Game: The Final Fantasy Retrospective

[RyougaZell]

I was browsing through gametrailers.com and found this awesome documentaries...

http://www.gametrailers.com/game/4831.html

A 13-part documentary on all the final fantasy's.

Currently 4 parts have been released.

Part 1 focus on the game that began it all.

Part 2 focus on the FF's that never made it to America (on the NES) till their re-releases on GBA/PSX/PSP

Part 3 focus on the series debut on the 16bit era with FF4 and FF5.

Part 4 focus solely on the masterpiece known as FF6.

Part 5 will be released this saturday on the game that began it for many of us... FF7...


Opinions?

[Board of Command]

Looking forward to Part 5. FF7 was where it all started for me. I still remember running around the Midgar slums trying to figure out how to get Cloud to wear a dress. That was nearly 10 years ago.....

[Psyke]

FFVII was my first Final Fantasy game as well. After that, I played FFVI on an emulator, before going on to VIII, IX, X, X2, and then XII. Skipped XI due to lack of online capabilities for PS2. X is my favourite.

"This is my story."

[Ryllharu]

The game they won't be including was my first "Final Fantasy", Mystic Quest, the retarded SNES cousin of Final Fantasy. I played 4, 7, and then up through the list, skipping only 11 and 12. I skipped 6 to play Chrono Trigger instead, I've since tried 6 on emulators, but I just can't get into it.

Of all of them, 8 is my favorite. The full orchestral score, the sci-fi feel of it, the Sorceress' Knight story theme, an interesting spell system, and the only limit break system that ever made sense to me.

Why are they saving up a "desperation" attack through 100+ battles? It makes more sense to use your last resort as many times as you can when you're at your weakest. It added another strategy element to the game. Until you get the spell that fakes it, do you avoid healing in order to use the strongest attack? There was higher-level battle strategy required in 8 with the limit breaks and the spell limitations that I didn't get to see again until 10.

[RyougaZell]

The only FF of the main line which I haven't been able to finish is FF3. Nor on NES emulator, nor on GBA emulator nor on NDS... LOL.
FFXI is out of the question... bleh.

Rylharu: Who knows? Maybe they will mention it. The perspective is supposed to be a 13 part series... and the first 4 parts have already covered the first five games of the main line. Maybe they dedicate a part to all alternate universes, like mystic quest. And several for the Ivalice Alliance, FF7 Compilation and Fabula Nova Crystallis.

[darkshadow]

*retrospective.
And i love gt.tv's retrospectives, the metroid ones are great too.

[Ryllharu]

Rylharu: Who knows? Maybe they will mention it...
...And several for the Ivalice Alliance, FF7 Compilation and Fabula Nova Crystallis.
I still doubt it, Mystic Quest is notorious for being reviled by hard core fans of the series. It's overly easy, simplified, and really comes off as a half-assed effort. It was made Stateside first, in an attempt to get more people into the rpg genre. Luckily, it did succeed with me.

I expect they will more likely delve into Final Fantasy Tactics and forgo the mention of Mystic Quest. Chronologically, they've already past it by. Tactics has a massive following (myself included). Monk + 3 Dancers + Orlando = Instant victory.

And yes, I'm serious about that many dancers. Don't underestimate lower damage at that rapid a pace.

[itadakimasu]

final fantasy for me started as just watching.. i'd never seen that type of game before and my friend and his dad were playing the original ff on nes. and then ff2 on snes which will always be my favorite in the series. i never beat 1 on nes, had to use emulator help. I have played all of them up to 9... played X for 10 minutes and didn't like the system... didn't play X2, put about 20 hours or so into XII before losing interest / having too many other things to do to rpg.

psyke : if you have not, you need to go back and play the first 4-5 games :) they're where it really all started even if 7 is the "best"

[XanBcoo]

Funny, I just ran across this about an hour ago.

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/1162/ffvivsffviipg1.th.gif (http://img262.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ffvivsffviipg1.gif)

Not to knock either game, I just found the over-simplified parallels kinda funny.

[Psyke]

psyke : if you have not, you need to go back and play the first 4-5 games :) they're where it really all started even if 7 is the "best"

I've got the PSP remake of the original FF, but yet to start. You should give FFX another try though. The system might be drastically different, but the plot is absolutely brilliant. I loved Yuna and Tidus.

