The RPG Duelling League
Social Forums => General Chat => Topic started by: superaielman on June 28, 2014, 04:47:53 AM
-
Mostly gameplay related. Inspired by finishing FF5/replaying a bunch of games in the series.
Games this covers: All maingame FF games minus the MMORPGs. No FFT games or spinoff titles either, please.
Favorite FF game:
Least favorite FF game:
Favorite FF dungeon:
Favorite main character:
Least favorite FF dungeon:
Favorite final boss:
Favorite FF game plot:
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one):
Game you use the most status in:
Game you use the least status in:
Game with the best challenge:
Game you've replayed the most:
Game that has aged the best:
Game that has aged the worst:
-
Not counting FFT for this. If you do, slide it in for favourite and most replayed but I don't think I'd put it in any other categories. Aged best maybe? I'm also ignoring the sequels although I don't think I'd put them for anything offhand (edit: with one exception!). FF2 saves FF10-2 from mention in the bad. <_<
Favorite FF game: FF10. Has the best writing... and very possibly the best gameplay. Love this game.
Least favorite FF game: FF2. This is pretty much the only correct answer if you've played it, I think. <_< The game is fundamentally broken and dysfunctional.
Favorite FF dungeon: Kefka's Tower. I know this one is polarising! But I really love having to have twelve PCs collaborate to get through this, the loot is great, and there are some memorable boss fights as well. I'll throw an honourable mention to Ultimecia's Castle, I liked the unlocking gimmick.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Anything from FF2 because it involves FF2 combat and those stupid trapped rooms. Does this count? No? To avoid picking on the game too much, I'll go with Pyramid of Moore. Monsters in a box are lame. A dungeon with like 20 of them, when you're additionally down a PC? Even lamer.
Favourite main character: Lightning gets the nod over Cloud today, I am a sucker for the tangled ball of emotions. I also quite like Squall and Tidus.
Favorite final boss: Jet Bahamut. 13-2's battle design is in general notably weaker than 13's, so it's surprising that 13-2 creates the far better final boss fight, closer to the one FF13 deserved. Honourable mention to Cloud of Darkness, and the final battle chain of FF6. I could see choosing others, but I don't actually think FF creates brilliant final bosses in general... even 10 and 13 don't feel like they have especially strong finals design-wise.
Favorite FF game plot: FF10. They did a great job with the world, and a great job with the core cast. Plot's interesting enough.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Fixed Dice, random tool of ultimate destruction.
Game you use the most status in: FF13 probably wins (Saboteur the best) for all that FF5 and FF6 put up great fights. Oh and FFX. Actually FF is a fairly terrific series for status on the whole, it's pretty much almost always good.
Game you use the least status in: FF2. You need to grind 'em up for them to be useful, no thanks. FF1 it's shaky in as well (low accuracy), and the PSX games are perhaps too easy to justify using it much as well... but yeah FF2.
Game with the best challenge: FF13. FF3 may be "harder" but FF13 is more "challenging" I think, in that it actually makes me think more about how to win fights.
Game you've replayed the most: FF6, though FF5 is close behind, and strictly speaking if you don't count romhacks FF5 now wins.
Game that has aged the best: FF5, relatively speaking. I think that class system and breezy play and all the options holds up really well today, as the immense popularity of Fiesta kinda indicates.
Game that has aged the worst: FF9. Holy shit. FF2 is awful but it was always awful. Watching FF9 again last year... no. It's insanely slow, the battle system is weirdly primitive for 2000, the skill learning system seems cool on paper but isn't, and the plot is disappointing for the era. I liked this well enough at the time because I was sold on FF nostalgia but once that wears off it doesn't have much.
-
Games this covers: All maingame FF games minus the MMORPGs, FFT, FFTA1-2.
Favorite FF game: FF4. Nostaliga and I don't care. 6 is next highest offhand.
Least favorite FF game: FF8. FF2 and FF12 look worse but I've barely played them. FF8 was bad when it was released and it's not any better now.
Favorite FF dungeon: FF4's final dungeon. The entire snow arc in FF7 rules too.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Academia 400 AF. Fuck that area, it was at that point that my opinion of FF13-2 started dropping fast.
Favorite final boss: FF6's entire final chain. Stylish.
Favorite main character: Cecil. Covers both ends of the fighter spectrum (Offensive and defensive) and does it well.
Favorite FF game plot: I want to say 7 here because the character work is so good, but the actual main plot has issues. I'll just default to 10.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Deathbringer (FF4), Conformer (FF7), Brotherhood (FFX).
Game you use the most status in: Good question. I tend to prefer more smash than status. Probably TAY by percentage because I ran a claw user.
Game you use the least status in: FF7. FF7 status is kind of irrelevant.
Game with the best challenge: FF1. FF13 has tightly balanced challenge, but FF1 is very old school in it's challenge and is fun.
Game you've replayed the most: E: Actually, gotta be FF4.
Game that has aged the best: FF6 offhand. FF1's not a bad choice here either, but that's because it completely ignores plot
.
Game that has aged the worst: FF9 and it's not close. It's gameplay and story have both aged very badly (and weren't all that good to start with.) The earlier games are at least quick to play, the later ones tend to have better balanced gameplay.
-
Favorite FF game: Final Fantasy 10
Least favorite FF game: Final Fantasy 2
Favorite FF dungeon: Ultimecia’s Castle
Least favorite FF dungeon: Kefka’s Tower
Favorite main character: Squall
Favorite final boss: I think it’s actually Final Fantasy 13-2’s.
Favorite FF game plot: Final Fantasy 10
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): I like Sazh’s dual guns.
Game you use the most status in: Final Fantasy 13?
Game you use the least status in: Final Fantasy 2/7/8
Game with the best challenge: Final Fantasy 13
Game you've replayed the most: Final Fantasy 5
Game that has aged the best: Final Fantasy 10? I'm not even sure how to answer this question.
Game that has aged the worst: Final Fantasy 4/9
-
Favorite FF game: For mainline? FF5
Least favorite FF game: Final Fantasy 6, though I admit a good part of this is always going to be a bit of hype backlash.
Favorite FF dungeon: Aesthetically, the Battleship Paramecia (FF13) and the Sky Fortress (FF1). I also enjoy Istory Falls(FF5) and the whole Gaea's Cliff/Whirlwind Maze(FF7) segments for some reason I can't quite place.
Favorite FF Main Character: I'll have to go with Lightning on this one.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Can I say the entire World of Ruin? Because that's what I'm saying. If that's not applicable, Undersea Trench in FF5.
Favorite final boss: Neo-Exdeath. Mainly I just really like multipart final bosses in general. ...there need to be more of those.
Favorite FF couple: There...really aren't any proper couples I can think of. DON'T CARE THAT YOU DELETED THE QUESTION, ANSWERING ANYWAY
Favorite FF game plot: I'll get back on this one. I typically don't play games for plot.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Brave Blade(FF5), Deathbringer(FF4).
Game you use the most status in: Hm. FF5, with FF13 a close second. 5 is generally good with debilitating status.
Game you use the least status in: FF7. Bio doesn't really count there since it has damage attached, and everything else? ahahahahahahahahaha. You're too busy nuking with Beta/Aqualung/doublecut.
Game with the best challenge: Erh. Can't really say? I'd like to think FF1 with it predating pump-and-dump strategies (and making them impossible), but then there's Ice Cave.
Game you've replayed the most: FF5. Fiesta is a thing.
Game that has aged the best: FF1, I'll say. Funny, that.
Game that has aged the worst: Final Fantasy 4. Just...the game really ends up showing its age unlike the other two 16-bit FFs.
-
Never played FF1-3, so yeah.
Favorite FF game: 'pends which day of the week you ask. FF6, FF7, FFX. One of those.
Least favorite FF game: FF5.
Favorite FF dungeon: Final dungeon of FF8. Neat concept, well executed. Honorable mentions to the dream world in FF6 because it's such a cool idea and anything in FF12 where you go way the hell off the beaten path and it turns out there is actually stuff there. Which is a lot of dungeons. Also the Lunar Subterrane of FF4 because it pretty much nails the feel a final dungeon should have.
