The Final Fantasy Thread

[Dr. Geronimo]

I'm genuinely annoyed that the combat system still has that dumb stagger mechanic. When are they going to drop that shit? It's been a thing since FF13. Does some exec have a hard on for it?

 

[Pissmaster]

man, Final Fantasy Adventure/Seiken Densetsu has the dumbest protagonist names:


If it were an American game, the protagonists would be named Football and McKinley

 

[Berrakh]

How dare you badmouth Sword/Secret/Trials of Mana!

 

[Snekposter]

This is going to be controversial because I know a LOT of kiwis here can't stand Remake, but I actually think they balanced out Cloud's characterization pretty well there. They did the brooding emo KH trope and then spent most of the game consistently showcasing what a fucking socially awkward dork Cloud is at the end of the day, complete with his OG wisecracking asshole persona. Some people might not be into that, but I'd say it's a welcome change from Advent Children.

Here's hoping he finds his balls in the next Ep. I also want to see him go snowboarding in his outfit for extra Chad points. Sleeves? In the snow? Sleeves are for babies.

 

[Berrakh]

Here's hoping he finds his balls in the next Ep. I also want to see him go snowboarding in his outfit for extra Chad points. Sleeves? In the snow? Sleeves are for babies.

Oh you might be disappointed then. Cloud finding his balls is usually… hubristic. The main way he still could would also piss off unhinged fans.

 

[Pissmaster]

How dare you badmouth Sword/Secret/Trials of Mana!

Oh don't get me wrong, I love those games and Secret's in my top 5 games of all time overall, but man I mean they're named Sumo and Fuji

and also I didn't know Secret of Mana's protagonist was named Randi until the internet told me over a decade later, and by then the word "Randi" made me think of Randy from South Park; Randy Pitchford; and Austin Powers saying "Do I make you horny, baby?! Do I make you RANDY?!"

 

[verissimus]

This is going to be controversial because I know a LOT of kiwis here can't stand Remake, but I actually think they balanced out Cloud's characterization pretty well there. They did the brooding emo KH trope and then spent most of the game consistently showcasing what a fucking socially awkward dork Cloud is at the end of the day, complete with his OG wisecracking asshole persona. Some people might not be into that, but I'd say it's a welcome change from Advent Children.

I'll do you one extra, I think almost all the characters personalities, thus far, were well done. The only character, just in terms of personality, that I think they went way too far was Jessie. I'm undecided on what to make of Sephiroth, but again, that's only in terms of personality/mannerisms.

Story wise is a whole other matter. Don't get me started on whatever the hek they're trying to pull with Aeris or Sephiroth which, in a way, I think is ironic because I think whatever they are trying to do with them could still fit their character, but it won't make any sense.

 

[CharcoalChkn]

I'll do you one extra, I think almost all the characters personalities, thus far, were well done. The only character, just in terms of personality, that I think they went way too far in was Jessie. I'm undecided on what to make of Sephiroth, but again, that's only in terms of personality/mannerisms.

Story wise is a whole other matter. Don't get me started on whatever the hek they're trying to pull with Aeris or Sephiroth which, in a way, I think is ironic because I think whatever they are trying to do with them could still fit their character, but it won't make any sense.

I was actually really happy with how they presented Aerith. She was really charming and cheeky but also quite sweet.

Biggs ended up being my surprise favorite though.

I do think all the characterisations been done very well in Remake so far, but I agree it's kind of early to tell where they are going with Sephiroth.

 

[Berrakh]

Story wise is a whole other matter. Don't get me started on whatever the hek they're trying to pull with Aeris or Sephiroth which, in a way, I think is ironic because I think whatever they are trying to do with them could still fit their character, but it won't make any sense.

It won't make logic or lore-sense but I think Aerith will be fine because they've done enough to show her having a flawed memory/foresight into events. While Sephiroth will doubtless have some convoluted plan that perfectly predicts everything our heroes do so he can always outsmart us.

 

[Snekposter]

Biggs ended up being my surprise favorite though.

He's great. I swear I've heard his VA before somewhere else though, as one of the Brit officers in their CoH 1 campaign.

 

[Berrakh]

He's great. I swear I've heard his VA before somewhere else though, as one of the Brit officers in their CoH 1 campaign.

Balthier and some other stuff

 

[Scuttle]

I will probably give FF XVI a chance, it looks somewhat interesting from the trailers but I truly haven't enjoyed a FF game since XII. FFXIII bored me to tears and I didn't like any of the party members. I still have to check out FF XIV at some point.

The team behind FF Tactics, Vagrant Story and FFXII were the main inspiration for the team who worked on FFXIV 2.0 and onwards, and they're subsequently the same team working on FFXVI.

Heavy focus on Fantasy Politics and stories with a large scope. I think if XII was the last game you enjoyed then you'll feel at home with XIV and XVI. The XII director himself even worked on some sub-stories in XIV and alternate-reality iterations of characters/races/locations from the Ivalice Saga return in one of the later expansions.

This is going to be controversial because I know a LOT of kiwis here can't stand Remake, but I actually think they balanced out Cloud's characterization pretty well there. They did the brooding emo KH trope and then spent most of the game consistently showcasing what a fucking socially awkward dork Cloud is at the end of the day, complete with his OG wisecracking asshole persona. Some people might not be into that, but I'd say it's a welcome change from Advent Children.

I actually agree that the characterisation was much better in Remake. You could attribute that to tech limitations, but that shouldn't undermine the end product. After all, the same people worked on Kingdom Hearts for 20 years and have still yet to make a character more interesting than a wet flannel.

