Final Fantasy Megathread: I, Jack, will knock you all down

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Final Fantasy Megathread: I, Jack, will knock you all down

Rirse: May 7, 2006; by R. Guyovich

Final Fantasy V Fiesta is upon us! :siren:

Welcome to the newest Final Fantasy Megathread!! (Previous thread Mega Thread 1 and Mega Thread 2)

Consider this thread a safe-haven for talking about anything and everything Final Fantasy!

OP is mostly a refresh of Happy Blue Cow OP from the last thread, but since he hasn't updated it in seven years, it out of date. Now not a ton of has happen in that time, as only a single mainline entry came out..and it was in the old OP as Verus XIII. First post is about the mainline games, second is about the sequels and spinoffs. If people want there can be a part about the movies like Spirits Within, Advent Children, and Kingsglaive, but I only seen each once so I am not good at talking about them.

Next part is mostly from HappyBlue Cow, with some corrections.

Happy Blue Cow posted:

So just what exactly is Final Fantasy and why is there so much of it?
If by chance you are completely unaware on just what exactly this series is, Final Fantasy (ファイナルファンタジー Fainaru Fantajī) is an Japanese RPG owned by Square-Enix (formerly Squaresoft) which first made it's debut in the year 1987, and has been going (relatively) strongly since. There has been a game donning the "Final Fantasy" brand released almost every year since it's inception. As of 2010, fourteen games have been released as part of the main (numbered) series, which I will try to cover briefly below. In addition a huge slew of sequels, prequels, spin-offs, and related video games have been published, as well as numerous titles in other media forms, which I will also try to go into detail. The series has been a resounding critical and commercial success for Square-Enix, and due to its immense popularity, there has been a whole slew of Remakes, Enhanced Ports, and Fan-Translations for a variety of different games in the series.

I've never played a Final Fantasy, what should I know and where should I start?
One of the unique elements found in the main numbered series of Final Fantasy, is that each game takes place in its own independent fictional universe. While there may be some recurring names, creatures, plot themes, or tropes, you can pretty much pick up any numbered game, and play it from start to finish without worrying about missing anything.

When it comes to choosing which Final Fantasy to play first that's when you'll get into conflicting opinions... Like the thread title states, for every positive suggestion you'll get from someone, you'll most likely find someone else who thinks that's the worst game in the series, and that you should play another one instead.

Either way, you can't go wrong, they're ALL great.

So... what you're saying is...
What I'm saying is if there is one thing Final Fantasy fans share in common, it's that people LOVE their favorite Final Fantasy. This series is home to probably the most fanatical passionate lovers of any game on the planet. There are people who are fans of this series that could spend hours upon hours just talking about their interpretation of certain plot points from games released decades ago; Cosplayers who spend days meticulously sculpting their costumes to identically match these characters they love; People who listen to the orchestrated music from their favorite scenes to reminisce, and Musicians who try to emulate their favorite songs; Artists who will draw portraits of their favorite characters; Writers who will draw inspiration from their game play experience; and even just Gamers, who will pour hours and hours into these games trying a variety of different playstyles and strategies...

... and it is all just fantastic.

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_{Also included in the Final Fantasy I-II (Nintendo Entertainment System, 1994), Final Fantasy Origins (PlayStation, 2002), and Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (Game Boy Advance, 2004) compilations and the Final Fantasy Mobile (Mobile phones, 2004) collection}

Ahhh! The start of it all.

This Fantasy is relatively simple, four youths called the "Warriors of Light", each carry one of their world's four elemental orbs which have been darkened by the four Elemental Fiends. Together, they quest to defeat these evil forces, restore light to the orbs, and save their world. While it might sound corny reading it now, back in 1987, it blew people away. FF1 is regarded as one of the most influential and successful role-playing games on the Nintendo Entertainment System, playing a major role in popularizing the (nearly non-existant) genre.

Before it's release, Square really wasn't doing so well in the gaming industry, and was literally on the edge of bankruptcy. That's when the creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi, realized that his next game was most probably going to be the companies last, so he wanted to go out with a bang. The irony in this games creation comes in the form of its title, Final Fantasy, is exactly what it was meant to be, a last attempt at something great. Little did he know that he had just planted the seed that lead the Final Fantasy series to become one of the most recognized names in the entire gaming industry.

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This Fantasy centers on four youths whose parents were killed during an army invasion by the empire of Palamecia. Three of the four main characters join a rebellion against the empire, embarking on missions to gain new magic and weapons, destroy enemy superweapons, and rescue leading members of the resistance. After defeating the empire and the Emperor, the trio discovers that the fourth youth, now a dark knight, has taken the place of the previous emperor and is preparing to attack the rebellion. Upon confronting him, the Emperor reappears as a demon and prepares to attempt to destroy the world; the four characters agree to join forces to defeat him.

