While '6' and 7 will always be my favorites, I did enjoy 9. This should be interesting.

I see this news right after I start digging into it on my vita. Not buying it on another system... again.

Pigeon wrote on Jan 1, 2016, 12:20:
All that is why I was so disappointed with the FF6 re-release, because they could have done a much better job putting a bit more polish on an already good game. Instead they they slapped some lipstick on it and sent it to turn tricks on the street corner.

I feel ya on the cash ins, I'd really love a re-imagining of FF1, not a literal by the numbers remake where everything is the same as with the current remakes. Keep the backbone intact, major characters, but flesh them out, add new things, add more meat. FF1 was so bare bones, I'd like to see where someone really talented could take it by infusing entirely new elements into it from scratch.

FF1 I thought had really interesting art direction considering the limited NES pallete. The four fiends, the iconic boss chaos, and some pretty iconic monsters all around.

Brumbek wrote on Jan 1, 2016, 03:40:

Creston wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 15:16:
I always found 9 to be just okay. I played through it twice, I believe, and there are some very fun moments in it, but overall the story is kinda "eh", and the characters aren't as great.

Agree with you about FF9. I know a few people who say it's their favorite Final Fantasy, but it was just so generic. I played it at release back in the day, and it was decent but it was a huge step backwards from the relatively nuanced and mature storytelling of FF7 and FF8. Although FF9 did have some amazing music (not the Melodies of Life trash), so there's that.

FF9 the themes/art/story was all over the map, but the combat was decent. That's why people downplay FF9, it's because it really is a thrown together game with elements that don't mix well with one another. I usually only care about the interactive parts, I'm not much for story in the later FF's. I liked the old medieval FF1 type of stories, I wasn't really enthused by the mix of tech and magic as the series went on.

Suppa7 wrote on Jan 1, 2016, 11:21:

Jagacademy wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 15:23:
Whenever I hear anyone talk about great FF games, it is 3(6) and 7.

Contrary to popular belief, most of them were just "meh".

A much more likely explanation is that the games were good at the time but have either stagnated or have been superceded, aka no one knows what direction to take the genre in so it becomes uninspired retreads until the next game design genius shows up.

You could say that about most games, your perception of games change as you age and as you play more games and have time to reflect back on the experience. The more games you've played the harder it is to impress you and the more critical you become.

One of the things I like about 6 is the large cast of unique characters. Each character has their own unique skills that stay relevant through out the series. While FF7 isn't the worst example of this, the materia system essentially renders all the characters the same with exception to their limit breaks. 3 and 5 had job systems which I feel completely strips the characters of uniqueness, though 5 had a decent story.

I really like the DS version of 4; a true remake. Graphics are updated, but still carry the feel of the original SNES graphics, some extra abilities were added to allow you to customize the characters and add an extra layer of strategy, the game is harder (or rather the original difficulty found in the Japanese version), the are some added secret dungeons and the translation was cleaned up some.

All that is why I was so disappointed with the FF6 re-release, because they could have done a much better job putting a bit more polish on an already good game. Instead they they slapped some lipstick on it and sent it to turn tricks on the street corner.

Jagacademy wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 15:23:
Whenever I hear anyone talk about great FF games, it is 3(6) and 7.

Contrary to popular belief, most of them were just "meh".

A much more likely explanation is that the games were good at the time but have either stagnated or have been superceded, aka no one knows what direction to take the genre in so it becomes uninspired retreads until the next game design genius shows up.

You could say that about most games, your perception of games change as you age and as you play more games and have time to reflect back on the experience. The more games you've played the harder it is to impress you and the more critical you become.

Rattlehead wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 17:03:

Jagacademy wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 15:23:
"Contrary to my opinion"

Fixed that for you

That's literally the opposite of fixing it.

Creston wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 15:16:
I always found 9 to be just okay. I played through it twice, I believe, and there are some very fun moments in it, but overall the story is kinda "eh", and the characters aren't as great.

Agree with you about FF9. I know a few people who say it's their favorite Final Fantasy, but it was just so generic. I played it at release back in the day, and it was decent but it was a huge step backwards from the relatively nuanced and mature storytelling of FF7 and FF8. Although FF9 did have some amazing music (not the Melodies of Life trash), so there's that.

Creston wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 20:22:
Yeah, I was more thinking of an HD re-release, which they are pretending this to be, though if I watch the video it doesn't really appear like much of one.

It does look like it is just upscaled and filtered, which frankly is sufficient for me as long as they don't fuck up the controls on PC. Though those FMV's look higher quality than the PSX version had so I wonder if they still had those sitting around somewhere in a higher res or uncompressed master.

Regardless keep up the work Square. Tactics is next.

Edit: Actually looking at some comparison shots on NEOGAF it looks like they've upgraded the character models too.

This comment was edited on Dec 31, 2015, 20:46.

Jerykk wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 17:22:

Creston wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 15:16:

jdreyer wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 12:52:
Is this just another attempt at milking the back catalog, or is this a good game? After playing 7 on PC (which I really liked at the time) I watched a friend play 8 on console and was much less impressed. And Square seems to be doing this for a lot of their old FF games. I'm probably getting too old for JPRGs anyway.

