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IFireflyl on 27 January 2015
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thelalaby said:
IFireflyl said:

I didn't know a lot of gamers were turned off by Final Fantasy VIII. The only thing that really changed in the Battle System was the Junctioning (which really wasn't too different from "junctioning" Materia) and the Draw/Magic feature. It took some time to get used to (because I played it as a teenager and skipped the tutorials because I obviously knew everything), but once I understood how it worked it was amazing. I didn't know anyone who was turned off of Final Fantasy because of that game. I may have been different because I played Final Fantasy VIII first, then Final Fantasy IX, and then Final Fantasy VII. I think Final Fantasy VIII was different enough to say, "Whoa. That's interesting," but not so different that you say, "This doesn't feel like Final Fantasy. After Final Fantasy X the feel I got was, "That's not Final Fantasy."

The "Junction" system wasn't the only thing that was different about VIII; it also disposed of the traditional equipment system, how characters learned skills, new leveling up system, and the magic drawing (which you have already mentioned) was something simply unheard of. Add to that the realistic setting that the game had, it was completely different from anything else the franchise had done before (even VII didn't go that far), plus the fact that the story focused primarily on two characters as opposed to the whole cast. I'm saying it alienated many gamers based on the drop in sales as well as the online reaction I see for the game; it gets a lot more hate than the other two PS1 titles.

Anyway, I'm just trying to draw a parrallel between VIII, which was vastly different from its predecessors, and the upcoming XV which also seems to be another pivotal change for the series. All I'm saying is that since you love VIII, you shouldn't just assume XV will be disappointing just because it's different.

By the way, VIII was my first FF too! I loved it so much, and it didn't feel weird for me at all going from one title to another in the franchise... they all felt connected, even XII and XIII. I'm not saying all of them are great games or whatever, but my understanding of what makes Final Fantasy what it is is more flexible I suppose.


I'm not saying it'll be disappointing because it's different. You have no idea how excited I was for Final Fantasy XIII to come out. I went to the midnight release, I had the Collector's Edition strategy guide, the whole nine yards. The gameplay and storyline really let me down. The big difference between Squall and Lightning is that you could see the text of what Squall was thinking before he said rude/harsh/etc things. Lightning was just a mean, uncaring person which made her immediately unlikeable (the third Final Fantasy main character who I hated, with the first two being Yuna from Final Fantasy X-2, and Vaan from Final Fantasy XII). The world (as discussed) was excruciatingly linear, the battle system let you only control one of your party members (another reason I didn't like Final Fantasy XII), you were prevented from level grinding (Crystarium expands only after completing certain events), the Summons were Transformers that truly served no purpose (not that they served a purpose in Final Fantasy IX either), Hope was worse than Lightning, and you had so many chapters of him acting like the little kid he was (which was annoying), and the storyline was way more confusing than it needed to be. My issue with Final Fantasy XV is that it was originally Final Fantasy Versus XIII, so I kind of expect it to follow suit. I'm not saying it for sure will, but SquareEnix has released several Final Fantasy games in a row that have been an epic disappointment, and I'd honestly be shocked if I wasn't dubious as to how Final Fantasy XV will turn out.