The FF series in general does a great job at being on the easier side of the difficulty spectrum. Most of the games are cakewalks with minimal grinding for even fresh players, but every game has at least 1 or 2 bosses/sections that end up serving as huge momentary difficulty spikes.
Stuff like Magic Master in FFVI, Carry Armor in FFVII and Seymour Flux or Final Aeon in FFX spring to mind as super hard for anyone unprepared. I appreciate that because it allowed me to blast through many of the games as a kid/teen without much thought, though it did lead to me being way too overconfident when getting into some harder JRPGs later in life lol. I remember my first time going through FFVI as a 10ish year old kid (idr how old I was when I got it on GBA) I made it all the way to Magic Master without having to really engage with mechanics only for that fight to feel absolutely impossible. I remember going to an island on the northern side of the island where you can fight dinosaurs that give tons of XP and just grinding a ton, eventually finding Gogo on accident in the process. It still wasn't enough to survive that damn Ultima attack at the end though so I put it down for a good while. Replaying the game in high school I actually got Rasp and had the idea to drain his MP, which worked and his Ultima failed to cast!
One fun aspect of this approach to difficulty is that it allows for tons of variety in playstyle by virtue of fights typically not being very demanding, as well as allowing for tons of challenge routes. Stuff like low level runs or things like No Sphere Grid or License Board force you to engage with the mechanics in interesting ways and really discover just how much depth and nuance these battle systems really have.
Yeah, don't get me wrong. There are some difficult sections in FFVI, especially if you haven't been leveling all of your party. There's the Fanatics Tower, Phoenix's Cave, Floating Island, Kefka's Tower. But the vast majority of the game is easy. And if you know where to find all the powerful gear, the game is pretty trivial.
ff4 was intended to be a 3 cartridge game for the nes and was about 80% done in development when it was very abruptly moved over to the snes; hence the lack of taking full advantage of the more powerful tech.
Yeah, its funny to play the series and notice little details like how they reused the Corneria soldier sprites, the black and white mage FF3 sprites in FFIV.
The FF series in general does a great job at being on the easier side of the difficulty spectrum. Most of the games are cakewalks with minimal grinding for even fresh players, but every game has at least 1 or 2 bosses/sections that end up serving as huge momentary difficulty spikes.
Stuff like Magic Master in FFVI, Carry Armor in FFVII and Seymour Flux or Final Aeon in FFX spring to mind as super hard for anyone unprepared. I appreciate that because it allowed me to blast through many of the games as a kid/teen without much thought, though it did lead to me being way too overconfident when getting into some harder JRPGs later in life lol. I remember my first time going through FFVI as a 10ish year old kid (idr how old I was when I got it on GBA) I made it all the way to Magic Master without having to really engage with mechanics only for that fight to feel absolutely impossible. I remember going to an island on the northern side of the island where you can fight dinosaurs that give tons of XP and just grinding a ton, eventually finding Gogo on accident in the process. It still wasn't enough to survive that damn Ultima attack at the end though so I put it down for a good while. Replaying the game in high school I actually got Rasp and had the idea to drain his MP, which worked and his Ultima failed to cast!
One fun aspect of this approach to difficulty is that it allows for tons of variety in playstyle by virtue of fights typically not being very demanding, as well as allowing for tons of challenge routes. Stuff like low level runs or things like No Sphere Grid or License Board force you to engage with the mechanics in interesting ways and really discover just how much depth and nuance these battle systems really have.
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I didn't know that the 3D PSP version and the 3D DS version were any different, what was changed for PSP?
the psp is like the pixel remasters, but with the extra story content from the ds version and all of the stuff from the gba version [post game dungeon, swap party members, new ultimate weapons and the easy type version of zeromus is now a super boss] along with excellent sprites and music.
the ds version along with the steam and mobile version, and the after years ports to those same systems, have voice acting and higher difficulty. ff4 ds also allows you to customize characters abilities, you even get some boss abilities to use too. and after level 70, the abilities equipped affect stat growth. rydia also get a unique trainable and temporary party member summon, whyt.
