Support NeoGAF

[kswiston]

I feel your pain Aeana. I had that happen to me about 55 hours into Dark Cloud 2 years ago. It was luckily the only file corrupted, but it resulted in me never finishing that game. I was in the last area and wasn't about to replay the entire thing to get back to that point.


I didn't make any Final Fantasy Tactics progress today. I finished a story battle yesterday, but want to beat at least one more before posting part 3 of my playthrough. Maybe tomorrow.

 

[Dimmle]

I'm really glad we suggested IX now, it would have been a shame if you didn't like it.

If you are enjoying it now, I think you will enjoy the whole thing. It's so charming, with great locations and atmosphere. I think the towns are the best in the series, Treno city of nobles is just wonderful.

I'm actively thinking about it when I'm not playing. A classic RPG hasn't claimed that kind of mind share for me since... I'm not sure when-- Earthbound or Chrono Trigger, maybe. It's like I suddenly discovered they made an FF specifically for me sixteen years ago despite having played the series since I was a teenager.

And I agree, I've been deeply impressed with the towns so far even judging solely by Alexandria in the intro. I miss the days of these bespoke towns filled with unique houses and residents as opposed to the modern, impersonal sprawl and clutter of FFXV.

 

[Forkball]

Just got IX on Steam. I'll probably jump on it in during New Year's. I've never played III, V, IX, XI, or XV. Pipe dream, but I wish Square would port the IV-VI GBA versions to the Switch VC.

 

[Dimmle]

Oops, had some Steam gift cards and bought V, VI, and X/X-2.

 

[jb1234]

Played a bit more of FF2 this evening. It's fascinating how much the game is like FF1 and yet at the same time, how much more advanced it is. I still often get the feeling that I have no idea exactly where I'm going (and the encounter rate is high enough to where exploring the world map isn't all that much fun). But at the same time, the story, while still fairly simple (and told in an endearingly matter-of-fact way) is definitely more present than it ever was in FF1. I'm definitely more entertained at this point.

I bumped into a few towns and did my first dungeon, Semitt Falls. It wasn't anything too terribly cruel, although I'm already deeply sick of the numerous empty rooms that are loaded with enemies. The boss there was stronger than I expected but fortunately, I had a few spells that I was able to pelt him with. Firion and Gus have kept their default weapons but I moved Maria to the front and gave her a mace, which she's pretty decent with. She seems to gain HP slower than the other two, unfortunately.

Because I've basically been hoarding money, I now have over 5000 gil that I should probably spend. Just have to decide what to buy.

 

[Andyliini]

OK, so. I'll say right away that I haven't gone back to play past Final Fantasy games, and as my time is short these days, I probably won't anytime soon. That said, I have beaten most of the main series games until now. Few days ago, I beat FFXV, so only the online-games I haven't really played. I tried FFXI, but couldn't enjoy it at all. I fell in love with the series playing FFVII on my cousins PSOne, around 1998. The year later I bought it for myself. After that, I have been a fan of the series. My favorite game in the series is FFIX.

Even though I did went as far as grinding all the achievements from FFXIII, I'm not sure if I can do the same for FFXV. All the other ones seem plausible, but I really can't see myself to grind as far to

Spoiler

defeat Adamantoise.

Feels like a drag. I enjoyed the first part of that game, but after Chapter 7 or 8 or so

Spoiler

(After the Leviathan boss

, the game pretty much blew apart, and my enjoyment hit almost rock bottom. I was able to finish the game, but it wasn't as good as the beginning promised. The story, too, was a mess.

I remember I LP'd Final Fantasy Origins a few years back, but I had to quit as my capture card broke during that time. Maybe I should think about restarting the project.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

So I've intentionally avoided Final Fantasy games my whole life. I absolutely despise anime and anime character designs. It's kept me away from the series since I was a young kid.

So FFXV is my first ever FF game. But I can honestly say I'm blown away by how much I'm enjoying it. I still hate some of the character designs, ESPECIALLY cidney, but I'm really loving the game.

The exploration is so chill and fun, while the combat can be quite intense. I'm definitely going to give the entire series a new chance and play the "best" few FF games now.

