Fabulous Final Fantasy Franchise Discussion Catch-all

And quoting and picking up from the JRPG thread:

kexx wrote:
Stele wrote:

Damn you people. Fired up FFVI on my phone emulator this afternoon. Through Figaro already. :D

Damn that was fast! On your way to South Figaro? Don´t forget to check the wall clocks for elixirs!

Yep. Finished Mount Kolt now. Better take a break for the night.

Also installed FF VII on Steam. I think playing both at the same time would be asking for burnout though. Maybe VII can be a long-term replay that I just dabble in here and there...

I hear you, man, but did you not read the following sentence I put?

kexx wrote:

I just fired up FFVII on steam, and the music is a real turn off. I don't know why they decided to "tweak" it. The original is so superior.

Uematsu is indeed one of our greatest composers. FFVII's music IS fantastic. I have it all. I love it. All of it. The melancholic pieces with the quirky tunes. They're all amazing and help convey in a more meaningful way, what couldn't be done with voice acting. I praise the damn thing. What I meant was, this PC port's music, has been remastered, or re-mixed, or re-something, and it sounds awful, compared to the original PS1 FFVII music. We're on the same team!

Stele wrote:

And quoting and picking up from the JRPG thread:

kexx wrote:
Stele wrote:

Damn you people. Fired up FFVI on my phone emulator this afternoon. Through Figaro already. :D

Damn that was fast! On your way to South Figaro? Don´t forget to check the wall clocks for elixirs!

Yep. Finished Mount Kolt now. Better take a break for the night.

Also installed FF VII on Steam. I think playing both at the same time would be asking for burnout though. Maybe VII can be a long-term replay that I just dabble in here and there...

What I love about FFVI, is that in some way, it feels like you traverse the story on the WOB, and you traverse the sidequests on the WOR. You could, if you wanted to, fight Kefka with Celes, Sabin, Edgar and Setzer, and that's it. But recruiting and finding everyone, helping them cope with their issues, is what made that game what it is. I can't really recall many sidequests during the WOB, aside from getting Water Rondo for Mog. What else was there?

kexx wrote:

I hear you, man, but did you not read the following sentence I put?

No, pardon me. The "This" which seemed blasphemous is the idea that they would tweak the music, not anything you said. That's like colorizing a black and white film--we need to pound our fists into the table and say "No!" to that sort of thing. It's a part of history, and should stay as is.

Fired up FF VII and immediately ran into configuration issues... trying to remember what button was what.

Thankfully this site was helpful, with a chart between PC names, PS1/2/3 equivalent button, and PC keyboard defaults. Easy with the chart to assign everything.

Although I think I might switch X and O, as they seem to have been changed over the years, where X now confirms and O is cancel, although it wasn't that way in the old days. I don't know if I know anything but mashing X to get through dialogue nowadays.

SpacePPoliceman wrote:
kexx wrote:

I hear you, man, but did you not read the following sentence I put?

No, pardon me. The "This" which seemed blasphemous is the idea that they would tweak the music, not anything you said. That's like colorizing a black and white film--we need to pound our fists into the table and say "No!" to that sort of thing. It's a part of history, and should stay as is.

Ah, I see. All good then. I agree wholeheartedly!

Played
FF I
FF III (DS)
FF V (DS)
Crystal Chronicles
FF XIII

Beat
FF VI
FF VII
FF VIII
FF IX

I really liked FF VIII a lot, though it always seems to be looked down on by most, it's the only FF game that I played through twice. I liked the setting quite a bit, loved the music, and remember liking the story a lot. It's hard for me to remember a lot of specifics about the story now, but in my memory it was amazing anyway. The draw system was neat, I remember spending a lot of time trying to draw specific spells from monsters. Strangely I also really liked the card game, I usually don't care for those kind of side games in RPGs. It's my second favorite FF, after VI.

Circle, Square, X, X

To me that sequence is a mini Konami code, because when three brothers sat side by side playing three separate play-throughs, I was the one that triumphed over that particular puzzle!

