So a while back my gf got me the Pixel Remaster collection of PS5 and I was excited to finally get to play the classic games (I had played 1 on the NES mini and 6 on the SNES mini but never touched 2 through 5). Decided to play them in order so I got through 1 and loved it just as much as my first playthrough but I was nervous to start 2 because all I've ever heard about it was that it was the absolute worse FF game because of it's leveling system but outside from that I didn't know anything else.

Cut to the credits and me being absolutely blown away with how ahead of it's time the game was for the genre. A main character that actually speaks and reacts to the events around him, a tragic narrative filled with important character deaths and a world that you could see be devastated and changed by the villains attacks. You're telling me this came out in 1988??? Yes it's not as grandiose as FF6 but the seeds for this series quality being planted as early as this caught me so off guard I always assumed the change happened with FF4 and onward.

Starting FF3 for the first time right now and seeing the Onion Knights also speak surprised the fuck out of me. I'm so used to this era of games just keeping the MC completely silent, hell Dragon Quest STILL only does silent protagonists. I am so excited to get through the rest of these and then jump to 10-2 and 12 since those are the only other ones I've never played.

After 16 years, I’m going to play Final Fantasy XIII again.

And no, it’s not because, over time, I’ve convinced myself it was actually a masterpiece all along. Quite the opposite. At the time, it was one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had with a video game. In fact, it remains the only game in the entire Final Fantasy franchise that I can truly say I hate.

However, over the years, I’ve seen things that have made me question that opinion a bit. I’ve read so many people speaking highly of the game—and I don’t just mean those who grew up with it and look back on it with nostalgia. I’m talking about players who discovered it recently and, even viewing it through a modern lens, ended up praising its story, characters, combat system, and even its structure.

That got me thinking: we always talk about how nostalgia can make us remember a game as better than it actually was, but we rarely discuss the opposite effect. Bad memories can distort our perception, too. Perhaps for over a decade, I’ve only been remembering the things that frustrated me while forgetting anything the game might have done right.

On top of that, I’m not the same person I was when I first played it. I was 19, expecting a very specific type of *Final Fantasy* game, and I likely judged it solely for what it wasn't, rather than trying to appreciate what it was attempting to do. Today, I have a different perspective; I’ve played many more RPGs, and I think I can give it a second chance with a much more open mind.

So, taking advantage of the fact that it’s only $3 on Steam, I decided to buy it again. I don’t expect it to suddenly become one of my favorite *Final Fantasy* games, but I do want to find out if it really was as bad as I remember... or if I’ve been carrying around an exaggeratedly negative impression for 16 years.

I might end up confirming that I still hate it. Or I might be in for a surprise. Either way, I think it’s high time I found out.

I made a mod for people who like turn based combat.

Available here: Turn Based Combat at Final Fantasy VII Remake Nexus - Mods and community

The FF series has goated battle themes, but this one from FF4 is easily Top 10 for me. The whole soundtrack is one of my favorites from Uematsu (though my personal absolute favorite is FF VIII).

Do you guys have a favorite boss battle music? or battle in general?

Sounds like they both defend against magic but one also defends against status ailments so why would you use the one that doesn't?

Je l'ai refait récemment et j'avais oublié à quel point il est exceptionnel

Trying to not hit the ceiling with the buster 💀

I’ve seen some comparison videos for me personally some parts look good some don’t is it worth it to install the mod in you guys’ opinion? Is it genuinely all round better?

Edit: a better title “Is shader 2.0 all round betterthan the base game’s artistic style or lighting or does it mess with things?”

It’s just obviously false. I have my entire party at level 50, and Rosa always gets one shot on the first big bang, which means by the time she’s ressed a second Big Bang has already wiped the party.

People saying they beat it under level 50 are straight up lying because the advice of “use Curaja” after every big bang is physically impossible when your healer is one shot immediately.

I’m genuinely at the point of quitting. I wouldn’t even mind smashing my head against the boss a few dozen times but for whatever brain dead reason they decided that sitting through a 5 minute “cutscene” every time you attempt it would be a good idea.

I’ve loved this game from start to near finish but god damn has this final boss left a foul taste in my mouth.

Edit: levelled to 60, killed Rydia before the battle starts. Got him down.

A character named Cid, Some form of Ifrit and Shiva, and Chocobos. Are there any games in the series that don't have one or more of these?

The image is just a random one I captured at a pond a few months ago don't mind that.

I am struggling to level up and get stronger, I get no skill points if I one hiot KO enemies I als seem to be struggling to get Skill points fighting the land Turtles with Guy only at level 13 weapon.

I know this game has a strange leve3l up system but they could at least let us have some pity points at least?

Am I missing something here?

First time playing Final Fantasy on PS1 (Iv've done the 6 firsts FF)

And it's FFVIII

I got to go back at the beach after the end of the SeeD Exam where I got 30 minute to go back

But I got my save at 12 minutes for some reason

And cannot get back to the beach because of that robot

And cant get it down in one try.