Yeah, its funny to play the series and notice little details like how they reused the Corneria soldier sprites, the black and white mage FF3 sprites in FFIV.
On the topic of difficulty I think final fantasy is the sort of game that isn't absurdly difficult nor is it very easy like for a casual player that just plays through the game normally and uses adequate spells and such the game presents him with a good difficulty curve that scales well with the supposed levels the player should have when entering new zones.
Now like any RPG game you can so some grinding or find some super secret broken thing to make the game easier but I dont think that happens in your first playthrough.
FF8 had enemies scale up with you in terms of level so they dealt respectable amounts of damage and while I found 8 to the easiest of all the boss fights especially adel and well the final boos fight were really tough I wasted my entire cure magic on keeping poor rinoa alive and would go into ultimecia castle which by the way is the best final zone I seen in a FF game so far with all the cool puzzles and just the design of the castle , I went low on healing and few potions and somehow managed to kill 3 out of the 8 seal monsters then figured the portals take you to the real world rode a lot of chocobos and upgraded all weapons of the team I wanted to get myself the lion heart but couldn't find a star fragment or who drops it man I missed so many GFs in 8 but I got the big cactus guy I would have liked to get him way earlier and missed siren and probably a ton of other cool GFs still haven't beaten the piano puzzle or the drawing puzzle I think the picture is trying to tell you something but I can't figure it its either a watchman in the sky watching over a garden or something like that , also the ultima weapon is unbeatable well in theory if you get lucky and have rinoa cast invincible moon you should have a chance if she also gets wishing star multiple times I would say even 8 had good difficulty I couldn't beat the malbro no matter what every single time I would fight these in previous games I could beat them like sometimes by luck but in FF8 they are death machines or death plants to be more correct.
one of the best ways to see if a game is well thought out and does everything correctly is if the player uses everything at their disposal. is the player using the tools available? are they checking out all of the new abilities, jobs, classes, spells, weapons, characters? are you incentivizing to check for enemy weaknesses and to get experimental with fighting them? making sure to tempt them into looking into every corner, nook and cranny? checking the shops and chests for new swag? talking to npcs for lore and hints?
and as you said, Pandaprewmaster325, is the difficulty engaging? is the game too easy? hard? if its easy, is it enjoyable? fun? if it's hard, is it rewarding and satisfying to beat the challenge?
those are a few questions to keep in mind when asking if a game is good or not.
Looking into it more it seems like the PSP version of FFIII is pretty identical to DS, albeit with a better resolution, widescreen display and some quality of life stuff like Mognet being offline and the ability to swap to the Famicom ost. I think I'd still stick with DS for the tiny novelties like the shop display and more stylized font, as meaningless as they are. PSP/Steam definitely seem like the altogether best versions though even if they're pretty much identical. I do wanna try the Pixel Remaster version next, though.
As a side note too can we just appreciate how fucking cute the art style of the DS Final Fantasy games are? Both III, IV and Heroes of Light are just so damn pretty and I really dig the elements of Akihiko Yoshida's art you can feel in the designs, particularly the faces. I hope someday we get an old school style FF game with this art style on modern hardware!
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Looking into it more it seems like the PSP version of FFIII is pretty identical to DS, albeit with a better resolution, widescreen display and some quality of life stuff like Mognet being offline and the ability to swap to the Famicom ost. I think I'd still stick with DS for the tiny novelties like the shop display and more stylized font, as meaningless as they are. PSP/Steam definitely seem like the altogether best versions though even if they're pretty much identical. I do wanna try the Pixel Remaster version next, though.
As a side note too can we just appreciate how fucking cute the art style of the DS Final Fantasy games are? Both III, IV and Heroes of Light are just so damn pretty, I really dig the elements of Akihiko Yoshida's art you can feel in the designs, particularly the faces. I hope someday we get an old school style FF game with this art style on modern hardware!
yeah, my main complaint of ff3 is locking the ultimate gear and onion knight job behind mognet. it takes 7 full hours of gameplay to unlock everything. not a problem when you are starting out. i'm at the end, lvl 60 and 45 hours in. and i only have 1 copy of the game and system. and the only dungeon worth grinding in is locked off behind mognet as well.
i love the chibi like designs for the characters too. and i quite like the little subtle differences between the outfits in ff3.
