Queen's Blood (Final Fantasy Thread)

[Your Mom]

I went with 7 to start with. I remember it the most fondly and plus it was on sale on PS4  

[probablyoliver]

Just got to space.

I was hoping playing this game as a fully fledged grown up and not a teenager would make me realise the nuance and complexity of the plot. But nope. Not even a little bit. It's bonkers.

My theory is that whoever was writing the plot overslept the day it was due and just scribbled some words on a napkin hoping it'd do. Again, the main plot running through the first disc is excellent. The whole Garden stuff, sorceress assassination and military vibes are dope. And then something something time travel?

[Your Mom]

Who had "trying to figure out where to sit down on the train" as the first spot I would get stuck on?

[Bobfoc]

It's where most people get stuck in real life.

[Draevyn]

Always use guides. I've beaten 7, 8 and 9 multiple times and still use guides because it's so easy to forget little things

[probablyoliver]

In the endgame of VIII now, finally allowed to start levelling everyone up and then all I've got left is finishing the card quest, beating Ultima/Omega Weapon and then its final boss time.

It's a thoroughly excellent game, but the story is mostly terrible and the junction system means battles are far too easy until the end. It's lower mid-tier as far as Final Fantasies go. Better than 1-3, 13 and 15, on the same level as 4, 5 and 10 and way worse than 6, 7, 9 and 12.

 

[Your Mom]

Didn't you guys say there was a way to make the game easier?

[stokeriño]

6 minutes ago, The Chiksrara Special said:

Didn't you guys say there was a way to make the game easier?

Basically, the L3 or R3 buttons (or both together).

https://kotaku.com/two-cheats-make-final-fantasy-vii-way-better-on-ps4-1746617898

[Draevyn]

1 hour ago, Ollie said:

In the endgame of VIII now, finally allowed to start levelling everyone up and then all I've got left is finishing the card quest, beating Ultima/Omega Weapon and then its final boss time.

It's a thoroughly excellent game, but the story is mostly terrible and the junction system means battles are far too easy until the end. It's lower mid-tier as far as Final Fantasies go. Better than 1-3, 13 and 15, on the same level as 4, 5 and 10 and way worse than 6, 7, 9 and 12.

 

12? Really? I will say I've never played it but I've never heard good things about that one.

[Bobfoc]

From what I've heard, 12 splits opinion more than any of the other games. Some hate it, but it's been regarded by others as the best one. I haven't played it myself.

[probablyoliver]

Personally I love it, but I totally get why it splits opinion. The story borrows way too liberally from Star Wars, the combat is more typical MMO than FF and the 'main' character is the worst main character (but there's an easy argument to make for him not even being the main character and actually being 3rd or 4th behind Ashe, Balthier and Basch) but for me it just works.

For the longest time I said it was my favourite, and I remember there's a long post in this thread from me explaining my reasons in detail (I'll try and find it later), but now it sits comfortably 3rd behind IX and VII.

I think all time rankings of the main entries for me would be...

1. IX
2. VII
3. XII
4. VI
5. X
6. VIII
7. IV
8. V
9. III
10. XIII
11. I
12. II
13. XV

I never played XI and only put a handful of hours into XIV before realising it wasn't for me.

[Draevyn]

See, I think I would be quite interested in XIV and may actually play it more if World Of Warcraft ever dies. I like the idea of FF in a MMORPG setting, but the combat is so slow. The story and shit has the potential to be amazing though.

[Krabby]

3 hours ago, Ollie said:

Personally I love it, but I totally get why it splits opinion. The story borrows way too liberally from Star Wars, the combat is more typical MMO than FF and the 'main' character is the worst main character (but there's an easy argument to make for him not even being the main character and actually being 3rd or 4th behind Ashe, Balthier and Basch) but for me it just works.

For the longest time I said it was my favourite, and I remember there's a long post in this thread from me explaining my reasons in detail (I'll try and find it later), but now it sits comfortably 3rd behind IX and VII.

