Topic: Final fantasy discussion thread

@colonelkilgore I really hope you enjoy it. I had an absolute blast. Did the final Misson late on Friday night didn't get to my bed till close to 5am. Loved everything about it, the late game side quests should have really been baked into the main game, as they fleshed out story and characters. Which made the ending even more impactful.

@MightyDemon82 glad you enjoyed the whole experience buddy… and hopefully I’ll be feeling just as positive about it in a months time or so. And I’ll be sure to do every side-quest… even the early fetch-quests ones that have been generating so much shade 👍

@colonelkilgore Super excited for you! Due to being incredibly busy the last week (and liberal use of the arete stone), I’ve yet to finally finish it up. Hopefully today or tomorrow I’ll be on to Final Fantasy mode. Still my favourite game I’ve played this year. Oh, and don’t forget about those precision sics!

@Jimmer-jammer enjoy what remains buddy… and I just googled precision sic, I’ll keep it in mind 👍

So maybe seven hours into XVI now (so barely scratching the surface I’m sure) but absolutely loving it so far. Was really struggling to choose a game for my next plat milestone… and all I can say is that this is the game!

@colonelkilgore Glad you are enjoying it as it seems a bit divisive, I guess it depends whether you wanted a more traditional FF or not.
I did have a quick look at the trophy guide (as I do for long rpgs) and it seems a very doable platinum.

My next game after SE5 is, well I'm not sure but I'm tempted by Snowrunner although that feels (obviously) like a winter game. Perhaps Observer and The Ascent for a couple of quickish plats.

I am waiting to see what @colonelkilgore says after ten or so hours. I think everyone almost unanimously starts loving the game, the dividing point comes a few hours after that when you see the depths of just how boring this game can be and how shallow it’s systems are.

@Pizzamorg well probably around the 10 hour mark now as it goes and… personally I’m still really liking it… right now at least. I know that some of my friends who are big FF fans were left a bit unimpressed by the game but as someone who is still a relative FF noob, having only played FFVII Remake and FFXV (the two actiony ones) I’m fine with the design thus far. Also, to this point XVI’s combat is my favourite of the three.

Gutted for you and the other FF purists that it didn’t quite hit the mark tbh. For any action RPG fans out there though, I think it’s a home-run.

@CaptD you’ll have to let me know how you get on with those two mate, as I have both in the backlog and like the look of both of them.

@colonelkilgore Glad to hear you’re still enjoying it! It gets better as it goes in my humble opinion…and I’ve even always seen myself as a pretty big Final Fantasy fan 🤷‍♂️ I ordered the physical OST so I’m pretty excited for that to arrive. Happy hunting (there’s some pretty good ones)!

@Jimmer-jammer well it’s achieved that all too rare feat (as I get older anyways) that since I logged off around 3 hours ago… all I can do is think about the game and all I want to do is log back on and play some more.

@colonelkilgore I'll jump into the conversation as well and say I'm glad that you are highly enjoying it so far. I'm only slightly less of a FF noob, as I've played but never finished VII and X, but I did beat XIII once, VII Remake twice, the PS5 version of Crisis Core, and I'm 66 hours into XVI.

I guess it doesn't hurt that I also really love playing Western RPGs and this has a lot in common with those as well. Combine that with highly enjoying Game of Thrones (except for the final season) and adoring Final Fantasy VII Remake and I guess it was pretty much a given I'd love XVI. Obviously the combat is much different in XVI, but still, Final Fantasy VII Remake was such a success with me that it raised my interest in the series itself a lot higher. The divisive side quests get really good in the back half of the game, which then in turn baffles me how people could say the side quests suck.

@KilloWertz yeah I’ve heard that from a lot of people, about the later side quests improving quite a bit. Tbh while the early ones are limited, I honestly think they’re there more to familiarise the player with the locations and quest systems more than anything else (which I’m fine with).

I notice that you haven’t mentioned XV in the FF games that you’ve played. I know it gets a bad wrap generally but I really liked it. Combat is simplified compared to VII Remake and XVI but still well worth a go.

The side quests that give greater insight into the characters or the world are better, but they never evolved mechanically and after the first 15 or so hours I was so very tired of how repetitive the combat was. These side quests for the characters/world also rely on you actually being invested and enjoying the story too, if you are just casually letting this wash over you, none of these side quests will move the needle either.

