Final Fantasy

[villa4europe]

And as always... Vagrant story is the one that's missing for me 

[hogso]

6 hours ago, Dante_Lockhart said:

I'd love a remake of the Shadow Hearts games.

Throw in Koudelka too which is perhaps my pick for most underrated PS1 era RPG, really unique survival horror, turn based JRPG vibe. 

I can't quite recall how it links with Shadow Hearts...I think Koudelka herself turns up in the first game, or her kid is in the game or something...? 

And yeah @villa4europe Octopath had a great rep, I've never played it though. Perhaps one of the best looking examples of that style. 

[hogso]

The Rebirth demo has been updated and now includes the special Junon area, ie. not the full game version, but a diverse little area to run about in for the demo. You can then progress in to Lower Junon to do the 'Bottomswell' boss battle. Takes maybe 2 hours all in, less if you're rushing it, more if you do all of the combat sim stuff with Chadley, which isn't all that interesting. 

I really like the item transmutation stuff, synergy abilities are fun, and there's a decent sense of challenge. Good luck to anyone trying to button mash through the game, it is not going to get you far. 

What I can say gameplay wise is that Barret is left in the lurch a bit. Cloud is your DPS, Aerith your magic and healing obviously, Red is buff/debuff and has a pretty sick tanky special ability, Tifa is your pressure/stagger gage builder...Barret is just, long range? I dunno, didn't feel the need to use him at all. Aerith is clearly the most potent damage dealer used properly as using elemental weaknesses is key, but she's really squishy and gets messed up easily by stronger enemies - there's also the issue of materia management, meaning you can't just load her with all the magic and healing stuff. 

Basically, the balancing feels really good. 

On a side note I've been reading Nojima's Traces of Two Pasts novel, which puts the spotlight on Tifa and Aerith, whilst they give some back story to themselves. Tifa does this as the group leaves Kalm, and Aerith on the boat trip from Junon. Tifa talks about her childhood in Nibelheim, and then how she ended up in Midgar, joining Avalanche, and owing the bar - and Aerith's bit is about growing up in Shinra HQ with her mom and then escaping. It's never going to win any awards for writing, but it's all canon to the Remake, and I'm finding it a worthwhile read for some juicy lore and world building. 

Also, as she's mentioned in it, it got me to go back and revisit Before Crisis, and the story of Elfe, former leader of Avalanche. That's some decent lore and I'd love for at least some of it to crop up in the Remake trilogy, in the form of Jade Weapon, Elfe and her dad (who was a Turk), or even that ultimate summon materia she had, with some mad FF name I can't remember (not KOTR). 

Reviews for Rebirth tomorrow, and then it's a week until release. Phew. 

[Dante_Lockhart]

I totally forgot about the demo so I downloaded it last night. Will try and play through it over the next few days.

[hogso]

Reviews are now out there. Appears to be 9s across the board, potentially the best ever FF game, blows Remake out of the water, and Queen's Blood is as good as Gwent?!

Negative comments appear to be limited to some of the mini games not hitting the mark, and it could be too long for some. I would hope for most FF fans the latter won't be an issue at all!

[villa4europe]

Gamespot gave it an 8 and said the ending is a mess

[Keyblade]

On 20/02/2024 at 06:47, HKP90 said:

I disliked that one for a number of reasons. and it pains me to say it as I was soooo looking forward to it. 

Firstly, it's a trope, but it's so linear. I've not got anything against linear story driven gameplay, but in FF13 you end up running down lots of corridors and platforms which are sparsely populated, and with almost nothing to interact with. It was almost like the bits between fights were virtually pointless. The cut scenes were very pretty I will give it that. 

Secondly you only control one player at a time, with the others being AI controlled. That made me feel like I was barely controlling the battles. 

Was it ever explained why you could summon? I mean in the lore? FFX- it was the fayth, and summoners could draw on the power, FF7 it is materia, etc etc. There was a reason why people could summon these massive freaking monsters. Maybe it's explained in FF13, but I will admit I never got anywhere close to the end before giving it up. 

