The Video Game Thread - anything and everything...

[HeartBlade]

Yeah. They showed Cid and Vincent, so getting at least to those parts.
I've heard rumors it ends with Aries' death (if they even kill her this time?) But that still ONLY cover the first PlayStation disc.
So like 10% of the original game was remake, so its like the next 40 to 50 percent needs to ne Rebirth, so the last part and ending can be part 3.
Just seems like they are going about this wrong, or at least rather odd.

I still think a lot needed to be cut from Remake and probably could have gotten that first part to Junon. Then, get on the ship, fight Jenova, and THAT be the the final boss for Remake and save Sephiroth for later. Then this new game starts in Costa Del Sol.

Agree although I get it. Sephiroth is a huge selling point so no Sephy is going to make the more casual fans mad (even though Seph doesnt really appear until mid-way with his power mostly being shown like slaying the zolom that one shots your party assuming no power leveling).

Remake essentially ends with leaving Midgar which is maybe half of disc one (its been a while but may not even be that). Square doesnt need to be held to the trilogy format but they are going to either have to speed things up or cut storylines from the remake to get to the end of the story in a reasonable time frame. Also kind of feel that FF7 didnt need a remake (8 would have been more useful given the game had some good ideas but a broken battle system and some story threads that could have used some tweaking).

There are rumors of FFXVI DLC, a FFIX remaster, and KH4 so still tons of new content in the pipeline though.

I do wish Square returned to their roots of JRPGs and worked more on expanding the system like they did with Chrono Trigger or 8. Playing through Like a Dragon 7, its honestly quite fun but the system is still too simple and flawed compared to even FF6. Square really are the masters of JRPGs and while modern audiences do love more action games, Square leaving RPGs would hurt that specialization imo.

 

[JediMichael]

Agree although I get it. Sephiroth is a huge selling point so no Sephy is going to make the more casual fans mad (even though Seph doesnt really appear until mid-way with his power mostly being shown like slaying the zolom that one shots your party assuming no power leveling).

Remake essentially ends with leaving Midgar which is maybe half of disc one (its been a while but may not even be that). Square doesnt need to be held to the trilogy format but they are going to either have to speed things up or cut storylines from the remake to get to the end of the story in a reasonable time frame. Also kind of feel that FF7 didnt need a remake (8 would have been more useful given the game had some good ideas but a broken battle system and some story threads that could have used some tweaking).

There are rumors of FFXVI DLC, a FFIX remaster, and KH4 so still tons of new content in the pipeline though.

I do wish Square returned to their roots of JRPGs and worked more on expanding the system like they did with Chrono Trigger or 8. Playing through Like a Dragon 7, its honestly quite fun but the system is still too simple and flawed compared to even FF6. Square really are the masters of JRPGs and while modern audiences do love more action games, Square leaving RPGs would hurt that specialization imo.

I really want to check out Sea of Stars, as I have heard its quite good. Starts slow, but picks up they say.
But yeah, I want to see more of the turn based type games over these action ones.
The only reason they finally did 7 was so many fans whining about it, that they realized they might as well, plus all the money to make from it. 7 has become their cash cow now.
When you think about it, the whole game having Sephiroth , and its only his spirit in a way going through Jenova. That was one of those weird and a bit confusing parts of the game where, after not playing for a while, I forget how it all goes.
I think 6 would be nice to have a remake, but, only if they do not change the story at all and just expand the city areas and at the most, new NPCs.
But, not sure Square knows how to actually give the fans what they want, at least us old school ones.

 

[HeartBlade]

I really want to check out Sea of Stars, as I have heard its quite good. Starts slow, but picks up they say.
But yeah, I want to see more of the turn based type games over these action ones.
The only reason they finally did 7 was so many fans whining about it, that they realized they might as well, plus all the money to make from it. 7 has become their cash cow now.
When you think about it, the whole game having Sephiroth , and its only his spirit in a way going through Jenova. That was one of those weird and a bit confusing parts of the game where, after not playing for a while, I forget how it all goes.
I think 6 would be nice to have a remake, but, only if they do not change the story at all and just expand the city areas and at the most, new NPCs.
But, not sure Square knows how to actually give the fans what they want, at least us old school ones.

Yeah 7 is easy money although I personally felt FFX was better. I guess the transition to 3D was big and 7 didnt age that well graphic-wise to warrant a remake although the gameplay is still great.

