Talk me into sticking with FF VII

[ZeroAX]

While I like it, I can completely understand not liking FFVII. It's actually really crappy if you look at every individual factor, but somehow manages to be much greater than the sum of all its parts.

However, if you like older RPGs but want to try something with the flair of a PS1 RPG, definitely give FFIX a try.

Also, poke VIII with a stick. I really like it

There were parts where I ADORED FF7 (the part where you walk through the train tracks to find yourself in Barret's hometown still makes my tear ducts tingle. That music, OH that music),but simply put it wasn't my first Final Fantasy game. So what everyone liked about it I saw done first in 6 and better 8.

In fact that is what 7 felt like for me. Something between 6 and 8. But I preferred the way 6 went all steam punk and 8 all sci-fi.

Also a major problem for me is that I REALLY didn't care for any of the characters bar RedXIII. Maybe I would have cared a lot for Aeris if I didn't know she was going to be turned into a souvlaki some time soon.

So perhaps the reason I didn't enjoy it as much as you guys, the reason the game didn't make me feel any emotions (except when I was walking to Barret's hometown, and when Cid lost his chance at fulfilling his dream to save that girl), was cause the biggest plot twist was spoiled to me a long time ago.

Also think how interesting a villain Sephiroth would have been if you were playing the game for the first time. You don't know what he looks like and you just follow the trail of bodies he leaves behind. But I already knew so much about him from all the videos/wallpapers/everything that you see posted online.

FF6 and 8 on the otherhand (and every other FF game) went completely unspoiled for me. So those games were able to get major emotions out of me at various parts of the game. (mind you the main emotion 8 got out of me was adrenaline, but it's ok. Liking a JRPG for something other than its drama is good too, right?).

Also not a big fan of the materia system, but also not an enemy. It was just a bit basic imo.

The music was great though of course . But 6 was and still is the best FF game in the music department (and I'd say in the story and character departments too, though 9 does have the single best character of every FF game), so even that didn't manage to impress me as much as most people.


My 2 cents...

[AppleQueso]

Also think how interesting a villain Sephiroth would have been if you were playing the game for the first time. You don't know what he looks like and you just follow the trail of bodies he leaves behind. But I already knew so much about him from all the videos/wallpapers/everything that you see posted online...

I had kinda heard of Sephiroth when I played the game for the first time, and had seen a pic or two of him I think, but literally everything else about the character was completely new to me. Hell, I didn't even know he was from that game or that he was a villain.

It's a really cool experience if you know very little to nothing about the game going in, I gotta say for sure. Overexposure I think has probably hurt FF7 more than just about any game I can think of.

It really is a far better game than most of the naysayers would have you believe, even if it's not quite the masterpiece that its fanboys claim it is. I still enjoy it quite a bit, "overrated"-ness be damned.

I gotta say though, I find it kinda annoying that you're pretty much blasted nowadays for enjoying this game unless you preface it with "I know it's flawed but--" or something along those lines.

Actually I think this article sums up my own feelings of the game perfectly.

[ZeroAX]

I gotta say though, I find it kinda annoying that you're pretty much blasted nowadays for enjoying this game unless you preface it with "I know it's flawed but--" or something along those lines.

Oh I never said that. I can perfectly respect why someone would love this game. I can see why it's interesting. I just said that it wasn't to me. A lot of people also blast me for loving FF8 and liking FF13 and FF12 (and I never got why 12 was controversial. It just fixed sooooo much that was wrong with the JRPG genre, and yet people still complained that it dared to change things too much. Xenoblade proved that 12 was on the right track (if not exactly there yet)

[AppleQueso]

I gotta say though, I find it kinda annoying that you're pretty much blasted nowadays for enjoying this game unless you preface it with "I know it's flawed but--" or something along those lines.

Oh I never said that. I can perfectly respect why someone would love this game. I can see why it's interesting. I just said that it wasn't to me. A lot of people also blast me for loving FF8 and liking FF13 and FF12 (and I never got why 12 was controversial. It just fixed sooooo much that was wrong with the JRPG genre, and yet people still complained that it dared to change things too much. Xenoblade proved that 12 was on the right track (if not exactly there yet)

It's just a general comment, not directed at you.

I have a love/hate relationship with XII, I like how it's such a "different" Final Fantasy, I like the setting and story, I love the hugeness of the overworld and all sorts of other things, but at the same time, it's got a lot of problems that prevent me from calling it a favorite. I still own a copy though and I'm glad to.

[ZeroAX]

It's just a general comment, not directed at you.

I have a love/hate relationship with XII, I like how it's such a "different" Final Fantasy, I like the setting and story, I love the hugeness of the overworld and all sorts of other things, but at the same time, it's got a lot of problems that prevent me from calling it a favorite. I still own a copy though and I'm glad to.

