Topic: Final fantasy discussion thread

@SerraAngel Thank you for reading! It's going to be interesting to catch up with the rest of the series and see how FFXVI fares to the other games after FFVII. I'm actually considering starting up FFVIII in the near future, but its in-depth mechanics have made me a bit reluctant. But we'll see, hopefully I'll give it a go sometime this year.

@colonelkilgore I'm glad you enjoyed reading it! Yeah, I definitely think you'll like it, especially if you enjoyed GoW and NieR.

It feels like this generation has finally gotten underway after having played FFXVI. It's kinda like how it took several years before the PS4 finally got some impressive experiences: Horizon Zero Dawn and NieR: Automata in 2017 as well as God of War in 2018. I'm definitely going to remember FFXVI as one of the first impressive current-gen games I've played.

@LtSarge Good luck with FF8, I can really see glimpses of a great game in there but oh man, I’ve bounced off that so many times now. Elements are fantastic but I wish I had the original disc like I did with FF7, much less games to distract me when I was playing FF7 for the first time on the PS2.

@LtSarge I always think “in depth mechanics” feels a little OTT when describing FF8.

I quite liked the GF system and using AP gained from fights to unlock new abilities etc. The draw system is admittedly a real pain but I don’t think the junction system is as convoluted as it’s sometimes made out.

So long as each character eventually has a GF that allows junctioning to boost HP, the rest just depends on how you use characters. For instance, I think Ifrit allows junctioning to strength so Zell always had him as he’s a very attack based character.

The triple triad card game rocks too.

I'll have the house all to myself this weekend, so hopefully I'll get Both FF Pixel remaster finished (Just the final boss to go). Also looking forward to finishing XVI, an absolute ton of sidequests have opened up at the same time, as the final main mission. So going to do all those and clear the hunt board before finishing the story, will do all Chronolith trials after I've rolled credits.

So I finally had a chance to make a start on Final Fantasy XVI this afternoon and made it through what i assume to have been the initial demo that was available pre-release (I got to the big title-screen moment basically). So far I think it’s class, sumptuous art design and visual execution, epic score and a great narrative set up.

@colonelkilgore I really hope you enjoy it. I had an absolute blast. Did the final Misson late on Friday night didn't get to my bed till close to 5am. Loved everything about it, the late game side quests should have really been baked into the main game, as they fleshed out story and characters. Which made the ending even more impactful.

@MightyDemon82 glad you enjoyed the whole experience buddy… and hopefully I’ll be feeling just as positive about it in a months time or so. And I’ll be sure to do every side-quest… even the early fetch-quests ones that have been generating so much shade 👍

@Jimmer-jammer enjoy what remains buddy… and I just googled precision sic, I’ll keep it in mind 👍

So maybe seven hours into XVI now (so barely scratching the surface I’m sure) but absolutely loving it so far. Was really struggling to choose a game for my next plat milestone… and all I can say is that this is the game!

@colonelkilgore Glad you are enjoying it as it seems a bit divisive, I guess it depends whether you wanted a more traditional FF or not.
I did have a quick look at the trophy guide (as I do for long rpgs) and it seems a very doable platinum.

My next game after SE5 is, well I'm not sure but I'm tempted by Snowrunner although that feels (obviously) like a winter game. Perhaps Observer and The Ascent for a couple of quickish plats.

I am waiting to see what @colonelkilgore says after ten or so hours. I think everyone almost unanimously starts loving the game, the dividing point comes a few hours after that when you see the depths of just how boring this game can be and how shallow it’s systems are.

@Pizzamorg well probably around the 10 hour mark now as it goes and… personally I’m still really liking it… right now at least. I know that some of my friends who are big FF fans were left a bit unimpressed by the game but as someone who is still a relative FF noob, having only played FFVII Remake and FFXV (the two actiony ones) I’m fine with the design thus far. Also, to this point XVI’s combat is my favourite of the three.

Gutted for you and the other FF purists that it didn’t quite hit the mark tbh. For any action RPG fans out there though, I think it’s a home-run.

@CaptD you’ll have to let me know how you get on with those two mate, as I have both in the backlog and like the look of both of them.

@Jimmer-jammer well it’s achieved that all too rare feat (as I get older anyways) that since I logged off around 3 hours ago… all I can do is think about the game and all I want to do is log back on and play some more.

