I'm playing through all the FF's (except 11 and 14, and any thing like X-2) and am back on FF13..
FF13 suffers from being so linear and forcing the parties on you for a long time (Vanille and Sazh are such a bad party..), the story is actually not too bad, but the paradigm system leaves a lot to be desired, especially since I get hit by the enemy as I animate the shift, and also lose the stagger bar.
Just finished maxing out every character through the sphere grid I’ve optimized just about every node the sphere grid and completed it with every character.
Next I’m going to be finishing “Ultimate” Armors For everyone (at least one set with Break HP Limit + another set without).
Eventually I’ll get around to taking on the rest of the dark aeons + Penance. Almost seems moot after doing all this crap lol.
Just finished maxing out every character through the sphere grid I’ve optimized just about every node the sphere grid and completed it with every character. View attachment 382246
Next I’m going to be finishing “Ultimate” Armors For everyone (at least one set with Break HP Limit + another set without).
Eventually I’ll get around to taking on the rest of the dark aeons + Penance. Almost seems moot after doing all this crap lol.
Maybe this isn't technically the right place to post this, but man oh man, I'm playing through Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions again, only this time more closely paying attention to the lore and politics, and its storytelling is incredible-- not only easily the best in the FF franchise, but one of the more thoughtfully/tastefully executed I've come across in the medium, personally. The localization is cleverly written and witty, the cut scenes are shockingly well executed, the voice acting is surprisingly good, the mechanics are addictive, and the presentation/visual storytelling/spritework holds up wonderfully, even though it's barely been touched up from 1997. Matsuno's the strongest storyteller that the company's ever had, IMO.
Wonderful themes and characters are tastefully weaved and explored in interesting ways, each enemy adding interesting thematic insight (surprisingly, the enemies are all deeper than the supporting characters), tons of interesting parallels and juxtapositions between them, and even what would normally be tired archetypes are written in interesting ways that explore what circumstances create that archetype-- Ramza is actually an interesting goody-goody archetype and Ovelia is actually an interesting damsel archetype. The primary story beats are just so well placed, and the ambiguous ending/after credits scene is the perfect way to leave it. Delita is the most interesting character in the series, IMO.
Best characters:
1. Delita
2. Ovelia
3. Elder Simon (quietly the best NPC)
4. Wiegraf
5. Dycedarg/Zalbag
6. Ramza
Most memorable sequence:
Wiegraf gives into Belias in desperation as Elder Simon leaves you the Germonique Scriptures, actually reading through it (that part's so perfectly presented), immediately followed by the Ovelia/Delita cutscene that reveals insight into them while leaving you just the right amount skeptical.
Easy to overlook the difficulty balance/game-breaking combos/progression-locking issues that the game clearly has. Some would complain that the game has no levity compared to others in the franchise, but I like that about it, personally. I also could have done without the intrusive, DLC-like War of the Lions stuff like
the Luso cutscene and Argath re-appearing
, but it doesn't happen often.
1. Tactics
2. VI
(Tactics Ogre goes here)
---
3. VII (tons of laughable flaws and not nearly as tight/polished as IX but the skeleton is perfect and there are more things about it that feels creatively striking and interesting to me-- in comparison, MOST of what IX does well feels kind of like a good Pixar movie or something and no more-- only the Vivi story stands out to me)
---
4. VIII (used to hate this one, but while it's unsatisfying in some ways and is less of a crowd-pleaser than IX, I appreciate details from it more and more every time and think it actually does alot of interesting things brilliantly. Everyone trashes Squall and I used to too, but now I think that he's actually an interesting character study and that Rinoa is the awful one)
---
5. IX (very solid, polished and lacking in any outright flaws, but I'm starting to find it overrated and weaker than VIII. It's a more immediately "likeable" crowd-pleaser, but it's very trope-y and uninspired in a lot of ways. The only legitimately deep and artful thing about it is maybe Vivi's existentialism, and that's just one effective note. The Zidane/Kuja story feels redundant and really lame, Freya is wasted potential, and the rest are just comical disney tropes.)
