Squeenix Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrade - now on Steam

[Hassar]

Honestly, it seemed like FF Tactics should have been an actual sequel mai line title. Just seems to “fit” with the series to me.

With regards to FF9, Vivi was my favorite character. I’d write off every other character except Steiner, actually.

I think FF8 is when FF went full on pseudo-anime mode. It’s very much of its era & makes “sense” aesthetically when looking at the pop anime of the time. Amazing soundtrack, though.

Not really knocking people who like that style, though. I just realize that FF8 came out right as I matured and discovered the different types of anime, manga, cinema, and literature in general available to a Japanese audience because I studied the language and history in college. So my ideal window for JRPGs was right as FFVI and FFT came out.

 

[Ash]

Honestly, it seemed like FF Tactics should have been the actual sequel.

With regards to FF9, Vivi was my favorite character. I’d write off every other character except Steiner, actually.

I think FF8 is when FF went full on pseudo-anime mode. It’s very much of its era & makes “sense” aesthetically when looking at the pop anime of the time. Amazing soundtrack, though.

Eh I relate to Zidane, as a horny vagabond who still to date struggles to find meaning in life. The game is wrong though. Friends and love certainly isn't it. I've had those. Fairytale bullshit.



I like all FF9 characters, even Eiko, even Quina. they're fun, have relatable aspects (except Quina), have more depth and better writing than the average FF character. Visually most are really off-putting, but I look past that somehow.

 

[Viata]

Honestly, it seemed like FF Tactics should have been an actual sequel mai line title. Just seems to “fit” with the series to me.

The real reason is that if tactics was a mainline, every other FF would be too childish and meh. It's better to not include it so the other games don't look so bad.

 

[Yosharian]

Fucking Blitzball.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Why are people so hard over VII? I also felt FFT was a great game. Overall though, to me the best FF is still FFVI / FFIII. By and large the best one in my mind.

 

[Luka-boy]

Luv Blitzball.
Luv Jecht Shot 2.
Luv Nimrook.
Luv Lulu's cleavage.
Luv Final Fantasy IX.

Simple as.

 

[Ash]

Why are people so hard over VII? I also felt FFT was a great game. Overall though, to me the best FF is still FFVI / FFIII. By and large the best one in my mind.

Music - god tier as with any classic FF?
Gameplay - more customization/build diversity than in any FF? Materia combinations provide so much choice.
Setting - Sci-Fi cyberpunk mixed with traditional fantasy?
Themes - relevant stuff with destroying the planet, bioengineering and evil corps.? Not so relevant yet cool fantastical stuff blended in with that.
Characters - mostly likable and fun, as with most FF?
Graphics/Art - quite the technological and level of detail leap from FF6?

It shouldn't be hard to understand, especially if you like another game in the series.

Also why one or the other? 6 is a classic too.

Install the hardtype mod and give FF7 another try nigga, or do you not like fun?

 

[GhostCow]

Why are people so hard over VII?

Because it had a way more interesting story than all the games that came before it and a few surprising plot twists. Not to mention the hottest girls in the series until Rikku came along.

 

[Viata]

Gameplay - more customization/build diversity than in any FF?

What is 3 and 5?

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Familiarize yourself with old 90s FF, 5 through to 9 in particular, they're wonderful games. Not this new garbage.

Agreed with almost your entire post except for this. Should be 4 through 8.

Should be IV, VI, and IX. The original Final Fantasy should also be played as a competent D&D-clone.

I know it's an unpopular position. I basically hated every character in 9, didn't like the story, etc. 4, 6, 7, and 8 had fairly dark, edgy stories (I haven't played enough of 5 to know either way), while 9 was far more light hearted which didn't appeal to me. There were a few moments like things related to Vivi, but overall the tone of the game was far different.

Actually, Final Fantasy 9 was the beginning of my growing dislike of JRPGs in general (too cinematic, too storyfag, too juvenile, etc.). The flaws were present and irritated me in 7 and 8 as well, but 9 was where it started to really bug me.

