Final Fantasy Discussion Thread

[Xiahou Jia]

My most favourite soundtrack from the ff games:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQdKkvERi6c

I remember I actually paused the game, put the controller aside and simply sat back and enjoyed the music the first time I heard it.

[Bush Leagues]

A few months ago I bought the Final Fantasy X/ X-2 Remaster.

I did a ton with FFX back in the day, even almost maxing out some characters' stats (because I loved Rikku back then, and had little better to do). Man, the graphical improvements are definitely there. It took me a few minutes to get used to a "newer look", I suppose, but afterward I thought it was a significant upgrade. Not all models got some improvements, but overall the game looks much better. Many songs were remixed, and while I prefer most of the remixed versions, there were a few I found disappointing. The new boss theme, battle theme, and Besaid theme were all well done, but I didn't like the new, faster version of Via Purifico. That was one of my favorite songs, and I found the faster pace inappropriate for the area and story at the time.

I've almost beat FFX again, but only just touched FFX-2, so I have no opinion right now, except that I continue to hate active time battles. Much prefer true turn-based like FFX. I had never played FFX-2 before, so the whole game is new for me.

Overall, I can say it's definitely an upgrade, and worth your money if you're a big fan of these two games, or missed one the first time around.

I'd like to take the moment to put out one of my biggest gripes about FFX. FFX is my favorite final fantasy, much better overall (not even considering things like graphical/sound quality) than the "amazing " FFVII. I've played VII through, and it's pretty damn good for the first disc. And then you hit disc 2. And it sure feels like the game falls apart. But whatever.

During the whole FFX story, we keep hearing Tidus talk about how it's "his" story. How he decides how things goes (echoing Auron from the very start of the game). But it's not really. The story is ultimately about Yuna. From almost any standpoint, this is pretty clear. From a story standpoint, Yuna has all the power. She is the summoner - she decides when they go to various temples, who they deal with, and ultimately makes more choices that matter in the course of the game. The whole story - and the whole universe - revolve around summoners, and in our party, Yuna.

Major FFX Spoilers

She decided to marry Seymour for the good of Spira, and then decided to confront him about the death of his father. She's the one who was willing to defy the church and press on even after being (effectively) excommunicated. Upon reaching Zanarkand, she decides to throw away the final summoning in favor of a path that can get rid of Sin for good. Almost every major decision in the game is Yuna's.

And think about the plot if we followed the game from Yuna's eyes for the entire game. If it was established that we were Yuna. All the major twists - Summoners dying by the final aeon, requiring a guardian's sacrifice for the final aeon, that Sin is Jecht - it's possible to run the story in a way that retains all these dramatic, extreme moments. And now, it's not just our fictional love interest and party member - it's us. We, the player character, are on our way to die in order to save Spira. We will have one of our friends become the final aeon, and they will then kill us. We brought excommunication and social exile upon all our friends by refusing to let Seymour escape his crimes. We are forced to kiss that ass-hat during the wedding scene - making our revenge later all the better.

I've actually already through this through, and Tidus can still be a major character - even the second most important after Yuna. He's still a fish-out-of-water character, so we continue to learn about the world as we travel with him. The love interest continues as planned. Basically you only have to change the beginning of the game and alter the tutorial, and you could honestly leave it like that, although changing a few scenes would probably be for the best with the new shift in focus.

She would also be FF's true first female lead - many people say Terra from FFVI (makes sense), but apparently the producers (or directors, someone like that) said that's more about everybody, so you can't really call her a lead; that makes Lightning from FFXIII the "true" first female lead. That's a bit debatable, but Yuna is a really cool character who got the shaft because we need the spikey-haired kid to be the main character, like always. It would have been a refreshing change of pace for a new console, a new generation, and quite a bold move for the first FF on the PS2. Square missed a big opportunity here.

[Dong Zhou]

I loved FFX, less so the sequel. My guess is they went with Tidus as the outsider as the viewers would be outsiders to this world as well. I certainly think Yuna as the lead would have been awesome as well but I can see why they picked Tidus.

On the subject of lack of FF female leads, 15 apparently won't have any of the main group be female. Because the makers feel that if there are females in the group, the males won't be able to be the same people, that their behaviour will change. There might be female guest stars in the group but they are wary of that because how will the bro dynamics cope with females in their ranks?

I'm hoping that is a massive prank and not a depressing glimpse at attitude among the FF game makers.

