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Firstly, I cannot believe that there isn't a thread for this game. I know people bang on an on about this game, so I thought there would be one already. I think it is kind of weird that one of the FF haters is starting this topics as well, but there you go. Right, lets get some things laid out on the table. I hate JRPG's unless they are Pokémon, as that's the only one I have been able to understand the mechanics of how everything works because it is nice and simple to learn, and hard to master. I really hate how everyone goes on about how awesome this series is, all I see is turn based fantasy shite populated by people who have hair the size of a fridge freezer. I had very low expectations of this game, I was expecting to play ten minutes worth and call it a day. However, I was wrong. After persevering with the frankly crippled controls outside of battle, I find myself enjoying this a lot more than I thought I would. The backgrounds still look nice after all this time, and the music is really good so far. The FMV has also held up well for such an old game. the "in the field" graphics and animations are bloody horrible though, it is hard to tell what is happening sometimes as the polygons creating the characters wildly move around the screen. I'm also hating on the save locations, I really hate games like this that make you use save locations instead of letting you go into the menu and save. For all it's short comings, I am liking this game. It has impressed me more than I though was possible and I look forward to spending more time with it, if only to find out first hand what happens with the story. What are your thoughts on this game? Another thing as well please, can we keep this spoiler free? I know certain people die and that, but I don't know when or why, and I would like to find out for myself. Thanks.

This ain't Banjo... It's been a long, long time since I played an N64 game. There are certain things you forget, that are distinct to that console. "Jank" I believe is the modern term. I don't remember the platforming being as weird as it is here? Perhaps because I was used to how the platform worked regarding 3D jump mechanics at the time. Fast forward to now and it is jarring to say the least. Jumping is precise and quite unforgiving. Ironically, you cast no shadow to judge if you will land on the platform you are aiming for. There was an infuriating little jump early on, along the way to acquiring the Asson that brought out a little frustration. Later exemplified in areas involving death traps and (early game) one-hit KO lava. You have a dodge mechanic. But it doesn't work as smoothly as you might expect, coming into this from the perspective of modern From Soft titles etc The remaster gives us camera control with the second stick. It is both an improvement and not. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the swimming mechanics. The first time I swam in this game. I tapped the action button, as standard and promptly drowned when I couldn't right myself. Later, I discovered the problem and it's solution. You don't use the action button to swim... You use both sticks. Forward on the left stick to move and steer with the right stick. If it sounds like tank controls, it basically is. But being in the water, it does become intuitive quicker. Ultimately my first session went on for about an hour and a half. Collecting four Dark Souls. The second weapon in the Asson and 66 Cadeaux. Quite intrigued to continue at this point.

I wasn't going to do this. Largely because (a) I've nearly finished the game, without really trying. (b) aside from a fresh coat of paint, it is exactly the same game, warts and all. The original, much like this one, oozes charm with a Tim Burton-ish aesthetic and dialogue peppered with humour. As much as I loved the original, it was a 7/10 game at best. There is a lot of.. jank, that remains in the remake. Hitboxes that needed a little more testing and early 3D platforming issues are still present. Enemy AI is also a strange thing. Bosses have clearly defined set phases and attacks. The rank and file enemies tend to be ..unpredictable and a lot faster than expected. The monks in the Asylum Grounds for example, will hit you regardless of how well you think you're doing. So there we are. I'm currently on 11/20 Chalices. Roughly halfway through the game. In spite of the negatives, still really enjoying it.

Not just for @bellow, but in general. With the recent multi-platform re-release, it is as good a time as any for those looking to return or jump in for the first time to one of the least contentious fan favourites in the series. With a little something, to set the mood... (Yes, this was a real thing)

