My personal (modern) Final Fantasy journey
This will document in what order I have played or not played the Final Fantasy games and how they impacted my taste in video games over the years.
I will add games I have not played as well since I was affected by these games even if I didn't play them. This is not about rating every Final Fantasy game, there are far better lists for that.
EDIT: I found the magazine that started it all!
http://cetraconnection.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/anim_ff7-1.jpg
http://cetraconnection.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/anim_ff7-2.jpg
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I have never played this game, however it would be wrong not to include this game as it is the first FF game I have ever seen.
I never owned an SNES, at the time I was busy figuring out the Amiga. But a bunch of my friends had them and I can remember clearly seeing this game and being fascinated by it. At the time I didn't even know it was a Final Fantasy game or what that meant.
I must have been around 10 years old.
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So I grew up playing games on the Amiga, but it was when I got the original Playstation when I started to understand what video games were capable of.
At the time, Final Fantasy VII was so far beyond anything I had ever seen a game do, it was nothing short of a revelation. The story, the overworld, the length, the depth of the combat system, it took me a few years to fully grasp everything (I didn't understand the materia system for a long time).
It also took me a few years to actually finish it. I remember getting stuck in some pyramid with no way back and no backup save without replaying a huge chunk of the game. FFVII taught me a lot.
This game set my expectations in video games for years to come.
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Obviously I was extremely excited for the sequel to what was then my favorite game ever.
But I didn't ever finish this game, not even to this day. While I have revisited many FF games that I missed over the years, this one is still stuck in my backlog.
I still remember this game very clearly because I had a lot of friends who played and loved it, but for whatever reason I never played very much of it. Maybe other games were already more interesting, maybe the game was too long hard or frustrating or maybe it was the story and the characters that kept me from finishing it, I'm not sure anymore. I do remember hating Squall.
Whatever the case, I remember playing it for a good while until just dropping it.
Yet I still have very positive memories of balamb garden. The introduction to this game is very strong. The Intro cinematic is still incredible. I will get back to this game.
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One of my favorites in the series.
After the disappointment of FF8 this game had so much to like. It had a charming fantasy setting, this was new to me since I got introduced to the series with the sci-fi world of 7 and 8.
Almost all of the characters were immediately likable, the story was interesting and I really liked the combat and skill system. Learning skills through equipment was a lot of fun for me.
This was still when I was in school so just buying games was always an issue. I rented a lot of games back then. I rented this game, got fairly far, returned it and didn't finish it back then. A trend that would continue for me for many years.
I did come back to this game though.
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This was the big split for me. Because of this I did not play many Final Fantasy games for a bunch of years.
Final Fantasy X is not a bad game, I realize this now. However back then it represented so many drastic changes and I was very stubborn about it.
I did play some of it just because my friends absolutely loved it. I played some blitzball for them, watched them play, but I didn't want to play it myself.
I hated the linearity of it, I hated that it didn't have an overworld, I disliked Tidus, I didn't like the world. This game was not for me.
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I didn't own a Playstation 2 myself at the time and I didn't hear a lot of good things about this game.
Since I was already off the bandwagon after X, I didn't have much interest in playing this game.
It's the only (modern) FF game I have not played once. However now I am very curious and I am looking forward to the remaster to give this game a fair shot.
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(For PS3) The biggest disappointment so far.
This is not a bad game. I have to mirror what I said about Final Fantasy X, the similarities are very striking. This game just wasn't for me.
I loved the combat system! But I hated the story, I hated Lightning, I hated the linearity and I hated it (still) not having an overworld or some kind of player agency.
This time it was different though. This game was a long time coming, they teased it for years, the trailers looked amazing, and thematically it looked like a return to a sci-fi setting like FF7. Everyone was extremely excited, which made the disappointment that much worse.
I played about half of it and couldn't stomach it any longer. I usually never sell my games, but I sold the copy to my friend who enjoyed the game much more than I did.
I thought I was done forever with this game, maybe even with the franchise.
But I was wrong.
