Probably the wildest thing about this Let's Play is that before I started I had no idea Final Fantasy drew upon Star Wars besides Gaius van Baelsar being Darth Vader-shaped and now I see that he is only the latest heir in a long, long line of ripoffs and homages
Final Fantasy isn't ripping off Star Wars, for to rip off Star Wars, Star Wars would first have to not be a rip off of Japanese samurai movies. in this essay I will-
Final Fantasy isn't ripping off Star Wars, for to rip off Star Wars, Star Wars would first have to not be a rip off of Japanese samurai movies. in this essay I will-
Dude, the entire reason Vierra are a thing that exists is because XII said "give not-Han Solo a Chewbacca type sidekick, but make it a sexy girl". Biggs and Wedge are major recurring character names.
This game literally concludes with a "that's no moon, it's a space station" moment.
The Ultima Weapon you equip in 6 is literally a lightsaber
Dude, the entire reason Vierra are a thing that exists is because XII said "give not-Han Solo a Chewbacca type sidekick, but make it a sexy girl". Biggs and Wedge are major recurring character names.
This game literally concludes with a "that's no moon, it's a space station" moment.
The Ultima Weapon you equip in 6 is literally a lightsaber
You know, not that I think about it, I might have more hours logged into Tactics Advance than all over FFs added together, if you exclude FFXIV and FFIX.
You know, not that I think about it, I might have more hours logged into Tactics Advance than all over FFs added together, if you exclude FFXIV and FFIX.
Since you mentioned this a couple of times, out of curiosity and because I firmly believe that FFIX is the best of the series, how far in that one did you went? If you want to avoid spoiling readers of the thread who haven't played that, just naming or describing the look of the last boss you fought would be enough for me. I'd like to know because it is surprising to me that somebody would play that game nearly to the end and not find themselves draw in by the story enough to want to make it to the ending.
Since you mentioned this a couple of times, out of curiosity and because I firmly believe that FFIX is the best of the series, how far in that one did you went? If you want to avoid spoiling readers of the thread who haven't played that, just naming or describing the look of the last boss you fought would be enough for me. I'd like to know because it is surprising to me that somebody would play that game nearly to the end and not find themselves draw in by the story enough to want to make it to the ending.
I mean, remember, this was the PS1 era with discs that could easily get scratched into being impossible to use? Like, my copy of FFIX was scratched just so that it would freeze about a minute in to the final cutscene after the final boss and no amount of disc repair was able to stop that. I still haven't actually seen the ending of it as a result.
I mean, remember, this was the PS1 era with discs that could easily get scratched into being impossible to use? Like, my copy of FFIX was scratched just so that it would freeze about a minute in to the final cutscene after the final boss and no amount of disc repair was able to stop that. I still haven't actually seen the ending of it as a result.
Could be worse. My copy of VII was scratched on the first disk, so it froze irreparably on the second or third town after Midgar. I only know stuff after that via half-remembered skimmed lets plays and osmosis (I'd started with IX and already played 8 too, so VII seemed enough of a comparative letdown relative to its hype that I was willing to give it a try, but not enthusiastic enough to buy it twice to give it said try).
Since you mentioned this a couple of times, out of curiosity and because I firmly believe that FFIX is the best of the series, how far in that one did you went? If you want to avoid spoiling readers of the thread who haven't played that, just naming or describing the look of the last boss you fought would be enough for me. I'd like to know because it is surprising to me that somebody would play that game nearly to the end and not find themselves draw in by the story enough to want to make it to the ending.
I made it like, all the way to the last area, I think. I definitely fought Merilith, and I think I beat her? I might have made it to or past Cariatide. Looking up the string of last bosses, I'm not... sure I fought Kaozium? He might have been my roadblock. One of these two was my last.
I couldn't tell why I stopped. Whether that was because I got bored with it, because the last bosses were too hard, because the discs got scratched, or because that coincided with when we moved out and left the PS1 behind... Genuinely no clue. My recollection of the story is spotty; I know there's like, a moon full of Saiyans? But I don't know why they're there.
I do know I basically didn't do any side-content, so I never did any chocobo stuff or fought that swirly planet boss, and I was bad with the mechanics (until I looked up some character info for unrelated reasons I didn't remember there even was an ability system). So it's quite possible the game just got too hard for me at that age.
I mean, remember, this was the PS1 era with discs that could easily get scratched into being impossible to use? Like, my copy of FFIX was scratched just so that it would freeze about a minute in to the final cutscene after the final boss and no amount of disc repair was able to stop that. I still haven't actually seen the ending of it as a result.
As a matter of fact, the reason I never went farther than Disc 1 in FFVIII is because the disc got scratched in a very specific way - it glitched in cutscenes. I watched the same cutscene enough time in futile hope that this time it would work that it's basically buried in my memory - it's the one where two statues come alive as basilisks that are then supposed to be a boss fight.
