Just a topic to discuss al things final fantasy. I just recently picked up the Final Fantasy Origins collection, and found it to be quite refreshing (and of course went on to play through most of Chrono Trigger during Thanksgiving break). So basically here is the question, should the Final Fantasy series try to return to its roots as far as the battle system and such go? Or should it continue to change and be experimented with as time goes? Should there be more True Sequels (FF X-2) or should a thing be avoided? Discuss!

Oh and Final Fantasy VI pwns all.

The massive multiplayer XI didn’t sit well with me.  I thought that should have been reserved for an “alternative” Final Fantasy (much like Mystic Quest, or Tactics) rather than being given the eleventh spot in the series.  That being said, I love the way the games evolve as Square/Enix tries new things.  It gives each game it’s own feel rather than the same old control and battle schemes with a new look/story thrown on top.  And while X-2 was a tad too fruity, I wouldn’t mind seeing “sequels” made.  I would have loved Advent Children to have been made a game rather than a movie.  Giving old school games in the series serious face lifts would be cool too.  Like seeing Cecil and Rosa in full 3D… etc…

I personally can’t wait until XII.  I do wish some of the protagonists would start looking a bit more rough.  XII looks like it will be an interactive Abercrombie & Finch catalog.

While I have enjoyed most early entries, FFX got me bored as hell. I didn’t even bother to look at X-2.

I also think the FF series totally overdid the random encounters by having them much too frequent, especially in X and VIII. So the step towards a non-random encounter system in XII might make me get a PS2 again when it’s out.

I just picked up FF:Dawn of Souls and it has made me all weepy for the old days. FFX-2 really kind of pissed me off with it’s Charlie’s Angles theme and slant towards the overly cheesy.

I think that it wouldn’t hurt if SquareEnix took a good long look at some of their classics and distilled a new FF based on what went right while avoiding what is going wrong with the series. In the search for a new and inventive combat and experience systems the games are starting to get overly complicated. That is not to say too difficult, but it is becoming such a chore to level up characters that the focus is being driven away from the actually gameplay.

And I agree that the random encounter thing must evolve. Even Chrono Cross (the pinnacle of success for SquareEnix, in my humble opinion) side stepped this by adding viewable enemies. This at least gives the illusion of choice rather than the constant bombardment of enemy encounters you get with todays FF games.

From a design standpoint I think that FFIII is a textbook example of an elegant combat and experience system. Just enough choice as to not overwhelm the enduser while giving enough depth the keep the player totally involved. It may seem rudimentary by todays standards but in concept it got everything right.

Change is good and is required in order to evolve. Repeating past mistakes negates the positive effects of change and creates a cycle of mediocrity into which I feel the series is beginning to enter. Too much style over substance.

One must look at where one has been to know where one is going. (or some bullshit like that)

One think I’d like to see is travel on an overworld Map. Lack of this was fine in FFX, for a change, but FF X-2 got me scared that they may keep leaving it out. Cheesy as it may seem at times, I’ve always felt it gave a largeness and depth to the Final Fantasy worlds, and it doesn’t seem the same without them.

I couldn’t agree more. It certainly lends itself to creating a feeling of vastness and exploration. And even if it is not the case, you feel like the game is less “on rails” when you can wander around an overworld.

It is a little scary to see what SE has done with the series. I have high hopes for FFXII as it looks to be a refreshing take on the series. However, When I look at FFX my heart fills with sadness, I don’t know if it was the voice acting, or the story, or a combination of the two, but I just did not enjoy it all that much. I found FFX-2 to be better then FFX except for the whole Charlie’s Angels theme, I mean I think SE did that just to sell Hentai. The only thing that bothers me recently in these new FF’s is the character design, I do not want everyone to look all J-pop, and the androgyny of the characters is some what unsettling to me as well.

Well I think just FFX and FFX-2 have the J-Pop character design. FFXI doesn’t seem to have it, and FFXII appears to have the flavor of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance more than anything else.

I still think the series went south after IX. X was okay and XI, well I never played it. I have high hopes for XII. I also wanted to ask: why does everyone hate VIII, or did some like it? I found that after three years of not playing it I’ve grown to love it. And no Mike, True Sequels are stupid. (Doing it for FFVII is okay though. But thats movie form)

Just wanna chime in about CC. Most people consider Chrono Cross a bastardization of Chrono Trigger and Radical Dreamers, myself included. Incoherent story, terrible endings, multitude of useless characters with no backstory who join you in packs of 5… Blah. But it does have a FANTASTIC soundtrack.

