Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remaster Series

Siliconemelons

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Yeah I have played through 6 a ton - never did I have to stop and level. My earliest of plays I remember Zozo being difficult, so I kind of level a few there with no real reason to every time I play- and Opera Ultros always seemed to give me beef... strange places to get flustered I know.

I was thinking last night how I remember FF6 progressing - and it seems to me to be totally different than each of the previous 5 in that it always felt fairly balanced in its progression - I also never thought of having a "open world time" - like in 2, 3 and 5 where it is "There is the final thing, go for it!.....but there is stuff to do that we don't tell you about..." - in 6 I know this happens in the WOR and the final tower - but to me, gathering your people is more natural and story based than "I need to go get X summon, and unseal Y uber weapon, because reasons." -- vs "I need to rejoin the crew together bros." - also the emotional hit goign into WOR is good. I will give FF5 some props that it is one of few games were the bad guy actually does stuff with his power - tossing cities and stuff into the void, kefka destroying the entire world and the duder in ff9 just wiping out a few races because why not summon this bro again and let the "heroes" watch helplessly after they just revealed these folks from their hiding and assuring them they will be okay.

Edit:

The hero / character sprites look good in 6, but I just litterally did the intro march, got into Narsh and stopped - I think people said that it all looks good but the bad guy spritework is darker than the new character sprites and looks off a little.
 
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Rajaah

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Yeah I have played through 6 a ton - never did I have to stop and level. My earliest of plays I remember Zozo being difficult, so I kind of level a few there with no real reason to every time I play- and Opera Ultros always seemed to give me beef... strange places to get flustered I know.

I was thinking last night how I remember FF6 progressing - and it seems to me to be totally different than each of the previous 5 in that it always felt fairly balanced in its progression - I also never thought of having a "open world time" - like in 2, 3 and 5 where it is "There is the final thing, go for it!.....but there is stuff to do that we don't tell you about..." - in 6 I know this happens in the WOR and the final tower - but to me, gathering your people is more natural and story based than "I need to go get X summon, and unseal Y uber weapon, because reasons." -- vs "I need to rejoin the crew together bros." - also the emotional hit goign into WOR is good. I will give FF5 some props that it is one of few games were the bad guy actually does stuff with his power - tossing cities and stuff into the void, kefka destroying the entire world and the duder in ff9 just wiping out a few races because why not summon this bro again and let the "heroes" watch helplessly after they just revealed these folks from their hiding and assuring them they will be okay.

Edit:

The hero / character sprites look good in 6, but I just litterally did the intro march, got into Narsh and stopped - I think people said that it all looks good but the bad guy spritework is darker than the new character sprites and looks off a little.

Yeah you never actually need to stop and level in FF6. The parts I pointed out are good places to gain a few extra levels if one's so inclined though. The toughest parts of the game are few and far-between, but I'd say a few notably strong areas/bosses are:

-Kefka in Narshe
-Zozo in general
-Ultros in the Opera House
-Magitek Factory in general (also I think you can get trapped here)
-Atma Weapon at the end of the Floating Continent
-Tentacles in Figaro Basement
-Darill's Tomb in general
-Storm Dragon at Mt. Zozo, if you fight it near the beginning of WoR
-Fanatic's Tower in general (can be fully gimped with Moogle Charm though)
-Kefka's Tower in general

There was never a point in the PR version where I really ran into any difficulty, save two: Tentacles boss fight and Dullahan boss fight, which are in back to back dungeons. Not sure why those two in particular gave me grief, but I died several times to both after flying through the first half of the game with ease. Actually I think the Dullahan problem is that L? Pearl was landing on everyone. Tentacles were just a horrendous fight and seemed to take two turns for every one my characters got.

Even Kefka's Tower was easier than I remember, and I beat Inferno (one of the toughest tower bosses) with two characters, both underleveled, one WAY underleveled:

1692741229887.png

Was pretty surprised when I won because I expected to have to turn back. I went to Kefka's Tower as soon as I had the airship so I could run around collecting endgame equipment and throw that on my characters. After how much Dullahan and the Tentacles thrashed everyone, they needed gear.
 
