Final Fantasy

I thought I'd make another post about JRPGs in order to close the topic. Final Fantasy is the other most recognized series of Japanese RPGs other than Dragon Quest; it is also the most famous one worldwide, and that's probably because of the success of the seventh episode, my very first JRPG, Final Fantasy VII.

At the time the game stood out for various reasons: the graphics were out of the ordinary, Computer-Graphics animated scenes weren't very common, as was the game's setting (your typical RPG would be set in a medieval-looking fantasy world, this one had a much more modern look).

Mechanics-wise, the game isn't that much different from Dragon Quest (see previous post), as you can find about the same adventuring theme (although the plot makes it feel different), random encounters with monsters and other enemies, battles in which you take turns to select your actions (except there are special timers for actions), character improvement by fighting and buying new equipment. I wasn't new to table-RPGs, so I could recognize some game elements such as character levels, statistics and equipment. However I couldn't grasp most of everything (including the English text), so my playthrough would be considered very chaotic by an expert of the genre. I still had a lot of fun playing it, for uncountable hours.

The first time I saw something about Final Fantasy VII was at a comic convention, where I saw someone playing the game: I just remember the battle screen, which looked incredibly good to me (full 3D perspective, even though there only was Aeris/Aerith fighting a Shinra dog). I had to wait to see one of my friends play it at home to make me curious enough to buy it.

After this, through "emulation" or remakes, I played some other episodes in the series, basically all of them through VIII. It's worth noting that there are twelve out so far: this means I skipped the most recent ones. I could blame Final Fantasy VIII, which was so much a turn-off for me I quit (but I played it to the end), or IX, in which battles looked so slow I gave up; but in the end I think all of them never gave me reason to get back into the series.

But I really want to give a more extensive explanation about my dislike for the eight episode, since there's so much I don't like in it, and since it's one of the most controversial ones in terms of criticisms and fan base. I'll save all this for a later post though, for I'd have a lot to say.