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Final Fantasy

I have played all the classic final fantasies. 7 and 8 was my favorites as a kid and they are the only games that have gotten me emotional :D
 
Aw man, can't believe I missed out on the Xenogears conversation; my absolute favorite from Squaresoft. Id is the absolute epitomy of badassery. Xenosaga was good to a (much) lesser extent, though I often wished they'd have made a set of DIRECT prequels to Xenogears; not to say Xenosaga wasn't good, but it just feels a bit empty.

@monstanoodle: Vagrant Story is badass indeed.

Heh, as of recently I finally decided to stop being an uptight bitter fanboy and gave FFX-2 a proper playthrough for the first time ever.

I now know what it means to "eat your words". :| The dressphere system is a very refreshing and interesting touch. I'd say it's a more 'touch-and-go' sort of spin on the Job system of old, in which you can assign multiple jobs to a character and seamlessly transition between them, with your sphere grid (the palate which you place the dresspheres upon) having their own characteristics and special abilities they can imbue you with. What really puts the icing on the cake is the fact that you can change jobs during battle! There is a whole new dimension of strategy involved in battling now!

-slams head into desk repeatedly for having shunned X-2 for so long on the basis that it was "a failed Charlie's Angel ripoff"- u__u;;
 
@tathra: Makai Kingdom wins. :D

Also, you just reminded me that I haven't played either Shin Megami Tensei (the MMORPG) for a while.. nor have I played Persona 4. I really gotta hop on that. >_<

Thanks for that. :p
 
FF7 and 9 were huge in my childhood. I am attached to 9 because I identify with the main character moreso than in any other game I have played. I actually think I use some of the animated gestures IRL (honestly).
 
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I played and finished 1-7 (us releases). I owned Final fantasy and had the guide back in the 8 bit nes days. I never finished 8 because i just could not get past the concept of having to collect your magic from spots on the world map and that card game was just plain stupid.

Never tried 9 for whatever reason. My sister played it more than me. X is the last final fantasy game i have beaten. It was alright.

Ever since then i cant play any final fantasy game for more than a few hours and lose interest. The charecters are stupid or the battle system sucks. One thing that put me off on 13 was that you summon machines. Probably the lamest idea in any FF game ever.
 
I am finally dipping into FFXIII - I got it with my discounted 360. My feelings on it are SO mixed and in opposite directions, I don't know where to begin.

From the outset you can very, very easily tell just how disorganized the design-team was. It feels like the many people who collaborated to make it did not communicate with one-another very well. Contrast this with FFXII, FF:Tactics, and Vagrant story (all made by the "other" FF team), and you'll instantly notice how these games feel as though they are the works of a single artist, whereas FFXIII, like FFX-2 (same team I believe), seems to be a patchwork of unequal talents.

There is also the glaring fact that I got this expecting an RPG, and what I got was a hack-and-slash with lots of pauses. As is, I really dislike the system - but as I've been told in this forum and elsewhere, apparently it becomes far more complex in the second half of the game. But my first impression is that the game was designed to appeal to a new generation of gamers who are more interested in fast acrobatics and theatrics than they are in tinkering with the complexities of job-progression or gambits. It seems to be made for the impatient, yet through its flawed world-design it ends up demanding more patience than most FFs!

As for the good (yes! There is some good!), the CG is of course mindblowingly beautiful. The artwork seems to be a mixed-bag (better than FF10 but inferior to FF12), but mostly nice, though it is still too early to tell. What appears to be the game's strongest point (aside from the CG) is its story and (some of) its characters. I must say I am very intrigued as it stands, and am willing to put up with the tedium of battle after battle in an endless hallways so that I can learn more about the world and the characters. I particularly like the first two (lightning and the guy with a chocobo in his hair, Sazh I believe). As a matter of fact, he is already one of my favourites of all FF characters :). Lightning is also very interesting (reminds me a bit of Major Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell). Snow, on the other hand, seems to be very inconsistent in design. I would like to like him, but as of now it just isn't working. The supposedly-sexy dark chick with him is, so far, completely forgettable. If the mother-with-the-gun becomes a playable character later, then she definitely has promise. The setting of the story seems to be very well-designed, and clearly shows that a lot of work and thought had been put into it. I look forward to learning more about it and the story unfolding in it. In a way, the game's excessive focus on graphical-narration with simplified gameplay reminds me most of Xenosaga (a good thing!).

