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I imagine it's not the best idea to ask a forum called Caves of Narshe, but most of my friends from school and back home prefer 7 and 8 and consider those the pinacle of the series. I have a feeling they've never really tried out IV and VI, but that's just me being a snob and elitist perhaps.


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burger

I prefer FFIX and X over the rest.
I've played every one of them, but those two are the best IMO.
FFVI is overrated, FFVII is EXTREMELY overrated, and FFVIII needs to be more appreciated.

*nod*

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"Dance, water, dance!"
-Demyx, Kingdom Hearts II

"I met my love before I was born..."
-AFI, 'Love Like Winter' from 'Decemberunderground'

Currently Playing: Guitar Hero, Shadow of the Colossus

I think that may just be within your group of friends. I've seen many more votes against the recent ones than for them

Quote (Shinjutsei @ 22nd September 2005 19:39)

I prefer FFIX and X over the rest.
I've played every one of them, but those two are the best IMO.
FFVI is overrated, FFVII is EXTREMELY overrated, and FFVIII needs to be more appreciated.

*nod*

FF IX is very good, you know its basically all the FFs in one convienient package tho rite?

FF X sux, badly. its the only FF i dont cherish. it has good graphics and music, its just the
story and characters are horrible. tidus is the wimpiest swordsman ive ever seen.

FF VI is a very good and well developed Final Fantasy.

FF VIII is completly ignored even though its by far one of the best (tho i do miss MP)

FF VII is also good, and very involved, but they could have made barret cooler...

FF X-2? suked, hard worse than FF X! once again, good graphics (which dont matter to me as long as the story is good), good music, same crappy story and characters. they just needed too develop the story better. also defeats the purpose of a 'Final Fantasy'

old takes the cake in my opinion, by far

This post has been edited by dont chocobos rule? on 23rd September 2005 01:10

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

Really, it's about half 'n' half for me. FFVIII, which I am currently playing for the first time (I'm at Lunatic Pandora), is actually quite good in my opinion, and probably better than FFVII (but I'll have to finish it first before I'm sure), and FFX is my second favorite FF. FFVII was good too, and I have yet to play IX.

FFVI, on the other hand, is THE BEST FF game, FFV is jolly good fun even if the story was lame, and FFIV is a good, although I don't like it as much as most people. I, II, and III were good as well.

So basically, it comes down to X and VIII being really sweet and FFVI beating both of them while the other old games were slightly below. So yeah, it's about equal for me (although if I had to choose one FF game to play again, I'd pick an older one because they don't take as long. Dang non-skippable voice acting or FMVs...)

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The island bathes in the sun's bright rays
Distant hills wear a shroud of grey
A lonely breeze whispers in the trees
Sole witness to history

ICO-You were there-

Behold, laszlow's four-word opinion of all ten numbered FF games.

FF I: Somewhat dated old-school goodness
FF II: Bad leveling, tedious game
FF III: Why different character colors?
FF IV: Moon? WTF?
FF V: Jobs rule, plot doesn't
FF VI: Doesn't Esper mean "hope"?
FF VII: great game, slightly overrated
FF VIII: Salary? Set levels? Wha?
FF IX: great system, throwback setting
FF X: Tidus = Futurama's Fry?

So yeah, my favorite is VI (with IV, VII, IX, and X right behind in some undetermined ever-changing order) and my least favorite is FF II. FF VIII is one of those love-hate titles, usually, and I have to say I reallly like the first two disks. That's when the plot goes to **** and the god-awful junction system screws up at higher levels.

As for my friends, I'll quickly run an AIM survey of my video game-playing friends of what their favorite and least favorite FF games are and how many of the games they've played), using parts of their screennames as identifiers (i don't actually have friends that go by Panachino or Quackingston).

