will you buy new Final fantasy games ?

[ewdotson]

Palom and Porom in Baron

But then, you have the bit immediately prior to fighting the Giant, which robs the various characters' sacrifices (particularly Palom and Porom's) of their emotional weight. That still pisses me off, decades later. It's a major part of why I'm in the camp that prefers VI to IV.

 

[Tweak155]

But then, you have the bit immediately prior to fighting the Giant, which robs the various characters' sacrifices (particularly Palom and Porom's) of their emotional weight. That still pisses me off, decades later. It's a major part of why I'm in the camp that prefers VI to IV.

Mine. Not my best but I'll take it.

 

[exdeath]

But then, you have the bit immediately prior to fighting the Giant, which robs the various characters' sacrifices (particularly Palom and Porom's) of their emotional weight. That still pisses me off, decades later. It's a major part of why I'm in the camp that prefers VI to IV.

Yeah... Same with Celes waking up on the beach again... hate when games do that. Big tragic emotional scene, then OOPS JUST KIDDING!!!

 

[Imported]

Many will say I'm just old and shit changes blah blah. Or that its rose colored glasses and nostalgia for the first games I played just like FF7 was their first.

I know its the games and not me. Know why?

I never played Xenogears on PS1 when it was out. I only played it for the first time recently well into the PS3/360 generation in my 30s.

Never played it before, no nostalgia right? Playing a 10 year old terrible looking PS1 game for the first time in this modern age.

It became my favorite game of all time by a wide margin, easily eclipsing everything else retro and modern alike, dethroning Final Fantasy IV, and THAT was no easy feat let me tell you. The story is just mind blowing. It had lasting effects on me in real life for months after the end credits left me in shock. I spent weeks with my nose in the book Perfect Works. Just saying or hearing the name Deus still causes the hairs on my neck to stand. Its easily one of our greatest literary masterpieces and stands with the best of Shakespeare, etc.

There was a point in the game where I went O.O and immediately had to save and reset and watch the intro video 10 times in a row once it hit me what's been going on all this time. Truly stunning.

I replayed VII just to give it a fair chance. Meh. It was the first Final Fantasy game I had since day one and never completed back in the day. It just didn't grab me in that edge of your seat at 3am under the covers way that FF4 and Xenogears did.

Xenogears remains one of my all time favorite games. I need to replay it.

 

[exdeath]

I played it on a PS2 on a 1080p projector.

I need to replay it properly on a PSOne on my RGB CRT.

Even insignificant little things like Big Joe's side story is humbling and really overwhelms you with the scope of the game.

Spoiler

Just something about meeting someone who lived 4000 years ago has a way of making you feel small. It really hits home when you discover the Zeboim ruins from which time period he lived, and he goes back there to open his store to sell gear parts,like he's back at home.

 

[Tweak155]

I keep hearing how awesome Xenogears was but you had to get past the gameplay. Opinion?

 

[Imported]

I found nothing wrong with the gameplay..

 

[exdeath]

I keep hearing how awesome Xenogears was but you had to get past the gameplay. Opinion?

Play it nao.

 

[Tweak155]

Play it nao.

I have a PS1, PS2 and PS3 and only LCD TV's. What's my best option? Playing PS1 games on my PS3 actually isn't half bad...

 

[exdeath]

I have a PS1, PS2 and PS3 and only LCD TV's. What's my best option? Playing PS1 games on my PS3 actually isn't half bad...

PS3 might be superior to PS2 for PS1 games. Software emulation can be tweaked, where you're stuck with glitches in hardware implementations.

I'd say PS1 on a CRT for era correct experience, but then load times...

Honestly whatever works if youre not a purist like I am.

 

[Tweak155]

PS3 might be superior to PS2 for PS1 games. Software emulation can be tweaked, where you're stuck with glitches in hardware implementations.

I'd say PS1 on a CRT for era correct experience, but then load times...

Honestly whatever works if youre not a purist like I am.

Nah not a purist, but I will take the best option available to me at the present.