Favorite main character: Hm. Thinking on it, I like a lot of them. I look at it this way: which main character most benefits their game by being who they are. Cecil fits like a glove into the serious, event driven plot of FF4. Not a lot of grandstanding, just gettin' shit done. Cloud is great, because he's nuts and because the parts of the story concerning him being nuts are fantastic. Zidane also rather embodies the laid-back joie de vivre of FF9. So I dunno.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Something in FF5, probably.
Favorite final boss: Kefka. Honorary mention to Sephiroth. I don't need to explain these, do I?
Favorite FF game plot: FF6. I'd say FFX's is objectively the best, and I enjoy FF4's a great deal than most of you haters, but FF6 is just packed with enjoyable everything.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): /shrug.
Game you use the most status in: FF6. Noiseblaster to victory.
Game you use the least status in: Every other FF game.
Game with the best challenge: FF4. Because the difficulty on random encounters is generally on the high side. Oh yes FF13, too.
Game you've replayed the most: FF6, probably.
Game that has aged the best: FFX, without a doubt.
Game that has aged the worst: FF9. The game is loaded with charm, and it's fun, but combat is intolerably slow.
Wait favorite couple was ever a question I guess I'll answer it: Cecil and Rosa. Because they're just, y'know, dating before the game starts. No drama. No need for the hero to rescue the damsel in distress so she will like him (that part comes after). Like these people were just kind of living lives before the game started. Kinda the diametric opposite of what makes FF8's backstory so awful. Honorable mention to Squall and Rinoa. For two reasons. One: that whole flirtatious dancing cutscene is kinda wonderful. Two: there is no gesture so romantic and so mind-numbingly stupid as JUMPING INTO THE INKY BLACKNESS OF SPACE to CATCH YOUR SORT-OF GIRLFRIEND after which point THERE'S NO REASON TO BELIEVE ANYTHING BUT DEATH APPROACHES but y'know. priorities. first grab the girl, then figure out that whole SURVIVING THE MERCILESS VOID OF SPAAAAAACE part. It's great and incredibly, incredibly dumb.
-
Games this covers: Nothing after X, no spin-offs. Nothing against the later games (except 12), they just don't feel like the same series to me.
Favorite FF game: 6. Used to be 5 when I put more stock in purely how fun the games were to play, but 6 feels like the best package overall to me.
Least favorite FF game: Of the first ten, well, it's obviously FF2. I actually have a lot of respect for how much this game tried to be a special snowflake, but the dungeon design is so terrible it drags the game down a ton.
Favorite FF dungeon: Interesting question... trying to name one for each game: Marsh Cave, Mysidia Tower, Cave of Darkness, Lunar Subterrane, Floating Continent(5), Kefka's Tower, Shinra HQ, Ultimecia's Castle, Oelivert, Zanarkand Ruins. I think I'll go with the Shinra HQ. It's an important area to all of the characters, the music does a great job setting the mood when you approach the place, the climb up/bust in is memorable, the elevator fight was a neat setpiece... I could go on.
Favorite main character: It's between Galuf, Steiner, and Auron I guess. Steiner, sure. What can I say, I like doofy old men.
Edit: just realized that meant 'main lead character,' lol. In that case, Zidane pretty easily. He's very well-written and his personality is endearing. Tidus and Cloud are good runner-ups, as is Squall.
Least favorite FF dungeon: The Dragoon cave in FF2. Dist? Good lord, that place is so poorly balanced.
Favorite final boss: As a character: Kefka As a fight: Neo Ex-Death. Going with Kefka since you can count the tiers and that sequence is still so great.
Favorite FF game plot: 10. It would've been 9, but then the Terra parts happened.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Hm another interesting question. Valiant Knife, I suppose.
Game you use the most status in: FF2. Toad > everything.
Game you use the least status in: FF1. I don't think I have ever successfully used a status spell in that game, but I can think of cases in every other game in the series.
Game with the best challenge: This is somewhat subjective, that is, does it mean 'hardest' or 'best curve.' I'm going to assume the latter and I'm going to say FF4. Note that if I was counting FF13, it would probably win here.
Game you've replayed the most: FF5. I have played it 40 times minimum all the way through. I am not a proud man.
Game that has aged the best: It's hard for me to judge this since I have some level of nostalgia for all of the games, but I think it's between 6 and 10. The NES and PS1 games can't win this for obvious graphics-related reasons, FF4 feels like a blueprint for other games, 5 is really rough around the edges. I was going to say 10 for sure, but man, even early PS2 graphics are starting to look strange whereas the best of the 16 bit era still have a nice feel to them. I'll say FF6 with the disclaimer that it was one of the first RPGs I played and I realize this is affecting my judgment.
Game that has aged the worst: FF7. I think everyone gives NES games some slack, but nothing can save those Popeye arms and that weird MIDI sound quality from being judged.
-
I'm gonna include spinoffs anyway 'cuz this is for fun, throw them out if you're not interested.
Favorite FF game: FFT if you count it. Of the mainline games, probably FF6 if I'm being honest. FF10 has an argument except I've played through FF10 once and FF6 a zillion times so.
Least favorite FF game: FF2j sounds awful, but I skipped it. Uhhhh... probably FF3DS of games I've played. Possibly FF1NES if I replayed it.
Favorite FF dungeon: Shinra Tower? Kinda cheating though, that's an event place as well. As far as strictly treasure-chests-and-switches dungeons, Magitek Factory is a pretty classic neat one.
Least favorite FF dungeon: All those annoying timed escape dungeons with short loop panic music playing in FF5 & FF6, Karnak Castle / burning home / etc. Not my preferred kind of challenge. (Escaping the Floating Continent gets a pass here, they managed to make that cool.) I'll also whine about various dungeons that are sorta okay in theory but just too damn long, like the giant desert in the Dalmasca Westersand on the way to get the Nethicite.
Favorite final boss: Strictly from a gameplay perspective? NeoExdeath or Jecht maybe, those are fun fights.
Favorite FF game plot: This is hard! A lot of very good FF plots, but none are perfect. I love FFT's political plot, but the demonz plot & translation hold it back. FF6 is pretty classic but is also a tad underwritten, and its world-building is a little weird at times. FF7 is solid but also loses focus at times. Maybe FF10? I'd have to replay it to be sure, really, but FF10 has some solid themes and depth that I like a lot.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Squall & Lightning's Gunblade is p. cool. (Silly answer: Selphie's OVERSIZED NUNCHUCKS OF DOOM)
Game you use the most status in: If status means "enemy ailments": FF8, lulz 100% Sleep on basic physicals for nearly every fight in the game. I hate using status in most FF games so you have to do something like "attached free to attack" to get me to use it, I wasn't even a huge fan of Saboteur in FF13 where it's objectively quite good. FFMQ would be up there too if the Dragon Claw wasn't comparatively late in the game. Also if status includes buffs, then FF12, since Gambits setting up auto-buffs all the time hooray.
Game you use the least status in: All the rest of them? Earlier FF battles are balanced around "fast and fun" so you can just beat the crap out of enemies faster than scrolling through the menu for 100% status that is probably broken but might be immuned.
Game with the best challenge: FFT by a mile. Of the mainline games... FF13 maybe?!
Game you've replayed the most: FF6 (lots) > FF4 (lots) > FFT (4 times) > FF7 (3.5 times) > FF1, FF8 (1.5 times) > FF3DS, FFMQ, FF5, FF7CC, FF9, FF10, FF12, FF12RW, FF13 (1 time) > FFTA2, FF13-2 (0.5 times)
Game that has aged the best: FFT. Mainline older games: FF5 perhaps? In the sense that its estimation has gone up over time at least.
Game that has aged the worst: surely FF2NES/FF3NES. But I didn't play them. Uh... FF9? But I'd need to replay it to be sure.
Edit: I see super snuck in "Favorite main character". Well that's easy, Squall of course.
-
Main series, sans XI, XII, and XIV which I have not played.
Favorite FF game: VII. It's sitting at 10/10. The rest are not.