[RyougaZell]

darkshadow:
.... can't believe I made that mistake....

bbaucom:
X, X-2 and XII indeed have way different systems... but personally I found them good.

XanBcoo:
LOL... indeed

Psyke:
I`ll buy those remakes as soon as FFVII Crisis Core is out...

[Board of Command]

Of all of them, 8 is my favorite. The full orchestral score, the sci-fi feel of it, the Sorceress' Knight story theme, an interesting spell system, and the only limit break system that ever made sense to me.

Why are they saving up a "desperation" attack through 100+ battles? It makes more sense to use your last resort as many times as you can when you're at your weakest. It added another strategy element to the game. Until you get the spell that fakes it, do you avoid healing in order to use the strongest attack? There was higher-level battle strategy required in 8 with the limit breaks and the spell limitations that I didn't get to see again until 10.
I thought FF8's limit break system was pretty poor. Coupled with the junction system, it was very easy to exploit the entire combat system as a whole. Load Squall up with 100 Ultima and 100 Haste, while keeping his health very low. Your party will be invincible. You get a limit break at the start of every battle and every turn that is powerful enough to wipe out just about any enemy in the game except the last boss. When you battle the last boss, you're doing a Lionheart almost every turn for 300,000 dmg.

[Idealistic]

The first FF I played was FF2(in america) followed by FF3. Those 2 games were amazing way back then. Then I played FF5(in america) which also pretty good.

The old ones were good, but I forgot how their stories went, been too long so I won't rate them. As for the newer FFs...

FF7 - The best of them all, simply amazing story and I loved the materia system. Awesome music.

FF8 - A lot of people seem to like this one, but I didn't find it any good at all. The story was short and lame and I didn't understand how Rinoa suddenly fell in love with Squall. Music wasn't all that. Plus the game was so damn easy.

FF9 - Not a fan of the art, story was ok. Pretty decent game and I liked the battle music.

FF10 - I put this one 2nd after FF7. Amazing story and fighting system, but I didn't like Tidus too much. He looked too much like a pretty boy and he had an annoying voice. I mean c'mon, you're going to save the world! Awesome music.

FF10-2 - Why on earth did I buy this game? I should've just went to DL some hentai. The fighting system was good, but the story wasn't all that along with the music. You are trying to save the world! Why the hell are you dressed in skimpy outfits?!?!!

That's pretty much it... I didn't touch FF12 because Vaan(Name of the hero I believe) looked too homosexual.

I just don't see how when I ask what's the best FF I get a mixture of FF7 and FF8. Imho, FF7 is way out of FF8s league and FF10 owns FF8.

[Ryllharu]

it was very easy to exploit the entire combat system as a whole. Load Squall up with 100 Ultima and 100 Haste, while keeping his health very low.
Yes, by the end, it's absurdly easy to exploit the combat system. However, there were some nice touches. Enemies ALWAYS leveled with you, so while some battles remained easy after you got the hang of things, there was still the enemy type that could get a 1 hit kill on you. Tyrannosaurs did lots of damage back in the garden, and they still do lots of damage out in the wild. But by then, you've got all sorts of spells and the strongest of them junctioned to the appropriate ability, etc.

I still think the limit system had that appropriate feel to it. Early on, your whole party falls into the yellow, and then you're furiously recycling through the characters to hear that characteristic chime. Leave the battle system on Active, and you get a slight panic feeling during an pivotal boss fight up to about the midpoint.

Granted, they could have made the game harder. I always appreciated what the first Lunar had done. Every boss's level was always 1.5 times your own. No matter how much power leveling you did, the boss was always that much better than you. If they had applied this to FF8, it would have had the challenge where you needed to exploit the system. It worked well for the two games of Disgaea. The creators pointed out the whole idea was to exploit the combat system, FF8 just never made itself hard enough.

EDIT:
I like both FF7 and FF8. They each have their good points. I think 8 had a better soundtrack and a more cohesive story (many of 7's quests have no connection to the main storyline, where in 8, everything connects back to Ultimacia, the past, and where everyone grew up). 8 was another graphics leap, and the character, mech, and costume design really had one up on 7.
On the other hand, 7 has just so much to do. There's always another Weapon to fight, always another sidequest, always another rare materia to dig up and master into a copy, another city to revisit after a major event.