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Siliconemelons

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This play I am going to try to use Gau... I always sidelined him - just like I never bothered with Blue Magic (I think that is essentially what Gau is) - but the Blue Magic in FF5 was fun, fairly reasonable to aquire with some thought and very powerful in many instances. I also never did the Monk thing, but sheesh FF3 and first half of 5 they are just OP.

Also random funny note- every time I did any in the past I never was very exploratory - just A to B lets goooo - so this time I am wondering around more and talking to everyone etc. So I am still just at the start of 6, got Edgar and promptly wondered out of the castle into the desert, got attacked by 3 bros - no problem, its arrow time... stupid scorpion incapacitated me while the other 2 just bled me out... finally after 3 rounds of paralysis and then not being fast enough to shoot them or run, managed to get a autocross bow out and killed em... lol I found that amuseing more than it actually was I am sure - but this is what I get for wondering off.
 
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pharmakos

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This play I am going to try to use Gau... I always sidelined him - just like I never bothered with Blue Magic (I think that is essentially what Gau is) - but the Blue Magic in FF5 was fun, fairly reasonable to aquire with some thought and very powerful in many instances. I also never did the Monk thing, but sheesh FF3 and first half of 5 they are just OP.

Also random funny note- every time I did any in the past I never was very exploratory - just A to B lets goooo - so this time I am wondering around more and talking to everyone etc. So I am still just at the start of 6, got Edgar and promptly wondered out of the castle into the desert, got attacked by 3 bros - no problem, its arrow time... stupid scorpion incapacitated me while the other 2 just bled me out... finally after 3 rounds of paralysis and then not being fast enough to shoot them or run, managed to get a autocross bow out and killed em... lol I found that amuseing more than it actually was I am sure - but this is what I get for wondering off.
FAFO
 

joz123

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This play I am going to try to use Gau... I always sidelined him - just like I never bothered with Blue Magic (I think that is essentially what Gau is) - but the Blue Magic in FF5 was fun, fairly reasonable to aquire with some thought and very powerful in many instances. I also never did the Monk thing, but sheesh FF3 and first half of 5 they are just OP.

Also random funny note- every time I did any in the past I never was very exploratory - just A to B lets goooo - so this time I am wondering around more and talking to everyone etc. So I am still just at the start of 6, got Edgar and promptly wondered out of the castle into the desert, got attacked by 3 bros - no problem, its arrow time... stupid scorpion incapacitated me while the other 2 just bled me out... finally after 3 rounds of paralysis and then not being fast enough to shoot them or run, managed to get a autocross bow out and killed em... lol I found that amuseing more than it actually was I am sure - but this is what I get for wondering off.
Stray Cat
 

sukik

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FF3 finished. I think I like it the least of the first 3. It took a while because BG3 and FF16 are taking up the majority of my gaming time. Onward to FF4 on the Switch.
 
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Rajaah

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This play I am going to try to use Gau... I always sidelined him - just like I never bothered with Blue Magic (I think that is essentially what Gau is) - but the Blue Magic in FF5 was fun, fairly reasonable to aquire with some thought and very powerful in many instances. I also never did the Monk thing, but sheesh FF3 and first half of 5 they are just OP.

Monk is OP in 1 too. 1, 3, 5, and Tactics. They loved Monk as much as the EQ devs.

Strago is FF6's Blue Mage, while Gau is sort of like Blue Magic combined with Berserker. He's really his own thing though, never really duplicated in any other game in the series that I know of. I've never gotten all of his Rages, which would be a massive undertaking and something I probably would have enjoyed circa 1995. On one hand it's unfortunate they removed the Rage trophy from the console PR because it would have been cool to finally have a reason to collect 'em all. On the other hand I'm really glad they did remove it to keep me from spending another 20 hours on this thing.

sukik sukik I also like FF3 the least of the first 3 as of right now, but I also think it's objectively the best of the 3 games. I'm just not that into it. The classes are often forced in terms of what you have to use (like Dark Knight, Dragoon, Black Mage, etc) which gets kind of obnoxious in a game that usually gives you full customization. FF1 is timeless and FF2 actually has a really good story.
 

Siliconemelons

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Monk is OP in 1 too. 1, 3, 5, and Tactics. They loved Monk as much as the EQ devs.

