The Final Fantasy Series

[Edwin]

CT is the only Square game I might like better than FF6. Relatively small cast of characters that are interesting throughout, great color palettes, fun story with good, simple time-travel. I totally agree with dubq on the double and triple techs--that the composition of your party actually influenced which of the high-level attacks you could use was a tremendous wrinkle. The seamless transition between the overworld and the combat was great, too.

Regarding the price: I remember it going for as much as $85 new when it came out, with almost nowhere having it for less than $70. I think the week after its release I saw it on sale for $57.88 in a Walmart circular and made my mom drive me over there immediately. Even though I didn't really know what a fist pump was back then, I may have given myself one.

 

[Sabre]

Ive had Chrono Trigger on my R4 since its Jap release and ive yet to play it .

In regards to Kingdom Hearts, did you find the second one to be a letdown JHawk? As much as I loved it, I just felt like everything was trying to be overly complicated.

 

[Psycho Penguin]

Final Fantasy III was a great game. The job system debuted there, even if it kicks way less ass than it did in V. Worth a playthrough.

I can't believe someone in this topic called Chrono Trigger a "souped up Secret of Mana". What the fuck? I guess maybe graphically, MAYBE, but seriously? Comparing those 2 completely different titles?

 

[Czech]

Well excuuuuuuse me.

Chrono Trigger's soundtrack isn't in the same league as 6, 7, 4, and SoM, but "Time Circuits" is super good. I can listen to that one indefinitely.

Chrono Trigger - Enhasa (Time Circuits)

 

[Star Ocean 2]

Chrono Trigger's soundtrack is Yasunori Mitsuda's first, so it makes sense that it wouldn't measure up to the more experience Uematsu. He proved he's one of the best with Chrono Cross, and another game...Xeno something...

If you like Secret of Mana's music, you must hear Secret of Mana +.
http://squarehaven.com/features/albums/?id=NTCP-5031

The SaGa series is another one that has great music. Pretty much everything Square gets overshadowed by Final Fantasy, but the SaGa composers Kenji Ito, and later Masashi Hamauzu produced some of the company's best. Hamauzu particularly may be the single most technically proficient composer in games.

 

[Psycho Penguin]

Chrono trigger's soundtrack is dope. Battle with Magus, and the opening intro song (I think it's just called "Chrono Trigger"). Time Circuits is fantastic, too. Most of the overworld themes were.

 

[Smues]

Bullshit Chrono Trigger's soundtrack isn't on par with the other games mentioned. It was the first game where I liked the music enough to hunt down a copy of the soundtrack. I think I paid like $40 from some Japanese website, but damnit it was worth the money and hassle.

Re: Chrono Trigger. I'll still take it over any Final Fantasy game. It was a few years until I got my own copy, but I rented the holy fuck out of that game. I mentioned importing the Japanese soundtrack above, well I also imported the japanese PS1 port because at the time I didn't know that it was going to get a US release. The only complaint I've ever had about the game is that it's too short. I highly recommend the DS port to anyone with a DS. It's even got two new dungeons, one of which doesn't suck!

Re: Gold chocobos. Once I got my first colored chocobo (can't remember if it was green or blue) then everything else went smoothly, but damn it took me FOREVER to get my first non-yellow chocobo. I just about cried when I finally did it right and saw something other than yellow on the birth screen. I got a great feeling of achievement when I finally got the gold one. KWEH!

Re: Final Fantasy III, it's surprisingly fun, even if it can't compare to future entries in the series. I've never played the original NES version, but for those with a DS I highly recommend picking up the remake, which is the only American version of the game. I think it goes for like $20 these days so it's not a bad deal at all. Although if you're looking for character development you'll be disappointed.

Re: Kingdom Hearts. Really loved the first one, enjoyed the second one, thought the GBA one was ok but not worth playing more than once, as the card battle system really holds it back. The second one had far too many cut scenes that broke up the game play, but not enough to seriously hurt the game. And having Sephiroth as the hidden boss that you need to level the fuck up to beat is always fun.

Re: Dodging 200 lightning bolts. I did it once, I'll never even bother to try again. Having to grind for something I'm fine with, but having to dodge 200 flashy things in a row for some one who quite possibly has ADD is a bunch of shit.

 

[Black Lushus]

Chrono trigger's soundtrack is dope. Battle with Magus, and the opening intro song (I think it's just called "Chrono Trigger"). Time Circuits is fantastic, too. Most of the overworld themes were.

Whatever theme that is when you battle Tyranno is a good one. You hear it again when you fight another giant dinosaur boss later on inside a volcano.

 

[Czech]

That Secret of Mana+ thing sounds like it'll sound awesome. Clumsy phrasing there, but I had to clearly indicate that I didn't hear it yet. Thanks, though!