[RyougaZell]

I find funny how many people miss great games because they think one or two characters look gay.

Some said it about Zidane. Many said Tidus looked gay... many more said the same about Vaan.

And most of them played FF7 first and never quite understood FF7 wasn't a continuation of FF6. And what happened then? Compilation of FF7... and now people say Square is milking the saga. Who can understand them?

FFX-2... had a great system, and a normal storyline. Gameplay owns story, enough for me on this title. Ever since FFX they have being critics about the costumes of the characters... well... FFX is a tropical world so... who cares if the girls use skimpy outfits on FFX-2?

FFXII... Vaan was an orphan and a thief... can't you imagine he can't afford a t-shirt instead of labeling as gay? He does get Penelo...

Anyways...

Fav characters from every FF:
FF - Black Mage
FF2 - None
FF3 - None
FF4 - Rydia, Kain
FF5 - Leena
FF6 - Terra, Celes, Shadow
FF7 - Yuffie, Vincent, Reno (even if its not playable)
FF8 - Selphie, Zell
FF9 - None
FF10 - Rikku
FF10-2 - Yuna, Rikku
FF11 - Bleh
FF12 - Penelo, Balthier
FFT - Agrias, Ramza
FFTA - Can't remember
FFVIIDC - Shelke, Vincent, Yuffie

[Ryllharu]

Must copy list scheme...if I didn't play it or hated everyone, I didn't include it.

FF: Warrior/Fighter
FF4: Rydia, the Twins
FF6: Terra
FF7: Barrett, Tifa, Aerith
FF8: Edea, Irvine, Rinoa (even if she's a ditz), Laguna (he's a jackass)
FF10: Rikku, Lulu
FF10-2: Rikku
FFT: Princess Ovelia (I like to think she killed him), the two Assassins.
FFTA: Ritz

[Idealistic]

I find funny how many people miss great games because they think one or two characters look gay.


Well, that's just how some people are. Character looks can play a big role in someones tastes whether it's a video game, a tv show, a movie, etc.

Take mmorpgs for example. I'm more into using swords and bows and such. You'll never see me playing a mage or something simply because I'm just not a big fan of them. No matter how good they are, I still won't play them. Their style doesn't interest me.

[masamuneehs]

Well, the one I consider the best is probably left out of the festivities: I loved the gameplay and style of Final Fantasy Tactics, but the story was what made it memorable for me. One of the best storylines and some of the greatest characters in a game I've ever witnessed.

My favecharacters from every FF I played:
FF - Black Mage
FF4 - Kain
FF6 - Edgar (in combat), Kefka, my fave playable character is probably Cyan
FF7 - Cid &#!@% Highwind
FF8 - Irvine, Seifer until he became a puss towards the end.
FF9 - Blank, the main characters all pissed me off
FF10 - Auron
FF12 - I suppose it'd have to be Basch.
FFT - Delita Hyral, also really loved Wiegraf and Mustadio
FFVIIDC - Vincent

[RyougaZell]

Hey masa... if you read this... could you edit the thread title? I messed up and used Perspective instead of Retrospective...

Oh well...
My previous list should be redone to take out Reno and Shelke for being not playable...
thus... my character list of Non-playable characters is...

Chaos (FF) - Damn recursive over paradoxical enemy... created by the fiends which it sent to the past so they could create him and thus he could create them and sent them to the past so he could be created and... you understand
Kefka (FFVI) - Damn bastard rocks as a Villan!
Reno (FFVII) - The Turks simply rule.
Rude (FFVII) - Same as above
Elena (FFVII) - Same as above
Sephiroth (FFVII) - Need any explanation?
Seifer (FFVIII) - While you 'could' use him for a while... he really isn't a playable char. Damn attitude rocks. And has a dream, for which he even becomes evil.
Shelke (FFVIIDC) - She simply rulez... wish she was playable.
Chocobos (any FF since FF2) - No need to explain.
Shiva (any FF with normal summons (FFXII has its own set) ) - She rocks...

