Ush's big FF-games-on-the-Playstation review thread!

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Ushgarak
As promised, here we go.

Taking a long time over these reviews, though, so I shall reelase them episodically.

Ushgarak

Ushgarak

Ushgarak

Lana
laughing out loud okay that cracked me up. And I still need to play that game, even though from what I've noticed from people those who like FFX the best tend to not care for FFVII as much as most people.

General Kaliero
I find myself having to agree with Ush on alot of points, even though I've only gotten so far (Just got into Cloud's creepily-rebuilt hometown).

The battles, I believe, are my main point of contention. The atmosphere really suffers from their profusion. For instance, take the sequence through the caves in Cosmo Canyon. While trying to gather up all the chests and stray piece of Materia, I'd rather not be sucked into a battle every seven steps. The game would benefit considerably from decreasing the number of battles while increasing the amount of EXP obtained per battle.

I also dislike the Materia system, because you end up pretty much just choosing your favorite three characters and doing everything with them, meaning you never find a situation where you say "this character would have been much better to choose here." I ended up subconsciously adapting the class system from FF1: Setting up "Cloud is the Fighter, Aeris is the White Mage, The Third Character is a Red Mage" or similar. I really am sore about this, because the characters are well-enough thought-out that they really shouldn't be arbitrarily interchangeable.

Lana
That's why I liked FFX - though you can personalize your characters all you wish with the sphere grid, it's still near impossible to, say, turn your White Mage into a Warrior. They could fight, yes, but they won't be any good at it. About the only thing you can do easily and well is make your Black Mage a White Mage and vice-versa....which I did. Hehe.

BackFire
Great review Ush, can't wait to read your thoughts on FF8 and 9.

exanda kane
Yeah they would be great.

Thats a fair evaluation. But the reason I like FF is for the story and I think that FF7 has the best - it even compensates fully for the dreaded random battles.

BackFire
Also Ush, dunno if you know, but the next FF game is doing away with the random battle system.

exanda kane
Anybody played the FF Online thingme?

I played it a bit and didn't like it a bit...

And the thing I liked about the Materia system was uber-buffing Cloud with every thing I could...

Lana
Originally posted by BackFire
Also Ush, dunno if you know, but the next FF game is doing away with the random battle system.

Is it really? Sweet.......

BackFire
Yeah, ff12 doesn't use the random battle, all the enemies you fight you can see, you can avoid the fights if you wish, ect.

Lana
So more like the Zelda games, then? I remember hearing about that a while ago.

BackFire
yeah. Kinda like an MMO or something.

General Kaliero
So FFXII will be more like an Action-RPG then? Will you have AI-controlled teammates or what?

Ushgarak
Oh, I am very open to the idea that problems I identify might disappear.

There are things I fail to mention in these reviews- one I forgot here is the number of neat touches in FFVII which elaborate on the plot. One entire, hard-to-reach subplot about Vincent's past makes an interesting appearnace, and a rather randomly inserted piece (if you return to the mansion in Cloud's hometown near the end of the game) explains how Cloud got to Midgard in the first place, and what happened to the person that Cloud was mistaking himself for in the game's earlier flashback sequences.

All this shows a commendable attention to detail.

It is worth nothing though that the lack of voices in FFVII doesn't look like a major problem, but it is actually a stylistic issue- for example, David Warner did an absolutely fantastic piece of work voicing Irenicus in Baldur's Gate II, ane really sold me on how decent voice work can make a huge difference; FF never really gets into this area.

Also... I am pretty sure that it is the auto-correct in Word that kept adding the 'l' at the end of 'material' above. I meant 'materia' all the way.

I am about to post my FFVIII review, and will mention about forcible role-playing- it's also worth noting, then, that I personally enjoy being able to make my own character rather than adopt a given role in a game; another area where BG scores well for me (doubly so in that they still gave fantastic possibilities for the person you created, with ana mount of possible branching relationship paths in BGII that really scared me). But that is definitely a matter of personal taste.

Ushgarak

Ushgarak

TwisterGameX
I give this thread a 5



out of 5





critics call it one of a kind, the best thing since sex and sliced bread.

2 thumbs up and a master piece thumb up thumb up



From the people that brought you starwars forum it's Ush unleashed Happy Dance Happy Dance




In the video game forum dec 11th

Ushgarak
Why thankyou.

TwisterGameX
Originally posted by Ushgarak
Why thankyou.

