Final Fantasy.... what am I missing?

Black Flag NC · Final Fantasy.... what am I missing?

I, like a lot of gamers, didn't really play RPGs until Final Fantasy 7 forced everyone to sit up and take notice. I loved that game and since then RPGs are part of what I play. But, honestly I think Final Fantasy has went backwards since.

Maybe it's the anime plotlines and the fact that the guys and gals of the series look too much alike, but I haven't had any interest in playing a ps2 Final Fantasy. It also seems that the battle system got too complex. I am playing through FF Mystic Quest on the SNES and I would love to get FF 2 and 3 on it as well. I prefer Dragon Quest 8 for my ps2.

So, Final Fantasy fans, what am I missing? Any suggestions for alternatives?

John Gibson

I'm no Final Fantasy fan. The only time Final Fantasy was ever featured on the show was in November, 1997 show. Final Fantasy VII was out by then, and we were just doing a little segment about it. Never played it. I think if anything, Jose or Winston who was hosting the show with me, had to play the game while I recorded it, cause I didn't know what I was doing, or where to go.

I don't get why they got like 20 + games that say Final Fantasy on it. It's confusing, and ridiculous.

NecroVMX

It's confusing to continue a series? Don't be a literalist.

anyway you're not missing much. The battle system has NOT gotten more complex, if anything it's been simplified to the point that in FFXII the game pretty much plays itself (or as penny arcade put it: "the game is masturbating")

If you want a good ps2 rpg with great graphics and an "old school" feel, go pick up Dragon Quest VIII

John Gibson

It's ok to continue a series. God knows they've done with just about every popular video game characters. But how many other games have as many sequels as Final Fantasy??

Black Flag NC

Yeah Dragon Quest rocks. I also like Disgaea 1 and 2. Final Fantasy seems to be running on fumes. None of the Final Fantasy games tie together. It all seems to be a completely new world every time. That's annoying. It's like Square looks at a dozen rpgs and picks the best one to be the new Final Fantasy.

"That'll work. Put some Chocobos in it and call it Final Fantasy. They'll buy it."

That'd be like making a game about an albino midget putting out forest fires and calling it Castlevania. "Quick! Get that midget a whip! We'll make billions!"

Talonluck

I love the Final Fantasy series, up to IX that is. X and everything after have been HORRIBLE. XII was one of the worst battle systems EVER. You didn't need to play the game at all. Everything was set up to be automatic via the Gambit system. All you need do is run into stuff and everyone pulls out weapons and uses spells without so much as a button press.

Since X, all characters have looked the same, with a male lead thats practically a girl.

Something is broken in Square Enix and it needs to be fixed. XIII looks to suck just as bad.

NecroVMX

I'm sure they'll stem the flood of critical acclaim and billions of dollars just becuase you think 13 games is too many, John Razz

Talon, did you like 8 then? I thought it was awful. Actually I think a lot of them are...The original is still a classic to me, as well as 3 (the nes/ds one), 4 and 5

9 is very fun and playable too.

But the rest? ick.

I think most of the spinoffs are better than the main games.

EDIT

Oops, I missed the part where black flag said he already had DQ8.

Maybe you should look into the breath of fire series. The first 2 were snes games, and are also on the gba. The next 2 were on the playstation and I think 3 is on the PSP, but who has a PSP, y'know?

The fifth game was on ps2 and is rather hard to find...

Talonluck

I liked certain things about 8. The GF system was unique and I liked that part. The rest though I didn't really like. I still think it was better than the X and up ones though.

KT Kore

I believe the reason the series is called "Final Fantasy" is because the very first Final Fantasy game was meant to be Squaresoft's last game in the industry, but the game proved to be so popular that they decided to continue it and make a series out of it. FF games aren't sequels, as they have different stories and as time goes by, different gameplay mechanics. The only actual sequel to another FF game that I know of is Final Fantasy X-2, which is a sequel to FFX. There may be others but I haven't been keeping up. I think it's A-OK for their to be lots of them so long as they are different and remain entertaining.

By the way, what constitutes as an "anime plotline?" lol

Black Flag NC

Anime plotline: Some oppressive group of meanies are trying to harness the power of the earth-god-universe-lifeforce-whatever and the only ones who can stop it are a group of 14-17 year olds who possess an emmense power that was unknown to them for their whole life. The female characters have more balls than the male characters, who usually are the ones wearing the skimpy clothing. Often, giant robots are involved.

Add cheap animation, poor translation, laughable voice acting, and some annoying Japanese pop music and PRESTO you've got anime.... or Final Fantasy.

To be fair, most modern rpgs follow this same formula. But, for my money, I would prefer a simple dragon-took-the-princess formula to an anime plotline.

NecroVMX

Take solialistic and/or enviornmentalist bullcrap and smash it into the basic template that black flag described and that's every "acclaimed" anime ever.

fat_deadite1

I totally agree with Black Flag NC, the whole plot lines of anime is pointless. I mean Let's look at Dragonball Z.....all it is: A Villian that's powerful, they turn blonde, rocks float, and they end up destroying them. Next season: A STRONGER villian, Someone Travels through time from the futute, they get even BLONDER, and Destroy em again. It's boring Yawnfest.

Talonluck

To be fair to the Anime side, there have been some excellent shows with unique plotlines. Off the top of my head, cowboy bebop and death note are two.

You can't bash an entire genre for a formula that worked for quite a while. There's always going to be shows like you said, but there will always be something unique as well.

It's no different than saying all FPS's are the same or what the point of watching football every year is since its the same plotline over and over.

Black Flag NC

That's a good point, Talon. As much as I don't care for anime, I have lots of friends who do. I actually enjoyed Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D. I just find that most anime is hard to follow and most of the characters are cookie-cutter and whiney. Maybe it's the localization of something that is VERY Japanese, but I find that the same problem affects Final Fantasy and most other RPGs: Cute little characters speaking gibberish. But the Japanese are much more inclined to cute things, so I understand why they are what they are. I just don't care for it.