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Post by triumshockwave on Feb 4, 2018 10:35:21 GMT -5
I enjoyed FFXV a lot, even though I played the vanilla version before they even fixed the late game (that did suck, not gonna lie). The combat is surprisingly fun despite not remotely resembling anything from Final Fantasy, and the time you spend in the car just getting from A to B actually serves to invest you in the bromance. My girlfriend platinum trophied it, continued to do more shit not even covered by trophies, and is still working on various DLC and new content here and there.
I actually liked XIII, for what it is. It's pretty, I got into the combat, and past the first part it's really no more linear than any other modern JRPG of its time. Most modern JRPGs stick you in lovingly rendered but restrictive maps. At least FFXIII doesn't send you back to the same couple maps over and over again while pretending that somehow constitutes new content. Yeah, looking at you Compile Heart. Maybe a little less time on customizable panties, and more on actual game.
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Post by SporkBot on Feb 4, 2018 12:41:15 GMT -5
My bro and I played the Playstation ports of some early FF games...I want to say the first four, but I'm not sure. I want to say he or I might've finished one, but another one I couldn't get through. It was after a couple magic twins turned themselves to stone to save the party...sometime after that, I had no idea where to go and I gave up.
I still dig 7 (we had it for PC, then Playstation) and 8...9 not as much, but I wouldn't call it bad. I remember beating them, and 10, but 8's final cut scene froze every time (so did 7, for my bro anyway). Bro bought 10-2, but neither of us got to playing it. Skipped Eleven, but played and liked 12 (I think there's some side thing I never finished). Still haven't finished 13, but do have the first sequel. Maybe I'll try it now that DCU Online ended PS3 support and I'm not drawn in by their collectible incentive crap.
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Post by Optimal Megatron on Feb 4, 2018 16:04:19 GMT -5
Interestingly, over time I've managed to come to the conclusion that XIII is a good game on its own with a premise and an ending that's acceptable.
XIII-2 greatly fixed up the battle system but the plot is a confusing dumpster fire the minute the words "time travel" get involved. It's possible that you might enjoy it, but they seem to have thought that the Empire Strikes Back was a good inspiration while missing that the good guys didn't lose EVERYTHING in the climax of that film. Lightning Returns has some interesting reviews, and the replay options are intriguing, but having to force myself to finish XIII-2 for context about XIII-3, I haven't tried it myself. The ending, from what I've seen, doesn't seem to suitably improve on what XIII-1's did, so I'm generally able to say it's not a HUGE deal narratively if you play and beat XIII and never touch the sequels.
XIII, however, was a fun game despite its battle system faults and if I didn't have as big a backlog as I do, I'd be considering replaying it. As is, I'm kinda looking at the XV Royal Edition since Uni finished XV stock and it looked really good then. The massive update and DLC stuff in the Royal Edition is tempting, though to finally start it.
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Post by Greatshot on Feb 4, 2018 22:50:55 GMT -5
I've gotten to know XIII a little bit from FFRK and I mostly want to play it beyond the opener I initially put into it because i LOVE Barthandelus theme music (and design) and would like to know who the hell he is, and Cid Raines is mah dawg and ditto. But the PCs seem to be a mostly unlikable lot and that's tough to get behind. I'l get to it eventually.
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Post by Matrix Dragon on Feb 5, 2018 0:05:32 GMT -5
plot is a confusing dumpster fire the minute the words "time travel" get involved. Time travel usually does that. I mean, I'm still glaring at STO after how long? But the PCs seem to be a mostly unlikable lot and that's tough to get behind. I'l get to it eventually. The fact the game decided to drop you in the middle of things with no explanation or context was a big killer for me (Also that the Xbox 360 version insisted on HD text even when most televisions still didn't have that option). Everyone had reasons for acting like they were, it's just that most of the time we had no god damn idea what they were. And I say that as someone that adores lore diving. I mean, I know enough now to like a good percentage of the cast (Except Hope), so maybe I'll give XIII a try again. XIII-2: Shit's on Fire, I'm not feeling much willingness to give another chance.
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Post by Optimal Megatron on Feb 5, 2018 0:41:19 GMT -5
Bartandelus is a giant spoiler, but he's a great villain (in case that weren't clear from his design ). Cid Raines is... impossible to talk about without spoiling the plot. Honestly, if you decide to get into XIII, I've beaten it, Uni's beaten it, and Spud's beaten it. Hilariously, even Julia's beaten it, and she nearly beat it twice, except the first time the last boss kept curb stomping her at the last second, so she literally made another save file and followed the player's guide to the letter out of spite to kill the bastard.
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Post by Greatshot on Feb 5, 2018 1:18:08 GMT -5
I've pretty much gotten the jist of the plot from the mobile game, and it sounds like Raines would probably be my favorite thing about it. He seems.. very BW Dinobot-ish in his motivations for lack of a better comparison off the top of my head. It's on my list to get around to, but i've got a lot to chip away at
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Post by SporkBot on Feb 5, 2018 9:39:03 GMT -5
Hilariously, even Julia's beaten it, and she nearly beat it twice, except the first time the last boss kept curb stomping her at the last second, so she literally made another save file and followed the player's guide to the letter out of spite to kill the bastard. Holy realizations, Optimal Megatron! I just remembered I found the Player's Guide online and saved each page into a file on my computer! ...seriously, I JUST remembered that. I just never looked through it because...wow, 'lotta pages...but dagnabbit, maybe I should give it a look and try to beat it.