---
6. XII
7. VII Remake
8. IV (used to love this one, but a recent playthrough's soured me a lot on it-- the way it deals with death is trash, and while there's charm to the minimalism of the rest of it, it's not enough to chew on, IMO)
9. V (deep mechanics, generic characters/storytelling, lighthearted fun)
---
10. X (it's okay, but I find it cringe-y and heavy-handed in a bad, almost soap-opera-y way)
11. III
---
12. XV
13. I
14. XIII
15. II
Maybe this isn't technically the right place to post this, but man oh man, I'm playing through Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions again, only this time more closely paying attention to the lore and politics, and its storytelling is incredible-- not only easily the best in the FF franchise, but one of the more thoughtfully/tastefully executed I've come across in the medium, personally. The localization is cleverly written and witty, the cut scenes are shockingly well executed, the voice acting is surprisingly good, the mechanics are addictive, and the presentation/visual storytelling/spritework holds up wonderfully, even though it's barely been touched up from 1997. Matsuno's the strongest storyteller that the company's ever had, IMO.
Wonderful themes and characters are tastefully weaved and explored in interesting ways, each enemy adding interesting thematic insight (surprisingly, the enemies are all deeper than the supporting characters), and even what would normally be tired archetypes are written in interesting ways that explore what circumstances create that archetype-- Ramza is actually an interesting goody-goody archetype and Ovelia is actually an interesting damsel archetype. The primary story beats are just so well placed, and the ambiguous ending/after credits scene is the perfect way to leave it. Delita is the most interesting character in the series, IMO.
Best characters:
1. Delita
2. Ovelia
3. Wiegraf
4. Ramza
5. Elder Simon (quietly the best NPC)
Most memorable sequence:
Wiegraf gives into Belias in desperation as Elder Simon leaves you the Germonique Scriptures, actually reading through it (that part's so perfectly presented), immediately followed by the Ovelia/Delita cutscene that reveals insight into them while leaving you just the right amount skeptical.
Easy to overlook the difficulty balance/game-breaking combos/progression-locking issues that the game clearly has. Some would complain that the game has no levity compared to others in the franchise, but I like that about it, personally.
1. Tactics
2. VI
(Tactics Ogre goes here)
---
3. VII (tons of laughable flaws and not nearly as tight/polished as IX but the skeleton is perfect and there are more things about it that feels creatively striking and interesting to me-- in comparison, MOST of what IX does well feels kind of like a good Pixar movie or something and no more-- only the Vivi story stands out to me)
4. IX
---
5. VII Remake
6. VIII (used to hate this one, but while it's deeply flawed and has very questionable pay-offs to seeds and mysteries that are laid out very well, I appreciate details from it more and more every time. Everyone trashes Squall and I used to too, but now I think that he's actually an interesting character study and that Rinoa is the awful one)
7. XII
---
8. IV (used to love this one, but a recent playthrough's soured me a lot on it-- the way it deals with death is trash, and while there's charm to the minimalism of the rest of it, it's not enough to chew on, IMO)
9. V (deep mechanics, generic characters/storytelling, lighthearted fun)
10. X (it's okay, but I find it cringe-y and heavy-handed in a bad, almost soap-opera-y way)
---
11. III
12. XV
---
13. I
14. XIII
15. II
It is a brilliant game. Truthfully, I do prefer the original but WOTL is just as excellent. So many people overlook the Ramza/Delita relationship and how it changes throughout the game. It is almost poetic.
It is a brilliant game. Truthfully, I do prefer the original but WOTL is just as excellent. So many people overlook the Ramza/Delita relationship and how it changes throughout the game. It is almost poetic.
accomplishing what they set out for yet paying the price for it, and also having outcomes that seem to recall Ajora/Germonique
as well.
What do you like more about the original? While I did miss some of those cutscenes being done with in-game sprites, it seemed like a dramatic improvement in nearly every respect to me, especially the dialogue writing.
The only thing I didn't like about the War of the Lions version was that a new War of the Lions exclusive character that didn't factor into anything interrupted the story with a dramatic cutscene that seemed out of place to me.
accomplishing what they set out for yet paying the price for it, and also having outcomes that seem to recall Ajora/Germonique
as well.
What do you like more about the original? While I did miss some of those cutscenes being done with in-game sprites, it seemed like a dramatic improvement in nearly every respect to me, especially the dialogue writing.
The only thing I didn't like about the War of the Lions version was that a new War of the Lions exclusive character that didn't factor into anything interrupted the story with a dramatic cutscene that seemed out of place to me.
I loved Tactics when it was original released, so imagine my bliss when they released versions where the English translation actually made sense and the same characters weren't referred to by multiple names.
I still remember playing it for the first time and ending up under some church battling some demon-woman and thinking "...I have no idea how I got here."
