Final Fantasy II - Like an old comfortable sweatshirt

[Zing]

Maybe it was just decided that FF5 was a "better" FF3 and didn't waste time on it. Plus, the first two games were just ports of the Wonderswan versions. There was no Wonderswan FF3, only 1, 2, and 4.

[Ziggy]

But I thought FF2 was the one that every one hates because it's broken. FF3 always seemed halfway decent to me. I just think it's a shame that it never got a proper console remake.

And for that matter... has any one ever played the real FF2 ?

[Xeogred]

I guess you missed my FF adventure last year Ziggy. Here's a snippet of my "Games Beaten"...

Final Fantasy IV (PSP)
Thunder Force III (GEN)
Thunder Spirits (SNES)*
Final Fantasy II (PSP)
Final Fantasy V (GBA)
Final Fantasy III (NES)

It was pretty gross. But anyways, I kind of did FFIII just to say I've officially beaten I-X in some fashion now, but it turned out to be a pretty cool game and I had a lot of fun with it even after four other FF's back to back, lol. For an NES game it was pretty insane how huge it was, graphically and musically, there was like 60 some tracks I think. One of my favorites right here. I also had no interest in the DS remake (or the FFIV one), so yeah I just jumped into the NES game. I don't know if I have the balls to do it for FFI or FFII someday haha, but yeah.

It's not perfect, half the classes suck, and every single dungeon is riddled with "hidden passages" that you have to navigate half the time to get anywhere, there was nothing quite like this in any of the other games. If you've played the game, you know what I'm talking about. The encounter rate wasn't too bad, and the menu and combat definitely set the standard for the SNES games that followed. It wasn't as clunky as FFI-FFII. But yeah, the story is about 4 kids that are literally like younger than 10 I think, who save the world and kill this evil cloud of darkness. The end, lol. It's a pure dungeon crawler through and through, so if that sounds appealing then maybe it's for you, maybe not. It was worth it to me though and yeah, now I'm even more pissed it's never gotten the remake/port treatment all the other older games have. FFV is a million times better, but FFIII was still a lot of fun and probably better than FFI-FFII to me gameplay wise and all. It had small sparkles of awesome moments, like the first area you start off in turns out to be just a giant floating island above Earth or something, and other cool moments like that with the airships, etc.

Also I just have to say, I think Popo said it himself along with some others here, but the final dungeon ... nothing, absolutely NOTHING in any other FF game even fucking compares. I think I clocked in about 10 hours worth of gametime on the final dungeon(s) alone (yeah I can't forget the "S" there). There is a dungeon, to get to the final dungeon, which has 3 main sections diverse enough to be 3 separate dungeons within one.

http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/nes/ff3/ ... inth.shtml
http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/nes/ff3/ ... reka.shtml
http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/nes/ff3/maps/sylx.shtml
http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/nes/ff3/maps/dark.shtml

The FFIIII Final Dungeon(s).

Probably worth noting that you can't "run" in FFIII, so block by block baby.

[brunoafh]

FF III is very much worth playing, it's by far my favorite 8-bit RPG. As for why it got no console remakes, it's because the WSC remake was cancelled. It was in the works, but it was deemed too difficult to cram the game on a WSC cart.

It's a damn shame all we have is the DS remake, which both strips the original spirit of the game, and provides some seriously eye straining visuals. Definitely avoid it at all costs and just play the Fami translation.

[MrPopo]

Does the boomerang hit every enemy, or is that another game I'm thinking of?

Dragon Quest. The only Final Fantasy I can think of where a basic attack can hit everyone is VII with the Hit-all Materia (VI's Offering doesn't count).

III on the NES had the most solid gameplay, but II had the best story of the three NES titles. But the system was directed by the guy who went on to do the SaGa series, and it shows.

[Xeogred]

III on the NES had the most solid gameplay, but II had the best story of the three NES titles. But the system was directed by the guy who went on to do the SaGa series, and it shows.

For better or worse? lol. Haven't really dug into the SaGa games yet or anything else this guy has done, but I love a lot of his concepts with the early FF's and whatnot. If I remember right he was pretty involved with The Last Remnant as well, which I happen to be a very rare fan of... he certainly puts gameplay way above everything else, but sometimes it works.

[MrPopo]

III on the NES had the most solid gameplay, but II had the best story of the three NES titles. But the system was directed by the guy who went on to do the SaGa series, and it shows.

For better or worse? lol. Haven't really dug into the SaGa games yet or anything else this guy has done, but I love a lot of his concepts with the early FF's and whatnot. If I remember right he was pretty involved with The Last Remnant as well, which I happen to be a very rare fan of... he certainly puts gameplay way above everything else, but sometimes it works.

He's very big on alternate character advancement. There's my write-up of SaGa 1 in the hard JRPG thread. SaGa 2 adds Robots to the mix, who get stats from their equipment, and unlike other characters in SaGa 2 his weapons recharge on resting (rest are breakable) but he only gets half the uses to compensate. SaGa 3 was done by more traditional folks, so it has actual levels, but you still have transformations which allow you to power up in alternate ways (consumables, items you equip, or intrinsic stats to the form). I haven't played Romancing SaGa 1 or 2, but 3 gives you random HP ups after battle, as well as random MP/TP (weapon skills) based on what you use. You gain proficiency randomly in the weapon/magic you used which increases effectiveness, and you learn skills by sparking them in combat. What happens is you select a regular attack and your character has a little lightbulb appear over their head, and they use a special attack. If they use that special enough they master it, which lets other characters use it without having to spark it, and you can remove it from their skill list without losing it. They can also spark defensive techniques, which lets them 100% dodge a particular type of enemy skill (and frequently it's two or three enemy skills per defence). And to add more flavor to the mix, certain weapon skills require you to repeatedly use a lower level skill to spark, rather than a basic attack.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I like FF III on the DS.

[Ziggy]

So is the After Years worth playing? Is it worth playing for the story, or the actual gameplay? PSP or WiiWare pros and cons?

[noiseredux]

So is the After Years worth playing? Is it worth playing for the story, or the actual gameplay? PSP or WiiWare pros and cons?

I thought After Years was awesome. Get it on PSP. Not only does it look excellent that way, but you'll save $ rather than buying each episode on VC.