I have no issues playing IX except the one thing I always hated. The card game. I hope the remake is true and all I ask is 2 things. Inactive party members gain EXP and the card game is somehow skipped or a cutscene instead.

I didnt find anything wrong with the card game.

Infact i prefer it over FFVIII's card game to be honest.

Also nothing is worse than FFX's Blitzball, now make THAT a cutscene or skippable.

I just rather avoid X altogether as I hated that game. The issue with the card game in IX is it's just up for chance not skill. So it just sucks. I also rather just not play 8 at all. Nothing in that game had a point to it. Battles are pointless. Leveling up is pointless. Playing the game is pointless.

Side note. I did platinum XV so I don't hate it. I just don't think it's very good and just a mess of a stiched-together corpse of a canceled game plus something else. It's a Frankenstein's monster.

I love X.

Minus blitzball...

I preffer 8's card game to 9's, quite easily, but boy oh boy, we couldn't agree more on Blitzball.

It's a good candidate for worst and most annoying mini-game ever, considering it even has some story push to it.

The difference between XIII and the Dark Souls series is...well there's a lot. First and foremost, The Souls games have always had an 'outsider looking in' narrative style, meaning much of the world building is supposed to be mysterious and convoluted and not very direct. Plus, the plot in those games was always secondary to your personal journey and the sense of accomplishment. You could theoretically enjoy Dark Souls without ever understanding any of its plot, instead just being content to play the GAME and feel a sense of accomplishment for overcoming obstacles and bosses. Knowing the story makes those elements better but it's by no means required. 

The same cannot be said for XIII, which was a tightly controlled, Linear, character-driven RPG. the fact that, in spite of the game being VERY linear, you still HAD to delve into datalogs and the rest of the in-game encyclopedia to understand the plot points that were put in front of you. 

In Souls, reading item descriptions was completely optional and tertiary to the other elements of the game. In Final Fantasy it was homework, required to understand most of what was going on. These two things are not the same. 

This sort of 'obscure storytelling is fine in souls, so it's fine in final fantasy' would be like saying Mario not having a deeper story means that Persona doesn't need one, either. I understand where you're coming from because I had to struggle with this 'why do I hate the requisite reading in XIII but I love Dark souls?' internal dilemma for a while. and context matters. what works in one game doesn't necessarily work in another. HAving obscure lore dumps and deliberately obtuse storytelling in Souls works fine because it compliments the game's style and atmosphere. A game like Final Fantasy XIII cannot get away with that sort of thing because it's such a plot and character driven game. 

That said, lately I've been considering re-evaluating old games I didn't like. There are a lot out there I thought I hated or disliked and tried again recently to find I actually really liked them. I'd never fully played through Final Fantasy 2 or 3 until the PS/Switch releases of the Pixel Remasters because I always thought they were failed experiments and that's why they didn't originally come to North America. but I ended up absolutely loving both of them. 1, 2, and 3 are all on my all-time favourites list. the rerelease of Skyward Sword on Switch has me excited to give that another shot despite not liking it. GTA IV is another game I wanna try. I hate Dark Souls II but I played it with my friends and...despite still resenting it the experience of playing it with friends was positive. 

I intend to give games like Final Fantasy XIII, Skyward Sword, and Donkey Kong 64 another chance with the benefit of more perspective. Now that I know what I'm getting into maybe I won't hate it as much as I used to. And XIII is definitely on that list. 

Believe it or not I don't like not liking things. More and more lately I've tried to be positive about things. This perpetual negativity around so many games annoys me. console wars annoy me. Review bombing annoys me. I may be critical of Xbox and Microsoft because they keep dropping the ball but in reality I'm actually rooting for them. I WANT Starfield to be a Game of the Year Contender. I was disappointed when Redfall proved to be as bad as it was. I was cheering when Hi Fi Rush came out. I want them to succeed, because I think the industry is better when we have more options and variety, but me rightly calling them out on their persistent failures gives me this reputation for being anti-Xbox and I'm just not. 

