Support NeoGAF

[Oberstein]

Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec... We were all riveted by that introduction. FFVIII may have been controversial, but it also brought a lot of new fans to the saga. It integrated FMVs into pre-rendered backgrounds and made a bunch of pixels the “best looking guy”.

Whatever, you say? That's what the new generation, less stimulated by this license, might say. We don't yet know FFXVI's sales figures, but we're already a long way from the ten million mark. For a budget higher than Red Dead Redemption 2, that's saying a lot.

Perhaps the series needs to get back to its roots, and perhaps it needs to abandon its numbering (Yoshida sketched out the idea in an interview).

Final Fantasy, old-fashioned or still relevant?

 

[IAmRei]

Yes, they are still on me
but FFVIII only good in music and landscape designs for me.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Yes, mostly because SE has made some great games since then. None them are called Final Fantasy though.

 

[Ozzie666]

One of the best ending credits of all time. Still play the new releases and pixel remastered. Online for a long time too.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I still remember I got food poisoning that day and ended vomiting. Then in the afternoon my parents came home with a box of FFVIII on PC.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

I have the fondest memories of FFVII. I hadn't played a game before it that has that kind of lasting impact on me. It was the first time I was truly captivated by a games story telling.

I still take interest in newer titles but they've never been as good in my opinion.

 

[Sooner]

I've been a fan since it started. I still love Final Fantasy, but do wish it would get back to traditional JRPG gameplay. Or, at least, some hybrid style like FFVII Rebirth.

FFVIII is the worst game in the main series though. Absolute stupid battle/draw system and level scaling that makes each battle you fight detrimental.

Not to mention the story which takes amnesia and absurd coincidence to a ridiculous level.

 

[Brigandier]

I busted my ankle in school real bad when FFVIII came out so I had 3 weeks off school and then the holidays so all I did was play FFVIII I loved it personally the music, world and art style especially but as I have gotten older I realise that the story is dumb as hell but I still really like the game.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Yeah it does. But it keeps disappointing me. Even the better regarded ones post XII isn't nearly as engaging as the PSX trilogy.

I love FFVIII by the way. But also VII and IX. Did I like it immediately? no. But I got a guide, understood the junctions and how to break the game. I like being able to power up way too early if wanted. You aren't being gated, and its not like a first time player will find out.

FFVIII came out in a very special era. I was just 18. Like many other young adults looking forward to Episode 1 and the Dreamcast. FFVIII too. FFVII was the best game on PSX I found. The world building was fantastic, the graphics were awesome for PSX standards. Is it perfect? no. The story takes a weird turn, the system limits you from casting magic (in the end attacking and fishing for limit breaks is the best and fastest solution, as it was in FFVII by the way). But I kind of liked Ultimecia, though she's featured too little. She wanted to defeat time itself, not growing older and perish. I liked those final words, about time will catch up to you no matter how hard you try. I still don't know what And... meant. Maybe a loop?

I think FFVIII has the best CGI intro of all FF games, and the best OST Uematsu has done. So there is that.

 

[Eliciel]

FF VIII is the best entry to the series for my personal taste and yes I know all its flaws, still, it is to me.

As a complete Franchise, FF is one of the best ever created. To me, if it would Turn Back to round-based fighting systems it'd be much preferred.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

I spent my first paycheck to buy a Final Fantasy game. It was FFX12.

I never finished it. I loved the franchise back when I was a student, and yet once i became a working adult the franchise died on me. Having the game effectively being an offline MMO was extremely offensive. Final Fantasy forgot what it was meant to be.

 

[Revolutionary]

I have always and probably always will love Final Fantasy, but Square Enix makes it hard sometimes.

 

[Schmendrick]

aside from some childhood nostalgia the FF IP has pretty much become irrelevant for me. Everything they put out in the last ..almost 20 years... under that IP was generic slog imho.

 

[Ellery]

Yes it does. It is my favorite Final Fantasy game and has been my favorite game of all time for a very long time.

Although I do have to add I see the entire PlayStation1 generation of Final Fantasy games (FF7,8,9) as absolutely magical and I also think Final Fantasy X is nearly on that level as well.

All those games take you on a magical journey, but VIII was my personal one which I have the biggest emotional connection to and I always loved Squall.

 

[Quasicat]

I played them all the way until XIII. XII was ok, but XIII was just a pain and took forever to really get going.VIII is good, but I really loved VI, VII, and IX.

 

[LimanimaPT]

Not since they killed the turn based combat.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Sony had the publishing rights in the UK and decided to release it the same day that Dreamcast launched.

My local GAME store had huge posters in the windows for it.

Scummy bastards

 

[Aion002]

Yes.

