The Final Fantasy Thread

[Captain Syrup]

FFIV DS was my first final fantasy, rented it from blockbuster, absolutely loved it. Apparently everyone hates it for being ugly and hard, go figure.

SE made their bed, now they get to lie in it.

 

[The Penultimate Warrior]

Started playing FFX HD, about 15 hours in and enjoying it so far. It's still a pretty looking game with lots of vibrant colours and designs, even if some of the animations now look rather odd (Wakka's battle pose makes it look like he's broken his neck for example). I really like the battle system though, being able to switch out characters and equipment at any time means you don't accidentally enter a major fight with completely the wrong setup. Not that engaged with Tidus thus far, seems like a discount Zidane, but still plenty of plot left for him to develop.

Only thing I don't like is the encounter rate is incredibly high, you can't take more than a few steps without seemingly getting into a fight.

 

[Freya]

the pixel remasters on steam look good actually. surprised square didnt fuck this up

FINAL FANTASY III on Steam

The original FINAL FANTASY III comes to life with completely new graphics and audio! A remodeled 2D take on the third game in the world-renowned FINAL FANTASY series! Enjoy the timeless story told through charming retro graphics.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

FFIV DS was my first final fantasy, rented it from blockbuster, absolutely loved it. Apparently everyone hates it for being ugly and hard, go figure.
This game convinced me to play a bunch of other final fantasy games afterwards and made me realize I don’t actually care for the rest of the series at all. Bravely Default FF is cool though.

I legit think most of the hate comes from how Bahumut Worked in DS vs all the other versions.

Him being at the bottom of a very long dungeon, with Miniboss Behemoth Encounters and few save points feels really bad when you are going "Okay Bahumut himself will be easy..I just do the reflecting Megaflare thing" and then you get wiped because they made Megaflare immune to Reflect.

 

[Buttigieg2020]

I legit think most of the hate comes from how Bahumut Worked in DS vs all the other versions.

Him being at the bottom of a very long dungeon, with Miniboss Behemoth Encounters and few save points feels really bad when you are going "Okay Bahumut himself will be easy..I just do the reflecting Megaflare thing" and then you get wiped because they made Megaflare immune to Reflect.

Yeah you actually have to use buffs like shell in DS FFIV, that’s why I thought it was cool, it was almost SMT like. That, the random nonmetal cave, the demon wall, and computer core boss all forced you to think outside the box.

 

[Honka Honka Burning Love]

Yeah you actually have to use buffs like shell in DS FFIV, that’s why I thought it was cool, it was almost SMT like.

Oh that wasn't the part most people loathed, it was mostly feeling really cheated that Bahumut is a real fight now, but the save point is super far away.

 

[Dread First]

I finally decided to play that Dissidia remake since I got it gifted to me a long time ago. I never touched it because I heard the reviews were bad, but I spent some time emulating the original Dissidia and I just felt the urge to Beat Fang with Squall all day erryday again.

I gotta say... they didn't just massacre my boy. They completely and utterly ruined every single aspect that made Dissidia and Dissidia 012 such fantastic games. God damn, it Square Enix... how can you go from making fantastic games like Crisis Core, Dissidia, and Final Fantasy XIV: ARR, but then go on to produce abject rubbish like this?

Fucking hell, no wonder I started hyperfixating on mainline MegaTen instead. Oh well, at least the original games are still just as amazing as I remember.

 

[Captain Syrup]

I gotta say... they didn't just massacre my boy. They completely and utterly ruined every single aspect that made Dissidia and Dissidia 012 such fantastic games.

ngl, this was my ringtone for a while:

Good to see fans showing some backbone, though. NT is one of the dumbest kids SE ever popped; it's not even up for debate.

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

It was Ellone. How she was doing it I don't remember though.

Indeed. And there isn't much to remember because they say it's just a special power she has. Yet another example of shallow worldbuilding. How can we see the past? Some lady makes the party go.

 

[Dread First]

Good to see fans showing some backbone, though. NT is one of the dumbest kids SE ever popped; it's not even up for debate.

NT pissed me off specifically because Dissidia legitimately is my all-time favourite Final Fantasy game. Technically, my introduction to Final Fantasy was through Crisis Core (and by extension, the rest of the FF7 compilation) back in 2007, but Dissidia was the game that made me fall in love with Final Fantasy as an entire franchise.

I turned my PSP into a literal Final Fantasy machine after I hacked it. I still have the original Memory Stick that has ISOs of FF1, FF2, FF3, and FF4, GBA ROMs of FF5 and FF6, along with the official PSN Eboots of FF7, FF8, and FF9. I spent most of my middle school years and the first half of high school just slowly digging away at all these games that I genuinely did enjoy on some level. They certainly weren't perfect and I absolutely did have gripes with each game, even when I was a retarded teenager. With that said though, each game (even the more controversial ones like FF7-FF13) still provided a unique experience and even their worst aspects still weren't enough to override the fun I invariably had.

