Squeenix Best Final Fantasy

[Ash]

"Guardian Force".

It used to trip me out a little as a kid too.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Uematsu did some tracks for FF11, including the intro cinematic music, and the music that plays during the climax of the base game storyline when the Shadowlord falls on his knees. There is also some other good music from FF11 that wasn't by Uematsu,...

The original version of MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV "Before Meteor" had quite a lot of good music, mostly but not entirely composed by Tsutomu Narita, but of course that version was quickly shut down while Squaresoft spent years retooling the game, and the second version was accompanied by a new soundtrack composed by Masayoshi Soken (which also had some good tracks, but not as many).

 

[Grampy_Bone]

I've said this before, choosing the Draw magics to 100 in FF8 is no different from killing slimes to level up in Dragon Quest past the very beginning.

If you choose to over-grind, you can't really complain the game is grindy. FF8 plays fine if you draw minimally and rely on item refinement and rare draw points for most of your magic. You generally can't draw better spells than you can get via refinement, so it's an inefficient method of leveling. You also can't fully junction a 3 person team for much of the game, you'll always be missing a few stats until the lategame (and you can never fully set up a 6 person team). Though admittedly the only things that really matter are Str. Mag, and Hp anyway, so whatev.

OTOH if grind 300 Water from fish scales (just a handful of battles) on Balamb island that will basically last you for the rest of Disc 1, which is kinda nuts, so that's a valid complaint.

In any case I can admit it's flawed but I still enjoy it. Shooting lasers into space from a sword-gun never gets old.



Ash I am disappointed, you tried to entice someone to play FF9 based on the music, and you didn't post Hunter's Chance, You're Not Alone, or Rose of May? wut.

 

[Ash]

I've said this before, choosing the Draw magics to 100 in FF8 is no different from killing slimes to level up in Dragon Quest past the very beginning.

If you choose to over-grind, you can't really complain the game is grindy. FF8 plays fine if you draw minimally and rely on item refinement and rare draw points for most of your magic. You generally can't draw better spells than you can get via refinement, so it's an inefficient method of leveling. You also can't fully junction a 3 person team for much of the game, you'll always be missing a few stats until the lategame (and you can never fully set up a 6 person team). Though admittedly the only things that really matter are Str. Mag, and Hp anyway, so whatev.

I think you're asking for a bit too much logical thinking from the average FF4/CT player.

Ash I am disappointed, you tried to entice someone to play FF9 based on the music, and you didn't post Hunter's Chance, You're Not Alone, or Rose of May? wut.

Man there are so many to entice with. I would never pick Rose of May though, even if it is nice. It's a piano solo, meaning just one instrument. Not enough complexity. Esto Gaza and Zorn & Thorn theme among others incorporates the pianos grandiosity better with some supporting instruments. The entire soundtrack is a masterpiece, never a dull moment.

Here's my favorites, if you wanna geek out:

Terra Theme
Bran Bal Theme
You're not Alone
Memoria Theme
Village of Dali
Zorn & Thorn's Theme (DamnedRegistrations & MediocrePoet's theme)
Endless Sorrow
Necron Battle Theme
The Dark Messenger (Trance Kuja Theme)
Evil forest Theme
Esto Gaza Theme
Mt Gulag Theme
Walls of The Illusionary Beasts (Eidolon Wall Theme)

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Hurrr play a romhack of mediocre JRPGs and pretend it makes you monocled instead of playing something actually good hurrrrr.

mods will fix it

Spoiler

though in Squeenix case it's true since newer versions of FF4 revert the easy mode changes from original US version, and FF8 has built-in speedhack

 

[Ash]

Neither of those things do fuck all. Never touch SquareEnix decline. As usual public discourse gets steered to decline, away from the incline, because gamers are seriously retarded. FF4 doesn't suddenly become a good game with original difficulty, and that was always available with emulators/international imports/ports to PS or whatever. It needs a complete overhaul with focus on gameplay to become fixed, if you have standards, but sadly no such thing exists. FF8 needs what is already done: difficulty mod + speedhack is built in to the emulator. Never touch SquareEnix decline. They've been butchering FF for decades and retard fans have been enabling it. Why? Because, as usual, zero standards.

