The Authoritative Final Fantasy & Bravely Default thread

And to get off this FF8 derail, the only thing I regret is never have played SNES Final Fantasies as a kid. Grew up with the Master System and Genesis, so I was a Phantasy Star kid. I've played FF6 (I own the cart now), but I always get to the destroyed world and my ADD kicks in and I play something else. Same with 3(I think it's 3. The one with Cecil) I always get mid to 3/4's of the way through, and do something else. I've also never finished Chrono Trigger, which I know is a crime... I like all of them, and do enjoy playing them, but for some reason I can never finish. FF7 was my first real FF game I played.

Sean_sl said:

You have to do more than just play the card game dude. You have to do some really specific shit with making weapons, refining, and the proper junctions. You can play the card game for hours on end just fine. Stop blaming the game for your pathetic lack of self control.

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Weapons sure, but specific refining and proper junctions? Because it's super hard to see that these cards gave me 100 of xxx spell that I can now put onto my HP to give me God like health? Hell the game tells you "Hey, junction blind to your weapon attack so this T-Rex monster you may encounter can't do shit to you". Everyone knows the gameplay and junction system in FF8 is broken and easily (without even trying) exploitable. You almost have to work at NOT gimping yourself. And yes, you can play the card game for hours on end, and not gimp anything if you don't actually reap the rewards you are supposed to from the cards. Stop defending a bad gameplay system.

Choosing to use something isalwayson you, never the game.

It's the exact same shit as making OP gear in Skyrim and then bitching that everything dies in one hit. You are always 100% at fault when you choose to do something like that. The option is there for you to choose. The game never forces you to junction those things.

You are 100% wrong on this. Give it up.

Yes it's always on you, but when the game wants you to do it, that is terrible design. FF8 WANTS you to play the card game, and it WANTS you to reap the rewards from it. It is nothing like Skyrim were you have to think outside the box and purposefully exploit it. If the rewards from the card game weren't so OP, it wouldn't be a issue, but they are OP. You are, in all honestly, the ONLY person I have ever met who doesn't see FF8's system as being broken and easily abused. Defend a bad system all you want, but that wont stop it from being bad. It takes more effort to not abuse that horrible system, then it does to abuse it. Unlike any other FF, were it actually takes effort to OP yourself. But again, keep defending a broken system that virtually everyone agrees is broken.

Dude, you're full of shit. Just stop posting about this. You spent HOURS farming a card game and then you refined specific rewards to get specific junctions. No one's buying into your shit.

The game doesn't force it on you or lead you into it. You chose it. You have shitty self control. Suck it up and move on.

Trollface_sl said:

can we talk about the gayness of the title, "Lightning Returns"? Sort of like Superman Returns?

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Should have just called it FF13-3, really. The combat system looks like a variation of what they used in the solo Lightning DLC in FF13-2. I'm not terribly excited for a solo FF13 game. FF13-2's party system was great, why downgrade it?

I never finished 8 either. Got past disc 1 and a little into disc 2 but was just so bored by the combat and it's because I broke it in a different way without meaning to. I never saw a reason to use different GFs than the initial ones and they became so overpowered that they just one shot everything including the disc 1 boss. Just got real old real fast using one ability the entire game and I couldn't finish. I really never had a reason to use the magic and junction system either because my GFs were so OP. I didn't go out of my way to grind levels or use the card game or magic junction farming to break the game but I still managed to. Only FF I've started and haven't finished.

Anyway, props to this thread for making me find a PS2 emulator to replay 10. I lost my copy of 10 in college several years back and all I had was 10-2 then my PS2 died in a basement flood. After this I guess I can play 12 since 12 and 13 are the only FF games I still haven't played. Emulators are pretty great now playing PS2 games in "HD" with the scaling of resolution.

Crell_sl said:

True, except that in FF8 it takes almost zero work to Overpower yourself. The first time I played it as a kid, not knowing exactly what I was doing, I ended up completely OPing myself by random without realizing it.

p.s., Mad props to someone who knows what Phantasy Star is! Love that series infinitely more than Final Fantasy

edit: Sorry for spam posting.

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http://store.steampowered.com/sub/14445/

Crell_sl said:

True, except that in FF8 it takes almost zero work to Overpower yourself. The first time I played it as a kid, not knowing exactly what I was doing, I ended up completely OPing myself by random without realizing it.

p.s., Mad props to someone who knows what Phantasy Star is! Love that series infinitely more than Final Fantasy

edit: Sorry for spam posting.

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Yep, my dad only bought Sega systems until we asked for a SNES for one Christmas. I grew up on Phantasy Star games myself.

