The tragedy of Final Fantasy

[Rhombus]

Alot of people bicker about which Final Fantasy game is the best. Alot of people say that the new games have lost that old feeling, the plots aren't as addictive and the characters don't have the depth. Some people say there hasn't been a TRUE final fantasy since FF IV (2), some say FF VI (3), others say FFVII... Whatever people say, the GENERAL feeling (I emphasive GENERAL because obviously some people will disagree) is that after FF VII, the FF series has gone downhill.

Some people say it's the loss of the medieval setting, others say focus on graphics and sound and trying to make the game more "mainstream" has hurt the plot and atmospheric qualities of the FF worlds. I don't think so.

I think what is necessary to make a FF game great, and what was great in the old FF games was TRAGEDY. In my opinion (feel free to disagree) the greatest FF titles were FF VI, FF VII, and FF IV... If you really look at them, all 3 were very dark games. Major characters die, cities are destroyed, people are depressed and hopeless. The heart of FF games is character interaction between the characters themself and between characters and NPC's in a dark and gritty backdrop of despair and opression... the Empire and the Rule of Kefka in FF VI, the iron hold of the Shinra corporation and fear of Meteor in FF VII, the disappearance of the crystals, and corruption of the Dark Knights and Dragoons and fear of Baron in FF IV.

So I think if FF brings back the element of TRAGEDY and a dark world, of course in addition to good characters, great music and a NON-RETARDED battle system (that's a discussion for another day), the FF series will be great once again.

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[Sir Key]

you say it....

[Gamer1]

i think everyone is fed up with the happy ending thing.
in the movie sixth sense... the movie could have really sucked w/o the surprise ending that bruce willis is actually dead.

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[Rhombus]

I don't think the ending is as important as the rest of the game... For example, depending on how you view FF 7's end, it could be really happy... In theory Holy could have destroyed all the mako reactors and such, but healed the planet, while keeping humanity intact and restoring Red XIII's race... it's even possible that all the main characters survive the airship, because Red XIII obviously survived it.

I think the dark and tragic backdrop of the entire game itself, along with the occurance of personal sad events (death of characters/important NPC's, destruction of cities, etc) are the key.

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[Vidhath]

Bruce Willis is dead???? NOOOOO!!!!
off topic, but yes... i wish that a-hole zell died in ff8

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[Drack]

i wish that a-hole zell died in ff8

You wanted Zell to die?! I think that selphie and that sharp shooter guy (who I can't remember his name). Should have gone out.

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[Alias]

irvine... haha i hated ff8 in general... if balamb garden just crashed into the water at the end haha i would've been happy (don't kill me)

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[Rhombus]

FF8 is the only game in the series that I haven't replayed... it was worth one time through to see the story unfold and the cool looking enemies and FMV's and stuff. In general though I was not addicted when playing it though, just frustrated - about drawing/junctioning, the card game... I was just waiting for it to end.

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Tempus fugit et nos fugimus in illus.

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[Drack]

Wow, you've replay the Final Fantasy games. I get bored of games pretty fast so I can't imagine playing them again. I've only played two games over again, Metal Gear: Solid and FreeSpace 2 and thats streaching it.

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[ebola]

Originally posted by Alias
irvine... haha i hated ff8 in general... if balamb garden just crashed into the water at the end haha i would've been happy (don't kill me)

Your not the only one who thinks final fantasy 8 is crap. the depressed "i hate my life" main character was so lame.

im gonna duck for cover because stones will probably be flying in my direction soon enough.

[Gamer1]

no, i feel the same way to. squall was pretty lame. ff8 bored me to death

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[Drack]

Squall Had some very serious personality problems

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[Einheri]

I liked Squall. It's true that one can hardly call him a hero, but at least he had rather interesting personality.

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[Dr. Drizzay]

IMO FF8 was a great game because of the massive story, and very interesting characters.

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[Cless]

i didn't like ff8, decent story nothing special in my opinion.

[fivefeet8]

Personally, I really like FF8.. Great story about love, hate, tragedy, relationships, irony and the ending.. Quite possibly the best FF ending every made..

