As far as favorite RPG's go, Mine is: 1) Xenogears - Pretty sorry graphics, but best storyline I have ever seen from a videogame...even though they didnt get to tell the entire story. A directors cut of the game would be acceptable before a remake even. 2) Chrono Trigger - If you've played it, you understand... 3) Final Fantasy VII - This game was so far ahead of its time. An update would be nice...Sephiroth was one of the best villains ever. 4) Final Fantasy VI (III in the US) - The Espers were a great magic system and even though it had so many characters, they were all likeable. 5) Chrono Cross - I thought there was no way this game could compare to its predecessor. Sometimes, its great being wrong. Then, any other RPG from the SNES would be acceptable as 6th. I enjoyed the Breath of Fire series, Secret of Mana, and Illusion of Gaia quite a bit as well...
Besides the overall boringness of the story... Stupid battle system Bland graphics Unmemorable music Unmemorable characters Boring villains Awful text dialog (Kid comes to mind) I mean, when the most exciting part of the game is a super small part where you see the characters from the original...you know it's bad. Exception being Schala, because seeing her was completely UNinteresting. And pointless.
Maybe if it wasn't a "Chrono" game I'd have a less harsh opinion regarding it...but I was severely let down.
Thats fair...Kind of how I have felt about every Final Fantasy game since part VII. If they were just different RPG's, not Final Fantasy games, I'd be a lot less harsh on them than I have been. I enjoyed IX, despised VIII, and like very minimal of part X. I wont even get into X-2...
Never owned a SNES, which would explain why I never played it. I only ever played CT because it was re-released on the PS. Of course, I suppose I could always play Earthbound on emulator now... I never got the love affair with FF6. It was fine, but I didn't love it. I downright hated FF8. You never finished Chrono Cross? Shame on you. Go beat it! Getting the "real" ending improved my opinion of the game dramatically. I actually did think the Xenosaga games were okay in their own right (well, the 2nd one had the most obnoxious battle system ever)... they just didn't remotely live up to Xenogears, obviously. Still, I think Albedo is my second-favorite villain right behind Sephiroth, and that's saying something. As a shameless Chrono Cross fanatic, I have to say that seems to be the only real reason people hate on it: because it's not enough like Chrono Trigger, or they just feel like it didn't live up to CT in general. CC is my favorite game ever, though I know I'm in the minority in liking it over CT. To each their own, as Chuck 4 says... I played CC before CT, and I'm sure that's a big part of it: I didn't have expectations going into it. I don't feel like that's the reason I didn't like 8 or 9... I honestly think they just weren't that great. I loved 10 though (even though Tidus was really irritating most of the time).
I always felt as though there were certain aspects of that game that were much better than other FF games (or RPGs). I think I posted about this before in another FF thread, but basically I really liked the character depth, the music, the battle system, and a few other things (EX:Sephiroth is often regarded as one of the better villains out there, but I always thought of Kefka as being a great villain as well). There probably is a bit of nostalgia factor too (FF6 was the 2nd FF game I played IIRC, not counting Final Fantasy Mystic Quest), although I don't think that is really a large factor. If you didn't play it originally on the SNES, perhaps something was lost, although I wouldn't really know why. Trust me, I would if I could. That's why I really want it to show up on the PSN store, along with some other games. I'm open to some higher-than-average prices too, if need be (you hear that Square-Enix!). The bad thing is that I think I got pretty far (definitely remember switching discs), but I'm pretty sure I didn't beat it for some reason. Well...besides the fact that I had kept the game for longer than I was allowed to after renting it anyway (I rented nearly all my games back then). Of course, even if I did beat it back then, I probably would have needed to play it again to better understand (and remember) the story. I replayed all the RPGs I mentioned earlier within the last 3-5 years IIRC. This does remind me about how I lost my copy of Planescape Torment (which I got for cheap). I was probably halfway done with the game, but I ended up having to quit playing it for a while (think I was busy with school or something). I let my sister borrow it, and that ended up getting pawned without my permission. I fear that I may have lent her Xenogears as well, but I think/hope I lent that to one of my friends from HS, who I don't get to see much anymore (and every time I do, I forget to ask about the game). *edit:Hmm...apparently the game is still available at some retailers, and not at insane prices. I could have sworn the game was in a similar situation as Xenogears, Suikoden II, FFT, etc., but I guess not. Too tired to look into this today, but I might be making a purchase in the next 24 hours. * Yeah, I was probably being somewhat harsh earlier with my comments. I remember actually enjoying the first game, although there were certainly some disappointments. I stayed away from the 2nd game though, due to bad word-of-mouth, and by the time the 3rd one was released, I lost interest in the franchise (especially since it seemed like the creators didn't end up with the chance to "realize" their vision). I think I heard the last one was actually pretty good too. I should probably try to pick up the latter two games for cheap just so I could form a solid opinion about the franchise.
