Final Fantasy - General - The Bear and Badger

EvilRedEye

We watched the movie, we watched the anime, we played the game, we played the various sub-games, we played the DLC and we read the novelisation of the cancelled last bit of story but now the era of Final Fantasy XV is over and its Twitter account is DEAD.

EvilRedEye

My Final Fantasy VII polygon figures arrived. Lovely things! Did anyone on here who bought a box get the rare chaser figure?

cosmicjellybean

no

2 clouds though, should have sold on eBay before they were more widely available.

They are lovely things! Did you get all characters and one duplicate?

EvilRedEye

Yes, I got all of them and a duplicate Cloud too.

Olimite

Probably a long shot, but does anyone have a copy of the FFXV strategy guide that they either no longer need or are willing to loan? Have gotten into the game (finally) and would like some sort of visual reference guide to aid my quest.

Thanks.

Nina

Started FFVII last week. On Switch. I have no nostalgia for this game, never played before, so I was a bit reluctant to start it, not sure if it would hold up, a lot of time has passed since that game released. Reading Tempy's comments on how his partner still enjoyed it, also playing it for the first time, and howlongtobeat showing it's not at persona levels of time investment, I decided to give it a go.

I've managed to avoid most spoilers for this, the only 2 things I really know are

Spoiler:

So there's still a lot for me to discover, and I might know more about it but not realize it yet.

I've played up to Aeris backstory

Spoiler:

It might have looked better on an actual CRT than on the Switch (I'm playing handheld), but so far I've no real issues with it, graphic or technical wise. Of course B already gave me a lecture about why and how it would look better on CRT, but even he said it works well on Switch. The story is really well told (it does this thing where it starts of in the present, then you hear a voice from someone currently not in the scene saying something, and meanwhile the camera pans and you're in the same room, but in the past now, this works really well), the graphics work well, the painted backgrounds really give a good idea of the city, the characters are clear, they get really long legs in battles, the battle system seems interesting (I'm still figuring that out), the music is good, pace of the story is fast, it all just works really well together so far.

In short, this game seems fun.

Minnesänger

Yeah, the way story-telling is handled in that game is really impressive. It was early into the PSOne gen and they were still getting used to what it could do but, despite that, they still managed to pull off some really imaginative stuff - e.g. the camera pan through time, that you mentioned.

Also, long legs. Enjoy the battle system - it's one the best system in the entire series, IMO, if we're including the menu setup stuff that goes on behind it. Not the most complex (that would be VIII), but it nails being both approachable, but also having a lot of depth going on underneath. Can't decide which games would beat it (XII maybe?) but it's not important - it's one of the most perfectly designed systems in all of JRPG history.

JonB

I still find a lot of the camera and cutscene stuff quite impressive. Got to mention the music as well.

Nina

Had another great camera swipe earlier in the game

Spoiler:

I try and play with headphones when I can, definitely worth it.

Might have reached what would be the end of disc 1:

Spoiler:

I've climbed up Shinra tower all the way. Enjoyed the puzzle floors from level 60 and up. Was unexpected, and there were some fun scenes there (the mayor who doesn't care if you go up to fight the Shinra boss, as he's sick of him anyway, the gym floor was fun with the vending machine punch). I got quite dark towards the top though, had a headache near a big pod that had Jenova inside, Barret was disgusted by that, met a specimen, saved Aeris and got the specimen in my party, tried to leave but got captured, luckily a good night's sleep unlocked the doors (just occurs to me now that this is pretty strange, why wasn't my crew and I attacked, guess this might come back), only to find everyone dead, and the Shinra boss brutally murdered with a sword in his back. Sephiroth's sword even! We meet Shinra Boss JR (Rufus), have some tough fights, partly because I distributed my materia a bit awkward as I was experimenting, and finally escape Shinra Tower. On a motorcycle no less! A rendered cutscene! And a quite shitty bit of gameplay where you punch motorcycles while riding a motorcycle, ending with a big robot boss fight. Almost died, but luckily I had Cloud with two lightning materia. We've left Midgar now, and I did get to the next village and started the Cloud and Sephiroth buddy soldier story, but had to break it off as I was running out of time. What a place to end the story for now though!

So yeah, still very much enjoying it. Still trying to figure out materia, I hope now we left Midgar the party members won't swap out all the time, as I kept ending up without someone with cure. I've unlocked a level 2 limit for Cloud, but not sure how that works yet either. I did enjoy the party swaps up till now as they all served the story, that was not a complaint. It just means I didn't get to engage with the battle system that much yet.