I beat Phantasy Star I when I was 5, in a time when video games were still relatively new and that game was pretty heavy on the difficulty I find that a pretty big feat. I loved I-IV, even if III was the bastard of the series - it still is a good game. Nei dying was the first video game death that I ever experienced and it happened so unexpectedly that it really still sticks in my mind. It was a powerful event, especially after having her in your party for so long and really pumping her up. I think PS could've gone on to be a contender against the Final Fantasy series, but they gayed it up HARDCORE when they decided to do that Phantasy Star online junk. Sorry for the slight derail.

Rezz_sl said:

Rydia showing up is a great scene and one I definitely remember loving as a kid. Now though... I realize it for what it was. The reintroduction of a character in a dramatic fashion. If Yang showed up and kicked the Shadow Dragon to death it would have probably have been similar in how awesome the scene was. Rydia had such a minimal part leading up to that moment that it really does stride into the DEM territory. It is explained afteward, but when it happens it really is out of left field to the point of almost being silly. Brahne getting killed and semi-reconcilling with her adopted daughter is easily as moving and as surprising as it should be... who the fuck thought Kuja was the -real- badguy at that point unless we used Japan Logic to solve it. Golbez being Cecil's brother is really one of those JAPAN! style tweests that really didn't need to be there but does add to the story. Zidane being a construct designed to obliterate life on Terra that gets accidentally reprogrammed isn't a twist; it is a decisive story angle that makes complete sense in the context of the story.

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Look, I don't want to keep harping on this, but there is some stuff being glossed over here and it's clear that there is some storyline depth being taken for granted. Yang showing up and karate kicking Golbezwould nothave been the same. This wasn't just character believed to be dead showing up out of nowhere, there is more nuance present than that.

You don't see Rydia first, and it's not some random summon or even Titan that saves you. It's "MIST DRAGON! Wait, what?" Yes, the summon that you slew that was a direct cause of tragedy in this girl's life is now showing up to save you and it's not only wielded by the girl(now a women,"Huh, How?!"). She is fully grown, strong and self-assure, completely different from the little girl you had to convince to be able to cast a simple fire spell not too long ago. There is more present here than just CHARACTER MIRACULOUSLY returns, and as much as you like to dismiss emotional personal "fill-in the blanks" there were conscious design decisions that create storylinebeyondthe limitation of the medium. There is a reason I didn't select Yang stops the Doom Cannon or Cid seals the underworld as my example.

The sequence from creepy doll spying on you to Rydia's return to Golbez showing how truly powerful he is by snatching victory from defeat is easily one of the best in the game and is an example of storytelling in spite of a limited medium, not a limited medium allowing for great storytelling by the viewer's imagination.

As far as 9 goes, he's my major gripe with it. Brahne. Besides being inexplicably hideous to look at, her motivation is never really explained. Kuja shows up and tells her she needs to conquer everything and that's that, she goes from normal to terribly, terribly evil? There is no mind control revealed, and once Kuja betrays her she inexplicably decides she's going to be nice again. It's all terribly contrived and smacks of the sametwist!bullshit that gave us Necron at the end.

Beef Supreme_sl said:

VIII > VII

Come at me bro.

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VII > VIII

There shall be no peace in our time!

Noodleface_sl said:

Yep, my dad only bought Sega systems until we asked for a SNES for one Christmas. I grew up on Phantasy Star games myself.

I beat Phantasy Star I when I was 5, in a time when video games were still relatively new and that game was pretty heavy on the difficulty I find that a pretty big feat. I loved I-IV, even if III was the bastard of the series - it still is a good game. Nei dying was the first video game death that I ever experienced and it happened so unexpectedly that it really still sticks in my mind. It was a powerful event, especially after having her in your party for so long and really pumping her up. I think PS could've gone on to be a contender against the Final Fantasy series, but they gayed it up HARDCORE when they decided to do that Phantasy Star online junk. Sorry for the slight derail.

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If you're interested, the Sega Ages Phantasy Star 1 has been fan translated into English. If you run over to pscave.com you can find it (or I can PM you the direct link if it still works) if you haven't seen it already. I did have both Final Fantasy and Phantasy Star as a kid, but I could never bring myself to play FF since PS had better sound and graphics at the time, had a great story too. Also, the Phantasy Star 2 Sega Ages remake is also in the works of being fan translated, and I think there is a demo out now (up to the second dungeon IIRC.

Ao-_sl said:

Reading this thread makes me want to play on an EMU. Whats the best PS2 emu? Gonna try out 8 then 12 again (once I can find the zodiac bullshit).

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I use PCSX2 for PS2 EMU. Still need a pretty beefy computer to run things. (FFX has some lag for me. Sound gets choppy. Then again I'm only running a dual core)

Lightning Returns trailer back in HD:

http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/v...ourney-trailer