KorKnown to detonate from time to timeRegistered Userregular
edited December 2008
I just don't want gambits to return (I thats what they were called).
I hated that I programmed my characters to do everything themselves. Its the only game where I felt I could literally walk away from the game and it could play itself.
Yeah I tried to play through XII twice and it just didn't stick to me. I didn't really get into the battle system. I spent about 28 hours on my first run then gave up. Then I spent another 12 (new game because this was like a year later) and gave up.
I'm really glad to hear that FFXIII will have FFX's battle system. I would have SHIT a brick if they went to FFXII's system.
I thought XII's battle system was weird at first but I did get into it. That said, it is nowhere near as good as previous FF's, and the realtime battle system in things like Infinite Undisovery is much better (imo).
However I have heard nothing much concrete about XIII's battle system, so I wouldn't know what it was going to be like.
I used to be a big FF fan. I've still played most of them, and have beat about half of them (I have a weird habit of not beating RPGs I like for some reason). My favorite has always been FFVI/III, the first Final Fantasy game I ever played. It had an excellent, well-developed setting (love the Victorian/Steampunk thing), a decent plot and lots of good characters. There was just the right amount of things to do and explore - enough that, with a little work you could find it all.
I think the series kind of started to go in the wrong direction (or at least a direction I didn't like) after that. I played the shit out of FF7 (it was lots of good fun, but I never saw what all the fuss was about), but my favorite PS1 FF was VIII. The ultra-modern/futuristic setting seemed to work, for once, I liked the characters even though they weren't all that deep (and I mean, shit, they were in high school, why would they be deep?), although I thought the actual gameplay was kind of lame. What the hell were Squall and company doing when they were "junctioning" all that magic to their stats anyway? Was there any explanation for it, plotwise? I also thought the story started to suck once you got about halfway through the third disc, the last few locations just got weird and felt really out of place in the rest of the world (Esthar, the moon, time-compressed realm...), which had up to that point been fairly realistic and believable. It almost felt like they were just looking for an excuse to show off these exotic locations that belonged in another game.
Since then I haven't been crazy about FF. The recent games seem like they've been really geared toward a certain kind of player, who invests about 3-400 hours into a game and doesn't mind hours upon hours grinding levels and searching for rare drops, and who doesn't mind watching 10-minute cutscenes every twenty minutes. I guess that's what some players are looking for, and I can't fault Square for going for that market angle, since it's obviously making them a chunk of money. But it's definitely turned me off toward the series. Hell, if XII hadn't got rid of the tedious battle screens (which was long overdue) I wouldn't even have bought it.
Duffel on
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KorKnown to detonate from time to timeRegistered Userregular
edited December 2008
One of the biggest oddities to me in FFVIII is Esthar.
I mean, the city alone eats up probably 10-20% of the world map, and you can actually actually travel a good chunk of it.
It just sorta really makes you feel like the planet is maybe the size of a softball instead of an actual planet.
Speaking of battles. I hope it's random battles. I miss those so much.
Only if enc-zero returns. And early, like in 8, not late, like in 6.
And that ONLY if enc-more returns. At about the same time.
Random battles suck in most 3d games, because of slow ass animations. Actually, come to think of it, it was fine in X, because animations were super fast (same in 7). Combat in 8 and 9 is a drag, though. So slow.
But overall, god no. Random battles get old. Outdated mechanic is outdated. And I'm talking about classic final fantasy random battles, not Fallout-esque stuff.
Bah. Ya'll are a bunch of pansies. I miss random battles so much.
urahonky on
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PunkBoyThank you! And thank you again!Registered Userregular
edited December 2008
Eh, I can go either way for random battles or not. On the one hand, I hate getting into a battle when I'm like 2 steps away from a save point. On the other hand, random battles make level grinding a lot easier.
PunkBoy on
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obolon84Good news, everyone!I just blue myself.Registered Userregular
Meh, from the looks of things, I have bad taste on which FFs to like. My favorite FF is VIII, I enjoyed Crystal Chronicals, and never played IX.
VIII is my favorite because it was the first I played, and I enjoyed the combat system.
And IX didn't really here much about IX, and jumped straight to X.
