Final Fantasy XII

[SoMuch4Gravity]

Moogles rules in FFVI. KUPO!

 

I haven't played FF seriously after FFXII. Squarenix keeps saying they won't want to remake FFVII until they surpass it, which isn't going to happen.

 

At this point it's been over 15 years, a whole new generation of RPGers are out there and likely haven't played it. And old bastards like me (34), would buy a whole new system to get their hands on a graphically updated, enhanced music and menus version of the game. There's a whole bunch of meta/side quest shit they could throw in, just don't mess with the story. 

 

xoxo, -finch

[Red Phoenix]

Yeah it would be great if they'd do it. You'd think they'd have the brains to do it too, it'd probably sell an insane amount. Would be good to see it with up to date graphics, etc. Just going back to XII from XIII-2 is really jarring for the first 10-15 mins or so, because XIII-2 looks fucking amazing. Hopefully it'll start playing well soon too.

[Red Phoenix]

Still haven't gone back to this yet after getting Skyrim recently, but am glad that I'm still looking forward to getting back on it and it's easily one of my favourite RPG's now. Have played for over 90 hours so far and there's still a decent amount to do so I doubt there'll be any problem reaching 110+ hours, and am still into the idea of playing through from the start again. The hunts are what I'm currently in the middle of and there's at least half of them left I think, then there's at least 4 areas that I've still to play in properly and several others that need exploring fully, so plenty of life still left in it.

 

I tried to keep playing FFXIII-2 but the random encounters just started driving me a bit mad in the end so have left it for now. (SMT: Nocturne also has them, but the strategy and story in that game are of such a good standard that I can still say it's a favourite.) I still think the whole idea of random encounters has been a huge step backward with the FFXIII games too. Maybe Square Enix think the same and that's why the next FF game will be action/rpg and without them?

 

As for Lightning Returns, played it once and haven't touched it again, but that's probably unfair to judge on that alone seeing as I started playing Skyrim around the same time! But the story in Lightning Returns just seemed to put me off even going back for now. She's a saviour, she save souls (which you seem to hear every couple of minutes for at least the first hour or so) and she has to do this before the world ends. As for all of the souls that aren't saved (you can only save a limited amount of them.), well, they're lost for all eternity! Yet she's working with this creator anyway to get her sister back, and nobody seems to think all of the souls lost for all eternity are an issue. I just thought that was retarded and might struggle to get back onto it, but have a feeling that the game could be fairly decent if I can get around 8-10 hours into it.

 

But neither FFXIII-2 or Lightning Returns seem anywhere near as good as FFXII, not really in the same league when it comes to gameplay anyway.

[SoMuch4Gravity]

Ah the random encounter. It's really not a problem if the combat system is done properly. FFXII took a page from the tab-target style MMO. The new hotness is that recticle style Elder Scrolls has or the live evasion of games like TERA/Wildstar. I think all of them have their merits if done properly.

 

I still haven't made much headway back into FFVII, been running a lot, should probably make a thread on that haha.  

[Red Phoenix]

Yeah it can be hackable, but I prefer it when there's at least the option to flee from battle, and I don't think FFXIII-2 has that option, which can be really annoying. There's a clock-type timer that appears before any battle, and you can either hit it quickly which gives you an advantage (first attack or something I think.), or the chance to fight again if you lose, but if you hit it too late you can't retry. The good thing is that you can run and if you're not caught as the enemy chases after you, you avoid the fight.

 

But sometimes you're on narrow paths or near closed off areas, so you can run into them before you know it or just as they appear, or not be able to avoid them because you don't have anywhere to run, and sometimes even if you run you simply can't escape so you're forced to fight. I'd rather just have total random encounters and the chance to flee really, because it can make exploring/looking for things kind of annoying, and it'd just be a lot simpler and easier to play with.

 

Will probably still go back to it as it was a decent game when it worked. The style and graphics are occasionally up there with any other game I've played as well, (especially the city of Academia, which is in different timelines.) could've been a favourite if the gameplay was better. There's quite a few other games that are being played/due to be played first though, so it might be a while before I get back to it.

[Red Phoenix]

Might have to get this at some point if I can, it's on the Wii, and seems to be very close in style : Xenoblade Chronicles - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenoblade_Chronicles

 

There's also a sequel on the way : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_%282014_video_game%29

 

Am sure some of you are familiar with other Xeno games, have never played any of them though.

 

edit - preview of the sequel, due on the Wii U this year. Looks like it has some inspiration from Zone of the Enders as well, which could be great if it works well enough :

 

 

edit 2 - the Wii also has this, so will probably get a cheap 2nd hand one and get these games : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Story

[Section_31]

Could never get into Final Fantasy games other than VII which is up there with my favourite ever games, mainly because of the depth and story, there was a hell of a lot of frustrating stuff about it though. I got tired of FFVIII and gave up, just too many boss battles one after the other after the other.

[Cardie]

They give and they take away.

 

After years and scores of people crying out for a next gen re-make (to the PS3, and then PS4) the tease of the tech demo from years ago that suggested they were actually doing it, to the actual reveal of a remake during E3, we finally get to see some game play footage and the remake looks like more of a re-imagining with turn based combat shunted out for the shitty future iterations of FF combat style.

