Cropduster89
Neo Member
Yeah XII looks awesome, some of it's locations, like the Sandsea and Rabanaste are some of the best in the series imo.
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Final Fantasy with the poorest aging aesthetics?
- Thread starter ZombiePlatypus
- Start date
Yeah XII looks awesome, some of it's locations, like the Sandsea and Rabanaste are some of the best in the series imo.
sort of agree.
when ff7 was released, a lot of german magazines couldnt wrap their head around why ff7 had block graphics on the hub-world and realistic looking characters in the battles/FMV.
(in that time, anime wasnt a thing until pokemon came around in 99)
ff9 was groundbreaking because you could move your character while a FMV was playing in the background (there were quite a few scenes in the game which utilized that)
i love ff9 the most.
games which heavily emphasize on graphics do age very poorly.
play uncharted 1-3 they nowadays look like garbage.
nintendo know how to play the game, 60 fps, clean asthetics and the game will last for eternity.
n64 was sort of the only bad era for them (VB was another story)
when ff7 was released, a lot of german magazines couldnt wrap their head around why ff7 had block graphics on the hub-world and realistic looking characters in the battles/FMV.
(in that time, anime wasnt a thing until pokemon came around in 99)
ff9 was groundbreaking because you could move your character while a FMV was playing in the background (there were quite a few scenes in the game which utilized that)
i love ff9 the most.
games which heavily emphasize on graphics do age very poorly.
play uncharted 1-3 they nowadays look like garbage.
nintendo know how to play the game, 60 fps, clean asthetics and the game will last for eternity.
n64 was sort of the only bad era for them (VB was another story)
Scrooge McDuck
Member
I'm certain FF7 and FF8 did that also. I remember the Shinra Building introduction scene in FF7 and the hanging fistfight scene in FF8.
If I'm not mistaken, Parasite Eve 2 even has a prerendered FMV background that only plays when Aya walks and pause when she stops to emulate camera following her actions. That was pretty wowerrific.
-Mutsukki-
Member
I dunno, I feel like I prefer looking at a super blocky model than the pixelated mess that were a lot of PSX games. N64 games look sharp and clean to this day, they embraced blockyness into the aesthetics
dragonzdogma
Member
FF1 NES:
Whoa that's awesome. I can't believe the nes was pushed that far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v_B9WwR9sg8&v=QCSGRSkzvpE#t=18m30s
It's not exactly new to FF9. FF7 had a few too.
But FF9 did it far better. The spoils of experience, I guess.
In my FF9 replay (on Steam), those FMVs looked by far the worst, which I thought was interesting. Not sure whether it was because of the juxtaposition of the model on the video or not.
Brad Grenz
Member
I think the 3D remakes of III and IV for DS are pretty bad. The DS hardware limitations are profound and result in games that look worse than the NES and SNES originals.
QisTopTier
XisBannedTier
RedAssedApe
Banned
The pre-rendered backgrounds of 7-9 still look great even at the psx resolution. Wish they had the assets then we could get remasters that look like.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551612
Character models of course did not age well for ff7.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551612
Character models of course did not age well for ff7.
FF7, easily. It looked bad in 1997 and it looks terrible now, and the screechy MIDI murders one of the best composed soundtracks of the series. Even at the time people wondered why the out-of-battle character models looked so bad and the music was like that.
I would say a modern gamer would have trouble getting through 2 and 3, maybe. 1 has a simple charm to it that carries it somewhat but 2 in particular is a slog.
I would say a modern gamer would have trouble getting through 2 and 3, maybe. 1 has a simple charm to it that carries it somewhat but 2 in particular is a slog.
It has to be either VII or VIII because of the poor 3D models outside of battle and the janky traversal in the static backgrounds. IX improved upon the mechanic and feels much smoother outside of battles.
I think VIII is the worse offender because VII is a bit smaller in scope with the backgrounds and the characters move quicker. It's not such a slog in repeated playthroughs.
I think VIII is the worse offender because VII is a bit smaller in scope with the backgrounds and the characters move quicker. It's not such a slog in repeated playthroughs.
This. FF9 is absolutely gorgeous to this day.
I'll say it's FF7 for me for sure, to the point I quit it not long after starting it because it was just off putting (I know I know, it's a shame, but I didn't have a chance to play it when it was considered good looking)
Very much so, heh.