Final Fantasy II is when Square really tried to push the envelop when it came to story-telling in the video game medium. Contrary to how FF1 was created, the team on FF2 focused first on creating a compelling narrative, and then designed the core game play mechanics around it. One of the biggest changes to this game was completely abandoning the traditional EXP system that was found in other popular RPG's such as Dragon Quest, and instead going with a "Activity-Based Progression" system. Which essentially boiled down to, The more I hit with my Axe, the better I am with Axes! This lead to some hilarious masochistic grinding in the first area of the game to completely break the game flow.

Also worth noting that, due to the untimely release of the SNES in conjunction with the localization time needed for FF2, this game never saw North American shores until much, much later.

One of the key things to note is that FF2 is the spawning point of a large variety of recurring elements found throughout the series, such as Crystals, Cid, and most importantly :frogsiren:

Chocobos!! :frogsiren:

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This Fantasy revolves around four orphaned youths drawn to a crystal of light. The crystal grants them some of its power, and instructs them to go forth and restore balance to the world. Not knowing what to make of the crystal's pronouncements, but nonetheless recognizing the importance of its words, the four inform their adoptive families of their mission and set out to explore and bring back balance to the world.

Coming somewhat back to their original roots from FF1, they returned to the standard Experience System for FF3. Only this time, they introduced the phenomenal "Job System" which introduced a variety of classes which are easily recognizable to this day. Each of the four characters could change their "Jobs" at will, to a variety of staple classes such as Black Mage, White Mage, Thief, Monk, Warrior, and much more. This allowed for an enormous amount of customization and let the players craft their team however they desired.

Once again though, due to the untimely release of the SNES, North Americans didnt get a chance to get their hands on this game until 16 years later when it was Remade for the Nintendo DS. This version was later ported to the PSP/IOS/Android/PC with cleaned up graphics.

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_{Included in the Final Fantasy Collection (1999, PlayStation) and Final Fantasy Chronicles (2001, PlayStation) compilations, and the European release of the Final Fantasy Anthology (2002, PlayStation) compilation, as well as the Finest Fantasy For Advance collection (2005, Game Boy Advance)

The PSP version of the game is a compilation of the original game, its sequel Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, and an all-new story which is a tie-in between the other two games.}

This game was one of Squares major landmarks on the industry and the genre. FF4 is often heralded as one of the top in the series, and the entire genre as well. This is mostly due in part for it's very strong characterization and story-driven events, as well as the ground-breaking new role-playing designs such as the ATB-Battle system (which has been used for years afterwards)

This Fantasy follows Cecil, a dark knight, as he tries to prevent the sorcerer Golbez from seizing powerful crystals and destroying the world. You can pretty much tell by this point, that "Crystals" usually appear in some way in the plot of any FF whether its major or minor.

This games release in North America also was the reason for MUCH confusion. Due to FF2/FF3 not ever making it to NA shores, FF4 was released in NA under the name "Final Fantasy II" on the SNES. So for those of you who started their first Final Fantasy with FF7 on PS1, and wondered where FF4/5/6 were, this is the reason. Thankfully developers have since rectified this mix-up, and all re-releases have been accurately named FF4.

Nearly all the re-releases of this game are great. PSP is the best overall as it has the refinement from the GBA release with issues like the ATB bug fix along with high quality sprites. The DS/Mobile/PC version 3D is good, but more of a remix with a whole new script and cutscenes along with remixed enemy behaviors. Not suggested for anyone playing the game the first time unlike the old OP would suggest.

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_{Included in the Final Fantasy Collection (1999, PlayStation) and the Final Fantasy Anthology (2002, PlayStation) compilations, as well as the Finest Fantasy For Advance collection (2006, Game Boy Advance)}

This Fantasy begins as a wanderer named Bartz investigates a fallen meteor. There, he encounters several characters, one of whom reveals the danger facing the four Crystals that control the world's elements. These Crystals act as a seal on Exdeath, an evil sorcerer. Bartz and his party must keep the Crystals from being exploited by Exdeath's influence and prevent his resurgence.

This is the Final Fantasy that took the Job System which was first introduced in FF3, and kicked it into overdrive. This is mostly due to the addition of a new form of experience, noted as "Ability-Points" (AP). AP was used in order to individually level up and master the various jobs used by the character. Once an ability was learned, it could be equipped as a sub-skill on another class, allowing for tons of "player created" combinations. The freedom and customization allowed by the player on their party was greatly praised.