 

[Aikouka]

I was reading an article on IGN about why Versus XIII was renamed to XV, and I saw an even more interesting remark in it. I'll put it in a quote for accuracy:

but what of the decision to make the former-PlayStation 3 exclusive available on Xbox One in addition to the PlayStation 4? "Previously we proceeded with the development based on the capabilities of consoles like the PS3," he revealed. "Now, though, we're developing on DirectX 11, not based on the PS4 or the Xbox One. This lets us develop full-spec without worrying about individual platforms, then port it to each console in the most appropriate way. As a result, the original Final Fantasy XV runs on a pretty high-spec PC, and how close a console gets to this original depends on its specs."

"The idea is to keep our options open; if a console comes out in the future that can recreate the original, we can handle that. It's the opposite approach from your typical 'multiplatform' project which bases itself on the specs of a single console. Currently [a PC port would] require a pretty expensive PC, but if we get a lot of people in the future who want to play it with full specs, I think we can discuss supporting that."

It's interesting to see the difference in Square-Enix's development for the game. Essentially, they're saying that they're using a high-end PC as the top-end and tweaking it (i.e. possible reduction in features) depending on the console. The part that I was really curious about is that they may make a PC port that's the most stunning of all. Although, I am curious why they keep saying that it requires a high-end machine when they're willing to reduce graphical fidelity for a console but not consider options to reduce effects on a PC. PC games usually have graphic options to help the game run on a wide variety of machines.

 

[smackababy]

I was reading an article on IGN about why Versus XIII was renamed to XV, and I saw an even more interesting remark in it. I'll put it in a quote for accuracy:



It's interesting to see the difference in Square-Enix's development for the game. Essentially, they're saying that they're using a high-end PC as the top-end and tweaking it (i.e. possible reduction in features) depending on the console. The part that I was really curious about is that they may make a PC port that's the most stunning of all. Although, I am curious why they keep saying that it requires a high-end machine when they're willing to reduce graphical fidelity for a console but not consider options to reduce effects on a PC. PC games usually have graphic options to help the game run on a wide variety of machines.

I think what they are saying is they don't want to dumb down the version unless they have to, and for the PS4 / Xbox One that obviously has to happen. But, releasing it on PC would require high end specs (think min requirement of like a 660ti) which cuts out like 80% of the PC market. Realistically, they are targeting 60 FPS @ 1080p, and depending on how many sparkles their spells have, that could push PCs pretty hard.

 

[cmdrdredd]

It does not say "may make a PC port" they say "currently it would require an expensive PC but if there are a lot of people in the future who want it, they can discuss it"

Nothing about that says "we're thinking of releasing on PC too"

 

[Aikouka]

I think what they are saying is they don't want to dumb down the version unless they have to, and for the PS4 / Xbox One that obviously has to happen. But, releasing it on PC would require high end specs (think min requirement of like a 660ti) which cuts out like 80% of the PC market. Realistically, they are targeting 60 FPS @ 1080p, and depending on how many sparkles their spells have, that could push PCs pretty hard.

I just think it seems silly that they're willing to acknowledge that the consoles may need reduced graphical fidelity because of hardware limitations and tune the game accordingly, but for a PC release, they seem to ignore that PC games provide manual tuning options to adjust to hardware limitations. It's an unwillingness to accept the variable nature of PCs.

It does not say "may make a PC port" they say "currently it would require an expensive PC but if there are a lot of people in the future who want it, they can discuss it"

Nothing about that says "we're thinking of releasing on PC too"

That isn't exactly a very good semantics argument. The word "may" expresses a probability, but my remark doesn't state what might push them toward doing it. It's supposed to be inherent if you read the quote, but the other takeaway is that since the game is already being developed with the PC as the target platform, a lot of the work should already be done. Having to port the game to the PC for a potential small market sounds a lot worse than polishing an existing compiled version for a potential small market.

 

[exdeath]

http://arcadesushi.com/games-square-enix-should-be-making

Square-Enix is kind of like that kid in school who always tried too hard to be cool. They are constantly updating their beloved franchise with action elements and systems that appeal to an American audience. However, this is exactly why they are failing. Square was beloved because they brought something different to the market. The Call of Duty fanbase will always prefer Call of Duty to Final Fantasy. But the Final Fantasy fanbase doesn’t want to see shooter elements or button mashy action game systems. They want Chocobos, menus, equipment, towns, and fighting against an ultimate evil in a last ditch attempt to save the world.

