Qhimm.com Forums
Miscellaneous Forums => General Discussion => Topic started by: *:.Griever.:* on 2008-05-02 20:53:46
-
Hey all, I'm sure this will have been done elsewhere on the forum, but wanted to ask anyway. What is everyones favourite Final Fantasy game in the series so far?
It can be for any reason, whether it's the games story, gameplay had you hooked, awesome soundtrack, or even if you just liked the FMV's.
My personal favourite is FFX, because in my oppinion, it had a great lead character, who I hated at first, but as the game went on, I started to like him as he opened up more, and became more and more likeable. As well as that, the story was incredible, surpassing imo the love between Squall and Rinoa. And the soundtrack, with pieces like At Zanarkand, Someday the dream will end, and The ending theme, I think Uematsu outdone himself.
The sphere grid also.....
Anyway, other peoples favourites?
ps. I don't expect this much explanation from other people as to why their chosen game is their fave, I just am use to defending FFX being my favourite, as many Squeenix rookies will just automatically say FFVII, cos it's "cool"
:-)
-
LOL I am one of those many people who like ff7 the most, but ffx definately gave it a run for it's money. I feel that ff7 is so great because of the charecters and thier personalities (although i don't care for tifa really) there is also the plot twists and the mandatory playovers cuz u didn't get it the first time.
The soundtrack was decent but it lacked the ability to really put you into the action. (like i felt with the battle music "challange" from ffx)
and last but not least, theres all of the cool moves you can get like most of the summons and some magic spells like ultima and shadow flare, and i also liked 4X cut paired up with cloud since it looked awesome (btw his regular attack in kh was 4X cut)
oh and who could ever forget the infamous SUPERNOVA? the greatest summon/magic attack i have ever seen, they really outdid themselves with alot of the elements
-
Yeah, true. I didn't mean people that actually have reasons are squeenix rookies, people that have reasons are fine by me :-P
What I meant was people who have only ever played FFVII, or not played any at all, and automatically say FFVII is the best. Like the kind of people that will say for example Metal Gear Solid for the PSX is the best game ever, when it's quite clear that Twin Snakes on Gamecube is better.
However, you are right about the elements that make FFVII great, the summons were/are amazing, supernova sepecially. And to be honest, if you use FF7 Music, and put in the AC soundtrack, that music can really get you into gear when you enter a battle and have Those Who Will Fight blasting through you're speakers.
I just feel that FFX had a better overall soundtrack, I bieeve Tidus was better developed than Cloud, the only thing that let me down in FFX was Rikku. Everyone likes her for the same reason they like Yuffie. She's young and hot. Personally, she irritated me :-P Maybe I don't feel the same about her because I have a girlfriend or something. My team for FFX always, is Tidus, Yuna, and Auron/Khimari (I like Blue Mages).
-
i love ff8 for the card game which really pays off (unlike the one in ff9), leveling up system, and the fact that squall's limit has so many variations depending on the enemy. i wonder why didn't this last feature come back in later games.
ff12 is also great, because the gambit system automates most things for you, which is a really convenient solution.
the only thing that let me down in FFX was Rikku. Everyone likes her for the same reason they like Yuffie. She's young and hot. Personally, she irritated me
actually i like playing small, agile and quick characters, regardless of gender. that's what i like rikku for. plus, she's the first thief you get, and that's also the type of character i like (now that i think of it, yuffie was also a thief-type ;-) )
so i usually put aside barret, cait sith, kimahri and basch and rarely use them.
-
I must say, even although I loved the gambit system in FFXII I really didn't enjoy the game. Even although most complain about turn based combat nowadays, it's good old classic rpg fare to me. I love it. The real time/turn based battling of 12 kinda irked me.
The story also sucked majorly imo as it was mainly about politics, with only dashes of classic FF storytelling.
Although I have to admit, I completed it doing all the side missions, hunts, esper unlocking and such, so it mustn't have offended me that badly. I put in about 90 hours then traded it.
-
Final Fantasy X. No questions asked.
Challenges are especially fun... loved NSGNSNI and NSGRO. (No Sphere Grid, No Summon, No Items and No Sphere Grid, Rikku Only)
And I love the music. Especially Otherworld, and the boss theme.
-
Serious Answer: FFIX. Believable characters, living world, bleeds emotion, more difficult than other 'recent' FFs.
Nonserious Answer: FFMQ. lol.
-
btw i also like ff12 because every time i play it i think about vagrant story.
i don't know why but something about level of detail and design of characters in ff12 really reminds me of that psx game.
-
True it is reminicent on Vagrant Story, but it's the whole story design, and levveling that's the issue for me.
If they had implemented the hunt sidequests into FFX, then awesome.
But the liscence grid really doesn't set well with me, having anyone as anything/everything.
It just takes away the pride and satisfaction imo of having ONE of each type of main job, tank, healer, black mage etc...
-
You can still develop your characters that way, though.
I didn't like FF12 because the battle system... I really prefer the older, random encounters system...
-
Random encounters - specifically, walking three steps, the screen transitions, battle for ten seconds then do the victory bit and a screen telling you what you've won, does my head in. Especially when you're fifty levels higher than what you're fighting and you just want to get from A to B. No, I'm glad it's evolving, battles in XII for the win and XIII's looks even more interesting.
-
Random encounters - specifically, walking three steps, the screen transitions, battle for ten seconds then do the victory bit and a screen telling you what you've won, does my head in. Especially when you're fifty levels higher than what you're fighting and you just want to get from A to B. No, I'm glad it's evolving, battles in XII for the win and XIII's looks even more interesting.
I 2nd that. Look forward! Don't rust in the past! Well I don't mind random encounters much though, unless it becomes annoyingly repetitive.
The things I didn't like bout XII was the esper system, the random treasures and the quickenings. Also those others "cut-scene" moves some bosses had was silly (*cough*Cid*cough*). The random treasures was ok if you just stroll through the game, but if you want everything it can be a serious pain in the ass.
The rare monster and the hunts was fun, but too many. Seriously, 80 rare monsters!? A true pain to collect all.
The gambit system is awesome, but why did they leave some key gambits so far out in the game? That's just annoying.
All this crap being said I really enjoyed the game, and can't wait for XIII.
For fav FF? It depends on my mood I guess...
-
I personally like FFVII the best. I believe that the compilation hasn't hurt it in any way other than in the minds of people who don't understand the story or haven't played them. Just the fact that it was probably the most revolutionary game ever should be a factor, but it was also the most in depth game up to that point, and with the compilation, it still is.
FFVIII was mt second choice, because if it weren't for Ultimecia, it would have been a lot better. And even then if you believe the theory that Squall is Grevier and Rinoa is Ultimecia it still makes sense and rocks.
FFX is a close third, just because although the story and music are awesome, I feel that it used a lot of new ideas that I personally don't like as much.
-
favorite FF game?
crap..
you got me thinking there heh..
well my top 3 were 7, 8, and 12.
i think 10 would be on there as well, but i havnt quite played too far into it.
the things that sh*t me about 10 and 12 are the license/sphere grids.
In 7 all you had to do was walk into a store, buy what you need, then walk away.
10 wasnt that bad because all i remember is that when you unlock a new magic (cure, fire etc) you would have it straight away.
in 12 you'd have to first unlock your magick, THEN go to the store and buy it.
Best story line by far, 7
Best battle system, 12
Best "makes you wonder," 8
Best emotion and cliffhanging (a thing that i love and hate at the same time,) 7
So i think, my all time favourite is Final Fantasy 7. I dont even mind the lego block character, which, thank god can be improved with a few mods nowadays,
i also love that rock boss music, gets me fired up heaps.and who the heck could forget the chocobo breeding, racing, and gold saucer :D
with all that stuff being said, i think alot of people will agree with me that number 7 is the best.
Btw, closely followed by FF12.
-
Well the first Final fantasy game I ever played was Final Fantasy 8, so I would say that is my favorite since I have so many fond memories of it. I know a lot of people hated it cause of the junction system and the story, but I didn't mind it at all. The only gripe I had with it really was Ultimecia was a terrible final boss.
After that I'd say it's a close tie between 7 and 10. I didn't even really start playing 7 until I had already beat 9 and 10, so I got into it late in the game. That's probably why I don't automatically consider it the best FF game like a lot of other people do.
-
Exactly, what I'm realy looking for is someone who perhaps started playing on FFVII then, after playing more games in the series decided it wasn't the best, even alhough it was their first FF experience.
FFVII was the first FF I ever played, then VI then VIII then IX then III, X, then finally so far, XII and I still stand by that X is my favourite by far, and that XII is my least favourite. However I do agree very much about Ultimecia being a rubbish last boss, I do quite like the overall story of FFVIII though. :-P
-
That'd be me. FF7 was my first but FFX was my fav (so far).
