Just finished playing through the main FF titles (except the MMOs) for the first time

Just finished playing through the main FF titles (except the MMOs) for the first time.
4 through 10 were masterpieces. I'm amazed at how they could release hit after hit and make each one of them feel completely unique. The characters, worlds, mechanics, music and style were unparalleled. Rarely have I seen a gaming company so clearly at the top of their game.

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i'm planning to do this too. Finished FF2 rn and i already have 3 downloaded for my ps vita to emulate on PSP.

I thoroughly enjoyed 1, 2 and 3 and can see how amazing they must have been for their time. But from 4 to 10 they really hit it out of the park.

I haven’t played 1-5 yet but I definitely agree that 6-10 are amazing. I really like 12 as well and personally think it’s underrated. 13 and 15 were huge disappointments though, not awful games but just screamed wasted potential.

>But from 4 to 10 they really hit it out of the park.

and then they stuck out with everything after that

Based.

What did you think of the worst title in the FF franchise, FF12? Did you like its generic MMO gameplay?

Been doing the same over the years but at a really slow rate, played through. So far 1 was alright, 2 was shit, 3 was good and really enjoying 4 right now.

OP here. I liked 12 a lot as well, but I thought its flaws were more evident than the games before it. Sure, you could say every game had its flaws, but the pros far outnumbered the cons in 4-10, whereas in 12 my issues were a bit substantial. It was still leagues above 13 and 15.

OP here, I would have to disagree here. Though 12 had its issues, I thought it was quite better than 13 and 15.

Did you emulate them all or how did you do it?

Based

Which version of 3 did you play?

Some I did, some I didn't. I specifically wanted to play the original releases (including the NES versions of 2 and 3 and the SNES version of 5, none of which were released in the west).

I like IV the best as well mainly because of Cecil's redemption story.

How much of 12 did you do?
I think the bonus espers, hunts elite marks, and superbosses are the best part of the game but from what I can tell most people didn't even do them.
Did you play vanilla or TZA?

4's boss musics were fucking amazing

Vanilla, I wanted to play the original releases. I didn't 100% it but I quite enjoyed the side quests in XII. The issues I had with it are mostly contained in the main story, not the extra content.

should I play IX or X first?

Just play them in order, see how they kept evolving and innovating with each entry.

Why would you choose the bugged version instead of the one with everything fixed?

Yep. And then they almost went bankrupt from The Spirits Within floping, had to merge with Enix and have never been the same since. RIP Squaresoft.

I'm curious to hear them. FF12 is my favorite FF, but I think TZA is a nice comfortable step up in quality from vanilla, mostly due to system mechanic changes which make some of the weirder parts of the game (like equips) work much better.

Honestly I feel like you would have to be actively seeking the "bugs" to come across them. Didn't have any technical issues with those games.

6, 9 and 10 are not masterpieces, the other games are though

12 isn't a good game, 13 and 15 are awful games.

Now do Dragon Quest and be amazed how even the weakest entry is atleast decent

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FF9 is the best of them all though.

>talking shit about 1 and 3

>make games on an almost yearly basis
>can try different shit and experiment
>that, not even counting the non-FF RPGs they were making in other studios

Wow it's almost like this dogshit where we have 5+ year long dev cycles for RPGs needs to fuck right off.

I want to play TZA, just not right now cause 12 is a lengthy game and I beat it not long ago. Here are my thoughts on 12:
>PROS
1) The world. It felt big, varied, and somehow, having big areas but not an open world per-se made the map actually feel bigger than it was in 15.
2) The artstyle + graphics in general. It looks FANTASTIC for a PS2 game.
The combat. I thought it striked a nice balance between turn based and action-y.
3) The sidequests. They were varied, fun, and "made sense" within the world and story they were trying to tell (unlike 15).
4) The political focus of the plot. Other than Tactics (which I also played and enjoyed) it had never been so clearly at the forefront of a FF game (a bit in 8).

>CONS
1) The second half of the story. They set up a lot of interesting things in the first half with little to no pay off. Balthier being a judge. Basch and Gabranth. Etc.
2) The protagonist. Not that I dislike Vaan because of his design or personality. They just didn't do much with him (or Penelo for that matter), so he seemed a bit shoehorned in.
3) The music. It ended up feeling a bit same-y due to it being orchestral. Also, it wasn't as melody-heavy as previous titles so it made a lot of the themes sound forgettable.

I still had a lot of fun with it and would recommend it to people who have played the games before it.

I didn't. I enjoyed them.
I have played a few. They are very solid and fun, but IMO not as innovative or unique as FF 4-10 seem to be. They seem to go for the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" route, and it works. Still excelent games (from what I've played!).

Woops, "the combat" should be number 3.

>vaan felt shoehorned in
This is a common criticism of his character, but I feel it's unfounded. He mainly exists to be two things.
1. A self insert. Vaan doesn't know much of the world so he's a good player-stand-in since the player also doesn't know much about the world.
2. a foil to Ashe. Every time Ashe has a "difficult" decision to make, Vaan makes the morally correct choice quickly and instantly despite having basically the same background as her, albeit much more humble

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oops, I meant quickly and easily. Vaan seeing his brother instead of Rassler, and then seeing nothing, is showing his evolution as a person leading him to a place where the occuria can no longer manipulate him.

agreed OP, skip to 12 that one is killer good

Squaresoft is the best developer of all time.

Yeah, but I feel like a side character could accomplish the same things. I wsh he had pushed the story forward a bit more. I still don't dislike him though (unlike many other people do, apparently).

vaan and penelo are japanese teenager self-inserts that the developers didn't want to add but were forced to

the game is also unfinished

he just needed a shirt and not to be alladin, as ashe's foil he does well, especially given his getting over the occurias manipulation far before her

What side character would be with Ashe inside the great crystal? What side character is present at Jahara? Vaan needs to be a core character to be present for Ashe's core character development moments, so he has to be one of the main six.
The characters all appear at the same frequency in cutscenes. If anything Ashe gets more screentime than Vaan. Vaan is only our main character in the sense that we experience all events in the game from his perspective. Ashe isn't present when Basch is freed. Basch and Ashe aren't present for the theft of the dusk shard.
You could maybe make a case that Balthier was present for most of the core events of the game but I think characters like him are more exciting as side characters. Han Solo would have been less interesting as the main character of A New Hope for example, his mystique is part of his charm, same with Balthier.
"didn't initially plan" and "didn't want to add but were forced to" are radically different things, especially when the decision to add vaan and penelo was made before programming ever started.

The second half felt rushed (though nowhere as rushed as 15's second half, wtf was that).