Are the Final Fantasy Series games Beginner RPGs?

[KeighnMcDeath]

I played it later in my life like 20s. I already had many of the classic c64 rpgs under my belt and was working on the pc versions and amiga at this time. I like playing different versions of the same game. So, I started to delve into some of the NES jrpgs but I had already finished some genesis ones prior.

I might pick up the ios FF on my ipad. I don't want more games on my phone. The tablet has a bluetooth keyboard and thats fine.

I'll only spend so much on these games though. I look at the steam page and shake my head NO. I look at the legit ios entries and it is the same story. NO.

Funny, there are some entries on the apple ios store that are free to play (some with ingame purchases) but are different some how. Freetoplay is a huge warning sign. There are quite a few entries.

 

[Jack Of Owls]

My first (and pretty much only) FF game was VI (aka III) for the SNES on original hardware. Though I enjoyed the game quite a bit, I felt at the time it was baby's first RPG, having come from playing more "grown up and challenging" stuff like PoR and Dragon Wars on my C64. Never developed a strong interest in jRPGs as a result (though I don't automatically hate them like others here) but it was still enjoyable; but with that simplistic feel to it and the super-deformed art style with the characters it always felt dumbed down or geared more for kids.

 

[Matador]

The main pitfall of FF games is ATB combat. You can´t take seriously any game with that combat system. It´s just CRAP.

FFXII is a masterpiece though, best RTWP combat ever, but small party size.

Baldur´s gate and IE games got put to shame hard in that regard by the Japas.

 

[Jasede]

I never got the problem with ATB. Every FF game has, in the option menu, an option to enable pause while you're selecting a spell or skill or item. So as long as you enter the spell or skill menu when it's a player character's turn, the game pauses. This is very important in low level runs so you can think.

What's the problem? Too lazy to hit a pause button?

 

[Bigg Boss]

The main pitfall of FF games is ATB combat. You can´t take seriously any game with that combat system. It´s just CRAP.

FFXII is a masterpiece though, best RTWP combat ever, but small party size.

Baldur´s gate and IE games got put to shame hard in that regard by the Japas.

Oh yeah ATB was bad but FF12 WAS THE GOOD ONE. You might just like MMO combat better.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

ATB in practice isn't far removed from a non-tactical combat system that is turn-based at the individual-level, such as the one employed in FF X, and not terribly different from the Wizardry-style turn-based system of the original Final Fantasy. Vastly superior to the FF XII system of watching as your characters tediously wade through trash mob after trash mob.

 

[Derringer]

And now Japs own Wizardry I guess. Ubi owns MM, and EA has Ultima locked in a crypt.

Japanese company Drecom has acquired the copyrights, as well as the domestic and foreign trademark rights to the “Wizardry” intellectual property and will develop a new title in the series, the company announced.

I wouldn't have an issue if companies would recognize a good portion of the market isn't interested in moonspeak jap hieroglyphs and would appreciate readily available translations/versions.

Just about every translated game seems rushed. The worse offense is voice acting and never getting any english voice acting. "Oh look.... dubbing.... huzzah..... -.-! "

The translations either have grammar errors or they just re-write the script completely, it's easier to tell when you're playing something with a japanese dub since it just doesn't match the subtitles at all.

Video games are either based around puzzle solving or reflexes, looking up a simple guide breaks the shit out of most RPGs whether they're WRPGs or JRPGs (PS1 Final Fantasy games are all broken as shit, even IX) but production was pumped into the art assets to try and make up for it, for better or for worse. The better ones have systems that are fun to break and go along with the scenarios produced.

 

[FriendlyMerchant]

Tactics ogre is a good beginner rpg
Also Shadowrun: Dragonfall and Hong Kong are good for beginners.

 

[jungl]

there lot easier jrpgs franchise with simpler mechanics like tales and dragon quest. 6-8 and 10 really only ones that make you think the rest are simple.

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

More like the AAA garbage of the genre, always style over substance. I have never finished a game of the series and have finished a lot of garbage from Compile Heart that you never heard about but that company at least has interesting ideas they just fail in the execution. Sometimes they also make shit convoluted for the sake of it, see FFXIII. A much better beginner JRPG would be Dragon Quest which are relatively simple game but everything is executed masterfully and even the first one still holds up today even if it pre dates FF by a year.

I guess if they are used to play Soyny cinematic garbage you should introduce them to FF, it worked with FF VII which is a shit game but it had 3d and high production values so normalfags latched into the genre then.

Person with Dragon Quest avatar prefers Dragon Quest! Autism! I'm not even mad I am impressed you can finish a Dragon Quest grindy game but somehow never finished one of the better Final Fantasy games like 5, 6, or Tactics. That being said should I play DQ 7?

Everyone should finish DQ2 on a NES.

Spoiler

 

[Falksi]

ATB in practice isn't far removed from a non-tactical combat system that is turn-based at the individual-level, such as the one employed in FF X, and not terribly different from the Wizardry-style turn-based system of the original Final Fantasy. Vastly superior to the FF XII system of watching as your characters tediously wade through trash mob after trash mob.