Once again, due to a variety of translation issues and time constraints, this game never saw a proper North American release on the SNES. We had to wait for it to be released later on the Playstation/GBA much later. Incidentally though, FF5 was one of the first games to be fan-translated completely.

If you want to play this game, be warned: the release available on the PSN is typically considered to be something of a subpar product. It suffers from significant load times that don't exist in other versions and a script that wasn't localized all that well. It's worth your while to seek out the GBA version, which works off of a much better-written translation, or the Original SNES version with Fan-Translation Patch. There also exist a patch for the SNES version with the GBA translation that is the best version.

There also a IOS/PC version based on the GBA release with really ugly sprites.

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_{Included in the Final Fantasy Collection (1999, PlayStation) and the North American release of the Final Fantasy Anthology (2002, PlayStation) compilations, as well as the Finest Fantasy for Advance collection (2006, Game Boy Advance)}

This Fantasy is set in a fantasy world with a technology level equivalent to that of the Second Industrial Revolution, the game's story focuses on a group of rebels as they seek to overthrow an imperial dictatorship. The game features fourteen permanent playable characters, the most of any game in the main series.

It was in this game where Square slowly stepped away from the "high-fantasy" setting, and instead focused on a more "steampunk" aesthetic. The narrative structure was also very different from previous final fantasy's at the time. Instead of focusing on a very linear experience, through the use of flash backs and many optional sub-plots which could be completed in any order, the players were able to create their own non-linear design and really felt as though the story was crafted just for them.

Despite having worked on the previous 5 Final Fantasy games, Hironobu Sakaguchi had to step down from directing FF6 due to having a very large workload. The director role was passed on to Yoshinori Kitasep and Hiroyuki Ito, 2 names you might have undoubtedly heard in the Final Fantasy circa. This game is also another victim of incorrect title labeling, FF6 was originally released in North American on the SNES under the title of "Final Fantasy III"... I promise though this is the last time they mess up a Final Fantasy title when bringing it overseas.

The original SNES version is great, but the translation miss the point on several spots due to translator being forced to finish in time for release. This is obvious in the second half of the game.

The GBA version has a more accurate translation with most of the names from the original release retained with some fan favorite lines kept. It suffers from alteration for the GBA including brighter colors and sound being off, but there are romhacks to fix both of them.

There also a PS1 port that has load times and sound issues, best only if you playing on a PSP/Vita. There also the IOS/PC version with the ugly new sprites.

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This Fantasy follows protagonist Cloud Strife, who, at the beginning of the game, joins the rebel organization AVALANCHE in their quest to stop the world-controlling megacorporation Shinra, which is draining the life of the planet for use as an energy source. As the story progresses, Cloud and his allies become involved in a larger world-threatening conflict and face Sephiroth, the game's main antagonist.

While Final Fantasy had been primarily found on Nintendo consoles up until this point, Square decided to make a bold move when seeing the power of the Playstation and moved this title there. It was a smart decision indeed, as FF7 was one of the biggest launches in the series selling over 10 million copies worldwide, the most any FF has ever sold. It could even be argued that the success of FF7 is why the Nintendo 64 saw next to no RPG's.

The addition of CGI Backgrounds and Cinematics helped enhance this story-driven narrative ten-fold. This games release literally laid a landmark on history of video games, as it set a standard for RPG's and other games in the genre from then on.

There is a remake due out long after Jenova destroys the planet.

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This Fantasy focuses on a group of young mercenaries who are drawn into an international conflict, and seek to protect the world from a sorceress manipulating the war for her own purposes. The primary protagonist is Squall Leonhart, a 17-year-old reclusive loner and student at the military academy Balamb Garden, who is training to become a "SeeD", a mercenary paid by the academy.

With the success of FF7 under their belt, Square felt pretty comfortable in their position and could really think about pushing their limits further. One of the most notable graphical changes was in FF8; In all previous FF's, there were two seperate character sprites/models, one for in the field, and one high-definition for in battle. They decided to abolish this idea, and instead create a single high-definition model which can be used in every situation, whether it be on the field, in a cut-scene, or in battle. This enhanced immersion greatly in the title.

While remaining somewhat in the "steampunk fantasy" genre, FF8 also focused on the concept of being a student in the military academy. This gave the game a sort of "school days" vibe to it and felt really unique when compared to the rest of the series. It showed in the sales, as this title snagged a healthy 8 million units sold.