Panachino: Favorite is VI or VII, least favorite is VIII or X (has played IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and X)
Silver: Favorite is IX, least favorite is VII (IV, VI, VII, VIII, and IX)
Potatoboy: Favorite is VII, least favorite is IX (VII, VIII, IX, X)
Quackingston: Favorite is VI, least favorite is IV (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII)
Bob: Favorite is VII, least favorite is VIII (IV, VI, VII, VIII, IX)
Shroom: Favorite is V, least favorite is II (I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X)
C9: Favorite is X, least favorite is VIII (VII, VIII, IX, X)
speedofdark: Favorite is IV, least favorite is VIII (IV, VI, VII, VIII, IX)
SilentG: Favorite is X, least favorite is V (IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, X)
Mogro: Favorite is VI, least favorite is I (I, IV, VI, VII)

Interesting notes: VI and VII are the overwhelming favorites, and VIII is the overwhelming least favorite. III (which only Quackingston had played) and VI were the only ones never listed as a least favorite. VII was the only one that all of them had played. You derive whatever you want.

Edit

EDIT: I messed up some of the survey lists, man that took too long to gather and type up....

This post has been edited by laszlow on 23rd September 2005 03:20

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

Quote (Kane @ 22nd September 2005 18:01)

I think that may just be within your group of friends. I've seen many more votes against the recent ones than for them

That's because it's pretty much become a fad to hate the newer or newest FF game.

Personally, I don't really prefer. I like almost all the FF games except VIII but I think it's because I didn't really give VIII enough of a chance. I think they are all great games and I think the newer ones are overly bashed. Sure they may not stand up to the "classics" but they aren't terrible games. I think some people are just too stuck in the past and having a site that encourages that doesn't help. Not to say that I don't like the site, I do. But I don't know.......it just seems like a breeding ground for uppity game pickers to bash the new ones. I am willing to bet money, however, that if the newer FF games were released on a Nintendo system, they wouldn't get the bashing that they get seeing as how this site hosts a very pro Nintendoness.

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Elena Indurain

Currently Playing: Suikoden II

I don't think you can really know. Everyone has very different opinions. Some hate ff7, or think it's overrated. Others (me) love it and think it's one of the best. I really like some old school (ff6, ff4) and really like some new school (ff7, ff10.). The only ffs that I don't like are ff5 and fft.

Is fft old school or new school?

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I had an old signature. Now I've changed it.

Played: I, II (j), III (j), IV (IIus), V (j), VI (IIIus), VII, TA
Ranked in order of preference:
1. VI
2. V
3. TA
4. IV (tie)
4. VII (tie)
6. III
7. I
8. II

Counting VII and TA as new-school, and judging from my ranking, no, I don't seem to have much of a bias. Well, it actually seems more like that I have the most appreciation for SNES/GBA games, but why that's the case is for another topic. I feel no attachment or reason--through nostalgia, eye-candy, or new-FF-loving/hating, or whatever--to the idea that either newer or older FFs are better.

I haven't played most of the games that are considered new-school, like VIII, IX, or X, but I've seen X. Upon cursory examination, I cannot tell if I'd like X. For IX, I expect to dislike it because of the weirdness of character designs. I've heard a lot of criticism of VIII, but considering the soundtrack, and considering that all the characters actually seem human, I sometimes think that I might end up liking it. Keep in mind that I have NOT played any of these games; my conclusions here are merely guesses.

And Elena99: I'd consider Tactics new-school, by its timing.

Also, I've been at least once criticized for counting FFVII as new-school. Apparently, someone thought that it already counted as old.

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Notice: All that follows are my PERSONAL observations. May not be true, and I don't want people to start replying, saying "That's not true" or "I know people who...." or anything like that.


I have played all Final Fantasys 1-10 + T and TA

In my opinion, the new age Final Fantasys just didn't compare (except X which I loved, though I never tryed X-2)

From my experience, people that have been playing RPGs for a longer time, tend to like the older ones more. Those who only started to play it when FF7 hit it big, seem to think it was the best. Now, this doesn't apply to everyone, I know quite a few people who love FF7, but have never tried a single SNES Final Fantasy, and those that have hate it because "The graphics suck."

