NightmareFarm
Member
Just because he hated it doesn't mean he didn't learn how to play it.
I learned how the junction system works and that made me dislike it even more.
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Final Fantasy's run from VI to X was INSANE.
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I learned how the junction system works and that made me dislike it even more.
cireza
Member
It is actually super fun to play. I'd pick V over the other SNES games, and and VIII over the other PS1 games any day. By far the ones that are the most fun to play. So many things you can do !
For example in VIII I almost never use any G-Force (except Hell Train late game) and spells only if required. The fun in this game is keeping a fast pacing for battles ! Steal spells until you have 100 and never touch them again. Junction them, create monsters. And then, use Mad Rush to kill Malboros baby
In V, I don't remember which class it was, but you can get "Equip two weapons" as well as "Attack 8 time". And I remember of a "Dancing Dagger" that would do enormous critics. There is also a Berserk class with some good potential and a ton of possibilities through combining skills from each class.
In recent years, the only FF game that really delivered this kind of "magic" was Lightning Returns. Many, many possibilities. Must play !
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bluecowboys
Banned
I think the reason why square enix started having issues was because AAA game development cost went up way too much and therefore they tried to appeal more to the casuals/western audience.
Square enix honestly should start making AA games and forget the high budget games at this point.
Square enix honestly should start making AA games and forget the high budget games at this point.
Go_Ly_Dow
Member
Merger definitely made managing the company a much more difficult beast.
But just so happens timing wise the merger aligned with the period where game development became increasingly more difficult and games starting becoming more complex presentation wise, from about 2005 onwards. Also shift in taste towards open world design began and WRPGs became absolutely huge during the PS3/360 gen with PC developers coming to consoles and bringing these IPs with them.
Pretty much all Japanese developers struggled PS3 era and some only really got their house in order around mid-PS4 time. They were well behind tech wise and weren't used to larger scale high definition development using complex shader based engines. So many scurried around to make in house engines like Crystal Tools that weren't good enough. Universally good 3rd party engines like we have today (UE4/UE5) that had Japanese documentation didn't exist.
Capcom, Konami, Square, Sega, Namco, Japan Studio, Atlus, Platinum Level 5 to name a few that had struggles related to tech and or game design.
I think From Software and Falcom were some of the few that came out strongly from that generation.
Anyway, some food for thought whether or not it was the merger that meant the quality declined or these factors mentioned above, or both!
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SEGAvangelist
Gold Member
IV started the run.
Batiman
Member
100%
The goat series those days. I remember the hype for all of them at the time. I’m no fan of 10 but I liked it better than everything after. TBH that’s the end of FF for me. I always tried to get into them but they weren’t the same after. FF7 remastered was the only one decent and it still lacked soul. Looked amazing but the NPCS and side quests were horrible. Boss fights were good though.
The goat series those days. I remember the hype for all of them at the time. I’m no fan of 10 but I liked it better than everything after. TBH that’s the end of FF for me. I always tried to get into them but they weren’t the same after. FF7 remastered was the only one decent and it still lacked soul. Looked amazing but the NPCS and side quests were horrible. Boss fights were good though.
sigmaZ
Member
This is the series to a t. But you could use the same breakdown for a lot of great media. The opening and ending of things are arguable to most important parts. Even the FFs that I thought were mediocre like 8 and 9 had fantastic endings.I'm gonna bring this one back.
sigmaZ
Member
Xenogears and Chrono Cross were failures in my eyes. Even their amazing soundtrack couldn't mask the cracks from showing at Square. Xenogears would have beat out Chrono Trigger for me had they not been overly ambitious with the story and 3D elements. And the horrendous text speed oh god. If any game would benefit from a proper remaster it would be Xenogears. And Chronos Cross... Just replayed it when the remaster came out and yikes. Probably the most hollow 3D Square RPG I've played.
Cyberpunkd
Gold Member
I was there, the main story is ridiculously padded, not as bad as classic WoW was but close.
cartman414
Member
TheInfamousKira
Reseterror Resettler
I'm gonna bring this one back.
Hell, I'm simple.
cartman414
Member
VIII has only two modes: boring, and ass-broken.
AV
We ain't outta here in ten minutes, we won't need no rocket to fly through space
I did, and then the game became completely redundant. That's one of the myriad reasons it's awful.
elbourreau
Member
SquareSOFT was on another level during playstation era. Just name the games they release, It's mindblowing.
Susurrus
Member
Too much work. Just Redx2 with Black Magic set, Ultima x2. Or Redx2 with Summon set, Bahamutx2. One up it, and have others set to Mime and just mimic that shit. Quick work of everything.
Also fun fact: the island where you're just Bartz, and you have a battle you're supposed to lose. You can win! Blue Mage 1000 Needles spam. IIRC, only takes 2 turns. The result is slightly different but....
instead of fainting and getting captured as a result, the monster drops a chest, which you open and releases a gas that knocks Bartz out and he gets captured anyway.
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FF4 is killed by those random encounters. It's crazy and ruins so much enjoyment. The other 3 are in a class of their own. I still don't understand how Square of the PS1 managed to produce so many titles with resources and funding considerations. The output and quality were almost unmatched.
General,
FF8 even with its flaws and story falling apart is still under appreciated.
Secret of Evermore isn't a bad USA studio effort either on SNES using the Mana systems.
Such a golden era.
billthomas696969
Neo Member
VII was so big, it made JRPGs into a AAA bro-game genre, that's how big it was. When I see people selling their PS2s and games on Facebook Marketplace, the games they have are usually a few racing games, a Madden or two, a few shooters, and FFX. Making XI an MMO was maybe not the best choice, and by XII it was somewhat niche again. I know this is anecdotal, but it looks to me like X is the one where most people dropped the series.
