Final Fantasy VI

[Maryokutai]

I just went back to that place every time I got a character and at some point it triggered the next phase of that story. It's probably linked to one specific companion (or maybe a certain number?) but I can't remember how exactly my party looked when it happened.

[Metroid66]

I went back to Moblitz, which took a mind numbing half an hour to re-find because there's no names on the map, and the kids are there, but no sign of Terra.

 

I'm close to throwing in the towel on this. 

 

God knows how anyone got through this back in the day, having to search for places over and over with no facility to turn off random encounters. It's just a bore at this point.

 

Since the world got blown up my playthru has been a bit like watching paint dry. 

[Maryokutai]

If you hit Y or Square or whatever left-most button on your controller you get a detailed map of either the current area (when in a town or dungeon) or the world (when on the world map), including names and such.

[Metroid66]

I think I need a break from it. The idea of tracking down another 6 characters (I've googled the requirements for the final dungeon) and then levelling up everyone to get thru it isn't inspiring me at all.

 

Whether I go back at another date is another question. It was always a long shot for me. My first gaming experiences were on PS2, and the 3 FF games on that system still felt fresh and logical when I played them 3 or 4 years back. I also quite enjoyed 7 and 9, although I gave up on 9 because I just got completely confused on the story. But this game seems a step too far for me, and I genuinely think the rest of the game is set up to just have me battling for hours on end to have a chance with the final boss. It's really not that interesting to me

 

If I haven't reconvened in a month I'll put it down as a gallant failure on my franchise playthru list.

[OCH]

20 hours ago, Metroid66 said:

God knows how anyone got through this back in the day, having to search for places over and over with no facility to turn off random encounters.

That's how the genre was. This is where people found their enjoyment. Combing every single pixel of the map. How else do you think people discovered the 99 level cap in these early games? Since you don't naturally hit anywhere near that by stories end.

 

Ok, Terra. As far as I can remember. You talk to her, she doesn't join. Go back to talk to her after getting the airship and she does. The second time you didn't see her is because she is in a secret room that was previously locked until this point.

 

Spoiler

One of the empty houses in Moblitz has a bookcase on the left hand wall. Walk behind it and you'll find Terra.

 

[Metroid66]

So she's just living randomly behind a bookcase while all the kids she's meant to be looking after are running wild in a Moblitz basement?

 

Fucking game is nuts.

 

Actually, I've already deleted the game from my Switch in an act of retaliatory defiance.

 

There's only so much time wasting silliness I'm willing to put up with in this hobby.

 

I suppose I'm going to have accept that Final fantasy starts at seven for me. And my franchise playthru will have to reflect the fact.

[one-armed dwarf]

*Awaits with anticipation the trading pass arc of the FFXVI thread*

[OCH]

9 minutes ago, Metroid66 said:

So she's just living randomly behind a bookcase while all the kids she's meant to be looking after are running wild in a Moblitz basement?

Spoiler

Because that is where the (adult) couple are in labour...Which is the surprise reveal.

 

As has been mentioned. FF4 (much more straight forward than FF6) and FF6 are the most relatable to a modern audience, in terms of mechanics. This has more under the hood than 4, due to the Esper Magic learning system.

 

Lastly I did recommend starting with FF7, to be fair...

[Maryokutai]

There's an ingame hint for Terra, I didn't quite get it at first but tried again and found it then. It could be clearer, arguably, as could a lot of things, but it's 30 years old. I wasn't particularly eloquent 30 years ago either.

 

I've had some trouble motivating myself as well though, mostly because I didn't want to get into the whole Coliseum nonsense. So I think I'll just ignore that part and try my luck at the final dungeon at some point this week. 

 

(Kind of nuts that there's only three years between this and FFVII. The medium really moved at a breakneck pace back then.)

[OCH]

20 minutes ago, Maryokutai said:

(Kind of nuts that there's only three years between this and FFVII. The medium really moved at a breakneck pace back then.)

Which is why these guys were used for the 3D (then N64) Final Fantasy tech demo.

[Metroid66]

Maybe it's just my late introduction to gaming, but that's the kind of hyper realism I'm after.

[OCH]

6 hours ago, Metroid66 said:

Maybe it's just my late introduction to gaming, but that's the kind of hyper realism I'm after.

Which is why, if they ever port DS FF 3 & 4, I would strongly recommend them to you. That is basically how they play.

 

..Honestly though, who would pick Locke by choice? Shadow and Terra, I understand. But not him...

[Maryokutai]

I beat it yesterday. Except for those couple of hours early on, I'd say shortly after the introduction to around 4 or 5-ish hours of playtime, which felt really gimmicky and as if the game wasn't going anywhere, I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. And while I will never in this life become a fan of splitting up your party, I think this game at least somewhat earns it through those unique 'team puzzle dungeons' and, early on, by the way the story is told around this ensemble cast. Towards the end of the game it becomes a bit annoying to have to go to the airship to switch around party members though – that's one aspect where a modernised version could add some QOL improvements. Speaking of modernised, I wish they had added character portraits to the text boxes, I didn't like those little colour-coded name borders.