I was surprised I had to start a thread on this game because I feel like it has been talked about a bit here. Bit anyway, is this game dumb and cool. It really does have the worst character building system. You build your stats in accordance to your GFs (not girlfriends but summons to the millennials out there) and you raise them and fit them in the best ways you can, since certain GFs build up certain stats, so you have this kinda jigsaw puzzle get the best out of your team... you also have the issue of certain GFs relating more to certain characters... but then you spend a lot of the game locked to certain characters anyway so that stuff doesn't mean a whole lot of shit... .. It's a mess. FFVII's character building system is a woeful fucking mess, and I know it can be broken. The dumb 15 y/o me broke the fuck out of it back in the day so I know that this game is like that. You can break the game because you tie your magic to your stats. Tying cure magic to your health stat is a fine way to go, but that means when you use cure it will lower your stats. It's an interesting idea but existing in a long form JRPG, where the challenge lies in surviving long dungeons it isn't that interesting. What I find fun about RPGs is getting through a dungeon using as little consumables as possible but tying your stats to an attack really adds too much guilt to using cool, high damage moves. I just find myself engaged in long, boring fights because I'm too obsessed with my stats to make the fights more interesting. The occasional boss has been cool, but I've not had the best time fighting in this game. I do realise it's my fault and my kleptomaniac habits that stop me from having a better time, but I still think it's underlying system isn't great. It's certainly better in pretty much every other Final Fantasy game. So that stuff ain't great... far from it. But man... I feel like I have to get on the defensive for this game. I'm just gonna say I'm playing this now I'm totally fed up of 'gamer culture' writing shit off for dumb reasons. Squall is a dick, no doubt, but he's a fucking teenager, so of course he is. I was a thick 15 y/o when I played it and I was like 'I get this guy' I got that guy when he spilled some bullshit about in war there is no bad people, just two kinds of people with two different ideologies. I laugh at it now, but I still love that characterization. I love the fact that Squall is a teenager that thinks he's got it figured out but he actually doesn't, and that's what the game is about. A lot of stories have the coming of age story but I don't think many have it coming from the 'I've got It figured out but I actually don't' perspective. It's usually just boy to man, and I like that this game is about those difficult teenage years; it's about the mistakes; everyone just makes mistakes despite thinking they've figured it out. I think it does that stuff better than it's given credit for. Despite everything bad about it system-wise I'm still enjoying it. I feel for these kids. They're not a bad bunch. Squall is a cunt but the game knows it and treats him as such since the supporting characters take the piss regularly so its more fun in that sense than it's reputation has you believe. I was worried about going back to this after so many years but I'm having a good time. Final Fantasy VIII is a pretty cool game; I think that's all I actually wanted to say.

Anyone else played this? I first played it back in 2000/2001 but I never finished it, so I downloaded it off the US PlayStation Store yesterday and started again. It's a JRPG with turn based battles, but there's a really cool mechanic when you have to time button presses during your attack to do more damage (similar to what was used in Lost Odyssey on Xbox 360). You can also turn into Dragoons once you fill a meter up, similar to FFVII's Limit Break. Turning into a Dragoon is good for one attack round at first, but the more you level up the longer you can stay transformed for. The story is typical JRPG nonsense involving a war between a good Kingdom and a bad Empire, Dragons, and a quest to do one thing that turns into saving the world. It has some of the worst localisation I've seen in a game (worse than FFVII), but I'm finding it adds to the charm. I'm reading everything like it's a badly dubbed Kung Fu movie. it hold up as well as can be expected for a PS1 game in 2018, and I'm playing on my PSP so it looks nice too. The lack of input lag on the PSP is essential to get the most out of the combat system too. I set my PS3 up on our 42" 4k TV earlier and it was unplayable, so handheld or CRT is the way to go. I'm just over 5 hours in so far so hopefully I'll still be enjoying it in another 5.

I'd never played Dragon Quest 7 before, I'd heard some not great things about it. I finished Dragon Quest 6 a year or so back and swore I wouldn't get 7, it's supposed to be better than 6,but the aimlessness of 6 put me off a bit, with 7 supposedly sharing some of that, and also being a longer game, something 8 suffered with but at least 8 is good Dragon Quest 7 takes an age to get going. I guess it's interesting conceptually to start in peace time, but it was well over an hour before I got in to my first battle. The battles are fairly standard Dragon Quest stuff, only the menus could be better. Maybe a sign of how much you can learn but there's now options for spells, which are then split into offensive, defensive, and other, then skills, which are also split in 3. It might make sense later in the game, but at the minute it feels like way more menus than you need. There's also slow down in battles, I can't place if the rest of the game runs at 60 then the fights drop to 30, bit it feels slower, and it happens less with some enemies. There's loads of fights too, enemies appear in the game world, but they are spawn a few steps in front of you every few steps, so you're always fighting. The story is at least slightly different so far. You're on a small island, seemingly the only island in the world, and you manage to open up an old tomb that slowly reveals the truth. It means revisiting areas you've already been to many years later, that could develop in to something good So far though, if you want a Dragon Quest game on the 3ds, I'd say jump to 8