FF8 also made a nod towards FF2 with its unique leveling system. Rather than having players focus on Experience Points and Magic Points, they used the "Junction" and "Draw" system in tandem with character growth. Players could "Draw" (up to 99) of a Magic Spell, and then Junction that onto a Characters Stat in order to raise it. This allowed players a great deal of customization, and not to mention crazy tactics to break the game.

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This Fantasy centers on a war between many nations. Players follow a young thief named Zidane Tribal, who joins with others to defeat Queen Brahne of Alexandria, the one responsible for beginning the war. The plot shifts, however, when the characters realize that Brahne is working with an even more threatening person called Kuja.

This title took a different approach when compared to the last 3 titles in the series. Rather than going with the realistic steam-punk aesthetic, they instead followed the roots of the series and went with more of a cartoony and distorted high-fantasy tale. Sakaguchi himself called this his favorite Final Fantasy game as "it's closest to [his] ideal view of what Final Fantasy should be," the Final Fantasy that he envisioned all those years ago.

Despite a few complaints that "old fashioned" can sometimes border on clich�, it was the best reviewed game in the series, at least in the West. Despite this, it "only" managed to sell 5 million copies, a fact that could partly be attributed to the declining 32-bit generation and the release of Dragon Quest VII in Japan a few months earlier.

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This Fantasy is set in the world of Spira, and is centered around a group of adventurers and their quest to defeat a rampaging monster known as Sin. The player character is Tidus, a blitzball star who finds himself in Spira after his home city of Zanarkand is destroyed by Sin. During the game, Tidus, along with several others, aids the summoner Yuna on her pilgrimage to destroy Sin.

This was Squares largest undertaking in the series. Due to the newly launched Playstation 2, Square was given the ability to do things they could not on previous consoles. The first of those things was completely abolishing 2D CGI backgrounds, and instead creating fully navigable 3D Environments. The second of these things, was making the entirety of the game... voiced. While most games at the time had small snippets of voice acting, FF10 managed to cram 30-hours worth of voice-acting and pretty much set a standard for games of the genre. They also went crazy when it came to In-Game Cut-scenes, as this title had the most the series had seen to date.

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Also known as Final Fantasy XI: Online, This Fantasy is set in the world of Vana'diel, where player-created avatars can both compete and cooperate in a variety of objectives to develop an assortment of jobs, skills, and in-game item rewards. Players can also undertake an array of quests and progress through the in-game hierarchy and thus though the major plot of the game. Since its debut in 2002, four expansion packs have also been released, adding numerous areas, quests, and item rewards to the Final Fantasy XI world.

This was the series first undertaking in the Online MMORPG market. Despite being in the Online world, Square took great efforts in keeping their mantra of Innovation. FF11 was the first ever "Cross-Platform" MMORPG, meaning players on the PS2 could play alongside players on PC. They also took this a step further and merged North American and Japanese Servers together, and through the use of a simple Auto-Translator, ultimately forced players across the globe to communicate and play together.

To this day, the game is still going strong and there is a core dedicated development team who plan on releasing new content. Feel free to check out the FF11 Goon Thread for more information.

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This Fantasy takes place in the fictional land of Ivalice, where the empires of Archadia and Rozarria are waging an endless war. Dalmasca, a small kingdom, is caught between the warring nations. When Dalmasca is annexed by Archadia, its princess, Ashe, creates a resistance movement. During the struggle, she meets Vaan, a young adventurer who dreams of commanding an airship. They are quickly joined by a band of allies; together, they rally against the tyranny of the Archadian Empire.

Final Fantasy XII had an uphill battle to climb. The Xbox 360 had already launched, and sales of PlayStation 2 games were falling. In America, Western games like Knights of the Old Republic and Oblivion were eroding the stranglehold Japanese games once held on the console RPG market. When all was said and done, Final Fantasy XII sold 5 million copies.

One of the biggest changes to this game in the series was the complete removal of the turn-based "random battle" screen. Instead the entire world map was transformed into a living battle screen, and monster encounters could be avoided by simply circling around them. Another Love/Hate design addition, was in the form of a mechanic named "Gambits." This allowed players to "pre-program" their party to perform actions when certain conditions were met (example: When Ally HP is Below 50%, Cast Cure.) Some players loved this function, since it eliminated the monotony of repeatedly performing the same actions in battles, whereas other players hated it, since it made it feel like the game was essentially playing itself.

The International Zodiac Job System version of the game made tremendous improvements to the game and is by far the recommended version of the title. The problem is it's been released in Japan Only. A Complete English Fan-Translation Patch exists but that falls under :filez:

, if you can get your hand on that, it's well worth it.