You should review more stuff than just ff games shifty

Shadow x 20
Metal Gear Solid games should be next or Halo. But good reviews. Ush. 2 thumbs up and what not.

TwisterGameX
Ush does good reviews...I want him to do Metal gear solid 1 2 and 3,Prince of persia 1 2 and 3, tales of symphonia, halo 1 and 2

























I will pay him of course...

JKozzy
Originally posted by Lana
Is it really? Sweet....... I already told you that stick out tongue

BackFire
I gotta agree with everything you said about 8, Ush, especially with Seifer. I thought Seifer was wasted horribly. I thought it woulda been a lot better (though maybe cliched) to have HIM become the final boss or at least a more menacing villain. Ultemicia didn't do it for me, I didn't like that there was no real buildup to the final battle, and they didn't even introduce who the actual final boss was until like disc three.

Also, the draw system, teh timesink that was watching the damn Gaurdian Forces animation every other battle, all annoyed me greatly. But I didn't hate the game, didn't think it was a bad game, still enjoyed it for it's strengths.

Anyways, another good review, Ush. Now on to 9!

Shadow x 20
Well that's sort of what FF2 (4 in Japan) did. You didn't know Zemus was the last boss until you got there...basically. But I liked the Squall vs. Seifer boss battle the best.

Ushgarak
Cliches are fine if you do them right. Most the things that were good about FFVII are dramatic cliches. It's all down to execution.

Of course, FFVIII fell down on its basic planning as well as its execution. It really is a plot mess of a game, inside a much better setting. It gives me a frantic urge to re-write.

Ushgarak
Zemus/Zeromus did at least logically arise from previous events, though he was just a generic super being. I am not claiming he was a great invention but he did at least flow.

'Sorceress from the future wants to go look back int ime so she can do something that we don't know what it is so she can... well, we're not sure what she can do with it, but she's the big bad guy of this piece, honest." is way worse.

Ushgarak
Actually, another comment there... the intro sequence for FFVIII shows a perfectly good sword fight between moody Squall and poor, underused Seifer.

Unfortunately, that kind of dramatic action is really impossible for FF to do because it is wedded to Japaense superpower syndrome, where everyone basically exhibits the power of Gods. No battle in FF ever really looks like the sort of duel between two people like Squall and Seifer that you would like it to be; instead everyone basically throws nukes at eadh other, occasionaly ressurecting.

Something like a Lightsabre duel- or the fights in the Matrix films, hyped up as they were- work a lot better. Of course, the KOTOR lightsabre fights are crap, so I guess this is a perennial gaming problem (mind you, I always thouight the fights in Zelda looked the part).

But yes, the FF fights have a blown up drama of their own, but they make the tension that should result from a Squall/Seifer stand off rather hard to swallow.

Shadow x 20
I would have rather seen another CGI cut scene between Squall fighting Seifer instead of that boss battle.

TwisterGameX
u guys play the demo ?

Shadow x 20
For FF8?

TwisterGameX
12

Shadow x 20
Oh. Yeah they allow you to chose between turn based and a more moving around system of fighting but still I don't know how that will work since you still have a time gauge.

Lana
I still say that you'd really like FFX and I'm becoming more and more convinced of it just reading what you didn't like so far....

TwisterGameX
They should have an ff online....to battle people....and stuff...

Ushgarak
Are you telling me there is lesbianism in it?

JKozzy
Originally posted by TwisterGameX
They should have an ff online....to battle people....and stuff... Enter Final Fantasy XI.

Lana
Originally posted by Ushgarak
Are you telling me there is lesbianism in it?

You are so predictable.

Many of the female characters are prone to wearing little, though stick out tongue

Originally posted by JKozzy
Enter Final Fantasy XI.

Which I agree with you about, they shouldn't have wasted a number with it and just called with FF Online.

Ushgarak
Hmmm.... I'll see.

JKozzy
Originally posted by Lana
You are so predictable.

Many of the female characters are prone to wearing little, though stick out tongue

Mm... there's even less in X-2 droolio

But Ush, if you're looking for Lez characters, check out Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix. The two main characters are lesbian. I also heard it's a really good game, it's for PS1 as well. I remember it causing controversy years ago.

Originally posted by Lana
Which I agree with you about, they shouldn't have wasted a number with it and just called with FF Online. Yeah... uck.

Lana
My friends and I have done several X-2 costumes stick out tongue

TwisterGameX
You going to review other stuff in the future ush or are you just doing ff sad

JKozzy
"Ush's big FF-games-on-the-Playstation review thread"

Probably not.

