Final Fantasy - General - The Bear and Badger

Minnesänger

EvilRedEye wrote:

FFXII has apparently been patched on PS4 and PC to add feature parity with the later Xbox and Switch versions.

Oooooooh, nice!

MattyJ

So I'm about to fight

Spoiler:

I think the combat gets messy at times, and the ai of the others could be improved as it seems if I don't control them they don't fill arb very quickly. But mostly I'm very much enjoying it. The characters are so much more fleshed out and 3D over the original, I understand everyone's viewpoints a lot more in this one. And I still love Tifa.

JonB

It is messy when there are a lot of enemies. Changing the camera to zoom out a bit helps a little, but it's still an issue.

The AI thing isn't a big deal though I think because it's designed to have you frequently swapping between characters. It's a nod to the original in the respect in that everyone took turns. Keeping their ATB pumped up manually is pretty crucial, and because enemies tend to focus on whoever you're controlling, it helps to spread received damage around more evenly.

JonB

I'm still playing this as well. Started other things but found I just hadn't had enough of it. I'm not sure I'll do everything, as some bits after initial completion are damn difficult, but I'm happy to just keep going and see how far I get.

MattyJ

JonB wrote:

It is messy when there are a lot of enemies. Changing the camera to zoom out a bit helps a little, but it's still an issue.

The AI thing isn't a big deal though I think because it's designed to have you frequently swapping between characters. It's a nod to the original in the respect in that everyone took turns. Keeping their ATB pumped up manually is pretty crucial, and because enemies tend to focus on whoever you're controlling, it helps to spread received damage around more evenly.

Yeah I'm probably not swapping enough. I'd like to be able to set a target for someone so they continue to attack that person while I swap to someone else. E.g. Use Barrett to attack a flying enemy or one I can't reach with others, while I use Cloud or Tifa. Think I just need to get more stuck into the mechanics.

Tempy

I am also up to just before Airbuster. I haven’t played it for a few days because the desire to see Midgar through is weighing up against not feeling confident in what they have put together for another 20 hours. I also don’t feel like they’re really expanding meaningfully on the characters yet, but maybe that becomes more evident later.

MattyJ

Picking up on what characters are saying out of scenes as well as during them has made them feel more expanded to me. For example, Tifa is clearly shocked by the extent of the damage of the first bombing, and is very reluctant to go on the second mission. I don't remember that from the originals dialogue. Same with Barrett, there are moments during the second bombing mission where he is showing fear and a softer side, which didn't become apparent probably until after

Spoiler:

in the original. Cloud has softened a lot more in my eyes, based on conversations with Tifa. And he's funny.

Tempy

None of that really felt meaningful though, with maybe atifa’s stance aside. Not learning about Barrett’s motivations and conflicts until later was fine but I can see why they’ve done what they’ve done in laying it out earlier. Cloud I am not so sure on, seems to be torn between keening close to what he should have been pre-translation issues, and also what Nomura thinks a cool character is, which is... well. Nomura.

MattyJ

Are you expecting an awful lot of character exposition? A far deeper look at the motivations of the characters?

Tempy

No? I am just curious as to what changes they have decided to make to change Midgar into a fuller prospect than the initial game presented. They're having to balance the fact that there are players that know these characters and stories well, with people who haven't, and they don't have the luxury of holding back character information from later on (Kalm, Gold Saucer Prison etc) to communicate stuff more.

However, I am not personally sure that it really works. I don't think they get anything out of giving us an insight into Tifa's hesitation or Barrett's deeper feelings at this point in the story. But they kind of have to, cos 7 hours of static characters is going to grate more than 90 minutes. Hence saying "meaningful" as a qualifier for it, rather than good or bad. I know why they're doing it, it certainly isn't *bad*, but I am not sure it's meaningful to get these things from a narrative POV, yet. It might prove me wrong, this is just how I feel about it now, being at the same point as you.

The Sephiroth and

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is a bigger point. Again, I see what they're doing, I understand why they are doing it, but I don't think it's meaningful at this point for new players.

FWIW I have enjoyed what I've played so far, it's great fun. I am just not sure they're handling the padding in a way that I like. If that kind of conversation is just going to rile people in here up, i'll not bother. S'just my opinion is all.

Tempy

Critiquing things doesn't mean I'm shitting on them. I love FFVII a hell of a lot, formative experience, amazing world, still holds up to this day. Investigating those feelings and thoughts through the new one is an act of enjoyment and learning, not a negative thing.

