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FINAL FANTASY Community Thread: XV Mainline Entries and Counting
- Thread starter Kagari
- Start date
Just like the porn in FF4, there is no REAL need for the porn in TAY.
But the porn was useful in the DS version.
I have no memory of this. Is that the one where you can trade it to a developer? If not then in this game you can trade it to a developer for something, I think.
Yeah, you need it for the Reach augment. After a search, it seems that you exchange it for an upgraded soma drop. Are 50 extra MP worth it?
Professor Beef
Banned
Beat FFX last night. Decided to skip getting Lulu and Wakka's Sigils. Also, Rikku sucks. Kimahri for life.
I never even bothered with Kimahri he seemed so useless to me. How did you like FFX?
Professor Beef
Banned
Fun, but very easy. Easier than FF7, I'd wager.
I made Kimahri useful by sending him down Yuna and Lulu's grids since all but one of of Rages use the Magic stat.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Yeah Kimahri is awesome. He is always in my party.
No. Like, I never did the 3 parties versus Babil fight, but I'm still pretty sure the answer is no.
Bravely Default
1. Magius I need you to resend your thingamabob cuz I blew the last one in this boss fight.
2. I just got Red Mage and if that was the much bemoaned "Edea seduces an older man!" moment, then I'm speechless. That was barely a thing and it barely lasted and it's like, not even as big a deal in the game as Cloud having to seduce a man so wow at those who found that horrifying and offensive in some major way.
In fact, thus far the game's much decried "perviness" has felt completely absent or no greater in offense than anything you'd find in FFs 4, 5, or 9. "All the pandering!" seems completely innocuous to me, but maybe I'm just so entrenched in anime that I don't notice it. Which is just peachy, since I'm also not entrenched enough in anime to get what the cool kids in the anime thread are ever talking about, either.
But yeah, the "WAAAH SUCH PANDERING" really isn't standing out to me. I feel like this game panders only as much as your standard JRPG, but then, I also feel like the "WAAAH PANDERING" in FE:A was overblown (except in Nowi's case) and that much of the bitching about "Waifu Culture" is hilarious alarmism for people too afraid to realize the things they're so scared of extend far beyond that which they deride.
1. Magius I need you to resend your thingamabob cuz I blew the last one in this boss fight.
2. I just got Red Mage and if that was the much bemoaned "Edea seduces an older man!" moment, then I'm speechless. That was barely a thing and it barely lasted and it's like, not even as big a deal in the game as Cloud having to seduce a man so wow at those who found that horrifying and offensive in some major way.
In fact, thus far the game's much decried "perviness" has felt completely absent or no greater in offense than anything you'd find in FFs 4, 5, or 9. "All the pandering!" seems completely innocuous to me, but maybe I'm just so entrenched in anime that I don't notice it. Which is just peachy, since I'm also not entrenched enough in anime to get what the cool kids in the anime thread are ever talking about, either.
But yeah, the "WAAAH SUCH PANDERING" really isn't standing out to me. I feel like this game panders only as much as your standard JRPG, but then, I also feel like the "WAAAH PANDERING" in FE:A was overblown (except in Nowi's case) and that much of the bitching about "Waifu Culture" is hilarious alarmism for people too afraid to realize the things they're so scared of extend far beyond that which they deride.
Professor Beef
Banned
...well at least you have nowhere to go but up in terms of quality regarding the other games in the series!
It's not as bad as people make it out to be.
It's far from being the best game in the series but it's a pretty good JRPG in it's own right imo. It's basically "on rails" (with the exception of an area) so take that into consideration.
A few tips:
1- Disable autobattle in the menu immediately and get used to picking attacks yourself
2- Read the datalog as it's updated to get most out of the story
3- All roles are important in combat
4- Moms are tough
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Wow you are sad if you need friend summons for everything. But yeah I can send another. I'll need some prep time though.
Achievements...
...oh God
SOLD
edit: Re: FFXIII-2 and FFX-2 (and LR), I think the huge jump in mood/style was a lot less jarring if/when you played the games as they came out, since there was a gap of at least a year (IRL) for things to somewhat fade from immediate recollection. I cringed a lot more at the start of FFX-2 HD coming right off FFX HD than I remember cringing on the original FFX-2, and it's not just because I'm a decade older now.
Hopefully without Squeenix-DRM :\
I think I really would enjoy X-2 as a game if it weren't connected to X in any way,shape or form. Like this though, I can't bear to play it.