 

[Dimmle]

So FFXV is my first ever FF game. But I can honestly say I'm blown away by how much I'm enjoying it. I still hate some of the character designs, ESPECIALLY cidney, but I'm really loving the game.

The exploration is so chill and fun, while the combat can be quite intense. I'm definitely going to give the entire series a new chance and play the "best" few FF games now.

What makes Cindy such an especially shocking character design is the fact that FF has never been known for that kind of crude fan service. If you're looking for chill exploration, quite a few games in the series make that their hallmark: Final Fantasy IV through IX have a lot to explore.

If you're looking for an FF that is "least anime," I'd suggest the FFXII remaster due this year. It has a tone and aesthetic unlike any other game in the franchise and huge areas to explore to boot.

I'd characterize VII, VIII, X, XIII, and XV as the titles that go "full anime."

 

[MillionStabs]

First time playing X. Final boss. I can't beat it. Don't want to go grind :/

What I did is use a Friend Sphere to get Yuna into Lulus grid and learn the -ga spells since I think her magic is stronger than Lulu's, then target the two ads with the final boss. If you can do consistant 9999 damage, they'll always die in one cast and it makes the fight muuuuch easier.

If in the event you do have to grind, the game isn't as bad about it as other RPGs. If you can reload a save to right before the second to last boss

Spoiler

Seymour

, that area has monsters that give lots of XP and are mildly easy to kill

 

[depward]

Thanks for the FFX tips! Will give it another go.

Though just started WoFF on Vita. Having some good fun with it so far!

 

[kswiston]

Is world of Final fantasy worth it on Vita if you have a PS4? Theres a pretty big price difference between the two on PSN right now.

 

[RDreamer]

I also grabbed WoF on vita. Hoping it runs well enough. That just seems like the sort of game that would be way better on the go. I run around a lot nowadays especially for work and needing to play on my PS4 is a hassle for some games.

I'm grinding a bit before the Seymour fight on Gagazet for FFX. The game's been pretty brutally hard for me so far. I think I fucked up the expert sphere grid pretty badly, because this was one of the easiest FFs ever and now it's pretty hard. I don't mind that, though.

I'm also contemplating FFX-2. My original goal was to go through FFX and then X-2 to try and finally beat X-2. I've played a bit of it but I think last time I only got like 10 hours in. Not sure if I should play that before, after, or during WoFF.

 

[Jennipeg]

I also grabbed WoF on vita. Hoping it runs well enough. That just seems like the sort of game that would be way better on the go. I run around a lot nowadays especially for work and needing to play on my PS4 is a hassle for some games.

I'm grinding a bit before the Seymour fight on Gagazet for FFX. The game's been pretty brutally hard for me so far. I think I fucked up the expert sphere grid pretty badly, because this was one of the easiest FFs ever and now it's pretty hard. I don't mind that, though.

I'm also contemplating FFX-2. My original goal was to go through FFX and then X-2 to try and finally beat X-2. I've played a bit of it but I think last time I only got like 10 hours in. Not sure if I should play that before, after, or during WoFF.

I've been considering this too, it would be great if you can post your impressions on how it runs. I'm debating which version to get. I wont buy it for a few weeks though, I have other stuff on the go.

I thought I would find it too cheesy, but I saw a cutscene between Snow and Celes and I was sold. It's not taking itself seriously at all so i'm looking forward to it. I hope I enjoy it more than XV, which I was enjoying and then my opinion just took a nosedive.

 

[jimmypython]

I am currently playing FFT War of Lion on my Vita.....10 hours in I REALLY want to play this version of the game on my TV without all the slowdowns

 

[Andyliini]

I also bought World of Final Fantasy recently for PS4. Don't know when I have the time to play it though, as I still have even Final Fantasy Type-0 HD to play.

 

[xZoneHunter]

Couple of friends of mine invited me over to play FFIX on monday. It's supposed to have Co-op?

I haven't played any of the 'old' FFs apart from VII & VIII when i was a kid. Not sure what i'm in for.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

Couple of friends of mine invited me over to play FFIX on monday. It's supposed to have Co-op?

I haven't played any of the 'old' FFs apart from VII & VIII when i was a kid. Not sure what i'm in for.

