Final Fantasy
Ah, Final Fantasy. A franchise hated by many, and loved by many more.
I know there's a couple FF fans in here, due to the turn-based RPG thread, but I didn't want to go too off topic there so I decided to create this one.
So, share your thoughts about FF. Favourite game? The game you didn't quite enjoy? Do you like the movies/animes/whatever? Memories you'd like to share? All are welcome (including the people who dislike the franchise, please, share your opinions with us too).
The thing I love the most about FF is how every game has it's own identity. The fact that the numbered games are not sequels to each other is something incredibly original, and was a bit of a risk at the time (it paid off imo). In fact there were no sequels whatsoever for a very very long time.
The music is incredible. I do believe there has never been a FF game with bad music.
I love the fact that, while every game is different, they still feel like a FF game. You always know to expect some things. There will (almost) always be Chocobos. A character named Cid. Crystals. Jobs (they're always there even when you can't change them). Light vs Dark. We could probably name a hundred things that all FF games share between each other.
The stories are always incredible. I know someone's gonna come in here and say it's always a teenager with stupid hair trying to save the world. And that's okay! You can dislike it. I love it.
One must also notice the influence that D&D had on FF.
I'm not much of a reviewer, but I'll make a list of the ones I've played so far and we can try to start a conversation from there. You will notice that I have a special love for the games with the Job System.
You can do a similar list if you'd like.
Something like
Game - (version played) - Opinion
So... I'll try not to write too much. I bolded my favourite ones.
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Final Fantasy - PSP - Ah, the original. No chocobos. No summoners either. The story may seem very simple nowadays but I'm sure it was great (for a videogame) at the time. How beautiful is the prophecy? "When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come." It was also the (very very simple) start of the Job System. Just choose 4 classes for your characters at the very beginning, and you will get an upgrade about halfway through the game.
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Final Fantasy II - PSP - I'm currently playing this one for the very first time, so no opinion as of yet.
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Final Fantasy III (3D remake) - Steam - This game is fun as hell, and the Job System is developed into something much better. Now you can switch Jobs whenever you like (after unlocking them of course).
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Final Fantasy IV (3D remake) - Steam - Eh, it was alright. I did love Rydia though.
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Final Fantasy IV - The After Years (3D remake) - Steam - I liked that it was divided by chapters, which is original in FF. The game was alright too. More Rydia.
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Final Fantasy V - Steam - The epitome of the Job System, and the story is great. I can't tell you how much I loved this one. Exdeath (he should really be called Exodus, but eh...) is a great villain. The characters are good, music is amazing. 10/10 game right here, and the steam port is actually pretty nice.
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Final Fantasy VI - SNES ('bout halfway thru) / Steam (finished) - Overrated. Not bad, just overrated. But it has Ultros, and Ultros is hilarious! And the opera scene was incredibly groundbreaking at the time.
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Final Fantasy VIII - Steam - I never did finish this one. It's alright but not really my cup of tea.
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Final Fantasy X - PS2 - Oh man I love this game to bits. The characters, the monsters, the music, the story. One of the few games that honestly left me with tears in my eyes when I finished it.
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Final Fantasy X-2 - PS2 - An uneeded sequel with a ridiculous plot. Having said that, the game is fun as hell. Job System again, disguised as "dresspheres". Naked chicks, woohoo! Eh, it was alright.
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Final Fantasy XII - PS2 - The story did nothing for me, but I liked the gameplay a lot. It's different from what I expected. Only thing gameplay-wise I disliked was the summon system.
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Final Fantasy Tactics - War of the Lions - PSP - I didn't enjoy this game at all, in fact I never finished it. Sue me.
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Final Fantasy Brave Exvius - Android - Played for a couple weeks, it's decent but they expect you to spend way way too much time playing it. I got tired. Typical mobile game.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Android - Currently playing this one, haven't finished it yet but I already love it. It's a mix of all the classical FF games, rolled up into one, with a new story. And it has a Job System that's almost a copy of FFV. So of course I love it! I can't recomend this game enough, please try it out if you like the classical FF games. Don't let the "android" tag fool you, it's not your typical mobile game. It could've easily been released on consoles/steam and I'm honestly surprised that it never was. Huge recomendation!