-
It is the same story for me. I first played FFVII, then bought the new ones as they came out until FFX, when I gave up on the franchise.
-
You gave up after FFX, as in, not liking it? :-(
-
Right. While FFX had the most polished game systems I've seen in the series, the plot and characters were terrible (not to mention the voice acting). It was a big letdown after FFIX's excellent characterisation and epic plot.
-
Really? I found the voice acting to be good, with the exception of Auron, who sounded like something straight out of a House of the Dead game.
Tidus' voice acting in particular, how it starts of all whiny, but by the end, the change in the tone of his voice shows his character has really matured due to the events of the game, and by the time the ending came, I genuinely felt sorry for him.
As for the others, the only ones that don't get enough characterisation, are Lulu, and Kihmari, although if you find the hidden quests (European and Japanese versions) you find out a little bit more about Lulu, and her previous Summoner she guarded. You even get to fight her Aeon :-)
Storywise, I thought FFX was incredible, all the characters had a purpose, unlike some other games I've played where main characters take a back seat to others, such as Vaan, he gets totally blown off in favour of fleshing out Balthier, and Basche and Fran etc... Even although he is the games main character.
-
*Spoilers Scattered Here and There*
That's a pretty hard question to answer. Immediately I want to say VII simply because I've easily played it the most and it's the only game I've spend time modifying in the FF series, but I'm not so sure. I have to rule out everything after X, because I'm not too big of a random encounter fan myself, but I also prefer the older menu-style battle system where you stand there and fight face to face - Revolutionary War style. I think the series should have taken a Chrono Trigger approach to battle encounters but that's just me.
VI would have been epic had it been developed in place of VII, having 3D graphics and being able to convey the emotions a lot better than in 2D. It had a massive cast of characters, and for being limited to such confined space on the cart, we still got to know them fairly well. Kefka had the potential to be a lot better of a villain, but he was still crazy and I liked him. Gameplay was ridiculously awesome. I think this was the last game in the series where we truly had characters who played uniquely. Afterwards we had to wait for our limits to charge before we could use cool moves. The Esper system was fun.
I think it's foolish when I see people call FFVII overrated. If you didn't play it when it first came out, please shut up. There was nothing cliche about it back then, it had a boatload of firsts for RPGs, even video games in general. The buster sword, while we can argue might be a ripoff of the Dragonslayer, was the first huge sword the masses got to experience. Cloud's spiked hair was the first time the masses got introduced to rendered hair like that, even if you already played games/seen anime with cartoon-looking hair similar to his. Sephiroth was also very unique. We look at it now of course and see just how unoriginal it seems, but back then it was without equal. I will say Cloud and Sephiroth often struck me as complete dumbasses though for things they did or said. There were a lot of extras in this game which kept me playing side-quests and screwing off.
I loved X. That game kept me up countless nights. Anyone who complains that Tidus is a whiny kid is missing the entire point, I think, and therefore should also please shut up. For someone who had their entire life ripped out from under them, lived under a shadow, and then is told he's not even real, I'd say he handled himself a lot better than most of us would have. Most of the characters in this game had a very compelling story. They even managed to fit the classic idea of an underdog team who's always depressed because of their losing streak finally winning a game seamlessly tied into it. Auron may very well be my favorite FF character of all time. The sphere system was OK, the aeon system seemed a bit overpowered but it was fun as hell.
Mystic Quest... just kidding. Sucked ass.
V had, in my opinion, the best implementation of the job system. The story was lackluster, and I really didn't find myself caring about anyone at all, but the gameplay was somehow addicting anyways. Spent a lot of time on that one trying to master all of my jobs.
Eh this is turning into a big review of all of them. Final Fantasy VII wins as an area of interest I spend time in, but as for the raw games themselves, I don't have a favorite. Just a couple I can easily discredit as being black sheeps in my opinion.
-
well, lets make a post :)
My fav FF game is prolly Final Fantasy IX. The story and feel of the game was amazing. I also like the specific job system wich really lets you choose who to use and who not to use. Eventhough i ended up with Zidane, Dagger, Freya and Vivi/Amarant for the most part of the game. Zidane cause he can steal and i always want a steal option in my team, Dagger cause she looked better than the other baby healer. Freya cause i use a Spear user is all my FF games(spears ftw!) And Vivi or Amarant depending on the situation. If i need magic its Vivi, if i need Physical its Amarant.
My second fav is Final Fantasy VII. I know evryone is in to this game, but its really because its such a good game. Cloud for the sword, Cid for the Spear and Yuffie as ranged. All in back row(with a long range equipped with both cloud and cid). Never actually finished the game, did get to northen crator part 3 or 4 times and then stopped ^^.
I'm currently enjoying Final Fantasy XII. Although most of the battles are auto pilot. I feel less in control then with a basic turn based game like 1-9. This game does however remind me of Secret of Mana. It has the same kind of play style, only a bit more auto pilot then the trough(sp?) hack and slash that Secret of Mana was. And seeing as Secret of Mana started as and is in Japan named after the final fantasy franchise i guess thats no wonder. I only think that the: you can become evrything from this game is a bit too much. I am a fan of each char having its own weapons.
-
FFXI has the best atmosphere and universe than any other ff game. :P
FFVII is a great ff, though, because of it's awesome sci-fi theme. The medieval theme of Chrono Triger and the nes/snes final fantasys were cool. However, anime overkill hasn't served the most recent ffs very well.
FFX was fun, but very linear and didn't have much variety in the way of combat. I did play this game around 6 years ago, though, so my memory could be serving me wrong.
Wakku (or whatever his name was) was a character I would've preferred to not be so wacky. I felt Tidus wasn't very special. I mean, Cloud had his sword and military attire, Locke was a thief, Squall (I haven't played ff8 yet, other than the first half hour) had his bladegun and formal look. Tidus had... ? A vanilla sword and beachy hair. He also began the trend for "male leads with estrogen instead of testosterone" that annoys the hell out of me in the most recent FF games.
He was cool as a character, but presentation was 50% down the toilet in FFX. Many places were cool, but many were also too dreamy and random in its design. Maybe it made sense in regards to the plot, but I feel like the art design is more of a necessary evil rather than a pleasure.
I've beaten 90% of FF6/3. It was pretty great, but I find it hard for me to get involved with 2d games at this point. Well, it's not so much the 2d factor, as the combat is ace, but the field gameplay. Walking around on grids is a pet peeve of mine. Mother2/Earthbound, Mario RPG, and Link to the Past all got the field gameplay right.
FF6 had great music (especially the overworld theme), but I didn't like Terra. She felt like Aeris, a "divine plot device of godliness." Whenever she opened her mouth, I couldn't believe a word she said.
Locke was great. He was a regular Joe. Sometimes I couldn't help feeling he was JUST a regular Joe, but he definitely had a huge cool factor. Edward's spear gun was overpowered (lol) and his brother had fun attacking mechanics.
I felt the story was flat at some points, but it's likely just due to the whole medieval theme (which doesn't capture me as much as, say, ffvii's sci-fi theme).
I've played the first half hour of FF8, and the increase in graphics is nice (there are actual *gasp* TEXTURES! Not just gradients! lol). However, the hugely downgraded UI is disappointing. FF6 had a nice and cleaner UI, for fracks sake. My old rusty pc couldn't handle the overworld, so I'll probably play FF8 once I finish replaying FF7 since I have a new computer.
FF7 is my fave because it has captivating characters. They may not all have huge backstories or have character arcs, but these are not the traits of good characters. To put it simply: Barret was a bada*s with a big heart. Tifa was strong, both physically and mentally, and is such a "nice" person that calling her "hot" on account of her big breasts makes you feel bad. Aeris is a plot device, and relatively unflawed, but at least she was subtle and gave us a reason to care about her - her characteristics were those of a loving mother. RedXIII/Nanaki is an incredibly wise monk-like cat/dog who adds a wild flair to an otherwise urban sci-fi game, and his presence makes you feel like everything you're doing (even random encounters) is for a greater cause. Cid's big heart and childlike dreams makes him easy to WANT to have in your party - you want him to be a part of your success story and you want his dreams to come true. Cait Sith is one of the most original wacky characters I've ever seen and the only improvement they could have done is let the cat be the actual character rather than Reno, which I think robs him of lasting character value. Yuffie is spunky and energetic (Rikku is pretty much a copy of her, albeit more attractive in-game :P) and, while she doesn't have much of her own story, you feel like Square made the right decision as her great personality would've robbed other characters of screen time. Vincent is emo, for sure, but he's got a da*n good reason to be, and he has more style than any other emo character (being victorian-esque and intelligent serves Vincent well).
