The Final Fantasy Thread

Final Fantasy XIV release date!

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/110/1102945p1.html

Little pissed and excited about this. The game ships this September which is super awesome. BUT that's only for the PC.

For those wanting to play this on the PS3, like me, have to wait till fucking March 2010. So fucking gay... like gay gay gay.

Yeah I'm pissed, I seriously don't understand the extended delay between the two. The September release was perfect for me as I would be finishing seasonal work about 3-4 weeks after the release and would enjoy 6 months off work to release dwell deeply in this. The March release gives me at most one month, then 2 months of absolutely no chance to play.

And my PC is not up to gaming standards either.

Grrr annoyed...

I still say fuck it and give me a new Tactics game, preferrably a direct sequel to the original FFT.

That's because you have shitty internet connections.

Though, another tactics as you stated who rock!

No, if anything I did enjoy World of Warcraft and some MMOs. I'm just an FF purist, that's all.

Man I was about 41 hours into 13 when it started freezing. Constantly.

I've read up online and I'm not the only one with the issue on my 360.

Oh and I'm about 20 hours into my first playthrough of 12 and it is easily 35463246 times better than 13 in terms of story. I love me some good story.

Oh and 12 and 13 are the first time I've played them.

12 does have a better story than 13, by far.

However, they story dies 3/4 of the way in as oppose to 13 where the story actually picks up from that point on and starts making more sense (not complete lol)

I can count on one hand the number of things I completely get out of 13.

It's like they missed 20 hours of explanation cut scene because some of the bosses pop up and I kill them and then I'm like "Why should I care?"

The whole game feels like "Why should I care?". Only scenes I got into were Snow/Hope, Sazh/Vanille, and scene where the baby Chocobo knocks a fool in the nose. Which I probably would've got without the whole other 30 hours built up to it.

The problem with 12 is that they were trying to be FF9/FFT again (i.e. the story was almost completely political until they introduced supernatural elements), but what made FFT so great is that it was straight up medieval and merciless. The whole Ajora thing was great and had some wicked shock value. The Occuria was just... strange.

I saw more than a few parallels between Vayne and Kuja (and a little of Seymour too), but Kuja and Seymour were a lot more assholes. Hell, even Dr. Cid out-assholed Vayne. That may be another problem - the archvillain was weak.

I don't know, I really enjoyed 13. They had some defined characters with personal struggles they were all trying to overcome - all of which were obvious, especially if you compare to 12, or even 10. It's the most character-focused storyline I think I've ever seen from a FF game and that made me rather happy. The overarching storyline is indeed difficult to follow until later in the game but I think the aforementioned intra-character struggles make up for it in the first half.

No-one spoil it for me though because I haven't finished due to my PS3 causing me to have to restart from scratch.

Just going on what Skyler just said, I wouldn't be surprised if the storyline ended with them all being dead all along, simply because it sounds like Lost in that aspect of their obvious personal struggles

Gah, I detest this FF!!!

I'm trying to beat Final Fantasy VIII! God damn She Bitch at the end keeps killing me!

I don't think I've ever actually hated any Final Fantasy game (yeah, that includes X-2), and I'm probably one of the only guy here that has played and beaten every single FF from the main series (including XI-not beaten though, which is why I'm so anxious for XIV)

The FFVIII last boss fight is one of my favorites. And yes... it's a long fight if you haven't stacked up your stats. All I can say is Aura rules lol.

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3178258

And I just started playing XIII. Mind that this is the first FF I've played since X. XII didn't interest me (as I was quite enveloped in Fallout/Elder Scrolls at the time) and merely read Romeo's standing on why I avoided XI like the plague. I only picked up this one because I was tired of raping people in Halo 3 and I can't stand COD nor the type of self-righteous douchenozzles who play it.

Also - responding late but whomever said that WoW is a "more simplistic game" really hasn't experienced WoW. Shit's complex and I have, if not a respect for the game, then a respect for the people who play it now.