You should still play IX, in my opinion it has aged incredibly well. It is probably the best looking PS1 game there is.
VIII was my first Final Fantasy also and it remains my favorite. I sort of understand some of the nitpicks with the game, but I still love pretty much all of it. The storyline in the beginning with the two schools/countries fighting against each other and the world at war events were really interesting to me. Also spent a lot of time with Triple Triad
You should play IX: It's a very close second favorite FF title for me and along with VIII, the only two that I have replayed numerous times.
Although VII was the first FF game I was aware of, for some reason it didn't really captivate me as much as the next two. I am thinking about replaying it, but I have so many other RPGs that I haven't finished...
FFX was the game I wanted to get a PS2 for, and even though I liked it (thought the battle system was very good), it wasn't as memorable.
I got FFXII a few months ago and have spent a lot of time playing it, though mostly the sidequests and still haven't finished it. I'm not a fan of MMOs, but the battle system with the gambits was pretty nice.
Also rebought FFT War of the Lions (had it for PS1), and really liking it so far. The only other Final Fantasy games I've played were V and VI from FFAnthology. Didn't really get anywhere on V and only got to the part where the Castle sinks into the sand on VI. Not sure why I haven't continued playing it (the load times were pretty annoying).
As for the old topic of the thread, Dissidia looks interesting, though kind of makes me wish there were more characters. The battles look like they'd really appeal to Advent Children fans.
On the topic of XII's battle system, as someone only just getting around to playing it (I'm finishing stuff up right now. Got one esper left, and then I have to decide what other end stuff I feel like doing), I think that it's a quality battle system, but one which takes time to mature into itself.
Early on, when you've only got one character, it's far too slow. When you've got multiple people but no gambits, it's annoying. Once you get gambits, it starts to come into its own, but only really gets nice once you get a few more gambit slots/options/speed up your characters some. They leave you without the gambits you want, which are actually useful, for far too long. But once you get them, the pace of the battles is fine, and it's just you cutting your way across the map. It's all good. Then, at the end, it gets annoying again, because (for graphical reasons, I assume) they start limiting spells to going off one at a time, which becomes really noticeable. And gives bosses a severe advantage when they erect palings and can attack without waiting in a queue while your people cast spells.
Effectively, if they could get rid of the magic thing and do one of two things, it'd be perfect: either make combat for your "leader" Tales-esque, where you directly control one person, but have gambits for everyone else; or keep things as they are, but let you have your whole party out simultaneously (and scale things accordingly), which probably isn't graphically feasible. Nothing irked me more than having four characters then losing one when he formally joined the party. Having all six of your people (seven with a guest) working together would have been great.
That being said, the whole "oh, you just beat the big boss, now here's a treasure chest which appears randomly and has a 5% chance of dropping the thing you actually want, but instead of getting it you're getting a knot of rust/1 gil" mechanic can DIAF.
Also rebought FFT War of the Lions (had it for PS1), and really liking it so far. The only other Final Fantasy games I've played were V and VI from FFAnthology. Didn't really get anywhere on V and only got to the part where the Castle sinks into the sand on VI. Not sure why I haven't continued playing it (the load times were pretty annoying)..
Yeah, while 6 is my favourite (followed by 7 and 10), do not play it on ps1. Get the GBA version or the original SNES cart.
I used to be a big FF fan. I've still played most of them, and have beat about half of them (I have a weird habit of not beating RPGs I like for some reason). My favorite has always been FFVI/III, the first Final Fantasy game I ever played. It had an excellent, well-developed setting (love the Victorian/Steampunk thing), a decent plot and lots of good characters. There was just the right amount of things to do and explore - enough that, with a little work you could find it all.
I think the series kind of started to go in the wrong direction (or at least a direction I didn't like) after that. I played the shit out of FF7 (it was lots of good fun, but I never saw what all the fuss was about), but my favorite PS1 FF was VIII. The ultra-modern/futuristic setting seemed to work, for once, I liked the characters even though they weren't all that deep (and I mean, shit, they were in high school, why would they be deep?), although I thought the actual gameplay was kind of lame. What the hell were Squall and company doing when they were "junctioning" all that magic to their stats anyway? Was there any explanation for it, plotwise? I also thought the story started to suck once you got about halfway through the third disc, the last few locations just got weird and felt really out of place in the rest of the world (Esthar, the moon, time-compressed realm...), which had up to that point been fairly realistic and believable. It almost felt like they were just looking for an excuse to show off these exotic locations that belonged in another game.