Strago is FF6's Blue Mage, while Gau is sort of like Blue Magic combined with Berserker. He's really his own thing though, never really duplicated in any other game in the series that I know of. I've never gotten all of his Rages, which would be a massive undertaking and something I probably would have enjoyed circa 1995. On one hand it's unfortunate they removed the Rage trophy from the console PR because it would have been cool to finally have a reason to collect 'em all. On the other hand I'm really glad they did remove it to keep me from spending another 20 hours on this thing.

sukik sukik I also like FF3 the least of the first 3 as of right now, but I also think it's objectively the best of the 3 games. I'm just not that into it. The classes are often forced in terms of what you have to use (like Dark Knight, Dragoon, Black Mage, etc) which gets kind of obnoxious in a game that usually gives you full customization. FF1 is timeless and FF2 actually has a really good story.

Lol, Strago is sidelines usually for me faster than Gau as soon as I can. The tower in WOR with him is usually my last thing to do... and usually I do it "just cuz" as he and yes, realm, usualy warm the airship benches. So this time around I am trying to explore more, be slower and try and be able to effectively use all the characters.

FF3 is good, but like mentioned - I guess it is what you are wanting out of the game. FF2 really was a better "game" the system was just very different and not presented in a way to know what is happening - once you know what the system is and how it works, it is fine, and to me it is a better put together game than 3. 3 is bigger I guess, but the first 1/3 or even 2/3 of the game are just hop hop hop clunky with the progression... But we kill sexy cloud and all is well.

After playing 1-5 and going into 6, you can instantly tell 6 is a neigh perfect put together of everything before it - not a near perfect total game - but you can tell the "things they wanted to do" with 1-5 in story, scope, character, system, music, visuals etc etc all are /at their best/ from what they knew, learned and could do- in 6
 
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Siliconemelons

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I really forgot how fast FF6 moves in the plot-line and gets you into it quick. I actually think, in the case of 6 this is a bad thing... and a good thing... Unless you read into things and slow yourself down to absorb the story - you do not get the whirlwind of stuff that is Terra at the beginning. I know the pixle remasters were not meant to be "remakes" - I really would like to see "proper" remakes while not going ff7r with them - take what there is, and /expand/clarify/chance/ what is there not do a big "what if!?" thing.

The dialouge could use more fleshing out and there needs to be a little bit of places for pause in the first chapter of the game, we get a lot of that in WOR, but things move very fast in this prologue and 1st chapter. Some of it, is the general restriction of text, some is restriction of how the events had to be programmed 'back in the day' - a lot of the "rest in bed" to progress things had stark cuts. I think they get better in this as the game moves forward.

The Sabin / Cyan - part of the tri-split story is sooo much longer than the others. Just as above there is a lot of inferred things that could be fleshed out with just doing a modern remake with a better "system" and more text - when the "dancer" wants to give good ol boy Cyan a lapdance - Sabin only infers telling Gau 'yes its funny, but lets not push it...he JUST lost his wife and son, he will need to break out of his shell someday, but not today' you are just getting to know Cyan - and this event, perhaps is just mis-placed in the scenario. It is to show his staunch uprightness (as we are still running the Mr. Thou joke) and Sabin wanting to loosen him up some - but it also is there to show the hurt of his loss is still there even after having to go though what he has and push forward.

Music, goodness, makes 4 look generic... except Narshe my wife chimed in "You watching a smooth jazz porno in there?"
 
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Rangoth

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Woop woop, finally finished the pixel remaster 1-6(on PC/Steam)! Was a fun callback and I could stream it to my ipad so it was great to play around the house instead of sitting at my computer. Almost made me want to buy a steam deck!

Anyway, some questions I have now as "what next", keeping this in mind: The only ones I played growing up were FF1, FF3, and FF7(original).

  • Should I bother with FF4 After Years? It got crap reviews on steam and it seems like a different game and not just better graphics for FF4.
  • I am not interested in playing the same game twice with just different graphics....for example FF1 true original *and* FF1 Pixel Remaster....so how should I handle FF7? I am a bit confused by the different games and I think it would be cool to play them in order. Are the ones below all of them and the correct order?
    • Is FF7 Remake an updated clone to FF7? Worth playing both?
    • Then there is Crisis Core Reunion - looks similar to the new ipad version but I guess it is different? Does it have a more definitive beginning and end unlike ipad games?
    • Dirge of Cerberus - Everything I've heard says this is shit. I am not a true completionist so I'm content to skip if it's total garbage.
    • Original?
    • Remake?
 