Reading up on the CT soundtrack, apparently Mitsuda's hard drive crashed and he lost a ton of stuff he was working on, leading him to crash (he got really bad ulcers), which meant Nobuo had to finish it up. That's a bummer. It's not without its merits--come to think of it, that one world map piece with the piano line was really good--but maybe the comparative lack of time I spent with it meant that I never really developed any sort of connection with it. Now Secret of Mana, that stuff all takes me back to the summer of '95, owing in part to just how summery the whole soundtrack was. The Balinese influences and pervasive upbeat nature really make it a lot different from the Nobuo soundtracks, which are probably a bit more comprehensive in their influences.

 

[Czech]

My ten favorite Secret of Mana songs in no partic order:
I think this was in the town where everyone was a zombie.
pretty sure this was a Flammie song.
other Flammie song.
something early in the game. RPG goes twee.
I think this is the one where you keep killing Rabites till you get into the village.
no wait, it was def this one.
this and the two before it make a cool little suite of bouncy summery music. The cool stuff about knowing these three and being a little kid was that you could play it in your head when you were exploring forest preserves or nature trails or shit like that and feel like you too were gonna kill a buncha Rabites.
ice forest? Something icy?
I guess it's a little dopey and New Age-y but the way the instruments don't quite line up like you'd expect them to makes it sound neat. This was for the Water Palace, right?
CLANG

EDIT: fuckin I don't want to embed ten videos anyway, Simple Machines board. Geez.

 

[Psycho Penguin]

Chrono trigger's soundtrack is dope. Battle with Magus, and the opening intro song (I think it's just called "Chrono Trigger"). Time Circuits is fantastic, too. Most of the overworld themes were.

Whatever theme that is when you battle Tyranno is a good one. You hear it again when you fight another giant dinosaur boss later on inside a volcano.

Ah, I think that is called Legendary Battle. I can't believe I didn't mention that song, I really like it.

Boss Battle (2): Chrono Trigger Music

 

[vivisectvi]

My favourite theme from Chrono Trigger.. and maybe even my favourite piece of gaming music period.

Battle with Magus: Chrono Trigger Music

 

[Jingus]

I liked Chrono Trigger a lot. Hell, I've still got my copy of it sitting approximately seven feet to my left, even though by now it's held together by scotch tape. I didn't love it quite as much as the Final Fantasy games of the day, but it was a perfectly acceptable alternative to fill up the wait until the next FF release. (Unlike the aforementioned Secret of Evermore. HOLY FUCK that was terrible.)

In terms of music, I think that's another area where X often got unfairly slept-on. Uematsu was trying a whole bunch of wacky stuff which was very different from his usual work, and I appreciated the experimentation.

Also, was there any clue in the game that you could uncurse the Cursed Shield, or did we all just get that from the guides? I loved the Illumina and so I tended to turn the Ragnarok magicite into the sword, but the 255 battles with the Cursed Shield to make it the Paladin Shield so I could learn Ultima was up there with chocobo breeding as far as Stupid Final Fantasy Grinding goes.

Even I, the most level-grindingest bastard with utterly no life to ever waste years upon that game, never uncursed the Cursed Shield. Illumina was great, but it wasn't worth wandering around for two hundred and fifty-five freaking battles to make up for not getting Ultima earlier. The game did say that you could uncurse the shield, but I don't think it ever provided any details as to how.

 

[bigolsmitty]

I remember when I was a kid that the infiltration of Magus's lair and the confrontation w/him seemed absolutely epic at the time...and then you realize you had only scratched the surface wrt the story.

 

[Cerebus The Aardvark]

So, I've been playing FFVI for the last few days, and my opinion remains the same: it's definitely middle of the road in the series. The characters, which most people love, are endlessly annoying, including Kefka.

So, yeah. Maybe I am just a curmudgeon, but it's a stupendously average RPG.

 

[Czech]

You're mostly wrong, but I never got the whole Kefka thing either. Was he a general? A court jester? Why does he turn into an angel at the end? He was a pretty annoying character, though I liked his song.

 

[oldskool]

You're mostly wrong, but I never got the whole Kefka thing either. Was he a general? A court jester? Why does he turn into an angel at the end? He was a pretty annoying character, though I liked his song.

Spoiler

He was a court jester who went mad upon being infused with Magic. He volunteered for it, so maybe it was his way of making a power grab.

Essentially, through the infusion, the absorption of espers & Magicite (Thamasa incident), and the destabilization of the Warring Triad (end of Floating Continent), he became the "source" of all magic in the world; this is why he has a colossal tower and becomes angelesque: he's become a god.

 

[KOAB]

FF VII and VIII are what got me into RPG games... I remember hating IX when I got for X-Mas and played it for maybe 4 hours and never went back to it until a year ago when I went through all the games again.

X is great, even with all it's flaws and how linear it is. At times I felt like I was playing a movie, and imo... it's the best soundtrack out of all the Fantasy games.