Or you just play the Zodiac Age HD release with these changes and more on all three current consoles and PC.

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This Fantasy takes place in the fictional floating world of Cocoon, whose government, the Sanctum, is ordering a purge of civilians who have supposedly come into contact with Pulse, the much-feared world below. The former soldier Lightning begins her fight against the government in order to save her sister who has been branded as an unwilling servant to a god-like being from Pulse, making her an enemy of Cocoon. Lightning is soon joined by a band of allies, and together the group also become marked by the same Pulse creature. They rally against the Sanctum while trying to discover their assigned task and whether they can avoid being turned into monsters or crystals at the completion.

Final Fantasy XIII is the flagship title of the Fabula Nova Crystallis collection of Final Fantasy games and is the first game to use Square Enix's Crystal Tools engine. Final Fantasy XIII received mostly positive reviews from video game publications, which praised the game's graphics, presentation, and battle system. Reviewers were more mixed in their opinion about the game's story and linearity compared to previous games in the series.

The games prominent feature is the "Paradigm Shift" battle system, which allows players to rapidly shift between set roles for their 3-man team setup in order to exploit enemy weaknesses. This allowed for the most active and intense battles the series has seen to date.

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Also known as Final Fantasy XIV:Online, and similarly to FF11, this title is also an MMORPG. This Fantasy takes place in a land called Hydaelyn, mainly in a region named Eorzea, which has a contemporaneously aesthetic blend of science fiction and classic fantasy elements, Players can choose from a variety of races to set as their Avatar as they cooperate to unfold the story.

This game was released to generally negative reception. Due to criticisms of the game's quality, Square Enix has reshuffled the development team and completely overhauled the gameplay since launch. This version came out in 2013 (2014 on PS4) as Realm Reborn and is generally very beloved. Game currently has three expansion packs, with the third one out in July as of this writing.

XIV has their own thread here

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After being announced a lifetime ago as Versus XIII, it was finally released as XV as of now current final mainline Final Fantasy game. XV follows Prince Noctis and his three royal retainers as they take a roadtrip to meet his bride as part of a pending peace treaty with Niflheim Empire that his country has been at work with over the past 100 years. But treaty happens and soon he trusted into becoming the king he meant to be while dealing with Niflheim and the mysterious Aryden.

The game had a rough release and soon many patches happen to fix up issues.

Rirse fucked around with this message at 04:37 on May 21, 2019

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:30

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# ? Apr 18, 2024 13:33

Rirse: May 7, 2006; by R. Guyovich

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This Fantasy is set 17 years after the events of Final Fantasy IV. The young son of Cecil and Rosa, Cedora is on a training mission when a mysterious woman who looks like Rydia begins attacking. Gameplay is mostly the same as IV, but due to original nature as a mobile phone/wiiware release, it broke up in chapters featuring one of the main characters of IV and their kids and allies. This all leads to a big final chapter on a new moon while facing off against bosses from the pre-PS1 Final Fantasy games.

It was originally released on japanese mobile phones, then ported to the Wii through it now closed Wii Shop. Later remade along with FFIV and a in-between chapter set a year after IV on the PSP. Then remade again in the style of the DS remake of IV for IOS/Androids and PC.

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Taking place seven years before the start of Final Fantasy VII, the game follows the previously untold story of Zack Fair, following the trail of the missing first class SOLDIER, Genesis Rhapsodos, aided by his friend and mentor, another first class SOLDIER, Angeal Hewley, and occasionally by Sephiroth - the pride of Shinra's SOLDIER.

The game is an action RPG, similar to that of Kingdom Hearts, with battles taking place in real time and allowing Zack to move around the battlefield, attack or dodge. By equipping various materia, the player can customise his actions and moves in battle, as well as using them to give stat boosts.

The big feature of Crisis Core though is the "Digital Mind Wave" (DMW), a type of slot machine device, which will grant random bonuses, attacks or summons during the battle to aid them.

Reception to the game was mostly positive, praising the graphics, music and combat system, but with some negative issues involving the random nature of the DMW, and the character of Genesis Rhapsodos - musician, Gackt Camui's literal Mary Sue self-insert.

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The first game to be released for the Compilation, the plot is set six years before the events of Final Fantasy VII, and follows the Turks as they follow the bidding of the Shinra electric company, and try to foil the plans of AVALANCHE, an eco-terrorist organization dedicated to stopping Shinra.

Spread over twenty-five chapters and released over a period of two years, it allowed play as one of many Turk characters, each with their own speciality.

