Do you prefer the old or new Final Fantasy?

[Tronky.it]

For several years now I have "discovered" some Final Fantasy titles, from those for GBA to those for PS1 and PC.

I love RPGs, so it is natural that I love Final Fantasy. Just as I could love D&D Neverwinter Nights (which I have on Steam and that I should play once I finish the other titles on my PC), just as I love Persona 3 and 4, Doom & Destiny, Skyrim, Fallout, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga etc.

What I have noticed over the years is that Final Fantasy has lost its soul. It has completely lost it in search of a more modern path to follow (and therefore guaranteed earnings) stuffing it with elements that do not belong to it.

I wish I could go into more detail about it (first of all, the loss of the fairytale soul for kids and adults that didn't tie the game to a single age group, even though I appreciated the attempt at a darker and more mature game made with the XVI that didn't convince me that much), but I'm not a video game technician nor an expert, so I could only say nonsense.
I'd just like to understand which type of Final Fantasy you like more and why: the one from previous generations, focused on the turn-based JRPG that asks you to concentrate and study every attack; or the modern one based more on action-RPG (something that I can't stand in a Final Fantasy, the XV was already tiring to complete, then after less than 4 hours of play I abandoned the XVI because it felt like playing "Press the attack buttons as fast as you can Simulator", but these are personal opinions).

 

[Bonkers225]

Old by far. Never cared for FF much after X in 2001.

 

[JJaANF]

Old by far. Never cared for FF much after X in 2001.

This.

 

[Zooey]

Old, the cut off being FF12. Back when the stories were understandable, and the combat didnt feel like just a bunch of button mashing like it does today. FF13 is where the story writing just became so nonsensical. A good story doesnt need to be confusing to be interesting.

 

[qw90700]

Perhaps I have to start I never liked Final Fantasy series per se but certain FF games are interesting to me so had fun playing them:

The FF game I liked a lot is FF6. Why? The game is still a game but it's like a book you can play as a video game. I will intentionally avoid saying "cinematic" or "movie-like", it's different from that. For its time it's a very advanced game for the usage of 3D in a cool way yet it's still a retro game. If you like this game it would mostly because of how deep the characters and their stories are as the game still a game while manage to be more than a game. The last time I felt so it was when I played GTA SA lol. So when someone says "Final Fantasy" it directly make me remember this game and would want every FF games to be in that level. However FF games turned into more about few specific characters and more gameplay based games instead of RPG aspects. The last time I had surface FF6 fun it was when I played Radiata Stories lol.

Other than FF6 I ignore all the FF games and instead like Crisis Core FF7 and Lightning Returns. Crisis Core has a fun interesting character you play as while Lightning Returns has a very interesting theme and therefore gameplay idea. Other FF games could never manage to interest me at all. It's a shame that FF games on PS2 really tried something good and they have great graphics but it feels like all the technology wasted lol. Then playing FF games on PS2 made me figure out at the time that future of FF games would be about graphics and watching characters just behave and that's all about it. Can't believe they made new FF games like 200 GB but never felt a game can be that empty lol. And then imagine they fit whole universe into FF6 despite the heavy technologial limitation. I would ask for FF6 remake instead of FF7 remake but we all know what's the real purpose of remaking FF7 due to a certain character and her 4K assets lol.

 

[ThatOneLum]

Old, the cut off being FF12. Back when the stories were understandable, and the combat didnt feel like just a bunch of button mashing like it does today. FF13 is where the story writing just became so nonsensical. A good story doesnt need to be confusing to be interesting.

100% agree.

While I didn't eventually finish 13, I had to work hard to get to the "good" parts.

I never had to work hard to enjoy any of the firsr 12 (excluding 11 as I never played that one)

 

[Coon]

What a question, I say both It's nice to play older games but I also find it very interesting to see how such games have been developed further.

 

[Yousef]

Old and it’s not even a contest for me. Generally, I only really tolerate the likes of FF13 and FF15, while FFs 1-6 are games I can happily replay whenever the urge arrives, depending on the version and patch. Fan patches go a long way, imo.

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

The old ones from 1-9 it’s not even a contest. Those games really fueled my imaginations .

 

[Cantarella]

feels weird to see people calling 13 new when it was released in 2009.

You'd definitely find me enjoying the majority of the older games more, but honestly, FF feels like a mixed series in every era. Some junk in the 90's, some junk in the 00's, a few good things in the 10's, Hindenburg explosion in the 20's. Save for Cyan in 6, all my favorite writing is in the psx era. The Lightning games can get extremely bizarre but I like the fantastical ambition at least, and genuinely like Lightning Returns. Stuff like the FF7 remakes and 16 feel like attacks on my soul.


