It Was The Best Of Times, It Was The Worst Of Times...

[Elpizo]

I played FF games in these order: FFTA, IV, I, II, VI, V, IX, VII, VIII, FFT, FF XII, FF X.

And for me, the highest point of the series is III till V. VI was the beginning of a very deep dive, lasting till past FF VII until VIII got FF on the good quality level again (for me). IX really is the highest point in the series and XII was a very good experience as well. Now I'm playing X and I'm having another bad FF experience.

FFTA (my first FF) is another (underappreciated) gem, with FFT being a good game but nothing special (doesn't get close to FFTA).

I feel Fabula Nova Crystallis is going to be a good FF experience again, but of course SE can let us down. Versus XIII is the most interesting to me with XIII not far behind.

Revenant Wings is another interesting take on the series that I'm looking forward to play and Crisis Core has me a little bit interested. It's the best-looking game of the VII-compilation at least.

But the VII-compilation should never have been made in the first place.

I even look somewhat forward to FF Dissidia (even though I lack a PSP) it's another daring step of SE.

And to Wolf Kanno's post about the Edge Magazine, I have to say I'm disgusted. Sounds like VI/VII fanboy crap to me. If any game in the series does NOT deserve the III DS treatment, it's VI. I know I once said I don't hate any FF game, but I have to take back those words. I hate VI. With all my heart I hate that game.

Saying that even FF III DS was an unnecesary game is bull****. The only FF game never to be released in the west does not deserve a release? What's up with that?
And FF IV DS, while it might seem somewhat unnecesary, the creator's have revealed there are still story parts of IV that have never been revealed. They'll put those in the remake. Why would that not be worth another playthrough? A 3D remake of IV will deliver a new view on IV's story. That's worth it. More worth it than a remake of a 3D game with better 3D graphics (like, a FF VII remake). That's what I think, anyway.
FF I and II I can agree, they have been rereleased a lot. Let's hope the anniversary editions are the last we'll see in a while.

Yes, SE has been putting the FF name on a lot of games and are remaking a lot of games. But why not? FFTA2 looks great, FF CC RoF does as well, as does TCB. Revenant Wings is my most anticipated DS game for the moment and the New Final Fantasy IV for the DS looks great. The idea of Fabula Nova Crystallis is an interesting one.

SE has ups and downs, that's true. But most of their FF titles are good or excellent quality. Even those spin-offs that so-called don't have the FF quality.

And it's not all FF remakes anymore, is it? Dragon Quest IV, V and VI get remade in 3D as well on the DS. How so FF overkill?

[Wolf Kanno]

For the most part I agree that the author's comment about "selective remakes" was a bit out of line. I would also like to note that Edge is a European Gaming publication (a very good one at that. I'm starting to like European journalism) so the focus on VII in the article can be somewhat understood.

I went back and saw that I was mistakened though. The author did like the remake for III and saw it to be necessary since it was never released outside of Japan. Though the author does have issues with the games older game engine. The author says IV is a "solid" game in the series and is intrigued by the idea of extra story content but he feels the game is not a major seller that will appeal to a new audiance. It's appeal is sorely for those who played the original. I persoanlly disagree but whatever.:rolleyes2 His main beef is with the steady flow of FFI and II remakes.

His arguments about Crisis Core and Revnant Wings are understandable though. (I'm starting really wish I can find a link to the article on their website but alas no...) He describes Revnant Wings as a mockery of what XII stood for (the allusions of Revnant Wings being XII what X-2 was to X are in most reviews I've heard for the game. I'll save my personal judgement for when I play it though .) and his thoughts on Crisis Core are similiar to my own argument about the Compilation and sequels in general. The game looks pretty but it doesn't look like it's adding anything to the VII mythos. Rather it's story seems like a departure to what VII stood for.

I'll definetly be playing Revnant Wings but I doubt I'll play Crisis Core since the game seems like a retelling of VII's plot with Sephiroth being a good guy this time. Also Zack seems radically different from what I'm used to seeing which kinda bothers me. Overall, it just doesn't appeal to me. I also look forward to the IV remake since it's one of my favorites in the series. I am also intrigued with Dissidia but that's just because the game has always been a fanboy fantasy of mine.

[Laddy]

II, IV, VI, VII, and X moved the series more than any others, IMO.

(I'm not saying they are all the best, but they were the most innovative or revolutionary.)

[Bolivar]

FFTA (my first FF) is another (underappreciated) gem, with FFT being a good game but nothing special (doesn't get close to FFTA).

This is blasphemy!!! I could write pages upon pages why this is a terrible statement (okay, maybe a few paragraphs ) but I guess to each his own and it's not completely un-understandable why you would feel this way.

But damn Elpizo you got some weird ass opinions.

