Topic: Final fantasy discussion thread

@KratosMD one thing you can say about FINAL FANTASY is that they generally have great soundtracks

@KratosMD just wait until FFX and you get split up. Underwater with an underpowered Rikku and Tidus Noooooooo.

You also get split up in ff7,8... Hang on, pretty much every FF game post 5. I won't spoil them for you but they always fit the story. I quite like being forced to use a strange combination. I remember in one spot of 13 it forces you into strange team combinations which has an even bigger impact than a typical FF due to the fighting system.

@KratosMD Have you been to Figaro with Edgar and Sabin in the party?

@KratosMD Yeah, such nice little touches and quite brave to have such a big piece of their backstory be completely missable! Similarly, the slightly hidden ability to save Shadow is pretty sneaky for a game of that era.

@KratosMD Kefka's laugh was my message notification tone for years. It made quite a few random people on the bus jump over the years. 😂

My favourite character is Celes. Amazing game with a deep story. The music adds so much to the emotional xperience. In the battle system I really like the unique skills each character has, such as Edgar's machines or Cyan's bushido moves.

@KratosMD don't ever go near suikoden.

@KratosMD I don’t want to cast shade on FF6 but I have tried 3 times and I can’t get past a certain point, after a key event, when the whole game just sort of falls apart for me. Every time I’ve really liked it up until that point which is a shame.

And I knew I recognised the guy who voices Wedge in FF7R, I just realised it’s Jesse’s friend Brandon/Badger from Breaking Bad. Or I’m 99% sure it is, anyway.

Edit: Wikipedia confirms it is!

@KratosMD the general difficulty of random battles does take a bit of an upturn around the same time as enemies start using a lot more status changing attacks on you. But yes as you say you have pushed through the last 5 lol.

Did you ever start 9? I feel like you did and stopped.

@KratosMD yeah would be nice to get through 7 before the remake launches for sure 👍🏻

@KratosMD they both make subtle changes such as the game not ending if the party leader falls in battle (which was an issue in XIII) but as for mentioning them well the thing is none of the XIII games will be because it's "cool" to hate on them even though they aint actually bad games, they just tried something different, for years people were asking Square to "!do something new" with the franchise because the games were "getting stale" and then when they try something new they complain that the series has changed

as for it being linear well for one it fits the story so i had no issue with it BUT the fact is pretty much EVERY FF game is linear, they just hid it where FFXIII didn't, take probably the most well known of the series FFVII, until you get the airship your funneled down a path that you can't really deviate from and while it looks like you have a open world to explore once you leave Midgar you don't it's still blocked off by mountain ranges or rivers or seas and the "open" bit's are basically just grinding arenas (you may have also noticed this when playing FFVI or many of the classic FF's as well)

as for the battle system i know people will say "you can just mash cross and win" but that's total b******s and the only people who say that either never played it or only played the opening segment, now you can try doing that but you wont make it past the first Eidolon fight if you did and IF by some miracle you did you certainly wouldn't make it past the second

FFXIII was a game that tried something new and got roasted for it because it "wasn't the same as the old ones" but for those of us who stuck with it we found a rather fun and enjoyable game with an interesting world and a good story and in the past few years more and more people have been playing them thanks the the XB1 BC program and found that they are actually fun games

in other words try to ignore the haters, the negative nancies and the people who can't accept change (even though they asked for it) and try them out, you will find that while they are something completely different to the older FF games they are still fun

oh and FFXIII's final boss is probably one of the hardest final bosses in the series history

@KratosMD in terms of game play they refine the formula rather than innovate it, takes the basics of FFXIII and expand it so in terms of game play there isn't a huge difference between the 3, it's the stories and world that have the biggest changes for example XIII-2 has you jumping through time and space and using captured monsters in you party while LR XIII uses a time based system kind of like Majoras Mask does where certain events happen at certain times

as for XV it actually does the almost opposite of previous FF games while as older ones start off in a linear fashion and opens into an open world XV starts as a open world and gets more focused and linear as the story progresses but it makes sense with how the story progresses

@KratosMD if you have a xbox 360 or PS3 i'm pretty sure you could still download the demo for XIII-2 if you wanted to give it a try

Can't agree with any of that in the slightest @FullbringIchigo (Your initial post/response anout FF XIII)

Wish I could.

I think FF XIII was my... 4th or maybe 5th FF. It was alright at first. But... It IS just boring as hell corridors for like 20-30 hours. The others successfully mamage to make you not notice with minigames, tighter writing or a mote intriguing narrative.

You can quite easily say FF X has a very similar stucture and narritively it makes sense to the approach that the game has... But... XIII's story is pretty weak (especially compared X's... that I hadn't played yet at the time I think).

as for the battle system i know people will say "you can just mash cross and win" but that's total b******s

... Aside from changing paradigms every now and again I honestly did this.

It's really not that hard to do, especially when the combat system is in my opinion too fast to really add any sort of strategy to it beyond build up stagger metre, let loose on the enemy, heal if you need too, build up stagger metre again. Rinse and repeat ad nasuem.

I even played through the game twice. Once near release (with knowing nothing about it's reception by fans) and again a few years later.

I EVEN tried FF XIII-2 after I heard it was supposedly better.

Never again. Certainly not hating on it for any cool points either.

I also really don't like Lightning. She's a terribly boring and annoying protagonist to myself

But that's just my opinion. Nice to know you got enjoyment out of it. Wish I did.

I do hope you have a better time with XIII and it's sequels then me @KratosMD when you finally get round to it 😂

Glad you're enjoying FF VI more now too! ... I haven't played that myself and to be honest the whole 14 characters bit you mentioned puts me right off.

I'm the kinda person who hates when a character is a level below or higher and I have to go out my way so I can get them all the same or there's an odd number of party members so I can't have 2 or 3 different teams @KratosMD ...so 14 characters is way too much faffing about for me lol 😂

@KratosMD @Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy @FullbringIchigo I quite like Ff13. However as fox says its pretty much corridors for 12 levels (30-40 hours). The enemies all fit within your skill parameters as you go through each level. For instace at the start there will be 2x enemy A, next battle 2x enemy B, next battle 1x A 1xB, next battle 1x A 2xB, next Battle 2xc, etc etc. Its fundemetally boring. You can't over level until way into the game as it hinders you on the skill levelling grid.

There are no shops in the game, just terminals which makes no sense. Hardly any NPCs and it takes an age for the fighting system (which I like) to open up.

I would say the plot and overarching story is good. However the pacing is off, the falcie l'cie nonsense is a real turn off, its gobbledegook. Once you buy into the story there is enjoyment but then you have to contend with Hope and Vanille as your party members and continuous corridors and an ill thought out implementation of summons.

The post game hunts are fantastic and this is where the game really shines. The trials of Titan again wonderful. It just takes 60 hours to get there.

@KratosMD you’re nearly there!!

@KratosMD not quite, I usually get a bit further!

@KratosMD yeahhhh see it’s where I lose interest, going round the world collecting up your team again is a bit of a drag. And I don’t like how you’ve not seen them for a year and they just say a couple of lines of dialogue and jump back in to your team to pick up right where you left off 🤷‍♂️

And yes, enemies using status changing attacks on you is much more common in the world of ruin. Every battle you’re like poisoned and petrified or something.

@KratosMD i know this is Kotaku but it's an interesting read

https://kotaku.com/in-defense-of-final-fantasy-xiii-1840487354