Okay, this is my first thread in a gaming site and I have to say I love Escapist Magazine. They have such different, interesting opinions about gaming which is very enjoyable to read. So, this, I thought is the place to write about the situation that I'm in right now cuz I think this forum has actual sensible gamers and not egoistic keyboard warriors. It's about the Final Fantasy series. Apologies if this is a long read but please go through it and comment
Well I've always thought of Final Fantasy as the definition of a great RPG, before playing them of course. Back in 2004 I saw a trailer of a Final Fantasy game on the internet and marveled at the grand CGI cut-scenes of airships and beautiful cities and green meadows with lots of flowers. It blew my mind, I thought that this has to be the best game in the history of games. But they've been always kind of a "fantasy" to me. I could never get to play 'em cuz all I owned back then was a Pentium IV with 256 MB ram to play Delta Force 2 and Project IGI . Heck I didn't even know there was something called a JRPG. I'm glad I've developed quite a bit as a gamer since then and even now I look back at the day when I played Neverwinter Nights for the first time. It was the red pill of my gaming world...
So, here's where the story starts. Two years back I bought a PS3 and Final Fantasy XIII-2 was the first of the lot that i layed my hands upon. I remember talking to myself "look how far you've come, you've got one of 'em in you're hands now", as I was opening the case and taking a look at the manual. Slid the disk in. Started the game. And lo and behold, the fantasy came crashing down as my heart shattered to a million pieces. To be honest, apart form the visual design, I was mind mindbogglingly dissapointed with the game. Not because it sucked or anything. It was a fairly mediocre game. But I always thought that the story would be something much more grand than what I found. I was so depressed that i didn't even bother playing the first FF XIII. And a year later i sold off my ps3.
I always thought I didn't do justice to the series by judging with playing just one game. I kept thinking there had to be more to the series that this. So i researched a few forums and found IV, VII and X to be highly regarded by the fans of the series. Now that I own a good enough PC, I decided to give Final Fantasy X a go in an emulator. I've been playing it for a while now and i really like the combat system. Although JRPG's are fairly linear in their design but it's quite fine by me. In a way it helps the flow of the game too, if I might add. Now what i'm about to say may piss some off, but its just my opinion so don't come guns blazin' ok. So again, where it loses it is where I thought of the Final Fantasy series to be the greatest i.e., the story. Man it's so weird and crazy where do I even start. The cut-scenes are facepalmingly painful to watch. The voice acting and animations are like mad people talking. Even MGS4's hour long cut-scenes were better than this. Its a Japanese game but its not like Japanese people are weird and crazy. So why those cut-scenes? I mean Waka's as stupid as they come, Lulu's dead inside, Auron's uninteresting and Rikku just sits every where when she talks. People sit like that when they are about to take a dump man. It's so weird. And Yuna, wow... she's hell bent on marrying that weird haired Seymour and why I don't know. The first time Tidus saves her but then again, after being kidnapped, she shows up in a wedding gown just to send Seymour (who is supposed to be dead) with a ritual. Tidus and the lot come to save her, defeat all the soldiers, and get surrounded, lol. Then she marries Seymour and jumps from a building to save Tidus. Well, she could have jumped before marrying Seymour in the first place! Then Rikku throws a flasbang and they all escape. Well, she could've thrown it before Yuna got married! That's when i decided to take a break. I didn't rage quit, I got wiereded out. Those cutscenes, dialogues, the plot, all of them got built up to that momment.
Now I am so confused. This was definitely not a good story to me. I've played a bad Final Fantasy game and a good Final Fantasy game. FF X has excellent game-play but if it is to be considered a game with a good story and characters, which I always thought it was, then I was wrong all these years. So wrong. Final Fantasy is not grand to me anymore, its not the Final Fantasy that I conjured up in my mind all those years ago. I might've offended or hurt someone reading this but I myself am hurt as much. My dream game, my "fantasy" is broken now and i have woken up to the reality where Final Fantasy is just another game.
I want to love the series so much. The CGI cut-scene that i saw as a teen is one of those monumental moments in my life which made gaming such an important part of my life. I will surely finish the game. But I've not enjoyed anything except the combat so far. Some might argue that Yuna married Seymour cuz the plot is written like that and that the story gets better as the game goes on. But I have not enjoyed the story or the cut-scenes so far. Playing for twenty hours just waiting for the combat and frowning on tons of cut-scenes is not a good gaming experience to me (You too MGS4).