Yeah I try everything the game offers so I can get a full experience of the game even if I end up missing some content the core experience was there and that's what matters most , I think me missing GFs is because I didn't check what magics I can draw from bosses I got pandemonia by sheer luck same for odin and cactus.
Just FF8 is a very good game the animation work is phenomenal , the introduction of sounds for enemies and each enemy having death animation is great addition , the sound of quistis whip and the gunblade draw sound just drew smile on my face many many times "its hammer time" basically , the unique mechanic each limit break had whether your renzokuken getting new finish blows or zell limit break being a throwback to FF6 sabin blitz moves , rinoa walking angelo around and picking which ammo to try with irvine they do feel nerfed compared to 7 especially with them being active only when low on HP , another thing that felt nerfed is melee damage you could blast through past games with pure melee I found 8 relies more on magic and GFs meaning monk based characters or melee damage characters like zell end up weaker than previous characters of the same role like tifa or sabin (literally the original gigachad) or yang I did assign ifrit to zell by the end of the game he had 200ish strength I would like to give a shout out to zell who carried my ass through many parts of the game from edea final fight to clapping behemoth cheeks and more....just cast berserk with rinoa or selphie and haste and watch as he wrecks havoc upon the enemy while you are trying to decide whether you should cast the brothers or Shiva its lore accurate too with his explosive character....the SEED system is quite unique and memorable piece of the game (I find the whole game memorable) but SEED system being the way to make money and that sound when you get paid.....can we apply it IRL too just hear it when you get your salary? , taking tests that challenge your knowledge of the game is also a good way to check if the player is focusing and paying attention or not.....I gotta say abilities from GFs aren't the best , save for mad rush can be useful in grinding also half encounter rate is a quality of life improvement that is entirely optional thats cool as heck bro , great game FF8 great game....took me 70 hours to beat last 10 spent in ultimecia castle I imagine she just kept waiting there "any second now anyyyy second now".
Yeah I try everything the game offers so I can get a full experience of the game even if I end up missing some content the core experience was there and that's what matters most , I think me missing GFs is because I didn't check what magics I can draw from bosses I got pandemonia by sheer luck same for odin and cactus.
drawing is one of the main mechanics of the game. some dialog from a main character or an npc should have made sure to give you a hint to make sure that you tried that out on bosses, since they seem to hold a lot of gfs for you to obtain. it might be more exciting to find out by accident, but not everyone is going to do that. i played 8 up until the end of the first disc. never tried drawing on bosses. i don't think i did it on regular enemies. so i probably missed out on a lot of good swag.
drawing is one of the main mechanics of the game. some dialog from a main character or an npc should have made sure to give you a hint to make sure that you tried that out on bosses, since they seem to hold a lot of gfs for you to obtain. it might be more exciting to find out by accident, but not everyone is going to do that. i played 8 up until the end of the first disc. never tried drawing on bosses. i don't think i did it on regular enemies. so i probably missed out on a lot of good swag.
Yeah idk what I was thinking lol , maybe in 4-5 years when I play it I will remember to draw on bosses , honestly refining magic from items should become the main way save for drawing some powerful spells that can't be gained through cards or items.
Yeah idk what I was thinking lol , maybe in 4-5 years when I play it I will remember to draw on bosses , honestly refining magic from items should become the main way save for drawing some powerful spells that can't be gained through cards or items.
Does translation really factor in overall game enjoyment of FF4 and FF6?I see those two with most mods/hacks for this issue, FF7 got one but I see it was made to follow steam's release.
Does translation really factor in overall game enjoyment of FF4 and FF6?I see those two with most mods/hacks for this issue, FF7 got one but I see it was made to follow steam's release.
to an extent. some ports are more faithful to the japanese script, the ds version of 4 is more Shakespearian with the script; the psx version has palom saying the word bastard when he meets cecil for the first time. it will mostly be up to your personal preference.