[LiuBeiwasGreat]

It would not surprise me to hear that the current FF development team doesn't want to put women in key positions in the game. The quality of Final Fantasy has been declining for years, with their focus on flashy visuals and prioritizing the teenage male audience. In my opinion things have been going downhill ever since 7, though like you two I did enjoy 10, not that it was a masterpiece, but it was better then the rest of the games that have come out since.

[Bush Leagues]

I loved FFX, less so the sequel. My guess is they went with Tidus as the outsider as the viewers would be outsiders to this world as well. I certainly think Yuna as the lead would have been awesome as well but I can see why they picked Tidus.

On the subject of lack of FF female leads, 15 apparently won't have any of the main group be female. Because the makers feel that if there are females in the group, the males won't be able to be the same people, that their behaviour will change. There might be female guest stars in the group but they are wary of that because how will the bro dynamics cope with females in their ranks?

I'm hoping that is a massive prank and not a depressing glimpse at attitude among the FF game makers.

It wouldn't be a terrible surprise. Remember that all the designers and and the like are Japanese, and there is a clear difference in the expectations between men and women, and how one should act in the presence of different genders. This is a cultural thing that has permeated Japan for centuries. While both have equal rights and voting privileges, etc, the cultural and societal expectations are clearly different in most cases - men are expected to do certain things, and women are expected to do other things, and it's a bit of a shock to us in the west. So it's easy to see how the FF creators are influenced by this the same as everyone else in their country, and so take that philosophy into their games.

This isn't me trying to say anything bad about Japan. But from what I know about the country, this would probably be the case if it is real. did they announce this on April 1st? Because it would make for a decent April Fool's joke.

[Dong Zhou]

I'm pretty sure it wasn't on April 1st and came over 2-3 days

[Bush Leagues]

It would not surprise me to hear that the current FF development team doesn't want to put women in key positions in the game. The quality of Final Fantasy has been declining for years, with their focus on flashy visuals and prioritizing the teenage male audience. In my opinion things have been going downhill ever since 7, though like you two I did enjoy 10, not that it was a masterpiece, but it was better then the rest of the games that have come out since.

I haven't played enough of 9 or any of 11, so I could be incorrect, but I think 10 is probably the best FF since 6. And there's no question to me that the most recent ones (11-13) have been clearly inferior to earlier games. 11 was an attempt at an MMO, so it gets a pass. 12 and 13 are just...oof.

[QilinStar]

Did you guys hear about the FF VII Remake? It was announced a couple of days ago and it is now in development. Apparently the game will be modified to fit the modern gaming generation both game play and story wise. We can all look forward to cross-dressing Cloud in HD.

[LiuBeiwasGreat]

Did you guys hear about the FF VII Remake? It was announced a couple of days ago and it is now in development. Apparently the game will be modified to fit the modern gaming generation both game play and story wise. We can all look forward to cross-dressing Cloud in HD.

I am intrigued, I liked 7 but I am not a hardcore fan. I think they will definitely need to made modifications to the story and script to plug in some of those plot holes. Also they need to make the middle section more meaty. Besides the legion of minigames you kinda wander aimlessly.

I would not be happy if they include the more modern FF battle systems for this remake. I want to control my entire party, I don't want the AI making decisions for me. One of the reasons I haven't played an FF game in years. I tried to play 12 but got frustrated with the lack of control and the licensing system.

[lcklasman]

Did you guys hear about the FF VII Remake? It was announced a couple of days ago and it is now in development. Apparently the game will be modified to fit the modern gaming generation both game play and story wise. We can all look forward to cross-dressing Cloud in HD.

I am intrigued, I liked 7 but I am not a hardcore fan. I think they will definitely need to made modifications to the story and script to plug in some of those plot holes. Also they need to make the middle section more meaty. Besides the legion of minigames you kinda wander aimlessly.

I would not be happy if they include the more modern FF battle systems for this remake. I want to control my entire party, I don't want the AI making decisions for me. One of the reasons I haven't played an FF game in years. I tried to play 12 but got frustrated with the lack of control and the licensing system.

Hahaha you think XII was bad? In XIII, you can defeat almost every single enemy in the game just spamming the x button with auto battle. It's so tedious basically playing on what feels like a long pathway for the entirety of the game (sans maybe an hour where it is pretty open), and then going through the monotonous battles. Wash, rinse, and repeat and there you have it, Final Fantasy XIII.