Least favorite FF game: VI. Really I have 1, II, IV, V, and VI all pretty tightly together on my list, and I'm not sure if I ever shuffled them by like, but as a kneejerk I definitely think of VI as the least of the main series.
Favorite FF dungeon: No dungeons really stick out to me here. I have a very good memory for tons of locations in FFVII that also had enemy encounters, but none of them were dungeons as such. Maybe Northern Crater? Good loot, memorable design, but due to the way it paths it doesn't drag too bad, which a lot of final dungeons do.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Kefka's Tower.
Favorite main character: Squall.
Favorite final boss: I'm assuming this is in terms of being a fight, in which case... prooobably Braska's Final Aeon.
Favorite FF game plot: VII
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Nothing stands out.
Game you use the most status in: XIII. Saboteurs were pretty essential for me, poizn damage for the win. The only other main series game I've ever used much status in was probably VII, and that's more a function of just how much I've played it.
Game you use the least status in: II.
Game with the best challenge: XIII
Game you've replayed the most: VII
Game that has aged the best: By and large I don't think any game in the series stands out for aging well. The thing with Final Fantasy is the game tends to be definitive of the genre for a couple years after it comes out, and as such going back to look at a game, you see mostly how it influenced games that came after and in most cases what the FF game did right that the imitators didn't understand.
Game that has aged the worst: VI. FFVI hates every day that it is an SNES game with SNES game tropes and SNES hardware limitations, because it is too big a game for them and clashes with them from start to finish.
-
Favorite FF game: FF5, job systems own.
Least favorite FF game: FF2 by far. At least 13 has a functional battle system and with 8 you can just break it over your knee.
Favorite FF dungeon: Not a clue, I don't really remember dungeons at all.
Favorite main character: Terra...I...guess? Man this series has some shitty MCs.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Pick a dungeon from any game in the series that has teleporting puzzles or forces you to split your party.
Favorite final boss: Kekfa, I guess, the gimmick is okay and the design is neat.
Favorite FF game plot: FF6...I guess. Plot is not this series' strong suit.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): No idea
Game you use the most status in: FF2. Yeah you have to grind for it but you have to grind for everything in that game, and Frog will wreck everything, including the final boss.
Game you use the least status in: Are we just counting negative status here? If so then FF1, since most of it's utterly worthless.
Game with the best challenge: Meh.
Game you've replayed the most: I don't think I've ever replayed a single game in the numbered series. Huh.
Game that has aged the best: FF6, sure.
Game that has aged the worst: FF9, my god.
-
Favorite FF game: 12 is pretty nice! But 5 is more breezy
Least favorite FF game: 10, I have an epidermic reaction to Tidus and he's always on the damn screen.
Favorite FF dungeon: Final dungeon in FF4DS. Difficulty gets pretty crazy at that point
Favorite main character: Yattaf in FF3.
Least favorite FF dungeon: None. FF always has cool dungeons.
Favorite final boss: I vote Giant Tree or Mean Dad
Favorite FF game plot: FF3 NES. No cutscenes except everybody dying
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Yuffie's chakra with Added Frog, or Wakka's b-ball.
Game you use the most status in: FF12
Game you use the least status in: FF1
Game with the best challenge: FF4DS
Game you've replayed the most: FF6 because it took me like 10 tries to actually finish it. FF6 is boring.
Game that has aged the best: FF5
Game that has aged the worst: FF9, no contenders there
-
Favorite FF game: FFX, though it's a close fight with 6, 7, and 13 these days.
Least favorite FF game: FFIV, I'm gonna break with the crowd here and say that, while it's a close fight with II for worst, at least II was ambitious about all the stuff it was utterly broken and bad in. It tried. And it's plot, while still ruddy ridiculous, is bloody amazing for the time. Meanwhile, FF4 ganked a lot of the plot points, except they're all somehow worse. Bleh.
Favorite FF dungeon: Gonna second the love for Kefka's Tower. More games need to have a cast large enough to have multiple parties going through the final dungeon simultaneously.
Favorite main character: Well, I was gonna gush a bit about Locke, but it says main character. In which case... I'm actually not going to say Squall, despite my fanboying of him. Lightning is my current favourite main.
Least favorite FF dungeon: The FF9 Anti-Magic Castle with the instant death enemies.
Favorite final boss: Gonna go with Kefka. I like the tiers and the summation of the super large party.
Favorite FF game plot: Being in the middle of a replay of FFX just confirms that it is the best plot in the series. Lots of varying motivations that all make sense in context tied together with lots of foreshadowing and a narrator who works as the players viewpoint into this world. They aimed high and for the most part, they nailed it.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Gunblades. Squall's and Lightning's.
Game you use the most status in: FFXIII, by far. Though, I suppose FFVIII counts if you include junctioned status.
Game you use the least status in: All of them that aren't 13, 10, or 8. I generally don't use status.
Game with the best challenge: FFXIII by far. Paradigm creation and management went a long way to determining difficulty in this game. Really highlighted by the failed attempt where I didn't bother to learn the system, and the successful attempt I mostly breezed through where I did.
Game you've replayed the most: I... uh, this is tricky since I've replayed a lot of them a few times. Could be anything in the list of 1, 4, 6, 10.
Game that has aged the best: Tough fight between FFVI and FFX. Think I'm gonna give it to FFX because I was looking at a few things in particular on this last replay and they didn't stand out as much as I expected them to after this much time had passed. (Based on a conversation regarding FFX and FFVIII circa 2006)
Game that has aged the worst: Just gonna say FFIV, one of the main reasons I've got it as the worst game in the series.
-
Favorite FF game: 5. It is the most replay friendly with the light plot, minimal side quest bullshit you can tie yourself up with and the ability to jump to the end game when you want to like Chrono Trigger did . It is hands down the game from the main series that let's you invest as much as you personally want to.
Least favorite FF game: 4. Has pretty close to 0 optional stuff. Is a complete and total slog to get through full of painful shit plot, characters and endlessly looping plot pouts (where FF5 looping plot points are unintentionally hilarious). FF2 is weird and bad, but it gave us SaGa. FF4 is boring and bad and gave us Kain fanboys, a sea of people who love boring paladins and sends the message of acceptance and normalization for Mary Sue fanfics that shit all over the canon ending of the game. King of Fabul is the father of that daughter.
Favorite FF dungeon: Everyone saying they don't have one? Lonka Ruins. Both parts of it, on the ground and when it is the Flying Fortress. FF5 gives you a steam punk Flying Fortress where you have a boss rush to get inside it. No other FF has something that matches that other than FF8. FF8 has a worse dungeon, but calls it Lunatic Pandora which is metal as fuck. It is no Firewall, but it is pretty fucking sick.
Favorite main character: I ... Guess it is Sarah? Just from not having played FF13-2 and liking her more than all the others kind of as default? Wait no. Yuna is main of FFX-2 and even X-2 Yuna is better than Squall.
Least favorite FF dungeon: some shit in FF1 I guess. Bonus mentions to all of Pulse for it shitty map in FF13 and a hearty fuck you to some of the underground stuff in FF4 that feels like mega padding.
Favorite final boss: Jecht, because he is one of the best FF characters ever.
Favorite FF game plot: FFX. It isn't subtle and it doesn't always fire on all cylinders but it does so way more consistently and far better than any of the others. Higher highs with fewer and less terrible lows than the others.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Red XIII's combs. Both in gameplay and concept. Having your sentient dog headbutt shit with his dreads is metal as fuck. he has the smallest pool of weapons in FF7 I think and the broadest selection to boot (followed by Yuffie). He gets one with innate Long Range, he has choices on Disc 1 to prioritize Power or Slots so his upgrade progression is more interesting much earlier than every one else (Barret tries and fails). It is a dense pack of interesting design in one character's weapon pool.
Game you use the most status in: FF5. That is probably more 4JF talking though. FF13 I didn't use Saboteur much outside of bosses and even then t was only a round or two really that you needed in the back half of the game.
Game you use the least status in: FF6. Why status when you can blow everything up? At least in other early FFs you would bust out positive status buffers. FF6 your best buff is like ... haste which you get accessories for or sometimes is less turn efficient than it is worth. FF7 and 8 it is easy to apply negative statuses by accident.
