I can't wrap my head around why the Final Fantasy games are so popular. It might be the fact that I never actually grew up with them (I did see one of my old friends play Final Fantasy X a long time ago, but my mom denied me from ever playing that series because the characters looked awful to her and it was a little too far from being family friendly). Even though I don't think that should bug her anymore, I still can't see myself playing those games anyway. Not only are the characters too anime-ish (for lack of a better word) for my tastes (I already get my fill of that from playing game series such as Pokémon, Kingdom Hearts, some Zelda games), but also there not much to do in battle and exploration. Sure, there's a lot to see and fight in the Final Fantasy games, but if you look at the Mario RPGs and the Kingdom Hearts games (especially the first one), they capitalize on interaction. Instead of just walking around and simply taping buttons to go through menus, you're jumping around and moving in more ways than one to overall progress through the game. Also, I know that Pokémon is not very different from Final Fantasy when it comes to battle, but at least there's a little more to do in the overworld when you use Pokémon abilities outside of battle. Plus, the concept of finding and recruiting countless creatures to aid you is unique enough to grab my attention.

I've never been able to sit down and play a Final Fantasy either, which is strange because I actually really love JRPGs. When I played VII for about half an hour, I loved it, keep meaning to go back to that, but I've tried so many different ones and none of them hold me. X-2 I played for a while but I don't remember if I got frustrated or what was up with that. I tried to play... I think twelve, but at that point it seemed to be really action-oriented in an awkward way. I played it for a while, until I got to a scratched part in the disc, but it never captivated me enough that I wanted to go back and finish it. I tried the 2D remakes on the GBA of the first four (or six?) games and just couldn't find it interesting.

Tried XIII.

I shouldn't have.

The only Final Fantasy games that I've played and liked were 9 and 10, but I haven't played any of the ones from the SNES era. I've been meaning to try FF6 some time but somehow I never get around to it.

(01-04-2015, 12:47 PM)E-Man Wrote: I can't wrap my head around why the Final Fantasy games are so popular. It might be the fact that I never actually grew up with them (I did see one of my old friends play Final Fantasy X a long time ago, but my mom denied me from ever playing that series because the characters looked awful to her and it was a little too far from being family friendly). Even though I don't think that should bug her anymore, I still can't see myself playing those games anyway. Not only are the characters too anime-ish (for lack of a better word) for my tastes (I already get my fill of that from playing game series such as Pokémon, Kingdom Hearts, some Zelda games), but also there not much to do in battle and exploration. Sure, there's a lot to see and fight in the Final Fantasy games, but if you look at the Mario RPGs and the Kingdom Hearts games (especially the first one), they capitalize on interaction. Instead of just walking around and simply taping buttons to go through menus, you're jumping around and moving in more ways than one to overall progress through the game. Also, I know that Pokémon is not very different from Final Fantasy when it comes to battle, but at least there's a little more to do in the overworld when you use Pokémon abilities outside of battle. Plus, the concept of finding and recruiting countless creatures to aid you is unique enough to grab my attention.

I think I'm gonna try to see about saying a few things on this one if no one minds.

The primary reason why Final Fantasy became popular has a lot to do with the times it first appeared. Final Fantasy became a figurehead in an era where tech wasn't up to snuff to allow for longer games. JRPGs were very popular because they by their very nature allowed for many hours of gameplay. JRPGs were popular because you didn't finish them so quickly, in fact many people didn't finish them. Most people talk about Final Fantasy 7 when bringing up the series. It was the first 3D game in the main series. That stuck out to people who were still seeking out jrpgs at the time. The series actually started to lose favor as other genres started to take its place. That's why games past 10 are so different. They were chasing a gimmick in their combat.

Jrpgs as a whole are known for their emphasis on story. That makes the medium of Final Fantasy more easily palatable to different generations. You can play Chrono Trigger now. Its just as playable now as it was when it came out, if not more so due to its availability on different consoles. 2D jrpgs generally can fall into this, minus the rereleases, but I'm digressing.

This is where Final Fantasy 7 shines. It was the first 3D Final Fantasy, an already well known and accepted series. It was the first in the series designed for PC. That's right, it was designed with PC in mind. That's why you see Final Fantasy 7 HD re release on PC and 3 and 4 remakes. The first 3D final fantasy, which is brought up most out of the series is constantly made available on new consoles because they're essentially just PCs. So, the iconic game of the series is readily available, as is 8 for the same reason.

Pokemon and Kingdom Hearts weren't a thing when this series started and Pokemon is really as popular as it is for similar reasons. It is a series that started on a system with low specs, a simple battle mechanic with inherent logical but not technical complexity, and an emphasis on story with room to expand. Just personally, my favorite was 9.

Wow we're at least three here who dislike Final Fantasy series. I'm much more a fan of Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior.
But I didn't come here to talk about that game.