 

Fuck.

[Boss]

Hope this doesn't come across as one of those "i like the Star Wars prequels" contrarian for the sake of being contrarian kind of things, but i quite like Final Fantasy 13.

 

The quick time events are annoying and the story is pure schmaltz but the ending builds to a crescendo nicely and i like the open world after the game's over were you can fight Adamantoise and CP farm, Gill farm and complete all the side quests.

[Boss]

They give and they take away.

 

After years and scores of people crying out for a next gen re-make (to the PS3, and then PS4) the tease of the tech demo from years ago that suggested they were actually doing it, to the actual reveal of a remake during E3, we finally get to see some game play footage and the remake looks like more of a re-imagining with turn based combat shunted out for the shitty future iterations of FF combat style.

 

Fuck.

 

 

Aye it's pissed me off a bit as well because i was really excited about it. Hearing that they're releasing it in episodes and then seeing that stupid combat system put in for the casuals with the Americanised dialogue, tempers my enthusiasm. Why try and improve on perfection? 

[Cardie]

Aye it's pissed me off a bit as well because i was really excited about it. Hearing that they're releasing it in episodes and then seeing that stupid combat system put in for the casuals with the Americanised dialogue, tempers my enthusiasm. Why try and improve on perfection? 

Think it's becoming more and more clear that this is just a cash grab rather than a genuine nod to the fans.

 

If they come out and say the game will be broken up into 4 parts and each part will be £12-£13 pound each or you pay 50-60 quid and you get each episode as they come out fair enough you'll get all the episodes for the price of a full game, but what are the odds you'll be looking at £30 plus for each. 

[Red Phoenix]

That Xenoblade game I posted about further up is supposed to be great for exploring, etc. Not sure if I'll ever get a Wii U but if I do am definitely getting that first. There's a page on it here : http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/8/9862024/xenoblade-chronicles-x

 

edit : I originally said it was supposed to be a great game, but that review makes it out to be fairly average gameplay-wise. I like exploring more than anything else though so for me it'll probably be amazing. It does have good user ratings on metacritic too (8.9 at the moment), so maybe that review is fairly negative.

[Red Phoenix]

Glad to know that they finally got around to it and they're releasing a remake this year. One of the best games I've ever played.

 

[Cardie]

Glad to know that they finally got around to it and they're releasing a remake this year. One of the best games I've ever played.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU6hkQSE38Q

Thats not the remake.

[Guest]

That Xenoblade game I posted about further up is supposed to be great for exploring, etc. Not sure if I'll ever get a Wii U but if I do am definitely getting that first. There's a page on it here : http://www.theverge.com/2015/12/8/9862024/xenoblade-chronicles-x

 

edit : I originally said it was supposed to be a great game, but that review makes it out to be fairly average gameplay-wise. I like exploring more than anything else though so for me it'll probably be amazing. It does have good user ratings on metacritic too (8.9 at the moment), so maybe that review is fairly negative.

If huge role playing games with turn based combat are your thing, it is very good indeed. Some of the beasts you discover are huge and it's quite a shock to suddenly see a huge beast bearing down on you as you explore. Very good looking game too, only downside is you need a LOT of time to get the most out of it. It's a vast game and it takes quite a long time to level up to take on the bigger beasts.

 

Very impressive for a Wii U title, it would have sold by the bucket load if it was on PS4 or xbox-one.

[Cardie]

Very impressive for a Wii U title, it would have sold by the bucket load if it was on PS4 or xbox-one.

Outside of final fantasy JRPG's haven't done massive numbers on the Playstation either. It'd probably still outsell the Wii U because the install base is higher.

 

Kingdom Hearts 2 sold 4 million, Ni No Kuni sold 1.5-2 million for example.

 

 

Even games like Zelda are relatively niche games in terms of sales, Pokemon and Final Fantasy are probably the two standouts for western JRPG success.

[Red Phoenix]

If huge role playing games with turn based combat are your thing, it is very good indeed. Some of the beasts you discover are huge and it's quite a shock to suddenly see a huge beast bearing down on you as you explore. Very good looking game too, only downside is you need a LOT of time to get the most out of it. It's a vast game and it takes quite a long time to level up to take on the bigger beasts.

 

Very impressive for a Wii U title, it would have sold by the bucket load if it was on PS4 or xbox-one.

 

That does seem like the type of game I'd like, especially seeing as I like to play less games and instead spend more time on the few I do play. Saying that though I don't think there's any way I'd be able to get both a PS4 and a Wii U, so that'd maybe be a game for further off in the future if possible.

[Red Phoenix]

Thats not the remake.

 

I'll respond to you seeing as we're not trying to drive each other mad on the GF : it quite clearly is a remake, or remastered version if you want to put it like that. There's also a key difference which might have been partly what you were getting at though, which is that this game will be based on the International Zodiac Job System version released in Japan in 2007.

 

It's still the same game for the most part but with some added features and changes including a different licence board system for the use of things like skills and items, based instead on 12 boards which leads to the zodiac name. All of the differences in that version are listed here, along with some other changes for this remastered version : http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XII#International_Zodiac_Job_System