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I heard that lots of player frustrated with FFVII's abundance of mini-games (more over, most of them are obligatory). That's why FFVIII (and later FF) have less mini-games and have only one "big" mini-games (and not obligatory too). Seeing how we see less mini-games in later FF, perhaps most players want it that way. But I completely agree with the Chocobo mini-games, and they should have more roles than just a mere transportation role.

Oh, and I want my OWN chocobo (not renting it).

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@LVUER
Your wish could be difficult, because that would make traveling far to easy ôo
Maybe that the player can have one after half the game is over (I mean, they almost always get an airship later, so why not a chocobo).
But I still think, owning one would be...useless.
It wouldn't go into the dungeons but surely also not wait before them (since Chocobos are easily scared and used to run away from fiends). It wouldn't fight (if you ignore that adorable chocobo attack in FF8), it would have to be left somewhere in nowhere or to teleport itself magically to a new place.
I guess, it would ruin the difficulty of the game (I mean, when you did ride on a chocobo in 12, there happend nothing, no fiend even thought about attacking you) OR make it even more unrealistic.

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Certainly, owning a chocobo in FF XII would makes things way too easy at the time to travel. FF XII however, has no random battles.
If you want to travel you can just run around as long as you have a high enough level. So, why don't add the option to buy a chocobo later in the game?

I honestly can't think about beating FF IX without getting the chocobo, as I hate to have random battles if I'm not in the mood to
farm.

In FF VII you own chocobos while the airship is already yours, so I don't see the point in negating the ownership of the friendly bird in
other releases (FF VIII, FF X).

As a side note, chocobos in FF XII are considered to have a fair amount of power among fiends which pretty much explains why they
don't attack you (Kicking them or something would have been nice to see though).

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If you want the earlier Final Fantasy games (I-IX less III) that were released on PSOne, your best best if you have a PSP or PS3 is to get them from the PlayStation Store/PSN. Vita compatibility is apparently still inbound.

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But I would say, getting the PSOne games shouldn't be that hard or expensive ôo
And it's kind of nicer to really have the games in your hand rather then on a hard disk...
I mean, FF Origins and FF Anthology look quite nice in the shelf beneast the rest of the games xD

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Owning one perhaps is useless... but I still want it. Besides, you can make it so they are not useless. FFVII is a good example since you can't get Knight of the Round materia with Highwind. You need a black chocobo for that... (the one that can fly, it's black, right? I kinda forget the color). And if you want some early access to powerful abilities, you also need to bred chocobo and use them to across some "unreachable area" since you still don't acquire airship at that time.

And if I'm not mistaken, tamed choboco (the one that yours) won't run away if you dismount it. It will stay where you left it (so don't forget where you left it). Chocobo perhaps can't fight, but it's one of the fastest monster in FF universe so no other monster can catch up with it (explaining why no random encounter when you mount on one). So the chocobo can just running around while waiting for you... of course the game don't need to animate it, just an explanation why the chocobo can stick around on same spot while it's so weak.



Aaaand... you can make airship is a bother to use (like need a fuel, can't land anywhere, or even only can land in airport/air strip, etc) while chocobo is easier to use, easier to ride, and so on.

No wait... how can I forget it. Wild Arms 3 is an PERFECT example on how to properly utilize multiple transportation means. They have you (on-foot), horse (like chocobo), land-vehicle (that could drill), and finally airship (it's a living, cybernetic dragon btw). The horse can be left anywhere and you have an item to call them from anywhere (as long as you're in the same continent). You can load your land-vehicle to the airship and take it to the new continent). Airship can be called from anywhere (since it lives) though it can't land anywhere (it can only land in plains or designated area). See?

And even with all those transports, there're still random encounters. And to make things interesting, how you battle is completely different from when you're on-foot, on horse, on land-vehicle, or on airship.
- On-foot: the normal way. Your characters running around all the battlefield like chicks with butt on fire.
- On horse: still like the normal way, but all your characters are on-horse and the monsters are all running to catch up with you. Cool animation.
- On land-vehicle: Tank battle! Load up your main cannon, aim, and FIRE!!! You need to upgrade your land-vehicle (means burning some money) to actually increase its status. Every characters have their own roles (commander, driver, gunner, magic).
- On airship: Aerial battle! The dragon is a sentient being so it doesn't need to be controlled... well, you (player) control it. So it's kinda have another character in your roster. It's usually one-VS-one since there's not many monster can fly as high as your airship. While those monsters are freakingly strong... your airship is also freakingly strong (it's a BOSS and you need to defeat it before you can claim it).


You don't need to look for the PSX version. PSP and DS have their own library of Final Fantasy game. And they are better compared to the PSX counterpart (like additional dungeon, story, etc). In fact, I regret a little bit for playing all the NES/SNES and PSX version since I don't have anymore willingness (and time) to play the PSP and DS version.

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I don't really miss the FF games, I like some of them, but now days it's more of a decline of quality. I liked FF7 (even with it's awful ending).
Nowdays I hope Titus releases more good games!

Well, I haven't been logged in for a few days, but I see this topic is pretty much death already.

Does this means the lack of interest about this is a clear reflection of what Square Enix is doing with Final Fantasy?
Almost all the posts on this thread agree with the fact that Final Fantasy has been suffering a constant downgrade over time. This
being either story, side quest, setting or gameplay. The only good thing about it seems to be graphics (which is meaningless is
everything else is gone).

Do not mistake me, I'm not complaining about the thread being unpopular. It's just that I expected more people to point what they
miss and not about the game. Lvuer, Destiny and Luxtizer42 has pointed out many important factors about the saga's old and current status.
More or less side quest? Own a Chocobo or not? Intense plot line with twists or evil guy to go after?
How basic are the above mentioned points and how lost are they on today day's Final Fantasy titles?