@colonelkilgore I'll jump into the conversation as well and say I'm glad that you are highly enjoying it so far. I'm only slightly less of a FF noob, as I've played but never finished VII and X, but I did beat XIII once, VII Remake twice, the PS5 version of Crisis Core, and I'm 66 hours into XVI.

I guess it doesn't hurt that I also really love playing Western RPGs and this has a lot in common with those as well. Combine that with highly enjoying Game of Thrones (except for the final season) and adoring Final Fantasy VII Remake and I guess it was pretty much a given I'd love XVI. Obviously the combat is much different in XVI, but still, Final Fantasy VII Remake was such a success with me that it raised my interest in the series itself a lot higher. The divisive side quests get really good in the back half of the game, which then in turn baffles me how people could say the side quests suck.

@KilloWertz yeah I’ve heard that from a lot of people, about the later side quests improving quite a bit. Tbh while the early ones are limited, I honestly think they’re there more to familiarise the player with the locations and quest systems more than anything else (which I’m fine with).

I notice that you haven’t mentioned XV in the FF games that you’ve played. I know it gets a bad wrap generally but I really liked it. Combat is simplified compared to VII Remake and XVI but still well worth a go.

The side quests that give greater insight into the characters or the world are better, but they never evolved mechanically and after the first 15 or so hours I was so very tired of how repetitive the combat was. These side quests for the characters/world also rely on you actually being invested and enjoying the story too, if you are just casually letting this wash over you, none of these side quests will move the needle either.

I just grew to dread the moments at the Hideout after an Eikon battle, knowing how much tedium now awaited me until the game would get going again. Long stretches of cutscenes, MMO busywork and mindless combat encounters that felt the same at hour 10 as they did at hour 20, and always far too easy.

Admittedly I gave up around the 40 hour 60 percent mark I believe, so maybe in those final 30 hours there are some of the greatest side quests known to man, but no one should have to wade through dozens and dozens of hours of tedious side quests to get to good ones. Just a truly awfully paced game.

@colonelkilgore You are likely not wrong about the early quests, and if I remember correctly some of them also introduce you to some of the characters that will stick around the whole game (Martha, The Dame, etc.) I like getting to know the characters as well, so even if the actual side quests may or may not be great, they are worthwhile.

I definitely plan on playing Final Fantasy XV someday. I claimed it via the PS Plus Collection before Sony took the games down. I have a lot of Final Fantasy games to play, and while 1-6 are a lot less likely than the others, it's just a matter of when for XV.

@Pizzamorg While I'm not saying you had to love the game and all, technically some of that is you and not just the game. Just because you eventually tuned out the game doesn't make the stories with the side quests and even everything with the Hideout bad. For somebody who likes to have a core group of characters you get to know and experience parts of the game with, that has more often than not been highly enjoyable. Whether you like the quests or not, the game does a very solid job of letting you get to know your core group at the hideout and then the core group of people from the side quests that stick around for the whole game.

Do I still think a game like Horizon Forbidden West did side quests better overall? Sure, they had good story with them along with better actual side quests as a whole. I still think Final Fantasy XVI did a solid job with the side quests though if you actually care about story and getting to know characters.

Of course not @KilloWertz, which is what I said in my post. If you like the story/characters/world side quests that give you more insight to all of those things are likely to move the needle for you, but that doesn’t make the side quests actually good. If you are lukewarm on the game, you won’t play a side quest which gives you the backstory about a vendor in the Hideaway and then suddenly decide you love the game.

@Pizzamorg I know you didn't like XVI and I'm not saying you're an idiot for not, but we already knew that you didn't and why.

Just because you thought the game was tedious and made it a point to not give the story a chance after a certain point doesn't mean the game actually is tedious or the way the story is presented is actually bad. Again, I'm not saying the side quests are great as I've already admitted other games have better ones, but it is annoying to see people (more than just you obviously) crap on the side quests and other things when in reality the payoff (the stories involving those characters) is worth it and there are games that do side quests far worse than Final Fantasy XVI. Play Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2 and you will be wishing either of them did their side quests like Final Fantasy XVI.

But you’ve pointed out your own fallacy here. “ Just because you thought the game was tedious and made it a point to not give the story a chance after a certain point doesn't mean the game actually is tedious”

So likewise, just because you believe the payoff makes things worthwhile, that doesn’t invalidate anyone else’s criticism of the game, as the value of that payoff is not an objective fact, it is personal to you.