[The Heretic Azazel]

I loved the system in 8 with the monsters levelling up as you do, though at the end, like many said, it got too easy. Also when I switched parties or finally got more powerful spells I would wipe everyones magic/summons off to re-junction to appropriate strength, and holy shit did that take a long time.

I started playing 9 on an emulator but its boring the shit out of me already, and come to find out the save slot doesn't work. Piss on this. I started 7 again but I think I'll go through 8 instead

[Board of Command]

I thought FF8 had the best atmosphere out of all the FFs I've played (1, 6, 7, 8, 9, X). The whole world with Gardens and stuff seemed very immersive. FFX could have been better in this regard if you didn't just hop from place to place on the airship, and each place is totally different. It had a very "fantasy" feeling compared to FF8's "realistic" world.

[LaZie]

My first FF was Mystic Quest and I rather enjoyed that very much.

But my favorite would have to be FF9. Something just keeps pulling me back in every year to replay it.

FFT is a very close second.

[ChaosK]

My first FF was actually 8 but I didn't finish it the first time around since my memory card fucked up and i got too pissed to take another crack at it. After that I played 9, THEN 7 (I know, weird order right?) So anyway, after playing (and completing) those three, I went on to play 10 and started 10-2 then just gave up after like...2 hours.

So favorites out of every Final Fantasy

FF7- Reno and Tifa (
FF8- Zell (to me the rest of them were just annoying)
FF9- Zidane (I actually liked the main character in this one!)
FF10- Auron and Jet
FFTA- ...what was her name...Rita? Ritz I think. The pink haired chick.
FFT- Agrais and Delita

I haven't watched any of them since none of the ones I've played have been released but once the 5th one is, I'll watch that.

[darkshadow]

uhh the retrospectives arent only for ppl who played the games, they are also for ppl who didn't get to experience them.
They are simply reviews of the games with added info on what the game accomplished/changed.

[RyougaZell]

Indeed.
They are excellent for those that didn't play them, to see how they where in the past, what they didn't get to play, or to even maybe interest them into playing.

I found weird that when they talked about FF3 they never showed footage of the NDS remake... maybe they will on a later part of the retrospective?

[Psyke]

I found IX to be very disappointing, in both gameplay and character development. Zidane was way below the league of Cloud and Squall. It isn't just about the more cartoony design, but rather the character and how memorable he was.

[infidel]

I've only had the chance to play FFX, FFX-2, and FFXII. I've beat one of them...I plan on starting all of them again once school starts. (I always make a lot of progress on video games during school.)

[Board of Command]

I've only had the chance to play FFX, FFX-2, and FFXII. I've beat one of them...I plan on starting all of them again once school starts. (I always make a lot of progress on video games during school.)
OMG....just.....

*shakes head*

You have to at least try FF7.

[?igma]

I've recently tried to get 7 and 8 to work on my PC, but it drops like a rock after the intro. Which is really a pity, because I so very much enjoyed VII and never played any other FF :(

[RyougaZell]

i've already lost the count of how many times I've played FF7...

but I do know that I've only gotten 1 Master Materia of Summons... ever.

7777Hp is Cheap and awesome against Emerald Weapon...

[animus]

I guess I was the only one who hated 8. I thought all of them were decent, favorite being Tactics, then 7, then 6, and then 9.

[itadakimasu]

The last time that i played 7, my charactor line-up was so insane. i remember i had cid set to double counter attack whenever he was attacked and so he would get hit and then do 7000+ dmg per attack. The biggest disappointment of FF7 was that there was all this build up to the final battle with sephiroth and it takes 10 seconds to beat him... whereas against the weapons, especially emerald if my memory serves me right; you could be battling them for a good 45 minutes before you kill them.

ima lamer :

1:black mage / fighter
2:black mage / fighter
3:onion kids?! customizable skills was pretty cool
4:Rydia, Cecil, Kain
5:Customizable ? idk
6:moogle / sasquatch ftw ^^ (sabin, shadow... yes... save him even if the world is about to end !!!)
7:cid, cloud, and i like to party with yuffie but she doesn't get to stay in my party too much
8:i hated this game
9:zidane : new boss = new bad ass weapon or armor (stolen)
X:n/a
X-2:n/a
12:i like the cat girl cant think of her name.

edit: LaZie : I kinda pity you for having got started w\ mystic quest... that game is teh suck and is definately the worst place for anybody to start into the FF enterprise.