BackFire
Everyone hated FFXI, it wasn't bad, gosh!

It was a solid MMO for the time.

TwisterGameX
Originally posted by JKozzy
"Ush's big FF-games-on-the-Playstation review thread"

Probably not.


he knows what I mean no expression

JKozzy
Originally posted by BackFire
Everyone hated FFXI, it wasn't bad, gosh!

It was a solid MMO for the time. Yes, but my gripe with it, is that it cut any consistancy with the numbers. Say nobody plays it anymore, there's going to be a gap. "Where did XI go?" "Nobody knows." I would've been fine with it if they just called it "Final Fantasy Online" like they should've done.. I'm not turned on to PPM right now, so that's a bit of a black mark on the franchise, imo.

Ushgarak
I think I would be disappointed if there was ACTUAL lesbianism; I just like to complain... she had the whip and everything...

Anyway, me reviewing other stuff would involve me branching out into being a well-versed consoleite... which I am really not.

TwisterGameX
Originally posted by Ushgarak
Anyway, me reviewing other stuff would involve me branching out into being a well-versed consoleite... which I am really not.


sad

BackFire
I don't think square would agree that it's a black mark, it's one of the most popular MMO's around right now, it's been very successful. I never got the whole gripe with having a number in the title, it's kinda trivial.

No one will think "where did 11 go?" because most will know that it was the online game.

JKozzy
Well if/when it dies out. I just think it was just too different, but hey, whatever.

BackFire
Well FF games are supposed to be drastically different from eachother to avoid growing stale. It has the main things that all FF games have in common. Same spells, chocobos, mogs, world in turmoil storyline, ect.

TwisterGameX
I think ff7 is coming for the nintendo Ds

JKozzy
Where do you hear that? messed

Final Fantasy III is... if that's what you're thinking about. And Final Fantasy IV was just re-released on the GBA last week.

Lana
I tried FFXI once, and I dunno, it just didn't seem right to me. All the FF games have a certain feel to me, and it just didn't match.

TwisterGameX
have you ever played that one for gamcube chronicles ?

JKozzy
FF:CC was alright... way too repetitive and the storyline doesn't kick in until way later... was hoping for more.

General Kaliero
It's funny... reading all your complaints about VIII, Ush, makes me really want to not play it, but then you come back at the end saying that it's actually worth playing. Mixed messages, y'know?

IV came out last week? 'the hell? I though it wasn't scheduled for release until tomorrow... I could be playing the updated version of IV right now, and no one told me?!

And yeah, III is coming to the DS... or at least the story is. Square Enix is rebuilding the game from the ground up to make it 3D, so it's more of a re-imagining than a re-release.

But don't get too excited yet. It's only scheduled for a Japan release so far.

BackFire
Well, Ush feels the same about 8 as I do. It has some glaring flaws, that hinder the game significantly, but they're not big enough to make it a bad game. It is worth playing for it's strengths and the things it does well, but you shouldn't expect it to be as strong as other FF games in other areas.

JKozzy
Originally posted by General Kaliero
It's funny... reading all your complaints about VIII, Ush, makes me really want to not play it, but then you come back at the end saying that it's actually worth playing. Mixed messages, y'know?

IV came out last week? 'the hell? I though it wasn't scheduled for release until tomorrow... I could be playing the updated version of IV right now, and no one told me?!

And yeah, III is coming to the DS... or at least the story is. Square Enix is rebuilding the game from the ground up to make it 3D, so it's more of a re-imagining than a re-release.

But don't get too excited yet. It's only scheduled for a Japan release so far. Yes but it's inevitable to come to the US.. it's the only FF that hasn't been brought to the US shores by Square.

General Kaliero
Makes you wonder, though... maybe the reason III has never made it over here is because it contains some horrible Japanese secret... anti-America propaganda, maybe? stick out tongue

Shadow x 20
South Park.

'Bomb the harbor, bomb the harbor, bomb the harbor'
tomcat

JKozzy
Originally posted by General Kaliero
Makes you wonder, though... maybe the reason III has never made it over here is because it contains some horrible Japanese secret... anti-America propaganda, maybe? stick out tongue Nah, we'd know by now. Fan-translated FFIII roms float around, someone would've found out in like, what, 14, 15 years? stick out tongue

exanda kane
Originally posted by General Kaliero
Makes you wonder, though... maybe the reason III has never made it over here is because it contains some horrible Japanese secret... anti-America propaganda, maybe? stick out tongue
Hopefully. It'll become the bestseller in the UK and Europe... big grin

Lana
Originally posted by JKozzy
Nah, we'd know by now. Fan-translated FFIII roms float around, someone would've found out in like, what, 14, 15 years? stick out tongue

I have a fan-translated rom of FFIII big grin

Haven't started playing it yet though.

