last few 3D open-view Final Fantasies...

However, Crystal Bearers looks pretty sweet. I may have to pick that one up. Not part of the numerical releases (VII, VIII, etc) and part of a spin-off series (the first CC for Gamecube was alright with friends, but alone it kinda sucked.) I had thought at first when I heard of Crystal Bearers that they found a way to incorporate 4 player fun on the Wii, but it looks more like it's gonna be a single player version of Final Fantasy meets Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. I'm liking the cutscenes/FMVs though, it might just be enough to make me check it out.

And yeah Dissidia was great too. I've yet to actually get back into it and complete the Dark Warrior/bosses campaign of the game. But from what I got to play and all the EX modes I saw, it looks like I'm in for a treat :D

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Posted

It was like the didn't even try to give each character their own unique origin; they just threw them all together in the same boat.

Did you not notice the entire plot was a love story? That's what happens with them; all the focus goes to the two main characters in turn that the rest are all secondary. With that in mind, the only pasts that really needed developing were Squall and Rinoa's.

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Posted

the plot was so boring I could barely stand it. C'mon, all the party members connected because they all lived in the same orphanage growing up? Lame.

As is the case with 2 and 3 at least. Four orphans.

At least, I think that's what it was.

Anyway yeah, FFVIII had a great plot from what I hear, though having not played it myself I can't really argue.

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Posted

Initially FFIII started out as 4 orphans (OnionKnights) in the NES version; but in the new DS remake they gave each of the characters a backstory. I kinda forgot that the original was 4 orphans until now :/

@ SirJosh; but isn't a majority of Final Fantasies love stories? It doesn't necessarily have to be about the main characters either.

FFIV - Cecil & Rosa

FFV - Not so much

FFVI - Locke and the girl he lost who eventually became the Phoenix magicite; sort of a thing between Celes/Locke as the story progresses, etc.

FFVII - It felt like a crazy love triangle was sprouting between Cloud, Aeris, and Tifa.

FFVIII - Squall and Rinoa. 'Nuff said.

FFIX - Zidane and Garnet/Dagger/Sarah. Zidane struggling to gain her affections the whole game; they kinda come "together" in the end when Zidane returns from fighting the aftermath of the final battle alone.

FFX & FFX-2 - Tidus and Yuna. 'Nuff said. I guess you could count Wakka and Lulu too.

FFXII - Didn't really see too much here; although Vaan and Penelo seemed rather close. Maybe their just friends, I dunno I've never beaten this one to see if anything develops between them after the final battle :/

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Posted

That's my point. Only the lead male and female have true, fleshed out stories. Why single out VIII as the only cast without fleshed out characters?

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Posted

I don't think VIII will make it on Psn by the end of the year, even though square said it would. I wonder if they're holding it back as torture ._.

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Posted

It did :)

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I don't think it's available in the UK yet. I'll have to wait a while I guess. Final Fantasy IX is the one I want to play though.

Also, I like how Luneth's ominous prediction was post 666 and was also wrong.

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Posted

If you guys are into the old-school SNES style Final Fantasies (4-6), you should check out Final Fantasy IV - The After Years. A true sequel. Available on Wiiware; starts out with one chapter but you buy additional chapters with Wii Points to continue the story; and eventually you can band all your characters from each scenario/campaign together to make a dream team for the final encounter. It has it's interesting share of bonus dungeons with randomized chests in some places and familiar bosses from past FFs, and another great feature is the lunar cycle engine; there's 4 different cycles and each can impact your weapon attacks, your white/black magic efficiency and how little/much dmg thrown weaponry does. Enemies are also effected by the lunar cycles too.

Also to note is that certain characters have combo attacks they can pull off with other characters. Think Chrono Trigger. As long as both parties have sufficient MP, the "Band" attack will work. And from what I've seen so far (I'm only on Kain's scenario); there's gonna be a puppyton of dual techs/bands to find (there's some for all 5 party members at once) :huh:

Check it out if you're bored and looking for a lengthy classic RPG to play :)

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Posted

Just beat VIII on mah PSP. Have to say getting lion heart on disk 1 made it much easier XP

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Posted

I'm playing VIII right now. Is it true that levels don't matter in this game since enemies level up with you? Because a lot of my characters have lower levels and my party keeps breaking up into two teams, so I have to use everyone.

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I'm playing VIII right now. Is it true that levels don't matter in this game since enemies level up with you? Because a lot of my characters have lower levels and my party keeps breaking up into two teams, so I have to use everyone.

Yes and no. It's true that the enemies levels scale in accordance to your own, but I'd definitely say they still matter. From my experience, getting level 99 in disc two for your main party (I was too lazy to do the 'other people') makes the rest of the game a very fun cake walk. ;) It's sort of like how your extra team members in Final Fantasy VII would level up with you, but generally wouldn't be as tough as your main party (not for the same reasons as VIII, but its a similar concept). But this also means you can beat the game without leveling up once if you want to, since bosses don't yield experience. A fun challenge if you're bored I suppose.

I personally thought VIII was a great story. I really liked the idea of being part of the military (as opposed to 7, where you no longer were in the military) and the role of the sorceresses. And just like a soldier, you didn't know jack about all the shit that was going on. It was cool connecting all the conspiracies, how people were linked together, etc. Plus the cute love story didn't hurt. ;)

Everyone always talks about how great VII was, but I think VIII was just as good.

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Posted

Sounds like I picked out a good game then. Thanks! :D

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Not one of the Final Fantasies was "bad." Every single game was, at the very least, playable. I enjoyed every one of them, including II and XII and VIII and whatever others people always bash. It might be noted that I played and beat each one in order.

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