RPG Discussion (Formerly; Earthbound or Chrono Trigger?)

[SKELTON S. SKELETON]

I never understood FF8 hate. To me it has always been the most cinematic story in the series. It feels like a movie. The magic system is jilting, and the characters all play the same, but I really dig the story. FF7, on the other hand, has been hyped up. It's a very good game, don't get me wrong, but I can think of at least three other games in the series that are better. It's the most famous because it was the first one in 3-D and it was one of the first games to try to get an adult audience with its "DRINK YOUR TEA, GODDAMMIT!" dialogue.
FF9 was the most self-aware of the FF games, sporting references to past games and playing with the tropes (Female head of the guard/resident badass, adult male knight is inept, black mage is timid and quiet, white mage is boisterous and demanding (x2), obvious adoption/lineage questions of a certain princess, etc etc etc) FF10, while great, began the era of Final Fantasy having to reinvent itself every game and become more convoluted in its experience system. The series is trying so hard to be different now that it has become stale and unapproachable.

really i thought ff7 was popular because it dealt with the fact that your main characters are terrorists, kind of flawed, there was a heavy message about impact on the environment, and the fact that the badguys weren't just omnipotent emperors and kings, but normal men and women (for the most part) that you saw almost as often as the secondary characters that still heavily played an important role in the story

the series is fine, you're just weird.
if final fantasy wasn't named final fantasy, nobody would be complaining imo

also i REALLY like 8 because it's almost a deconstruction of RPG tropes. i like how it plays out, the fact that your 'young soldier' archetypes are completely emotionally stunted because they're not old enough to be able to mentally handle the actual horrors of combat