Age has not been kind to you...

[Wolf Kanno]

Which FF games, spin-offs, or other FF related media, has not aged well for you since the first time you've played it?

[Midgar Mist]

I could say that's partially true of 9, but only partially.

8 doesn't count towards this argument because I think its always been cryptic.

I would argue 10 is a bit dated. I'm glad Ayen isn't on here when I say this but I think its true. I've recently got too overfocused on the writing and have found flaws and inconsistencies in the plot.

[Pheesh]

The graphics from 7 are truly terrible. Yes, you get used to them as you play and I started to enjoy the game in spite of them (before my vita decided I wasn't allowed to play any further), but a turd is still a turd no matter how much you try to convince yourself it's chocolate, and those graphics are truly a turd.

[Peter1986]

I feel that Final Fantasy 2 for the Famicom has aged much worse than FF1 and FF3 for the same console.
There is something about the dungeon design in that game that feels really bland and uninspiring;
the dungeons feel like huge, empty hallways, and the colour palette is sometimes slightly disgusting as well.
I also hate those goddamn empty rooms with the super-high encounter rates, they just take time and make the dungeons more confusing than necessary.

The overworld is awesome though, I will give it that much.
And yes, this game did introduce a lot of major FF elements, like Cid and the Chocobos etc.

[Fynn]

Well, one thing my wife's first playthrough od FFTA has taught me is that the controls are very unintuitive with menus being overly complex and several of their pages really hard to access without guidance.

Other than that, FFX was pretty enjoyable to me the first time through, now it's just a slog with a story I can no longer enjoy, which really can't be said about anything that came before or XII.

Also, the job system of III is really underwhelming after FFV etc., which is interesting because DQIII's job system, for example, is still really cool despite later games doing a more refined job system. It just has something about it that keeps it timeless, which can't be said for FFIII

[Midgar Mist]

Yep its what I hated about 3 but I hated it right off the bat, I didn't even need 5 to compare it to, 5 just came along and changed my mind about flexi-jobs systems. So did 10-2 but not everyone will agree with me there.

[maybee]

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/e/e2/FF7logo.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100805045741

[Pumpkin]

FFVII definitely.

[Karifean]

None of them, really. I can still play all FF games I own and have a really good time doing so. The only one I'd say hasn't aged too well is FFIV which I played for the first time not that long ago and already felt underwhelmed by compared to the other games in the series; but I've only played it once so I don't know how well it'd stack up today.

[Midgar Mist]

I know from this thread that there's those amongst you desperate for that FF7 remake. In 7's defence, it was the next step in Square's journey. They began with 3D elements in 6 and developed them in 7. I know everything looks a bit pointy but, you shouldn't let it get you down. The story and the gameplay are right on the money.

[Fynn]

That doesn't detract from the fact that it's aged really, really poorly. Its hideous graphics are really off-putting to new gamers, while the story presentation really isn't as groundbreaking as it was back then. I'd say people who say it's very outdated now are completely right.

[Midgar Mist]

I guess I understand that, I'm just a very old woman......I'm also cheap.

Wait....why did I sell out my own argument? Just cos people disagree with me?

Time to go out on a limb: Long live the original graphics of FF7! Don't change my pretty!

Seriously, I never see you guys complaining about anything earlier than 7. Would you criticise 6 this way?

And surely, there must be a Steam version of 7, there is for everything else that early.

[DMKA]

The PS1 entries, though they still hold up perfectly well as games. It's just visually they aren't easy to look at in the HD age.

[Galuf]

Ring of Fates. seems a bit too simple now than it did when i was like 10 or something. not a bad game but i think its my age that has made it worse

[theundeadhero]

Xenogears. It's graphics are horrible, the gameplay isn't fun, and when you already know the storyline there isn't much to keep you going.

[Fynn]

Guys, this is a general FF thread

[theundeadhero]

"Spinoffs"

Xenogears was supposed to be an FF game, but then it spun off into it's own title.

[Fynn]

It was supposed to be FFVII when it was proposed. But it was never developed as an FF.

[Galuf]

I guess I understand that, I'm just a very old woman......I'm also cheap.

Wait....why did I sell out my own argument? Just cos people disagree with me?

Time to go out on a limb: Long live the original graphics of FF7! Don't change my pretty!