Since then I haven't been crazy about FF. The recent games seem like they've been really geared toward a certain kind of player, who invests about 3-400 hours into a game and doesn't mind hours upon hours grinding levels and searching for rare drops, and who doesn't mind watching 10-minute cutscenes every twenty minutes. I guess that's what some players are looking for, and I can't fault Square for going for that market angle, since it's obviously making them a chunk of money. But it's definitely turned me off toward the series. Hell, if XII hadn't got rid of the tedious battle screens (which was long overdue) I wouldn't even have bought it.
In the game tutorials (...this is my main gripe with the game I absolutely loved) they flesh out they why's of Junctioning, GFs and Para-Magic.
I don't know why people complain about Time-Compression when FF1 had a damn Time Paradox happen.
I'm going to have to retract my previous statement about another FF blog post, because the new media that's been pouring in is too much to not bunch together. I'll get to work on that later, but in the meantime, here is the trailer for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.
I'm just astonished. I thought Crisis Core looked amazing, but this game looks like a legitimate Kingdom Hearts III. Also, it's the first portable KH to have new areas and enemies, instead of retreading the first game's areas over and over (like the DS game seems to do).
Oh, and later today I should be able to "sample" Dissidia, since it's now officially released.
Effectively, if they could get rid of the magic thing and do one of two things, it'd be perfect: either make combat for your "leader" Tales-esque, where you directly control one person, but have gambits for everyone else; or keep things as they are, but let you have your whole party out simultaneously (and scale things accordingly), which probably isn't graphically feasible. Nothing irked me more than having four characters then losing one when he formally joined the party. Having all six of your people (seven with a guest) working together would have been great.
But you see, when I played it, I was able to play the first option. I controlled Vaan with no gambits and had gambits for everyone else and changed it for each situation. I thought the person you controlled using gambits was quite unnecessary, myself, because you were actively controlling that character..
Bartholamue on
Steam- SteveBartz Xbox Live- SteveBartz PSN Name- SteveBartz
Effectively, if they could get rid of the magic thing and do one of two things, it'd be perfect: either make combat for your "leader" Tales-esque, where you directly control one person, but have gambits for everyone else; or keep things as they are, but let you have your whole party out simultaneously (and scale things accordingly), which probably isn't graphically feasible. Nothing irked me more than having four characters then losing one when he formally joined the party. Having all six of your people (seven with a guest) working together would have been great.
But you see, when I played it, I did the first option. I controlled Vaan with no gambits and had gambits for everyone else and changed it for each situation. I thought the person you controlled using gambits was quite unnecessary, myself, because you were actively controlling that character..
I still had every character loaded up with them so as not to have to manually pick "attack" and whatnot. I loved that battles largely played out based on my ability to plan ahead and setup the right gambits. Only in tough boss fights did I need to give anyone direct orders.
I do agree that it seems like FFXII was somewhat limited by the hardware (the 3 character party, the high-end spell "queue", etc)
Effectively, if they could get rid of the magic thing and do one of two things, it'd be perfect: either make combat for your "leader" Tales-esque, where you directly control one person, but have gambits for everyone else; or keep things as they are, but let you have your whole party out simultaneously (and scale things accordingly), which probably isn't graphically feasible. Nothing irked me more than having four characters then losing one when he formally joined the party. Having all six of your people (seven with a guest) working together would have been great.
But you see, when I played it, I did the first option. I controlled Vaan with no gambits and had gambits for everyone else and changed it for each situation. I thought the person you controlled using gambits was quite unnecessary, myself, because you were actively controlling that character..
I still had every character loaded up with them so as not to have to manually pick "attack" and whatnot. I loved that battles largely played out based on my ability to plan ahead and setup the right gambits. Only in tough boss fights did I need to give anyone direct orders.