An odd position considering that Final Fantasy IX's plot is quite dark, pays homage to the earlier games in the series (before VII), and is inspired heavily by FF IV specifically. The first half of the game sees the Kingdom of Alexandria attempt to conquer the rest of the world, with the subjugation of Lindbulm, devastation of Burmecia, and outright destruction of Cleyra; and the second half begins with Alexandria itself being destroyed. Not to mention the short life-span of the artificially-created black mages introduced before the end of the first half, followed in the second half by the revelation that Zidane's and Kuja's people are similarly artificial creations intended to serve as physical hosts for the resurrection of the people of Terra, which itself is then completely destroyed.

 

[Ash]

4 is a terrible game, stop this nonsense right now. You guys need to actually play it again. It is extremely barebones gameplay-wise. Dumbed down over FF2, let alone 3.

Gameplay - more customization/build diversity than in any FF?

What is 3 and 5?

3 and 5 force you to be a particular class. Then you get to pick ONE ability from a previous class to add-on to that. Super lame. I fucking love 5 but you don't exactly get to build highly diverse characters like 7. Each an every ability is determined by the player at any given time, right down to individual magic spells or command abilities. In fact, the only other FF that meets 7's # of choices and customisation depth is FF8. Magic Junctions, ability junctions, support junctions, GF junctions -- highly flexible character building. Many choices. Too bad it is all ruined by the retarded Limit break spam mechanic.

 

[Abu Antar]

FFV has many cool ways to build your characters, despite seeming basic.

I took down the final boss without ever getting hit, which was really funny, now that I think about it.

Edit: And yes, IV is really overrrated. Like a lot. IV, VIII, XIII and XV are in my bottom 4 of the numbered series.

 

[Ash]

Edit: And yes, IV is really overrrated. Like a lot. IV, VIII, XIII and XV are in my bottom 4 of the numbered series.

People that claim FF4 is good either played it as a kid and never touched it again, or are dumb storyfags. The gameplay is so banal and that is a problem when gameplay makes up the majority of the experience/playtime.

Edit: if you disagree, please make a case for the gameplay instead of spamming awesome buttons. I want to hear it. Every time I say this people get butthurt yet nobody actually challenges the notion that the gameplay is shit, way too barebones and dumbed down over the already pretty simple prior games. At least Chrono trigger fans try, and ultimately expose themselves as lame storyfaggots when I shit on that game for the same reason.

 

[Abu Antar]

It's not just gameplay. They also overdo the "this party member is dead", speed forward and they are alive trope too much.

All games before it are better. Most games after are better.

The series is decline after XII.

Edit: Matsuno tried to make XII as little anime tropey as possible, but Square leadership basically trampled over his vision.

 

[Ninjerk]

Luv Blitzball.
Luv Jecht Shot 2.
Luv Nimrook.
Luv Lulu's cleavage.
Luv Final Fantasy IX.

Simple as.

BIG TIDDIE GOTH STEPMOMMY

 

[Hellraiser]

Stupid blitzball theme is stuck in my head now. Damn you GhostCow for bringing up FF10 gameplay.



Eh why am I complaining?

 

[Ash]

FFV has many cool ways to build your characters, despite seeming basic

Yes, there is also 5 or 6 equipment slots, many classes to choose from, as well as permanent stat buffs for freelancer when you master a class (if I recall), beasttrainer is massive incline (learning enemies abilities) if you are that class or took that ability, but it doesn't beat FF7's freedom, number of choices, flexibility. It's more traditional class-based stuff.

 

[Tigranes]

FF9 is excellent and it is excellent because it understood the legacy of the series best.

A FF game is always a pretty saccharine coming-of-age story at heart, as well as a grab-bag of various fantasy and fairy-tale inspirations into a big mix bowl. FF9 leaned into that really cohesively. It looks beautiful and coheres really well with Uematsu music (though already copypasta by then), and fits in a lot of otherworldly environments like Ipsen's Castle without becoming as messy as FF8. And having relatively lighthearted characters that don't take themselves too seriously (even Steiner) again helped the game handle both more comedic & more serious parts of the fairy tale. Other FFs show what happens when that mix is disjointed and the serious stuff becomes super cringy, etc.