EvilRedEye

I'm getting close to the end of the game and increasingly feel they started with the principle of a 40 hour playtime for a playthrough with subquests and worked back from there. There's enough legitimate extra depth to justify part of the increase - enough to justify it as a separate product - but I feel like it being 40 hours instead of maybe 20 hours is more about the commercial side and the expectations of JRPG fans.

regmcfly

If it helps, I was definitely more in on the back end of the game than the front end. I like that it tried something different in the finale and seriously enjoyed my time in

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Minnesänger

regmcfly wrote:

and seriously enjoyed my time in

Spoiler:

the shinra building

Horses for courses, innit. That was one of the low points in the game for me. Couldn’t wait for it to be over. One of my fave parts of the OG game, though.

Tempy

I am still looking forward to what's next, but I am not as excited to play it as I thought I would be. Evenings are generally taken up with MoHan instead, but that could be because I prefer having contact with pals on Voice Chat given I am not really getting out thanks to the quarantine.

One thing I have enjoyed: bringing up Wutai more often and tying it to the War does a better job of the original of conveying the state of the world. It makes the existence of SOLDIER more obvious, and shows that Shinra not only got their bucks off the back of energy tech, but war too. Always felt that failed to land in the original, especially as you can entirely miss Wutai.

regmcfly

Minnesänger wrote:

regmcfly wrote:

and seriously enjoyed my time in

Spoiler:

the shinra building

Horses for courses, innit. That was one of the low points in the game for me. Couldn’t wait for it to be over. One of my fave parts of the OG game, though.

I totally get the fact it could be dull as shit but I enjoyed the world building built in

EvilRedEye

Wasn't Wutai quite small in the original? Suspect they will bulk it up with the number of references in this one.

regmcfly

Yes, it was optional and led to things like Yuffie but I think it'll get fleshed out this time round.

Tempy

Optional in the game, but basically fundamental to the world - it's the reason for SOLDIER, Junon, Rocket Town etc

JonB

I'm not sure what someone coming in new to it would think TBH. A lot of what I like about the characters here is that they seem to really capture how I always imagined them before. The look, the gestures, the voices and the script are all spot on in that sense.

But they've certainly got more sides to them too, especially Barret, I think, who starts off the most one-dimensional but represents a whole range of contradictions by the end. So maybe that would come across regardless of past experience.

MattyJ

Tempy wrote:

Critiquing things doesn't mean I'm shitting on them. I love FFVII a hell of a lot, formative experience, amazing world, still holds up to this day. Investigating those feelings and thoughts through the new one is an act of enjoyment and learning, not a negative thing.

I know was just curious as to your expectations from it

Tempy

Just wanted to cover my back cos of Ere's comment a page or two ago.

EvilRedEye

Don't mind me, there just was half a page where I was a bit worried the thread might be turning into a punching bag in the same way some people used to randomly take a pop at the Switch thread but it's not happened. Critique away.

cosmicjellybean

I was really enjoying this game, but might have burned myself by trying to do all the side-quests in one playthrough. Just as I'm getting into the swing of things and charging through the story, which sometimes requires a lot of running through corridors, I then try to look for 6 cats or children or chocobos or something stupid and end up running about those corridors over and over. Meaning the next evening I think about putting a couple of hours in, I end up doing something else instead as I can't be bothered with it right now.

Think I'll either skip them now, or just bring up a guide for them. I think ERE is right, it would have made a much better 20 hour game... I don't think anyone that played the original back in the even wants a 40 hour game... and if your new, 20-30 hour single player campaigns are pretty normal.

equinox_code

Kinda heartbroken they couldn't remake the whole thing in one go, though I can understand why. A big part of the nostalgic appeal is the length of the journey.

MattyJ

Anyone got a rip of the new soundtrack? I can't see it on Spotify or apple music... Just something pretending to be it. I got the sample cd with my game but don't have a way to rip it unfortunately

EvilRedEye

It's not out until May.

Minnesänger

It’s on YouTube.

EvilRedEye

It makes me sad that the last Final Fantasy XV DLC will probably never get an official soundtrack release and YouTube sound rips (great as they are) will be all we'll ever have.

MattyJ

EvilRedEye wrote:

It's not out until May.

Ahhhh

Minnesänger wrote:

It’s on YouTube.

Oooooooo

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