Gaming The Final Fantasy Thread

What's your favourite single-player FF?

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KingEric7 said:
Depends. I'd say that, on average, people must take about 40 hours.

If you're as sad as me and Elvis however, it's likely to be a lot more. Get cracking! :D
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Crickey! They never make games this long these days. Guess i'll have my weekend cut out then.
 
FF VII was brilliant.

I basically faked illness in order to play that game. It was brilliant, me and a mate still sometimes get drunken banter about how good it was. And the soundtrack was surprisingly enjoyable for a japanese game.

On a side note i pretty much stumbled upon the game by accident. I swapped a friend at school for Parapa the Rapa. He didn't like FF and said if we wanted we could just keep the swapped games. Best swap of my life ever.
 
Not enough love for VIII in this thread. I loved that game, i think i must have racked up going on 600+ hours on this game alone! Then again the same could be said for VII and IX for me lol. Basically playing one game for a year solid over and over again, racks up the hours.

But then when X was coming out i spent the couple of week before release powering my way through VII, VIII and IX again. They're all great but VIII doesn't get as much recognition as it deserves.
 
FranklyVulgar said:
FF VII was brilliant.

I basically faked illness in order to play that game. It was brilliant, me and a mate still sometimes get drunken banter about how good it was. And the soundtrack was surprisingly enjoyable for a japanese game.

On a side note i pretty much stumbled upon the game by accident. I swapped a friend at school for Parapa the Rapa. He didn't like FF and said if we wanted we could just keep the swapped games. Best swap of my life ever.
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I don't think that it is a surprise, especially for RPGs. I mean, look at Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy all of them have incredible soundtracks (Nothing beats the theme song of FFIX or its battle song).
 
Final Fantasy XIII: Square Enix Interview

Kikizo: Back when the FF series was just getting starts, localisations were an afterthought. After the series really started picking up steam in the West, that market seemed to gain a much greater importance for you. Is this reflected in the development of FFXIII? Are you taking the Western market into more consideration when developing the game?

Kitase: Since the release of FF7, a lot of doors have opened for the series. We had a lot of people overseas pick up the series for the first time. When we realised just how much the overseas market was picking up on the game, we made a conscious effort to try and eliminate Japan-specific customs and concepts in the games. But maybe we've become a bit too conscious of that...? Maybe the Japanese origin of these games is part of their appeal. So, for FFXIII, we're just trying to do things as naturally as possible, and not worrying about tailoring it to any one specific market. The game's made in Japan, so the culture just follows naturally, I suppose.

Kikizo: Could you tell us about how progress is going with development with Final Fantasy XIII?

Kitase: For development, the PS3 version is currently being worked on. We're going to complete that version first before we move onto the 360. We're at the state where we can put the build on a BRD and play them on our testing units.

Kikizo: It's well known by now that FFXIII is no longer PS3 exclusive. Some PS3 fans are extremely disappointed, and have become quite vocal about their dissatisfaction. What would you say to them?

Hashimoto: I'd rather they not think of this as a "betrayal" or disappointment. It's not like we're cancelling or delaying the PS3 version at all! It's more of an added bonus for 360 fans. We won't be putting them at a disadvantage in any way.

Kitase: I'd like to add... I think that maybe because it's going multiplatform that some fans are worried about the game's scope being reduced to fit onto both consoles. The fact is, the PS3 version is what's in development right now, and the team is working to specialise that version to the very best of the PS3's abilities. After that, we'll do the 360 port and optimize it to that particular hardware. There will be no decrease in quality as a result of the game appearing across two platforms.

Kikizo: Has the expanded capacity of the Blu-way format had any effect on the game's presentation?

Hashimoto: Blu-Ray's additional storage capacity doesn't matter as much as the strength of the hardware itself. In the past, we could only create really high-quality cinematics as prerendered CG. But now, we can move that high-quality CG into realtime. We can portray large monsters and expansive, lush environments. So, the hardware is definitely a key element in the progression of the presentation quality.

Kikizo: The PS3's been around in Japan for a while now. Would you have hoped to release the first Final Fantasy game for the system a bit more quickly?