When the resolution was 320x240 a lot of it got obfuscated, and polygons/FMV simply just blended together.
DiipuSurotu
Banned
This thread needs more images, so here's Final Fantasy VII.
FFVII on PlayStation looked nothing like that.
encephalon
Member
It sure as hell looked "something" like it. I think FFVII has some greatness that shines through, but overall the direction is a mess. It's the number one reason I look forward to the remake.
The aesthetic is the same regardless of IQ though, right?
Definitely Final Fantasy VII. It's emblematic of that era where people were just enamored with new technology to the point that they'd make ghastly horrible looking things just for the novelty of it. I'm glad we've moved past those dark times and nevr have to look at that clunky primitive 3D again.
Final Fantasy I is also fairly grotty, for similar reasons. They should clearly have made it a text adventure.
It should also be noted here for Internet historians of the future that Final Fantasy XIII doesn't count. We always thought it looked awful and the dialogue was such garbage that even the very words themselves offended us. No one ever thought its aesthetic was anything other than an embarrassing joke. So please don't mistakenly put it on a "poorly aged visuals" list in the 23rd century.
Final Fantasy I is also fairly grotty, for similar reasons. They should clearly have made it a text adventure.
It should also be noted here for Internet historians of the future that Final Fantasy XIII doesn't count. We always thought it looked awful and the dialogue was such garbage that even the very words themselves offended us. No one ever thought its aesthetic was anything other than an embarrassing joke. So please don't mistakenly put it on a "poorly aged visuals" list in the 23rd century.
XANDER CAGE
Member
FFVII's aesthetic represents nearly everything I dislike about JRPG/japanese pop scifi/fantasy design circa the 90s and early 2000s, even if all of its backgrounds are technically and artistically very good. That's more of just a taste thing, but it's definitely not my favorite style by any means and definitely looks dated (and I don't mean graphically). To each their own, though, it's hard to exactly pin down what it is about the look I dislike or what makes it "bad" or "aged"; I just don't like it much.
BlazeHedgehog
Member
I love Final Fantasy 5's monster designs but everything else about it (story, etc.) is all the most generic, predictable stuff I think any Final Fantasy game's ever had
I think FF7 and FF8 are by far the worst. FF9 manages to somewhat mitigate the general early-3D ugliness with its art style.
I just played FF4 and FF5 this year, and 5 is a massive improvement over 4 aesthetically.
It also has by far the best mechanics of any mainline FF game. It succeeds as an RPG in terms of gameplay more than most of them.
Is it now? I don't think that's true, a lot of 13 is crafted so it can be very unique. It's not really about it being pretty or not, it's just that it's very competent in it's visuals.
Never hotlink Wikia images, they'll immediately shrink down to stamp size.
XANDER CAGE
Member
Again, tastes and all, but I think that all looks incredibly garish, in the same way I find FF7 garish.
Well, it's certainly a high-fantasy aesthetic compared to the more reserved one of e.g. 12, but I think it's executed extremely impressively.
And really, if there's one thing I don't remember at FF13 launch it's complaints about its graphics (except some technical issues e.g. AF and hair which are not present in the PC version).
I know you say tastes and all, but in my world no amount of taste can tell me that this aesthetic has somehow aged worse than the absolute mess that are FF7 and especially FF8's visuals.
The 7 hate is bonkers. The character models in the context of the game invoke (to me) a deliberate art style choice made due to technical limitations of the time, where as FF8 just looks like bad early 3D. Maybe if FF8 models had some kind of Vagrant Story look to them I would hate them less. Outside of the context of the game then one is just a lower poly model I guess.
The people in the 2013 thread we had about this topic had much better opinions. RIP neogaf
The people in the 2013 thread we had about this topic had much better opinions. RIP neogaf
Succeeds at looking like the wardrobe of a colorblind clown, maybe.
And I'm glad they decided not to change any of the fantasy lingo in the localization. The frequent mentions of Elsie's falsies and the evil god Bunnyvelse are helping me take this story seriously like you wouldn't believe, and also like I wouldn't believe, because it's the least true thing that has ever been said.
