Topic: Final fantasy discussion thread

@KratosMD yes

So i have a question for the FF fans out there, have you ever gone back to play an older FINAL FANTASY title and found you feelings on it have changed, do you now hate one you used to love or now love one you used to hate?

for me it's FFII when i first played it on the PSX i didn't like it too much, it had some interesting but the way you leveled up and the difficulty i just didn't like it and THEN a few months ago i decided to go back and try it again, this time the PSP version and it way better that i remember, not counting the changes they made such as giving it a proper MP system, i found myself enjoying the story, the characters and yes even the battle system

When I first played FFX, I enjoyed it well enough, but every time I go back to replay it I lose interest before long. It's very weird.

@Ralizah me too to be honest, there are a lot of great moments in FFX but some really boring sections that I forget about until I try replaying it. As a result I've only actually played it through once, but I know it pretty well from subsequent attempts. I have the HD versions of X and X2 which I got specifically for X2 as I wanted to give it another shot since I disliked it at launch. Unfortunately I only got a couple of hours into it.

I might give X another go soon since I never actually loaded up the HD version - on PS4, anyway. I played half of it on Vita.

As for my feelings changing toward FF games I'd say 12. I didn't like it at all when it came out but I enjoyed the remaster a lot more.

@KratosMD yeah once you get it down you can make some damn powerful characters on FFV

@KratosMD nah FFV was the last of the main series to use a job system like this, X-2's job system was completely different, that is a mix of a Job system and the Sphere Grid, where you equip jobs to a grid (there are multiple grids to unlock and use) and you can then change jobs during battle as you move from one job to another you get bonuses and if you go through all the jobs you unlock a special form such as this

it's FFX-2's version of a summon system, a Job System and Orverdrive all in one

@KratosMD depends, in the original version it didn't but in the remaster it does but it's not a proper job system, not like the older FF games, once you pick who to equip on too that's it only they can use it and they can't switch

i guess it helps make you characters more unique but it's not a proper job system so i don't count it

as for X-2 it's not that complicated basically you have a board that you can equip jobs too, say Warrior, White Mage and Thief and then you can switch jobs on the fly in battle kind of like how you could change character in FFX in battle, it adds a lot more tactics to the battles and honestly FFX-2 is one of my favourite battle systems in a FF game

@KratosMD for example a grid might look like this

as you can see equipping the grid gives you boosts as well and as you change jobs in battle it gives you even more

so my copy of Final Fantasy Ultimania Archive Volume 2 finally arrived (thank you xmas and new year delays) and it's awesome but i saw this picture of a 16-bit version of FFVII and i don't know about anyone else but i would SO play a 16-Bit FFVII

THIS SO much this whenever people bring up best classic FF games it's always IV or Vi and i'm all like, "where is the love for V"

@KratosMD i also think one of the issues is that it first came out on the PS1 in the UK and U.S, the SNES version was never released outside of Japan and by the time we did get it 7, 8 and 9 had been released and 10 was on the way

it just got lost in the crowd

I hated Final Fantasy X and XII upon release but then I played them both again fairly recently and I hated them less the second time around.

@johncalmc you know one of my friends was exactly the same, hated X and XII when they released but after playing the remasters really enjoyed them

he thinks it's because his tastes have changed as he got older

We weren't ready for FFXII and older gamers in general seem allergic to change, even when it's in the form of a superb game as FFXII. FF is all about changes anyway and it is certainly the most interesting JRPG series out there, always trying new approaches. I am 80 hours into DQXI ( a few hours after a certain dramatic event) and it feels super stale: this game will be my farewell to a series, I grew up and changed and the game is so ...uninteresting. I much prefer the FF approach but I am glad this kind of games are there for people who want them.

on another note and SPOILERS for Kingdom Hearts 3 but it is Final Fantasy related so unless you have already finished the Toy Story world or you just don't mind spoilers then click below

now please if you chose to respond to this post PLEASE use the spoiler tags, lets not ruin this for others

you can post spoilers buy typing (spoiler)putting what you want to say and then typing(/spoiler) just replacing the round brackets ( with a square bracket [

OK FF fans i was wondering, what's your FF game collection like so i thought why do't we all post a pic of our FF games (note i have FFXIV digitally same as FFIII on PSP and i do have Dissidia NT but i forgot to put it on the shelf)

@Feena Agreed. But one thing Final Fantasy should do next is go right back to the original FF and let you select 4 character types right at the start! I totally forgot about that until I played my nes mini. Way ahead of its time.

Back on to the chat of ff12 which I appreciated a lot more on my second play. It cut off a load of stuff from the prior mainline games, I would argue it removed a ton of the key pillars which make a great Final Fantasy game at that time.

Things which do represent FF are the unique and coherent World building, the writing, over arching narrative and symbolism. All fantastic and as good as any game in the series.

However the fighting, gambit system and licence board were far too limiting for the initial 25 or so hours, I liken this to then going full barebones in ff13. It took too long to over level your characters or empower them enough.

The main character was rubbish, no mini games or sub games other than hunting. I can't remember much comedy either to alliviate the mood which was always a part of the series until that point.

I love Ff15 as it has run roughshot over ff12 and ff13 overall design philosophy in appealing to a so called wider demographic by stripping gameplay elements away. There's loads to see and do and secrets aplenty. It's funny in parts and has a good tonal mix. The fighting is easy like every FF game but you can overpower your team quite early on and you have the ability to really mess with the games exp system if you want too.

@FullbringIchigo I've got a vita ffx box and that's it. In fact I haven't seen that for ages as its in a drawer somewhere.

@themcnoisy i have FFX/X-2 HD on the vita too but i can't for the life of me find the bloody thing

those game boxes are too damn small

@themcnoisy I certainly agree on most points and FFXV is my favourite modern FF even though 12 is more refined in a lot of ways, it lacks charisma and humour.