Despite hints that there would be an English release, the game still remains firmly in Japan's clutches with little chance of localisation.

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One of the many spawn from Square Enix's Compilation of FFVII series, the story follows the ex-Turk Vincent Valentine, three years after the end of Final Fantasy VII, as he uncovers both the reasons behind his mysterious transformation abilities and the attacks by an enigmmatic army - Deepground and the Tsviets - one of the Shinra company's lingering, hidden experiments, who are involved in the inexplicable kidnapping of thousands of people.

As a third-person shooter, something of a radical departure from the series more traditional menu-based combat, Vincent makes his way through the levels with his trusty three-barrelled pistol, Cerberus, though he can later find both a sniper rifle and machine-gun, and use magical projectiles. And occasionally can transform into a murderous rampagin hellbeast to deal with larger threats.

The game has had mostly mixed to negative reception, with common complaints being about the slippery shooting mechanics, the melodramatic story and characters, and the overabundance of cutscenes.

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This Fantasy follows the character Yuna from Final Fantasy X as she seeks to resolve political conflicts in the fictional world of Spira before it leads to war.

One of the first things worth mentioning about this title, is that it is the first ever "Direct Sequel" in the main series. By this I mean, the story from 10-2 directly follows after the story from 10, so chances are if you play this without knowing what happened, you might be a little lost. It was also the first game in the series to feature only three playable characters, an all-female main cast, and early access to most of the game's locations. It's also one of the few games in the series to feature multiple endings. Finally, it was the first Final Fantasy game in the series that didn't have any musical contributions in it from longtime composer Nobuo Uematsu.

The developers sought to make this a very "light-hearted" title from the start. At the time, Final Fantasy was mostly recognized for its heavy melodramatic plots, and 10-2 took a step in the opposite direction and made the narrative very fluffy and fun.

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This Fantasy takes place three years after the events of FF13. Lightning, the protagonist of the original game, has disappeared into an unknown world. Her younger sister Serah Farron, a returning character, and a young man named Noel Kreiss attempt to find Lightning.

This is the second direct sequel in the main numbered series. Most of the changes found in this title were directly aimed at criticisms found in FF13, particularly the linearity. Because of these changes, the title received mostly positive reviews from video game journalists, which praised the game's graphics, lack of linearity and gameplay but criticized the story.

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This Fantasy takes countless years after 13-2, with Lightning being woke up by a now child Hope in a world that has only 13 days left before it ends. She is tasked by Hope to save as many souls as she can before the Maker awakens. All while trying to find her lost sister and solving the problems plaguing the people.

Gameplay is mostly the same as the other two games in the series, but Lightning is alone so paragrim shifts changes her clothes, with different abilities being assigned to other outfits. It was released on the 360 and PS3 with a PC port a year later.

Rirse fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Mar 24, 2019

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:30

Rirse: May 7, 2006; by R. Guyovich

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One of the first spinoff in the franchise, Mystic Quest was a attempt to get western audiences into rpgs which were just starting to grow in the west.You play as Benjamin who aided by a rotating guest party member traveling the land to restore the four crystal through the central Focus Tower. The gameplay is simple with only two party members, but with one of the most kick rear end soundtracks on the SNES. Game only been release on the SNES with some really poor fan remake trying to pass itself off as offical.

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Final Fantasy Tactics is strategy rpg set in the world of Ivalice, which is later the setting for mainline entry XII. In this tale you are Ramza, who is begins as a young soldier training at a academy and soon is part of a large scale war between two heirs to the throne, with a mysterious force puppeteering everyone to revive their dark god.

Tactics plays like the earlier Tactic Ogre game, which was on a grid map with Ramza and four other party members taking their turns along with the enemy soldiers and monsters. The game was originally release on the PS1 shortly after VII, and was re-release with more content and a new translation as part of the XII Ivalice Alliance sub-series on the PSP. This version was marred by slowdown which either a hacked PSP or the later IOS/Android release fixed.

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This Fantasy combines the great tastes of hat fetishism and storybooks. Following in the footsteps of the Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy IV remakes, it was an attempt to create an all-new 8-bit Final Fantasy title for the NDS. 4HoL follows a group of teenagers trying to save the local princess from an evil witch. Much like in the original Final Fantasy, rescuing the princess is just the beginning: A curse befalls their hometown, turning everyone stone, and the four set out across the world to find a cure.

The Job system makes a return, this time in the form of Crowns: By changing a character's adorable hat, they change their job as well. Many traditional FF Jobs do put in an appearance (Red Mages, Dragoons and Summoners are notably absent), but with just enough design changes to make them feel fresh after FFIIIDS.

