Final Fantasy

[Designer1]

19 minutes ago, hogso said:

Big fat no to this question. 

They kinda went off the deep end with their choices in II for the battle system. Progression of stats is based off usage, so the more you use physical attacks, the better progress for your attack stat - that sort of thing. 

They did develop more of a story tho, although it's firmly the worst FF for most fans. 

III is a much more interesting game. It's also double hard with knobs on, or at least the original and 3D remake versions were. Could be made much easier now with the boosts. 

Thanks mate.

Food for thought 

[hogso]

Final Fantasy I platinum done. 

Final cleared save play time was 8 hours 41 minutes. 

If you know what you're doing you can whizz through the game, and the Plat becomes a test of patience whilst filling the bestiary of the rarer spawning enemies. The most significant of which being the infamous Warmech super boss. 

My four WoLs were a Warrior, Thief, Red Mage and Black Mage. 

It's a really, really good game. The last time I played it was the rather different GBA version. The newly arranged soundtrack here is excellent too. 

Onwards to the black sheep of the series... 

[Designer1]

Any tips for Chaos?

[hogso]

His HP is way beyond anything else in the game, so it can be a bit of a battle of attrition. Dependent on your party and magic set up of course, but generally speaking you'll want to buff (temper and haste for your warriors/thief), keep healed with your red/white mage, and use your black mage as your nuke, as you should have flare by the end game. Black mage can use haste too which is handy to get buffed quickly.

I wouldn't suggest using buffs to protect from elements as it's too random to waste turns on. In older versions of the game his attack pattern was set, so protecting yourself against various elements at various points was a viable strat. Part of the pixel remaster work on the game engine included randomising mob and boss attacks, though. Just heal as and when, and of course top magic uses via items. 

If you're aiming for Plat you'd have to grind for Warmech before the Tiamet boss fight anyway (unless you were obscenely lucky!) in which case your levels would be pretty decent. If your 80+ it's not too tough, 90+ it's verging on easy, 99 and it's kind of a cake walk. 

[Designer1]

Haste + Temper = No more Chaos.

[Designer1]

And Platinumed.

Think I'll skip 2 and go for 3 when I'm ready for the next one.

[hogso]

About 100 of them are physical editions for PS4 and Switch. 

 

[hogso]

Final Fantasy 2 done. There are some decent story beats which far surpass the first game, although the story is so influenced by star wars you're constantly thinking 'ohhh yeah, it's that bit'. Although it is as formative a game as the first, chocobo's show up, series enduring mobs debut, and then there's the start of the trend for deaths of party members. That's lots of deaths of party members... 

Tips for anyone playing it or chasing trophies and achievements - as mentioned previously, each action will gain xp for it, so weather it's using a sword, or a staff, or a certain spell, you'll increase from level one upto a maximum of 16.

What I do love about the game is levelling a spell like Ultima and seeing it's progressively more impressive animation. 

Anyway, you might think if that's the case, you just keep attacking the early mobs to grind to sword level 16, or constantly use cure and replenish mp from Inn's used via the gil you earn in battle, right? 

Not so. Each enemy has a hidden battle level, meaning you can only level up to that level against them. So early mobs might be level 3, end game mobs might be level 12, bosses might be 16...

Two easy ways around this though. White magics like cure will level up when used outside of battle, but the trophy won't ping when you hit 16. It will if you level a different magic in battle for the same character once cure has hit 16, though.

As for a weapon up to level 16, the Blood Sword can be used to attack yourself and level that way. Your chars have the highest battle level, so it's a simple but time consuming cheese. The same weapon also makes any difficulty in the game a joke, as it will deal max damage if your chars strength is high enough (and the enemy has more than 9999 HP). 

My time outside the Jade Passage (penultimate dungeon) was 9:50. My final clear time was 13:14 which was all weapon level 16 grinding and trying to get the damn Iron Giant to spawn. All in, not a terrible game after all, and certainly better with the QoL features compared to the PS1 FF Origins version I first played. 

Total play time : 21:55

On to 3, the FF game I have by far the least familiarity with. 

Edited May 7, 2023 by hogso

[hogso]

Final Fantasy 3 done. This must have been what fans at the time were hoping for from FF2 in the wake of FF1. It's just a bigger, better version of that game with more of a story focus in line with FF2. 

Moogles and summons debut, you have access to, I think, 4 different airships over the course of the game, and there are 4 world maps too - although only 2 of those are proper maps. Two of them do have very neat story related twists to them, though. 

The job system was the thing that I was most interested in experimenting with, and as cool as it is, you still end up using the same two jobs at the end anyway, cos you'd be mad not to (unless you grind for the onion gear). 

