VideoGame_Discussion

Square: "We need to split Remake into three titles over twenty years because there's just so much content that needs to be redone."

Also Square: "Here's a whole bunch of extra unrelated content nobody wanted or asked for."

$25 for both FFXVI DLC's: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP0082...

Wait, Echoes of the Fallen already came out? ha, missed that ... next DLC is out in April.

$25 for both doesn't seem bad, but safe to assume they'll discount them later, and so much in the backlog, hrm...

The first DLC is pretty short. It has some good boss fights particularly on FF mode. You can also grab some good gear - but it’s obsolete early in NG unless you’re on FF mode.

Finally finished and platinum FFXVI

This one is a mixed bag. The story starts very slow and the pacing is a mess for quite awhile. When it does pick up- it’s a typical WTF is going on modern FF convoluted mess of existential philosophy and overlong dialogue that I mostly just wanted to skip through. It’s not helped at all by the fact that combat takes 3/4 of the game to really come together- and you don’t even have all skills or ability to mix and match any skill to your set until you “master” them with skill points- so you may never be able to do this on 1 playthrough.

The game is saved by the second playthrough- unfortunately it is a long game and rushing through / skipping cut scenes it still clocks in at about 30 hrs or so. The second playthrough ups the difficulty, opens up the inventory and crafting system and gives you access to all all skills and the ability to match any skill with any base eikon once it’s mastered. Leveling never feels like it really matters. Sometimes enemies are 10-15 levels ahead and still feel trivial. This game went from a 6/10 to an 8/10 for me after a second playthrough.

It’s unfortunate that they decided to lock the full experience behind a full playthrough- most likely won’t see it.

Another mistake imo is using the easy mode items they give you at the start. One of them automatically performs all dodges and pet skills, one of them allows you to just press 1 button to perform any move chosen by the CPU etc. these completely trivialize all but 1 or 2 end game encounters. The combat system is quite good and pretty fun once you learn it well. I’m thinking lots of folks used these and really dumbed it down made it boring.

Technically this game is one of the few that seems truly “next gen” this year. The visuals and seeing it in action are jaw dropping. The music is standard setting, the use of the dual sense is genius as you learn what each shake is queuing you up for. Seriously the battle music on certain bosses will give you chills.

The boss battles overstay their welcome frequently. I know this may be unpopular but damn- some of them require 30-45 minutes of play time to finish.

It’s a good game but does not feel at all like a mainline FF entry for me. It would have been a great spinoff or new IP. I can truly say I enjoyed FF XV better as a FF game. Lots of old standby enemies, spells, items, weapons- just are not here.

A great tech demo for the ps5.

You can mix and match eikon skills in first play. I didn't do a NG and I was able to do that, base game pre updates too.

I enjoyed the combat system for a decent amount of the game but after a while it was just so repetitive and boring that I turned on easy mode just to get through it.

Overall I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. Just go back to making final fantasies the way they used to be!

MrBean wrote:
Which games from the past would you want the series to resemble?

nonamesleft wrote:

Would love a true throwback to the SNES days with IV and VI.

We're already getting a VII Remake, but would love something that feels more like IX. I always pinned IX as the last of the truly great installments.

MrBean wrote:

Only if you master the skill fully can you use any skill with any eikon. You’d need to grind quite a bit to open most of it in first play. I did max out the ones I used. It took over an hour of grinding with accessories to get those. I didn’t have all skills maxed (not necessary at all but a trophy) until very end of final fantasy playthrough.

MrBean wrote:

IX is and forever will be my favorite FF. I was interested in FFXVI because it went back to the medieval vibe but from comments here and videos I’ve seen, it looks like they went a little too “grimdark” (for lack of a better term). Almost seems like they wanted to do a Dark Souls/FF mash up.

I need the fun, colorful world of FFIX or even X back. IX in particular just has such a balanced sense of humor that fits the characters, but can also bring the tone to a darker place during the more dramatic moments. I really wish they’d go back in that direction, and with classic turn based battles. It’s like they introduced Octopath Traveler to satiate classic FF fans — and those games do rule — but playing FF isn’t the same with the more action oriented gameplay.

MrBean wrote:
I've been wanting to play IX for a couple years now. Gotta return to VIII and finish that sometime.

Skip finishing VIII and play IX.

theJaw wrote:
😂

But I enjoy the card mini game.

Triple Triad for the win. I was thrilled to see it's all over the place in FFXIV.

nonamesleft wrote:

Man, I have still never finished VIII and it drives me insane. I think I'm on my 4th play of it when it was released as the HD remake on the Switch, I've got to have 30+ hours into it and I stopped playing when my second kid was born. I HAVE to go back and finish that, but now I feel like I need to start all over, again.

Renaissance2K wrote:

This. I spent hundreds of hours playing TT and collecting cards.

MrBean wrote:
I think if I continue I'll get back into it. I wouldn't want to restart. Have to collect all those cards again :P. (I'm thinking about the card mini game more than the progress I made in the main game itself)

Seriously, I spent too much time playing that card mini game compared to the main game itself.