Did the gaming community really changed that badly that these elements (Among many others) have become something from the
past?
I understand the need to adapt to newer generations, but cutting and cutting and cutting basic elements to an already mutilated
series is really necessary?

It really frightens(and saddens) me to see how much will the saga change as newer titles gets released.

I'd like to clear out that my concern is with the "canon" games (...FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX... and so on) and not the other sub sagas like
Crystal Chronicles and Tactics (Which ironically, have more Final Fantasy elements that the original saga itself).

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mmm ... this is just my guess, but the lack of response is probably because the majority of people in this forum are either otome or yaoi visual novel lover instead of your usual gamers ^^;

I haven't play any FF RPG so I can't contribute on this post (I do play FF Tactics though and I'm totally loving it ^^)

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Well I loved the Final Fantasy series, and I agree it's gone downhill, but it's not beyond saving. In my opinion, here are a few things Square Enix could do to fix things.

1. FF is NOT an MMO
As much as Warcraft annoys me, it does hold the throne in the MMO world. It's not going anywhere. They have a formula and it works. Anything trying to be an MMO these days is just going to fail, so don't try to make our favorite series online. Online elements can be added (I'd personally love to have pvp combat for a FF Tactics game), but don't make that the focus of the game.

2. It's called Final FANTASY
Having technology is fine, but this is a fantasy game. Bring back the swords and sorcery we all came to love in the earlier versions. I personally think they hit the exact right balance with FF VI. Yeah, smacking a tank with a sword was pretty crazy, but the world's tech level made sense. Can you think of any practical reason Squall has a sword of any variety? As opposed to a machine gun?

3. Leave the past where it is
Slightly contradictory, but nostalgia has its place. The FF series has so many characters, items, spells, etc. that it's become a creature of its own. You can reference things from the past (chocobos, the ribbon, etc.) but try to bring in enough new things that it still feels like its own game. Even though I like FF 9, it did feel like they were trying to see how much FF nostalgia they could shoehorn into a plot.

4. Pay your writers more than your artists
We all can agree the games are gorgeous, but can you say the same for the writing? This is a role playing game, the story takes priority over EVERYTHING else. Punch up your writing staff. Stop introducing things that don't make any sense and just sound pretentious (FF 13, I'm looking at you).


Personal pet peeve:
Add some damn earth magic!
Fire, water, and wind are represented in every game (sometimes twice), but there's maybe only one earth spell. Quake is nice, but then they add float...a spell whose only purpose is to nullify quake! It can't be THAT hard to animate some earth magic, or to make Titan a summon again.


Thanks for listening to me rant

@Erobotan
You are probably right. I should keep that in mind whenever I decide to make a games related thread again.

@Merqurial
I liked your very detailed opinion. Since I've already made my point of what I think about the series past and present I don't have
else to say.

I remember thinking back when I was playing FF VI that it would beat the crap out of modern FF titles if it were of the same
generation of consoles. FF VI is in my opinion the only one worth remaking (Even though I said in the top post that I wasn't asking
for remakes). I don't get why they did the DS version of FF IV, and not one of FF VI.

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I am now also using my Atlus Online name, AkashanoTenshi. If you prefer to call me that way it's fine.

I loved FF IV, but that's probably because it was the first one I played. Basically, any game pre-FF VIII is worth going back to. After that point, don't bother.

Final Fantasy I & II = didn't play
Final Fantasy III = 1st FF with change job I think
Final Fantasy IV = 1st FF ever played, nice story (It has been remade so many times, PS1, PSP, DS)
Final Fantasy IV After Years = Haven't tried it yet
Final Fantasy V = 2nd FF ever played, nice story
Final Fantasy VI = 3rd FF played, Nice story and game play, so many characters to choose
Final Fantasy VII = Best FF ever played, Very Nice story that made me cried during the famous scene, I also liked the sub quests
Final Fantasy Crisis Core = Very nice story and game play quite interesting, I'd recommend for fans of FFVII
Final Fantasy VIII = Nice quality graphics even though on PS1, Nice story
Final Fantasy IX = FF OK for me
Final Fantasy X = Very Nice story and reminds me a little of FFVII
Final Fantasy X-II = For fans of FFX with re-introdction of change job
Final Fantasy XI = didn't play
Final Fantasy XII = Political story, got tired of the game play
Final Fantasy XIII = It's like watching a BD movie also game play was too simplified

Well I was hoping they'd remake the FFVII into PS3 (or PSVita) because it was the one I liked the most because:
- Lots of customization with the materias
- Lots of choices, freedom
- I liked raising the Chocobo for the races
- Each character has their own story
- The story is very nice that made me replay over and over again

Why were FF so famous?
- Nice Story to follow (drama, comedy, suspense, ...)
- RPG Game play where you improve the characters (lvl, items, skills, ...)
- Fantasy world (different creatures, magic, ...)
- Summoning (Summon, Esper, Red Materia, GF, Eidolon, Aeon, ...)

I really like the old FF series before XI, it kind of remind me of Breath Of Fire (the last one, Dragon Quarter was a failure in my opinion).
The other game as interesting as FF series was Chrono Trigger because you had multiple endings.
Everyone who has played FFVII will still remember it because it was the 1st FF where the story differ from the classic ones.
If I had to rank them, I'd say:
1st: Final Fantasy VII and Crisis Core
2nd: Final Fantasy X
3rd: Final Fantasy IV & VI
4th: Final Fantasy VIII

I hope in the future they stop dumbing things down. I loved the complicated systems some of the FF games had, which allowed for great fine-tuning.

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I wonder how the newer generation feels about the newer Final Fantasies.

I suppose nothing can replace nostalgia and few can compete with first loves.