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I didn't mention FFVII because I must've played about 10% of the game. I honestly didn't enjoy it much.
Shout out to Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within which was a great movie with mind-blowing animation. People hated it because "it's different from the games". I can't help but wonder if those same people ever actually played a FF game in their life, because they're also all different from each other.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was decent.
Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV was better than I expected.
I know there's a couple FF fans in here, due to the turn-based RPG thread, but I didn't want to go too off topic there so I decided to create this one.
So, share your thoughts about FF. Favourite game? The game you didn't quite enjoy? Do you like the movies/animes/whatever? Memories you'd like to share? All are welcome (including the people who dislike the franchise, please, share your opinions with us too).
The thing I love the most about FF is how every game has it's own identity. The fact that the numbered games are not sequels to each other is something incredibly original, and was a bit of a risk at the time (it paid off imo). In fact there were no sequels whatsoever for a very very long time.
The music is incredible. I do believe there has never been a FF game with bad music.
I love the fact that, while every game is different, they still feel like a FF game. You always know to expect some things. There will (almost) always be Chocobos. A character named Cid. Crystals. Jobs (they're always there even when you can't change them). Light vs Dark. We could probably name a hundred things that all FF games share between each other.
The stories are always incredible. I know someone's gonna come in here and say it's always a teenager with stupid hair trying to save the world. And that's okay! You can dislike it. I love it.
One must also notice the influence that D&D had on FF.
I'm not much of a reviewer, but I'll make a list of the ones I've played so far and we can try to start a conversation from there. You will notice that I have a special love for the games with the Job System.
You can do a similar list if you'd like.Something like
Game - (version played) - Opinion
So... I'll try not to write too much. I bolded my favourite ones.
-----
Final Fantasy - PSP - Ah, the original. No chocobos. No summoners either. The story may seem very simple nowadays but I'm sure it was great (for a videogame) at the time. How beautiful is the prophecy? "When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come." It was also the (very very simple) start of the Job System. Just choose 4 classes for your characters at the very beginning, and you will get an upgrade about halfway through the game.
-----
Final Fantasy II - PSP - I'm currently playing this one for the very first time, so no opinion as of yet.
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Final Fantasy III (3D remake) - Steam - This game is fun as hell, and the Job System is developed into something much better. Now you can switch Jobs whenever you like (after unlocking them of course).
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Final Fantasy IV (3D remake) - Steam - Eh, it was alright. I did love Rydia though.
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Final Fantasy IV - The After Years (3D remake) - Steam - I liked that it was divided by chapters, which is original in FF. The game was alright too. More Rydia.
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Final Fantasy V - Steam - The epitome of the Job System, and the story is great. I can't tell you how much I loved this one. Exdeath (he should really be called Exodus, but eh...) is a great villain. The characters are good, music is amazing. 10/10 game right here, and the steam port is actually pretty nice.
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Final Fantasy VI - SNES ('bout halfway thru) / Steam (finished) - Overrated. Not bad, just overrated. But it has Ultros, and Ultros is hilarious! And the opera scene was incredibly groundbreaking at the time.
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Final Fantasy VIII - Steam - I never did finish this one. It's alright but not really my cup of tea.
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Final Fantasy X - PS2 - Oh man I love this game to bits. The characters, the monsters, the music, the story. One of the few games that honestly left me with tears in my eyes when I finished it.
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Final Fantasy X-2 - PS2 - An uneeded sequel with a ridiculous plot. Having said that, the game is fun as hell. Job System again, disguised as "dresspheres". Naked chicks, woohoo! Eh, it was alright.
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Final Fantasy XII - PS2 - The story did nothing for me, but I liked the gameplay a lot. It's different from what I expected. Only thing gameplay-wise I disliked was the summon system.
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Final Fantasy Tactics - War of the Lions - PSP - I didn't enjoy this game at all, in fact I never finished it. Sue me.
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Final Fantasy Brave Exvius - Android - Played for a couple weeks, it's decent but they expect you to spend way way too much time playing it. I got tired. Typical mobile game.
