Playing Final Fantasy

[Phillyman]

So after years and years since this game has come out , I have finally picked up a copy of Final Fantasy for the PSP, I wasnt into RPG games that much as a kid, So about the closest I got to one was LoZ for the NES. Out of 13 Final Fantasy titles, the only one I have played thru to the end was FF7. I logged about 90+ hours into FF7 when it first came out, and other then getting knights of the round and beating the 2 gem bosses, I pretty much crushed Sephiroth at the end. I bought FF8 and FFX, but none of those 2 kept my interest, I also have FF12 and havent had time for it. So now I am going back to the beginning and playing the first one. I think I tried playing it on the DS a few months ago and when Garland kicked my ass I kinda backed away from it for a while, But I decided to pick up a copy the other day at EB Games, and when I got home I made sure to level up a few times before going into battle with him again, I must say I am impressed with the graphic overhaul they did on this game, I can only hope that one day my FF7 game will be re-released on PSP or the PS3, I can honesty say that I would buy a PS3 just to play FF7 with updated graphics, just as I am going to be buying a Xbox 360 when Halo 3 comes out

So anyone else play thru Final Fantasy 1?

-Phillyman

[meppi]

I'm embarrassed to say that the only Final Fantasy I've beaten is Mystic Quest on the Snes when it came out.

Seeing as Europe never got many RPGs untill 7 hit, it's a bit understandable I guess.

I got to the end of 7 but the very last part really pissed me off and thus I never finished it.

Got 8, but hated it. Got 9, love it, but haven't found the time to get into it.

10 did nothing for me even though I got about 15 hours into it to see if it would get better.

And I'm not even going to bother with 12.

For some reason I'm a fan of the classical FF games. I've got 1-5 on the GBA and got quite far in 5. Love the job system.

But then 3 on DS came out, so I started playing that. Which is great as well.

But now that I just got Pok?mon in the mail, I'm afraid FF3 will be put on the back burner.

I don't know why, but overall I prefer Dragon Quest over FF.

My first one was DQ7 on the PSone which is one of my favorite RPGs.

Many might say it has very "dated" graphics, but I think they are simply perfect the way they are.

They are 3D, but actually look 2D. For me they just feel right.

The game has the perfect setting and atmosphere.

I've gotten 8 as well on the PS2, but again haven't gotten past the 12h point. So far I don't like it nearly as much as 7.

So I'm absolutely delighted to see DQ 4,5 and 6 are being ported to the DS and that Enix is using the DQ 7 engine to do it.

Now I'll just have to wait and see if it gets a European release. Otherwise I'll have to import from the US. And if they don't even get a US release, I'll just pick up the Japanese release.

[russolini]

I may be dating myself here, but I went all the way through FF1 way back in the day. I remember seeing it demoed at the Nintendo World Championships way back when - and although I will always consider Dragon Warrior (ie, Dragon Quest) the first real RPG for the NES, Final Fantasy was way advanced beyond it. I still feel a certain loyalty to the Enix Dragon Warrior line, but the Final Fantasy franchise definitely sucked down more hours of my life. And it was probably only through hints in Nintendo Power guidebooks and posters that I actually finished it, but it was still very fun, though Final Fantasy II (AKA Final Fantasy 4 in Japan) was a lot more fun, and I also beat that, but Final Fantasy III (FF5) came at a time where I didn't have as much time to devote to games as I liked - pretty much every year of my life after 12, probably - and 7 was the one that ruined everything after it for me.

Final Fantasy 7 was groundbreaking in many ways, and the storyline and characters were some of the best that had been created up till that time, and some might say, ever. I still haven't honestly finished it, despite several 95% attempts, and some day I will finish it, although I will finish it on the PC version that takes advantage of somewhat more modern hardware than the single-speed PS1 with slightly-3D-accelerated hardware that couldn't do high res and antialiasing and bilinear filtering and all that..

FF Mystic Quest was a joke compared to FF1 and FF2, and though I never played through the FF gameboy games, it was because there wasn't anything about them that made me want to keep playing them... so they can be thrown into the bucket as well.