On the topic, I think I have to agree with most of that magazine. The truth is Squaresoft has grown into a much larger company over the years, and Square-Enix has since the merger, so it's understandable that we're having this load of spinoffs and remakes coming out, they need more to do.

However, I'd like to return to the glory days - instead of delving more into FF's, they should focus on making original and innovative RPG's whose results can then be incorporated into the next FF's. If you've had your fill of FFVI you could then play Chrono Trigger, who had many of its great ideas incorporated over into VII, making it an even better game than if it had just taken what was done with VI. If you had your fill of VII you had Parasite Eve, which was pretty damn cool at its time, or Xenogears, who both had alot of its innovations and graphical enhancements (for PE) carried over into VIII. See where I'm going with this?

Where did all those side project RPGs go? All those games used to be Square's true risk-taking efforts, with FF being the flagship that represents all of their work into one traditional, ongoing conceptual setting. I think if they make a Final Fantasy, they should put everything they got into it and make it a stand-alone game that has alot to offer as it stands the test of time years after its release.

That being said I love my IIIDS and will buy IV (even though I bought the GBA one little over a year ago). TA2 and RW i'll be getting, but i think it's time we put VII to rest until it gets remade, say, on the 20th anniversary (if it goes down like that, or at all).

[Wolf Kanno]

FFTA (my first FF) is another (underappreciated) gem, with FFT being a good game but nothing special (doesn't get close to FFTA).

This is blasphemy!!! I could write pages upon pages why this is a terrible statement (okay, maybe a few paragraphs ) but I guess to each his own and it's not completely un-understandable why you would feel this way.

But damn Elpizo you got some weird ass opinions.

On the topic, I think I have to agree with most of that magazine. The truth is Squaresoft has grown into a much larger company over the years, and Square-Enix has since the merger, so it's understandable that we're having this load of spinoffs and remakes coming out, they need more to do.

However, I'd like to return to the glory days - instead of delving more into FF's, they should focus on making original and innovative RPG's whose results can then be incorporated into the next FF's. If you've had your fill of FFVI you could then play Chrono Trigger, who had many of its great ideas incorporated over into VII, making it an even better game than if it had just taken what was done with VI. If you had your fill of VII you had Parasite Eve, which was pretty damn cool at its time, or Xenogears, who both had alot of its innovations and graphical enhancements (for PE) carried over into VIII. See where I'm going with this?

Where did all those side project RPGs go? All those games used to be Square's true risk-taking efforts, with FF being the flagship that represents all of their work into one traditional, ongoing conceptual setting. I think if they make a Final Fantasy, they should put everything they got into it and make it a stand-alone game that has alot to offer as it stands the test of time years after its release.

That being said I love my IIIDS and will buy IV (even though I bought the GBA one little over a year ago). TA2 and RW i'll be getting, but i think it's time we put VII to rest until it gets remade, say, on the 20th anniversary (if it goes down like that, or at all).

Agreed on all points

I keep forgetting about TA2 for some reason... Maybe cause I'm more interested in Skyblade's version

[Slothy]

With regards to the article Wolf Kanno was talking about earlier; I do agree that there are too many FF spin-offs and sequels at the expense of original IP's lately, however I don't personally find this detrimental to the main FF series itself. If I saw the main series as dropping in quality I may feel differently, but as FFXII only confirmed my belief that the main series is as strong as ever I find it easy to ignore the superfluous entries, choosing instead to focus on the main series which still sees a great deal of innovation and originality within the RPG genre.

I do long for a return to the old days when Square put out more original titles however. The SNES and to a greater extent the PSX had more original titles than FF's, many of which are classics everyone should play. With the announcement of The Last Remnant, I hope we may be seeing the first of a number of original titles though we'll have to wait and see. Despite me not even having much interest in the title itself, the simple fact that Square is releasing a brand new title was almost enough to make me jump for joy.

[Elpizo]

FFTA (my first FF) is another (underappreciated) gem, with FFT being a good game but nothing special (doesn't get close to FFTA).

This is blasphemy!!! I could write pages upon pages why this is a terrible statement (okay, maybe a few paragraphs ) but I guess to each his own and it's not completely un-understandable why you would feel this way.

But damn Elpizo you got some weird ass opinions.

You can thank the fans for my 'weird' opinions. I suffered the same with VI, VII and X. Those games have many fans and fanboys who scream all over the place how great it is. I guess I was a bit naïve when I thought that at least some of their excitement would mean that those games would indeed be spectacular. Turns out none of them are. Good games (except VI, I hate hate hate hate hate that damn game) but nothing special or even great.

Same with Tactics. FFTA gets so much hate (I played it before I knew of the hate) so I didn't understand it. Such a good game, it really got me into FF. Everybody saying Tactics is better and TA a disgrace to Tactics. So naïve me plays Tactics expecting something mindblowing and again, I get nothing special. Tactics is a good game, better than some mainstream FFs (VI, VII and X, to be precise) but it's nothing so incredibly special that it justifies all the childish hate against FFTA.

