Final Fantasy VII

[radiofloyd]

Bellow, if you have a DS or GBA, I highly recommend getting 4 and 6, the Advance versions. FF6 Advance runs like a dream (the PS1 version has slowdown) and is an absolutely essential game if you like RPGs. 4 is also excellent.

 

As for FFXII or XIII, going back a bit now but I think XII was a far superior game, on the strength of its amazing gameplay, but I still only rated it 8/10 at the time because it fell down in all the other areas that I had grown to love from Final Fantasy games (story, music, characters). It might have had amazing gameplay but it doesn’t have the same place in my heart that X does, not to mention the earlier games.

 

I feel like for XIII, they heard those complaints about the story and characters in XII and overcompensated. You could see the effort they made to inject a story into XIII. Unfortunately it was nonsense and embarrassing to play with anyone else in the room. 6/10 game for me. I bought XIII-2 and Lightning Returns but haven’t played them yet. I will though.

[one-armed dwarf]

Mid 60s is good endgame level. You wont crush the final boss but aren't underpowered so it's a fun challenge. But equip ribbons and buy maiden kisses.

[bellow]

59 minutes ago, radiofloyd said:

Bellow, if you have a DS or GBA, I highly recommend getting 4 and 6, the Advance versions. FF6 Advance runs like a dream (the PS1 version has slowdown) and is an absolutely essential game if you like RPGs. 4 is also excellent.

 

There have to be limits here, and picking up my ds, or even 3ds is a line I just can't cross. Plus, are these games really that good? I'm new to genre, I'll admit it, but the FF games (with the honourable exception of the magnificent FF12) are pretty much bringing up the rear on my list of favourite RPGs. Personally, I've really had more fun with the more modern stuff - Xenoblade series, Octopath, the bravely games, DQ11, Ys8, and I'd give a pound of flesh for a switch revival of the last story. As for FF7, it's been enjoyable in the main, but I doubt I'll play it again, and the remake is very low on my list of priorities.

1 hour ago, one-armed dwarf said:

Mid 60s is good endgame level. You wont crush the final boss but aren't underpowered so it's a fun challenge. But equip ribbons and buy maiden kisses.

Don't tell me the bastard frogs you. I hate that?

[one-armed dwarf]

Spoilers for end game but this is great

 

 

 

[OCH]

6 hours ago, Nag said:

just because you can find some second rate memes doesn't mean it's universally panned.

 

Forget the worthless meme, that's irrelevant. I know the Lightning Trilogy is universally panned, because I've been a Final Fantasy fan since '97, read all the reviews, plus the community chatter and actually played 95% of the first game before discarding it completely. The battle system being glitter on a turd. If I didn't like the first game after investing all that time, there is no reason to even attempt the sequels. If they had made sequels to Godzilla '98 or Flash Gordon, I wouldn't have thought any better of those either.

 

In a similar vein, I never bothered with The After Years, X-2, Revenant Wings or Crisis Core, as typically I find gives the wrong FF games sequels/prequels in the first place. My "Big brain" of FF doesn't begin and end with 7.

 

@bellow Level 60's seems fine.  You should be alright with that. You haven't mentioned it so far, but have you found anything wandering around the World Map?

[bellow]

36 minutes ago, OCH said:

bellow Level 60's seems fine.  You should be alright with that. You haven't mentioned it so far, but have you found anything wandering around the World Map?

Are u talking about the weapons? 

 

I'm not taking them on.

 

Anyway, I've fought myself to the point of no return, although I did have a save point making item, which I forgot about, but then luckily found when I was searching for an elixir for this stupid pot enemy. I don't know how to run from a fight so I wasted 6 elixirs on those bastards. Decent XP, though. Every one is saying variations of 'this is it.' So I'm pretty sure the blonde bombshell is lurking down a level.

[OCH]

The Weapon that flies around is well within your ability. I'd advise you give it a go. 

 

Spoiler

You can leave the Northern Crater. There is a single point of no return and there is a "safe zone" just before it, which telegraphs such.