Dragon Warrior, on the other hand, was fantastic for it's time. Dragon Warrior 2 was even better, and 3 (I seemed to have missed it somehow) was cool, but DW4 was killer. And this was still all on the good ol' 8 bit NES. I knew there was a 16 bit Dragon Warrior that never made it to America, and I was always frustrated that when Enix re-released some of the Dragon Warrior games on the Gameboy color or GBA, they didn't bother making a big screen version for those of us that didn't find ourselves with spare time AND our Gameboy within reach - ie, I wish they made a console "remix" version as well.

[rant] That's one of the things that really turns my crank. Namco, Capcom, Konami, Nintendo, Sega, even HudsonSoft and smaller publishers/game houses that barely have enough games to pad out a "remix compilation" type release, have put together modern console versions, or at least, emulations, of their old classics. Namco published a great series of them, a couple times (and probably will again), Capcom the same, and yet we never see a next-gen console compilation of the best of Enix, or SquareSoft, or RareSoft, even, one of the biggest and most successful game houses (although I guess Microsoft wants to keep that all to themselves now), when really, when a company releases a compilation like that, they don't just re-sell the games to every gamer that's ever bought them before, but gain a whole new audience that never had a chance to play them before. Minus Nintendo - who in their right mind would pay $20 for one of the pathetic re-releases they put out for the GBA - for example the release titles from the 8-bit NES - without some kind of new bells and whistles? I could see paying $2, maybe, but really, those games have been paid for, and paid for, and paid for, and it makes me look at Nintendo like I look at Disney, re-re-re, and re-releasing titles again and again and again, because apparently "out of print" means "for a while". At least, until enough people start paying $50 for a VHS copy of Little Mermaid, because all the stores have sold out of the DVD versions and Disney isn't making any more ..... for a while. My friend owns a Wii, and he showed it off to me, and while the price seems right (if you can get one) I can't believe people are paying $5 or whatever for re-released games without any kind of enhancement or benefit. DAMMIT NINTENDO, we've ALREADY PAID for these games! Is a software license so specific that it states you can only use it on ONE type of computing device? By that logic, should we charge owners of German automobiles extra for driving them on American roads? NO! You buy the car, you drive it wherever you want. You paid for the car, you do whatever you want with it. I paid $40 for Super Mario Bros. in 1987, should I have to pay $20 again in 2002 to play it on my Gameboy Advance? Or is the $20 just a "delivery fee" for the cartridge and manual? Is then, the $5 you pay for the Virtual Console Super Mario Bros. a "delivery fee"? I don't have a degree in business, but I know this - gamers generally don't have tons of disposable income. If you want to grab what they DO have, you better give them damn good value for your money, because you KNOW they can get it for free if they try hard enough, or someone else will get there first. So why not charge a REASONABLE price for something you've made millions on already? Do you expect a gamer to sit and play the original Super Mario Bros for more than a couple hours before going back to nunchuk sports and pretty graphics? They'll pay for convenience, for nostalgia, for a little fun - but they won't pay much. Nintendo would make $1,000,000 a lot faster if 1,000,000 people had to be convinced to pay $1, than if 200,000 people had to be convinced to pay $5.

[/rant]

I would really love to see game companies put together a periodic compilation of old titles for new consoles. Bells and whistles aside, I wouldn't mind paying a reasonable price ($30?) for the entire Dragon Warrior collection, most of which I have already paid for once, for the privilege of playing it on my [insert favorite new console here]. If they spruced up the graphics a bit, more power to 'em... but if not, oh well, as long as it's not only 2-4 but missing 1, 5, 6, and 7. Same with Final Fantasy, but if you're going to bother putting together a compilation, do it right, I want the whole set, 1-7, then in a few months, 8-12, or something like that.

..er, the rambling machine has ceased, I feel better now. Thanks for listening!