Also, Sephiroth alive and Jenova was his mom?! They're Ancients?! So much drama, and such good reveals. I started the Inn scene where Cloud tells his Sephiroth story, but haven't finished it yet. Another way of great storytelling, specially with Barret yelling the same things that go through your brain

Think the game clock is around 7 hours now, and I both feel like I played less than that, and way more. The story is told at such a good pace, and there's so much to take in but the game doesn't care. Just gives you the next story point.

acemuzzy

Only a few weeks till Integrade, which I think will finally see me hit up FFVIIR...

cosmicjellybean

@nina

Please keep up with posting your thoughts and stuff because it’s genuinely amazing to read about you playing it for the first time! It’s probably my favourite game and I’m totally recalling how I felt playing it age 11.

Man I need to boot it up again on switch. I used to play it at least once a year, I used to play it via the psone with the little screen you attach to it on my bed, then on PSP (crisis core edition naturally), then on vita.

MattyJ

Final Fantasy X and X-2 HD are on gamepass from tomorrow, if anyone is interested in playing them again

The Daddy

Never played them. Are they worth the effort?

Tempy

If you like FF games, X is great. If not, not really I'd guess.

Minnesänger

I like FF games and am not a huge fan of X or X-2, despite really trying to like them. They have their fans though, so might be worth a look.

regmcfly

BLAZE BALL

Tempy

Ah, yes, blitzball.

voices

I've been avoiding spoilers for FF7 remake for a year now, waiting for the PC version release.

I honestly thought it would be a middle of April announcement + short window to release.

regmcfly

Tempy wrote:

Ah, yes, blitzball.

No tempy it is online now

Nina

cosmicjellybean wrote:

@nina Please keep up with posting your thoughts and stuff because it’s genuinely amazing to read about you playing it for the first time! It’s probably my favourite game and I’m totally recalling how I felt playing it age 11.

Can only imagine how this must have felt being younger, 3d graphics still being new, and big games like this not as common. B told me he thought the game would end when leaving Midgar, and was blown away by the scope of it.

Speaking of leaving Midgar, I've finished the Kalm town this morning

Spoiler:

the way it plays out to story by having you control some of it, cutscenes and rendered cutscenes is really well done, again. Going into Tifa's house and her reacting to it was so good, made me to just play the piano a little bit, as I didn't want her to think I'd abuse it, didn't read her letter as I didn't want her to think I couldn't control myself, and then picked up some weird set of underwear, just to tease her. The scene with your mom (I think you know then she dies a little later), learning that Tifa has martial arts lessons, having her guide you up to the reactor in that cute hat, learning about the monsters / humans in the reactor pods, you just feel Sephiroth changes when he slowly starts to realize what this means, having to chase after Sephiroth, finding that underground library with all of Shinra's secrets, but also knowledge about the world, how it came to be, leaving Sephiroth alone when he asks to, take a nap, wake up to him gone again, not in the library anymore. Then when you walk out, and see the whole time ablaze, that just hurt so much! Trying to go in your old house, and just walking out without saying anything... Back to the reactor and see Sephiroth gone mental, stabbing Tifa, seeing her tumble down the stairs, making sure she is safe before confronting Sephiroth... Some amazing scenes, the Jenova model worked so well. Back at the inn, current time, Tifa asks what you thought when she was stabbed, and Cloud says "I thought you were a goner. ...I was so sad" which just seems to fit a 15-16 year old emotions quite well. I don't know, found that really touching.

Then you leave, having a hint of one of the townspeople that someone in a black coat when east. So far I've found a chocobo farm there, but need to grind a bit for enough money to buy a lure.
Even though I know that I'll lose Aeris, I still have her in my party. Partly because her limit is so useful, partly because I am her bodyguard, but also because while playing I just forget about it.

Still impressed by this. I was so afraid the nostalgia for this game would mean that I wouldn't enjoy it as much, but so far it has completely grabbed me.

Minnesänger

That whole Kalm section up to the CG of Sepiroth in the flames is incredible and blew me away as a kid. Sepiroth at that point was genuinely intimidating as hell - cool, ruthless, talented, powerful - and that section with the music (which built and exploded from an ominous heartbeat) and the dialogue and everything cemented him as the best villain I had ever seen.

It's unfortunate that there's been an over-saturation of Sepiroth since, resulting in him being Borg-ed. A formerly terrifying foe that meant that sudden and unexpected death was possible, now lost his edge with each and every inclusion. But, it's no biggie - Sepiroth in the OG FF7 is still amazing, and left such a reaction on me that I could remember exactly what it looks like, beat for beat, as you described it.

cosmicjellybean

Couldn’t agree more. One thing that bothered me about the remake was the introduction of sephiroth (which obviously i guess is because

Spoiler:

)

In the original you never see sephiroth until Kalm. You only see what he’s capable of with what he leaves behind. First time you see him you then fight with him and he’s just fucking shit up in battles.

