How do you know where to go next in Final Fantasy games?

[teqrevisited]

In FFI explore every cave and town and talk to everyone. It might seem a bit tedious but that was the done thing back then. Aside from that you'll definitely need the experience gained from all that wandering around to stand a chance of surviving. Places like Mt. Gulg and the Ice Cave will have you wishing you had more spell charges, because just when you think you're getting somewhere: dead end. Or the floor literally kills you.

The explore everything requirement gets toned down a lot after FFIII but for the most part it still applies. In VI you shouldn't really be stuck for places to go until probably after about halfway through the game, where there are multiple options for you to do in any order. There are 3 fairly well hidden characters though. As for VII, aside from one or two parts in the main story where you're required to search for locations, it's fairly straightforward.

And I can't remember whether Yuffie & Vincent are mentioned prior to meeting them. Vincent might come up during the Lost Number sidequest. The people in either Fort Condor or Junon might tell you about Yuffie. I honestly can't remember.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

They game will generally tell you where you're supposed to go next, if not overtly than subtly; you know, where an NPC will tell you not to go somewhere which translates into 'go there now.'
So yeah, if you're stuck just talk to every NPC around and eventually you'll get a hint about where you're supposed to go.

 

[Kikyoo]

With new FF games? Why you go right to the trash and deposit the game inside!
With the Old FF Games here is a small hint i picked up when I was very small.
If you want to beat a FF Game. Get a book that tells you where to go, and has a map.
That's generally how I have done it. Books websites that give you a play by play of where to go, that sorta jazz. The only FF game I never had to do that with was FF4. With the linear story line there was always 1 place to go, and the world kinda guided you along for it, there were a few times where you just had to find a needle in a haystack with only a vague notion of where it is.

 

[JWRosser]

I recently bought Final Fantasy III on the Android market and was having a slight similar problem. But if you talk to people, they generally say. Same as games like Pokemon. Someone will go "hey! Have you checked out the mountain to the north!" or "My husband went exploring in the dark forest by the sea but never returned!"

Failing that, wandering around is usually your best bet. It does get annoying what with random encounters, but hey, might as well level grind whilst you do it.

Failing THAT then search an online guide...

 

[Vivi22]

It does imply LESS linearity than a game without one, i.e FF XII.

It's lack of linearity is never anything more than an illusion though. Aside from a few side areas to explore here and there (and even those are few and far between in VI, VII, and pretty much every other FF) the world maps are still linear, still force you down the path the developers laid out, and offer no means to bypass it. Only in the late game do these titles open up, and even then, you'll have visited most of the locations available to you, and likely be finished at least 50% o the game.

I can only conclude that you've either never actually played FF VI past the floating continent, or you have a very odd definition of the word "linear."

Like I said in my last post, until you get airships in these games, they are extremely linear. Far more linear than FFXII was. VI is the lone exception which opens up and becomes extremely non-linear, but this is still after you get the airship, and the World of Ruin (more specifically everything after you get the second airship) only makes up maybe the final third of the game in terms of length. I'd definitely agree that VI ends as the most non0linear game in the series, but everything up until then is as on rails as the other entries.

XII is really the only one that breaks that mold since you can go pretty much anywhere if you're strong enough right from the beginning.

 

[dimensional]

Also (I'm restarting FF7 and am determined to not use google once) do the bonus characters (Yuffie, Vincent) show themselves to you or are they another thing you have to ask NPCs about? I remember that you find Yuffie in a random forest somewhere that I never wouldve thought to just run around aimlessly. Do the NPCs tell you where to find her/the rest of them?

Spoiler: this is how to find yuffie and vincent

You can get yuffie by wondering around the first forest you see as you come out of the cave after the midgar zolem on your right (keep the mountain to your right) and you have to wonder about it and beat her and then answer the correct way to recruit her (I recommend saving after every fight). Vincent is in the Shinra Mansion you have to get the key by opening the safe if I remember correctly and then say the right response and he will join you on your departure (again save before you speak to him).[

As others have said though you find out where to go by speaking to everyone and if that fails wonder around in VI and VII this is usually pretty safe until you get your airship later or you glitch the game and get into a battle you shouldnt (very unlikely). As for FFI there are clues on where to go but it can be pretty brutal if you mess up i.e if you wonder past an invisible line prepare to be jumped and killed by this pack of ridiculously strong monsters, thats how it tells you you were going the wrong way subtlety be damned. FFII was the same.

Oh and ofc they included retard mode for us lucky foreigners in VII whereby if you press select it highlights all the entrances in a screen just incase you might miss something generally its not very helpful though everything is pretty obvious 99% of the time.

I included how to get yuffie and vincent because its not that obvious at least not until much later in the game at least.

