/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.2437234]

Imagine how great this game could have been without the shit junction system.

Yes, I'm calling this game overrated and the story was nothing special either.

[Anonymous No.2437243]

>>2437234
>Imagine how great this game could have been if they changed everything

There's nothing I really like about the game. The setting, the metal grey menus, the story, the graphics, etc.

Well, I sorta like the monster designs in battle. That's about it.

It's just such an ugly weird mess of a game. And very stupid too.

[Anonymous No.2437248]

>>2437243
The monsters were a nice design but I agree with a lot of your points.

I did like however the monsters leveling with you at some points. Also some of the summons were too fucking long.

[Anonymous No.2437251]

>>2437234
I think if the menu system was better, prettier and they gave more intuitive names for mechanics, people would like it more. I like it personally, but I also see it as a big part of the decline into incoherent contrived plots, and the fagdrogenous aesthetic that killed ff

[Anonymous No.2437257]

>>2437234
>G-Force junction
Eh, I actually liked that mechanic. In fact, it has to be the only one I liked.

If I could, I'd rework the magic system entirely. Making spells consumables you also have to equip to raise your stats has to be the dumbest idea Square has ever had.
The endgame was a grind fest because of it.

[Anonymous No.2437263]

When I was a kid when it came out I remember me and my friend shared a save file and we got to Ultimecia we were like....."WHO THE FUCK IS THIS PERSON".

[Anonymous No.2437341]

>>2437234
I liked the story, trippy as fuck, and I liked the characters too.

But i hate the junction system too, i don't know what the fuck were they thinking. I also hate that there's ver few places to go in the world map, the weapon creation system as good, the card game was nice, was a little impossible to get them all though

This game is good, but the flaws it has makes it shitty

[Anonymous No.2437369]

It's the best PS1 final fantasy. FF7 materia system was grindy as fuck if you actually wanted to pull off any of the cool combos that people talk about, and FF9's combat was so mind-numbingly slow and ugly that it was just unplayable.

[Anonymous No.2437370]

>>2437234
>imagine how great this game would have been without the only good thing about it
No.

[Anonymous No.2437372]

>>2437369
Are you implying junction magic wasn't grindy? Nothing took me out of the game more than WITHDRAW WITHDRAW WITHDRAW WITHDRAW WITHDRAW

[Anonymous No.2437373]

>>2437372
not my fault you're a dumbshit
do you steal from enemies until you have 99 leather armors, too?

[Anonymous No.2437393]

>>2437372
I can't think of any spell worth drawing in combat. Give one character draw and maybe stock like once per battle, the majority of the magic you use should be refined from items. The only grinding required is for 10 fish fins at the start of the game for the junction value of water.

[Anonymous No.2437407]

>>2437257
This. Stealing magic spells to use was a great idea, interesting way to 'learn' magic. Junctioning it and having it change your stats was a decent idea, but then having the spells essentially be consumable items was full on retarded.

[Anonymous No.2437476]

>>2437243
Grey menus. After the glorious blue and custom colours of FF7 how could they go to grey menus?! There is just no conceivable explanation that makes any sense.

[Anonymous No.2437478]

>>2437234
>Yes, I'm calling this game overrated and the story was nothing special either.
Is my own bias clouding my judgement?

Am I the only one who thinks that there isn't anything here to "overrate"? FF8 is the worst FF that isn't on the NES

[Anonymous No.2437479]

>the story was nothing special either.

it really sucks because the military school isn't believable in the slightest either. it's just like some fantasy middleschool instead. But I liked the gardens inside Balamb Garden.

[Anonymous No.2437487]

ITT: people complaining about magic drawing when you could literally refine max magic from cards or just draw it from hidden points on the world map in huge quantities

So basically your typical FF8 hate thread

[Anonymous No.2437536]

>>2437487
And here come the fanboys.

[Anonymous No.2437542]

I used to like to break the game but yeah the games honestly garbage.

[Anonymous No.2437546]

>>2437487
Son, pretty much everything about the game is bad.

[Anonymous No.2437562]

But... muh ff8

[Anonymous No.2438096]

>>2437234
despite all it's flaws I played this more than 7, in fact the only reason I got to the end of 7 was because the story was cool for me, after beating the boss I felt relieved I could put that game down. I hated many aspects of 8, but after ending it I gave it another try just because I caught a glimpse of how much shit you could do, in so many different ways.

[NESfag No.2438116]

The junction and entire gameplay system is one of the 2 reasons which to me make FF8 the best FF.

The system is so deep, there is so many little things to find out about it, that even after 5 or 6 playthroughs I was still learning new things.

The 2nd reason why FF8 is so great is storytelling; and exactly because of the same explanations : there is so many little things to find out about the story and the lore, that even after 10 playthroughs (yes, I played it that much, and more) I was still learning new small things about the story. Go talk to the right NPC at the right time, find some hidden dialogues, etc It's absolutely incredible.

In comparison I was able to fully figure out everything about FF7 and 9 in only 3 playthroughs. FF4= 1 playthrough. Shit game

[NESfag No.2438120]

>>2437487
You're forgetting that you can also turn items into magic. So basically, get random item drop after fight, turn into magic. If you do a bit of everything, a bit of drawing, a bit of turning item drops, a bit of card, a bit of source drawing, you'll have much more than what you need.