Fogel

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FF7 is both a different game both story and game play wise. I'd play the original 7 first though
 
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Fogel

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Woop woop, finally finished the pixel remaster 1-6(on PC/Steam)! Was a fun callback and I could stream it to my ipad so it was great to play around the house instead of sitting at my computer. Almost made me want to buy a steam deck!

Anyway, some questions I have now as "what next", keeping this in mind: The only ones I played growing up were FF1, FF3, and FF7(original).

  • Should I bother with FF4 After Years? It got crap reviews on steam and it seems like a different game and not just better graphics for FF4.
  • I am not interested in playing the same game twice with just different graphics....for example FF1 true original *and* FF1 Pixel Remaster....so how should I handle FF7? I am a bit confused by the different games and I think it would be cool to play them in order. Are the ones below all of them and the correct order?
    • Is FF7 Remake an updated clone to FF7? Worth playing both?
    • Then there is Crisis Core Reunion - looks similar to the new ipad version but I guess it is different? Does it have a more definitive beginning and end unlike ipad games?
    • Dirge of Cerberus - Everything I've heard says this is shit. I am not a true completionist so I'm content to skip if it's total garbage.
    • Original?
    • Remake?

Also, if you're going to play the original 7, look up the 7th Heaven mod manager. Really easy to use and has tons of mods that improve the out dated graphics, sound, etc.

 

Hateyou

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Also, if you're going to play the original 7, look up the 7th Heaven mod manager. Really easy to use and has tons of mods that improve the out dated graphics, sound, etc.

This is how I played it a couple years ago and it was great.

I will second that ff7 and ff7r are very different games. If you want to play both I’d says play ff7 first, then ff7r will be cool to see all the places you just were reimagined. However ff7r is only the first town, the rest of the game will be covered over two more releases over the next few years, the first of the two in February next year.
 

Rangoth

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Ok so....

  1. FF7(original)
  2. FF7 Crisis Core
  3. FF7 Remake
?

And thanks for that link. I just checked it out and it seems like a modder(changing mob graphics and sounds, etc), what is the typical use-case for modding if I want to mostly play the original as intended? Why would I need to change the sound or graphics? I just played 8-16bit pixel games ;)
 
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Fogel

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Ok so....

  1. FF7(original)
  2. FF7 Crisis Core
  3. FF7 Remake
?

And thanks for that link. I just checked it out and it seems like a modder(changing mob graphics and sounds, etc), what is the typical use-case for modding if I want to mostly play the original as intended? Why would I need to change the sound or graphics? I just played 8-16bit pixel games ;)

2d pixel/sprites aged a lot better than the first iterations of 3d. Or maybe you enjoy square tits

1695067670079.jpeg
 

Gavinmad

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  • Should I bother with FF4 After Years? It got crap reviews on steam and it seems like a different game and not just better graphics for FF4.


Only hardcore FF4 fans stand any chance of enjoying TAY.
 
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Siliconemelons

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Ok so....

  1. FF7(original)
  2. FF7 Crisis Core
  3. FF7 Remake
?

And thanks for that link. I just checked it out and it seems like a modder(changing mob graphics and sounds, etc), what is the typical use-case for modding if I want to mostly play the original as intended? Why would I need to change the sound or graphics? I just played 8-16bit pixel games ;)

I enjoyed Crisis Core - I think they are making a "normal" remake of it, i.e better visuals etc. not CHANGING it all like FF7R
 

joz123

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If TAY didn't have the moon phase mechanics I would like it a lot more. Only being able to spawn rare monsters during phases where you are weak and they are strong is bullshit.
 

Rajaah

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I really forgot how fast FF6 moves in the plot-line and gets you into it quick. I actually think, in the case of 6 this is a bad thing... and a good thing... Unless you read into things and slow yourself down to absorb the story - you do not get the whirlwind of stuff that is Terra at the beginning. I know the pixle remasters were not meant to be "remakes" - I really would like to see "proper" remakes while not going ff7r with them - take what there is, and /expand/clarify/chance/ what is there not do a big "what if!?" thing.