And in the end, I grew to love all those FFs that are most of the time glared upon by the fans. Like III, V, VIII or IX and recently XII. Mostly III and V though. III DS will never get the respect it deserves, I know that and V's even worse. Always pushed into IV and VI's shadow. I can understand IV a bit, but VI??? V not a good story? What kind of nonsense is that?

Well, I could go on, but I guess you get the idea. Maybe if the fans hadn't made me expect VI, VII, Tactics and X to be great games, I wouldn't have such 'weird ass' opinions. But well, I guess I was a tad too naïve. I learned something from it, though. If a FF game has an army of fans that scream that it's a great, legendary game, it's probably either a good or average FF (or worse, in VI's case). If a FF game gets much hate, I'll probably like it.

[Wolf Kanno]

With regards to the article Wolf Kanno was talking about earlier; I do agree that there are too many FF spin-offs and sequels at the expense of original IP's lately, however I don't personally find this detrimental to the main FF series itself. If I saw the main series as dropping in quality I may feel differently, but as FFXII only confirmed my belief that the main series is as strong as ever I find it easy to ignore the superfluous entries, choosing instead to focus on the main series which still sees a great deal of innovation and originality within the RPG genre.

I do long for a return to the old days when Square put out more original titles however. The SNES and to a greater extent the PSX had more original titles than FF's, many of which are classics everyone should play. With the announcement of The Last Remnant, I hope we may be seeing the first of a number of original titles though we'll have to wait and see. Despite me not even having much interest in the title itself, the simple fact that Square is releasing a brand new title was almost enough to make me jump for joy.

I completely agree, many of my favorite PSX games by Square are not even Final Fantasys and I do miss the golden days of 98 and 99 where I had a flood of original titles or non FF sequels to look forward too. Granted the Mana and Saga series have both been getting some decent attention lately and it's nice to see Parasite Eve and Star Ocean are getting some love as well but the overall ratio of original IPs to sequesl is starting to get a little out of hand.

FFTA (my first FF) is another (underappreciated) gem, with FFT being a good game but nothing special (doesn't get close to FFTA).

This is blasphemy!!! I could write pages upon pages why this is a terrible statement (okay, maybe a few paragraphs ) but I guess to each his own and it's not completely un-understandable why you would feel this way.

But damn Elpizo you got some weird ass opinions.

You can thank the fans for my 'weird' opinions. I suffered the same with VI, VII and X. Those games have many fans and fanboys who scream all over the place how great it is. I guess I was a bit naïve when I thought that at least some of their excitement would mean that those games would indeed be spectacular. Turns out none of them are. Good games (except VI, I hate hate hate hate hate that damn game) but nothing special or even great.

Same with Tactics. FFTA gets so much hate (I played it before I knew of the hate) so I didn't understand it. Such a good game, it really got me into FF. Everybody saying Tactics is better and TA a disgrace to Tactics. So naïve me plays Tactics expecting something mindblowing and again, I get nothing special. Tactics is a good game, better than some mainstream FFs (VI, VII and X, to be precise) but it's nothing so incredibly special that it justifies all the childish hate against FFTA.

And in the end, I grew to love all those FFs that are most of the time glared upon by the fans. Like III, V, VIII or IX and recently XII. Mostly III and V though. III DS will never get the respect it deserves, I know that and V's even worse. Always pushed into IV and VI's shadow. I can understand IV a bit, but VI??? V not a good story? What kind of nonsense is that?

Well, I could go on, but I guess you get the idea. Maybe if the fans hadn't made me expect VI, VII, Tactics and X to be great games, I wouldn't have such 'weird ass' opinions. But well, I guess I was a tad too naïve. I learned something from it, though. If a FF game has an army of fans that scream that it's a great, legendary game, it's probably either a good or average FF (or worse, in VI's case). If a FF game gets much hate, I'll probably like it.

Though I may never agree with you concerning VI and Tactics (my personal favorites) I do agree that III, V , and TA do not ever get the credit they deserve. I'm one of the few people who played Tactics thought it was godly and then played TA and thought it was damn good as well. I prefer Tactics dark political overtones but I feel TA did a magnificent job and I commend it for trying something different considering it's a follow up to a cult classic. V and III were some of the last FF's I've played and I must say I truly enjoy both of them.

I can also sympathize with your story of being told a game is going to be wonderful and feeling rather disappointed and the obnoxious fans who act like it's the end all be all... It happened with VII for me. But I got over my issues with VII cause though I feel the game is flawed, I don't feel it's really terrible. I just dislike the unreasonable fan base...