Im Going To Play A FF Marathon, help me stay with it, Please?

[JakeM]

Play a real RPG like the Dragon Warrior games.

Final Fantasy is an overrated series, 7 sucks if you ask me and looks like blocky shit. 6 (or 3, whatever) is the only FF Ive ever actually enjoyed. 5 is great too I like the class system in that one.

All the recent FF's since 10 are total typical RPG shit if you ask me. Squaresoft needs to retire this series for good.

Did you not like the story? I think its great. The graphics are like late mid 90's computer games, but I kinda really like it because theres no other games that have Legos characters thats not a cash in on other franchises. If you have friends who want to play Lego Batman or Star Wars, tell them to play this. Genova freaked out this friend of mine last night.

Maybe people either hate or love RPG's due to what time in their lives they play them? Also which game era they play.


Another thing, a friend of mine is playing The Witcher 2, ( which the characters and other things have god horrendous names!!!!!!!) and there just too many options in that game to me. In Final Fantasy 7 theres enough, but theres a solid story line that you get through and theres not all these "ooooh what if I do this or that!?"

[Daltone]

In Final Fantasy 7 theres enough, but theres a solid story line that you get through and theres not all these "ooooh what if I do this or that!?"

You mean there's no RPG elements, leaving you with a battle system that is a turn based grind fest and a totally rigid plot about teenagers with big hair?

Ahem. Yeah, actually, whilst I don't like JRPGs (and I say this having played a fair few) I actually thought FFVII was one of the better ones.

[JakeM]

You mean there's no RPG elements, leaving you with a battle system that is a turn based grind fest and a totally rigid plot about teenagers with big hair?

Ahem. Yeah, actually, whilst I don't like JRPGs (and I say this having played a fair few) I actually thought FFVII was one of the better ones.

Theres too many side options in games now a days with games like Skyrim, instead of a game that has a million different side quest dungeons that will take a year to get through, why not make a game with a plot that will take a year to complete?

With FF 7, theres no way to stop someone from dying in the game, theres no second ending, some other things are trivial so they can happen differently, but its all one singular experience.

I found this exchange so funny I missed it the first time and restarted from the first Genova fight to get back to this so the haters would laugh at it

[Rickstilwell1]

Theres too many side options in games now a days with games like Skyrim, instead of a game that has a million different side quest dungeons that will take a year to get through, why not make a game with a plot that will take a year to complete?

With FF 7, theres no way to stop someone from dying in the game, theres no second ending, some other things are trivial so they can happen differently, but its all one singular experience.

I found this exchange so funny I missed it the first time and restarted from the first Genova fight to get back to this so the haters would laugh at it

Even Beyond the Beyond which came before Final Fantasy 7 on the Playstation had a way to stop someone from dying and then they rejoin you, that being the character Percy. It's funny how a game that got bad reviews but a cult following could do something that a highly praised game couldn't do. Even Suikoden came out nearly a year before Final Fantasy 7 and had all the character recruiting complexity with plenty of events that determine the life or death of characters.

The big thing about Final Fantasy 7 was that it was one of the first RPGs to go 3D in third person. It's not a bad game at all, but it is not the best either. I think the main attraction to the game is that many people find the cast of characters to be likeable, moreso in the official art than the pixelated models in the game itself.

[JakeM]

The reason why she dies is to save the planet, if she doesnt die, then the planet is doomed.

The game is one cohesive story, not a story that can be changed all the time due to you going off to another country to get someone else instead of someone else. You end up playing through everywhere, not wasting a bunch of the developers time by not exploring all those extra places. Whats the point of making a 10 million dollar game if only a few thousand play through all that 10 million worth, when millions of people played through only half the world? I think companies are going to learn this pretty soon. Just leave the huge side missions and things of that nature to modders.

[Daltone]

Theres too many side options in games now a days with games like Skyrim, instead of a game that has a million different side quest dungeons that will take a year to get through, why not make a game with a plot that will take a year to complete?

