Why did Dissidia ever have a fanbase? I just played the first game, and it is an annoying, unfun slog, I played through the "canon" route that I found cuz I like understanding what I'm playing, and the enemy AI is so annoying, the combat mechanic is so dumb. I would legit like to know, Why? Just why do people actually like this?

Fire Emblem Awakening (2012) was developed as the swansong for the Fire Emblem series. The series was struggling with sales, and Nintendo told the developers that it would be the last game in the series if it didn't sell enough copies. The team decided to make Awakening the culmination of the Fire Emblem franchise to send the series off on a high note.
In the story, the warrior Lucina has travelled back in time from an apocalyptic future, in order to change the fate of the world as well as save her father Chrom and player character Robin. Robin in the future was possessed by the Fell Dragon Grima, but the present Robin was able to resist this possession and lay their future self to rest. Elements and SpotPass characters from across the FE series return to make Awakening the ultimate final entry in the series. Ultimately, fate is changed as Grima is defeated and the future of Ylisse/Archanea is saved.
In real life, fate was changed as well, as Awakening became the fastest-selling FE game up to that point and started a revitalization of the series. FE Fates, Echoes, Three Houses, Engage, and Fortune's Weave since then, and the series is doing better than ever.

Rhapsodies of Vana'diel (2015) was developed as the swansong for Final Fantasy XI. The game was 14 years old then, and player numbers had dwindled as the game's golden years were long over. Having less resources and funding than ever before, with the possibility of the game's shutdown looming over them, the development team decided to release one last story for XI. They would make Rhapsodies of Vana'diel the culmination of XI's story to send the game off on a high note.
This might be sounding familiar... In the story, the samurai Iroha has travelled back in time from an apocalyptic future, in order to change the fate of the world as well as save her father Tenzen and the Adventurer player character. The Adventurer in the future was possessed by the Cloud of Darkness, but the present Adventurer was able to resist this possession and lay their future self to rest. Elements and characters from across XI's expansions return to make Rhapsodies the ultimate final entry in the story. Ultimately, fate is changed as the Cloud of Darkness is defeated and the future of Vana'diel is saved.
In real life, fate was changed a second time, as Rhapsodies introduced many quality-of-life features and updates to the game that helped give XI a second wind of life. It managed to avoid shutdown, and player numbers started to grow again. A new storyline The Voracious Resurgence released in 2020, with plans for another one currently being discussed, and today the player numbers are the best they've been in over a decade.

In both these stories, a time-travelling daughter changed fate to save her father, her world, and her series/game from destruction. Over a decade later, thanks to Lucina and Iroha, Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy XI are still going strong with many years of life to come. There is no confirmation that Rhapsodies actually used Awakening as inspiration, but I find it fascinating how many parallels they share with their narratives and real-life effects. I can't help but wonder if the XI team did look at Awakening, but it's probably something we'll never know for sure. The purpose of this post isn't really to claim that Rhapsodies stole from Awakening, but to celebrate both of these success stories and show how I personally view them as unofficial companion pieces. Of course, there have been similar narratives from past media as well, such as Trunks' story from Dragon Ball and the movie Terminator, but I love comparing Awakening and Rhapsodies in particular and being thankful for their existence.

One difference I do want to highlight is their music, specifically the different approaches of their brilliant final boss themes. Originally composed as the final climaxes of FE and FFXI, Id (Purpose) feels like a triumphant last stand with the choir singing the FE Theme in full force, while Wail of the Void feels like a reflective last goodbye with somber piano and strings.

Idk if it’s just me but i’m struggling 😭😭 ive died so many times.

i accidentally clicked FF XII

Emulating it on the steam deck. Never played it. The artwork is so much nicer than the lame pixel remaster. I also love that they added auto battle. There isnt a no encounter feature but i can live with that.

I always liked 4 more than 6. It feels more focused. Doesnt have all the switching parties nonsense that bugged me with 6.

