Final Fantasy XII (12) first PS2 game I beat

[brunoafh]

Granted, but to me, the series was built on distinct, well defined job classes, and at times, the ability to shift classes. This is one of the reasons I think XI is really a more remarkable addition to the series than most fans of FF will admit, or even care to find out, because it's MMO. II did break early from this (I can't even call it a tradition, at that point) and certainly shares more in common with VI, VII, and VIII than anything else. I don't typically care for FFs that loosely define jobs without some ingenuity to them, though. I don't love X (I hate the story) but I enjoy the sphere grid, so I can live with the mixing of job structures. (I'll admit, I give XII a bit of a pass because I like Matsuno's style.) VI, VII and especially VIII don't really make me feel like one character can be set in a specific role much better than another. VI is probably the least offensive in that way, but I don't really find it to be all that exciting a game to begin with. The overall style just feels too brooding, and too pretentious to me. I find the twist to be a bit mundane, and the opera scene actually bored me--I don't understand what's so special about that at all. Those are my issues though, I'm well aware that others love the game, and it's often highly recommended. I do like VI better than VII, for what it's worth.

I predict that V is your favorite one then.

As for XI, I've never played it and don't really have any opinion on it. Neither of those are likely to ever change. I'm just not into the genre, but I've actually heard pretty good things about it (as opposed to XIV).

I've always felt like something that was really interesting about Final Fantasy though was how there were initially two distinct styles. The story driven (II, IV, VI, and on), and the gameplay driven (I, III, V). VII is the one that started meshing the gameplay driven and story driven aspects though, as the materia system was the most complex system the franchise had at that point, and the story was absolutely the main focus. To this day it kind of confuses me how the game is so polarizing, as I really don't see how it was much different than the previous games in a negative way aside from visuals.

[pierrot]

I predict that V is your favorite one then.

Actually, my favorites of the series are III and IX. I've never really made it much farther than the ship graveyard any time I try to play V, for whatever reason. I think it's just a mental block from hearing classmates in middle school say that the game spans multiple planets, and it seems like too much of a time investment. I have the SFC cart, though, so I'm planning on playing it eventually. (Or hoping to, at least.)

I've always felt like something that was really interesting about Final Fantasy though was how there were initially two distinct styles. The story driven (II, IV, VI, and on), and the gameplay driven (I, III, V). VII is the one that started meshing the gameplay driven and story driven aspects though, as the materia system was the most complex system the franchise had at that point, and the story was absolutely the main focus. To this day it kind of confuses me how the game is so polarizing, as I really don't see how it was much different than the previous games in a negative way aside from visuals.

I suppose. IV feels like it maintains the spirit of what I would consider to be "Final Fantasy," anyway.

I generally hate talking about VII because I have almost nothing good to say about it, but in general, it feels like it's lauded for very mundane things. I have the same basic problem with VII's story that I do with VI, in that it feels overly pretentious, and unnecessarily convoluted. It released around the time anime was reaching a wider audience in the west, so it's partly understandable, I suppose, but at the time the argument for its 'awesomeness' seemed to be, "OMG, look how bad ass Cloud/Sepheroth/Vincent is!!!11!1" I find half of the characters in VII to be the most vapid, useless things in video games: The aforementioned emo-trio could be exchanged for sandbags with swords/guns, and I'm sure I wouldn't notice; Aerith is one of the worst prop characters I can think of. I'd like to keep this ranting to a minimum, so basically, I hate the characters, I think the story is a complete mess, and I find the materia system is esoteric for the first half of the game and broken for the second half.



Let's not talk about crusty ol' FFVII, though. Instead, let's talk about some PS2 RPGs that deserve Zero's time, like Breath of Fire V. (Sakimoto Hitoshi was also the composer for that game's soundtrack.)

[ZeroAX]

Let's not talk about crusty ol' FFVII, though. Instead, let's talk about some PS2 RPGs that deserve Zero's time, like Breath of Fire V. (Sakimoto Hitoshi was also the composer for that game's soundtrack.)

Sorry I'm playing 2 other RPGs right now . Megaman Legends 2 on the PS1 and Dark Chronicle (Dark Cloud 2 to you guys) on the PS2. Really fun games

[alienjesus]

I predict that V is your favorite one then.

