Queen's Blood (Final Fantasy Thread)

[OctoberRaven]

 

[Benji]

3 hours ago, Your Mom said:

How do you raise your stagger to 200%?

Tifa's triangle attack or Aerith's Ray of Judgement increase it after they have been staggerred.

Also, game ending spoilers...

Spoiler

I've not got there yet, but I've heard about the changes to the end and I'm not sure how I feel. I can think of several ways for this to be a very interesting development, and a lot more ways this could be handled very badly.

I do, however, despise the whole "fight your fate" crap Final Fantasy constantly sticks with. I know it's a hallmark of the series since the first one, but VII is a game that didn't really need it. My one hope is that this is designed to make you hope you can save Aerith all over again, only to crush you like it did over two decades ago when you realise that's one fate you can't fight.

 

[Ruki]

Whack A Box was a pain... I managed to get the last box with less than a second left to hit 30k. 

[Your Mom]

Did anyone collect all the music tracks? I'm missing 4 and I was wondering if I missed them or if they are after...

 

Not sure the exact chapter for this but I think 13

Spoiler

You climb the plate to rescue Aerith. Because they basically say that's the point of no return and I don't want to miss them

 

[Bobfoc]

1 hour ago, Your Mom said:

Did anyone collect all the music tracks? I'm missing 4 and I was wondering if I missed them or if they are after...

 

Not sure the exact chapter for this but I think 13

  Reveal hidden contents

You climb the plate to rescue Aerith. Because they basically say that's the point of no return and I don't want to miss them

 

There's a "Chapter Select" option once you finish the game. You can go back and pick up any collectibles that way.

[Your Mom]

Just finished

 

Ending spoilers

 

Spoiler

I forgot it was episodic! I was like man I don't remember the ending being this open for sequels  Anyway it was pretty dope but I have a couple questions

1. Who the hell is Zack? I don't remember a lot about the original and that part made no sense to me

2. You think you will keep all your stats and stuff? I can't imagine a reason you would start the next one at level one

3. Speaking of stats how do you manage to make level 50 for the trophy? I did every quest I found and ended the game at 35. 15 levels of grinding? No thanks!

 

[Bobfoc]

9 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

Just finished

 

Ending spoilers

 

  Hide contents

I forgot it was episodic! I was like man I don't remember the ending being this open for sequels  Anyway it was pretty dope but I have a couple questions

1. Who the hell is Zack? I don't remember a lot about the original and that part made no sense to me

2. You think you will keep all your stats and stuff? I can't imagine a reason you would start the next one at level one

3. Speaking of stats how do you manage to make level 50 for the trophy? I did every quest I found and ended the game at 35. 15 levels of grinding? No thanks!

 

Spoilers for the original game:

Spoiler

Cloud's memories of being a First Class member of SOLDIER were inaccurate. He was actually just a footsoldier and the events he remembered regarding the burning of his hometown were actually ones he witnessed as more of a bystander. Zack was Cloud's friend and the true SOLDIER First Class who took on Sephiroth.

Before the events of the game, Cloud is injured and Zack tries to carry him to Midgar, but is surrounded by Shinra forces. Zack is defeated and dies, and Cloud takes his sword (the Buster Sword he carries in the main game) and escapes to Midgar. The trauma of the events, including his inability to protect Tifa at Nibelheim, cause Cloud to block out the reality of his real life from his memory and subconsciously assume the backstory of Zack instead.

In the remake, it looks as though, because of the gang's meddling with destiny, Zack survives the Shinra attack and is heading towards Midgar. The crisp packet that flies past show that the Shinra dog mascot is a different breed, hinting that this is an alternate timeline in which Zack is still alive. This presumably will set up a whole host of narrative changes from the original story.

 

[Ruki]

I am in Wall Market. It's so good!

.... Squats less than good.

[Benji]

I finished it...

Spoiler

I liked it, and whilst I remain sceptical, the ending was well done, and I am willing to see where it goes from here. That's all I'll say for now. I want to properly digest it before going into more detail.

 

[MalaCloudy Black]

Aerith's VA is live on Twitch playing through the Remake.

[probablyoliver]

I'm still only on chapter 8. All these spoiler tags are killing me. I wanna click them all so bad. 

[probablyoliver]

Minor chapter 8 spoilers:

Spoiler

I wanna beat the shit out of this little bitch in the moogle costume so bad you guys.