The problem isn't drawing or the system. The system actually lets the player play however he wants, and the system gives many differents ways to go at it.
The problem is the players, if you ruined your own playtime by spending an insane amount of time drawing it's your own damn fault, especially considering the game explicitly explains to you all the different ways at your disposal. Your lack of curiosity about the system makes you a bad RPG player; and you're the reason why SE went for more streamlined, oversimplified (and even "the game plays itself") systems in the later ones. They listened to your stupid complains.

[Anonymous No.2438137]

>>2437234
I thought that on release too but I learned to like it in recent years. Squall is a shitty MC though.

[Anonymous No.2438707]

>>2438120
Not the guy you replied to but
>The system actually lets the player play however he wants
While the Guardian Force junction wasn't bad at all, the magic one just consisted in stacking 99 units of the best magic and equipping them to max your stats.
If anything it made the late game extremely dumb because it encouraged the player NOT to use magic to avoid losing stats, and it reduced the gameplay to the usage of normal attacks and Limit Breaks ( plus Eden if you had unlocked it ).

>you're the reason why SE went for more streamlined, oversimplified (and even "the game plays itself") systems
Later systems, like X's Sphere Grid or XII's License Board, allowed for deeper character customization than VIII contrary to what you're saying. IX's was just a shitty version of VI's.
The 6th gen and further FFs might not be as "open world" as the previous ones, they still offer complex systems to toy with.

[Anonymous No.2438853]

The worst thing about this game is the hate base for it. The people that hate it generally ruined the game for themselves when it comes to the gameplay or are too OCD or perhaps autistic to handle not having 99 of a spell when it's junctioned. Now if you didn't like the story that's fine, I can see why people don't like it. I really enjoyed it but it's a fact that the story and the way it's told is polarizing in loving/hating the game.

[Anonymous No.2438857]

>>2438137
>...............

[Anonymous No.2438898]

>>2437234
>I don't like it=/=It's bad

Get over yourself.
Also, the Junction system is only shitty if you A) are too stupid to understand it or B) read a guide and broke the game. It's perfectly fine for normal people.

Also, Squall is a 17 year old trained killer who lost everyone he ever cared about and has HUGE trust issues. He's about as realisticly portrayed as such a character CAN be. He's only shitty if you think that every MC should be a he-man with a dudebro personality (or an edgy fucking cunt).

He wasn't the best ever, but he fit the story and the other characters. Deal with it.

[Anonymous No.2438905]

>>2438898
yeah everyone hates him except quists, rinoa, zell, irvine, the entire school after he passes the seed test thing
squall led a difficult life being admired and loved by everyone

[Anonymous No.2438907]

>>2438898
>Squall is a 17 year old trained killer who lost everyone he ever cared about
But all his childhood friends from the orphanage are with him, Anon. :^)

[Anonymous No.2438914]

>>2438707
The problem with both FFX and FFXII is the fucking consumption of time. For example, FFX let you customize your peeps, but more or less strictly in the post game. Rather like FFXIII.

FFXII let you teach any character whatever, but they all had to learn how to equip fucking hats and boots as well. Not to mention that the license grid wasn't just open from the start and let you build how you wanted from the ground up.

FFVIII lets the creative or experimental player do literally whatever they fuck they wanted to.
And to say that the later parts of the game made you NOT use magic is stupid, because you could potentially have up to 600 of each and every spell equipped at any given time between your party members, and could generally very easily make even more. So if you have 600 of something AMAZING that gives a massive stat boost, but you use say, 3 of them during a battle, then you have 2 options: Switch 3 of them off of a character who's just "holding" them and isn't being used, or take 3 seconds to refine more. Not hard at all.

And I'm sorry, but the best way to play the game is to switch up the equipped magic with party members. So each character does NOT need 100 of each spell fopr their own specific use. The characters not currently ion the party should be used as storage, and you really should have enough of any high level spell to get along just fine.

Stop being stupid and just don't play the fucking game if you don't like it...

[Anonymous No.2438930]

>>2437476

I have no idea either. Maybe they wanted a more mature color. So gun metal it was.

They even default to gun metal in 9, but thankfully you can change it to glorious blue.

[Anonymous No.2440051]

>>2437257
>Making spells consumables you also have to equip to raise your stats has to be the dumbest idea Square has ever had.
Agreed.

If the Junction boost had simply been tied to the spell used, rather than the quantity -- or if they'd removed the spell quantity from the game entirely and used the standard MP approach -- I feel like things would have been better.

[Anonymous No.2440247]

>fight enemy
>check draw menu
>draw a few spells
>be on my merry way
>meanwhile autists draw 9000000 spells on their first encounter
>OH WOW THIS IS HORRIBLE SO MUCH GRINDING

You have nobody to blame but yourself.

[Anonymous No.2440325]

I hated that you couldnt enter to towns anymore at the ending point, that killed so much possible side quests
fuck this FF

[Anonymous No.2440328]

>>2440247
>to enjoy the game you must refrain yourself from using the game mechanics
FF8 fanboys everyone.