I do agree that it seems like FFXII was somewhat limited by the hardware (the 3 character party, the high-end spell "queue", etc)
Hopefully with FFXIII, that fixes it.
Bartholamue on
Steam- SteveBartz Xbox Live- SteveBartz PSN Name- SteveBartz
Speaking of battles. I hope it's random battles. I miss those so much.
Only if enc-zero returns. And early, like in 8, not late, like in 6.
And that ONLY if enc-more returns. At about the same time.
Random battles suck in most 3d games, because of slow ass animations. Actually, come to think of it, it was fine in X, because animations were super fast (same in 7). Combat in 8 and 9 is a drag, though. So slow.
But overall, god no. Random battles get old. Outdated mechanic is outdated.
I think its true though. It's kind of ridiculous to be like sneaking into someshit or something only to suddenly bump into a giant dragon the size of a building.
I like random battles, because I like having different interfaces for different things. The walk around mode isn't necessarily good for killing monsters, and vice versa.
Oh man. Final Fantasy XII was a big disappointment for me. I read the previews and such, about the changes in the battle system, how it was kind of like an MMO. I'd never played an MMORPG (still haven't), so I guess it didn't register with what that actually meant. I bought the special edition plus the special edition strategy guide for a cool $100.
The game was grinding + boredom. Grinding never bothered me in previous FFs, but I couldn't stand it in XII. There was so much fighting, what with grinding, the hunts, and the many enemies crowding the playfield. Also, I found the story very dull, and the characters not very engaging.
So I hope - nay, PRAY - that XIII is far more inline with the X battle system than XII.
Anyone disappointed with XII and anyone that likes random battles just needs to get Lost Odyssey, as it's produced by quite a few of the 'old square' crowd, including of course Sakaguchi himself.
Oh man. Final Fantasy XII was a big disappointment for me. I read the previews and such, about the changes in the battle system, how it was kind of like an MMO. I'd never played an MMORPG (still haven't), so I guess it didn't register with what that actually meant. I bought the special edition plus the special edition strategy guide for a cool $100.
The game was grinding + boredom. Grinding never bothered me in previous FFs, but I couldn't stand it in XII. There was so much fighting, what with grinding, the hunts, and the many enemies crowding the playfield. Also, I found the story very dull, and the characters not very engaging.
So I hope - nay, PRAY - that XIII is far more inline with the X battle system than XII.
Also, FFVIII is the best FF game.
I actually love the characters in 12, but I agree there's way too much grinding. I think they made battles less of a chore with gambits (I approve), but they added more battles to make up for the time you thought you were going to save through gambits.
Then, there's the random % for a drop out of a damn chest, and the fact that I had to exit and re-enter one area for 30 minutes just to get it to rain so I could fight some stupid Giant Turtle mark. If there was a way to get it to rain automatically, I couldn't find it.
Anyone disappointed with XII and anyone that likes random battles just needs to get Lost Odyssey, as it's produced by quite a few of the 'old square' crowd, including of course Sakaguchi himself.
Doesn't play like old square. 20 minute battles from random encounters? No thanks.
Yeah, it's like they said "Well we have properly refined the art of consuming the player's time with menial boring tasks and endless grinding with FFXI, now let's see if we can take that and cram it into a game without the social element that kept players going through it and see if anyone finishes the game"
I liked LO, other than the two kid characters. They wouldn't have been so bad if VA wasn't on... But whatever.
I really liked all the FF games. Loved 7 to death, hated 8 initially... But it grew on me. 9 was fantastic. I hated 10 initially, then it grew on me. 12 though... Yeah. I wish they wouldn't have done that.
'course that was just the PSX and beyond FF games. I loved FF: MQ, and FFIV is my favorite (except the remake, if you can believe that. I fucking despise the DS 3D graphics they gave it.).
...Then, there's the random % for a drop out of a damn chest...
This.
A thousand times this. This TOTALLY ruined FFXII. Hey by the way, remember when you HAD a chance to figure out secret stuff? I mean, I found out about Gogo all on my own. Heck, I pieced most of the Chocobo quest on Knights of the Round. But goddammit, THE CHEST was just retarded.