Actually, my favorites of the series are III and IX. I've never really made it much farther than the ship graveyard any time I try to play V, for whatever reason. I think it's just a mental block from hearing classmates in middle school say that the game spans multiple planets, and it seems like too much of a time investment. I have the SFC cart, though, so I'm planning on playing it eventually. (Or hoping to, at least.)

For what it's worth, FFV is a good 10 hours or more shorter than FFIX.

[pierrot]

Agh, don't make me play FFV right now. I haven't the time, sir. (Ten hours short of IX is still a really long game for me these days, though.)

[brunoafh]

Agh, don't make me play FFV right now. I haven't the time, sir. (Ten hours short of IX is still a really long game for me these days, though.)

If you like the job stuff in III you would probably be all over it, as the gameplay is basically an extension of that. I pretty much look at it as a sequel to III. I don't think you would have any of the story issues you had in VI-VIII, it's just basic save the world 101 stuff with a gloriously cheesy villain akin to Garland and Golbez. I would probably put it above VI myself, although I tend to go back and forth on that.

[Xeogred]

Having played and completed all first 10 entries (in various forms), yeah I'd say FFV completely blows FFIII out of the water (I really enjoyed FFIII though, the most insane final dungeon(S) experience ever, awesome music, etc). You definitely owe it to yourself to get through FFV someday though, pierrot.

Although it wasn't love at first sight for me and took me three times to really get into it, it's probably my favorite battle system wise in retrospect here. I think I'd say gameplay wise, I probably like FFIV and FFV the most, then maybe FFVII (love the materia system). FFIV is pretty bare bones but it was the original formula perfected and the 5 character thing really sets it apart from the rest, kind of surprised they never did that again. FFV is one that can probably be a completely different experience with every replay, with the diversity of the job classes and all, varied playstyles is always awesome. With just about all of the other FF's I feel like I'd have to forcibly limit myself or change things to offer a different gameplay/battle experience. Between VI-VIII I'd probably take the materia system and say it was the most dynamic, although I guess the characters weren't as distinct with their specialized skills as they were in FFVI. Even though I love huge casts in JRPG's, I do feel like FFVI feels a bit cluttered later on and there's definitely some shovelware characters.

... Actually, I'm not sure where FFX stands, but I am stoked for the HD release for a good excuse to replay it. Although I have many issues with the characters/story (let's be honest, I can nitpick FFVII-IX to death too), I've never dismissed the gameplay when I look back on it. The Sphere Grid was really awesome, the attacks and skills characters had were great, on the fly character switching has always been badass in JRPG's, and yeah, the gameplay was incredible.

FFIX, I don't know. Loved it at the time but I never know what to think about it anymore. I just remember the battles and all were a lot slower paced and felt like a grind at times, compared to the others. It's like... I like when the games are actually challenging and not too simple or easily abused (VI-VIII), but it can be a drag if it's too slow. I dunno? lol.

As always I wrote up all of this without thinking of FFXII haha. It's just too different to compare to any of these. I only really think of it when Vagrant Story is brought up or vice versa.

[ZeroAX]

Did you try setting the battle speed in FF IX to fast?

[pierrot]

I am really hoping to one day get to V, but it has some opposition on my list of SFC games to get to, which currently looks something like:

-Mother 2
-Seiken Densetsu 2
-Seiken Densetsu 3
-Dragon Quest III
-Final Fantasy V

Considering the SFC is generally pretty low on the totem pole of systems I feel like powering on, it could be a while, but at some point it should happen.

[Xeogred]

Did you try setting the battle speed in FF IX to fast?

It's truly been at least 10 years, so I have no idea. Chances are I probably didn't do that with the FF's back then, which I always do now in ATB styled games if I can haha.

Did it feel slow to you? Maybe it was the issue I had with it. I eventually do want to revisit the game someday, maybe I'll be able to stick it out unlike my failed FFVIII replays. That and next to Chrono Cross I remember it having some of the most gorgeous backgrounds ever.

-Seiken Densetsu 2
-Seiken Densetsu 3

I'll let it slide then.