The 10-part email exchange really brought home how JRPGs made great story sharing games, especially how little things could be missed in one play-through. By now I'm sure everybody knows about hanging around to save Shadow although one of my brothers failed to do so and had to re-load to restore his party member!

I wonder how I will feel replaying these games, assuming I can find enough time to do so.

I skipped 11 due to its being an MMO, and I never finished 13. I've played through all the rest at least once, though. 8 was my first, and it will always have a special place in my heart, even though it's definitely not the best one.

ETA: And I'm avoiding 13-2 just because I learned my lesson with 10-2.

I have played and beaten everything except for V, Tactics and the MMOs (completing VI, VII, and IX several times). FF Tactics is on my list for later this year and I'll get around to V at some point. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with Lightning Returns and will almost certainly buy the HD remake of FF X/X-2 (even though I have already played X-2 twice to get the 100% ending).

SpacePPoliceman wrote:

And I'm very ambivalent about XIII, but I feel many of the faults it gets flagellated over are natural progressions of trends established in the much beloved X (and temporarily abated in XII), which is the lowest regarded of those I've completed.

I can totally understand this. I enjoyed XIII and XIII-2 but something felt missing. I didn't particularly like VIII but it still felt like a Final Fantasy game. XIII...not quite as much. It won't stop me from buying Lightning Returns to see how (if?) they wrap up that ridiculous story.

I'm currently in the midst of playing all the main numbered single-player Final Fantasy games.

Played:
VII <-- Left Midgar but didn't get much further than that. Liked what I played tho. Wasn't in love with the Materia system starting out.
X <--My first, and loved it, but couldn't beat the final boss

Beat
I
II
III <--Currently my favorite job/battle system
IV

Currently Playing:
V <-- I like the increased complexity of the Job system compared to III, but the difficulty of the game tempers my enthusiasm for it overall

To continue my FFV progress reports from the JRPG thread, I believe I have all the Summons now. Climbed Phoenix Tower, saw a surprisingly moving cutscene at the top, and gained Phoenix.

I decided before heading into the Interdimensional Rift to grind up some jobs I had neglected or just hadn't got around to finishing. I'm leveling two Red Mages so I can get Dualcast on them. Nearly mastered the Cannoneer and Gladiator jobs as well. I'm using the Gladiator's Lure ability to bump up my random encounter rate for now, and sailing around the ocean hunting Vilia's, which give 25 ability points per battle. Once I have Dualcast, I can probably start thinking about using the Freelancer and Mime jobs for the final area. Almost finished!

Yoinking this from the JRPG thread:

ahrezmendi wrote:
shoptroll wrote:

So this just showed up. Wow is that Amazon box heavy.

Impressions! I must have them!

I flipped through all three books last night in about 45-60 minutes. For ~$60 there's a lot of art. The SNES era book is the one with the most stuff mainly due to the copious number of drawings he did for the FFVI cast. There's less content in the VII-X book because Nomura took over the character designs for the franchise with Square-Enix, I believe, contracting Amano for the logo designs and promotional art for the games. The NES era book is interesting mostly because it's neat to see some of the iconic monster designs started way back in FFI and FFII.

The print quality is quite good and the pages are very generous. The only downside to the set is that there's really no context or description as to what you're looking at aside from them putting names on the art for the main characters in each game.

Quite happy with the collection overall and it comes in a nice box. Definitely recommend it if you want a nice collection of Amano's drawings for FFI-X.

EDIT:

beanman101283 wrote:

I decided before heading into the Interdimensional Rift to grind up some jobs I had neglected or just hadn't got around to finishing. I'm leveling two Red Mages so I can get Dualcast on them. Nearly mastered the Cannoneer and Gladiator jobs as well. I'm using the Gladiator's Lure ability to bump up my random encounter rate for now, and sailing around the ocean hunting Vilia's, which give 25 ability points per battle. Once I have Dualcast, I can probably start thinking about using the Freelancer and Mime jobs for the final area. Almost finished!

