Topic: Final fantasy discussion thread

So I’m thinking about finally starting FFVII:R.
It is the PS+ version so I haven’t got the Yufie DLC.
Is it available for PS4 now & if yes is it vital to the story?
I might just skip it if it’s not, as I’m usually not into story dlc.

@Fight_Teza_Fight
AFAIK - unfortunately no, the Yuffie DLC is not available for PS4 (only PS5 sadly).

However, I have played through both FF7R and the Yuffie DLC.... I can confirm it is a nice 'side dish' but certainly not essential to the story at all.

RE. Yuffie DLC - There is however 1 scene after the credits roll which is pretty interesting in setting up the rest of the 'Remake trilogy'. I would recommend you watch this end credits scene on Youtube, BUT only after you have beaten the main game FF7R!

So basically play through all of FF7R base game, then youtube the end-credits scene from Yuffie DLC.

Enjoy, its a cool game

@CJD87 Thanks just about to start it. I was going to wait & play it closer to Crisis Core, but there’s a lot coming out soon.
Will watch the Yufie DLC on Youtube.

@Fight_Teza_Fight I hope you enjoy the Remake!

As said, the DLC sort of intertwines with the main story at points but isn't essential but does set up Yuffie for her part in the next game.

I was a bit indifferent to the DLC overall to be honest but I think that's because I came into it having replayed the main game as NG+ with all my top level materia so just waltzed through whereas with Yuffie's story I kind of had to learn how to actually play the game properly again.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake done. That leaves only 8, 9 & 11 from the mainline games.

Perhaps if DQ Offline does well FF11 gets an offline version so I can get that off the list.

@Fight_Teza_Fight I've not played 11, but I've done 8 & 9.

IMO - 8 is quite underrated, and is actually a pretty decent game. It had an impossibly difficult act to follow, in being released after the commercial behemoth that was 7....

9 is actually my favorite FF entry in the entire series, a simple but brilliant story + great/memorable characters. The battle system is pretty much my favorite also.

I understand 11 is contentious, I've personally not played, but seems to be a marmite game?

I’ve mentioned many times that I’m a bit of a Final Fantasy noob, as well as someone who always struggles to enjoy turn-based action but… I’ve recently picked up almost all of the available FF games in the back catalog (just waiting on a decent sale price for Final Fantasy VIII).

For some reason (and I’m aware of how much this/these particular installment(s) are reviled), I’m feeling strangely drawn to the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy and considering playing all three this year… am I mad? All I’ve heard is hate and I guess that has piqued my curiosity in some strange ‘glutton-for-punishment’ kinda way. Are there any fans of these three games out there and if so why?

@colonelkilgore Have you seen the recent Digital Foundry retrospective about those games? It might help you decide.

@LN78 I haven’t, are they discussing XIII games in particular or just Final Fantasy games in general?

edit. Scratch that, I’ve just found them 👍

@colonelkilgore I don't think I've ever played Lightning Returns, and XIII sucks, but I actually have time for XIII-2. It has some cool mechanics and a pretty good villain.

@johncalmc that’s interesting, so are the games (parts 1 & 2 in this case) very different then?

@colonelkilgore I absolutely love FFXIII. It might just be as it’s the first ‘modern’ FF that I had played to completion. I played the classics via emulators & absolutely hated FFXII.

I also prefer a more linear game (it doesn’t open up until like 20 hours in) & the combat system is the based take on turn based gameplay I’ve ever played.
I wish it was available on PS4/5 or they just released the trilogy. I’d pay full price for it.

@Fight_Teza_Fight yeah I was quite surprised that I had to pick them up on PS3 as I found remastered copies of X and XII on PS4. I can’t find IX either… only on PS2 I take it?

@colonelkilgore Final Fantasy sequels are so weird. The jump from XIII to XIII-2 isn't as jarring as X to X-2, but it's still odd. They don't play the same, and tonally they're quite different. From what I remember XIII-2 is about time travel and monster collecting, and XIII is... well, not.

@colonelkilgore FFIX is available digitally on PS4. It’s part of PS Extra here in the UK as well.

@johncalmc @Fight_Teza_Fight good to know guys… on both fronts 👍

@colonelkilgore Just to add a little more opinion for you to mull over — I quite enjoyed FFXIII. But I’m not sure I’m a very objective player regarding these and they hold a place in my heart from childhood. But I’d say that XIII was a little ahead of it’s time. People didn’t like some of the characters and they didn’t like the more linear gameplay. But honestly the open world Jrpg genre was becoming slightly stale. I think time has probably been kind to FFXIII. As for XIII-2, I got only halfway through it and although it was fun and engaging for me, it came at a difficult time and it eventually got forgotten on the old hardware and I’ve never gone back to finish it off. The game design is a reactive pendulum swing in the opposite direction of XIII because of the outcry from the fanbase who was upset that XIII was so linear, so it took the opposite approach and made this strange time and space travel system with a lot of openness to how it could be approached. I think the open nature of how you could go through the content contributed to me wandering away from it. It was a lot to try to keep up with, as I recall, and easy to just ditch because you didn’t know where (or when) you were supposed to go next.

Then you have XIII-Lightning Returns. I never played it because A) I never finished XIII-2, and B) I think it released on PS3 after or around the time of PS4 launch. So it was immediately stranded on old hardware and has never been brought over.

FF13 is straight up baaaaad. Come on, it simply doesn’t deserve to be in the same series as the likes of 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. It’s a turd and that’s the final (fantasy) word on the matter.

HOWEVER, I am merciful and if they release a remaster I will give it another shot and if I decide it’s not as bad as I remember after all I’ll be straight back to let you know.

@kyleforrester87 I’d say the same about Xenoblade Chronicles 3 🤭, but I’m glad you’ll come to your senses one day!

Hopefully this will keep you going until then: https://youtube.com/watch?v=8vxz2vkXuQA&feature=share

The best FF trailer ever made! Shame the original has been long pulled.

The thing with FF13 is that if was a clear turning point in so many ways. The more linear focus, adding real time inputs into a turn based system, no more guest characters, funnelling players to story points, etc. A lot players growing up with the older games would’ve certainly preferred to return to the thing they knew & grew up with.

I really enjoyed FF15, but the combat & long dev time was a clear result of the backlash at the time for FF13. FF7:R is sort of a happy in-between & I hope that’s what we get moving forward.
Mainline Final Fantasy needs to be mainstream & a combination of action & turn based is the way to go imo.
The funny thing is that FF13 & FF7:Remake are actually fairly similar. Lightning is female Cloud. You constantly squeeze through corridors & the game is entirely linear-unlike FF13 (although you have chapter select & larger areas).

@LN78 @Fight_Teza_Fight @johncalmc @Th3solution @kyleforrester87
Thanks for all the info/views guys, lots to chew over. I watched the DF vids that @LN78 mentioned and a few others too… I could end up changing my mind as a lot can happen in a year but right now I’m thinking that I’ll play through the trilogy in 2023. I’m intrigued, don’t know exactly why they’ve grabbed my interest but they have and when that happens I usually end up quite enjoying what my gut has lead me towards.

I’ll be sure to post my thoughts in here if and when I get around to actually starting this thing 👍