Go_Ly_Dow
Member
Incorrect I think. FFX is regarded as popular as VII now. Based of the latest sales data.
FFX series 20.8mil shipped as of the last update - Sept 2021.
Final Fantasy X series shipments and digital sales top 20.8 million
Total worldwide shipments and digital sales for the Final Fantasy X series, which includes Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2, have surpassed 20.8 million units as of September 2021, Square Enix…
www.gematsu.com
FFVII original 14.1mil sold as of the last update - 31 Jan 2023.
The Original Final Fantasy 7 Has Sold 14.1 Million Units — Emopulse
The iconic JRPG Final Fantasy 7 has sold over 14.1 million units worldwide, marking a huge achievement for the classic game.
emopulse.com
Obviously difficult to directly compare popularity, given the X series sales includes X-2. However VII original has also been out for longer. I know plenty of people who regard X as one of the greatest games ever made.
No ones really dropped the series, in fact the opposite can be argued that the series has retained a large amount of its audience, which is unusual for a 35 year old franchise. FFXII and FFXIII sold well I don't think we have numbers of FFXII including the Zodiac age. FFXIV one of the most popular MMOs ever. FFXV gradually sold over 10mil copies. FFVIIR likely at 7-8mil sold now despite being free on PSN 12 months after release and not being on Xbox. The price of VIIR has remained very high too.
The problem with FF popularity is that it hasn't grown, which is a concern as development costs increase so you get to a point where 5-6mil units doesn't cut it. XVI is another attempt at breaking this stagnation, which is ceilings of 7-10mil copies sold and breaking into the mainstream, which is now around 15mil copies or so.
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Raven117
Member
It’s absolutely in the S-tier of ff.
I see you are a man of culture.
In that time, they also released a bunch of DLC for XV, more content for XIV, and VII Remake Part 1.
XV also went through an insane amount of changes from its initial vision hence why it took so absurdly long to come out. As far as I know, none of the games from VI to X suffered these sort of issues behind the scenes, at least not to such an extent.
CashPrizes
Member
I don't like the framing. IV is amazing, and XII is better then VIII and arguably IX. Tactics is the best besides VI and maybe X. The series is so all over the place (with none of the mainline being really awful except XIII and XV) that it is hard to generalize in runs.
Skelterz
Member
I disagree it’s a good game but I prefer other story’s in the series.
AngelMuffin
Member
Gotta include IV in there. It’s just as good or better than the others.
Evil Calvin
Member
Einhander, Saga Frontier 1 and 2, Threads of Fate, Legend of Mana.....
Evil Calvin
Member
I mean in NA alone, within 3 years you had:
Setzer
Member
What a shit take.I'm gonna bring this one back.
Kazdane
Member
I'm on the "FFX has the best story by far" camp, although VII was the first FF I played back in 98 (iirc). Since then, I've played all the mainline games and their sequels (X-2, XIII-2 and LR) except XI Online, and I share the sentiment that XIII gets way too much hate while I'll also add XII gets way too much praise. I just don't see the appeal of the gambit system and I didn't find the story to be particularly memorable. If you configure it properly, in FFXII you only need to bring Vaan from one battle to the next and you can pretend you're watching an interactive movie; which pretty much goes against the whole notion of having a great battle system (it's so great it plays itself!). I do feel that XIII's battle system (which I think is the best of the ATB battle systems) is an evolution of the gambit system, so at least that's something positive that XII brought on. XIII had a great story and world that, unfortunately, were too hidden in the database, so people that didn't feel like reading a book inside the game didn't get the whole picture (and I can't fault them for that, hiding so much info in there was an odd choice).
I personally liked XV, but I do agree that its storytelling is a mess (similar to what had happened with XIII). Having played (and currently playing) XIV, I'm super curious to see what they've been working on with XVI. Of the VI to X era, anyone that has even a mild interest in some of the great JRPGs of all time should give them a go, they're great.
I personally liked XV, but I do agree that its storytelling is a mess (similar to what had happened with XIII). Having played (and currently playing) XIV, I'm super curious to see what they've been working on with XVI. Of the VI to X era, anyone that has even a mild interest in some of the great JRPGs of all time should give them a go, they're great.
German Hops
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
CitizenKratos
Member
I agree on every point.
Kokoloko85
Member
TBH only 13 and 15 were subpar. The rest are amazing
BryceNobody
Member
Disc 2 & 3 drag on for what feels like relatively little plot progression, and about half of the cast was pretty forgettable compared to other entries.
Even X (which I hate from a story standpoint) had a more memorable crew than IX. Outside of Vivi and Steiner, I remember like a rat(?) joining my party or… something.
Did not leave much of an impression.
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When MMO's like Everquest had little respect for the players real life or time commitments. Definitely not easy mode and the XP/Chain parties were fun.
Werewolf Jones
Member
FF X is a babies first JRPG game with relatable qualities.
GeeseGoose
Member
11 was, at the time, amazing.
12 was great.
13 introduced the stagger system so all its positives are rendered void, sequels were awful.
14 is my favourite entry in the series, hands down.
15 didn’t look good so never played it
16 follows 13 and 7R with a stagger centred battle system, so hard pass to play, maybe watch at 2X if a non American YouTuber plays it, who isn’t insufferable.
Aside from 14 and Theatrythmn, Final Fantas has been dead to this once die hard fan from 13 onwards.
12 was great.
13 introduced the stagger system so all its positives are rendered void, sequels were awful.
14 is my favourite entry in the series, hands down.
15 didn’t look good so never played it
16 follows 13 and 7R with a stagger centred battle system, so hard pass to play, maybe watch at 2X if a non American YouTuber plays it, who isn’t insufferable.
Aside from 14 and Theatrythmn, Final Fantas has been dead to this once die hard fan from 13 onwards.
diffusionx
Gold Member
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