FF1&2

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 8:41 pm

Been playing the FF1 on the GBA emulator... so sad... Fighter, Black Belt, White Mage, and Black Mage! OH YEA!

Post by **Jonathan** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 8:49 pm

Wait, NES FF on GBA through emulation, or GBA FF on PC through emulation? Because NES emulation on GBA would pretty much solve all my entertainment-related problems on the train. Given that, it's probably the latter.

I was actually doing the DW3 thing recently, since I beat DW4, played most of DW1, and DW2 looks kind of crappy. Interestingly, I halted at the same place I stopped in the early nineties, by the Vampire Cats. Damn Vampire Cats.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 8:57 pm

2nd. Topic is FF1&2, which is a re-released compilation game on GBA. "Updated" graphics and such. I remember going thorough nearly the entire game without knowing that Black Belts did more damage with no weapon equipped

Post by **Jonathan** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 9:06 pm

First, you are a l0s3r and not nearly 0ldsk00l enough. You should emulate the originals!

Second, you must now dedicate yourself to beating the game using 4x White Mage. Excalibur and Masamune 4tehwin!

Third, FF2 was the FF that made the biggest impression on the me at the time. I think this was mostly due to playing it at a very impressionable age.

Fourth, 55x A+B! I only had the patience for that one using Turbo.

Fifth, does this post sound a lot like Vinny or what?

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 9:25 pm

If you're talking about FF2 on SNES, that's not the FF2 in the GBA. FF2 is the Japanese FF2 which was never released in the US. Since Vinny seems to have refrained from posting here anymore, here is a quick run down of FFs. You forgot to menion FFXI and some random equation associated with damage if you really wanted to post like Vinny.

JP FF1 NES = US FF1 NES
JP FF2 NES =
JP FF3 NES =
JP FF4 SNES = US FF2 SNES
JP FF5 SNES =
JP FF6 SNES = US FF3 SNES
JP FF7 PSX = US FF7 PSX
JP FF8 PSX = US FF8 PSX
JP FF9 PSX = US FF9 PSX
JP FF10 PS2 = US FF10 PS2
JP FF11 PS2PC = US FF11 PS2PC

I was forever scarred when Cecil was betrayed by his best friend Cain, the dragoon. I never looked at my spear weilding friends the same after that.

Post by **Jonathan** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:11 pm

Is that supposed to be "US FF2 SNES"?

Crap. All this time I've been living a lie. I somehow thought the following was true:

Jonathan's screwed up memory wrote: JP FF1 NES = US FF1 NES
JP FF2 SNES = US FF2 SNES
JP FF3 SNES =
JP FF4 SNES =
JP FF5 SNES =
JP FF6 SNES = US FF3 SNES
JP FF7 PSX = US FF7 PSX
JP FF8 PSX = US FF8 PSX
JP FF9 PSX = US FF9 PSX
JP FF10 PS2 = US FF10 PS2
JP FF11 PS2PC = US FF11 PS2PC

Admittedly, I always thought it was weird that they didn't have more NES sequels. Heh.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:19 pm

oops, yes. I have not the accuracy of a Vinny in regards to FF related info. edit-tid like a noob.

VLSmooth · Post by **VLSmooth** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:32 pm

Boo! ~_~

Not much for me to add, that's why I don't post.

Also, laziness is a force to be reckoned with! (or not)

Post by **Jonathan** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:49 pm

As a special treat, my ass-kissing review of FFX from January 21, 2002!

Review Corner: A Sin not to enjoy Final Fantasy X
by Jonathan David Pearce, Contributing Editor

This ain’t your older brother’s RPG.

Final Fantasy X is the first Final Fantasy released by SquareSoft solely for the Playstation 2. Final Fantasy is a venerable role-playing game franchise beloved by video game fans across the world. The latest from SquareSoft doesn’t disappoint. In Final Fantasy X, you assume the role of Tidus, a 17-year-old professional athlete, and attempt to save the world from Sin, a destructive force of massive power.

Set on just one DVD, this game features voice acting for all the major characters and many of the bit characters. Only nameless townspeople still speak in text. I initially played the game using captions to supplement the voice acting, but as I played more, I found the captions distracting. The voice actors are all good, though the voice of Auron is especially excellent. Do yourself a favor and turn off the captions; the voice acting can carry the game all by itself.

In addition, very little of the action in Final Fantasy X takes place in cutscenes, in sharp contrast to previous Final Fantasies. Instead of prerendered cutscenes, almost all the action and exposition is rendered in real-time using the game engine. The game engine is fairly adept at expressing emotion on the characters’ faces as well, though sometimes a generic face is used when something more complex would be appropriate. Paired with the voice acting, the game engine is very capable of telling a good story.

Final Fantasy X revolves around the story of two young protagonists, Tidus and Yuna, not unlike every recent Final Fantasy game. Tidus is an atypical Final Fantasy hero, as he always has something to say, no matter what. Surprisingly, however, while Tidus and another character, Rikku, contribute a great deal of obligatory lameness to the plot and dialogue, the other characters have serious and complex intertwined motivations. The arc of the story reveals these motivations as the characters venture around together.

