Sorry, deathcape, I think you've managed to work yourself into a corner here. "Slow" isn't the whole of any strategy, it's just a component of some of them, especially since some bosses can get rid of the status (including Zeromus), and if you think that's the only element of strategy against, say, the four Elemental Fiends, I can see why they managed to beat the stuffing out of you hard enough that you had to grind.

You've pretty much openly admitted that you only grind because the game kicks the Hell out of you because you can't adjust to the ATB. That's pretty much admitting that this has nothign to do with strategy and everything to do with pacing.

Don't you think you should add FFXIII to that clean chalk board on yours?

And getting through FF1 with four white mages doesn't require strategy

It requires grinding like the dickens, and singing praises to the almighty when you get the Masamune, and then grinding some more

but in order for the game to have such pacing alot of the strategy needed was taken out of the games

less so with FFIV than the newer ones
and yeah, I'm only human, so I admit I dislike the ATB

and I know simply casting slow isn't a strategy



it's just different, the skills needed in the earlier games aren't needed in the later games
it's simply different



I will still stand by the point I was trying to make, that the earlier games FFI-III were more skill-based and had more choices than later games

and I'm sorry, but grinding seemed to be a necessity in FFIV , seriously
oh, boss? grind some
then you can actually fight, or else, no matter what you try, you WILL die

wich was less so in FFI
FFII and FFIII had "grinding" in the sense that you had to hone your skills/classes rather than simply leveling up

seriously

Sorry, you're just wrong. What you're actually describing is that the introduction of the ATB system necessitated a shifting in skillsets so that the skills you acquired in the first three FFs (including mad grinding and casual exploitation of elemental weaknesses) were no longer as useful. That doesn't make the earlier games more strategic, it just makes them different.

The series as a trend has gotten more strategic over time, not less, because the options presented within each character class have expanded to include those which were originally encompassed by earlier classes.

FFIV is much more "skill-intensive" than FFI. The fact that you can't figure out how to approach many fights, and therefore have to grind where I don't, stands as testament to this.

We're running around in circles, but I think the point has been proven ehre: your dissatisfaction with the newer FFs doesn't come from a lack of strategy or skill in the games themselves, but simply the fact that you're not able to utilize the strategic skillset that is provided to you by the games.

The kind of tedium to which you subscribe, the simplicity and one-dimensionality that describes the gameplay of the older Final Fantasies, is not a bad thing. But it is not preferable to the richer and more detailed combat approaches needed in every Final Fantasy from IV to XII. Increase of options for every character has allowed for designs which make battles much moe involved and interesting. If you can't adjust to that, I apologize, but I'm also very, very, very glad that S-E doesn't cater to you.

you say you had to grind in earlier games while I didn't have to

and you say I lack skills to play the later games while you do not


I suppose this is really showing how the series changed, completely
like 3D vs 2D mario

is it that bad to want a game wich sticks to the roots?

I consider ToS a successor to FF, in its own right
because it actually seems like an evolution from those types of games

ofcourse I KNOW that this isn't literally the case, but the game simply plays that way


having a ton of useless skills wich are only slightly useful in combination with a ton of other useless skills while fighting monster 100923 and monster 817281

does not mean the game is full of fun interesting choices and strategies

rather than saying there are simply preset attacks that were devided in a bunch of useless skills, simply to make the game more tedious

on a different note, I don't see why you have to be so hostile towards me >_>

with the whole "I'm glad square doesn't cater to you" statement

sometimes they actually do, like with FFCC on the DS

and sometimes hey do not : look at FFXIII

I can only say they are going to suffer quite some fan backlash

Being glad that Square doesn't cater to you isn't hostile, it's a simple consequence of our different approaches to the games.

Everything I've said stands, and nothing you have said changes any of it. I have said what I will say; the last word is yours, if you want it. Adieu.

The problem with the FF1-3 and FF4+ compared with 2D vs 3D Mario is, 2D was Mario at his height. On the other hand, FF's popularity just kept rising after FF4.

I don't think the audience for FF1-3 is as big as the latter. Now, I don't necessarily think current Final Fantasies are as doing as well as they could be, but I think FF4-8 (and 10) is closer to what most people would prefer.

While the battle system of FFX was my favorite, it probably had too much focus on story (cutscenes). Some balance between this and all the older FF's could definitely make a great game that many can appreciate.

Eh, who knows what The Last Story could turn out like? Just wait for details!

I suppose so

I do prefer the tales of battle systems way more than any current system out there

This is semi related, but FF7 was the biggest game, and the hight of the series was defined by graphics and cinamatics. 3D graphics made a temporary spark in the market and this is what has allowed 7 8 and 10 to be the top games. 13 is under preforming meaning the spark is wearing off. It will be hard to put the series on top, but Square will have to go back to the basics and/or impliment the Blue Ocean Strategy in order to get to 7 8 and 10's point.