Seriously, I never see you guys complaining about anything earlier than 7. Would you criticise 6 this way?

And surely, there must be a Steam version of 7, there is for everything else that early.


I'd say sprites age better than polygons. Like Star fox for example. It mustve looked great back then. but now it looks like a test game or something.
The earlier FF still look nice, hell FFV is one of the best looking FF so far imo.

[Fynn]

Exactly. No one here is saying VII is a bad game, just that it has aged poorly. Later SNES sprites have aged much better than early PS1 3D models. Hell, that's a general rule - 2D, sprite-based graphics age better than 3D models due to the fact that their presentation relies much more on art style than technological advancements.

No one's really complaining. It's just that, when you try to introduce a new person into the series, 7's graphics would probably be the most off-putting to them. I know that from experience.

[Galuf]

now if you want a game thats graphics will barely age, you have Wind waker. i cant ever see that looking old.

[Fynn]

Yup. That's because the graphics are heavily stylized. They weren't exactly cutting edge when they came out, but instead the creators went for a very vivid, expressive style. Style just ages much better than anything that's made to look "modern".

[DMKA]

now if you want a game thats graphics will barely age, you have Wind waker. i cant ever see that looking old.

Different strokes I guess. I find Wink Waker, and most N64 titles in general, terribly hard to look at today, primarily because of those flat, blurry, detailess textures so many of those games used.

I don't think it's quite as bad as FFVII but that's not saying much.

[Wolf Kanno]

Graphically, the first game of each gen will always be inferior to the ones that came later. Course when I say "age badly" I'm talking about the whole package, not just how it looks. ;)

[Fynn]

now if you want a game thats graphics will barely age, you have Wind waker. i cant ever see that looking old.

Different strokes I guess. I find Wink Waker, and most N64 titles in general, terribly hard to look at today, primarily because of those flat, blurry, detailess textures so many of those games used.

I don't think it's quite as bad as FFVII but that's not saying much.

But Wind Waker was on the GameCube. Are you sure you're talking about the game he means? Wind Waker has aged better graphically than even FFX, and I know that because I haven't played it for the first time until well into the Wii's lifespan and the style used there has really made that game beyond aging.

http://img.gamefaqs.net/screens/6/e/d/gfs_100284_2_102.jpg

[Pumpkin]

I agree, I think WW looks very good and I just played it for the first time last year

[theundeadhero]

It's a matter of opinion. I didn't like the way WW looked when it was new, and I still think it looks horrible.

[Ayen]

The closest I ever got to this was when I replayed FFVIII back in January 2014 and my eyes needed a minute to adjust to the graphics, but afterwards I was fine. I think it was because they went for a more realistic art style. The more realistic something is made to look the faster they age IMO. If it's more unrealistic it ages a little bit better for me.

Gameplay wise I'm the same as Karifean.

[Fox]

FFXII for me, which is why I'm so super happy about the remaster. VII... yeah it's dated, but it's not too hard to get used to. It made the most of the style it was going for with the limitations it had, and it has aged reasonably well because of that, at least for me.

XII on the other hand tried to push the limits of the hardware beyond its capabilities and looked good... but as soon as everyone upgraded to HDTV it just became a jaggy mess. I would say VII through X all aged better than XII, because when you come back to play one of those games 10 years later, it still pretty much feels like the same graphical quality it was back in the day. But XII felt like it had gotten a hefty downgrade.

[Forsaken Lover]

A child cannot appreciate all the myriad ways FFVIII is a bad game. Coming back to it with a more mature and discerning eye makes everything fall apart like so many Legos before the hands of a pissed off toddler.

[Ayen]

XII on the other hand tried to push the limits of the hardware beyond its capabilities and looked good... but as soon as everyone upgraded to HDTV it just became a jaggy mess. I would say VII through X all aged better than XII, because when you come back to play one of those games 10 years later, it still pretty much feels like the same graphical quality it was back in the day. But XII felt like it had gotten a hefty downgrade.

Interesting parallels to IX with pushing the hardware to its limitations. Both games were the last mainline game in their respective console generations, too.

[Fynn]

A child cannot appreciate all the myriad ways FFX is a bad game. Coming back to it with a more mature and discerning eye makes everything fall apart like so many Legos before the hands of a pissed off toddler.

Fixed that for you