 

[Damned Registrations]

If you choose to over-grind, you can't really complain the game is grindy. FF8 plays fine if you draw minimally and rely on item refinement and rare draw points for most of your magic. You generally can't draw better spells than you can get via refinement, so it's an inefficient method of leveling.

The problem with this line of thinking is twofold: First, having 12 of some higher level spell from a rare draw point never matches up to 99 of a spell you can draw in battle, making the draw points basically worthless legwork. Second, you generally first encounter a spell when drawing from a boss. Given that you won't have any idea how useful that spell is or if you're going to see it again for the next 6 hours, it makes sense to draw as much of it as you can stomach. Though yeah, item refinement is the faster way to go when applicable.

PCs actually are at threat of dying and can't just be left at low health to spam limit breaks.

Oh no, whatever will I do if a party member dies? Use one of my THREE HUNDRED castings of life magic? I'm sure I will never recover! The tension! Boy, sure would be a shame if reviving someone from death put them in a critical state where their limit breaks became both more common AND more powerful, leading to endless sandbagging while I cycle through character turns as fast as I can in real time in this game supposedly about strategy.

What you largely need is a some of the rare 20 cards for refinery.

Ah, so you just need to duel everyone in the game multiple times in case they have a rare card, and then duel them multiple more times to GET that card with the shitty random carrd reward rules even while winning 100% of the time, to find out if the rare card was even worth getting in the first place. I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to do it.

It needs a complete overhaul with focus on gameplay to become fixed, if you have standards, but sadly no such thing exists.

I already posted about exactly such a thing. Unlike your precious difficulty mods, the randomizer radically alters the game, giving you reasons to care about exploration, which party members you recruit and use, and makes much more of the equipment important while letting the boss mechanics shine by having them show up in situations that can make them wildly more dangerous. It makes for an interesting experience as either a high challenge run or a speedrun depending on how you tweak the settings, and either way you can expect the whole thing to take less than 10 hours assuming you've some familiarity with the game and don't get lost.

 

[Ash]

You've not played it yet you continue to speak. Don't you realize that makes you a dishonest cretin?

When has the quantity of revives EVER been a concern? Yet more retardation and cretinism. Not since...FF1? Attrition of revives is almost irrelevant. It's still a factor as you go through a crapton of revives in this mod while you want to ideally always have them topped up for junctioning, yet staying alive, period, is far more the focus. In early FF you also have endless amounts of cures and revives. Multiple sources of portable MP restoration, free MP restores from water springs, tents and sleeping bags, extremely cheap inns, or even just swapping to a white mage just to use revives and then switching back.

Also, for the record, 300 life magics is not obtainable for a significant portion of the game, and furthermore you can have way more than 300 of them eventually (there are 6 characters that have magic inventory, as well as Full-Life = 1200 revives possible if you really want to). AND phoenix items too. It's just irrelevant. It's not what the game and mod focuses on, nor does it need to, strictly. Not getting wiped the fuck out every other battle is the actual concern.

I'm done with you. Continue being a retard all you want, you wont be dragging me down to your level anymore. Your comprehension of gameplay ends at Chrono Trigger & Final Fantasy 4 level of sophistication, meaning the bottom of the barrel.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Neither of those things do fuck all. Never touch SquareEnix decline.

FF8 needs what is already done: difficulty mod + speedhack is built in to the emulator.

 

[Damned Registrations]

When has the quantity of revives EVER been a concern? Yet more retardation and cretinism. Not since...FF1? Attrition of revives is almost irrelevant. It's still a factor as you go through a crapton of revives in this mod while you want to ideally always have them topped up for junctioning, yet staying alive, period, is far more the focus. In early FF you also have endless amounts of cures and revives. Multiple sources of portable MP restoration, free MP restores from water springs, tents and sleeping bags, extremely cheap inns, or even just swapping to a white mage just to use revives and then switching back.

It can be a serious concern in the FF4 romhack, because it was made people who actually understand gameplay, instead of the kind of moron that says you can't keep a character at low health in combat because he'll die... but also you can revive him hundreds of times in a single battle.