Sephiroth could've been done much better, and they could've capitalized on his craziness rather than hardly justified emotions. I do, however, like that he had this serial-villain quality to him. He was off doing his own things by himself and the characterizations I enjoy of Sephiroth are the ones I invisioned myself. So, while Sephiroth wasn't presented in an emo-ish preteen-pleasing way, at least they didn't provide full closure on everything about him. They gave us room to fill in the blanks.
Advent Children pretty much ruined Sephiroth, as they made his emoness and preteen-pleasing appearance, behaviour, and dialog pretty much undeniable.
Shinra was pretty solid for an "evil corporation". They were fun as enemies, due to their great characterization (thanks to the characters that represented them) and simplicity. They weren't shown as media conglomerates or rich politicians like most other games/movies we see today.
-
Wakku (or whatever his name was)
Wakka
Tidus had... ?
Brotherhood, Caldabog, and Jecht as a father. That man is cool as all hell.
Cait Sith is one of the most original wacky characters I've ever seen and the only improvement they could have done is let the cat be the actual character rather than Reno
HA, Reno is way too cool to be Cait Sith (the annoying bastard that he is), Cait Sith is Reeve, the Urban Development guy.
Vincent is emo, for sure
For the love of the gods people! When this game came out, half the people of the world didn't even know what emo was, in fact I believe it was ACTUALLY used to describe a certain type of rock music, stop with all the emo bullshit, it's irritating.
(Rikku is pretty much a copy of her, albeit more attractive in-game :P)
Rikku (even although I don't like her) has much better limit breaks than Yuffie.
Shinra was pretty solid for an "evil corporation".
Okay fair enough I'll give you that one, but only because I didn't like Rufus, which was the point. Yet when it comes down to Advent Children, I find myself liking him, and not being sure why...
-
Vincent is fantastic in FF7, but, like Sephiroth, his character was manhandled in future ff7 series releases (DoC especially, AC not so much, etc) as a means of amplifying what some fans really liked about them.
He definitely still looks cool, and he's great in ff7. I should have clarified.
And yeah, I forgot the story elements of Tidus. I said I played ffx 6 years ago, gimme a break. :P
About Rufus in AC, you can't help but like a guy in a wheelchair (even if temporarily). haha
And thanks for correcting me about Cait Sith. I still think it would've been better for Cait Sith to, as a character, actually be the cat. However, it's obvious that having him be controlled by Reeve was better for the story.
Maybe they could've made cait sith a character of his own, but controlled sometimes by Reeve. It'd be funny to hear him argue with himself (Reeve), but I don't blame Squeenix for not doing such a silly thing. :P
I just feel like Cait Sith's goofiness is artificial since we know that Reeve is just faking it. (I could be wrong on the details, since it's been a while since I've played ff7, but I'm pretty sure this is how things went).
-
From the way I understand it Cait Sith is a robot with artificial intelligence. So it can act and move and speak on its own but if Reeve needs to take control of him he can.
-
See, I'm certain that they didn't say that cait was an AI cat. They just said he's controlled by Reeve and that's it. We're left to believe that the cat is just a puppet for reeve.
http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Cait_Sith_%28Final_Fantasy_VII%29
"ait Sith is a player character in Final Fantasy VII. He is a cat riding a giant stuffed toy Moogle, working as a fortune-teller in the Gold Saucer. He is really a puppet controlled from far away by Reeve, Shin-Ra's head of Urban Development. Even though Reeve works with the evil Shin-Ra, he develops a keen interest in saving the planet. He is useful to the party, as he knows all about the Shin-Ra's plans. Despite his playful and care free personna in the form of Cait Sith, Reeve is actually a sombre and serious man, though he does harbor a good heart with a natural worry for others."
-
But when you play Dirge of Cerberus you see both Reeve and Cait Sith talking together and interacting. Unless Reeve uses some kind of telepathy or telekinesis to control him, Cait Sith can clearly operate on his own.
-
The problem is that the spin-offs changed a lot of the canon. Indeed I think the original intent was that Cait Sith was remote controlled. As this was, to my knowledge, never explicitly stated I guess they figured they could make that whatever they wanted when it came time to make Dirge of Cerberus.
-
Yeah, that must be the case, and I'm very glad they went that route. In FFVII, all cait sith was was a puppet, but it was never really explained. Cait Sith (the cat) was clearly a real living creature, or at least a realistic animatronic. But they just ended it leaving us to think Reeve was controlling Cait as a lifeless puppet, which sucked for Cait Sith as a character.
-
IX easily, for multiple reasons:
Revived the old school style
Return of the four member party
best music hands down
plethora of interesting characters (ok, not quina)
Two white mages(because more heal=more fun)
Main villain found redemption in the end (I think this is the only game in the series where the main villain reforms before he dies)
hardest optional boss
Close 2nd would be VII and VI, followed by X and XII. After FFX-2, FFVIII is THE worst FF to ever be called FF.
-
I've heard mixed opinions about VIII.
At least the battle and boss music are awesome (imo the best in the series). Haven't played past the 1 hour point, though. And that was a couple of years ago.
-
:mrgreen:
That's right, I'm breaking out the old school...
My favorite is FF6. I liked the development of Locke and company, the story was frakking awesome, and pairing the Genji Glove with the Offering on Sabin was just freaking sick! 8 attacks that dealt 9999 was well worth the effort of getting all that stuff. Sadly, I didn't get a chance to finish it (I was playing it on an emulator when my old computer had a stroke).
-
FF6 was alright, but I felt it was kinda dry in terms of the story. :P
It's not the game's fault, it's just stories back then in videogames were a lot flatter than they are today (or at least in the next generation - psx/n64). Also, I felt it hard to become immersed in the two-dimensional world. Walking around on the grids and being attacked by flashing enemies (their attacking animation) wasn't very captivating.
The music was pretty bleh too.
A very good game, but doesn't hold up, imo, to current ff standards (or at least the psx days of ff :P ). A lot of people like it likely due to them playing it before the psx came out, and I understand that.
Also, Terra was 100x more annoying than Aeris. Heck, a lot of ffvi is similar to ffvii. Aeris is basically Terra with a makeover, Edgar is a rebel leader like Barrett, the Imperials are like the Shinra, espers are like ancients/cetra, Magitek Knights are exactly like SOLDIERs (and to a lesser extent, there's a ninja in both games, Celes is similar to Tifa, Vincent is vengeful like Cyan, and Cid is similar to Setzer (Setzer's specials are also like Cait's limits)).
Kefka is even very similar to Sephiroth in that his character was a test subject for Mako... I mean, Esper magic.
Cid in ffvi is like Hojo in fvii, just MUCH less crazy. :P
Locke has the whole love dilemma between Celes and Terra, just like Cloud has with Tifa and Aeris.
Mog, while at first glance similar to Cait Sith, is actually very similar to RedXIII/Nanaki.
Now that I think of it, FF7's story went a lot deeper. It gets more involved with Shinra, while the Imperials in ffvi were largely unscathed because mostly everything is about Kefka (rightfully so, although General Leo played a part).
I could be wrong as FFVI's story is kind of hazy to me, and I haven't beaten the last boss yet (tends to happen when playing oldschool rpgs as you're pretty much done once you reach the final boss).
FFVI played a lot more in the present in regards to character stories. The characters weren't very 'deep' per say, but they were all acting in the moment which made them cool. In FFVII, however, every character has past dilemmas that are causing them to join Cloud in his quest. Shinra also had more of a personality while the Imperials felt more like infantry with an evil leader. I liked the whole magitek army thing, but the industrial tone of everything in ff6 kinda caused the story to lose it's lustre. Espers may be similar to mako energy, but Magitek feels more like coal while materia in ff7 feels like something supernatural.
I also thought the whole esper things was a certain amount of lame. What is that, a society of 20 or so creatures? It was cool that they played a role similar to that in ff8 - a role that is way larger than the role they played in ff7 (I still don't get this, lol) - but the whole esper dimension thing didn't flow with me.
FF6's magic system was neat, though. Kind of like a simplified junction system (that doesn't cause you to be overpowered like in ff8, lol). FF7's materia system allows everyone to be a master of all trades, largely due to enemy skill materia and the crazy things you could due thanks to support materia like 4xcut, w-summon, mime, counter, and so forth. Materia feels very empowering, and is clearly unbalanced (why equip LIFE materia that kills your str when you can simply use enemy skill materia and use angel whisper? Why use cure3 when you can use white wind?).
FF7's difficulty is obviously easy, so I guess there's no point in rambling about it in an already long post. lol
-
Nah, isn't that the purpose of forums, to ramble on incessantly about things?
I don't think I disagree with you on any point (except I really didn't find Terra annoying, only Gau), mostly because I never thought about any of those things you said. Now that I look at it, there is a lot of similarity between the characters in the 2 games.
-
Gau was kinda goofy. :P
Yeah, ff6 and ff7 are very similar. Of the two, I find ff7 has both a better atmosphere, a stronger theme (the relationships between sephiroth-cloud-hojo-jenova made for a better story than "Kefka is a mad man! See? Abusing Esper magic IS bad!") and more vibrant characters.