Game with the best challenge: FF5. It is easy but it also isn't fucking dumb. Early FF challenge tends to be pretty dumb. FF3 remake probably deserves a nod but I haven't got far enough in it to say with confidence.
Game you've replayed the most: FF7, because I was gaming between the years of 1997 and 2005.
Game that has aged the best: FF9. The reasons it sucks now are the reasons it sucked back then. I would say FF5 but it did benefit on both remakes and you know, an actual official translation. FFX remake also hits a couple of polish issues that stand out because it is so modern in other ways (or more like that JRPGs have been so much more niche that they haven't had a chance to progress much beyond FFX without becoming entirely different creatures). No scene skip and some pretty shonky lip synching (same animations as the JP track) stick out like sore thumbs these days.
Game that has aged the worst: FF4. What is pretty much a NES game coming out on the SNES made it aged when it came out. All those console generations later it still sticks out as pretty fucking ugly for its era compared to its peers and the gameplay was being shit on drastically by its ancestors.
-
Favorite FF game: FF6. It is the ur-JRPG that all other "classic-style" JRPGs are bred from. It is solid, and while not perfect, it does "JRPG" in a way that is imitated to varying degrees of effectiveness. It says something when the first RPGmaker engine was basically a FF6 clone.
Least favorite FF game: Toss up between FF4 and FF9. They both feel very similar to FF6, but more primitive and somehow less unique. FF2 and FF8 are probably worse objectively, but they have such -weird- systems that I find them intriguing.
Favorite FF dungeon: Magitech Research Facility, Floating Continent, Kefka's Tower all stand out as unique locations that really pack a narrative punch with some solid dungeoning that doesn't drag on too long. Nibelheim does some similarly good stuff in this regard. I like some of the FF12 dungeons but they all get soooooo long that they aren't 'favorites'.
Favorite main character: Terra by default. Though I thought Tidus and Serah were pretty well written mains too.
Least favorite FF dungeon: That one from FF9 where they take your magic away when you've got nothing but mages...
Favorite final boss: Kefka's final chain is pretty awesome, especially with the epic clash of getting to use the full 12-member party.
Favorite FF game plot: FFX. FF7 is also good. And FF6 doesn't embarrass itself. I... can't say the same for the other main games.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Noiseblaster~ Who doesn't enjoy it when characters fight with a giant trumpet thing? Lulu's dolls for 'favorite cute weapon'. FF13-2's Transforming Bow-Sword-Moogle is pretty stylish too.
Game you use the most status in: FF13. Saboteurs are cool.
Game you use the least status in: FF1, probably?
Game with the best challenge: FFX, if you don't use Summons? FF3 is also pretty challenging.
Game you've replayed the most: FF6. Yeah.
Game that has aged the best: Personally, I think FF6 still holds up. Though FF5 is similarly strong. FFX has aged well I suppose, but it doesn't feel 'old' even though it certainly fits that definition (Grefter hit the nail on the head that the JRPG genre hasn't changed significantly since FFX... It has diversified but it's more that further 'evolution' turns the game into something other than a 'standard JRPG').
Game that has aged the worst: FF4 or FF9, certainly.
-
Favorite FF game: Tough one between FF6 and FF10...I'll go with FF6 for now because nostalgia tie breaker.
Least favorite FF game: FF2. I know I defend the game sometimes, but that's more "it's not as bad as some claim" and not "the game is good!" ...because it's not. My defense of it is more what it was at the time and how it stood out. FF10-2 deserves honorable mention though; legitimately gave the game a second chance and my opinion didn't improve at all.
Favorite FF dungeon: Going to be shot for this one, but I actually liked Pharos in FF12. Yeah, it's long but I actually liked FF12 gameplay. Generally, I don't think about FF dungeons much, though, so this is more of a "if I have to put something here."
Favorite main character: Terra. I don't think I could get away pretending any other answer would go here.
Least favorite FF dungeon: If direct sequels count, Academia 400 AF works. Tedious high encounter rate + Bad layout = poorly designed dungeon. The bad layout is emphasized further when you basically go to this place with no encounters in Academia 4XX.
Favorite final boss: Ehh...Omega Bahamut or whatever FF13-2's is called. Mostly because I can't think of any and it has an interesting but unintrusive gimmick.
Favorite FF game plot: FF10. Coherent plot throughout with some good themes and ideas, and good execution on most fronts, while keeping my attention.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): FF6 Atma Weapon at full power, just because of the aesthetics. Honorable mention to Lightning's Blazefire Sabre because I just really like the shift from Gun to Sword she does (That's how the Pistol Sword was actually used, not like Squall's; lot's of people say the opposite, which is false.)
Game you use the most status in: FF10. Wakka's status is consistently useful.
Game you use the least status in: FF9. Outside of like one or two instances where Soul Blade comes in handy, FF9 Status has a combination of being impractical due to enemies not having high enough durability, and unreliable due to low hit rates. The only status I see coming in handy is Stop and Petrify if you want AP but no EXP.
Game with the best challenge: Probably FF13. Every fight shows some level of attention that makes you try out a lot of your options, and this factor is primary why FF13-2's gameplay is worse, as most of the fights feel very Auto-Piloted (eg in FF13, going with nothing but Commandos and Ravagers rarely wins a fight (efficiently) until your stats are high; FF13-2, that approach wins 80% of random encounters in the game)
Game you've replayed the most: FF6.
Game that has aged the best: FF5, with honorable mention to FF6. The reason FF5 wins this is because it aged as well as FF6, but is technically older, thus that means it has aged better.
Game that has aged the worst: FF9. I use to love this game, but replays, my opinion has soured because it's just that slow. I don't dislike it now, just game went from 9/10 to about 6/10.
-
Games I'm covering: Mainline FFs plus FFT (but I'll give alternates for if you want to exclude FFT). Not including 10-2, 13-2, 12RW, etc.
Favorite FF game: FF5. Would probably be FF10 if it had sceneskip.
Least favorite FF game: FF2. I don't hate it but clearly worst.
Favorite FF dungeons: I can't really narrow this down more than one dungeon per game, so, by game: 1 - Mirage Tower/Sky Castle; 2 - Pandemonium; 3 - Crystal Tower is like the only dungeon worth a damn; 4 - Giant of Babil; 5 - Lonka Ruins; 6 - Kefka's Tower; 7 - Great Glacier; 10 - Zanarkand Ruins; 12 - Pharos at Ridorana. Dungeons in 8/9/13 weren't memorable enough for me to have a favorite really.
Least favorite FF dungeons: Again by game. 1 - Ice Cave; 2 - every other dungeon in the game; 3 - every mini dungeon; 4 - Cave Magnes; 5 - Pyramid; 6 - Zozo; 7 - Corel Prison; 12 - Dalmasca Westersand. See above re: 8/9/13, and 10 doesn't have any dungeons I dislike enough to remember not liking them.
Favorite main character: Ramza. If you ignore him, though, I'm one of those weird people who actually likes Zidane, he's refreshingly different from most FF mains
Favorite final boss: Braska's Final Aeon. It's just a great technical fight (like many late FFX bosses) if you don't go in overleveled with broken stuff.
Favorite FF game plot: Either 10 or 12. 12 plot's similar to FFT's but has more of the parts I liked (the intrigue and political stuff) and less of the parts I didn't (ZOMG LUCAVI), but it still has some pretty rough spots in execution (most things involving Vaan). FFX appeals to me less on surface but is executed extremely well by JRPG standards.
Favorite weapons: Brotherhood (FF10) for visual design. Brave Blade (FF5) for mechanics, fits my playstyle the best.
Game you use the most status in: FF5. It's just so useful.
Game you use the least status in: FF1. Spell slots are too limited.
Game with the best challenge: FF13. It's just really tightly balanced.
Game you've replayed the most: It's gotta be one of 1/4/5. Probably 5 at this point.
Game that has aged the best: FF5, without question.
Game that has aged the worst: I'm gonna be that guy. FFT. I find FFT without frameskip almost unbearable to play these days in spite of how much I like the game. Take every problem people complain about with FF9 speed, and FFT has that same problem worse. That said, if not FFT, FF9.
