Wow, the early FF games are bad.

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I have FF3 for ipod touch, but for various reasons I never got around to playing it. Now I have an ipad, and I figured that it would look better on a bigger screen so I started playing it.

My username will tell you that I started with the middle era of the series (FF7 to be precise), and I still rate that as not just the best FF game, but one of the greatest games for any system at any time. I then played 8 which I thought was great, 9, which was good too but not as good as the others, and 10 which was superb. I quit on 12 because it was boring. Then I played 6 which is second only to 7 in my estimation.

So I figured, let's give the earlier games a spin. Boy, was that a mistake. FF3 could have been worthwhile if it wasn't so incredibly boring and incredibly hard. For the first few hours it's a blast, but then it's just level up, level up, level up and STILL get slaughtered by bosses. That's not gaming, it's masochism. I gave up on the game when I got to salamander (the dragon thing). First time around he beat me. Fair enough, I thought, he IS a boss. So I went off and fought about a trillion random battles and leveled up like mad. He killed me again. OK, I'll try this one more time, so I go and level up like mad yet again, get a ton of antarctic winds, learn blizarra, and have two of my attacking characters with ice-themed weapons.

This time I give him a good smashing with all these things, until he pulls out his fire breath attack twice in a row. Four dead characters, and one game deleted from my Ipad for good. I can't fathom how the designers believe that anyone would actually enjoy this process of losing time and time again while having to deal with it by doing incredibly repetitive stuff for hours on end...and still failing.

One of many reasons that FF7 is such a great game is beecause it avoids this. There are lots of random battles, yeah, but they're mostly manageable and the level of the opponents is fair. Think about it. An RPG should be all about the story, right? And that means making progress through the story at a reasonable rate. It doesn't mean spending ten hours fighting random battles just so you can get through to the next part. If FF3 was advertised and designed as a fighting game it would probably be quite good, but it's meant to be an involving and worthwhile story. Would you read a book which required you to take a huge and impossible test before it would let you read the next chapter?

Verdict? The FF games started getting really good around 6 and then just went from strength to strength until 12. Now it all seems to have gone downhill again. The really early games can really only be seen as research for what was to come.
 
I have FF3 for ipod touch, but for various reasons I never got around to playing it. Now I have an ipad, and I figured that it would look better on a bigger screen so I started playing it.

My username will tell you that I started with the middle era of the series (FF7 to be precise), and I still rate that as not just the best FF game, but one of the greatest games for any system at any time. I then played 8 which I thought was great, 9, which was good too but not as good as the others, and 10 which was superb. I quit on 12 because it was boring. Then I played 6 which is second only to 7 in my estimation.

So I figured, let's give the earlier games a spin. Boy, was that a mistake. FF3 could have been worthwhile if it wasn't so incredibly boring and incredibly hard. For the first few hours it's a blast, but then it's just level up, level up, level up and STILL get slaughtered by bosses. That's not gaming, it's masochism. I gave up on the game when I got to salamander (the dragon thing). First time around he beat me. Fair enough, I thought, he IS a boss. So I went off and fought about a trillion random battles and leveled up like mad. He killed me again. OK, I'll try this one more time, so I go and level up like mad yet again, get a ton of antarctic winds, learn blizarra, and have two of my attacking characters with ice-themed weapons.

This time I give him a good smashing with all these things, until he pulls out his fire breath attack twice in a row. Four dead characters, and one game deleted from my Ipad for good. I can't fathom how the designers believe that anyone would actually enjoy this process of losing time and time again while having to deal with it by doing incredibly repetitive stuff for hours on end...and still failing.

One of many reasons that FF7 is such a great game is beecause it avoids this. There are lots of random battles, yeah, but they're mostly manageable and the level of the opponents is fair. Think about it. An RPG should be all about the story, right? And that means making progress through the story at a reasonable rate. It doesn't mean spending ten hours fighting random battles just so you can get through to the next part. If FF3 was advertised and designed as a fighting game it would probably be quite good, but it's meant to be an involving and worthwhile story. Would you read a book which required you to take a huge and impossible test before it would let you read the next chapter?

Verdict? The FF games started getting really good around 6 and then just went from strength to strength until 12. Now it all seems to have gone downhill again. The really early games can really only be seen as research for what was to come.

Sooo you're saying all early FF games are bad just because of your experience with FF3? I really don't think that's fair, like, at all. I happen to LOVE many of the earlier games because of their little sprites and gameplay. Now one thing I do agree with you on is with FF3. I personally think that it had tedious/bland gameplay with an even more uninteresting plot. To be honest I'd say III was the FFXIII of it's era(I'm only talking of the FF3 remake though. Can't judge the original).