BackFire
Where's our FFIX review!? *Towel whips Ush!*

Draco69
Squall sucks! SEIFER rocks! They should kept him in the damn party. Instead of Irvine. Dude was useless.

Lana
Too bad you couldn't have Edea in your party longer. She was awesome.

Draco69
The only useful members were Rinoa (I HATED her but her Limit Breaks rocked...) Zell (first gay character in the Final Fantasy series, with the most powerful limit break as well) and Squall.

Quistis' Blue Magic wasn't powerful and was a pain to find.
Selphie was damn near useless in the latter parts of the game (Full-cure was essential in the earlier parts.) except for THE END. But that was really cheap to use.
Irvine was useless. Period. His Limit Breaks were poor. Even at max level. His Pulse Ammo took damn forever to use.

Ushgarak

Ushgarak

Ushgarak

Shadow x 20
Yeah! FFT is fun! Can't wait for that review.

Mando

BackFire
Tactics is awesome, a very very underrated game.

Though, I've never beaten it. I've played through it about 3 times trying to beat it, and each time I got to a certain point and my memory card would just erase itself, really upsetting because I loved that game.

One think about IX and it's slow combat- I think it was done for balance reasons. Seeing as you could have 4 members in your party instead of 3, having a delay made combat a little more difficult. Had the combat been swift, battles would have been very easy and probably faster then they wished. The delay between instruction to action was annoying though, but I got used to it after a few hours.

Also, because you had 4 members instead of 3, dying was rarely as devistating as in the previous two games. I noticed characters would die in combat a lot more often in IX then in 7 or 8, but I didn't even care because I have 3 characters, any of which could resurect the fallen party member.

Lana
Plaaaaaaay FFX!!!!!!

And yes indeed it was the slowness of the battles that caused me to quit FFIX....almost exactly four years ago......and I have yet to pick it back up again.

Ushgarak
I did suspect the character number caused the change, but going back to VI shows that it was far better managed there.

BackFire
Yeah, that's because FF6 was damn near perfection. They probably also wanted to try and give a more strategic feel to the game, so you'd have to think ahead before issuing any commands.

Lana
Still slowed it down waaaaaaay too much.

BackFire
It did, but it didn't really bother me that much, got used to it pretty quickly.

JKozzy

Ushgarak
What I have read about the GBA version has made me very nervous on several fronts.

BackFire
The GBA version is not bad, but the PS version is superior in every way.

Lana
I've played the GBA one (Ush don't even start, I know it's different than the PS one stick out tongue) and it's good, once you get the hang of it.

Originally posted by BackFire
It did, but it didn't really bother me that much, got used to it pretty quickly.

I have no attention span and am very impatient. I can't stand when stuff takes forever when there's no real reason for it to do so.

Ushgarak
I understand the GBA version has a cutey-kiddy plot, worse AI, and some incomprehensibly weird Laws system or something.

Plus it's a GBA game- emulating a handheld on a PC seems the height of weirdness.

Lana
The Laws system is pretty silly...I never completed it though as the game wasn't mine.

JKozzy
Originally posted by BackFire
The GBA version is not bad, but the PS version is superior in every way. I thought it was great to have on-the-go, especially for two eight-hour flights in a week. It's not the same game as the PS one, though it's still good. I didn't mind the laws much. And FFXII - the movie at the end of the demo (not the ending movie, reference to other thread...) shows a judge saying "It's my job to make sure people obey the laws!" looking exactly like that of FFTA. FFTA and FFXII are both set in the same world and seem to have the same creatures/people.

Lana
I still need to play the FFXII demo..........

General Kaliero
Yes, from the little that I played of FFT on the GBA, the laws system was just inhibiting all over. Not engaging, not forcing startegic thinking, just irritating. I kept expecting some "No one can use weapons in this battle!" law...

Right now I'm still on Mt. Nibel (Took me two days to beat Lost Number and get Vincent, and then I got a DS and Animal Crossing Wild World and that ate my soul) and I think I can say that, story-wise, VII is superior, but as a GAME, I still prefer VI out of the whole series. And what I've seen here seems to support that opinion.