I think all time rankings of the main entries for me would be...

1. IX
2. VII
3. XII
4. VI
5. X
6. VIII
7. IV
8. V
9. III
10. XIII
11. I
12. II
13. XV

I never played XI and only put a handful of hours into XIV before realising it wasn't for me.

12 had the potential to be number one but the storyline really let down what was an amazing setting and gameplay system 

[stokeriño]

I now feel a fool for not realising that was Mark Hamill doing the voice of Don Corneo.

[probablyoliver]

Everyone's at 100, card quest is done, Ultima is toast, Ultimecia Castle is cleared, all that's left is Omega and final boss.

Thoroughly bonkers, but the cutscene after you beat Adel and go through the time compression stuff is still fucking awesome. Especially when you're fighting through the sorceresses and all the battle areas are melting. It's trippy as all hell and absolutely my favourite thing in this game.

As much as I prefer VII, there's a part of me wishing that VIII was getting the remake treatment instead, because if there was a game that needed a director's cut it's this one. VII is already a complete game, but with some fleshing out and fat cutting, VIII could have it beat.

[Liam]

Add me to the list of people who loved XII.

I bought VIII and will play a bit more tonight. Debating to what extent I try and 'break' the game, or whether I just play it as is.

[probablyoliver]

14 hours ago, Liam said:

Add me to the list of people who loved XII.

I bought VIII and will play a bit more tonight. Debating to what extent I try and 'break' the game, or whether I just play it as is.

Don't break it. It's more fun to not. I broke it massively from the very start and the only thing that posed a threat was Ultima and Omega weapon.

I'm even considering playing through again without using the junction system because that sounds like a super fun challenge.

[Ruki]

6 hours ago, Ollie said:

Don't break it. It's more fun to not. I broke it massively from the very start and the only thing that posed a threat was Ultima and Omega weapon.

I'm even considering playing through again without using the junction system because that sounds like a super fun challenge.

Would that even be possible?

[probablyoliver]

22 minutes ago, Ruki said:

Would that even be possible?

There's guides for it, so I'm sure it is. I'd probably still junction GF's and abilities and such, just no magic junctioning at all. I'll likely wait until I pick it up on the Switch, because that's where I've done all of my low level or challenge runs for the PS1 games.

[Skummy]

I'm enjoying Final Fantasy VIII a lot more than I thought I would - it's not a game I replayed back at the time, so my initial run was a mixture of being confused by the story, and disappointed where it differed from VII conceptually, and then I watched Let's Plays and read up on it years later and laughed along with all the jokes about how completely bonkers and "made up as they went along" the storyline is.

I've just got past "turns out the Garden can fly", so the story hasn't gone completely off the rails yet, but thus far it's felt a lot more tightly plotted than I remember. There's some mad shit, still - "there's a war between the headmaster and the Garden Master! Also, it turns out there's a Garden Master, by the way. And once that's over, let's never speak of it again" - and I know the worst is to come, but it's not been too egregious so far, and there's been little bits of foreshadowing that I would never have picked up on first time around. The cut from Disc One to Disc Two is still '60s Batman levels of walking back a cliffhanger, though, absolute dogshit of a non-resolution. "I thought I was wounded, turns out I'm not, lol".


I've definitely got a better understanding of the Junction system now than I did first time around, and am playing with that a lot more tactically and efficiently, so can see the benefit of it, and why some people rave about it, though constant Junction Switching to other party members, and there being a maximum number of different magics each person can have, plus having to be overly picky about what commands to equip people with, is frustrating micro-management, though.

The fast-forward button is a godsend, and I'm playing pretty much the whole game at that speed, which certainly helps, and means I'm spending less time grinding, and more time just following the story, which probably helps make it feel a little more tight than I remember. I'm playing without a strategy guide, so I'm surprised I haven't missed a GF yet, though have probably missed all sorts of other goodies. The only thing I've resorted to Googling was where to find the Water Stone in the Shumi Village, because fuck that nonsense.


Fuck the random rule.