Revisting Final Fantasy as an RPG Newb

JCK75

JCK75

Member
So I've always been obsessed with fantasy and "sword and sorcery" movies, as a kid in the 80's I'd see RPG games on the shelf and when I got home to play them I rarely could get into them so I avoided RPG's most of my life.
I bought all of the Baldurs Gate games on PC in the 90's and again I was obsessed with the story and characters but the gameplay just lost me and I never completed them.

The big shake up for me was BG3 which just pulled me in and would not let go, not only is it one of the first RPG's I've completed I went for several honor mode runs eventually pulling it off..
then Expedition 33 did the same thing.. I was in immediately and became obsessed unlocking all achievements and the feeling when I finally beat Simon was incredible.

When people talk EX33 they liken it to Final Fantasy at it's peak, so I decided now that I understand the mechanics of these games, it's time to go back.

With my emulation machine I got FFX up and running and jumped in.. and suddenly I remember why I looked down on FF Games.
The characters.. I hate their look.. I hate their personalities.. I had how badly written they are, how they talk.. their mannerisms.. every single thing about them just turns me off.
I'm progressing and not totally hating the gameplay.. but are they all like this?
 
Starting from the episode when FF started its fall was the worst choice you could've made, honestly.
FFX started the garish designs, the cinema-wannabe dialogue, the stilted Japanese animations. FF8 was already a step in that direction, but the text-based dialogue and the lack of VA mitigated the disaster that it could have been (and tbh, it's a great game if you understand how it works). The chara designs were also much tamer, before Nomura was given full control and decided that symmetry is bad.

Pretty much any FF from 4 to 9 is better than 10 in story, characters and, for the most part, gameplay.
7 (the original) is legendary for a reason, but if you prefer a more classic-fantasy setting, you can't go wrong with any of the SNES games, if you don't mind the old graphics.
 
Probably would start at FF4 and work your way up to FF9. While I think FF3 would be a good place to start if you want FF's with some kind of narrative I think 4 would be the best place. Starting at 10 is a wild choice.
 
NeoIkaruGAF said:
Starting from the episode when FF started its fall was the worst choice you could've made, honestly.
FFX started the garish designs, the cinema-wannabe dialogue, the stilted Japanese animations. FF8 was already a step in that direction, but the text-based dialogue and the lack of VA mitigated the disaster that it could have been (and tbh, it's a great game if you understand how it works). The chara designs were also much tamer, before Nomura was given full control and decided that symmetry is bad.

Pretty much any FF from 4 to 9 is better than 10 in story, characters and, for the most part, gameplay.
7 (the original) is legendary for a reason, but if you prefer a more classic-fantasy setting, you can't go wrong with any of the SNES games, if you don't mind the old graphics.
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1-3 are still great and have their charm as well...id start with the pixel remaster of 1 it takes away the mechanical and gameplay problems of the originals. Sure the stories are light but the moods and atmosphere and music are still great.
 
Exactly how I feel about X, and I have been a FF fan since NES. I think it's one of the most overrated JRPGs of all time. Most of the people who worship this game were like 10-15 when they first played it.

Everyone has their own opinions about which are the best ones so take everything with a grain of salt.

That said, as someone who has a limited tolerance for moronic characters and tired shounen anime cliches , my faves are 5, 6, 9, 12 (Zodiac Age version) and Tactics.
 
Play the older ones. When they start doing voiceovers. That what really throwing u off. I will say ff7remake and rebirth is very good with the voiceovers and feel natural. But, it will still have some Japan like stuff, that if u not use to it or understand, u gonna think it's weird here and there.
 
TBH I don't think there is a single Final Fantasy game that can really compare to the quality of E33 if that's what they are after. If you want to play a darker FF it's going to be probably FF6 or FF7. If you want something convoluted it's FF8 and if you want a true classic it'll be FF9.

If you want the Job System it'll be FF5. If you don't care too much about story and want the best version of the Job System it's FFX-2.

If you want world building and plenty of decent stories get ready to dedicate yourself to FF11.

If you want a more mature like adults are talking story with IMO light MMO systems then I'd play FF12.
 
Shadowplay1979 said:
1-3 are still great and have their charm as well...id start with the pixel remaster of 1 it takes away the mechanical and gameplay problems of the originals. Sure the stories are light but the moods and atmosphere and music are still great.
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Too much of a grind for too little story. I played the PSP remaster of FF1 a few years ago, it was the best-looking version and it was still a grind. OP is a self-professed JRPG newb, no need to go back to the (console) roots of the genre.



Werewolf Jones said:
No way someone who has played fully voiced RPGs with 3D graphics is gonna play 2D sprites with no voices.

Unless he's not a casual, of course. 🐻🐻
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3D graphics and VA is what killed most of my interest in the genre, and I feel for those who never knew an age when JRPGs weren't just anime with grinding and infinite subsystems.
 
