Final Fantasy

[GoblinArchmage]

Is that directed at me?

It was, and I realize now that it was rude and obnoxious of me. I apologize. I was acting like a smartass to sound cool, but I failed. I'm sorry about that.

[ThiagoMartell]

Ok, could either of you answer my question as to whether or not it's possible to change the freaking control scheme? Cuz when down makes you go left, up makes you right, and so on and so forth, I just don't have the patience to rewire my brain to accept such idiocy ><(This is all for the PSP War of the lions game)

No, you can't change the controls. Never had a problem with it, though.

[Kobold-Bard]

...

Second favourite would probably be FF10. I really liked how every character felt useful and had their own thing to contribute - heck, I ended up using every character in every battle to gain experience for them all, so I got to know them well.

...

I feel I should remind you of Kimahri, who was pretty much useless except against certain bosses where he was a backup to another character who was actually competent. The main thing he brought to the team was Self-Destruct, and using that meant he didn't even get any AP.

[Starwulf]

No, you can't change the controls. Never had a problem with it, though.

That....really freaking sucks. :-( I guess I'll never get to experience a great game, I'm not going to drive myself insane with a ****ty control scheme. And it's definitely just War of the Lions, I've played Disgaea 1 and 2 on my PSP, both of which are Grid-based Tactic games, and the controls are perfectly normal for them. Who ever thought having up go left was a good idea?!

[ThiagoMartell]

That....really freaking sucks. :-( I guess I'll never get to experience a great game, I'm not going to drive myself insane with a ****ty control scheme. And it's definitely just War of the Lions, I've played Disgaea 1 and 2 on my PSP, both of which are Grid-based Tactic games, and the controls are perfectly normal for them. Who ever thought having up go left was a good idea?!

You do notice you can turn the camera with the analog directional, right?

[Starwulf]

You do notice you can turn the camera with the analog directional, right?

Only partially, and even then, it will still be forcing me to play from a certain angle, no matter what. I guess Disgaea spoiled me, allowing me full rotation of the camera, and still making up go up in whatever direction I'm facing.

[Cespenar]

You do notice you can turn the camera with the analog directional, right?

It's still 45 degrees slanted, though.

[Temotei]

My favorite is Final Fantasy X, followed by VII. I haven't played VI, though I've heard a lot that it's one of the best, if not the best.

All of them are pretty fun, though.

[Brother Oni]

It was, and I realize now that it was rude and obnoxious of me. I apologize. I was acting like a smartass to sound cool, but I failed. I'm sorry about that.

Apology accepted.

To answer the question, 'angst' apparently means 'fear and anxiety', so while you are correct that the death of Asura's wife wouldn't count, I'm fairly sure his concern for his kidnapped daughter would.

The problem is that he converts it very well into anger, but it's still there (see Asura's descent into uncontrollable rage when a human that looks like his daughter is killed by his former allies).

[Phexar]

I feel I should remind you of Kimahri, who was pretty much useless except against certain bosses where he was a backup to another character who was actually competent. The main thing he brought to the team was Self-Destruct, and using that meant he didn't even get any AP.

Very true, he's a bit weaker than the others. Even with his piercing weapons his attack ends up faltering quite a bit compared to Auron. He does have a few perks depending on what path you put him on - I moved him into Rikku's then Yuna's areas to pick up Steal + Use and Curaga + Holy (amongst some other White Magic spells), which all proved nice additions to him. Not as strong as either Rikku or Yuna, no, but nice backup/double-up.

[DigoDragon]

Based on hours playing, I'd say my favorite FFs were VI and X.
I liked VI a bit more for the variety of characters and villains in the game. Heck, the heroes technically lose halfway through and it takes like a year to come back from that. That's a pretty moving story plot I think.

I haven't finished X, but I like the atmosphere and more noticably its combat system. I think it's one of my favorite systems for an FF game, being able to switch out members on the fly is a wonderful ability to have.

[Gullara]

I feel I should remind you of Kimahri, who was pretty much useless except against certain bosses where he was a backup to another character who was actually competent. The main thing he brought to the team was Self-Destruct, and using that meant he didn't even get any AP.

I'm not sure I agree with this. I used him for the entire game since I got him and he never felt weak, and certainly not useless. Maybe Auron was stronger, but that never really took away from Kimahri. Especially later game when he was further along on the sphere grid. I can't seem to recall what exactly I did with his skills, however.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I think the big problem with Kimhari is that most of the stuff in his sphere are stat boosts, with the odd occasional skill, barring Ultima, which requires three Level 4 locks to get through.

Lancet is nice, I guess, but Jinx really isn't all that noteworthy, and Scan's usefulness is inversely dependent on your knowledge of various opponent's stats. So basically, what the game designers probably intended for this character was a Bruiser who attacks over and over and over, and has the raw stat boosts to make his normal attacks pretty impressive.

Unfortunately, those same stat boosts can be had from just about any other character sphere with a Level 1 Lock, barring Yuna, who needs a Level 2 lock, and Auron who has no direct access. Which means it is pretty easy for any other character to take on these traits and outshine him.