Hashimoto: Definitely! We would have loved to have had it ready sooner for the console, but with the development of new hardware, it's become more and more complicated to develop software. The process has become far more time-consuming.

Kikizo: There's not much known yet about how Final Fantasy XIII plays. Can you shed some light for our readers?

Kitase: Gameplay-wise, there's not much we can disclose at the moment... except that, similar to Final Fantasy XII, there's going to be a field with monsters roaming on there, which the character can interact with, and you can pursue or avoid them on the field. When you touch them, it will transition into a battle sequence. We can't say how many members will be in the party, but we will definitely have the traditional party element incorporated into the battles.

Kikizo: How long did it take to finalise the story and concepts behind Final Fantasy XIII? What were the main difficulties?

Kitase: The project is constantly evolving, so there's no specific time limit on when we have to have certain aspects of the game done by. The battle system, in particular, is something we continuously play and try to improve upon. The scenario is pretty much done, and the art assets are at about the 80% complete stage.

Kikizo: How does FFXIII relate to the other "Fabula Nova Crystallis" games?

Hashimoto: All of the FFXIII games are done by a different director. They all took the common "crystal mythology" of the game's storyline and decided to each interpret it in their own way. We gave them all their own creative freedom with the story and game style. All three games are very different experiences.

Kikizo: Is Lightning the de facto main character, or will other characters be heavily focused upon, as well?

Kitase: In terms of overall scope, Lightning - that's not her real name, by the way - will be the main character. Of course, there may be other characters that assume the main role during other portions of the game. They will be featured as the main part of the scene, but Lightning will be the main focus.

Kikizo: So why pick a female as a main character this time around?

Kitase: In the past, we've had females in a semi-lead position, like Terra/Tina in Final Fantasy VI and Yuna in FFX. They weren't quite the main role, though, so we really wanted to give a full-fledged, female lead a try - and face the challenge of creating a story around her.

Kikizo: The world of FFXIII appears to be neither pure traditional fantasy nor science fiction. What is the concept behind this world?

Kitase: Whether a title will have a more high fantasy or SF flavour is something that is up to each individual team. We decide on what we want to do fairly early on in development. For FFX, it was more of fantasy feel, while FF7 was more high-tech. The team behind FFXIII consists on many of the same staff that worked on FFX. Since FFX was a fantasy-oriented setting, we wanted to switch gears a bit and go more towards a science fiction feel for the game.

Kikizo: From what we've seen of the game so far, we've seen a lot of guns and other sci-fi-like weaponry in the game. We also have more human enemies, and not too many monsters. Is this indicative of what we're going to see in the final game?

Kitase: The trailer and screenshots were actually created at a very early stage in development, so at that point there were only humanoid enemies we could show. Same thing with the guns. In the final product, we assure you that there will be a lot more variety.

Kikizo: So - can you tell us anything about the enemies we will be encountering?

Kitase: There will be a variety of monsters depending on the location within the game. For example, as you can see in the trailer, the characters are in a city setting, and the enemies are an army of soldiers. In nature environments, you'll probably see more beast-like, "organic" type enemies.

Kikizo: When you release those trailers and images and get such a strong, positive fan reaction, does it put pressure on the team?

Kitase: It's not so much pressure, but with the internet these days, we can get feedback right away whenever we release something. A lot of people have opinions, you know, "This part looks so cool!" or "This part sucks!" Things like that. We look into that feedback. If something gets an especially positive or negative reaction, we'll take that into consideration and work it in or out of the game.

Kikizo: So where do you get the feedback from?

Hashimoto: That's a secret! [laughs] Aside from the internet, when we have events, the staff are always peeking from from the curtains to see how the audience reacts. We take that into account, too!
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Part 1
 

Kikizo: In your opinion, what are the core values of a Final Fantasy
game - the things that make Final Fantasy really stand out from the pack of RPGs - and how do you feel FFXIII embodies these values?

Kitase: Oooh, that's a complex question.

Hashimoto: It is!