The story unfolds in a pleasing manner. There aren’t any events, like Irvine’s anticlimatic sniper shot in Final Fantasy 8, to make you groan and roll your eyes. Tidus isn’t the brightest guy in the world and sometimes he will do or say something to make one laugh, but it’s more comic relief and less poor scripting. Attempting to eradicate Sin from the world is an intentional pun I could have done without, but that’s as bad as it gets. All the characters are really quite reasonable, and the bad guys do a decent job of trying to kill you where you stand. The major crises in the plot involve dogmatic religion and the nature of death. We’ve come a long way from trying to destroy Chaos and get the girl. Video games still aren’t Shakespeare, but you won’t be left feeling underwhelmed.

The new battle system has a depth to it evidently inspired by Final Fantasy Tactics. Battles are turn-based, with Agility and spell effects determining when a character or monster’s turn takes place. Some actions take less time than others. A fast character may have several turns before a slow character has one.

The new experience system, the sphere grid, is a distraction at worst and an interesting innovation at best. While it is unclear whether the sphere grid will be around to stay, the system does provide a high level of customization for every character. Character statistics are more important than ever before, as weapons and armor do not have intrinsic values but instead only effects. However, the more casual gamer may have difficulty turning his characters from their default paths and truly utilizing the sphere grid.

The major faults of the game are its pacing and its replay value. Like every other Final Fantasy, one must spend a significant amount of time in non-essential battles, gaining experience and journeying from place to place. Fans of action games like Metal Gear Solid 2 will cry foul at the intervals between exciting fights. Final Fantasy X is completely linear, like any Final Fantasy game. There are some secrets and three diversions: Chocobos, blitzball, and the arena, but not really enough to warrant a fresh start once you’ve beaten the game. After you’ve played through the 60 plus hours of the game, you’ll have more or less seen all there is to see.

Fans of previous SquareSoft games will be happy, though. The game lives up to the franchise name and is every inch a Final Fantasy. From summoning to stealing, elemental magic to big freakin’ swords, Final Fantasy X has all of the elements that have come to represent the series. All RPG fans will enjoy Final Fantasy X, and casual gamers looking for their first RPG have found that game.

Alright, not completely ass-kissing. Just mostly ass-kissing.

Post by **Jonathan** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 10:56 pm

While I'm on it, let me say that I think the FF8 Materia system is the niftiest. Though I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the spell shops of FF1. "You're saving the world, sir? Allow me to sell you NUKE for a very reasonable price!"

VLSmooth · Post by **VLSmooth** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 11:17 pm

Dwindlehop wrote:While I'm on it, let me say that I think the FF8 Materia system is the niftiest.

FF7 = Materia
FF8 = Junction System

Just a heads up.

Post by **Jonathan** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 11:20 pm

Heheheh.

Wait, what were the thingies you junctioned your weapons with in FF8 called, then?

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 11:30 pm

6 7 4 9 8 10 5 1 3 2 10-2

My Ranking!

VLSmooth · Post by **VLSmooth** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 11:31 pm

Not sure if they had a special name. Essentially, all junctions were spells.

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 12:38 am

Ahhh, FF8...the only FF that I played with the obsessiveness shown by Peijen and Vinny toward FF and Chrono Cross, respectively.

And since FF8 was nowhere near as deep as FF7, FFX, or Chrono Chross, I didn't have to spend quite as much time on it to supermax my characters. They should make more FF's like FF8, for players like me who want the most powerful characters but don't want to put forth the time and energy to get them.

Post by **Jonathan** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 12:58 am

All of life is a blur of Chocobos and huge swords at this point.

VLSmooth · Post by **VLSmooth** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:45 am

Alan wrote:Ahhh, FF8...the only FF that I played with the obsessiveness shown by Peijen and Vinny toward FF and Chrono Cross, respectively.

I still need to see the ending >.>
without self exiling myself <.<

Also, sorry (congratulations?), but you didn't come close to the depravity I sank to dealing with Pip. Just don't go there...

Post by **Jonathan** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 2:04 am

Heh, I still need to see the ending for FFX. I battered my way into Sin (or something, memory is fuzzy two years after the fact) but I didn't get to the last fight ever.

I actually tried about a week ago, but I couldn't slog my way through the last monsters before the end. I died, gave up, and played some more TOME whereupon I died again. I like dying.

Alan · Post by **Alan** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 3:41 am

I finally ended up beating FFX using one of Dave's savegames last year I think. So I saw the ending and had no idea what was going on because I forgot most of the plot.

George · Post by **George** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 4:13 am

Dwindlehop wrote:While I'm on it, let me say that I think the FF8 Materia system is the niftiest.

FF8's drawing system was probably the worst I've ever seen. Though, if you had nothing better to do, you could make your characters ridiculously powerful. I maxed my characters in FF7, 8, and 9. I didn't bother in 4, 5, and 6, though I did go get almost all the secrets. And I didn't finish 1 or 10, or play 2 and 3.

FFVII was made worse by the homgoenous chracters that lacked any personality. FFVI, VII, and IX were much better in that regard. I don't remember much about the FFIV characters except that my best black mage turned himself into stone leaving some crappy old man as my main spellcaster. I didn't finish FFX, but while it did have semi-differentiated characters, I still found I didn't care about any of them. And, with patience, all of the characters would have ended up the same anyway.

My ranking:
Best: 9 7 Legend3 6 5 Legend2 Adventure 4 MysticQuest 10 Legend1 Tactics 1 8 :worst