Since you mentioned this a couple of times, out of curiosity and because I firmly believe that FFIX is the best of the series, how far in that one did you went? If you want to avoid spoiling readers of the thread who haven't played that, just naming or describing the look of the last boss you fought would be enough for me. I'd like to know because it is surprising to me that somebody would play that game nearly to the end and not find themselves draw in by the story enough to want to make it to the ending.
Funny enough you say that, but then FFIX is the game I dropped off the earliest of the first ten. Every other Final Fantasy through FFX I've either beaten or gotten very close (last dungeon/boss rush usually) but for whatever reason I just burned out on FFIX somewhere in Disk 3 or so and never went back.
Not that I think it's bad or anything mind you, I just... got distracted and never returned.
That's about the point where the game stops holding your hand on where to go and wants you to scour the world map for your target destination - it happens three times between about seven dungeons - so it's not too surprising for people to stop there. For people to stop at the end of disk 4 like Omicron said is different.
Interestingly, I had a similar problem with my disc 2 of FFVIII; of course, that was perhaps my fourth time through, so it just stopped me from replaying - until I got a PS2, at which point the game worked again. I never did discover what caused the issue, but I checked (by keeping a save in that specific spot of the game) and it consistently didn't work on the PS1 but did on the PS2, but only for a certain section of disk 2 (the first three FMV in the disk, specifically). Weird stuff.
It's interesting that you don't remember much of FFIX; that makes me even more curious to see your reaction to it if you decide to continue the let's play to that point, because, while the game is excellent as a standalone, it gains a whole new dimension when you get all the intentional references to previous titles it has packed in.
That's also interesting and something I'd be curious to see your reaction to now. Although it does makes me raise the question of how you think a younger yourself would have reacted to the mechanics presented in the titles so far? I've been mentioning that I find FFIII superior to FFIV on the mechanical front because FFIV essential has no out-of-battle mechanics worth speaking about, but now I'm wondering if that's possibly something of a boon for somebody who's too young to grasp mechanical complexities. And don't worry, you're not alone in failing to understand mechanics - in my first playthrough of FFVIII I made it to the end of disk 3 before I understood how the system actually worked, so you have my full understanding and sympathy for having trouble with that.
Funny enough you say that, but then FFIX is the game I dropped off the earliest of the first ten. Every other Final Fantasy through FFX I've either beaten or gotten very close (last dungeon/boss rush usually) but for whatever reason I just burned out on FFIX somewhere in Disk 3 or so and never went back.
Not that I think it's bad or anything mind you, I just... got distracted and never returned.
I... think I've beat 7-9? Definitely sunk plenty of hours into the lot of them, back in the day, though they haven't really stuck in the memory much at all. Don't remember 4 or 5 very well plot wise, but I've definitely beat them, played 1-3 but don't think I ever finished them.
Six I never actually finished (the final boss repeatedly kicked my ass to the point I gave up, more than once over the years... and kudos to the design, particularly how it handles the player roster, heh), but it I actually remember fairly well.
So I picked up this thread in the "Recommended" banner, and after binging it I can safely say I'll continue to follow this thread with eager anticipation.
I only started playing the Final Fantasy series via emulators, so the whole "my first FF game" bit doesn't apply to me the way it applies to others here, though I will say 6 is probably my favorite.
A few comments:
FFI was literally going to be Squaresoft's final fantasy (i.e. game). See, in 1987, Squaresoft, far from being part of the massive game publisher/developer it is today, was a struggling 3rd party developer making cheap knock-offs/imitators of other, better games from what I understood. Basically, they weren't doing so hot, and it was quickly apparent that they couldn't keep the company going more than a few months. So they decided to copy Dragon Quest's fantasy RPG idea but switched it around some (such as customizeable party and perspectives, and threw their hat into the right. All in on red, roll the roulette wheel, so to speak. Win, they might be able to stave off bankruptcy a while longer and maybe even get a better game out. Lose, well, we tried.
What they didn't expect was to make a massive blockbuster game. It went from "hey, we actually made bank this time" to "uh, there's an extra zero there, did someone mistype?" to "HOLY SHIT THIS GAME SOLD HOW MUCH?!" and from then on out, Squaresoft had its cash cow franchise.