-
Favorite FF game: Hmm. Torn between FF5 and FFX for this.
Least favorite FF game: FF12. Wasted potential grates on me more than just plain bad. FF2 and 3 are just plain bad. 12 could have been good but the potential got pissed away by bad design choices and unforgivable slowness.
Favorite FF dungeon: I...am not sure here. Kefka's Tower is pretty great, I do like the multiple parties thing in a game with such a large cast. But I think I like it conceptually more than I enjoy playing through the dungeon, if that makes any sense. Shinra HQ also gets a nod due to having the option to just take the stairs for something different, and the dungeon is stylish as hell.
Favorite main character: Tidus. Squall and Terra are up there as well.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Yeah, Oeilvert in FF9 is just bad. FF4's Sealed Cave can also go die in a hole. Trap Doors and Demon Wall annoy me.
Favorite final boss: Exdeath. He's the menacing villain the entire game, not just showing up at the end like Zeromus or Necron. And the fact that even his final form holds to FF5's design of "status can be useful on bosses if you know what holes they have" is something I like. Kefka and Ultimecia get nods for honorable mention.
Favorite FF game plot: FFX, no question.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Apollo's Harp(FF5) due to the sheer hilarity of HARPZERKER THE SHINRYU SLAYER!!! in one of my fiesta runs. Squall's Gunblade(the basic Revolver on design, don't like the stronger ones as much) due to style.
Game you use the most status in: FF5, easily. FF13 for honorable mention, Sabs are great, I just haven't played the game as much as I have FF5.
Game you use the least status in: Uh...hmm. FF9 maybe? FF1 has some low level status I'll use, FF4 has status claws at least, FF6 has tools....yeah, think 9 is the only one I just won't bother with status in.
Game with the best challenge: Uh...honestly I dunno here. Having learned how to break them all wide open aside from the likes of FF1-3 that have difficulty of the dumb variety, it's hard to say. We'll go with FF5 because it's the only one I enjoy playing "challenge" runs of.
Game you've replayed the most: FF5. Blame Gilgabot.
Game that has aged the best: FF5. Advance version specifically. 6 and X for honorable mention here.
Game that has aged the worst: FF9. Meeple hits the nail on the head here. I loved it once, now it's too slow and just drags on too much.
-
Games this covers: 1-10; PSX ports of 1, 2, and 4-6; DS remakes of 3 and 4.
Favorite FF game: 6. There's not really any competition, except for Tactics. I think 3 is my favorite after that?
Least favorite FF game: 8 or 9. I realize now my distaste for 7 and 10 is largely because so many people liked them and I should probably give them another chance. 8 and 9 were just awful games though and the times I tried to replay them were because I wanted to play the card games.
Favorite FF dungeon: Nothing really sticks out. I haven't played the games in ages, so I'll pass.
Favorite main character: FF6, let's just bypass a really tedious argument and say whoever you think the main character from FF6 is is the best protagonist.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Cyan's Dream. This is 100% because 10 year old me had his first runthrough of the game (on a rental!) end there since it was the first dungeon I did in the WoR after getting the airship, and I hadn't been using *ANY* of the characters you could have gotten at that time. Ignoring that, the crystal tower/dark world sequence in FF3DS is dumb. No saves, no savestates. Fuck that.
Favorite final boss: Kefka. FF6 gets a lot of points for 5th grade me waking up at 5AM to play it before school on a week long rental, and I beat Kefka the day before the game had to be returned at 6:30 AM before I had to get ready for school. Good times. It's still a good fight as an adult, too. Runner up is (surprise) FF3, I just really like the whole dark world sequence... if only there was a save point before it!
Favorite FF game plot: Video game plot is bad. FF6's character work is good, and fuck the rules FFT did a lot of neat shit that videogames weren't doing before, but let's not pretend that they're really any good.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): I got opinions about literally everything, and I still don't have an opinion about this.
Game you use the most status in: ????? I don't understand such a stupid question. Status sucks in FF games. Like, do you want me to answer LFT? Because that's the only correct answer to this question.
Oh wait FF10 had really useful status skills, but I don't like that game so I forgot about it. Yeah let's go with FF10.
Game you use the least status in: Not FF10.
Game with the best challenge: Nah.
Game you've replayed the most: Counting failed attempts, FF6 since it's the only one I played on a rental. Only counting complete playthroughs of games that aren't remakes? I think FFT is the only one that fits the bill. I don't replay JRPGs all the way through, I get too bored.
Game that has aged the best: The ones that give me the biggest nostalgia boner, so see favorite games.
Game that has aged the worst: FF2 was probably bad when it first came out, but goddamn it is unplayable now.
-
Favorite FF game: 6. Not close to being close.
Least favorite FF game: 9. I haven't played JP 2 and 3, they sound certainly worse, but at least they have the excuse of being old.
Favorite FF dungeon: 5's endgame Void. Simple but everything a final dungeon should be.
Favorite main character: FF6. See Zenny, any of the core cast in that game wrecks any other main series protagonist.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Fork Tower...? I dunno.
Favorite final boss: Kefka.
Favorite FF game plot: 6.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Who cares? I guess Setzer's Dice have some sort of excitement?
Game you use the most status in: 10
Game you use the least status in: Anything that isn't 10 or 5.
Game with the best challenge: Ok no. Tactics. Come on. There is no challenge in FF main series. Arguably there's no challenge in FFT either but at least it TRIES at Dorter and Velius and Balk 2.
Game you've replayed the most: 6.
Game that has aged the best: I would say 6, but 4JF is a testament to the staying power of 5's gameplay. So both of those, really.
Game that has aged the worst: Probably 12, just for the abyssal plunge of opinion and people defending it that happened when 13 came out. 9 and J2 also suffer a lot, but only very rarely have I seen such immediate turnarounds from "no this game is cool you just don't get it the plot is good and characters are cool and paradigms are great gameplay" to "ok yeah that game sucked coconuts let's never talk about it again."
-
Favorite FF game: FFVII or FFXIII
Least favorite FF game: FFIV or FFVIII
Favorite FF dungeon: Sunleth Waterscape currently. Anything else that is green, flowery, and/or that has sparkly watery effects with rainbows.
Favorite main character: Terra (Honorable mentions to Ramza, Bartz and Tidus/Yuna, Lightning/Fang/Vanille too I guess~)
Least favorite FF dungeon: Academia 400 sure why not. Either that or one of XII's huge ass things. Not so keen on Gapra Whitewood either.
Favorite final boss: XIII series or FFVI
Favorite FF game plot: Hmm, I quite enjoyed most of them~ Not so keen on FFIV, XII or VIII though. Oooh, FFT wins if we're counting that definitely. (edit - guess we're not!~)
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Hnn, Aerith's staffs particularly Guard Stick, Umbrella and Princess Guard, Yuna's staffs, Vanille's Belladonna Wand and Mistilteinn, Tiger Racket for Garnet/Eiko, Selphie's Crescent Wish, FFVI's Man Eater.
Game you use the most status in: FFXIII.
Game you use the least status in: FFVII and IX (assuming negative status here)?
Game with the best challenge: FFXIII. FFT can be broken so hard.
Game you've replayed the most: FFVII
Game that has aged the best: FFVI
Game that has aged the worst: FFIV, FFIX sure, some aspects of FFVII and FFVIII also look kind of horri-bad now though.
-
Favorite FF game: FFXII apparently. Huh.
Least favorite FF game: FFIV. No contest.
Favorite FF dungeon: Nothing is really jumping out.
Favorite main character: Cloud. Before the sidestory bullshit changed him up, he's actually not bad.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Kuja's Castle. Oeilvert wasn't too bad cause I still had Zidane. My subsequent Kuja's Castle party was all physical and terribly underleveled.
Favorite final boss: Jecht. Very well done sequence.
Favorite FF game plot: Tidus is kind of a prat, but using the whole game as mostly a tale of reconciliation between father and son with the world-jumping symbolizing the two different worlds they lived in worked in theory. Practice needed some work. Same with Cloud's twist on mistaken identity. 12 is a decent political thriller but there are large plot gaps in the story they just leave out. But on the whole it is hard to like them as complete plots.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Taste runs to the absurd here. Gunblades are so silly it's hard to hate them. Megaphones and Combs are also good.