I'm going to have to retract my previous statement about another FF blog post, because the new media that's been pouring in is too much to not bunch together. I'll get to work on that later, but in the meantime, here is the trailer for Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep.
I'm just astonished. I thought Crisis Core looked amazing, but this game looks like a legitimate Kingdom Hearts III. Also, it's the first portable KH to have new areas and enemies, instead of retreading the first game's areas over and over (like the DS game seems to do).
Oh, and later today I should be able to "sample" Dissidia, since it's now officially released.
Do you think you could kinda give a rundown on how things work in Dissidia once you play it some?
I understand the battle system alright, but the menus and the board thing are confusing.
Yeah, it's like they said "Well we have properly refined the art of consuming the player's time with menial boring tasks and endless grinding with FFXI, now let's see if we can take that and cram it into a game without the social element that kept players going through it and see if anyone finishes the game"
The best part of ff12 was it was like playing an MMO where your PUG listens to you
Also it ended after 80ish hours of playtime for me which is about what I invest in most MMOs before quitting in boredom.
Japanese Dissidia review code get! Square-Enix UK were kind enough to get me a Japanese copy since we don't have a date for an English langauge one and a bunch of instructions on what to hit and how to play without understanding anything. Going to play now.
V13's trailer makes me want it so bad. I wasn't interested before, but now...holy shit.
And since this is a general FF thread, I'll just say that, with the glaring exception of Final Fantasy IX, I've been satisfied with every main FF game I've played (which is all except FFIII), and even some of the offshoots (Crisis Core, FF Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon).
My favorite will always be FFVII, and I will eternally hope for the FFVII remake that may never happen. However, I enjoy the world of FFX the most. And the art style of FFX still gets me to this day, I love the aquatic feel.
If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you like IX?
I didn't really care about the story, as it became a mad rush from town to town right after said town had been destroyed. Godawful character design, and it seems like they went out of the way to make me hate every single character in the process. Zidane is a prick. Steiner has a one-track mind on protecting the Princess. The Princess herself is kind of interesting at first, I suppose, though once she finds out about her origins nothing really comes of it. Vivi is a whiny little cunt and even when he "toughens up" later on I still found him unbearable. Eiko, Amarant, and especially fucking Quina who joins your party simply to eat; I just don't see how anyone can find these characters likable.
The graphics were a downgrade from VIII. Yes, I get what they were going for with the art style. But if that's what they were really going for, they should have done the game in 2D because as it is the deformed characters simply don't look right. I think this is more of a hardware problem than anything, as FFXI and XII both have super-deformed characters that at least look decent.
The battle system, even at the highest speed setting, was atrociously slow, and the random battles occurred more than ever (the Ice Cavern and a few other locales still give me Vietnam-style flashbacks, and that's with avoiding the wind flurries).
Tetra Master is a joke.
That's not to say the game was a total waste. There were a lot of little things I liked about. The Ability system was fucking excellent. The ability to use Tents in battles was welcome (though it doesn't really make sense), and Mognet was a cool little way of saving your game. Chocobo Hot and Cold is one of the best FF minigames yet. The soundtrack is quite stellar. And while I don't like the art style as rendered in-game, all of the CG cutscenes are mesmerizing.
EDIT: Also there is a fucking rat dance ritual, that not only hurt my brain, but became completely useless in the context of the story as it did no fucking good whatsoever.
Internet Debate Time!
The story is a mad rush early on, but that's what gives it the early pace every FF has. In FF7, the pace is caused by the player knowing from early on the next 'bombing mission' is just around the corner - and then on the mission, everything is urgent. Then the hideout's under attack. Then you're escaping Shinra themselves. And then it finally slows, only to speed up again after lots of exposition. FF8 has the same thing - it takes a while to get going, but after the Fire Cave it's a rollercoaster going down until the assassination.
FF9 is the same. The game starts off quite slow with the escape, and things are quite leisurely throughout there, and even in the forest. Once you reach Dali, though (with the best town music in an FF ever except perhaps FF1's town theme) everything gets quite fast paced and it's a mad rush to Lindblum. There it slows again, and there's some fun stuff with the festival of the hunt, and then it goes crazy again as war is declared.