For me the problem with 12 wasn't the mobs, but the size and emptiness of the combat areas combined with the fact that there was rarely anything worth exploring for. I liked 12, but never finished it until recently because originally I played the game how it was designed - by exploring and undertaking the quests. Following as linear/straight forward path as possible is way more fun, and Square have always been pretty shit at exploration anyway.

Regards ATB to me it just slows the whole fucking thing down. I get and like the idea - add an extra layer of tension whilst you wait to act - but in practice it just means doing nothing for a short while, which soon gets old + boring after numerous battles.

Everyone has a hard-on for FF6, but the slow pace of the ATB in that game really hurts the experience for me.

 

[Jasede]

You can speed it up in the options menu.

 

[Falksi]

You can speed it up in the options menu.

Yeah I did, and it's still way too slow. Turn based just moves at a much faster and better pace for me as you can blitz through the standard easy/trash battles and get them out the way.

 

[Jasede]

I'll say this about 10 which I don't like - it has the best combat pace by far because it is truly turn-based, with very fast animations so I can see where you're coming from.

 

[Duraframe300]

The translations either have grammar errors or they just re-write the script completely, it's easier to tell when you're playing something with a japanese dub since it just doesn't match the subtitles at all.

I'd strongly suggest checking out european language translations for certain FF titles if you speak the language as they're either closer to the japanese and/or got a lot more personality.

I've mentioned it before, but I vastly prefer the german version of FFIX for example to the english one (Which is bland as fuck in comparison).

This extends even to FFXV, which is known to be much more accurate to the japanese in the german version for example.

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

The translations either have grammar errors or they just re-write the script completely, it's easier to tell when you're playing something with a japanese dub since it just doesn't match the subtitles at all.

I'd strongly suggest checking out european language translations for certain FF titles if you speak the language as they're either closer to the japanese and/or got a lot more personality.

I've mentioned it before, but I vastly prefer the german version of FFIX for example to the english one (Which is bland as fuck in comparison).

This extends even to FFXV, which is known to be much more accurate to the japanese in the german version for example.

I agree, English translations are always the worst ones. Sometimes for political purposes others for mere hubris of a failed writer thinking they can write better than the source material.

 

[Jasede]

Oh yeah the German FF9 is great!

 

[Duraframe300]

The translations either have grammar errors or they just re-write the script completely, it's easier to tell when you're playing something with a japanese dub since it just doesn't match the subtitles at all.

I'd strongly suggest checking out european language translations for certain FF titles if you speak the language as they're either closer to the japanese and/or got a lot more personality.

I've mentioned it before, but I vastly prefer the german version of FFIX for example to the english one (Which is bland as fuck in comparison).

This extends even to FFXV, which is known to be much more accurate to the japanese in the german version for example.

I agree, English translations are always the worst ones. Sometimes for political purposes others for mere hubris of a failed writer thinking they can write better than the source material.

In the case of 15 I will say though that the japanese team has some fault too. Because most likely they communicated with each team individually and gave them additional and conflicting story information.

So you have additional lines in other languages (including English, German, French and so on) that contain info that later got re-confirmed in japanese via dlc or patches for example. Or info that still only exists in one version only (German version is to this day the only one that confirms the origin of the starscourge).

Just another little story from the absolute mess that FFXV's development was.

 

[Carpincho Pampeano]

I'm downloading the ps3 version of ff xiii right now, i remember it being shit but the meme is that it gets good 30hs in. If it's not true i'm gonna rape every single faggot in this thread that shills final fantasy games.

 

[Morenatsu.]

There's no such thing as a ‘beginner game’.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Sure there is... the one you first play.

 

[abnaxus]

 

[S.torch]

To me all FF games are just

Not really, though. Different Final Fantasies touch upon different themes. So, for example, FF6 is about magic and espers, while FF7 is about the Ancients. Mechanics are also slowly changed or introduced when is appropriated to do so. Like many other series in Japan, they took into account their long established fandom and explored different subjects while maintaining their essence. This is a thing you can still see in other JRPGs, like Pokémon.

Apparently this is a thing that many people more accustomed to "western treatment" don't understand. Since they're used to a series they followed getting changed everything to the point that it ends up with little or none in common with the thing they liked in the first place, while at the same time not even having a theme or a reason even to do so, most of the time just being an excuse to appeal to the lowest common denominator. So when they see a series that actually sticks to its essence, they are often unable to understand it.

Sadly, it seems like FF itself is becoming more and more unrecognizable for what it was in the past.

and where certain concepts such as chocobos make an appearance

Chocobos appear because they're part of the world and the setting. This is like asking yourself why mind flayers appear in Greyhawk.

 

[Poseidon00]

Final Fantasy Tactics was the only rpg i've ever seen people be unable to complete because they got hard-walled by certain fights. At least three people I knew growing up, my mom included lol, got absolutely wrecked by the one-on-one fights with Gafgarion and Wiegraf, or at the Golgorand Execution Site.

 

[Matador]

I never got the problem with ATB. Every FF game has, in the option menu, an option to enable pause while you're selecting a spell or skill or item. So as long as you enter the spell or skill menu when it's a player character's turn, the game pauses. This is very important in low level runs so you can think.

What's the problem? Too lazy to hit a pause button?

What you mention is clumsy. Just make thing turn based, like the superior combat in Romancing Saga series.