I can't imagine what playing through the final dungeon must have been like for players of the original version on original hardware. There are four mandatory sub bosses before the final boss - the infamous Cloud of Darkness - and their HP pools are insane and they hit really hard. That much was clear to me making full use of the modern QoL features. 

This is also the first time in the series thus far where I've felt there are 3 or 4 really great tracks on the soundtrack. 

Playtime this time was 11:18, it actually felt shorter than that. 

Total play time : 33:13

Rolling ranking :

3

1

2

Onto 4, the game where the series really found it's feet. 

Edited May 21, 2023 by hogso

[Chindie]

Hmm.

[hogso]

Glad you opted for that video from the plethora available this week @Chindie, I have a lot of time for Max - as much as he can be very excitable and rather OTT at time, in focused videos like the above away from his live streams, he more often than not makes very level headed and fair comments without much bias...more so than I would be able to about FF XVI I'm sure. 

I've seen a number of comments about the devs taking a lot of inspiration from Game of Thrones which I just find a little bizarre. Perhaps it's because I'm playing through the pixel remasters, as documented on here, but it's not exactly difficult to recognise that the first GoT book was released in the same year as Final Fantasy Seven's original release date. There's been castles, dragons, betrayal and death in the series for far longer than those books have been a thing. In fairness, I recognise that perhaps there has been a shift from the late 90s to mid 00s where using that high fantasy setting was seen as a potential sales risk - just look at how IX performed sales wise, regardless of how great that game is. 

What I'm not concerned by with XVI are the gameplay, graphics, story, soundtrack and characters. I've seen more than enough of that to already believe this to be potentially the best FF game since X. I do have some reservations about the side quests and maps though...but without actually playing it, I won't know how that will click with me. 

Any fans of XIV are very much in the camp of believing that this is going to be the best thing on PS5 due to the way CB Unit 3 have dealt with that game since the release of Realm Reborn. I really hope that faith pays off. 

[hogso]

What better way to wait for the PS Showcase that running through the FFIV Plat? 

Yep, it's in the books. I've had a lot of free time to be able to knock this one out in the last few days, so I took full advantage. 

Looking at this game though the lens of experiencing the series in sequential order, this entry stands head and shoulders above everything else so far. Looking it at with hindsight and knowledge of what follows...there's some **** bizarre stuff going on here. 

The good is that the story regularly feels absolutely epic. There's heartbreak, betrayal, loss, species banding together to save the world, an unspeakable evil manipulating things from the shadows...it's all here. It feels like a proper FF, and the series would be lost to the annals of history if Square had not taken some risks with this, I feel. 

Scripted battles with text to give in battle story is a game changer, and game play wise the ATB system debuts and works really well. As do the rigid jobs each character has, each of which is woven in to the story and lore of the world. Long gone are the days at this point where you party does what they do...well, just cos, really. IV introduces us to Cecil, a dark knight trained in a life shortening art at the behest of his king. For the first time a main character that goes on a real emotional journey. It's by and large good stuff. Ending spoilers. 

Spoiler

I mean it finishes with the wedding of Cecil and his love Rosa for pete's sake, what's not to like about that?! 

Side characters come and go, but when they're present, there is a gravitas to their actions, and you remember them. Some even offer some proper comic relief for the first time. 

There's also genuine challenge, and boss battles that throw unusual things at you to deal with. Battles that are almost like puzzles are more common place. And who can deny the fun of status ailments including not only mini and frog, but PIG. 

And then there's the, well not bad but...the crazy. I'll spoiler this for anyone intending to play (which I would recommend). 

Spoiler

You fly in a whale to the **** moon, I mean what the ****. Is it a robot whale? Dunno. The lore suggests it isn't, but you get in it, AND IT'S GOT A **** HANDLE TO MOVE IT. oh yeah and SLEEP PODS LIKE IN ALIENS. It's so weird. 

It's indicative how much there is to say about it that it really was a massive leap forward. 

As for the Plat, I had heard horror stories about green and yellow dragon spawn rates for the 100% bestiary, and even worse for pink tail drops from flan princess farming in the final dungeon. 

Well, my final play time was a neat 13:44, so either my rng was good, or this version has had some changes to loot drops for the secret summons. If so, phew. 

That takes my total play time to 46:57

Rolling rankin'

4

3

1

2

Onwards to V. You know, the first time I played I, II, IV, V and VI were on PS1 with the standalone release of VI, and the Origins and Anthology collections. 

V was my favourite. 

[Keyblade]

I had a great time with FFIV. I have the PSP version and it was the first FF game I played all the way through. You can see how a lot of series staples started here.

