S1E29 - The Final Fantasy Series Part 1 - “Bruce the Dinosaur Cake and Tiny Shoulder Pig”
Sept. 2, 2016
The Final Fantasy Series, Part 1
In this episode:
Our history with Final Fantasy!
Beej actually started with FF1, but was so young that he didn’t understand much of what he was doing. He played IV and VI (II and III to you 90s-kid Americans out there) from the video store over and over and over and over again.
Void was the opposite side of the Final Fantasy-loving 90s kid, and he started the series with FFVII which brought him into the broad, magical world of jRPGs, summon magic, and random encounters. He, though, went hardcore and did a full mainline Final Fantasy playthrough--going from FF1 to FFXIV in order.
Speaking of, we go through the entire Final Fantasy series, giving you listeners a survey of the highpoints regarding each one.
FFI - pick a party of classes and level them up
FFII - the more you use a skill the more it levels up (skills level up individually)
FFIII - first job system
FFIV - first real narrative with jobs uniquely tied to characters for the first time
FFV - first in-depth job system
FFVI - first in-depth, truly mature story / first extra characters you can miss / semi-open approach to world 2
FFVII - genre defining for 3D jRPGs. It was 3D! The game where cutscenes began to blow us away
FFVIII - Junction system, which is very controversial and breakable
FFX - First PS2 game. Graphics were amazing. First FF with voice acting, if you can call it that (haha!)
FFXI - First MMO FF (definitely not a single player game. It had a huge emphasis on being part of a group.)
FFXII - Feels like a single player MMO. Gambit system. Vaan (and Penelo) are not the protagonists of the story despite being the main characters. Basch and Ashe are. Same world as Tactics (Ivalice), only one that is set in another one, right?
FFXIII - Super linear. Amazing visuals again. This is where the series started to lose hardcore fans. Made 2 more follow up spin off games.
FFXIV - Second MMO Final Fantasy. Really good FF. True to the series roots. Can be played pretty much as a single-player FF game if you want it to be, but the story isn’t as in-depth and intricate.
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