9 does have a feature where you can play with multiple controllers but ive never used it. I assume its during battles only.

 

[Aeana]

I took some time to cool off after losing my FF2 progress. After that, though, I'm not really in the mood to do a full screenshot LP for anything. As a result, I'm going to be playing FF4... a game I guess you could say I don't love enough to give that much attention to anyway. I'm also going to be playing the PSP version, against my better judgment, because I promised a friend I would give it another shot. I guess I'll also note some of the differences as I play if I can, since exact details seem to be somewhat scant on the internet for some reason.

 

[depward]

World of Final Fantasy - Vita performance impressions:

I'm 2 hours in. Am comparing to the PS4 demo.

The vita version is serviceable. Some things that I've noticed:

• Sub 30 frames at times, specifically if panning out from the town
• Mirage boards look kinda muddled
• Load into battles aren't so bad so far (though I've seen some videos from people that show long loads). There is a quick loading screen after the EXP screen, which I find a little weird. It's quick, but it's there.
• The game looks beautiful on PS4; it looks pretty good for a Vita game

I tend to play RPGs on handhelds, so I lean more towards the Vita version and can look past performance issues. To reference other games with eh performance, I played through telltale games on the Vita A-OK but couldn't get past the performance of Borderlands 2 to put in significant time.

 

[kswiston]

I took some time to cool off after losing my FF2 progress. After that, though, I'm not really in the mood to do a full screenshot LP for anything. As a result, I'm going to be playing FF4... a game I guess you could say I don't love enough to give that much attention to anyway. I'm also going to be playing the PSP version, against my better judgment, because I promised a friend I would give it another shot. I guess I'll also note some of the differences as I play if I can, since exact details seem to be somewhat scant on the internet for some reason.

Are you going to re-attempt FF2 later in the year?

 

[Aeana]

Plans changed on FF4 because the setup I wanted to use for the PSP version isn't working out.

Spoiler

Plus I didn't really want to play that version anyway, shh

. Moving ahead on PSX.

Are you going to re-attempt FF2 later in the year?

Sure, maybe. A year is a long time. I'll probably just move it to last.

 

[MillionStabs]

I feel kinda bad for not liking XIII since it was gifted to me by a Gaffer, but man is it a sloooog. Battles are just press A every 5-8 seconds and you win, character motivations make no sense and are constantly shifting, almost no NPCs to talk to.

I swear if I never hear a -cie word after beating this trilogy, it'll be too soon

 

[Dimmle]

I feel kinda bad for not liking XIII since it was gifted to me by a Gaffer, but man is it a sloooog. Battles are just press A every 5-8 seconds and you win, character motivations make no sense and are constantly shifting, almost no NPCs to talk to.

I swear if I never hear a -cie word after beating this trilogy, it'll be too soon

It's a cliche at this point but the battle system and difficulty curve ramp up incredibly after about 20 hours. It really does have one of the best ATB systems in the series but doesn't give its system enough opportunities to shine.

 

[Westonian]

I just picked up a repro English SNES cart of FFV. I'm about 2 hours in. I still have FFV Advance still in shrink wrap, and a copy with FF Anthology on PS1, but being able to play this game on the SNES had been my dream since first hearing about it in EGM and Nintendo Power when I was a teen-ager. Back then it was going to be renamed FF Extreme, and I remember NoA even showing it at E3 Atlanta.

So playing this today for the first time on my SNES is like fulfilling a childhood dream. I'm about two hours in and I just got the dragon. I've heard complaints that the music isn't that great for Uematsu, but everything I've heard so far has been lovely.

 

[Aeana]

FF5 has a wonderful soundtrack that suits the game. The opening theme is probably one of Uematsu's greatest accomplishments, too.

 

[brinstar]

The recent FFXIV news had me continuing my adventures in Heavensward-- Finally got my item level above 180 so I can enter The Antitower and finally continue the plot.

I also completed the Void Ark today, my first MMO raid! I was nervous but it ended up being really easy actually. I like the characters in this storyline so far.

I'm trying to decide which older game to play. I've never really played much of Tactics despite having it installed on my phone since forever, so maybe I'll finally try that one out.

 

[jb1234]

I've heard complaints that the music isn't that great for Uematsu, but everything I've heard so far has been lovely.