-
Cait Sith after date scene "My real body's at Shinra. I'm controllin' this toy cat from here"
-
FF7, FFT, FF9 and FFX were my favorites.
-
I would have to say FFVII. I didn't care for the Junction system in FF8, but thats just me. I really thought the materia system was cool, and that if you leveled all the way up, you would have mastered it and such. The junction system also missed the summons, only leaving the character with 1 summon that they could turn into. But the storyline is very good in my opinion ( in both, FF8 definetely), just the gameplay that did it for me.
-
The materia system was way too overpowered. They should have made some limitations, like certain characters can only equip certain amounts of, say, magic materia, while others can only equip, say, one command materia.
Another limitation they could've done instead is make materia have more effects. These effects could limit other types (or specific) materia that you can equip, and so forth.
At the end of the game, however, it is really cool being able to be a powerhouse that attacks 4 times, covers every enemy attack, counter attacks each time, and does 9999 damage every strike. Other FF games don't get anywhere close to this amount of action.
-
Other FF games don't get anywhere close to this amount of action.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing though?
Personally, I always found it silly to be allowed to make your character go up to that much strength... where is the fun in it? Although, it would be humorous to have a FFX party, where Tidus does 3420 dmg, Aaron does 4093 dmg, and Yuna waltz up to the enemy, taps the enemy with her staff like she always does, and do 14302 (that is, with the dmg limit removed, which is possible but I was never able to do :cry: )
-
Well it's not like FFVII is the only FF game out there. When it comes to strategy, FFXI blows everything out of the water. FFVII is a great action-oriented FF game. It doesn't have red mages with buffs and so forth, and there isn't much strategy, but nobody said FFVII has it ALL. And, you know what? FFVII SHOULD be action packed. It's the most cinematic of the games thanks to the elevation of our perception of the series thanks to Advent Children and so forth. Playing FFVII slow-paced like, say, FFV, would feel awkward. Why isn't Cloud attacking the enemy with his sword four times per turn? Why isn't Cid on a rampage? Why isn't Tifa kung-fu-ing everyone's arse?
Cast big guard and have a blast. That's what FFVII is about. Use White Wind when necessary. :P
-
Well it's not like FFVII is the only FF game out there. When it comes to strategy, FFXI blows everything out of the water. FFVII is a great action-oriented FF game. It doesn't have red mages with buffs and so forth, and there isn't much strategy, but nobody said FFVII has it ALL. And, you know what? FFVII SHOULD be action packed. It's the most cinematic of the games thanks to the elevation of our perception of the series thanks to Advent Children and so forth. Playing FFVII slow-paced like, say, FFV, would feel awkward. Why isn't Cloud attacking the enemy with his sword four times per turn? Why isn't Cid on a rampage? Why isn't Tifa kung-fu-ing everyone's arse?
Cast big guard and have a blast. That's what FFVII is about. Use White Wind when necessary. :P
All FF have their strengths and weaknesses. You can't say, objectively, that FF6> is weaker 'cause of the technical stuff they pretty much were limited to at that time. We all know that any given kid playing 3d games wouldn't be impressed by a 2d game, regardless of how good the game actually is.
When it comes to FF7, imo the only thing canon is the original game. I haven't played crisis or dirge, but I've seen enough to know that they're pretty much just fan service. Well crisis core looks kinda good, but dirge and AC (especially AC) is pure fan service. Most of the characters had screen time for that very reason. The film is good for it's action and it's presentation, but beyond that I weren't impressed much.
-
Well yeah, I never meant to say ff6 was bad cause it was 2d, I meant it just feel aged to me, which affects how much I enjoy it in the present day.
-
I dont know..... The materia system sure beats the dress system......... And you did have stats improve or decrease depending on which materia you put on, as in your hp/mp would go up, or your magic/attack percentages would go up or down. The weapon and armour slots sometimes had specific abilties, and of course there were rings and ribbons and such. I'm not too sure I've played a better FF game.
-
FFX, the Sphere Grid (without taking advantage of it)...
= Magic
-
I dunno guitar dudester, materia is way too abusable to be a good system. Sure, equipping Ultima reduces your base HP by 10%, but Hp+ materia increases your base HP by 50%, so who cares?
-
Ya I see where that could be an issue. You can become super powerful, but thats not all bad, since it can be a little annoying when you have to take forever in the crater of northern cave just to get to sephy, and there are tons of random battles. I do have to say that I like the sphere grid, but the materia system is a lot of fun to.
-
FF7 - greatest game ever.
-
I think FF6 deserves some more love though, because I do think parts of it are better than FF7. I like the fact that there really is no main character. While the story tends to revolve around Terra, you don't even need her to beat the game. As the game goes on, it starts revolving around everyone else, specifically Edgar and Celes IMO. While the story wasn't as 'deep' than in FF7, I think a lot of the little side stories were a little more emotional. I liked the fact that it wasn't too confusing as well. I remember not fully grasping FF7's story until the second playthrough, which can be a minus or a plus depending on how you look at it. I think in a way, FF6 was a little more...how do I want to say this, figurative, than FF7. It wasn't really the main story that was compelling, but rather all the little bits and pieces that made up the story that were really compelling. Sabin's reunion with his brother, foreshadowing of romance with Locke and Celes, Terra taking care of the children, etc, were all great little character studies I thought. It kind of reminds me, in a way, to Illusion of Gaia. IoG's story isn't really amazing on the whole, yet it winds up, to me, being one of the most emotional games ever made. It's like a montage of great character studies and reflections on things like slavery, child abuse, and other things.
So, while it might not be my favorite FF, I think 6 just does so many things right that I would never argue for a second if someone said it was their favorite. I suppose I would go with FF7, although as time goes on I just wish they would remake it, because technology wise, it is really archaic. It holds up well, but in a way, I think FF6 holds up even better because of how clean that whole game is. FF7 on the Playstation just looks kind of messy to me now.
-
Everything up to and including IX, everything after that was just meh, FFX bored me, X-2 was Barbie Dress up Final Fantasy edition (it was aimed to get more girls into the series).
XII was punishing if you weren't a high enough level before the Judge boss fight on the airship, that's as far as I got before giving up altogether, went back to the start several times and tried some grinding but the AI for your party is just too stupid to do anything to help you.
Overall though VII was my favourite.
-
The Judge battle on the airship was stupidly easy, even at a low level. One summon from Fire Esper (it's been a while, I forget names), some strong enough attacks from your remaining party member, and he's toast. Even at a low level.
No offence, but you just must not have been bery good. ;-)
-
I was doing really well up till that point, then that one battle just ruined the game for me, a few other I know all feel the same, that fight was too hard, too early.
-
it was only hard if you didnt spend your liscence points on getting your limit breaks asap. yea i forget the ff12 name for them.
i thought 12 was good, just too much running back and forth, it was tedious, and way too many of those marks to hunt, should of only had half the amount in my opinion.
-
Ah but it was something special fighting that beast of a last mark, I forget it's name, and how many millions (possibly 1) of HP it had. That was an intense battle that went on for days at a time. ;-)
-
The first Final Fantasy I played was 7, and I thought it was the greatest thing ever.
Now after playing 7, 8, 9, 10, 10-2, 11 (500+ days playtime), and 12...the game isn't perfect. The Materia system is a double-edged sword: it allows full customization. At the same time, it takes a lot of the challenge out if you can just stack every character with overpowered magic right off the bat. I much preferred 12's customization: you could have that same level of customization, but you had to work for it for each character. You couldn't just throw a Zodiac Spear on anybody (and everybody) and call it a day, you had to build your characters in that direction. It was a beautiful synthesis between 7 and 9's systems.
However, for the time it was released in, it was mind blowing, and it still sits very high on my personal list of games in general. Its ATB, limit breaks, and side activities (The Gold Saucer specifically) were just great innovations.
8 will forever burn in hell in my book for the simple fact that the game closed the entire world off on me without even giving me a heads up. I like doing side quests all at once after I beat the game, and I only use a single save file when I play a game.
9 had some great game play, story was just god-awful.
10's turn-based system was a little too dull. Yeah, it gave you time to think, but it also took all the pressure off. ATB for life.
It's a little unfair to add in 11, since it's online and always being updated and expanded, but what a game. By the time I finally quit, I had a full set of Saotome Relic Armor for my 75 Samurai, full Shura gear, and 100+ merits invested in all types of added skills. I had all the missions beat, had done nearly everything including defeating the Dynamis Lord and the Jailer of Love (Never even spawned Absolute Virtue any of the times we killed it). I played that game as far as I could. It made you work for everything, but wow...easily the best FF when compared to the others, but again...it's not fair to compare online and offline games.
