final fantasy games!

The Core Video Games Forum
21

Speaking as someone who loves Final Fantasy 4 a lot… I have to admit the new version is a lot better. Considering how deadset I was at first upon finding out my favorite characters would be given voices, something I honestly hate since I prefer using my own imagination, they did a remarkable job making them sound almsot exactly like how I imagined them. The gameplay was fun, and jsut different enough to make me enjoy it, as well as giving me a new challenge to bosses. My only complaints lies in the Added content - that is, the two optional bosses, who are fucking impossible TO beat if you don;t waste fucking hours grinding fucking pinkpuff tails to get five sets of adamant armor. I still wish they’d found a way to work in the Lunarian Ruins from the GBA version, which remains my favorite version of all.

Also, I can;t play FFVII anymore. Of all the PS1 games, this one feels the most painful and aged terribly.

22

Personally, I doubt FFIV is one of the first games you should play. It is important if you want to understand the history of FF, it has its high points, but I think FFVI (also called FFIII for the SNES) does everything better, with special props to the music and characters. As a Lunar fan, you’d probably not be weirded out by the decade+ old 2d graphics.

On the 3d side, play FFX as you’ve got it and it’s quality and visit sometime FFIX and… FFVII. Yes, its graphics are deformed and were deformed back then too, the story is convoluted at times and Cloud started the trend of annoying protagonists, but it’s fun. Besides, most people got into FF with that one at the PSX era, so you’ll be seeing the names of Sephiroth and Aeris more often than references to other FFs.

23

I really hope this doesn’t mean I look like a man. I mean really, I’m not trying to say that I’m pretty, but I think I look at least decidedly female in gender.

24

Don’t worry Kasey, it’s the internet. The golden rule is to never take the female gender for granted. :hahaha;

Anyway, despite our nerdy ranting and debating, hopefully you can get some use out of the info.

25

God damn, I totally didn’t expect that reaction re: FFIV from Hades. At first I was taken aback by the super deformed sprites because I wasn’t a big fan of FF3 DS’ art style. In the end, it wasn’t that bad and the environments were pretty nice. I was impressed they redesigned all the maps to be the same and made the environments look pretty good. It sounds like your major problem with the DS remake was the aesthetic. I found the gameplay and boss battles much more interesting.

26

I have a very unorthodox opinion on FF4: If you want to play the BEST version, play the original US version, which we got on the SNES as Final Fantasy 2.

The PSX version is ugh, because there’s load times. I have no particular opinion on the GBA version.

The DS version, I absolutely hated. Unlike Hades, I think the aesthetic qualities of the game were wonderful: The music was EXCELLENT, the voice acting was good, and the graphics and character designs were just fine (after all, the original graphic style of FF4 WAS super-deformed spites).

What kills me is the gameplay changes at the story presentation:

The story actually didn’t have a lot of changes, but I think they were a bit unnecessary. The main thing that killed it for me was the phony olde-englishe dialoguee. FF4 is a fucking kids’ story! However, the FF4DS script would be incredibly hard for a little kid to read and comprehend. And for what? To try and help older people appreciate a story that really isn’t that deep and interesting for an adult in the first place?

The gameplay…well, I’m at odds with it. Much like Final Fantasy 12, I think that what FF4DS did is a definitively GOOD step in the right direction to make ATB combat more enjoyable. However, it has so many aspects to it that are outrageously obnoxious:

  • Augments, the system in which you learn skills from non-permanent party members, is really unintuitive and explained in a completely misleading manner, making it very hard to utilize on your first playthrough without a strategy guide.

  • You can initiate random battles by walking straight into walls.

  • No touch screen functionality in a game that demands swift decisive action (in other words, it could have really used it)

  • Battle menus are programmed so that you ALWAYS go back to the very top menu branch if you cancel an action, i.e if you are looking at magic spells and pick the wrong spell, you go all the way back to the fight/magic/item menu if you cancel during the part where you have to select a target.

  • Changing “Battle Speed” in the menu does not change how turns are acquired proportionately: In other words, if on the default battle speed, boss 1 gets one turn for every turn you get, the he’ll get twice the amount of turns you get on the fastest speed and half the turns you get on the lowest speed.

  • Spells, which require charge time, will have their charge time ‘frozen’ while certain actions take place whether or not you’ve set the battle mode to Active of Wait (i.e physical attacks). Some actions, however, will NOT freeze the charge time. So, not all actions are treated equally.

  • Counter-Attacks: In the original FF4, bosses had counter attacks, but it was never to the same magnitude that FF4DS has. A lot of counter-attacks (and even with some bosses, just normal multi-target attacks that they can do at ANY TIME) were made with the intention of being able to kill off almost your entire party except for one or two people. This is not very fun, and it really forces the same one or two strategies every time.