[Turkish-S]

Have played only 3 FF(FF VI,FF X,FFXII. and finished just 1(FF VI).

[infidel]

OMG....just.....

*shakes head*

You have to at least try FF7.
I really don't have any interest in FF7. I am probably going to get shot for saying that.

[RyougaZell]

I guess I was the only one who hated 8. I thought all of them were decent, favorite being Tactics, then 7, then 6, and then 9.

Half of my screenname should answer you :cool:

[LaZie]

LaZie : I kinda pity you for having got started w\ mystic quest... that game is teh suck and is definately the worst place for anybody to start into the FF enterprise.

Well bbaucom, I don't need your pity. I actually really liked the game and I was what 6 at the time? Then years later my friend introduced me to FF2(IV) for the SNES.

[Idealistic]

I guess I was the only one who hated 8. I thought all of them were decent, favorite being Tactics, then 7, then 6, and then 9.

No, I didn't like 8 either.

I never got into Tactics.... The only types of games like those that I played were the Shining Force series on the genesis and saturn. For some reason, the part of walking around towns was a big fun factor for me.

[Terracosmo]

Nice another one of these retrospective series. Really liked the Zelda one.

Final Fantasy 6 was the first for me. Even getting to play it was probably rare as fuck in Sweden when it came out. My mom had somehow acquired a piracy version of it run with some weird disc thing you put on the SNES called a Super Wildcard (anyone know about this?).

I was absolutely mesmerized. Back then I didn't know english very well and I was too stupid to realize you could even buy equipment (I was 8!). But it was such an amazing experience even though I only understood half the story.

To this date that game is probably my fondest gaming memory and without a doubt the best game ever made if you ask me.

[?igma]

For me that's the Secret of Mana series..or Seiken ..something .. Damn I still play that shit occasionally :)

[Board of Command]

I really don't have any interest in FF7. I am probably going to get shot for saying that.
Probably? I don't know about that. But you certainly do deserve it.

[el_boss]

ff7 was my first. ffx is the best, I have unlocked everything and even defeated penance. ffx-2 sucked cock, I didn't even finish it. ffxii was ok, but the combat system was tedious and to easy to break and it had the worst last boss ever. The whole game was way too easy

I never got ff6. I've always hated rpgs with too many characters. What's the idea when they're all the same anyway. ff5 was much better. I don't even remember what happened in ff4. I haven't even bothered to play the nes ones.

[kooshi]

FF - Pretty fun at first, but it gets boring quite easily as you're stuck with only 4 characters and the storyline is not that great (for this time, anyways, I can see why about 20 years ago).
Rating = (7/10)

FF3 - I've played the DS remake and it wasn't great. Although I loved the idea of class changing, the fact that you need job levels to make a job effective really brought it down for me. Plus, the story sucked.
Rating = (6.5/10)

FF4 (unfinished) - Story is good, characters are good, battle system is alright. My only complain is that... well, I don't think I should put any spoilers on...
Rating so far = (7.5/10)

FF5 (unfinished) - Story is alright, characters are alright, battle and job system is awesome, and I have yet to finish this game, hahaha.
Rating so far = (8.5/10)

FF6 - Awesome story, awesome characters, good battle system, great esper customization. My definite favorite out of the FFs that I have played.
Rating = (9.5/10)

FF7 - Great story, great characters, loved the materia system, but I hated the difficulty. Way too bloody easy. Plus, I don't think Sephiroth is THAT great; I give him my most overrated character trophy.
Rating = (8.5/10)

FF8 (discontinued) - Blah story, blah characters, battle + magic + GF system were so easy to abuse. I could've just had Zell all by himself and just spam his Limit Break while dishing out 9999 on every hit.
Rating = (3/10)

FF10 (unfinished) - Alright story, annoying characters, but the battle system + leveling grid just blew me away. Those two alone keeps motivating me to tolerate the story.
Rating = (9/10)

FF10-2 - Crappy story, crappy + annoying characters, battle system + class changing was fun.
Rating = (6/10)

FFT - Awesome story, awesome characters, fun battles, fun classes, but the game can be a little redundant at times.
Rating = (9.5/10)

[Zinobi]

Part V (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23449.html) is out
Awesome Retrospective, as are all of the retrospectives on GT.