I look forward for the promise of more complexity with paradigms and eidolons, and amazing world-design and story in the 2nd half. I just hope I can persevere over the endless waves of identical monsters to fight...

One thing I HAVE to note though... Are you seriously telling me that I can't press X to talk to NPC's on the map!?! RPG my ass. I'm playing this game as an action-adventure game so as to lower my expectations and avoid disappointment.
 
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It's not a FF game, but Chrono Trigger is just as awesome, if not better!

Top Five FF Games:

1) VI
2) VII
3) X
4) IV
5) IX
 
HOLY CRAP! I just fought the first (real) boss, and the cut-scene that followed, where that thing falls into the lake? HOLY CRAP! I wanna see that again! haha. I also now have access to the paradigm system which I'm looking forward to exploring.

I'm so glad I persevered. This game has serious, glaring flaws, but also amazing positives that keep it respectable.
 
I don't have an Xbox or a PS3 right now, but that's about to change (not sure which ATM), and I seriously can't wait to start Final Fantasy XIII.

Personally, the artistry in a game's presentation is crucial to me, and I'm really attracted to a game with a story I can take seriously (mainly been a Nintendo kid up until recently, so really mature story / plot is not something I've experienced yet :p ).

I dunno, this just looks like it'll be right up my alley.


Jamshyd, I'd like to know how that game fared for you -- seems like we have very similar taste. :)
 
^ That's what I would have expected! :) (re: our tastes being similar).

Believe it or not, I have not touched the game since that post. Since I made it, I bought Fallout 3 and Oblivion, both of which are worlds better than FFXIII. And then I went traveling. Now that I'm back, I intend to continue playing. Will keep you updated!
 
I'm a permanent Final Fan since at least 1993, and I have to say they missed the mark on XIII. They forgot what makes Final fantasy great, right down to the music. The battle system is pretty cool, but is not as nuanced as it could be, and the Summons/ultimate techniques present in previous versions just aren't powerful enough and amazing enough to worth earning. The weapon and armor leveling up system, while obviously deep, lacked some sort of satisfaction for me. Some of the visuals are absolutely beautiful, though, and it is a testament to the game that I actually stayed with it and dedicated time to it despite a lot of the Final Fantasy soul being completely absent from the game.

Oh, here is my ranking:

VII
VI
VIII

Tough decision, because hour for hour I re-played VIII more than any of them. But VII was the one I truly mastered to the point of freezing the game when opening my file. Something completely magical about that game that will forever be unique. VI - Love at first site. An RPG that hasn't even been touched imo so far. re-release it with modern production values and it is the best game, period. The music from that game will never be bested.
 
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I felt the series dropped off quite a bit after the transition to PS2. My personal faves: 9, then 7 (though I haven't played 6).
 
So, having missed out on the Final Fantasy phenomenon up until now, I'm starting with VII, then I want to play VIII -- then I'm guessing I'll play XIII on the Xbox.

VII is a lot of fun so far. Just finished the cutscene showing Sephiroth's evil transformation. :D I can see why this game was the blockbuster that it was.

However, I have a suspicion that VIII is going to blow me away on another level, if the opening of the game is any indication of its epicness in general.
 
I can't believe FF9 isn't getting more love... It is an incredibly fun game. Card game and Chocobo game are ridiculously good in 9. I also really liked the world it was set in, though I think the best world/ setting was from 7.
 
Alright, maybe I'll add 9 to my checklist as well. There are only so many video games a guy has time to play, you know! ;)
 
Ive played

FF2
FF5
FF6
FF7
FF8
FF9
FF10

Dont like the newer ones...

My absolute favourite is FF7,,

It has Such a soul to it.. The story, The characters, The places and landmarks on it, The music.

Brilliance. Best game ive ever played in fact ......
 
i never gave this series a chance after i tried 7 and 8 due to linear gameplay and ridiculous amount of cutscenes. i fucking hate cutscenes. is the game still linear and full of cutscenes? i like to be able to change the outcome of the game in rpgs as i grew up on pc rpgs where you could choose how to behave. the fallout series is my favorite series of games of all time (1,2, and 3, didn't like the action game for xbox or tactics, havent played new vegas yet.)
 
FF7 and FF8 are fucking utter masterpieces. love them to bits

haven't played any other FF games, sadly
 
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