Of course, now that I've started playing IV again and I've actually gotten SOMEWHERE in the story, who knows. I like that Cecil is an anti-hero.

Ushgarak
I read one FFTA reviewer writing how the Law system at one point forbade him from making either physical or magical atacks in a fight, which left him with only resetting and reloading as an option.

Clearly an ill-thought out area. Japanese games often suffer from an excess of imagination in this way.

Lana
Wow, that's a crappy one. I've had ones that forbade from physical OR magical attacks, but never both at once. And my party was well-rounded enough where I was able to still win.

Ushgarak
It so happens that circumstances are such that at a foreseeable point in the future I shall be able to bring reviews of FF X and X-2!

And I'll throw Tactics in with the mix.

Myabe even III as well.

Lana
Assuming you can ever get FFX and X-2 working so that you actually know what's going on, of course.

Ushgarak
Sssshhh.

Lana
Hehehehe.

I win.

Kayne Archeron
or even be able to force yourself through X-2, for that matter

Ushgarak
Ok, ok, lemme know in advance- what is this general issue with X-2?

BackFire
Storyline takes way too long to get started, none of the characters are particularly interesting.

Lana
Pretty much.

And the characters who the plot is actually about are rarely seen. I think Lenne's actually in the game for a whole, what...5 minutes? Maybe 10?

It's a fun game, just don't expect it to really stand up to any other FF.

pr1983
Just read the reviews, good stuff, and i agree with ush for the most part...

Personally, I loved VII, i liked VIII almost as much, XI, i just couldnt get into it, the visual style made it hard to get into...

I know people hate Squall... but tidus, honestly? i actually played through X, and i only did so in the vain hope that i could get one of the party to punch him in the face... repeatedly... i thought X was rather weak (even if the world was pretty nice looking), and X2? I wouldnt buy it to burn it... hated it...

Lana
Hey, FFX was great stick out tongue

I couldn't stand Tidus either. Ugh. At least he stopped being so damn whiny and got more tolerable as you got through the game. Unlike Squall who just got worse. Yuna too...hated her. I disliked her more than I did Rinoa...and Yuna only got worse in X-2...I'd say of the main characters in FFX, I liked Lulu, Auron, and Rikku the most. Lulu is probably my favorite FF character ever, for that matter. Pity that Auron is...well...gone, Lulu is in FFX-2 for maybe two scenes, and they turned Rikku into a brainless ditz. Wakka's kind of annoying, and Kimahri's pretty much utterly pointless. I really don't think I ever actually used him if I didn't have to.

How did you think FFX is weak, though? It's been my experience that people who really like VII tend to not like FFX that much, and people who like VIII tend to like X a lot...I really have no idea why, but that's been the case a lot of the time, that I've seen. But also I have noticed that people who dislike FFX, particularly the plot, never really fully figured out what the story was. Which it is quite confusing, admittedly, and it's not until the very end that everything finally comes together and you find out exactly what was going on, but it's not that hard to figure out if you've been paying attention to the story while playing.

And FFX-2 wasn't that bad. As a sequel to FFX, which is quite possibly my favorite game ever, it definitely didn't live up, but it was still a fun game. I just wish that they didn't screw around with taking forever to get the plot started, because it DID have a pretty good storyline. They just kinda wasted too much time getting it going and made the game very silly, which was SO in contrast to FFX, which had a very serious tone to most of it. And they made Yuna even more spineless than she already was, and turned Rikku from being incredibly intelligent to a stereotypical brainless blond.

Blah.

BackFire
I thought Tidus was a refreshing change from the mopey, whiney protagonists from VII and VIII. He got annoying, but it's pretty much mandatory that the main characters in an FF game are annoying at some points, at least from VII on. FFVI characters never annoyed me, but of course that game's the best in the series so go figure.

I dunno where you got the thing where people who like VIII like X and people who like VII don't like X. Also, the story in X is very easy to follow in comparison to VII and VIII, not because it's not as complex or anything, but because in all honesty it's just told better, better plot progression with a very very good pace, never really loses itself by trying to weave too many convoluted plot twists or 'realizations' or whatever. VII got a little whacky towards the end, and VIII pretty much just went nuts at the end, as if they realized that they needed to wrap things up quickly and basically explained the finale and the introduction to the boss in one long dialogue from Cid - "Oh yeah, hey there's this crazy witch from the future who's trying to compress time and you need to stop her and stuff, cuz if you don't she'll screw up this world and so on, she's the boss and she lives in this big castle so yeah, she's mean, go get her." Just lazy.