[Anonymous No.2440406]

>>2437487
I'll never understand the "hurhur you had to sit there and draw for hours!" mentality.
I've played FF8 several times and not once did I ever think I'd have to sit there for each individual spell and stock it up for each individual character.

Once in awhile you'd run into a monster who had a quite useful spell and you might spend a couple of turns grabbing 10 or so for whenever.

Is it any wonder you didn't enjoy the game when you brought this daunting religious Fervor to draw magic til your fingers bleed?

[Anonymous No.2440407]

>>2438116
>FF4 = shit game

Fuck you NESfag.

[Anonymous No.2440438]

>>2440328
>these rats at the beginning of the game give me 3 exp and 2 gold, so I will stay here and grind to level 99

[Anonymous No.2440637]

>>2440328
>Game full of different choices to make
>Making bad choices isn't fun
>This is because the game is bad

Just go play Battle Chess or something where the game rewards you with a funny death scene for fucking up

[Anonymous No.2440754]

I like the junctioning system.
I like the draw system.
I like having to micromanaging.
I enjoy grinding for silly game-breaking mechanics
But I can see why people don't.

[Anonymous No.2440793]

>>2438907
Yeah but he didn't know that and nor did they. Which begs the question, why is Squall the only one who's a fuck-up?

[Anonymous No.2440801]

I had absolutely no problem with the junction system and it wasn't until I came to 4chan that I actually saw anybody shittalking the game for it.

[Anonymous No.2440810]

>>2440754
>Graduate SeeD academy
>Immediately grind to level 100 for Siren
>Teach Quistis Shockwave Pulsar as soon as she arrives back in the party

Only attack besides comet that can break the damage limit, I think.

[Anonymous No.2440815]

>>2440801
Its just a bunch of people regurgitating Spoony's review of FF8.

Spoony insisted that Drawing 100 of every spell you came across was MANDATORY so you have a bunch of faggots parroting his opinion as to why the game sucks despite that Spoony admitted at the end of his review that he actually loved most of FF8

[Anonymous No.2440840]

>>2440815
>implying
I've never watched any of that Spoony's videos, nor do I care about him.
I was a kid when FF8 came out and I got it for Christmas, and I was already not fond of the system at that time. I clearly remember the pace of the game dropping down around the 3rd disc as I was running into circles on that island, grinding for levels, magic and items.
I have some good memories about it but come on, that system was objectively shit.

[Anonymous No.2440864]

The Limits were far worse than being able to grind spells easily.

>get to critical HP
>switch turns
>RENZOKUKEN

Later on you can just use Aura on everyone (free triple with Cerberus). Combine with Meltdown (or Doomtrain) and you can wreck everything.

[Anonymous No.2440869]

>>2440840
>Grinding in a game where monsters scale with you

Are you retarded?

bullshit aside, the real weakness of the game was that you couldn't save junctions on characters and in sections where they have you split up or change characters you end up having to redo your entire stat allocation before moving on.
Its the shittiest during the Prison Escape, which is objectively the worst part of the game, where you end up switching characters so often that people who have an optimal "All of my GFs active all the time" playstyle have to move magic and Guardian Forces around every twenty minutes.

To compensate you could adapt a playstyle where each character has one or two guardian forces until the end game where you're no longer required to change parties.

Personally I prefer Final Fantasy games where the characters have predefined abilities, I feel like it restricts them less story wise and a lot of this "customize your character into anything" nonsense is just cancer of the system.
Materia was more accessible because you didn't shit your stats by casting your best spells.

[Anonymous No.2441557]

>>2440869
>the real weakness of the game was that you couldn't save junctions on characters and in sections where they have you split up or change characters you end up having to redo your entire stat allocation before moving on.
There literally is an option to move the existing junction setups from character to character for this exact purpose. Don't tell me you manually redid the junction setups every single time because you didn't use it?

[Anonymous No.2441656]

>>2437487
Agreed.

And even if you were too stupid to figure out card refining (which most detractors of the series are) what is with these autistic complaints about drawing over and over?

It's a JRPG. You grind. You grinded gear for abilities in 9. You grinded AP to max your materia in 7. You grinded to learn Esper magic in 6. You grinded to max jobs in 5. And so on.

[Anonymous No.2441671]

>>2440869
>grinding is okay because other games do it!
>these mechanics aren't poorly designed, you're just too stupid!
FFVIII fans are so deluded it hurts.

[Anonymous No.2441809]

>>2441656
Perhaps they failed to truly master the game, and instead of attempting to use the tools they were given via Refining, they instead decided it was better to have a bunch of junk items sitting around unused and simply spend their time Drawing Magic because they've heard the "strategy" parroted elsewhere?

Grinding is tolerable because their is often a method of grinding that is the most efficient, in Final Fantasy 5 you could go find Movers in random battles and gain incredible AP in a single fight.
In Final Fantasy 6 you could go find cactaurs and blow summons on them for quick AP, or you could go gather Imp equipment and Imp your characters to have the strongest possible character.

Typically every game has some tolerable, quick and painless form of farming.