I hate Final Fantasy XIII. Some would say more than is healthy for a person to hate a video game, and they would be correct. I hate Final Fantasy XIII like a normal person would hate a war criminal. I hate Final Fantasy XIII like AM from I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream hates humans. There is a spittoon next to my desk. It's primarily there for when I accidentally remember Aiden Pearce, but it also comes in handy when I remember Final Fantasy XIII.
I really loved all the pre-rendered backgrounds in VII/VIII/IX but many of the 3D assets in these game have aged rather poorly.
FFVII is the most obvious one with it's blocky characters. I used to be relieved to be in the battle screen because all the character models looked so much better.
I still love the aesthetics of these games though.
FFVII is the most obvious one with it's blocky characters. I used to be relieved to be in the battle screen because all the character models looked so much better.
I still love the aesthetics of these games though.
You act like good, grounded stories are a Final Fantasy staple rather than something which happened once (in FF12) and only for half of the game.
I'm also not sure how that relates to aesthetics.
FF VII is horrendous to look at. The environments are fairly decent, but the characters are not. The biggest sin is that its not consistent. It alternates between the ugly blocky character models, which reeks of first wave 3d generation games, and then the alternate models with more realistic proportions. Why not just stick to one model? Just seems like a poor attempt to pander to both Japanese and western markets, but with no benefits. No consistency at all.
Obviously it gets a free pass though because it's babbys first rpg though.
Obviously it gets a free pass though because it's babbys first rpg though.
This is a big reason I still adore FFVII. Those pre rendered backgrounds still look gorgeous when displayed at the right resolution. Already I know I won't like how the remake looks compared to these. I can forgive the Lego people in VII because of those lovely backgrounds and anyway I feel the more realistically proportioned models of VIII look worse.This thread needs more images, so here's Final Fantasy VII.
No because despite its dated visuals, it's a great game with the best story pacing of the J-RPG genre, along with Chrono Trigger and the first disc of Xenogears.
XANDER CAGE
Member
I think it has; it has the same elaborate and fairly pointless mishmash of fantasy and science fiction aesthetics, and also features peak 2000s jpop wardrobe design with the layered hair, asymmetrical clothing, etc etc. It looks very Of A Time, and I'm generally not a fan of that era of JRPG aesthetics.
Also - and I I know the PC version kind of solves this issue now - but at the time when I played the game on console, the fine detail in everything just did not look good, much the same way that FFVIII's visuals were too detailed for their own good.
I'm fully aware that Final Fantasy narratives are often ridiculous, but at least they try. Final Fantasy VII didn't just throw up its hands and go "Oh we may as well just call the deformed alien corpse mother of the primary antagonist Mad Aunt Bridget, The Fidgeting Midget"
This relates to aesthetics because the very words themselves sound ugly, like a Michael Bay film adaptation of a Hieronymous Bosch painting, but instead of teal and orange everything is pink and beige and somehow that makes it worse.
FF7 has worst aged field visuals, yet best aged battle visuals. All of the battle models are clear, and the battles flow well. Jenova-boss models have aged not that we'll though.
FF9 is the opposite. The field visuals still look stunning, but battle visuals are a mess (especially the trance models). The battles try to look great, but end up pretty janky.
FF8 is in the middle, not looking awful in either category, but not great either.
NES/SNES games look consistent visually, while PS2/PS3 games are still new enough to not have really "aged", so it's hard to judge those yet.
FF9 is the opposite. The field visuals still look stunning, but battle visuals are a mess (especially the trance models). The battles try to look great, but end up pretty janky.
FF8 is in the middle, not looking awful in either category, but not great either.
NES/SNES games look consistent visually, while PS2/PS3 games are still new enough to not have really "aged", so it's hard to judge those yet.
That's a very, uh, subjective use of the word objective
As much as I love the game - probably VII. The backgrounds still look fine, but the character models (and FMV scenes to a degree) aged really poorly. Considering it was the first FF game on PS1 it's completely forgivable, but I still am astonished by just how big the jump in graphical fidelity was from VII to VIII.
Dandy Lyin
Member
VIII. I thought it was too ugly to play even when it first came out on PC.
SprachBrooks
Member
FFVII and essentially all pre-rendered backgrounds just looks terrible.
On another note, I think FFXII and FFXIII have aged really well.
On another note, I think FFXII and FFXIII have aged really well.