I would love to ask your opinion on the cast of FF7. Specially compared to characters from other FF games. The protagonists are always an important part of a FF experience for me, and since 7 was everyone's first the characters tend to have a special place in their heart.

What do you think? How does the cast compare with other games? (we should have more dicussions where we analyze the games so much...oh wait yes we do, I love this forum )

[AppleQueso]

It's just a general comment, not directed at you.

I have a love/hate relationship with XII, I like how it's such a "different" Final Fantasy, I like the setting and story, I love the hugeness of the overworld and all sorts of other things, but at the same time, it's got a lot of problems that prevent me from calling it a favorite. I still own a copy though and I'm glad to.

I would love to ask your opinion on the cast of FF7. Specially compared to characters from other FF games. The protagonists are always an important part of a FF experience for me, and since 7 was everyone's first the characters tend to have a special place in their heart.

What do you think? How does the cast compare with other games? (we should have more dicussions where we analyze the games so much...oh wait yes we do, I love this forum )

Hmm...

I'd rank 7's cast probably just below 6's. They're pretty similar if you think about it, lots of tragic backstories and melodrama and whatnot. However, even though 7's cast seems to have a tad more spunk all around, 6 is does a better job fleshing out its characters. Probably helps that the story in 6 never gets anywhere near as messy or convoluted as 7's tends to at times. 6 had the better villain too, though I think if Hojo had ended up being the main villain in 7 Kefka would've had some pretty strong competition.

For the record though, I think 9 has the best cast in the whole series. Seriously, the cast MAKES that game for me.

[ZeroAX]

Seriously, the cast MAKES that game for me.

Agreed (just see my love letter to Vivi a few pages back), but it also has some questionable additions. Quina and um....that red haired dude? It's a pretty bad thing if I can't remember the name of a character of a game I adored and I beat it just a year and a half ago.

[AppleQueso]

Seriously, the cast MAKES that game for me.

Agreed (just see my love letter to Vivi a few pages back), but it also has some questionable additions. Quina and um....that red haired dude? It's a pretty bad thing if I can't remember the name of a character of a game I adored and I beat it just a year and a half ago.

Oh yeah... those two guys. I completely forgot they existed.

I think the red haired guy was Amarand or something like that.

[Xeogred]

Hmm...

I'd rank 7's cast probably just below 6's. They're pretty similar if you think about it, lots of tragic backstories and melodrama and whatnot. However, even though 7's cast seems to have a tad more spunk all around, 6 is does a better job fleshing out its characters. Probably helps that the story in 6 never gets anywhere near as messy or convoluted as 7's tends to at times. 6 had the better villain too, though I think if Hojo had ended up being the main villain in 7 Kefka would've had some pretty strong competition.

For the record though, I think 9 has the best cast in the whole series. Seriously, the cast MAKES that game for me.

Hmm, not sure if I can see the comparison between 7 and 6's casts. Everytime I replay 7 I find more things to nitpick about the characters and some of them are just hilariously bad to me (I think Barret is one of the better ones who makes sense the whole time). Overall, character wise I probably just think 6 blows 7 out of the water. I'd even say 5's cast is pretty damn good and better as well, 4 too obviously.

Don't even get me started on Tifa going into Cloud's mind. That and the whole Cloud/Zack thing is when it goes bonkers for sure. But damnit, I still love FF7 for everything else... the atmosphere, gameplay (love the Materia system myself), music, the chunky charming look, etc. I can nitpick it a lot but I've successfully cleared it several times unlike other FF's, so that says something.

I for one like to believe the Jenova > Sephiroth theory. It's her/it controlling him the entire time after he was infected or whatever. So he's just a lifeless tool. I don't care for him much, but looking at it this way makes me like him more than not. It is... the J-Virus! lol

I can't remember a damn thing about FF9's cast, so yeah...

[ZeroAX]

Hmm, not sure if I can see the comparison between 7 and 6's casts. Everytime I replay 7 I find more things to nitpick about the characters and some of them are just hilariously bad to me (I think Barret is one of the better ones who makes sense the whole time). Overall, character wise I probably just think 6 blows 7 out of the water. I'd even say 5's cast is pretty damn good and better as well, 4 too obviously.


I can't remember a damn thing about FF9's cast, so yeah...

The little Vivi in all of us just died.

Haha Cait Sith, Yufi and the vampire dude were just a joke to me. Cloud for some reason seems kind of bland to me. Maybe he was kind of new at the time, but all the emo anime/JRPG protagonists since then make him very annoying for me. Zidane was a breath of fresh air. And at least with Squal we got to see what he was thinking, instead of him just standing there all day.