It’s worth noting this was my first ever RPG. I was used to the megadrive, and games like wipeout and crash bandicoot on ps1. I didn’t know games were like this!

hylian_elf

I had Sephiroth surrounded by flames as my desktop background for yeaaaaars.

MattyJ

Yeah when he's with you in the fights at the start, you're doing like 150 damage and he's chucking out 3500 or so... And fucks that dragon up in one hit! It's like...how will I ever beat him?!

Nina

Pretty sure Cloud was meant to die during that big flashback battle, and I had Sephiroth revive him after. So not only was he someone Cloud really looked up to at that point (his hyped animation when telling Sephiroth that he got new materia was fun), but he also looked out for Cloud.

It's indeed a really good build up for a villain. It's not like you don't understand his anger, it's a pretty fucked up thing to find out about yourself.

Nina

Having a good day on this yesterday (it's the perfect game to play when feeling a bit rough after vaccine no 2) and am now up to the Golden Saucer. Which makes FFXIV even more funny.

Spoiler:

So, last post was talking about getting a chocobo, grinded for some money to get the lure, warked at the chocobos at the farm, looked up which greens to buy (the 1000 gil ones were said to be best value, so some more fights to grind), finally find my first chocobo, can't find the greens quick enough in my inventory, manage to give them to the chocobo, only for it to flee before the animation starts, and I've given my 1000gil greens to an elephant... So a bit more money to grind for new ones. I did manage to get the second chocobo (sorting items actually works), I crossed the swamp, saw the entrance to a cave, which meant I had to dismount my chocobo... All the effort, and he just faded away into the distance after a couple seconds of fun.

An incredible painting before entering the Mythril Mine, that pierced snake was quite the sight. Made my way through the mine, had a quick conversation with the Turks again, who have a new member, and stumbled upon Fort Condor once outside. Was ready to help them, but I didn't have enough money.

Ran into Yuffie easily enough in the woods, was advised before to have a guide handy for her fight, so getting her into my party was easy enough.

So then, finally on my way to Junon, which felt a bid disappointed when first entering. It looked so big and impressive on the map, and it's just a couple houses? Just 2 or 3 people to actually talk to? I made my way down the beach, where I found a girl and a dolphin, but also a big boss battle. Not too much trouble. Cloud seemed more conflicted by the idea of giving the girl CPR, but some good big breaths later and she's breathing again. Decided to rest and heard voices again, asking me to check with Tifa about that day in Nibelheim. Got ignored, and instead went to look for the girl, got a summon and had to do the weirdest dolphin jumps.

Saw an amazing airship, I always like them in FF, so was pleased with that. After I just stumbled to the weirdest scenes, had a Shinra suit on again, completely messed up during the parade, practiced my stances, which I then had to show off during Rufus's farewell. Not after checking every shop here in Junon though, seems to have a lot of nightlife.

After all those official things were over, I got onto the cargo ship, and my buddies where there already. Red being pretty cute in his suit, Barret looking impressive as well. But, what shocked me the most, is that you actually run into Sephiroth here! I thought he was gonna be hidden for much longer, but we actually get to fight, something? It was called Jenova and left a tentacle thing, so I'm sure there are more. Feel a bit weird that it looks like Sephiroth is travelling with tentacle parts of something he sees as his mother?

Next stop, Costa Del Sol. Not sure what to say about this, it was very expensive to rest here, the bar seemed a bit shady, and tbh, I just wanted to get some battles done, as I haven't really had a chance to try Yuffie, so I didn't linger too long, climbed a mountain path, crossed a reactor and ran over some tracks that barely held up. Continuing my way, I crossed a big big bridge and entered North Corel, only for people to be angry with Barret! Looks like they had a rough time here, and they blamed Barret.

The only way to go seemed to be into the sky, towards the Gold Saucer. But not before Barret told a bit of his past. Another town set to flames, this time by Shinra soldiers. As soon as we entered the Saucer, he jumped into the first hole he could find, and I haven't found him yet. I did find Cait Sith, and betted on some chocobo races, as I wanted GP to be able to save. And that's pretty much where I stopped yesterday.

Quite a long story, and looking back now I'm surprised by how varied those hours were. Mini games, quite a few story threads introduced, boss battles, random battles, a 3 second chocobo ride, new party members. The game doesn't seem to hold back, but I also can't say it feels like it's cramming too much into too short a time.

Long post, tldr, this game is fun.

Tempy

Excellent. This is the best thread on the forum now.

regmcfly

I saw the word

Spoiler:

like 20 times in that spoiler and I agree

MattyJ

I still think FFVII has the best opening few hours of a FF game

regmcfly

I like the opening to 15. Sue me. The song kicks in and I'm gone.

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