Topic: Final Fantasy VII, IX, X, X-2 and XII - Now with 80% more FF VIII

@NEStalgia Funny that you answered one of my own questions; I've been eyeing the DS version of FF IV on Amazon. I know I've stated that VI may be my first, but portability and at least one guaranteed plane flight this year make IV more tempting to add to ye olde backlog....

III is currently off the table for me as my research indicates that I very likely wouldn't finish it due to the infamous final dungeon.

@Morpheel yeah, it was really really rough. The advanced a whole lot even in 8!

@Tyranexx haha, you'll like 4 remake. It feels kind of DQ like though

@Bunkerneath
It’ll look great next to the black Darksiders and LABO VR spines and the upcoming purple Saint’s Row 😁

@ReaderRagfish yeah it was made harder, and it removed any extra features introduced in earlier re-releases (adding its own, of course).

I personally believe the PSP remake was better, although I did enjoy the DS interpretation.

Hi @Quarth, quick question: How long does it usually take for you get a package from PlayAsia (assuming this isn't your first time ordering from them)? Just wondering because it is my first time and I noticed that the package is still "pre-advised." Thanks in advance.

@Franz
Quarth can chime in but, for me, it’s usually a couple weeks if you went with the cheaper shipping option. I’ve ordered a great many games from them. I’d expect 2 weeks, maybe 3 in some cases

@NEStalgia Even better then!

I don't mind a challenge with my RPGs as long as it feels like a fair one.

Thank you for the reply, @JaxonH. That's good to know. I thought it would come in within 1 week max.

Ugh...
FF IV DS was really tough. 😩
Tough bosses, a few money earned from Battles, Slow character growth, and Zeromus tho....

@Franz Like JaxonH said, it will probably take a couple of weeks, but not longer than a month. But it might depend on where you live.

I've ordered some retro games from them before and am very satisfied with their services.

Wait? FF-X is a bloody sports game?! No one warned me about this crap! How much blitzball do I have to play and how do I actually win? I feel like I am just throwing dice and the dice is weighted against me. This isn't fun! This is supposed to be a JRPG! If I wanted to play sports game I'd buy FIFA or Madden! All the stats are randomized too?! Why show us all these numbers when the game itself admits they aren't even accurate!?

Please tell me there is some way to cheese this stupid first win, and that this is an optional side game for the rest of the story!

@Heavyarms55
Calm down. 😯
Blitzball on FF X was OPTIONAL mini game IF you want to drill Wakka until get stronger and Upgrade Ixion damage into Break Damage Limit (Until 99,999 Damage)

You need to play the Blitzball ONCE, doesn't matter Win or Lose. After that, you can continue the storyline WITHOUT bothering Blitzball At All. 🤓

Tips: if you Completely don't like Blitzball, drill other characters. Suggestion:
1. Main Team = Tidus, Yuna, Auron
2. Secondary Team = Kihmari, Lulu, Rikku

You can abandon Wakka if you want. 😏

@ReaderRagfish Well, technically the DS version is the same difficulty as the SNES original in Japan. The original was watered down for simpleton Westerners. The iOS and Android port lets you pick the difficulty either way. The DS port is committed to being Nintendo Hard(TM.)

@Quarth I've seen generally 3-4 weeks. Strangely for me my packages seem to originate from Belgium (apparently that is Asia now?), so I'm guessing they send it on a slow boat from China to Europe, it goes through clearance there, then it eventually ships from Europe from some forwarder then spends another week in the absurd US customs in NY in which the fastest time clocked for a 10 minute process is 10-15 hours.

@Heavyarms55 LOL, if you ever wondered what would happen if EA bought Square, now you know! You don't have to spend too much time on Blitzball. And I think there's only one you have to win. It's annoying as heck. That's the big complaint everyone had with 10 (Honestly, I love the Tidus/Yuna story of 10, but I still feel that even 13 is a better actual FF game. The whole Atlantian vibe of X just feels "off" to me, still good, but just strange. But yeah, there are a few Blitzball battles you have to play, I think only one you have to win....and then there's just a "colusseum" sort of optional activity thing you can do to play Blitzball the rest of the time. Because if I found myself surviving a massacre of an entire nation as it blew up before me, got sucked into some kind of time vortex, and found nothing but ruinous primitive villages among floating ruins, the first thing I'd do is seek out some pro sports to play!