Well, I can't see this doing all that well. It's been on my to do for awhile but zero desire to go to the Theatre for it.

---

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is Returning to Theaters

https://gizmodo.com/final-fantasy-vii-advent-child...

nonamesleft wrote:

Friggin Tetra Master for the win.

Tetra Master was so good, best FF mini game.

theJaw wrote:
I had to Google it. It's in IX. I didn't play IX yet. Still stuck enjoying the card mini game in VIII :)

the more we see about rebirth the less excited for even that i am. final fantasy may really be over :( I cant not play it at this point, but i am not liking much that im seeing. I know its a sequel playing into alternate realities and timelines merging due to sephiroths meddling, but still. I am just clinging to Kitase's words that the core is going to be there. maybe i am still just pessimistic from being disapointed in 16. do agree 16 would have been really good as a non final fantasy game.

I prefer walking in blind and not paying attention to the news about the content. If the reviews are bad I make a choice to avoid it or the game isn't something I would enjoy. Granted I still buy a lot of the lower quality games.

ued222 wrote:
Similar with how I approach games. I go even a step further. If it's a game I think I might want to play, I as much as possible avoid anything about the game. I'll decide if I don't like it by playing it.

Dunno. The combat system in the remake felt pretty darn good when it got rolling. That house battle was epic. I’m looking forward to more of it- it’s better / more fun than the old school turn based game imo.

I don't have a problem with the new combat system, other than the fact that there are ways to "break" it - like, Tifa being able to blow up stagger levels with her combos - that seem impossible to figure out on your own without (a) watching tutorial videos on YouTube, or (b) trying random bullcrap until numbers go brrrrr.

Then again, I feel like I have that problem with lots of modern games. FFXVI included.

Did yall know about this? Tetra Master Online. Oh happy day.

https://tetramaster.online/

theJaw wrote:

Pretty cool, but first round, they give you pretty crap-tastic cards, and half way through, the NPC appears to have locked up :(

Reloaded, and won. What a weird diverse set of cards ya get.

I've been playing FFXVI and I can't tell if I enjoy it or not. The story is interesting (GoT-style), but the action gameplay is fairly repetitive. VII Remake's battle system is much preferred by me. The side quests are lame.

Sun wrote:

The side quests are definitely an afterthought. A few later ones are better, and a few have pretty hard hitting stories. The combat absolutely improves as it opens up- but it’s not fully open until very late. They designed with intentions of two playthroughs and that was a mistake imo.

Insta-buy

Square Enix Final Fantasy IX: Vivi Bright Arts Gallery Figure https://a.co/d/axSCtaP

So beat ff16 last night.
Apparently I missed some interesting side quests with main characters. I hate how they handled side quests in this game. They start off really lame and the rewards suck that you aren’t really incentivized to keep doing them. And then apparently there are some rather good ones you do if you check your missives towards the end of the game

Anyways. The story was good, but every major twist was extremely predictable and I knew it was gonna happen or be a thing. Maybe that was intentional and they weren’t meant to be twists? Idk

Combat was great and terrible and the same time. Boss fights, hunters marks and 1 on 1 encounters were awesome, but the basic fights with mobs were boring and uninteresting. The Eikon fights were cool to look at but they were hyped up as each being totally unique and they just weren’t all that different from each other.

Can’t wait for ff7 rebirth! Never got around to playing the dlc for remake so gonna have to do that soon

https://www.siliconera.com/final-fantasy-xiv-the-p...

I wouldn't normally care - the last Final Fantasy wines I tried tasted like ass - but we drink a lot of The Prisoner in our house.

Shane12m wrote:

I'm in the last quarter of the game I think. I've done all the side quests and hunts as they've been made available because I'm OCD like that. Except for an S rank hunt where I got killed pretty quickly.

I agree about the combat. Only some bosses posed some challenge where you couldn't just button mash the whole time. The Eikon fights were just glorified set pieces to setup plot. They were pretty to look at though on my OLED.

Ditto about FFVII Rebirth. After playing XV and XVI, it really shows how great FFVII Remake was IMO. Intergrade is worth playing for sure.

Antoniodin Banderas was the first fight that gave me a significant amount of trouble. Up until that point, though, other than a few hiccups when I was still learning timing, the length of the fights was more oppressive than the actual difficulty.

Renaissance2K wrote:

Out of stock =(

It's not on sale yet.

Renaissance2K wrote:

Reading isn't my strong suit.

MrBean wrote:

This is back in stock if anyone is interested

I finished FFXVI over the weekend. I pretty much had been playing via remote play on my Steam Deck the last couple weeks.

The game was...okay. Very polished. Story was great to start..but then went the way GoT did (meaning not good). Side Quests weren't fun. Some of the story bits from the side quests were great. Great world building, but incentives not great. Hunts were easy. I much more enjoyed FFVII Remake.

The Rebirth demo dropped today. I was planning on waiting until the main release to play, but there are bonuses if you import save data from the demo to the retail game, so I changed my plans.

Calling it now: there's going to be some nigh-impossible trophy based around the

as the spiritual successor to the squat challenge in the last game. Super happy to see an old Final Fantasy tradition/trope revived, though.