As for the FF games? Well, with a few notable exceptions they’ve been on a downhill slide for years.
I could not get enough of the old-school Final Fantasy games. FF 1-6 (with 6 being the pinnacle of the series) were absolutely amazing games that I still play today.
Then came FF7… Oh god. Maybe my standards were just way too high after playing FF6, but FF7 was a total disappointment for me. An irritating and abusable magic system, annoying characters, a storyline that got old very quickly… Not a bad game, but certainly not the holy grail of RPGs that many people seem to believe it is.

And then we have the abomination called FF8. Oh my dear god sir. I don’t think I even need to go into this one.

Then Square released the wonderful FF9, which made me go w00t.

FFX was just plain mediocre… Didn’t impress me at all, but didn’t turn me off to the degree FF7 and FF8 did.
FFX-2… Well, I borrowed it from my mother (my mother is a hardcore gamer, scarily enough, and bought FFX-2 for herself) a little while back. Disappointing. Very disappointing… My dear mother doesn’t even care if I return it to her and my girlfriend refused it when I tried to give FFX-2 to her.

FF11 was, well, not a FF game. It was a generic MMORPG grindfest. Blah.

I’m looking forward to FF12, but I’m not keeping my hopes high.

Oh and I forgot to mention Final Fantasy Tactics. Made by the Ogre Battle team, it is by far my favorite PSX/PS2 Final Fantasy game. Ahh… I wish they hadn’t cut so much of the game for the American version…

Ok, I need a nap.

I think SquareEnix needs to stop developing the FF’s for the latest consoles. My favorite game of theirs in the last two years was FF Tactics Advance.

Think of the things they could do on the DS. FF has gotten stale;moving it to a handheld could bring in some welcome changes and a fresh start.

I never like the “old school” FF games. I liked the direction FF7 and 8 took the series. FF9 was just too…odd for me. I mean the protagonist had a tail and I couldn’t tell if it was a male or female at first. I didn’t enjoy it too much and I found it was too easy. It did have its moments and it was better than X but it still didn’t melt my butter. I have to say, FFX had one of the worst mini-games in the series…so did FF8 for that matter.

Unlike most of you it seems, I enjoyed FFX. It was a much more cinematic experience, and was quite enjoyable in that respect, despite a less than steller batlle system. The main character was annoying yes, but as the first post 32bit FF, we should be able to forgive such issues as the voice acting and such, as they were experimenting with the new features/storage space. FFXII should be the true test of whether or not they’ve truelly lost their marbles, but the success of Final Fantasy Tactics advance, and of remakes such as Final Fantasy Origins, should show us that they still know what made all the old games so good. The more I think about it, the more it seems like FFX and FFXI were experiments in many ways. So we’ll see what the future brings.

Oh, and for the love of god they need to do remake of Secret of Mana for PS or GBA.

Best final fantasy games period:

1. Final Fantasy 3/6
2. Final Fantasy VIII (screw you all who didnt like it. best weapon ever)
3. I guess Final Fantasy 2/4.

I hope to get a playstation adaptor from liksang for christmas, then i can get into the playstation ones more than i did, well… didnt really get into any of them. 8 was played most though. damn lack of money.

[quote author=“Zosorand”]
And I agree that the random encounter thing must evolve. Even Chrono Cross (the pinnacle of success for SquareEnix, in my humble opinion) side stepped this by adding viewable enemies. This at least gives the illusion of choice rather than the constant bombardment of enemy encounters you get with todays FF games.

I haven’t played Chrono Cross, but viewable enemies is fantastic. Chrono Trigger was the greatest Square game ever. Evah. It all worked. The clean 2D graphics, the terrible humor, the fact that Crono was a mute. It all somehow fit.

I couldn’t disagree more with what Gaf says about Chrono Cross but I absolutely agree with his comments on FF8. What the hell were they thinking!?

It warms my heart to see so many people mentioning FFIX. I absolutely loved this game. The characters and old school charm completely won me over.

I found FFX to be good but not great. I found the whole sphere grid to be overly complicated and too distracting. It took you out of the game for too long, destroying any sense of flow or immersion.

Anyway, I gotta get back to Dawn of Souls, I’ve got some leveling up to do