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Final Fantasy Dimensions - Android - Currently playing this one, haven't finished it yet but I already love it. It's a mix of all the classical FF games, rolled up into one, with a new story. And it has a Job System that's almost a copy of FFV. So of course I love it! I can't recomend this game enough, please try it out if you like the classical FF games. Don't let the "android" tag fool you, it's not your typical mobile game. It could've easily been released on consoles/steam and I'm honestly surprised that it never was. Huge recomendation!
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I didn't mention FFVII because I must've played about 10% of the game. I honestly didn't enjoy it much.
Shout out to Final Fantasy - The Spirits Within which was a great movie with mind-blowing animation. People hated it because "it's different from the games". I can't help but wonder if those same people ever actually played a FF game in their life, because they're also all different from each other.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children was decent.
Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV was better than I expected.
5
Comments
Regarding your point about the protagonists, that's a common misrepresentation. The franchise has a wide array of main characters. For example, your favourite FF5.
I have played them all up to 12. FF7-10 & 12 as originals. I played the older games as re-releases on different platforms.
I can't remember any specific details about FF1-4. They are all just good games in my mind, nothing stands out.
I agree FF5 is a game where all the stuff leading up to it comes together brilliantly. One of my faves.
Unlike you I find FF6 does everything even better than 5, and the change in setting is very welcome by this point.
FF7 is undeniably a ground-breaking and hugely ambitious game. Nobody can deny its place in gaming history. It has a great story, good gameplay and interesting characters. The sci-fi elements are even more prominent.
FF8 is my personal favourite. The level of character customisation is so high you can easily complete the game at level 1 if you just build right. The draw system was annoying but the refine systems get around that. I absolutely love the story and characters. Very high on sci-fi.
FF9 returns to the traditional knights-and-castles setting. I adore the existential themes in this game. all the main characters are searching for meaning in different ways and on different grounds.
FF10 has the best gameplay systems. I love the level up board thing. I love the turn based system, best in industry IMO. Story is not super great for me.
I never finished 12 due to its MMO-esque gameplay. The story and lore seemed very interesting though.
Some quick thoughts there.
FF2: I find this one supremely underrated in terms of story. A lot people point to 7 as being the first to perma kill npcs, then older fans jump in and go "nope that was 5!". Then I laugh at them and point to 2. With a constantly rotating cast of npcs, you have to regularly adjust your tactics throughout the game.
FF3: Laid the ground work for what would later be 5's job system. Is a fun subversion of some standard FF tropes.
FF4: Objectively quite good. Characters are well written and have distinct and unique abilities, but I have a hard time with this one. Having been released about 50 times kinds makes it feel stale.
FF5: Best original english translation
FF6: Brings in major sci-fi themes and does a great job of balancing unique npcs, with customizable abilities. One of the best villains in the series.
FF7: Like 6 but 3D. Also one of the best villains, and possibly one of the best twists in gaming. No, not Aeris, she is just the fake out twist that everyone thinks is great.
FF8: Lots of great ideas with botched execution.
FF9: Probably the best written game in general, with tons of love and nods towards the series' history. I think the only thing keeping this from being my favorite is my nostalgia for 7.
FF10: My second favorite battle system, with swap in out party members mid battle (more games need this). With a fun rock, paper, scissors, element of certain party members being better suited for certain foes. Story is kind of a wreck. 10-2 sadly loses the great battle system, but does a great job of showing people who were oppressed for centuries suddenly being free and coming to grips with how to build a new culture for themselves.
FF12: Sigh. I love the world of Ivalice, and its writing is pretty good, but its such a chore to play. I'm not a fan of mmos in general, and making one single player doesn't really make it more appealing. Balthier and Reddas ROCK though.
FF13: BEST BATTLE SYSTEM. I love it. Healing after every fight sounds super easy, but this just allows the individual fights to be more dangerous. Fights are speedy too, where you control the flow of battle, rather than directing it, uh, directly. Story is again, a bit of a mess, but the characters are fantastic and make more than make up for it in my opinion. STEEL GUARD
Edit: Of the main numbered series I think FF9 is the best. It's everything I could want in a fantasy story. Party made up of diverse races and classes go on an adventure. Freya is my favorite character followed by Vivi. Also I think there are only two humans in the party which is surprising since normally Final Fantasy is nearly only humans >_>
!!!!!!!!!!