Does translation really factor in overall game enjoyment of FF4 and FF6?I see those two with most mods/hacks for this issue, FF7 got one but I see it was made to follow steam's release.
Not really, I mean the original translation of FF4 is clunky and you can tell it was translated by a Japanese person but it is still understandable. There are some minor errors though. And the Spoony Bard line that became a meme. I hear the Namingway localization of FF4 is considered the best out of the romhacks, but I haven't played it myself.
FF6 is probably the best official squaresoft localization at that time, made by the OG Ted Woosley. It has some quirky localization choices and some boomer language, but I find it very charming and nostalgic. There's some censorship and a couple of translation errors, but for the most part it is very faithful. With all the Nintendo of America mandated censorship, I was impressed with all the allusions to more adult topics they were able to sneak in. I will say, I have played a lot of "uncensored" FF6 retranslations growing up and they were all garbage. There might be a good retranslation of FF6 out there nowadays, but I haven't seen it.
Does translation really factor in overall game enjoyment of FF4 and FF6?I see those two with most mods/hacks for this issue, FF7 got one but I see it was made to follow steam's release.
I don't think any of the translations are so bad that they kill the vibe of their respective game. FF4 SNES seems the closest to being "game-ruining" in its general simplicity but even then I rarely hear of anyone saying it really hurt their ability to enjoy it.
As long as "son of a submariner" exists in FF6 translation its good enough I played the anthology version from CDromance well all FF games I played were installed from there it got that 10/10 intro and the crappy loading time but it was fine I didn't spot any weird or out of place wording I guess but I can't remember much since last I played FF6 was October 2024
you know something petty i dont like about the pixel remaster of the nes/snes ff's , that squeneix took out the optional content added in later rereleases. like i want to play soul of rebirth in ff2; be able to have yang cid, the twins, and edward in my party again in ff4; and have the stupidly broken pirate class at the end of ff5 again; and go thru the extra dungeons in ff1, ff2, ff4, ff5, and ff6. but they are just not there
am i alone in this? am i being entitled and toxic. please be honest with me
you know something petty i dont like about the pixel remaster of the nes/snes ff's , that squeneix took out the optional content added in later rereleases. like i want to play soul of rebirth in ff2; be able to have yang cid, the twins, and edward in my part again in ff4; and have the stupidly broken pirate class at the end of ff5 again; and go thru the extra dungeons in ff1, ff2, ff4, ff5, and ff6. but they are just not there
am i alone in this? am i being entitled and toxic. please be honest with me
No I agree, it's frustrating that Square Enix continues doing everything in their power to make sure there is no definitive version of these games. For anyone who's a purist it feels like the Pixel Remasters are as good as it gets outside of playing the OG games on OG hardware, but they really should have gone the extra mile and added in the bonus dungeons from the GBA and PSP versions of these games. It isn't a dealbreaker for me, but for $70 for all 6 it does come kinda close.
you know something petty i dont like about the pixel remaster of the nes/snes ff's , that squeneix took out the optional content added in later rereleases. like i want to play soul of rebirth in ff2; be able to have yang cid, the twins, and edward in my part again in ff4; and have the stupidly broken pirate class at the end of ff5 again; and go thru the extra dungeons in ff1, ff2, ff4, ff5, and ff6. but they are just not there
am i alone in this? am i being entitled and toxic. please be honest with me
no, you're not alone. i have the ff4 pixel game on my wish list on my switch, but i've been waiting for it to be very cheap when it goes on sale.
thanks to your info, i won't be prioritizing it very high up on the list. taking content out is very stupid, especially in this day and age. companies complain about piracy, but they bring it upon themselves. the extra dungeons, new jobs and other stuff makes it worth considering getting the new release. take it out, and what motivation does a new or returning player have to make a purchase with their hard earned money?
none. the answer is none.