The other thing the designers probably thought was that he could be the Gogo (from FF VI) of X... meaning that those locks goes both ways, and Kimhari can take on the skills of just about anyone else, except Auron.

Unfortunately, because everyone can theoretically get anywhere on the grid, this does not make him unique, so he ends up being a backup character. Again unfortunately, you don't NEED backup characters, due to the ability to swap out characters in the middle of a fight, which also draws away from his ability to take on aspects of other characters easily, since you can get the real thing from tap.

For reference, I offer this handy dandy little 'unfolded' sphere grid. Makes it much easier to track progressions and linkages.

[Acanous]

Final Fantasy 4. Cecil is my personal hero of sorts, I've grown to like him that much. Plus the moon.

Other than that I've only beaten FF1 so I don't have much in terms of choice yet.

This. Cecil was great, Ridia was a female character that didn't suck (And they later based Yuna off of her) and the whole plot seemed well thought out and well put together. You ahd pretty much every fantasy trope BEFORE it became a trope. Spoony Bard, people. Spoony Bard.

I played 4 when it first came out, and so I wasn't jaded to fantasy steriotypes yet. This game COINED those steriotypes. They wouldn't BE steriotypes if not for FF4.

FF6 was just a masterpiece. I feel sorry for the human race prior to FF6, because they never played it. I feel sorry for the children of tomorrow, because they'll never play it new.
It's very unlikely we'll ever see FF games with that much depth, that much freedom to explore, that many characters, or the real, unexpected plot twists 4 and 6 threw at us. (ALIENS? On the MOON?!/The Bad Guy WON?! And the game's still GOING?!)

Also, while Tactics was fun and all, it really didn't capture me in the same way.

[The Succubus]

There's a certain "type" of character present in almost all FF games. That irrepressibly quirky, kooky one that everyone ends up *LOATHING* before the end of Disc 1. Rikku, Yukie, Quina, Mog and all that wretched kind...

So you now have them all lined up against a wall with one bullet in a rifle. Which one would you shoot?

Quina is a very tempting target for me but I've always had a soft spot for Blue Mages.

Cait Sith is another but then:

Spoiler

Show

His controller Reeve is shown to be a remarkably ruthless sort during the Keystone/Golden Disc thing.

Selphie grates on my nerves and also has the most irritating Limit Break ever...

It's too hard to choose.

[Traab]

There's a certain "type" of character present in almost all FF games. That irrepressibly quirky, kooky one that everyone ends up *LOATHING* before the end of Disc 1. Rikku, Yukie, Quina, Mog and all that wretched kind...

So you now have them all lined up against a wall with one bullet in a rifle. Which one would you shoot?

Quina is a very tempting target for me but I've always had a soft spot for Blue Mages.

Cait Sith is another but then:

Spoiler

Show

His controller Reeve is shown to be a remarkably ruthless sort during the Keystone/Golden Disc thing.

Selphie grates on my nerves and also has the most irritating Limit Break ever...

It's too hard to choose.

Ahhhh, selphie. Her personality only outmatched by her inexplicable love of trains. Shall we sing her train song together?

[Triaxx]

Hey! Selphie is awesome. Not only does she have a similar limit break to Cait Sith's one, but she has the only other guaranteed hit weapon, meaning she's absolute tops for killing Cactaurs.

[Eldariel]

Ahhhh, selphie. Her personality only outmatched by her inexplicable love of trains. Shall we sing her train song together?

I always found Selphie just about the only likable thing in FFVIII. She's like a fairy girl or something; she just feels so far-removed from everything else in the game it feels just right. Always so carefree and upbeat. And The End is the best Limit Break ever

[Sipex]

I've played pretty much every Final Fantasy offering to date (except XIII-2, no interest in the concept) and in complete honesty, I can't say any of them are bad games. Each game has it's pros and cons and even my least favourite (FF8) has plenty of redeeming qualities.

That said, my favourite to date is FF9. While it had a lot of short falls (slow battle times, loading screens, graphics which can hurt to look at after a while, generic story) it was simply the Final Fantasy which I had the most fun playing through. The characters, the story, the setting, it was all fantastic (especially for it's time) and with me coming from FF7 and 8 I was really itching for something a little less modern and FF9 delivered.

Plus I just loved Steiner and Vivi.

On another topic, anyone played Theatrhythm on the 3DS? If you haven't and you own a 3DS check out the shop, there's a demo for it.

[Gullara]

In regards to Kimhari, I think I actually made a point of charting some route where he'd get to Auron's sphere and pick up a tonne of attack and HP on the way. Now that I've had a bit of time to think about it... I had him set up to be insanely powerful. I think he ended up doing more impressive damage than even Auron. I can't remember the details, though, as this was a number of years ago.

There's a certain "type" of character present in almost all FF games. That irrepressibly quirky, kooky one that everyone ends up *LOATHING* before the end of Disc 1. Rikku, Yukie, Quina, Mog and all that wretched kind...