However I happened to LOVE FF1 & 2. I liked 1 and still like 1 because it's more of an adventure type game that got me all excited to explore all the secret dungeons and crap xD FF2 has more of a plot than FF1 and 3. I also think it's fairly similar with if not even more emotional than 7, but that's just me getting attached to four cool characters in my party
and then seeing them die
instead of Aeris who I never really paid any mind >.<. I only got my hands on FF4 once but from the little bit I've played I'd say it's a really good game! And FF5 I've heard is okay too. And then there's FF6 at the top of my list <3.

But yea the point I'm trying to make is please don't judge all early era FF games based off this one which I agree with you is not really good. However try the others and you may be surprised...or still disappointed. :)

And welcome :x3:
 
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I have to agree with Oli! :) FF2 is a great game and playing it was one of the most emotional gaming experiences I've had. FFIV and VI are both excellent in terms of story - I can't speak for I or V, but many people love I and V is the favourite of some.

Welcome to the forums! :D Have a fantastic time here and if you'd a sig, feel free to post in my sig shop! :)
 
FF3 was a bit of a hit and miss. The characters basically are cardboard cutouts and the storyline isn't too flash, but not all of the early FF games are bad !

Just like Oli and Lirael said, FF2 is a diamond waiting to be discovered imo. It has a unique battle system that steps away from the usual FF format and it hasn't been done again since. Also the characters, while still not as developed fully are quite better. You feel for them somewhat, while in FF3 you didn't give a toss because they could of been plastic dolls, wouldn't of made a ounce of difference.

IV, V are good as well. IV improves on character personality and storyline and V fixes III's mistakes. Ie- has the battle system and crystal like story, but has actually given characters heart and it's a more forgiving game.

So yeah, give the other older games a chance. Don't let FF3 let you down from experiencing the rest.

And they say that three is a lucky number !

 
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I likd III. And it's a nice change when a game is challenging for once, as much as I love the PSX era, I prefer the difficulty of FFIV, (not the PSP version) because as infuriating as it was, it felt like much more of an acheivment. I think IV is where the stoy telling for FF's got interesting as well. I enjoyed III but it was pretty much straight forward. I & II I don't really rate. I played through I, it was ok. thats about all I can say about it, II ive never really got anywhere with it

V I didnt like, the job system was awful and I didnty really think much of the story either. VI is amazing and before you write off all the earlier games, I 'd recommend this one. It's definately up there with the best. Its a decent challenge too.
 
i agree completely. i've played 4 and 5, and they were an enormous waste of money. they were both ridiculous games in terms of story. in 4 you go from earth, to the moon, to hell, back to the moon, back to earth and so on. i had to laugh at how stupid it was, and in 5, the big twist is that everyone is an alien. neither game played all that well either, i never enjoyed any battles or anything like that in either of them.

i've seen bits and pieces of 1 - 3, and i don't think they're going to change my opinion. they look just as awful as 4 and 5. 6 was definitely the turning point of the series, though - i think that's probably my favourite ff.
 
i agree completely. i've played 4 and 5, and they were an enormous waste of money. they were both ridiculous games in terms of story. in 4 you go from earth, to the moon, to hell, back to the moon, back to earth and so on. i had to laugh at how stupid it was, and in 5, the big twist is that everyone is an alien. neither game played all that well either, i never enjoyed any battles or anything like that in either of them.

i've seen bits and pieces of 1 - 3, and i don't think they're going to change my opinion. they look just as awful as 4 and 5. 6 was definitely the turning point of the series, though - i think that's probably my favourite ff.

You realise that these are fantasy games, so anything can happen and it will be completely plausible. Also, the battles in 4 and 5 aren't much different from that of 6 ;))

Personally, I'd agree that FF3 is the worst of the lot in terms of being fun. It was just one big grinding session with no real incentive to carry on. At least ff1 was the first ever FF, so it was forgivable.
However, we have to remember that Square were probably still finding their feet at this point and were trying not to be too repetitive from game to game (as they still try not to be).

Basing an opinion of a whole generation of games on one entry is a little bit pre-emptive, isn't it? You do have good tastes on choosing FF6 as the real starting point of the series though; other than 4, there isn't anything special about the older FFs in terms of modern day gaming :ohshit:
 
I'm surprised how many replies this got - it was really just me sounding off! Still, it's interesting to hear that quite a few people don't look kindly upon FF3.

It only occurred to me after I made the post that I have in fact experienced FF1 as well. I'd forgotten about it; my friend sent me an app that let you play it in a browser. If I remember correctly, I think my entire party was wiped out in the second battle, at which point I figured that this was either a practical joke or designed for people who don't actually want to enjoy their games so much as suffer through them.