It was rushed out in a few months, and it shows. The game's buggy as hell, elemental resistances/vulnerabilities don't work at all, and some weird and annoying bugs like hitting nothing or wasting spells if your original target is dead abounded, since this was an RPG made by guys who hadn't made RPGs before. But my most treasured parts were the Peninsula of Power (great for power-leveling if you have Fira/Fire2 or Firaga/Fire3 spells), and grinding for Warmech (I'm a shameless powergamer who likes to powerstomp their enemies, so I like to overlevel). Nowhere else will you find anyplace good for grinding EXP late-game like Warmech's bridge; the rustbucket gives off a generous reward of EXP. One time, I fought him with a Knight/Master/White Wizard/Black Wizard team, my Knight did 800HP damage to it, then my Black Wizard managed to cast Haste on Master. Motherfucker then proceeded to hit Warmech 15 times for a total of 2200+ damage, instantly wrecking the metal monster.
That's right. Master pulled a freaking Akuma on Warmech.
I'm not sure if Black Wizard used Haste or the power of the Dark Hadou there, or if Haste has Killing Intent as a side-effect.
FFII was them deciding not to do a direct sequel, but instead go for an anthology of unrelated games and stories. They also decided to give the reins to someone else as game director/lead designer, and the result was a bold and ambitious idea on paper, except it was a horrible idea in practice. Thankfully, they never tried those game mechanics ever again in a mainline FF game, Unfortunately, said game director did FFXII, and while that's not a bad game, he still has his "gotcha!" moments there too; there's this one late-game chest that has one of the most powerful weapons in the game (this is second-hand knowledge, so don't know where that chest is). Problem is, there are two other chests earlier in the game, and IIRC if either is opened, said super-powerful weapon is now lost forever. Tried playing it once, went "Fuck it", never returned to it ever again. The leveling system was just so jarring and byzantine it left me scratching my head.
FFIII was a return to standard FF, but this time with the job system, which was a great idea (admittedly, I haven't played FF3, though FFV is great and one of my faves and it has a similar concept). Admittedly, the idea of unbeatable boss encounters is a bit of a record scratch, but at least it makes sense in-story looking back.
FFIV is a return to fixed classes a la FFI, but while I loved it, the grinding for [REDACTED] is a complete and utter pain, just to get the best gear. Also, when I was younger, the unbeatable boss fights just seemed to be utter BS. You can be powerleveled up the ass and still lose the fight. In retrospect and with age, I realize not all those fights are curbstomps, and we even get to turn the tables on the assholes themselves at times. It just grates for Golbez to go "Damn, I lost - PSIKE! I'll take those Crystals now!" after all the hard work one puts in.
Still a bit miffed Golbez and Kain are forgiven for the shit they pulled, and how it's all [REDACTED] playing them all as puppets to his ultimate plan.
Oh, and since we reached Rubicante: Ah, Rubicante, Rubicante,
Rubicante of the Flame!
Bad with water
Gentlemen, gentlemen,
Matches are at best dignified and honorable!
My bare leg, charming, fluttering, and tapping with the rhythm.
Shall I show you what's underneath my mantle...?
Just one more stanza left, but it's the most spoileriffic...
Guess I'll leave it there as we still haven't finished FFIV, and still have the rest of the series to cover.
FFI was literally going to be Squaresoft's final fantasy (i.e. game). See, in 1987, Squaresoft, far from being part of the massive game publisher/developer it is today, was a struggling 3rd party developer making cheap knock-offs/imitators of other, better games from what I understood. Basically, they weren't doing so hot, and it was quickly apparent that they couldn't keep the company going more than a few months. So they decided to copy Dragon Quest's fantasy RPG idea but switched it around some (such as customizeable party and perspectives, and threw their hat into the right. All in on red, roll the roulette wheel, so to speak. Win, they might be able to stave off bankruptcy a while longer and maybe even get a better game out. Lose, well, we tried.
This is kind of a persistent myth of "yes, but no". Square wasn't really in any danger of bankruptcy, and just wanted to capitalize on the Dragon Quest idea of RPGs (ie Wizardry but not as frustratingly difficult; Final Fantasy's inspiration was Ultima). Sakaguchi wanted to call it "Fighting Fantasy" for the alliteration, but there was already a property out there with the name (I think a series of CYOA gamebooks), so they went with "Final Fantasy".
The part of "this might be my last game" is from Sakaguchi himself, who was burning out on game development, and wanted to either make a game that became popular, or quit game development entirely. His team was also given the ultimatum from Square of "do well or be disbanded", which was why Sakaguchi had to basically personally recruit every member of the team, hence the bugginess.
Perhaps ironically, Sakaguchi was also responsible for the time Square actually almost became bankrupt, and had to be bought up by Enix. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was such a commercial failure while being so expensive to produce that it led to Sakaguchi having to leave the company.
The "win or die" ultimatum might also be familiar to many people in this thread in more recent times, with Naoki Yoshida and FFXIV.