Game you use the most status in: FF5
Game you use the least status in: FF6
Game with the best challenge: Wha?
Game you've replayed the most: Haven't replayed any, most playtime was definitely FFXII though.
Game that has aged the best: FF1. Was surprised how fun and generally playable it was. Granted, PSP version, but given the age of the game it still counts.
Game that has aged the worst: FF7. So much a product of its time, but man, those legos just look awful.
-
Favorite FF game: 10. Only 5/6 come remotely close.
Least favorite FF game: 8. Is basically complete shit, as opposed to 2 which is also complete shit but not ATB and I can at least play the GBA version without causing myself physical pain.
Favorite FF dungeon: *shrug*
Favorite main character: FF6. Really any reasonable candidate there kind of stomps the competition, FF not really great at mains.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Oeilvert, sure.
Favorite final boss: Kefka.
Favorite FF game plot: 10 I guess? Alternatively fuck the rules, FFT wins.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Do I have to.
Game you use the most status in: 10.
Game you use the least status in: I guess 2 wins this by default.
Game with the best challenge: eeeeeh.
Game you've replayed the most: 6.
Game that has aged the best: 6? 5 certainly contends though.
Game that has aged the worst: 4. 9 probably contends though.
-
Hey, if there's a "Favorite Weapon" category, can people chime in on their Favorite Summon? I've always been a huge fan of the summoned monsters in the FF games and I was kind of curious which ones people liked. For both design and gameplay function.
Favorite Summon: FFX Ifrit just has this "I will kick your ass" design going on, but also puts me in the mind of an adorable oversized puppy, particularly with how Yuna interacts with him. FF8 Shiva was also a pretty cool animation sequence. I also liked that FF12 added a whole slew of new Espers to the roster, for all that most of them have kinda 'meh' designs (Though Mateus' is kinda neat).
Least Favorite Summon: FF13 Shiva. Seriously dumb. Dumb to the point of being funny, but FF13 takes itself so seriously that I can't believe it's intentionally funny.
-
Favorite summon? Choco Mog's the one I've used the most, I'd think. I don't use summon magic much at all outside of Knights in FFs.
Favorite dungeon breakdown by game would be interesting. FF1: Mirage tower/sky castle FF4: Lunar core/final dungeon FF5: Uh fuck. Barrier tower I think? I'm a sucker for climbing the giant tower of doom. FF6: Kefka's tower is good, but I tend to moogle charm almost everything in the WoR. Tower of Fanatics is annoying as hell from a design perspective, but it's hands down one of the most unique dungeons in the series and I love the atmosphere/music. FF7: Snow arc. End of disk 3 dungeon I guess? FF8's kinda blurry and I don't like Ulti's castle. FF9: I guess the final dungeon, see FF8 about it being blurry. FFX: Zanarkand. FF13: Pulse. Just stunning visually+lots to do and explore.
-
My favourite summon is surely... something from FFX. The way you control them and interact with them made them feel much more real. And they appear (usefully!) in cutscenes! I guess FF13 does the same thing but I wasn't really a fan of using those, even though I liked when they show up in cutscenes too.
Valefor if you make me pick one.
Favourite dungeon by game:
FF1 - Mt. Gulug, probably? It's a good balance between annoyingly punitive (Ice Cave, Marsh Cave) and snooze-too-easy, a rough gauntlet with a decent boss waiting at the end, and it has one of the better pieces of FF1 music for what that's worth.
FF2 - Screw this game. Maybe the dreadnought, I dunno.
FF3 - Cave of Darkness, honestly. That gimmick is memorable as hell and there are some neat ways around it.
FF4 - Tower of Babel, maybe? Nothing really jumps out.
FF5 - Sure, Ronka Ruins. Randoms which kinda try a bit and a memorable, unique design.
FF6 - Kefka's Tower is the favourite, though I really like the Magitek Factory and Floating Continent as well.
FF7 - Great Glacier->Whirlwind Maze, this is easy. Actual dungeon, good story stuff in it.
FF8 - Ultimecia's Castle. Easy default choice, neat dungeon in an otherwise blah game for them.
FF9 - Gizamaluke's Grotto perhaps? Nice atmosphere and there's stuff going on in the plot.
FFX - Gagazet->Zanarkand. The emotional climax of the game and lots of good battles.
FF13 - Orphan's Cradle, despite the lame battle music. The randoms here are so good.
-
Favorite FF game: FF6, probably
Least favorite FF game: FF2j, definitely
Favorite FF dungeon: Hrm. I guess I'll say the Imperial Magitek Research Facility.
Favorite main character: Zidane? I'm a sucker for comic relief, and will overlook his brief emo period due to the incredible music.
Least favorite FF dungeon: FF12's lighthouse. Just went on too long.
Favorite final boss: I guess Neo Exdeath. The individual, exploitable vulnerabilities for each part (and the dummy targets) are nifty.
Favorite FF game plot: Going with FF7. I like how it has multiple "factions" (party, Planet, Shinra, Sephiroth) that never simplify into two clear sides.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): FF5 Chain Whip. You'd think that whipping bosses like Omniscient to death is impractical, and you'd be wrong.
Game you use the most status in: Despite the above, FF8. Set Pain to Status Attack and suddenly every attack is a status attack. Also, Doomtrain.
Game you use the least status in: FF2j. I know it can theoretically be useful, but damned if I'm going to bother.
Game with the best challenge: FF5. Job system means easy challenge tweaking.
Game you've replayed the most: FF6
Game that has aged the best: FF6
Game that has aged the worst: FF4
Favorite summon: Doomtrain. Ding ding toot toot chugga chugga ALL THE STATUSES.
-
Gotta post again and say favorite summon is DOOM TRAIN... even though I just got beaten to it. Honorable mentions to everything in FFX (the one game I felt actually succeeded at making summons a big focal deal like they're supposed to be in the entire series, lorewise) ... and FF7 Ifrit for being one of the first really awe inspiring things I saw back in the day that made me go "wow this game is awesome," even if it looks silly and "what's the big deal?" today.
-
Yep it's the Doom Train.
I also really like FF12's summons as they're either Zodiac Demons from FFT or Classic FF final bosses (+ 2 random guys in there since Kefka and that bad guy from FF3 were not worthy?)
Zalera and Cuchulainn are cool.
-
Favorite FF game: Final Fantasy 10 objectively, FF 9 subjectively (sucker for the style so much)
Least favorite FF game: FINAL FANTASY 12
Favorite FF dungeon: Aesthetically, anything in FF 9. Really. All so gorgeous. Gameplaywise...yeah, probably the FF 8 final dungeon
Favorite main character: I guess...Lightning. Final Fantasy on the whole tends to be lacking on extremely awesome characters, let alone mains.
Least favorite FF dungeon: FINAL FANTASY 12. I DO NOT KNOW WHICH DUNGEON THEY ALL MAKE ME CRY PAST THE FIRST 25% OF THE GAME
Favorite final boss: I dunno...maybe Sephiroth. Fun to beat his face in+the first (and only time) I actually beat the game, it was very early in my RPG career and I wasn't very good at that point.
Favorite FF game plot: Final Fantasy 10.
-
I should note that Sephiroth gets points as a final boss for punishing people (like me the first time though...) who gamesharked their characters to level 99 instead of playing the game legitimately . Definitely made that fight take waaaaay longer than it should have, and while it sucked at the time I think it's kinda hilarious now. Actually, I only just now realized that since getting to L99 is ridiculously time consuming without cheats that the HP boost was probably only introduced for the express purpose of punishing cheaters. Hilarity.
Favorite Summon is a way better question than favorite weapon. I like comedy, so Doom Train is a good choice. I liked the way Odin acted during the last fight with Seifer. 10's summons are the only good part of the game, even if everything that made them interesting gets mostly negated as soon as you get Bahamut, and entirely negated if you get Anima.
Honorable mention goes to Quetzacotl, because <3 Laggy.