Lana
Tidus did nothing but whine through the entire game. It was as though they made my sister the main character. But he did get better as the game progressed, as I said. It was Yuna that I definitely had a bigger problem with, as well as the fact that she was worse in X-2. Though it seems rare that I actually like the two main characters in an FF game, kinda hoping that FFXII is different in that regard.

And I've gotten that impression from about 5 years of being on video games and Final Fantasy message boards and stuff like that.

I'd say the story's more complex and it'd be easier for people to get confused at it, because there's a lot to it, even though it is very well-told and stuff's not all lumped together; if you're not paying attention to it it's not going to make sense. Unlike in FFVIII where it doesn't matter if you pay attention through the game or not, because everything's explained in about 10 minutes at the end.

Kayne Archeron
they need to pull another FF6, where there isn't a specific main character

pr1983
Originally posted by Lana
Hey, FFX was great stick out tongue

Says you... stick out tongue



I'd played Vii and gotten really into it... finally beating ruby weapon was a day of celebration for me...

i liked viii alot, i loved the cgi (looking that good on a playstation was no small feat), and yes, the gameplay was a bit silly (trying to find 100 tornado spells to stick on squall's health, yeah, that was fun). I liked the characters, and maybe it was done badly, but seeing someone like squall actually end up going after rinoa (basically, making him wake up), was good imo...

i liked the whole 'military academy' theme, and how seifer's school and squall's went to war...

i liked the set ups (having to go assassinate that woman... her name just wont come to me), the schools going to war, all that stuff... and i like irvine's shot thingy... it was a consistent (if a little slow) special ability, the amount of time i wasted cycling through selphie's looking for that 'the end' spell... good god... it wasnt on the same level as vii (obviously), but it appealed to me...

but i have really weird taste, so meh... stick out tongue

X... tidus, again... i hated him... squall, i could identify with a little, but tidus... and that voice... no, no, no, no, no... the story was ok, the whole syn/sin thing, the 'technology is bad' attitude of the albhed (sp?), it all had its plus points... i guess i just found myself... i dunno, forcing myself to play through, rather than actually enjoying it... i guess what really bugged me was that x came across as being overly targeted to a western audience... as if they had just disregarded the influences of the previous games... i suppose the best way to say it is that they tried to 'hollywoodise' ff... but thats just my impression...

X-2... man... the attributes thing, songstress, warrior, alchemist (its been a few years since i played it, so the terms may be wrong) all that, i just couldnt get into it... it just felt... i don't know... unnecessary... why make a sequel to THAT game... why not vi, vii, or even viii?

Blah indeed... messed stick out tongue

Kayne Archeron
why make a sequel to THAT game... why not vi, vii, or even viii?


it'd be rather hard to make a sequel to 6... and 7 has enough spin-offs as it is, at least Dirge had an amazingly decent ending

pr1983
Originally posted by Kayne Archeron
it'd be rather hard to make a sequel to 6... and 7 has enough spin-offs as it is, at least Dirge had an amazingly decent ending

I havent played dirge of cerberus, is it any good?

Kayne Archeron
Originally posted by pr1983
I havent played dirge of cerberus, is it any good?

the gameplay is somewhat reminiscent of DMC, though the gun customization is pretty awesome, and you can shortcut up to 3 custom guns. pretty easy though, i beat it on hard and had more difficulty with minions than bosses. the way the story twists at the end is definately worth at least one run through the game though

pr1983
Originally posted by Kayne Archeron
the gameplay is somewhat reminiscent of DMC, though the gun customization is pretty awesome, and you can shortcut up to 3 custom guns. pretty easy though, i beat it on hard and had more difficulty with minions than bosses. the way the story twists at the end is definately worth at least one run through the game though

hmm... i'm a fan of devil may cry... i just hope its not another clone... i'll give it a look i guess...

Lana
VII had a sequel in the forum of Advent Children. The ending of FFX was left open enough where there could be a sequel to it.

And, er, methinks you really didn't pay that much attention to FFX. Especially the comment about the Al Bhed having the anti-tech attitude...the Al Bhed were the only ones in FFX who DID use technology, and Rikku was the resident tech-expert. Also the comment about the it disregarding the influences from former FFs...well, ALL FF games are like that. There's the basic classes, summons, various weapon names, chocobos and mogs, and a character named Cid...and that's all that branches across the different games. Not to mention that the previous games were FAR more western-oriented than FFX, which was made to have much more of an Eastern feel than, say, FFVII or FFVIII.