From there, yeah, it's fucking nuts for the entire of disc 2. But god damn, I love that section of the game. You're watching a superpower decimate everywhere you visit for no good reason, loads of people die, and for the first time since FF6, you really, really feel like you're up against impossible odds. The game always puts characters you like and beautiful loactions in, slows long enough so that you can begin to love them and then it rips them apart in the most horrific way it can manage. And man, who doesn't love the sight of the at-the-time villain summoning Odin and destroying an entire city, basically genociding a race in the process?
This is also the reason I think Kuja is one of the more interesting FF bad guys, too. He stays in the shadows for pretty much two entire discs, manipulating events in the background. He preys on a weak queen's fears - she's missing her late king, she's scared she can't rule effectively - and he provides the weapons and uses that to push her into war with every other nation on the continent. By causing the nations to fight amongst themselves, by the time he initiates his plan on disc 2/3, there's nobody (but the party) left to stop him.
It's a crazy and slightly Kefka-esque plan, and it works. On the main contintent of FF9 there's four nations, and by the end of the game only one actually exists anymore, and that one is badly, badly hurting.
As far as the plot goes, even if you didn't like the nations at war segment, by the middle of disc 2 it's well and truly over, so it really isn't an issue. Once you hit the new continent it's a much more exploratory game, where you slowly plod through new sights and places like FF7 when you're chasing Sephiroth.
I really don't see how anyone can say the characters are particularly one dimensional though, with the exception of Quina who is meant to be. I'd say Amarant is underused and underdeveloped, but all the others are as well-rounded as any FF character has ever been, and a hell of a lot more so than many. FF9 has a lot of characters who appear one-sided - Pervy Zidane, Angry Steiner, but they all have much deeper layers underneath their thinking that is revealed as the game goes on and as the player watches ATEs. I won't really go into detail on this one, but I'll just say that there's a lot more to the characters than first meets the eye. FF9 just doesn't show what the lead is thinking through fucking thought bubbles like FF8 did. In general, it's a lot more subtle.
As for the graphics - the art style in FFIX is directed by the same guy who did Crystal Chronicles, My Life as a King, and FF3 and FF4 DS. Amano produced the original designs, then that dude chibi'd 'em, because Sakaguchi and the team wanted an art style that was reminiscent of 2D FF. It's exactly the same style. I think you're really confusing a graphics 'downgrade' for a simple dislike of the art style and how it was executed. FF9 is often noted as one of, if not the best looking PS1 games, and has aged a hell of a lot better than FF7 and 8, which both look like ass now. I don't think we can call this or this super deformed:
/
Especially when compared to this:
Battle System, well... yes, it's slow. Slow as hell. So's FF4 DS, actually, so god, don't play that if this put you off FF9, because that game is even slower. For me personally, four characters makes up for it. I'd rather have four characters in a slightly slower battle system than three in a fast one. That's just me, though. Tetra Master I'll pass on, it's a love it or hate it thing. It is more complex than Triple Triad, and those who get it love it, and those who don't despise it. You're only required to play three matches all game though, in quick succession, and all the opponents are using mindblowingly weak cards.
As far as I can tell the encounter isn't particularly high. It's back to a SNES level as opposed to a FF7/8 level, but both of those were too easy anyway, I think.
I dunno; I just fucking love FF9. I think it's the quintessential Final Fantasy, at least in the sense of what the series was up until 6 (and in a way 7.) The soundtrack is amazing, still the best Nobuo has produced (though Lost Odyssey gives it a fair run for it's money) and it's his favorite soundtrack from an FF, too. The game is Sakaguchi's favorite FF, also.. which has to be worth something. Right?
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I hated that I programmed my characters to do everything themselves. Its the only game where I felt I could literally walk away from the game and it could play itself.
Pokemon Safari - Sneasel, Pawniard, ????
I thought XII's battle system was weird at first but I did get into it. That said, it is nowhere near as good as previous FF's, and the realtime battle system in things like Infinite Undisovery is much better (imo).
However I have heard nothing much concrete about XIII's battle system, so I wouldn't know what it was going to be like.
You crazy son of a bish!