-
I also really like FF12's summons as they're either Zodiac Demons from FFT or Classic FF final bosses (+ 2 random guys in there since Kefka and that bad guy from FF3 were not worthy?)
Pretty sure Kefka didn't get in because he's an actual character and not just so random Evil Dark Bad Guy. That's why Zeromus was chosen over Golbez. And FF3's guy wasn't in because they chose Cloud of Darkness...who you'd never realize was in FF12 because it was Famfrit, a giant monster thing with a big water jug. How are we suppose to know it's Cloud of Darkness? Because it's title is "The Darkening Cloud."
To be fair, they also turned Emperor, aka Mateus, into a Mermaid...
I should probably make this meaningful, so favorite summon? I have several, but offhand I'll just say FF7 Bahamut. I liked the animation and the quick execution and the way the animation and sound effects actually feel as damaging as it is.
-
I didn't know about Famfrit! Not sure about the theory though, they put in Exdeath (as an UOM Fireplace) and not Super Omega Neo X-Death.
Since there's every Lucavi + every final boss for FF1-5 in FF12... Shemhazai suddendly looks pretty Kefka-ish to me.
Would make no sense to have just ONE original summon out of 13 and not have it be important at all
-
Mateus isn't the mermaid, Mateus is the armor, which has captured an Ice Goddess to use as a power source (speculation is that it's Shiva). Armor = Mateus from FF2 is close enough. Now... Famfrit being Cloud of Darkness is totally an asspull since Famfrit is from FFT as a Lucavi and FFTA as a Totema. They just didn't wanna leave out a game from FF1-5 and they knew they needed to put all the Totema/Lucavi in. I dunno why they didn't just drop Shemhazai for an actual Cloud of Darkness-like Esper, since she already looks pretty damn FF12 Esper-ish.
For speculation, some people draw some parallels between Ultimecia's story and Shemhazai's background profile if you wanna try to force a connection, but it's tenuous (less tenuous than a Kefka connection, though!).
-
Oh yeah YOU are tenuous
It all fits nicely + They have similar clothes = Too late I'm already convinced.
-
I honestly don't see the similiarties in Kefka and Shemhazzai at all, and Shemhazzai's plot doesn't really match Ultimecia's either. It's "use to be good, then Ultima became Evil, so Shemhazzai said 'I'm going with Ultima!' and then decided to teach people how to be bad." Not really the same as Sorceress who was persecuted, then decides to take it out on everyone by destroying every living thing in existence except herself via time compression. That dosen't even factor in the whole "Predestination Paradox Ultimecia created when she learned of her fate and tried to prevent it.
I'm reading some discussion on it, and the basic logic that kills any sort of connection is this:
-Shemhazzai is based on a centaur, the traditional HUman + Horse. If it was based off Ultimecia, that'd be a Lion, due to Griever.
-The naming convention. Exodus, Chaos, Mateus and Zeromus are all named after their final boss counterparts, Famfrit was given a title that explicitly links it to Cloud of Darkness. Likewise, the Lucavi are all named after their FFT selves (...with different translations making it less obvious in some case). Shemhazzai has no such thing.
-Backstory doesn't match any FF Villain. The others all have some connection, Shemhazzai does not; again, it's story doesn't even remotely resemble Ultimecia's as I illustrated above, let alone any FF character.
The discussion seems to agree the design similarities it has with Ultigriever are coincidental.
Also, Djinn, slight correction, but I don't think Famfrit is actually in FFT. FFTA, yes, and I think Niu stated that Famfrit was intended to be Cloud of Darkness in that game even (I remember this because I was in NJIT when Niu told me, and this was well before FF12 was out), but I do agree it's a total asspull.
ANYWAY, I should get back to the actual topic! Derailing too much!
I forgot two dungeons that I absolutely despise and should have brought up before: Rydia and Edge's challenge dungeons in FF4TAY. One is a tedious thing with enemies too strong for your party, the other relies heavily on luck to get through (what? Ran into this encounter on this forced spot and your levels aren't high enough? AUTO LOSS!) I know they're optional but good god do they suck.
-
Ugh, right, I was conflating Famfrit with Adrammelech and thinking that Famfrit just must have had some weird translation for a name in FFT so I was forgetting him in that.
-
TAY's bonus dungeons were something to give people to do while they waited for new episodes to come out. Never done them myself, nothing about them sounds that interesting. TAY gets really fun when the band gets together, not with split up parties.
-
No FFT makes this list awful.
Games this covers: I dunno. I've played bits and pieces of most of them, but beat surprisingly few of them. I guess 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9?
Favorite FF game: 6. No question without Tactics on this list.
Least favorite FF game: 8. No question.
Favorite FF dungeon: Mmm. Honestly, none of them really jump out at me enough to declare them favorites?
Favorite main character: We'll go with the Zenny answer here. Cloud is okay, but I'm not that big a fan of him.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Zozo. I dunno why. Zozo just sort of irritates me.
Favorite final boss: Kefka works.
Favorite FF game plot: 6. Simple and generally well executed, particularly considering the limitations the game had to deal with. Has some pacing issues, but still.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Don't care.
Game you use the most status in: Any non-mainline FF game.
Game you use the least status in: Any mainline FF game.
Game with the best challenge: I guess 5? All of the others are kinda derp.
Game you've replayed the most: 6. Derp.
Game that has aged the best: 6, prolly. Graphics are still decent, writing is at least still at the fringes of modern game writing quality, gameplay systems are are still functional (and frankly I like them better than a lot of the later FF game designs).
Game that has aged the worst: Eh... no strong opinion here.
-
Favorite FF game: I think I have to go with 6 for this one, although 10 is really good as well.
Least favorite FF game: I wasn't a fan of FF13 at all.
Favorite FF dungeon: Hmmm. This is hard, but Lunar Subterranean really nailed the final dungeon vibe with all the optional bosses and ultimate weapons around. FF8's was really good too.
Favorite main character: Zidane probably. It was nice to have someone like him after the relatively sombre protaganists from 6-8.
Least favorite FF dungeon: I was going to say FF5 pyramid because I replayed it recently and it was annoying, but then Super reminded me that Academia 400 AF existed.
Favorite final boss: FF6's. This was just an amazing sequence especially considering the technical limitations they had with the SNES.
Favorite FF game plot: FF10's. The character and world building here is easily my favorite.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): I have no idea.
Game you use the most status in: Probably FF13. I used both Saboteurs and they were both pretty good!
Game you use the least status in: I think it's FF1, but I didn't really use it that much in FF10 or FF9 either.
Game with the best challenge: If you don't know how to break it, FF5 has a really nice challenge balance. FF4DS is probably still harder, but is less well balanced.
Game you've replayed the most: FF6 I think.
Game that has aged the best: This is interesting. FF1, FF10, and FF7 seem to be regarded about the same as when they came out. I think FF8 might be the one that's improved the most since people have accepted that the plot is stupid, moved on, and embraced how easy it is to break the game.
Game that has aged the worst:FF9 probably, although it is still a nice game aesthetically.
-
Favorite FF game: VI
Least favorite FF game: VIII
Favorite FF dungeon: Tower of Kefka.
Favorite main character: Yuna, I guess? I don't play FF games for the mains.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Crystal fucking Tower.
Favorite final boss: VII isn't my favorite at much, but Safer Sephiroth was a really good final fight. Kefka's a close second.
Favorite FF game plot: VI, probably.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Hell if I know.
Game you use the most status in: Probably X because statustouch/strike weapons exist and Slow is such a big deal.
Game you use the least status in: II. I don't think I used a status spell once there.
Game with the best challenge: Chall...enge?
Game you've replayed the most: VI. Four times on the SNES (I didn't even own an SNES!) puts it ahead of everything but V before you even start in on the re-releases.
Game that has aged the best: V. Job/Ability never goes out of style.
Game that has aged the worst: II if we're looking at just the originals, III if you take the most recent remake/re-release.
-
Memories of SNES games very hazy, memories of PSX era sorta fuzzy, memories of PS2 era and FF5 crystal clear.
