Topic: Unpopular Gaming Opinions

@Xenoblade-Fan

So as far as the mainline Final Fantasy 7 games go, there's really just the original PS1 release and the currently unfinished Remake trilogy. There are plenty of spinoffs (though most of them aren't especially great), but you definitely shouldn't play any of them until you've at least experienced the main story.

The original Final Fantasy 7 is the story in its purest form and is probably the most efficient way to get to know the universe and characters, but it is a more traditional turn-based RPG from the 90s. If you're fine with that, I'd personally recommend starting with it since it's available everywhere, it's pretty cheap, and you can beat it in around 30-40 hours.

Remake and Rebirth are an expanded retelling of the original game with the occasional plot deviation, with a real-time battle system and higher production values. While certain plot points are probably more effective if you've played the original, a lot of people were introduced to FF7 with the remakes so I think it's a valid starting point if you want a more modern RPG experience. That being said, keep in mind the third entry still hasn't released and both Remake and Rebirth will take a lot longer to go through than the original.

@StarryCiel I personally wouldn't play Rebirth before playing through the original and Crisis Core. There's a lot of stuff that happens there that doesn't make sense or have much impact on the player if they don't know the original narrative at the very least.

Especially given the remakes aren't really remakes.

tbh, that's my biggest complaint of the entire final franchise series.

I didn't mind the mini-games in rebirth, but that seemed like a common complaint. Especially for trophy hunters.

@Xenoblade-Fan I'm gonna go against the grain and say skip the original - I think the storytelling is poor by modern standards and there's a good chance you'll be underwhelmed. It's true that some things in the remake trilogy won't make so much sense to someone naive to the story (in particular, the whispers), but I don't feel this is too important in the grand scheme of things (just know that certain things happen in the original timeline and the remake trilogy likes to play with this a little).

@FishyS yeah I agree tbh. But I really feel like Rebirth took it to another level.

@Buizel I wouldn't skip the original. It isn't the greatest thing ever, but it's still a decent game. Plus people now are saying "the changes don't mean much on the grand scheme," but we still don't have the third part yet. The one that'll end the story and where most of the changes will probably come into play on a grand scale. We already know Zack is alive in other timelines and will probably change the story heavily by the time that Northern Crater happens. We know that Sephiroth already knows the events of the original story, and has been working on undoing Aerith's hold on meteor by killing her in multiple parts of the lifestream. There's a high chance Cloud killed Aerith this time, and is in denial given how he blocked out her funeral and still thinks she's alive and well. Then there's the war with Wutai starting up as well. Things are most likely going to get further and further away from how the original game ended.

I like Final Fantasy 8 way much better than any FF 7 games.

@Anti-Matter That's actually a fairly common opinion among Final Fantasy fans. A lot of people love FF8.

@VoidofLight I see your point, but I would still argue that even if the story is altered the story of the Remake trilogy is able to stand alone in its on right, and I would argue that the story telling is to a much higher standard than that in the original (although caveat that we only know 2/3 of it at this point).

Idk, tbh my recommendation is mostly coloured by my (probably unpopular) opinion that the original ff7 has not aged well at all - and I am very much against recommending slogging through hours of content "until it gets good" as often seems to be the case with game (and other) recommendations.

That said, the original is relatively cheap and accessible as mentioned. Maybe it is worth a try for that alone. My point ultimately is that I think playing the original is by no means necessary to pick up Remake etc.

@Buizel Ehh, I don't think the Original was bad by any means honestly. Then again, my tastes in games are rather unorthodox and I like things like Drakengard 3 and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.

I feel like if anything really aged poorly in the original FF7, it's probably how Barret was portrayed- along with how the english localization uses slurs (due to a bad script at the time). I don't think the game aged poorly though. The only FF games I believe did were FF2 and FF8- and those were already rough at launch due to how they messed around with the combat systems.

@Purgatorium
I also heard some peoples dislike FF 8 for the Junction System and treat the Magic spells like usable items that limited by number quantity.
Paper Mario Sticker Star & Color Splash used similar things from FF 8 (using stickers to unleash the commands, if you don't have the sticker you can't attack the enemy) even the 3D objects summon spell on Sticker Star felt like Ra and Ga Final Fantasy magic spell (Blizzard, Blizzara, Blizzaga)

@Anti-Matter Yeah, people who dislike FF8 usually dislike it for that reason. Liking the Junction System might be an unpopular opinion. In my experience, people who like FF8 like the story, world and characters.

The junction system took something as simple as materia and made it overly complicated for genuinely no reason at all. If they remake FF8 at any point in the future, I hope they completely change the junctioning system.

The broken junction system was part of why I loved FF8. Last thing I want is for them to “fix” it

The Junction system is why I can't get into the game no matter how hard I try.

Junction System isn't that bad and complicated.
It just only a system to connect your Magic type & quantity to your attributes or your attack type or your defensive type.
I quickly grasped with the Junction System gameplay and I can make ultimate team.
The hardest thing to junction is getting Ultima magic as much as possible as it will give very high boost to your attributes or attack / defense but you will not wasting Ultima magic once you get a lot of them.
The key of success in playing FF 8 is using the right commands for every GF Junction.
Some of the GF will give you free MP cost command like Recovery from Leviathan, Revive from Alexander, etc that you will depend on those command rather than wasting the already junctioned Magics.
Don't Junction Aura magic as you really need Aura magic to trigger the character Limit Break quickly. And if you dare and lucky enough, you can use Rinoa's Invisible Moon to make all the party members vanished or using Selphie's The End for Instant KO to any Bosses.

TBH I think I prefer FF8 to FF7 also - but only really for the setting. I'm willing to admit the game's flaws, particularly in the junction system and how wacky the story gets later on. It's definitely the most flawed of the PS1 trilogy.

There's a bit of fun in how broken the junction system is, but I totally understand if it completely puts someone off the game. There's definitely something wrong if the optimal strategy is to draw out battles for 30 minutes drawing magic from your opponents / focus so much of your time on the optional card game, only to never actually use the magic and instead junction it to your stats to repeatedly hit things using standard attacks.

Yeah I like the junction system too. It feels good to stay level 1 for the whole game and grind spells to be overpowered. Add to this a low health Squall for the limit breaks and it becomes even more enjoyable. Definitely one of the strenghts of VIII, you can make the game very easy or harder.

I never played Final Fantasy for the gameplay though. Only for the music, atmosphere, setting and story. And I think VIII is the best one. The vibes are just so good and Squall is really cool.

Edit: If I would replay them now, I think IX might become my favourite. In the end VII-X are all masterpieces, which I love very dearly and this is all that matters.

@Buizel The fact you get punished for using magic is exactly why I don't like it. Why are stats easily to ruin just because you want to make the fights go faster?

@VoidofLight This is true, but tbh avoidable if you use magic more sparingly and focus on standard attacks as I suggested. But this basically turns battles into mindless button mashing which I agree is no fun.

Tbh the idea of being "punished" for battling is a cardinal sin in any RPG. It's why I (and many others) consider Paper Mario Sticker Star to be amongst the worst games Nintendo has made in recent memory. And FF8 is guilty of this not only with the junction system, but with its level scaling (meaning that levelling up is essentially pointless).

Knowing this I should really hate FF8. But as @Jhena says there's a lot more to a FF game, and for me "the vibes are just so good and Squall is really cool" holds true.