 

[targren]

Like I said in my last post, until you get airships in these games, they are extremely linear. Far more linear than FFXII was. VI is the lone exception which opens up and becomes extremely non-linear, but this is still after you get the airship, and the World of Ruin (more specifically everything after you get the second airship) only makes up maybe the final third of the game in terms of length. I'd definitely agree that VI ends as the most non0linear game in the series, but everything up until then is as on rails as the other entries.

Except it's not. There's a difference between "Limited Wandering" and "Linear" in that there are other things to do. If you have to stay on rails up to a certain point (getting the vehicles or what not), that doesn't make the game linear, just portions of it. Both FF VI and VII have plenty of secrets, side quests, and hidden bosses to do. That's not "linear."

 

[Cheesepower5]

Usually, the next place that's available. Wander around and you'll find it.

 

[AbstractStream]

Explore everything. Everything! Talk to everyone too. You'll find that NPCs drop hints and clues. For example "so and so place is northeast of here, but there's an obstacle in the way."

That's really the only way to go about it without looking at guides.

 

[gideonkain]

You pay attention to the last unskippable conversation you had. They'll say things like "Poor Edgar his little brother ran off to the mountains in the East to train to become a karate master"

 

[Cheesepower5]

It does imply LESS linearity than a game without one, i.e FF XII.

It's lack of linearity is never anything more than an illusion though. Aside from a few side areas to explore here and there (and even those are few and far between in VI, VII, and pretty much every other FF) the world maps are still linear, still force you down the path the developers laid out, and offer no means to bypass it. Only in the late game do these titles open up, and even then, you'll have visited most of the locations available to you, and likely be finished at least 50% o the game.

I can only conclude that you've either never actually played FF VI past the floating continent, or you have a very odd definition of the word "linear."

Like I said in my last post, until you get airships in these games, they are extremely linear. Far more linear than FFXII was. VI is the lone exception which opens up and becomes extremely non-linear, but this is still after you get the airship, and the World of Ruin (more specifically everything after you get the second airship) only makes up maybe the final third of the game in terms of length. I'd definitely agree that VI ends as the most non0linear game in the series, but everything up until then is as on rails as the other entries.

XII is really the only one that breaks that mold since you can go pretty much anywhere if you're strong enough right from the beginning.

Well, it restricts you from going to certain plot locations like Archades and Bhujerba at just about any time but you can feel free to go anywhere connecting to the Dalmasca Estersands, Westersands and Giza Plains except for that one place with the sandstorm that makes chocobos scared. It's not exactly free-roam, but it is nice to be able to get to level 99 with a bunch of crazy loot before going into the sewers again.

 

[Vivi22]

There's a difference between "Limited Wandering" and "Linear" in that there are other things to do.

Except that the majority of the games don't have other things to do until the very end.

If you have to stay on rails up to a certain point (getting the vehicles or what not), that doesn't make the game linear, just portions of it.

Which I already stated. Most of the FF titles are entirely linear for the vast majority of the game. This is in contrast to FFXII where the only thing preventing you from going places you shouldn't is enemy levels, not the design of the map, whereas in a game like FFVII, you can't get from Junon to Nibelheim without hitting a very specific set of areas. Moreover, along that path there is precisely one town you can visit which is optional. In fact, from the time you start the game until you get the airship there are two areas, maybe three, that I can think of off hand which don't pertain to the main story that you can visit, and with the exception of Wutai, which is clearly meant to be completed when you can first access it, there's nothing major or missable which happens in those places.

Both FF VI and VII have plenty of secrets, side quests, and hidden bosses to do. That's not "linear."

Again, most of those only become available at the very end. The first 2/3rds - 3/4's of those games at the bare minimum are almost completely linear, and make it impossible to reach areas they don't want you to until later in the game. That's the very definition of linear, and linearity makes up a larger larger portion of these games than FFXII, which is what I was arguing to begin with.

Instead you seem hung up on refuting an argument I never made and arguing that having some non-linearity in a specific section makes an entire game non-linear which is patently absurd.

Well, it restricts you from going to certain plot locations like Archades and Bhujerba at just about any time but you can feel free to go anywhere connecting to the Dalmasca Estersands, Westersands and Giza Plains except for that one place with the sandstorm that makes chocobos scared. It's not exactly free-roam, but it is nice to be able to get to level 99 with a bunch of crazy loot before going into the sewers again.

Yep, this is pretty much what I was getting at. Obviously major story areas need to be locked out to a certain extent to keep players from experiencing the story out of order, or breaking triggers and scripts within the game, but XII affords a pretty hefty amount of exploring in areas which aren't required to advance the story, and more importantly, aren't locked off until you get the airship later on.