I'ma do something that you don't like just to spite you.
I think the series kind of started to go in the wrong direction (or at least a direction I didn't like) after that. I played the shit out of FF7 (it was lots of good fun, but I never saw what all the fuss was about), but my favorite PS1 FF was VIII. The ultra-modern/futuristic setting seemed to work, for once, I liked the characters even though they weren't all that deep (and I mean, shit, they were in high school, why would they be deep?), although I thought the actual gameplay was kind of lame. What the hell were Squall and company doing when they were "junctioning" all that magic to their stats anyway? Was there any explanation for it, plotwise? I also thought the story started to suck once you got about halfway through the third disc, the last few locations just got weird and felt really out of place in the rest of the world (Esthar, the moon, time-compressed realm...), which had up to that point been fairly realistic and believable. It almost felt like they were just looking for an excuse to show off these exotic locations that belonged in another game.
Since then I haven't been crazy about FF. The recent games seem like they've been really geared toward a certain kind of player, who invests about 3-400 hours into a game and doesn't mind hours upon hours grinding levels and searching for rare drops, and who doesn't mind watching 10-minute cutscenes every twenty minutes. I guess that's what some players are looking for, and I can't fault Square for going for that market angle, since it's obviously making them a chunk of money. But it's definitely turned me off toward the series. Hell, if XII hadn't got rid of the tedious battle screens (which was long overdue) I wouldn't even have bought it.
I mean, the city alone eats up probably 10-20% of the world map, and you can actually actually travel a good chunk of it.
It just sorta really makes you feel like the planet is maybe the size of a softball instead of an actual planet.
Pokemon Safari - Sneasel, Pawniard, ????
Only if enc-zero returns. And early, like in 8, not late, like in 6.
And that ONLY if enc-more returns. At about the same time.
Random battles suck in most 3d games, because of slow ass animations. Actually, come to think of it, it was fine in X, because animations were super fast (same in 7). Combat in 8 and 9 is a drag, though. So slow.
But overall, god no. Random battles get old. Outdated mechanic is outdated. And I'm talking about classic final fantasy random battles, not Fallout-esque stuff.
VIII was my first Final Fantasy also and it remains my favorite. I sort of understand some of the nitpicks with the game, but I still love pretty much all of it. The storyline in the beginning with the two schools/countries fighting against each other and the world at war events were really interesting to me. Also spent a lot of time with Triple Triad
You should play IX: It's a very close second favorite FF title for me and along with VIII, the only two that I have replayed numerous times.
Although VII was the first FF game I was aware of, for some reason it didn't really captivate me as much as the next two. I am thinking about replaying it, but I have so many other RPGs that I haven't finished...
FFX was the game I wanted to get a PS2 for, and even though I liked it (thought the battle system was very good), it wasn't as memorable.
I got FFXII a few months ago and have spent a lot of time playing it, though mostly the sidequests and still haven't finished it. I'm not a fan of MMOs, but the battle system with the gambits was pretty nice.
Also rebought FFT War of the Lions (had it for PS1), and really liking it so far. The only other Final Fantasy games I've played were V and VI from FFAnthology. Didn't really get anywhere on V and only got to the part where the Castle sinks into the sand on VI. Not sure why I haven't continued playing it (the load times were pretty annoying).
As for the old topic of the thread, Dissidia looks interesting, though kind of makes me wish there were more characters. The battles look like they'd really appeal to Advent Children fans.
Early on, when you've only got one character, it's far too slow. When you've got multiple people but no gambits, it's annoying. Once you get gambits, it starts to come into its own, but only really gets nice once you get a few more gambit slots/options/speed up your characters some. They leave you without the gambits you want, which are actually useful, for far too long. But once you get them, the pace of the battles is fine, and it's just you cutting your way across the map. It's all good. Then, at the end, it gets annoying again, because (for graphical reasons, I assume) they start limiting spells to going off one at a time, which becomes really noticeable. And gives bosses a severe advantage when they erect palings and can attack without waiting in a queue while your people cast spells.
