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The Top 25 Squaresoft Games Ever?
darknight17 writes "The unofficial Final Fantasy Online site has just finally finished its Top 25 Squaresoft games by featuring the Top 5 titles. Here are the other picks - 25 to 21, 20 to 16, 15 to 11, and
10 to 6, as chosen by fans in the Final Fantasy and RPG community." There's also a 'hidden gems' section in each part of the countdown, highlighting overlooked titles like Einhänder and Bahamut Lagoon - neat.
My friends and I loved it, although we're all writers and roleplayers, and we enjoy that sort of character drama. If you're the sort of person that plays these games for the gameplay and not the story, then FF8 doesn't have a whole lot to offer. It's sad, really. The story is great, and the game itself has a style and atmosphere that hasn't been matched before or since. Unfortunately, though, it's marred by an annoying, poorly-balanced battle system.
:)
One other complaint that people like to make (but I've never really gotten myself) is that Squall is a boring character who doesn't care about anyone. Now, I can't really call Squall subtle and nuanced, but obviously he was too subtle for a lot of people, who apparently failed to pick up on the fact that he did care about people, a lot. He just didn't want to, because he had lost everyone he was ever close to.
And FF9? Well, it was an interesting little nostalgia trip, and certainly a solid game in its own right... but the story was fairly bland. It lacked the guts and ambition to break the mold like FF8 did. It followed the old FF games a bit too vigorously to really be captivating. FF8, on the other hand, is like a strong, complicated beer. You probably won't like it.
It's just unbelievable how that game transcends its 16-bit Super NES sound and sprite graphics. It's epic, in so many ways -- a fantastic plot, with fantastically deep/moving/cool characters, and ridiculously memorable music. I remember thinking Kefka's theme was so kickass, I'd pick it out on our piano. I can still hum a boatload of songs from that game. I also liked how the entire game was stuffed with stuff to do; I'm sure I spent 60 hours or more every time I played through it. And the ending! More than 20 minutes of glorious reward at the end of that amazing battle against the statues and Kefka, with screen time given to every character. Certainly the best ending to anything I played on SNES. Actually, I'd be hard-pressed to find a better ending to any game, on console or PC.
Chrono Trigger and FF IV are the shit too, of course. And from everything I've heard, FF VII really whips the llama's ass as well; I think I'll finally get off my lazy ass and play it through sometime this summer.
I love Final Fantasy IV (the last good FF game far as I'm concerned), but it's all about Chrono Trigger.
A huge and indepth story with something like 14 different endings, tons of replayability, cool and memorable characters (epecially that chatterbox Crono), loads of subplots and sidequests..and excellent music. It's the absolute best 2D RPG, and quite possibly the greatest console RPG of all time.
I mean I was actually sad when the game was over. I mean, it was over. Done, no more. That Xmas of 1995 (released during the summer I know but I never played it until Xmas) was such a happy and fun time. And there was never to be a sequel. Ever. Never ever ever not even if you give us money and beg us.
Then they made Chrono Cross, which was a disgrace to all that made Chrono Trigger good. Atleast the pre-order clock was really cool (and fitting, if you leave the clock hands reading 10:04)
--Reverend Raven
Desperate days demand dire deeds.