RPGs, or at least JRPGs, seem to not be very popular anymore. Persona is the rare exception and Like a Dragon is adopting that style (although hedging bets by keeping the Judgement series still focused on action). Kingdom Hearts is quite popular as an action game and the western market does seem to prefer more action games given the prevalence of FPS and western RPGs also tending to be more action focused (Elder Scrolls and Fallout are the big examples imo, maybe Baulders Gate but thats more DnD from my understanding). Square is also keeping their RPG routes somewhat with Dragon Quest and more new minor IPs like triangle strategy and Octopath iirc but im not sure I want to try them out tbh. I guess i can give them a go but I like the FF staples of chocobos, gil, and minigames adding with ways to push the JRPG system forward (although still think Chrono Trigger is king).

 

[JediMichael]

Yeah 7 is easy money although I personally felt FFX was better. I guess the transition to 3D was big and 7 didnt age that well graphic-wise to warrant a remake although the gameplay is still great.

RPGs, or at least JRPGs, seem to not be very popular anymore. Persona is the rare exception and Like a Dragon is adopting that style (although hedging bets by keeping the Judgement series still focused on action). Kingdom Hearts is quite popular as an action game and the western market does seem to prefer more action games given the prevalence of FPS and western RPGs also tending to be more action focused (Elder Scrolls and Fallout are the big examples imo, maybe Baulders Gate but thats more DnD from my understanding). Square is also keeping their RPG routes somewhat with Dragon Quest and more new minor IPs like triangle strategy and Octopath iirc but im not sure I want to try them out tbh. I guess i can give them a go but I like the FF staples of chocobos, gil, and minigames adding with ways to push the JRPG system forward (although still think Chrono Trigger is king).

I also really liked 10. A lot of people hated it though.
FF6 and Chrono Trigger, my top RPGs, if not games of all time.
And the reason I have so much artwork for it.
I do want to get some FF6 artwork, just haven't found any I like so far.
Maybe just the main logo with the Magitek armor silhouette.

 

[Paul Andrew]

I also really liked 10. A lot of people hated it though.
FF6 and Chrono Trigger, my top RPGs, if not games of all time.
And the reason I have so much artwork for it.
I do want to get some FF6 artwork, just haven't found any I like so far.
Maybe just the main logo with the Magitek armor silhouette.
View attachment 1769098

I have a piece of FF6 art that I really like. Check out Dave Rapoza. He has a patreon where you can download digital files and print them yourself. I have one from FF6 and one from Super Metroid on my wall.

 

[Paul Andrew]

Yeah 7 is easy money although I personally felt FFX was better. I guess the transition to 3D was big and 7 didnt age that well graphic-wise to warrant a remake although the gameplay is still great.

RPGs, or at least JRPGs, seem to not be very popular anymore. Persona is the rare exception and Like a Dragon is adopting that style (although hedging bets by keeping the Judgement series still focused on action). Kingdom Hearts is quite popular as an action game and the western market does seem to prefer more action games given the prevalence of FPS and western RPGs also tending to be more action focused (Elder Scrolls and Fallout are the big examples imo, maybe Baulders Gate but thats more DnD from my understanding). Square is also keeping their RPG routes somewhat with Dragon Quest and more new minor IPs like triangle strategy and Octopath iirc but im not sure I want to try them out tbh. I guess i can give them a go but I like the FF staples of chocobos, gil, and minigames adding with ways to push the JRPG system forward (although still think Chrono Trigger is king).

I've been mourning the move toward action games over my beloved turn based JRPGs for a bit. FFXVI doesn't even feel like FF anymore, despite the chocobos and periodic musical cues.

I'll probably finish it someday, which is more than I can say for XV.

And VI is tops.

As for Rebirth, I'm kinda thinking they will go right through what would have been equivalent to the end of disc 1, and then the third game will go to the end. IIRC in the original game there wasn't much to do by the time you got to the 3rd disc besides wrap up the finale and beat the Weapons if you were a crazy person.