I finally bought a new PC so I can start catching up on games I've missed in these past years, so...
Have you guys played FF XIII, XV, World of FF, and FF Type-0? Opinions?
I'll end up playing all of those, but I might do so sooner depending on what I hear.
I was mostly ok with 13, dragged on a tad and the story had some wonkyness that they didnt do a great job ironing out, but was fun and pretty while it lasted.
Havent played those other two.
Its SUPER LINEAR. I mean, maps are literal hallways with pretty scenery for about 70% of the game. So its kind of like an on rails rpg. This upset a lot of people. You are also fully healed after every fight. An upside to this is that combat is probably the most balanced its been. The game doesn't give you a lot of opportunities for (non soul crushing) grinding. So you are about where you need to be for every major fight to be challenging. Because each fight heals you, there is more leeway to make individual encounters more dangerous as well. Losing half your party no longer means trekking back to the save point to heal, so the game won't be shy about slaughtering you.
People complained that the characters are TERRIBLE at being the heroes. And they are. You will be leading around a group of absolute screw ups, and I think thats intentional. There are genuinly likeable people (Snow is awesome) but none of these characters have any business trying to be heroes (Snow again, sigh).
The combat is really streamlined, with you picking the roles (kinda like classes, its weird) and the characters acting on their own. But you can't just sit and watch unless you are overlevelled, you will be swapping the various roles around between the characters every couple seconds during tougher fights to control the flow of battle and keep things moving in your favor.
I really liked it, probably in my top 3 favorite FFs, but its REALLY DIVISIVE. So if the demo is still floating around, try it out and see if the way battle are implemented appeal to you.
One secondary save just before the final boss. And 20-25 other saves were played the game with ramza only as a single class the enter city. Literally, once magic city of geriland was unlocked in chapter 1, I spent countless hours trying to force random encounters power leveling ramza though class trees to get the class I wanted.
In lions ear the psp version, I didn't continue the story until I was level 40, which was how long it took me to unlock the dark knight special class only using the planes. Needless to say, I pretty much curb stomped all the way to chapter 4. Heck none "keep x character alive missions I basically solo'd with ramza.
Beyond that I've played
Ff7- im a fanboy
Ff1
Ff2
Ff9
Ff10
Ff10-2
There is another one or 2 I played but cant remember which.
@SethDavis 15 is that bad, huh? I'd heard it was a pretty good game, just... Completely different from the usual FF stuff.
@ThacoBell Well, 13 did get two sequels so it can't possibly be that bad.
Gameplay...
Boring...
These words you're typing... I know them but sense, they do not make!
These days when I try to go back and play the old school games, that I actually have nostalgia for, I get put off by the massive amounts of grinding required. 4 and 6 I have some really fond memories of, but just don't have the patience to sink the time into them, like when I was a kid. I feel like playing them in emulator is the superior experience, for if nothing else, you can play them in fast forward and grind faster.
At the time they were released, they were great, and the grinding helped it feel like you got your money's worth, but these days, it just seems tedious. If I wanted to grind for a million hours doing the same button mash over and over I'd play [insert name of any mmo here].
I'm not a fan of the most recent Final Fantasy, but I'm still incredibly glad that they continue to do new things with each game. Even if I never personally enjoy another FF game, I think its more important that they continue trying new things with each iteration.
Anyway I'm one of the old bitter fans who say that anything after final fantasy 9 isn't really worth that much. I didn't even like Final Fantasy 10 as a kid and I like it even less nowadays. It's when they removed the world map and started limiting environments to a more linear exploration. Safe to say I think Toriyama was the worst thing to happen to the series... Or perhaps the merger with Enix.
Final Fantasy 2: The series became more about story and it is a fantastic start. Leveling mechanics are weird, but otherwise a solid game.
Final Fantasy 3: Job system!! This was the beginning of my favorite class system in RPGs. The Famicom version feels so different from the new 3D version. The story isn't as great, but still a solid game.
Final Fantasy IV: Fantastic character development, great story. To me this is where the series started to shine the most (not the best game, but just when the series started to become truly epic).
Final Fantasy IV the After Years: Encounters were a bit too frequent, but I enjoyed the modular format for the tales of each character. Sadly, my Wii's sound died after I finished each tale and I never got to play the final part. I have it on tablet again but it's hard to start all over.