I remeber, as a kid, it really wasn't "cool" to play video games. Untill Playstation hit, it was more of a nerdy thing to do. Final Fantasy was big on SNES, but it wasn't BIG untill FF7.


My order goes as follows - FF4, FFX, FF5, FF6, FF3, FF1, then the rest. I really didn't enjoy any of the PS1 Final Fantasy. *shrug*

Two generations of Final Fantasy. Nintendo Generation, and Sony Generation. Nintendo is old school (1-6), Sony is new school (7-X, X2, T, TA [I know, Tactics advance is on a Nintendo system, but it is still new school, and shouldn't be considered oldschool])

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"And that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana-shaped” -Sir Bedevere the Wise

Personally, I can't even consider FFVI an old-school FF as it is so far ahead of its predecessors in terms of graphics and plot sophistication. As far as I can see, it was the first to take the developmental direction that the rest of the series has since continued on, for better or for worse.

Among the FF games I have played, 1 and 2 are too old-school for me tastes, 4 is pretty solid, but it kind of suffers from a generic old-school script, 6 is me second fave FF, jest behind FFT ( ), certainly liked 7, though it is a bit overrated (Sephiroth is HORRIBLY overrated), 8*, and 9 is probably me 3rd fave FF (the quirky graphics is one reason why, despite the fact that many others hate it ).

*All in all, I actually didn't think 8 was that bad. I liked the story and the consumable magic system was efficient enough. The only major gripes I had was how the junction system made some enemies next to impossible to beat (malboro... ) and I really hated the weapon upgrade system.

Having mulled all this over, I can conclude that, for the most part, I DO prefer the newer games.

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Console RPG Cliches

I found the characters in 7 and 8 to be very bland... they just felt very cold and boring. But perhaps the characters in IV and VI were similar and I just didn't notice it since I was very young and socially... immature when I first got into FFg ames.

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burger

I am an old skool gamer, so I prefer the pre-PSX/PS2 FF games.

Of the 'new' games I've played, so far that's been: FFVII and FFVIII. FFVII was okay and FFVIII wasn't very good. With that in mind, I can't really judge FFIX, FFX and FFX-2.

My list inorder of fav. to least fav. FFs

1. FFIV
2. FFVI
3. FFII
4. FFI
5. FFV
6. FFVII
7. FFIII
8. FFVIII


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kame, tortue, tortuga, schildkröte, tartaruga, turtle

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"Arthur Philip Dent?"
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yea i just don't like how big of a wuss Tidus is and how concentrated on girls FF X-2 is, girls are hot, but that doesnt mean its a great game

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Aujourdhui a commence avec toi.

I can't see any justifiable argument for placing FFVIII at the pinnacle of the series. I also can't explain why without insulting everyone who likes that game, so I'll just leave it there.

I really liked FFX. I think it almost deserves to be on the same level as FFIV and FFVI. Honestly, though, I consider that to be somewhat of a fluke. FFVII was merely okay, and I hated FFVIII, FFIX, and FFX-2.

In my experience, the people who prefer the newer games tend to be new to the series themselves. Most people who started off with the SNES games continue to prefer them.

This post has been edited by karasuman on 23rd September 2005 20:23

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

I figured it'd be best to describe my arrangement of ff's in a graph

Edit

IV and VIII are on the same level, it might look like they're are in slightly different placemant, but they are on the same level.

This post has been edited by Cloud_Strife510 on 23rd September 2005 23:16

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"Have you ever seen a baby do that before?"

Whatever games you played first tend to be your faves, to some degree. 7 can no longer really be called "new," as it's eight years old.

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Some ghost of me might greet my son
the day he is delivered.