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Post by triumshockwave on Feb 5, 2018 23:27:40 GMT -5
I played a little of XIII-2, but I generally dislike the SMT type capture and fuse monsters games. Unlike Pokémon, you can't get attached to any of them, and you're on a forced upgrade cycle since they're always outclassed by new shit coming along. They also tend to be way too much fucking micromanagement.
I didn't know they were releasing another version of XV with all the DLC and expanded content stuff on disc. That might be worth picking up just for archival sake. I'm constantly worried that 20 years from now, the Sony patch servers will be gone, and these games will be useless because the drive in my PS4 died and the patches/DLC are all gone.
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Post by Blade Raider on Mar 2, 2018 16:56:59 GMT -5
I just now noticed this thread and want to weigh in since I did make a point to beat all the numbered games (save for MMOs) last year for the 30th anniversary.
First, this goes without saying, screw all mobile ports and ports based on the mobile ports. I know Steam a few ports based on the mobile versions such as III. Don't bother with them.
I: The original is buggy, but playable. The remakes fix most of the bugs and add new things. It's the simple and hard to screw up game. I played the NES version on the Wii. I had fun with it, but I was using maps and counting steps by the end so to encounter as few battles as I could. A remake might fair better.
II: If you don't plan to play them all I recommend skipping this one. On the good, II tries to have a dark war story on the NES and introduces Cid and Chocobo. On the bad...everything else. Leveling in the game is like punching yourself in the face and that's not an exaggeration, the best way to level in the game is by hitting yourself. If you do play it, find whatever the newest version is and go with that as they tweak it to be a little more bearable each time. One last thing on II, if you are playing on a PS3, don't play the PSX (Origins) version. It's one of the few bugged PSX games on the PS3 and about 2 hours in you won't be able to progress.
III: The best of the NES games. It basically takes the best elements of I&II and improves on them. III has a free changing job system that's still a lot of fun. I played it on the DS where they added "character" to the party members and streamlined some things, but nothing that significant (aside from being 3D now). On the negative, I consider the final dungeon in III to be the worst final dungeon in the series (and I hear said dungeon is in XIV). The rest is great, that final dungeon just kind of left me on a sour note.
This is where the FF games get really good if you don't want to play them all, but I also consider IV-X to all be varying degrees of masterpieces. IV: Just about any version really. I personally prefer the DS version. It has a very good translation and sometimes voice acting.
V: V has I's and III's job system, but more or less perfects it. This is an underrated entry because it wants to be more lighthearted like Dragon Quest. The translations can be rough to, but if I remember correctly the GBA had the strongest of them. I would say play this one for fun characters and to see where Gilgamesh came from, just not the story.
VI: This is great game that I have not played enough of. I've beaten it on the GBA which is a great translation, but I only recommend it if you have a back lit GBA/DS to play on. My GBA was not back lit and I have regrets because the game is dark. Whenever I revisit an old FF game need, I plan to play VI on the SNES Classic just so I can see it.
VII: It's the Ocarina of Time of FF games. A huge fanbase (for better and worse), graphics that look like garbage now, and still somehow has a lot of good merits to it (also, unlike OoT it has an awful translation). I will say that the graphics actually can hurt the story mainly because it hurt my first play through. Steam and PS4 are the best ports. I know there's a Remake coming, but everything I've seen tells me it's not the same game. Gameplay looks more like a Kingdom Hearts game than FF7 and it looks like we're getting the spin off version of Cloud where he's all emo.
VIII: Not gonna lie, I love this game. I love the characters, the story, even the Junction system. I'm 100% bias in favor of this game. The Steam version includes access to Chocobo World, a mini game you needed a Japan only PocketStation to play. Also cheats if you don't like stuff the way they are.
IX: This is also a great game that I have not played enough of. I've beaten it once and I love it. IX is a bit of a call back to older FF games with minor references and just overall look. Graphically I would say it holds up better than the other PSX games because it went more for an art style instead of trying to look real.
X: The HD versions are great, but any version is good. You have it, play it. It's one of the best and I sure do love it. I don't recommend X-2 unless you like Japanese pop idols (I wish I was joking).
XI: I'm not even sure you can play that anyone...
XII: I hear the PS4 port is good and like X adds the International bonus content that I'm told fixes a lot of issues. If you can't tell I've never bought the PS4 version because I personally hate this game. The gameplay feels like one of 2 things: like I'm not playing it or like I'm babysitting it. The story is nothing to write home about and the game has a total of one fully realized character and he's just Han Solo. XII is where I had my falling out with Square, something I believe most FF fans have done at least once.
XIII: I don't hate it.
XV: I'm still not sure how a feel about XV yet, but if you haven't bought it yet: wait. They're doing a Royal Edition that includes most/all the DLC.
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