you know something petty i dont like about the pixel remaster of the nes/snes ff's , that squeneix took out the optional content added in later rereleases. like i want to play soul of rebirth in ff2; be able to have yang cid, the twins, and edward in my party again in ff4; and have the stupidly broken pirate class at the end of ff5 again; and go thru the extra dungeons in ff1, ff2, ff4, ff5, and ff6. but they are just not there
am i alone in this? am i being entitled and toxic. please be honest with me
The reason is always time and money. Making a definitive version of each Final Fantasy game would require mashing together various versions of games across platforms and doing some serious work. Square Enix is in the business of being lazy and exploiting your nostalgia for the series by putting the least amount of effort into these projects. They probably took the NES/SNES versions of the games as base and spruced up the graphics and called it a day. If they had any respect for their legacy and the fans that brought them success, these remasters would be the definitive versions of their games.
Edit: Or maybe they could include different versions of each game for the player to choose. But again that would require them investing serious effort into this project. Square Enix isn't about that.
It's kind of understandable for games like FF1 and FF2 that have various bonus dungeons spread across several versions that drastically change the balance. Trying to backport them to make them work in the original game's mechanics would be a bit of a pain in the ass and for stuff exclusive to the 3D versions of 3 and 4 it requires time not just on making them work mechanically but also artistically. The issue is inevitable when Square spent decades porting these classic games and making such big changes everytime they did so.
As far as I know games like FF5 and FF6 haven't changed much from their original entries aside from script and bonus content so I'm sure backporting the GBA goodies for them would have been far simpler. It'll never happen but I guess the only real way to please everyone without just going through all of the effort to port the optional content into the PRs in the first place would be to just have these ports be available on modern hardware so people can experience whatever version they deem best.
The Pixel Remasters are definitely not as lazy as people lambast them for, but man the cut corners are extremely apparent. Remember that ugly ass font you had to use when they launched? Yeesh... Regardless of anything, I really feel like if they wanted to go as far as taking the original releases, painting over them faithfully whilst still allowing for new details to shine through whilst also adjusting each game's balance in small yet thoughtful ways to feel authentic yet more refined, you may as well go all the way and include the content from other versions too! I get that for most people who don't engage with RPG endgames it is a total nonissue, but man I just wanna have a definitive version of these games to tell people to buy without some asterisk next to it.
Take my favorite game of all time, Final Fantasy X (no one saw that coming!). It got a mostly stellar HD port, but with things like facial animations getting lost and weird skin tone changes on characters like Tidus along with a divisive new OST, it remains a non-definitive version of the game despite all of the positives it brings to the table. The ports that came after the initial PS3/Vita releases at least let you choose between the OG or the remastered music, which is nice.
Zodiac Age is the hands down best way to play FFXII so at least they've gotten it undeniably correct on one occasion... lol
Its quite disappointing to have the same game release ten million times and no significant changes added , proper lore for FF1 and 2 , and voice acting for all these games do it like diablo 2 where you can turn off voice acting and just read text for mr purists or something.
It be nice if they can remake all first 6 games with 3d graphics.....but if what I heard is true that FF7 remake being in the works since 2008 then I guess its going to be difficult to remake all these games why remake? Because why accept the bare minimum when its possible to turn these games into more? Now some will jump and as you know gamers optimistic attitude "but square enix will ruin it" just shut up for once huuuh gamers do nothing but say "X sucks" like bro the game isn't even out yet same story with GTA 6.....who knows? Maybe they mess it up or not and be better if not although idk if rebirth is a massive success then maybe one day I will see FF2 being good
ff1 does have some lore in dissidia/012. it was very interesting, and made me sympathetic to garland; which i didn't think was something that could be done.
ff1 does have some lore in dissidia/012. it was very interesting, and made me sympathetic to garland; which i didn't think was something that could be done.
No bro simply no....the game itself needs to have lore if it didn't hook you up on its story then why would you seek explanation somewhere else in an entirely different style of games? The game itself should tell me garland is x y z not get some lore more than 20 years after the game launched
FF1 and FF2 have plenty of lore. A lot of it was in manuals and supplemental material, as was common at the time of cartridges with limited space. Some of it was in the sparse dialogue in the game, though.
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