[RyougaZell]

Excellent Part 5.
Sadly they didn't cover Advent Children and Last Order for not being videogames. They could at least have mentioned them for being part of the compilation.

Weird they decided to mention Ergheiz though.

[Ryllharu]

Ergheiz got insane amount of press from those characters inclusion in the game. Unfortunately, the game really wasn't great. I think it bombed everywhere.

I really liked how they never overtly mentioned Aerith's fate, but everyone knew precisely what reference they were making. They covered a lot of thing I forgot about, like the seemless transitions from FMV to pre-rendered background. We kind of take those for granted now, but they still look as amazing today as they did then.

You can appreciate a lot more about the directions the final fantasy series went when you see them all together like this. Strangely, I never realized how vast a departure 7 and 8 were in design over the series up through 9. I always loved the futuristic feel of them.

[RyougaZell]

Yeah. Personally, even though I love medieval themes, I believe this futuristic feeling on FFVII was what hooked me on the RPG genre. Before that I had only played Zelda and was totally dissapointed (yes.. I hate Zelda).

I wish they selled Before Crisis on the playstation network to play on psp or ps3... I don't care about cellphone graphics... I want to know the story behind the Turks...

[RyougaZell]

Part VI released.
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23726.html
This time it is focused on FFVIII and FFIX (wish they had done one retrospective for each game)

[LaZie]

Thanks for the link RyogaZell. After watching it, it makes me want to play FFIX again. :p

[Ryllharu]

Well, it reminded me of why I never want to play 9 ever again as long as I live. My rather obvious FF8 fanboyism aside (to which I can list a host of negatives as well), I can look at 9 separately.

My biggest issues were the story, the skills system, and (I'm so glad they mentioned it) PlayOnline.

PlayOnline was the biggest waste of time ever. In fact, it completely killed any business I would ever do with BradyGames, Prima Games, and any other strategy guide publisher. I wasted good money on a utterly worthless guide. I have not even considered purchasing another since. I'm ruder to EBgames employees when they ask if I want one now. The EBgames employees don't deserve my wrath for that farce of a strategy guide. I imagine there are many who like me, would never touch a guide from those companies again.
thanks gamefaqs

My issue with the story in 9 was that it simply didn't feel like there was one. It was an homage to all the 8 and 16 bit Final Fantasies, I get it. However, there was something 9 lacked. There was character development, a lot of it, but there never seemed to be any cohesive story pulling them all together. I never cared for any of the characters. It felt like they were all tossed together and a reason the world was going to be destroyed was just tacked on.

I think what I hated the most was the skills system. Even if you leveled for a few hours outside the next town, you were often a generation or two behind in equipment. The skills just took too much leveling to learn permanently, and you typically had to buy every weapon, no matter how inferior, to learn the skills. I probably could have skipped some less useful skills. But you couldn't do that with magic, couldn't do it with summons. The extended time it took to earn every skill took even more from the story, as it would take more and more time between any development. This system even wormed it's way into Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, leading to one of the most disappointing sequels in the franchise.

I've had my fun venting. Someone feel free to criticize the failings of 8.

There hopefully will be one of these retrospectives for Tactics. There is still a massive following for that game.

[Kitsune]

Never really got into Final Fantasy that much. The only ones I played were the rom for FFVI & FFX. Must admit that both of them were pretty good though. Loved Shadow from FFVI and Auron from FFX

[Honoko]

Yeah, these vids made me want to find an emulator for a Mac so that I can replay FFVII again. Or FFIII. (Un)Fortunately, I didn't look too hard.

[animus]

I liked 9, a lot. Can't say the same for 8. Aside from the main character being another angst trip, I thought 8's battle system was awful. Junction magic cards you took from enemies, no MP bar, odd use of a shoulder button to time crits (hitting R1 just as the attack comes down), and GF's being so damn important that you spam them, only to have it turn to a borefest of having to watch the same damn 20-30 second animations play over and over with no way to avoid them.