Kitase: You go first. [laughs]

Hashimoto: Well, different games aim to have some sort of "key element" that will differentiate them from other games on the market. For FF, we feel that the key element is that we constantly try to reach the highest potential, the highest quality standards in that particular generation. We're always trying to raise the bar and outdo ourselves. We try to do that in every generation, and when we succeed, I think that's when users really look to us and say "that was a great game!" And that's what we want to achieve with FFXIII, as well.

Kitase: One thing to add to that is an anecdote from a while back. Hironobu Sakaguchi - who as I'm sure you know used to head up the Final Fantasy series - he and I once had a conversation about this exact subject... half-jokingly. I asked, "What do you think should always remain in a Final Fantasy game to make it what it is? Really, what makes Final Fantasy?" He replied, "Well, as long as we have those message boxes with the blue backgrounds and the white text and borders, we'll be fine!" That's a top secret story that's never been told until now! [laughs] But since we've had such an advancement with the graphics, we haven't even been able to maintain that... so, Sakaguchi-san, I'm sorry! [laughs]

Kikizo: We're starting to see a lot of very text- and dialogue-heavy games starting to get worldwide simultaneous releases. Do you think this would be possible to do for a Final Fantasy game?

Kitase: We're definitely trying to decrease the time gap between Japan and the other territories. We want to start the localisation process earlier this time around, so that we can cut out the lag between the releases as much as possible. But as I'm sure you know, in RPGs, there is a lot of varied, situational text. We're working as hard as we can, but we probably can't eliminate the release gap just yet.

Final Fantasy XIII is planned for release in 2009 for PS3 and Xbox 360.
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http://games.kikizo.com/features/final-fantasy-xiii-square-enix-interview-p3.asp
 

This will be the greatest game ever! Dissidia for the PSP.
 
Battle sequences in 13?

One step back, fecking hundreds of steps forwards. 12's battle system was.......unpleasant.
 
The most accurate and damning thing I will say about it is that it is not a Final Fantasy.
 
That's one of the reasons. The storyline is poor, even when you try not to line up against the rest of the series. Even the storyline of X-2 was miles better.

Secondly, the soundtrack is abysmal. Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Zelda, Elder Scrolls, etc provide a soundtrack that enables you to nostalgically assosciate music with certain areas of the game. This just isn't possible on 12. There are a few really great compositions, but I'm afraid the majority are shocking. The best tracks on the game are the Main Final Fantasy Theme and the Gilgamesh Battle; both of which are remixed from previous FFs.

Is Nobuo composing for 13 and Versus?
 
Oh aye, and the levelling system is plain dull, and largely unrewarding. You also get bored of the sidequests and extra stuff fairly quickly.

What kills me is that, for years, I was almost counting down the days until its release before it came out. What a disappointment. :(
 
KingEric7 said:
That's one of the reasons. The storyline is poor, even when you try not to line up against the rest of the series. Even the storyline of X-2 was miles better.

Secondly, the soundtrack is abysmal. Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Zelda, Elder Scrolls, etc provide a soundtrack that enables you to nostalgically assosciate music with certain areas of the game. This just isn't possible on 12. There are a few really great compositions, but I'm afraid the majority are shocking. The best tracks on the game are the Main Final Fantasy Theme and the Gilgamesh Battle; both of which are remixed from previous FFs.

Is Nobuo composing for 13 and Versus?
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Not sure about 13 but i know Yoko Shimomura is composing for Versus and she has a fantastic track record for getting it right ( Kingdom hearts soundtrack is epic)

I asked about XII because i recently bought it. Might be regretting it know. Still haven't played it, but it seems like a lot of people are disappointed by it.
 
XII is a mixed bag, I definately prefered having no random battles, and the Gambit system is quite cool (although I suppose takes away a lot of the fun since most battles just play themselves out while you watch). The characters (with one exception) and storyline are just so dull though, I kept waiting for the real story to kick in but it never happened, and the game requires a lot of leveling up to beat bosses which I hate.

The one saving grace for the game is the Balthier character who is awesome and about the only reason to play through the entire game.
 