Skyrim is, put bluntly, a load of pants. Get hold of Planescape Torment, BGII or Ultima VII. BGII has some of the best side quests in any game going. It's not about dungeons and grinding, it's about stories within stories and being able to make your character react how you would like. Hence, Role Playing Game.

Anyway, yes, JRPGs. You'll get a slap on the wrist around these parts if you forget that vital letter "J".

As for games with one long plot - I believe they are called adventure games. The best involve you both pointing and clicking, sometimes at the same time. No silly grinding, just lots of lovely puzzles.

EDIT: Yeah, the point of this was to say that whilst I can't stand JRPGs, FFVII is one of the better ones I've played. I don't understand why it gets bashed so much.

[JakeM]

Yeah the major difference between JRPG and WRPG is story vs combat. If you dont like the story, you wont like a JRPG 9 times out of 10. I really love the story in FF 7, and I feel bad for people who dont see how it all plays out.

[Daltone]

Yeah the major difference between JRPG and WRPG is story vs combat. If you dont like the story, you wont like a JRPG 9 times out of 10. I really love the story in FF 7, and I feel bad for people who dont see how it all plays out.

.......... say what? This is madness. Did you type that naked with a towel over your lap?

[JakeM]

.......... say what? This is madness. Did you type that naked with a towel over your lap?

A pink one.

[Daltone]

A pink one.

Sounds legit.

[Aussie2B]

Yeah the major difference between JRPG and WRPG is story vs combat. If you dont like the story, you wont like a JRPG 9 times out of 10. I really love the story in FF 7, and I feel bad for people who dont see how it all plays out.

I love Japanese RPGs, but, in general, I have no interest in Western RPGs whatever. Yet I value gameplay far more in my RPGs than story. In fact, I'm the first to acknowledge that many of my favorite RPGs have weak, if not poor, characters and story, such is the case with pretty much every Star Ocean game, and that's my favorite series in all of gaming.

So yeah, you may want to consider the fact that not all people value the same things in games.

As for FFVII, I didn't find the characters or plot of the game very appealing, but what really killed the game for me was the shallow, slow battle system with its mind-numbingly easy difficulty level. If an RPG offers neither strategy nor action, it's failed in my book.

[JakeM]

As for FFVII, I didn't find the characters or plot of the game very appealing, but what really killed the game for me was the shallow, slow battle system with its mind-numbingly easy difficulty level. If an RPG offers neither strategy nor action, it's failed in my book.

Well, in America at the time there really werent hardcore JRPG players yet, so that probably made them have an easy battle system. I find it to be really good, very accessible for a beginner player, and thats why it was able to sell millions of copies. If the combat were like Saga games, no way would it have selled as much. What about the plot wasnt appealing? That theyre ecoterroirsts? Anime inspired?

And Ive decided to play FF X too in this marathon.

[Aussie2B]

They're just unlikeable, shallow characters and the plot is really convoluted and dumb with loads of plot holes. Has nothing to do with specifics like how they look or the fact that they're terrorists.

There were fans of Japanese RPGs in the US prior to Final Fantasy VII, they just weren't in great numbers. (And they still weren't in great numbers after FFVII. The Final Fantasy series itself may have been popular in the US from that point on, but just about every other Japanese RPG getting released was still very niche.) I had already been introduced to RPGs long before FFVII with the original Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy, and FFVII didn't come close to matching the favorites I already had in the genre (Chrono Trigger, Lufia II, Super Mario RPG, etc.).

There's a lot of middle ground between the extremes of FFVII and SaGa, as far as battle systems go. Take Chrono Trigger, for instance, since I already brought it up. It's fairly easy itself, and even has its roots in the Final Fantasy ATB system, but it's not easy to quite the level of FFVII, plus it moves really fast and has lots of interesting things that change up and keep you on your toes. Each character has a distinct battle identity, bringing something different to a party, and every party combination is unique thanks to double and triple techs. Lots of attacks have a specific kind of range, so it's always worthwhile to keep in mind what kind of formation the enemies are in (and since they move around, this can change from one moment to the next). And just about every boss has a unique way of attacking and/or receiving damage, necessitating a different strategy.

