New FF 13 trailer

[vejita]

I had a FF desktop on my computer at one point and my fiance saw it and thought I turned gay.

That's just sad...

[Mozgus]

Okay seriously guys, what's the last Final Fantasy game you've played? Try mashing X over and over again in Crisis Core and I guarantee you'll get your ass handed to you. You can get away with it early on, but not as you get farther in and you'll never have a chance against any of the tough later missions and optional battles and bosses. You actually have to *gasp* dodge attacks and maneuver around in that game AND you need good equipment set ups and strategies. Try mashing X over and over again against Minerva.

You can't beat ANY of the tougher bosses in Final Fantasy 12 by just mashing X over and over either. You need really solid strategies and the ability to change up your gameplan when the bosses do something different or you die and QUICKLY. This is true of EVERY Final Fantasy game from FF1 to FF 12. Even with the gambit system you need to come up with some rather complex set ups for them to work and even then you'll need to step in and improvise throughout many of the fights

Seriously, it's lame when people bash things they don't really play, like a legion of Dynasty Warriors reviews I could rant all day about, which pretty much amount to the same BS about how you can mash X all day when playing them. Like any of those reviewers have ever taken on any of the games' tougher challenges. Basically when I read a DW review that says you can mash X all day it means you played for twenty minutes, probably on easy and wrote your review. You know what? EVERY game is easy in the early goings

I'm sorry but I've beaten entire games in the series by holding X, or whatever the action button was for the specific system of choice. There is no real strategy in this series. It's always been quintessential RPG for dummies. It's a stepping stone to the more mature offerings. Just because theres 1 or 2 bosses where you can only kill them with a phoenix down or some elemental magic, does not mean it's even the least bit strategic.

Also I don't care about any of the FF7 spin-off cash-in games. They just look shameless, and I won't play them. I did however play some Kingdom Hearts, and I was very impressed at how they managed to convert the brain-dead "press X 5000 times to win" formula into an action game. I was relieved that Squaresoft did not try to fool me into investing any time with that game. They designed it so that, right from start, you are aware that its not for you.

[marurun]

Okay seriously guys, what's the last Final Fantasy game you've played? Try mashing X over and over again in Crisis Core and I guarantee you'll get your ass handed to you. You can get away with it early on, but not as you get farther in and you'll never have a chance against any of the tough later missions and optional battles and bosses. You actually have to *gasp* dodge attacks and maneuver around in that game AND you need good equipment set ups and strategies. Try mashing X over and over again against Minerva.

Yes, Mozgus was over-simplifying, but really, FF battles are relatively simple affairs. Sometimes they're hard because enemies have tons of HP or are strong to everything but X or because they can kill half the party with a single spell (more a hallmark of the older games), or just because there are so damn many battles. When a game throws as many battles as you as the FF games do, there's no way for them all to be strategic, and it just gets dull fast. Now FF isn't the only culprit. The entire JRPG model fails at this. Grandia and Grandia II were pretty good, but they could have been better with fewer battles that were harder. Only the SRPG actually goes far enough to deal with this problem.

The bottom line? JRPG combat is menial, oppressive, and too common. I prefer shorter JRPGs because it gives me time to get through the game without getting bored of fighting repetitious, annoying battles. The longer games I just can't get through any longer. Not because they're too hard, but because they don't have any variety. And Square's stupid mini-games that they throw in like Chocobo racing and whatnot don't help because they're not strong enough to be fun games on their own. It's not like the way they throw a couple old arcade titles into Shenmu.

[corn619]

I think if a JRPG has a charming story and instills a sense of grand adventure, it can overcome the sometimes tedious, boring battles. Dragon Quest VIII comes to mind when typing this. Even though the combat was simplistic, the monster designs were cool and I wanted everything. The bad parts didn't stop me from putting 125+ Hrs into this game. It has to be good for me to put that much time and effort into a game.

