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

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

@BruceCM @DarthNocturnal still pretty cool honestly. I was pleasantly surprised.

Oh, yeah, it's cool, @NintendoByNature.... There's various references to previous games in most later ones, too

Guys i may be getting FF VII remake soon and i wanted to check a couple things first. How long would you say the main game is? What about if you're going for 100% completion? Oh and is the game linear or more open like traditional FF's?

Haven't played it myself, as I'm waiting for all the parts on Steam, @Zeldafan79 .... Seems like the main game should be 30-50 hours, though! Mostly fairly linear, with a reasonable amount of optional side-quests Traditional FFs aren't 'open', though? Which games are you talking about?

@Zeldafan79

Main story is about 30 hours with no sidequests. Average playthrough with some sidequests is probably closer to 40 hours. 100% completion probably somewhere between 50 and 70 hours.

The game is mostly quite linear, but you occasionally stop in a more open hub area to explore and do sidequests. It's kinda like a combination of FF10 and FF12.

It's not "bad linear" though. Meaning it doesn't feel like narrow hallways like FF13 did. The linearity is really well disguised by having huge expansive environments. The game is massive.

Yep it's a reference to Cloud. FF9 has a ton of references to previous games in the series. It wasn't meant to be taken literally as they're in the same universe. It was because the developers at the time saw FF9 as a kind of celebration of the classic JRPG style the earlier games had followed, because they knew that was going to be the last game that followed that style. They did say this in interviews at the time, I'm not just guessing.

Here's a list of all the allusions in the game. There are loads.
https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_IX_allusions

@BruceCM
By open i meant how you're not confined to a linear straight forward path like in FF 13. In the early games it's like you're not really given much direction and you just get vague hints about where you should be going. Of course this often got me killed as i would be going places that were way out of my league at that time.

@Dezzy yea it was super cool when i saw it. I'm keeping my eyes out for more. Although I only have ff7 under my belt I'm sure ill miss quite a few

Anyway, the one you asked about is fairly linear but with quite a few optional side-quests, @Zeldafan79.... The next part is probably going to be more open but we'll have to see about that

@NintendoByNature

They played Rufus's march tune from FF7 right near the beginning. You probably missed it:

@Dezzy actually, I knew I heard that tune before lol! Very cool.

Just witnessed Cleyra getting blown to bits in IX. I'm currently on the villain's airship.