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After Final Fantasy 13 I turned my attention to other games for the most part. There wasn't really another FF game on the horizon for a very long time anyway. There were whispers of Versus 13 and of course all the Lightning Spin-Offs, but I didn't pay too much attention.
The Final Fantasy game I played the most during that time was surprisingly an MMO! I could never really get into MMOs, though I did like trying out many of them. I never played FF 11 either.
It took me a very long time with long breaks in between but I did finally manage to finish the main storyline of this game, treating it as a single player game for the most part. It probably renewed my interest in the franchise quite a bit.
I still play it on and off every now and then.
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(on PC) Like I said, I wasn't quite finished with the franchise just yet.
The release of Final Fantasy 13, 13-2 and Lightning Returns on PC had me excited. While I really didn't like 13, I actually heard a lot of good things about 13-2 and Lightning Returns over the years and I was always curious to try them out.
But there was still one hurdle. I had to finish 13 first, there was no way around it.
This was about 6 years after the original release, so I came to the game with a fresh mind and more experience.
I still didn't like it much. I finished the game however and I appreciate it for what it is. Most of my original criticism still stands, but I had enough fun playing the game to get me excited for what was about to become a deep-dive back into Final Fantasy.
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I really liked this one a lot.
I love time-travel plots, so this was right up my alley from the get go. I also enjoyed the fact that I was finally able to choose where I wanted to go again! Being able to tackle missions in any order was a big plus for me.
I enjoyed the game thoroughly. It's not a mainline Final Fantasy game for a good reason, but that's fine. It didn't outstay its welcome and I finished the game, which was a good feeling.
I completed another FF game, only half a dozen or so to go!
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Now I was on a roll.
Another time travel focused game (sort of). I liked this one almost as much as I liked 13-2, planning ahead to finish the game on the first play-through was a little scary at first, but it worked out well enough.
The game got extremely hard at the end all of a sudden though. That last boss is one of the most annoying things I ever had to fight.
Now that I had licked blood again, I needed more.
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What better place to continue than with a game I loved but never finished.
I played this on IOS, which is a surprisingly good port! I know the IOS ports of FF are hit and miss, but this one is genuinely good.
I spend about 2 or 3 weeks playing the game in bed and finished it fairly quickly. The game absolutely holds up, the mechanics are fun and the boss battles are not super hard making it one of the least frustrating Final Fantasy games. It's just such a charming game.
I am super glad I revisited it. What should I revisit next?
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With the release of Final Fantasy X/X2 on PC, it was clear what to play next.
I will say that I struggled a little to get going with this game, but in the end I enjoyed it quite a bit.
While many of the criticisms I had about the gameplay are still valid and I was reminded how similar it is to FF13, I genuinely enjoyed the story and characters which made playing through this game a breeze.
Despite all of the things I don't like about it, returning to Spira was a pleasure.
I finished the game, so I promptly continued with ...
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Certainly a weak entry into the franchise, but I still enjoyed it for its lightheartedness.
The combat system in X-2 was very enjoyable, it actually reminded me (again) of 13. Collecting and leveling up all the different dresses was fun, the story was alright, but not great.
Again, the ability to choose where I wanted to go, even if it was largely comprised of the same areas that I already saw in X, made a huge difference. Even if the freedom of choice is mostly an illusion and doesn't change the story in any way, it's an important factor for me. People who say that FF7 is just as linear as 13 don't understand how important it is to just go off the beaten track every now and then.
I have now finished all of the modern Final Fantasy games, except for 2. The remaster of Final Fantasy 12 is coming out in 2017, so this only leaves one game to play until FF15 arrives very very soon.
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It's time to finally tackle this.
I have downloaded the game on steam, added some higher-res textures and button overlays and everything is ready to go. Now I just have to start playing.
For whatever reason I am having difficulty getting into it, it's probably just all the games being released this time of year.
I plan to finish this game before 15 comes out, so I still have a few weeks to go.
Let's see if I manage to do it, or if I drop the game half-way through once again.