I rather liked the job system in FFX-2...sure, you had tons of classes, and yeah, I did end up rarely using quite a few of them, and yeah, you could switch them out whenever you wanted in battle, but you were still limited in what you could switch to, depending on how you had things set up.

Kayne Archeron
Originally posted by Lana
VII had a sequel in the forum of Advent Children. The ending of FFX was left open enough where there could be a sequel to it.

And, er, methinks you really didn't pay that much attention to FFX. Especially the comment about the Al Bhed having the anti-tech attitude...the Al Bhed were the only ones in FFX who DID use technology, and Rikku was the resident tech-expert. Also the comment about the it disregarding the influences from former FFs...well, ALL FF games are like that. There's the basic classes, summons, various weapon names, chocobos and mogs, and a character named Cid...and that's all that branches across the different games. Not to mention that the previous games were FAR more western-oriented than FFX, which was made to have much more of an Eastern feel than, say, FFVII or FFVIII.

I rather liked the job system in FFX-2...sure, you had tons of classes, and yeah, I did end up rarely using quite a few of them, and yeah, you could switch them out whenever you wanted in battle, but you were still limited in what you could switch to, depending on how you had things set up.

yeah... FFX was just more horny fanboy/girl oriented stick out tongue

in all seriousness though, i enjoyed FF6 through FF10, but Squeenix tends to push their luck with crap like Radiata Stories

Lana
Originally posted by Kayne Archeron
yeah... FFX was just more horny fanboy/girl oriented stick out tongue

in all seriousness though, i enjoyed FF6 through FF10, but Squeenix tends to push their luck with crap like Radiata Stories

FFX? You mean FFX-2 stick out tongue

And I'm convinced it was made for the cosplayers laughing out loud

Kayne Archeron
Originally posted by Lana
FFX? You mean FFX-2 stick out tongue

And I'm convinced it was made for the cosplayers laughing out loud


lol, true... good ol' impossible Seymour hair

pr1983
Originally posted by Lana
FFX? You mean FFX-2 stick out tongue

And I'm convinced it was made for the cosplayers laughing out loud

Oh, definately... laughing

Ushgarak
Currently:

Going back and finishing FF V. An unacceptable gap.

Ushgarak
Ever up to the very latest moment! Ush is playing Final Fantasy... X.

(I did finish V, by the way)

BackFire
Nice!

X is really good, I started playing that again last night.

Lana
I need a new copy of FFX. I want to play it again.

...

And I want the damn expert sphere grid!

BackFire
expert sphere grid?

Lana
Different version of the sphere grid that's available in the international version of FFX. Abilities are moved around and there's fewer nodes you can use, so it's basically to offer more of a challenge in going through the game. I didn't even know it existed until today.

But yeah, I want that, and I want to fight the damn Dark Aeons. Even though they're ridiculously powerful. Hehe.

BackFire
Challenge, you say? Something this game knows not about.

Lana
I guess the way it's set up it's easier for you to enter another character's part of the grid from the start, but how the abilities are rearranged makes it harder - I found a picture of it and Ultima is hidden away in a corner completely surrounded by lvl4 key spheres so that you need 4 to unlock it, rather than 3. Plus there's just fewer HP, MP, etc. powerups on it. I suppose that could make it a bit harder until you've gotten a good way through the game.

And go read up on Dark Aeons and the hidden boss unlocked once you defeat them all. I don't think even the monster arena hybrids compare to them...which really makes me want to try and fight them.

Omega Ruins is a good wake up call, I find...you go there straight after defeating Yunalesca and you'll stand no chance laughing out loud I had my entire party wiped out almost instantly. I think the only actual boss I ever had any trouble with in that game is one of Seymour's incarnations, second one I think. Though I suppose the last bosses would have been harder had I not spent so much time inside Omega Ruins...

BackFire
Would be nice if they actually incorperated some of that challenge into, you know, the actual game, and not just sidquests and shit.

Lana
True, though as a lot of enemies in the last area are in Omega Ruins, I'd stand to bet you'd get killed pretty fast in there unless you spend a lot of time doing sidequests and leveling up.

Once I replace my copy (and finish FFXII) I want to go through and see just how little leveling and stuff I can do and still beat the game.

BackFire
In the final dungeon? No way, that was cake. The Omega ruins were cool, though.

Lana
Originally posted by BackFire
In the final dungeon? No way, that was cake. The Omega ruins were cool, though.