Another point that comes up is graphics and sound. While I agree entirely that gameplay is more important than graphics, in the case of FF the improvement in graphics which came with the newer console systems (i.e. SNES/Famicom, then PS1 and 2 etc) are an absolute advantage when you're telling an audio-visual story. The more detail you can get into a character, the more empathy you can create. Could you imagine the "Aeris scene" if the sprites looked like those in FF3 (and if the music were just beeps)? That being said, of course, there's a balance. The characters in FF12 were beautifully rendered, but the team seemed to forget to give them actual personalities to go along with their nice looks.

Anyway. Interesting to hear everyone's take on this stuff.
 
The early Final Fantasy's basically paved the way for what we have today. Without them, FF wouldn't have lasted this long. is FF3 the only early FF game you have played? It's kind of silly to suggest that they are all bad just because you didn't like FF3, just saying. Have you ever played FF4? It could easily be in the top 5 FF's of all time.

-Setz-
 
I have FF3 for ipod touch, but for various reasons I never got around to playing it. Now I have an ipad, and I figured that it would look better on a bigger screen so I started playing it.

My username will tell you that I started with the middle era of the series (FF7 to be precise), and I still rate that as not just the best FF game, but one of the greatest games for any system at any time. I then played 8 which I thought was great, 9, which was good too but not as good as the others, and 10 which was superb. I quit on 12 because it was boring. Then I played 6 which is second only to 7 in my estimation.

So I figured, let's give the earlier games a spin. Boy, was that a mistake. FF3 could have been worthwhile if it wasn't so incredibly boring and incredibly hard. For the first few hours it's a blast, but then it's just level up, level up, level up and STILL get slaughtered by bosses. That's not gaming, it's masochism. I gave up on the game when I got to salamander (the dragon thing). First time around he beat me. Fair enough, I thought, he IS a boss. So I went off and fought about a trillion random battles and leveled up like mad. He killed me again. OK, I'll try this one more time, so I go and level up like mad yet again, get a ton of antarctic winds, learn blizarra, and have two of my attacking characters with ice-themed weapons.

This time I give him a good smashing with all these things, until he pulls out his fire breath attack twice in a row. Four dead characters, and one game deleted from my Ipad for good. I can't fathom how the designers believe that anyone would actually enjoy this process of losing time and time again while having to deal with it by doing incredibly repetitive stuff for hours on end...and still failing.

One of many reasons that FF7 is such a great game is beecause it avoids this. There are lots of random battles, yeah, but they're mostly manageable and the level of the opponents is fair. Think about it. An RPG should be all about the story, right? And that means making progress through the story at a reasonable rate. It doesn't mean spending ten hours fighting random battles just so you can get through to the next part. If FF3 was advertised and designed as a fighting game it would probably be quite good, but it's meant to be an involving and worthwhile story. Would you read a book which required you to take a huge and impossible test before it would let you read the next chapter?

Verdict? The FF games started getting really good around 6 and then just went from strength to strength until 12. Now it all seems to have gone downhill again. The really early games can really only be seen as research for what was to come.
i have to disagree with you my friend...i finished FF I to V...you know..all the old ones...and couldn't play FF III as it is in NDS...but i tried it...i got beating in the battle with a giant rat... :P
but the other ones are pretty awesome...
for example FF I ...it is a true adventure type game,...so what it doesn't have any story like FF VII or other ones...but it's really awesome...and makes me feel like living in a fantasy world
FFII was PRETTY AWESOME! though the leveling system sucked >.> and it had the part "soul of rebirth"...in it you get to play the ones that....well..it's a spoiler...so i will not tell this part :p
in FF IV (i m playing it again in ma PSP "FFIV complete" ) and i m really enjoying it a lot! though i've already played it but it feels worth playing it again...and there's this spin off "after time" ...i can't wait to play it!
FF V is amazing ...though bartz isn't the brightest one...but still...the job system is fun...and maybe the story is too plain...but it's fun to meet characters like galuf and also an evil villain ex-death...and let's not forget everyone's favorite GILGAMESH!!!!!!!!
so i disagree with you .....you should try em ....i hope you will understand ^^
 
Question did you play the games when they first came out? Meaning on the NES and SNES? if not you can't say they were "terrible games" You have to realize that games EVOLVE with time, so if your getting into gaming now..course your going say games from the snes and nes time sucked. Back then these games were almost groundbreaking. I mean if you play all these games for the first time now... yeah.. its not going feel the same, but I mean comon, the video games now can look almost real like, and not a pixel that moves across the flat background...
 
FF 5, 1, and 3 were good I think, but 2, and 6 were trash. >: I couldn't have fun with them at all.
 