…And so. If you’re looking to see an interesting take on where ATB battle systems are going, play FF4DS. If you want to see those ideas realized to their ultimate potential…then stay the FUCK away from FF4DS.

27

I liked those counters. It forces the player to be more strategic.

28

Don’t play the GBA port of FFVI. Play it on ZSNES. I prefer Woolsey’s original translation because it’s full of awesome.

29

FF 1 & 2: Get on GBA. I had fun with this one. Played the hell out of it. FF1’s made super easy, while FF2 is the least sadistic here. Loved playing FF2 on this one.

FFIII: Hit or miss. Actually, I enjoyed the NES version better than I did the DS version. It’s not a bad game, but it really hasn’t aged that well, and doesn’t have much of a story. Still one of my favorites regardless.

FFIV: I’d get the orginal or GBA version. For whatever reason, I never could finish the DS version. Definitely recommended as per stated above.

FFV: GBA is the best version here. The best of the FF ports. Think FFIII, but better in quite a few ways. I’d recommend after you’ve played some of the others.

FFVI: I can’t say anything about this game that hasn’t already been said. Try and play on an emulator I suppose for best results. Recommended.

FFVII: Play it. It really is a great game despite the Lego-looking characters and graphics.

FFVIII: Very hit or miss. It’s not really bad, but the whole Draw/Junction system is really awkward compared to other FF games.

FFIX: Lots of fun. Won’t elaborate, but play it when you get a chance. Good nostalgia if you’ve played some of the other games beforehand.

FFX: This is actually quite fun to play, and most everyone else thinks so too. Sphere grid system kinda borrows from FF2 a little, but makes it work. Recommended.

FFXII: Hit or miss. I can’t really recommend it. The story pacing is very SLOW, and it really doesn’t feel like you’re playing the game at all once you got the Gambit system figured out. That and the License board is stupid.

FF Tactics Advance: GBA FFT game. It’s a pretty good game, but it totally lacks any real challenge as opposed to FFT.

FFTA 2: DS FFT game. Read above. It’s FFTA with FFXII elements.

You did good getting FFX, and while the KH series isn’t technically FF, they’re great games also.

30

After reading all of the back and forth on FF4, I tend to agree with SG. With four different versions (the SNES FF2, the PSX Chronicles, GBA, and DS), I think the easiest one to play to see whether you like the game in general is the SNES one via emulation. It’s called the Easytype one since some leniencies (if that wasn’t a word before, it is now) were built in, so it’s not a huge investment of time to work with it. If you find that you do like it, try one of the portable releases. I liked both for different reasons.

These guys have offered a lot of descriptive feedback. Really, I don’t think you can go wrong with playing any of the games. That being said, if you do play the early games in the series (1-3), play an updated version since those were tweaked a bit to take out some of the pain of grinding (except for 3, but the DS version was the first one here and so I digress). Out of the other FF games, the ones that I liked the best were 6, 7, 8, 10, and 10-2. I’m still working on 12 since I haven’t played in forever, but so far I’m still positive on it. I think that 10 was my favorite game in the series, actually.

Unfortunately, I can’t really offer much on the Tactics games or multiplayer games since I’m bored really easily by tactical RPGs and I tend to play games on my own, respectively.

Have fun with whatever you do choose. :smiley:

31

Hades- never played FF because as a kid, I wasn’t the one with the money. So, had to replay Lunar a trillion times cuz my dad had it for our Sega. Now Im an adult with monies.

I really appreciate everyone writing such…in depth things about the games. Now, will start an excel sheet to organize all the suggestions…

32

I can’t believe how quickly this thread exploded over FFIV.

Anyways the general problem with FFIV is the fact that it lacks any sort of definitive version. Each iteration has had some sizable weakness included in it’s gameplay.

The original suffers from getting nerfed to hell overall and dumbing things down to the point where all status clearing items were condensed into one cheap item nevermind bigger edits like characters loosing almost all of their skills.

The PSX version restores the game back to it’s original form of gameplay but like all PSX ports of FF games it too was plagued by slowdown and loadtimes (to the point were it’d take far longer to enter battle than originally). Also while it did add a pair of CG cutscenes they were so awful that it’s almost a negative. Also it came with the PSX port of Chrono Trigger which in of itself was worth it.

The GBA version was a direct port of the WonderSwan Color version but because its such a direct port it wasn’t properly optimized for use on the GBA which led to some unfortunate bugs and along with the lower screen resolution and weaker sound system makes this the weakest port on the technical side. That said the extras added for this version do make up for most of the technical failings (I’ll avoid going into detail due to the segment containing spoilers).

The DS version has been the first remake of the game to put some effort towards the technical side of the port, however the designers did go a bit overboard in terms of the games difficulty curve leaving many to get their asses handed to them.

Ultimately though it’s up to the player to decide what’s more important to them as the are otherwise the same game.