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[Dark Watcher]

We never played an FF game we did not like....Mystic Quest was stretching it...but the music was good..heh......

anyways well said Smooth Playa....we agree....and to shed some light from an Old Skooler..

Because it lacked the graphics of the newer FF's the writers had to emphasize on story and character development....

When Square could graphically portray what the older games could not...it seemed to lose something..... although FF7 is still phenominal....

Perhaps it can be compared to a book and movie...take ...you read the book and your imagination pieces together the story ..whereas in a movie it is played out and may seem different...more emphasis on special effects and less emphasis on actual story

Picture this.... a real good interpretation.... People who read the Lord of the Rings books may have liked the movie, but felt things were missing..... People who never read the book, but saw the movie were amazed by the special effects and may have liked the story......

The same could be said about FF games...old skoolers who enjoyed the earlier NES / SNES games may look at the newer games differently then those young buck PSX generations whos first taste of FF was FF7....and vice versa..the youngsters who enjoyed the graphics and special effects may not appreciate the older games...just as movie goers may never pick up the LOTR book..

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[Ninjaa]

Smooth Playa, I am rapidly starting to agree with you on a lot of things 100%. you should be sickened and disturbed by that news.

But anyway, Dark Watcher, you might be right, but I am something of an exception. The Lord of the Rings movie far surpassed the book, and I HAVE read the books. It's just that they didn't do nearly as much for me as the movie. But there's also the case of the Zelda games. I thought that Zelda: OoT was better than a Link to the Past, and I did play both. That game survived the transition to 3D quite well.

IMO, the last real Final Fantasy was Final Fantasy VI. Final Fantasy VII was a really good game, but it just didn't feel right. Final Fantasy VIII had a totally messed combat system, and barely anything even recognizable as being Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy IX had the combat system, but lacked a decent story and the proper feel.

Now, for FF8, since there seem to be a lot of people here who like it. I didn't especially like the game, for several reasons. The combat system just didn't work, for one. Drawing magic would take me a few hours to do properly, and once I did, I would be unbeatable. It made the game both easy and boring. The one saving grace of the game IMO was Squall. The character seriously interested me, and encouraged me to continue playing, no matter what horrid experience awaited me. The last problem though was the very soap-opery plotline. It just didn't do it for me. Not after seeing FF6 or CT anyway.

[OJ the LION]

hmm, I happened to think that FFX was tragic enough, what with Sin and some other plot points (don't want to spoil it)...I personally don't care for tragic games, makes me feel like I wasted my time playing because it was all for nothing.

An apropriate example would be the Robotech TV show(I'm assuming it's been out long enough for all interested parties to have seen it already). After all those episodes of fighting and near every main character getting killed, the earth barely stalls an inevitable invasion and gets sent back to the stone age. That makes me feel like it was all for nothing, and there was no point in the entire series. FFVII leaves it up to the player, which makes it better for me since I can imagine a slightly cheerier ending than probably happened, but is another thing I don't particularly care for (but that's a different story).

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[fivefeet8]

Originally posted by Ninja

Final Fantasy VIII had a totally messed combat system, and barely anything even recognizable as being Final Fantasy.

I thought the combat system was nice, but I agree it's not everyones piece of pie. But the combat system is the most customizable system for any FF game I've seen(haven't played FFX).. I think the whole purpose of it was to do something different..

Originally posted by Ninja

I didn't especially like the game, for several reasons. The combat system just didn't work, for one. Drawing magic would take me a few hours to do properly, and once I did, I would be unbeatable. It made the game both easy and boring. The one saving grace of the game IMO was Squall. The character seriously interested me, and encouraged me to continue playing, no matter what horrid experience awaited me. The last problem though was the very soap-opery plotline. It just didn't do it for me. Not after seeing FF6 or CT anyway.

There are other ways besides drawing, that will get you lots of magic.. It's all in the GF abilities and proper use of them.. The card game is more than it seems.. Cards can be changed into rare and powerful items which in turn can be changed into rare and power magic.. After the 1st disk, I barely had to draw.. Most of the items you get from battle and the cards you win will enable you to have all the magic you'll ever need..

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