I think FF IX and X helped convince me that I don’t particularly like jrpgs, which was good to know and incredible freeing.
XV and 13 later taught me that it isn’t that I don’t like jrpgs, I just hate random battles.
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Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy X, and Kingdom Hearts all came out within 3 years. all three have stories about a spike-haired youth falling into/out of a lush island world and ultimately struggling to grasp his identity, and whether he even has one at all. that second part is kinda true of every FF protagonist now that i think about it, but boy the tropical island multiverse thing! did squaresoft want to go on vacation or WHAT
Is FFX-2 any good? With every passing year to me it sounds more and more like it beats ass. Semi open ended FF game? you have the airship right away? job system?? your party is a trio of pop idol gals??? it has to rule right, tell me it rules
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Holy shit I did not realize that crono cross and kingdom hearts were three years apart
This perfectly encapsulates me and my 3-years-younger sister’s respective tastes
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i think it rules, but has some stuff that makes it a bit of a drag to play. definitely worth checking if already curious. lightning returns has some similar ideas - especially round the combat - and lands them better imo.
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I am not a fan of X or XIII but I do like X-2, XIII-2, and Lightning Returns
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Had a think on the toilet, and I think part of my gripe with this game stems from how neither Tidus nor Yuna is the main character. Wakka is, and every character save Auron exists to redeem your racist uncle who you’re obligated to talk to at family gatherings.
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I also feel FFX is great on paper but can’t vibe with it. I feel also the same about X-2, so this can’t be all Tidus. It has to be the tacky plastic resort theme park vibe. This is nearly a Barbie game. NPCs are like employees forced to wear these clothes to work. I just don’t like looking at it and can’t care about anything happening
Auron is the first badass character that made me go « wow… this design sucks » It was the day anime died
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lightning returns is fuckin sick!!!
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I want to like random battles, because some kind of abstraction representing growth and overcoming adversity or whatever on your journey is better than one guy whacking a million cannon fodder goons to death in realtime, but the feeling of being constantly interrupted or pulled out of the game has never felt good
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I know I’ve tried X-2 a few times but end up bailing within half an hour.
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the tension you see in ffx between tidus’s sunny but naive individualism and the noble but resigned fatalism of spiran culture is a particularly compelling one to me, maybe – about 49 percent serious here – because i’m asian myself and am somewhat painfully familiar with this dynamic (and maybe – again about 49 percent serious – this is even why ffx resonates more in japan).
there’s a moment in guadosalam, when yuna’s seriously considering the idea of marrying seymour, that to me encapsulates final fantasy at its best and its worst.
tidus (telling the story, in voiceover) says something like, “it was strange to me that no one even asked yuna, do you love seymour? do you even like him?”
then you see tidus broach this topic with lulu, and she says, “well, sometimes marriage doesn’t need love. all you need is determination. if you have that, you don’t need love.”
then she starts to walk away and says: “by the way, i shouldn’t have to tell you this, but … don’t fall in love with her.”
this is so good, right?
but then the game immediately undercuts this moment in classic final fantasy style by prompting you to give a goofy response, and your choices are to say like “TOO LATE!” or “YOU’RE MORE MY TYPE, LULU.”
why
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Auron is the first badass character that made me go « wow… this design sucks » It was the day anime died
True but I do find myself saying That’s how it’s done like said bespectacled anime cliche from time to time
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I think I once described my experience with random battles as a thousand tiny microaggressions spread out over the course of a long time, individually none are bad but that tiny spike of anxiety every time I say heard the cd spin differently to let me know a battle was starting a split second later eventually added up to too much for my enjoyment to persist.
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random battles should be about texturing the exploration of map space and generating survival strategy. they aren’t justifiable in ffx because the game has no real balance or tension and there’s little exploration of the linear environment, so they’re mostly just an irritant.
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thats really well put cuz like, reviled as they are, random battles do have a respectable space to fill, its just not at all in 90% of the games theyre crammed into
its funny to fuck around with any version of RPG Maker if you have any semi serious thoughts about RPG design, its so clear how easy it is to dump dinner random battles and procgen dungeons into your game, and also how immediately that makes your game suck shit
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RPGs where there are no random battles in areas where there’s like a multi room puzzle you are supposed to be solving are the only ones made by benevolent, wise people
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Benevolent and wise FFX indeed has no battles in its puzzle shrines
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the funniest part is that I actually like theme parks and this is almost identical to how I feel. just something about the sum of it is peculiarly repulsive
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it does have some of Nomuras tackiest outfits. though at the same time it has his greatest most galaxy-brained achievement, Lulu’s belt dress. in conclusion Spira is a land of contrasts
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