[hogso]

Getting there with my FF5 playthrough, it's simply a much bigger game than the other 4. Spoilers for my final post on it though - it's even better than I remember (helped by some QoL features I guess, and the really good arranged score).

FF9 Remake rumours are gained pace AGAIN. This time the speculation is that this is a remake/remaster much more in line with Crisis Core than FF7, thereby retaining it's original turn based gameplay. That would be just...a dream come true for a lot of fans, I think. As long as they **** off the platinum trophy requirements. 

What playing through the pixel remasters has demonstrated to me is just how much FF9 is effectively the definitive Final Fantasy...or should I say, it's Sakaguchi's definitive Final Fantasy. There's so much overlap between 1-6, especially 3, 4 and 5, that it's almost like the events, setting, and characters of 9 are canon to those games. I physically stopped mid game during 5 and had to catch myself - "hang on, isn't this song from FF9?" well no it isn't, but it's almost a remix in 9. I almost feel like it would make a lot more sense to go from 6 to 9 and then go back to 7, such is the link between it and the older games. Not that I'll have time to before FF16 now!

[HKP90]

2 hours ago, hogso said:

Getting there with my FF5 playthrough, it's simply a much bigger game than the other 4. Spoilers for my final post on it though - it's even better than I remember (helped by some QoL features I guess, and the really good arranged score).

FF9 Remake rumours are gained pace AGAIN. This time the speculation is that this is a remake/remaster much more in line with Crisis Core than FF7, thereby retaining it's original turn based gameplay. That would be just...a dream come true for a lot of fans, I think. As long as they **** off the platinum trophy requirements. 

What playing through the pixel remasters has demonstrated to me is just how much FF9 is effectively the definitive Final Fantasy...or should I say, it's Sakaguchi's definitive Final Fantasy. There's so much overlap between 1-6, especially 3, 4 and 5, that it's almost like the events, setting, and characters of 9 are canon to those games. I physically stopped mid game during 5 and had to catch myself - "hang on, isn't this song from FF9?" well no it isn't, but it's almost a remix in 9. I almost feel like it would make a lot more sense to go from 6 to 9 and then go back to 7, such is the link between it and the older games. Not that I'll have time to before FF16 now!

Can they finish remaking FF7 first, please. I don't think we need the first 3rd of another game if i'm honest.

[Dante_Lockhart]

I'm still waiting on FFXIII to be ported to PS4/5. I don't even want a remaster, just give me access to the bloody game lads.

[hogso]

1 hour ago, HKP90 said:

Can they finish remaking FF7 first, please. I don't think we need the first 3rd of another game if i'm honest.

Well, I take your point, but

FF7 Remake is a Creative Business Unit 1 game within Square Enix, and as Crisis Core was co-developed with a third party, I'd assume the same would be true of 9, and therefore wouldn't have an impact on the development of 7 Remake (for the same reason XVI being developed by CBU 4 hasn't impacted the 7 Remake project). 

I could well be wrong, and 9 remake might not even exist - but if it does, that wouldn't be a concern for me, given the job that was done with CC 'remake'. 

[HKP90]

8 minutes ago, hogso said:

Well, I take your point, but

FF7 Remake is a Creative Business Unit 1 game within Square Enix, and as Crisis Core was co-developed with a third party, I'd assume the same would be true of 9, and therefore wouldn't have an impact on the development of 7 Remake (for the same reason XVI being developed by CBU 4 hasn't impacted the 7 Remake project). 

I could well be wrong, and 9 remake might not even exist - but if it does, that wouldn't be a concern for me, given the job that was done with CC 'remake'. 

Phew, I can get back to never ever being able to defeat Emerald weapon (if it's a remake of the European/International version- see I also can nerd).  

[hogso]

Coincidentally good timing for my FF9 Remake post yesterday - seeing as a gameplay video for the Memoria Project (a fan made FF9 remake in UE5) was released yesterday.

This really is unreal, and if the actual FF9 remake is real I suspect it won't quite look like this. 

For fans of FF9, I strongly suggest freeing up 25 minutes to watch this, and just imagine what could be!

[Keyblade]

4 hours ago, hogso said:

Coincidentally good timing for my FF9 Remake post yesterday - seeing as a gameplay video for the Memoria Project (a fan made FF9 remake in UE5) was released yesterday.

This really is unreal, and if the actual FF9 remake is real I suspect it won't quite look like this. 

For fans of FF9, I strongly suggest freeing up 25 minutes to watch this, and just imagine what could be!

Oh wow this was actually released. Felt like it was years out.