I like pokemon mystery dungeon even better than the main series and since it was always despised by the kids of my neighbourhood and the pokemon fan club of the high school I went to, I've come to wonder if there were other fans of the games.

I like Mystery Dungeon, as does my girlfriend.

Honestly, I prefer the Pokemon spin-off games to the main games. Even Rumble for the Wii (which I actually like more than the Wii U game...)

I'm not a fan of Final Fantasy either. I think it got popular because it was like a darker version of Dragon Quest, but I enjoy DQ much more.

Dislike:

Animal Crossing. I enjoyed the fishing segments, and collecting fossils and stuff but... I get bored of it in like a week. I just don't know how people can pick this up and play it everyday.

RPGs in general. There are too many RPGs where you just walk around, get into a random encounter, grind, etc. Turn based stuff is generally terrible, its just "press A and wait". However I love Mario RPGs due to their timing based battle systems, it's actually interactive. Pokemon is good too despite meeting some of that criteria, I like the rock, paper, scissors system and the ability to customize your team however you want.

Like:

Yoshi's Story. People complain it's "too easy" but they probably never went for all the melons and hearts! It's as difficult as you want it to be. I love the graphical style, the music, and improved controls over Yoshi's Island.

Parappa 2. How does this game get so much hate? It's the same as the original only with an improved engine. Sure the music isn't quite as memorable but it's by no means bad.

Oh, The Binding of Isaac is terrible as well.

(01-04-2015, 01:38 PM)Kriven Wrote: I've never been able to sit down and play a Final Fantasy either, which is strange because I actually really love JRPGs. When I played VII for about half an hour, I loved it, keep meaning to go back to that, but I've tried so many different ones and none of them hold me. X-2 I played for a while but I don't remember if I got frustrated or what was up with that. I tried to play... I think twelve, but at that point it seemed to be really action-oriented in an awkward way. I played it for a while, until I got to a scratched part in the disc, but it never captivated me enough that I wanted to go back and finish it. I tried the 2D remakes on the GBA of the first four (or six?) games and just couldn't find it interesting.

Tried XIII.

I shouldn't have.

I...actually like XIII, lol? And I like the older FFs somewhat as well. The XIII battle system is basically Persona 3's, according to friends...

The only downer was that yeah, I had to force myself to play it, and yeah, the story trudges on, but then there's a point in the game where either the game breaks or you do...because like, the battle system becomes extremely interesting. You're pretty much pidgeon-holed into your classes for half the game, and then the rest they just drop the bomb on you.
"Surprise! Be whatever you want!" and the game just...completely redeems itself. At the same time, the difficulty spikes upward, hard. :/

I don't mind FF as a game, but the stories always bug the hell out of me. They're like Really Shitty Day Simulators.
"welp, the world's ending"
"welp, the big bad boss just killed my bff"
"turns out the boss was a clone the whole time. a shitty clone killed my bff, guys, we're all shit because a synthetic man killed my bff"


"welp, turns out we're all dead too, and we have been the whole time"

I enjoyed FF12

there I said it

Lot of hate for that game in general, but honestly its really the only FF i actually enjoyed playing

the licence board was a little wonk, but it kept me grinding for hours without thinking about it so I really cant complain overall; I should clarify that I hate to grind in RPGs

oh and the character design, real solid I thought; not saying that there weren't some dumb choices, but i didn't hate any of the party members in design or basis in plot

There is hate for 12?

I've heard hate mostly for the battle system, which honestly is pretty much a copy/paste of the FF11 engine with gambits

but I think that is where the game shines

Having a system to control your other party members with "programmable" AI makes battles pretty fun because I can focus with my main guy
while the rest of the CPU allies do whatever they think is best, as long as it fits the criteria of what I've told them to do; none of that crazy
"auto battle" nonsense where party members just randomly defend, attack with the wrong attacks, or go potion crazy and bleed your inventory dry
every time they get a paper cut.


Oh, and I suppose one could argue that Vaan's design is pretty Tidus-esque

(01-07-2015, 09:22 AM)Kosheh Wrote: The XIII battle system is basically Persona 3's, according to friends...

Say wha...? How are they similar at all?

(01-07-2015, 07:40 PM)StarSock64 Wrote:

(01-07-2015, 09:22 AM)Kosheh Wrote: The XIII battle system is basically Persona 3's, according to friends...

Say wha...? How are they similar at all?

idk lol because

(01-07-2015, 09:22 AM)Kosheh Wrote: according to friends

but from what I've read, don't you only control the main character's choices in battles and your teammates act on "tactics" that they've been assigned?

From what I remember on XIII, though, you can actually manually assign your teammates commands each turn - but in the later stages of the game, it takes forever and you're better off just keeping them tactics-based, lol