In short, I think after X (12 was OK, but had some of the problems above) the developers appeared to have focused on graphics and plot, rather than spending time building up the world and lore in which the characters inhabit. I thought 15 was going to solve this, but the combat was so janky for me that I couldn't enjoy it.  I know it's an action RPG, but the Witcher 3 showed how to build worlds, whilst still keeping a story. Paradoxically FF13 et al seem more old fashioned than the older titles. It feels like Square are trying to compete with modern titles, but for whatever reason are well behind. 

Look I hope with every iteration they get their mojo back, but imo they have focused on the wrong things, and have taken the series down entirely the wrong paths. I doubt they can (or want to) go back at this point. 

 

The bolded seemed to be an issue with a lot of JRPGs from that era, from like 2005-2015. I remember thinking exactly this about Kingdom Hearts 2 when it came out. I was just a teenager too, but it bugged the hell out of me. The whole thing was like "go from room A to room B, watch cutscene, do a battle", rinse repeat.

[jjaacckk91]

17 hours ago, hogso said:

it could be too long for some.

That being a criticism is actually laughable. If the content is good too long just isn't a thing, especially in final fantasy, or any RPG tbh.

Maybe too long for a reviewer to pump out the review.

Interested by mini game being as good as Gwent, I'll believe that when I see it.

[Dante_Lockhart]

10 hours ago, villa4europe said:

Gamespot gave it an 8 and said the ending is a mess

Same as FF7Remake then. Game was brilliant, up until the final chapter which a lot of people seemed to dislike - mainly due to the massive change from OG I suppose.

[hogso]

2 hours ago, jjaacckk91 said:

Interested by mini game being as good as Gwent, I'll believe that when I see it.

I thought the same thing! I really can't see it myself, we'll only know once we get hands on with it though I guess. Although Gwent did have some proper story side content in the DLC, it didn't really have a story as such attached to it, right? Queen's Blood seemingly does, with 'boss' characters to be beat and stuff. Even if that's simply a modern emulation of the CC Quest in FF8, I'll be happy. 

And for anyone playing the Junon demo, make sure you don't sleep on Red XIII. His abilities are great, and once you get the Materia level up thing from Chadley you can slap that on his Comet Materia to enable the Cometeor spell, which is wild - looks like something out of Dragon's Dogma  

[hogso]

13 hours ago, villa4europe said:

Gamespot gave it an 8 and said the ending is a mess

I imagine it'll be broadly equivalent to Remake, as @Dante_Lockhart says. If I had to guess, it'll involve something turning up that begins with the letter 'Z'...

[villa4europe]

im guessing that because of the way they've done it nothing from the demo will carry over to the game when you start it? and for that reason im not really interested in it

[Dante_Lockhart]

7 minutes ago, hogso said:

I imagine it'll be broadly equivalent to Remake, as @Dante_Lockhart says. If I had to guess, it'll involve something turning up that begins with the letter 'Z'...

Spoiler

Zangan. What a prick.

 

Edited February 23 by Dante_Lockhart

[hogso]

1 hour ago, villa4europe said:

im guessing that because of the way they've done it nothing from the demo will carry over to the game when you start it? and for that reason im not really interested in it

You get an accessory, and can skip the flashback sequence in the main game if you've already done it in the demo. Other than that, no carry over. 

[hogso]

Remake got a patch yesterday to change the final line from Aerith which was I miss it. The Steel Sky , referring to finally seeing the real sky and not the underside of the plate in the Midgar slums, to This Sky...I don't like it

Weird. This new line was in a Rebirth trailer, so it seems for consistency they've gone back and changed the four year old line to match. It's worse though, right?

48 hours-ish from Rebirth, unless my parcel turns up early (it won't!). I'll have my FF7 retrospective posted tomorrow, I think.  I managed to finish that playthrough, but didn't even get started on a FF7 Remake one.

[Dante_Lockhart]

Did it come?

[hogso]

Course not! 

[hogso]

Right, how did I do these....

Hogso's 'Sequential Numbered Final Fantasy Series Playthrough Retrospective Reviews' (HSNFFSPRR) PART VII

It is impossible for me to talk about Final Fantasy VII to XII without indulging in a heavy dose of nostalgia. I'm sure the same is true for a lot of you as well. For me, those games represent anchors to points in my life which few other things do. I suppose when it comes down to it, that's why I like the series so much. With that in mind, I'm going to break down this one in to segments, and probably will for VIII - XII too (and VII Remake for different reasons) because to me, the context of my life at the time I first played these games feels as important as the game itself...which some people may have no interest in! That'll be in spoilers. I'll follow that up with something more in line with the previous format for the I-VI Remaster release on PS4. 