I found it easy buuuut I also spent way too much time in Omega Ruins, catching monsters for the monster arena, customizing weapons/getting the Celestial ones, etc. I had something like 100 hours of playtime.

One of my friends didn't do Omega Ruins or get all the aeons and struggled through the last dungeon, though.

BackFire
Too many people approach final fantasy battles and just expect to trade blows and win, never using strategies, buffs, or items.

Lana
See, the thing I've found with some of the harder battles, that unless you can get in someone to cast Hastega on your party, bothering with buffs wastes too much time. Hence I never really use them that much...and for that matter, I've not found that Shell or Protect really help THAT much, and Reflect can screw you over if you're not careful.

Which characters did you use most, btw?

BackFire
that's only true if you're guys are strong enough to just trade blows and win with every mob in the game. With stronger mobs, when you've played through the game casuall, all of those, except reflect, are very helpful, especially haste.

ESB -1138
Well with FF8 all you really had to do was use basic attacks and GFs to get through the game. That's it. Take time to upgrade your weapons but the draw function was basically useless.

FF12 on the other hand actually requires tactics unlike most previous FF games which just required you to be at a high level.

Lana
Originally posted by BackFire
that's only true if you're guys are strong enough to just trade blows and win with every mob in the game. With stronger mobs, when you've played through the game casuall, all of those, except reflect, are very helpful, especially haste.

That's true, but the only one I ever really bothered with using was Haste. I concentrated more on customizing armor for the status effects I wanted so then I wouldn't have to waste time in battle.

But then again by the end, I was only using Yuna, Lulu, and Auron, with Yuna and Auron having their Celestial weapons (getting Lulu's powered up was a pain in the ass and I quit with that). Break Damage Limit + Holy = Awesome.

Superboy Prime
No need to draw. Get a GF to learn the ability to turn Triple Triad cards into magic. SHAZAM! Endless stock of the strongest magic.

BackFire
What did you have to do for Lulu's? The lightning dodging?

Lana
Originally posted by BackFire
What did you have to do for Lulu's? The lightning dodging?

Yeah.

I actually almost got it, too. Then got out of a battle and got hit and just went "**** this".

I never got Wakka's or Tidus's either. I liked blitzball but not enough to play THAT much, and chocobo racing I got frustrated with.

BackFire
Lulu's wasn't that hard. You just needed that thing that made you avoid random battles. And once you got into a rhythm it made it easier. I think it took me like 45 minutes to get that one.

Tidus' was kinda a pain, but I got that one too. I think the only one I didn't get was Wakka's.

Lana
I'd spent about an hour trying to get Lulu's and by the time that I'd gotten hit, I was about 5 away...so yeah. I was definitely not in the mood to try that one again. Though I've heard it helps if you mute the sound on the game and turn on other music.

And basically the same story with Tidus's. I was doing the last chocobo race, was under the time needed to win, then got hit by a ****ing bird and lost and got annoyed with it.

Both are things I'll get around to doing eventually...

BackFire
Yeah you needed to ignore the sound, go by the flashes of light on the screen, or something.

I hit 100 and kept going just to make sure, I think I got to 150 before stopping, didn't want to **** up.

I don't think I had much of a problem with Tidus'. It was a little tough at first, but once I got the hang of it it wasn't too bad. In fact I think Tidus' was the first one I got.

Lana
I think I got Yuna's or Auron's first, they were the easiest.

Actually, now that I think of it, I can't remember if I ever bothered to get Kimahri's, since I never used him.

Kayne Archeron
i think one of the most annoying bosses in that game was the guardian dragon right before Yunalesca.

of course, that was before i got the bright idea to cast Reflect so Curaga would bounce back onto me lol.... Auron was the best of the main cast besides Yuna and Lulu

grey fox
FF10 never really did anything for me, I mean it was pretty to look at and the VA was a refreshing change (not that there's anything wrong with text boxes , it's just sitting there for half an hour flicking through a conversation get's a little irritating).

But overall it failed for me. Sphere grid was annoying , characters were...meh ( Auron ; while a bad-ass , seemed to be the only one who was actually 'FIT' for a ff role ) , the villains seemed to switch repeatedly , one minute it's sin then seymour then sin again !

I HATED the focus of the aeons within the storyline, I understand it was a major plot point and all, but it still felt too much like FF8's dependency on GF's for my liking.

Some of the limit's (Desperation attacks/Overdrive/Trance/Quickenings , take your pick) were pretty cool though.

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