To me Max Payne was good story. The Witcher, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, all were believable and amazing gaming worlds. The story and characters played a big part in making 'em that. So, can anyone explain in what way the final fantasy series is perceived by the the fans. I still find the whole Final Fantasy experience hard to digest and understand, let alone enjoy. And if you do agree with my new-found fact that they have been over-hyped all these years, then would you share your experience with something like this that has happened to you? I am open to discussions but please don't abuse me with comments just because I might sound absurd cuz I don't like a legendary game. Good day
Well I've always thought of Final Fantasy as the definition of a great RPG, before playing them of course. Back in 2004 I saw a trailer of a Final Fantasy game on the internet and marveled at the grand CGI cut-scenes of airships and beautiful cities and green meadows with lots of flowers. It blew my mind, I thought that this has to be the best game in the history of games. But they've been always kind of a "fantasy" to me. I could never get to play 'em cuz all I owned back then was a Pentium IV with 256 MB ram to play Delta Force 2 and Project IGI . Heck I didn't even know there was something called a JRPG. I'm glad I've developed quite a bit as a gamer since then and even now I look back at the day when I played Neverwinter Nights for the first time. It was the red pill of my gaming world...
So, here's where the story starts. Two years back I bought a PS3 and Final Fantasy XIII-2 was the first of the lot that i layed my hands upon. I remember talking to myself "look how far you've come, you've got one of 'em in you're hands now", as I was opening the case and taking a look at the manual. Slid the disk in. Started the game. And lo and behold, the fantasy came crashing down as my heart shattered to a million pieces. To be honest, apart form the visual design, I was mind mindbogglingly dissapointed with the game. Not because it sucked or anything. It was a fairly mediocre game. But I always thought that the story would be something much more grand than what I found. I was so depressed that i didn't even bother playing the first FF XIII. And a year later i sold off my ps3.
I always thought I didn't do justice to the series by judging with playing just one game. I kept thinking there had to be more to the series that this. So i researched a few forums and found IV, VII and X to be highly regarded by the fans of the series. Now that I own a good enough PC, I decided to give Final Fantasy X a go in an emulator. I've been playing it for a while now and i really like the combat system. Although JRPG's are fairly linear in their design but it's quite fine by me. In a way it helps the flow of the game too, if I might add. Now what i'm about to say may piss some off, but its just my opinion so don't come guns blazin' ok. So again, where it loses it is where I thought of the Final Fantasy series to be the greatest i.e., the story. Man it's so weird and crazy where do I even start. The cut-scenes are facepalmingly painful to watch. The voice acting and animations are like mad people talking. Even MGS4's hour long cut-scenes were better than this. Its a Japanese game but its not like Japanese people are weird and crazy. So why those cut-scenes? I mean Waka's as stupid as they come, Lulu's dead inside, Auron's uninteresting and Rikku just sits every where when she talks. People sit like that when they are about to take a dump man. It's so weird. And Yuna, wow... she's hell bent on marrying that weird haired Seymour and why I don't know. The first time Tidus saves her but then again, after being kidnapped, she shows up in a wedding gown just to send Seymour (who is supposed to be dead) with a ritual. Tidus and the lot come to save her, defeat all the soldiers, and get surrounded, lol. Then she marries Seymour and jumps from a building to save Tidus. Well, she could have jumped before marrying Seymour in the first place! Then Rikku throws a flasbang and they all escape. Well, she could've thrown it before Yuna got married! That's when i decided to take a break. I didn't rage quit, I got wiereded out. Those cutscenes, dialogues, the plot, all of them got built up to that momment.
Now I am so confused. This was definitely not a good story to me. I've played a bad Final Fantasy game and a good Final Fantasy game. FF X has excellent game-play but if it is to be considered a game with a good story and characters, which I always thought it was, then I was wrong all these years. So wrong. Final Fantasy is not grand to me anymore, its not the Final Fantasy that I conjured up in my mind all those years ago. I might've offended or hurt someone reading this but I myself am hurt as much. My dream game, my "fantasy" is broken now and i have woken up to the reality where Final Fantasy is just another game.
I want to love the series so much. The CGI cut-scene that i saw as a teen is one of those monumental moments in my life which made gaming such an important part of my life. I will surely finish the game. But I've not enjoyed anything except the combat so far. Some might argue that Yuna married Seymour cuz the plot is written like that and that the story gets better as the game goes on. But I have not enjoyed the story or the cut-scenes so far. Playing for twenty hours just waiting for the combat and frowning on tons of cut-scenes is not a good gaming experience to me (You too MGS4).
To me Max Payne was good story. The Witcher, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, all were believable and amazing gaming worlds. The story and characters played a big part in making 'em that. So, can anyone explain in what way the final fantasy series is perceived by the the fans. I still find the whole Final Fantasy experience hard to digest and understand, let alone enjoy. And if you do agree with my new-found fact that they have been over-hyped all these years, then would you share your experience with something like this that has happened to you? I am open to discussions but please don't abuse me with comments just because I might sound absurd cuz I don't like a legendary game. Good day