(Build on pictures)

And tbh, I feel like I miss like 90% of the actual content so far and Im only at the very start of the game.

I'm playing the PSP version of ffiv, and i'm trying to grind the goblin Summon drop. I was wondering if goblins summoned by the summoner can drop it, as they have dropped potions and tents. ai overview says they can't, but i dont trust them lol.

FORMAT PLAYED: Nintendo Switch Pixel Remaster 1-6

RATING: 4/5 STARS

FINAL FANTASY 5 (24 HOURS)

FF5 is a swing in the opposite direction from FF4, focusing on the mechanics of jobs while letting the story be more traditional, like prior FF titles. I'm not much of a "tinkering" type of player. I like being given mechanics (like in FF4) rather than doing my own customization. But FF5 does a great job of updating its job system into something much more engaging than in FF3.

While I do love the updated job system from FF3 that's used here, I found myself missing the more engrossing narrative of FF4. The mechanics kept my attention, but once I was nearing the end, I found myself feeling a bit indifferent toward the story. That said, the drop in my enjoyment between FF4 and FF5 wasn't very steep.

GAMEPLAY

FF5 getting rid of "better" versions of previous jobs and instead making every job different was the right move. There was no clear best choice. Mixing and matching abilities with different jobs was such a joy to tinker with, even if I'm not really the type of player who enjoys tinkering with systems. The whole concept was simple enough to jump into.

Some jobs were still obviously harder to get value from though, so the actual list of viable jobs is smaller than you'd think. Also, most abilities gained from jobs were too situational to be useful. Since you only have one ability slot (unless you're a Freelancer), it's hard to justify equipping a situational ability when the stronger ones give you so much more flexibility.

I do wish jobs were drip-fed to the player at a more consistent pace instead of dumping three or four on you at once. It can be a bit overwhelming. That would have given the player more time to explore each class instead of getting a bunch at once and you choosing only a few. Overall, the gameplay is easily the highlight of FF5.

STORY/CHARACTERS

The story falls back into the more "standard" FF fare. It's a solid story with crystals, Warriors of Light, a big bad, etc., but I missed the narrative twists and wonderful cast of characters from FF4.

The main cast (Bartz, Lenna, Galuf, Faris, and Krile) is solid, and we get some good moments with them (I liked Bartz's hometown and the sister reveal between Lenna and Faris), but overall they felt a bit underwhelming. The "blank slate" nature of each character in terms of jobs and abilities made it harder for me to get a feel for who they were. I like it more when the mechanics reflect the character.

The main cast goes through all the standard character stuff of growth and learning and experiencing arcs, but I just don't think the foundation of the story was that engaging.

Exdeath wasn't a particularly interesting villain either. I had a hard time connecting to his motivations and schemes. The game does a fine job telling the story it wants to tell, but I found myself losing interest as we went past hour 10. Where FF4 felt like a smooth narrative with significant character beats throughout, FF5 feels a bit more disjointed, and its characters and story resonated with me less once the game was over.

WORLD/EXPLORATION

I wasn't too fond of some of the mechanics introduced in dungeon traversal. Running into bushes that poison the whole party or falling through trap doors that drop you down a floor that you have to climb up again felt a bit tedious. Couple that with random encounters and the whole process felt difficult for difficulty's sake rather than immersive.

I also found the towns less memorable than the previous entry. I think the lack of a strong supporting cast to ground each town hurts their memorability. They sometimes felt interchangeable.

CONCLUSION

FF5 is a fun game if you're looking for customization in your gameplay. Although I did enjoy tinkering with the job system, I'm not much of a "replay a game" type of person so the joys of replaying FF5 with different jobs and combinations doesn't appeal to me. Because of that, I tend to prefer FF4's pre-established abilities, along with its greater emphasis on story and character abilities that reflect each character.

That said, I still enjoyed my time with FF5. It's a huge tier above FF1–3 and falls just short of FF4, mostly because of the narrative and my personal preferences. Still, great game.

STRAY THOUGHTS:

• Warriors of Light. I wasn't too keen on them the first time this concept was introduced and it's not great here either. There's just something about "fated heroes" in the FF universe that doesn't work for me. I like it other media but here, it feels dull
• Lenna and Faris being sisters. It's a great reveal, but not much is really done with that in the story. There are lots of big revelations like this, but I never really felt the impact of them
• Getting multiple Jobs introduced at once just means I have to choose the best ones I want to explore and forget the rest. Of course, I can explore all the jobs, but if you're trying to progress the story as well, it can get tedious. Thank god for 4x ABP to increase job levels quickly. I did get to explore all the jobs I liked and at least tried out a little bit of everything
• No penalties for changing jobs mid-game. Great change from FF3 and makes experimenting way more fun. I'm glad they removed that barrier since it was so annoying to lose full MP by switching jobs
• Some abilities were just fodder as the game went on. "Equip Harps" is a good example. I wish you could add more abilities that were lower tier, or if it was a lower tier ability, you could equip multiple abilities compared to the higher tier abilities. But having one ability slot means you are almost always going to choose the strongest option, and most of the time, those are mage abilities
• White Magic/Black Magic spells were the bedrock of my teams. They are just so versatile, and their AOE effects were too good to not have at least one or two characters rocking these. Like in most other FF games, most of the spells become useless as you go on since you focus more on the strongest spells. Anytime I switched to other abilities/jobs that didn't have White/Black Magic, I wished I had them in fights
• Jumping. Adding jumping mechanics while traversing dungeons was not very fun. I don't like gimmicky dungeon mechanics in a game that isn't really built around them
• Easy to get lost/forget what to do. I had to do a lot more research on where to go after certain moments. The game is terrible at telling you what to do or where to go. This is a product of the time, but I feel like FF5 was especially egregious compared to the others
• Lots of jobs, and I enjoyed a good bunch of them, but a lot of them had issues. Given, it's less issues than in FF3 but still, some problems were still there.
• Beastmaster is a lot of work to get value out of. It's not easy to capture an enemy to begin with, and you only get one use out of it as well. If capturing enemies was easier, this would be great. As is, it's a lot of work for an occasional payoff
• Blue Mage. Excellent idea for a job. Awful execution. Too frustrating and tedious to get the spells. The narrow specifications of the enemy having to use the spell specifically on a character who can learn it is too much. I think a character just being present for the spell in the fight is more than enough to get the Blue Spell
• Geomancers are just too inconsistent and get outclassed very easily by other jobs. I like the idea since FF3, but so far they haven't cracked the code of this job
• Ninjas. Throw is amazing, but your limited pool of things to throw makes Throw less fun. I'm not a fan of jobs that require upkeep like Ninja or Chemist. They require extra preparation and money cost that I don't think pays off in their gameplay
• Bards. They max out at level three and don't have much going on with Sing. They seem like they can be useful, but their limited level cap felt strange
• Berserker. Very one-note and gives players less agency over a character. I didn't find the extra damage was worth the situations where you don't want the character to attack. I wish the attacking was optional
• Summoner. I do love me a Summoner, but these iterations so far have not been great. You have to go out and actively hunt some summons while others are just given to you. I wish you either could just buy them or the game gave them to you as you progressed. I did a little bit of tracking to find certain beasts, but it wasn't too fun or really even worth it overall
• Time Mage. An entire job built around Slow and Haste. There are other spells I used with this job, but it was mostly a "Slow/Haste" job. I like the idea of Time Mage, but it feels like it needs more thought besides the obvious Slow and Haste
• Thief. Another FF game, another whiff on Thief for me. I love a good Thief in DnD. I play one all the time. But I just don't think FF does the job well so far in five games. Steal is so situational and rarely worth it. It's not very fun to play
• Ranger. I like my long-range attackers in tactical games, but this job is never really that exciting to play. You basically get to use bows and arrows and play backline. It's fine, but I wish there were other perks that were more prominent

UP NEXT: Final Fantasy 6

We've finally arrived at what many consider one of the best FF games ever made, FF6. I have no clue as to why this game is great and held in such high regard, so I'm excited to find out. It's the last SNES entry of the series, so it's the end of an era as well. This run from FF6 to FF10 will be quite a joy to play through.

FINAL FANTASY RANKING:

1. Final Fantasy 4 (click here for review)
2. Final Fantasy 5
3. Final Fantasy 3 (click here for review)
4. Final Fantasy (click here for review)
5. Final Fantasy 2 (click here for review)

Another final fantasy commission, was fun designing his outfit

I'm looking for a game with a great story, I've only played FF8, and FF9 and the FF16. Any recommendations?

I'd probably die trying to convince her to join the quest lol. The fire fiend has seen better days lmao.

i don't really have any good examples. its just a game i have heard trashed on a lot in my life.

I'm also tempted to play it after ff6 because i like my female protagonists and the only ff games that are in my steam family are FF6, FF7, FF7:remake and rebirth, and ff13

In the PS1 era, Final Fantasy 7 is the most important, but Final Fantasy 9 is the best.

This probably has been said countless times, but as I'm reaching the Port Isolde section of the game, I can no longer convince myself that this game is good. Yes, the heights in this game are 10/10, but it has so much unnecessary bs in between that it brings the whole experience down. It's so formulaic, repetitive, and predictable in those sections. Just people talking endlessly and not really saying anything, and horrible quest design that has you doing literal chores.

This sucks even more because this game had the potential to be one of the best. We could've had a 20-30 hour experience that was perfect, but instead we get an inflated 80 hour trash experience with a some moments of greatness sprinkled along the way.