 

One thing I wish it had explored a bit more is the tech aspect of the whole Magitech thing. There's something about the beginning with these mechs that I find really fascinating, it conjures a very unique atmosphere that even later, less fantasy-tropey instalments like 7 and 8 didn't pull off. But they relatively quickly sideline all that stuff except for a couple of visits to the Imperial Capital and it turns into a more classic FF experience for the most part, with a slightly more muted colour palette than usual. The tone also kind of jumps around a bit, when scenes of heavy loss are followed up by Gau goofing around. But maybe I'm being too harsh here with a game from the early 90s, made with pixel sprites, especially as some scenes really do hit hard (beginning of the second half for example).

 

I've also asked myself the question if I had liked it more or less had I played it back in the day. Tendency towards less, because I could imagine myself not handling some mechanics rather well, and the game potentially becoming extremely hard if you don't do it. I'm not sure where I'd place it on a personal FF ranking, probably around the lower end of a top 5 I'd say. It also showed me how much I miss Amano's artwork – the Pixel Remaster has a little gallery with character art and there's some really wonderful stuff there. Some characters that look a bit weird ingame like Cyan really come to life here.

[Metroid66]

Great effort.

 

It's been a good playthru, with a nice examination of what it's like to play a game like this thirty years on - even better for me as I was coupling it with playthrus of the most recent entries in the franchise.

 

Sure, I got a bit uppity about the lack of golden guiding lights and yellow painted ledges😄, but my thirty hours were mostly enjoyable - even though I don't have the nostalgia for this period of gaming that many here do.

 

Fact is I'll probably resume my playthru after this nice break I'm having with FF16 (with it's wonderful quest guiding dog).

 

Luckily the story and gameplay are so simple (find your companions and go get the baddy) It'll be easy to get back into. We'll see. At least I know where Terra is. I mean, what kind of  sonofabitch would I be if I left her behind a bookcase?

 

I just wish I'd had the option to leave Aerith behind one in Remake.

[OCH]

5 hours ago, Maryokutai said:

Gau goofing around.

I think his plotline in particular, is definitely one that would be refined/reworked with any new version. His backstory. The stuff with his father. None of it really goes anywhere??

 

I would also agree I appreciated this a lot more with this playthrough than my first time on the PSOne collection. I recall a few characters that went unrecruited. The last two, especially. 

 

If you're interested @Metroid66July sees the re-release of Suikoden 1 & 2. If you want to see a truly great RPG series that is sprite based but a lot more modern mechanically than pre-7 FF's.

[Metroid66]

Are you nuts! I've still got about 10 final fantasies to get thru. Plus someone just gave me a disc version of Elden Ring, which I'm (foolishly) toying with the idea of actually playing.

[one-armed dwarf]

To be honest, it's not like all the classic Final Fantasies are essential parts of the gaming 'canon' or something. I, IV and VI probably are, but the rest are more like curiosities. Playing the lot seems kinda redundant

 

I actually think tbh that Suikoden is a more interesting diversion if you want to look at other classic titles. Xenogears as well, which is a wildly ambitious but very flawed RPG that came out right between VII and VIII, I think. It's not like Xenoblade or Xenosaga, more like Neon Genesis Evangelion but a 90s RPG

 

On VI, if you've beaten the game I recommend checking out the 'savage' difficulty version of the Kefka raid from FFXIV on youtube. It's pretty cool fanservice

[Maryokutai]

2 hours ago, OCH said:

 

I would also agree I appreciated this a lot more with this playthrough than my first time on the PSOne collection.

 

That's such a bad version of the game, too, with its constant loading interruptions. I couldn't deal with that for more than two hours (out of which I'd expect 15 minutes being loading screens).

 

I read a bit on the wiki page for this game today and apparently the entire second half wasn't really planned. But development was moving along so smoothly that they simply decided to just go for it. Supposedly that also explains why a certain character features a bit more prominently during the early part of that second half, because she quickly became a favourite among the team. Looking at the state of videogames today, that sounds almost like a fairy tale.

[OCH]

7 hours ago, Metroid66 said:

I've still got about 10 final fantasies to get thru.

Recommendations

Classic Era:

4

6

PSOne Era:

7

8

9

Honourable mention: Tactics

PS2 Era:

10

12

Beyond:

13 

16

 

Now you're currently playing two of those which brings you to seven (eight is you like SRPG's). To be fair, the PSOne trilogy will take the longest to finish. But these are pretty much the choice picks of each era. FF14 also exists if MMO's are your jam.

[Metroid66]

What I've actually got in mind when I've finished 6 and 16 is a bit different.

 

Remember, I just wanted to sample the 2d era. It's a bit too obscure for my tastes. For instance I simply would never have walked behind that bookcase to find Terra. And I mean never. And then I had a clue to go to Narshe, and another clue that I needed thief to access the locked doors. Fair enough. But I just had to look up where to find Locke. I had absolutely no chance. I still can't believe anyone found him back in the day on their own steam. If I finish the game it probably will be with phone in hand.

 

So my franchise run will be, up to now, after 6 and 16. Unplayed games in bold.

 

7, 8, 9, 10, 10-2, 12, 13 (1,2,3), 15, Rebirth, Crisis core, plus Intergrade and the 16 DLC.