FF6 is my favorite FF game, but come on, there is no way that Leo's death was bigger than Aeris. Aeris was a main character...Leo was for the most part a NPC...a badass NPC for sure, but a non playable character nonetheless. And there are 9 million conspiracy theories regarding Aeris and her supposedly being in the game in the second part, secret programmer codes, all kinds of nonsense... Leo's death was a big deal and shocking just because of how brutal and upfront it was for it's time...it wasn't like a fading away death or explosion...he was stabbed and they buried him. It also helped that he was extremely powerful and Kefka just put him down like a dog.
Graphics dont concern me in an RPG. Im about substance over style. I mean, Xenogears is my favorite and it has some of the worst graphics of all of these, lol. FF6 does and always will hold a special place for me. I remember trying to find a way to save Cyan's family from boarding the Ghost train, lol. I remember a friend telling me there was no way to save Shadow, and there was... This is really making me want to bust out my SNES from retirement...I didnt like the re-release on PS1. The new cutscenes were nice, but the music was altered. I didnt like that. The soundtrack was one of my favorite parts. Kind of felt like the Special Edition Star Wars movies...
I was obsessed with trying to find a way to bring Aeris back, lol. Countless hours of replaying through that game trying to find a way. Talking to every single character in a town, searching every inch of the world map...too bad it was to no avail...
I know what you mean...the menu sounds in the PS1 game sounded different to me...I couldn't play it after that. I'm a weirdo.
The third one was the best, bar-none. Very well put-together. I really liked the story in the second one, though it focused A LOT on Albedo/Rubedo/Nigredo, so if those guys bore you then it might not be your cup of tea (I love Albedo, so I thought it was great). I kid you not though when I say XS2 has the most painful battle system in an RPG, ever. A lot of people were high on something pretty strong to let that out the door. I think that's part of it for me. Though I did like FF5... sweet combat system. Kinda FF Tactics-esque. Definitely agree that XS3 was great. It didn't get a whole lotta hype because the first two were considered disappointments, so it ended up way under-appreciated. But as I said above, while the combat system in XS2 was painful beyond measure, I loved the storyline. Yes, it was kind indeed mostly a side stroy to the main plot, but to me that didn't stop it from being compelling... I just love the Albedo/Rubedo/Nigredo interactions. Heck, CC can be viewed as a side story to CT in a way, but that doesn't keep it from greatness, IMO. Spoiler Did you not play XS3? I thought it was pretty clear the two kids at the end were the "original" Fei & Elly. The testaments seemed to make at least oblique connections to Xenogears as well, in that it acted as set-up... Exact opposite here. I never finished FF9 because the story was making me fall asleep. And I loved 10 despite Tidus being the worst FF hero I can think of. Yeah, Tidus sucked. But I liked Squall. Shame the best part of 8 for me was the card game, though... that storyline (excessive romantic stuff between Squall/Rinoa) and that battle system killed the game for me. I just don't get it. Like Chuck 4 says, the junction system was garbage, and the flip-flopping love story was obnoxious. I might agree with you, but I liked FF5 a lot, so that kinda kills that argument where I'm concerned. I seem to be the only one in the world who just didn't care about Aeris's death, ever. Probably because I never had her in my party when I didn't have to... I like physical strikers. Since she was no use to me, I pretty much laughed and said "hah! Thanks for taking her! It woulda sucked a lot more if you had taken Barrett or something!" That's true as a general rule for me, but I like if there's a certain minimal level of graphical detail. I tried replaying FF1 a few years ago, and it was tough connecting to the characters. I gave it up when I was basically in the home stretch. Xenogears was indeed awesome, terrible graphics and all.
Xenogears = Best game ever Regarding FF7, I was highly spoiled about Aeris' death though, so that one didn't hit home as much as it could/should have... I liked Tifa better anyway.
Much as I didn't particularly like Aeris, I was even more meh about Tifa. Kinda weak female characters overall in that game, IMO. Yuffie at least amused me, but I wouldn't call her a strong character, either. I liked Barrett, Cid, Vincent, Sephiroth... yeah, I thought most of the guys were better characters. Cait Sith was kinda cool, I guess. Sephiroth made FF7. He absolutely made it. I'm shocked they didn't realize that when they made the movie... he was onscreen for all of 5 minutes. Who cares about Cloud? Sephiroth is the man...
Yeah, I think I knew that it went GH, but I figured all those copies ended up getting sold, leaving few (if any copies) available for purchase (most of them being overpriced). Based on the comments regarding X3, I'll probably end up checking that game out at some point. If I can find X2 for cheap, I'll probably try to get it too (I did enjoy Albedo, and if I can get it cheap, why not?). I pretty much agree with most of the FF6 supporters. I saw the Opera scene mentioned, so I thought I'd post this for those who haven't seen it: <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4R6PLNI0taw"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4R6PLNI0taw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pfv5KvjfZ3E"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Pfv5KvjfZ3E" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PBKVst6XLZk"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PBKVst6XLZk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> I feel like this thread has sort of evolved to random RPG discussion now, which is pretty interesting (up next: Persona/SMT/DDS, Star Ocean, Parasite Eve, Vagrant Story, etc.). And just because it deserves it, here's another post to say that Xenogears is indeed awesome.