The encounter rate in TAY is over the top. The sealed cave was a festival of back attacks, ambushes, Zubats AND Golbats, and if that weren't enough you couldn't use the Warp spell to return to the last floor.
I think I'm going to only do one cave each day so I don't get burnt by the random encounters.
I think I'm going to only do one cave each day so I don't get burnt by the random encounters.
Slowly getting through FFIX on my Vita, got stuck when I originally played it when it was released so still have some surprises instore..That being said, I really don't get all the love IX has over most others in the franchise.
The ability system is horrendous, grinding through weapons just so I have abilities, then being completely overlevelled for bosses.
Messed up encounter rate, mixed with way too many empty battlefield shots, and some stupid enemy abilities (Spent 5mins fighting 2 ghost things because they kept vanishing over and over..then walked 6 steps and fought more..)
Locking off characters for large portions of the story, then having to grind them up so they're not useless (Dagger and Steiner were lvl 3-4 when they rejoined my 14-16 party. Steiner was fixed later thanks to an event with him and a powerful NPC), they even go so far as to say that the missing members fought many monsters..surely that would be an excuse to have them level slightly to catch up.
Trance is possibly the worst "limit" mechanic, having no control over it, Zidane gets hit by some random garbage monster 5 steps out from a bossfight and uses it up.
Tetra Master is frustrating, no clue what the actual values of my cards are, battle starts, mine has 36, opposition has 24..I think "I win!"..Nope, his drops to 16, mine to 0, he takes my card.
Characters are a mixed bag,
Nearing the end of the 3rd disc I think, I remember missing the -ga staff, so I think I stopped a short way into the 4th last time.
The ability system is horrendous, grinding through weapons just so I have abilities, then being completely overlevelled for bosses.
Messed up encounter rate, mixed with way too many empty battlefield shots, and some stupid enemy abilities (Spent 5mins fighting 2 ghost things because they kept vanishing over and over..then walked 6 steps and fought more..)
Locking off characters for large portions of the story, then having to grind them up so they're not useless (Dagger and Steiner were lvl 3-4 when they rejoined my 14-16 party. Steiner was fixed later thanks to an event with him and a powerful NPC), they even go so far as to say that the missing members fought many monsters..surely that would be an excuse to have them level slightly to catch up.
Trance is possibly the worst "limit" mechanic, having no control over it, Zidane gets hit by some random garbage monster 5 steps out from a bossfight and uses it up.
Tetra Master is frustrating, no clue what the actual values of my cards are, battle starts, mine has 36, opposition has 24..I think "I win!"..Nope, his drops to 16, mine to 0, he takes my card.
Characters are a mixed bag,
with Vivi becoming my favourite FF character, Dagger is fine, but her trauma phase is dragging on a bit. Zidane is a bit of a tool, but ok, Freya was potentially very cool..then they just stopped developing her character.. Steiner is annoying, Quina "herp derp, me eat food.", Eiko is just the annoying child character, but I can look past that since she has some endearing moments, Amarant is a nothing character..he likes fighting strong people and fixates on Zidane over being blamed for a crime years ago.
Nearing the end of the 3rd disc I think, I remember missing the -ga staff, so I think I stopped a short way into the 4th last time.
badcrumble
Member
I ought to point out that you don't need to powerlevel with your equipment to gain all of its abilities; simply wearing a given item of equipment gives you access to the abilities it has. That's how I tend to play FFIX too, of course, but you don't "have" to grind by any means and it can be rewarding to play more quickly.
The encounter rate in FFIX isn't so bad but the slowness of loading the battles (and the slowness of the battles themselves) is a problem for sure, yeah.
Trance is a bummer but you should consider it just a nice thing that happens sometimes because that's all it is.
And yeah, you can safely ignore Tetra Master because there's basically no point in the game where it has actual rewards for the rest of your game (as opposed to Triple Triad's ability to refine cards into spells and items).
As for the missing party members, a lot of the time those actually get to level up because of the way that the Tantalus guild members substitute for them (and pass on any experience to them). But sometimes that doesn't happen, yeah. I wouldn't sweat it too hard - it'll mostly even out in the end and they'll gain experience very rapidly if they're at low levels.
FFIX has a lot of great stuff going on but (like any other FF) it's definitely got its flaws.
Haha, look at me. I gotta sit here and take crap because we all know I am sad. In my defense, Red Mage mclotsaspells was only the 3rd boss I needed to call in help for. I mopped the rest of the Bloodrose Legion handily enough. I just wasn't ready for Revenge to be quite so useful a support ability.