Eternal Sleep, Track 1-1: The Blue Planet

I much defer (hehe, nobody will get that) the later FF games. I find that overall, the newer games are much more mature than the original ones, which leads to more intense character development.

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THE HOFF

Mine's somewhat of a mixed bag given my faves are VI, VII, and X.

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The Arcana are the means by which ALL is revealed.

I would say new school began with FF7. FF6 steered the series in a new direction and was very popular, but the the series had only a cult following and maintained a big emphasis on gameplay. FF7, on the other hand, turned Final Fantasy into a name recognized worldwide, and from that point forward the norms of Nomura, 3D graphics, mini-games, FMVs, etc. gave the series a noticeably different feel.

I personally lean more towards old school. That's mainly because I grew up with those games. Yet, FF7 is my favorite and I love FF9 (which I consider an old school/new school hybrid that prob fits more appropriately into new school).

I don't limit myself simply to playing old school games, and I don't think people with a preference for either old or new school limit themselves to their preferred era. Granted, a lof of fans jumped onto the bandwagon with FF7, but how many of those fans went back to check out the history of the series? I would say a good number, and I would say many of them found games within the old school period that they liked. Likewise, it doesn't seem like a lot of the old school fans have given up on the series entirely. We may be older and grouchier and long for the "good old days," but we still love FF enough to talk about it.

I'd also like to suggest that with the departure of Sakaguchi we are headed towards a third age of Final Fantasy. I fear that this newest age might stray so far from what I love about Final Fantasy that I lose interest (esp. if Crystal Chronicles and X-2 are to serve as any indication) but that's just the pessimist in me. It will be interesting, however, to see if the FF generation gap stretches any further.

This post has been edited by MetroidMorphBall on 26th September 2005 00:17

I don't particularly prefer the new Final Fantasy's... Probably because the 'newest' one I've played is FFVI

If I tried playing the new FF's, with all the multi discs I would have to do... I'd probably get bored really, really quickly. But, that's just me, as I get distracted by anti-simple things. ¬_¬

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John: So you don't want your screen saver to come on for another four hours?
Me: Where does it say that?
John: Here where it was 240 minutes.
Me: Is that four hours?
John: Yeah, 60 X 4.
Me: Is that four hours, though?
John: ....They'll never take you back in school.

xD;

Final Fantasy 5,6 and 7 are all my number ones, though part 6 ranks higher than the other two. My second favorite would probably have to be part 8. The first FF game I played was part 7, along with part 8, then 9, then 6, 5 and 10. Sure, FF7 was good, but I always consider 6 to be my favorite, even though it's one of the last ones I played. Part 10, I dunno, I really liked it, but I just hated the end boss (too g*damn easy) and the ending, and that really ticked me off.

But back to the point on hand, the people that say the newer ones were best are either Graphic Junkies or have never even played the Pre-PS games.And there's no excuse for not being able to play it, due to the fact that they have been re-released for the PSone.

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The Cait Sith Avatar has Returned!

Check out my DeviantArt profile! ....If you don't mind that is

The series is pretty much dead and depending on how good the next one does, it could decide the fate for Japanese RPGs for years to come. With all the new features and changes they made the game, it could either make or break it. It will do good regardless, the series does have a large fan base even though they lost a good number of it, depending on the feedback could change or alter the series and like I said most Japanese RPGs.

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His Divine Shadow

Got Lexx?

Click to vist FFF.

I like em al in a way but if i were to rank em from best to worst here: ikinda prefer some of the new FF's
1. FFIX (Best FF ever!)
2. FFVII
3. FFT
4. FFX
5. FFVI
6. FFVIII
7. FFTA
8. FFI
9. FFX-2
10. FFII
11. FFIV
12. FFV

This post has been edited by GamblingCat on 28th September 2005 13:34

Quote (His Shadow @ 28th September 2005 06:57)

The series is pretty much dead and depending on how good the next one does, it could decide the fate for Japanese RPGs for years to come. With all the new features and changes they made the game, it could either make or break it. It will do good regardless, the series does have a large fan base even though they lost a good number of it, depending on the feedback could change or alter the series and like I said most Japanese RPGs.