 

There was also a way to trivialise Elixirs, X-Potions etc  A Yellow Materia called "W-Item". It enables you to use two items in battle. There is also a glitch wherein you can increase your item count by using it in battle, cancelling out the second usage and repeating the process. It only works with items you can actively use in battle, so you can't duplicate Sources, for example. I've heard the glitch still exists in every port too.

[DANGERMAN]

christ, can you lot not talk, about Final Fantasy without it turning in to an argument? It's Final fucking Fantasy ffs, the most inconsequential nonsense this side of Kingdom Hearts, it's really not worth it

 

It's getting (or has got) to the point where I don't want to post in the remake thread when I get the game because I worried about spoilers or wading through a sea of shit

[one-armed dwarf]

WRT Remake thread I like @HandsomeDead's suggestion of an OG FFVII spoiler thread and one for new players. Similar to what some web forums did for Game of Thrones (book readers, non-book readers)

 

Because to be perfectly honest the content of most of the VII spoilers in the remake thread have been extremely mild, barely spoilers. That's just what I think anyway and it will avoid drama and high blood pressures all around imo

[Jimboxy]

Can we not just use this thread and use spoiler tags? The problem with having topics where you can talk soilers without tags is that some people don't click on individual threads, but just go to the next available comment. I'm also not keen on splitting content across so many threads as we already have issues keeping on topic as it is.(see the argument above about a different game in the series, and dead space, apparently)

[OCH]

That's why I chose to ignore and focus on Bellow instead. I'd also agree with Dwarf RE the content of the Remake thread. The things that were decried as "spoilers", without context, were nothing of the sort. But because of perception they were assumed to be. Anyway, a friend whose opinion I value regarding my tastes on such things, warned me off the Remake, so I'll mostly stick to these "Retro" threads. I'll likely watch a Remake LP on YouTube and not tread beyond that. I knew all I cared to about the game back in '97 and nostalgia doesn't hold that great a sway over me.

[one-armed dwarf]

I think a good general rule is maybe we all cool it on the roasting hot takes in these threads all the time, which I will try to do also. 

 

We're all what, 30-40 years old. It's a bit weird tbh. Not liking a thing isn't an interesting personality trait.

 

Not tryna backseat mod just saying and I do the same thing too

[bellow]

Sephiroth seems a lot sterner a test than Vayne in Ff12. I also think I've blasted thru this game a bit more as it never really hooked me as much as 12. In that game I only went for the final boss when my highest level hunts became rather easy, and by then the final story boss never had much to trouble me.

 

I'll grab a few more levels to blast thru. His attacks aren't hurting too much. I'm just not managing the fight and my resources well, and I know I've neglected to boost my team's most potent weaponry, for lack of dedication to the game tbh. So it ain't gonna be pretty. 

 

He dies though.

 

That's a given.

[one-armed dwarf]

@bellow I'm really disappointed in you, I expected you to deck Sephie tonight. 

[bellow]

It's still early.

 

Actually, I should be working tonight but I've thrown a (legitimate) sickie.

 

If he sees the the 8th of march, he definitely won't see the 9th.

 

One of us dies.

 

That's a given?

[OCH]

[bellow]

It's done. 

 

I had to get to level 70+ to do it, stick hp plus's on everyone and a ribbon on my healer,  and have a wee nap half way thru, but it's done.

 

First off, omnislash? Where did that come from? I thought I was fecked for a moment, and then Cloud unleashes one he's been keeping in his back pocket unbeknownst to my good self. Could have done with that hours ago. I also managed to see the little coda after the titles. I always let the titles run if I finish a game, out of respect, so it was nice to see that strange scene play out, not knowing it was coming.

 

My immediate thoughts on the game are mixed. I think it holds up pretty well as a gaming experience. I enjoyed it but I didn't linger in the world for longer than I had to, as I did in FF 12 - checking the far corners of the map for secrets, and legging it like brave Sir Robin after uncovering a nasty one. For a start, the world itself isn't that inspiring, and there's not much tactical manoeuvring needed in the various locations. It's hard to judge it now, of course, but that's what I felt while playing, even with something as simple as a flying enemy, I never registered a miss with a melee fighter or even tifa and her martial arts. It just didn't make much difference.