Stripped of the ATB, extraneous stats, and even the ability to manually select your targets, 4HoL is meant to be as efficient as possible. Even MP and spell charges were dropped so the player doesn't have to worry about rationing their magic through lengthy dungeon treks.

The game was met with mixed reviews. The graphics were praised as charming, while players were less than thrilled with the old school gameplay staples like "walk around and talk to everybody" and limited inventories. While the game got no further sequels, it lead to the beloved Bravely Default series.

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This Fantasy is the equivalent of 3D fighter, this brawler pits ten heroes from the main games selected by the Goddess of Order, Cosmos, to fight for the crystals against ten villains chosen by the God of Discord, Chaos.

There are twenty-two playable characters, each with their own unique playstyle, with some more difficult to master than others, but the gameplay mechanics themselves are simple to grasp, and most importantly, fun.

As a massive love letter to the series, it's chock full of references, allusions, imagery and locations spanning the entire series, be they obvious or subtle.

Fairly well recieved, and praised for its fluid combat controls (though not for the camera), it did well enough to gain a sequel Dissidia 012, which is pretty much a sequel with the original game content added into it. If you plan on playing the game, just get that version instead.

Release years by system:

This fantasy, formally known as "Agito" follows the story of Class Zero of the "Rubrum Peristylium Suzaku" magic acadamy (think FFVIII's Gardens), as they protect their country's crystal from the might of Cid Aulstyne, High Commander of the neighbouring Milites Empire, as he attempts to steal it from them.

Apparently playing similarly to Crisis Core, the player can play as 14 different characters, each specialising as a certain job. It also brings back the world map and travel by Chocobo.

Initially announced for mobile release, it was later changed to the PSP early in development. It was never released outside of Japan on the PSP, but the later HD Remaster was release on the Xbox/PS4 and PC.

Release years by system:

Vagrant Story is a action rpg set in Le� Monde, an ancient city in the northern parts of Ivalice. You controlling Ashley Riot, a riskbreaker sent into the city to save the captured son of the duke from the mysterious Sydeny. Combat in this game is similar to the first Parasite Eve, where it in real time with actin pausing while you set up actions.

Rirse fucked around with this message at 06:06 on Apr 2, 2019

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:30

Mega64: May 23, 2008; I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.

I love this garbage franchise.

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:34

Rirse: May 7, 2006; by R. Guyovich

Mega64 posted:

I love this garbage franchise.

I would gone with "Every Game is the Worst in the Series" like it was before, but the Coupon subforum thread for Video Game Deals is using it currently.

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:35

Mega64: May 23, 2008; I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.

Reposting from the last thread:

FF2 was a great start to Square embracing insane stories. They kill off half the world, dungeons include Leviathan's stomach and a literal cyclone, you have a dragoon who tries to move in on his dead friend's family, Firion getting ambushed by pirates because he can't resist a free ride, Firion attempting to gently caress Hilda, Josef's entire worthless existence, Borghen being such comic relief that his zombie is a joke boss, going on a long detour to unlock a castle (which involved Josef getting killed) only to find the guy who could've unlocked it to begin with a few feet inside, finding and raising a wyvern egg solely to access a dungeon, Leon trying to become the new Emperor not by mind control but because he's just a massive dick and only joining you to spite the Emperor, and of course the Emperor getting killed off only to conquer hell and making you have to kill him again.

FF2 is gloriously stupid and the idiocy of its story deserves more love.

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:36

Gologle: Apr 15, 2013; The Gologle Posting Experience.

<3

Maybe this time the thread won't be garbage.

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:36

teh_Broseph: Oct 21, 2010; THE LAST METROID IS IN
CATTIVITY. THE GALAXY
IS AT PEACE...; Lipstick Apathy

Why did they call it FINAL fantasy and then keep making sequels???

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:36

Mega64: May 23, 2008; I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.

teh_Broseph posted:

Why did they call it FINAL fantasy and then keep making sequels???

They named the last Final Fantasy "Final Fantasy I".

It's a time loop, you see.

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:38

Oxxidation: Jul 22, 2007

quote:

Aldyn

quote:

Arldyn

quote:

Ardyen

getting off to a smashing start

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:38

Mega64: May 23, 2008; I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.

Ardyth

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:38

mandatory lesbian: Dec 18, 2012

cant believe ff7r was finally released

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:39

Rirse: May 7, 2006; by R. Guyovich

teh_Broseph posted:

Why did they call it FINAL fantasy and then keep making sequels???