 

[Riceball]

RPGs, or at least JRPGs, seem to not be very popular anymore. Persona is the rare exception and Like a Dragon is adopting that style (although hedging bets by keeping the Judgement series still focused on action). Kingdom Hearts is quite popular as an action game and the western market does seem to prefer more action games given the prevalence of FPS and western RPGs also tending to be more action focused (Elder Scrolls and Fallout are the big examples imo, maybe Baulders Gate but thats more DnD from my understanding). Square is also keeping their RPG routes somewhat with Dragon Quest and more new minor IPs like triangle strategy and Octopath iirc but im not sure I want to try them out tbh. I guess i can give them a go but I like the FF staples of chocobos, gil, and minigames adding with ways to push the JRPG system forward (although still think Chrono Trigger is king).

I don't know, I'm seeing a lot of ads and listing for both RPGs and JRPGs (or at least JRPG looking) out there. Of course, just because they're out there doesn't necessarily mean that they're popular, but still popular enough that they're still being published.

 

[HeartBlade]

I've been mourning the move toward action games over my beloved turn based JRPGs for a bit. FFXVI doesn't even feel like FF anymore, despite the chocobos and periodic musical cues.

I'll probably finish it someday, which is more than I can say for XV.

And VI is tops.

As for Rebirth, I'm kinda thinking they will go right through what would have been equivalent to the end of disc 1, and then the third game will go to the end. IIRC in the original game there wasn't much to do by the time you got to the 3rd disc besides wrap up the finale and beat the Weapons if you were a crazy person.

True. Im still interested in FFXVI because of the producer and its apparently a well-made game but it didnt do too hot in Japan either due to straying from its RPG roots a bit too much. I am waiting for a "complete edition" since apparently there will be DLC for the game. It isnt the mess FFXV is though although that was kind of a cursed project.

Square Enix’s ‘Final Fantasy XVI’ Sales Lead To Stock Price, Profit Decline

During a post-earnings call to analysts, as reported by Bloomberg, Square Enix says that expectations for Final Fantasy XVI sales have not been met, citing "slow adopt...

www.forbes.com

Hard to really tell since SE sales expectations tend to be whack though (Tomb Raider survivor trilogy didnt "meet expectations" despite good reception and outselling previous entries).

I thought about it too but FF7 does have quite alot of story after disc 1 as well. Its may not be as memorable (possibly because alot of people only played disc 1 lol) but there is return to home town for the Nibelheim incident, finding out about the Jenova project, finding out about the clones, battling Jenova (which is end of disc 1 I think), Gold saucer, going through Cosmo Canyon and Red XIII dad story, meeting Cid at Rocket Town, meeting Vincent and Yuffie, Temple of Ancients for meteor, temple for holy, awakening the weapons, going to North Crater and finding Seph:s real body, Cloud falls into lifestream (and into FFT) and his true backstory reveal, weapons invasion, then confronting Seph one last time.

I do think Rebirth needs to cover up to Temple with the last disc covering until the end and cutting out disc 3 grinding and extra stuff like weapons and maybe OP materia like knights of the round becoming DLC. Apparently Rebirth is going to be two discs so its possible if the third entry is also like 2 or 3 discs too.

I don't know, I'm seeing a lot of ads and listing for both RPGs and JRPGs (or at least JRPG looking) out there. Of course, just because they're out there doesn't necessarily mean that they're popular, but still popular enough that they're still being published.

There are RPGs but concepts like taking turns in battle and the ATB system seem to be pushed aside. ATB is pretty much gone (although that could be because its a Final Fantasy staple) and Persona seems to be the only trad JRPG that gets traction (technically also Pokemon if you consider that an RPG). Looking at the top selling games for 2023, they are all open world action games or sports games.

The 20 Best-Selling Games Of 2023 In The US (So Far)

It's been another big year for games.

www.gamespot.com

What's The Best Selling Games This Year? - Best Selling Games 2023 So Far - Insider Gaming

Some of this year's best-selling games have sold tens of millions of units, but which are the best-selling games of 2023 so far?

insider-gaming.com

Top Selling Video Games of 2023 So Far

2023 has been an exciting year for game releases. Major titles, like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Diablo IV proved to be just as amazing a...

apptrigger.com

 

[Paul Andrew]

FFXVI is fun, but it's not what I wanted out of an FF game. I think the last one that really succeeded for me was XII, even with the weird MMO combat system.

 

[JediMichael]

Having not played any of the online FF games, I think 10 was the last FF game to have a pretty good story. From there, each entry has felt watered down. 12 had some good ideas, but over all, didn't have that same impact earlier ones had. I remember someone saying he story was basically, "we need to prove she is the princess, so lets go to this side of the planet to get a sword....oh wait, that didn't work, lets go to THAT side of the planet to get one...nope. Ok, go beat bad guy, the end."
Its been a while since I played it, so I forget a lot about it.

