The Final Fantasy Thread

[Captain Syrup]

I'm interested in a remake of Secret of Evermore.

Ted Woolsey didn't work on the game, but he did assist with marketing and meet with the developers:

"Unfortunately Evermore does not live up to the vision in Tokyo. They had hoped for a US-flavored, role playing-style game that would sell a million units. A million was really the catchphrase. If it wasn't a million it was a failure."

 

[Coldgrip]

Doubtful, they never localized it for Japan.

Ted Woolsey didn't work on the game, but he did assist with marketing and meet with the devs. There is a good interview with him talking about his time at Square, and he touches on SoE a bit. Spoiler: Square didn't like it.

I'm not surprised. I remember when it came out people talked about it and wondered if it was really a sequel to Secret of Mana. Then about a week later it was like people forgot it existed. Pity, it really wasn't that bad, and like I said, Legend of Mana's getting a remake, so they may as well di out some of their more obscure titles.

Not Einhander though, that game was good the way it was.

 

[Smug Chuckler]

I am mixed on the sprites in general. I think the best remastered spirtes for the older FF games were the PSP ones. FF5 and FF6's ugly moblie sprites just look really gross or remind me of generic RPG maker assets.

Yeah they look like meh but cleaner, Rosa looks like Celes from FF6, Terra got a big foot, and the FF1 Fighter looks pissed off. I would be fine if they copied the PS1/Wonderswan style.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Doubtful, they never localized it for Japan.

Ted Woolsey didn't work on the game, but he did assist with marketing and meet with the devs. There is a good interview with him talking about his time at Square, and he touches on SoE a bit. Spoiler: Square didn't like it.

So I guess Square always had unreasonable sales expectations for its games.

 

[Captain Syrup]

I'm not surprised. I remember when it came out people talked about it and wondered if it was really a sequel to Secret of Mana.

"Secret of" was tacked onto the title late in development. Fans walked in with expectations that weren't met. Square sacked the whole team. To this day gamers are under the mistaken belief that Evermore is a Mana entry, or that Trials of Mana was held back to avoid competing with Evermore.

Square also said 'no' to localizing FF5 and rushed Mystic Quest onto the market. Woosley raised the point that MQ could fit onto a Game Boy.

 

[Coster]

Yeah they look like meh but cleaner, Rosa looks like Celes from FF6, Terra got a big foot, and the FF1 Fighter looks pissed off. I would be fine if they copied the PS1/Wonderswan style.

View attachment 2265544

Hell yeah, fighter got his pissed off eyebrows back. THIS is a remaster!

 

[Marissa Moira]

I just hope this collection has a physical release.

 

[Pissmaster]

This is the same brain trust who said 'no' to localizing FF5 and rushed Mystic Quest onto market. MQ could literally fit onto the Game Boy, that's how shoddy it is.

Oh yeah, because they honestly thought Americans couldn't understand RPGs, so they literally went to the trouble of crafting a simple one specifically for Americans that was named Final Fantasy USA in Japan. Despite RPGs themselves being an American invention.

And speaking of Mystic Quest fitting onto the Game Boy, that makes sense, considering it seems to be based on Final Fantasy Legend 3 down to sharing sprites and the jumping mechanic.

Man, I liked Secret of Evermore a lot. Fantastic game, very American, seems like something Japanese Ameriboos would like.

I just hope this collection has a physical release.

Man, who the hell knows. When FF7 got announced for the Switch, I would have bet a bitcoin against it ever getting one, and it ended up in a two pack with FF8 on one cart. I guess we'll see.

 

[EmpireOfTheClouds]

So I played the Stranger of Paradise demo when I got home from work.

It's really... not good. It's obviously not Final Fantasy XIII levels of terrible, but having played the demo for close to 3 hours, I'm having trouble trying to figure out what this game is exactly trying to accomplish. The short way of putting it is that it's an unintuitive at best hack and slash that may as well have been one of the many Final Fantasy non-mainline online experiences that people oh so clearly care about (sarcasm, of course). At worst, it's a filler side project bumped to AAA status, and that Square decided to single out this project as a clear picture of where the Final Fantasy franchise is going is troubling, so say the least.

Simply put, the gameplay is a chore. There is shockingly little fun in trying to play a game clearly trying to be some tenth rate FromSoft clone. It feels like it's trying to be Dark Souls without actually knowing what makes those games popular. Down to the overall design and placement of enemies. It even apes Jedi: Fallen Order at times. Repeatedly attacking overpowered NPCs over and over until you git gud is not fun. Hell, good luck trying to get close range attacks at the enemies without losing substantial amounts of health. Much of the combat realises on your use of your "Soul Shield" but good luck trying to parry with how delay responsive the dodge controls are. Unlike Demon's Souls where you get stupid amounts of satisfaction from parrying and reposing, both feel like luck based fodder. Group that with useless NPC allies, an unremarkable boss fight where you spend most of it using your Soul Shield to dodge Chaos' attacks then unleashing magic powers and abilities, and you have a boring Souls/Nioh hybrid that, I'll be honest, I see as little other than a hard sell to even FF completists.

 

[Commander X]

Holy fuck the writer of this article is PISSED

Final Fantasy Origin’s Normie Fuckboy Scores More Stylish Gear As You Play

No one wants to play a Final Fantasy game as their sister’s first scumbag boyfriend after she left for college.

 

[Berrakh]

Yeah they look like meh but cleaner, Rosa looks like Celes from FF6, Terra got a big foot, and the FF1 Fighter looks pissed off. I would be fine if they copied the PS1/Wonderswan style.

View attachment 2265544

4 and 1 are downgrades. I for one like the idea of the older titles looking rougher and using less nuanced shades. That was what made the gba rereleases so much fun. You go from very basic designs lacking much character in 1 all the way to very involved sprites in 6. Each game had a different aesthetic feeling.