Not sure what the encounter rate is on Villa, but I'm pretty sure there's monsters in the Rift that have a higher AP payout.

kexx wrote:

That´s as good a place to start as any. You´re absolutely right. After the Steam Sale, may people got FFVII. Let´s see how they fair. I know Stele is doing a new run on FFVI. I´m finishing a run for FFX, stat-maxing for the first time. I hate that game. I´ll probably sink into FFVII soon. I want those steam achievements!

It has cheevos? Dammit, now I have to. Maybe I'll just gift it to my wife and play vicariously...

I just put a bunch of GBA roms that I actually own on my phone for easier mobile play. The batteries on my GBA roms are starting to act a little weird and the quick saves don't work. I think I've started FF VI about 6 times and never finishes it. Here's to lucky #7?

Played:
IV
V
XI
XIII
Tactics

Beat:
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X

Late elementary-highschool are the hey days of JRPGs. As I grow older they are harder and harder to play. FFIV, VII, and IX are still a treat to play but I never finish them again. FFX is still probably my favourite in terms of mechanics and contains 3 of my favourite video game characters.

shoptroll wrote:
beanman101283 wrote:

I decided before heading into the Interdimensional Rift to grind up some jobs I had neglected or just hadn't got around to finishing. I'm leveling two Red Mages so I can get Dualcast on them. Nearly mastered the Cannoneer and Gladiator jobs as well. I'm using the Gladiator's Lure ability to bump up my random encounter rate for now, and sailing around the ocean hunting Vilia's, which give 25 ability points per battle. Once I have Dualcast, I can probably start thinking about using the Freelancer and Mime jobs for the final area. Almost finished!

Not sure what the encounter rate is on Villa, but I'm pretty sure there's monsters in the Rift that have a higher AP payout.

The encounter rate isn't bad, and there are other monster formations that give 8 points. Glanced at the Wikia for the Rift and the monsters seem similar to other higher level areas in the third world, but the bosses appear to toss out 100 points at a time. Not sure if I want focus on grinding there. I'm halfway to mastering the Red Mages already so it hasn't taken too long to get them up to speed. If I get impatient for the last couple hundred points I may just dive into the Rift and finish things off.

I was referencing the Mover enemy, but according to that article they're fairly rare. So disregard what I said

I wonder if the Fobby/Foppy enemies in Earthbound are a reference to them?

shoptroll wrote:

I was referencing the Mover enemy, but according to that article they're fairly rare. So disregard what I said

I wonder if the Fobby/Foppy enemies in Earthbound are a reference to them?

Ah, yeah, and looks like they don't show up until the last floor of the Rift. They would be very handy to have sooner

We're doing this?

Played
FF II
FF III
FF IV
FF V
FF VI
FF IX
FF XII
FF XIII
FF Tactics Advance

Completed
FF I
FF VII
FF VIII
FF X

7 easily my favourite, but 8 a close second. 10 was great in a lot of parts, the step up in world map graphics was great and I LOVED LOVED blitzball. Wish more was made of this actually. 12 is another favourite but it came at a time I felt I was starting to outgrow the game and I could hold on past about halfway in. It seems that I need a really appealing combat system and narrative to hold me (yes I found FFVIII's combat system appealing despite gaming it a lot).
Tinkered with the start of 13 and just feel afraid these games aren't for me anymore, like I've outgrown them.
I think I've started 6 about five separate times due to its high recommendation, but just cant get far in before moving on to something else. Also had a lot of fun with 5 which I got into after complete FFX and needed another hit.
Wondering if I'm going to be torn apart given the sheer number I've started and not completed.

Easily my all time favourite gaming franchise.

Mixolyde wrote:
kexx wrote:

That´s as good a place to start as any. You´re absolutely right. After the Steam Sale, may people got FFVII. Let´s see how they fair. I know Stele is doing a new run on FFVI. I´m finishing a run for FFX, stat-maxing for the first time. I hate that game. I´ll probably sink into FFVII soon. I want those steam achievements!