FFVII? You can get through virtually the entire game mashing on the confirm button to select "Attack" over and over.

[Daltone]

They're just unlikeable, shallow characters and the plot is really convoluted and dumb with loads of plot holes. Has nothing to do with specifics like how they look or the fact that they're terrorists.

There were fans of Japanese RPGs in the US prior to Final Fantasy VII, they just weren't in great numbers. (And they still weren't in great numbers after FFVII. The Final Fantasy series itself may have been popular in the US from that point on, but just about every other Japanese RPG getting released was still very niche.) I had already been introduced to RPGs long before FFVII with the original Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy, and FFVII didn't come close to matching the favorites I already had in the genre (Chrono Trigger, Lufia II, Super Mario RPG, etc.).

There's a lot of middle ground between the extremes of FFVII and SaGa, as far as battle systems go. Take Chrono Trigger, for instance, since I already brought it up. It's fairly easy itself, and even has its roots in the Final Fantasy ATB system, but it's not easy to quite the level of FFVII, plus it moves really fast and has lots of interesting things that change up and keep you on your toes. Each character has a distinct battle identity, bringing something different to a party, and every party combination is unique thanks to double and triple techs. Lots of attacks have a specific kind of range, so it's always worthwhile to keep in mind what kind of formation the enemies are in (and since they move around, this can change from one moment to the next). And just about every boss has a unique way of attacking and/or receiving damage, necessitating a different strategy.

FFVII? You can get through virtually the entire game mashing on the confirm button to select "Attack" over and over.

Aussie2B - how do you feel about Vagrant Story?

I think it is fair to say that it was the look of FFVII that kept me playing. It is simplistic, but it didn't seem a lot worse than Grandia or Breath of Fire IV. Maybe I have got it all wrong though.

[Aussie2B]

Never played it, but I'm looking forward to giving it a try whenever I get around to buying it. I actually won an auction for it on eBay recently, but the seller flaked out and disappeared (I never paid, thankfully, since his PayPal account wasn't working). I haven't bothered to try to win another auction for it since.

[JakeM]

I was just giving an example of a very tough type of game. FF 7 can have a number of ways to play, if you read up on stuff and use materia. The flexibility is cool. When you see how the story plays out you understand why the characters are the way they are.

[Aussie2B]

I'm not into all those silly self-created challenges with 15-letter acronyms in which you avoid using half of the stuff in the game just to try to squeeze a little difficulty out of it. I expect the developers to give me a nice, balanced difficulty from the get-go, where I can get the full experience of the game while still getting some moderate level of challenge. Although I did once replay the game to give it a second chance and tried to somewhat rush through it, only buying whatever new equipment I could afford and never stopping to grind for money or anything. Even then, it was brainlessly easy, so I knew it wasn't a matter of me be over-leveled the first time through or anything like that.

And I have completed the game. As I just said, I even replayed it, so I know how the story plays out and I know about all the different types of materia and such. Doesn't make a difference to me, it's still an RPG that I didn't find all that entertaining.

[badinsults]

I'm sorry, but if you need to cheat to get through Final Fantasy VI, you suck at video games. You should find an easier hobby.

[GarrettCRW]

And you're using cheat codes on FF4 and it's the US FF2 version, you may qualify as mentally impaired.

[JakeM]

Im pretty sure Square wanted a hit so they made it an easy to access game, theres things for people if they want depth, so its all up to you. Any RPG can be really tough if you dont grind or carry limited potions.

I'm sorry, but if you need to cheat to get through Final Fantasy VI, you suck at video games. You should find an easier hobby.

That is a bad insult.