The thing with most JRPGs is that they often have interesting worlds and main stories, but the actual writing and dialogue is terrible.
FFX is maybe the best example, if you were to just write down a summary of what the world and story in the game are about it's actually pretty interesting, there are some compelling themes and ideas there. But then you watch the actual cutscenes and hear the characters talking and it's like
yikes-cringe-blonde-girl-o1ntn8h2u6tfxq9i.gif
.

This has always been somewhat true, but it got exponentially exacerbated once voice acting was introduced. Poor dialogue is often passable when you are just reading it, but as soon as you hear it spoken out loud it instantly becomes so much worse. The main reason I play most JRPGs with subs over dubs isn't some weeb need to hear Japanese, it's simply the fact that not actually understanding the language significantly cuts back on the cringe.


If you don't mind playing some older looking/feeling games I'd definitely recommend trying out FF4, 6, OG7, 9 or some other classics from the era like Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, FF Tactics, etc
 
FF6 > FF12: Zodiac Age > FF9 > FF11 > FF3. The rest is kinda alright to mid. There is no real bad FF game, imho. I do respect FF2 for its "Kawazu weirdness" with how "levelling" works, but it's an acquired taste.

FF7 Remake/Rebirth are a Kingdom Hearts mods from someone who browses too much Tumblr.
 
JCK75 said:
So I've always been obsessed with fantasy and "sword and sorcery" movies, as a kid in the 80's I'd see RPG games on the shelf and when I got home to play them I rarely could get into them so I avoided RPG's most of my life.
I bought all of the Baldurs Gate games on PC in the 90's and again I was obsessed with the story and characters but the gameplay just lost me and I never completed them.

The big shake up for me was BG3 which just pulled me in and would not let go, not only is it one of the first RPG's I've completed I went for several honor mode runs eventually pulling it off..
then Expedition 33 did the same thing.. I was in immediately and became obsessed unlocking all achievements and the feeling when I finally beat Simon was incredible.

When people talk EX33 they liken it to Final Fantasy at it's peak, so I decided now that I understand the mechanics of these games, it's time to go back.

With my emulation machine I got FFX up and running and jumped in.. and suddenly I remember why I looked down on FF Games.
The characters.. I hate their look.. I hate their personalities.. I had how badly written they are, how they talk.. their mannerisms.. every single thing about them just turns me off.
I'm progressing and not totally hating the gameplay.. but are they all like this?
Click to expand...
Final fantasy is not the only RPG coming from Japan dude. and there are more in PS2 that's better than FFX
It is not weird, it is stylized. and it is norm in 00s, If You are western centric, You might never like FF.
It is intended to be that way since eons ago. If You want more generic or mainstream design, go Dragon Quest
 
JCK75 said:
but are they all like this?
Click to expand...

No. Final Fantasy changes drastically for every single entry. Even the second game was already extremely different from the first. Story, tone, art style, and gameplay systems all change from one entry to the next. The only thing that carries over are some monster designs, and even those change a lot.
 
Final Fantasy is a good gateway to much deeper stuff. The series does a little bit of everything good but not one outstanding thing as you might find in more hardcore fare. It gives you a taste of things with a nice presentation to ease you in.

I lapsed after 12 and am playing 13 now after all these years. Not bad. The series definitely helped me dig deeper into rpgs. A good place to start.

FF helped me find the first Fallout and the differences in Western and Japanese rpgs are night and day. But both have their place.
 
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NeoIkaruGAF said:
Too much of a grind for too little story. I played the PSP remaster of FF1 a few years ago, it was the best-looking version and it was still a grind. OP is a self-professed JRPG newb, no need to go back to the (console) roots of the genre.




3D graphics and VA is what killed most of my interest in the genre, and I feel for those who never knew an age when JRPGs weren't just anime with grinding and infinite subsystems.
Click to expand...

Theres no grind in 1-3 at all. you can literally just walk through em. They are still great for atmosphere. Not everything needs to be played for story.

Final Fantasy 1 was my first in the series....so when 2(4) was coming out i was super excited about it.

I highly recommend just picking up the pixel remaster set on steam.
 
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If you didnt like X, then XII is the next best in terms of gameplay and freedom. Each entry has a story that goes off the rails completely and also several characters that will make you cringe. The series doesnt have a character with a compelling character arc after X, which is second only to 7.

They all have really cool worldbuilding, but it's like a different department handled the the actual scene writing, and almost none of that lore comes through unless you read logs and entrees, and tbh very few people have the patience.

13 and 15 are the worst when it comes to awesome world-building, scrappy characters. After 3 games about Lightning, she has a out the same character development as a runway model.

But there are great things about each entry. If you like exploring and combat, X, 12, and 13 are all pretty great (once the mandatory 20 hours of tutorial are over).
 
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