For me, 12 has been the best one so far. I wish the Espers were more like Summons, and the Quickenings more like interactive Limit Breaks in 8, but man...I sure was getting tired of trying to go across town without triggering 8 random battles every step I took.
-
My favourite will be definitely FFVII beacuse of it's deeeeeeeeeeeep story and the battle system! I'm trying to complete it but i am on the first disc and the very far I had got it someday was in the second disc!
-
In order: VII, VI, V, IX, X.
Hated: X-2.
-
My favourite FF is FFVIII... That's the first game I ever played (actually got influence by my bff...), i like the GF abilities especially Recover, Revive & Treatment ! From my opinion, the story flows are very interesting and I enjoy the song Eyes On Me.. I've stopped playing it on PS, now can't wait to play it on PC~! FF9 is my second favourite, I love the characters' design, petite and cute! XD And also love the song Melodies of Life... :-)
-
Final Fantasy VII :lol:
Perhaps not the best game of all time, but among the best :wink:. First -- the graphics were absolutely spectacular for being the beginning of the Playstation Era. I remember, after playing Final Fantasy VIII and IX, thinking back at how much "worse" the VII graphics were (of course, don't comment about the newer and/or newest Final Fantasy series). However, upon playing VII again I realized my error. The fact is, they did absolutely amazing things with the resources they had.
Second, regarding the characters. They do indeed start by presenting the characters as the usual stereotypes. However, through the game you find out more about each character, including some major things that make them anything but your ordinary "wooden, teen-programmed protagonists."
Third, some people said Sephiroth is an angst-ridden villain who we must accept as evil simply because he acts like it, with little discernible motivation. There are places you would get lynched for saying this. First, Sephiroth is perhaps one of the most complex villains of all time, because he is truly likable. In addition, his actions are clearly being influenced by an outside source (Jenova), which has an unknown degree of control over him. In addition, his relationship and history with the main character leave room for major psychological examination. So I think we can drop the mistaken notion they seemed to have that he is stereotypical.
In addition, the primary struggle in the story is not "ultimate good versus ultimate evil." When truly examined (assuming you've played through the entire game), you can see that the primary conflict is the psychological conflict that the main character has with himself. Even the final battle can be viewed entirely as an allegory for a struggle inside his mind. "Good and evil" are not the sides presented. The "good" characters are clearly flawed, even somewhat villainous in their own ways. The "evil" characters are clearly gifted and most are very likable, despite being on the opposite side of the conflict. There were indeed more groundbreaking projects, similar deep stories, and these games should have a better reputation. This does not, however, diminish the amazing gameplay, graphics (yes, graphics), story, characters, and structure of this game. It's more than a "good JRPG." It's a great, universal RPG that is one of the most timeless classics we have seen in the genre.
Anyway...(before it gets off topic :-P), this game is a work of art... I played this game for about 70 hours or more!!! :-P And I had a hard time fighting the final battle not because it was hard(if you can beat the ultimate weapons, Sephiroth is nothing) it was hard because I did not want the game to end, this is the only game i have ever played that made me mourn at the thought of it coming to an end. :lol:
Many people say this game is one of the most overrated game of all time because it is the first game that a lot of people played, including me. The thing is, many of those people have their own little game from which they all rate others game from and very often this game is FFVI. Personally, I don't see what these people see in it as I didn't like it but they don't see what we love about FFVII either.
Sure, our expectations for future games reflected FFVII's style as but the thing is that it was a great game, it set the bar too high for us to even think about something better, even today. The AMVs are simply phenomenal for the time, the story is complex and holds many twists, finally, I loved the materia system and the mini-games but that's more personal. There's a lot of good stuff of which FFVII was the pioneer at the time, mainly storyline and AMVs and will remain for that reason a ground breaking game.
-
VII for me as well. I agree with all of Moi_Rama's points (although I think that it IS the best of all time). Some other things that I think set it apart were the music and the "feel" of the game (the two go hand in hand). VII feels much more "cosy" (in the British sense of the word) than the other games in the series, particularly the later ones; this is perhaps best illustrated by the design of Kalm and the music piece "Ahead On Our Way", as well as Tifa's theme. Just about all of the music fits perfectly the tone of the scene or character for which it is played, and makes the player fell as if he or she is not playing a game, but actually in the world, feeling what the characters are feeling. VII showed that video games are capable of being great works of art too; it had its flaws, but the are incredibly minor ones. I think the fact that 10 years after its release it is still as popular as ever, still as loved as ever, still having such a strong emotional impact on its fans as ever, shows what makes it special, and how enduring its power is. VII, I think, is the Shakespeare of video games.
After VII, I think that VIII and X are the best. X was great fun to play. I loved the sphere grid, which allowed for very balanced characters growth and a third way between the rather "samey" characters of some games and a rigid character class system. I also loved the huge number of optional bosses: the monster arena and Dark Aeons were like battle square and Emerald and Ruby version 2.0. Unlike other games, no matter how much one powers up, one can always find a challenge, or at least a battle which can't be won by holding down the OK button.
VIII often gets some unfair treatment. It was labelled as a flop or a disappointment by many when it came out, which I doubt would have happened had it followed any game other than VII. VIII also had a great atmosphere and soundtrack, reaching its high point towards the end of disc 1. I didn't like the junction and draw system which I think allowed the player to get through most of the game without casting many spells at all (well-junctioned characters could win all normal fights by just attacking and all boss fights by spamming meltdown-aura-Renzokuken; at least KotR was hard to find), but I did like the idea of having the enemies level-up as the party does. The characters and plot, whilst not as strong as in VII, were still very good; I feel more for Squall than I do for any of the protagonists since. It also looks wonderful; during my goth phase I loved Ultimecia's castle in particular. The design of Edea was brilliant, and the opening FMV one of the most specular in the FF series. Finally, the card game was a delightful addition to the game. A side quest almost as enthralling as FFVII's chocobo racing.
Well there we are. Horribly disjointed rant over.
-
For me, FFVII wins the award for best story and antagonist (every game has got to have a cool antagonist, right?).
It was way too easy though. FFX had exactly the same problem, and there's so much dialogue. Playing through the game a second time gets boring quickly unless you didn't catch the details of the storyline the first time.
FFXII is my overall favorite. It was something entirely different for a change. It also took a much longer amount of time to fully beat, it was hard, and there were so many sidequests (which are important to me). You could even skip the dialogue and cutscenes if you so wished. Final Fantasy XII ALL THE WAY!!
-
LOL I am one of those many people who like ff7 the most, but ffx definately gave it a run for it's money. I feel that ff7 is so great because of the charecters and thier personalities (although i don't care for tifa really) there is also the plot twists and the mandatory playovers cuz u didn't get it the first time.
The soundtrack was decent but it lacked the ability to really put you into the action. (like i felt with the battle music "challange" from ffx)
and last but not least, theres all of the cool moves you can get like most of the summons and some magic spells like ultima and shadow flare, and i also liked 4X cut paired up with cloud since it looked awesome (btw his regular attack in kh was 4X cut)
oh and who could ever forget the infamous SUPERNOVA? the greatest summon/magic attack i have ever seen, they really outdid themselves with alot of the elements
X has definately come closest to unseating ff7, but the storyline of 7 takes it above. Both are great games.
X-2 and XII however are the worst FF games I have ever played. Mindless cash in of X-2 to possibly the thinest excuse for a plot from XII
Just how these 2 games get such raving reviews is well beyond me. Not only did XII have a poor plot, it had the laziest battle dynamic of all time, in that you actually do the programmers job for them with gambits
What a waste of time
-
IMHO, I'd say that it's a tie between FFVII and FFIX. VII and IX both have freakin' nice storylines that'll totally kick the cartridge pins off and rip out the PCB traces of RPGs like Pokemon. They both excel in their own ways. The ability system of IX was more easy grasped by me than VII's Materia system. IX is also more straightforward than VII. VII's storyline gradually unfolds while in IX you already know how it'll turn out by the end of Disc 1, and the field icon makes it so much easier to locate treasure. IX is also more refined than VII (pretty good translation, graphics and ATE system is unobtrusive because it doesn't distract the player as much as FF7's constant party-switching). Both games have made me cry at one point or the other. In VII it was the Sephiroth flashback scene of the Nibelheim incident (pyromaniac Seph!!!) and the murder of Aeris. "Aeris is gone!!!" *Sephiroth poses in the background and gloats*, while in IX it was the overworld tune, the FMV where the airship lifts off w/ Garnet waving to Zidane, and the ending where Garnet runs into Zidane's arms with the rest of Alexandria applauding.
</long post>
-
well, and I think that A LOT OF people will disagree with me, my favorite Final Fantasy game was the original japanese NES game of Final Fantasy III (I'm not talking about final fantasy III on the snes, wich was just the american version of Final Fantasy VI!)
to be honest, the graphics did suck, and sometimes were the enemies extremely hard, but this game put a spell over me, and I like it...
except the DS port, man, that game sucks ass! Why did they let bosses attack twice in a row?