As for 15, I've been saying its more like a group of friends going on a bunch of side quests with a little bit of actual story here and there.
The princess he was suppose to go marry had so little screen time, you really never get to care much about her as a character, which doesn't do the story any favors at all.

I have heard pretty good things from 16, but when I had only saw the trailers before hand, nothing looked appealing at all to me.

I also just finished FF1 on the Pixel Remaster. I enjoyed it. Although, glad you can turn off battles and have a map, as there were a lot of areas, that ended up being total dead ends. FF1,2, and 3 did that a whole lot.
Playing on the original systems would have gotten a bit annoying after a while.

 

[janglesworthy]

I replayed doom for the 30th anniversary along with doom 2 and some Duke Nukem 3D. They still hold up. What I really enjoy is how clear the AI stands out against the background vs a lot of games that share the color palette on their environment as they do their enemies.

 

[Nth]

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes preview embargo lifts today.
Easy Allies has a nice in depth preview.

 

[HeartBlade]

Having not played any of the online FF games, I think 10 was the last FF game to have a pretty good story. From there, each entry has felt watered down. 12 had some good ideas, but over all, didn't have that same impact earlier ones had. I remember someone saying he story was basically, "we need to prove she is the princess, so lets go to this side of the planet to get a sword....oh wait, that didn't work, lets go to THAT side of the planet to get one...nope. Ok, go beat bad guy, the end."
Its been a while since I played it, so I forget a lot about it.

As for 15, I've been saying its more like a group of friends going on a bunch of side quests with a little bit of actual story here and there.
The princess he was suppose to go marry had so little screen time, you really never get to care much about her as a character, which doesn't do the story any favors at all.

I have heard pretty good things from 16, but when I had only saw the trailers before hand, nothing looked appealing at all to me.

I also just finished FF1 on the Pixel Remaster. I enjoyed it. Although, glad you can turn off battles and have a map, as there were a lot of areas, that ended up being total dead ends. FF1,2, and 3 did that a whole lot.
Playing on the original systems would have gotten a bit annoying after a while.

I think a big problem with XII is the story is told from Vaan's perception and he is quite remote from the main crisis. It would be like Yuffie from 7 being the "main character" while we watch Cloud do his thing. Apparently Square originally wanted an older male hero (like Basch) but he was worried his old age would alienate audiences. Given that proposed sequel Fortress would have had Basch as the protagonist, I do think they saw the error of their ways there. I do think the story itself is quite interesting and more "mature" compared to the basic bad guys are terrorizing us, lets get em.

XIII I need to play and am planning to.

XV was honestly development hell and they probably wanted to get it out and done with. Originally meant to be versus XIII and part of the "XIII mythology" about crystals and then reshaped as its own entry (probably so the work didnt go to waste), its also seems hobbled together with what they had given that the "full" story is essentially told through the cartoon, movie, game, DLC, and final books which actually tell an interesting story. I think Square just wanted to get some return and get the project over with though, hence the hasty release with the game still being quite "incomplete."

Final Fantasy stories do seem to be aging more with their audience and is entering a "subversion" phase imo. Before, crystals were played straight as a weapon of good with the bad guys being the bad guys. With XII and arguably later, the crystals and gods themselves seem to be the true villains. I think it is interesting but maybe FF needs to get back to basics in that regard a little as well.

 

[JediMichael]

I think a big problem with XII is the story is told from Vaan's perception and he is quite remote from the main crisis. It would be like Yuffie from 7 being the "main character" while we watch Cloud do his thing. Apparently Square originally wanted an older male hero (like Basch) but he was worried his old age would alienate audiences. Given that proposed sequel Fortress would have had Basch as the protagonist, I do think they saw the error of their ways there. I do think the story itself is quite interesting and more "mature" compared to the basic bad guys are terrorizing us, lets get em.

XIII I need to play and am planning to.

XV was honestly development hell and they probably wanted to get it out and done with. Originally meant to be versus XIII and part of the "XIII mythology" about crystals and then reshaped as its own entry (probably so the work didnt go to waste), its also seems hobbled together with what they had given that the "full" story is essentially told through the cartoon, movie, game, DLC, and final books which actually tell an interesting story. I think Square just wanted to get some return and get the project over with though, hence the hasty release with the game still being quite "incomplete."