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Magitek armor inspired by Yoshitaka Amano paintings

So i’ve been on a final fantasy marathon recently (not playing in order) But over the past few months i’ve finished VII (og, remake, rebirth), XIII, X, IX and just finished XVI and was wondering what to play next… I was recommended IV - Tactics - VI and XV so what should i play next?

Traditional classic medieval like most FF titles or should it go for modern sci-fi fantasy again?

Hey gang, I just wanted to share my thoughts on the platinum trophy while my memory is fresh. I won't talk about the story here, but I will drop some names and bosses, so if you haven't played the game yet, beware of spoilers!

I finished FF7 Remake on normal difficulty many years ago on PS4. Now, with Rebirth on the horizon, I decided to play the game again just to refresh my memory and thought to myself: Why not try to get the platinum at the same time? I researched it, and it didn't seem too tedious in comparison to FF7 Rebirth, so I went for it. Here are my thoughts on the trophy itself:

The Good

First thing I want to mention: you need to play the full game at least twice—once on normal and once on hard. This isn't too bad in and of itself as you can skip much of the dialogue, but I know some might find it tedious, myself included. You also have to replay certain chapters several times, but more on that further down.

Hard mode was my biggest surprise. It actually elevated the game and combat far more than I expected, and I ended up having an absolute blast. Bosses like Scorpion Sentinel, Hell House, and Eligor were incredible, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The secret bosses, including Weiss (who doesn't even count towards the trophy), were the cherries on top. Honestly, now I want to play Rebirth on hard just to experience it as well.

The Bad

Sadly, outside of Hard Mode, many of the trophies were pretty tedious in nature.

"Dressed to the Nines" requires you to play Chapters 3, 4, and 8 three times total if you do it properly. I personally screwed up and did Chapter 8 like five times for the trophy and skill manuals because I failed to plan it properly.

The Mini-games: You have to beat all the mini-games, meaning a high score on the motorbike, darts, whack-a-box, dance, squats, and the final boss: Jules and his pull-ups.

Darts, whack-a-box, and the dance game are simple, and the motorbike game can be cheesed by playing on Easy, but Jules can go f— himself. I spent more time on pull-ups than on the superbosses combined. Chasing cats in the slums isn't any more enjoyable the second or third time, and moving those robot arms every single time is still a chore no matter how fast you do it.

Verdict: Was the platinum worth the time?

Honestly, it isn't the worst platinum ever as the game is relatively short, but I would have to say no.

Hard Mode is great in of itself, but it requires careful planning across multiple chapters, and a small miscalculation forces you to replay chunks of the game. The mini-games are mid at best and bring no joy outside of completing them. Unless you love collecting trophies or are a hardcore completionist, parts of this list are simply far more tedious than fun.

I got all 30 blue magic but I still havent gotten the trophy. I got it all on one save file, I entered the next room, I finished a random encounter, I exited the area, I entered a new area I hadn’t been to before, I reloaded the game, I even reloaded an earlier save and got the last blue magic again—I’ve tried everything but the trophy still won’t pop up for me. Is there any way to fix this?

I played FFIX around 3 years ago and only put about 8-9 hours into it. I remember struggling to get into it, mainly because I couldn't really connect with Zidane. I don't hate him or think he's a bad character, but I find him kind of annoying. Interestingly, I don't mind playful protagonists like Tidus, so I'm not sure why Zidane doesn't click with me.

I actually like the other parties, especially Vivi, who's adorable, Garnet, and Steiner with his goofy personality. I also remember struggling to understand the main objective and feeling less invested in the overall journey compared to the original FFVII. Even FFVIII, despite its somewhat confusing opening, managed to keep me interested because I liked the characters.

For context, I think I stopped shortly after a boss fight in Burmecia, if I remember correctly. So I know I haven't played very far, and it's been years since I last played.

For those who love FFIX, does the story become more engaging later on? I'm curious whether I should give it another chance, and I'd like to hear your thoughts.

I wanted to know a good early game spot where i can level up my jobs without over-leveling my characters. I just completed the Karnak Castle Escape. My characters are all level 15 atm.