 

[Calverz]

Yes. I was the first in my group of friends to find ultima weapon and draw Eden gf. Should have seen their faces when I showed them the drawn out animation and then 5 figures of damage lol

 

[Seetzer]

I love this game and it will always be in a very special place in my memories as a gamer

 

[Hookshot]

This is the game that made me give up on them. I briefly played a bit of 10 and a lot more of 13 at a mate's, who stuck with them but for me FF8 was such a boring turd of a game I've never properly gone back.

 

[Lambogenie]

Adore this game. Franchise is good. Everything has ups and downs so I'm mot that bothered.

I do wish XV turned out better though. I still wish they go back, implement dlc to the game proper and add new stuff. It still has so much potential in my eyes. XVI just wasn't for me even though I completed it.

 

[GrayChild]

1999 was 26 years ago?!

Fuck...

 

[DonF]

of course! Rinoa to me is up there with Tifa.
I was so in awe playing FF VIII it was just, way too much. The graphics, the story, the cinematics, the length of the game, simply epic.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

This was my first Final Fantasy and since I've never owned a console before 2005, it was in 2004 on PC (!). And I've fallen in love for the franchise after that. Still think that VII-VIII-IX is a golden trio and the higherst pont of the series.

 

[GHG]

Best final fantasy of the PS1 era and more deserving of a remake than 7 or 9 (if the rumours are to be believed).

Fight me.

 

[Fbh]

Despite it being the weakest of the PS1 ones IMO, it still holds a special place for me because it's the first one I played.
Still remember walking into the store and being amazed by the intro cinematic they had playing on the TV.

As for the FF franchise. Yeah, after so long it just has a special place for me.
It's annoying because it's the only franchise where I still get hyped about it no matter how many times I get burned. Was super hyped for XIII then played it and was disappointed, then I still got hyped for XV only for it to be even worse, then I thought XVI would really be the turning point and I was once again disappointed. By now I should be done with it but I'll probably somehow get hyped (and then burned) by FFXVII.

At least Rebirth was good.

 

[ssringo]

I went into basic training (US Army) just before it's release. Towards the end we had a day where family could visit for a few hours and I convinced my parents to buy the game and give me the manual for reading. It was a nice taste of regular life.

Anyway I didn't really like the game. On the flip side Resident Evil 3 came out just as I got to go home and I loved that game. A game from each of the developers that made my childhood. Looking back these two releases are where my favorite game developers diverged. Capcom continued being excellent and remain my all time favorite while Square slowly descended to where I barely care about them anymore.

 

[Lunarorbit]

No. I enjoy going back to the older FFs that just came out in the bundle last year but it's nothing like the entertainment I get out of the castlevania collections.

I suck at castlevania. I've never beaten any of the nes versions and they can be super frustrating but I'd rather go back to those than FF.

I have to.be in the right mood for turn based. Bounced hard off eiyudan chronicles cause it was mind numbingly easy and the story was boring. That's another main reason I don't get excited:

Everything is a world altering event. It's totally played out now

 

[ReBurn]

The only ones I played were VII, X and X-II. I don't really have a soft spot for the franchise, but I do have a soft spot for VII.

 

[adamsapple]

Great game, the one that was my introduction to the franchise-proper.

Divisive Draw system aside, what an amazing time.

Another thing that gives it a huge nod is that the game has some really good off-the-beaten-path side content. Ultima, Pupu, the Obel Lake quests etc.

-

Also, I've become more of a "Squall is Dead' believer over time, lol.

 

[TGO]

Admittedly VII was my first being from the UK but VII is probably my favourite right up there with VII.
I knew just the opening alone this was going to be special just like VII
And after the battle with Omega Weapon were he wiped my party out only for the floor to blaze up into a shape of a bird and me jumping out my seat as if my favourite team just won the game.
And Phoenix resurrected my whole party to continue the fight with Limit Break ready to go..
I knew I'd be buying every Final Fantasy going forward.

 

[CliffBronger]

My second favorite FF game after 7

Picked it up on day of release on the PC

 

[Rush2112]

I have hated final fantasy ever since i saw the spirits within in theaters.

 

[The Shepard]

8 was the most hyped I'd being for a game ever and I loved it. 6, 7 8, 9 and 10 the golden era of final fantasy. I don't actually dislike any of 1-16 tbf and I'm currently replaying the series.

 

[kunonabi]

Franchise is dead to me although to be fair I'm pretty picky about the series to begin with. I love IV, VI, and the X series, especially X-2, some of the spin-offs dearly but I'm not a huge fan of the rest of them with the post X-2 stuff being particularly abysmal.

If they go back to making actual rpgs, with full party control, maybe I'll give them another shot but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Coherenthy]

The very first JRPG I played. Still one of my favorite FFs.

 

[Days like these...]