I'll never understand those weird Japanese guys...
If you want to play the game for your self, tough luck, better learn Japanese and search e-bay :wink:
-
i can't choose my favorite its between ff7 and ff X i like ff7because of the characters and the story line but i like ff X because of sphere grid also being able to talk instead of reading it and playing blitzball can sometimes be fun.
-
FFIX. Hands down. Zidane was the first FF character that I thought had a believable personality.
FFV is in the top five for sure. The story gets a little cheesy at times, but it has very imaginative boss battles which are still hard for me.
I hate FFX. I just don't see what everyone likes about it.
-
I like the fact that in the begninning Tidus is a brat who I can't stand, but after some characterisation, he seems alot more... Real, and likeable. Also, I think Yuna's pretty hot in FFX compared to when she goes into slut mode in FFX-2.
-
Like the kind of people that will say for example Metal Gear Solid for the PSX is the best game ever, when it's quite clear that Twin Snakes on Gamecube is better.
Not really man. It is graphically superior and stuff but it's a bit too crazy. Action scenes are... Too much. The reason why I prefer original MGS is cause it's normal. No snakes jumping of rockets etc. And they changed few things in the game but it's ok.
Let's get back on topic. I played every FF game except Revenant Wings and those new remakes on DS but still my fav is FF6, 7 and 12. Played 7 countless times and achieved hundreds of hours. I fell in love in it before it was released, I loved the world that they shown me in previews. It was dark, gloomy and serious despite super deformed appearance. I like the dystopian Midgar concept, people struggling with every day but affraid to change their lives, living in slums but still call it their home. Atmosphere really hooked me. And the soundtrack, I still listen to it sometimes, it's magical.
FF6 was really awesome game despite narration problems that's why I'm so eager to see remake of it. Game hadn't main protagonist, there were lots of chars and every of them had their own special ability which played different mechanically. The story was adult and serious, and there were some pretty shocking events during the game. It had a lot of optional stuff to do and shortly after the "big event" it happened to be a bit sandbox too. In some terms FF7 was a step back not forward in comparison to FF6.
Why FF12? It was different. A lot different. Had it's flaws like completely useless Espers, lame main character but what I love about this game is in-game cutscenes. They are simply amazing. Great acting, awesome voices and immersing story. It had amazing visuals for PS2, draw distance in some places was really impressive and changing seasons on the desert made me "wow". Most people don't like it, I don't care. FF12 is really great game despite some minor flaws and differences.
-
Haha, I feel weird coming into this thread, but I have to say, I started playing final fantasy back when I was 7, having gotten FF2 (we call it FF4 now) for Christmas. I had also rented FF1 and MQ at one point. And since then I have played every single game in the series, except for FF12, although there are some that I have not beaten, for various reasons. So here is my list:
Nostalgia purposes, FF2/4 is my favorite. The music.. the combat.. the story.. all of it brings me back to an incredibly different time in my life, and I always try to play through it differently. I definitely enjoyed the DS version in which you could switch party members at the end, as Cecil, Kain, Rosa, Rydia and Edge got old after a while. But I always use Rydia. Of all my favorites, Rydia holds a place in my heart. Nothing beats the first time you summon Bahamut in that game simply to see that you did quad 9's to every enemy on the stage, numbers that you had never seen aside from Meteo (yes, Meteo) cast by Tellah or others.
FF7 is definitely up there, I think Sephiroth is the most hateful villain, especially when you see what he's really like in Advent Children.
FFX is amazing.. Although it didn't capture the mystery of FF7 so well, since most of the questions were answered by the end of it, it still had some, and it took the emotions from FF7 to a higher level, I thought. Rikku is by far my favorite here.
Why does no one mention Final Fantasy Tactics? Does not having a number somehow impact its quality? Has no one here played it? Its story is completely unlike that of any other in the series, the political intrigue, the backstabbing, the upheavals, the manipulation of war and just simple underhanded activities make this one of the more easy to enjoy games I think, I just keep wanting to find out what's going on next, and what each discovery really means down the road. Plus the party customization goes so deep with the job class changing and job ability purchasing and equipping. There's no end to the number of times you can play through this game, each time trying something different and learning something new. The Zodiac system in combat allows the combat to be complex, even though the numbers and lists of abilities in any given battle are rather small. Meliadoul is by far my favorite here. Finally (this game came out before FF9) a female character with some real strength. She is proud, family-oriented, a strong swordswoman, and beyond that, does not back down from overwhelming odds. Both her and Agrias are two of the strongest in the series, although I consider Beatrix on that list as well.
-
Like the kind of people that will say for example Metal Gear Solid for the PSX is the best game ever, when it's quite clear that Twin Snakes on Gamecube is better.
Not really man. It is graphically superior and stuff but it's a bit too crazy. Action scenes are... Too much. The reason why I prefer original MGS is cause it's normal. No snakes jumping of rockets etc. And they changed few things in the game but it's ok.
Let's get back on topic. I played every FF game except Revenant Wings and those new remakes on DS but still my fav is FF6, 7 and 12. Played 7 countless times and achieved hundreds of hours. I fell in love in it before it was released, I loved the world that they shown me in previews. It was dark, gloomy and serious despite super deformed appearance. I like the dystopian Midgar concept, people struggling with every day but affraid to change their lives, living in slums but still call it their home. Atmosphere really hooked me. And the soundtrack, I still listen to it sometimes, it's magical.
FF6 was really awesome game despite narration problems that's why I'm so eager to see remake of it. Game hadn't main protagonist, there were lots of chars and every of them had their own special ability which played different mechanically. The story was adult and serious, and there were some pretty shocking events during the game. It had a lot of optional stuff to do and shortly after the "big event" it happened to be a bit sandbox too. In some terms FF7 was a step back not forward in comparison to FF6.
Why FF12? It was different. A lot different. Had it's flaws like completely useless Espers, lame main character but what I love about this game is in-game cutscenes. They are simply amazing. Great acting, awesome voices and immersing story. It had amazing visuals for PS2, draw distance in some places was really impressive and changing seasons on the desert made me "wow". Most people don't like it, I don't care. FF12 is really great game despite some minor flaws and differences.
totally agree. The voice acting was worse, the action scenes were way out of control for all the little fanboys, the gameplay was easier.
It was a disaster. Graphics DO NOT MAKE GAMES.
-
"Graphics do not make games"
I've never been a fan of that saying. I can see you're not saying this, but I read a lot of people say "OH NOES IT HAS POOR GRAPHICS!!!" As an insult to someone saying a game has poor graphics. Graphics don't make the game, but they most certainly enhance it and can even destroy it if they're bad enough. I honestly believe that if Final Fantasy VII came out on the SNES and Final Fantasy VI came out on the PSX, Final Fantasy VI would be regarded as vastly, VASTLY superior. VII ran deep, but VI ran deeper. It just isn't displayed as much because of the limitation of sprites and no dramatic CGI cutscenes. To me, there's absolutely no question VI would have been freaking EPIC on the Playstation. (cue smartass comments about the SNES port here)
Can we imagine for a second the scene where Clyde (Shadow) leaves his friend behind to die instead of killing him as a CGI instead of just 2D sprites and some written dialog? Or imagine Kefka actually laughing and destroying people in 3D with absolutely no regard to their lives? How about Cyan watching his family and entire kingdom die slowly and painfully from poison in the water, only to have the pain dig deeper when he has to see them one last time taking the train to the afterlife. The Esper kingdom invasion where they're just hunted by power hungry soldiers? The only scenes in VII that can compare are the Nibelheim fire and Aeris burning. VI barrages you with these kinds of scenes, it just doesn't have the same impact because it's sprites. It's less realistic. We're separated from the drama more.
There's an argument here that's kind of moot, because the fact is VII has the chance to be presented more dramatically and is therefore regarded as superior (which even I might think), but there's still an argument none the less and that is that in the case of VI vs. VII, graphics most certainly made the game.
-
but there's still an argument none the less and that is that in the case of VI vs. VII, graphics most certainly made the game.
Do you think so? There have been many FFs released since whose graphics have been better in comparison to VII than VII's were in comparison to VI, but, good as they are, (in my opinion) none of them match it. I don't think the cut scenes were very important in making the drama in VII; of course, it would have been weaker without them, but only slightly. There just seems to be a closer personal connection between the player and the characters in VII, and that, I think, is its strength. That connection doesn't come from the graphics (which I thought were awful when I first played it), it comes purely from characterisation, atmosphere and music (the importance of good music to a game is often massively underestimated). I can't help but feel that, even if it were made into a 3D cutscene, Kefka's killing of all those people (for example) wouldn't have had the same impact as Sephiroth's killing of Aeris; remember what Stalin supposedly said about the death of millions? I'm starting to ramble incoherently now; if VI is ever remade properly for a modern platform (and I'd much rather see that than any more VII spin-offs), we'll see whether it really was deeper, but I can't help but believe that VII would still come out on top.