Final Fantasy V: Job system with multiclassing elements--perfect! While the story/characters weren't as memorable as IV that came before it and VI after it, the customization made the game so fun.
Final Fantasy VI: This is my favorite. You get a great team of characters including some of my favorite female characters in video games. The story is fantastic. The music is beautiful. The characters and their skills are unique. I wish every game I played could have this caliber of gameplay.
Final Fantasy VII: I almost never enjoyed this wonderful game because I would always get bored in disc 1 (Midgar). After that it becomes an amazing game.
Final Fantasy VIII: This is my favorite of the modern (relatively) style Final Fantasy games. The story telling, the characters, and visuals were all phenomenal. Triple Triad was an awesome diversion too.
Final Fantasy IX: This was a nice return to old-school Final Fantasy in many ways yet it kept the modern touch. I loved the characters and sometimes would even watch the intro before loading my game because I liked the morals they stood for. The beginning of the game is my favorite. I wish more games started out with a fun misadventure like this.
Final Fantasy X: I just couldn't get into it. Sadly, this is where I just couldn't play anymore. I'm not sure why. It just didn't engage me like the rest. Though I admit, it might be similar to what happened to me with VII for a while, and some day I hope to give it a second chance.
Final Fantasy X-2: I'd like to try it, but I would need to play X first.
Final Fantasy XI: Subscription MMO--not my thing. I would have loved to try it, but I barely like MMOs let alone ones I have to continually pay for.
Final Fantasy XII: I have yet to play this and I really want to. I loved Final Fantasy Tactics. I've watched videos that tie the cut-scenes together and I enjoyed the story. Combat looked obnoxious though.
Final Fantasy XIII (and sequels): I'd like to try these. I want to try X and XII more. Though the linear style actually sounds appealing to me. Sometimes I just get so side tracked in games like Final Fantasy. I wouldn't mind focusing more on the story and less on distractions.
Final Fantasy XIV: Same problem as XI though XI looked more interesting to me because of it's job system.
Final Fantasy XV: It looks like a boy band going for a joy ride. IDK how I feel about this, but it's low on my priority list as far as getting back into the games goes. I have heard lots of good things about it though, so I may play it some day.
Final Fantasy Mythic Quest: As it's own game, I actually liked it. It doesn't make sense as a Final Fantasy game though.
Tactics games: I loved them all for different reasons, though the second had some obnoxious combat mechanics. I prefer a typical RPG over SRPGs, but I played them all through and loved them.
Final Fantasy Dimensions: This game was fantastic. I highly recommend it. It's too bad the sequel is sequel in name only because they did everything right with this one. I enjoyed playing it on my Android more than I have enjoyed playing the old Final Fantasy games on my device.
until one day, i believe it was the summer of 2003ish or so, i remember i would stay up until the sun would come out watching tv and the such ( because fresh prince would come on at 6 am and to hell waking up that early, just stay up all night
anyway, here i was and at around 5 or 5:30 am on TBS there was this random video game review show that had 2 nerd type people on it and they would review video games, one of those games being FFX and they said that FFX was just awful and a terrible game and it had waaaaaaay too many cutscenes
so with me having a semi recently bought ps2 that i bought with my own money ( which was hard as hell to do in grade 9 when they were costing 400 bucks ) i thought know what for absolute SPITE im going to get this game and see what all the fuss was about
i dont remember if i rented the game first, or just flat out paid 60 bucks for the game without even playing it ( ah teenage agnst, even though i wasn't agnsty back then, had no idea why i was doing this ) but here i was with FFX and this being the game that introduced me to the series
and i was actually pleasantly surprised, that gameplay was super easy to follow, none of this ATS bar crap ( which i learned about later ) and the story was pretty engaging and i did laugh at the amount of cutscenes, but it still didnt take away from the gameplay, and infact on my original ps2 memory card i still have a game file that was over 360 hours on it, i was actually blown away at the fact that i basically played this game out of pure spite, and it paid off in the end
and then i bought FFX-2 and i was a bit disappointed with this ATS load of jargon that other FFs had, i always felt that the "wait" command/option never worked, and it made some battles a bit more frustrating because my casual ass couldn't keep up, but overall, it was a pretty decent experience, although they pooped over all how blitzball was played in X-2 which was pretty disappointing and their new "cool" game was that sphere break game which i never got in to, but other than that it was pretty decent, i also bought the FFX-2 perfect guide, which i still have around here somewhere, which helped me get the 100% ending for X-2 where the 100 % ending was outrageously laughable
but other than those 2 i never played any other FF game, i watched my friends though play VII quite a bit, i hear that is one of the best FF games, but i could never get into it, those pointy bits are just a bit too pointy for me, and since there is no nostalgia factor for me, it just looks like meh with the whack ATS bar ( seriously, either be 100% turn based or real time, not this pseudo half and half want to be crap, oi ) but anyways never played it, but watched my friend jamie play it lots, although the only thing i really remember is him playing that chocobo mini game where he is constantly plucking at the ground and getting items? dont remember why he was doing it, but he was doing it quite a bit
and then i remember when FFXII came out ( since i think 11 was soley a mulitplayer game? ) and my friend jamie played that game and i watched him play the whole game, and dont remember anything from it, but from what i can recall the reaction was "meh"?