This is kind of a persistent myth of "yes, but no". Square wasn't really in any danger of bankruptcy, and just wanted to capitalize on the Dragon Quest idea of RPGs (ie Wizardry but not as frustratingly difficult; Final Fantasy's inspiration was Ultima). Sakaguchi wanted to call it "Fighting Fantasy" for the alliteration, but there was already a property out there with the name (I think a series of CYOA gamebooks), so they went with "Final Fantasy".
In fairness, I only discovered the rest of the CYOA gamebook industry after having been thoroughly initiated by Joe Dever's Lone Wolf books. To the point where child me referred to all CYOA books as "Lone Wolf gamebooks".
Anyways to belatedly return to Prince Edward now that Edge has actually shown up, since people were saying Edge was somehow a counterpoint against my theory that Prince Edward is unpopular basically because of toxic masculinity...
He's not? He's a complementary point to the theory. If the unflattering depiction of a young man himself suffering from toxic masculinity is also unpopular, that's just more support for the theory.
Like. Toxic masculinity is toxic because basically of proposing that holding to This Specific Set Of Manly Man Traits will make you a strong, competent man who can do anything and yadda.
Edge is not competent. Our intro to him is him getting his butt whooped by Rubicante. Yes, Rubicante is an Elemental Lord, but toxic masculinity doesn't care; if you were a real manly man, you'd win anyways. Then he tries to run off to fight Rubicante again, rather than accepting the offer of a team up, so he's not only 'weak', he's also 'stupid', a far worse sin to nerd circles. Then a crying woman gets him to change his mind, so he's not even A Strong Independant Man emotionally, he has no commitment.
He flirts with all the woman and they all hate him.
If you buy into toxic masculinity, you're going to love Cecil, or Cid, or Yang, or Kang, who all match to the theory and not the practice. Edge is the practice, with the theory failing.
That's also interesting and something I'd be curious to see your reaction to now. Although it does makes me raise the question of how you think a younger yourself would have reacted to the mechanics presented in the titles so far? I've been mentioning that I find FFIII superior to FFIV on the mechanical front because FFIV essential has no out-of-battle mechanics worth speaking about, but now I'm wondering if that's possibly something of a boon for somebody who's too young to grasp mechanical complexities. And don't worry, you're not alone in failing to understand mechanics - in my first playthrough of FFVIII I made it to the end of disk 3 before I understood how the system actually worked, so you have my full understanding and sympathy for having trouble with that.
Well, my childhood is kind of a haze. But I know that Golden Sun came out only a year after FFIX, so I would have played both games at around the same age, and Golden Sun is slightly more complex than FF1 through 3, and I finished it; so I can surmise the version of the first Final Fantasy games that is represented by the Pixel Remasters (notwithstanding that these specific versions did not exist at the time) would have met Child Me's approval. They're simpler than Golden Sun in some ways, but to be frank my childhood self was an extremely blunt player with no head for mechanical complexity, instead angling for the most straightforward mechanics with as little overhead as possible. In Pokémon, for instance, while I understood the basics of the typing system, I had little interest in elaborate strategy or challenge, and simply power-leveled my team to be like 5 levels above that of the next champion I was going to fight.
I finished Metal Gear Solid probably younger than I should have been playing that game in the first place, and I did it by using a hacked memory card sold with one of my video game magazines which provided access to an invisibility item and an infinite ammo item. My childhood self had no respect for mechanical depth, intellectual engagement, or challenge; victory was all that mattered. So in that respect, I might have given up on the early FFs not because they were too complex, but because they were too hard.
In fairness, I only discovered the rest of the CYOA gamebook industry after having been thoroughly initiated by Joe Dever's Lone Wolf books. To the point where child me referred to all CYOA books as "Lone Wolf gamebooks".
Are you kidding me? I loved Lone Wolf. I even remember the like, numbers table you were supposed to blindly hover with your pen if you didn't have dice at home! I would have loved to play through the whole series as a teen, but unfortunately availability was even spottier than my allowance, so I bought them when I could but that didn't go very far.
Here, though, all CYOA books tended to be sold under the label "UN LIVRE DONT VOUS ETES LE HEROS" ("A book where you are the hero") in massive capital letters, so depending on cover it might actually be difficult to tell if you were buying a standalone Fighting Fantasy book. For instance, these are books from three different series:
That's Golden Dragon, Lone Wolf, and Fighting Fantasy. And then you have the occasional Fighting Fantasy book that is a sequel to a previous book, or the one that alludes to a broader setting that feels like it's part of an established series but isn't. Only the real ones remember Thyra Migurn.
Are you kidding me? I loved Lone Wolf. I even remember the like, numbers table you were supposed to blindly hover with your pen if you didn't have dice at home! I would have loved to play through the whole series as a teen, but unfortunately availability was even spottier than my allowance, so I bought them when I could but that didn't go very far.