Favorite FF game: FF5. I find it much more succinct, replayable, and enjoyable than most any other game in the series. FFX runner up, it's fun but it's slow to get going (Guadosalam is the point where I start caring/when the game stops tutorialing you more or less?)
Least favorite FF game: FF4. I think I have tried replaying it six times and stop before becoming za paladino ultomato each time since... can't bring myself to continue? This'd be FF3DS but that got entertaining endgame I guess.
Favorite FF dungeon: ... prrrrrrobably the one super-optional and really tough area in FF12 where you go to get the Zodiac Spear if you FAQ'd it, actually? Like, there's actually a lot of places in FF12 I really liked the feel of but that place was easily one of my favorites. Runner up to Kefka's Tower, though.
Favorite main character: Does Yuna count? If not, Terra (and if she doesn't count, I pass)
Least favorite FF dungeon: WHATEVER THE FUCK THAT IDENTICAL MAZE OF ROOMS IN FF12 WAS, FUCK THAT PLACE TO HELL capslock off but christ I can't describe how much i hate that dungeon. Also it says something about FF12 naming scheme that I can't recall the name of -any- of the locations I guess.
Favorite final boss: uhhhm. let's go the three dudes leading up to Kefka if I can cheat and not pick Kefka himself. would be a lot more interesting in a tougher game, and was still really interesting/stylish in the game itself.
Favorite FF game plot: FF6. most concrete and interesting turn of the game, with an excellent transfer to the second half. Runnerup to FF10, but the earlygame drags on me.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Gonna order based on favorites, note I'm not a fan of a lot of the standard stuff.
Blitzball (FFX) > Combs (FF7) > Dolls (FFX) > Dualguns (FF13) > Tools (FF6) > Staff/dreamcatcher (FF13) > martial artist characters minus Snow > the rest, offhand? > Snow (how is your weapon the fucking symbol on your back, you are hitting with your fists, stop this bloody nonsense)
Game you use the most status in: FFXII. Thanks, reverse Remedies!
Game you use the least status in: I was about to say FF9, but then I remembered Tent abuse existed. Uh, probably FF7 then. FF6 runner up.
Game with the best challenge: FF5, probably? Going for non-breaking runs makes it pretty threatening pretty often. Runner-up to FF13.
Game you've replayed the most: FF5, easily.
Game that has aged the best: FF6. FF5... the GBA version helps but the graphics are still dry. FF6, oddly enough, still feels pretty impressive for the software it's on, to me.
Game that has aged the worst: Two way tie for me: FF7 for graphics, FF9 for gameplay.
Favorite summon: Tie between FF8 Doomtrain and FFX Valefor/FFX summons in general. Honestly both games did summons in ways I like (too bad FF8 is broken by stiff winds...)
Favorite dungeons by game:
FF3: No.
FF4: Final dungeon.
FF5: Ronka Ruins works, sure.
FF6: Kefka's Tower.
FF7: The mansion, actually, I think. Neat case of optional stuff and non-optional stuff merged well and sanely.
FF8: This game had dungeons? Uh, final dungeon works.
FF9: Something from disc 1.
FF10: Yes.
FF12: The super-optional hard zone. A lot of the game had fun design here, though.
FF13: Pulse, by dint of being the only thing that wasn't a corridor.
Least favorite dungeons by game:
FF3: Yes.
FF4: One of the many early caves. Choose one and it'll be my least favorite for today.
FF5: oof. Uh... Fork Tower.
FF6: The place where you re-recruit Strago. Yes game I get your point this is tall, congrats, penis size of developer compensated for
FF7: I recall a lot of places being weirdly hard to navigate? We'll go with the one optional dungeon that had a lot of weird puzzle stuff to get through it, though.
FF8: Iiiii don't recall anything other than the Minotaur/Sacred thing being all -that- annoying... so let's go with that dungeon.
FF9: Discs 3 and 4, offhand.
FF10: No.
FF12: That one goddamn "everything is all the same" dungeon.
FF13: Pulse, by dint of being the only thing that wasn't a corridor.
-
Favorite FF game: VI
Least favorite FF game: III
Favorite FF dungeon: First Mako Reactor in FF7
Favorite main character: Bartz? I don't like the rest of the main characters by default
Least favorite FF dungeon: Crystal Tower
Favorite final boss: XIII-2
Favorite FF game plot: VII
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Forks
Game you use the most status in: XIII aka the only one they're necessary in
Game you use the least status in: VIII? I don't remember ever casting a spell
Game with the best challenge: XIII
Game you've replayed the most: VI
Game that has aged the best: V
Game that has aged the worst: III, even the remake is garbage.
-
I forgot bells which are really cool.
The Gaia Bell is always the first legendary weapon I pick in FF5 because Bell, even if I don't use a geomancer.
-
No spinoffs? Guess I'm choosing from FF3DS, FF6, FF7, FFX.
Favorite FF game: FFX
Least favorite FF game: FF3DS
Favorite FF dungeon: Inside Sin (FFX)?
Favorite main character: Does Tifa count? She's the perspective character for a good while! If not, Cloud.
Least favorite FF dungeon: Kefka's Tower (FF6), although a lot of my negativity towards it might be because it took me ages to figure out I was supposed to land my airship somewhere that looked unlandable.
Favorite final boss: FFX, if only for the music
Favorite FF game plot: FFX
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): Probably something of Lu Lu's, like a moogle doll or something
Game you use the most status in: FFX; break debuffs and stuff.
Game you use the least status in: FF7 maybe? I remember being surprised when told some Limits had status on them....
Game with the best challenge: FF3DS? I don't remember that game ever being stupidly easy or stupidly hard.
Game you've replayed the most: FFX.
Game that has aged the best: FFX.
Game that has aged the worst: FF7? I find it hard to imagine being impressed with this game's graphics. Or not frustrated with navigating on a pre-rendered picture where it's unclear where you can walk.
-
Favorite FF game: Final Fantasy VI
Least favorite FF game:Final Fantasy. I played Magic of Scheherazade when it came out, so Final Fantasy wasn't exactly a ground-breaking, earth shattering series.
Favorite FF dungeon:Tower of Shin-Ra, first visit, Final Fantasy VII an epic climb against the corporate monsters in the best part of the game, you get all the way up and then BAMMO. President is goddamn impaled on his desk in a pool of blood. Just wonderful.
Favorite main character:Cloud. Cloud's great in the actual game he's from where he's a goddamn lunatic and not some kind of, I dunno, legendary hero or something.
Least favorite FF dungeon:The Snow Area in Final Fantasy VII I just find it incredibly boring. I've quit the game like, 3 times when I got to this spot.
Favorite final boss:Kefka. The music is brilliant. Also, it's fuckin' Kefka, and he has a reason for being the final boss, unlike about 90% of the series.
Favorite FF game plot:Final Fantasy VI
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one):Nail bat. Mop. For serious weaponry? Uh... Hawkeye
Game you use the most status in:Final Fantasy VII. It's probably more effective in 5, but I traditionally just rip things to pieces in 5 with damage.
Game you use the least status in:Final Fantasy IV. I'm not sure I ever used a status attack other than Cecil's ID in this game.
Game with the best challenge:Hahahahahahahahahahaha Maybe the Japanese version of FFIV? I dunno.
Game you've replayed the most:Final Fantasy 6
Game that has aged the best:Oddly, Final Fantasy VIII. Even though the story is awful, it's so beyond its time graphically and musically that it's basically exactly the same game now that it was then.
Game that has aged the worst:Final Fantasy
-
I'll bite.
Favorite main character:
Least favorite main character: Squall or Cloud. Hard to pick one.
Favorite FF game: FF4
Least favorite FF game: FF8 or FF2
Favorite FF dungeon: Floating Continent - That's when the shit goes down!
Least favorite FF dungeon: FF3 Crystal Tower. Lack of a save option really sucks when climbing this thing.
Favorite final boss: Kefka
Favorite FF game plot: FF6
Favorite weapon: Chainsaw (Jason mask bitches!)
Game you use the most status in: FF11
Game you use the least status in: FF1
Game with the best challenge: FF5
Game you've replayed the most: FF4
Game that has aged the best: FF10
Game that has aged the worst: FF2