Furthermore, in a late response to Jaro about the casts and villains - Cait Sith, Red XIII, Tifa, Zack Fair, the ninja bitch whose name escapes me at the moment (I want to say Yuffie), and Cid pretty much sucked balls. The cast was simply too big with not enough personality types for the creative team to handle. Yuffie and Cait Sith literally fulfill the same purpose of being annoyingly optimistic as well as CS bleeding into Red XIII's position as the mascot of the team. And after Red finds closure with the legacy of his father, his purpose becomes non-existent in the team dynamic. Tifa, outside of her childhood connection to Cloud, got in the way of his relationship with Aerith rather than adding an element of suspense to a love triangle situation. Cid was just the team mechanic. Something that Barrett or Tifa could've done to give them a bit more depth. And Zack Fair was just Anti-Cloud. His name literally translates to "Fairweather".

If not for Cloud/Aerith, Barrett's funny ass dialogue, and Vincent being an overall badass, the cast of FFVII was pretty mediocre.

iDeAndes wrote:

Also - responding late but whomever said that WoW is a "more simplistic game" really hasn't experienced WoW. Shit's complex and I have, if not a respect for the game, then a respect for the people who play it now.

Not saying that WoW is simplistic, but the overall word (at least when I played FFXI) was that WoW was simpler and easier to get into than FFXI. Everything in FFXI was simply painstaking to do or get. Not sure if that was kind of an appeal to me as it felt very rewarding when you eventually succeeded in doing something.

As for Ro, don't listen to him about FFXI, it's just easier =) He's played 0 minutes from what I've gathered, I've played 3 and half years.

Agreed on the VII character assessment. Even the Cloud/Aerith thing was meh as FF romances go. Take away her death and you really don't have anything.

Quite enjoyed the romances of IX and X, though. Garnet/Zidane had some good development and Tidus/Yuna was played out beautifully, not sure how it goes if you add X-2 into the mix.

I never said XI was a bad game. Just it didn't interest me. Hell WoW didn't/doesn't interest me. Merely the people I know that play it do.

Cloud/Aerith/Tifa > Squall/Rinoa/Seifer

Seifer >>>>> Mr. Silver Hair with a ridiculous Dai Katana.

All and all, FFVIII >>>>>>>>>>>>>> FFVII.

Squall's mopey dreariness is much more interesting than Cloud's identity crisis based on his failure to get into SOLDIER. The shit got really convoluted when Sephy-poo started telling Cloud he's just an aborted copy of him.

Garnett/Zidane was heartwarming at times. Others? It bordered on tedium if not just flat annoying. IX was the most under-rated FFs of all time yet hindered by horrible lead characters.

Tidus/Yuna was much more satisfying until X-2 came out and ruined everything. Even if Tidus was an annoying, whiny whelp at times.

They should've just centered the fucking game around Auron.

Eric Scorpio wrote:

As for Ro, don't listen to him about FFXI, it's just easier =) He's played 0 minutes from what I've gathered, I've played 3 and half years.

Come on. I'm sure XI is a great game, but again, like I said, the main problem I have with it is not the gameplay itself, but rather the notion that Square Enix has the nerve to institute not one but already two MMOs as part of the main series. Had XI simply been called "Final Fantasy Online" I would have had no problem with it; had an FF MMO been situated in an actual established universe (i.e. Ivalice), I would have had no problem with it. Like I said, I'm just an FF purist.

De, help me out here.

If you're a purist... than why like XII? That one also strays from the mold as it's teh first FF from the main series that bases its world on an already establish FF property instead of being an original place.

Yeah, I'm pulling at straws lol.

Lol, yes you are. I'm going to try to clarify my position a little more.

My purism for the series stems from the fact that games I-X established that the Final Fantasy series is a single-player, story-driven RPG, largely in the traditional sense. That is the "mold" I was referring to. To me, XI and XIV are anomalies, because they of a different breed; my feeling is that an MMORPG as a main series game is a wholly sacrilegious concept and notion.

However, don't get me wrong. Aside from the degenerate culture online gaming has spawned (exhibit A: Matt Dunn), I like MMORPGs. Do I think that an FF MMO is a step towards the franchise's evolution? Absolutely. Do I think that they had to do it? Of course. I just had a problem with Squenix wasting two good numbers on games that didn't deserve to be numbered. I'd have found a way to play this game if it wasn't called Final Fantasy XI.