The Gunblade also has to be the dumbest weapon conceivable. When I was a kid I used to think, wtf is this? Is this a gun that shoots blades or something? Only to find it being a sword with a gun hilt, and I felt the urge to /palmface. I don't remember much about 8's story, but it wasn't anything to write home about. It was definite a fanboy/fangirl catering with all the arguable romance that occurs between Squall and Rinoa. It felt quite inconherent and foolish. Remember the orphanage scenario with Irvine? You can't possibly tell me that was masterful storytelling.

The only good things about 8 had to be Zell and Triple Triad. Anyways, the Final Fantasy's never had a been a series of deep, intriguing, complex plot lines. Tactics would take the cake at the top of the Final Fantasy list. But when it comes to best RPG story, it just has to be Xenogears. If you've played it and have a decent sense of depth, then you'd understand.

[Super5]

Ah final fantasy, those were the good ole' days. I first got hooked on RPGs with Final Fantasy 6 (3 in USA). It was unlike anything I ever played. I still think it's probably the best RPG ever. The only ones that could come close are FF VII and Tactics.

[LaZie]

Part VII is out
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/24248.html
This time focusing on FFX and FFX-2.

[RyougaZell]

I still can't believe many decided to not play FFX-2 because of the Songstress dressphere... even though we've have the class before with a different name... Dancer.

Class change and fast battle system was awesome in FFX-2. Yes, the story is a little bit cheesy... but it has its good moments. Plus... the Al Bhed rocks... Gippal is awesome, too bad you can't use him as party member.

FFX is a FF that once again risked changes, and did very good in my book.

Now that I think about it... the PS2 FF's were the most different from the saga, one from another.
FFX - No worldmap for first time. Turn based. Character swap. Management of Summons.
FFXII - No random battles. An even more massive world than FFX.
FFX-2 - First real sequel. ATB back. Classes back.
FFXI - Online boringness.

[Ryllharu]

My biggest issue with X-2 was that in the end, the story feels like a complete and total waste of time. Unless you 100% the game, AND perform the correct button press at the appropriate time, you get the mediocre ending that you get at something around 45% completion.

The only other problem I had was you needed to do very specific things at very specific times (and I'm still not sure how I missed out on the Trainer dressphere) or you wouldn't be able to get certain things.

I loved the, characters, the dress grids, the on the fly changes, the dynamic position on the battlefield (not permanently lined up), the actual presence of racial tensions due to what Seymour and the other Maesters did, and a lot of the rest of it, but there really wasn't any story to back it up. I put in all the effort for nothing. It had a lot of potential as the first sequel, but it really wasn't able to live up to the expectations.

[RyougaZell]

Finally someone writes real reasons of why FFX-2 wasn't THAT good. 99% of the people only says they look like pop-stars and thus they didn't play it.

My issues with FFX-2 are actually with the International version... I wanted the new dungeon, enemies, mode and dresspheres... but bleh... can't read japanese. Why could Square do the same as with FFX International? That is... include an English mode... for FFX-2 and FFXII...

[darkshadow]

well im gonna leave this thread now and not watch the next one, since i didn't finish 12 yet.....

[RyougaZell]

Seems everybody ignored the part on FFXI... hehehe... I didn't know THAT game had a story...

darkshadow: you sure about skipping it? Seems it will talk about not only FFXII, but all the games in the Ivalice Alliance.

[Ryllharu]

One episode is too short to spend on FFT and its truly craptactular GBA versions, much less FFXII. It will either have to be a super long episode, or glance over Tactics. That'll cause issues with fanboys.

[RyougaZell]

With a 24 minute long Retrospective... Part IX takes over Ivalice.
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/25003.html

[animus]

Spent too little time on Vagrant Story and too much time on craptastic 12.

[RyougaZell]

Well... this is Final Fantasy Retrospective... not Vagrant Story retrospective... duh

[animus]

But it's included in the video isn't it? Your logic sucks.

[kooshi]

Geh, I've always wanted to try out Vagrant Story, but it's quite a rare gem to find nowadays. I can never find it in the gameshops and such.
Yes, too little time spent on the masterpiece of FFT. I was hoping that it would be the main focus in this retrospective, but unfortunately no. Bleh, they could've used the FFTA time for more FFT, haha.