Gameplay formula is just fine in the PS1 era tradition, with enough secrets and late game uniques to keep you going.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Was Final Fantasy created because of their love of Phantasie? I find the combat win animations very peculiar and familiar in some aspects. Maybe the c64 just liked the hopping up & down.

 

[Viata]

Was Final Fantasy created because of their love of Phantasie?

The wikipedia has a good overview of all we know about FF creation:

Hironobu Sakaguchi had intended to make a role-playing game (RPG) for a long time, but his employer Square refused to give him permission as it expected low sales of such a product.[9] However, when the RPG Dragon Quest was released and proved to be a hit in Japan, the company reconsidered its stance on the genre and approved Sakaguchi's vision of an RPG inspired by Ultima and Wizardry.[9] Only three of his colleagues volunteered to join this project headed by him because he was thought of as a "rough boss" in spite of his unsuccessful creations.[10] Eventually, Final Fantasy was developed by a team of seven core staff members within Square referred to as the "A-Team".[11][12] Sakaguchi convinced fellow game designers Koichi Ishii and Akitoshi Kawazu to join the project. Kawazu was mainly responsible for the battle system and sequences, which he based heavily on the tabletop game Dungeons & Dragons and the RPG Wizardry. For example, enemies' weaknesses to elements such as fire and ice had not been included in Japanese RPGs up until that point. Kawazu had grown fond of such aspects of Western RPGs and decided to incorporate them into Final Fantasy. He also advocated the player's option to freely choose their own party member classes at the beginning of the game as he feels "the fun in an RPG begins when you create a character".[9]

The scenario was written by freelance writer Kenji Terada, based on a story by Sakaguchi.[4][12] Ishii heavily influenced the game's setting with his idea of the crystals.[10] He also suggested illustrator Yoshitaka Amano as character designer, but Sakaguchi declined at first as he had never heard the artist's name before. When Sakaguchi showed Ishii some drawings on magazine clippings and told him that this was the art style he was looking for, Ishii revealed to him that these were actually created by Amano, hence leading to his involvement in the game.[10] The music for Final Fantasy was composed by Nobuo Uematsu and marked his 16th video game music composition.[6] Iranian-American programmer Nasir Gebelli was hired to code the game. He initially tried to understand all aspects of the gameplay but was soon advised by Sakaguchi to just program the design concepts so he did not have to explain everything to Gebelli in detail.[10] Gebelli was also responsible for creating what is considered to be the first RPG minigame, a sliding puzzle, which he added into the game despite it not being part of the original game design.[13] Among the other developers were graphic designer Kazuko Shibuya, programmers Kiyoshi Yoshii and Ken Narita, as well as debugger Hiroyuki Ito.[14][15][16][17][18] When the project started to show promise, designer Hiromichi Tanaka and his "B-Team" joined to aid development.[10][11] The lack of faith in Sakaguchi's team, as well as its unpopularity within the company, motivated the staff members to give their best.

I don't know if DnD, Wizardry and Ultima were the only western inspiration for FF, but they are the only ones mentioned as far as I know.

 

[mediocrepoet]

I know it's an unpopular position. I basically hated every character in 9, didn't like the story, etc. 4, 6, 7, and 8 had fairly dark, edgy stories (I haven't played enough of 5 to know either way), while 9 was far more light hearted which didn't appeal to me. There were a few moments like things related to Vivi, but overall the tone of the game was far different.

Actually, Final Fantasy 9 was the beginning of my growing dislike of JRPGs in general (too cinematic, too storyfag, too juvenile, etc.). The flaws were present and irritated me in 7 and 8 as well, but 9 was where it started to really bug me.

An odd position considering that Final Fantasy IX's plot is quite dark, pays homage to the earlier games in the series (before VII), and is inspired heavily by FF IV specifically. The first half of the game sees the Kingdom of Alexandria attempt to conquer the rest of the world, with the subjugation of Lindbulm, devastation of Burmecia, and outright destruction of Cleyra; and the second half begins with Alexandria itself being destroyed. Not to mention the short life-span of the artificially-created black mages introduced before the end of the first half, followed in the second half by the revelation that Zidane's and Kuja's people are similarly artificial creations intended to serve as physical hosts for the resurrection of the people of Terra, which itself is then completely destroyed.