In terms of graphics, I think the biggest jump in the FF series goes from FF6 to FF7. It's hard to appreciate all the character emotions and the scope of the story in FF6 once you played the FFs on the playstation. Of course, FF8 was my favorite FF along with FFX. So my opinion probably doesn't reflect how others feel. I think CC's prices never rose because it sold well enough to be a greatest hit pretty quickly. I remember seeing lots of GH Chrono Cross back when stores actually sold PS1 games. For me personally, XS3 was all I had hoped it would be given the circumstances. While it's not the whole ending, but it was good. Now, whether you should play XS2 in order to play XS3.... that is up to debate. Not only does XS2's battle system horrendous(that's an understatement), the story was very sub-par as well, almost as sort of a side story to the xenosaga plot line. My suggestion is to simply read XS2's story online somewhere, get XS3 and spend some time reading the Database. You'll get caught up to speed with the story in no time.
I know the designers had said the Xenosaga games were going to have no connection to Xenogears, but I just kind of kept hoping they were going to surprise us... Of all these old games were mentioning, Xenogears is the one I still really go back and play. The story is just so rich. In fact, if you visit This website there is a guy writing a novelization of the story. Good stuff.
I think FF7 was more significant (espically in terms of console races) but I think FF9 had a much better story. One of the things that really confused me in 7 (and keep in mind I was in 6th grade at the time I think) was the use of the word clones. I remember that was the point where I lost sight on what was going on. I have heard since that what they really meant by Seprioth "clones" was other people they infected with the Geneva DNA or particles or whatever. That makes a lot more sense. If that is also wrong, feel free to correct me. I've read their are also a few other problems with the translation. I thought 9 had a really deep and intricate story. Waring kingdoms with huge plot turns along the way. If anyone has not played it, I would really recomend picking it up. Looking back at 7-9, you really appreciate how good stories were before voice acting. Their was soo much dialog with text based games but when they went to spoken dialog, too much was lost. I think it hurt characterization too. You have more to criticize with actors than you do text. Cloud, Barret, Tifa, Aries, Vivi, Steiner, all of these guys were "alive". As long as the right dialog is there and a good story that allows those characters to make strong and clear decisions, you don't need real people doing the voices. Maybe I'm just saying this bc I seem to be the only man in the world who hated FF10. Worst voice acting, worse dialog, worst story. One guy could have told you the whole game the second you met him. It's 30 hours of some old boring wise man saying, "Oh, btw..." How disappointing.
You are not alone on this one, brother. I had to force myself to finish the game. Im sorry, but Tidus is the weakest hero for a FF game ever. I didnt think they could beat Squall...
FF8 happens to be my favorite of any post SNES Final Fantasy. Don't know why...it just beats out FF7 for me though.
I just thought the Junction magic system was garbage. I also hated the I lover her, I dont her love story with Squall. About the only thing I did appreciate in that game was Laguna.
I think the junction and drawing magic played into my obsessive compulsive tendencies. The love storyline seemed forced...but I liked Squall, mostly because I liked hearing his thoughts and sarcastic comments about everyone/everything.
FF6 easily tops the list for me. I think anyone who started playing on Playstation probably can't appreciate the early FF games. FF6 made you fall in love with characters really for the first time. Wanting to know all about Shadow for example. Also, for all the talk about the chick's death in FF7, NO death created more buzz than Leo's. I also thought the Esper system was brilliant.
Ah, I HATED when Leo died! You got to use him for that one fight and he was such a badass! You were thinking "Wow, this is going to be my new most used character." Then Kefka punked him. But I still think the Aeris death was more shocking because I didnt see them killing off the main love interest in the game... I agree though, playing them now if you never played them when they were new, you will never feel the full experience. I remember the Opera House scene was brilliant...
Aeris dying was more shocking sure, but people TO THIS DAY are still trying to figure out ways online to bring back General Leo in the game. Also, saving Shadow on the floating continent, etc. I don't know. I loved FF7, but no game was more enjoyable for me or offers the same nostalgia feeling today that FF6 has. I actually bought it and an SNES on Ebay recently just to play it again. I've also downloaded the game onto my computer and recreated it to play as Leo! It's telling that most people who have played the whole series rank 6 ahead of them all despite the graphical disparity.