You are right that in vanilla gameplay though, FF series has pretty much never had any sort of consumable economy even since the SNES days. Which is why other games are rightly regarded as having superior gameplay, having put limits on things like powerful healing items, inventory space, frequency of item use, or the availability and drawbacks of healing magic. FF has basically never done that, leading to a series where you can just trivially recover from any amount of damage in or between fights.

 

[Lucumo]

Why the hell would you think I'm playing FF4, a game I haven't touched since release on the SNES?

You should try playing a game that involves reading or take an evening course or something, then we could avoid this sort of idiocy

You have been rating me butthurt etc on every post bashing CT and FF4. Claiming it is I that is butthurt, and that it is I that is misintepreting your love for both those retard-tier games is beautiful projection, sir Mediocrity.

Yeah, because most of your takes are more or less completely retarded. Chrono Cross sucks balls. FF9 sucks balls. FF8 (though I have a soft spot for it) sucks balls.

Here's a newsflash for you, if I wanted to play a good game, I probably wouldn't play something by Squenix, though if I were, I'd at least lean towards something from Sakaguchi's era.

Uematsu did some tracks for FF11, including the intro cinematic music, and the music that plays during the climax of the base game storyline when the Shadowlord falls on his knees. There is also some other good music from FF11 that wasn't by Uematsu,...

The original version of MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV "Before Meteor" had quite a lot of good music, mostly but not entirely composed by Tsutomu Narita, but of course that version was quickly shut down while Squaresoft spent years retooling the game, and the second version was accompanied by a new soundtrack composed by Masayoshi Soken (which also had some good tracks, but not as many).

Neither of those things do fuck all. Never touch SquareEnix decline.

FF8 needs what is already done: difficulty mod + speedhack is built in to the emulator.

What's with people not knowing the difference between Squaresoft/Square (Final Fantasy I - XI) and Square Enix (Final Fantasy XII - XVI)?

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Again, there is a romhack to download

Not fair though. The game is the game and should be judged as such..

 

[HeatEXTEND]

FF9 sucks balls

Come over here for a sec................

 

[Ash]

Again, there is a romhack to download

Not fair though. The game is the game and should be judged as such..

True, maybe, and yet if the EVIL SquareEnix released a simple patch like this, nobody would talk about v1.0 anymore. People have something wrong with their brains where if it's not a business trying to sell you shit on a plate, it is irrelevant. "but that's different, they are the devs!", the tards say. Oh it is? Because last I looked, Square Enix is not the same entity anymore, many of the original devs are retired, they just own and MILK the IP.

The romhack turns FF8 from an 8/10 (maybe even too generous) game with a limited lifespan because its so flawed, to a 9/10 eternal classic. No fucking joke. I'll probably replay every few years moving forward.
But like most of these romhacks it absolutely should be looked to more as equivalent to an official optional hard mode, not suitable for first timers. 2nd playthrough at least, onwards. You need that first ez playthrough unfortunately to learn the game's many complexities.

For reference, FF9's romhack turns the game from a 8.5/10 to a 9/10, let's say. It's key to play with these days but doesn't completely turn the game around like in 8's case, outside of simply making things a little harder which definitely is needed but not as desperately. Nor does it fix the true core issue (battle speed).

 

[mediocrepoet]

Yes, if only pre-online consoles had patched their games or re-burned their discs/carts to issue new versions of the games.

Totally not retarded and something that happened.

 

[Ash]

That is not at all what I said or implied. Absolutely zero comprehension. Get the fuck out of here you boring, retarded cunt.

 

[mediocrepoet]

That is not at all what I said or implied. Absolutely zero comprehension. Get the fuck out of here you boring, retarded cunt.

Totally. It's never you, it's that no one else appreciates your genius.

Again, there is a romhack to download

Not fair though. The game is the game and should be judged as such..

True, maybe, and yet if the EVIL SquareEnix released a simple patch like this, nobody would talk about v1.0 anymore.

You are aware of the era and platform the game came out during and for, yes?

 

[Ash]

You're going on ignore. Too fucking retarded. Endless strawmen and dumbfuckery. Would be banned if it were up to me.

 

[Great Deceiver]

Speaking of FFIV, if one were to play it today, is there any reason not to go for the PSP port (which featured new, very well done sprites, a new script and arranged music, plus extra areas)?

Last time I played the game was probably over 30 years ago.