As for FF12, I'm currently playing the game and thoroughly enjoying it. I'm a sucker for character skill/spell customization and such, so the license board is a big hit for me, although I do not like the idea of having to get licenses for armor and weapon (what the freak? Example (http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=215)). The story and characters are pretty blah, but it's the gameplay that counts, haha.

[Ryllharu]

Final Fantasy Retrospective Part X (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/25549.html)
This one delves into the various spinoffs of the franchise, from the gameboy games to the films.

They gave the bastard child of Final Fantasy, Mystic Quest, a decent amount of screentime after all. Yes, the game is pretty bad if you're used to the more serious gameplay of the others, but its still got a soft spot in my heart. It was my first RPG, the game to get me hooked on the genre I to this day enjoy the most.

I'm probably one of the few people who really like Spirits Within as well. I'm a huge sci-fi fan (the reason I like FF8 and Chrono Trigger the most out of Square's work) and the message of the film was pretty good.

Next time, they focus on more fringe elements of the series, including, Kingdom Hearts.

[Idealistic]

Geh, I've always wanted to try out Vagrant Story, but it's quite a rare gem to find nowadays. I can never find it in the gameshops and such.


Just download the psone emulator and the rom and play on PC man.

It's going to be hard to find old games like that at stores.

@kooshi, never! Character designs matter as well! For me I'd say they are even.

[mage]

Geh, I've always wanted to try out Vagrant Story, but it's quite a rare gem to find nowadays. I can never find it in the gameshops and such.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00004SPW9/ref=pd_bbs_sr_olp_1/002-8068537-2718460?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1191034780&sr=8-1

[kooshi]

@kooshi, never! Character designs matter as well! For me I'd say they are even.

I should probably revise my previous statement: character designs are not as important as gameplay. I'd say.... maybe 80% gameplay, the rest are 20%? It's pretty much my biggest reason why I've played the Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy games (some of them) over and over and over again, haha.

[fahoumh]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00004SPW9/ref=pd_bbs_sr_olp_1/002-8068537-2718460?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1191034780&sr=8-1
$2000 for a new copy? Are they for real? :confused:

[mage]

I'd say not.

[fahoumh]

I'd say not.
Yeah, I guess not...still though, the $100+ price tag for new copies is a little insane. I wonder who would actually pay that much.

[Genma]

Meh, I've never been much of an FF buff. I mean, yeah, the first one I picked up was 7 when I was 12, so I didn't have the opportunity to play the "classics" like 6 beforehand. I picked them up eventually whilst playing FFXI on my PS2 (which to this day I don't regret, despite it being like $100 for everything plus a $20 monthly fee.)... but, honestly, I hated them. Couldn't even hold my interest for a few minutes.

I liked 7 when I was a kid, 9 was decent, 10 sucked for me (waaah emo surfer dude, as if there aren't enough people like that where I live)... and 11 was probably my favorite MMORPG of all time, because it wasn't conventional and it was pretty damn difficult, especially considering the fact that I played when the only high-level players were Japanese. The rest of them didn't interest me at all.

That aside, in recent years I've become more of a Suikoden fan. I hate FF for being released at the same time and overshadowing much better franchises like Suikoden, which will never retain the status that Final Fantasy does... despite, imo, an infinitely better storyline, better characters, and an awesome recruiting system.

[mage]

Yeah, I guess not...still though, the $100+ price tag for new copies is a little insane. I wonder who would actually pay that much.
It's not uncommon for rare games to go for that much. Suikoden II (rarest of rare PSX games), usually goes for $250 new and $100 used.

[fahoumh]

It's not uncommon for rare games to go for that much. Suikoden II (rarest of rare PSX games), usually goes for $250 new and $100 used.
That does make sense...it's simple economics. I just didn't know Vagrant Story was rare.

[animus]

Part 11's out.

Aren't they going to mention Chrono Trigger/Cross? It's not a Final Fantasy, but they did mention the SaGa series, though only because the first 3 were titled Final Fantasy Legends to attract attention.

[itadakimasu]

i have several first edition FF games that of course are all OOP. i have up to ff8 all original first release buys (ff1 - nes, ff2 - snes, ff3 - snes, ff 7 - psx, ff 8 - psx)

last i saw, ff2 or 3 for snes selling for around $50