How Have You Changed As A Final Fantasy Fan?

[Forsaken Lover]

Question 1: How long have you been playing FF?

Question 2: Have you noticed any gradual or sudden shifts in your opinions on the series?


As for me...

1. I first played FF back in the late 90s but I was a dumb kid, used to things like Mario and maybe some fighting games. The mechanics of FF were far beyond me. I started to seriously play around 2002/3 which is when I beat all the Playstation/Playstation 2 FFs of the time.

2. I was absolutely obsessed with FFVII, to the point I recall reading my firstever fanfiction about it because I wanted to see the story continued. I also visited Sephiroth fansites. Then I played IX and declared it by far the best FF game ever. I also grew very resentful of VII because, back in the day, nobody gave a crap about IX and only loved VII. Why was this far superior game being ignored?
With the passing of time though, my feelings for IX have really dulled. I still, abstractly, appreciate some of it but overall it has lost its one magical hold on me. I'm back to really liking VII, though. I guess I've also come to be very critical about VIII. My opinions on X are more or less the same as they always were.

[Rez09]

1) I've been playing FF since the early 90s, and started with the original on the NES.

2) If there is a trend I've noticed in my opinions towards the series, it's been a general gradual leveling of my opinion towards the various entries, particularly in regards to negativity towards certain titles. FF2 and 12, in particular, I absolutely detested for the longest time, but I've grown quite fond of the latter, and find myself ultimately indifferent to the former at this point. FF8 is another one I was on the fence about for quite some time, but the game's become a lot like FF5 for me, where I like it more for the combat related aspects than anything else.

[Galuf]

i first played FF Jan 2014

i think its awesome, and every new FF i play makes me think differently about the rest.
ofcourse i loved it more back then, but its still great Rn

[Wolf Kanno]

1. I think I started playing FF around 95 I think? I know Chrono Trigger had just come out when my friend finally got me to play the series. After going through FFIV and VI, I was pretty devoted to the franchise.

2. I feel I've mellowed out for the most part concerning fandom nonsense. I'm less likely to waste my time defending opinion like I use to. I think the only game that still gets a knee jerk reaction from me is FFXIII and even then I don't feel like the game has enough merits worth discussing in the first place. I've certainly become more apathetic to the franchise and Square-Enix as a whole which is probably why I've mellowed out. I also look at the franchise in a more designer focused way than before. I'm more interested in the games based on their components and how they work together than the actual overall package, but that's kind of my interest in gaming as a whole nowadays.

[Saber]

Question 1: How long have you been playing FF?

Since FFVII came to USA.

Question 2: Have you noticed any gradual or sudden shifts in your opinions on the series?

Yes. I get more disappointed with everything ENIX came out with. Final Fantasy X was the start of my let down. Before you had a world map, a airship and overall open areas where you could explore. Not to mention you had characters who weren't cry babies.

So the start all I did was play VII-IX and masted them. After that I played I-VI and loved them even more. I was hooked. After they merged I noticed some of the things I loved most about the series was gone. I remember mastering X waiting for XI and XII but sadly they too didn't have that old feel to them. XIII came out and I knew it wasn't gonna have those old things I loved so I played and just did my best.

So I love I-IX with a lot of heart but something is missing with the ENIX titles.

[Bubba]

I have been playing Final Fantasy since Christmas 1997 when my Mum bought me FFVII. I fell in love with that game and I don't think my opinion on that has changed at all in nearly 20 years.

FFX is probably the one that my opinion has changed most on. I couldn't stand most of the characters when I first played it (though I always loved Blitzball). When I replayed it on my Vita recently I thought I would hate them all over again. I actually quite liked Tidus and Wakka who I always thought I despised!

[Pumpkin]

I have been playing Final Fantasy most of my life. I haven't noticed any serious shifts in my opinions, they've mostly stayed the same. I like FFVII now once I got past disc 1. I don't like disc 1. I like FFXII and XIII more than I used to. I like Tactics less. I like Steiner and Kimahri now and I didn't use to.

[Mirage]

I've developed an allergy to awful writing, enormous plot holes and shallow game mechanics. An allergy that wasn't there when i was a teen.