There's so much I could say about NT, but the crux of my argument here is Dissidia (200 and Dissidia 012 were both excellent games that highlighted the best parts of every instalment of the franchise, had fun combat, and the RPG elements were actually quite charming with so many hours of additional bonus story and arcade content. Dissidia NT by all counts not only fails to achieve what the original Dissidia did, but it actively tried to sabotage all the best aspects of the original game.

That to me was what made me become completely and utterly numb to Square Enix as a company... even if I do secretly enjoy playing FF14 from time to time.

 

[Coldgrip]

Indeed. And there isn't much to remember because they say it's just a special power she has. Yet another example of shallow worldbuilding. How can we see the past? Some lady makes the party go.

Not the first time Square's given someone random ass powers and never elaborated on it. Remember Cait Sith? How was Reeve controlling him? It's his special ability. No, it's never elaborated on just how, where, or when he got that power, just that he uses it to animate puppets.

 

[Captain Syrup]

it actively tried to sabotage all the best aspects of the original game.

There was a kernel of a good idea in there. I'm interested to learn about WoL's origin and his connection with Cid.

 

[Coster]

I'm interested to learn about WoL's origin and his connection with Cid.

This is all elaborated in Dissidia and Duodecim.

 

[Captain Syrup]

This is all elaborated in Dissidia and Duodecim.

In cutscenes or diaries?

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

Not the first time Square's given someone random ass powers and never elaborated on it. Remember Cait Sith? How was Reeve controlling him? It's his special ability. No, it's never elaborated on just how, where, or when he got that power, just that he uses it to animate puppets.

I assumed Reeve was using a remote control and had the absolute best wi-fi in the world. After all, cell phones exist in FF7 and Shinra is a company that makes killbots. Why not stick a killbot in a fluffy, fat mog?

 

[Captain Syrup]

I assumed Reeve was using a remote control and had the absolute best wi-fi in the world.

Square just wanted to show off their fancy character models. Same reason Red XIII is in the party.

 

[MirrorNoir]

Indeed. And there isn't much to remember because they say it's just a special power she has. Yet another example of shallow worldbuilding. How can we see the past? Some lady makes the party go.

it's implied strongly that "sorceresses" are mutants in FF8 and Ellone's time magic was her mutant/sorceress powers.

Also, it goes to the bad writing that Square should have just used "witch" instead of "Sorceress" to describe the big bad, since at least in the US, it would have made some of the plot easier to understand/digest given the implications western cultures have regarding witches and how reviled they are in society as evil creatures that do bad shit.

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

it's implied strongly that "sorceresses" are mutants in FF8 and Ellone's time magic was her mutant/sorceress powers.

Also, it goes to the bad writing that Square should have just used "witch" instead of "Sorceress" to describe the big bad, since at least in the US, it would have made some of the plot easier to understand/digest given the implications western cultures have regarding witches and how reviled they are in society as evil creatures that do bad shit.

But the time travel power is explicitly Ellone's, yet she's not a sorceress herself despite Adel trying to turn her into one. It's also unknown how Ultimecia does it whether by having the power herself or she has an Ellone machine. There's also wasted lore in this game that you can hear at Zell's mom's neighbor's house about the creator god Hyne fighting a war against the humans and he gave up the weaker half of his body and that's how they got magic. Science then figured out how to create para-magic which is the magic we see in the game. The game really doesn't give enough lore to infer how time travel works.

 

[Captain Syrup]

Also, it goes to the bad writing that Square should have just used "witch" instead of "Sorceress"

Afraid of offending Wiccans?

Fairuza Balk would be leading that charge, let me tell you.

 

[MightyBiteySnake]

I assumed Reeve was using a remote control and had the absolute best wi-fi in the world. After all, cell phones exist in FF7 and Shinra is a company that makes killbots. Why not stick a killbot in a fluffy, fat mog?

But it's not that simple. Each Cait sith is fully autonomous and loyal to Reeve, on top of having its own personality. On top of that, in FF7 Cait Sith jumps between being a radio for Reeve to communicate to the party and speaking on his own, and there's no cue to tell which is which. The details of this are never elaborated on, beyond Reeve having a "special connection" to all the automatons he creates, which depending on your source may just be called a psychic link. How Mog, the giant moogle doll Cait rides in 7, fits into all of this is also unclear

For example, the Cait Sith that sacrifices himself to form the black materia specifically states that another Cait Sith will replace him but that they're all unique from each other and have their own memories, but outside of these scenes and his introduction, it's never brought up again and almost every important moment revolving around Cait Sith after this is implied to be Reeve.