Part I - Nostalgia - The Year 1998

Spoiler

Villa were pretty decent in 1998 weren't they? Maybe not hitting the heights of 1996, when I was 10 and thought they were the best team ever, but if not for that run of cup wins and 98 team I may just have fallen out of love with football. The Euro's in 98 helped too, of course. My first recollection of football, in general, was of a cousin having a Euro 92 Panini sticker book, and I was emphatic in telling him I didn't like football. Handy then that at a time my Villa supporting family were pushing me towards supporting the club they 'got good', and at the same time my Grandad would take me to many many non-league matches at Manor Park to see Nuneaton Borough who were legitimately one of the finest non-league sides in the country at the time. How could I not like football after that?

I consider my love of the FF series as far surpassing my love of football. So which family member pushed me towards it, as they had with football and Villa? No one. It was an accident, I guess. 

I got a Game Boy in 1994 and mostly played Zelda (I sucked), Kirby's Dreamland (sucked), Kirby's Pinball (my favourite but sucked) and a couple of others. I got a SNES in 1996 and mostly played things like Super Star Wars (sucked), Mario Bros 3 (also sucked), FIFA 98 (my favourite and I didn't suck! Cos I always played on Amateur), and a bunch of other games which I sucked at. I still suck at video games, as much as I like them, I've never really been good at them. I think it helps that the FF series is generally easy, and that would have helped me stick with it as a kid. I also had this odd game on the SNES called 'Mystic Quest Legend'. Unknown to me until many many years later, this was my first FF game, a game made specifically to be easier for western audiences. It as a rock soundtrack which is just awesome too. I liked that game, but couldn't say I loved it. 

In Nuneaton we had an independent CEX, I guess you could say? I know CEX actually existed then, but our version was simply called 'Entertainment Exchange'. We also had an Electronics Boutique and Gamestation somewhere down the line, but mostly anyone who liked video games spent their money in EE. It was like walking in to a bazaar of gaming, music, and film, and I spent many hours in there perusing the stock, and playing the consoles on display. I played a Gamecube, Dreamcast, Xbox OG, PS2, and maybe others for the first time ever in that shop. 

During Summer 1998 with hard earning (or not so hard earned) pocket money in han- err, in my pocket, I burst through the doors of Entertainment Exchange. I could get whatever I wanted for my PS1. Well nearly anything. My budget was £20, and it felt like I held the whole world in my hands, all of that potential laid out in front of me, how on earth would I pick?

Looking at that same copy of Final Fantasy VII I picked up that day, I remember my thought process - 3 discs?! Must be massive. That's good value for money, and I don't have much money, so it would be good to have the cost go further. 120 minutes of FMV cutscenes?! That's like a whole movie, plus the game you play! It's got demons, magic, snowboarding?! Wow...how can I not buy this. If you still have a physical copy of FF7 on PS1, go and look at the back of it and consider the words and pictures to the mind of 12 year old boy. It's pull was impossible to resist. 

I booted it up when I got home and I liked it - for about an hour and a half, after that I got stuck. Was it a boss, misunderstanding the materia system, not buying equipment? No. My nemesis was this:

That little metal plank thing. Yeah. I've explained a little about the games I'd played up to this point, and it meant that running around with a 3D model in pre-rendered backgrounds like this was completely foreign to me. I loved the way it looked, but I just COULD NOT understand how to get up past this bit. I switched the game off, played something else for a while...probably Destruction Derby (I sucked) or FIFA 98 PS1 (my favourite?). Fortunately I did go back to it, and got pretty far after that. I found that school mates were playing it too, and I made new friends in other kids who were also playing it. My two best mates, twins, shared a save at their house and were way further forward than me. I THINK I was at the escape from Junon section when they brought their memory card round, and showed me some late game stuff which was cool...and then by default they went to save their game, and overwrote my save on card 1, and of course I only kept that one save file. And you know what, as apologetic as they were, I wasn't even mad bro. It just meant I had to go back and play it through from the start - no worries. 