Still a fun game to play though. So easy to absolutely break and power through, but you know what, sometimes it's fun to just see how far a game will let you take its mechanics.
I loved Tactics when it was original released, so imagine my bliss when they released versions where the English translation actually made sense and the same characters weren't referred to by multiple names.
I still remember playing it for the first time and ending up under some church battling some demon-woman and thinking "...I have no idea how I got here."
Still a fun game to play though. So easy to absolutely break and power through, but you know what, sometimes it's fun to just see how far a game will let you take its mechanics.
I definitely found the story dense and impossible to follow initially, but my appreciation for it seems to double every time I play it and understand the intricacies of the writing more. In fact, I'm struggling to think of a videogame story that I prefer over it, period.
I did this and generally found it to be worthwhile. Without spoiling anything, I would say that you can absolutely just play Remake on its own, but some of the context is easier to get a handle on if you play FF7 first.
I am not really in the habit of playing older games, mostly just because I don't have a ton of time for gaming as it is. I had a blast with FF7 though, and I think you can basically play it blind. There are a few things you want to make sure not to miss if you play FF7 – @Shareefruck gave me a great succinct few pointers when I was playing the game, which you might be able to find burined in one of the Remake threads.
I actually just started FF9 earlier tonight. Finally caved on the Switch sale price. I think this was the first one I really played, though so far I only have the vaguest memory of it. Ended up sinking a few hours into thorough exploring and the card minigame.
As someone old enough to have played literally every single Final Fantasy at release since IV (then called II)...
Tactics is quite clearly the best game in the entire series, and it’s not close. Well, maybe VI is up there, but that’s it.
It’s such a shame Matsuno had his breakdown and basically stopped directing major games. He was Sakaguchi’s clear heir apparent. At least we get to see him pitch in every so often on XIV stuff. And at least Yoshida is there to carry the Matsuno banner well.
I don’t care for any of the single player games post-XII, especially anything Nomura has done.
As someone old enough to have played literally every single Final Fantasy at release since IV (then called II)...
Tactics is quite clearly the best game in the entire series, and it’s not close. Well, maybe VI is up there, but that’s it.
It’s such a shame Matsuno had his breakdown and basically stopped directing major games. He was Sakaguchi’s clear heir apparent. At least we get to see him pitch in every so often on XIV stuff. And at least Yoshida is there to carry the Matsuno banner well.
I don’t care for any of the single player games post-XII, especially anything Nomura has done.
He had some kind of health issue mid-development on XII, which is why he was removed from the project. By all accounts, pretty typical nervous breakdown caused by exhaustion and fatigue. Japanese work culture is brutal.
I'm playing through all the FF's (except 11 and 14, and any thing like X-2) and am back on FF13..
FF13 suffers from being so linear and forcing the parties on you for a long time (Vanille and Sazh are such a bad party..), the story is actually not too bad, but the paradigm system leaves a lot to be desired, especially since I get hit by the enemy as I animate the shift, and also lose the stagger bar.
FF 13 is a crap linear game. So is X. X managed to have more annoying main characters and spend way too much time on Cutscenes to showcase their new technology when PS2 came out. You actually empathized with an alcoholic jecht trying to toughen up the little whiny main character when he was a kid, which is the opposite of what they intended.
12 on the other hand was a lot of fun despite a lackluster story. You could roam into the world in 12 and explore places you had no business going at least.
I just ran through the original 4 Dragon Warrior games and moved on to Final Fantasy. Playing only originals of course, so none of the "remake easier" nonsense they put out. I forgot what a slog Dragon Warrior 2 was at the last 10% of the game. Not as bad as final fantasy 2 and 3, but up there with the biggest difficulty spike. The saving grace was ability to save the game near Hargon's castle. Final fantasy 2 and 3 you had to run a disgusting Gauntlet of final dungeons with no save points.
I beat FF1 in like 6 hours lol. I know that game inside out.
I have been rolling through FF2 pretty fast but I just got to that endgame difficulty spike.
End of game Gauntlet in the Jade Passage before you get to castle Pandemonium.
I hate the jade passage.
Maybe this isn't technically the right place to post this, but man oh man, I'm playing through Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions again, only this time more closely paying attention to the lore and politics, and its storytelling is incredible-- not only easily the best in the FF franchise, but one of the more thoughtfully/tastefully executed I've come across in the medium, personally. The localization is cleverly written and witty, the cut scenes are shockingly well executed, the voice acting is surprisingly good, the mechanics are addictive, and the presentation/visual storytelling/spritework holds up wonderfully, even though it's barely been touched up from 1997. Matsuno's the strongest storyteller that the company's ever had, IMO.