 

[Bobfoc]

10 minutes ago, Ollie said:

Minor chapter 8 spoilers:

  Hide contents

I wanna beat the shit out of this little bitch in the moogle costume so bad you guys.

 

That's a little concerning.

[probablyoliver]

I hate him.

[Ruki]

55 minutes ago, Ollie said:

I'm still only on chapter 8. All these spoiler tags are killing me. I wanna click them all so bad. 

Same!

[Benji]

7 hours ago, Ollie said:

I hate him.

TIL that's a boy.

[jrhodes]

The merc quests are exactly the dull filler I feared they'd be.

[Skummy]

17 hours ago, Ollie said:

I'm still only on chapter 8. All these spoiler tags are killing me. I wanna click them all so bad. 

Same! 

I just got to the start of Wall Market last night, and figured I'd stop there as it's one of my favourite parts of the original and I wanted to give it plenty of time.

So far I've loved it. I was worried that given how much they're expanding on the story, and given that there were a bunch of sequels/prequels/spin-offs already, they might end up fucking up parts of the story I liked in order to make all of that better fit together, but so far it feels note-perfect. It feels more "Rogue One" than "Phantom Menace" in that rather than adding superfluous elements to the story, it's expanding on parts we already know but went under-explored and, so far, while a few things have been moved around and given a little more time, it doesn't feel like there's anything that directly  contradicts or undermines how I expected the characters to behave.

In terms of fleshing out the story, I like that it establishes AVALANCHE (is it not ALL CAPS any more?) as being a bigger entity than just five people, and better contextualises the world they exist in, as well as showing the people of Midgar as being either opposed to or broadly sympathetic to them as a bit of a spectrum, rather than them just categorically being the good guys. Given that it's post-9/11 world, it was inevitable that playing as a literal terrorist organisation had to be painted with a few more shades of grey, and equally it's unsurprising that the ecological side of the story (and the nuances of people's role therein) has been given a bit more scope too.

Character-wise, I really like this version of Cloud, and I love that Biggs, Wedge and Jessie have been fleshed out a lot more, in terms of actual "screen time" but also allusions to their backstory. I always thought they got a bad shake of it. Jessie, in particular, was a character I always liked in the original, and is set up as a potential love interest early, but is basically forgotten about before long and it just becomes Aerith or Tifa, so I'm glad to see her really become more of a focal point for a time here.

 

Aerith is one I'm really happy with how she comes across, too. There always seems to be a temptation to paint Aerith as a purer-than-pure goddess figure, forgetting that aside from all that she's a slum-dwelling, hobnail boot and leather jacket wearing, sarcastic free spirit. They manage to capture all of that, while also feeling like she has a level of self-awareness or understanding of the plot beyond what she's letting on, that makes her feel like something more than she lets on - which is exactly the vibe she should have.

 

So far, I love it. I have so many thoughts, but I'm going to try and save them 'til the end.

 

 

EDIT: I forgot to mention that Midgar is visually near perfect, and the game is absolutely stunning. I'm far from a graphics guy - I can barely tell the difference between HD and SD, and very few of my favourite games are those you'd consider graphical masterpieces - but what I do really appreciate is attention to detail, and good set-pieces. You can have the best graphics in the world, but if you use them on nothing but dull grey scenery and wooden crates, it's meaningless. If you use it to flesh out a world, and create breathtaking landscapes, then I'm interested. And that's what this game has - every time I'm in a new area I feel like I need to stop for a moment to rotate the camera and just soak it all in, from getting a view of what the streets of Midgar look like all the way down to the fine detail of the characters' materia actually being visibly slotted into their weapons. I can't wait to see how this game/franchise tackles some of the locations to come.

On top of that, the level design feels rational. Even when it falls into the latter day Final Fantasy trap of practically every new location basically being one long corridor, it looks great, and feels somewhat sensible - there are rarely cartoonish traps that kill your suspension of disbelief by making you think, "well come on, why would Shinra have even built that", or routes from A to B that make no sense when you try and visualise them as something that would be traversed by real people in their day-to-day lives. They've gone to some effort to make it feel logical, in a way the original perhaps didn't always.

[Ruki]

VR mission...

....how the fuck to you beat Leviathan?

[Ruki]

FUCK. THAT FIGHT.