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

So in the time i've posted in this thread to now, i've played Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Final Fantasy 10. and i loved it.

The final battle with Jecht in FF10 was kickin' my @ss. I'm really only interested in completing the main stories, not in getting all the celestials weapons, and max'ing the stats of all characters. don't want to spend that sort of time. So i went back, used a guide. won the Chocobo Race and got the 30 "Wings to Discovery". I also went and got Yojimbo, spent a bit of time building a good reputation with him so he would reliably unleashed "Zanmato!"

when i had that all ready, and all my characters and aeons set to overdrives. Went back in, managed to win it easily enough just pure brute force.

but story-wise, i though the beginning and the way Rikku gets introduced were super awkward. but the way the story progressed in the second half i really felt it all came together.

I think if i'm gonna pick another Final Fantasy to play, and chime in if you got an opinion, it's either the original 7, or 12 next.
I do eventually wanna get to the others in the series, and I would like to revisit 15 with all the DLC, as i REALLY enjoyed that one personally. but next one for me i think is either 7 or 12.

@Neoguardian86 As usual I recommend FF9 because of the sheer charm of the cast and the fact the battle system are very straightforward. Although if you don't really like the whole fantasy-steampunk feels the game has, it might not be the best XD

I honestly gave up on FF8. I've been trying to finish that game since I was 8 years old and even with the battle boost mode on the remastered version I'm stuck on Adel on disc 4 and don't have the patience to go back and get more GF or anything else. I honestly hate the Junction system, I know some people defend it for being "different" but it just overcomplicates something that was already simple and easy to understand. They should have changed other things that were already dated and trite in JRPGs at the time. I love FF8's story and characters, but can't stand that Junction system. My only chance is to grind for hours to get to like level 70 something where I can do max damage from what I read somewhere.

Huh? Adel isn't that difficult, @ivory_soul .... If you were having so much difficulty with her, the battles after that are harder .... I have no idea who'd have been suggesting level 70 for it!

@ivory_soul I gave up too. Not because it was hard or anything. Just couldn't keep my interest. I did love 9 though. 10 was pretty good too.

@komodo182 Yeah, 10 I've finished twice already. The original and the remaster, I love it.

@ivory_soul I've only done 10 once, but it was recently. I have done 9 close to a dozen times.

I’ve just beaten FFX and in the end I really enjoyed it. It took me a few tries on most of the latter bosses but it was rewarding to hone a strategy and get past them. The linearity helped me to focus on and learn this, but now I’ve got my feet wet I’m glad to hear the other games open up more.

I was satisfied by the ending but still hated Tidus with his emo Daddy complex and “it’s my story” rubbish. Yuna and Auron were the true protags for me.

I want to pick up FFIX now when is next on sale.

Assuming he means for Switch, I don't think so, since they were on other sales recently but it'll never be very long until the next one

@JoeDiddley Ah, FFX. I have a funny story with that game. When it came out on the PS2, I read a review, I think on EGM, that recommended doing a lot of grinding before the end. I really took that advice to heart and, instead of dropping straight into the climax, I spent about 30 hours dicking around the Omega Ruins and retooling my characters, taking monthlong or even yearlong breaks between runs. By the time I finally got around to confronting the final boss, all my characters were doing maximum damage with every attack, and it was the easiest fight ever. Kind of deflated the drama. Awesome game, nonetheless.

@JoeDiddley Glad you liked it and I am sure you will like 9.

For FF9, how important is the card game going to be for the entire game? Hoping it's just a side quest/mini game type of thing and not a necessity. Reminds me a bit of joustus in king of cards, which I wasn't fond of.

@DarthNocturnal good stuff. I'll mostly ignore it then, unless i hear otherwise.

@NintendoByNature

The card game is almost entirely optional in FF9.

There's one point in the game where you have to play a short series of matches in order to progress the story. But it's easy enough to win with the cards you naturally pick up.

After that, you lose almost nothing by ignoring it. It's not like FF8 where there are a whole range of cool items to earn from it.

@Dezzy awesome thanks.. I don't mind picking them up and finding them naturally so I'll go about my business.

Yeah, there's one time you'll have to play it .... I certainly never played it otherwise!

Good to know about the card game in IX, as I've been wondering about that myself.

Most recently fought Beatrix in Burmecia. I don't mind unwinnable fights, but if that's the case they shouldn't punish you for not losing at the right time. I wasted too many Phoenix Downs reviving characters after she hit them with that one-shot "spark" attack, just so I could live long enough for her to use the party wiping move you're supposed to lose to. Although I'm moving through it slowly (in addition to also playing PS4, I also just started streaming more tv since I got a Fire tablet, which is taking up more of my time), I'm enjoying the game, though.

@Beaucine ha, I probably didn’t grind enough and suffered for it.

@komondo182 cool I’m looking forward to it

Did I imagine or is it in fact a direct reference to cloud in a weapons shop in lindblum when you look at swords? Zidane used the phrase "i remember when a guy with spiky hair had this" does that mean they're in the same timeline?

Well, it's a reference to Cloud, @NintendoByNature ... Bit of an Easter egg, so don't overthink it