Final Fantasy

[Silverfyre]

Proudly.

[SinXAzgard21]

I will give that VIII had a brilliant opener but I still think VI's opener is classic.

When on emulator I just fast forward through VI's opening.

[Will]

I think it's one of the high points of the whole series.  So dramatic and suspenseful!  It's just beautifully done.  Plus, it gets the Biggs & Wedge cameo out of the way, right off the top. :P

[Chris Brady]

The issue I had with III/VI is the middle can drag on forever.  I prefer II/IV for story pacing.

[Inkidu]

The issue I had with III/VI is the middle can drag on forever.  I prefer II/IV for story pacing.

I agree, I also think that VI has too many characters. It's absurd. I'm thirty hours into a game and I'm still collecting characters? There's a reason all characters are usually introduced in act 1. Any later and it's usually hard for people to care.

[Silverfyre]

Too many characters? Man, you kids and your "give me all my characters right now!" mentality! Back in my day, we had to wait until Act XVIII to get my first character! :p

[Eislynn]

I agree, I also think that VI has too many characters. It's absurd. I'm thirty hours into a game and I'm still collecting characters? There's a reason all characters are usually introduced in act 1. Any later and it's usually hard for people to care.

Somehow, I feel that even with the extended cast, even the peripheral characters in VI had a level of depth that is lacking in some of main cast of the later games. I mean if I of all people can remember all of their names, they must have been memorable. To have fleshed out an engaging back story for fourteen unique characters? I give them nothing but praise for that. It's a bold move when most RPGs prefer a blank character that serves only as a canvas onto which the player has to project. I may be alone in this, but I much prefer a fleshed out hero that I can identify with instead of a mannequin I'm supposed to paint my face on.

Also some friendly advice if you dislike large casts: Never. Play. Suikoden. LOL. :D

[Silverfyre]

Oh gods, you speak of the game which must never be spoken of!  101+ characters!

* Silverfyre 's brain explodes.

[Inkidu]

Somehow, I feel that even with the extended cast, even the peripheral characters in VI had a level of depth that is lacking in some of main cast of the later games. I mean if I of all people can remember all of their names, they must have been memorable. To have fleshed out an engaging back story for fourteen unique characters? I give them nothing but praise for that. It's a bold move when most RPGs prefer a blank character that serves only as a canvas onto which the player has to project. I may be alone in this, but I much prefer a fleshed out hero that I can identify with instead of a mannequin I'm supposed to paint my face on.

Also some friendly advice if you dislike large casts: Never. Play. Suikoden. LOL. :D

Two things I'm going to observe. You've played the game more than once, and you like it. Of course, you're going to remember all their names. I played it once. I hardly remember ten of them. They're also all ones introduced early in the game. :P However, I can name probably every character with a name in IV.

[Eislynn]

@Inkidu

That's a fair assessment - But it says something that I was willing to go back and play it a 2nd time.

@silverfyre
108 Stars of Destiny mo-fo! ;D If my memory serves me, weren't there additional recruit-able characters that weren't Stars?

[Inkidu]

@Inkidu

That's a fair assessment - But it says something that I was willing to go back and play it a 2nd time.

@silverfyre
108 Stars of Destiny mo-fo! ;D If my memory serves me, weren't there additional recruit-able characters that weren't Stars?

I'm also going to assume you played it before you were thirteen, too.

[Silverfyre]

@silverfyre
108 Stars of Destiny mo-fo! ;D If my memory serves me, weren't there additional recruit-able characters that weren't Stars?

I believe there were.  I only managed half of that before my damned game disc got too scuffed to play.  That's what I get for buying it second hand back in the day.

[Eislynn]

@Inkidu
Actually I first picked it up in college - even if I had played it before age 13, I don't think the things that speak to us and shape us should have an age limit.

[Inkidu]

@Inkidu
Actually I first picked it up in college - even if I had played it before age 13, I don't think the things that speak to us and shape us should have an age limit.

Nah, you can usually guess that if someone can remember all that it was part of their formative years. I get the appeal of VI, but it's not in my top five. I think it tends to sprawl too much and the plot becomes harder to follow, add in the almost random way some character cut into the story it gets a little too schizo. I have the same problem with VII. :\

[Silverfyre]

Chrono Trigger remains my favorite RPG title.