I want to carry that hopeful optimism for most things. I want to like things. I want games to bring me joy. I don't wanna log online and see this toxic discord about Final Fantasy XVI 'not being final fantasy' because it's not turn based. I don't want to see people review bombing games like The Last of Us Part II and Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores for having those scary lesbians in it. I don't want to see Stephanie Sterling being a smug, immature brat about Tears of the Kingdom. and I don't wanna see Sony fanboys bitching about Starfield being locked to 30 FPS. All of these games are or are expected to be great. there's plenty of room for positivity on all sides. There's no need for tribalism. 

And Final Fantasy sees much the same sort of nonsense. Ever since Final Fantasy VII there's been SOME sort of controversy with each new entry. Some are reasonable, some are not. but what most of these moronic arguments don't factor in is that Final Fantasy's whole thing is that there are thematic through-lines but each game is its own thing. Different setting, different world, different characters, different eras, different combat systems, different graphic styles, etc. The only consistent element of Final Fantasy is the title and the concept of change. 

So even though I genuinely LOATHE Final Fantasy XIII, I sincerely plan on giving it another shot with fresh eyes. I may still not like it but maybe I won't hate it and that's enough. 

but right now, as my memory serves, that game's combat system was trash and its storytelling was dismal and a failure for its genre and linear nature. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm missing something. It's been a while since I last played the game, but every time I look things up or watch videos I'm reminded of these assessments. Again, I hope I'm wrong. Maybe that was just my personal vietnam in terms of FF games (Again, everyone has that one they don't like, maybe 2 or 3), but I spent a LOT of time on that game trying to like it and I just couldn't. 

XV had its problems. XII had its problems. Even XVI has its problems, but I personally feel their flaws are vastly smoothed over by all the elements that work well. As it should be. IT's not about 'oh, this game has a flaw so it's irredeemable' like so many seem to be acting, it's 'oh, this one element doesn't quite work, but the rest is a tonne of fun so that's okay.' 

At least that's how I feel it. That's also why 7/10 is considered the base score for a game instead of the 5 it probably should be. because with games, the medium encapsulates so many forms of media that even if one or two elements fails the other parts are still worthy of praise. 

Guys, I am 15h in playing Final Fantasy XVI and so far it is amazing. I have nothing to complain, it is a great experience and the best since X no doubt. I know XII is beloved, but I can't accept that badly written story.
About the card games and Blittzball.

Card game 8 - fun
Card game 9 - very fun
Blitzball - If they ever make a remake please skip, don't spend days and resource doing it because it is not good at all.

The comparison with the Souls series was only to poke some fun on the idea of having to read equals bad, yeah, I know there are vastly different, and I completely agree on how a game presents its ideas heavily influence the outcome of it being good or not, even when the subject is the same, as presenting lore and story progression on texts, they are really very different approches and results.

I don't feel like playing FF13 again tbh, but I ever only replay games I truly love, like I'm replaying Pokemon Crystal right now, there is only a select few games that are capable of getting me excited to play them more than once (aside from trophy hunting, that's a different story).

I did't have as much of a problem with the on-rails experience as most of the playerbase seems to have, my major problem with the game as not feeling like it was good at being a rpg, it was not frustating not bad per se, just not good at making me want to progress on it.

It's okay to dislike things, don't feel pressed to have a positive reaction to everything, in the end we are all bound to our own tastes. Final Fantasy fanbase is definitely one of the most all over the place, there is always a lot of people that hate the ones you love, and I know that as 12 is my favorite, which is an unpopular one to love, and I know some nice people here who wholeheartedly love either 8 or 10 which are quite easily my least favorites.

The stuff about TLoU2 (and very likely Horizon 2 DLC which I have not played) is just nonsense, there is nothing to gain with that, just don't pay attention to people blindly hating for the sake of it. TLoU2 is one of the very best games I've ever played, the ones losing are the haters.

Very unpopular opinion, but I didn't like FF 9. Was probably my least fave FF game I played. I'll give it another chance if they remade it though.