Last Story only has a single game.

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:39

Cleretic: Feb 3, 2010; Ignore my posts!
I'm aggressively wrong about everything!

Oxxidation posted:

getting off to a smashing start

Such a bad villain we can't even remember his name.

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:39

Oxxidation: Jul 22, 2007

Cleretic posted:

Such a bad villain we can't even remember his name.

your unique mania against the characters of final fantasy xv is noted

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:40

Elentor: Dec 14, 2004; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Hello my friends. Today my mom asked me to fix her soundspeakers. When I did, she put up Terra's theme to play. Final Fantasy is great and I hope all y'all have a great day.

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:40

Namnesor: Jun 29, 2005; Dante's allowance - $100

I'm just gonna come out and say it, my dudes

I like Final Fantasy

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:41

Orcs and Ostriches: Aug 26, 2010; The Great Twist

I hope we get Final Fantasy 27 by the year 2027 like Deus Ex HR predicted.

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:41

Rirse: May 7, 2006; by R. Guyovich

I going to need to replace all the screenshots in the OP at some point outside of the ones for XV.

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:42

Sakurazuka: Jan 24, 2004; NANI?

Oxxidation posted:

getting off to a smashing start

Op is a Ted Woolsey translation

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:42

Lessail: Apr 1, 2011; tell me how vgk aren't playing like shit again

p.s. help my grapes are so sour!

I like Final Fantasy games. I like Final Fantasy music.

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:45

HD DAD: Jan 13, 2010; Generic white guy.; Toilet Rascal

Final Fantasy has always been varying degrees of good.

Except for XIV 1.0. That was bad

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:46

Elephant Ambush: Nov 13, 2012; ...We sholde spenden more time together. What sayest thou?; Nap Ghost

It's pronounced MAR SHAY

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:49

BENGHAZI 2: Oct 13, 2007; by Cyrano4747

Gologle posted:

Maybe this time the thread won't be garbage.

They need to make a good final fantasy game first

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:51

MMF Freeway: Sep 15, 2010; Later!

more like final fartasy imo

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:53

Leal: Oct 2, 2009

Final Fantasy IX is the Best Final Fantasy.

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:55

mandatory lesbian: Dec 18, 2012

BENGHAZI 2 posted:

They need to make a good final fantasy game first

they named the good final fantasy "bravely default"

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:57

DACK FAYDEN: Feb 25, 2013; Bear Witness

continuing this from last thread:

Nibble posted:

Venat itself is kind of hard to classify as a villain. It's more antagonistic to the other Occuria than to any of the humans, and seems perfectly happy with the way you accomplished all your goals. Could even be possible that working with Cid/Vayne was part of a larger-scale plan that ended with you destroying the Sun-cryst like you did, which seemed to be its main goal.

I think Venat was aiming for Ashe destroying the Sun-Cryst. There's no actual proof, but Cid points the party directly to Giruvegan and everything else is basically deterministic from there.

That said, that plan relies on:
-Venat being confident that Ashe will destroy the Cryst (not entirely certain, especially with the dead-husband manipulation the rest of the Occuria have going on versus Vaan trying to get her to give up revenge)
-Venat knowing Cid will be okay giving Ashe those fake directions (basically guaranteed, since Cid's entirely motivated by researching nethicite and Venat can just tell him the actual plan: "she'll get a sword to open the Pharos, where the literal mother lode of nethicite is, and then you can fly there and we'll check it out together")
-the Giruvegan visit resulting in the Occuria giving Ashe a new Sword to cut a new Shard off the Sun-Cryst (literally 100% to happen since the Occuria are a bunch of uncreative manipulative cowards)
-presumably Vayne has to be on board with this, although knowing Venat is telling Cid to fly to the actual most powerful object in the world goes a long way

# ? Mar 21, 2019 22:58

Super No Vacancy: Jul 26, 2012

theatrhythm when

# ? Mar 21, 2019 23:00

Red Alert 2 Yuris Revenge: May 8, 2006; "My brain is amazing! It's full of wrinkles, and... Uh... Wait... What am I trying to say?"

i enjoy final fantasy

# ? Mar 21, 2019 23:00

Help Im Alive: Nov 8, 2009

check this out...why do they call it Final Fantasy when there's so many of them

# ? Mar 21, 2019 23:04

DACK FAYDEN: Feb 25, 2013; Bear Witness

Super No Vacancy posted:

theatrhythm when

if they ported the arcade one with all the tracks to the Switch I would pay full price even though I already own the original and Curtain Call, game owns

# ? Mar 21, 2019 23:06