I always found 9 to be just okay. I played through it twice, I believe, and there are some very fun moments in it, but overall the story is kinda "eh", and the characters aren't as great. It also went from pretty awesome looking graphics in FF8 (for its time), to a more cutesy, cartoonish looking style, and I don't think that was really well received in general.

However, it's still a FF game, so if you like FF, you'll like 9 as well.

I'm kind of surprised they're skipping 8 for now. Maybe they're also doing a massive remake of that, scheduled to be re-released after 7? I would be over a PC version of FF8 in a heartbeat, as I've always really enjoyed that one.

FF8 is already on PC.

Yeah, I was more thinking of an HD re-release, which they are pretending this to be, though if I watch the video it doesn't really appear like much of one.

I enjoyed FF9 on PSX and a PC port was long due so I welcome this port.

Creston wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 15:16:

jdreyer wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 12:52:
Is this just another attempt at milking the back catalog, or is this a good game? After playing 7 on PC (which I really liked at the time) I watched a friend play 8 on console and was much less impressed. And Square seems to be doing this for a lot of their old FF games. I'm probably getting too old for JPRGs anyway.

I always found 9 to be just okay. I played through it twice, I believe, and there are some very fun moments in it, but overall the story is kinda "eh", and the characters aren't as great. It also went from pretty awesome looking graphics in FF8 (for its time), to a more cutesy, cartoonish looking style, and I don't think that was really well received in general.

However, it's still a FF game, so if you like FF, you'll like 9 as well.

I'm kind of surprised they're skipping 8 for now. Maybe they're also doing a massive remake of that, scheduled to be re-released after 7? I would be over a PC version of FF8 in a heartbeat, as I've always really enjoyed that one.

FF8 is already on PC.

Jagacademy wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 15:23:
"Contrary to my opinion"

Fixed that for you

Whenever I hear anyone talk about great FF games, it is 3(6) and 7.

Contrary to popular belief, most of them were just "meh".

jdreyer wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 12:52:
Is this just another attempt at milking the back catalog, or is this a good game? After playing 7 on PC (which I really liked at the time) I watched a friend play 8 on console and was much less impressed. And Square seems to be doing this for a lot of their old FF games. I'm probably getting too old for JPRGs anyway.

I always found 9 to be just okay. I played through it twice, I believe, and there are some very fun moments in it, but overall the story is kinda "eh", and the characters aren't as great. It also went from pretty awesome looking graphics in FF8 (for its time), to a more cutesy, cartoonish looking style, and I don't think that was really well received in general.

However, it's still a FF game, so if you like FF, you'll like 9 as well.

I'm kind of surprised they're skipping 8 for now. Maybe they're also doing a massive remake of that, scheduled to be re-released after 7? I would be over a PC version of FF8 in a heartbeat, as I've always really enjoyed that one.

jdreyer wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 12:52:
Is this just another attempt at milking the back catalog, or is this a good game? After playing 7 on PC (which I really liked at the time) I watched a friend play 8 on console and was much less impressed. And Square seems to be doing this for a lot of their old FF games. I'm probably getting too old for JPRGs anyway.

If you're looking at playing JRPG's I'd avoid the genre mostly, the genre really hasn't changed much. I'd rather you pick up used console JRPG's, like tales of symphonia or the original fire emblem for the gamecube. Or better yet emulators.

FF to me has been all over the map in quality post FF7. FF7 was good at the time it released but hasn't aged very well given advances. If I were to recommend any FF it would be 7, 9 and you could skip all the others. But generally back when JRPG's started with games like the original FF1 for the NES they never figured out how to expand the battle system and keep it interesting from game to game and FF has just been mostly retreading ground or borrowing absolutely shitty autocombat systems from mmo's like in FF12.

There are good JRPG's out there, it's best to pick up the older classics used for consoles and then run them natively or on emulators.. The reality is there has been no innovation in JRPG's. I'm one of those people that replays FF1 on a regular basis because its one of the few JRPG's that distill the game down to the basics and none of the fluff gets in the way. I've been thinking a long time about the decline of many genres and it has to do with the lack of imagination and any understanding of what makes a game interesting to play and make fun, game companies have been coasting on easy street since the rise of 3D acellerators using hollywood to cover up the lack of game systems.

I'd recommend something like FF tactics if what draws you to JRPG's are battle systems.

jdreyer wrote on Dec 31, 2015, 12:52:
Is this just another attempt at milking the back catalog, or is this a good game? After playing 7 on PC (which I really liked at the time) I watched a friend play 8 on console and was much less impressed. And Square seems to be doing this for a lot of their old FF games. I'm probably getting too old for JPRGs anyway.

So long as they do a decent job with the controls and don't fuck up the graphics this one should be a good port. Though that seems to be asking a lot from square these days...

I tried playing 8 on my PC and didn't like it; I found it quite boring. Supposedly it gets better, but I couldn't be bothered to find out, and the combat system wasn't doing it for me. I never finished FF9, but I enjoyed it. There were emulation problems that deterred me from completing the game. So assuming they don't fuck this up I'll probably pick it up when it comes out.

Is this just another attempt at milking the back catalog, or is this a good game? After playing 7 on PC (which I really liked at the time) I watched a friend play 8 on console and was much less impressed. And Square seems to be doing this for a lot of their old FF games. I'm probably getting too old for JPRGs anyway.