 

Story wise, yeah, hard to follow at times but substantial and fulfilling, especially with the occasional knowing nudge from these pages pushing me in the right direction. Must have been hard to be a casual back in the day.

 

I enjoyed it. Got 40 hours out of it. Not too sure if I need to play the remake, though. I didn't really enjoy the combat that much. Then again, I though the ATB in the original was a bit too fast moving for my tastes?.

[one-armed dwarf]

VII is a game I tried to go back to on PS4. I said I was going to platinum it cause it's an easy plat and my favourite game, I thought. But I did not enjoy it going back. I think because the only distinguishing thing between party members are their limits and there's just not a lot of interesting materia mix ups until the end of the game. It's a cool story you can experience a few times maybe but it's very hard for me now to feel the strong feelings I had while playing it then

 

Which is impacting my excitement for the Remake cause I didn't really have a lot of strong emotions with the demo. It either feels too different or sterile compared to VII or VII itself doesn't have that magic anymore.

 

What the Remake does have though is an incredible combat system so I am excited for that and how later characters like Yuffie, Vincent and even Cait sith will be managed. 

[OCH]

On 08/03/2020 at 19:54, bellow said:

It's done. 

 

I had to get to level 70+ to do it, stick hp plus's on everyone and a ribbon on my healer,  and have a wee nap half way thru, but it's done.

 

First off, omnislash? Where did that come from? I thought I was fecked for a moment, and then Cloud unleashes one he's been keeping in his back pocket unbeknownst to my good self. Could have done with that hours ago. I also managed to see the little coda after the titles. I always let the titles run if I finish a game, out of respect, so it was nice to see that strange scene play out, not knowing it was coming.

 

My immediate thoughts on the game are mixed. I think it holds up pretty well as a gaming experience. I enjoyed it but I didn't linger in the world for longer than I had to, as I did in FF 12 - checking the far corners of the map for secrets, and legging it like brave Sir Robin after uncovering a nasty one. For a start, the world itself isn't that inspiring, and there's not much tactical manoeuvring needed in the various locations. It's hard to judge it now, of course, but that's what I felt while playing, even with something as simple as a flying enemy, I never registered a miss with a melee fighter or even tifa and her martial arts. It just didn't make much difference.

 

Story wise, yeah, hard to follow at times but substantial and fulfilling, especially with the occasional knowing nudge from these pages pushing me in the right direction. Must have been hard to be a casual back in the day.

 

I enjoyed it. Got 40 hours out of it. Not too sure if I need to play the remake, though. I didn't really enjoy the combat that much. Then again, I though the ATB in the original was a bit too fast moving for my tastes?.

Ironically, you could have had Omnislash Very Early in the game. 

Early FF games are mostly defined by the job system. White Mage, Black Mage, Ninja etc FF7 tried to do without it. The result is a cast of visually different but, interchangeable characters. Tifa and Cid being the closest callbacks to the job system, in Monk and Dragoon respectively. In this game the Materia system recreates that Job system. You want to make a Red Mage? Summoner or Time Mage? Load your character up with Yellow, Red or Green Materia. But, you don't have to and you can just use them as spells, with everyone being a caster.

 

Barring two Superbosses and a challenging hidden area underwater, this is probably the easiest FF game you will ever play. Because that accessibility bar was lowered for their first 3D title. I thought that at 14yo and still to this day. The last few playthroughs I've done have been challenge ones. 'No Materia' and 'Low Level'. The latter involves making sure 2/3 people are always dead in all boss fights and that you run from random encounters. The game also becomes something else when the crutch of Materia is removed. Glad you enjoyed the experience overall and did so mostly off your own back. I think it would probably surprise you how much more there is to discover within the game, that isn't remotely compulsory.

I'd say this is probably still my third favourite FF game ever, behind FF9 and FF6.

[Rikzilla]

Starting this again today. My girlfriend has never played it so we're going through it together while we're furloughed.

 

She'll be doing the main adventure, and I'll be grinding while we're watching TV (playing on Switch) and trying my best not to backseat game while shes controlling.