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

@BruceCM maybe ill try that. I've seen other walkthroughs not even spawn an Iron man! Why me?!?

Well, it's not unusual to come across one or 2 of them, @NintendoByNature... But certainly never heard of anyone getting the amount you have

@BruceCM That's my luck. Made it to final phase of seph and got roasted 😋. Try again tonight

Well, at least you got to him.... @NintendoByNature

@BruceCM yea I got mini'd up and didn't have much health after. He did something and destroyed my party. I'll make it a point to beat him tonight. I WILL FINISH FF7 TONIGHT!!!

If it wasn't supernova, @NintendoByNature.... It's the attack that reduces hps to one? No great secrets here, just be prepared to heal quickly

@BruceCM Man..after another few hours of trying to beat the last 15 minutes of the game ( and dying more times than I care to share), i ended up using that right stick cheat when I was almost dead in the final phase. I'm not proud of It, but I just couldn't beat him. I feel like i got close a few times, but the trek to get all the way back to his 3rd phase was getting time consuming.

I really wanted to see what happened in the end, so I caved in. First time i used that all game(as I really didnt even know It was a thing until the end believe it or not), but I'm glad i saw the ending. I really loved the game through and through. Now I'm excited to try more games in the series.

Has anyone here ever been able to play a final fantasy game without ever looking at a guide or walkthrough? I kinda feel like it's pretty much required if you don't wanna miss important things or events in whichever game you are playing. I hate getting to a certain point only to find i skipped something or missed an item that becomes locked or unobtainable later but at the same time using a guide feels like cheating or possibly ruining the experience of your first playthrough.

@Zeldafan79
You must use walkthrough to play Final Fantasy games, especially older series.
Otherwise, you will ended up by clueless and made permanent mistakes.

Btw, playing games without guidance is NOT fun at all. I don't want be surprised by nasty reality that i missed something or i have screwed up something. Better i prevent rather than experience with nasty surprise.
It's not cheating at all.

@Anti-Matter
Oh good that makes me feel better. I was watching video guides from a guy called HC bailey on youtube and his walkthroughs are really detailed and helpful. I try my best to figure out stuff on my own but i often play along with him so i don't miss anything. I felt kinda dirty about it though. Like i was wussing out with a let's play guide. Glad I'm not the only one.

Glad you got there, @NintendoByNature .... I played FFIII, IV & tactics advance originally before I had wi-fi in the place I lived, @Zeldafan79, so I had to do them without guides then But it's usually a good idea to look up some things for the games! At least in the older ones, there's some things that you'd be highly unlikely to stumble on or work out on your own It's why the official guides sold well enough, for those playing them back in the day

@Zeldafan79 I almost never look stuff up in games. If I do, it's almost always after an initial playthrough, when I don't have to fear spoiling myself. If a game is baffling enough that I feel like I just can't figure out what to do, I'll usually just stop playing it.

In general, old Final Fantasy games don't require any sort of external assistance to be fully appreciated. You might miss secrets/side-quests/etc., but the game will still lead you naturally through the broad strokes of the plot.

With that said, play these games however you like. No shame in using guides, especially if they help you to enjoy the game more than you would have otherwise.

I pretty much buckled down and used an annotated map with the original NES Legend of Zelda game after years of failing to get into it, and it dramatically improved my experience with the game.

I’m thinking of playing my first ever Final Fantasy game next up.

Final Fantasy X as I hear it’s a good entry point and it’s been in the backlog for a while.

I hear it’s quite linear so would that really need a guide? I don’t mind missing the odd extra. Any tips for someone who’s played a few rpgs but is completely new to the game and wider series?

It is pretty linear, @JoeDiddley .... What's kept you from playing them before? Anything in particular? There's missable stuff but none of it really matters that much, if you're not a hardcore completionist, tbh

@JoeDiddley
One important thing before you play final Fantasy X, especially the HD Remaster.
Make sure you must get Destruction sphere from every Cloister Trial inside the Temple. Otherwise, you have to face with Almost Impossible to beat Dark Aeon which guard every Temple. To beat all those Impossible Dark Aeon, use your Aeon Yojimbo, make sure you have called him oftenly and if you're lucky, you can kill any Dark Aeon with Zanmato (100% Instant Deth to any enemies including Bosses).
The linearity on FF X can screwed up you if you forget to pay attention with every tiny details. I have already warned you before playing FF X.

@JoeDiddley FFX was fun. Quite different from other entries, but that won't matter to you. I did enjoy it overall.

@JoeDiddley If you're not digging Blitzball, then don't fixate too much on it. It can be an incredibly minor part of the game.

One of my least Final Fantasy games, personally, but that's an unpopular opinion on my part.

Thanks everyone for tips!

@Ralizah uh oh as I trust your taste. But I’m still going to try it as I’m finally in the mood to give the series a spin and I’m in the mood for a console RPG (rather than the ton of 3DS and Vita ones in my backlog).
Blitzball did put me off actually. As I stopped playing Golf Story as I found the frisbee sections frustrating, not sure why that’s a comparison but that’s how my mind works! Good to hear it’s not necessary.

@Anti-Matter your comment makes me think I’m in way over my head. But I’m hoping it’ll make more sense when I get there and I’ll be sure to look back on your advice.

@BruceCM I’ve not played Final Fantasy as 30 years into gaming I’ve only been playing RPGs for about a year. I was into gameplay over story and liked linear experiences. In 2018 I was playing roguelikes like Dead Cells. I tried Into The Breach which got my interested in Tactics games. SMT Devil Survivor 1 then started mixing tactical with turn based gameplay.
So I’ve mostly been playing the SMT, Fire Emblem and Dragon Quest series. With games like Chrono Trigger, Earthbound and Ni No Kuni in between. Now also in rotation with trying some VNs (hybrids), so I’ve done a 180 from no story to a heavy story focus.

Final Fantasy hasn’t appealed to my personal tastes like SMT and Earthbound do. But I feel I’m missing out not trying the classic of the genre. Like Beethoven, objectively the best but might not be everyone’s favourite. The number of places to start can be a bit overwhelming too. X, IX and VI seem the most interesting to me.

@JoeDiddley It's an alright game. I just didn't care for the cast, the relentless linearity of the experience, the way it shoves water soccer in your face at first, or the way its legacy overshadowed Final Fantasy XII's for the longest time (the re-release on modern consoles helped it regain some visibility, though).

I really didn't like Final Fantasy IX (what I played of it, at least), and that has become one of the most beloved games in the series these days (years and years of people lavishing endless praise on FFVII on the internet recoiled hard, unfortunately), so you'll want to take my opinions on this series with a massive helping of salt.

Final Fantasy X's Vita port was actually quite solid, and in those dark pre-Nintendo Switch days, it was a cool example of a previously TV-tethered experience becoming fully enjoyable on a portable platform.

Now everyone's got me wanting to play IX 😋. I should take a break from a long game though. After 7 and playing animal crossing, some shorter games might do me good. Plus trials of mana comes out next week which I'm grabbing.