Pshhhh Magius, send him a DRK with Dark Nebula.
Ganon Dragmire
Member
Professor Beef
Banned
I don't think even achievements could get me to play FF3 again.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Now that would be cruel.
But that's how I got my friends to stop bugging me for summon. Works like a charm.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Nah I think I will be lame and send another earthbased attack because why not. But not until tomorrow because I'm lazy.
Played about 1:30 -2 hours of 13 this morning. Initials thoughts:
1. Damn this game looks good. CG cutscenes and even in game look fantastic.
2. It's kinda hard to understand what's going on in the story. It's weird that when I went to load up a save that the loading screen explained far more about what was going on compared to what I've learned so far in game.
3. The characters seem fine for the most part. Lightning seems alright and so does Sazh. Freaking Vanille though... What accent does she have?
4. Battle system seems cool just doesn't have much flexibility as of now.
Going to be playing some more in a little but enjoying what I've played so far.
1. Damn this game looks good. CG cutscenes and even in game look fantastic.
2. It's kinda hard to understand what's going on in the story. It's weird that when I went to load up a save that the loading screen explained far more about what was going on compared to what I've learned so far in game.
3. The characters seem fine for the most part. Lightning seems alright and so does Sazh. Freaking Vanille though... What accent does she have?
4. Battle system seems cool just doesn't have much flexibility as of now.
Going to be playing some more in a little but enjoying what I've played so far.
I asked one time. What's the point of a friendlist mechanic if I can't ask for a freebie one time.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Corvo never asked me for mine. :V
But that's probably because I finished the game last year, lol.
But that's probably because I finished the game last year, lol.
You're not even on my 3DS Friend's list.
Probably because Nintendo doesn't allow boys to be on girls' friends' lists because cooties or I don't know Nintendo is weird.
CrimsonCrescendo
Banned
...Seriously?
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
more like nintendo doesn't allow ravens on girls' friend lists :V :V
Wh-why did you spoiler that? I don't understand what about that was a spoiler?
For too long have my people been discriminated against by Nintendo. I should start a movement, demanding representation in the next Animal Crossing.
1. Yes, I was blown away.
2. If you really want to understand what is happening try to read the datalogs as soon as they are updated.
3. I was not too annoyed by the characters either, well at least most of the time.
4. The thing about the battle system is, that a lot of its content is locked for a big part of the game. But especially in the lategame it is very enjoyable and also challenging (at least for me it was)
Moved recently and that put my FF12 play through on hold, then I recently got a new phone which has put all my other gaming on hold lol.
So I've been playing FF4 on android. I already played the game on DS but there was a sale... Anyway, wow it looks a lot better on mobile and the touch controls work fine for this game.
Just got edge a bit ago and finished both the Slyph Cave and Land of Summons about to tackle Sealed Cave next.
I hope that After Years is on sale by the time I'm done with the game lol. Can't wait to play it as I passed it up on the PSP version and I also really like the artstyle in the 3D remake. The characters look so good with Yang as a special mention for best 3D character model, and Edge as honorable mention. Worst goes to Rydia which is sad because she was always my favorite growing up but her transition from sprite to 3D model wasn't a good one. I can't wait to see what all the characters in After Years looks like and see returning characters new models. Also, The whole augment thing is a pretty cool way to allow some customization and modern touches while still retaining the feel of the original game.
So I've been playing FF4 on android.
I already played the game on DS but there was a sale... Anyway, wow it looks a lot better on mobile and the touch controls work fine for this game. Just got edge a bit ago and finished both the Slyph Cave and Land of Summons about to tackle Sealed Cave next.
I hope that After Years is on sale by the time I'm done with the game lol. Can't wait to play it as I passed it up on the PSP version and I also really like the artstyle in the 3D remake. The characters look so good with Yang as a special mention for best 3D character model, and Edge as honorable mention. Worst goes to Rydia which is sad because she was always my favorite growing up but her transition from sprite to 3D model wasn't a good one. I can't wait to see what all the characters in After Years looks like and see returning characters new models. Also, The whole augment thing is a pretty cool way to allow some customization and modern touches while still retaining the feel of the original game.
Haha, yeah. Fang is the one who's accent is fake.
Oh Fang. What a crime it is that shit like Hope and Snow got into TFF and not you.