 

[Vic]

mediocresimp is a really, really retarded cunt, even Ash can see that.

Speaking of FFIV, if one were to play it today, is there any reason not to go for the PSP port (which featured new, very well done sprites, a new script and arranged music, plus extra areas)?

I think it's the best version, I've played the NDS version and it looks similar but with obviously worse graphics.

 

[Great Deceiver]

I think you're confusing things, the NDS version of IV was a 3D reinterpretation, while the PSP version is sprite-based (redone sprites before Square went to shit) with a lot of extras. It was called Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection and AFAIK it remains exclusive to that system.

FF3 is the one that had a 3D version for both platforms.

 

[Vic]

I think you're confusing things, the NDS version of IV was a 3D reinterpretation, while the PSP version is sprite-based (redone sprites before Square went to shit) with a lot of extras. It was called Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection and AFAIK it remains exclusive to that system.

FF3 is the one that had a 3D version for both platforms.

oh yeah, that's right, it was chibi 3D, did the NDS version not have the PSP's extras?

 

[Great Deceiver]

I think you're confusing things, the NDS version of IV was a 3D reinterpretation, while the PSP version is sprite-based (redone sprites before Square went to shit) with a lot of extras. It was called Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection and AFAIK it remains exclusive to that system.

FF3 is the one that had a 3D version for both platforms.

oh yeah, that's right, it was chibi 3D, did the NDS version not have the PSP's extras?

Not as far as I know, but it did have a CG opening. I don't much care about the crude 3D (or the decline voice acting). Not sure about the gameplay, it's a very simple game after all. But I do remember battles taking a lot longer on the DS version because of the very low framerate.

 

[Vic]

yeah the NDS FF3 game has an epic CG opening too which really doesn't fit the gameplay lol

 

[Gilius Thunderhead]

Not fair though. The game is the game and should be judged as such..

The thing, this standard is not consistent. No one judges Morrowind as such, without mods, as if things like Tamriel Rebuilt didn't exist. Daggerfall's original vision may only now be coming to light with Unity. Even older games have received continuous support from fans, and you'd be completely justified in skipping the originals. The originals are still important as such, but I'm a gamer first, not a historian or archivist.

In a less retarded world, Square wouldn't have lost the source code for their classic games and would still be releasing content for them, fixing obvious things that needed fixing, adding balance and other stuff. I'd pay for a FF8 DLC that turned it into a better game, in a heartbeat. In a less retarded world, this would be considered logical compared to releasing derivative action RPG "remakes". Alas, gamers are retards, so it's up to the minority community of people who actually care about gameplay to make things better.

Whatever disadvantages there are in this process of "fan editing", if you are serious about gameplay and the mod makes the gameplay better, why ignore it? Of course you should always qualify the game with the mod's name. After all, you're referring to a particular vision of the game and at least someone is going to be unhappy. Then again, I'd dispute the notion that the commercial release of a game should be treated as the pure embodiment of that game's vision.

As far as FF8 is concerned, it's probably my favorite FF. I played it with Requiem about 5 years ago, greatly enjoyed it. It does improve the gameplay substantially. It's not a simple balance mod, though, it's a hardcore mod, so I wouldn't recommend it for first time players, because you're going to die a lot even if you know what you're doing. This is a game with a very relaxing atmosphere and I'm not sure how that would affect the experience for someone who's just soaking it in for the first time.

There's a newer mod called Ragnarok that seems more indicated for first time players. It has a "hard mode" called Lionheart, which I played more recently for most of the first disc(I got derailed by life, sadly) and it was quite good. It does take some liberties such as giving the characters more defined roles, but overall I think it's a safe bet to say the standard version is the best for someone who wants to play the game for the first time and face a decent amount of challenge while getting to play with all the systems and mechanics. Unlike Requiem, it doesn't even restrict Card Mod, only tones it down a bit. The Lionheart version is already probably too difficult, although the beginning(Ifrit Cave, Dollet) is still rather easy. It does get much harder later on, around Laguna's Esthar flashback. It also has inbuilt No-Exp(by means of a GF ability) for those who want to go a little further(this is how I played).

A detailed comparison between Requiem and Lionheart is something I'd like to do one day. I'm feeling in the mood to play FF8 again.