The franchise's expedition into more action-rpg combat has pretty much been a disaster in my eyes, but I can't really say that the gameplay of the old turn-based games was very good either. With mods to make them harder, they can be pretty fun, but in their vanilla state they tend to be very sleep-inducing. X-2, Type-0, and LR were probably the most fun vanilla experiences in terms of gameplay for me.


anyway none of that matters because the real criteria for which is the best is moogles

 

[Zooey]

100% agree.

While I didn't eventually finish 13, I had to work hard to get to the "good" parts.

I never had to work hard to enjoy any of the firsr 12 (excluding 11 as I never played that one)

I think FF13 is where it really culminated into the, "lets throw as many terms at the player as possible because that's immersive", L'Cie, Fal'Cie, Cie'th, Cocoon, Pulse, etc. I didnt want to stop and look each term up, and even if i did i would forget it shortly after.

I played alot of 11, and.... Everything you did you had to work towards, which makes you dread having to do it again. Like just starting in Windhurst, and having to make your way to Valkurm Dunes was a huge ordeal. Or youd join a party for leveling at Qufim, and youd have to make your way past all these undead to get to your party, seems easy, just run, but stuff doesn't leash, and stuff aggros by Sound, Smell, Sight, low HP, and casting magic, and you have to remember which mods aggro by which thing.

 

[Tortuga]

Old = Good
New = Bad

 

[Mahan_Native]

although FF in general is not my favorite thing, but i prefer the older games.
it's funny that my favorite modern FF is just FF Origins Lost Paradise.
the remake and the rebirth were disappointing for me, even as standalone games.
13,15 and 16 failed at they wanted to deliver. (have nothing against these games tho)

 

[Tronky.it]

A good story doesnt need to be confusing to be interesting.

THANK GOD, this sentence is very true!
Final Fantasy 5, 7, 9 (the only "old" ones that I completed) had simple and not complex stories, with excellent gameplay and then they flowed like a pleasure.

Instead, with XV (which I completed only once for PS4, I had half a mind to platinum it but immediately discarded the idea), I didn't understand why certain things happened and why... HOW... we got to the ending, watching videos on YT.

Probably I was the one who wasn't paying attention, though. After doing 40 hours of "press the attack buttons without thinking about which weapons or spells to use" the mind starts to get lost, lol.

Post automatically merged: Today at 12:35 PM

Old and it’s not even a contest for me. Generally, I only really tolerate the likes of FF13 and FF15, while FFs 1-6 are games I can happily replay whenever the urge arrives, depending on the version and patch. Fan patches go a long way, imo.

I don't think it's an obvious question... Just look at the reviews on the internet, and see (without understanding why) people's hatred and intolerance towards the JRPG genre...

 

[Cantarella]

7's story is pretty complex. If you ask most people to summarize it, they are gonna get major details wrong.

This isn't really an issue of complexity but how information is being delivered to the player. In XV's case, a lot of the story is offloaded into anime and a movie. In 13, the script is just frontloaded with too many proper nouns. Not easily digestible.

 

[Tronky.it]

although FF in general is not my favorite thing, but i prefer the older games.
it's funny that my favorite modern FF is just FF Origins Lost Paradise.
the remake and the rebirth were disappointing for me, even as standalone games.
13,15 and 16 failed at they wanted to deliver. (have nothing against these games tho)

What I wonder is... is it possible that with today's technologies, today's writing capabilities, the consoles that every year promise you to see every hair on the ass of the NPC that passes you by at 200 km/h with a super-detailed motorbike, they can't make a single game that covers 3 DISCS? At this rate, what will they do with the FF9 remake? 4 standalone games in 20 years?

A truly fallacious marketing move. Like the Netflix TV series of One Piece (Off Topic: who knows how it will end, by the way, lol)

Post automatically merged: Today at 12:41 PM

7's story is pretty complex. If you ask most people to summarize it, they are gonna get major details wrong.

This isn't really an issue of complexity but how information is being delivered to the player. In XV's case, a lot of the story is offloaded into anime and a movie. In 13, the script is just frontloaded with too many proper nouns. Not easily digestible.

I couldn't tell you, personally I understood the plot of 7 perfectly

 

[Cantarella]

Many people who have no idea what happened in it say the same!

 

[ThatOneLum]

To be fair 7 is complex now because of all those additional games as well, But most of the series has had pretty zany plots, even when they generally retained a more serious tone.

Trying to summarise any of them is going to be difficult. I feel the issue is more that the later stories grew in scope and lost their character. These stories aren't forgettable cus they're complex they're forgettable cus they're typically bland as shit.

 

[qw90700]

7's story is pretty complex. If you ask most people to summarize it, they are gonna get major details wrong.

This isn't really an issue of complexity but how information is being delivered to the player. In XV's case, a lot of the story is offloaded into anime and a movie. In 13, the script is just frontloaded with too many proper nouns. Not easily digestible.