<.<
>.>

Is it okay that I actually liked Rikku in X?

[ShneekeyTheLost]

In regards to Kimhari, I think I actually made a point of charting some route where he'd get to Auron's sphere and pick up a tonne of attack and HP on the way. Now that I've had a bit of time to think about it... I had him set up to be insanely powerful. I think he ended up doing more impressive damage than even Auron. I can't remember the details, though, as this was a number of years ago.

Must have gone through either Tidus or Wakka's sphere to get there.

To be honest, Kimhari has a bunch of Str and Acc boosts in-sphere, so that would give you the raw stats. Going through Tidus would give you a bit more stats, plus Haste. Going through Wakka would've given you a couple of debuff attacks, which would've been nasty to pair with all the x-break techniques in Auron's sphere.

[Gnoman]

On this subject, what's the story with the expanded releases of X and X-2. My ps2 can play imports, so I was considering ordering these. Unfortunately, I've seen conflicting information about languages. Some sources say that they're entirely non-english, some say that English is an option. Does anyone know for sure?

[Gullara]

Must have gone through either Tidus or Wakka's sphere to get there.

To be honest, Kimhari has a bunch of Str and Acc boosts in-sphere, so that would give you the raw stats. Going through Tidus would give you a bit more stats, plus Haste. Going through Wakka would've given you a couple of debuff attacks, which would've been nasty to pair with all the x-break techniques in Auron's sphere.

Now that you say it, I think it would have been Wakka's. Rings a bell at least. I was quite pleased with how he came out. Maybe not optimal, but he sure pulled his weight. And it helps that I like the character.

[ZeroNumerous]

My favorites: Tactics and 8.

Tactics' story is, in my opinion, one of the better FF stories. And I greatly enjoyed the gameplay. I can see why some people say its hard, as there are points in the game where you can get stuck(duel Wiegraf and duel Gaffgarion) if you aren't prepared, but I personally think that just makes the encounters that much more satisfying to beat. And you can never truly completely screw yourself in FFT except by just not spending JP.

And FF VIII? Best card game I've ever played. Oh, I guess there was a pretty good story about child soldiers in there too, but damn that was a fun card game.

[Eldariel]

And FF VIII? Best card game I've ever played. Oh, I guess there was a pretty good story about child soldiers in there too, but damn that was a fun card game.

Okay, I'll give it that; the cardgame was quite possibly the bestminigame in the whole game series, especially with the rules transferring and all that.

[Temotei]

There's a certain "type" of character present in almost all FF games. That irrepressibly quirky, kooky one that everyone ends up *LOATHING* before the end of Disc 1. Rikku, Yukie, Quina, Mog and all that wretched kind...

Is it okay that I actually liked Rikku in X?

Rikku was so lovable!

[Traab]

Okay, I'll give it that; the cardgame was quite possibly the bestminigame in the whole game series, especially with the rules transferring and all that.

I will agree with the card game, but that was one of the few decent things about it. Too me, it honestly felt like they were trying to do something new and different with almost every aspect of the game. The magic system, summons, leveling, all of it. And while innovation is good, there are certain fundamental aspects that make a final fantasy game what it is. When you change all of that, you are left with a game thats called final fantasy, but in reality is something else. Which, on a related note, was another thing that bugged me about tactics. Like it or hate it, you cant disagree that it was very different from every other ff game out there.

[Triaxx]

Final Fantasy Tactics is like Fallout Tactics. Excellent games that stand well on their own feet, that don't quite fit with the rest of their series, because they're more tactical combat games than RPG's. And yet they retain those RPG elements, and that's what gives them their insane depth.

Triple Triad is the bomb. Tetra Master was a flat out terrible follow-up. I can play it now, after some serious effort to figure it out, but I'm NOT good at it. I much preferred Chocobo Hot & Cold. Much better than the one in 8. Heh, you can get through almost the entire game without ever seeing a Chocobo. You could be forgiven for forgetting they're in the game.

The hilarious thing about 8, is that the 'aliens' on the ship actually make sense within the context of the story.

[Kobold-Bard]

Okay, I'll give it that; the cardgame was quite possibly the bestminigame in the whole game series, especially with the rules transferring and all that.

I love 8, but the Random rule nearly made me frisbee my disc out of the window. This was back when I was trying to collect all the cards rather than just refining everything that wasn't a face card for items.

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Tetra Master was a flat out terrible follow-up. I can play it now, after some serious effort to figure it out, but I'm NOT good at it. I much preferred Chocobo Hot & Cold. Much better than the one in 8. Heh, you can get through almost the entire game without ever seeing a Chocobo. You could be forgiven for forgetting they're in the game.

...

Terra Master was literally almost entirely random, because a card playing the top rank against the lowest could still loose because of the RNG, which was irritating.

I loved Chocobo Hot & Cold though. I loved it more on an emulator though thanks to the speed-up button.

[Triaxx]

Heh, removing Random has become something of a life goal everytime I play 8.

Tell me about it, Turbo for the win.