I think it's easy for people to disparage it because most heard it after they had played later games in the series. If you look at it as the step from FFIV to VI, it's admirable work and a good fit for its game.

 

[RDreamer]

Beat Seymour on Gagazet tonight. That was previously one of the hardest bosses in the game and I had been having some troubles in this playthrough but with a small bit of leveling it was pretty simple... I guess having everyone in overdrive also probably helped too.

 

[Aeana]

FF4 is underway.

Back before every RPG had a clumsy girl, FF4 had Edward.

I saved just outside of Mt. Ordeals for today. I'll be working on it more tomorrow after holiday stuff. It'd be nice to be playing the DS version, but the difficulty on the PSX version isn't boring me too much yet. Helps that I've kept my levels relatively low. PSP version has slower enemies which I think is the main thing that makes it feel easier than the other versions.

 

[Advocatus Diaboli]

I just picked up a repro English SNES cart of FFV. I'm about 2 hours in. I still have FFV Advance still in shrink wrap, and a copy with FF Anthology on PS1, but being able to play this game on the SNES had been my dream since first hearing about it in EGM and Nintendo Power when I was a teen-ager. Back then it was going to be renamed FF Extreme, and I remember NoA even showing it at E3 Atlanta.

So playing this today for the first time on my SNES is like fulfilling a childhood dream. I'm about two hours in and I just got the dragon. I've heard complaints that the music isn't that great for Uematsu, but everything I've heard so far has been lovely.

I remember the FF Extreme adverts too. FFV was the first game I imported, and it was a Christmas present probably... 15 years ago. I didn't make much progress with it: I stopped at Bal Castle, where I suspect I was grinding JP.

Years later, I played through FFV, except this time, I actually knew (enough) Japanese. (I'd minored in Japanese in college, then was stationed for 2 years in Japan with the Air Force.) I completely understand the "childhood dream" fulfillment. I'm incredibly biased because of the sentimental value it holds, but FFV's probably my favorite Final Fantasy.

At the same time I imported the FFV cart, I also imported Star Ocean... that's my eventual white whale.

 

[Pachimari]

I'm celebrating by deep diving into FFXIV. I want to catch up and be ready for Stormblood. I expect to play through FFI and FFVI next year too.

 

[Dimmle]

Y'argh... I missed a few letter delivery opportunities with Mognet in FFIX. I didn't realize I wouldn't be able to return later. Is it worth replaying about an hour to go back and complete them?

 

[HotHamBoy]

I think FFXV is going to be the last FF I play until FFVII gets a discount on PS4. Waiting to get that version to do another replay.

Also would be nice is SE got FFIX on there.

Too many other games to play, though.

Oh wait, maybe I'll jump back into FFXIV while they have those free 4 days.

 

[jb1234]

Back into FFXIV, I did the seasonal quest line (which was heartwarming) and finally got to the point where I'm being pushed into the group raids. After a series of tutorials, natch. But those tutorials took so long that I'm exhausted so the first raid will have to wait until tomorrow, methinks. Fortunately, I'm a tank (Gladiator) so I'm not anticipating long waits. On the other hand, it is Christmas.

The music's nice but it seems like half of the town themes are ripped off from various film scores. I've heard both How to Train Your Dragon and Edward Scissorhands at various points. Probably more charitable to Soken if I think of them more as homages.

 

[MillionStabs]

It's a cliche at this point but the battle system and difficulty curve ramp up incredibly after about 20 hours. It really does have one of the best ATB systems in the series but doesn't give its system enough opportunities to shine.

Yeah, I experienced that right after they introduce what are basically side quests. The game REALLY wants you to do them but I was like naw

 

[Carbonox]

After getting the Platinum trophy in FFXV it's made me want to jump in to FFVII as I downloaded it on the PS4 when it came out but never got round to playing it when I did. I have to say, I enjoy it just as much as the billion other times I've played this game but christ on a moped I do enjoy the 3x speed addition. :lol

Probably gonna work towards the Platinum for this and then go from there. The itch to go through FFX again is slowly building up too...

 

[Palabragrís]

Already got the Platinum Trophy on FFXV. I may as well try the list given in the OP.