[vejita]

yes, that's another factor in RPGs- collection. If there's stuff to collect, no matter how inane and crazy I may appear for wanting them (like all the titles in Tales of "xxx" games or SO3's bunnies), I've got to go for the 100% rating. it's a complete waste of time for the most part, but that's also why I played Dead or alive: eXtreme Volleyball...

... to collect the outfits

[marurun]

Yeah, in games where collecting is important I start out trying to collect, too. That just makes it worse. It heightens the burnout, because when I do give up part of the reason is because I know the game will have killed my brain by the time I ever get close to 100%.

[glynnahab]

After FF6 the magic was lost and the characters started to look very girly. I stopped caring about the main character when they started looking like he man she bitches.

You can blame that on Tetsuya Nomura and his affinity for zippers.

NO MORE-A NOMURA!!!

[Gamerforlife]

Okay seriously guys, what's the last Final Fantasy game you've played? Try mashing X over and over again in Crisis Core and I guarantee you'll get your ass handed to you. You can get away with it early on, but not as you get farther in and you'll never have a chance against any of the tough later missions and optional battles and bosses. You actually have to *gasp* dodge attacks and maneuver around in that game AND you need good equipment set ups and strategies. Try mashing X over and over again against Minerva.

You can't beat ANY of the tougher bosses in Final Fantasy 12 by just mashing X over and over either. You need really solid strategies and the ability to change up your gameplan when the bosses do something different or you die and QUICKLY. This is true of EVERY Final Fantasy game from FF1 to FF 12. Even with the gambit system you need to come up with some rather complex set ups for them to work and even then you'll need to step in and improvise throughout many of the fights

Seriously, it's lame when people bash things they don't really play, like a legion of Dynasty Warriors reviews I could rant all day about, which pretty much amount to the same BS about how you can mash X all day when playing them. Like any of those reviewers have ever taken on any of the games' tougher challenges. Basically when I read a DW review that says you can mash X all day it means you played for twenty minutes, probably on easy and wrote your review. You know what? EVERY game is easy in the early goings

I'm sorry but I've beaten entire games in the series by holding X, or whatever the action button was for the specific system of choice. There is no real strategy in this series. It's always been quintessential RPG for dummies. It's a stepping stone to the more mature offerings. Just because theres 1 or 2 bosses where you can only kill them with a phoenix down or some elemental magic, does not mean it's even the least bit strategic.

Also I don't care about any of the FF7 spin-off cash-in games. They just look shameless, and I won't play them. I did however play some Kingdom Hearts, and I was very impressed at how they managed to convert the brain-dead "press X 5000 times to win" formula into an action game. I was relieved that Squaresoft did not try to fool me into investing any time with that game. They designed it so that, right from start, you are aware that its not for you.

Um yeah, you clearly don't know squat about FF games. Your post speaks for itself to anyone whose has put serious time into mastering them. Everything I said is FACT, not opinion, from someone whose beaten quite a few of them and conquered most of the optional stuff(including super bosses) and there IS strategy involved and holding down X all day will NOT get you through the whole game. Taking down the tougher bosses is more involved than using a phoenix down or elemental magic.

You're making generalizations and lies to back up your argument

[Mozgus]

Um yeah, you clearly don't know squat about FF games. Your post speaks for itself to anyone whose has put serious time into mastering them. Everything I said is FACT, not opinion, from someone whose beaten quite a few of them and conquered most of the optional stuff(including super bosses) and there IS strategy involved and holding down X all day will NOT get you through the whole game. Taking down the tougher bosses is more involved than using a phoenix down or elemental magic.

You're making generalizations and lies to back up your argument

You say you have the facts, I say I have the facts. What are you going to do about it? You aren't going to sit there and tell me I did not spend 12 hours beating FFIV GBA emulated, doing nothing but holding A and the fast forward button, because I was there and I remember doing it. You were not there, so you can't say shit.

[MrPopo]

Moz, you do realize that FFIVA had a bug which completely crippled any kind of difficulty in the game whatsoever. When enemies simply don't get turns half the time it kinda undermines any attempts at requiring player strategy. Perform the same feat on any other version of FFIV and you'll have an argument.