Sure, and if I remembered anything at all about almost any of that, I might even agree with you. However, when you hate all the characters, the art style, the game play "feel" (animations, ! popups, etc.) it's hard to get into a game and actually engage with it. I finished the game and about the only thing I remember other than a few scenes are how much I hated the various characters and how I couldn't believe all the people wanking off to how it was a return to form or something.

To put this into perspective, it's been longer since I played and beat FFIV, FFVI, FFVII, and FFVIII. I could tell you more about any of those games than I could about IX because of how shitty I thought it was. It didn't stick in my mind.

 

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

Honestly, it seemed like FF Tactics should have been an actual sequel mai line title. Just seems to “fit” with the series to me.

With regards to FF9, Vivi was my favorite character. I’d write off every other character except Steiner, actually.

I think FF8 is when FF went full on pseudo-anime mode. It’s very much of its era & makes “sense” aesthetically when looking at the pop anime of the time. Amazing soundtrack, though.

Not really knocking people who like that style, though. I just realize that FF8 came out right as I matured and discovered the different types of anime, manga, cinema, and literature in general available to a Japanese audience because I studied the language and history in college. So my ideal window for JRPGs was right as FFVI and FFT came out.

That's just how they did things at the time. If they did stuff during the late '90s PSX era like they would later start doing on the PS2 with X-2 and 11 then I'd bet Final Fantasy Tactics would just be Final Fantasy 8 and Vagrant Story would've had the Final Fantasy name on it.

The way they do things now, I'm almost surprised we haven't gotten a Front Mission game that's branded Final Fantasy whatever number it'd be where you're using (but maybe not everyone needs to since it's Final Fantasy) some kind of Magitek Armor.

 

[Ash]

If you think Tactics or Vagrant Story could ever be numbered FF games you're delusional. They're clearly much lower budget games than the PS1 FF trilogy.

Final Fantasy VII was at the time the most expensive video game ever produced, with a development budget estimated between $40,000,000 (equivalent to $64,000,000 in 2020) and $45,000,000 (equivalent to $73,000,000 in 2020). Development of the final version took a staff of between 100 and 150 people just over a year to complete.

I can't find the numbers for Tactics, but it is a very focused game, largely just story and combat, with simple (though consistent) graphics. Compare to FF7 with its many FMVs, varied & more detailed graphical styles (except the chibi dolls), features a world map and all that entails (e.g vehicles, rendering challenges), plenty mini-games that are almost games in themselves: two racing games, a RTS game, submarine game, a snowboarding game and then some, they went absolutely crazy with the mainline PS1 Final Fantasy games, kitchen sink design galore.

They're both good as they are; spin-off and an alt IP. They're not even anything like Final Fantasy, especially Vagrant Story. Tactics just uses some loose concepts and does it own thing.

Speaking of alt. Squaresoft IPs, I highly recommend you check out Parasite Eve 1 & 2. Yes I'm talking to YOU. Both very good. Parasite Eve is easily Square's second best IP after FF. Better than Vagrant Story (which comes in at third place?). Forget any nonsense you may read about it being a "cinematic" RPG. As usual the shit marketing hellspawn spews is taken as gospel by gamers. It is considerably less cinematic than FF, and adequately gameplay-centric.

 

[mediocrepoet]

The way they do things now, I'm almost surprised we haven't gotten a Front Mission game that's branded Final Fantasy whatever number it'd be where you're using (but maybe not everyone needs to since it's Final Fantasy) some kind of Magitek Armor.

Hey now! You have to put trigger warnings on posts like this!

 

[Hassar]

FFV has many cool ways to build your characters, despite seeming basic.

I took down the final boss without ever getting hit, which was really funny, now that I think about it.

Edit: And yes, IV is really overrrated. Like a lot. IV, VIII, XIII and XV are in my bottom 4 of the numbered series.

FFV exemplified not judging a book by its cover. I remember realizing how powerful the max level Chemist was - superior healing power to magic. A lot of janky seeming classes were exceptional if you were patient and didn’t just go with the standard combat classes. Many rewards for creativity.