Final Fantasy SHOULD be celebrated.

 

[Scotia]

Got some Christmas money and decided to get FInal Fantasy XIV while it was on sale. I'm pretty much going into this blind, so any tips/hints you guys have would be great.

 

[monochr0m3]

Got some Christmas money and decided to get FInal Fantasy XIV while it was on sale. I'm pretty much going into this blind, so any tips/hints you guys have would be great.

This post has general overview of all jobs if you're not sure on what to choose:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/3lzt4r/are_you_new_to_ffxiv_cant_decide_what_class_to/

Some more that I can think of:
1. Your starting race and clan have different stats allocation, but it's very very very minor, barely has any effect in the long run. So don't choose a race based on your class, pick the one you like most.

2. Alt character is not needed in this game. You can change to any class anytime after you reach level 10. So don't think too hard on your starting class, you can become any class with one character.

3. DO NOT SKIP CUTSCENES. Even though it's an MMO, it's still a Final Fantasy game. so expect a great story with some great cutscenes. FFXIV story is one of my favorite in the series other than FFVI and FFVII.

4. There are three types of quests:

Main Scenario Quest, doing this is your main priority. Around 80% content in this game is story locked.

Side Quest with this icon unlocks content like dungeons, classes, locations, and even features/game mechanics. So be sure to complete them.

Regular Side Quest. These quests only gave you experience and sometimes items/gears. Completely optional. Do not pick up every single side quest. You will need them to level up your other classes. Especially at lower levels, most of your exp is going to come from story quests. Between those, you can do your hunting log, levequests, fates, and maybe a few side quests.

5. At lower level, the combat might seem slow and sluggish. This is the most common complain for FFXIV. It will get much better when you reach higher level since your GCD (Global Cool Down) will get shorter and you'll have many more skills and mechanics.

6. If you haven't bought Heavensward. You don't need to buy it immediately because all Heavensward content is locked if you haven't finished ARR main story. So you can buy it later when you finally finish the ARR story. There's some benefit that you can get by having Heavensward early though:
a. You can select Au-Ra as your starting race.
b. You can descend deeper than floor 40 (or is it 50?) in Palace of the Dead (roguelike dungeon).

 

[Brandon F]

I'd like to play XIV, but I'm afraid it's too late for someone to start the game fresh.

It's never too late. You'll be soloing the story content mostly anyway, and when groups are required, the game auto-scales players to the dungeon level(ie. a max level player will be scaled down to do a newbie run with you). The game has hooks in place for high level players to queue for dungeons as such.

Whatever MMO notions or expectations you have aren't really applicable with FFXIV. But do expect a massive story campaign, one that will take a good deal of time to play through. It's not really a game to rush either.

 

[Scotia]

This post has general overview of all jobs if you're not sure on what to choose:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxiv/comments/3lzt4r/are_you_new_to_ffxiv_cant_decide_what_class_to/

Some more that I can think of:
1. Your starting race and clan have different stats allocation, but it's very very very minor, barely has any effect in the long run. So don't choose a race based on your class, pick the one you like most.

2. Alt character is not needed in this game. You can change to any class anytime after you reach level 10. So don't think too hard on your starting class, you can become any class with one character.

3. DO NOT SKIP CUTSCENES. Even though it's an MMO, it's still a Final Fantasy game. so expect a great story with some great cutscenes. FFXIV story is one of my favorite in the series other than FFVI and FFVII.

4. There are three types of quests:

Main Scenario Quest, doing this is your main priority. Around 80% content in this game is story locked.

Side Quest with this icon unlocks content like dungeons, classes, locations, and even features/game mechanics. So be sure to complete them.

Regular Side Quest. These quests only gave you experience and sometimes items/gears. Completely optional. Do not pick up every single side quest. You will need them to level up your other classes. Especially at lower levels, most of your exp is going to come from story quests. Between those, you can do your hunting log, levequests, fates, and maybe a few side quests.

5. At lower level, the combat might seem slow and sluggish. This is the most common complain for FFXIV. It will get much better when you reach higher level since your GCD (Global Cool Down) will get shorter and you'll have many more skills and mechanics.