Holy fuck the writer of this article is PISSED

Final Fantasy Origin’s Normie Fuckboy Scores More Stylish Gear As You Play

I can picture that guy selling drugs to 16 year old girls to sleep with them tbh.

 

[PuffyGroundCloud]

I watched the demo for Stranger of Paradise, seems like they trying to do Nioh with a dash of Final Fantasy.

 

[Coldgrip]

So I guess Square always had unreasonable sales expectations for its games.

To be fair, working with Nintendo will do that to people.

So I played the Stranger of Paradise demo when I got home from work.

It's really... not good. It's obviously not Final Fantasy XIII levels of terrible, but having played the demo for close to 3 hours, I'm having trouble trying to figure out what this game is exactly trying to accomplish. The short way of putting it is that it's an unintuitive at best hack and slash that may as well have been one of the many Final Fantasy non-mainline online experiences that people oh so clearly care about (sarcasm, of course). At worst, it's a filler side project bumped to AAA status, and that Square decided to single out this project as a clear picture of where the Final Fantasy franchise is going is troubling, so say the least.

Simply put, the gameplay is a chore. There is shockingly little fun in trying to play a game clearly trying to be some tenth rate FromSoft clone. It feels like it's trying to be Dark Souls without actually knowing what makes those games popular. Down to the overall design and placement of enemies. It even apes Jedi: Fallen Order at times. Repeatedly attacking overpowered NPCs over and over until you git gud is not fun. Hell, good luck trying to get close range attacks at the enemies without losing substantial amounts of health. Much of the combat realises on your use of your "Soul Shield" but good luck trying to parry with how delay responsive the dodge controls are. Unlike Demon's Souls where you get stupid amounts of satisfaction from parrying and reposing, both feel like luck based fodder. Group that with useless NPC allies, an unremarkable boss fight where you spend most of it using your Soul Shield to dodge Chaos' attacks then unleashing magic powers and abilities, and you have a boring Souls/Nioh hybrid that, I'll be honest, I see as little other than a hard sell to even FF completists.

I really wish companies would quit trying to make the next Souls game and focus on making a game that's fun.

Holy fuck the writer of this article is PISSED

Final Fantasy Origin’s Normie Fuckboy Scores More Stylish Gear As You Play

Dude's jealous somebody else got to sleep with his sister.

 

[EmpireOfTheClouds]

I really wish companies would quit trying to make the next Souls game and focus on making a game that's fun.

See, I absolutely loved Jedi Fallen Order because it felt like Souls, Uncharted, and Force Unleashed's best elements in one sweet Star Wars themed package. But that ended up being an exception and not a rule.

Otherwise, if I want Souls, I'll play Souls.

 

[LullerDerbyRollin]

I've been checking out the Stranger of Paradise demo. I think the game's good. I think some things need tuning before it launches later this year, but I also don't agree calling it a Souslike. It's more like Nioh Final Fantasy and I think it does a good job of incorporating classic Final Fantasy mechanics into a different genre. The mage class alone is fun, not to mention how fun combat feels mechanically and the combo system is nice. I like the changes Hard Mode has in the demo, with the MP system dropping half your bar when you die and you can retrieve it. They even made it so you get it back when you enter the boss arena.

One thing they need to fine tune is the tracking on some skill and the ai team mates have KH3 syndrome where they steal your aggro and you can't really sit next to them to still block attacks you'd like to punish. Interestingly, it seems the AI backs off on regular enemies if you're targeting them.

One thing hurting this game is the exclusive demo, I think letting more people play it would really turn them around to it.

 

[Marissa Moira]

I've been checking out the Stranger of Paradise demo. I think the game's good. I think some things need tuning before it launches later this year, but I also don't agree calling it a Souslike. It's more like Nioh Final Fantasy and I think it does a good job of incorporating classic Final Fantasy mechanics into a different genre. The mage class alone is fun, not to mention how fun combat feels mechanically and the combo system is nice. I like the changes Hard Mode has in the demo, with the MP system dropping half your bar when you die and you can retrieve it. They even made it so you get it back when you enter the boss arena.

One thing they need to fine tune is the tracking on some skill and the ai team mates have KH3 syndrome where they steal your aggro and you can't really sit next to them to still block attacks you'd like to punish. Interestingly, it seems the AI backs off on regular enemies if you're targeting them.

One thing hurting this game is the exclusive demo, I think letting more people play it would really turn them around to it.

Nioh is a soulslike game.

 

[Berrakh]

So Nojima is the writer of Strangers in Paradise? I know he 'wrote' FF7 but can we admit he's not that good and the more a game relies on or centralizes his writing the worse it is?

 

[Cisna H. Scumale]

So Nojima is the writer of Strangers in Paradise? I know he 'wrote' FF7 but can we admit he's not that good and the more a game relies on or centralizes his writing the worse it is?

He's also the guy who wrote Final Fantasy X-2.5. You know, the story where Tidus killed himself punting a bomb he thought was a blitzball.

I expect nothing but the best popcorn-fueled writing for this game.

 

[Berrakh]

He's also the guy who wrote Final Fantasy X-2.5. You know, the story where Tidus killed himself punting a bomb he thought was a blitzball.

I expect nothing but the best popcorn-fueled writing for this game.

The best I can say about his writing is that the structure can be good and can contain a lot of meaning/resonance on its own. But the dialogue is not.

 

[Captain Syrup]

You know, the story where Tidus killed himself punting a bomb he thought was a blitzball.

Thousands of years ago some hitmen came to Besaid to kill summoners and left behind a Bomb disguised as a blitzball.

Because summoners are avid blitzball players, obvs