/hijack

[Eislynn]

Nah, you can usually guess that if someone can remember all that it was part of their formative years. I get the appeal of VI, but it's not in my top five. I think it tends to sprawl too much and the plot becomes harder to follow, add in the almost random way some character cut into the story it gets a little too schizo. I have the same problem with VII. :\

Well we all have our own reasons for liking the ones we do. Something in a character or a plot will just draw us in and we are forever smitten. That's one thing I think we all have in common about the Final Fantasy series. At least one of the games finally smote us. :)

@Silverfyre.
Still its from the glory days of Squaresoft. ;)

[Inkidu]

Chrono Trigger remains my favorite RPG title.

/hijack

Yes! I never even played it when it was on the SNES, I got the PS1 re-release. Now I have it for DS.

[Chris Brady]

Man, Squaresoft, when they could actually make good games within the confines of their hardware...

And I was 16 when I played FF3/6.  And I still remember most of the characters.

[Inkidu]

Man, Squaresoft, when they could actually make good games within the confines of their hardware...

And I was 16 when I played FF3/6.  And I still remember most of the characters.

It's not an exact science, damnit! XD I mean I played VIII after I was thirteen and I love that game. Sometimes it's not right, though  you could argue 16 is formative.

[Will]

It's not an exact science, damnit! XD I mean I played VIII after I was thirteen and I love that game. Sometimes it's not right, though  you could argue 16 is formative.

I actually think VIII had the most convoluted, hard to follow plot of the whole series. : /  I don't mind the length of a plot so much, though, because the longer the game is, the more I feel like I got my money's worth.  I'm a cheap bastard, what can I say?

[Chris Brady]

I actually think VIII had the most convoluted, hard to follow plot of the whole series. : /  I don't mind the length of a plot so much, though, because the longer the game is, the more I feel like I got my money's worth.  I'm a cheap bastard, what can I say?

No, you're not.  Time is relative, but yes, a long game means you're getting more out of it, those the cost to fun ratio increases.  Which is what pisses me off with these 20 hour games being considered 'too long'.  I'm sorry, but I'm going to be paying nearly 60 bucks for a game, I want at LEAST 12 hours, NO LESS.

That being said, if the game is awesome and clocks in at 10 hours?  Then yes, it's worth it.  If the game drags on for 60 hours, and is dull and dreary?  No, it's not worth the price.

[Inkidu]

I actually think VIII had the most convoluted, hard to follow plot of the whole series. : /  I don't mind the length of a plot so much, though, because the longer the game is, the more I feel like I got my money's worth.  I'm a cheap bastard, what can I say?

That's just because it's time travel and time travel never works out right under any scrutiny. :D

[Will]

No, you're not.  Time is relative, but yes, a long game means you're getting more out of it, those the cost to fun ratio increases.  Which is what pisses me off with these 20 hour games being considered 'too long'.  I'm sorry, but I'm going to be paying nearly 60 bucks for a game, I want at LEAST 12 hours, NO LESS.

That being said, if the game is awesome and clocks in at 10 hours?  Then yes, it's worth it.  If the game drags on for 60 hours, and is dull and dreary?  No, it's not worth the price.

Yes and yes!  On both counts.  A good game is a good game, regardless.  I can appreciate that.  But if it can be longer and still be good, I appreciate that even more, haha.

And to be fair, I still loved VIII.  It's one of my favorites.  The junctioning system is really similar to VI, so I loved it immediately, and the magic system was so unique.  The gameplay and the character customization were just fantastic.  But I reached a point in the game, where I was like, "Hold up.  The fuck is going on, exactly?"  There were a metric ton of random, poorly explained plot devices that really threw me for a loop.  I shrugged it off and enjoyed the game anyway, but yeah.  It took another playthrough to really get a grip on the plot.

[Eislynn]

And to be fair, I still loved VIII.  It's one of my favorites.  The junctioning system is really similar to VI, so I loved it immediately, and the magic system was so unique.  The gameplay and the character customization were just fantastic.  But I reached a point in the game, where I was like, "Hold up.  The fuck is going on, exactly?"  There were a metric ton of random, poorly explained plot devices that really threw me for a loop.  I shrugged it off and enjoyed the game anyway, but yeah.  It took another playthrough to really get a grip on the plot.

Want a mind-fucK?

Do NOT click here unless you really want a theory that destroys then reconstructs FFVIII in brain exploding ways -- Also, SPOILERS LOL! You've been warned.

This website details an entire alternate story theory in which Squall is dead before you ever insert Disk 2. It's not  cannon or anything, but it's a really entertaining read that COULD be true given their evidence. It's one of those things that got me interested enough that I am currently replaying the game.

They lay the whole thing out on http://squallsdead.com/

[Will]

Omg, I...

Omg