33

Likewise, I really love the CONCEPT of the counters (and they were also fairly prevalent in the original game to begin with). However, about halfway through the game (Barbariccia was a warning signal, but things went to hell from Dr. Lugae and on), the counter-attacks were DESIGNED to wipe out the entire party except Cecil and maybe one other person. That isn’t fun, and it might force the player to be more strategic, but it’s always the same strategy, imo.

I’d really love to see the next revamp they do, cos I imagine they’ll do a better job with the concept. But, FF4DS just pissed me off.

34

Kasey: OK, here’s a simplified list:

First, you have to decide exactly what it is you want in a RPG. The early FF had simple storylines and VERY simple graphics (compared to today’s.) Think sprites like the ones we use as Smileys here. :wave: That applies all the way to FF6. Things finally pick up After FF7. The best in my opinion was FFX, which was the first PS2 game and made to take advantage of its graphics. Gorgeous.

Storywise, FF4 was the one were the characters really began to matter. FF6 may be the best story of all, because it had so many characters and so many classic moments. FF7 and 8 went more “modern” leaving the medieval motifs behind. 9 was back to basics, X mixes both Sci-Fi and Fantasy. 12 does as well, but it’s kinda meh. 11 is a MMORPG.

If you like tactical games, there’s FF Tactics (PS1, PSP) and FF Tactics Advanced 1 and 2 (for the DS.)

One thing holds true in all versions, tho: THE MUSIC ROCKS. :slight_smile:

Something tells me you would like X the best. Lovely graphics, a love story, strong female characters, a what-the-hell-is-going-on mystery… and it has a sequel. Which was actually unnecessary, the story worked pretty well the way it was, but, you know, more $$$ for Square. :stuck_out_tongue:

Hope that helps. :wink:

35

The only bad fight in the game is Lugae’s and 1 fight doesn’t make the whole game bad. It sounds like you think the strategy is to find a way to recover after being countered, which sounds kind of dumb. A better approach is to find out how to not be countered.

36

do everything in your power to play FFIV DS, not FFIV, GBA.

37

Out of curiosity, do you (inclusive you) think one of the first FFs she should play is FFIV?

38

She is putting priority on portable titles and I think FFIV DS is a great pic, though others disagree.

39

This doesn’t account for two things:

  1. There are a few bosses who counter no matter what (i.e they have a counter for if you do a physical attack and a counter for if you do a magic spell), so there’s not really much of a way to not get countered unless you cast poison on them and wait a while? Even then, they’d counter-attack what you used to poison them, so you’d still have to deal with counter-attacks to SOME degree. :stuck_out_tongue:

  2. Some bosses (like Lugae, or the Computer System) just DO their ultimate attack any time they feel like it - it’s not even a counter-attack. Said ultimate attacks will wipe out the entire group except Cecil (sometimes Yang, SOMETIMES Kain), and all you can do then is hope they don’t decide to do their ultimate attack twice in a row (which they can - I’ve seen the last boss use his ultimate attack THREE TIMES simultaneously. What. The. Fuck.).

The worst thing is, this was clearly intentional: You can tell because FuSoYa, who doesn’t gain any stats when he levels up, will die in one hit to the ultimate attack of each boss you can face with him. S-E had INTENDED for it to be this way. (And, just to be clear, I like that the game takes a sort of counter-measure against grinding, but when it leaves you with no option but to die in one hit, that’s just plain bad design).

40

I’ll throw my 2 cents in. Although I haven’t played all of the FF’s I’ve played most of them.

FFV - Enjoyable. Not fantastic, not terrible. There other FF’s you should play first but I think this one should be played eventually.

FFIV - Absolutely great game. There’s nothing to say about it that hasn’t already been said. Probably my second favorite.

FFVII - Personally I think this is a good place to start. The graphics haven’t aged too well, but the story is still pretty good.

FFVIII - I have terribly mixed feelings on this game. I personally don’t care for the plot. Most of the characters are boring, uninteresting, and unvaried. I always hated that all of them are about the same age and all have the exact same occupation and basically the exact same back story. HOWEVER, I personally love the junction system. And Triple Triad is a blast. I think the game is worth a try.

FFIX - I hated it. It seems like a lot of people on this board love it, but everyone i know despises it and avoids it like the plague.

FFX - Great game. I have nothing bad to say about it except the final boss was WAY to easy.

FFXII - I have mixed feelings on this one too. The graphics are superb. The Gambit system is really nice, but i got bored with it after awhile because it pretty much makes the game play itself. The story is slow moving and generally boring. The characters are all boring and uninteresting(except Bausch and Balthier). Personally I think Vaan should be completely removed from the game.(I never finished the game so perhaps he gains purpose at some point)

FF Tactics - My absolute favorite. Great story. Great gameplay. that’s all that needs to be said.

FFTA - Hated it. It ignored everything good about FFT.