-
The gap between VI and VII is much larger than the gap between VII and even XII. The difference is in VII, you had physical body language, facial expressions in timely situations, and cutscenes where you needed to show the most dramatic presentations. The only difference between VII and it's later counterparts here is the QUALITY of these things. VI didn't have the luxury of any of these, period. You had the head drop a pixel or two, and that's it. Didn't look convincing. When I say graphics, I'm not talking "Oh, shiny bloom lighting and 3D!" The emphasis here is that with superior graphics comes superior presentation.
In converse of my previous post, consider some of FFVII's scenes if they were forced to be in FFVI. Let's take your example of Sephiroth killing Aeris. You honestly think it would be the same? It would go like this:
Sephiroth's sprite just sort of drop down. His sword isn't impressive at all because you can barely make out what it is, and it's size it downplayed by it's 2D nature. Nor is his costume. Cloud's sprite just sits there like it's frozen, and Aeris, well we can barely tell she's praying because she's only got so many sprites. Nobody has a remarkable facial expression. So Sephiroth comes down, you see his sword twitch a couple times, and Aeris sort of collapses. Sephiroth never gets the evil look in his face, Aeris' eyes never light up, Cloud never looks overly concerned at all, and Sephiroth isn't able to slooowwwllllyyy pull the Masamune back out of Aeris' body. That scene is only dramatic as it is because the graphical technology allowed Square to actually show all of these minor details that made the scene. Were it not for them, well, I can't take anyone seriously who actually thinks my described version is just as dramatic because no, it's not. It'd be the equivalent of Cid jumping off the airship in FFIV. Did anybody honestly care? His sprite spun a couple times and you saw explosion sprites replace him. Not very dramatic at all.
And you can forget Aeris' build up too. None of that leaning from side to side looking at Cloud, no jumping for joy (at least not realistically), Cloud would look completely boring probably, and the buster sword would just be another "bronze sword" as far as significance goes. Nobody would care about the Masamune. Pretty much everything that made FFVII iconic besides maybe the music wouldn't be left intact if FFVII were made in place of FFVI. I love both games. I don't say this as a bitter FFVI fanboy. I'm just able to realize that's why FFVII succeeded where previous games failed.
-
Would FFVII's scenes lose something without the PSX's graphics? Certainly. But they would only lose the icing on the cake. What made the Aeris scene special was not Cloud and Aeris looking at each other nor Sephiroth's smile as he slowly pulled out his sword, though they added to it. What made it special was the suddenness of it, the helplessness and Sephiroth's callousness afterwards. I can't really see why, with the right timing and sound, you couldn't make a pretty dramatic Aeris' death scene with just sprites. Not quite as dramatic as the original, but dramatic nonetheless. And the build-up with Aeris would lose something too, but still retain its core.
And I must also disagree with the claim that the gap between XII and VII is smaller than the one between VII and VI, at least with respect to character animation (it is, of course, with respect to things like backgrounds). VII only had facial expressions in cut scenes, and they still weren't convincing. On the PS2/3 you can see a tear running down someone's cheek; imagine how much FFVII would have been improved with the kind of detail. It didn't have it, but was able to make do without. If you watched at the Red XIII and Seto scene without the context or music, it would seem ridiculous. With them it is very different. The body movement of FFVII characters is pretty hard to take seriously as well (or would be if the game were less immersive), at least in the rendered scenes where most of the important things happen. Nevertheless, it didn't bother anyone because other things had made the dramatic illusion so strong.
If I seemed to be saying that FFVII would be exactly the same if it looked like Super Mario Bros. 1, then I am sorry for not making myself clearer. If I seemed to speak to you as if you were a "bitter FFVI fanboy" I again apologise; that was not my intention (if I seem to be a VII fanboy, you may be right ;-) ). What I meant was that although 3D graphics and whatnot enhanced FFVII and helped it do some things better than it could have done without them, they are only a *very* small part of what made it what it is; if they were any more than that, most of VII's fans would have forgotten as soon as VIII came out, a game with a strong storyline, excellent music and graphics far, far superior to those of its predecessor, but without the same impact or level of immersiveness (IMO, of course ;-) ). All of this reminds me, I must get around to playing VI again.
PS. 100 posts: w00t!
Terribly sorry about that.
-
Not at all, just bringing up the fanboy comment because I didn't want to come across as one. Well I'm not going to try to change your mind, it's simply how I feel. Not just about these two games, but a lot of other games in series as well.
-
Good. Well, let's leave it at that. :-)
-
My favorite FF game was X. Between the great music, the addition of voice acting, and IMO a really great story, it really got me. I even enjoyed X-2, simply because I was able to continue in that universe(I technically liked the battle system too...)
I have enjoyed all but one(Crystal Chronicles for GC) of the FF games I have played so far, even Mystic Quest. Right now, I'm playing through Crisis Core, and this might be the second FF game I don't enjoy unless the story gets better.
I liked a lot of what they did with XII, but the gambit system is not included. Also, the lack of random encounters is really cool, but I would really it to be mixed with turn based combat, perhaps something akin to Chrono Trigger.
-
I thought I was the only one who didn't think that X-2 was *that* bad :-). Don't get me wrong, it's hardly my favourite game of the series, but it was fun! I also loved X, although for quite different reasons.
I'm also playing through Crisis Core for the first time at the moment (hard mode, of course 8-)), I'm on chapter seven and also trying to complete all of the missions. I have to say that I have mixed feelings about it. For a start, it doesn't feel like VII; both the look and feel of the game are more similar to a cross between VIII and X: two of the best games of the series, but not what I'd expect from a VII prequel. I have actually been turning down the sound on my PSP and playing VII music on my laptop instead; it seems to make it feel a bit more like its predecessor (of course, the absence of Nobuo Uematsu means that the music doesn't compare to that of the original). I also didn't like the story; it seems that the makers of the game have included the right amount of originality and faithfulness, but in the wrong areas. The universe seems to bear little resemblance to that of VII (I thought that the fight scenes, for example, were, like the fights in Advent Children, very OTT); the story, however, goes *too* far in paralleling that of VII (at least it has done so far). Sephiroth was built up as being unique in the original game and so was the threat to the world; it's hard to accept Genesis and Angeal as being almost his equal, or Hollander being a new Hojo, or Zack meeting Aeris by falling through the roof of the church (if he dresses up as a women in Wall Market, it will be the last straw ;-)). In many ways it feels more like a game based on the FF7 universe that a true (canon) prequel. it also seems too easy; I'm a mediocre gamer and I'm having no trouble with hard mode, but maybe that's because I'm doing the missions. the fighting system seems a little unbalanced as well; physical attacks are *far* to powerful in comparison to magic (or even limit breaks) now that the player basically has 4xCut from the start of the game and can get back attacks very easily on most enemies. Most FF games have this problem towards the end, but CC has it almost from the beginning (however, status inducing spells are *finally* useful - hooray). I can't help but wonder whether the makers took into account that fights in action games work very differently from those in RPGs. There were far too many random encounters as well, and it was almost impossible to escape from them.
All of that said (whew, there was a lot of it!), Squeenix has made a decent action game if not a perfect one, contrasting strongly with DoC (the worst sequel since Super Mario Bros. 2). The missions are great fun, it's nice to learn more about SOLDIER (VII didn't go into nearly enough detail about them) and I like the way that the game plays with you by making you think "Go Shinra, go Sephiroth!", when they were the antagonists in the last game. It's definitely the best part of the Compilation that I've experienced so far (I haven't played Before Crisis yet, and it might be a very long time before I do), and the only one to cause any nostalgia (even if there could have been more); all of those little references: a man with a gun on his arm, a man with a hat and a black chocobo, Yuffie, the list goes on.
As for XII: didn't like it; I think that XII is like marmite (http://www.marmite.com/) ;-).
EDIT: One day, I'm going to make a post in "General" that is fewer that has fewer than 1000 words.
-
but there's still an argument none the less and that is that in the case of VI vs. VII, graphics most certainly made the game.
Do you think so? There have been many FFs released since whose graphics have been better in comparison to VII than VII's were in comparison to VI, but, good as they are, (in my opinion) none of them match it. I don't think the cut scenes were very important in making the drama in VII; of course, it would have been weaker without them, but only slightly. There just seems to be a closer personal connection between the player and the characters in VII, and that, I think, is its strength. That connection doesn't come from the graphics (which I thought were awful when I first played it), it comes purely from characterisation, atmosphere and music (the importance of good music to a game is often massively underestimated). I can't help but feel that, even if it were made into a 3D cutscene, Kefka's killing of all those people (for example) wouldn't have had the same impact as Sephiroth's killing of Aeris; remember what Stalin supposedly said about the death of millions? I'm starting to ramble incoherently now; if VI is ever remade properly for a modern platform (and I'd much rather see that than any more VII spin-offs), we'll see whether it really was deeper, but I can't help but believe that VII would still come out on top.