Effectively, if they could get rid of the magic thing and do one of two things, it'd be perfect: either make combat for your "leader" Tales-esque, where you directly control one person, but have gambits for everyone else; or keep things as they are, but let you have your whole party out simultaneously (and scale things accordingly), which probably isn't graphically feasible. Nothing irked me more than having four characters then losing one when he formally joined the party. Having all six of your people (seven with a guest) working together would have been great.
That being said, the whole "oh, you just beat the big boss, now here's a treasure chest which appears randomly and has a 5% chance of dropping the thing you actually want, but instead of getting it you're getting a knot of rust/1 gil" mechanic can DIAF.
Yeah, while 6 is my favourite (followed by 7 and 10), do not play it on ps1. Get the GBA version or the original SNES cart.
In the game tutorials (...this is my main gripe with the game I absolutely loved) they flesh out they why's of Junctioning, GFs and Para-Magic.
I don't know why people complain about Time-Compression when FF1 had a damn Time Paradox happen.
I loved the idea of hitting an enemy and sort of stunning them long enough for my 2nd character to do the same.
Pokemon Safari - Sneasel, Pawniard, ????
I'm just astonished. I thought Crisis Core looked amazing, but this game looks like a legitimate Kingdom Hearts III. Also, it's the first portable KH to have new areas and enemies, instead of retreading the first game's areas over and over (like the DS game seems to do).
Oh, and later today I should be able to "sample" Dissidia, since it's now officially released.
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Me too!
Well...no, I'll finish Persona 4, but then I think I will play FFXII again.
Probably because FF1 wasn't laboring under the whole "cinematic RPG" title. It didn't have to make sense.
I still had every character loaded up with them so as not to have to manually pick "attack" and whatnot. I loved that battles largely played out based on my ability to plan ahead and setup the right gambits. Only in tough boss fights did I need to give anyone direct orders.
I do agree that it seems like FFXII was somewhat limited by the hardware (the 3 character party, the high-end spell "queue", etc)
I never asked for this!
The game was grinding + boredom. Grinding never bothered me in previous FFs, but I couldn't stand it in XII. There was so much fighting, what with grinding, the hunts, and the many enemies crowding the playfield. Also, I found the story very dull, and the characters not very engaging.
So I hope - nay, PRAY - that XIII is far more inline with the X battle system than XII.
XBL/PSN/Steam: APZonerunner
I actually love the characters in 12, but I agree there's way too much grinding. I think they made battles less of a chore with gambits (I approve), but they added more battles to make up for the time you thought you were going to save through gambits.
Then, there's the random % for a drop out of a damn chest, and the fact that I had to exit and re-enter one area for 30 minutes just to get it to rain so I could fight some stupid Giant Turtle mark. If there was a way to get it to rain automatically, I couldn't find it.
Doesn't play like old square. 20 minute battles from random encounters? No thanks.
I really liked all the FF games. Loved 7 to death, hated 8 initially... But it grew on me. 9 was fantastic. I hated 10 initially, then it grew on me. 12 though... Yeah. I wish they wouldn't have done that.
'course that was just the PSX and beyond FF games. I loved FF: MQ, and FFIV is my favorite (except the remake, if you can believe that. I fucking despise the DS 3D graphics they gave it.).
Agree with you. I think they look worse than the original's.
I think that if they did what they did to DragonQuest IV, I would have been in love. But we got stuck with that instead. Sigh..
This.
A thousand times this. This TOTALLY ruined FFXII. Hey by the way, remember when you HAD a chance to figure out secret stuff? I mean, I found out about Gogo all on my own. Heck, I pieced most of the Chocobo quest on Knights of the Round. But goddammit, THE CHEST was just retarded.
Do you think you could kinda give a rundown on how things work in Dissidia once you play it some?
I understand the battle system alright, but the menus and the board thing are confusing.
That being said, the combat is pretty sweet.
The best part of ff12 was it was like playing an MMO where your PUG listens to you
Also it ended after 80ish hours of playtime for me which is about what I invest in most MMOs before quitting in boredom.
Final Fantasy Agito XIII could be awesome, too. Shame that Versus is PS3-only because frankly I hate the PS3.
XBL/PSN/Steam: APZonerunner
And you know what?
I liked the dancing rats!