-russolini

[goldsac]

I played through FF1 a LONG time ago, and I don't remember it being all that rewarding in the end. Unless you count a few of the music tracks...Matoya's Cave is an incredible tune, and so is the main theme played early on when you walk over the bridge. The problem is that (like most NES RPG's) it is kind of a waste of time unless you have tight nostalgic ties with the game. The story isn't, and you put in gobs of hours toward a bunch of fetch quests.

[amd k6-2-500]

I play since 1996

[Runin89]

I've played through a large majority of the Final Fantasy titles, and yet the Dragon Warrior/Quest series has always eluded me. Why am I missing out

Also, while on the subject of Dragon Warrior -- anyone played the PS2 game that came out for the series?

[MJG]

I not only played FF1 when it first came out for the NES, but I actually beat it. That may not sound like much, but it was a hard game, I was only 5-6 years old at the time, and there was no internet to help out at the time. Frankly, I am not so sure that if I were to play that original NES version for the first time today, that I could make it all the way through it. I sure as heck wouldn't be able to do so without looking at a FAQ a few times. It's amazing what kids can do.

I picked up the PSP version when that came out, and as someone who loved the original, I say it's quite nice. The difficulty has been decreased drastically; if it were say an 8/10 before, the new one would be a 2/10. A couple of the new additions at the end can prove a little tough, but the game itself is cake. That's not a terrible thing or anything - I'm just noting that this is a very easy RPG. The actual gameplay is more or less the same, so remember that despite the graphical niceness, you're playing a game from the late 80s. I'm not sure someone who has no nostalgia for the original game would enjoy it all that much.

[Br26]

The one I've played the most is Final Fantasy 6. It's a great game, without a doubt, and I think it's vastly underated compared to Final Fantasy 7, which I thik is vastly overated. I'm afraid that if they are remaking FF4, then they'll remake the other two SNES Final Fantasies..which I don't want to happen, because they might alter the experience of the original.

[HowardCneal]

Yeah, I've played through FFI several times. Beat it twice on the NES, with an all white mage party on the second run, and once on the PSX remake of it.

[Nesseight]

I'm not normally a graphics monger, and don't get me wrong, I love the game, but FF7 could use a good remake. Characters are cartoonish and made up of about 20 polygons each and are tackily placed on realistic pre-rendered backgrounds, and the PC version doesn't really take advantage of a PC's capabilities, it's hard to get running, and it looks and feels like a direct port of the PSX version with no real graphical improvements like you would expect on PC, you can almost get better results using an emulator and those old PS1 discs that you set your beer/cola on, at least that way you can tweak the graphics somewhat, but the prerendered stuff will never look better because no matter what, you're upscaling. Also, the full motion video sequences aren't much better, even for the time, and could also stand a remake, perhaps using the models and CG team from that god-awful FF7 movie, but don't let them so much as touch the story because that movie was stupid.

The story in FF7 is good, the materia system is great, but the graphics are an eye soar and in my opinion the SNES games are better in that respect because the sprites actually have detail. In fact, if FF7 was remade for the SNES Virtual Console today, and it had all the story and game-play elements of the original, but the graphics of the series' SNES predecessor(s), I wouldn't hesitate to shell out $20 for it (though I would rather have remake designed exclusively for the modern PC).

I think the only thing I liked about FF7's graphics were summon spells, but even those would be awesome if they were remade and looked real.

2.5D, gotta hate it.

Didn't Square make a spin-off game staring Vincent that everyone hated? I don't blame them if it was as bad as the movie.

[Tasogare]

Played through FFI all the way on my NES, one of the games I owe to Nintendo Power and their multi-issue reviews (see also: Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger) and then again via Wonderswan emulation multiple times. On the subject of VII being remade... wouldn't entirely surprise me. I think they'll milk this Compilation idea as far as they can (I know there's at least room for one more game post-Dirge) before throwing in the towel and giving fans what they've been wanting since the beginning.