Wonderful themes and characters are tastefully weaved and explored in interesting ways, each enemy adding interesting thematic insight (surprisingly, the enemies are all deeper than the supporting characters), tons of interesting parallels and juxtapositions between them, and even what would normally be tired archetypes are written in interesting ways that explore what circumstances create that archetype-- Ramza is actually an interesting goody-goody archetype and Ovelia is actually an interesting damsel archetype. The primary story beats are just so well placed, and the ambiguous ending/after credits scene is the perfect way to leave it. Delita is the most interesting character in the series, IMO.
Best characters:
1. Delita
2. Ovelia
3. Wiegraf
4. Ramza
5. Elder Simon (quietly the best NPC)
6. Dycedarg/Zalbag
Most memorable sequence:
Wiegraf gives into Belias in desperation as Elder Simon leaves you the Germonique Scriptures, actually reading through it (that part's so perfectly presented), immediately followed by the Ovelia/Delita cutscene that reveals insight into them while leaving you just the right amount skeptical.
Easy to overlook the difficulty balance/game-breaking combos/progression-locking issues that the game clearly has. Some would complain that the game has no levity compared to others in the franchise, but I like that about it, personally. I also could have done without the intrusive, DLC-like War of the Lions stuff like
the Luso cutscene and Argath re-appearing
, but it doesn't happen often.
1. Tactics
2. VI
(Tactics Ogre goes here)
---
3. VII (tons of laughable flaws and not nearly as tight/polished as IX but the skeleton is perfect and there are more things about it that feels creatively striking and interesting to me-- in comparison, MOST of what IX does well feels kind of like a good Pixar movie or something and no more-- only the Vivi story stands out to me)
4. VIII (used to hate this one, but while it's unsatisfying in some ways and is less of a crowd-pleaser than IX, I appreciate details from it more and more every time and think it actually does alot of interesting things brilliantly. Everyone trashes Squall and I used to too, but now I think that he's actually an interesting character study and that Rinoa is the awful one)
---
5. IX (very solid, polished and lacking in any outright flaws, but I'm starting to find it overrated and weaker than VIII. It's a more immediately "likeable" crowd-pleaser, but it's very trope-y and uninspired in a lot of ways. The only legitimately deep and artful thing about it is maybe Vivi's existentialism, and that's just one effective note. The Zidane/Kuja story feels redundant and really lame, Freya is wasted potential, and the rest are just comical disney tropes.)
6. VII Remake
7. XII
---
8. IV (used to love this one, but a recent playthrough's soured me a lot on it-- the way it deals with death is trash, and while there's charm to the minimalism of the rest of it, it's not enough to chew on, IMO)
9. V (deep mechanics, generic characters/storytelling, lighthearted fun)
10. X (it's okay, but I find it cringe-y and heavy-handed in a bad, almost soap-opera-y way)
---
11. III
12. XV
---
13. I
14. XIII
15. II
As I see your list I cannot help but notice you didn't list final fantasy 4 the after years the new game they put out continuing FF4 storyline 20 years later. Did you not play that one?
As I see your list I cannot help but notice you didn't list final fantasy 4 the after years the new game they put out continuing FF4 storyline 20 years later. Did you not play that one?
I also just generally have a distaste for the idea of spin-offs and sequels being a part of Final Fantasy, period, so there's that too. What I loved about the franchise was Sakaguchi's initial stubborn and uncompromising vision of putting everything they had into one singular work that spoke for itself (thus the title of the franchise), leaving everything else artfully left open to interpretation, and then moving on from it completely. After Years just sounds like the most antithetical thing to that possible. And it's not even like I loved IV that much, so yeah, not much interest. I'm not even that much of a completionist of the franchise, to be honest-- I only really feel strongly about like four of them.
I also just generally have a distaste for the idea of spin-offs and sequels being a part of Final Fantasy, period, so there's that too. What I loved about the franchise was Sakaguchi's initial stubborn and uncompromising vision of putting everything they had into one singular work that spoke for itself (thus the title of the franchise), leaving everything else artfully left open to interpretation, and then moving on from it completely. After Years just sounds like the most antithetical thing to that possible. And it's not even like I loved IV that much, so yeah, not much interest. I'm not even that much of a completionist of the franchise, to be honest-- I only really feel strongly about like four of them.
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