I just grew to dread the moments at the Hideout after an Eikon battle, knowing how much tedium now awaited me until the game would get going again. Long stretches of cutscenes, MMO busywork and mindless combat encounters that felt the same at hour 10 as they did at hour 20, and always far too easy.

Admittedly I gave up around the 40 hour 60 percent mark I believe, so maybe in those final 30 hours there are some of the greatest side quests known to man, but no one should have to wade through dozens and dozens of hours of tedious side quests to get to good ones. Just a truly awfully paced game.

@colonelkilgore You are likely not wrong about the early quests, and if I remember correctly some of them also introduce you to some of the characters that will stick around the whole game (Martha, The Dame, etc.) I like getting to know the characters as well, so even if the actual side quests may or may not be great, they are worthwhile.

I definitely plan on playing Final Fantasy XV someday. I claimed it via the PS Plus Collection before Sony took the games down. I have a lot of Final Fantasy games to play, and while 1-6 are a lot less likely than the others, it's just a matter of when for XV.

@Pizzamorg While I'm not saying you had to love the game and all, technically some of that is you and not just the game. Just because you eventually tuned out the game doesn't make the stories with the side quests and even everything with the Hideout bad. For somebody who likes to have a core group of characters you get to know and experience parts of the game with, that has more often than not been highly enjoyable. Whether you like the quests or not, the game does a very solid job of letting you get to know your core group at the hideout and then the core group of people from the side quests that stick around for the whole game.

Do I still think a game like Horizon Forbidden West did side quests better overall? Sure, they had good story with them along with better actual side quests as a whole. I still think Final Fantasy XVI did a solid job with the side quests though if you actually care about story and getting to know characters.

Of course not @KilloWertz, which is what I said in my post. If you like the story/characters/world side quests that give you more insight to all of those things are likely to move the needle for you, but that doesn’t make the side quests actually good. If you are lukewarm on the game, you won’t play a side quest which gives you the backstory about a vendor in the Hideaway and then suddenly decide you love the game.

@Pizzamorg I know you didn't like XVI and I'm not saying you're an idiot for not, but we already knew that you didn't and why.

Just because you thought the game was tedious and made it a point to not give the story a chance after a certain point doesn't mean the game actually is tedious or the way the story is presented is actually bad. Again, I'm not saying the side quests are great as I've already admitted other games have better ones, but it is annoying to see people (more than just you obviously) crap on the side quests and other things when in reality the payoff (the stories involving those characters) is worth it and there are games that do side quests far worse than Final Fantasy XVI. Play Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2 and you will be wishing either of them did their side quests like Final Fantasy XVI.

But you’ve pointed out your own fallacy here. “ Just because you thought the game was tedious and made it a point to not give the story a chance after a certain point doesn't mean the game actually is tedious”

So likewise, just because you believe the payoff makes things worthwhile, that doesn’t invalidate anyone else’s criticism of the game, as the value of that payoff is not an objective fact, it is personal to you.

What with quite how divisive XVI has turned out, it’s just made me all the more curious to check out more of the series to try and see things from the side of those left disappointed. The only thing holding me back really (as I have all games from VII onwards… and I - VI wishlisted) is my problems with turn-based combat.

Maybe I’ll play through them when that Sony Q-lite releases, as any lag won’t really effect the games as much as pure action titles.

To be fair, 8 onwards are all non traditional turn based models, they all have some kind of real time twist (except for 10 which goes back to a more traditional turn based model - and is also one of the most beloved in the series, hmmmm…..) so if you don’t enjoy one for one turn based combat, maybe some of the twists in the series will find their niche with you. I always loved 9 growing up.

@Pizzamorg Fair enough about the value of the payoff, but once again, in your repeated posts about how bad you thought the game was you give the impression that you think it is fact that the game is poorly paced and that the side quests are horrible. I don't really want to argue about it, so I'll just leave it at obviously I disagree and that most of your problems with the game (outside of combat) were because you chose to tune out the story or give any of the side stories a chance. That's fine given that not every game will be a hit with everybody, but that doesn't mean the game's content is actually bad.

That's also why I mentioned that I sometimes find it annoying when people say the game is crap when I'm loving it. It's not that I expect everybody to love it or something, but it's how the game, it's side content, etc. all get lazily labeled as crap when it's just simply because the game didn't work for said person, not that it's actually crap.