Well I wasn't on about cut scenes as in FMV. I was on about graphics in general. pre rendered environments in general.
Final fantasy is a plot driven game. No plot (aka FF XII) No game. And then add to that useless gambit system, random treasure and unrewarding clan battles and you have a stinker :P
I hope for better things in XIII. I thought VI was overrated but nonetheless had some very good gameplay, VII-X were my faves and X-2 was a sad cash in.
That is my opinion.
-
FFIX will always be my favorite and I liked all the FFs before it (although I haven't played II or beaten III yet). I'm getting CC and I actually liked DoC after it grew on me. Granted, I haven't played it in a while, but I'm playing through Tales games for right now. Hated X so I didn't give X-2 the time of day. Haven't played XII, but the people that recommended that also recommended KH, which I also hated from the very beginning.
-
If you hated KH for its battle system, then you'll most likely hate FFXII as well. They're pretty similar. What got to me about KH though was having to figure out where to go all the time. One of the reasons I liked FFVII is that I didn't have to check the online guides every time I visited a new place just because I couldn't figure out my destination. That's also why I hated FFI, though that game had plenty of other problems on the side.
Anyway.
To me, one of FFXII's strengths was translation. Though the English voice acting wasn't hugely impressive, at least they managed to match the words to the lips perfectly. X was the opposite. Voice acting - mindblowing!! Matching words to lips - oftentimes complete failure! Okay, I'm picky, I know. But if the translators could someday include the emotive voice acting from X and the lip-matching from XII in the same game, I'd buy that on impulse. I guess that proves one of FFVII's strengths - they didn't put any voice acting in there.
The perfect game would have...
Phenomenal voice acting like FFX.
Perfect lip-matching like FFXII.
A complex, imaginative, and brilliant storyline like FFVII.
The materia system from FFVII.
High quality music like X (I also liked the AC music).
Graphics as good as the graphics in FFVIIAC.
A Limit Break system kind of like FFX Overdrives (FFVII Limit Breaks were good too, but you couldn't alter the way they charged as you could in X).
Sephiroth as the antagonist, with OWA as the final boss battle music and everything!! :-D
And several other things as well, but I don't want this post to be too long.
Yeah... I'd die to have a remake of FFVII for the PS3!!
-
I can't help but feel that a PS3 remake of VII would be a big let-down. Squeenix would probably feel the need to do all of the following:
Have every cut-scene fight take place at least 100 metres in the air.
Have cheesy voice acting by people who sound like hung-over California surfers from the 70s.
Fiddle horribly with the storyline and characters.
And have remixes of all our favourite songs that sound nothing like the original.
Now, if they could remain faithful to the original, have all the fights happen on the ground and generally observe the laws of gravity, have voice acting by the people from the Legacy of Kain series (obviously, Kain/Simon Templeman would have to be Sephiroth) with a few other well trained actors, and have a fully orchestral soundtrack composed by Uematsu himself (not some pretender to the throne), *that* would be a game to die for.
-
You're probably right about that. You've just described exactly what they did to Advent Children (I have mixed feelings about that movie. I actually like the music, though I agree that the characters are badly voiced and not so well portrayed). Hopefully, if they do remake FFVII for the PS3, they'll keep in mind that they're making a game and therefore leave the battles to the one playing it. Aerial fighting doesn't quite appeal to me either, though I am a huge fan of Sephiroth and think that the fight against him is awesome!! Hate the fight against Bahamut SIN, though, and most of the Kadaj battle is corny, unimportant dialogue between party members who aren't involved! Why did they do that!?!
Well, anyway... if they do come out with a PS3 remake of the game, it won't be as well received as the original. Even if they remain faithful to the original in every way, a lot of people feel that this series has been going on too long now. Don't get me wrong, though. I'd still love a remake!
-
I was mostly thinking about AC, but my comment about the voice acting was based on DoC (thankfully, AC allowed us to listen to the Japanese voice actors and read subtitles). CC was OK, but other than that the Compilation of FF7 hasn't been very good. It's not really very surprising to me; as time has gone on, more and more of the original makers of FF7 have left, so one can hardly expect the game to have the same feeling. I'd rather they concentrated on new games rather than trying to squeeze everything they can out of the old ones; even if the new ones aren't as good, they won't be travesties.
As Squeenix moves on, the series should do so as well. Let VII stay as it is; it's not perfect, but it's close enough. Maybe, *maybe* they could make fully 3D versions of the pre-PSX games, but other than that they should leave the old games as they are.
-
To be honest Shadowseer I think the whole voice thing was much better overall in XII. However the soundtrack in X was better than XII.
Considering soundtrack IV + VI - IX are better than X imo, making XII one with the weakest soundtracks in my book.
-
An interesting opinion. I completely disagree with most of it considering the improvement in sound quality over time. XII does have a generally disappointing soundtrack, though I can't figure out what you have against FFX OST. lol I imagine it's the opening theme (I think it's called "Zanarkand") which is literally replicated in every other song. If you don't like that melody, you're doomed to hate the whole soundtrack! And then there's the Hymn of the Faith. You need to be tolerent of that as well.
I'm pleasantly surprised that you like FFXII's voice acting. I loved that game overall even more than VII (which is why my username is taken from an optional boss in it lol). Sadly, you can't hack it as easily as FFVII PC, so I've come to ignore FFXII and my PS2 now.
-
I can't help but feel that a PS3 remake of VII would be a big let-down.
Yeah, i think that too. Advent Children was very far away from FF7.. And it was just for money.. FF7 was different.
A remake should be: Exact the same game, but improved graphics/FMVs and improved sound. They shouldn't do something again like FF AC.. >_> Weird movie.
-
You've said it. Amen.
-
Don't get me wrong Shadow. I like all FF games including their soundtracks. A weak FF is still a good game. I loved XII though it had some issues, which all were fixed in the Zodiac job system upgrade, an upgrade I prob never will be able to play. Man why didn't they make it like that in the 1st place?
Some say Lost Odyssey is the true FFXII. I donnu about that, but speaking soundtrack only LO is better than XII imo.
-
Don't get me wrong Shadow. I like all FF games including their soundtracks.
Okay then, you are forgiven (lol) :-P
-
I completely disagree with most of it considering the improvement in sound quality over time.
Talking sound technology in game I completely agree, anyone would. A fire spell sounds better in 12 than 1. Speaking music composition I could agree to a certain amount as well. Because the composers were limited to how complex they could make the tunes in the good ol' days lol (and how they would finally sound, midi etc.). But when we only look at composition on paper I couldn't agree. If all FF tunes had the same limitations in complexity I would still like the same tunes 'cause of their compositional creativity; not 'cause of their original sound quality. I'm just that kind of guy I guess.
-
There's a *big* difference between sound quality and music quality; IMO a midi of a great song (for example, Terra's theme from FF6) sounds far better than a fully orchestrated version of a good one. I've just started playing Chrono Trigger for the first time (it's fast becoming one of my favourite games) and I'm amazed by what was done with such simple technology; although it is less advanced it sounds better than any of the more recent FF games and is more immersive for it.
Better technology can only increase the potential quality of a game's soundtrack and it seems to me that this potential is being realised far less often. As long as the technology is above a certain threshold, the actual quality is nearly always determined almost only by the quality of the composition.
-
It's got to be FF6. I can get hooked on that game for hours. I think FF7 is still amazing but I do find it a little to easy and I always try to challenge myself in that game. FF8 and FF10 were also great games and also FF4 is up near the top as well.
-
Hi,
This is one of the best game I ever came across. I would like to know about more games.
CSK
-
WARNING MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!
Gotta say my Favourate ff is ff7 only because it was the first ff i ever played but ff8 gave it a run for its money. I really didn't like 10 and i can't still understand to this day why not? I thought the ending was absolute garbage and (yeah they made another 1 eventually) but was hoping for more from the ending i just feel it left so many questions left unanswered and it just annoyed me. Final fantasy 9s ending was, i thought a masterpiece. It was exactly how you would envision it so i was happy with that. But my favourate ending has got to be ff7 the music the way everything pans out and the fact that you fight sephiroth 3 times i thought was just epic however i was REALLY disappointed with the 3rd fight was expecting a hell of a battle to survive......but no!. Gotta say though ff8s ending is a close 2nd. I loved the final fights in that and the story was so gripping. Like to see how much Squall changes and how his love for Rinoa shows eventually. But yeah overall my Fav ff game is definitely ff7.