I only played FF6 once, so maybe I was missing something, but.... Even disregarding graphics, how can you compare FF6's "substance" with the PS1 FFs? FF6 has by far the grandest story for a SNES game, but it still pales in comparison to what the FF7-9 offered. Junction system is something you either love or hate. It removed several things I absolutely HATED in RPGs. One is the need to incessant leveling to get stronger. The other is removal of random encounters when I feel like it(link with first point). It also means spending a lot of time with Triple Triad(which can make you really strong), which was very fun. Basically, the junction system changed the focus from whacking enemies over and over and over to doing other things that can make you powerful. Which I REALLY LOVED. The love story was not good. But I enjoyed the friendship among all the characters. First time that the characters you play with don't happen to be random strangers you meet on the street.
I've pretty much liked all the final fantasies I've played. Every one of them had something I've liked and something I didn't but the good has always outweighed the bad. The only ffs I haven't played are 2(j), 3(j), and online. Even the much maligned x-2 was pretty good, in fact, probably the best battle system out of the series. The one that had the least flaws to me was 6. CT is pretty much the same way with me. The best of the PS crop imo were ff9, fft, and xenogears. This gen is hard for me to say definitively right now. I know I really enjoyed the hell out of Baten Kaitos origins. DQ8, FF12, and Kingdom Hearts was fun. I tried the Megaten stuff, Star Ocean 3, Xenosagas, and found them a bore.
imo, CT has by far the best story for the SNES gen. But ff7 and ff8 fall apart at certain parts in the plot imo. FF9 was pretty good up until the very end. FF6 stays consistant throughout. It may be a simple story, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
That's true. I wasn't trying to compare whether a story is good or bad, since that's a personal opinion. I was just trying to say that FF6 did not offer much in terms of character development or plot development compared to the later games. I agree that the basic plot of FF6, as well as its characters, are indeed very well written. But the restrictions of the SNES really hindered a lot of things. This is what made Xenogears so great in the eyes of its fans. Not only was the story so well-written, but there was a lot of it. TONS and TONS of it. Too bad I haven't seen a game come close to its level before or ever since.
I'd definitely agree with that. Square pushed the limits of that cartridge to get in what they did, and they did cut stuff out. As a sidenote, even though it wasn't my favorite, I am curious how the ff4 remake will turn out with all the new stuff they are supposedly going to throw in. The only thing I didn't like about the story of XG was some of the presentation. They would throw out things you had no clue about until much later in the game and expected you to remember it. But that is minor. Unlike a lot of people, I actually liked the 2nd disk. Not more than the first(the beginnings of rpgs are almost always better than the endings), but some of the events they were telling instead of showing seemed like mostly random battle fest dungeons and the battles were definitely not the strength of the game. I just regret at the end no real sidequests, very little opportunity to hunt for equipment, and not being able to go back and explore some of the previous places you had been to.
Wow, didn't know about this. FF4's my favorite pre-PS1 FF, so I'll definitely check this one out. I actually liked the 2nd disk better than the 1st on my first playthrough, because the story was more continous and everything came together(sort of, since I still didn't get a lot of the story first time around). I think the less said about XG's battles and dungeons, the better. It's just horrible. I never understood how the people who made CT/CC could come up with something as lame as the gear battle system in XG.
I've actually only played the thing once... I really need to play it again. Been meaning to for awhile. I'm assuming it's much easier to understand the plot the second time through? One thing that did annoy me about XG though was the obscene amount of leveling up it required. I know that hearkens back to the olden days of FF, but come on... that's a bad thing, IMO. It's a game, I don't need it to feel like work. And that fact wouldn't be as bad, either, if the best place in the game to level up (the bottom of the Tower of Babel or whatever it was called) wasn't missable. I felt really bad for a buddy of mine who saved his game past that and was ridiculously under-leveled for whatever boss he had to fight. I eventually beat the boss for him, but he was so disgusted with the difficulty at that point that he never touched it again.
Meh, I really liked the Gear battle system. I liked the hand to hand with the combos more, but I thought the Gear battles were intense sometimes. Having to watch your fuel was tough, but I felt it was something fresh and original. I can see why you didnt like it though. I was listening to the soundtrack to the game last night. Love it! The theme for Grahf made me remember what an underrated villain he was. Damn, really wanting to play this game again now...
the first and only rpg i played and finished was FF7. i used to think they were boring until i picked up that game. i couldn't believe the hours i put into that thing. that game took up many of my college studying hours b/c everything about it was engaging. i tried playing it again, but couldn't get too far b/c of the damn 30 minute cutscenes. that's one of the things i hate about rpgs...at least the older ones. you couldn't skip the cutscenes.
Thats what I loved the first time I played through game. Those cinematics were so far ahead of their time that you kept playing until you saw the next one.
1. I suggest you stay away from the Xenosagas (Yeah yeah, the cutscenes are skippable... but damn are there a lot of them, and damn are they long. Good, but... yeah, really really long) 2. Find someone who has new game+ data for Chrono Cross. On second play-throughs, it lets you fast-forward everything besides the (short) loading screens for battles and the CG (but there's very little CG, and what there is is gorgeous, so I don't know why you'd want to, anyway) The other thing I love about Chrono Cross was that it eliminated leveling. The only way to get levels was to beat bosses... no more sitting around mindlessly fighting random battles. Yay.