Even though I love FF3 & 4, the games weren't without their difficulties.

Sure, you're hearing an opinion from a biased person, but let me tell you something right now; the ragequits were worth it. I got great character developments, great stories, great scenery... And the endings flgnhbidbhfdkbh. :p
 
i played the nes version and isnt that hard, only the Garuda Boss kicked my ass. The characters even though they dont have personality feel very heroic for me and i began my FF life with 8, so as the OP im a ps1 era gamer and still could enjoy the older versions (FF8, 9, 7, 5, 6, 3, 4, 1, 2 ,10,12) so maybe you just didnt get the feeling that FF3 had for me.

FF3 is 10000 times better than XIII. This generation doesnt have the feeling of back then sadly.
 
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I do not like 1-3, but I enjoyed IV and VI. I haven't played enough of V to have an opinion on it. They're quite good and have good storylines (in my opinion) so it works for me. It took a bit to get into the older ones, though, because it wasn't what I was used to. They're just as good as the rest, though.
 
Agree with you.

[Mod Edit]: Please be sure to elaborate next time as this can be considered spammy. Thanks! =]
 
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Well, I just think that without the early FFs, FF will never be the same way as it is today.

I agree that 3 was VERY difficult (just finished it on the NES, it's impossible so far in the DS), FF1 I can deal with (and all those flaws in the NES version are forgivable due to HW limitations; but the GBA version was absolutely broken, what with mages becoming absurdly powerful and the thief/ninja getting more hits ridiculously early), and FF2 was... broken right from the start.

Overall, I always appreciate a good story. Cliche, yes, but as I said, without the early FFs, FF as we know today will not exist. Also, I want to give myself a challenge in every playthrough, going as far as consciously avoiding game-breaking tactics as often as possible.
 
I played FFIV when it was FF2 on the SNES. So it was a pretty great while ago. But that's when I fell in love with Final Fantasy. FFIV got me hooked and I havent looked back since. Ive enjoyed almost every one of the games in the series and I look forward to many many more.
 
When you mention that 7 is one of the greatest games ever, I could not agree more. I loved 8 and 9, I thought 10 was a good game but since then it went downhill. I finished 12 just to say that I'd finished it but I thought it was a truly awful FF. The more I think about it the more I hate it.

Anyway, I've never played of FF3. When 6 was released on the PS1 I bought that and quite enjoyed it - i've never finished it but my only gripe was that you had to do too much fighting. Even so, i did like the storyline of 6. Not long after FF Anthology (FF4 and 5) was released on the PS1 and again I bought this. I found both 4 and 5 very good games - obviously not up to the quality of 7 - 10 but they were still enjoyable. You had to do a little more fighting than I'd have liked but the storylines for both games was up to the usual FF standard.

You can't judge the old games by the standards of the new games. I think the 4 - 6 were far better FF games than 12 or 13 - you could relate to all the characters on 4 - 6 and felt involved in the storyline.
 
FFVII was a landmark for the series, but I don't know about best game ever. I think it was pretty damn good, and one of the best FF's, though I still think Xenogears dwarfed it in terms of being more well rounded.

Though the topic is about the earlier franchise. Honestly I think if it wasn't for the early franchise most of JRPG games would of been dead in the water. FFI was huge in terms of how much it actually offered.

Right out of the game, you had a little learning curve, and actually had to level your characters at every turn. You had to utilize the strengths of each class of character and then put them up against bosses that could wipe your whole party in a matter of minutes if not leveled enough or knew the strategy.

It offered a Boat and an Airship. It started the Crystal genre as well. Casting Magic was like an instant boner for me due to how much thought they put into it. The fact you could miss, so damn much without accurately strategizing was another thing. Sure you could read ahead later and learn you could make overpowered characters, but when the game came out, everyone started at square one and was one of the hardest games of the era.

FFII - I can not speak for due to it came up years later, and at the time I was uninterested to back track. I think I was still playing shining force for the 20,000th time.

FFIII - The SNES version (VI) was absolutely the best game of the genre due to the character development and story line of the espers and such. The original FFIII - I never played.

FFIV - Pretty damn excellent

FFV - No idea , never played it

FFVI (refer to FFIII).

FFVII and on.. Some of the best stories and graphics I've seen. Though when FFXII came out it was like an entirely new game. They made the game dumbed down where anyone could pick it up and never even have to level their characters. The character development was piss poor and I almost fell asleep to the story.

FFXIII was alright, but again way too easy. It was gimicky to say the least with all the paradigms.

FFXIII-2 surprisingly way better story line than FFXIII, though gimicky again. Felt like I was playing a WII. Easy even on hardest difficulties.
 
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