She sure has a see-through shirt in the After Years
She sure has a see-through shirt in the After Years
Oh, you know me Always constructive, never distracted by boobs or anything. Boobs. Booooo-
Anyway, I liked Porom, but I never really judged her as a character on her own. I liked that she and Palom were two halves of the same whole and how the After Years focused on both twins learning to love their own lives to a certain degree. Too bad Palom seems much more independent, but what can you expect? Those Japanese writers tend to be pretty backwards in some regards
Click here to listen.
#7: FINAL FANTASY IX
Along with Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IX was one of the last two numbered FFs that I hadn’t played yet (this was before XIII was out). I was really looking forward to both. But while III disappointed me, IX was pretty much everything I expected. While I certainly don’t hold it in such high regard as a whole lot of people around here, I do love it. A lot.
Though as I’ve discovered by making my wife play it, Final Fantasy IX’s main value comes from the fact that it is largely a nostalgia fest for FF fans. Which is not a bad thing – I personally loved all the throwbacks to the older FFs. I missed the four-character parties, I missed the fixed classes, I missed the fantasy setting, I missed the moogles, and holy crap, I got all those things in spades. I also got things I didn’t expect to get, like Chrono Trigger’s double techs. This game was like a dream come true in many ways!
The story is also deliciously dark underneath all the sugary surface. I’ve seen a lot of people dismiss this game for looking much more kiddy than FFVII or VIII, when it’s actually the darkest, most mature of the three. Final Fantasy IX, without spoiling too much, uses some of FFIII’s admittedly ambitious themes and delivers probably the most genuine, heart-rending story focusing on life and death until Persona 3 comes along. Heck, even the despised final boss really makes sense in the story’s message, and my frustration only grows whenever someone says that Necron made no sense. Stop. Don’t. Please. Shhh.
The saddest thing is that, while Final Fantasy IV marked the beginning of the Final Fantasy formula we all know and love, Final Fantasy IX marks the end of it. While the games that come after are not necessarily bad (one of them made it on this list, actually), the harsh truth is that Final Fantasy IX is the end of the old-school JRPG. Pretty fitting, considering its theme, if you ask me. But maybe there’s nothing to be sad about. Final Fantasy IX will always be there to remind us of what the series used to look like, no matter what direction it may go next.
It has possibly the worst stat buildup system I've ever seen. Not that the game has any good superbosses to go up against with all you've got in the first place.
Regardless, FFIX is a really great game. I played it before playing any pre-VII games so I also can't say the throwbacks did anything for me, but that hardly mattered. It has a wonderful story, a wonderful soundtrack and a wonderful cast of characters. Just an allround solid game.
Necron is called Eternal Darkness in the version I played so the symbolism was a lot more obvious
My problem with Necron is that he does feel out of nowhere and just isn't done well. He makes sense once you think about it I guess, but that part just isn't done well in at least the English translation.
Necron was actually meant to be a callback to villains like Cloud of Darkness and Zermous who did just randomly appear after beating who you thought was the bad guy all that time.
True beauty exists in things that last only for a moment.
Current Mood: And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe. Maybe this year will be better than the last. I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself. To hold on to these moments as they pass...
One of the games I had to play again after playing through the classics to truly appreciate. It's number six on my list.
Here's the last entry for this week
Here's my voice.
#6: FINAL FANTASY VII
I’m prepared to lose my audience again, I don’t care. Final Fantasy VII is very dear to me. Yes, it’s incredibly overhyped, it began some weird trends in RPGs, and attracted a whole lot of people we didn’t necessarily need in our fandom. And yes, Wolf, Xenogears and Vagrant Story did the unreliable narrator thing much better, I agree, and they’re both much better games, yes. But to me, FFVII is nothing short of awesome!
Though it wasn’t always like this. I remember it was the winter break around the time I was in fourth or fifth grade. My friend (whom I still keep in touch with) borrowed an old PSX from another classmate. When the break started, he came to visit me and brought the PS with him. Of course, one of the games he brought was FFVII. Having played all the SNES FFs, I was really eager to check out what this new 3D FF was like. What I saw didn’t impress me. In fact, I was turned off. The game looked ugly, was way too sci-fi for my tastes at the time, and you could only control three party members! Nevertheless, the image stayed in my head, and what initially looked terrible to me became this unattainable dream over time. Years later, I finally got the game on my PC. The graphics looked better, but the music was crappy MIDI quality. That said, I was still sucked in. I loved how creepy some elements were, like the night at the Shinra building, and I really appreciated how layered the story was. Too bad it seemed a bit rushed at the end, but I didn’t really mind at the time. And the steampunk setting really grew on me! Sadly, Aerith’s death had been spoiled to me many years before :/
I liked the materia system and loved customizing my characters into old-school-FF-style jobs. Limit breaks were a fun new addition, and the amount of things you could do in the Wonder Square was staggering. I’ve really put way too many hours into this game.
This was also the first FF my wife played, and it’s what got her into JRPGs (she exclusively played Western games before). Besides her, a couple of my friends played it as well, so it was actually this short period when we could all talk about an FF. Being able to share all my fandom theories and stuff with people I actually knew in real life was an incredible experience, and it’s probably one of the reasons why this game is this high on the list. I joined Eyes on FF soon after, so even though FFVII wasn’t my first, it’s definitely the game that made me an FF fan for life. I’m really glad Final Fantasy VII happened.
Final Fantasy VII will always have a special place in my heart. Both as the game that got me into the series in the first place, and as the game that is the most endlessly fun to mod and play around with. Story-wise it has a lovable cast all with good backstories, and the main plot is quite enthralling too. The materia system is pretty nifty and cool even if it could use a little refining.
Even if things VII did have been done better elsewhere, VII still did them pretty well.
This game was voted as number one in the rank thing so I doubt you'd lose your audience over including it.
You may get beat up by putting it so low on the list, though.
Final Fantasy VII is one of the best FF games ever made and that's all I have to say about that