Pretty much this.

 

[alangrift]

I keep hearing how awesome Xenogears was but you had to get past the gameplay. Opinion?

I enjoyed it a lot. I think it is well worth playing. The gameplay wasn't the best though.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I enjoyed it a lot. I think it is well worth playing. The gameplay wasn't the best though.

Yea, I had to restart Xenogears a number of times before I got into it, the first hour of the game is just....bad. Even for the PS1 the graphics were horrible...


...but once you got into it, you fall in love with the game and the gameplay isn't as bad as it seems because the battles are actually fun. I recently just ran through it again (first time I was 65 hours in when my save file disappeared 🙁 ).

I would recommend playing it on an emulator though because you can kind of pretty it up some.

 

[Sulaco]

Yea, I had to restart Xenogears a number of times before I got into it, the first hour of the game is just....bad. Even for the PS1 the graphics were horrible...


...but once you got into it, you fall in love with the game and the gameplay isn't as bad as it seems because the battles are actually fun. I recently just ran through it again (first time I was 65 hours in when my save file disappeared 🙁 ).

I would recommend playing it on an emulator though because you can kind of pretty it up some.

Wha...?? No, they're not. For PS1, they're pretty damn good. The 2D/3D hand-drawn feel has aged faaaar better than most pure 3d games of that era, and the art style fits the game well.



As far as the original question about "gameplay", I thought the battle system was better than most JRPGs of the time. Keep in mind that there are quite a few segments with A LOT of text. A LOT. Upwards of half an hour or more of dialogue. This is especially apparent towards the end of the game, where the developers had to try and condense the story-telling into dialogue as much as possible due to time and financial restraints from Square.

Personally, I don't mind that at all. Good dialogue and story exposition trump needless battles and crap any day of the week. But yes, it can be a lot of reading. Luckily, the story is worth it.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I seriously hated the blocky character graphics, and still do. Just preference I suppose. I even preferred the FF7 graphics to Xenogears.

 

[cmdrdredd]

The problem I had with xenogears is the "walk two steps and get a random battle" concept. When I got to the point that I one or two shotted everything I got highly annoyed witb this.

 

[exdeath]

The problem I had with xenogears is the "walk two steps and get a random battle" concept. When I got to the point that I one or two shotted everything I got highly annoyed witb this.

I don't recall that problem, but then again I hit lvl 99 and was fighting gear sized creatures on foot. Funny watching teeny tiny Fei and Citan assraping and body slamming a giant dinosaur 10 stories tall and the expression of the dinosaur is like "oh god make it stop let me run!"

 

[exdeath]

I seriously hated the blocky character graphics, and still do. Just preference I suppose. I even preferred the FF7 graphics to Xenogears.

I made the mistake of judging a book by its cover... I never played Xenogears cause it looked pretty bad and the artwork even looked like a typical 733t AzN Sephiroth/Akuma worshipping Jet Li + giant robots blue LED earring wearing dudebro wank off fest that was starting to become the mainstream on the Sony platform at the time.

How SOOOOOOOO wrong I was. I want to go back in time and beat myself to death for passing it up.

I cant even watch the intro video anymore without my heart skipping a beat and sinking.

Xenogear's story is a literary and gaming masterpiece that will likely never be topped.

Doesn't change the fact that it's a clunky half 2D half 3D non-perspective correct unfiltered affine texture mapped 240p mid 1990s mess that was rushed mid way and practically left incomplete at launch, but its worth it. :awe:

 

[exdeath]

Playing FFIII on DS.

If this is a faithful port of the NES version that we never saw, then DAMN this is impressive. This is one long big ass game for a NES game.

Stupid stupid stupid move Square for not bringing it here.

 

[diesbudt]

http://arcadesushi.com/games-square-enix-should-be-making




Pretty much this.

I agree completely.