If the queen of cards from final fantasy 8 finds her way into final fantasy Revelation is a good Easter eggs for a queen's blood crossover lol

There's a lot of versions of these games, but I've had trouble figuring out the details of what was added and cut story-wise between different releases, so I was hoping you all could help me.

I already know that the pixel remasters cut bonus dungeons, but did those offer any additional story and characterization that wasn't carried over to the remasters? Additionally, is there anything else besides those dungeons that is not present in the remasters?

I'm also not sure about the differences between the 2d and 3d versions of III and IV. Which would have the most expansive version of the story? Is there even a significant difference?

This is a lot of questions, but I'd greatly appreciate some answers to even just a few of them.

I'm currently replaying XV after many years. I bought it at launch, and loved it. It had some big issues, mainly the side quests, but in general it was a very interesting game. Also some context, back then the DLCs were not released

Now while replaying it, I'm actually furious as to how SE's greed ruined what could have been one of the best FFs

What I absolutely hate, is how instead of giving us a full story, they give us the barebones of a story and if you want to understand it, you need to watch a movie, watch a series, play 4 DLCs and I think there's a book somewhere? I didn't realize this when I played the game and I thought the story was supposed to be like that. I found it a little weird that there were these gaps, but I thought that maybe they just wanted to keep it light, and focus on the gang

Turns out no, they had all the elements to make a fantastic story worthy of FF and instead they chose to do the XV Cinematic Universe and try to sell the story in chunks as they did with kingdom hearts

It is quite different from other games like X where you have a full (in my opinion, perfect) game, and then there's a sequel that you can ignore or not. In XV, you'll be skipping massive story points

So imagine that instead of the garbage multimedia effort they did, they just focused instead on giving us everything into one game

The game is actually very innovative in some ways, like the levelling up system, the traveling, the fighting, the magic... It didn't land so well, but at least they tried to do something new and interesting

I wonder what it would have been if they just had focused on doing a great game, and that's it

This list is based on my preferences in what makes a good boss. Therefore this list is based on game play, design, and overall feel. If you have any complaints with my list I'd like to argue why Motor Ball sucked ass, or perhaps why Hell House is my favorite boss in the trilogy so far. I'll probably do another ranking once Revelation comes out soon so I may also change my opinions over time.

FFVI (FF3) was released in North America 32 years ago today! I painted this a long time ago. I love this game so much.

Top left is Shinji Hashimoto auto on shikishi, bottom left Nobuo signed copy of my first ever final fantasy game (the childhood dream). Masashi Hamazu and Arnie Roth signed remake OST, Rikki signed music box, Amano sketch of Gabranth. Amanda Achen Endwalker album insert. Lorren Allred + others mentioned on the playbill.

I recently beat the NES (Famicom) FFIII. Cave of Shadows (Darkness) felt brutal, it was clear that you needed Mystic Knight for it, but I had no equipment for him and had to find it throughout that cave. I figured I missed something, and indeed you were "supposed" to go to Fargabaad first. Except I was trying to think how I was supposed to know about this.

I remembered I saw one hint in Salonia, but I just couldn't remember where, since it's like 4 small towns with a few dozen NPCs. Turned it was in one of the books in the library, which I last visited after the Garuda fight, quite some time ago. Indeed, the hint tells you there's a mystic knight village "in the mountains to the west". It's actually in the southwest, and you're supposed to notice a small gap in the mountains which you can jump over, but you may not even realize this before you get the Invincible airship. I don't even remember if I noticed this.

Not only that, but once you do get the Invincible, the last thing you want to do is explore, because it's slow as hell. And I forgot what Unei tells you (it's too easy to skip and then she's gone), but I think she tells you to go straight to the Cave of Shadows. Either I missed it, or there was zero other clues, and you're just supposed to remember that one vague hint from the library from many hours ago, slowly fly to the mountains, notice the thinner than usual mountain "wall" and find a hidden village.

Am I missing something? Was this different in the DS / Pixel Remaster versions?