That's what I mean when I say it's more non-linear than the other titles targren. You can explore a huge amount of the world that isn't part of the main story, while other titles like FFIV, VI, VII, etc. all lock you into the main story path for most of the game, then give you the means to explore at your leisure later on.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Use the internet: gamefaqs or, walkthroughs will get you through. If not for Zeldadungeon.net I wouldn't have been able to beat Zelda 2 for the first time. Other than that, talk to NPCs. Also I always found that every FF title in the main line, no matter how open ended, has some means of getting putting you on the course you need to go on. FF-13 and FF-10 give you hallways whereas FF7, FF8 and, FF9 allow you to check out bits of each country/continent/island but really only one or two major places you can go (before you get an airship I mean).

 

[LittleBlondeGoth]

Re Vincent and Yuffie in VII, Yuffie will be a random battle in a forested area - you don't have to run in circles for hours, I always found she showed herself pretty easily. You just have to give te right dialogue responses and she'll join you. Vincent (oh, Vincent) is more difficult to get, as you have to complete optional things to find him. But as someone else mentioned, it's the Lost Number puzzle.

And yes, just to reinforce what others have said, most of the time a Final Fantasy game will point you in the direction you're supposed to go, either by making areas inaccessable for the time being, or having characters give you information. There's always places you could get sidetracked for a while, but if you try going somewhere you shouldn't, the game tells you. Usually with a "doink" or something similar (some of you will know what I mean here...).

 

[Ranylyn]

I tried playing Final Fantasy I, VI and VII and I always have this problem that makes me give up where I have no idea where to go next. How does everyone know where they're supposed to go next. It's such a big, open world to explore and you can go anywhere you want, so what's the right way to go about finding out your next destination? It kills me because I really want to play these games and like them but I hate having to use a walkthrough; it takes out the fun.
So yeah, when you play these games, how're you supposed to find out where to go?

It's a little thing I like to call "read the goddamn text."

You know those people who complain about the owl in Zelda OOT trolling people for putting the text repeat option on TOP foiling their shameless button mashing and ignoring the whole story? Yeeeeeeah.

In fact, TALK TO NPCs! Not only do they often guide your way if you forget where to go next, they might have tips on things like hidden caves with treasure.


Only way to ever get lost in FF is to text mash.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

I've only played Final Fantasy IX but in there the location you're going to is highlighted in light blue text in the dialogue balloons. Failing that just talk to everyone and go everywhere you can. If you end up going in the wrong direction then atleast you got some XP and Blue magic opportunites for your trouble (or a party member if you search on the first disc)
Once you get ahold of the air-ship in the third disc, it gets even easier since if you get lost exploring all the land (or just forget after doing the boring-but-worth-it Chocobo Hot & Cold minigame for a few hours) you can just talk to the guy standing next to you on the deck to keep you on the right path.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Also (I'm restarting FF7 and am determined to not use google once) do the bonus characters (Yuffie, Vincent) show themselves to you or are they another thing you have to ask NPCs about? I remember that you find Yuffie in a random forest somewhere that I never wouldve thought to just run around aimlessly. Do the NPCs tell you where to find her/the rest of them?

Yuffie shows up in a random encounter, and you have a chance to recruit her after beating her. It's a spoiler to tell you how to get Vincent, but I will say there are clues in the game.


Edit: As for the rest of the topic, yeah, what everyone else said. Talk to everyone in the game, and explore a bit. The simplicity of it is actually one of the things I like about the old 8-bit RPGs. If a character in one town mentions another town and a direction, you know exactly what direction to walk in and what to look for along the way. Same thing if they mention a cave or a temple or what have you.

 

[FalloutJack]

In many cases? I don't. Now, FFX and FF13 are pretty linear, but...Final Fantasy 1 through 9 are GOOD FUCKING LUCK, STRANGER! Well, sometimes. Here's a breakdown of game reactions in what I've played...

FF1 - I'm lost! Oh, where the blarghity-hell do I go? Guess I'll grind for 10 hours until I figure it out.

FF2 - I'm lost! I have no idea where to- *Wanders into the high-level area and dies* ...fuck.

FF4 - Ah, some of this game doesn't make sense, and I hated giving up Cecil's dark technique! Let's get back in the whale again. Maybe I missed something on the moon...

FF5 - First part, fairly linear. Find the tower and watch Bartz and company fail to prevent the crystal from shattering. Then, get the airship and find it a biiit hard to figure out what to do for a while, and then OH HELL! We're on a whole 'nother planet now?! Goddamn it!

FF6 - Certain parts of this game are hard to navigate because you get alot of free world travel, and then the face of the planet changes and everything gets a bit more difficult.

FF7 - This game was fairly linear up until you leave Rocket Town, and then...it's a bit hard to tell sometimes.

FF8 - Why the hell did I even play this game? Even if I COULD navigate it perfectly, it sucks!

FF9 - I get SO lost here sometimes. This is a great game, but there is so much in the overworld that it's freakin' crazy sometimes!