It has cheevos? Dammit, now I have to. Maybe I'll just gift it to my wife and play vicariously...

Yeah it's funny reading those letters linked above, and in letter 5 (or 6?) they talk about the lack of achievements and whether it's good or bad. But now they are there and it's pretty fun seeing them pop.

Oh perfect timing.

Fan making FF VII 2d remake.

SpacePPoliceman wrote:

And while I'm feeling combative, I feel the notion of rose-colored glasses needs to be put to bed, then smothered with a pillow. Yeah, if VII came out today I might not like it. But, instead, it came out at a time when I didn't expect games to do the things it did, and it established a sensation that I've come to realize I get from my favorite games--it made me feel like I'd been on a journey.

Err, I feel like you've just given an excellent justification for the existence of rose-colored glasses, right there

You're right, our expectations of games have changed. That's precisely what rose-colored glasses are about, dude.

Look, I'll be right there with you singing the praises of FFVII as a landmark game that we're still feeling the reverberations of today. But to play it today means you have to overlook the enormous steps forward that the craft of game design has made in the last 16 years. That's like, nearly half the lifetime of the industry. To play it today is kind of painful, you're all too aware of how much more streamlined and slick gaming has become, and all too aware of how clunky it used to be.

sometimesdee wrote:

ETA: And I'm avoiding 13-2 just because I learned my lesson with 10-2.

Can't help but feel your cutting your nose off to spite your face there. 10-2 wasn't objectively better than 10. 13-2 is head and shoulders above 13.

Well, at least it's pacing and focus were different.

I find it funny. I finished XIII; the wife couldn't. She played XIII-2 all the way through, but I got all the entertainment I wanted from watching her. Quite a bit different styles there. I have no problems with the differences most of the time.

Now if all FF's after this end up being action games... yeah I'm done with action games after 6 hours most times, so you can guess where that leaves me. Oh, well.

kexx wrote:

I hear you, man, but did you not read the following sentence I put?

kexx wrote:

I just fired up FFVII on steam, and the music is a real turn off. I don't know why they decided to "tweak" it. The original is so superior.

Uematsu is indeed one of our greatest composers. FFVII's music IS fantastic. I have it all. I love it. All of it. The melancholic pieces with the quirky tunes. They're all amazing and help convey in a more meaningful way, what couldn't be done with voice acting. I praise the damn thing. What I meant was, this PC port's music, has been remastered, or re-mixed, or re-something, and it sounds awful, compared to the original PS1 FFVII music. We're on the same team! :D

That's interesting! I'm over halfway though the game playing on PS3/Vita. I'll probably get back to it after I finally finish P4G. Glad I'm not playing the PC version.

FF XIII is the only other one I've played, and I beat that one. I enjoyed the hell out of it for the most part. Can't wait for FF XV.

VII's music probably sounds worse due to the fact the PSOne had a proprietary sound chip in the hardware.

ChipRMonk wrote:

Now if all FF's after this end up being action games... yeah I'm done with action games after 6 hours most times, so you can guess where that leaves me. Oh, well.

They likely won't be. This is a franchise that went from turn based to psuedo real-time back to turn based back to real time and now is doing a full action-RPG installment. Each game is unique and that's one of the things I love about the series.

Glad this thread came up. I would like to replay FF7, but I want to cheat like a motherfluffer this time through so I don't have to grind. I don't do Steam, but I have the recent PC re-release, and I'm sure I could get a PS1 copy and a GameShark. Any thoughts? Haven't figured out how to cheat with the PC version. By the way: I'm a little intimidated with trying to get the controls to work well on the PC version. Anybody found something they are happy with?

Oh yeah, I know there were all kinds of fan mods for the original PC version (texture packs, no character portraits, that kind of thing)... any that work with or are recommended for the re-release?