6. If you haven't bought Heavensward. You don't need to buy it immediately because all Heavensward content is locked if you haven't finished ARR main story. So you can buy it later when you finally finish the ARR story. There's some benefit that you can get by having Heavensward early though:
a. You can select Au-Ra as your starting race.
b. You can descend deeper than floor 40 (or is it 50?) in Palace of the Dead (roguelike dungeon).

Thanks for all this! It's still downloading at the moment (200 minutes -_-) but this should be a great help!

I bought Heavensward along with A Realm Reborn as it was part of the bundle I got. Good to know that I'll get some benefits by having it early.

 

[Linkark07]

Got a question about FFXIV. Have the PC version and want the PS4 version for the free month. After I buy it, do I need to download the game on the PS4 for register the game on my SE account and get the free month?

 

[Minamu]

Might've been answered but the OP mentioned bugs in FF6, what bugs are we talking about?

 

[Aeana]

Might've been answered but the OP mentioned bugs in FF6, what bugs are we talking about?

The main bugs that were fixed in the GBA version were:

- Evasion stat is no longer useless. In the original, magic evasion was used for all damage calculation, making the regular evasion stat useless, as well as the blind status effect. Capping magic evasion was simple by the end game, making some characters invincible
- Vanish/doom|x-zone glitch from the SNES version was fixed
- Sketch glitch which allowed Relm to write arbitrary values to memory with her sketch ability and in some cases damage the game was fixed


Main one that I personally care about is the first one. The game feels a fair bit different balance-wise with that bug fixed.

 

[Minamu]

The main bugs that were fixed in the GBA version were:

- Evasion stat is no longer useless. In the original, magic evasion was used for all damage calculation, making the regular evasion stat useless, as well as the blind status effect. Capping magic evasion was simple by the end game, making some characters invincible
- Vanish/doom|x-zone glitch from the SNES version was fixed
- Sketch glitch which allowed Relm to write arbitrary values to memory with her sketch ability and in some cases damage the game was fixed


Main one that I personally care about is the first one. The game feels a fair bit different balance-wise with that bug fixed.

Damage the game? Like the physical thing?? Sounds like cool fixes overall.

 

[Aeana]

Damage the game? Like the physical thing?? Sounds like cool fixes overall.

So, the sketch glitch has the ability to write to arbitrary memory values, including the area of the RAM where the save files are kept. This could result in save files being corrupted, but in a really bad case, it can result in the game crashing every time it tries to read the list of save files, which would prevent you from deleting them or starting a new game. Of course, the chances of that happening are incredibly minuscule. It's just something that's possible.

 

[SuperChoco]

Here's an updated list of story posts for those that are coming back from their holiday celebrations:

Final Fantasy​

• Dark Schala 1
• Jucksalbe 1

Final Fantasy 2​

• Aeana 1, 2, 3, RIP

Final Fantasy 4​

• Sub_Level 1, 2
• Aeana 1

Final Fantasy 14​

• decoyplatypus 1

Final Fantasy Tactics​

• kswiston 1, 2

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance​

• Heropon 1, 2

 

[Jucksalbe]

Here's an updated list of story posts for those that are coming back from their holiday celebrations

Thanks for doing this. This will be very useful.

Spoiler

My name's Jucksalbe, though.

.

 

[cilonen]

I'm replaying VII on Vita over the holidays for the first time since the game launched. This is bringing back some serious memories!

I remember loving this game as most people do but to take pause and examine exactly what I remember about it is interesting. The few major things that stand out to me are Aeris, that weird tower defence bit when you leave Midgar and find the fort, Golden Saucer, Yuffie nicking all my materia and that bit where Cloud loses his mind and isn't really Cloud.

What I don't remember is the significance of any of this except Aeris so it'll be interesting to see how my brain has warped those almost 20 year old memories into what I think of as FF VII.

 

[Minamu]

So, the sketch glitch has the ability to write to arbitrary memory values, including the area of the RAM where the save files are kept. This could result in save files being corrupted, but in a really bad case, it can result in the game crashing every time it tries to read the list of save files, which would prevent you from deleting them or starting a new game. Of course, the chances of that happening are incredibly minuscule. It's just something that's possible.

That's awesome. And scary. Thanks for the info, very intriguing.