[epsileth]

lived ff1 on the nes (pure fighter or pure black mage for evil and expensive ), ff4 as f2 on the snes, ff5 emulated (job system was cool but took forever to build up) ff6 was the best of the series (memorable characters, beautiful soundtrack and well written plot).

nintendo fanboy in me says anything after 6 is crap (7 would have been better if the disk loading and cutscene magic didn't kill almost a minute each time)

ff mystic quest was meant more as a beginner rpg, for kids to get their feet wet a fun diverson if you want something to play and don't want to depend on mind bendiing strategy , and final fantasy adventure for gameboy wasn't too bad for ff on the go.

have ff4 for gba, finding it more of a fun challenge then ff2 for the snes, discovering the items removed from ff2, the bestiary and music player are kind of fun and the lunar dungeon made ff2 seem like sleepwalking

i want to get 6 for the gba, ebay is my only hope it seems tho :(

be nice if they were on a collector's edition on the gamecube, like the zelda games. only licensing and demand will tell

[Havok83]

Ive only played the PS2 FF games, FFX, FFX-2 and FFXII. Id love to check out FFVII and see what was all the buzz about the graphics now are a turn off

[adelomida]

I played final fantasy VII in 1998 and it was my first...then i played all of the previous ones on emulators then FF8 and so on till FF12 on my PS2.

[hendrix]

The only FF ive been really playing is the 6th one. but as i forgot to save for about 5 hours and died, i didnt finish the game. to this point i had a lot of fun, thats for sure.

mystic quest for the game boy is also a FF spin off, and the only title related to FF which i beat. maybe thats the reason why i liked it the most of all ff games. the thing i hate with ff and many other RPG is the fact of random fights...

i will play the other parts for sure anyway, as i bought nearly all of them and some of em are true classics, must plays.

[Schloss Ritter]

I've lost count of how many times I played the original since it came out, but it's been a while since I played it last though. I'm currently working my way through the whole franchise in order of original release. My last finish was FF Legend III (yeah SaGa I know). Next up for me is Romancing SaGa then FF V.

[Thor]

I did that recently but once I got to FFX I kinda stopped. I just don't like FFX that much anymore or anything after that either. Oh and I skipped 8 but I think I need to force my self to play through it. I've never beaten that one due to it sucking so much.

[celong27]

I still remember playing my first ever final fantasy back in the old days on the GameBoy.Final Fantasy legend if i did remember correctly.That game sucked me in for hours on end and couldnt stop because it was so much fun and i still played it once in awhile now that i could not devote so much time into it anymore as well as the rest of the final fantasy.I love all the final fantasy games back in the old days much more as i find often that they provide more challenge and replaybility to me than the current final fantasy.Thats not to say that the next-gen is not without its charm,its just that i prefer the old ones more that the new ones.7 was good as it was grounbreaking as many gamers has say,but not for 12 i think.I try playing it and got tired of it after the first few hours and never touch it since

[Thor]

I didn't really like the Legend games but I loved Final Fantasy Adventure and still do. There is something about that game, it's more enjoyable than the remake even (Sword of Mana)

[celong27]

Yap,adventure was good also.I started most of my final fantasy on the Gameboy so i had the most memory there.

[Tron]

I played up to the part where you get the Earth Crystal/Orb in Final Fantasy I on the NES. But the magic system, saving system, etc were just too primitive for me to continue. and the fact that all you got was a text screen for the ending wasn't enough for me to continue.

But I did play all the way through Final Fantasy I on the psp. MP for my Black mage was a lot better than the stupid charges.

[wahsopro]

I have only beaten the Final Fantasy II remake.

I played a bit through III, IV, and VII but I never finished them.

I watched someone play Final Fantasy X...Blitzball is just the stupidest thing I've heard. What about Triple Triad? That was fun...

[tux]

...I played first FF long ago, but for different reasons never finished it (just like FF8 and FF X). So now i have plans to go through first FF games again on my GBA, when/if i have enough time.

[nellj21]

FFVII is actually the game that also got me into RPG's. After that summer it was all about what rpg's I could get my hands on. Legend of Dragoon was also kick butt.

[StarMars]

I had played the first Final Fantasy on an emulator. I'm not sure how far I got into the game, but I leveled up a few times. I wonder what changes were made in the PSP version... and how long till the first working PSP emulator comes out. ^^