I can't speak on behalf of others but the linearity of XIII was never a problem for me. Honestly, I like Linear and Nonlinear equally and find that linear games tend to have a much more well-crafted narrative and flow. By removing variability the devs can control the experience more. I feel that a game that has that much linear control needs to give us an experience that's well curated and the reliance on a datalog in FFXIII ruined that. 

I don't mind reading backstory. I don't mind obscure lore. 

I don't mind strict linearity. 

I don't think a game can really do both. You get one. These ideas are mutually exclusive, as far as I'm concerned. Others might not agree but I think from a design perspective a game would have to do something unique and special to get away with that combo and XIII absolutely did not do that. 

And trust me, there's a lot I don't like. There are entire genres I just don't touch. entire developers and publishers I refuse to support. I probably cut out 90% of the entire gaming medium and I STILL can't keep up with all the shit I wanna play. Like, despite clearly being a Sony AND Nintendo fangirl, I actively dislike Uncharted, The Last of Us, early God of War, and Gran Turismo. I don't think they're BAD games, I just don't personally care at all for what they do and what they offer. I can say without a hint of irony that I dislike more Sony exclusives than I like. They just happen to have so many exclusives that I still have a tonne of options. Same with Nintendo. I've never been a fan of Kirby games outside of Super Star and Canvas curse. I only really liked the first Yoshi game. I don't like Pikmin or Splatoon at all. And heck, I LOVE a lot of Zelda games but I honestly think I am neutral on or dislike more Zelda than I love...I just happen to REALLY love the Zelda games I love. 

I'm not trying to 'not dislike things'. There has to be a spectrum. There's always gonna be stuff I like and stuff I don't like. I'm just trying more and more to not shit on things I don't like without proper justification for it. And when it comes to entries in franchises I love that I don't love like FFXIII or Skyward Sword or Grand Theft auto IV, I really think I need to approach them from a new perspective. Especially since they're so well liked. clearly there's something there that I'm missing. 

I'm not gonna suddenly force myself to like trash dumpster fires like Superman 64 or other notoriously bad games...but I am trying to maintain an overall positivity, at least towards games that seem to get a lot of love. Like CinemaWins, every game is someone's favourite and I'd like to find a way to better appreciate that. 

I will absolutely rip on a game if I feel my points are justified beyond just 'it's not for me', but I don't want that to be my default state. 

Like, Dark Souls II is BAD. I found a way to get enjoyment out of it but the game is fundamentally broken, poorly designed, and misses all the points that made other Souls games so good. My hatred for that game isn't 'boo hoo the bosses aren't as cool as Ornstein and Smough', it's 'the hitboxes are wonky and a tonne of the game's mechanics are insufficiently explained or inconsistent, resulting in a fundamentally unfair experience'. But Again, I don't want negativity to be my default. I'd rather talk abut why I think Dark Souls III is the best in that trilogy than bag on how bad I think Dark Souls II is. Both are pretty controversial takes but one is elevating a game I love and the other is punching down on a game I don't like. Different tones. 

And as an aside XII is underrated as heck. I do feel the story is kinda not really there but everything else about that game is amazing. And so far XVI reminds me most of XII in terms of exploration, story, writing, world, and level design. IT's like...what if 12 actually had a good story. (And keep in mind I tease even though as stated before 12 is one of my favourites.) 

If curious, VI is my favourite. The next rung down is VII, X, and XII, all get a 9.7 from me and which one I like most fluctuates so I tend to keep them in the same position. Next is a 2-way tie between VIII and IX; like the other three my favourite of these two goes back and forth depending on the day. Next up is IV and V. Then I, II, and III. 

VI > VII/X/XII > VIII/IX > IV/V > I/II/III

It's still pretty early but I think XVI is currently hovering somewhere in the 9.5-9.7 range, compared to other FF games it might be on the same tier as VII/X/XII or VIII/IX. It's still early, but my friend who's twice as far has been boasting and it sounds like the game gets better than it already is, which makes me happy. Plus a lot of the things I like about XII and X like hunting and side quests and exploration and world discovery sounds like it comes later. So I'm very excited.