At this point, it's all personal and preferential, really, but I seem to be misunderstood on why I dislike FFXI.

That and FFO should be in a pre-established universe. Like Gaia from FFVII or Ivalice from FFT.

Romeo wrote:

Aside from the degenerate culture online gaming has spawned (exhibit A: Matt Dunn), I like MMORPGs.

=(

Romeo wrote:

I just had a problem with Squenix wasting two good numbers on games that didn't deserve to be numbered. I'd have found a way to play this game if it wasn't called Final Fantasy XI.

Well at least it's all clear and stuff lol. I won't scorn FFXI for it though, but I do agree that making it part of the series was dumb.

Truthfully, (and I really hope this happens... probably not), once FFXIV is established and the FFXI servers are down, I would love for them to remake FFXI and modified it as a single player experience. With some modifications (primary to the enemy to player balance) and using a hybrid team system of FFXII and FXIII the game would be a damn blast to play due to its very customizable play through and shear size of its world.

I really like the originality of it and glad its not based on any other world (I can always go back and play those games if the nostalgia sways me)

Economically, creating a world from scratch is stupid. Which is why no one can conquer the WoW giant (yet considering what Blizztavision is implementing on their ancillary services that are supposed to compliment the client). Squarenix is relatively new to MMOs and thus their track record with such a massive undertaking is still up to speculation. Most people assume that anything created by Square is going to be linear and thus boring.

You can't have that assumption going into a new, untapped market that is single-handedly keeping PC gaming alive and expect to make a significant return on your investment. So what do you do to draw in players who aren't die hard Final Fantasy fanatics and are more casual MMO players?

Use a proven media. Marvel gets it. DC gets it. Lucasarts gets it. Why doesn't Square get it?

iDeAndes wrote:

Most people assume that anything created by Square is going to be linear and thus boring.

Given that they just produced XIII, that assumption shouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Or to put it in simpler terms, there's a reason why the Final Fantasy CG movie was a huge flop: everyone was expecting something like FFVII or FFVIII, but instead, they got a strange futurustic world that was highly unfamiliar to every fan of the franchise.

All I have to say is that you guys are well entitled to your opinions, however if you are Final Fantasy fans like I am, then you are robbing yourselves of a great original game (well... maybe not today anymore lol) by totally dismissing out of hand. Your losses, not mine.

Romeo wrote:

Or to put it in simpler terms, there's a reason why the Final Fantasy CG movie was a huge flop: everyone was expecting something like FFVII or FFVIII, but instead, they got a strange futurustic world that was highly unfamiliar to every fan of the franchise.

Well... it also doesn't help that the CG movie just plain sucked, even if some were expecting something closer to series like you said. Mind you, I didn't really care for the FFVII movie either.

Advent Children wasn't horrible, though. Not brilliant, true, but not horrible. The CG movie, on the other hand, had very little to do with Final Fantasy at all.

I've never played MMORPGs - usually due to the fear of cost - but I might just try XIV if someone can convince me it'll be worth it. How much DO they actually cost to play on a regular basis?

Lol, I played WoW on a private server. I know, I know... I do not have dollars, or enough of the equivalent.

Skyler Striker wrote:

I've never played MMORPGs - usually due to the fear of cost - but I might just try XIV if someone can convince me it'll be worth it. How much DO they actually cost to play on a regular basis?

No idea what other MMORPGS will be, but FFXIV will be around 12.95 a month, which was roughly the same I was paying for FFXI.

Can't really convince you, since its not out yet and have truly no idea how different it will be from FFXI. Though... I am still excited lol.

Most these days are planning on shying away from pay for play and are talking about implementing shit like real money to exchange for vast amounts of in game currency, special items/upgrades, mounts, avatar slots, server changes, ect.

On average, a MMO can run you anywhere between 7-12 dollars per month. So the "not having money" thing isn't really all that valid after you've bought the game disc. I wouldn't recommend getting WoW any time soon, though. Shit's going to run you about 175 when Cataclysm comes out.

SAVE YOUR MONEY FOR THE OLD REPUBLIC! STAR WARS NERDS UNITE!