I busted my ankle in school real bad when FFVIII came out so I had 3 weeks off school and then the holidays so all I did was play FFVIII I loved it personally the music, world and art style especially but as I have gotten older I realise that the story is dumb as hell but I still really like the game.

3 weeks? Wheelchair? Crutches?

 

[Zacfoldor]

Man I LOVED FFVIII

The college/campus atmosphere
The draw system which you could exploit immediately
The weapon upgrade system which is so unexplained most people don't even start working on it till the end
The Zell and Quistis limit breaks
The space scene
The prison scene
The summons!

The game just had everything I love about the series. It's a 10/10 for me, all time classic, and one of the 3 FF games I've completed multiple times. Yes I still love FF.

 

[Edellus]

Yep. It's been my favorite gaming franchise for a long time. I don't foresee that changing any time soon. Even though they all have flaws, I've thoroughly enjoyed every single Final Fantasy I've played.

Funny enough, FFVIII is the only 3D mainline FF I haven't played. Still, I've watched some FMVs and heard it's OST and I appreciate it all the same.

 

[adamsapple]

Are there any FF8 background AI upscaling mods like Moguri for IX?

The remaster re-release blurred them out a lot to make it less jagged, which was the wrong way of going about it IMO.

 

[poodaddy]

VIII was ruined by the awful enemy level scaling, which I always hate in everything across the board without exception. It's particularly egregious in VIII if you don't junction correctly, as you could end up in a situation where the enemies have benefitted much more from level grinding than the player. I didn't know what I was doing as a kid when I played this, and I grinded to level 100 thinking, (now I'll steamroll everything), when I didn't junction properly at all and I essentially made the game impossible to finish without devouring certain enemies for specific stat boosts all day. Love the characters, the world, and the music, so I wouldn't be mad at a remake for this one; it's in more news of one than VII and IX ever were in my opinion, particularly IX which is still an absolute stand out title.

 

[Impotaku]

Nope FF is dead to me, after the abomination of 13 the entire series can die in a house fire totally soured me on all of them after that.

Thank fuck dragon quest is still enjoyable.

 

[Begleiter]

VIII is a great example of how experimenting with your systems won't always go to plan, and I think S-E have missed a trick by not having a Triple Triad game on mobile. I played browser versions against people back in the day and had a great time.

Final Fantasy as a franchise I still have fondness for, but they really need to abandon their doomed efforts to turn the series into action games. Revert back to turn based combat and they could find their footing again.

 

[SkylineRKR]

VIII was ruined by the awful enemy level scaling, which I always hate in everything across the board without exception. It's particularly egregious in VIII if you don't junction correctly, as you could end up in a situation where the enemies have benefitted much more from level grinding than the player. I didn't know what I was doing as a kid when I played this, and I grinded to level 100 thinking, (now I'll steamroll everything), when I didn't junction properly at all and I essentially made the game impossible to finish without devouring certain enemies for specific stat boosts all day. Love the characters, the world, and the music, so I wouldn't be mad at a remake for this one; it's in more news of one than VII and IX ever were in my opinion, particularly IX which is still an absolute stand out title.

Its about the only FF where you need foresight. Playing it casually, collecting magic, leveling up, will get you nowhere. You will ask yourself, why is my damage so low and why do they one shot me?

But once you abuse this system, and you really don't need to draw much as you can refine items for 99x high tier magics etc, you can become a god. In remaster I decided to do it. I had 4k health and Lionheart just after finishing the Tomb next to Deling City. It was fun. And I beat Omega legit actually for the first time ever, he's completely fair and does nothing random. Ultimate Weapon had so much agility in my run that he actually Game Over'd me twice but Omega didn't lol. You can toy with bosses, not killing them outright (you'll want to draw a GF here and there too).

And get this, I forgot Carbuncle and I even fucking forgot to take Diablos from cid. No platinum

 

[Moochi]

The numbering system for titles is like a mark of quality. Here is the best we have to offer, our flagship product. Sadly, the best they have to offer has been lackluster at best since FF13.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Second best FF game. If you didn't get the Draw system you're low IQ.

 

[GymWolf]

Those were the times when i was still excited for a FF game and square wasn't a shadow of itself.

I was beyond excited for ff8 because it was the first ff game with italian subs, no more traducing from english with the vocabulary on the side like i did for ff7.

Too bad the game wasn't nearly as good as 7 other than graphic.

At least they corrected the aim with 9 and then completely lost the scope with the rifle still attached with the others, even 10 was just ok other than blitzball and the graphic\audio.

 

[WhiteWaterM00se]

Old final fantasy was best final fantasy. Final fantasy has lost its way after the ps2 generation.

In fairness, I have not tried FFVIIR (yet)