I got the FF anniversary collection pre-ordered for PS4.
IMO the games are very overpriced while being digital downloads, but on disc all 6 of them sound great to own, specially considering I've paid around $58 for it, instead of the $75 they are asking.

I've never played FF4, 5 or 6, so now I have a good way to play them, I don't like approaching games by playing their remakes before playing the original games, but the pixel remasters feel like a close enough experience with some QoL and fitting to play on modern displays.

Herein lies the problem. There's a whole game which flopped because people were uninterested in a new trend chasing entry in a saturated genre, felt the selection of characters was badly designed and not interested in their skillset... And this criticism is boiled down to "the characters have pronouns" (we all do in the English language, even our cats and dogs lol) and "there is a single trans character"

It's honestly an obsession derived from bigotry and bullying/hatred of a tiny minority group. To try and parade this as being concerned for the children needs a lot of self reflection... Seemingly people who take this stance of concern seem to have no actual interest in fostering a safer, accepting world where said children are actually emotionally supported. Where males and females who are non-gender conforming (sometimes for biological reasons like intersex) are comfortable expressing themselves regardless of pronouns/gender identity. That would be a true antidote if someone wanted to reduce medical transitions and make people comfortable in whatever body they were born in. I'll try not to take a negative tone because I do not believe you to necessarily be  acting in malice but the article you link to, links to the IG post of the voice actor which then reveals comments like:

"lmfao please keep DEI and ESG out of gaming. go woke go broke 😴"

"Thank you for being part of gaming history. The BIGGEST video game flop of all time almost solely because the characters were so ass"

A game which acknowledges an ultimately vulnerable spectrum of society in the most harmless/discrete form (I mean you won't even know the character is trans without researching) is not the problem. People so hell bent on villainising and harassing, self identifying LGBT individuals and making the world a more volatile place for them, are the problem. I want to throw you a bone and say as a gay man, I don't necessarily agree with every talking point that may be defaulted by the left on topics relating to gender dysmorphia/identity etc but there is no world in which good/progress is done by making them feel outcast, alien or making their existence frowned upon or reason to boycott a game. 

For example I don't necessarily feel comfortable with the idea of children taking puberty blockers, but I'm also not a Doctor/Psychologist dealing with children who are questioning their gender identity.  At most, my feelings should translate into me amplifying the voices of medical professionals who deal with this, in relation to what their expertise tells them. Not me randomly hating on trans voice actors or Sony for acknowledging and hiring people from this typically under cast/employed minority.

FF4, 5 and 6 are some of my of all time favorite video games.

FF5 is the underdog here but man... I loved it. It has the weakest story and soundtracks of the three but I enjoyed the characters and sense of adventure/freedom.

FF6 is the general favorite, and my personal top RPG of all time (hence my avatar). A masterpiece.

I never played the original FF4, but FF4 The Complete Collection on PSP was a hell of a game with the smoothest Final Fantasy combat. Also had an unforgettable dark atmosphere.

We don't necessarily see eye to eye, but I hope this is one of the times that we do, because you'd be in for a ride.

I want to respect Pi-guy's request that we move on from the subject, but want to put this in perspective to a larger thought for me. I simply don't buy games (or other media) that massively go against my beliefs/religion/etc. I didn't buy Bayonetta because to me it looked like a demon killing hordes of angels. I'm sure some would laugh at me for that, or call it pathetic, or whatever, and I'm good with that. We all have our boundries. I didn't want to buy the particular game in question (actually for many reasons, but in regards to this conversation) because it reminded me of something we are doing as a society that I think is damaging to a lot of kids. I totally understand others feel a different way. This thread is the first time I've ever spoken of that decision. I'm not out making protests or petitions or anything like that. Its a personal choice for me on many games/music/movies, etc. If you wanted any of those games for the reasons I did NOT want them, good for you! I hope you enjoy them! I'm glad there is a wide range to choose from. I wish it were even wider, but we are where we are. 

Wait, what?

Funny enough I think I usually agree a lot with your posts, lol.

I'll give FF1 to 3 another try too, as I've only played them through emulation way back then, I remember liking 3 the most, but I actually don't remember a lot about any of the specifics from any of them nowdays, lol.

I know FF6 is usually taken as the one of the very best FFs together with 7 and 9, but so is Chrono Trigger considered the best RPG or even overall game ever and I find it to be... just fine, lol.

That's amazing! REZ is so fantastic

$60 digital every now and then when you buy the bundle. That is $10 per game, absolutely worth it.

I bought it on PS4, Switch, Steam, iOS and yesterday on Xbox.

The prices are $12 for 1 and 2 and $18 for 3 to 6.

Anyway, I get digital games mostly only in 2 scenarios:

1. It's only available digitally

2. It's quite cheap

Mostly when both of those conditions are met, physical is the vastly preffered choice for me.

I know what the prices are but if you buy the bundle of 6 - its $60 when it goes on sale like it is on Xbox right now, which makes it $10 per game since there's 6 games.




Better than buying it individually (whether now or later) which totals up to $95.

It likely wont go on sale below $60 anytime soon on consoles because of the Xbox version's release recently. The Steam bundle of 6 went down to $14 at one point back in May 2022 but its also been $60 recently, likely due to the fact that the series has been slowly re-releasing drip feed style - same thing happened with Kingdom Hearts where the complete collection was at $20 on PSN but you cant get it that cheap anymore, its typically $30 now when it goes on sale.

The pixel remaster has never went on sale physically, only digitally.

Honestly dont see a reason to buy it separately because if you like it and buy the rest even when on sale, it'll be more than the entire bundle and even the worst FF games (1 and 2) are still worth it.

I dont buy physical games anymore - the last physical game I bought was Final Fantasy XVI for PS5 over a year ago for like $40 but I'm gonna buy it digitally when it goes on sale again.

There's just no point in buying physical for me, waste of space and with gigabit internet with no data cap , downloading is so easy.

Anyways - buying the whole bundle and trying out each game is worth it - FF1 and FF2 take 10-15 hours tops, FF3 and FF4 takes 15-20 hours while FF5 and FF6 takes 20-25 hours.

I played through the entire bundle on Switch last year and gonna play the PS4 version soon. I'll play the Steam and Xbox versions later and will play the iOS versions last.