While I agree a story doesn't have to be a complex mess of so many plot twists and too much to learn and figure out, I do think FF7 is too simple but why I dislike the game is just because I don't wanna see "climate danger is real and let's save our planet" in a game and this theme doesn't interest me but I don't mean the game is bad. It's just not my thing.

As for summary:

A company ruins the planet by using energy stations that sucks the energy from the planet. It turned out the planet literally dying and therefore endangers all life forms in short-term. Those who learns about it and wanna do something becomes terrorists so you play as a terrorist who fight against people who trying to protect their city. Thus you genocide people just to save the planet even the unaware innocent masses, however the game has a thing for who is the actual evil and if you are actually not a bad guy that are up to your subjectivity. And then around the end of the game you fight with a meteor in turn based combat and you destroy the city so hard people return to cavemen life style in a post-apocalyptic future that people lives but their life quality reduced lol.

Why FF7 seem complex? The story is so simply written it make you question why they had to do these in that way to save the planet because they just go on with extreme terrorism. Another thing is a Japanese version of Native American culture, and this is the story plot for the "actual evil guy" that is not enough to make you not an evil character. In the end the actual complexity is why no one didn't do anything for alternative energy source and why they had to ruin civilization for it. Story is so simple and black and white I cannot appreciate it but only can laugh at it lol. Imagine you play a game about rats infest a house but they burn whole city for it killing most people. Does it make sense? lol. So the characters in FF7 can save the planet in saner and normal ways but they do nothing unless a terrorist organization formed against it. Imagine you dislike education system of your country so instead of trying to be politician you start burning schools. Does it make sense? FF7's story never made sense and if anyone like its story then it just mean they have a thing for terrorism but I'm not judging lol.

Then when I see people liking the game it's mostly because of the characters and their dramas or how the game tried something new to make you judge opposite duality of sense of morality like what Nier 1 did. Other than these I think FF7 was barely a decent game. It could have been properly written without making it so simply wrong and black and white lol.

 

[PrismRed]

Old, story aside, I feel like every series after FF11 is just a testbed for Squeenix to try wild gameplay ideas but instead of perfecting it for the next FF series, they implemented it to their other games instead.

 

[Yousef]

I don't think it's an obvious question... Just look at the reviews on the internet, and see (without understanding why) people's hatred and intolerance towards the JRPG genre...

I don’t really factor online reviews into my own stances and opinions. No thanks.

 

[PSVitaForever]

My first FF has been 8, and I loved it; but it's been my first real videogame so take my opinion for what it is...

After that I played (in no particular order) 9 and 7 on ps2 (with ps1 discs), 3 and 4 in DS remakes, 1 on psp, 10 and 10-2 on Vita, and many spin-offs, and enjoyed them all, some more than others (ex. FF9, FF3, FF10 and 10-2 are among my top favourites).

First FF that has disappointed me is 12: yes, I know, gambits system is brilliant, etc, etc, I'm not saying the contrary and I would have liked to like it, it simply didn't click for me. That mix of action and turn-based... I don't know, I tried and tried but I always quitted, the battles without gambits are super boring and I didn't like all those gambits and equipment / skills menu management (same thing for Xenoblade, masterpiece all you want but that mixed battle system is not for me).

I've played 13 and I've enjoyed a lot; after that, no more because I don't own the more modern consoles. I don't know what to think about "FF losing its soul", I guess you could also say things can change over the time so it's not like FF not turn based = bad game. It depends, if tomorrow I could buy a ps4 and a ps5 I guess I would try the newer FFs, but since I can't I must base my opinion on what I've played...

But for example I've watched longplays of FF13's sequels and they left me with no desire to play them: FF13-2 because you only have two characters, and you travel in time, and to me this kind of plot (time travelling) is always confusing, and for Lighting Returns I was able to try it, but I didn't like the battle system and anyway it was too flashy and sometimes hard to see what was happening on-screen during battles, and in general I didn't care about the heroine changing all those clothes for skills (in FF10-2 it felt more natural along with the atmosphere of the plot, in FF13-3 it seemed weird). I felt happy with FF13 ending and battle system, I didn't feel the need for the story to keep on and becoming more and more complicated.

 

[Tetro]

What is a soul in games? Which games in the series are old for you, and which are new? I don't know, maybe even FF4 is new for you, because it's not a turn-based anymore. So many questions about this post...

 

[jon2]

The FF series had peaked by X

It was pushing its luck by the time of X-2

The last hurrah was XII and its offshoots in the Tactics category (which made it successful due to a new series + nostalgia bait)

After that it all came crumbling down

 

[Dyne]

Seems I agree with most people in this thread: I prefer the old ones and its not even close. The last one I actually completed was XII.
It seems SquareEnix has just decided Final Fantasy is an Action RPG series now.
Personally I think their "HD 2D" games like Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy are better than any Final Fantasy after XII