I don't necessarily trust Nomura & Co. to do alternate reality/time travel in a satisfying way, but my primary issue with the game was how they kind of sacrificed all of the mystery around Sephiroth. It makes the whole Midgardsormr/Kalm Town setpiece redundant and that was a really effective section of the original game.

 

[TerrorSperg99]

For someone who’s never played any of the games. Which one would you recommend starting out with? Preferably one that does not have a lot of grinding.

 

[Captain Syrup]

For someone who’s never played any of the games. Which one would you recommend starting out with? Preferably one that does not have a lot of grinding.

Common entry points are FF7 and FF10.

I'd say 4 and 6 are the pinnacle of the sprite-based games.

 

[eternal dog mongler]

I actually agree that the characterisation was much better in Remake. You could attribute that to tech limitations, but that shouldn't undermine the end product. After all, the same people worked on Kingdom Hearts for 20 years and have still yet to make a character more interesting than a wet flannel.

Kingdom Hearts just has one character and it's Xehanort.

 

[Scuttle]

For someone who’s never played any of the games. Which one would you recommend starting out with? Preferably one that does not have a lot of grinding.

X, XII, or XV.

X - Last game of the SquareSoft era. First game to have voice acting and a massive upgrade in graphics as the series jumped to PS2. All around a very colourful and interesting entry that, at the risk of sounding like a game journo, has a little bit of everything that makes FF, FF.

XII - A much more ambitious High Fantasy story that deals with political turmoil. Voice actors are more diverse in their accents. Combat is more engaging too.

XV - I might get shit for this on my second post in the thread, but as a game to get your feet wet in the series it really is one of the best. Minimal grinding, modern graphics, and a generally good vibe as it's centred around a few bros going on a roadtrip around the world. It's far from the peak of the series as far as storytelling goes, but it is low maintenance and fun to play.

My personal aim when recommending XV to people is to hope they'll be interested in the stuff that came before as they wait for the next one. That's when you hit them with the IX recommendation.

 

[Zeke Von Genbu]

X, XII, or XV.

X - Last game of the SquareSoft era. First game to have voice acting and a massive upgrade in graphics as the series jumped to PS2. All around a very colourful and interesting entry that, at the risk of sounding like a game journo, has a little bit of everything that makes FF, FF.

XII - A much more ambitious High Fantasy story that deals with political turmoil. Voice actors are more diverse in their accents. Combat is more engaging too.

XV - I might get shit for this on my second post in the thread, but as a game to get your feet wet in the series it really is one of the best. Minimal grinding, modern graphics, and a generally good vibe as it's centred around a few bros going on a roadtrip around the world. It's far from the peak of the series as far as storytelling goes, but it is low maintenance and fun to play.

My personal aim when recommending XV to people is to hope they'll be interested in the stuff that came before as they wait for the next one. That's when you hit them with the IX recommendation.

XII is a pretty grindy game if you try to do anything beyond the main story at all and without a guide some of the stuff in XII is a little bit on the obtuse side. XII is a really fun autism game if you try to understand all its weird quirks, but for a casual romp I don't think I'd recommend it. The story is also a little on the weird side due to how it doesn't have a very standard MC as half the party can arguably be the MC, and the other half of the party just sort of exist most the time.

 

[verissimus]

For someone who’s never played any of the games. Which one would you recommend starting out with? Preferably one that does not have a lot of grinding.

7 and 10 don't have or need that much grinding. You ought to be able to beat both around 30 hours provided you don't goof around much.

Spoiler alert on 10, be careful of the Seymour fight on Mount Gagazet. If I'm not mistaken you can still beat him fairly easily if you're low level (using poison?); otherwise, that fight is easily the hardest one. Try not to be too intimidated by the sphere grid. It's not that complicated. Also you should focus only on leveling certain characters specifically Yuna and Tidus (I'll leave it up to you which 3rd character you want to focus on though I recommend it not be Lulu).

You might want to skip 8 although ironically enough, if you know what you're doing, that game requires very little grinding.

I'd also recommend Final Fantasy Tactics story wise, but to spoil the experience a little bit : have a separate save file before you go to Riovannes castle.

Edit : There's another tip I'll give for the Seymour fight without spoiling the experience for you too much. All I'll say is it involves Yuna. If you understand the game mechanics, you should know what I'm hinting at.

Also spoiler alert, use Kimahri every know and then. If I'm not mistaken, he has a sort of ability that's in FF7 and FF8 where the character can learn certain enemy abilities. This, however, is not the only reason why I suggest using this character every now and then.

 

[Pissmaster]

I'd also recommend Final Fantasy Tactics story wise, but to spoil the experience a little bit : have a separate save file before you go to Riovannes castle.

Yeah, it's very easy to get softlocked there, and it's right before the last chapter of the game. And by softlocked, I mean they prompt you to save in the midst of a string of battles, so you can lock yourself out of being able to grind permanently.

I just did that battle recently. It's still like that in the PSP version, and even my team being disgustingly overleveled didn't seem to matter if I didn't have the right job loadout for everyone. The Wiki recommends your levels be around 30-35, and I went in at around level 66 and still managed to get stomped a few times. Thank goodness I had two Dragoons that could two-shot Belias' minions.

 

[The Fair Lady]

Spoiler alert on 10, be careful of the Seymour fight on Mount Gagazet. If I'm not mistaken you can still easily beat him fairly easily if you're low level (using poison?). That fight is easily the hardest one.

Yeah the cheesiest way to win that fight is to poison him. Once you do that you really only have to be careful of his Cross Cleave move which is practically a guaranteed party KO unless your health is super high or you’re using Auron.