Faking the Australian accent as an Australian is almost more impressive. I mean I don't have any idea how I would fake an American accent.
Dark Schala
Eloquent Princess
Read the in-game novel because the narrative doesn't use the medium for which it has been developed very well.
That's the thing that gets me about game design lately sometimes. This is a video game. You have so many conventions to your disposal in order to allow the player to comprehend your narrative to the fullest extent. You have everything, from player agency to music to character animations to behaviour in battle (at least they made Lightning start saying "thank you" when she got healed/buffed after chapter 4, but the AI could have been a little finicky prior to establishing everyone's character evolution--that would've been neato considering this is a story-driven video game) to even less dialogue. Video games do not need to turn into movies in order to convey a useful narrative. So much can be done without cutscene after cutscene of the player barely doing a thing from making the player act out the cutscene him/herself, better character animations and more intense facial expressions that influence a cutscene (and even sprites can do that), music emphasizing the mood in a cutscene without the need for superfluous dialogue, including pertinent backstory details in the game, etc.
That's... kind of why game/movie hybrids haven't struck my fancy last generation (with that said, I have a few folks getting me to at least play Uncharted 2). I'm sitting there waiting for the cutscene to end so I can do something more "constructive". I can probably pinpoint the exact time I started feeling this way and it was that one cutscene in Eternal Sonata where someone was supposed to die but they stayed alive voicing dialogue in this one cutscene that was 200 years long and I had to say, "That's enough. I can't do this."
I've played FF13 twice in two languages, and both times I came out feeling the same way. The blueprint is there. It just wasn't executed as well as it should have. I think that while it was fair to start in media res like it did in its vertical slice and thus in the main game, I think it should've wound back to the Thirteen Days to make the prequel novel stuff playable in a sense without the player having limited interaction with the content that was incredibly pertinent to the personal storytelling of the characters. If the player does not have a lot of interaction with that sort of content in a video game, a medium designed for them to have some sort of agency and affect what happens and learn from it, then why would he or she feel so inclined to take a cutscene at face value if they aren't the type of player who does commit to cutscenes? They aren't doing anything. They're experiencing it offhand or just reading about it (if they even bother to read the in-game journal written by a third-party instead of the characters themselves; I feel that would have enhanced the need for the player to even bother delving into that portion of the menu).
I ended up appreciating Hope and Serah more because I'd read the novel prior to playing the Japanese version because I understood why they said and did the things they did/said. But at the same time, I feel like some of those sections, while they would probably be a boring wash, would've had more impact on the player provided they had been in the game. At least, that's how I feel. That's why I had initially, when they implied they were making another FF13 game, wanted a Vanille and Fang backstory instead.
The majority of my first games were NES and SMS platformers or STGs, so whenever a platformer decided to include story in the game by using animations as opposed to dialogue, I welcomed it. I thought it was the coolest thing when I saw FF4 doing that when I was a kid. Many RPGs and platformers emphasized animations to complement their dialogue in the scene direction because that's... all they had. They used everything in the medium they could to tell their story. I even liked the low-health animations that the MMX games used early on because they were nicely-implemented.
Whenever a current game, by design, uses camera pans in a cutscene for emphasis on certain things, voice acting tone, and more dialogue than a 5-page paper can hold, I feel like something's missing. Suddenly, somehow, I empathize less with the characters. I also feel like you don't need reams of dialogue to tell the player how the character is feeling. Body language is important, and actions speak louder than words.
When I look at games like The Wind Waker or Catherine or Skyward Sword or Sonic Generations or Ghost Trick or Ace Attorney or something like that, I'm so damn thrilled at seeing animations tell a story. Even little idle animations tell me a lot of about a character's disposition because, as I said, body language tells me a lot about you.
I did feel like the cutscene QTEs in FF13-2 were a little jarring simply because they... uh, showed the damage output. I know I'm not in a battle and there isn't necessarily a life bar somewhere, so I don't see why they bothered doing it. Dialogue choices in FF13-2 were okay because I could make Serah sound like an idiot. At the same time, I was so disappointed with Lightning Returns's cutscene direction outside of the two obvious Yusnaan scenes. Oh well. Next time they might get it.
Basically what I'm getting at is... bro, use the medium. You can do anything with a video game. You don't need to make it so similar to a movie because the player actually has agency over what characters do.