and then 13 came out for ps3 and xbox whatever and i remember my friend jamie and kevin playing that version, and i watched some tidbits of them play, but i just couldn't get invested into it, all i remember is that one of the characters had a thick aussie accent, and i would keep saying the "did a dingo eat your baby" line all the time when she was out and doing things, she was the only thing i remember from that game, oh and maybe one of the badguys.... what was its name...? adamantoise perhaps? but he was friggin HUGE and apparently you had to be super high level to kill one? hmm
anyways thats my FF experience, i actually bought the remastered edition for steam for the X/X-2 back a year or two ago when it was only like 15 bucks ( usually around valentines day it has a sale ) and i have yet to even start it up once, without frame skip how the hell are you going to grind that monster arena without going insane?
Oh @sarevok57 at least in the ps1 era games, you change the atb settings to "wait". This basically makes it pure turn based. The bar will only fill between turns, rather than while you are trying to think and pick options.
And paine, they were just trying too hard with her.
FF1 : I only managed to finish it a few years ago. It is hard and clunky, but it also has a good level of replayability, because you build the team you want; different teams, different chalenges. There are really good design ideas behind this one.
FF 2 & 3 : I played them a long time ago, but never finished them. They have potential from what I've seen, I'll probably play them again down the road.
FF4 : A masterpiece for me. A classic's classic. It may seem a bit unoriginal by today's standard, but that's because it the type of game that defined the genre back then. The grand, opera-esque drama this game put forth is amazing to me to this day.
FF5 : I never really got into the story and I feel it is a bit more clunky at time then its predecessor, but it's still a whole lot of fun. The job system is cool, but only becomes really fun at the end of the game, when you mastered a lot of job and combined their ability in the Freelance job. It's a late bloomer, but the end is massively fun. I did play through it twice, after all.
FF6 : Oh boy. That was THE thing with my friends when I was young. The FF saga departed from it's d&d fantasy-esque route to go all out steampunk. Good choice. It is really awesome, but I only play through mods nowadays. Even if the story and aesthetics of the game are awesome, it really was a mess mechanically wise. I discovered a mod named Brave New World that changes the game to make it a lot more balanced and smooth gameplay wise. It also makes the game harder, but not too hard either. I highly recommend it.
FF7 : Talk about a titan of a game right here. Let say they were ambitious with this one. And they delivered. It was an even BIGGER thing then FF6 when it came out. I just can't count the hours spent on that one in my teenage years. I have very fond memories associated with that game, even if it's not my favorite nowadays. Still, it's well worthy of its reputation to me.
FF8 : I finished it once, but I never liked it. It felt a bit too tacky for me. "Ooh ! Gunblade ! So cool !" Meh. I also hated the mechanics, where you had "steal" magic from monsters. This one's just not for me.
FF9 : That's where it's at for me. Oooh yeah. By far my favorite FF. The classic tone, the return of the exclusive job system, the gigantic cities, the simple yet fun mechanics, the super fun card game (seriously addictive)... It has it all. Add in a difficulty mod and I'm in heaven.