@JaxonH I was looking at FFXIII again, and dang if it doesn't keep growing on me. Seeing it and X back to back....I feel more and more confident XIII is actually better. Contrary to popular opinion. I'm also more keenly aware what off-put me (and many others) the first time around: The story is more of an ensemble/world story vs tight character story, and the writing/characters are bad (Snow, Hope, "Moms are tough", and the P'roper N.O.U.N.S.), the linearness isn't much more linear than X, but the width of field movement with the enemies on the stage in front of you vs random encounters makes everything feel pre-planned vs. random (even if REs are also more or less planned), thus no grinding etc - but the bigger yet more subtle things are: No real ability trees, abilities are automatic. People hated that since it's not RPG-like...and I never realized that's one major element I was feeling the first time. The other is character control is terrible. They tried to make characters start up slowly and they end up moving janky and the camera goes on its own. These are the things that everyone hated. Without an ability system, I think that made a big part of the problem.

But the actual coherence of play, and even the FF-ness of the feel....I'm starting to actually favor XIII over X. And it's helped by having two awesome sequels, while X has one mediocre sequel. I just wish they weren't trying so hard to make XIII into another VII.

@NEStalgia
Somehow....
I prefer FF X-2 than FF X due to Cutie J-Pop Girlie vibes from Yuna, Rikku and Paine.
Not because their fanservice sexy clothings (Ohlala... Sexy LeBlanc), but i caught the gameplay and the Missions on FF X-2 were kinda like "Slumber Party Time" 😆
You know, Girls Just Want to Have Fun....

@NEStalgia
What puts 13 on a different level is the main character. Same for 15.

In 13 and 15, they try too hard to make the main character someone "cool" and super important. In X, it's just a blitzball player caught up in a mess he never bargained for. Hes a dorky, immature young man with a lighter side. Lightning and Noctis are a goddess and king, both super important and both serious people made to look too cool for words and without that lighter side.

That's what stands out to me, and why 13/15 took a step down the ladder to a lower rung.

@JaxonH I felt that way the first time, but not the second, strangely. Tidus is kind of the anime trope of the hapless good guy with growing up to do. Likable, but someone we've seen before. I actually really like Lightening, but the thing with XIII is it's an ensemble cast. Lightening doesn't get much more screen time than Sahz, Snow, or Hope. And technically it's not actually Lightening's story at all despite her being "the visual" in the art. It's Fang and Vanille's story. Lightening was positioned as the lead late in design, but it's really still Fang and Vanille's story, and they get most of the screen time. Lightening doesn't become the true protag until Lightening Returns.

All that being said, I prefer to refer to her as "girl-Cloud" Let's face it, that's what she is.

Noctis is just an annoying whiny little $#@$@. Though somehow I don't hate him the way I hate Hope and Snow (Duuude, bro! Heeeroes, bruh!) But Noctis being a king is technically more traditional FF in that sense. It was always royals and nobility on quests (or unknowing nobles/royals/godkin who thought they were normal kids.) that was part of the intentional "something new, something old" they were going for with 15.)

In that sense X is just "more anime" rather than "more FF" than pretty much any other entry in the series. Maybe that's what rubs me wrong about it at times. (8 still holds the crown for anime FF....I mean it starts in a freaking school....)

Well I mean, to be fair, FFXV is basically a series of horrible events happening to Noctis in quick succession. Noctis, a sacrificial lamb royal prince probably raised in comfort and luxury.

You'd be whiny too.

@Morpheel You spend the whole game worrying he's going to become Hope.

Thanks, @Quarth. I’m happy to wait. I just started World of Final Fantasy Maxima so I should be good for 2 weeks or even 3. 👍

@NEStalgia
Lightening ??
Is that like this thing ? 😆