How is the series dead? Anything with the name "Final Fantasy" tacked onto it instantly sells a million copies. They're going to keep churning out new games as long as they have that kind of brand appeal, and while the latest games might be sucking that away from older fans, plenty of new gamers are joining the ranks of the FFVIII fans and taking our place.

Most Japanese RPGs aren't based on Final Fantasy. If Final Fantasy flounders, other titles will fill the void.

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Veni, vidi, dormivi.

Quote (karasuman @ 28th September 2005 09:47)

How is the series dead? Anything with the name "Final Fantasy" tacked onto it instantly sells a million copies. They're going to keep churning out new games as long as they have that kind of brand appeal, and while the latest games might be sucking that away from older fans, plenty of new gamers are joining the ranks of the FFVIII fans and taking our place.

Most Japanese RPGs aren't based on Final Fantasy. If Final Fantasy flounders, other titles will fill the void.

The Final Fantasy series is the basis to what all RPGs are and how the work and perform since the original came out. The system they used has been integrated and used for almost twenty years now. Games have used it and succeeded for years.

Now new games have come a long and are using different features, some better and some that are not quite as good but the series’ that have used the same system of the Final Fantasy series and even the Final Fantasy Series itself is abandoning all it’s features and adopting another one, not well liked.

Yes there will be a new generation of gamers but the Japanese RPG market has declined. No longer do they create the top games, the west does and has been for a couple of years now. The change they used is welcome in new games but when you rip apart a series and change it, that’s bad, people don’t like change to what they know.

It’s kind of like when they changed the original Coke’s flavor. People love the original more.

However, people don’t like the new jaspanese game makers ideas. We don’t buy or like there games, not even the Japanese Market does. So what do they do, they reinvent popular series and change it so people can view there work .

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His Divine Shadow

Got Lexx?

Click to vist FFF.

Quote

The Final Fantasy series is the basis to what all RPGs are and how the work and perform since the original came out. The system they used has been integrated and used for almost twenty years now. Games have used it and succeeded for years.

Nope. While Final Fantasy is very likely one of the most influential game series there is, the Dragon Quest series set the mold for Japanese RPGs and has always been more historically popular in Japan than the FF series. Dragon Quest VIII was the bestselling game in Japan last year, making Level-5 the third-most successful developer in the world last year, despite having released only one game.

Quote

Now new games have come a long and are using different features, some better and some that are not quite as good but the series’ that have used the same system of the Final Fantasy series and even the Final Fantasy Series itself is abandoning all it’s features and adopting another one, not well liked.

Maybe by you. Final Fantasy XI is the second-most popular MMORPG of it's kind (it's ahead of Everquest II, somehow), maybe third if Guild Wars builds up more steam. FF X can not be considered anything besides a resounding success. It was on Japanese and US bestseller lists for over a year, sold millions of copies, and has been on Gamefaqs top ten PS2 boards lists and faq lists for nearly four years. So yeah, the new FF style isn't "not well liked." It's true that a lot of conventions devised by the FF series have been spread around, but FF still remains one of the most popular RPG series around, and definitely the most popular in the US.

Quote

Yes there will be a new generation of gamers but the Japanese RPG market has declined. No longer do they create the top games, the west does and has been for a couple of years now. The change they used is welcome in new games but when you rip apart a series and change it, that’s bad, people don’t like change to what they know.

What the hell are you talking about? Western games have their in-cliches every bit as much as Japanese games do, and there is no proof to indicate that they have been producing the top games "for a couple of years now." The most successful Western game companies in recent years are EA, Midway, Vivendi Universal, THQ, Atari, Take Two, and Ubisoft, if I'm not mistaken (I'm not including Microsoft because their games division produces only consoles). Saying that they are on the level of Nintendo, Capcom, Namco, Square-Enix, Sony, Sega, Konami, and Tecmo is arguable, but Western companies have no been clearly ahead of the game in recent years as you make it out to be. There is plenty of success and innovation across the board.