Maybe I just got hit with a case of Old Lady
That's the thing that gets me about game design lately sometimes. This is a video game. You have so many conventions to your disposal in order to allow the player to comprehend your narrative to the fullest extent. You have everything, from player agency to music to character animations to behaviour in battle (at least they made Lightning start saying "thank you" when she got healed/buffed after chapter 4, but the AI could have been a little finicky prior to establishing everyone's character evolution--that would've been neato considering this is a story-driven video game) to even less dialogue. Video games do not need to turn into movies in order to convey a useful narrative. So much can be done without cutscene after cutscene of the player barely doing a thing from making the player act out the cutscene him/herself, better character animations and more intense facial expressions that influence a cutscene (and even sprites can do that), music emphasizing the mood in a cutscene without the need for superfluous dialogue, including pertinent backstory details in the game, etc.
That's... kind of why game/movie hybrids haven't struck my fancy last generation (with that said, I have a few folks getting me to at least play Uncharted 2). I'm sitting there waiting for the cutscene to end so I can do something more "constructive". I can probably pinpoint the exact time I started feeling this way and it was that one cutscene in Eternal Sonata where someone was supposed to die but they stayed alive voicing dialogue in this one cutscene that was 200 years long and I had to say, "That's enough. I can't do this."
I've played FF13 twice in two languages, and both times I came out feeling the same way. The blueprint is there. It just wasn't executed as well as it should have. I think that while it was fair to start in media res like it did in its vertical slice and thus in the main game, I think it should've wound back to the Thirteen Days to make the prequel novel stuff playable in a sense without the player having limited interaction with the content that was incredibly pertinent to the personal storytelling of the characters. If the player does not have a lot of interaction with that sort of content in a video game, a medium designed for them to have some sort of agency and affect what happens and learn from it, then why would he or she feel so inclined to take a cutscene at face value if they aren't the type of player who does commit to cutscenes? They aren't doing anything. They're experiencing it offhand or just reading about it (if they even bother to read the in-game journal written by a third-party instead of the characters themselves; I feel that would have enhanced the need for the player to even bother delving into that portion of the menu).
I ended up appreciating Hope and Serah more because I'd read the novel prior to playing the Japanese version because I understood why they said and did the things they did/said. But at the same time, I feel like some of those sections, while they would probably be a boring wash, would've had more impact on the player provided they had been in the game. At least, that's how I feel. That's why I had initially, when they implied they were making another FF13 game, wanted a Vanille and Fang backstory instead.
The majority of my first games were NES and SMS platformers or STGs, so whenever a platformer decided to include story in the game by using animations as opposed to dialogue, I welcomed it. I thought it was the coolest thing when I saw FF4 doing that when I was a kid. Many RPGs and platformers emphasized animations to complement their dialogue in the scene direction because that's... all they had. They used everything in the medium they could to tell their story. I even liked the low-health animations that the MMX games used early on because they were nicely-implemented.
Whenever a current game, by design, uses camera pans in a cutscene for emphasis on certain things, voice acting tone, and more dialogue than a 5-page paper can hold, I feel like something's missing. Suddenly, somehow, I empathize less with the characters. I also feel like you don't need reams of dialogue to tell the player how the character is feeling. Body language is important, and actions speak louder than words.
When I look at games like The Wind Waker or Catherine or Skyward Sword or Sonic Generations or Ghost Trick or Ace Attorney or something like that, I'm so damn thrilled at seeing animations tell a story. Even little idle animations tell me a lot of about a character's disposition because, as I said, body language tells me a lot about you.
I did feel like the cutscene QTEs in FF13-2 were a little jarring simply because they... uh, showed the damage output. I know I'm not in a battle and there isn't necessarily a life bar somewhere, so I don't see why they bothered doing it. Dialogue choices in FF13-2 were okay because I could make Serah sound like an idiot. At the same time, I was so disappointed with Lightning Returns's cutscene direction outside of the two obvious Yusnaan scenes. Oh well. Next time they might get it.
Basically what I'm getting at is... bro, use the medium. You can do anything with a video game. You don't need to make it so similar to a movie because the player actually has agency over what characters do.
Maybe I just got hit with a case of Old Lady
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
My younger sister is on my friend's list so that's already bullcrap. Expect an update around 4 or 5 EST.
CrimsonCrescendo
Banned
I think the general opinion was that Fang and Sazh were the better characters in XIII so the obvious thing to do about them in a fanservice game is to not include them.
Valkyrie Lightning DLC instead of them incoming!
If you've ever watched anime where they make fun of Americans...
edit: or just go Bostonian or Texan and/or tip everyone