Same can be said for films - I very rarely a watch a film twice in a space of a short time unless its exceptional or if it has one of those insane twists near the end or simply films that require multiple viewings to merely comprehend it.

Same can be said for gaming - MGS4 was my GOTY but I couldnt play it again knowing exactly what was going to happen. Im a sucker for constant new scenery I guess.

That being said though I have played Planetside quite regularly for the past 5 years or so.
 
Time for an update on FFXIII and FF Versus XIII.

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Shiva looks amazing:drool::drool:
 
esmufc07 said:
I think you will find VIII, IX, X and X-2 were all better than XII.
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I think I've played and cleared every one of them, so I'd probably know, but thanks for your wonderful input. And my god, X-2 is the most atrocious pile of wank ever, the only thing that's better than is being shot in the fecking face.

XII is a great game, but any FF fan is going to find it difficult to get in to because the battle system is so different, I didn't like the first 5 hours but after that I was hooked. It hasn't got a great plot, but it's certainly better than the plots of VIII and IX. I played that game for 120 hours and I wish I could've played more!
 
cina said:
XII is a great game, but any FF fan is going to find it difficult to get in to because the battle system is so different, I didn't like the first 5 hours but after that I was hooked. It hasn't got a great plot, but it's certainly better than the plots of VIII and IX. I played that game for 120 hours and I wish I could've played more!
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I was the other way around then, I enjoyed the game immensley for around 25/30 hours, but then the story became bogged down and uninteresting, the music was poor, and most of the characters were boring. Also, once I'd mastered the Gambit system, you could just basically put your pad down and let battles take care of themselves.

Don't get me wrong, it was still a good game (It had some amazing cut-scenes), but it just didn't compare to it's predecessors for me. What made it all the more disappointing is that I'd waited 6 years for it; perhaps I came to expect to much.
 
XII's biggest problem is its boring, its impossible to care about the plot or characters and the game requires ridiculous ammounts of leveling-up to beat bosses. The game is like a single player MMORPG.

I haven't finished IX but VIII, X & X-2 were all more enjoyable. X-2 has one of the best battle systems in any Final Fantasy, being able to switch job mid-battle is awesome.
 
esmufc07 said:
I was the other way around then, I enjoyed the game immensley for around 25/30 hours, but then the story became bogged down and uninteresting, the music was poor, and most of the characters were boring. Also, once I'd mastered the Gambit system, you could just basically put your pad down and let battles take care of themselves.

Don't get me wrong, it was still a good game (It had some amazing cut-scenes), but it just didn't compare to it's predecessors for me. What made it all the more disappointing is that I'd waited 6 years for it; perhaps I came to expect to much.
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Fair enough I guess, for me, the fact that I was waiting 6 years was all the more reason for me to get in to get game, cause I was just dying for a good FF game. I'll agree with you that the plot isn't the best, but I liked the music myself, and the actual world the game was in. The gambit system was what made the game for me, I agree the difficulty setting wasn't the best (first 20 hours were hard and then it got fairly easy in the middle) but when you did the bigger battles against the side bosses and stuff, that's where the tactics of the gambit system really worked.
 
Ixion said:
XII's biggest problem is its boring, its impossible to care about the plot or characters and the game requires ridiculous ammounts of leveling-up to beat bosses. The game is like a single player MMORPG.

I haven't finished IX but VIII, X & X-2 were all more enjoyable. X-2 has one of the best battle systems in any Final Fantasy, being able to switch job mid-battle is awesome.
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See, you say that about XII and then you tell me how much fun X-2 is? Hmm.

X-2 was just Squaresoft wanting to make some money back for the giant losses of that shite film they made.
 
I didn't praise X-2's plot or characters, I said it had one of the best battle systems, XII's battle system is ok but its mostly on rails, the game plays itself. X-2 doesn't require endless grinding either, you don't have to stop during the progression of the story just to get your characters up to a certain level.

X-2 has an advantage when it comes to characters though in that you're already familar with them (most of them anyway) as long as you've played X, and you already have an interest in how the story will end (i.e. will Tidus return).
 
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