Since it seems obligatory, played & beaten: IV (GBA), VI (PS1), VII (PS1), IX, X, X-2, XII, XII Revenant Wings. Played XIII about 20-30 hours before quitting. Favorites are X-2 and XII making me kind of a weirdo, I realize.

I'll join in, I suppose.

I've played I, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, XIII, and Tactics. Of those, I beat VII and VIII, although I've reached the end game of both VI and IX. I loved VII and VIII back when I played them, but I doubt very much that I'd enjoy them today. My tastes have shifted too much.

I loved Tactics to pieces and expect that I probably still would.

What I've found over time is that while I enjoy the epic worlds, interesting character designs, and high production values of the Final Fantasy games, I tend to be indifferent to the characters and stories, and I flat-out hate ATB combat. IV and VI bore me to tears.

Of the games I've missed, I'm most curious about X-2, because I love the idea of a class system built entirely around outfits, and wouldn't mind spending more time with XIII because, while it has an ATB system, it looks like the combat has a bit of depth to it in the post-game. Sadly, I'm not sure I could make it to the post-game before my interest waned, which seems to be a problem for many people with that game.

It's hard not to get excited about the way XV looks, but I'm much more interested in how it'll play. Apparently it's taking a lot of inspiration from Kingdom Hearts, which I haven't played, but I'm keen to see whether the combat is flashy and interesting or just flashy.

Edit: I just remembered that Matsuono was involved in XII. I'd be interested in that one, too, I suppose.

Also, the FFVII mods apparently work with the Steam version, although it may require disabling cloud saves and achievements. Oh here's the link to the actual mod.

There's some music mods in there, so that might fix the complaints mentioned about the PC music above.

Can't decide if I want to try that, or just put off my replay until someone tweaks the mods to work without disabling that stuff. I only played to the first save point last night just to make sure my controls were working and everything. So I won't lose but a few minutes restarting.

Huh, I never sat down and actually tabulated which FF games I've played, which I've completed, and how many times. Should be fun.

Parens indicates the system(s) played on, and number of times completed.

Played:
Final Fantasy I (iOS)
Final Fantasy II (iOS... I think. Might have been PSP)
Final Fantasy V (GBA)
Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2, put about 30 hours in and got too distracted by the Job system to actually finish)
Final Fantasy XI (PS2)
Final Fantasy XII (PS2, nearly finished but burned out in the final area)
Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, in the middle of Ch. 8)

Completed:
Final Fantasy IV (Super NES, GBA, DS)
Final Fantasy VI (Super NES x6, GBA x3, PS1)
Final Fantasy VII (PS1, PC)
Final Fantasy VIII (PS1)
Final Fantasy IX (PS1)
Final Fantasy X (PS2, soon to be Vita)

I think I'm underestimating how many times I've played VI. It's surprising how many of the FF games I started but didn't finish, perhaps that'd be a fun thing to do over a weekend. I could probably knock XII out in an evening.

EDIT:

Stele wrote:

Also, the FFVII mods apparently work with the Steam version, although it may require disabling cloud saves and achievements. Oh here's the link to the actual mod.

There's some music mods in there, so that might fix the complaints mentioned about the PC music above.

Can't decide if I want to try that, or just put off my replay until someone tweaks the mods to work without disabling that stuff. I only played to the first save point last night just to make sure my controls were working and everything. So I won't lose but a few minutes restarting.

Oh. My. GOD! (it's Dip...)

You just made my weekend. Screw XII, I know what I'm doing.

EDIT 2: Thanks for the impressions, shoptroll. I'm confused on one point from the Amazon page - Is the link you provided all the books, or just one of them?

ahrezmendi wrote:

EDIT 2: Thanks for the impressions, shoptroll. I'm confused on one point from the Amazon page - Is the link you provided all the books, or just one of them?

All three hardbound books in a box "slipcase" cover

Man now I want to play FFVII since I'm probably the only person left who likes FF but hasn't played that one.

Also I played Chrono Trigger circa 2003 and it became my favorite game of all time so I might be possessed of retroactive nostalgia.