IX would be my new favorite Fantasy since trying it again. I guess I couldn't get used to a non brooding, emo like main character when I was younger.

VIII... I'm one of the few people who likes the drawing system for magic... only problem is it made the game way too easy when you could link it up with your stats... but that's cuz I used to just draw and not use most of my magic so I could have all those stats. That's about all the praise I have for this one now... oh, I liked Seifer's storyline.

VII... it was the epic RPG and great marketing that was the first game which got me and a lot of people around my age into RPGs at the time. I don't know what it says though when I wish anyone else would of been the main character in that game, than Cloud. Vincent, Cid, Barrett, Yuffie, Tifa... I would of been more interested in those people as the main, even Red.

I didn't care too much for 12... nowadays I'd rather play a Suikoden, Wild Arms, Front Mission, Baten Kaitos, Ogre Battle, Persona, or SaGa Frontier game. I guess I can always look back on FF for getting me into RPGs... but I just find all of them overrated and having too many faults.

 

[Czech]

You're mostly wrong, but I never got the whole Kefka thing either. Was he a general? A court jester? Why does he turn into an angel at the end? He was a pretty annoying character, though I liked his song.

Spoiler

He was a court jester who went mad upon being infused with Magic. He volunteered for it, so maybe it was his way of making a power grab.

Essentially, through the infusion, the absorption of espers & Magicite (Thamasa incident), and the destabilization of the Warring Triad (end of Floating Continent), he became the "source" of all magic in the world; this is why he has a colossal tower and becomes angelesque: he's become a god.

See, I was under the impression that Celes, Kefka, and Leo were generals in equal standing, and Kefka just happened to look like a joker. Oh well. Also, I think the Japanese are fascinated with Western religious imagery but don't totally grasp it, the same way we do a half-assed job trying to understand Buddhism or Confucianism.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I seem to remember Kefka getting a promotion to general during the game (a couple of soldiers talk about this at one point). He is given command of the army outside of Doma after Leo gets recalled to Vector, and then later leads it on an attack on Narshe.

 

[Sabre]

VII... it was the epic RPG and great marketing that was the first game which got me and a lot of people around my age into RPGs at the time. I don't know what it says though when I wish anyone else would of been the main character in that game, than Cloud. Vincent, Cid, Barrett, Yuffie, Tifa... I would of been more interested in those people as the main, even Red.

Clouds storyline is quite epic over the course of the game. He goes from being a really cocky hardass Ex Soldier, to slowly becoming delusional then depressive, then finally realising his true memories fights in the honor of those whom gave their lives so he could be there.

Aka emo.

 

[Psycho Penguin]

VII... it was the epic RPG and great marketing that was the first game which got me and a lot of people around my age into RPGs at the time. I don't know what it says though when I wish anyone else would of been the main character in that game, than Cloud. Vincent, Cid, Barrett, Yuffie, Tifa... I would of been more interested in those people as the main, even Red.

Clouds storyline is quite epic over the course of the game. He goes from being a really cocky hardass Ex Soldier, to slowly becoming delusional then depressive, then finally realising his true memories fights in the honor of those whom gave their lives so he could be there.

Aka emo.

He has NOTHING on Terra in FF6 yet no one ever brings her up. Hell, Celes tried to off herself. FF6 is the original emo RPG.

 

[Sabre]

Indeed, FFVI is the queen of emo, but it never really got the fan following that FFVII got. Probably due to 7 being the first really mainstream Final Fantasy to be heavily promoted everywhere because of it being a flagship PS1 title.

 

[Star Ocean 2]

Does any sign of emotion or drama in characters have to be considered emo now? What does it even mean?

 

[Sabre]

Emo basicly came to the mainstream following the wave of nu-metal. Its a subculture of wannabe goths whom act like they hate their lives and seek attention. They also listen to very depressing punk rock music.

Cloud was emo as midway through the game he starts hating everyone and everything and doesnt give a shit until he gets a kick up his own arse.

 

[KOAB]

Dissidia: Final Fantasy opening/intro

Fuck is this?

 

[Smues]

I think this song sums up emo pretty well.

http://emosong.ytmnd.com/

 

[Sabre]

Dissidia: Final Fantasy opening/intro

Fuck is this?

If i remember correctly, the gods of heaven and hell are having some problems, and each call upon the services of the good and bad final fantasy characters respecitvly to fight in MORTAL KOMBAT to decide whom wins.

 

[AndrewTS]

By the way, Dissidia is not a fighting game, it's "Dramatic Progressive Action"!

(Aka, Square is pretentious and full of shit/ it's a fighting game with lots o' cutscenes in it)

 

[Psycho Penguin]

Cloud was emo as midway through the game he starts hating everyone and everything and doesnt give a shit until he gets a kick up his own arse.

Yeah, he had no reason to be mad whatsoever.