Final Fantasy stories do seem to be aging more with their audience and is entering a "subversion" phase imo. Before, crystals were played straight as a weapon of good with the bad guys being the bad guys. With XII and arguably later, the crystals and gods themselves seem to be the true villains. I think it is interesting but maybe FF needs to get back to basics in that regard a little as well.

That makes sense with 12.
I forgot that verses 13 ended up being 15.
I think I had read it was something where they switched from PS3 to PS4 and were redoing a ton of stuff, which made it take even longer, so the top guys at Square were like, lets just rebrand it as 15.

Its sad how Square spent so much time developing their Crystal Tools engine, but it seems that by the time it was finished, it was outdated, so only 5 games ever used it.
I'm sure that didn't help at all.

 

[HeartBlade]

That makes sense with 12.
I forgot that verses 13 ended up being 15.
I think I had read it was something where they switched from PS3 to PS4 and were redoing a ton of stuff, which made it take even longer, so the top guys at Square were like, lets just rebrand it as 15.

Its sad how Square spent so much time developing their Crystal Tools engine, but it seems that by the time it was finished, it was outdated, so only 5 games ever used it.
I'm sure that didn't help at all.

Yeah although it makes sense. Proprietary engines seem to be how big developers made their games, at least at that time. It helps them program in mechanics or certain physics that helps their games stand out and be more unique.

The Crystal Tools also gave games that anime-esque Final Fantasy look which I think is missing when they moved to unreal. Kingdom Hearts 3's aesthetic still seems a bit off to me although they seem to have addressed it in memory of melody. I do wonder if Square is going to stick with Unreal engine or if they are going to try developing their own engine again.

 

[JediMichael]

Yeah although it makes sense. Proprietary engines seem to be how big developers made their games, at least at that time. It helps them program in mechanics or certain physics that helps their games stand out and be more unique.

The Crystal Tools also gave games that anime-esque Final Fantasy look which I think is missing when they moved to unreal. Kingdom Hearts 3's aesthetic still seems a bit off to me although they seem to have addressed it in memory of melody. I do wonder if Square is going to stick with Unreal engine or if they are going to try developing their own engine again.

I see Kindom Hearts 3 and FF7 remake used Unreal 4 engine. But FF15 used one Square also developed named Luminous Engine. A whoppin' two whole games used it. FF15 and a game early this year called, Forspoken.
FF16 used Proprietary Engine, which google says already 16 games have used. I guess they're at least getting their money's worth on this one.

 

[Nth]

Looks amazing. I have a physical PS5 copy coming from Kickstarter, but if it's not here release day I may end up buying the digital.

 

[HeartBlade]

I see Kindom Hearts 3 and FF7 remake used Unreal 4 engine. But FF15 used one Square also developed named Luminous Engine. A whoppin' two whole games used it. FF15 and a game early this year called, Forspoken.
FF16 used Proprietary Engine, which google says already 16 games have used. I guess they're at least getting their money's worth on this one.

Not sure how much we can say about 16’s engine. Square seems to be keeping its identify secret, only being known as a proprietary engine with rumors that Sony helped develop it. It also seems to have been made for FFXVI so not sure if other games have used it.

Luminous is another kinda failed engine for FF15 and Forespoken which I havent heard good things about (although I heard issues were with dialogue and the combat is decent. I honestly dont care about story or cutscenes if it has good gameplay so I might check it out upon a good discount). KH3, FF7 remake, Crisis Core reunion, and upcoming Rebirth and triangle strategy use Unreal but KH:MoM used unity.

Seems a bit all over the place although Unreal seems to be the focus engine with maybe proprietary engines used for the new final fantasies. If Sony was involved, it may be a way for them to help keep FF exclusive to Playstation as well.

 

[Solo4114]

I've held off on buyin the FFVII intergrade whatever whatever mostly because I gather it's not a complete story. I thought about buying it now that this next one is coming out, but...I gather it's not a complete story either. :\

 

[Nth]

I've held off on buyin the FFVII intergrade whatever whatever mostly because I gather it's not a complete story. I thought about buying it now that this next one is coming out, but...I gather it's not a complete story either. :\

Nope, it’s going to be a trilogy. A quadrilogy if you count the Crisis Core prequel.