By then I knew a lot more about the game, but felt like I wanted to know more, given what I'd seen on my mates' save. So I bought the guide. I still have it now, the original 1997 (3rd printing to be precise) Bradygames version. There was a later version that says something like 'a million copies sold!' or something where they changed some info. This guide allowed me, a 12/13 year old kid crap at video games, to understand materia combinations, how to beat the super bosses, how to breed Chocobo's and get everything the game had to offer. 

If my intention was to get my money's worth that day in Entertainment Exchange, then hoo boy did I ever. I would have to ball park it at 12 full playthroughs of that PS1 version of the game, 40 hours each on average maybe? 

And for me and the Final Fantasy series, that was that. Here were characters that lived in this alien world, who cared for it, they had to save it - they had to save each other. And me, as the player, where there with them every step of the way. I just couldn't get over that investment, and still can't. I suppose that's what nostalgia is about really isn't it, that emotional attachment to...something, a smell, a sound, a memory, whatever it may be...and knowing you can't go back to that point, but you can try an emulate it, holds a certain melancholy or bitter sweetness. I'll ponder my life through FF's VIII, IX, X and XII in those reviews, and hoo boy do I have a doozy to share with you for IX.

Part 2 - Emulation of Past - Replaying FFVII HD on PS5

I'll kick this off in reverse, as the thing that struck me about playing the game again now, following I-VI is just how close a call it is to say which FF I think is better. Not my favourite - better. Objectively, not subjectively. That's not at all an easy thing to do, but my god I tried. I do rank VII above VI - just. And I mean just. I believe VI beats VII in a number of really key areas, soundtrack, late game, and some of it's key scenes out do VII. However...I think the Materia system is great, the pacing of VII is just awesome, and few gaming moments from a gameplay perspective live longer in the mind for me than leaving Midgar. That whole world out there, not just the city you've been in - wow. Storywise, they're pretty evenly matched, as are Kefka and Sephiroth in the Villain stakes. But when you consider the role of Hojo in FFVII, the true Villain of the game, VII starts to take the edge, and the reveal of Cloud's true role in the Nibelheim incident (especially when you see the photo for the first time) plus that bit with Aerith...yeah I think it's barely, barely a better game. 

Now, as you wouldn't be surprised to hear if you've read the whole of this post, this is a game I know inside out. The quickest I've ever played it through is about 15 hours, nothing to trouble speed runners obviously, but I can fly through it if the feeling takes me. This run was 24:12 which is a little shorter that VI was, and for reference I did not do the Materia caves, Chocobo Breeding, Ultima, Emerald or Ruby Weapons...this was very much a 'story playthrough'. If you're curious my save file at the end of the Northern Crater when I did platinum FFVII HD and did everything was 48:55. 

As I spoke about it in my other reviews, I will mention the trophies here even if I had no others to get - it's a really decent list which pushes you to do a few bits and bobs which some playthroughs might skip, specifically doing things like getting all the level 4 limit breaks (it's so easy not to ever see Aerith's for obvious reasons), some mini game related stuff, getting the master Materia...and dating Barret! You love to see it. The worse one is grinding not for levels, but for gil, 99999999 is an insane amount. 

Total playtime for this series so far is 122:45. I think my last FFXII playtime was about that one it's own. And as for X, well...let's not go there just yet. 

 

Rolling ranking

7 just

6

5

4

3

1

2

 

Next up at some point in the future will be VIII, and perhaps an even sterner test for me to play through and consider it's place in my own personal ranking objectively rather than subjectively than VII was.

And in case you are reading this the day I post it, no, Rebirth still hasn't arrived. Cry. 

[hogso]

I managed to put about 3 hours into Rebirth last night, having been able to finally sit down with it at 9pm. I skipped the flashback bit you can. 

The opening 5 mins had me grinning like a baffoon, whilst also being kind of shocked that they went there so early. Fascinated to see where that goes. 

The opening Grasslands area just feels huge, and alive, and lived in. 

Oh, and Queens Blood is not better than Gwent. 

Should also mention I'm finding the game unplayable on performance mode. It just looks way too rough. Graphics mode is fine though. 

Edited March 1 by hogso

[hogso]

10 hours in, not gone through the mythril mines yet They've done a good job with the side content, there's a lot of world building done in stuff that is completely optional, clearly taking a lot of inspiration from Witcher 3 in that regard.