FFT : I might have lied when I said that FF9 is by far my favorite FF, because this one is really damn close. @DragonKing, I'm right there with you : I was smithen by that game, completely engrossed. The things you can do in this game are endless. That's the best implementation of the job system - by far if you ask me. The only thing that makes it not perfect is the complete imbalance of the end game. When you get Orlandu and Excalibur, he just says : "take a back seat, relax, I'll play the game for ya..." and go on to trash the rest of the game for you single-handedly. Again, with a difficulty mod, it all changes : try out FFT 1.3 and you'll discover this game again. That mod is balls to the wall hard, though, be aware. Finishing that mod is near the top of my gaming accomplishment. But if you want to actually have to plan and explore the diverse mechanical possibility granted by this game, try the mod. You won't be sorry.
After that, I haven't played FF games. They were for some reason unattractive to me. So yeah, I'm a classic FF gamer.
But the mechanics were so beautiful, it is actually part of the reason I prefer TBS to most to this day. I mean if you had a bowgun or a gun, yea you had some range but you couldn't shoot over objects and you shot allies in your way. But if you got a freaking bow, you can shot over objects. The game into account things such as elevation of characters basic elemental damage reduction and enhancement, ways to bypass magical reflection and so on and so much more from actual stealing weapons, and armor from enemies to breaking them...
If I had to say if there was one thing I always hated about FFT, ALL THE FREAKING SPECIAL CLASSES WE COULDN'T GET! Like seriously, the only special class the main character got was a squire with about 2 unique abilities and the ability to wield knights armor and weapons. This annoyed me more when I saw that there was a sorcerer class that we had to fight against!
...wait...what? WAIT, WHAT!?
T...there is a mod?.... BYE!
Edit
I just looked at the class guide for this mod... Cid can no longer learn all the magic swordskills? The summoner class loses the golem summon! Sage actually makes me want to get that unlocked in chapter 1 since it looks like what the sorcerer class is in the first came somewhat! They added new special classes but no new generic ones?
The game doesn’t add new base jobs, but you can get, through two optionnal characters, a Dark Knight and an Onion Knight, which can be very good given the right situation. And also, you can get Marche from FFTA, who’s also very cool in his own way.
It’s also easier for Ramza to get Ultima in this mod and he also can learn a special skill from his brother Zalbag (or another encounter which I could tell you if you get in the last chapter) which gives him quite a unique niche and special skillset.
But, first tip : power level at you own risk. Enemies AND THEIR ITEMS scale with your level. So, if you grind enough, you can fight archers with Ultimus bows and Thief hats in Gariland of all places. However, items available in stores WON’T scale. So, you can find yourself at a big disadvantage if you powerlevel too much. Beating high level archers and wizards equipped with top end items with only crummy gear can be done, but I don’t recommend it on your first try. I recommend to play normally, with only a slight grinding on the side, to unlock a skill you really want or to unlock a new job you almost have.
... and, when, hum hum, you’ll feel ready, you will be able to, *gasp* dip your toe in the *double gasp* the Deep Dungeon. This is where the creator of the mod went ballistic. All the fights can be beaten, but without a deep understanding of the AI behavior, you might as well forget it. I made it to the last fight in the deep dungeon, but I lost a super long fight because I messed up my placement by one square, which change the AI behavior and made me lose the fight. Crazy stuff, I tell ya. But the game can be beat without ever going in the Deep Dungeon, this mad dungeon is optionnal.
Actually, difficulty wise, the game is hard enough that you don’t feel bad using the most powerful special characters and their unique skillset, but also not hard enough that you absolutely need them. You can use generic army dudes just fine and beat the game. The mod is much harder than the base game, but also let you use the kind of strat you prefer. You probably will have to perfect your approach, but you’re not forced to use anything in particular to beat the game.
I have fond memories of that mod. If you want any tip, feel free to ask me.
Edit : Oh. And you will definitively have to learn how to "sandbag" your way to victory.
I saw that they added the two classes from lion's war but is the dark knight still as op as it is in lion's war? Does it have the bullcrap requirements that it had in lions war? Master dark mage, get knight to a certain level, collect 20 crystals and so on.
Ramza's ultima, funny story there, I got that while being petrified lol.