Quote

It’s kind of like when they changed the original Coke’s flavor. People love the original more.

However, people don’t like the new jaspanese game makers ideas. We don’t buy or like there games, not even the Japanese Market does. So what do they do, they reinvent popular series and change it so people can view there work .

I beg to differ. Resident Evil 4 reinvented the S-H genre and is a strong contender for Game of the Year by almost every publication out there. Final Fantasy X, Tales of Symphonia, and Suikoden III are all superb sequels within classic series with both critical acclaimed and financially successful. Nintendo's personal sub-studio Intellgent Systems and independent developer Nippon Ichi have only just recently started to release their strategy games worldwide, but they are quickly beginning to dominate the strategy-RPG market. Handheld games have also been dominated by Japanese developers for the past two decades, and the awesome puzzlers Lumines and Meteos are possibly the best games of their genre since Tetris. And while I'm at it, I dare you to find me a more original recent game concept than Katamari Damacy that has had the unexpected success of KD.

Western developers have had a lot of recent success in the console RPG genre market recently, particularly BioWare, Blizzard, and LucasArts/Obsidian. however, the RPG market is still heavily Japanese-centered. 2006 will probably be one of the biggest years for Square-Enix in awhile, with KH 2, FF XII, Grandia 3, and DQ VIII. If those games are flops (and DQ VIII has already proven to not be one), then it's a bad sign for Japanese RPGs, but right now, it's still looking pretty good.

The way you seem to suggest that fans prefer old school FFs suggests that we're in a dark age of gaming, when the truth is that we're entering a new golden age the likes of which we haven't seen since the mid-90s, and developers across the world are taking part, with no particular Western concentration. Final Fantasy is trying to bring new edges and directions to the series, and the resounding success of FF X and moderate success of FF XI set up Square-Enix to high expectations and a very important year in 2006. FF XII is a huge question mark, but it's difficult to say how it's going to turn out right now.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

i personally prefer ff 1,7,8,10,4,tactics
so many people can love all of the different eras of final fantasy it is not like the new one are better then the old or vise versa because at the same time you have to remember that the new ones had to have a place to start.

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Why is it that rpg's are now a dying breed?

Quote (Electricbassguy @ 22nd September 2005 18:40)

I imagine it's not the best idea to ask a forum called Caves of Narshe, but most of my friends from school and back home prefer 7 and 8 and consider those the pinacle of the series. I have a feeling they've never really tried out IV and VI, but that's just me being a snob and elitist perhaps.

I know how you feel

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Neneko is Neneko because Neneko couldn't be Neneko if Neneko wasn't Neneko!
--as quoted from Neneko, Mahoraba {Heartful Days}

I can stab a man with a thick paperback book thru the ribcage.

i try not to be one of the people thats a classic ff purist, ive played ff1-9, and beaten all of them. most of the things people complain about the later ffs, i think is just nagging.(IMO at least) i think they all have great stories, the one i need to play is 10(which requires a ps2 ), and from what i heard, has a good story.(onion kid doll as a weapon an added plus!) i try to focus on the positive things in the games, not nitpick about every little bad thing in them.

after they made a direct sequel,(10-2??) i just kinda lost interest in the newer games. ff11 is an MMORPG, and ff12 is going to be a real time rpg. i really think SE is getting off track with the ffs, in my opinion, i dont think theyll ever be as good as they once were...sigh...i know theyre trying to try out new things, but still...meh.

of course, even if they , to me, aren't as good as the 10- ones, theyll still sell a gazillion copies.

but thats my opinion, so please dont maul me.

This post has been edited by Zeromus_X on 15th October 2005 20:19

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