[Rez09]

That seems like a terrible allergy for this hobby. :'(

[Mirage]

It is. I've been unable to find a remedy so far.

[Fynn]

I've been playing FF since I was 12. It was kind of this forbidden fruit, as living in the world's video game ghetto meant I needed to resort to emulation. IV, V and VI were the easiest to emulate, which is why they're the ones I started with. And for the longest time, FFs were the only RPGs I would play as Id see other series as rip-offs.

But later I got a PS2 and branched out considerably. I am now much more focused on series that are more niche such as DQ (its niche in the West, there's no denying that) and MegaTen and FF is just kinda there. I still love it and I have amassed a vast array of knowledge about it, since I've played all the numbered entries and some spinoffs, but I'm not nearly the FF junkie I was before. I'm literally much more passionate about DQ and SMT now than FF, though there still are certain entries that are very dear to my heart.

[Darth Cid]

I recently replayed FFX keeping the initial distain I had for Tidus and Spoony's review out of my mind. Gameplay wise, it's a great game but I just don't care the main character and it feels like the game is trying to turn it into his story when it's clearly Yuna's story, I know even trying to keep Spoony's talking points that I'm still repeating some of his talking points, but this is how I felt about the game in relationship before ever watching the review.

I played technically since FFIV was released in America as FFII, but really FFIX got me in the series and I played the series kinda backwards so I guess that's why FFXII and FFXIII rubbed me the wrong way, I don't know.

There's a gaming channel on YouTube called Brain Scratch Commentaries, I frequently watch their playthroughs, and they did a playthrough of FFIX. I really enjoyed watching it because I feel like for a PS1 era game, it's aged nicely.

I haven't played more recent titles, but after watching some streams, I feel like Square Enix is rediscovering its fan base with more it's releasing now, but after trying The Bouncer recently, I just don't want them to make a Bouncer 2, don't tell me if they actually made one...

[Ffamran mied Bunansa]

My first foray into FF was with the very first game when my older brother and I bought a NES at a garage sale. I was four or five at the time and my brother would only let me play it with his supervision.

Over the years I've loved each new entry that came out, then FF8 happened. I hated that game. Absolutely hated it. Almost gave up on the series, and likely would have if not for FF9 which I adore. Since then I have come around on FF8 and actually enjoy it quite a bit now. I also refused to play FF13 because of all the bad word of mouth for a long time, and eventually played it on Steam and enjoyed it well enough, though it is likely my least favorite game in the series.

[Midgar Mist]

I was absolutely obsessed with FFVII, to the point I recall reading my firstever fanfiction about it because I wanted to see the story continued. I also visited Sephiroth fansites. Then I played IX and declared it by far the best FF game ever. I also grew very resentful of VII because, back in the day, nobody gave a crap about IX and only loved VII. Why was this far superior game being ignored?
With the passing of time though, my feelings for IX have really dulled. I still, abstractly, appreciate some of it but overall it has lost its one magical hold on me. I'm back to really liking VII, though
My view is similar to this.

I've been playing FF for 17 years, since I first picked up FF7 (simply because it had Fantasy in the title) and became obesessed with it for a time. Then I played 9 and found it easier and much more addictive.I wondered why everyone thought 7 was greater. Then I replayed 7, made interesting discoveries in its Sidequests and magic and its one I could play over and over. Wheras I'm more bored of 9 now and the Chocobo sidequest is way less enjoyable than the Chocobo sidequest of 7.

[BustaMo]

Question 1: How long have you been playing FF?

Question 2: Have you noticed any gradual or sudden shifts in your opinions on the series?
1. Started my first Final Fantasy game (IX) in May of 2002, so 14 years.

2. At first I played the games religiously. 10 first, then completed 9 (gave it a break when I bought FFX), then in this order: 7, 8, 10-2, 5, 6, 12, 13. I've started FFI and FFIII a few times but always got busy and never went back to them. I seem to really get pumped up when the new games get closer to release dates. Otherwise daily busyness gets in the way and FF games fall to the wayside.