The dialouge could use more fleshing out and there needs to be a little bit of places for pause in the first chapter of the game, we get a lot of that in WOR, but things move very fast in this prologue and 1st chapter. Some of it, is the general restriction of text, some is restriction of how the events had to be programmed 'back in the day' - a lot of the "rest in bed" to progress things had stark cuts. I think they get better in this as the game moves forward.

The Sabin / Cyan - part of the tri-split story is sooo much longer than the others. Just as above there is a lot of inferred things that could be fleshed out with just doing a modern remake with a better "system" and more text - when the "dancer" wants to give good ol boy Cyan a lapdance - Sabin only infers telling Gau 'yes its funny, but lets not push it...he JUST lost his wife and son, he will need to break out of his shell someday, but not today' you are just getting to know Cyan - and this event, perhaps is just mis-placed in the scenario. It is to show his staunch uprightness (as we are still running the Mr. Thou joke) and Sabin wanting to loosen him up some - but it also is there to show the hurt of his loss is still there even after having to go though what he has and push forward.

Music, goodness, makes 4 look generic... except Narshe my wife chimed in "You watching a smooth jazz porno in there?"

Smooth jazz porno?? I love the Narshe music dammit!

Woop woop, finally finished the pixel remaster 1-6(on PC/Steam)! Was a fun callback and I could stream it to my ipad so it was great to play around the house instead of sitting at my computer. Almost made me want to buy a steam deck!

Anyway, some questions I have now as "what next", keeping this in mind: The only ones I played growing up were FF1, FF3, and FF7(original).

  • Should I bother with FF4 After Years? It got crap reviews on steam and it seems like a different game and not just better graphics for FF4.
  • I am not interested in playing the same game twice with just different graphics....for example FF1 true original *and* FF1 Pixel Remaster....so how should I handle FF7? I am a bit confused by the different games and I think it would be cool to play them in order. Are the ones below all of them and the correct order?
    • Is FF7 Remake an updated clone to FF7? Worth playing both?
    • Then there is Crisis Core Reunion - looks similar to the new ipad version but I guess it is different? Does it have a more definitive beginning and end unlike ipad games?
    • Dirge of Cerberus - Everything I've heard says this is shit. I am not a true completionist so I'm content to skip if it's total garbage.
    • Original?
    • Remake?

FF4 TAY is a sequel to FF4, not a remake or anything. There are 3 main versions and I don't know which one you're referring to:

-Original Wiiware version which looks like FF4
-DS version that looks 3D/has polygons instead of sprites
-PSP version which is 2D and looks much prettier than the others

Kind of depends on which version it is. The 3D version has a lot of cut content. I flew through it earlier this year and was shocked at how short it was compared to the other versions. I liked the other two versions in the past though.

Main issue with TAY is this:

If TAY didn't have the moon phase mechanics I would like it a lot more. Only being able to spawn rare monsters during phases where you are weak and they are strong is bullshit.

TLDR is, nope, it isn't really worth playing FF4 TAY unless you're an FF4 superfan. It's very subpar compared to 1-6 and feels like it was made by a b-team. Some cool new characters at least and I like the multiple scenario setup. You choose between 7 main scenarios (can play them in any order, switch between files at will, etc) and once they're all done you have the giant final scenario which is mostly composed of the largest dungeon in the series.

If you're really into the FF4 lore, or want to play something that goes out of its way to connect 1-6, TAY could be worthwhile. Just make sure it's one of the 2D versions that actually has the 1-6 connections.

As for the FF7 stuff:

-Dirge of Cerberus isn't worth it (and I bet they're gonna remake/fix it at some point anyway, between FF7R-2 and -3 would actually be the perfect time for it given that Vincent is going to probably be introduced late in -2). Original DoC isn't worth a play at all, just not a good game.

-Crisis Core Reunion is just a straight remaster of a PSP game with some small changes. It's good.

-FF7 and FF7R are both worth playing for different reasons. 7's original form is a classic and hasn't been redone, 7R remakes the early parts of it and it's cool to see them given life like that.

I'd say skip TAY unless superfan, skip DoC, play FF7->CCR->FF7R in that order. Get FF7 HD for the most modern sharpness. Then you'll know what's going on in CCR (which is a prequel), and CCR in turn will help you know what's going on in the 7R saga. By the time you're done with all that 7R-2 will be pretty close, and it apparently is gonna combine elements from 7R and CCR.
 
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